Things I loved this week...

1. Making a fun witchy craft. And FINALLY decorated for Halloween.


2. Getting a letter from Nelnet saying that they paid off the rest of my student loan! I have been paying on this forever. It was such a small amount each month with such a low interest rate so it was never at the top of priorities. Can you believe that they just paid it off? What company does that???


3. Going on a field trip with Kaylee's class. We went to Cornbelly's at Thanksgiving Point. Besides the corn maze, we had a great time. Something about being in a corn maze really freaks me out. After a little while the kids didn't like it either.

4. I had some time to kill the other day, so Kade and I went to the pet store. I absolutely fell in love with this little puppy. Its a good thing I don't' allow pets because I might have considered getting this one.

5. I went and worked out this week. And yes, I just admitted that I loved it. It kicked my butt and I am still VERY VERY sore, but it felt good to work my body like that. I have had the advantage for the past 2 1/2 years of being on a headache medicine that doesn't make me hungry and made me lose weight. Well my medications have changed and now lucky me, I'm on a medicine that makes me gain weight and makes me crave doughnuts, cookies, candy, etc. The second I walked in the door from a great workout this is what I poured myself...

A giant DR PEPPER (so much for the calories I had just burned off.)


6. I sent off a big shipment of watches to Montana. Mike's sister has agreed to help me sell watches to all her friends. Although the watch market is a little populated here in Utah, Montana hasn't hit that big trend yet. It's a great new thing to them.



7. We took the kids to the pumpkin patch. We ended up not actually getting pumpkins there because they were too pricey. But we got some good pictures, and some not so good pictures.

8. Date night with my hubby!


9. Doing one service a day for the whole week. Hopefully it made those people a little happier. Cause I know it made me feel a little bit better


10. Today is regional conference, so that means a nice relaxing day!!


And number 1 on the list of things I did not love (believe me their were a lot more things that I didn't love, this just topped the list.

Brayden's team lost their first game today. So sad! The boys were very disappointed.

Happy Halloween

More pic's from the Pumpkin Patch

Kaylee, Kaylee, Kaylee...

Kaylee has this little bully in her class that has for some reason decided to pick on Kaylee. Kaylee has such a tender heart and she is so upset everyday about this. I've told her to talk to the girl and tell her that it hurts her feelings. But, Kaylee is so worried that it might her the other girls feelings if she talks to her about it. I've told her that this girl is probably jealous of her and that's why she does it. So instead of talking to the girl I guess she has figured out another way to deal with it. Here was our conversations this morning as I was doing her hair.

Kaylee: I am really going to make ______ jealous today. My hair is so pretty today. I just keep getting prettier and prettier. Soon ______ will be SO jealous of me.

Me: You are a pretty girl but you can't be a snot like her, or soon your friends won't want to be around you.

Kaylee: I just want to be pretty. What else could I do to make myself prettier? Could I put make-up on today cause then I would REALLY look pretty.

Me: NO, makeup is just for dress up and besides you don't need makeup to make yourself look pretty.

Kaylee: (she takes a good long look at me in the mirror.) Well Mom, makeup sure makes you A LOT prettier.

NOTE: I had messy bed head and no make up. In fact I probably still had sleep lines on my face.

So, here is a picture of her today. I sure hope her beauty doesn't make anybody jealous. She had to add her necklace for an extra beautiful touch.

Here is another picture of Kaylee with her black eye. As you can tell from the picture it's hardly noticeable. But she was so upset that she was going to have to go to school like that. She was sure nobody would think she was pretty.

How vain can one child be?

New Watches...

Here are some of the new watches I have. If anybody is interested in placing an order for Christmas email me at frvrnlv@hotmail.com. You can click on the watch link on the right side of my blog for more designs.

PTC

We had Parent Teacher Conference tonight for both the kids. As a parent I think you're always a little apprehensive about going (nobody wants to hear negative feedback about their kids.) But I had nothing to be worried about, both of their teachers had great things to say. Here are some of the things their teachers said about them.

Kaylee-
*She is very kind and helpful to the other kids.
*The teacher said that Kaylee just makes her happy. She comes into class so energized and ready for the day. She also will come up to her a few times during the day and just want to chat.
*She is very respectful and listens to the teacher.
* She doesn't like to fail or be behind in something. Therefore she pushes herself to always do better.
*She is becoming more confident when it comes to reading and writing.
*She is a little behind on her reading so we are really going to focus on this area (me and her teacher.) The teacher sent home some extra things I can do with Kaylee to help this along.
*She has nice handwriting and does well with Creative Writing.

I loved this PTC because 1.) I just love her teacher and 2.) She was very informative in her critiques and ideas. So overall everything is going well with Kaylee and school. Mike and I decided Kaylee will always do well with a nice, sweet, girl teacher. We just need to figure out how to get rid of this boy that keeps kissing her at recess! She acts distraught about it, but doesn't seem to be telling him to stop (I think she likes the attention.) She's a little too young to be dealing with boys!

Brayden-
*His teacher said he loved his energy. This was so good to hear because he got in trouble everyday last year because of this very reason.
*He said although he has a lot of energy, it never gets out of control. He is also very respectful when the teacher asks him to stop.
*He participates well in class. He usually has hand up every time the teacher asks a question.
*He is very kind and helpful to the kids (this was a compliment given by one of the other parents.)
*He is doing really well in math. He has been placed in the highest 3rd grade math class.
*He is also doing really well in reading. He just needs to work on the speed of his reading.
*He has loved learning about history. They are currently learning about Romans and Greeks. He came home the other day and asked if he could do a little research and write a report about the Romans and Greeks. I helped him find some resources on the Internet and sure enough he printed out a 2 page report....just for fun.

Some of the things I loved about his PTC was 1.) I didn't get ANY negative feedback and 2.) I was able to express my gratitude for the change that has happened to Brayden this year. His teacher has had a HUGE impact on him this year. Brayden loves being in class and loves school. Mike and I decided that Brayden will probably always do better with a male teacher (he had one in Kindergarten and did awesome then as well.) We were also able to get some more info about guitars and guitar lessons. Hopefully soon this is something that Brayden can start doing.

Good job guys! I am so happy and proud to be your momma today!

A glimpse at our life lately...

*We had a chance to go out with my primary presidency and their husbands. It was a fun night and we went to my favorite place, Texas Roadhouse. A night of friends, eating and no kids is always a great time!

*Mike and I had our ten year reunion. Their wasn't a very good turnout and the food was mediocre. Mike was a good sport and hung out with me and my girlfriends. Their husbands all stayed home to watch football. We felt as if we were in high school again. We had no kids and we went to a late night movie afterwards. I can't tell you how long it's been since I have gone to a late show. It was fun just being with him.

A glimpse of me and some of my friends 10 years ago...

Thanks Lindsay for the pictures:)

Here's us now. A few girls were a year younger then us but it seemed weird not having them there. They were a part of all of our high school memories.

Katie, Me, Sunny, Betsy, Diana, Lindsay, and Allison

Brayden is still busy with soccer and loving every minute of it! He is doing so well in school and LOVES going everyday. He has shown a interest in so many subjects and truly enjoys learning. His teacher has started teaching some kids guitar lessons. This is something that he really wants to start doing. I guess he will have a new hobby soon...if Santa agrees with this.

Kaylee is a social butterfly! She loves making new friends and making sure everybody is happy at recess. She just learned to tie her shoes and she lost another tooth. Her reading is progressing a lot and loves to read Junie B. Jones books with me before bed.

I think Kade has given up on life at the age of 3. He is totally OBSESSED with sweat pants. He wants to wear "cold pants" (that's what he calls them because he puts them on when he is cold) or jammies all day, everyday. I tried to get him excited about some new jeans I bought for him. He said, "Thanks Mom, but I wear my cold pants today." He still is loving school. Fortunately we haven't had any "teacher visits" yet. So I guess he is behaving himself.

I am in a weird place right now. I'm not quite sure what to do with my extra time. I have spent the last 8 1/2 years devoting ALL my time to changing diapers, wiping snotty noses, getting the kids a drink when they are thirsty, reading stories, playing games, putting out arguments, etc, etc. So many people told me to enjoy my kids because they grow so fast. I totally didn't believe them and couldn't wait for some ME time while they were in school. Now my days are so quiet and I kind of feel lost. I need something to direct my energy to. Hopefully soon I can figure out what I'm supposed to do with my time. I am staying busy making watches, working on primary, catching up on my shows at night, hanging out with my hubby, and trying to enjoy the moments.

Mike is staying busy with work. He has recently been called to work in the young men's. He has loved working with the boys. He is always so kind to take Brayden to soccer so I don't have to wait in the cold. He is constantly helping me out and lifting my spirits (ex. laundry, dishes, dinner, making lunches, bathing the kids, massages, dates, and flowers.) I couldn't do it without him.

Other then that, our life is quite boring right now. I am loving the change in seasons! I love cuddling up with a blanket and a warm bowl of soup. I love being in comfy warm clothes sitting by a heater (maybe this is where Kade gets the sweats thing from?) Life is....life right now.

Hope...

I loved this. If you have a second take the time to watch this short clip.

We all go through difficult times in our lives. When going through a trial, no matter how big or small, it seems as if the world has collapsed. This was a great reminder to always have hope.

Miley...

Tuesday night I had the chance to take Kaylee to the Miley Cyrus concert. She has been so excited, patiently awaiting the day. I was able to take advantage of a one day sale on the tickets and only paid $16.50 per ticket. We had a great time with friends and Kaylee enjoyed the concert. It was nice to have a GIRLS NIGHT!

This is Kaylee totally envisioning herself actually standing next to Miley.

Kaylee is the best person to take to a concert. She was up dancing and singing the WHOLE time. I think she was more entertaining then the actual concert. Unfortunately Miley was sick and so she had to keep leaving the stage to throw up (I assume that's what she was doing.) And because she was sick, the concert wasn't that great. Her throat must have been scratchy because she didn't sound like herself. Despite it being a bad concert, I was happy we went. Kaylee loved every second and didn't notice that anything was wrong.

Randomness....

Our life has been pretty boring lately. But here and there we have a few random moments that have stuck out to me.

1. Lately I have had more time to myself then I am used to having. I thought this would be a good thing. But without the kids here to distract me I no longer have an excuse to why the house is a mess, the laundry isn't done, dinner isn't on the table etc, etc. AND I now feel guilty taking a nap. HELP! I need my kids back, I can't handle all this responsibility!


2. Kaylee is loving life right now. She just started dance. Can you imagine? A whole hour that she gets to stare at herself in the mirror!


3. Kade is totally obsessed with sugar. For breakfast, lunch, dinner or anytime in between he is asking for a treat. His new thing is to find a soda can and ask me if he can have a Coca-COOOLA. We don't even drink Coke in this house so I'm not sure where he heard Coca-COOOLA.

4. I have a child that is 8 living in my house but I'm not really sure who he is. He wakes up every morning gets dressed, gets breakfast and he is just singing and dancing around the house. He sings, "I'm SOOOO excited for school today." I think it's Brayden, but Brayden has ALWAYS hated school! I will thank his teacher for the amazing transformation, and I will enjoy his good mood in the morning (Now I just need it to rub off on me.)

5. Kaylee is enjoying the opportunity of meeting new friends at school. The other day she came and said that her friend had lost her lunch box at school and didn't have anything to eat. She said she just knew she wouldn't be able to eat what I packed for her so she split it up and shared it with her friend. Then that night she prayed for her friend to find her lunch box. Either she was worried she would have to share her lunch again, or she just really is that sweet and prays for EVERY little thing!

6. This just made me smile....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EYAUazLI9k
I would love to be a part of something like this.

7. Oh ya, and this too... This picture was taken like 2 maybe even 3 years ago, but I laugh everytime I see it. This is the kind of destruction that happens when I decide I need a nap. She isn't upset in this picture because I was yelling at her. She's just upset at herself for making a bad choice.

8. Mike and I get to go to our 10 year high school reunion this weekend. Go CHHS!!! Mike doesn't really see this as a privilege. Honestly, I don't really either I just want to see what people look like.


9. In about 2 weeks it will be 3 years that I have been serving in Primary. I have been able to work with so many amazing people and I have learned SO much. We get to go out tomorrow night and celebrate with my awesome presidency at my favorite place....Texas Roadhouse.


10. Sister Matsumori from the General Primary Presidency was in the same temple session as I was in today. It was neat seeing her. I kept turning around looking at her like she was some celebrity or something. I wanted to ask her for her autograph:) BTW I love the Oquirhh Mountain Temple.

Labor Day

We spent Labor Day in Good 'ole Park City. We had a great time. It was an awesome way to celebrate the weekend. We started out by celebrating my Dad's birthday on Friday. I had bought a big chocolate cake from Costco. *Note to self-Don't purchase this cake ever again.* I had a couple of bites and that was enough to make me sick the rest of the night. In fact I think it made a few of us sick. It was so rich and chocolatey I don't think we could handle it (weak stomach's...i know.) We had a sweet hotel room at The Silver King. We could have just stayed in the hotel and the kids would have been happy. They had a blast checking out all the cool things it had to offer like "sweet lamps," beds, showers and tiny little bottles of shampoo. Can you believe we got to stay at such a cool hotel? Actually it was really nice it was just funny listening to them talk about all the little basic things that they thought were so "cool!"

Saturday morning we went on a beautiful hike. I was a little worried about my endurance and wondered if I could make it. Then I figured if I was making my 8, 6, and 3 year old go on it I better toughen up. It ended up not being so bad. Kaylee and Kade only had to be carried on the way down. Afterwards we spent the rest of the day at Park City Mountain Resort riding the Alpine Slide and the Alpine Coaster. The kids loved bouncing on the tramp and rock climbing. Mike and a few other people ended up doing the zip line as well.

Sunday we went on a bike ride. Do you know how long it's been since I've been on a bicycle? The trail was flat so I thought this is a breeze. We got going and I was LOVING it! Well, I guess I didn't notice we were going slightly downhill and the wind was at our back. I kept encouraging us to go on further. Finally my Dad said we should turn around. Thankfully he did! It was brutal. I decided I am truly an out of shape wimp. Afterwards we checked out the Farmers Market they have on Main Street. It was fun to walk around and see everyone's booths, not much to offer though.

We also had a great time staying up playing games, eating yummy carmel corn, and swimming in the pool. Thanks Dad and Laura for a great weekend!