New Years Resolutions 2011

FINALLY! I have not taken the time to sit down and write down my resolutions for this year yet...er...shall I say I have not been motivated to do it cause I know it is my officall "put me to work" list...and once I make the list...I get going!!

So I was thinking about my birthday tomorrow...and I was thinking of how one of my friends posted a "32 things I want to do before I'm 32" list and it was So.Cool. So I kind of incorporated my New Years List with some just plain old things I want to do this year and thought if I made them more of a goal then I would be more likely to do them. So don't mind that some of them arent really resolutions, just hopeful plans!

There are, of course, a few things I am NOT posting because it is just plain old too personal...but here is most of my 2011 New Years Resolutions!

Lose final 8 pounds to have my “body fat” percentage within the range I want (although I am trying for this, I am not going to beat myself up either cause I'm pretty happy with how I look and feel right now)

Run a half marathon (or at least be signed up and training by the end of the year)

Play racquetball with my husband, several times at least...and maybe some tennis too

Make a quilt for me (not one that I give away as a gift to someone else)

Pray more

Read the Book of Mormon

Read more to the kids

Be more patient

Watch less tv and/or just have the tv on less in the background

Have a super awesome family vacation

Try realllllly hard not to yell or raise my voice at the kids no matter what!

Get my whole family involved in service to others

Organize my Wipey Case office MUUUUCH better

Go through/clean out all kids tubs of clothes from all ages, as well as my old clothes, maternity clothes, clothes that don’t fit and make piles for DI, giving away and keeping.

Super organize the kitchen

Super organize the basement

Clean, organize and power-wash the garage

Seal the countertops and floors in the kitchen again

Gut out the playroom- donate/get rid of all unplayed with and/or unnecessary toys and books

Make an official homework/study space for Kyler

Make new chore charts for the kids since Keaton ruined their other ones

Make a new FHE chart

--That's it for now...although I may add a thing or two here or there, this is the jist of my projects and goals for the year...wish me luck! Hope you are all having fun with yours!

Profound Moments in Life

Hello there friends. I know I have neglected you so. Cause I know I have a kazillion friends that read my blog right?! HA! I have felt empty as far as what to write about these days...or rather I didn't feel ready to write about anything because inside my head I was bursting at the seams with deep thoughts.

Rather than share all my personal experiences that have happened over the last few weeks, I will simply tell you this. I have a deep, close, personal relationship right now with the Lord. I have a long ways to go, don't get me wrong. But he and I have been talking lately- about a few things. And what I can tell YOU, my dear friends and readers, is that he answered my prayers very strongly on some things I was wondering about. These aren't life changing things- these were simply things that I was insecure about...things I wasn't sure if I should do or not. And what do you know? The Lord answered my prayers and gave me the confidence to make decisions on things--knowing he has my back. Knowing I am doing the right thing, even though it wasn't the answer I wanted. And so I feel good. I love feeling good.

So lets just say my mind has been off in far off places and now it is settled and right where it should be. And so this week I have been getting things accomplished like crazy (I love it when that happens!)

You want to know what I have been doing? Well, I have been working on a few projects that are completed now...and I can't post pictures until my cute sister opens her baby shower presents! And then I will post away... I have been sewing, cleaning, more cleaning, more laundry...

And of course, LAYING around because I have no energy because my thyroid is off and I got a bladder infection. YUCK. And if I told you why I got the infection, you would LAUGH at me because it's not your typical "not drinking enough water" junk...it's actually an embarassing funny story and I won't go there...

But...today things are looking up and I am feeling better AND I went to Zumba today, which is AWESOME and I got a zumba shirt in RED, my fav. color. And I am goin to wear it to class on Saturday...

And so all is well that ends well. And tomorrow is Friday and I teach aerobics. YAYYYY! Happy Weekend, and here's to me actually posting some pictures next week!? ;)

I Know!

I know, I have totally neglected my blog (at least by my standards!) and I honestly don't have time to write now. I just wanted to share the cutest thing Keaton did last week.

There was one day he had missed his nap and woke up early the next morning, so obviously throughout that next day, he was tired. I was on the computer upstairs and Keaton came in and talked to me for a minute then ran out to play. Typical. But then he didn't come back for a long time- and I am not used to being able to be on the computer. So I was just playing away on fb and doing other things on the computer when I thought it was probably time to put Keaton down for his nap.

Where is Keaton? I couldn't hear him. I looked all through the house...Cortney was downstairs and said he hadn't seen him. Where could he be? He has never done this. So I went in his room and looked in his crib-- which is funny cause I would never have thought to look there, but something just told me too.

And there he was. Sound asleep- two sippy cups in bed next to him, a million blankets and he was snoozing. Normally when he goes down, I close his blinds- they were just wide open and I couldn't belive it. It honestly was the cutest thing in the whole world that he was so tired that he put himself down for a nap. I mean, seriously! So cute!

He is just getting soooo big.

I will write more later. Promise!

Can't Decide

I don't have time or energy to write a new post write now. And I can't decide on a good title for this one...all I can tell you is this:

I had a very nice week, even with having sick kids. I had a relaxing and enjoyable weekend being lazy AND having a clean house...at the same time! Amazing!

I had about 4 hours of sleep last night, no nap today and am headed off to bed right now...

I need to post my resolutions for this year...and how I did on last years. All I know is all is well tonight and that can wait till another day. Good night!

Brayden is 5, Part 2

We had a small birthday party with a few of Brayden's friends this week...it was fun and EXHAUSTING! Not all his friends made it, but looking back it was probably a good thing because it was crazy with all those kids.

Now we started the party by dancing...and although this picture is blurry, there is one thing in here that is very clear--and that is Brayden sticking his bum out to dance, in true Brayden style. Forgive the crudeness of the picture (that's a 5 year old boy for you!)

We played some games where I couldn't take pictures, then had cupcakes and ice cream.

Then presents!
Then some pictures of the whole gang.

Funny faces.

And then, as part of our last game we did some steamrolling...so fun and everyone laughed!

All in all, it was a fun party, but I am SO GLAD it's over until Kyler's birthday cause it was a lot of work!

Brayden is 5, Part 1

My crazy white haired once 2 1/2 pound boy turned 5 last Sunday! We started with traditional birthday spankings!

Secretley he LOVES getting birthday spankings. Every kid does. He got them from everyone in the family. We had a family party on Sunday after church and had presents, cake and ice cream. It was short and sweet!
Brayden told me he wanted an Iron Man party. He has never seen Iron man- just heard about it through friends and seen Iron man toys in the stores. So naturally we had to get him set up with the best iron man toys out there! Starting with his very own iron man costume from Grandma and Papa.

Kyler was happy to assist in opening of presents.

We got him the iron man arm and circular "heart" that the REAL iron man has! Of course, nothing but the best for our Brayden! ;)

All suited up and ready to go!

Okay, I know I am vain about a lot of things. But one of my new years resolutions is that everything doesn't have to perfect all the time! So, if I am going to have to stay up until 3 in the morning just to get a cake perfectly done right, than FORGET IT! Not everything has to be perfect all the time. Case in point: Brayden's birthday cake. Normally, if it's an iron man party, I would spend hours looking up how to make the perfect iron man cake. Then I would spend hours trying to make it. AND it would never turn out how I want it anyways! I am always dissappointed, it's not really my talent. So I decided to make a simple cake with whatever colors Brayden wanted. I asked him what kind of cake he wanted. He told me a red cake with red frosting and blue writing. And here you have it! :

So it was a red velvet cake and it was SOOOOO YUMMY! This picture is when we were singing happy birthday to Brayden. As you can see, Keaton loves Brayden's costume too! And can I just tell you that Brayden was really sweet to share it just after he opened it!

Keaton realllllly loved the cake! This picture is actually AFTER I already had cleaned some of it up!

Some of my favorite things about Brayden are:

He is very clever, and although it usually leads to trouble, I am always impressed at the things he thinks of.

He almost always shares. He is the first one to give up something he loves for one of his Brothers if he can tell they want it more than he does.

He dances so silly all the time (90% of the time it involves him shaking his bum around)

He always compliments me!

He is always considerate of other's feelings and does a really good job at playing with his younger brother and helping me with him.

I just love my Brayden and cannot even believe he is 5!

Bummed

I am whinning today (that is- as in, whine- ing, OR wine-ing). I had a pretty decent day, but around 4:00 I got really bummed. Our Durango went back on the tow truck first thing Monday morning. My in-laws lent me their car again, which I am SOOOOO grateful for. The car fix and problem was the same problem we have been having, BUT the mechanic we have has not been very thorough- hence the car going back agian and again because he has missed things. BIG things or little things, depending on how you look at it- but I consider them BIG because my car can't RUN at all (hence needing to be towed) without these things fixed. So the call I got around 4:00pm today was that the tow truck hook had punctured a hole somewhere important and now we are waiting for them to come and fix it. WHAT the WHAT?! I am SO done with repairs! I am done with not having my car- and because I have my in-laws car, I have to have different people watch 2 of my kids so I can do the carpool that I have to do this week. I can't fit everyone in the car. And the heater is broken. Can I whine some more to you?

Honestly, I am a glass half full kind of person. But two weeks before Christmas having the car die twice, having this whole thing happen twice was VERY stressful. And so as things have settled down this new Year and I am happy and calm and not stressed and then this happens AGAIN and I feel my heartrate go up and I am like a freakazoid all over again because I am running like a chicken with my head cut off in the mornings getting my kids to two different places although not at the same time because they can't fit in the car! Cause my car is gone! BOOOOO HOOOOOOOO. Whine whine.

Okay I am done now. I am ready now to move on. I DID have a wonderful New Years! We had some friends over and played games and the kids were great and the mess was minimal! It was fun. And I am mostly back on track with eating better again (cause I must admit I did NOT eat well when I was in AZ). And we are all currently healthy and who can really ask for more than that these days? So coming soon- Brayden's Birthday Pics- cause he is 5 and so cute! Thanks for listening my friends.