Conference, and my long week

I am so excited for conference! It is a much needed spiritual feast. Even though we have some busy plans for this weekend, conference sessions will be spent with all of us together, relaxing and listening.

I have had an interesting week. My week started out with a small headache. The past couple of days it started to get worse and worse. It has gotten to the point where I can barely stand it at times. I have never had a migraine before, so I figured this must be what I had. Well, I found out today that it's probably just a pulled muscle at the top of the back of my neck. It has been messing with my nerves and causing me these awful pains in my head. It will take a few days to start getting better. I saw a chiropractor tonight to see if he could help relieve some of the pain so I can hopefully have a weekend that I can bear. It seemed to be somewhat helpful. We'll see though how the weekend goes. I can't take any medicine to help it due to being pregnant. So, the doc told me that I'm gonna have to tough it out with good ol' Tylenol (which doesn't help in the least) and putting ice on the area during the day and a heat pad during the night. I will be glad when I'm all healed and feeling better.
Good news though, a couple of weeks ago I finally decided to get a prescription for the pregnancy puke help pills (that's what I call them anyway). They seem to be helping the nausea go away somewhat. Also, I finally got a prenatal pill that doesn't make me sick. YAY! :) There is much to be happy about!
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Weekend and more

I was having a rough weekend this past weekend, so my Husband came home from work Sunday morning and made me breakfast in bed: a sausage, ham, and cheese omelet with toast. It was Yum-o! Also, he got me some beautiful, colorful flowers. It was just what I needed to cheer my spirit up. He is the absolute BEST!! 

Saturday night Ben and I took the kids to The Mayan for dinner.
I used to not like their food. I guess they changed their food when they did their remodel. The food was really good this time around.
The last time that the kids went to The Mayan they were too little to remember. It was Ben's first time there. We all had a blast. Courtney was scared of the Dindian (Indian). They loved the divers and other performers. We were on the top floor eating. Once we were done eating we went to get a front row shot of the divers. We even got splashed :) It was a fun night.

Marshall sitting inside the snakes mouth.



Madison and Courtney outside the restaurant sitting inside of the snakes mouth.



Madison and Marshall watching the performers at the restaurant

I took these pictures with my camera phone, so the quality is not that amazing ;)

As I write, Marshall is downstairs cleaning the basement so he can get his bike riding privileges back for today since he lost them this morning. Mady is playing with Ben and he is giving her airplane rides, and last but not least, Courtney is helping Marshall clean the basement because she is the sweetest 3 year old girl I know. Mady dolled Courtney up this afternoon. She has a side ponytail. It is super-stylish. Her cheeto'd up face makes her look all the cuter! :) 

We haven't had family home evening in awhile. We are such slackers. Tonight for dinner: Taco Soup with homemade Pico de Gallo- recipes compliments of Our Best Bites. (Click on the links if you would like the recipes. If you have not checked out this website, you SO NEED too!) After dinner, for FHE, we are going on a nature walk to find some of the beautiful things that God has created for us. For dessert: Halloween cupcakes with orange frosting with sprinkles.

I just love days like these.

I feel like the luckiest woman ever to have my children and husband. I'm so thankful for all of my many blessings that God has given to me and my family. Life definitely has it's struggles, but I know that together we can make it through anything.

The past 2 years of my life have been the hardest, most wonderful 2 years of my life. I have been lower than low, and higher than high. I have learned more than I thought possible. I look forward to my future. It's time to look forward and not behind. The past is history, the future is a mystery, but today is a gift. Life is too short to live with regrets. So, make peace with your regrets and move on to a better future. I have done a lot of writing lately. I hope to one day share some of those writings with y'all.

the moment

You own it, you better never let it go

You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow

This opportunity comes once in a lifetime

Do these lyrics sound familiar?

The End! :)

Update:

We had to make a Halloween cake for dessert instead of cupcakes because I ran out of cupcake liners and didn't buy more. Oops. Ben baked the cake and Ben and the kids decorated the cake. We told the kids that if they went to bed good tonight, and didn't get out of bed for little silly things, then they would get another piece of cake tomorrow. So far so good. They have all stayed in bed thus far other than the norm bathroom runs. Even though we have them use the bathroom before bed, it never fails that they "conveniently" have to go potty another 500,000 the hour after they get put to bed.

Here is Ben and the kids masterpiece. 

It was oh so good! 

1 year anniversary, our late night, Halloween

First, I can't believe it, but it has been 1 year today since Marshall's successful heart surgery! He is the happiest, most fun little boy I know. We are so blessed to have him in our lives and we are blessed to have him healthy as a button. :)
This week he has been on the spotlight for his class. He had to return a poster board with some pictures and answer some questions about himself. He was also given a big bucket to put 4 things in it to describe things about himself. The 4 things he chose to put in his bucket are:
His new race car book (we got it at the store close out sale a couple Saturdays ago at Borders for like $1. Can't beat that!)
His Ob1 Kenobi star wars action figure
His heart surgery pictures
And last, but not least, a picture of him from 1st Grade with a Santa hat put in a little Christmas Tree picture frame. It was a gift he gave to me for Christmas. He loves Christmas! He must take after his Momma with loving Christmas!

I find it funny because he had no idea that today was his 1 year anniversary for his surgery until he got home from school today, and he chose to share his surgery pictures with his class today. He gets to choose 1 item from the bucket each day.

His poster board made me smile. Here are some of his answers:
What is your favorite food?: Mac and Cheese
What is your favorite color?: Green (This changes often) :)
Where is your favorite place to be?: Church
What do you want to be when you grow up?: A missionary
If you had 1 wish, what would your wish be?: To live with Jesus again someday :)
You can't tell that he had gone to church earlier that day can ya? haha
He's so cute!

Have I mentioned that I love this time of year? I just placed my order at amazon.com for these fun Halloween items (items and links below). I can't wait until they get here! :) Some upcoming events for us: The Heber Creeper, opening October 1st, and the Sundance full moon lift ride.

Mady woke up at about 3:30 this morning. She had a nightmare and she was convinced that there were 100's of wiggly bugs with wings that landed on her and tickled her. When the light was on I showed her that there were no wiggly flying bugs in our house. She said that big people can't see them and only little kids can see them. We went downstairs for a drink, I had a bathroom break, Mady played with my hair, Mady scratched my back, Mady went to her bed, then Mady came back into bed with me, Courtney made her way into bed with us, then came Marshall. At 5:30, all 4 of us finally drifted back off into la-la-land.  

Walt Disney Records Halloween Songs & Sounds

Mady's dance class did a dance to a song on this CD. It is a super cute song. It's called "Which Witch Is Which?" By Goofy.



Kidz Bop Halloween Songs



Wilton Halloween Cookie Pan

Yummy Halloween treats at our house coming soon!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

School, Kids, Pregnancy, Activities

School has started back up. I was not excited for it, but now that my school aged kids are going and enjoying it, I am loving it. They go to a wonderful school. My 3 year old started her kindermusik class and a tumbling class which she absolutely loves! She feels SO big! My baby is growing up too fast {sniff, sniff}!

I can feel fall just around the corner. It is my favorite season of all. I just LOVE Halloween and Thanksgiving and the cool weather. I love the beautiful colors that change right in front of our eyes. I love all the colorful, crunchy, leaves surrounding our feet on the ground. I love the fresh crisp fall scent. I could go on and on. I love seeing the apple orchards as I drive by them on my way to take the kids to school. I love how big they are getting. I can't wait until the fresh apples are for sale at the red barn. I'm anxious to buy a bundle and make some homemade apple pie. MMMM! I can already smell it baking in the oven.

I bought a really cute 'taste of home, ultimate Halloween' magazine. I totally recommend it. It's $9.99 and worth every penny. Coming up on our dinner menu soon: jack-o'-lantern sloppy joe pie.

I've been feeling so sick these past few weeks due to my cute little 1-inch peanut fluttering all over my stomach like a butterfly.
I'm convinced that this baby doesn't like food. Anything I eat makes me sick. I spend most of my days with my head in the toilet, or running to the toilet, or with awful heartburn. Most of my nights have been sleepless and full of tossing and turning. Mornings come too quick. However, last night I got a night full of rest. I couldn't believe how good I slept. On my way home from my counseling appointment yesterday, I stopped by the mall to pick up some panda express to take home for dinner and also the full body pillow by boppy sold at Motherhood Maternity. The pillow is amazing. I didn't know how well I would like it when I first laid down with it, but I zonked out quickly and was able to fall back to sleep quickly when I woke up throughout the night to change positions. This hardly ever happens. When I wake up at night, I usually toss and turn for at least an hour before falling back to sleep. But, not last night! :) This pillow is worth every dollar. The thing I love about it is I can use it after pregnancy too, and it will help prop baby up when I'm nursing. All preggers, I recommend you check it out HERE.

I get sick in the car. I get sick when I read too much. I get sick when I sit at the computer and stare at the screen for more than 5 minutes. And smells, oh the smells. I have a nose that could smell a mile away. Pregnancy triggers this keen smelling sense of mine. Most things have been smelling badly to me. It doesn't matter if it is the freshest best smelling thing, it stinks to me. I hate smells. Smells make me want to puke. Just writing about smells makes me sick. If the kids leave the basement door open and I get a whiff of the good ol' basement smell, I get sick. I know, weird. I don't understand it. But, it is getting better every day! :)

Ben has been the keeper-upper at this house lately with little help from me. I don't remember the last time I did a batch of dishes. He does it solo most days lately. Thank goodness for my wonderful Hubs. I appreciate him so much!
This pregnancy has been different than all my others. I, luckily, never really got sick much with my other pregnancies, so this whole sickness thing is new to me. So, for all you ladies who have done this with the sickness more than once, I give you props because I don't know how you did it more than once!
However, sick or not, I am grateful for this pregnancy. I feel very blessed to be sick and pregnant :)

Ben and I finished the WHOLE entire Monk series a few weeks ago. I love Monk :) I'm now watching Medium. I had no idea that the main actress on medium is David Arquette's sister.

Marshall brought a toad home from school a couple weeks ago. He kept it in his backpack all afternoon. He was so excited. He is so silly. I was going to make him take it back to the school that same day that he brought it home, but it died before we got a chance. It was so sad. Poor toad. It never stood a chance. I told him that he is never allowed to bring them home, and if he ever touches a toad, he needs to wash his hands. N.A.S.T.Y.
Looks like it's time to get a lil pet for the kids. I'm thinking something easy..... like another fish or a turtle or something.

I hope you all are doing well :)

Marshall, ready to go to his first day of soccer camp!

Kids ready for the open house to go meet their teachers for school

Marshall, up and ready to go to his first day of 2nd Grade!

Madison, up and ready to go to her first day of Kindergarten! She has some funny poses!

She wanted me to take a picture of her wearing her backpack :)

I took pictures of Courtney ready to go to her first day of Kindermusik class. Mady had to join in the pictures. Mady was wearing her hat and these funny lil glasses, lol!





She's so silly! LOL!

And last, these beautiful apple orchards that I get to drive by every day