The Prankster, The Superhero, The Princess, And Then There Was JackJack

Mah Num A Nuh

2012-01-08T14:25:00.000-07:00

My niece Chelsea told me I needed to start blogging again...

Bet she regrets that now.. lol

(Sorry Chelsea but that is just the best picture in the world)

But that was than, and this is now.

Shes all growed up :(

And more beautiful then she knows!

Lots of changes in this house. Such as the house haha. We are now living with Pauls dad so that we can get an actual savings going. We were doing great on our own, but we were just staying a float and not getting anywhere when it came to savings. This way we can help him out, and help ourselves out in return. So far things seem to be going great. The kids LOVE it here. They love having their Poppy around all the time, and love having a nice big fenced yard (with out scary mesquite trees) to play in. Paul is enjoying the time with his dad, which is the main reason we moved down here in the first place. I love the less stress. I feel happier, and more motivated. I do miss my family in Utah though. I wish they would come visit. Hint hint.

Lets start off with an Update on the kiddos.

Samuel is doing great in school. The end of the semester is on Tuesday and I am pretty sure he is going to be having all A's. He is such a hard worker. He is getting older and I am starting to see it, and it makes me sad! I don't want my little man to grow up! He is such a strong willed kid, I don't worry about him in life at all. I know that no matter what, he will adapt to whatever situation and conquer whatever obstacles get in his way. He sees the good in everything, and wants to "Be everyone in the worlds friend." He takes time out of his day, to make sure he plays with each of his brothers and Betty. He always helps Aidan get hooked up to his pump. He is just a great big brother.

Aidan is doing great in school as well. We have had some obstacles because of his speech problem and reading. But he is working through them. He will be finishing out the semesters with all A's as well. He is such a character, all the people in Pauls family tell me he is just like Paul when Paul was his age. He is a sweetheart with a hard exterior. He is so curious about everything. He always wants to know why something works, or how it is made. All I can say is thank goodness my phone has internet and youtube lol. He teaches me something everyday.

Betty... Omg! Betty is going to be 5years old. I am just in shock! This little girl is WAY to smart for her own good. She can already read and write. Her most favorite thing in the whole world is coloring. Thats usually how I get her calmed down for bed. I make her come lay in my bed and color for a little while. She is always ALWAYS on the move. I thought Jackson was active, but Betty is constantly moving, dancing, singing. I love it... most the time haha. She pretty much as everyone she meets wrapped around her finger. One of my goals for her, is to find her a friend! I feel so bad most the time, because her brothers don't want to play barbies, or house or color, I have got to find her a little girl friend.

Jackjack.... Is growing and learning like a weed. He is Trouble! The wheels are always turning in his little head, and he is always looking for trouble. He loves to go outside and play. At night I usually let him fall asleep in our bed. We just sit there and talk. I tell him to say things and he will say them, or if he can't pronounce it, he will just say it in his own language. He knows where almost all his body parts are. He knows a lot of animals sounds. And he talks like crazy. Most the time in 3-4 word sentences. Just like his brother Sam. He is funny though. He calls all of Pauls sisters family Abby. He is almost ready to start saying Olivia. I had him say Shiloh the other night, IT WAS SO STINKING CUTE! But Paul said I couldn't have him start calling me that lol. He calls all dogs and cats "Sheddy." He is going to be 2 in about 2 weeks! Where did the time go!?

Paul started a new job. haha I know right after getting a department manager job at Walmart. But this one is a government job with better pay, and gets his foot in the door for other government jobs. Its at the commissary on base. They put him a special program that will help him move up fast too. So I think that it was all around a hard, but good decision to switch. He is planning on school this fall. I am going to be pushing him towards that.

Me?? Nothing really new with me. Just doing the whole mom and wife thing. Loving and hating it all at once haha. Mostly loving it though. I have a lot of stuff I need to get done, like getting my GED. So I can go to school, and do something with my life. lol Actually more like make sure that if anything happens to Paul, I have a way to provide for my kids. I am back on my diet, and hit my weight loss goal for this week. 5lbs. That is with just following the diet, not exercising.. My goal for this next week is 8lbs. Which I know if I add exercise to my regimen I should be able to knock that out of the park. I am so ready to be stick thin! lol just kidding. Man if I can just get down to a size 8 in pants (with no muffin top lol), I would be ecstatic! I am only 3 sizes away from that! I know if I can just stay motivated I can get there.

Well there is my sad little update lol. I am going to really try to stay up to date, but life does happen.


Poppy reading all the kids a bedtime story <3

Talk about perfect timing….

2011-09-23T16:02:00.001-06:00

Today during English, I was teaching Aidan and Betty that –ck make the /k/ sound. So I say

“Lets think of some other words that say the /k/ sound at the end.”

and Little Jack Jack says

“Me”

haha. It was so funny. I have so so so much to blog about. I don’t think I will make it to everything, but I always get the most important ones to me done.

So someday. I will get off pintrest and I will blog haha.

Big News!!!

2011-08-20T17:33:00.001-06:00

We bought Jackson a potty a few weeks ago. He didn’t seem very interested in it, other than to stick his toys in it and close the lid. Well today he came in while I was using the restroom, and he sat on it, I had just woke up so I was not going to worry about taking off his diaper. While he was sitting there he kept saying '”Poo Poo”. When we came out, I did notice that he had pooed in his diaper. I wasn’t sure if it had happened before or after sitting on the potty, so I just changed him. Well he came in again while I was going, and sat down and kept saying “Poo Poo” so I went ahead and took off his diaper and he sat there with me. Well I decided to wait until he stood up before I went out. He stood up and I looked. HE PEED!

HE PEED IN THE POTTY!!!!!

We had a huge party in the bathroom with everyone. He got high fives and a potty parade. It was awesome! I hope this is an on going thing!

We finally made it!

2011-08-19T18:10:00.002-06:00

After months and months of saying I wanted to go San Pedro House. We finally made it! It was so much fun! The kids really enjoyed it, and because it happened to go along with the science unit they are on, we got to count it as school!

I didn’t want to get my hopes up about seeing very much wild life. But man did we! We saw a bunch of lizards, hawks, a frog, a tarantula and even a rattle snake (Yikes!)
Here’s what I was able to capture with my camera. (Would have been more but a certain little guy decided half way through and covered in mud that he needed to be carried).
One of the biggest trees I’ve seen in my life. It’s a cottonwood.

This picture cracks us up. There was a pond in front of that log, and you can just see the wheels turning in Jacksons head. He was determined to get in that pond. He almost made it twice too. Samuel and Aidan do look like twins in this picture.

I wasn’t going to post all these, but Jacksons face is just priceless.

He is such a cheeser.

And now on to some of the wild life I was able to capture.

Not quite the Desert scenery you would think of..

I stole a few shots of Betty, while the boys and Paul looked at the San Pedro River..
She is too cute. I love her little attitude.

We are planning on going back very soon. Especially since we had to leave shortly after getting there, on the account that it started raining. I still can’t believe that when we lived here 5 years ago, We never came. But I am glad we did this time. GORGEOUS!

Today…

2011-08-05T23:22:00.001-06:00

Highlights…

Getting to mother this little guy

is that not the cutest mug you’ve ever seen?

Rocking out with the kids in the truck

Taking a nap in my Pauly’s arms

Really?!

2011-07-30T21:38:00.002-06:00

Jackson. As much as I LOVE LOVE LOVE him. can be… Well for lack of a better word. Annoying (Oh wait that word fits perfectly haha)
I can’t count the number of times I get handed blankie and sippy for safe keeping. Only to have him take them back 5mins after he gives them to me, and 5 mins later hand them back to me.
But that isn’t even half as annoying as him HIDING his sippy. Why why oh why do you hide your dang sippy?! Today when I was putting him in the bath, I found a missing sippy from yesterday in the tub! The other day at his poppies, Paul, Olivia and me searched EVERYWHERE. High, Low, Under, On, In. EVERYWHERE!! He had stuck it in his poppies shoulder pad thingie that was hanging from a kitchen chair. Once we spent forever looking for one, finally giving up and filling up another one, just to notice that he had stuck it in his Little Peoples Airplane.
Tonight we have spent the last 20minutes searching for the last one he had. Finally I gave up and gave him one that he doesn’t use that often, Maybe he will learn not to hide his other ones haha. GRRRRRRR. I am pretty sure I am ready for sippy to be gone forever.

He is still the most stinking cute little guy ever though. And he makes my heart melt with his sweet sweet little kisses.
Aw shucks! I can’t stay mad at him Looking forward to many more days of holding blankie, searching for sippy and just loving this little man.

It always breaks my heart
2011-07-27T18:05:00.001-06:00

Buuuut… It had to be done.

Before…..

After….

How did this little guy end up with the curly soft blonde hair? and Betty ended up with the thin coarse blonde hair haha. He looks all growed up no sniff sniff

My Smart Little Man <3

2011-07-26T14:34:00.001-06:00

Weekly Weigh In!

2011-07-24T23:41:00.001-06:00

I am back on my diet. With a vengeance! haha
I should have started this last week, but I wasn’t sure how serious I was about the diet again at that point. Apparently 6lbs serious. Wha!?
So this is how this whole thing is gonna go. Every week for mostly my own benefit, and maybe to help inspire some peoples, I am going to post a picture and my stats. Weight, Waist, and Hips.
Here are a few before pictures….
This picture was taken back in January 2011.
183lbs

Yeah, I was shocked too haha.

This was taken in May 2011.

153lbs

And then I sorta went off the diet and gained 4lbs back.

Today I am at:

July 2011

151lbs

a 5lb loss since Monday July 18th.

I was going to give my other stats, but I cannot find my measuring tape haha. So maybe next week.

Phobia King Of The World

2011-07-24T01:03:00.002-06:00

Jackson is scared of many many things. Dj Lance from Yo Gabba Gabba. Chickens (Real ones as well as rubber ones). Just to name a few.
His latest is…..

Oh dear… I cannot look at this picture with out busting out in laughter. What a silly little guy I have.

UH.. That ain’t no stink bug….

2011-07-22T01:08:00.001-06:00

The kiddo’s were out playing on the porch, when they all came in screaming about a “Huge Stinkbug” in their play kitchen, That thing ain’t no stink bug, its just plain scary. Yuck!

The day was pretty much spent trying to keep the kids as quite as they could be, so Pauly could get some much needed sleep. Jackson was in a super goofy mood all day. He kept a smile on everyone’s face. At one point he got pretty quite, so I went searching for him. Expecting a huge mess or some mischief of some sort. What I found was Jackson sitting in the corner in our living room, reading his dinosaur book. I did not get a picture of that, but a little while later I did get some pictures of him reading.

Cars of course haha, He is his daddies boy, that’s for sure. I can honestly say I had a lot of fun with my kids today. There were only a few meltdowns, but a lot more loves and time spent snuggling.

What’s up with the Schow Crowd?

2011-07-18T13:13:00.000-06:00

I haven’t been much of a blogger lately. But I really need to get back into it. Especially because we live so far from most of our family.

Here are just a few things that have been going on with us lately.

Paul and Me: Paul has been working graveyards because they are remodeling the store. This will be his second week of 10pm-7am. It has been killing me. Mostly because I miss my buddy, and also because that means I have been working over time when it comes to the kids. I have them all night, and most of the day. No breaks for this momma. Luckily he only has two more weeks of this (thank goodness because he is a grumpy Gus). I got accepted into the college here, now I just have to work on getting my placement tests done. Then I get on my way with the whole school thing. I also have been sewing. My sister in law is teaching me. I finally got my new sewing machine and have been trying to work on sewing in a straight line for a little while each day. I am getting pretty good.

The Kiddos- Well the oldest three are getting ready for school. There are only like 20days until we can start doing lessons (I am pretty sure I am more excited then the kids).

Samuel is growing up so fast. He is such a big help around the house, He loves having jobs and responsibility around the house. He is a very sweet and passionate little guy. He has been filling his summer up with Video Games (Of Course haha) Swimming in the kiddie pool (he lives in that thing), spending as much time as he can at his Poppies house with his cousins, and going on adventures with his brother and sister. We recently got the top bunk of their bed fixed, and so he moved up there. He loves it, I think it makes him feel older. He is always up there. His new favorite thing right now is reading the Sunday comics to his siblings. He really likes to question authority as well lately. I am not sure if this is just a normal stage or what. Maybe a preview of his teenaged years to come.

Aidan, now this kid is a hard one to figure out. I am still working on it haha. He has a tough guy exterior, but a warm gooey center (he is going to drive the girls wild). He is very sweet and giving. He is always doing something to make us laugh. When we were in California he watched these little boys dance on “Americas Got Talent” and he is now determined that he is going to go on there and dance. So he is always busting a move. He is a very curious and keeps me on my toes. I am constantly having to look stuff up to answer his tough questions. He is already at that stage where he will not give his dad kisses, He only gives me a kiss.. on the cheek only.

Betty is still a diva/drama queen/princess. But that’s easy to get away with when you are your daddies only little girl. She LOVES all things girly. Especially dresses right now. Anytime she sees tulle she begs me to make her a tutu. (She only has a billion of them ya know.) She is a fast learner and I am excited to begin school with her this year, I have no doubt she will be reading shortly after we begin her lessons. She is really good about keeping her room clean and toys organized. She is moms big helper and she loves to “Babysit” Jackson whenever I need to step outside or have a personal minute. One of her quirks at the moment, is being wet. She cannot be wet at all. Even if she gets a pin drop of water on her clothes, she has to change.

Jackson, man this kid is S P O I L E D! He is the king of this house and everyone else's house that he goes to. He is really starting to talk lately, I can’t even tell you how many words he says. He also is a really good mimic. He reminds me so so so much of my dad. Just some of the things he does. He will seriously do anything for a laugh. Like pretending to be on unstable ground. He pretends like he is having a hard time standing up or walking. Its hard to explain, I will have to get it on video. He also walks hunched over sometimes, or crouched down position, it is so hilarious. I love his little fake laugh, he lifts his face up to the sky and just laughs and laughs. Its so funny. He chews the bottom of his shirt (just like my dad when he was young). He is inlove with his blankie. I tried finding one online because he is not a happy camper with out it. But we couldn’t find it anywhere. But his Aunt Mom found him a very close match, that he is taking too just fine. I don’t think I will give him his old blankie back until we need to wash the new one. He takes the blankie EVERYWHERE. He is very very paranoid of losing it or forgetting it. So if he is going to put it down, he will bring it to me. He is a stinker and gets into everything he is not supposed to. His new nickname is “Natural Disaster.” He is just WILD, fun, crazy, and hilarious all balled up into a little chunky body. He is polite though, he says “Thanks” or “Thank You” and “E” aka “Please”. He also talks a lot in his own little language, and then laughs. Sometimes when he is on one of his kicks I really wish I knew what he was saying, and why it was so funny.

Wow that was a novel, he is just at such a fun age right now. Although I will say I cannot wait until he gets older, so that I can spread my attention evenly among the older kids. And I am really excited for potty training to start and be over with. Diaper free life? Yes please! (Well at least until I get a few grandkids).

Back On Track!

2011-06-26T21:54:00.000-06:00

So I thought I would have more time to blog, work on my photography and who knows what else now that summer is here, and the boys are out of school. But as crazy as it sounds, I have felt like I have less time! Maybe it is cause Jackson is more mobile and into everything now, or the fact that half the town tried to burn down. I don't know. I hope that once Paul is able to return to work, and things get back to normal around here, I can get the blog updated, and take my camera out for some photo ops.

I also have gotten off track with my diet. I plateaued and then totally gave up. So tomorrow I am back on my diet and back on an exercise routine. Good news is, I have only gained about 2lbs back. I am hoping that getting strict about it, will help me to lose these last 30 or more pounds. (Then I can go clothes shopping again!!)

There are some fun posts coming up...

Update on all 4 kiddos (Because I haven't done one in a while)

Adventures of MDA Camp

Evacuation because of the Monument Fire leading to "Adventure With The In-Laws" haha

Cali-For-Ni-A :)

Also be on the look out for:

"Summer Activities"

This is going to be a weekly thing, probably posted on Fridays.

It will about what Summer Activities they chose from the "Summer Activities" canister and did that week.

This just looks....

2011-06-02T20:55:00.001-06:00

Painful... haha

This kid... I tell ya...

2011-05-29T15:24:00.000-06:00

And this.......

2011-05-28T20:44:00.000-06:00

is prettty much how my whole day has been.........

New Phobia....

2011-05-24T17:56:00.000-06:00

I don't know why or what happened, but this kid is TERRIFIED of Yo Gabba Gabba.....

If you even say "Yo Gabba Gabba" He will come running to me, crying hysterically.

Coronado Peak Trail

2011-05-09T10:29:00.000-06:00

Our hike up Coronado Peak Trail.

In all the years we have lived/visited here, we have NEVER hiked the actual trail.

I love this picture because it reminds me of Paul haha

Victory Hug

I am so proud of my boys for making it all the way,

It was hard but they never once asked if we could stop and go back.

They are the most able disabled people I know! haha

Easter

2011-05-04T20:48:00.000-06:00

Easter Eve

The cute Schow family egg I made :)

I have no clue why her hands look so dirty..

Bet you can't guess whos egg this is..and no its not Pauls haha

My kids didn't understand that you can't slam the egg down on the table haha

This Picture cracks me up

Aidan refuses to make normal faces for family pictures

Easter Day

He really liked the jelly beans

Samuel didn't like the flash

The Hunt...

The rest of the day was spent pigging out...

and keeping Jackson out of everyones Easter baskets.

At one point he got a hold of Aidans chocolate bunny

We yelled to Aidan that he had it.

so Jack hurries and starts shoving as much of it

in his mouth as he could

Betty's Birthday

2011-04-29T01:12:00.052-06:00

My baby girl turned 4! I just can't get over how fast time goes with kids. It makes me sad to think someday she will be having babies of her own. So I try no too haha...

For Betty's birthday we went up to the Tucson and went to Reid Park Zoo.. It was pretty awesome.. I of course took a butt load of pictures.. So here they are...

This guy came right up to me.. and couldn't get enough of my camera haha

He liked me taking his picture so much, that when I tried to take this guys picture he got VERY upset haha

Not a very good picture, but I had to share the story...

Our cousins told us that if we got to the Polar Bear cage and he was not out

We should call his name and he would come out

So we get there and he is not out.

The 3 older kids start calling his name, and calling his name

"Kolby!" "Kollllbbbyyy!" "Koooooolllllbbbbyyyyy!"

Nothing happens

They lose interest and start heading down the ramp

Jackson takes off after a bird, so I go chasing him

Then he walks up to the cage and plain as day

Calls out in his little voice "Kolby!"

And

Out comes the polar bear..

It was so cute!

I have never in my life seen an ant eater!

This picture cracked me up when I saw it...


This cat reminded us of Miranda's cat Scout haha


If you look closely Betty is trying to make Jackson smile haha

After the Zoo we headed over to the park across the street for lunch.

Jackson has never had a squeeze it before and he was not giving it up for anything haha

After all the fun in Tucson, we stopped off at Costco and got Betty a cake

Then we headed over to Poppies to celebrate..

I think she had a pretty good birthday <3

Wheres the restart button?

2011-04-27T13:37:00.000-06:00

I am seriously in the need for a "Restart Day". A day where I can just start all over again. Restart the kids chore charts, restart their schedules, restart my schedule, and restart my diet. But I don't see that day coming until at least next week. For today, I will be attempting to get Samuel and Aidan through at least most of their lessons. I am going to watch my carb intake, but I am probably not going to exercise. I will attempt to get things cleaned up after Betty and Jackson but no promises. I will however get all the laundry done, folded and put away including bedding. I will watch my temper, however I might lock myself in the bathroom for a good cry. I just feel frustrated and unprepared for the day. I hate when I feel like this. So heres a prayer I will be keeping my heart today...

If its going to be a bad day, I only ask that it ends quickly and with out anyone having to get rushed to the ER.

I ask that I can find the good in the bad, and I ask that I can not sweat the small stuff.

I ask that I can have a better attitude.

In the name of Jesus Christ

Amen!

Seemed like fun haha

2011-04-15T22:25:00.000-06:00

1. Go to wikipedia and hit "random." The first random wikipedia article you get is the name of your band:

Life Story

2. Go to quotationspage.com and hit "random". The last four or five words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your first album:

Afraid only of standing still

3. Go to flickr and click on “explore the ...last seven days.” Third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover

4. Use paint/photoshop/picnik.com/whatever to put it all together. Voila.

Get Yo' Jackson Fix....RIght Here....Rightnow....

2011-04-13T19:14:00.000-06:00

Fun Week :)

2011-04-05T16:35:00.000-06:00

So this week has had some exciting and fun things happen...

First off... While wrestling with his daddy, Aidan lost his first front tooth!

At first he was upset.. Until he realized that it meant that the tooth fairy was coming... Moms just happy that one of the vampire teeth are gone haha (When Aidan was about 1, he was playing outside the tub while I was bathing his brother, and he slipped and chipped his two front teeth on the bathtub.)

And the other exciting thing that happened.....
While coming back from helping dad bring in the garbage can.. Aidan found this...

We named him Bowser.. and I think he likes us :)

Were not in Utah anymore Toto....

2011-04-02T20:42:00.000-06:00

On the 31st we went to Tucson for a speech evaluation for Aidan and for Samuel to get measured for inserts for his shoes.

I think we will start with Aidan's speech eval, We had to be there at 9:30am! Which means we had to leave our house at 7am.. Which means I had to get up at 5:40am! Disgusting I know.. haha.. We were actually early! When we got to Tucson, it was already 70°F... Not a bad way to start the day.. When we were almost to the doctors office, we almost hit a chupacabra! Aka a hairless coyote. It was so COOL. I had my camera but not in a handy spot :( sad sad day.. ANYWAYS.. The appointment went GREAT! It was so nice to finally have someone not tell me "He will grow out of it"!! She actually listened to my concerns and took her time with him. She explained to me what she thinks is wrong, and IT MAKES COMPLETE SENSE! Aidan is really REALLY nasally when speaking. And this is because the tube that goes from your nose to your trachea is supposed to shut completely off when you are talking (except when saying sounds with mmmm or nnnn sounds) Well Aidan's does not close off. There is actually A LOT of air coming out of his nose when he speaks. This is most likely due to his muscle weakness. From what I understood, we are going to be doing Speech Therapy, trying techniques to try and train him to close off that part, and if this does not correct the issue, then we will probably be looking at surgery, because it may be physically impossible for him to close it off. She didn't really go into the surgery part, so I don't know exactly what kind of surgery would be an option. We will also be seeing an ENT and getting an Endoscopy done. They will put a tube down his nose, with a light and a camera attached to it, and then they will have him speak. This way they can get an even better idea on what those muscles are actually doing and what our options are.

So in a nutshell. Momma always knows best! I was seriously on the verge of tears the whole appointment. Because FINALLY FINALLY someone was listening to me and we were going to get this problem taken care of.

We had a good break in between appointments, we took this time to run some errands. Paul needed some model paint, and I wanted to sign up for a cake decorating class that Miranda was signed up for. (REALLY looking forward to some mommy nights out haha) I am so excited about it. More and more lately I find myself trying new things I wouldn't normally give my self credit enough to even begin to try, and have been excelling at them! Weight loss has been an issue with me since having Betty, and even more so since having Jackson. I was not happy with myself in the least. This affected my personality, my confidence and my marriage. I have been on this diet for a month yesterday, and I have lost 15lbs! I feel amazing. I look amazing! I can't wait to lose more weight. I have really turned myself around. I have been really good on this diet, only cheating a handful of times in the whole month. I really have changed my relationship with food. Would I kill for a bag of candy to devour, or some sweet potatoe fries from Smoking Apple? Yes of course haha, but how would I feel when the scale said I gained 3 or 4 lbs because of this? Not very good! I like being able to really tell myself no. and listen. I really love getting on that scale and not feeling like a heifer afterward. I love having energy to run around with my kids. I love fitting into clothes I thought I should just give away because I would never fit in them again. : ) Another thing I tried this week, is doing my make up a different way. I am very clueless when it comes to make up. But one of my WTE momma did a blog about creating a smokey eye. I decided to try it out.. and with her easy step by step guide, I was actually able to do it! It looked awesome! Then today I did something I had been scared silly to do. Wax and Tweeze my own eyebrows! I took a deep breath, took my time doing it. and IT TURNED OUT! Exactly how I have always wanted them. haha

I probably sound like the biggest nerd. But you have no idea how bad my self confidence is (not just about my looks either, about everything I do). But that has been changing a lot lately for the good. I am not exactly sure why, but I hope it continues on this path. (I also took the GED prep test, and scored really well. So I am confident with a little more studying in math I will pass no problem, maybe school this fall?) Anyways haha I just was trying to make the point that I am excited to try other new things, and see how I am with them. I am excited to see how well I do with the cake decorating, and I am happy to have Miranda there to push me and tell me to just do it! When I am feeling like I cannot do something. Shes a pusher.... (haha that was supposed to be a "Mean Girls" reference)

So on with Tucson... After Samuels appointment we went and got some Carls Jr. and let the kids play on the play area... I don't know what our luck is with parks lately, but there we are eating and these two little boys come running out and get on the park... all of a sudden we hear one of them drop the F bomb! No joke, and these kids were like maybe 6 and 3.. Well the rest of the time we are there, the youngest one was yelling "Imma F You Up!" over and over and over again.. Yeah.. We decided we would go to the mall play place instead... As we were leaving the mom said to me "Isn't it a beautiful Saturday afternoon?" Umm it was Thursday...I just kindof nodded and chuckled to myself.. We are definitely not in Utah anymore... We went to Tucson Mall after that... after doing a full circle haha.. But Tucson has some of the coolest Murals! I cannot wait to go up and take some pictures. We finally got to the mall the and it was AWESOME! They had a cool little Hermet crab stand, all the hermet crab shells were painted different. There was a spongebob, a lady bug and my favorite a jolley roger.. They even had a PET STORE! right there in the mall. With Puppies! and Bunnies! and you could hold them and pet them. It was so awesome haha.. After some window shopping, we decided to head over and let the kids play in the play area. They had a lot of fun. After that we headed home. It was a great day. I had so much fun just site seeing and mall cruising.

April Fools!!

2011-04-01T20:46:00.000-06:00

haha this was my April Fools joke!

But I really did get my hair did...

and I really do love it!

The lady who did it, listened to exactly what I wanted and Delivered!

I was ubber worried that she would chop off all the length

But I stressed and stressed to her that I didn't want to lose it.

Then I was worried that it might end up looking like a mullet

But man did she know what she was doing!

Okay Okay Already!

2011-03-29T16:33:00.000-06:00

Last night... The missionaries jumped our fence, to come and make another appointment to come teach Samuel.. Now that is determination. haha... I know... I know what is needed of me... and I know my prayers are being answered.. and Its time to straighten up and do what I need to be doing...

Something happened the other day... It was Monday, and the kids were getting back into school. But they were having a hard time.. Samuel and I were arguing and I was feeling like giving up.. Betty comes into the room humming "I am a child of God" and something clicked.. Samuel calmed down started doing his work with giving me gruff.. all my feelings of anxiety and irritation went away, and we had a great rest of the afternoon. Today I decided to put this to the test and I loaded in a primary music cd.. and sure enough there has been no upset, no grouching, no complaining. Just peaceful playing and working... its been nice... way nice...
Oh yeah and then I had them clean the living room.. Aidan and Betty were of course at each otheres throats, tattling, screeching, crying... The whole bit... Told Samuel to unpause the music.....Silence... Working togetherness.. Cleaning... I tell ya... This will be a new trend in this house hold... Because even mom feels calm and peaceful..

Okay Okay Already! I get it! I am up to speed... But I will most likely need some more promptings and nudges in the right directions.. so keep 'em coming

No caffeine

2011-03-29T09:03:00.000-06:00

and this....

= A two hour nap haha..

Thank goodness for a great husband, who looked after the other three.

While I snuggled my sicky baby girl <3

Update coming soon

2011-03-26T22:46:00.000-06:00

I have a couple things to blog about.. But for some reason this week I have lost all drive to do anything.. So those updates will come as soon as the real Shiloh returns..

But I wanted to share this.. Because it is just too cute not to share :)

It is a little light in color, but this is a picture of our family Betty drew today.

Wait count again...

There are 6 people in our family

and 7 in this picture.

I asked her who the 7th person was and she replied

"That's Hailey. Her mommy dropped her off at our house, cause she had to work"

haha

I think someone misses her little cousin. <3

Secretly Loving..

2011-03-22T22:36:00.000-06:00

That we have to go to Tucson almost every two weeks (if not every week haha.) There is just something about it. Its new and exciting and FUN. haha.. And that is just the South side! I haven't even really been on the North side, unless you count driving by on the freeway. So I think I pretty much have Paul convinced that we actually drive around Tucson when we go back up on the 31st.

I will admit, I was pretty upset about this appointment this last time. It was with the clinics pediatrician. He had no idea why we were seeing him, and that made me wonder the same thing =p.. He examined the boys and then was suggesting people we should see...People who we had already seen, and/or were scheduled to see already.. Kinda very frustrating! Then the social worker came in, and told us a bunch of stuff that we already got told when we were there two weeks ago. FRUSTRATING! But... Since there wasn't much to discuss, we got out of there at 2pm.. So we actually got to enjoy a day in Tucson.

The boys had to put on gowns... They were absolutely mortified....

I of course thought it was hilarious haha..

We went to the hobby store for Paul. He was in hog heaven. Then we went to harbor freight. Samuel wanted to go to a park, but by time we had got done at harbor freight and then eating, it was already 4pm.
Boston Market is ohhhh soooo goooodddd......

We had to go to Costco still, and when we were driving there we saw a Toys R Us. So we told the kids if they were good at Costco we would go to Toys R Us.. The kids (and the parents) LOVED IT!

Now let me get serious on ya for a minute... I don't really believe in soulmates.. but definitely kindred spirits.. Sometime before we were sent here.. Paul and Jackson made a packed... Best Friends Forever...
This kid may not look much like hims daddy... But man does he have his personality.... The minute I saw Jackson with a car and heard him making car noises... I knew that Jack was not sent here for me, but for Paul <3

Now look at these pictures and tell me everything I just said was a lie.......

I think Jackson found his dream car

This picture is priceless!

This little guy is definitely his daddies little boy <3

We had a great time, and I cannot wait until the 31st to go up again! We have a pretty good gap between Aidan's appointment and Samuel's appointment. so I am hoping we can find something really fun to do.

Jack Found A New Way Around

2011-03-21T16:56:00.000-06:00

One of my favorite times of the year....

2011-03-19T10:15:00.001-06:00

Paul's birthday and St.Patrick's Day. I love spoiling Paul on his birthday, and doing fun crafts with my kids for St.Patrick's Day. I love sharing traditions with them and telling them about leprechauns.

This week has been filled with school school and more school. But I am proud to say that Samuel is finally caught up and after Paul gets home from work tonight Aidan will be also.. Poor Jack-Jack has been having some MAJOR cabin fever....

This is him trying to climb out the living room window.. haha poor guy

That day we took a good 30minute outside break.

And he was feeling much better.

On St.Patrick's Day I was going to dye our milk green as usual. But sad day when I realized we have no food coloring.. Who doesn't have food coloring??? Seriously! But I made up for it, by spraying all of their hair green :) (Except Aidan of course, because he is apposed to anything "Punk"-ish.. much to his daddies happiness haha)

Aren't they the cutest ever? I truly am blessed.

Paul had to work in the morning that day, but after he got home, we headed over to Poppies and Miranda's for a yummy St.Patrick's Day feast.. and It was GOOOOOOOOOD.

So good that the next day Aidan told me "Aunt Randa should come over and cook for us" haha what a stink!
Oh and as we are leaving Mirandas that night.. I am telling her how Jackson barely says anything really. At the time Noah was pretending there was food in his fingers and Jackson was pretend eating it... and Just as I finish the sentence "Yeah he doesn't really say anything" what do you think he does... "All Done" lol My kids always do that too me! I swear they just want everyone to think I am crazy.

Paul's birthday went pretty good too. We just took it easy. I cooked him some blueberry muffins. He said they were good, I didn't get to have any.. Sad day haha. Then the kids gave him his cards, Betty picked out a the cutest card, it was all about "Daddies Little Girl" and then She wrote "I love you, Love Betty" in it. She is really picking up on the writing thing. Everyday she will just sit and write her name over and over on our white board, and then she will just write random letters. The boys then wrote in their card, I think it is so great they can all write now, except Jack of course. But we did the usual tradition of putting the hand print then I just let him scribble all over the page. After that we headed to take our trailer full of junk to the Salvation Army and then we went to drop it off at Miranda's. We said we were thinking of going to the library and they decided to come with. I don't think Jack has ever had so much fun in his life. He was just going going going the whole time. Running up and down the aisle and into everything. It was all great until he saw a kid pull a book off the shelf, and that was about the time we decided it was time to go haha. After that Miranda invited us back to the house for birthday dinner and cake. (Yes we are very spoiled down here) We had low carb spaghetti! It was really good. But filling. Then we had chocolate cake haha.. Yes I realize that probably defeated the whole process of having the low carb spaghetti, but as far I know, birthday cake is exempt from any calories or carbs bahaha. Jackson of course was being the clown that he is, made everyone bust up laughing. He is terrified of this wooden pig that Miranda has, and so Olivia was chasing him with it and he does a little "O" face and starts shrieking and shaking his hands, it was hilarious.

Then we came home and Paul played his new game.. and I cleaned the carpets in the living room. Now its back to the spring cleaning. and I think I may get rid of some more stuff..

OH! and I wanted to share this with everyone, just incase some of my mommy friends out there were not aware of these....

I found these at Dollar Tree

Haha took me a few minutes to remember what that place was called. The name has been changed so many times! My kids love these plates! and you get two in every package. I don't know if they have any new ones, but we have Tigers, Koalas, Pandas, Dogs, Monkeys, Pigs, and Hippos. They are great! My kids think they are the zoopals ones. Just thought I would share :)

The coyotes are making their nightly visit

2011-03-14T23:26:00.000-06:00

The dogs will not stop barking... That usually means the coyotes are out for their nightly visit. Zoey always comes in with her hair raised into a mohawk. Scared to death. They can't get into our yard, unless they jump the fence. So I don't worry to much about her. haha

Anyways lol how was that as a blog entrance. I couldn't think of what else to say.

So today we spent the day getting back into our routine, and thankfully the "listening" button got turned back on!

Samuel made it through 3 language arts lessons (where I made a few grammar mistakes and had Paul laughing because my 2nd grader was editing my work) and an Art lesson on weaving.. He had to do a weaving thing with paper...

Here is his finished product:

Aidan did pretty good too. He did two lessons of Language Arts. We read this book:

Its a very cute story about a grandma taking the girls out to get new coats. When they get to the bus stop the bus was taking a long time to get there, so Grandma teaches them a song her granny use to sing to her. Which is of course wheels on the bus. After they got done singing it they had missed the bus.. So how do they get home? Well you will just have to figure that out for your self.

Just now I realized that I should have recorded Aidan reading his book dang it! It was called "Pigs" He did really good with reading it. I will have to get video of him doing it tomorrow I guess.

But here he is writing the word he learned today...

Everytime I make a video or take a picture

They beg me to put it on the blog haha

Because they know all their cousins will see it.

ps.. Aidan brought me the letter J today

and told me what it was!

I was so happy I almost cried.

We also learned about George Washington today.

And I was quite shocked when I showed Aidan the picture I had printed out

and he says

"Its George Washington. Our president!"

After the lesson, I then realized that he thought he was still our president.

So I pulled up a few pictures of Obama and explained to him

That Washington was our first president and that he was dead now.

And Obama was our current President.

Tomorrow we learn about Abe Lincoln.

Betty didn't really do much. Other than distract today haha.

She played outside with Aidan for most the morning

while I did school with Samuel.

And for some reason my kids have become obsessed with iCarly.

Are they even old enough to understand that show?

geez

Jackson was a holy terror, that did his usual tearing everything out.

Oh and he tried to write on the whiteboard with a regular marker.

Which I wish I had gotten a picture of,

because the kid was holding the marker the correct way!

He then spilled a diet pepsi all over some papers I needed.

Tried to drink what was left in the Motrin bottle while I was giving it to Betty.

Luckily there was hardly anything left, so I don't think he even got a drop.

Did I mention this was all within 30seconds.

I hate those moments where you feel like you need 90hands

just to keep up with one kid!

This is the St. Patricks Day craft we did today..

I think they turned out way super cute and I cannot wait

to hang them in our window..

They are hand print leprechauns!

How stinking cute are they?

The one right out in front is Samuels

Then starting from the right up top is

Aidan, Jackson and Betty.

Well the kids are all in bed. I am now just waiting for Paul to get home from work.

Talking to my cousin Merinda on facebook.

I love facebook. I know a lot of people don't.

But I really feel like I have been able to reconnect with so many

of my relatives that I had lost contact with over the years.

Or never had much contact with and now I speak to almost daily.

I also like facebook because I have gained a lot of new friendship

Like all my WTE mommies!

I will end this blog with this...

Jackson sitting on Aidan's lap watching tv.

Too Cute!

Wow this kids got personality

2011-03-13T17:06:00.000-06:00

Jackson's fake laugh

Just your typical Saturday I s'pose..

2011-03-12T19:08:00.000-07:00

Today we got our butts in gear and cleaned our yard and porch. The wind storms here are crazy, so we had all sorts of stuff stuck in our "Thorn Trees" lol (Seriously all through our yard are these trees with HUGE thorns in them, that are sharp enough to poke through your shoe!) Things get done so fast with our kiddos helping out. It only took like an hour to get everything cleaned up and straightened. Then Paul pulled out the Castle blocks that Miranda gave to the kids, and set it up around Bettys kitchen on our front porch. I didn't get a picture but it is quite a site haha. After that we had lunch and headed out to get Jackson some milk. And can I just tell you that its really annoying when people park their shopping carts in the middle of the Aisle and then acted annoyed when you say "Ahem.. Excuse me" as politely as possible. Grr any who! After our adventure at the store, we headed home and and got dinner ready and the kids played in the castle. It has been really quiet around my house today :)

So I really slacked on my exercise this past week. I feel horrible! I haven't gained anything, but as you have noticed I haven't lost anything either... sad day :( I think it was mostly because you can only do an exercise video for so long before you just get sick of seeing the persons face lol. This caused me to slack off. I just wasn't sure what to do, we can't afford to get me a treadmill right now. I can't go to the park and walk the trail, because I would have to take all 4 kids, and then I wouldn't be able to walk as fast as I want and need too. We don't exactly live in a neighborhood where you can walk around (Its all dirt roads and nothing circles back lol) My solution? I do laps around the outside of our house haha! I seriously put on my iPod and for 20mins, I do laps around the yard. I would love to be able to walk around the whole yard, but as I wrote above we have these killer thorn trees. It works for now though. It gets me out of the house. And its something I can do while Paul is at work. I will just do it when Jack is down for his nap. The older kids can play outside while and that way if there is any problems or Jack wakes up, They can tell me! I am sure my neighbors think I am nuts, but you know what... The weight has got to go!

I tried to get video of Jackson trying to sit on a stool yesterday, it was so funny to watch him. He tries to back up to it. Then he would sit, twice he missed and sat down on the floor it was hilarious. Everytime he made it on to the stool he would sit and bounce up and down and cheer for himself. Then sometimes he tries to sit on it by mounting it like you would a bike. That is even funnier. Someday I will get video of some of the crazy stuff he does. Like when he does the dance "walk like an Egyptian" which is really funny, and its special to me, because my dad use to do that all the time, and I have no clue where Jackson learned it from.

look at this picture of Jackson!

This was taken last March at Sabreanna's house.

That little bike thing is a plant holder lol.

Oh how I love that kid!

Found Jacksons Halloween Costume For This Year

2011-03-11T11:32:00.000-07:00

Is this not the cutest!? haha

My older kids wear it all the time

and Today I was picking it up and noticed it was

18-24months.

So we tried it on..

And I think we have a winner for Halloween!

Two Days of getting out of the house!

2011-03-10T16:53:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Aidan was working on the letter K... So we made him the King of K for the day..

We thought that Samuel had cub scouts, I got the kids all ready to go. We headed out and dropped Betty, Jack and Aidan off at Miranda's. But when we got to the church, we were the only Cub Scouts. We thought maybe we were early so we hung around and took some pictures..

After we found out there was no Cub Scouts, we headed over to visit with Miranda and her kids until Daddy got off work. One of my favorite past times :)

The kids were of course ready to go by like 8pm because its their bed time, but Miranda and I were talking about our diet. I kept telling Betty, in just a minute, and she goes "You keep saying that but then you just keep talking and talking" It was so funny. She is such a drama queen.

Then today I met up with a new friend I made :) Rachel and her two kids at the park. The kids seem to really enjoy running around, and I enjoyed getting to talk to another Adult! I was going to take some pictures, but then realized I have Jackson, the eat everything in sight boy haha. He really wore himself out though..

I had to wake him when it was time to go get Paul from work.. 2hrs later!

When we got home he really wanted a Popsicle with his sister, so I put him in his chair..

Aidan lives in this cat suit. It is a struggle to get him to take it off..

What a character!

Today is the 8 year anniversary of my Moms passing. It seems fresh this year for some reason.

Maybe because 8 years is a long time to go with out talking or being able to hug or kiss her.

We miss her deeply.

I've been trying to keep my positive and celebrate my accomplishments as a mom.

I painted Betty's and my nails matching colors.

Then we all finger painted (except Aidan.. of course haha)
We made finger painted rainbows with pots of gold!
I think they turned out WAY cute..

This is mine and Betty's finished product.

annnd this is Samuel's

I had a lot of fun with my little ones today. :)
Sometimes it really Rocks being a mom<3

Love the day to day

2011-03-08T21:51:00.000-07:00

Life as we know it is SLOOOOWLY getting back to normal. With Paul working again, we are finally falling into a routine, that is working for everyone! As funny as that sounds. As soon as he leaves for work, I start school with the boys. Daddy comes home for lunch, and then after he leaves back to work, we do our chores and finish up school. Then its basically a free for all, until about an hour before Daddy is supposed to come home, that is when we clean up again (not quite like the Schow Family Shuffle- lol That is for you Miranda), so he can come home to a nice clean and stress free house. Our kids are calmer, because they know what to expect of the day, and my house is cleaner because I am not doing it all by myself. I have 3 really great helpers!(We actually had to scrounge up a load of laundry the other day to get Pauls work clothes washed, because we had NO dirty laundry. This has not happened to me since I was like 16!)
Today was Pauls first day off that we were actually going to be home for most the day. Being the great husband he is, he helped me cook breakfast, and being the great dad that he is, he then did the boys Math with them. All in all a pretty relaxing Morning. After we finally got ready for the day (showered and dressed haha) We headed out to get stuff for dinner. I decided to make deviled eggs for the first time in my life. So after Texting Miranda about what she uses and how much. I set off on my own adventure of making them. I realized at the end we didn't have any paprika, so instead we substituted it for Old Bay (Its a seafood seasoning, but we pretty much put it on everything haha) They were so DELICIOUS! And at Wal-Mart I discovered a whole section of Atkins yumminess! Things to make it feel like I am cheating, when I am not! I got these really good caramel fudge bars, that taste like Little Debbie Cosmic Brownies. Now I know that those are not the best, but I LOVE THEM. My sister use to put them in my lunch for me all the time when I was little, so I think its the nostalgia thing I get from eating them. Anyways, the bars we got me taste just like those. So I was in heaven... And they are only 3 carbs!

Then at Target. I looked temptation right in the eye, and said NO! At the register... There sat my Mini Cadbury Eggs... Paul handed me a bag... I looked at the carbs and said NO WAY JOSE! And slapped those puppies right back up on the shelf... 28 freaking carbs! I don't remember for how many, (Probably 3 because that is usually the way it goes) but I wouldn't be able to eat the rest of the day!! I am so proud of myself! Those are like my most favorite candies in the world. I can eat a whole bag in a day. and I said NO!

Skinny Me: 1 Fat Me: 0

Booya Suck On That Fat Me! lol

That was pretty much how our whole day went. It was a great day and I look forward to more of Pauls days off haha..So now all the kiddos have been passed out for like a half hour, and Paul and I have been enjoying some us time.Oh yeah and did I mention I lost 8lbs! haha.. Paul teased me today about something, that he can have "The Real Thing" and I said... Thats okay... I lost 8lbs... I can go with out "The Real Thing"

I hate posting with out a picture..

So heres one from Sunday.

Jacksons favorite chew toys..

Betty's Princess Pollys.

Week 2!

2011-03-08T08:18:00.001-07:00

So my stats for week one were:

183lbs Neck: 14 Waist:39 Hips:41

My stats for Today.. Week Two.......

175lbs Neck: 14 Waist: 35 Hips: 39

all I have to say is....

GO ME!!!!

It's time for another first

2011-03-07T18:40:00.000-07:00

I think its time for Jacksons first hair cut haha...

Have to take the bad...With Good...

2011-03-07T18:38:00.000-07:00

Today is trying (and somewhat suceeding) to be one of those days that you wonder why you even got up that morning. The little things are what are just piling up, so I am keeping a list over the day, and we will see who prevails!

So far today...
The Bad...

Aidan started crying and throwing a fit when I mention that we were doing school today..
None of the friggin magnets will hold any of the papers up on the fridge today...(never had a problem until TODAY!)
My phone which has some service in parts of the house.. has decided today to have NO SERVICE ANYWHERE! I've been having to talk on freaking speaker phone if I want to get anything done!
Picked up 3 different pens to write down a phone number and none of them would work!
Jackson cries to get out of his crib and then cries to get put back in!? He has done this three times now...
I have a yucky cold sore coming on :(

The Good...

Lost another pound!
Get to eat all my yummy delicious diet food today!
Aidan has picked up the letter J! So now we are down to him only missing 5 letters.
CRS called and made a Speech Therapy Appointment for Aidan!
All the kids went outside to play while Jackson napped.. The house is almost silent...ahhhh..
Samuel made it through 3 language arts lessons and a Math Unit Test!
Got to see my hunnybear on his lunch break <3
Watched Jackson play with his dump truck all day.. love it!
Got invited for a play date at the park!

I could go on and on with the good, but I don't want to bore you haha But really sometimes it really helps to take the time during the day and list it out. The good usually always outweighs the bad.. Atleast with the little things :)

To Anxious To Wait!!!!

2011-03-07T11:53:00.001-07:00

So my actually weigh in is tomorrow, BUT I am way to excited today and had to share this......

And that is just since Tuesday!

And I can really tell the difference.

Especially in my tummy area.

and my hips

I was all checking myself out in the mirror today
Paul thought was getting a kick out of it haha

Although today I am kicking myself because of my splurge yesterday.

I could be at 7lbs lost :(

haha and That is a big deal!

Only 4 more pounds and I will have a 10lbs loss

and I get to get myself a little "sumphin sumphin"

(I am buying myself some new tank tops for under my shirts booya!)

We made it to Church!

2011-03-06T15:25:00.000-07:00

8am church that is! Yes we were a little late, but we made it! And! It never fails, whenever Paul and I have not been to church in awhile, the first Sunday we make it back, it is ALWAYS fast Sunday.. Isn't that funny! The kids did great in Sacrament. Other then Aidan and Betty pulling the potty card. Does anyone else have kids who think that they need to see the inside of every public bathroom they come into vicinity of? Then Aidan and Betty switched brains, so when Primary came around, I had to go sit in Primary with Betty, when its usually Aidan who cries and doesn't want to go. Don't you just hate that? Any who, I finally convinced her when it was time for her class, that she needed to go alone... Well not so much as convinced her as tricked her. I went to class with her, and as soon as they handed out the snack, I told her I needed to go change Jackson. Really I was escaping! lol I got to go to Relief Society for almost the whole thing, but about 5mins or so before it was to end, Jackson started having issues. There are quite a few babies in our RS and so Jackson sat on the floor for most of it playing with them. Then he got tired of that, and that is when we had to leave. Aidan, Samuel and Betty made it through there classes, and Betty didn't even notice I had not come back from changing Jackson. ;) I was sad that I didn't get to go to class with Paul, but other than that it was a great day!

And I cheated on my diet! But I couldn't help it! We had a visitor, and she brought chocolate chip banana bread! How could I not have a piece... or two... But I am going to let Leslie Sansone kick those calories out of me tonight... So it will be like it never happened.. right? lol...

Today I didn't have to...

2011-03-05T16:09:00.000-07:00

Mop the kitchen and bathroom floors

Take out the garbage

Wash the windows

Wipe Down the walls

Wipe down cupboard doors

Wipe down the bedroom and bathroom doors

Clean off the table and chairs

Do any of my kids laundry

Why you ask?

Well its not because I just didn't do them...

They got done all right...

Aidan mopped the kitchen and bathroom floors

(Did a superb job I might add, I don't think I am even that pristine about it about it haha)

Samuel took out the garbage with help from Aidan and Betty

Betty and Samuel washed the windows and window seals

Aidan and Betty wiped down all the walls

Samuel wiped down the cupboard, fridge and oven doors.

Aidan wiped down the bedroom and bathroom doors

Betty cleaned off the table and chairs.

and Samuel got 3 loads of laundry through the washer and dryer today!

Not to mention before all that

They cleaned their rooms

and made their beds

The house looks great!

I love my kiddos ♥

And I love that they WANT to help.

no one cried, no one pouted

Everyone just did their jobs

There was one request though

and that was for some music.

haha

Aidan even had a "Little Critter" moment haha

Where all his chores were done

But Samuel and Betty were still finishing up theirs

So he took the dirty washcloth we used to wipe up a mess off the floor

and he re-wiped down the kitchen table.

Then after I told him not to do that, because we don't want the germs from the floor

on the table where we eat.

Then holding a different soaking wet washcloth, asked if he could wipe down the bookcase

I said no, not with that

and I look up and he is wiping down the TV with said wash cloth!

Haha..

After that, I found him a quick job to do, while Betty and Sam finished up.

Childrens Clinic in Tucson=LONG DAY!

2011-03-04T13:01:00.000-07:00

I forgot how great the medical care here is. (Well in Tucson lol) Samuel and Aidan get sent up to this place called CRS. Its a children's clinic, where instead of having a Pulmonary Doc, a GI Doc, and a Neurologist, physical therapist, that you see separately and who don't speak or share information with each other. We have them all in one spot, where before they see us, they all gather together and share information on us! Its really great. Sam and Aidan are of course doing great. There were no new concerns with the boys. Samuel has to get an insert for his right foot, because he basically walks on the pad that is under your big toe. This is causing his tendon in his ankle to be really tight, which is why he has such a hard time walking. So we will be doing stretches that the PT showed us on his foot every night, and he should get his insert sometime in April. Aidan is going to be getting a speech evaluation, and both of the boys will be getting a sleep study done to re-evaluate their need for CPAP. Dr.Miller(our neurologist) thinks they would be better off with BiPAP. (I am not going into full details on what these mean, if you are that curious you can google them haha) That also will probably be happening late April, or May sometime. Dr.Miller also said that they were doing great, and he would start off by seeing us every 6months. Which usually he does every 3months, but he knows how well we do with our boys, and that if we have any problems we will call him. :) Hows that for a parental ego boost? He also gave us his CELL NUMBER!? haha. I thought that was just amazing. I have never had a doctor give, ESPECIALLY a specialist give me their personal contact info. He is amazing I dare say.. I was a little sad though... Because he doesn't wear his red bowties anymore :( haha. They also hooked us with the MDA, and now Samuel and Aidan will be attending the MDA summer camp! It is a 5 day stay about 5 hours away from here! They will be able to do horse back riding, adaptive sports, swimming, etc. and at the end they have a dance, and they get all dressed up and the boys ask the girls to the dance. HOW CUTE IS THAT? They will have their very own camp counselor with them 24/7. We asked that they be in the same group this year, just because it is their first time, and they seriously spend 24/7 together. I just think that it would be way to hard, to be away from mom and dad, and each other, in a new place, all at once. There is also a real medical staff on site. Its clear in June but I am so nervous! I have never been away from my boys for that long, not to mention trusting them with someone other than family! :( But I think it will be so good for them. The appointment was 2hrs long..yeah crazy! Not to mention the 1hr drive up.

The kids did so well. I was really pleased :)

I love Betty in this picture, she is so funny!

The kids, doing some meditation to get their sillies out haha

Okay so this is a Low Carb Six Dollar Burger

From Carls Jr.

You don't even know how happy I was to see it haha

I have been on the Atkins Diet since Tuesday

And I HAVE DONE SO WELL!

I have lost 4lbs already.

I can only have 20carbs a day.

Which means I am only allowed to eat

certain meats, fish, salads and vegetables.

Only so much of those a day

and I can have all the diet soda I want because it has no carbs!

I have had no sugar and no junk since Tuesday!

So I was sad when I thought I might have to cheat on my diet

Being in Tucson, and just wanting to grab something on our way home

Didn't give me a whole lot of options

As I sat and looked at the menu

I was really struggling to decide to either just wait til we got home

or totally blow all my progress and feel guilty

Then I saw that on the menu

It was totally one of those Angels singing moments haha

And

IT WAS DELICIOUS!

not to mention filling

I was full for the rest of the night.

AND

THE
BEST
PART

IT WAS ONLY 6Carbs!

Whats a day like with Jackson you ask?

2011-03-03T21:01:00.000-07:00

Here he is tearing all the stuff out of his brothers desk, and eating it.

Including the nasty old corn dog stick he apparently hid in there haha

This is an everyday occurence...

Jackson dumps all of Betty's crayons out

I tell Betty to pick up her crayons

He will hurry and sit on them

and start pulling them back out of the box

Faster than she can put them away

This was 2 seconds after I pulled him out of the tub

and put his new diaper on

I put his clean diaper on, got up from the floor

and sat on the couch

Then I hear Betty yelling from my bathroom

That Jackson was in the cupboard..

HE IS FAST!

Paul texted me about some fish, so I went to see if it was on my "Can Eat List" haha

This is what I found.....

Whenever any of the kids lay on the floor
Jackson thinks they are laying down to be
his personal couch
Before this, I caught him sitting on Samuel's face
But I couldn't get to my phone fast enough to take a picture

This is Jackson throwing a fit because his brother was in the bath
and he was not..
This is only half a fit haha
And sorry its sideways
I forgot to hold my phone the other way

But after all that...
Its the end of the day and
You get this....

I love this little man like no tomorrow.
I could not imagine my life with out him
or any of my kiddos for that matter

♥

Update on the kiddos...

2011-03-03T18:10:00.000-07:00

Samuel...

Well Samuel is just growing right up. Of course breaking the contract that I make with all my kids when they are born. "I Samuel Schow promise to never grow up, and stay my moms baby boy for the rest of my life." He of course will always be my baby boy, no matter how much he grows up.

Which reminds me... If you have a little boy...

Get this book!

makes me well up with tears every time I read it!

Samuel turned 8 years old on February 11th. He is now in Cub Scouts and preparing to get baptized. He actually got his Marble Belt Loop. and Yesterday we went and got his uniform, I haven't had a chance to get any pictures of him yet.

He is doing great in school, and doesn't give me too hard of a time... Once we get started that is

He also just learned how to do laundry, and did his first load all by himself the other day. Sure makes my job easy that I only have to do mine and Pauls clothes now

He spends most of his day dressed up in some off the wall costume, playing with his brothers and sister.

He also spends A LOT of time outside, he loves it.

I love that its so warm here that he can do that mid March

He is a great reader, which is a good thing..annnd

a bad thing

A bad thing, because he reads EVERYTHING.

Like shirts that perverted old guys wear at walmart that say

"Place Boobs Here"

HAHA!

Aidan...

Haha this pictures just cracks me up. He just turned 6! I can't believe how old my boys are :'(

He is doing GREAT in school. Other than a few problems with his Alphabet and Letter Sounds, but we are working through them. Here are some pictures he had to draw and turn into his teacher today.


He wrote "Policeman" and sadly he has better hand writing than Samuel and me put together

The one on the left is the bad guy who "Stole a gold watch" haha

I really need to switch this blog around, so that it says

"The Sweetheart, The Prankster, The Princess and then there was the Holy Terror"

Aidan has become quite the jokester around here.

He knows just what to say or do to get mom to laugh.

We were at Wal-Mart the other day and Paul had to run back in.

Well a few minutes later I hear Aidan "Uh Why is daddy an old man?"

So I look up and there is this old guy

with long hair and a long beard

coming out of the store.

I had a good chuckle.

HE LOVES TO WRESTLE!

Betty..

My Diva Drama Queen Princess...

Who whenever she is not getting her way cries

"I'm not the princess anymore"

When Mommy gets after her

"Daddy! Mom just used her mean voice to YOUR PRINCESS"

Is Betty a daddies girl?

UH YEAH!

I love that she is sooooo eager to learn.

Everyday we wake up and I have to color at least one picture with her.

Then we work on her Alphabet for a little while.

She is so SMART and picks everything up so fast.

I wish she was turning Five this year so that we could get her enrolled in Kindergarten.

She can get her own cereal (As long as the milk isn't too full)

She gets Jackson's sippys for me if I am in the middle of doing something else.

Her earrings MUST match what she is wearing.

She is obsessed with coloring.

Either on Nick Jr., Or in one of her MANY coloring books.

She loves books.

Looking through them and being read too are her favorites.

Yet... When we go to the Library all she does is play with the dolls there haha

SHE LOVES BABY DOLLS!

She has a million, but exclusively plays with two.

"Ally" is a doll we got her that looks JUST like her

and

"Suzanne" which is a doll that my mom made for me when I was her age.

Which freakishly looks like her as well

She uses all her old baby clothes to dress them.

We have to do something physical before bed time,

Or she wont go to sleep.

She is VERY energetic.

Jackson...

I was going for a Kewpie Doll Look Here

Pretty Close haha

Okay so Jackson gives me a run for my money.

I cannot keep up with him some days.

That is why I am so VERY grateful for my older kids.
If not for them, I would never go to the bathroom

Be able to shower!

He LOVES to eat.

He has to feed himself, or forget about it.

If you try to feed him, he will just spit it back out,

examine it

and put it back in

Oh and I LOVE how he eats with a fork

He picks the food up, puts it on the fork

Then puts the fork in his mouth

He just barely started wearing shoes

Because mommy told him if he wanted to walk in the store he had too.

And it is a SIGHT to see him walking through the store

Since he is so short, everyone thinks he is much younger than he is

and they almost like freak out about him walking

He makes for quite the spectacle.

He has to stop and check out everything.

He is very curious and VERY daring.

He is trying to say Uh Oh...

But rightnow he just opens his mouth as wide as he can for a few seconds

then says

"OH"

It is the cutest thing

but of course I can never catch it on video.

He LOVES bathtime, and throws HUGE fits if you pull him out before

He decides its time.

I have to have the curtain halfway closed while he is in there

or else I am SOAKED by time he is ready to get out.

SPLASHER ALERT!

He has just recently started shaking his head "Yes" and "No"

The other night, Paul said something a long the lines of

"Am I that bad of a dad?"

And Jackson started shaking his head "Yes"

Then he said

"Did you have to shake your head so readily?"

And he once again shook it "Yes"

So my kids are now obsessed with asking him

"Jackson do you love me?"

and then laughing (or crying) when he shakes his head no

haha

OH and the best thing that he does...

when he is REALLY mad

He will bend over,

put his head on the ground

and put his arms through his legs

BAHAHA

It is the funniest thing ever!

Just had to share this picture

2011-03-03T16:50:00.000-07:00

This is the cupcake cake Miranda made my boys.....

If you think he looked awesome...

You should have tasted him!

I thought how sad it was that we had to take him apart

Until I tasted him bahaha..

A weekend in Utah.

2011-03-03T16:40:00.000-07:00

On Feb. 3rd we left for Utah. That was also Poppies Birthday and Aidan's Birthday. We took Aidan to Walmart and let him pick out a toy before we left. He of course picked legos, because that is what he is obsessed with. It was a LONG drive, we ended up stopping in Mesquite, NV for the night. Because if we had kept driving we wouldn't hit my sisters house until 4am. We didn't want to be completely wore out by time we got there, and basically waste a whole day sleeping. After we got to Samantha's we just relaxed and visited with her and her family. Later that night Sabreanna and her family came up and visited a while. On Saturday we went and supported our niece Samantha at her baptism, and had a party for the boys, and I also took some baby bump pictures for Beth and did some Valentines pictures for my bestie Brea. (Sorry I have not edited them all yet! Yikes I am the worse friend ever haha!!)

Here are some pictures from the birthday party...

After such a busy Saturday we decided to just take it by minute to minute on Sunday. We ended up going up the canyon and doing pictures of Cathi and her gorgeous kids. And then coming back to Samantha's. Paul went to his brothers house for a few hours and I just soaked up as much time with Sami as I could.

My favorite pictures I took...

Dakoda and Betty :)

When we got home, we found out that all the gas had been shut off to our area! And it was COLD COLD! The day we left it was 2 degrees! So we really lucked out! We only had to go one night with out gas, vs a whole weekend. I really miss my family and can't wait to get back out to Utah!

OH! I almost forgot! When we were in St. George we saw this...

Just some fire truck being towed?

I think not!

It was a Transformer!

The boys were so excited that they got to see one in real life haha

Getting Back To Basics!

2011-03-02T21:01:00.000-07:00

So while I was doing that 30days thingie, I just felt like my blog was becoming so impersonal. There use to be a time when I blogged everyday about just the day to day stuff. Funny things the kids did or said, or just anything that happened that day, that I saw note worthy. My goal is to get back to that.

So Today!

Is the 9 year anniversary of when Paul and I became "Official" haha. We have been pretty inseparable ever since this day back in 2002.

This picture is from our dating years.. haha..

(Funny fact... I was wearing a Britney Spears sticker on my shirt the night I met Paul. It was Jeni's birthday, and she had some magazine in her car with the sticker in it. Lol Good times! I have a picture of it, I will have to find it and scan it)

Tomorrow I will do some updating on the kiddos. Since my hunnybear got a job! I don't know how to fill up my time when he is gone :(

Day Twenty

2011-02-16T16:56:00.000-07:00

a photo of something you enjoy doing

Being A Mommy.

It is one of the most fulfilling things I have ever or ever will do in my life.

I wake up with a purpose each morning.

I love my kiddos more than anything in this world :)

Day Nineteen

2011-02-15T10:15:00.000-07:00

a picture of your room & don’t cheat by cleaning it.

Our room is a disaster area.

We just cleaned out our storage unit

so we are still trying to figure out

whats staying, whats going, and where to put it all!

Plus our room is the "catch all" because its right off the living room.

Now I am not saying that it is normally clean,

there is always some kind of clutter haha

I am just saying it is not normal this bad

It is like an episode of hoarders bad right now haha.

Day Eighteen

2011-02-14T11:11:00.000-07:00

Your Favorite Place To Eat

Well my most favorite place to eat, is not a resturant lol

Its my sister in laws!

She is a fantastic cook.

She needs to open a resturant ;)

But I would have to also say, even though I have only eaten there once lol

Cafe Roca in Bisbee, Arizona

Is another favorite!

Day Seventeen

2011-02-13T18:12:00.000-07:00

a picture of something you cannot live without.

Day Sixteen

2011-02-12T15:09:00.000-07:00

a photo of you at the last party you went to

This is a picture of me at the boys birthday party in Utah.

That's right. I am a true Party Animal haha.

I just cannot get enough of Jackson face in this picture

What a ham bone!

Day Fifteen

2011-02-11T21:24:00.000-07:00

a photo of you and someone you love

This is my favorite picture of Paul and Me.

He is my forever ever....

Day Fourteen

2011-02-10T21:11:00.017-07:00

a photo of one of your favorite family members

I couldn't just choose one!
I had to of course choose all my nieces and nephews!

Penrods

Schows

And there are some missing kids....

Mary

Coco

Andy

Shelby

Samantha

and

The two new babies coming 2011!

New goal for 2011= Getting a picture of all the Schow Grand kids together!

LETS MAKE IT HAPPEN!

Day Thirteen

2011-02-09T16:27:00.000-07:00

a photo of your best friend(s)

My sisters :)


Jenio Turkey. Been BFF since 3rd grade.

My Hunnybear

And My Brea. I think this picture is a perfect example of our friendship haha

Day Tweleve

2011-02-09T16:22:00.001-07:00

a picture from your day.

(haha I forgot to do this yesterday)

This is a picture of Jackson

with his arm stuck in his new toy

haha

yes I am one of those moms

that take a picture before helping the kid

as long as its not life threatening

Whats the harm right?

Make up... Day Six-Eleven

2011-02-09T09:14:00.001-07:00

day six. a photo that makes you laugh

I don't care who you are.

This is the funniest picture!

day seven. a photo of someone you love

The Love of My Life.

9 years together and still going strong

I love love love you baby <3

day eight. a picture of something you dislike.

Thats for sure!

I am very very much ready for potty training to start.

I can't imagine how sweet it will be.

NO MORE DIAPERS!

day nine. a photo of your family

Cutest Family Ever!

day ten. a photo of you as a baby

Jackjack?

Nope thats me haha

day eleven. a picture of someone/something that has the biggest impact on you.

The person who has had the biggest impact on my life

is of course my Mommy!

Day Five

2011-02-02T18:57:00.000-07:00

A recent picture of you and 15 interesting facts about yourself.

I can juggle two things
I love taking still photography (especially old cars)
I love reality TV
I don't like something (music, tv show, movie) if it is really popular. But as soon as all the hype is gone, I start to like it.
I was born in Austin, Texas
I home school my kids
I can drive a stick shift
I can pretty much teach myself how to do anything
I have ate tacos from a street vendor in Nogales, Mexico
I am the mother of two disabled kids
I use to write poetry and short stories
I love love Jolly Rogers
I digital scrapbook
I didn't get my driver license until I was 21 years old
When I asked my kids what they thought was interesting about me they said: "Beautiful" "Cute" "Long Hair" "Good Cook" "Give us hugs and kisses every night"

Man that was HARD!

Day Four

2011-02-01T12:06:00.000-07:00

a photo of the last place you went on vacation

Back in September,
We went to one of my most favorite places on Earth.
Zion National Park.

Last Day Of January

2011-01-31T12:24:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it is already the end of January!
How crazy is that?

Here are some things that happened this month:

Chelsea and Cami came for a visit
Noah turned 14!
Jackson turned 1!
Jackson started walking!
I dyed my hair brown

And here is a slide show of some photos from this month....

Day Three

2011-01-31T10:43:00.000-07:00

A photo that makes you happy:

Haha.

Makes my day everytime I see it.

Day Two

2011-01-30T13:45:00.000-07:00

A photo of yourself a year ago:

This is me, getting ready to go have Jackson!

My very last pregnant belly photo.

Day One

2011-01-29T14:34:00.000-07:00

And this would be my facebook profile picture.

Because it is my most FAVORITE picture of Jackjack.

It just captures who he is!

and it makes my heart SUPER happy<3

Oh The Wonders of Blog Stalking... haha

2011-01-29T14:30:00.010-07:00

I found this while blog stalking...
day 1. your facebook profile photo
day 2. a photo of yourself a year ago
day 3. a photo that makes you happy
day 4. a photo of the last place you went on vacation
day 5. a recent picture of you and 15 interesting facts about yourself.
day 6. a photo that makes you laugh
day 7. a photo of someone you love
day 8. a picture of something you dislike.
day 9. a photo of your family
day 10. a photo of you as a baby
day 11. a picture of someone/something that has the biggest impact on you.
day 12. a picture from your day.
day 13. a photo of your best friend(s)
day 14. a photo of one of your favorite family members
day 15. a photo of you and someone you love
day 16. a photo of you at the last party you went to
day 17. a picture of something you cannot live without.
day 18. your favorite place to eat.
day 19. a picture of your room & don’t cheat by cleaning it.
day 20. a photo of something you enjoy doing
day 21. a photo of you standing up
day 22. a photo of your town
day 23. a photo of your friend as a baby
day 24. a photo of you that your hair looks nice in
day 25. a photo of a night you loved
day 26. a photo of your favorite weekend
day 27. a photo of last summer
day 28. a photo of what you ate today
day 29. a photo of someone you find attractive
day 30. a photo of you when you were happy.
Sounds like a good challenge to me!

Happy Birthday My Not So Little Jackie Jack!

2011-01-22T17:10:00.000-07:00

A year ago today, at about 7am. With his Aunt Sami and Daddy (and everyone else) anxiously awaiting, Our little chunkers was pulled into this world. <3 Weighing in at a whopping (for me anyways) 7lbs 8ounces.

This morning Jack woke up at 7am but ended up going back to sleep until almost 11am! After he finally woke up, we were able to give hims presents and sing him Happy Birthday.

Funny story about that shirt.... Samuel was wearing the same shirt on his first birthday haha.

After he played with his toys for a little bit, we all got dressed and went to the park.
That is where I took these....

And my absolute fave......

After the trip to the park.

Aunt Miranda made Jackson a cake, so we headed over to celebrate.

He was being very delicate with the cake..

But that didn't last long....

His Poppy and Aunt Miranda got him a little people castle and a little people airplane.

HE LOVES THEM!

I wish I would have known how much he would like little people

We would have told Santa to bring them instead of the race track haha

Jack on the box!

2011-01-17T18:07:00.000-07:00

Paul took Jack in our room while I finished up school with Aidan. After I was done I went in to tell Paul that we were done, and Jack could come out.

This is what I found....

That mischievous grin is because he knows he is not allowed to have moms new phone.

and that picture looks JUST LIKE ME.

Its scary how much it looks like me!

He is so stinking cute!

These have got to be my most favorite pictures of him so far.

More Visitors!

2011-01-16T17:03:00.001-07:00

My nieces Cami and Chelsea came to visit!

We had a lot of fun catching up with them the first night they were here.

We played games and just had a good time laughing our heads off.

We took them to Tombstone, and Dave treated us to a gunfight and ice cream.

Jack and Betty sleeping on the way to Tombstone.

The actors in the gunfight actually brought Cami into the show.

It was really funny.

After the show, we came home and had roast and just sat around watching TV and visiting.

Sonora Desert Museum

2010-11-27T22:47:00.000-07:00

Our second most favorite place to go!

It has all the native plants and animals to Arizona.

The kids also get a stamp book that they can stamp through out the zoo.

It is a lot of fun!

Poppy bought Betty this cute hat. She would not take it off.

We also atteneded a bird flight show

We had a great spot right next to where the birds would land.

They also would swoop right down over our heads.

They have a digging pit where you can find fossils.

The kids loved it.

Some fun pictures of all the kiddos.

Some of the pictures I edited

What a great way to end a great day :)

PS. We need some more visitors to come, so we can go and visit these awesome places again ;)

HINT HINT

Thanksgiving and Tombstone

2010-11-26T21:22:00.001-07:00

Thanksgiving was so much fun. We had Pauls little sister and her family down, as well as his brother Kenneth and his girlfriend down. It was a lot of fun having Miranda teach Beth and I how to cook some of her yummy dishes. We took some time and went down to Tombstone. My kids love this place. Now that we live so close, Samuel asks almost every weekend if we are going. Haha

The funniest thing was Dave paid for us to go through a "Haunted" tour.

My kids did not like that so much. At one point they were talking about how when they use to find unidentified bodies, they would put them on display for 2-3days to see if anyone claimed them.

Well the room was modeled after a mortuary. With a dead body dummy laying on a table.

Well right in the middle of the story, the dummy sits up and starts talking.

It scared the crap out of my kids. Aidan to this day is still afraid of "Zombies".

My boys and Betty got a picture with one of the cowboys

Dave treated us to a Gunfight.

Aidan wouldn't go any where near the coffins after the whole Zombie incident.

After the show we all walked down and got ice cream.

This was Samuel on the way home.

In his ice cream coma.

I would have to say this got an A+ in Fun!

Halloweenish Time

2010-10-23T19:56:00.002-06:00

For my Dads birthday we decided to throw a Halloween party. We also threw it because I wanted my family to see our kids in their costumes before the big move. I think everyone looked great in their costumes!

Thats random.....

2010-10-09T12:07:00.000-06:00

Betty is standing on a stool dancing to the music she hears in her head.

Paul is passed out cold, because he was out towing peoples cars and being a dork until 3am

Jackson is asleep... or was asleep in his play pen until Betty went over and shook it... Thanks Betty..

The boys are outside playing.. Uh one second, I better go make sure they are fully clothed...

I am writing this blog to avoid what I really should be doing...

I wear crazy knee high socks with my Capri's... just around the house that is haha..

The next song on my iPod is..... Rock That Body-Black Eyed Peas..

I am listening to my iPod because Betty is watching Hello Kitty on Netflix... Gag...

When I get mad at Paul.. I play No Scrub by TLC really loud and sing it. LOL I have no clue why, but it always makes me feel better...

I get on facebook a million times a day, and I don't care what you think...

I update my status at least 10 times a day maybe more.. and I don't care if it pisses you off... Thats why they have a "Hide" button...

I really hate the status thingies about Special Needs kids... I don't know why but the wording just really bugs me...

I don't practice good grammar on the internet... because I don't care... and I don't care if it bugs you... and I really think people who make a big deal about it are Jerks...

I watch Nick and Norahs Infinite Playlist and Yes Man everytime they come on HBO or Starz

I am very happy that Paul and I decided to home-school, and I am grateful for Miranda for showing us how easy and beneficial it is.

I feel very blessed for having the people I do in my life, and they have all made a huge impact on me rather they realize it or not.

Love You All!

This kid....

2010-09-27T22:36:00.000-06:00

Conversation between Samuel and me..

Mom to Aidan and Samuel : Okay look at me and listen.... DO NOT climb on these *points to stack of food boxes*

Samuel and Aidan: Okay Mom

Mom: And I am going to tell your sister that too.

Samuel: Okay. Tell her I said "Hello"

.......... What a crack up....

My kids are amazing...

2010-09-23T22:06:00.000-06:00

Today my kids did not fight, they did not argue, they did not scream, they did not tattle on each other

Samuel and Betty dressed up like a dog and a cat

and Jackson chased them up and down the hall

And Aidan chased him

All Four of them spent the whole day just playing.
Just playing

Then the boys helped Betty clean up her room
and then Samuel read them all a bedtime story

This is how I found them at 9pm

Their relationship is really amazing.
Somedays it can be a little rocky
But most days it is like this
and I can't help but be proud
Because apparently we did something right.
<3

These photos just cracked me up
Scoobysnack really loves our trees

8 things about my 8 month old!

2010-09-22T14:37:00.000-06:00

1. Jackson is officially mobile. HE CRAWLS EVERYWHERE!

2. He pulls himself up on everything. The crib, boxes, the playpen, the coffee table, chairs, the dvd case. etc.

3. He says Dada.. and knows what it means. He also says "Get it" "Yeah" and "Hey You" and we don't just think he does, Its clear as day and other people have heard him say those things. Oh and I almost forgot, he says "Kitty" and "Aidan"

4. He has recently started blowing. He got it from watching us blow on our food.

5. He LOVES to play "If Your Happy and You Know It"

6. He has what we call a "Proud Grin". He has been getting into sitting a lot more lately. and when I notice him do it, I will clap and say yay! and he will lift his head up and get the biggest cheesiest grin on his face.

7. Jackson gets into EVERYTHING. and even if you think you picked up every little bit or piece of anything... Oh he will find one.

8. He loves to play with his brothers and sister. And all you hear from him are full on belly laughs, squeals and giggles.

Zion Trip

2010-09-17T18:39:00.000-06:00

We went to Zions with the kids school this year.

Sabreanna kept Jackson for us, so I wouldn't have to carry the fat little man on the hikes.

It was so awesome.

We got to camp out in a ghost town called Grafton, just outside of the park.

Here are some pictures of the fun in the tent.

The boys got new jackets because we forgot to grab them some from the house.

They love them

The next day we got the wonder around the ghost town,

and then headed into the park to go hiking.

After exploring the ghost town and the old graveyard, we moved on into Zions.

Zions is one of my very favorite parks.

The school had some games for the kids.

Betty doing her usual "Too Shy to participate but pout that no one waited for her" thing she does.

After the games they had a lunch for everyone

And after lunch we headed off on our first hike

Someday I would like to make it up to Zions in the spring and see this waterfall in full

I took this very same picture last year.

At some point I will edit it and put them together. :)

If you look closely you will see a squirrel

Here are some pictures from our second hike

Since we have made this trip two times in a row the last tow years,

we decided that it is now a yearly tradition.

I like this very very much :)

Arrrgh Matey!

2010-09-07T15:46:00.000-06:00

Our kids have been doing so good with their school work lately. Doing what mom and dad ask with out whining or throwing a fit, and getting lots of assignments done.

That we decided to take them to Pirate Island in Orem.

It was so much fun!!!!!

This picture just cracks me up

I think Aidan was trying to stand like a captain would with his leg up on the chest.

Jackson loved the highchair

The kids loved looking around at all the scenery.

It was hard to get them to sit down.

Jacksons First Ride!

Thanks to Big Bro Sam. Who held on to him the whole ride.

What a good guy!

Our Super Yummy "Kraken" Pizza.

It was HUGE haha.

The waiter was kindof giving me a funny look when we ordered it.

After it came, I understood why.

It sure was good though.

Jackson LOVED the bread sticks.

Aidans impression of a Kraken

Sexy Rexy ;]

I love family dates, I think they are the best ever.

Jackson

2010-08-26T14:14:00.000-06:00

A quick update on little man...

Jackson spends almost all day long, rocking back and forth on his hands and knees or Sitting up and playing with his toys.

Daddy bought Jackson his first set of hot wheel cars the other night, They are now his new favorite chew toy.

Jackson army crawled for the first time the other night... For a burrito! haha

Jackson has his first tooth, its on the bottom and just cut through last night. (We did not have a good time most of yesterday and last night.)

Jackson ♥ carrots. We steamed some up last night and I broke him off some little pieces, he loved it.

Jackson has found a new noise "O" he says it while trying to go to sleep, or right after he wakes up. It is the cutest thing ever. The face he makes is to die for.

Its just one of those....

2010-08-26T14:04:00.000-06:00

Days/Weeks haha..

I had to write this down, because I want to be able to look back and laugh. This is our first week of homeschooling. The boys are loving it, and it is actually working out great. But it is only the first week, so we are doing a lot of trial and error stuff. Things are rough rightnow, but we will get all the kinks worked out.

(Aidan and his Shape Puppet)

Betty got a hold of a permanet marker, she drew all over the wall, as well as all over one Samuels math tools.

Yesterday we were not able to log on to the schooling, so we just had a free day and will be making up the time this weekend. Thats the great thing about homeschooling, you can do it whenever you want, even on the weekends lol.. The kids played outside most the day, and this resulted in Samuel having an allergic reaction to something, and breaking out in a rash all over his body. We had him hop in the shower and gave him benedryll and it went away.
We were getting ready to get school started this morning, when he tells me that the rash is coming back on his legs, so I look and sure enough the rash is back, all down his legs. From the time it took me to walk to bathroom to get him a benedryll it had spread and his ear had begin to swell.
We gave him the benedryll and tried to get as much work done while he was still coherent enough to understand the lesson. He is now resting in his bed. Hopefully he will feel better in a little while so that we can get more work done. He is doing really well, and gets through quite a bit of work during the day.

They have to complete 5.5 hours a work each day. In this time, Samuel usually gets two math lessons and two Language Arts. We haven't gotten to do any History or Science yet, because Wednesday and Fridays are our History and Science days and we couldn't log on yesterday. So tomorrow we will see what those lessons are like.

The boys are also taking Spanish. Samuel will do his first lesson today because they did not add it to his schedule until now.

Aidan is flying through his math. He took 4 assments today and aced them all. This with out doing the lesson before hand! For Language Arts we read Jack and beanstalk, and tomorrow we get to act out a scene from the story, he is really excited. He did his first Spanish lesson on Monday and he LOVED it. Passed all his assements with flying colors.

I am so greatful that Pauls work schedule is the way it is so that he can be here to help me out. He does the boys Math with them, and we will alternate who does their history and science with them. I love watching him with them, its soo cute. Samuel and him were havin so much fun Tuesday, I couldn't help but grin listening to them and watching them work through the problems together.

As for Betty and Jackson, luckily we are helping Samantha out rightnow by watching Chelsea and Cami, they help us out by keeping and eye on Jackson for us. Cami has been such a major blessing, I don't know what we are going to do when they leave!
Betty comes and goes as she pleases, doing a little work with Aidan here and there. Or just drawing picture after picture with her crayons. She is picking up a lot and I think she will be more than ready for kindergarten when the time comes lol.

I can't even tell you how happy I am that we decided to do this. It is such a great fit for out family. It isn't even as hard as I thought it was going to be. Sometimes I can get flustered or butt heads with Aidan, but Paul is always there to step in where needed... Or to point out that I am looking in the wrong book for something. (Although I still don't know what the "Brown Side Of The White Board" is.) My boys are really flourishing in the one on one time.

So here is hoping for a more smoothly running tomorrow and getting all the kinks worked out of our schedule!

Family Resemblance

2010-08-01T22:19:00.000-06:00

Picture of Stryder and baby me

"Mommy Look! Its me and Jackjack"~Betty

Topaz Mountain

2010-07-31T20:00:00.000-06:00

We Came We Saw We Conquered

We headed out to Topaz Mountain to do some rock hounding. It was a great day. A little stormy but still warm, and the clouds kept the sun away.

I didn't get many pictures of us rock hounding, I kindof forgot I had my camera with me.

But I did get some cool shots of the scenery.

If anyone can tell me what this is.

I'd love to know haha

We are guessing maybe a tarantula nest?

It was a lot of fun.

We are going to do so more research on finding the topaz and go back another time.

The Prankster, The Superhero, The Princess, And Then There Was JackJack

Mah Num A Nuh

Talk about perfect timing….

Big News!!!

We finally made it!

Today…

Really?!

It always breaks my heart 2011-07-27T18:05:00.001-06:00 Buuuut… It had to be done. Before….. After…. How did this little guy end up with the curly soft blonde hair? and Betty ended up with the thin coarse blonde hair haha. He looks all growed up no *sniff sniff*

My Smart Little Man <3

Weekly Weigh In!

Phobia King Of The World

UH.. That ain’t no stink bug….

What’s up with the Schow Crowd?

Back On Track!

This just looks....

This kid... I tell ya...

And this.......

New Phobia....

Coronado Peak Trail

Easter

Betty's Birthday

Wheres the restart button?

Seemed like fun haha

Get Yo' Jackson Fix....RIght Here....Rightnow....

Fun Week :)

Were not in Utah anymore Toto....

April Fools!!

Okay Okay Already!

No caffeine

Update coming soon

Secretly Loving..

Jack Found A New Way Around

One of my favorite times of the year....

The coyotes are making their nightly visit

Wow this kids got personality

Just your typical Saturday I s'pose..

Found Jacksons Halloween Costume For This Year

Two Days of getting out of the house!

Love the day to day

Week 2!

It's time for another first

Have to take the bad...With Good...

To Anxious To Wait!!!!

We made it to Church!

Today I didn't have to...

Childrens Clinic in Tucson=LONG DAY!

Whats a day like with Jackson you ask?

Update on the kiddos...

Just had to share this picture

A weekend in Utah.

Getting Back To Basics!

Day Twenty

Day Nineteen

Day Eighteen

Day Seventeen

Day Sixteen

Day Fifteen

Day Fourteen

Day Thirteen

Day Tweleve

Make up... Day Six-Eleven

Day Five

Day Four

Last Day Of January

Day Three

Day Two

Day One

Oh The Wonders of Blog Stalking... haha

Happy Birthday My Not So Little Jackie Jack!

Jack on the box!

More Visitors!

Sonora Desert Museum

Thanksgiving and Tombstone

Halloweenish Time

Thats random.....

This kid....

My kids are amazing...

8 things about my 8 month old!

Zion Trip

Arrrgh Matey!

It always breaks my heart
2011-07-27T18:05:00.001-06:00

Buuuut… It had to be done.

Before…..

After….

How did this little guy end up with the curly soft blonde hair? and Betty ended up with the thin coarse blonde hair haha. He looks all growed up no sniff sniff