Goodbye 2014

Now we say goodbye to 2015. Here's how we ended this year. The boys visited with Santa. Danger asked him for a scooter (apparently he was on the Nice List cuz he got one!) And it was the Colonel's first time seeing the Man in Red. No tears, just chilling. Maybe it was cuz his strong, brave big brother was there. 

I *love* to see my boys together. I love the smiles, I love seeing how much they love one another. I see how much Shark loves being a dad and how much the boys love him and each other. 

We went to Santa's Village to look at the lights. Danger LOVED it. I swear, he ran around in circles, around the trees for about 15 minutes. 

I get to wrestle with these boys all day. Some days it's good, some days it's bad. But I generally enjoy it. :) I like being their momma. These silly boys are so cute and fun. 

We took the train down to the airport to catch our flight to WI. It was stressful but it was such a relief to not pay for parking. 

My cuties on the plane. They loved watching the workers outside the plane, loading our luggage, the plane being towed to the runway. They loved it. 

Shark, Danger and my old man out looking for a practice arrow. Danger LOVED hanging out with grandpa and dad. 

Danger doodled on the white board. This is a picture of him. 

Colonel looking hopeful at the snow outside. It was a white Christmas. 

And what's a trip to WI with a hospital visit for Mom? Just my heart freaking out again. It lasted about a day and then was gone. 

Aunt G getting cuddles from Danger. 

Colonel just chilling at brunch. 

Saying goodbye to grandma at the airport. 

Family photo 2014!

Making pizza for our New Year's. We held ours on Tuesday because dad had to work on the 31st. We went all out with fondue, pizza, sparkle juice and games. 

It's been a wonderful 2014. Colonel joined our family, Danger started preschool, and is now potty trained. It has been awesome and amazing. 

I am so excited for 2015! Bring it on. 

So thankful

I've done the month long Thankful series posts on Facebook before, and this year I even thought of doing a series on Instagram, for like a second. But I figured, if I do a blog post, add to it each day and post it at the end, that'd be best.

Better for me to catch up when I miss a day. And, trust me, it happens. (In truth, I'm starting this on the 5th!)

Here goes :

Nov 1 : my husband. He's my best friend, my partner in crime, my rock, and my everything. He does so much for me, for our little family. I am so blessed to have him in my life, so blessed to be married to him. 

Nov 2 : my home. I look around and see a mess of toys and stuff. But I am so grateful for the walls I have to raise my boys in. The walls that keep my little family warm and safe.

Nov 3 : my marriage. I am so grateful to have my companion, so grateful for our eternal perspective on this relationship. I am so grateful to have him, to have found him. I love my marriage. I cherish my marriage and relationship so much. I love him. 

Nov 4 : The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I love this gospel and all the peace it brings. What glorious promises and blessings are in store! The people are not perfect, but the gospel is.

Nov 5 : The Atonement of my Savior. It took me a while to feel like I could be forgiven. Why on earth would He forgive me?! Look what I've done, there's no way. But His atoning sacrifice is for EVERYONE! I see how blessed my life is because I have lived both sides of the spectrum.

Nov 6 : little successes. Things have been hard lately, but when we have those little successes, it makes everything seems more attainable, more doable. Look out world.

Nov 7 : The family I grew up in. Today is my younger brother's birthday. He's 17! Holy crap. I am so blessed to have my family. I love them.

Nov 8 : my little Colonel. Good heavens, you sure did give us a scare, but we are so blessed that everything worked out and you're happy and healthy and so gosh darn strong!

Nov 9 : my Danger. You turn 3 today! What that?! How did that happen?? I am so grateful for you, every day I am. I love you. You have blessed our lives so wonderfully.

Nov 10 : I'm a mother. I love being a mom. It has changed my whole world. I am so so grateful to my miracle babies, so grateful to have been blessed with them.

Nov 11 : the soldiers. All I can ever say, is Thank you. And it will never be  enough. Never will those words capture just how grateful and thankful I am. Thankful that I can raise my boys in a home that is mine, surrounded by stuff that is mine, with the beliefs and feelings that are mine, married to the man of my choosing in the place of my choosing. Thank you for all of the comforts and blessings my family enjoys. Thank you for the opportunities we have, the rights that we have. Thank you. Just plain and simple, but honestly, not enough, THANK YOU dear soldiers. Thank you to the ones who have served, are serving, and will choose to serve. Thank you.

Nov 12 : our vehicles. We are truly blessed to have our cars. I'm so grateful that Shark has a car to drive to work, that I have a grocery getter, and that he has an adventure truck. I know how fortunate we are to have our cars. 

Nov 13 : modern medicine. Without it, I would really not be here. And even if I was, I know my miracle boys would not be. I see how far the medical world has come in 20 years and look forward to seeing what's in store in the next 20. 

Nov 14 : my husband's job. His job kind of is awful, cuz it's so far away but his job really is a blessing and I am so thankful for all his job does for us.

Nov 15 : staying home. I'm grateful for the opportunity to stay home with my rugrats. It's hard, but I am so very happy to be with them. I am so blessed.

Nov 16 : modern travel. How awesome is it that we can travel thousands of miles in a matter of hours?! Seriously! My family is in WI and we're in UT, we can fly to them in 3 hours. Or drive in 24. It sure beats MONTHS.

Nov 17 : all the ideas I can search thru on pinterest. I know that sounds stupid, but I find so much stuff on there. Things that help me out around the house, help with sickness, potty training, teething, siblings, dating my husband, cooking. I can find it!

Nov 18 : donuts. They make my little boy so freaking happy, they are filled with deliciousness and rather inexpensive. Sure, I'll plaster a smile on my child's face for 55¢.

Nov 19 : crafting. It helps keep my mind off all the crazy holiday stresses. It helps me not go crazy. It keeps me busy and I love making things.

Nov 20 : my strong boys, who get stronger every single day. Seriously, every single day they get stronger. Last week, Colonel wasn't showing any signs of teeth, besides being fussy, and now they are SO close to popping. He is climbing all over EVERYTHING. Last week he didn't look at the stairs, didn't pull himself up, now he goes to the stairs everytime and he pull himself up on everything. Danger now poops and pees in the potty every time. Last week, he did not. My boys are so big. And tomorrow they will be bigger than they were today, just a little, but they will still be bigger.

Nov 21 : my love of reading. I love finding new books to read. And I love being transported to new worlds. I love learning of my Savior, of His life, of His teachings. I love reading faith-building books. I love it.

Nov 22 : friends. I am so very grateful for my friends. They have helped thru some very hard times. I am so blessed in the people who have come into my life. I love you.

Nov 23 : inspirations and feeling the spirit. I am so grateful the Holy Spirit whispers to me. And I am grateful that I hearken to the whisperings of The Spirit.

Nov 24 : family traditions. From watching football to a certain grape punch, from Easter egg hunts to stockings. I've enjoyed melding our family's traditions. We've still got some perfecting to do but most families do.

Nov 25 : that I see the blessings in my life. I have a wonderful life and I am so so SO very grateful that I can see the blessings in my life, that I can show my gratitude.

Nov 26 : family. I love my little family. My boys, my husband, my dog. I love the family I grew up in. I love my in law family. I love the friends that have become my family. I am so blessed that I have them. So very grateful.

I know some of them are silly, but I truly am thankful. I really do have a great life, and I'm grateful that I can see how blessed I am, even thru all the struggle we've had.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING.

Halloween

Happy Halloween!

I love Halloween. And now that I have cute little boys, especially now that Danger is totally getting into it, it's even funner! I love dressing up, and dressing the boys up.

I love the candy, eating it, trick or treating, and even handing it out.

I love the parties, the games, the food, the themes. I love Jack o lanterns and roasted pumpkin seeds. I love the smell of leaves. 

I do NOT love haunted houses. I used to enjoy them, depending on who I went with- you know, some people make it funny.

I don't like zombies at all. Ugh. I can't....I just totally can't even go there. My brain doesn't let anything go. I see something and it's in there FOR-EVER! And I'm imaginative. So my brain takes it and explodes it into all kinds of totally unrealistic, unreasonable, irrational crap. Ugh. Just ugh.

I LOVE my boys and how excited Danger is for Halloween, it took a bit to explain it to him, but oh man. Now it's all he talks about!

We've gone to a trunk or treating at a car dealership, it was a lot of fun. They played a bunch of games, there was a bounce house. Danger loved it.  

We carved pumpkins. We did not roast the seeds this year, I have too much going on, and I didn't want to mess with it. 

Our church put on a Halloween party and chili cookoff. I made a big batch of chili and I made some of the Blob Monster cream puffs. These cream puffs are technically pretty easy. And I rather enjoy making them. Danger "helped" by watching. He loves it. 

I'll try to get a picture of my boys dressed up. Danger is a knight. The Colonel is a dragon. I'm their Princess. 

Thursday Nap 4-11

Well, hello again.

Nap times are a cherished thing around here. Whenever Shark is around, he and Danger take naps together.

When Shark is at work, Danger naps while I try to do something around the house.

Keyword : TRY

Anyways, today here is what I tried to accomplish.

Taxes. We've had our taxes done for over a month... We have already got our Federal return back, but we had to mail in our payment to the State. Which means I had to print out our State forms, which I have been totally slacking on.

So I printed out our completed return, and got the check ready to mail out. Too bad the mail man came 20 minutes early today....

Taxes for next year. Yes. I know I'm a planner, but I'm not that good. This year, my taxes are going to be a little different. I need to prepay on my taxes for my babysitting job. So I had to print out those forms.

More forms. One of my goals is to write up a living will. So I printed out those forms today too. Shark and I will start working on those forms on his next weekend.

Christmas. Yes, I am already working on this year's Christmas gift. I've got it all planned out, expect for a few people's gifts. Shark has 2 months where he gets a 3rd paycheck. Those months are so awesome! And I've already been talking to Shark about how we are going to allocate that "extra income." Here's the plan, some of the "extra" paycheck from the 1st month goes to Christmas, and some goes to registering our cars. (We NEVER plan for registering our cars!) The 2nd month's "extra" income is partly going to Christmas and partly going to our trip this Christmas, we're heading back to WI for Christmas with grandma and grandpa.

Shark says he likes it when our Christmas budget doesn't hit our bank account all at once. It hurts the money bone much less when the Christmas budget hits a bit at a time. Also, it's one of my goals to make and keep a Christmas budget. :) We shall see.

Yeah - so nap time was good time for me. I like getting things figured out.

I'm also pretty excited about Christmas this year. I mean, I'm excited every year. I'm excited to get/make gifts for each individual person on my list. I love finding THAT gift for them. I'm also planning on making quite a few things for people. This year, I've planned to only get/make a few things per person. It seems like every year I plan to only get each person a few things, and I always end up going over the top. I keep finding things for them, so I keep buying things for them. I feel like I'm being a cheapskate for only getting people 1 or 2 things.

 But this year, we are trying to get out of debt and save money. So this year we're pretty freaking serious about sticking to our holiday budget. Sorry everyone, but it's going to be a few things this year, like 1 or 2. Seriously.

But you're probably going to like it. You better!

Like I said, I'm excited about getting presents for people! I find things specifically for YOU!

Yay! Anyways, that's been my day so far. Just chilling with my little guy. We've been dancing to all kinds of music lately. That little guy loves getting his groove on. Too bad he stops dancing as soon as I pull out my camera. I'll try to get some footage of it soon!

Love to all -

Thursday Nap 4.4

So, since I usually have Thursday free and I want to blog weekly at least, I figured I could put something kinda constructive into my Thursdays - rather than just watching TV and eating chips.

Danger's napping so the timing is perfect!

This past week has been pretty run of the mill.

We did kind of go on a spending spree. Ugh. I know.

I'm such a hypocrite! I sit here and complain about money and not being able to skrimp and save. But then we register the boat, get used tires on the boat trailer, we bought some (cheap!) seasons of Survivor, and I HAD to buy my Mother's Day present early.

Ok, the boat - I put it under Shark's Father's Day present. That boat has been sitting on the side of our house since we moved here. Not working. Every winter it fills up with snow and ice, then every spring it drains into the boat and thru it. He's excited cuz the boat works now! Yayay!

Survivor - I started watching Survivor again, and freaking fell in LOVE with it! It's so awesome and then I had to get Shark in on it. It's now a show we LOVE together! There are a few seasons on Hulu, well, once those seasons were over, we bought some seasons on Amazon Instant Video. Well - no more are left on AIV, so we had to buy some. You know, we HAD TO!!

My Mother's Day present this year is baby books. We only have 1 little guy, but I want all my kids to have the same book, and I don't have a baby book for Danger yet. Well, I have a beautiful 1st Year Memories book my aunt made, but I want books that have more than 1 year. The books I picked out are 1-5 years, they have a family tree page. AND these weren't too expensive, I've been looking at memory books for a while, and they can be anywhere from $16-60! I want all my kids' books to be the same, so I bought 4, we're planning on having 4 kids. :)

SO yeah....

Last weekend was fun. Friday night the whole family went to Wendover for a buffet. Shark's brother got free buffet tickets. So we all headed over Friday after Shark got off of work.

We got home around 2 am, so we slept in Saturday morning, and did NOT make it to any Easter egg hunts. Saturday was just an easy relaxing day. After Danger was in bed that night, I put some candy in some plastic eggs and hid them for the little guy. As soon as Danger figured out there was goodies inside and there were more than 2, he got so excited.

I picked the black and mint green suit for him for Easter. And he was such a stud muffin at Church.

At Shark's parent's house he played with bubbles and his bug magnifier. And he ate TONS of candy! It was a fun Easter for him! He's been pretty cute signing MORE and PLEASE all week!

We sure do love that little man.

Christmas 2012 photo dump

So, this year for Christmas, I didn't photo document my gifts as well as I have in the past. I bought a lot more than I have in the past, as well .

One thing I made this year, (that totally rocked!) was Ninja Turtle hats, with a mask that folds down over the eyes! I made one for Shark and his 3 siblings. They used to play Ninja Turtles growing up, they were each one of them, and Shark's dad made them all their own weapons. So I crocheted them hats! They loved them!

This year, my big thing I made for (almost) everyone, was Hogwarts House scarves. I made some Hufflepuff, Gryffindor, Slytherin, and Ravenclaw. I made some of each, and I'm pretty sure they all loved them.

I also made sports team glasses. I found out which team they liked and I etched the team logo onto the cups. Pretty sure they loved those too.

I made an awesome plate for the grandparents (Shark's and mine).

 

(I'll post a pic once they all get it!!)

 

I made this freaking cute shirt for Danger cuz I realized he didn't have any Christmas shirt.

 

And now for the photo dump!

 So much cheese!

 Danger and Aunt!

 By the Power of Gray Skull!

Yeah man!

 Christmas!!

 

 scarf!

 shake shake shake

Little Man has started to make a CHEESE face when I get the camera out. Even if I'm just moving it from the shelf to the diaper bag! He toddles over with his huge CHEESY smile on his face. He squints his eyes up and has this big huge freaking grin! He's so stinking cute.

It's been so much fun discovering his little personality and finding out who he is. He loves buttons, and flicking switches. He loves shaking anything that makes noise. He also loves destroying things. But he's super cute when he's destroying things. For the most part, he only destroys his cheap dollar store toys. :)

We had a very Merry Christmas! We hope you all did as well. Happy New Year! Love to all!