reunion 2011

I forgot how much fun we had at the reunion this year. Looking back at the photos is so fun!

Camping in September

Our last trip on the mountain. We have so much fun just camping with Dwight.

Halloween 2011

Look to the right

You see that over there? I cannot believe last year I was 185 lbs and have lost almost 30 lbs in a year. I started this journey in December last year. I have made it a long way. Update on the weight loss for the Game on diet. I lost 6 lbs already and we have one more week. I am hoping for another 2 lb loss this week. wish me luck!

Game ON!!

I have been doing a game on diet and so far I lost 3.5 lbs. I have been trying this week to lose more than the .5 lb, but it's being stubborn this week.

Game ON!!

I have been doing a game on diet and so far I lost 3.5 lbs. I have been trying this week to lose more than the .5 lb, but it's being stubborn this week.

Bridging to brownies

Yesterday My Girl Scout troop had their investiture/bridging ceremony. Well only Paige and Abby showed up so we got all of the goodies and had all the fun. The girls did a cute Flag Ceremony to begin with. I had the word written on paper taped to the side of the pot so the girls had their heads poked into the pot when they said their lines. LOL! Then we went and bridged on the bridge. The girls said, "Twist me turn me show me the elf, I looked in the water and saw...Myself!" It's from the Brownie story. Then we rededicated them into Girl Scout Brownies with the promise. Then we ate yummy food from Pastry Pub. I had such a wonderful time. You can tell on the girls' faces they had fun and were super excited to get their new uniforms. Another special moment was when Abby gave me a Leader pin and Anna thanking me for all I did this year. It meant so much to me. I really love it. Thank you :)

Summer Fun

I love summer! I hate the heat, but I love a lot about summer:

Watermelon
Watermelon and my kids
swimming
camping (we got a new(-ish) trailer)
Gardens
veggies from our garden
canning
dried fruit
vacations
splash pads with kids
summer reading program
corn on the cobb

How'd he get so big?

"SAY CHEESE!"

Word he can say:
PEEZ (please)
down
ouch
no (this week)
moo
cat
neigh (very cute he makes a horse noise with it)
apple
nana (banana)
purple
dada
mama
baba


Will add to that he says a lot more. He is 19 months and so stinkin cute. This week he decided he want to use the potty. I have always had a hard time keeping diapers on him so I am so glad he will go and pee in the toilet and not the floor anymore ;) I am excited to have just the boys home for a few hours so that I can teach them more without the girls coming to interrupt. although I will miss Katie as I did Paige, I know she will do so well in school.

helpin' Dad

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We helped my parents take out some grass and we decided to keep it and put it in the front yard. Well Joey wanted to help. The girls then decided Dad's truck was dirty so they made signs that said "Car Wash" and washed John's truck...cute, right? Well Johnny decides that he want to help too. it was so amazing to me that my kids are finally getting old enough to somewhat help. I think I am stuck just thinking they are too little to do anything worth while. Well they, without knowing it, showed me they need a little more responsibility around the house ;)

Harry Potter and the Pectol kids

This was so funny. The morning after Paige's camp out I look at the kids at the kitchen table and Katie has a lightning bolt on her forehead and they all have skewers. They then continue chasing after each other saying "EXPECTO PATRONUS" (the spell is actually expecto patronum, but they did good) I laughed so hard. This all started because we let them watch the first 3 with us when John and I were watching all the movies before the midnight premier of the last Harry Potter. Gotta love um :)

Paige's campout

It was for Paige to meet and make new friends and two of her friends came. We had loads of fun with the girls (Abby and Vaeh) sleeping over. They started out painting nails and doing make-overs and then we made masks out of paper plates. The two friends weren't into the camp out theme. They wanted to dance to music the whole time. They were scared for half of it. They played in the sprinkler and slip n slide. Then I had John take the TV outside and the girls watched a movie on a blow up mattress as I made hot dogs. We went back in to make homemade lanterns from pop cans (mildly dangerous, but SUPER fun/cute). We waited till dark then lit the candles and went on a walk in the dark. Then it was s'mores time. One of Paige's friends had never made a marshmallow on the fire or had a s'more (WHAT!!???) So we let her have 2 ;) well what a fun camp out it was

4th of July weekend

the kids had fun climbing up this stump with no help. I had fun just relaxing with our family :)

Marty Shumate

On April 19th I got a new nephew. It was a long and stressful day. I got the privilege of being there with Christine and Mark during the labor. He had to be taken by C-section because he was not tolerating labor well and was too big to come out. OMG! I was so relieved when he was out and Christine was OK. I was so worried my stomach was in knots.
Congrats you guys!!

Seeing him makes me sad to think about how I will never have another newborn. I don't really want 5 kids, but it is such a wonderful experience. Ever since I was a teenager I always wanted to be a nurse. I had decided to be a labor or postpartum nurse before I had Paige. I think I would be really good at it. Being in the hospital again made me really miss my job as a CNA/almost nursing student. I still have that desire to be a nurse. I think that will be the way to experience birth and holding a newborn again. I also have thought of becoming a doula, lactation consultant, or midwife. I think a midwife is out because they work funky hours and I would not want to be responsible if something was to happen. Who knows what will happen in the future. I wouldn't mind another child, but we are definently done. (AKA John would kill me if I had another one) LOL!!

Things I want to do

run another 5k
Zumba at the rec center
learn to sew

Katherine turns 5!

A few facts about Katie:

She loves to color, write, draw, whatever with paper and crayons

She is WAY more interested in learning to read than Paige was

She is a snuggler

She likes to take care of Johnny

She taught herself her ABC's by sitting at the table everyday and writing them down a thousand times

She is starting Kindergarten on August 15th (HOLY COW!!)

She plays with her voice and has about 3 different ones that she uses. She also has a lisp.

She plays soccer with a bunch of boys. They do coed in Hurricane. And also LOVES ballet/tap class.

We love our Katie so much and are so happy she is a part of the family.

Our backyard

I LOVE OUR BACKYARD!! That is the reason we moved here. the kids have a swing set, big trees, grass, and a brand new trampoline!! I am so excited to plant our garden this coming week and to keep plugging away. We are gonna put a tire swing, a horse shoe pit, and an awning for parties. So be expecting a call!! LOVE IT!!

The hap's

SO, I have not blogged for a while, but this is what's going on. We are getting closer to being all the way moved in. I have successfully made it through my first year of Girl Scout Cookie sales. YAY!! We all were sick for about 3-4 weeks, a different person(s) each week. Watch for posts about all the kids and their birthday's. Life is hectic right now. I have the girls in soccer and dance and I am gone most afternoons, which makes life and chores a little hard. I am really excited for camping and hiking this summer. For I will NOT be pregnant and JW is walking and talking some (yes, I know so SAD). I am focusing on my weight loss and so far this year have lost 12.1 pounds and hope to make it 20 by summer. I ran my first 5k in 34:59 by the timing chip, but I did it prob. 30 seconds quicker then that because of the way the race was set up. BTW that was just getting over a flu. I am impressed with myself. My original goal was to do it under 35 minutes and I SO did it! YAY me!! I am hoping to do another one June 25th to see if I can get it under 30 min. For a stay at home, no time for exercise mom that is great! I remember in high school even doing a 16 min. mile. My 5k averages about 11.5 min. NOT BAD! John has been blessed with a lot of side jobs that have made it so we can put some well needed work into our vehicles. We are hoping it continues so we can build our next home ASAP! I am having a hard time with this move. I am not liking the school the girls are going to. I do love our back yard, but our house only has one bathroom, which makes it hard in the morning. Well keep checking back because I am going to be blogging one a day until I catch up.

random pictures

Here are some pictures of the last couple of months.

feeling a bit overwhelmed

I thought that once we moved it all would be a weight lifted off my chest. Well it is not as bad as thinking I need to move any day and not knowing that day, but the aftermath of moving is hard too. I cannot get a handle on the house. I cannot invite anyone over because you still cannot walk. the baby is constantly crying because he's fallen over something. Of course half the time he has put it there. I have been working all day 3-4 times per week, but still have not made this place a home. Maybe I am expecting too much, but really, is it too much to ask to be able to walk and not trip, stumble, stick to something, fall, or almost kill yourself?
I have this stupid, yes I said stupid, rib that keeps dislocating and it hurts SO bad. I cannot cough or sneeze because it hurts. I went to the chiropractor again today. He told me all sorts of stuff that he could do to "fix" my body to where I won't have hives anymore. (In case you didn't know I get hives when I get hot, exercise, nervous, or just active) How my allergies will go away and my back problems will go away. I still have back pain from my pelvic bone being dislocated when I was pregnant with Joey.
I would like to let my Brother and Katy know that I am deeply sorry for their loss. I cannot imagine what it would be like to lose a pregnancy. I love you guys and hope you find comfort in knowing it happened for a good reason. That reason we probably will never understand.
I will try to get some pictures on here, but my computer doesn't recognize my camera anymore for some stupid reason.