Sherwood Family

private blog

2010-01-12T10:46:00.000-08:00

I've decided to go private. If you want an invite, send me your email in a comment.

Still no internet

2009-10-04T15:47:00.000-07:00

I just finished watching conference. It was great. My kids stayed pretty quiet and reverent for small children! I have a new church calling. I am the youth sports director in addition to my other YW calling. I guess this stake gets really into sports. We have coed softball coming up. James' sister Katee decided to get married in 1 week. I am helping her make a dress, get her man a suit, figure a cake out, flowers, all those things. James and I are standing up with them. Hope all goes well! We LOVE the weather now days. We play outside all day long. I know I'm jumping around, but I have limited Internet access. I cant remember what else I wanted to say. TTFN

No Internet

2009-09-16T16:01:00.000-07:00

Sadly we are a no Internet family right now. My posts will be sporadic. I know you'll miss me.
I'll miss you.

Dress Up

2009-09-05T12:34:00.000-07:00

One day Dayson went to play at the neighbors house. When he came home and I asked them what they did, he told me "mom, they have boy dress ups" They have 5 boys. So I've been wanting to get some things for them to dress up. My SIL sent this super hero cape to us and the boys loved it. I made Conway one so he wasn't left without any powers!
They run up and down the hall with different powers and try to jump off things and fly real good!

This is Captain Hook (Conway does have a hook made out of a silver pipe cleaner) and Peter Pan.
Then of course Cowboy Dayson.You know we have real horses right outside and the boys have never ridden them or even asked to ride them that I can think of. Despite what some would say, we are not cowboys!

So there's my boys dressing up in BOY dress ups. Cassi may not consider it dress up, but they have fun.

Summer Fun

2009-08-31T14:29:00.000-07:00

Here are the boys getting silly with "Mr. Potato Head"
Our pet frog that we caught in the irrigation for the snake to eat. The snake didn't want it so we tried to let it go.

Conway playing it the irrigation trying to re catch the frog!

My boys

2009-08-24T17:22:00.000-07:00

I SPY...I put a movie on for Dayson one day and came back to check on him. At first i couldn't find him, but then I spotted him.
First Day of School. Sorry there is no lunch box.
Nasty fall makes for a nasty bump!

I introduced Conway to chocolate ice cream cones! i know, he's almost 1 1/2, what kind of mother am I?

While I am sitting here at the computer Dayson and Conway are playing in the other room. I can hear Conway doing something to bug Dayson and Dayson screaming "that makes me stupid". Gotta love the first kid in the family who doesn't understand how to use words, but wants to try them out. I think he meant it made him mad, I just told him we don't use that word.

10 boys and a bad car

2009-08-14T13:02:00.000-07:00

Dayson joined a playgroup. There are 10 boys ages 2-3 in our ward. What fun! Today (the first day of playgroup) I went to run errands. Last week my car was in the shop and fixed. Well I leave to run around and my check engine light comes back on. So I take it back to the place and tell them it's only been a week. Conway and i sit in there waiting and I didn't bring anything to occupy him cause i didn't know we were going there. Anyhow, he finally comes to start looking at my car and playgroup has 30 min left. He cant figure it out and says to tell him if it happens again. Then he goes to turn on my car for me and it wont start. So I take my car in and they fix it, then the engine light comes on, but he says there is nothing wrong that he can see, then it breaks????? So then he jumps it and I pick Dayson up right on time, but I don't know what to do with my car.

Meet The Teacher

2009-08-08T17:24:00.000-07:00

Mr. Sherwood got his placement and will be teaching at Williamsfield High School. He is teaching history and is really really excited. I think he is really excited to quit framing especially in this heat. We went back to school shopping and everything! One major bonus that could turn into a blessing is that they are hiring a history teacher next year. It would be great if they see how awesome he is and hire him!

Go Black hawks!

Top 10

2009-07-23T13:38:00.000-07:00

Sorry there are no pictures for this post. Kristine captured some of the highlights, but I have nothing to share but my top 10 for the Pioneer Day celebration in Snowflake.
10. Buffie winning first place in the 10K.
9. Everyone running up the hill for cover as it starts hailing. At least we got lunch in this year before the storm hit.
8. The kids finding a box a tampons and playing swords with each other.
7. James finding a 5 foot long snake and Conway gets bit by it.
6. Dayson screaming BEAR! at the tops of his lungs in the middle of the night. James had seen 4 bears while fishing and told Dayson all about it right before bed.
5. Elli at the rodeo. All the kids were excited and as the first roper ropes the calf Elli gets this horrified look on her face and says "I dont like rodeos."
4. The dads setting off loud firecrackers and running far away. Oops, they left the kids there.
3. Dallin waking up in the middle of the night to take care of the pet bunnies. The kids found 2 baby rabbits and Donna said they could keep them if they survived the night, so Dallin sneaks out to keep them alive.
2. The fire truck at the end of the parade soaking EVERYTHING. That was a lot of water. The warning we received was insufficient.
1. Dayson jumping onto the bleachers to do a silly dance at the rodeo to the silly music. He was the only one dancing, but he had great moves.

We had a lot of fun. Thanks to Ben and Donna for hosting such a wild group and all the good food prepared.

2009-06-30T13:12:00.000-07:00

So we made it back from our camping trip. We had so much fun. Dayson didn't want to come home!
Day 1. Still clean. Easy fishing right by camp. Dayson caught about 8 crawdads in about 15 minutes. One time there were 4 on at once!

I thought this was a cute picture!

Day 2. James and his dad went fishing from 5 am to 3 pm. The kids played and played. Here they were riding horses.

James did take Dayson on a long quad ride when he got back. Dayson saw a huge canyon that he wanted to build a slide to slide down on. Grandma and grandpa took Conway into town while James and Dayson were gone and I got quiet time and a nap.

Day 3. We had a nice picnic at Reservation Lake. It started pouring right when we go there. Dayson caught a fish, but this picture was hard because of the rain. (I was in the car!) We caught enough fish and crawdads for dinner that night

Day 4. No pictures, but a lot of fun. We got up at 4:45 am and went fishing down at Black river. Dayson came with us while Conway stayed back at camp. it was early, cold, and a lot of fun. We forged the river to get over to the good fishing! It wasn't that cold, but then I was went up to my knees! Dayson was great. When we got back we cleaned up camp, then headed out on a long quad ride. I had Dayson on my quad while James had Conway. We drove through the river and I stalled in the middle! It took us 5 1/2 hours to get home and Conway was getting antsy. Everyone was safe and we had a great time. Now I have a mountain of laundry that I am working on. Everything wreeks of fish guts and mold. But we are all clean and rested. Well James is probably still tired because he left for work at 5 am this morning. What a trooper!

project progress

2009-06-30T12:52:00.000-07:00

My shelves. Now they are full of food storage!

My photo album, bigger, better, holds more un-scapbooked photos!

My grocery bag holder

Some canned carrots

Here was a bonus project. This wall under the chairs was white and always dirty. Kids feet, spilled food, you name it. i love the way it looks and it hides all that gross stuff I couldn't get off the flat paint. Note: dont ever let your husband talk you into flat paint. It's not worth it.

I didn't get to the shower curtain yet. Maybe this week.

My Projects

2009-06-23T12:30:00.000-07:00

My aunt Bobbie always has a post on Wednesday's that she calls "What ya working on Wednesday's" I thought I'd make you a list of all my projects that I am doing this week, hopefully! We'll start with the garden. That is an ongoing project. I canned carrots today. I'm working on my photo albums. I bought some better hardware at Home Depot last night to make the books bigger. You know how your grocery bags pile up. I actually use mine for collecting veggies in the garden, so I made one of those bag holders with the elastic ends. I am also making a shower curtain that will go on the outside of the plastic shower curtain. I have always had just the plastic part. Boy am I adventurous!James FINALLY made me some shelves in the coat closet for food storage. We don't have coats here, but we needed more space for that food storage. So I am painting the shelves. Oh, and I'm reorganizing my recipes. I am cutting hair every night this week, so I have to get my projects done with my 2 wonderful children helping me. Dayson had the photos all lined up this morning. We are going camping on Friday so I have 2 1/2 more days. I'll post pictures of the finished product since i don't want to waste time with the befores!

New pets!

2009-06-10T14:32:00.000-07:00

James caught all these animals in the desert. They live in Daysons room. He named them Key, Keyler, and Keyless!

Peaches and squash

2009-05-21T14:16:00.000-07:00

I feel like i have looked at nothing but peaches and squash lately. i have put up 16 jars of peaches, made 2 batches of peach jam, dehydrated 2 batches of peaches, and frozen 2 big bags of peaches. I have given tons away, eaten tons, and still have some left! Peaches anyone???
Squash: we have eaten some form of squash every day for the past 3 weeks. On tonight's menu, spaghetti squash with beef and vegetables. Somehow I am still finding new recipes to try. I have given lots away and frozen some too.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

2009-05-15T17:05:00.000-07:00

Today i got to watch my amazing husband graduate from Arizona State University. He graduated with honors (3.98 GPA). it was a great experience. Dayson was extremely excited about the day, the cool building, being at dads school, the lights, everything. It was held at Gammage, so that was really nice. Our neighbor watched Conway so that we could enjoy it without him. (He would not have cooperated.) I'm so proud of James for all his hard work and effort, he's come a LONG way. I got him and x-box 360! He loves it!

Him looking studious!

Here's James playing guitar hero!

Look at that huge bruise on my arm. A girl from my volleyball team elbowed me!

We had a surprize party planned for James and Lindsay's husband Matt. We daefinately surprized both of them. When we walked through the door James asked me if I knew this was going on. We had fun eating and watching the kids swim.
Well done James, I'm proud of you and glad to be done with that chapter of our lives. Now if he could get a teaching job...

Hair Hair Hair

2009-05-14T14:27:00.001-07:00

So, my youngest sister Brittany decided to cut and donate her hair! We cut 12 inches off!! Plus some cute pics of the boys. one day James was in charge of combing their hair for church. They all had spiky hair. Here's Conway's close up. A little thin, but he got a lot of compliments (and some strange comments).

2009-04-29T15:06:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile since i posted for real. I don't know if this will count.
Dayson:the doctor said he had allergies, 3 days later was still very sick. Come to find out he has pneumonia. During those 3 days,
Conway:was at the hospital with breathing problems, 3 days later sill very sick. Come to find out, the hospital overlooked an ear infection. BTW Conway had double ear infection not 3 weeks ago and found out he is allergic to penicillin! He is currently tearing apart my scrapbook stuff, smashing his fingers in drawers and wheezing like a madman instead of napping because he can't breath.
James:in bed sleeping like a rock instead of doing homework. He is sick too. We wont go into my health issues right now. I have to be mom!
On to the good news, Dayson caught 2 caterpillars and watched as they turned into butterflies in his bug cage! And Grandpa is out of the hospital! (He had MRCA again) No swine flu at our house though!

Tagged

2009-04-20T12:04:00.000-07:00

5 things I was doing 5 years ago
1. told I would never have kids/ getting certified to adopt
2. doing some traveling (New England, Hawaii, San Francosco)
3. working full time
cant think of any more
5 jobs I've had
1. Hogi Yogi sanwhich shop
2. Paper Gardens scrapbook store
3. Farnsworth Odds and ends stuff
4. Next generation Hair Salon
5. Leisel's House of Style!
5 places I've lived
1. Gilbert, AZ
2. Mesa, AZ
3. Highland UT
4. Veronezh, Russia
5 things I've done today
1. swept and mopped the whole house
2. vacuumed the whole house
3. mowed the whole yard (I dont weed eat)
4. didn't take a shower yet
5. paid the bills
5 people I tag
Janey
Coco
Laura
Katie
Krista (that will be the day!)

This week

2009-04-17T19:40:00.000-07:00

This week James invited me to a lecture at his school. It was on Geronimo. I thought it was so sweet of him to do that. I really enjoyed the lecture and seeing the "student" side of James. (Mr. smarty pants in the front row!) This was so not James in high school. Also, one night we were driving home from my dads house and there was a beautiful sunset. I told Dayson to look out the window at the beautiful sunset. He said "Oh, it is beautiful just like your beautiful face mom." It made my day!

The posts within the post

2009-04-15T18:29:00.000-07:00

Saturday it rained a lot. First thing in the

morning Dayson got out the

umbrella. He played and played

and played with that thing. He made this tent and stayed under there for a long

time. A few Easter pictures. And the new baby horse.

"

The ward rodeo

2009-03-31T19:24:00.001-07:00

Every year our ward holds a "rodeo". My father in law is in charge and its really fun. Dayson was actually old enough to participate this year. they started off by letting the kids chase after a cow that had money tied to it. Dayson had no idea he was running, but he was the youngest kid out there and kept up pretty good.
Here is Dayson is the egg toss. The dirt was so soft it made the egg indestructible! I think his partner caught it once and Dayson never did! They got 4th place.
Long day in the sun with grandma and grandpa Sherwood.

The boys thought this tractor was really cool. Dayson kept going back there to sit on it.

Aunt Katee was nice enough to take the kids over to pet the horse. Too bad I didn't notice that her eyes were closed in the pic. Sorry Katee!

Grandma took care of Conway while Dayson enjoyed the events. Thanks grandma.

Dayson and Kendall were the first ones tied up for the 3 legged race. They (kendall) had had enough before the race even started. Dayson just ran along with everyone with his 2 legs!

Did I miss anything? Oh, after 2 1/2 hours we were pooped. It wasn't over, but Conway was due for a serious nap. I thought i might get lucky and get one too, but it didn't happen. James had to miss the whole thing due to homework and paper writing. Where are his priorities? (Kidding, I had to twist his arm to get him to miss the hoedown.)Dayson came down with a cold the very next day. I'm glad he got to have fun without feeling crummy. Now Conway has it as well. We are the sick family, again.

Happy Birthday Conway

2009-03-24T16:16:00.001-07:00

Conway turns 1! I can't believe it's been a year already. Here he is opening up a present.

Here he is "going" for the cake. I thought he'd be much more aggressive. He sucked on a few of the pieces of candies, but never really dug into it.

He carried this bag around and kept putting his new toys in and out of the bag.

Here is the cake. It was headed for disaster and I thought I was going to have to toss it, but it pulled together nicely considering what I had to work with.

Another present on another day, what a lucky kid!

I had to throw in a couple pics of Dayson for 2 reasons. #1, he was wearing the same outfit, it happened to be the only clean outfit in Conways drawer that morning.

#2 This was weird to me, mellow Dayson going at the cake, while active Conway just picked at it a little.Some things about Conway:

He refuses to hold his own bottle/sippy cup, he walked at 9.5 months, his word for everything is " THAT", he is a good sleeper and car kid, he hits when he's frustrated, has happy big blue eyes, blacks out when he gets hurt, had surgery and got MRCA.

WE LOVE YOU CONWAY

The Boys

2009-03-19T20:31:00.000-07:00

This was us this morning. Both boys woke up happy with thier stuffed animals tagging along. Dayson has semi-recently grown out of liking "his guys", but then he got the movie Dumbo and swiped the Dumbo from Conway's bed. That was nights ago and Dumbo hasn't left our sight. He eats with us, sleeps with Dayson, goes to the store with us, (though Dayson makes him stay in the car), and Dumbo tells me several times throughout the day that he loves me and wants me to say it back. "Lenny" is Conway's guy. He is carried around by the cape (he's a wonder pet). He has been through the irrigation, peed on, and smothered in love all this week! (Dayson had jumped in the shower and the running water made him feel the urg right as Conway decided Lenny needed a shower and threw him in the shower in the line of fire. The poor guy never saw it coming. Luckily he's not so attached that I could wash him when I got around to it later that day. He will go down for a nap or bed without it just fine, but he sure loves it.

I was never (that I recall) into stuffed animals, so it's a bit weird to me. Nevertheless, CUTE!

A shooting

2009-03-13T15:03:00.000-07:00

OK I have a better post now that James is home. He told me about how he walked across the street to Wendy's to get a 99 cent hamburger with 2 guys from work. Well they got their food and left and he did the same a minute or two behind them. He walked through the parking lot to his job site and sat down. Just as he sat down he heard BOOM BOOM BOOM! Somebody was trying to steel a car and got shot right behind him. There was a lot of things going on and a lot of cops came. He said that this job is in a very bad neighborhood. He sees drug deals going down all the time. All this happened in broad daylight with people everywhere. How scary. He told his boss that next time, he'll just let him buy James a burger!

2009-03-13T11:09:00.000-07:00

I have been doing some spring cleaning. It feels so nice to consolidate! Conway has been so grouchy. What's up with this kid? Luckily it's nice outside and we play out there a lot. I had to do some stuff inside while Dayson played outside. I gave him the "stranger talk". He gave the right answer even when the stranger had candy, but when I asked what to do if the stranger was mean he said, "still dont talk to them". So I had to tell him to run to me, screaming as loud as he could. It was horrible to have to have this discussion. Then he decided he didn't want to play outside after all. It broke my heart. I live in a very safe neighborhood, but its never safe enough.

Fines!

2009-03-11T16:01:00.000-07:00

This must be the week of fines. Some we've avoided, some we paid. #1 James had applied to graduate $40. A long story, but he's not graduating until Dec. now. He had to cancel that and reapply the $40. They wouldn't hold it for 2 days while he reapplied. #2 I paid my property taxes online and the company charged me 2.6% which was about $36. I lost that too even though I called twice to tell them I was unaware of this fee. #3 I paid part of a school loan off specifying for it to come out of my savings account. When they tried to get it out of my checking, it was not there and I got a NSF fee of $28. I got this back when I explained the problem. #4 James had a dental appt. on Monday. He had a migraine. He hates the dentist anyway, especially when he already felt horrible. When I called to cancel, they said it would be a $50 fine! Ouch. So, to avoid it, I went in his place even though I was just there 4 months ago. What a good wife I am! $50 is $50 right? So to sum it up: we are down about $76 instead of $154.

When Pigs Fly!

2009-03-08T09:45:00.000-07:00

So I went to the grocery store yesterday afternoon and Dayson fell asleep in the cart sitting up. I was actually buying a pillow for James, so Dayson took advantage of it. That has NEVER happened. It was quite odd and I wondered if pigs were flying.
Last night we had an extended family party complete with a magician! My shy husband was called up on stage several times and he wasn't even acting shy. He completely went along with what the guy was doing. His dollar bill floated in mid air, he had swords to his neck, his dollar bill ended up in a can of corn along with his watch!, all kids of weird things. It was fun. Of course I didn't have my camera with me. O well. We had a good time.

Family Proclamation

2009-03-02T18:48:00.000-08:00

I finally got Dayson to say the part of the family proclamation he knows on video. We had to trick him in to doing it because he is so shy. That is why you hear me talking about Pooh in the background. James had done a "play story" where Pooh was taken away and in order to save him Dayson had to do the proclamation on video! Hopefully you can hear him.

All these words are so big for a 3 year old. When we were going over tonight's page I asked him if he had a physical body and where was it. He pointed to his rear. He gets body and bottom mixed up because we usually call it his bum! kids are so cute. James called the premortal realm the premurtial worm and Dayson thought that was funny.

Family Party

2009-02-24T10:19:00.000-08:00

We had a fun family party the other night. It was an Asian theme (I think because I have a brother in Japan and a sister in Hong Kong). It may not have been completely authentic, but it was really fun. We have a great family, with fun parties!

James and Conway eating. Conway liked the food as well as the rest of us.

This was when we first got there. Dayson was not in the mood and wouldn't dress up. He eventually got over it and had a great time.

Thanks for all the hard work that went into it Kristine and others. We had a good time.

Yesterday

2009-02-18T14:17:00.000-08:00

I sat at the dr. office last night for 2 1/2 hours to find out that Conway has croup. James really wanted me to take him in, although it takes quite a bit to get James in to the doc. They gave me the option of a steroid shot or 3 days of medication. I figure get it all over with rather than drag it out. Plus he couldn't hardly cry because he had no voice! I'm glad I dont have to pin him down to force medication down his throat. Hopefully he'll be back to normal soon. Oh, after 2 hours of the wait, they informed me that something was wrong with my insurance, but they got it worked out thankfully.

Send my HEART racing!

2009-02-14T14:34:00.000-08:00

This is a post about my heart, but not a Valentines Day post. I guess I'll explain about Conway's BHS (breath holding spells) He did it 2 times this week where he gets hurt, holds his breath, then passes out and starts breathing. Well this send my heart racing. It scares the snot out of me. So Thursday night he did this right before bed and of course he's fine except I'm all panicky (if that's a word). Then I was exhausted all day Friday because I worried about him all night Thursday. Friday I watched extra kids for about 5 hours, then I had to work, then we went to Home Depot (for seeds for the renewed garden) and the ward Valentines dance. Dayson and I were pooped. Conway was a CRACK UP. It was for adults, but we didn't have a sitter and were only there so James could get some cobbler. Anyway, Conway was on the dance floor in his jamies really cutting a rug. I think most eyes were on him. Every few minutes he would fun over to one of the planters and stand in the rocks. I think it was keeping his feet warm. It was outdoors. So we go home and get the kids to bed and i don't think I lasted much longer than them. Then, heart racer #2 happens. I had only been asleep for 15 minutes and something (in my dream) wakes me up. I heard a man yelling at someone. i thought it had been hours that I was asleep and I look over and James is not in bed. So I run out to the family room and he is not there either. So I start screaming "where are you, are you OK?" Well, it was just a dream, but it scared me. He was in Dayson's room because Dayson was having a hard time breathing and him crying was making it worse. He sounded horrible. I was able to calm him down (sometimes it just takes mom), then I calmed down and went back to bed. Then at 12:30 in the morning, the phone rings. this always starts my heart racing because it usually means something bad has happened (or it's the wrong number and that ticks me off!) Well it was my dad and Brittany was having a hard time breathing as well. He was looking for a breathing machine, but everything was alright. So much for a good night sleep. then Dayson was up coughing nice and early in the morning. I had a client at 8:30, then had to peel and cut about 150 carrots! I'm 2/3's of the way done. James is at school studying, but we are going out to a movie for V day. hope yours goes well. I just want to sleep and let my heart recover.

Snow Trip

2009-02-10T13:02:00.000-08:00

This past weekend the YW /YM had a snow trip planned. We went up to Pinetop for Friday and Saturday. We ate so much good food and had lots of fun. James took care of the kids for me so I could go. I was a little hesitant to tube down the mountain because of 2 things: Lindsay broke her back doing this same thing, and I don't have insurance! It looked so fun and nobody was getting hurt, so I gave it a try. The first time was fine, then the second time my wrist got pinned between the girl on the tube with me and the snow. So it was scraping down the last little part of the mountain. Now my hand is full of scabs and bruises. Conway try's to pick at the scabs (why do boys like that?) I'm just grateful that I didn't break my back and that I can still cut hair. I didn't have my camera with me, so there are no pictures. It was a lot of fun. I love my calling in the Young Women. The boys had fun while I was gone too.

2009-01-31T10:05:00.000-08:00

Our stake is learning the FAMILY PROCLAMATION. Dayson has been working on it. He is amazing. I am so proud of him. The primary gave us books with pictures to help. He has the first 2 pages done. Not only is it good for the content, but it helps his memorization skills for later. He has things floating around in his head like: ordained of God and eternal destiny. Its so funny. This will be a good thing to learn with the way the world is these days. He wont doubt that marriage is between a man and a woman. Just ask him!

Project: refinishing the TV armour. I really wanted to paint it rust red, but James wasn't up for that. I didn't want to make the effort to stain it even though it would look better, so I painted it deep brown (whatever my dad had that was free!) It turned out good.
While I was painting, the boys were playing. The ants found Conway and attacked! The poor baby had 23 ant bites all on his back. James happened to be in the shower at the time. I tore off Conway's clothes and threw him in with dad. Luckily he was not allergic.
We had 12 baby chicks hatch. Like most things, they are much cuter as babies!
Conway's 1st haircut and vocal solo apparently! I just cut a few curls around his ears off. He still has a few in the back and he is still a red head, for now!

Explanation

2009-01-24T18:53:00.000-08:00

This song fits our family almost perfectly. Well, we have the carot top who can barley walk with a sippy cup of milk and the blue eyed, blond with HIS shoes on wrong cause HE likes to dress himself. I thought it was fun.

What we've been up to:

2009-01-22T08:56:00.000-08:00

Got lots of good stuff from the garden!
green onions, tomatoes, carrots, peppers, cauliflower, broccoli, radishes

riding the quad

just a cute picture of the boys before church

trying to get Conway walking on video, of course never as good as the real thing!

Tuesday

2009-01-13T15:16:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was my MIl's birthday. I made her a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting from scratch as to her request. What a good DIL I am! Anyway, the poor woman tripped and fell, breaking her leg in several different places needing surgery. At her party Conway took 10 steps! He was mainly taking 1-2 with 4-5 being the most. What a birthday. James and I are going to the SUNS game tonight with his brother and wife. I'm excited! Jonathan is coming over to babysit the boys. Hopefully Conway cooperates, I know Dayson will be a piece of cake! What a nice brother, right?

MY MOTHER

2009-01-10T15:05:00.000-08:00

I am not good at writing these thoughts out into words, but I couldn't let the day pass without doing this. (This is sort of like my journal entry)
7 years ago today my mother passed away. I don't have any lovely pictures to post because I didn't have a digital camera when she was alive and I don't have a scanner to scan the old ones. So its just a few thoughts and memories.
Mom was always making up silly songs and I find myself doing that to get my kids to do things. Her example of giving service could not have been better. How she was pregnant 10 times, I do not know. (Nor do I plan on finding out.) When she got embarrassed she turned BRIGHT red. Occasionally people would think my dad was her dad. She never told him why she was laughing. She hated artificially flavored watermelon candy and wouldn't let us eat it. Sometimes I would come home from school to find her playing Gin Rummy by herself (both hands). I have never done this, but understand because I love games as well.
I could sit here all afternoon and think up memories. I learned a lot from her and even though she is gone, I can still learn from her legacy.
I love you mom!

The church guy

2009-01-07T16:50:00.000-08:00

We were watching a church movie the other day and Dayson says "hey, where's Monson, the church guy?"
I had to explain that we call him President Monson.

Join in the fun

2009-01-04T15:43:00.000-08:00

1. Started your own blog 2. Slept under the stars 3. Played in a band 4. Visited Hawaii 5. Watched a meteor shower 6. Given more than you can afford to charity 7. Been to Disneyland 8. Climbed a mountain 9. Held a praying mantis 10. Sang a solo 11. Bungee jumped 12. Visited Paris 13. Watched a lightning storm at sea 14.Taught yourself an art from scratch 15. Adopted a child 16. Had food poisoning 17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty 18. Grown your own vegetables 19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France 20. Slept on an overnight train 221. Had a pillow fight 22.hitch hiked 23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill 24. Built a snow fort 25. Held a lamb 26. Gone skinny dipping 27. Run a 1/2 Marathon 28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice 29. Seen a total eclipse 30. Watched a sunrise or sunset 31.hit a home run. 32.been on a cruise 33. Seen Niagara Falls in person 34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors 35. Seen an Amish community 36. Taught yourself a new language 37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied 38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person 39. Gone rock climbing 40. Seen Michelangelo’s David 41. Sung karaoke 42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt 43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant 44. Visited Africa 45. Walked on a beach by moonlight 46. Been transported in an ambulance 47. Had your portrait painted 48. Gone deep sea fishing 49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person 50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris 51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling 52. Kissed in the rain 53. Played in the mud 54. Gone to a drive-in theater 55. Been in a movie 56. Visited the Great Wall of China 57. Started a business 58. Taken a martial arts class 59. Visited Russia 60. Served at a soup kitchen 61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies 62. Gone whale watching 63. Got flowers for no reason 64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma 65. Gone sky diving 66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp 67. Bounced a check 68. Flown in a helicopter 69. Saved a favorite childhood toy 70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial 71. Eaten Caviar 72. Pieced a quilt 73. Stood in Times Square 74. Toured the Everglades 75. Been fired from a job 76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London 77. Broken a bone. 78.Been on a speeding motorcycle 79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person 80. Published a book 81. Visited the Vatican 82. Bought a brand new car 83. Walked in Jerusalem 84. Had your picture in the newspaper 85. Read the entire Bible 86. Visited the White House 87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating 88. Had chickenpox 89. Saved someone’s life 90. Sat on a jury 91. Met someone famous 92. Joined a book club 93. Lost a loved one 94. Had a baby 95. Seen the Alamo in person 96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake 97. Been involved in a law suit 98. Owned a cell phone 99. Been stung by a bee 100.Made amends with someone who offended you 101. Flew in a small Cessna plane with just you and the pilot 102. Ran out of gas 103. Eaten fried okra 104. Swam in the Caribbean Sea 105. Peed in a swimming pool 106. Stayed in a beach house 107. Hosted an exchange student 108. Been a Secret Santa to a family in need 109. Worked on a political campaign 110. Coached a sports team 111. Baked bread from scratch 112. Driven from coast to coast 113. Paid off all of your debt 114. Roast marshmallows over a campfire 115. Cut up a credit card 116. Drove a car through a flood 117. Been on t.v 118. Had braces 119. Been to the top of the twin towers in NY. 120. Have played in both the Atlantic & Pacific Oceans 121. Been to ground zero 122. Bite my fingernails 123. Likes to scrapbook 124. Hates pie 125. Visited Mexico 126. Seen a Tornado in person 127. Have ever been lost at sea! 128. kissed a frog. 129. Gave birth to twins. 130. Received 2 moving violation tickets in 1 day. 131. Taught English in a foreign country 132.dont currently own a cell phone
Bold the ones you've done and add your own!
Have fun!

Our trip

2009-01-04T06:19:00.000-08:00

We (me, Conway, Dayson, Brittany, and Paige) took a trip to Snowflake. I had a funeral I wanted to go to and I wanted to spend time with my brothers family and the new baby! We found some snow on the way there. Conway would not keep his socks on, Paige was using my tennis shoes, and I was wearing flip flops. I had to hike down and find a tree to use as a bathroom. oh, this man pulled up right behind us and just sat in his car while we were playing on the side of the road. We were not sure what he was doing, but it was a little wierd. Everything was fine up till then. When we got back in the car Conway started crying and I missed my turn off. i didn't notice it for a LONG LONG time. In my defense I was trying to soothe the screaming child. he was probably trying to tell me I missed my turn. Finally he fell asleep. We took about 1 1/2 hours longer than planned!
We had a nice time. (Well me and the kids did, I'm not sure the big girls would agree)The next day we turned around a came home for New Years eve. i feel asleep at 10:00 pm, but woke up at midnight when the firewoks started. What a party animal I am!

I didn't fall off the earth!

2008-12-29T11:59:00.001-08:00

This will have to be quick. We had a WONDERFUL CHRISTMAS and hope everyone else did as well. Here are some pics to prove.

Happy New Year!

2008-12-08T12:21:00.001-08:00

The "sickness" that goes around at this time of year caught us. So far James and Dayson are the sickest, but will survive! Since we are all home, we put up our Christmas stuff. We don't do outdoors because nobody sees our house. I have a village that takes time and patience, with no "little helpers". I am one of those people who are ready to take everything down as soon as the presents are opened! (We do wait till the 25th to open them.) I hope everyone is enjoying the festivities and the time to think about our Savior. I am.
More later when I feel better.

The Wedding

2008-12-02T09:53:00.000-08:00

James' brother got married on Sat. It was very beautiful. They had it in the court yard of his parents house. James was the best man, which meant that i was to keep Conway in my arms and keep Dayson from grabbing at the floating candles in the pool! Thankfully nobody fell in. I didn't get many pictures because I was a little busy.

Me and my beautiful niece Hannah (one of the flower girls)

OK so James was able to help with the kids once the ceremony was over. It was just hard because we couldn't put Conway down and we all know how he loves to crawl around and play.

Conway looked so cute in his tux. Too bad I didn't have any black shoes for him.

The ceremony was outdoors while it was still light. They had some tables indoors because it got a little cool. Dayson had a blast. He didn't want to stop playing for this picture!

Best man!

There was some really good food that ran out really early. (Mini Chimi's and egg rolls mmmmm) They had a chocolate fountain that exploded, but the chocolate was saved! The punch was awesome, although I didn't try any champagne or wine, although they did have mini bottles of sparkling cider. We came home with a case! Once the food was gone they went and got veggie trays and cheese/meet trays. Dayson ate and ate and ate. Then he choked and threw up! When we got home (right at bed time) we realized that Conways infection was back. He was so exhausted from the festivities, but I had to to him to the doctor. MRCA can be very dangerous. The nurse said it was probably just a normal diaper rash. I don't know, but I've never seen a diaper rash with puss oozing out. It's in the same exact place as the last culture of MRCA. I talked her in to giving him a topical antibiotic. Hopefully this works. It's hard to keep the diaper area clean and dry. Oh, we had a great Thanksgiving by the way and hope you all did as well. Needless to say, I was not out shopping on black Friday. I hate shopping on a regular day. I did get a great deal on church shoes for Dayson yesterday. I found some $30 shoes for $6!

Who's Who?

2008-11-25T14:23:00.000-08:00

I've had a LOT of people mention lately that the boys really look a lot alike. So, who's who? Some of you dont see them very often, so I understand. But lets see who can get it right!
The "sailor" outfit was what James' was blessed in as a baby, and then we had both the boys blessed in it as well.

Coordination or Cooperation

2008-11-24T14:01:00.000-08:00

For some reason the boys all ended up matching today. What good looking boys I have!

Our ward is putting together a whole town of Bethlehem for Christmas. It will be held in the open pasture by the church. They have recreated the city. All in the community are invited and asked to dress the part. Well my father in law is head of the committee that is putting this together. They didn't understand why he was looking for a baby Jesus when he had a grandson that fit the age. He told them if they wanted a baby that was into everything, doesn't sit still long enough to eat let alone be still for a 30 min. program, then he had just the baby! Conway is not gonna miss a thing. He always knows what going on with everything around him. He would cruise the house using a diaper box at 6 1/2 - 7 months just to see the rooms he doesn't get to go in very often! Dayson was able to play baby Jesus when he was 2 months old, sorry Conway, no stage time for you.

Is it snowing?

2008-11-23T13:31:00.001-08:00

This morning was a little cooler than normal in our house. When we woke up we all put on sweatshirts and socks. Dayson (3 yrs) asked "is it snowing?
Sorry buddie, it doesn't snow here.

Eggs for sale!

2008-11-20T08:29:00.000-08:00

So Conway is doing just fine. He is still on antibiotic and hates them, but he's fine. James has been finishing up some projects for school. He only needs 8 more credits, but will end up with 15 more. We are getting excited. He finally has a church calling again. He teaches in the elders quorum. I think he'll do great. They have found a little work here and there to help pay the bills. Someone drove through a McDonald's and another one burned down. James is the lucky one to fix them.
Dayson and I have been playing and learning and staying out of trouble. It's nice that the weather is cool enough to play in the sand box. Oh, Dayson does have a project going on. He is selling our chicken eggs to earn money for his mission. He has to feed the chickens, collect the eggs, then we ask neighbors and my clients if they want to buy any. He is a good salesman so far. Who can say no to a little kid and his mission fund? Plus we all need eggs right? Any of you interested in fresh, organic, chicken eggs? $2 a dozen!

The bacteria has a name: MRCA

2008-11-13T15:20:00.000-08:00

It probably dosen't mean anything to you, but it almost killed James' dad a few years ago. We are keeping a close eye on him and are confident he will be ok.

2008-11-12T17:00:00.000-08:00

Dayson playing Lincoln Logs with grandpa Hipps

Our first tomato!
Plenty of radishes if anyone likes 'em.

This is what I made: collard greens and it was so good!

A COLD morning in AZ!

the other day we were out watering the flower garden and this is what came out. A scorpion and...

a black widow!

Conway's Doctor calls yesterday to let me know that his culture came back positive for a bacteria that wasn't being killed by the antibiotic he was on. He had been fine and it looked better, but then today he started in with a fever. They called in a STRONGER antibiotic and hopefully this will do the trick. I just want the poor little guy to feel better and be happy.

Tagged!

2008-11-09T15:13:00.001-08:00

OK I have to admit that I always thought it would be cool to be tagged so I could feel popular. Then I got tagged...2 times and I still haven't done what I am supposed to. I know I am lame.
OK, I thought I would combined what I am supposed to do and sort of create my own rules!

3 joys
1. obviously my family
2. daily accomplishments
3. seeing others accomplishments

3 fears
1. scorpions
2. the way the world is going these days
3. raising my kids in this crazy world

3 goals
1. to teach my kids to have a desire to be righteous
2. to have more energy
3. someday make it back to Russia

3 random facts:
I've never pierced my ears (or anything else!)
I hate smelling food that i am not eating. It groses me out!
My husbands cologne gives me a headache and he wears it anyway.

3 guilty pleasures
1. chocolate
2. naps
3. not having to make dinner

Anything else you want to know?
Oh, I tag Jen, Jaci, and Kelsey

Poor Conway

2008-11-07T08:14:00.000-08:00

Poor Conway. His incisions got infected. He had to go back to the surgeon. the doctor had to squeeze the heck out of the sore part to make sure it was really infected, then he had to do it again to get a culture of it. Poor Conway was not happy about this at all. He was screaming pretty good. Now he is on a strong antibiotic and should get better soon.

2008-11-03T17:50:00.000-08:00

Here is Dayson's soccer ball birthday cake. I know it doesn't compare to Jaci's, but Dayson really liked it!

Should I change professions or what?

Halloween Part II

2008-11-02T12:09:00.000-08:00

Our family had a REALLY fun party the day after Halloween. We have a dinner, games for the kids and adults, we did the "Thriller" dance, a cake walk..... The adults and kids dress up. There were some great costumes, as usual. We didn't get to do the homemade root beer in dry ice because all the stores were sold out of dry ice by then. We all had so much fun. Thanks to all who made it possible.

Some of the kids doing the cake walk. (Dayson had taken off part of his costume, it was the 4th time wearing it that week!)

Our family photo
See, I do have a costume, I'm a soccer mom.

We had a pumpkin carving/decorating contest.
Conway's diaper is made out of a real pumpkin!

My 2 pumpkins!

My pictures don't even do this party justice. It was a lot of fun.

Halloween Part I

2008-11-01T14:43:00.000-07:00

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. I'm not into all the scary stuff, but I love to see the kids in costume. They are so cute and some can be so creative. As a child, we never ordered a costume or went to the store to buy one, we always "put something together" or bought fabric to make something. That is my idea of a good Halloween costume. Here are my adorable children and husband showing what we came up with.
DAYSON: all he can remember about Halloween is pumpkins, ghosts, and saying boo!
He chose to be a pumpkin because it is what he could remember.

Isn't he the cutest pumpkin head you have ever seen? ( Yes those are burlap pants i made, does anybody want some?)
CONWAY: he had no preference and I thought SPARKY would be cute, although it didn't turn out like I wanted. He does have a pitchfork and tail. Still cute though right?

Like I said all Dayson could remember is pumpkins and ghosts, so he wanted James to be a ghost. I happened to have an old white sheet that was ripped. James is such a good sport. I think he likes the holiday as much as me and the kids!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAYSON

2008-10-31T15:06:00.000-07:00

Dayson is now 3 years old! We are so thankful that he is in our family, especially since 2 different doctors told me I would probably never have kids. We are grateful for miracles and the sweet blessing he is in our family. He will be a great example to his siblings. We had a fun little "cousins" party yesterday where we played outdoor games, made pizzas, and succor ghosts! The weather was only OK considering it is almost November. We stayed in the shade. Enjoy the photos!

Stirring the sauce

Making pizzas

How many kids can fit on a slide?

Is the pizza done yet?

Still waiting on the pizza

Dayson opened this present from Gracie and Anna. Along with the gift, there was a bunch of candy. He started passing the candy out to all the other kids. It was very sweet of him to share his present.

The Phoenix Zoo

2008-10-25T18:32:00.000-07:00

For mine and Dayson's birthday this week we went to the zoo today. It was really fun. They had Boo at the Zoo which was a lot of different things including lots of booths and extra things for the kids to do. Of course my camera wasn't cooperating most of the time although I think I've fixed the problem now. Here are a few of the shots that captured some of our fun:

how cute: more fruits of our labor

2008-10-23T09:44:00.000-07:00

Playing in the irrigation

Dayson and Cassie tend to get into trouble more when they are together!

I didn't get any pics of Conway in his cute little hospital gown, so I took these pics to prove he did have surgery. This was what was left of his IV and my hospital band.

Dayson fell asleep while eating lunch yesterday. This is NOT a common occurance.

Dayson got a green egg and a brown egg from our chickens!

Story Time

2008-10-21T11:00:00.000-07:00

So as you know James has been on crutches for a month and decided that he was all better (we will find out more tomorow). His dad was able to scrounge up some work for him to do today. He was actually excited to set his alarm clock for 5:30 this morning and go to work. Well he goes to grab his tool bags and gets stung by a scorpion! His first day back to work has been spent sleeping due to the benidril and a numb arm that doesn't work very well. Yes, James is accident prone. To some of you this story may sound a little familiar. About 4 years ago James had hurt himself in some way, I think it was when he broke his hand or something. He was finally able to go back to work. That morning he got up early and when he went to grab his tool bag a black widow spider bit him! He got really sick, but was fine the next day. Maybe one of these days he will learn to shake out his bags when they have been sitting for a time.

Update

2008-10-18T15:52:00.000-07:00

Conway's surgery went well. Kids bounce back so easily. It was hernia surgery along with a few other things for those of you who were wondering. He was crawling around in no time. Then last night he got cozy with me for a couple hours (so uncharacteristic of him). It was very nice to cuddle my baby. He slept all night and is pretty much himself today. He doesn't even need pain medication. His "new things" lately are saying mama and when i get him out of bed he is standing there waiting for me. He's almost 7 months now. When he woke up from surgery he was sobbing "mama". It about broke my heart.
James has decided to toss the crutches and take off the cast! (It is removable) The rubber stopper on the end of the crutches broke and he has slipped several times. He is so sick of them and thinks his foot is fine. Monday he will find out if he is right or he needs surgery. I cant tell you how many times he has cried out in pain since this decision. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers.

What else can I say?

2008-10-14T17:39:00.000-07:00

Sick baby, sick mom, dad's still on crutches, and Conway is getting surgery on Friday (if the fever is gone which is looking good)

TAGGED!

2008-10-06T21:17:00.000-07:00

OK I have to admit that I always thought it would be cool to be tagged so I could feel popular. Then I got tagged...2 times and I still haven't done what I am supposed to. I know I am lame.
OK, I thought I would combined what I am supposed to do and sort of create my own rules!

3 joys
1. obviously my family
2. daily accomplishments
3. seeing others accomplishments

3 fears
1. scorpions
2. the way the world is going these days
3. raising my kids in this crazy world

3 goals
1. to teach my kids to have a desire to be righteous
2. to have more energy
3. someday make it back to Russia

3 random facts:
I've never pierced my ears
(or anything else!)
I never read a book until I married James
(well, started dating him anyway)
I have been a horrible visiting teacher lately!

3 guilty pleasures
1. chocolate
2. naps
3. not having to make dinner

Anything else you want to know?
Oh, I tag Jen, Jaci, and Kelsey

garden update

2008-10-06T20:58:00.000-07:00

Here are some current garden pictures plus a cute picture of Conway!
we got our scarecrow

cucumbers (I think)

a tomato plant

we also cut some oregano and parsley and put it in our spaghetti!

Biden or Palin?

2008-10-03T09:20:00.000-07:00

Last night we were watching the debate. At the end Dayson asked "who is that guy?" So we were trying to explain it to him. Then I asked him who he would "pick". He says "I dont know, I just want to be a pumpkin head."
There you have it! Actually he wants to be a pumpkin head for Halloween and somehow he got confused.

Can you believe it!

2008-10-01T13:09:00.000-07:00

James is in a cast and on crutches! While fishing last weekend (10 days ago) he fell into the river and hurt his leg. Then he preceded to hike a few miles to continue fishing. Well when he got home his leg hurt and it has only gotten worse. After 5 days, he noticed his ankle was bruised. So finally today he went to the doctor and came back in a cast and crutches. He had a severely sprained ankle and a possible break in his shin! Can you believe it!
He is sick of the crutches already. He cant wait until next week when he gets a boot.
Since I don't have a great story behind the "fall" (he said it happened to fast to remember and he was more worried about fishing), I thought I would share a story from last fishing trip.
James caught a fish. As he was trying to get it off the hook, he hooked himself. So the fish is squirming around while James is trying to hold it still to keep it from tearing his hand. It is still on the pole so James cant go anywhere and only has one hand to free the other hand. Meanwhile his dad is 1/2 mile up the river. He hears James yelling for help, but mistakes it for James yelling he caught a fish. James ends up waiting for his dad to come rescue him.
this can be such a dangerous sport!

My latest craft: Wall Art

2008-09-24T16:36:00.001-07:00

I got this idea from

It's easy, affordable, and I only burned my finger with the glue gun once!

Not so short winded

2008-09-23T20:42:00.000-07:00

I am normally not very long winded. As far as blogging goes, its usually because I am taking care of my kiddos to write very much, but since they are both asleep I thought I'd give it a try.

I have 2 amazing children. We'll start with Conway. He is on the move ladies and gentlemen (well probably just ladies because most gentlemen dont read my blog!) When he was a couple weeks old auntie Kacee nicknamed him SQUIRMY. She hit the nail on the head. He hasn't stopped moving! He has started crawling and boy is he fast! 6 month's old and he's all over the place. He is happy most of the time, but will get MAD in a hurry. Then he'll turn happy again in just a short time. He has 2teeth and they look straight so far (Daysons are a mess. Together James and I had braces for 8 years! I think that is some kind of record.) He went from being in the 90% to the 30%for weight in 2 months. I dont know what that is about. He has these great big blue eyes about to pop out of his face. We all love him very much.

Dayson is such a great kid. If all my kids are like him, we are in good shape. He is obedient, a great brother, and thinks his parents are the greatest! He'll entertain himself and Conway while I get things done. He likes things clean just like me. He is a grandpas boy through and through. Lucky for him, he lives right next door.

James is a full time student at ASU east. He works hard and gets good grades (3.95 GPA) He will have his bachelors degree in May! What a huge accomplishment for him. I am so proud of him. I think he will make a great teacher and really enjoy it.

I have been making some changes in my salon. I will post more on that when the time comes. We are blessed to have that income. I am grateful for the examples you all are to my family. We appreciate you all.

There, how is that for short winded?

Garden of Sherwood Cont'd

2008-09-21T14:45:00.000-07:00

The fruits of our labors:

It's a yellow pepper! I dont eat yellow peppers and James won't eat it either. I dont know if it is because he is proud of it, or thinks it will hurt him???

The Garden of Sherwood

2008-09-15T17:46:00.000-07:00

So I mentioned the garden that we have been building, we are almost done and I wanted to show you all. My father in law is actually in charge of this project. When he does something, he goes all out. He built a barn a few years ago that was bigger than the house I was living in at the time! So here goes
THE GARDEN OF SHERWOOD:

The big beams went all around the perimiter. (I couldn't find a good hat to keep the sun off Dayson, but the cowbay hat worked great!)

Grandpa and his helpers

They built a fence around it to keep out rabits. We added some sand and there is also a sand box for the kids to play in at the end of the garden.
Here they are spreading the sand

Planting the seeds. (Look at that gate and those nice rows!)

Dayson planting the flower bed.
Grandpa still wants a bench, scarecrow, and a windmill!

It has a great irrigation system built in for watering. I need to make signs of what they planted where so we will know what they planted and where! Now all we have to do is wait for something to grow. (Oh, and weed it ha, ha!)

Happy Children Movie Trail

2008-09-09T20:32:00.000-07:00

OK I was just trying this to see if it would work and what better to watch? Happy Children! Bear with me, it's less than a minute long.

Apologies are a sign of weakness

2008-09-08T21:05:00.000-07:00

Sorry, lonely night tonight. James is at school so I am playing around with my blog. What do you think of the updates? By the way, this picture was before James' mission taken at New Port Beach 9 years ago!

Giggles

2008-09-03T21:01:00.000-07:00

So James is back in school and that can make for some long days for both of us. We saw him for a total of 3 minutes today which is probably more than Lindsay saw her hubby. (Although James leaves at 4:30 a.m. and I'm still sleeping, she may get to see Matt before work-dunno) Anyhow our day went nicely while missing dad. We got to spend the good part of the day with my sisters and their kids for a birthday party. Conway finally pooped!. The neighbor boy came over and played with the kids while I made dinner. My bro Jonathan stopped by. For some reason he always comes on nights that I don't cook even though I cook quite often. He was able to enjoy Dave's surprise which he mentioned he hadn't had in years! (A chicken casserole named after my brother-in-law)Then we went outside to help grandpa build our enormously large garden. Seriously- 15' x 45'. I'm looking forward to the weeding. Once the boys were all tuckered out we came in to get ready for bed. I think Conway caught a second wind because he started giggling at Dayson. He was busting a gut for about 15 minutes off and on and literally had tears coming down his cheeks. Dayson wasn't even trying to make him laugh. It made bedtime fun, but he was not happy to go to bed like usual. What really made my day was when i got on the computer tonight, I had an email from my sweety which is the first one I've got in 6 years. it surprised me.

What we have been up to

2008-09-01T13:24:00.000-07:00

I've had this urge to do some deep-er cleaning lately. Here's my kitchen. It's so clean, it sparkles! James even noticed.

Here's what the boys were doing to stay out of the way:

A good chair fort = hours of fun!

The boys just chillin'

Conway catching some ZZZZZ's
I think it's cute how he hugs his bear.

Babies are so funny with shoes.

"Hey mom, what in the heck do I have on my feet?"

Exciting news!

2008-08-26T15:52:00.000-07:00

Not that exciting. I got my new bike trailer!!!!!!! Well, new to me. There were a few areas of sun damage that I had to fix. It only took about 3 hours and $1.99! So make sure you honk if you see us out and about! James is back in school and we will be out riding more. He would not let me take a picture of him on the first day of school. What a party pooper, right?

Just another day

2008-08-21T11:09:00.001-07:00

Yes I got spit up on (and in!!)

I was playing with Conway and he got me good. Some of it went in my mouth, but believe me, it came out just as fast! It was bad, but not bad enough to miss a photo op. Plus it gives some of you a chance to see my new hair cut. Isn't it cute?

My Future Missionaries

2008-08-17T20:35:00.000-07:00

Bumbo Jumbo!

2008-08-16T11:12:00.001-07:00

Bumbo Bum......
Bumbo Fun!

2008-08-14T09:24:00.000-07:00

Hello all! I just thought I would write a little about our lives lately. Not much is going on, but its been awhile. Dayson gave me a scare yesterday. He came into my room at 5:30 am needing to go to the bathroom, but he was barely breathing and he was really hot and sweaty. He was sitting on the toilet trying to go and throwing up mucus, and trying to breath. It really scared me. I took him to the doctor later in the morning and he has a sinus infection. I guess all that mucus was keeping him from breathing very well.
He is doing awesome as far as the potty training goes. We are diaper free except for Conway! Conway is doing great. His first tooth is about to pop through. I got a much needed new vacuum cleaner. We are all so excited, we took turns vacuuming the different rooms! It's gross to see what my old vacuum was missing. I also scored a free bike from Buffie and David. I am in the market for a bike trailer. I am so excited to ride around with the kids this fall.
James has a few more weeks until he starts school again. He is going on one last fishing trip this weekend. He has really gotten into fishing these past couple of years. He likes river fishing, so its not something the kids and I can come along for very easily. I am starting up fall volleyball soon. I missed the last few seasons due to Conway! I'm excited. I think that about sums up our corner of the world.

2008-08-05T11:26:00.000-07:00

Darn that pointy chin, it keeps getting in the way!

Dayson has busted it open 4 times now.

He only got stitches the first time, but it is pretty ugly with the different scars.

EWEEE GROSE!

2008-07-09T18:45:00.000-07:00

Last night I was having a hard time sleeping. I had slept for a few hours then woke up. after about an hour and a half I heard this weird scratching noise down beside James. He has been known to scratch the bed in his sleep and it sounds like a mouse under the bed. Well this was different, so I leaned over there and saw a dark object. When i turned on the light it revealed a sewer roach about 2 inches plus the wings! The light woke James and I told him to get it quick. Well for some reason he went to the kitchen, he thought I was crazy. I was watching the roach and it went under the bed and onto the blanket. this is where I lost it and James started to doubt me. It then reappeared in my bed! So much for falling back to sleep any time soon. I had the heebie geebiees. Thoughts of giant roaches eating my children kept entering my mind. now I hope that by sharing this with you all you don't think that we are dirty or have a gross house, it just comes with the joys of my neighborhood. I'm just grateful it wasn't a scorpion!

Summer Fun

2008-07-04T14:59:00.001-07:00

Well we started swimming classes this week. I was trying to get Dayson pumped about it so I kept talking about it. He asked where his swimming glasses were. I told him we dont have any, just swimming classes. Well he thought about it and said he would just open his eyes in the water. Its quite a drive and we got lost. I was frustrated and said I couldn't find the swimming classes. He then told me, "mom, just open your eyes." We did find the house and have gone 3 days. It's not these fun classes that let the kids blow bubbles, kick, and splash. Its a survival class. They repetitively have the child swim to the side, that way if the child ever falls in, they will have it etched in their brain to swim to the side. Its not for everyone, but perfect for Dayson. He has only thrown up once. When its not his turn he is as far away from the pool as he can get, but willingly comes back for his turn.
We are having a great holiday. We participated in a hot parade down our street this morning, then James took Dayson to a movie, sort of a reward for swimming and potty training. We will have a BBQ/swim party soon, and of course puppy chow and fireworks at Mesquite HS tonight. What fun.

Sherwood Camp

2008-06-30T18:33:00.000-07:00

We made it back from Sherwood camp with only a few bumps and bruises, and a sunburn. The boys enjoyed sleeping in the tent. Conway slept great, Dayson kept waking up to look for his flashlight. James took him on a drive early in the morning and they saw a bear! Dayson caught a fish. When I got there he told me the fish had a big eyeball. He kept telling everyone. That must have surprized him. All in all we had a great time.

When James was a little boy his grandpa took him hiking to find theses round rocks. James took Dayson to find some and they were still there. Dayson thought they were pretty cool!

Dayson played and played...all day long.

Conway enjoyed all of the attention!
Walking to and from the bathrooms!
Sometimes we borrowed a ride. We took a beautiful ride up the mountain, but I didn't have
the camera with me.

Here's our great tent, complete with front porch.

We had lots of fun at the Sherwood reunion.

Keeping Conway Happy

2008-06-20T11:50:00.000-07:00

Dayson is such a great brother. When I got out of the shower he told me he was playing with Conway. He kept bringing him all kids of toys, books, blankets and pillows. Conway was entertained! This was much better then the time I got out of the shower and he was playing hide and seek with Conway. He had covered his entire body with a quilt. I'm sure he'll find more ways to torture him as they play over the years.

2008-06-13T08:27:00.000-07:00

We have been busy with our "harvest" . We had lots of peaches and apples to do, a few apricots, and we still have the grapes to do. Its been a fun sticky mess. James and I would work with Daysons help of course, and Conway would watch! What fun!

2008-06-13T08:21:00.000-07:00

Thats what friends are for

2008-06-07T13:47:00.000-07:00

Hey mom, can I watch a movie?

Not right now.

But my guys want to.

2008-05-29T16:13:00.000-07:00

Introducing The Hat Club by Dayson Sherwood!!
I had lots of cute pictures where Dayson was wearing a hat so I thought I would make a slide show. I hope you enjoy! Just a side note: You'll notice that there are no pictures of Conway wearing a hat. You know those cute little pink and blue hats they give you in the hospital for all babies? Well, Conways 14 1/4 inch noggin would not fit into the stretchy hat. It is supposed to be a one size fits all, but it didn't!

Check out my Slide Show!

2008-05-29T16:10:00.001-07:00

2008-05-22T14:31:00.001-07:00

Dayson has always been a great sleeper. His naps are unbelievable to most of my friends with kids. Lately he has changed his habits a bit. It's good in some ways and interesting in other ways. When he wakes up weather in the morning or from a nap he will sit and play with anything he can find. It's nice because I dont have to get up right away. He'll play and I can continue to sleep or feed Conway. Well now he has taken to playing before nap, which he sleeps later than need be. So when I went in to wake him up, this is what I found. (I told him he had to stay on his bed, and he did!)

2008-05-12T16:13:00.000-07:00

Hello all...We are off to a good start this week. Conway is sleeping well (at night especially). We have his 2 month checkup next week and we are a bit concerned with the shape of his head. He is lopsided! I don't know if it is because he sleep on his left ear most of the time, or due to the fact that his head was 14 1/4 inches around when he was born! I'm not sure if I'm "cut out" for that! Anyway...hopefully we can get it taken care of without him having to wear one of those helmets. James is happy to have a short break from school. We are happy to see him more. He got to go fishing last weekend. He had a good time. We might get to go as a family in a couple of weeks!

2008-05-11T14:43:00.000-07:00

Happy Mothers Day to all you mothers. For mothers day my sweet baby gave me a wonderful gift. He slept through the night! 10 hours without waking up to eat. Of course I kept waking up to check on him and he was sleeping like a baby! Thanks Conway!!!