Halloween....ish?

So we're in the car yesterday and Hailey was talking about all things Halloween.
Asking questions on whether this or that were more Halloween-ish than the next and so on.

Then she bursts out "Mom...Is it more Halloweener time?"

I bust up laughing.

1) I had no clue what she was even talking about and
2) Halloweener? Where the heck did that word come from?

yah... my kids are cool like that. lol

Little Boys

One of the best things to me is watching my baby get bigger and more like a little person. He tries so hard to catch up with the 3 older ones, that he really doesn't have time to be by himself all that much. (which isn't a bad thing)

But the other day, I heard him from the other room, so I had to check it out. This is what he was doing....

He had pulled out all of Kaylebs' little play figures and was making his own fighting noises. Yes... he's 1... and is already making his own noises. lol

Then he caught me taking pictures and decided it was a game...lol

He is such a little man..... I love moments like these. :)

Fun Times

I went to my friends house last week and did a photoshoot of her ADORABLE baby. She is seriously one of the cutest and happiest babies ever! I loved taking pictures of her...I do believe I'll do it again shortly too....just because. lol

go check out her cuteness on my photography blog :)

Tween anxiety

Yes... you heard right. My oldest is ONLY 7 (close to 8) and I'm experiencing the whole tween anxiety already.

She's a little ball of fire and attitude and I am already loathing the day she actually turns into a REAL teen.

that being said- I have proof.

Take one look at this picture.

If this look doesn't prove miss attitude saying "whatever mom.. get out of my face"... i don't know what does. lol

But then I said "snap out of it goofball... i need a good picture"

Then this is what happened....

The little booger knows how to turn it on and off like that.

And even though she is (as my mom would put it) "just like me"..... i love her dearly. She truly is too fun and growing up way too fast.

My Photography Blog

Yes.. I've done it. I FINALLY have my photography blog done. The link is in the side bar... still have a few pics to upload, but it's done for the most part.

Feels good to have that out of the way- it's been on the list of things to do for like... EVER. :)

BTW....I saw this yesterday- I totally want to do my boys room just like this. how can you not be happy in a room like this? just thought I'd share. lol

Canyon Fieldtrip

The older kids got to go on filed trips up the canyon with school and Mia was incredibly jealous. SHe wanted to go on a fieldtrip too, so we packed up the bags and took one ourselves.

We went up to Bridal Veil Falls and hit the trail. It was so gorgeous! I missed the fall trees last year, so I was determined to get them this year. Here is just one mountain side... so pretty right?

there's a nice river and a bridge, tons of leaves, rocks, and other outdoor schtuff. lol Jayce is scared of water... hates baths, pools... you name it. so the fact that he took interest in the river was crazy to me. he didn't get too close though... it still scared him. lol he was just so stinkin' cute... he had to walk, just like Mia.

then we made it to the waterfalls. the little pool at the bottom is like 5 inches... but it is the clearest, cleanest water you will ever see. How would you like to drink some of that? YUM! lol

Jayce started getting cranky near the end. he wanted out of the stroller... and then wanted to push it. lol...

Fun times. :)

Face Painting

my friend Kayla is a prof. face painter. She's been doing it for over 10 years and is amazing!

So she came over the other day to teach me how to do it... it was TONS of fun. We obviously used the kids... who loved it too. lol

So here's what happened:

Hailey (done by Kayla)

Next came Mia: (my first attempt- and the pic is horrible.. she wouldn't hold still lol)

And then came Kayleb: (my second attempt. Don't ask... he's the one that wanted to be scary. I even scared myself doing it. lol)

And here's the whole group. Aren't they goofy?

So watch out Utah County... if you need face painters- let me know.... we'll totally come and do it for ya :)

PS

My sister and I started up a new blog called Sisters' Chic. It's a blog about home decor and DIY decor. Be sure to check it out!

Fun Times Anyone?

I'm tired of not having the scrappy friends I was so used to having down in Savannah. (I MISS YOU GUYS!!!)

Sooo... I'm taking matters into my own hands now.
I'm gonna start up a scrapbook group to meet once a month and PARTAY. lol
If you are in or around the Utah County area and are interested, please email me or leave a comment here with contact information. I'd like to ideally get it started this month- so the sooner I have a response, the better.

If you have any friends who live in the area, let them know too... cause I need (more) friends people!!!

I need creative motivation..... so sign up!!! :)
spanx :)-

Flash Mob

Ever heard of one? me neither...lol

Until this past weekend up at my parents house- they showed one to me. SUpposedly Oprah ahd a surprise Flash mob on her premiere show with the Black Eyed Peas... it was AWESOME.
so....

to help a out a little, I've inlcuded the 3 best flash mob links for you to enjoy.. seriously- it's so cool... i wanna be in one!

The T-Mobile Flash Mob
Sound of Music Flash Mob
Oprah Flash Mob

aren't they sooooo cool? :)

What the???

Look what I found in my yard yesterday.....




I mean... seriously? Never had them, don't want them... how to get rid of them?
Pulled them out...threw them away.... EEEEEWWWWW.

they make for some great pictures though huh? lol

Potatoe Trip!

Now that we are back West, we get to participate in the annual Bradley Family Potatoe festivities. And by "festivities"... I mean, we get to sit in the back of a truck for a couple hours and bag potatoes. lol

The funniest thing about this year was that my two oldest weren't interested, so they lasted a whole 5 minutes. That, and unlike last year, Jayce was old enough to enjoy it this year.. and he totally did. (if you couldn't tell by the pics)

Just thought I'd share the fun times had by all this past weekend. Have I mentioned yet how HAPPY I am to be back in the West near family and friends? I absolutely LOVE it here!!!

Conversation

Here's the conversation that took place this morning with this little munchkin:

Me: Mia, what do you want to be for halloween?

Mia: a angel because they fly

Me: they do?

Mia: yah- I like flying. I fly high in the sky with my parents

Me: Your parent fly? who are you parents?

Mia: Susie and Erella. Susie is the girl and Erella is the boy. They're my parents.

Me: Oh really? and they fly high in the sky huh?

Mia: Yup. up so high they get in the hot lava with water.

Me: oh dear.... not the hot lava.

Mia: Yah. hot lava is scary and it gives me bad dreams.

Me: well Hot lava isn't nice is it?

Mia: I had a bad dream last night about chickens.

Me: I'm sorry baby. And what was so scary about chickens?

Mia: They were nice and happy to me.

Seriously... I will never know where she gets this stuff. Apparently, if you ask my 3 year old one question, it will lead to about 30 other things and she'll end on a completely different note than what you started. lol

I love this girl!

PS...anyone know how to shrink the header border? I want it to fit around my header or be completely gone.... i'm lost on the HTML...lol

It's a Flippin' Miracle!

Alas....the creative gods finally decided to show their good graces on me and (hold your breath folks)..... I SCRAPBOOKED. *SHOCK*

I know.

You can pick your jaws off the floor now. lol

So here's the result:

And another fun thing....

My little boy done grown up and lost a toof. lol- his first tooth came out just today- and here's the goofy grin to prove it.

good times......

Little Man's Baseball Bat

My baby is fond of the baseball bat we have. We got it for Kayleb when he was 2...... hasn't been used much except for the occasional weapon. (not by us.... my son..lol)

So here's the story of his "friend" the other day.... it was so cute.

He dropped it in the pool on purpose- but because he HATES water... he refused to get it out. So he just walked away. lol

He's such a nut- I love the little guy. :)

New Do

I was so flippin sick of my nasty hair... I snapped today. lol

i called and made an apt. to get my hair cut and 2 hours later.... this is what I came out with.

I LOVE IT.

Why oh why do I make myself go through that horrid "hate my hair" phase several times a year? at least it's over for now.

cute huh? :)

now this crazy storm blew in last night. This picture was taken just west of my house.... what it typically looks like at dusk.

then if you turned immediately to the east... this is what you saw......

it was creeping over the mountains like this giant dark monster that wanted to eat you alive. lol

seriously... one second it was all bright and sunshiny.. then the next second it was dark and creepy. The color was the creepiest part... it was a wierd shade of yellow/green. Luckily...we survived. It was just a good rain storm with wind. :)

just thought I'd share the latest..... lol

Need an Update?

Maybe.....but only because i don't write on here often enough. It's def. in the goals to update more often- i promise!

So here's the lowwdown.....

I spent the last month traveling again. This time it was to Tulsa, OK, Charlotte, NC, and Somerset, NJ. Each trip was a blast of course, but it took a serious toll on my knee. after the last trip, I just about died of pain- so it was a good thing i scheduled the surgery.

I had surgery on Sept. 2. Yes... the date changed. but it was good. I wasn't nervous at all- the anesthesia knocked me out good and they loaded me up on 3 doses of morphine afterwards (I was high as a kite... I might add) . But things went well, nothing else was found and everything was repaired.
I was up and walking on my leg just 1 hour after surgery and it hasn't been too bad since either.
Post 1 week surgery: I'm moving around pretty easily. My knee feels like it's going to give out every now and again. Stairs are still hard and kneeling down is not even an option yet, but there's no pain and i doubt I'l have any scars. I had a wonderful doctor and as soon as I'm completely pain free.... i'm sure i'll love him more. lol

So things are good. :)

Kids started school- they love it thank heavens! Me too.... summer is so stressful for me, but this one again esp. since we had to move yet again. But we're all happy, healthy, and things are going very well for us now!

So.... do i have pics of the house... of course! do i have them on the computer yet? of course not! lol.... because i'm still a loser. I've taken the pics, I've got them... just not on the computer yet and I'll totally get them up by the end of the week I swear. I do still love my house and the fact that i have the best family ever and they have come down to help us a few times is just awesome.

So I'll leave you with a funny:

Mia comes up to Rick last night with a sad/guilty look on her face and says
"Daddy, I'm really sorry... but I ate your lipstick."
Rick: "You did? where is it?"
Mia: "Right here. I'm really sorry daddy."

she then pulls out his chapstick and true to her word.... looked like it had been eaten completely gone. lol
(and no... she hasn't felt sick or anything)

gotta love the kiddos!
toodles!

We're in our new house!!!

We have moved and we are officially in our new house! It's totally adorable. Painted it all cute(thanks to my awesome mom and dad) and things are good! Getting settled and looking forward to school starting and whatnot. Kids start school on the 20th and then I'll focus more on decorating the house and having fun there. Plus, I have 3 more trips I'm doing this month... so if you are in the area's of North Carolina, Oklahoma, and Minnesota... totally need to hook up.

Once i get internet, I'll post pics of the place--- just letting you all know that we're in and good! :)

Result: The knee

See this nice little drawing? Well.... this my friends... is what has happened to my knee. DOn't know how, don't know why.... it just did. It's a typical sports injury, but I don't play sports... so figure that one out. lol

anyway- on top of the tear of the meniscus, I have a cyst growing there as well. AND THEN... I have tight tendons on the right side of my knee that got pulled or stretched or something and the way to fix that is by a cortisone shot and physical therapy.

And he says we can wait to get it fixed, but if I don't, I run the risk of the cyst growing even more and the tear becoming worse. I have to have surgery to fix it regardless of when it happens. This my friends... it what also causes arthiritis of the knee. If left untreated, you can get the worse case of arthirtis possible. SOOOOO... you can guess how much I'd like to have that happen. lol

So the prognosis..... Surgery on Sept. 4 for the tear and the cyst... and the cortisone shot. (I've heard that they hurt like the mother... so I opted to have it done while I was under lol) Then after a few days of doing nothing, I then have to go through "extensive physical therapy working on the calf, knee, and hip".

I'm not too excited about all that, but anything is better than this pain I'mgoing through. I have good days and bad days...mostly bad days. It was so painful last night, it felt like y whole leg was going to fall off! I was lugging boxes yesterday and i guess I overdid it.

so I ask the Dr. what I should avoid.... "don't be doing heavy lifting or running/walking too much. Avoid unstable terrain."

Oh.... you mean like going camping for the weekend and then moving the next weekend?

Right....... lol

Things are GOOD!

Ok... so as of last thursday, we have a HOUSE! and here's the best news... it's still in the kids' school boundaires- so no school switiching!

this was such a HUGE blessing. here's how it went down...

Hailey has this best friend who lives 3 blocks up from us. they were in the same class and were begging to play together. so in December (last year) she snuck around and finally got to a point where we (me and the other girls' parents) had no choice but to meet and let these girls play.

long story short.... they become BFFs and her mother and I become fast friends. so over the course of the last *almost* year... we've done a lot together.

now, because they live on this street, they know hat this guy is getting married and is wantingto rent out his house, but hasn't posted it anywhere. So she mentions that we are looking for a place and talks us up and whatnot. She then tells me the information, I call the guy, and within 4 days, we got it!

here's the blessing part: we needed a house big enough for our family in the same school and a nice neighborhood- no busy streets. what we got: EVERYTHING and more! we are exactly 3 houses down from said BFF and couldn' tbe happier!

so YAY! now that our looking is FINALLY over- we move in 1.5 weeks i'm getting bored. lol I've packed up everything that can be packed in my house already and i'm just sitting here waiting. since we're only going 3 blocks up, i figure i don't have to pack clothes, just take them out fo the closet and transfer them to the next, etc. and everything we don't use... it's already packed up in storage. SOOOOOO..... i'm just cleaning and cleaning and cleaning.... biding my time. lol

but here's a little something I made to hang up in my dining room... it's not completely finished, and i'll def. post pics of when it is- but you'll get the general idea of what it is.

on another note...

My knee has been botherig me for about a month now. Don't know what made it hurt, but it does. I think back... when i was a junior, my dad and I got in a car accident and it screwed up my knee. ever since then, i've had occasional pain- but nothing major and nothingi can't handle. Until this past month.

i finally went to the dr. last week and based on his tests he did in the office, his assumption was that i had torn cartlidge. it's cause by blunt trauma....(but i can't think of any blunt trauma that hppened) and can only be repiared by surgery. yah... you heard. SURGERY.

It's gotten to the point where I can't kneel down, bending my knee is almost out of the question, and I wake up at night because of pain.

SO i had Xrays done last week, bones are all good, nothing broken, so now I have to get an MRI done tomorrow to see what cartlidge/muscle damage there may be. I also meet with the oprthopaedic surgeon tomorrow to discuss how to move forward.

then I went to Lagoon (a local theme park) with my hubby on saturday. Yah... i should've just shot myself in the foot because i think it just made my knee 10 times worse. *sigh*

so there's prospective excitement coming up on top of yet another move. lol I'll keep you posted on that as well.

anyway- gotta get ready for the big family reunion happening this weekend. haven't been in about 5 years... should be fun times!

toodles!

Just letting you know....

still no house. I've been calling and calling and nothing. we're crossing our fingers to hear back today. In the mean time... i'm packing and cleaning and hoping that our small storage unit can be packed to the max... cause heaven knows I don't want to live amongst boxes for longer than I have to. lol
Ill keep ya'll posted on what (if anything) happens. :)