New TOYS for the BOYS

It all started last Sunday... August and Seth informed John and I that they were going to sell ALL of their *stuff* to buy Nintendo DS Lite's... now, what I mean by "stuff" is: their Gameboys, games, the XBOX, all the games and some of the Nintendo 64 games... Now DS Lite's are about $130 so they needed quite a bit of cash! Their first plan of action was -- to go trade in everything at Game Crazy and purchase used DS's (not the LITE's -- just the original versions...) Anyway... so we go to Game Crazy and they run into a few stumbling blocks... (I won't go into all the details -- just becasue I'm too lazy to type it all - LOL) but bottom line was they were only going to get $130 for EVERYTHING! Not enough $$ for what they were wanting to do.... SO....I spent the rest of the afternoon putting up several auctions on eBay. Who knew Mario games for a Nintendo 64 were soooooo popular?!! We had one lot that had Super Mario, Mario Kart & Mario Party 2 and it sold for (get this....) $61!!! All the auctions closed yesterday afternoon and within 2 hours we had been paid for all but 1 auction. Oh, I forgot to mention how much they ended up getting... they made $293.61! They were soooooo thrilled! It was enough for them both to get the newest DS versions (the LITES) and both get a game. So, when John got home they couldn't hardly wait to go get their new toys :) So even though they had to wait a few extra days to get the DS, it all ended better. Now... comes the FUN part - I've got to haul all 4 boys to the Post Office to mail all the goods! Wish me luck - LOL

Blog challenge #10

Today's blog challenge is to tell about something that we collect... so here goes:

About 5 years ago, I started collecting LIGHTHOUSES. Pictures, wall hangings, plates, candle holders, and pretty much anything lighthouse related! I haven't added to my collection in a quite a while - although I still really like them :) I have them all in my kitchen - mostly up on the plant shelves. To me they just add a nice little "charm" to the home and are more than just a nice decoration... whenever I see them, I think of how they are a representation (at least to me) of the Light of Christ -- and just how seamen would follow the lighthouse on shore to protect them during turbulent times... it's the same in our lives... If we follow Christ, he will help us during turbulent times in our lives. Anyway, here's a pic of a few of my MANY lighthouses - LOL

so much WIND!

I'm no weather expert... but there must be some disturbances and hot and cold fronts hitting each other because we have had SOOOOOOOOO much wind this past week!! We're talking MEGA wind! Good thing my hair is so short now... I don't have to worry about the wind messing it up - LOL

Anyway... the boys became inventive and decided to use the wind to their advantage... I look out the window and see the boys using the power of their wind to take them on rides on their skateboard and scooter! Doesn't that look like fun!? I'm happy to report that only 1 garbage bag was snatched by the wind and littered a neighbors yard (behind a fence that we couldn't get too -eeeks!)

while I was outside taking pictures, I noticed how gorgeous our plum tree is looking! I SOOOO wish that it looked like this all the time! It's so beautiful! Sadly, it only looks like this for about a week in the spring... then turns to it's "normal" dark plum colored leaves... it started producing actual PLUMS last year! I didn't realize that it was a *real* fruit tree - hehehehhe

also.. this picture totally inspired the creative side of me -- I could TOTALLY transpose this into some digital scrap paper! wouldn't that be gorgeous!?!

UPDATE ON APRIL 3: here's the paper I came up with using this picture... I'm thinking it's pretty swass!

Bringin' Back SWASS

So I'm driving down the freeway in Spokane last week in a rental, while on business, listening to the iPod with my staff. I was playing DJ and floating out some phat tunes. On a whim, I busted out some old school Mix-A-Lot and when the song, SWASS, came on, I knew my new mission in life:





I will single-handedly bring back the term SWASS.

examples:

"Yo, those suede pumas be Swass!"

"Man, if I looked any more Swass, it'd be illegal..."

"This #4 Bacon Ultimate Cheeseburger combo meal is Swass!"

"Shandy, that new LO is Swass"

So in 1988, Sir-Mix-a-Lot released his album Swass. I'm pretty sure he formulated the term himself and it became synonymous with anything dope, hip, fresh, or funky. I don't think it ever really caught on but for a skinny adolescent white boy, sporting a mullet, it was da bomb-diggity.

My challenge, for you, SAHM's and other ladies, is to bust out the term Swass at the dinner table tonight. Let the old man now that you are down.

- John

Blog Challenges 8 & 9

Well, I still haven't done challenge #8 - which was to create a scrapbook layout using a post from your blog... I plan on doing that, just haven't gotten around to it...

On to challenge #9:
SNAZ UP YOUR BLOG. This can be done by sprucing up your blog header, adding some fun artwork to it, inserting a slide show of somesort, having music playing -- let your creative inner child loose! As you can tell, I decided to add some music for my viewers enjoyment :) Depending on my mood, I either really like it when I visit blogs that have music, other times, I find it annoying - YIKES! So, for any of you who are in this latter group, you can either turn the volume off on your computer or scroll down to the VERY bottom of the page and hit "stop". For all the rest, perk up your ears and maybe you'll find a new song or two that you like :)

Holy SHORT HAIR Batman!

alright, I'm still in a little shock... Usually I don't give too much fuss about my hair and my philosophy is "it's just hair.. it'll grow back"... well, today I've had a little scare! LOL.

So here's the facts...

* YES, I DID want a new, bold look

* YES, I DID want to go short and spunky

* YES, I DID tell my stylist exactly what I was thinking of doing

So... I went in without any hesitation and let her go at it... about half way through... my stomach dropped! So many thoughts were running through my mind.. "did I make a mistake?" "what was I thinking?" "I look awful!" LOL... but it was too late. I did want my bangs and sides just a tad longer.. but I guess when you're going this short... what another centimeter in length, right?

Now, I DO love the color!! IT ROCKS! gorgeous in the sunlight! Ok.. back to the cut... I'm still a little in shock... called John on my way home just to "warn" him to be prepared for a shock! Called my sister and told her I was crazy! Came home and stared at myself in the mirror. Then... I called my neighbor over to check it out... she walked in the door and put her hands over her mouth (I knew I was in trouble!)... but then she got closer and blurted out (in all sincerity) "I REALLY LIKE IT! You totally pull off this look!" This made me feel much better. So I went back to the mirror and looked at my reflection some more... and then something changed. My thoughts changed. I think I look KINDA COOL! It's definitely something WAY different but spunky and fresh! When John got home, he was so sweet and gave me lots of compliments... so yep... this is me. At least for now.

Money Grows in Photoshop

Seth has this "Money Project" that he is to be working on at home. Basically they had to come up with and design their own money - including comming up with a shape for the currency, the country name and motto and symbols, serial number, denomination.. the whole 9 yards! So, he and I spent some time on photoshop and came up with this... (he designed the whole thing but I had to help him implementing some of the techniques...) Here's the front and the back. Then we cut them out and adhered them together... voila! $500 has been created! So do you think he likes video games?... the name of his country is: Video Games Rule, his motto is: Must Play Video Games, and notice how the symbols are a gameboy, a nintendo DS and an XBOX... yeah.. I'd say he's got video games on the brain! I'm just glad that we got it done -- and it's not even due until April 13th -- hooray for not procrastinating!

Grandma came to pick the boys up to spend the night at around 1:30pm... Seth was playing with a friend and decided that he didn't want to go with Grandma after all and that "he didn't want me to get lonely" so he'd stay home with me. I figured he can help me with Nathan so didn't mind too much. Plus, he always seems to get "lost" in the family dynamics (you know, the whole "middle child" syndrome)... so tonight after we got to spend some good, quality time together. Just the 2 of us. First he wanted me to ride his scooter while he rode his bike... so we did. It was actually quite fun to be free and ride! Then we jumped on the tramp and had some races in the backyard. Then we had some snuggle time on the couch and read his Star Wars book and then (here's the really fun part - LOL) we danced to the ENTIRE Weird Al Yankovic CD! needless to say, I probably didn't need to workout this morning -- LOL. I then tucked him in on the couch to watch a movie while I scrapped... happy evening!

Blog Challenge #7

so here's the question posed for challenge #7:
An article of clothing that I owned and thought I looked so great in but in hindsight really didn’t was: (this question is brought to you by John)... oh, SEVERAL outfits come to mind! I have to admit tha I really didn't get my fashion sense until just a few years ago (although in my defense.. I felt I had to shop for *cheap* clothes to be frugal when John and I were first married). One outfit in particular that comes to mind is a pair of floral leggins (in pastel yellows and pinks -- now mind you this was in the mid 90's and leggins were NOT fashionable.. so I have no idea why I bought them and why I thought they'd be cool to wear) with a matching T-shirt that had a floral motif that was outlined in GOLD! We were living up in Moscow, Idaho (attending UofI) and somehow whenever I'd wear this outfit, I would get mud splattered on the backs of my calves... so not only was I wearing a hideous outfit, but it was also decorated with mud - LOL... I never knew about the mud splatters until John would get home from work and inform me (and here I thought I was looking all cute for him - LOL).

Productive Scrapping Night

I did these 3 Layouts after all the boys were tucked safely into bed. The journaling for the one of August on the High Honor Roll reads:

"You sure have come a long way in just 1 year. Daddy and I were just discussing how last year, we had to work really hard with you just to keep you from failingthe 3rd grade and now here you are sporting your certificate indicating that you made the HIGH HONOR ROLL! Wow! we are just so proud of you! You have reallyworked hard and you’ve got a terrific teacher (Mrs. Ingram) that motivates you to do your best. I just had to laugh when I downloaded these pictures... seemslike even a smarty pants like you can have a mix up (check out the certificatein the above photo -- isn’t that just too fun?!). Keep up the good work, August!. " This one of August I scrapped using papers that I designed (from my Coral Reef collection) and the more "serious" one of Nathan is using paper that I designed as well. Too much fun!

Blog challenge #6

Challenge #6 is all about documenting life (that's what a blog's for, right?? - LOL)... so we are to upload a photo that was taken today and then tell about our day. So here goes:

Wednesday's are my day to drive for carpool - and I don't have time to make it to the gym beforehand :( This morning got up, boys off to school, did a load of laundry, got Ben and nathan ready for the day and was out the door by 8:55am to pick up the other kids. Dropped them off at school and headed to Walmart to get some groceries (since I am much fast and don't have to deal with boys trying to *sneak* stuff into the cart when I go solo)... Picked the kids back up at 11:30am and was home just before noon. John flew out to Spokane today so he was home getting packed when I arrived... so we got to see him for just a few moments before he had to leave.

Put Nathan down for a nap, Ben was playing with the neighbor girls, housework was 100% done and so I did a little scrapping -- fun times :) Boys got home at 2:45pm from school and then we had to go to the chiropractor... On the way home, I didn't feel like cooking and then having to clean up the mess (especially since the house was totally clean) so we stopped by Subway and grabbed some dinner. Came home and got Nathan and Ben in the bath (hence the picture for today), fed Nathan and got him down for the night. Read books to Ben and got him to bed. Tucked the older boys into bed and then settled in for the newest episode of LOST to start! Ok.. wasn't expecting that whole thing with John's dad pushing him out the window! EEEKS! I thought it was a good episode :) John watched it at the hotel and called me after it was over for us to *discuss* - LOL

I then worked on some more digital creations. On the way to the Chiropractor today we passed a subdivsion called "Island Woods" and it totally inspired me! So, I have been working on the Island Woods Collection tonight. I came up with 15 different patterned papers -- but only *like* about 8 of them (so will probably give the others out for a freebie on my scrapblog). Now I've just got to come up with some fun elements. I also checked email, read some blogs, updated mine and now am off to bed... yep, this is a pretty typical day for me :) Thanks for following along for the day --

Ben Turns 5!

It's official...on Monday, Benjamin turned 5! I can easily recall most all things from his birth. We decided to do a homebirth with him and so everything was so new and exciting! He has brought so much joy and happiness into our family. The little girl next door has the exact same birthday -- in fact they are just 25 minutes apart in age! Isn't that a hoot?! So after Ben got home from preschool, we had some of the kids' mutual friends over for a little luncheon/celebration. Here's a picture of Ben and Dacee :)

Dacee had been talking about how she was going to be going to Red Robin for the people to sing to her and to get a sundae... well, this made Ben think that he *had* to go as well... I had already made dinner so we decided that after we all ate, we'd head over there for some birthday dessert. Ben was so excited to go and was just so cute. After we ordered, he looked over at John and I and said (in Jack Blacks voice from Nacho Libre) " My life if gooooood... it's fantastic" -- it was so hilarious! He loved being the center of attention when the servers brought out his Sundae and sang to him -- so glad such a simple thing could make his birthday brighter. Of course, we did have to have some sort of calamity, right? It's nothing too major, but while we were there, Nathan grabbed my glass and slammed it down against the table breaking it! We left shortly after this happened because we kept finding little shards of glass (and didn't want to risk anyone getting hurt!)... For his birthday, he did recive a few little gifts... a Leap Frog alphabet thing from grandma and grandpa Vogt, a Spiderman motorcycle stunt man from grandma and grandpa carlson, bubble gun blowers from friends and a dragon dude that flies from his brothers. At the beginning of the year, we had a family council where we decided that we were going to save as a family all year long and then go on a cruise at Christmas time. This means that we forego birthday gifts, etc... So, with all the money he recieved, he was able to put over $100 into the Cruise fund - he was SO EXCITED! Although then he kept asking " so, are we going on the cruise on Tuesday?"... we had to explain that our cruise fund only has enough money in it so far for 1 person to go - LOL.. but it is slowly growing :) Well, here's to another year of health and great photo ops for my little guy! :)

Blog challenge #5

Today's challenge is to share a link with everyone that you enjoy visiting... I got to thinking that I don't really frequent too many places besides all of my scrapping sites... but did stumble across this place that'll read your mind. I tried it several times and it worked each time... have NO idea how! but it did! try it... it'll baffle ya.... Click here to be amazed!

Messin' around in Photoshop

So... came across a tutorial on making digital photos look handtinted... and experimented using one of the photos from Nathan's 6 month shoot I did on Thursday... TOTALLY love the outcome! If any of you are interested in the link, it's posted at my scrapblog. Isn't he just too darn C.U.T.E.!?!! I didn't know which one I liked better.. the one with the blue frame or the white one. The blue one definitely shows up better... but can't quite decide if that detracts from the overall photo... hmmmm...Any thoughts????

Happy St. Patty's Day!

Yeah.. so we don't get too much "into" St. Patricks day. I think I was the only one who even wore green today! LOL... John picked up these goodies so he could be decked out at work yesterday (mostly to just be obnoxious!) - and of course the boys thought they were awesome so took turns dressing up. The first time john walked through the door with the whole get-up on I was laughing so hard! Isn't it too fun?!?

ok.. lots to update you all on. So yesterday was the day I finally made good on the promise of taking August and Seth to the RollerDrome. I got mixed up on the times and so once we actually got there, there was only 1 hour left for public skating. So I asked the lady at the front counter if she could give us a discount since we'd only be there for an hour... she did :) she only charged us for 1 admission and then the rollerblade rentals. OK, I hadn't been in skates for I don't know how long, and it took me a bit to get used to! It was actually an enjoyable time. There were only 2 other family's there and so we pretty much had the entire place to ourselves - in fact there was a time when I was literally the only skater! How exhilerating - to be going round and round the rink with the wind blowing your hair and 80's rock music blaring in the background.. ahhhh.. brings back memories! LOL. Acutally I was soooooo worried that I was going to biff it and land hard and hurt myself! I'm happy to report that I did not fall once - ran into the side walls a few times.. but never fell, so I left unsore - which was a plus! Since we didn't get to stay very long we decided to eat out for dinner (just the 3 of us). We decided upon IHOP - the boys were actually campaigning for the chinese buffet... but I *knew* that would be death for my WW plan! So here's a little picture of my boys enjoying the scrumptious stack of buttermilk pancakes! Also -- did you guys know that IHOP has a healthy menu? i sure didn't! They have several items that were 500-600 calories and low in fat... I ended choosing the Garden Spledor (or something like that) that had scrambled eggs made from egg beaters and full of all sorts of vegetables. It also came with 2 pancakes served with sugar free syrup! It was quite tasty. It came to 12 WW points (I still had like 21 points to use by this time... so was doing fine). Anyway... it was fun having a little "date" with my boys!

Next item of business: Ben is learning to ride a 2 wheeler without his training wheels! He inherited August's old bike last year but kept leaving it out after he was done and it kept getting run over! Anyway.. so he has been bike-less for a while. We have another bike (just his size) but no training wheels can fit onto it. So, he made the decision that he'd like to learn to ride it (he kept saying things like how the little neighbor girls wouldn't believe he could ride a 2 wheeler! - LOL)... So, John and him (and of course me with my camera...) spent a little bit of time outside learning a new life skill. He did quite well but was "done" with it after like 20 minutes... he was so proud of himself when he realized that dad had let go and he was riding all by himself. He's still not "good enough" to just be zipping around the cul de sac, but he's off to a great start! I even happened to be video taping the exact time when he was riding solo :)

We spent the day doing our weekly "Super Clean Saturday" - which I might add that they boys absolutley hate! oh well.. their room has to get cleaned at least once a week, right? I also neglected laundry this week so had a B.U.N.C.H. of loads to do today to get caught up! Well.. it's getting late and I need to go get everyone's church clothes all ironed up so they'll be ready for wearing in the morning. I was motivated to do it earlier this evening but our power went out (and was out for a couple of hours - so I entertained myself by watching episodes of Dog the Bounty Hunter on John's Ipod - LOL). Now that the power is back on.. I'm not so motivated for ironing.. hmmph.

Blog Challenge #4

See, I am actually doing my own challenge - LOL
Today's challenge is to answer this question: What do you do when you are all alone and think that no one is watching?
Well... that's easy for me - I dance and sing like I know what I'm doing! I've never been a good dancer (nor felt that comfortable doing it in public for that matter) but when I'm alone.. watch out J.Lo cuz ShandyV is in da house!

A Half Year Has Passed!

(feel free to click on the above image to view it larger)

yes.. it's true - my sweet little Nathan turned the big 6 months today! That is just sooooooo crazy to me! I feel like I just had him yesterday! I look back and see that quite a bit has happened in that time, yet on the other hand... time NEEDS to stand still! He is growing way too fast! I don't remember having that feeling with the other boys... Well, so I *just had to* do a little impromptu photo shoot. The weather was gorgeous here so we ventured outside to take advantage of the natural light. Now, I think I take *OK* pictures but would REALLY LOVE to take a class to improve... I love the whole art aspect of photography and capturing the sweet moments of life... and better photography would just make them that much sweeter! OK... so without further adieu (is that even spelled right? oh well...and I put the pictures at the top of this post.. so chances are you've already looked at them - LOL) here are 3 of the shots I got today. Of course I'll be scrapping a whole LO with my favorites of the photo's but wanted to get these up... I told my mom to check back tonight to see pics of her newest grandson. So here they are. Isn't he just adorable?!! I could just stare into his sweet dark eyes all day!

IT WORKED!

Can't believe I forgot to comment on some of the most exciting news of the week....
So, remember how last Tuesday (after my WW weigh in) I was getting quite discouraged? Well.. I did what the leader suggested... Count my points to make sure that I am getting ALL of what my body needs each day while nursing (with the nursing points and the additional points for exercsing.. I was to eat 36 points a day)... which I found out I WASN'T! so... I upped my eating (and brought in some more fat -- I realized I was on a virtually 'No Fat" diet...) and...
lost 2.8 pounds this week!!! There were several days that I still had so many points left, that I would have peanut butter and crackers or something (just to get my points up).. also we ordered pizza one night (and normally I wouldn't go near it for fear of gaining) and I had 2 slices (which were YUMMY!).. also had a girls night out and went to Fuddruckers and ate deliciously there as well! I guess I HAD been starving my body and it was doing everything it could to hold on to the weight to protect the milk supply. So.. needless to say, I'm doing the EXACT same thing this week - LOL...
so now it's official.. just 12 more pounds till GOAL! I CAN DO THAT!

7 points to get you updated!

Hi all my faithful readers -- sorry there are SO many days that you come here see what new excitement has been going on in the Vogt household just to find it - unchanged! well, surprise! I'm posting today :) LOL
alright.. everyday, there's something that happens that I think would be fun to post here... but then there never seems to be enough hours in the day! So... let's go down the lists...

(1) First of all.. today is Nathan's half birthday! that's right.. he's a big 6 months old (as of 5:52am)! I can't believe it! I'm planning on doing a photo shoot later today and will come back to post the cutest one (at least that's my intention! - LOL)

(2) I have been busily creating new goodies to build up my inventory in the new store that will be opening May 1st. I've also been perusing some of the digi blogs and have pointed 2 designers (that I think are awesome) in the direction of Designer-Bytes (that's the name of the store) and am excited to report that both of them applied, were offered a position and I know for sure one has accepted (and am hoping the second one does too!).

(3) Benjamin had a cute saying on Tuesday when we met John for lunch. I just did a LO on it this morning (it's posted at my scrapblog or you can click on the "see my scrapbook gallery" link on the right which will take you to it - if you're interested... which I'm sure you are, right??? - also after typing all of that.. it would been just as fast to insert the pic here! hehehhe) ANYWAY... here's the journaling from it (which gives the jist of the story)
"On the way to my Weight Watchers meeting this week, Benjamin asked if we could meet daddy for lunch afterwards. Sounded like a great idea to me, so I called him and we set up to meet at 12:30 to have a picnic lunch at his office.
Benjamin, Nathan and I arrive and we pull out all of our goodies and begin eating. Dad had left to heat up the Clam Chowder soup and while he was gone, a SGT who has an office next to daddy, walked in. I didn’t thinkanything of this, but then I heard Benjamin say (somewhat under his breath) “I’m a Vogt Boy”. I asked what he had just said and he again repeated “I’m a Vogt Boy!” It was then he explained that he wanted that SGT to know...that his dad was the boss! This totally cracked me up anddad and I sure had a good laugh about it when he returned.Ben, I guess you’re kinda proud of your dad, huh?"
Isn't that hilarious! It was so funny! The SGT didn't hear him, but to think that he was so proud that he was a Vogt boy and knew what that meant! - LOL

(4) I've taken over the blog challenge for Corinna at Scrapgal... Yesterdays assignment was to tell about a fad that we just HAD to be a part of... still thinking on that one.. but will come back to it. Promise.

(5) I am in DESPERATE need of a haircut! It's also time to recolor... so need to get an appointment.

(6) I have been recruited to take the boys to the ROllerDrome tonight - hooray for me! (yes, done in a sarcastic tone..)

(7) ok.. guess that's it.. I really hate not having a picture for this post.. oh yeah, I was going to come back to post a pic of sweet Nathan's 6 month photo shoot (after I do it - LOL)

Blog Challenges 1 & 2

ok.. so my good friend, Corinna, over at Scrapgal is doing a blog challenge. On MWF she posts a new challenge for us. I still need to do #1, but #2 is to list 10 things that make me happy... so here goes:
1) a Clean house
2) boys playing NICELY together
3) surprises in the mail
4) phone calls from John throughout the day
5) getting lost in a good book
6) girls night out with friends
7) when I stop and really think "I'm the mom to 4 awesome boys!"
8) getting a great hair cut and color
9) getting Nathan up from his naps
10) reading the scriptures and having spiritual discussions as a family

ok.. well, since I'm already here.. may as well do #1 so then I feel "caught up" - LOL
We are to finish this sentence: I think....
I think that I'm going to accept a position at a upcomming new site to sell my digital kits. I got an email on Saturday evening extending the invitation and after carefully considering it, I've decided to go for it. I had originally planned on just selling from my Scrapblog because I didn't want any deadlines, schedules or commisions taken out... Well, this new site addressed both of those - each designer gets 30 shopping cart slots to do whatever we want with. There are no deadlines or contracts and we design at our own pace AND there are NO commissions to be paid (just the fee that paypal takes out -- which I've already been doing since that's how I'm set up for payments via my blog). So, it looks like a total win win for me... The sites date to launch is May 1st which means I'll want to have several new kits and goodies available by then AND have my own CT (creative team) in place by then. I'm kind of nervous about that part... putting a call out for a CT -- what if no one wants to design for me and no one responds! Aacck! for some reason that really scares me! Alright, guess that's it for now... I'll keep you all updated on this new adventure!

Tax time!

woohooo!!! you know that feeling you have hanging over your head when you know you need to do something? ummm.. like your taxes? well, I've been feeling that the past several weeks. We had a hold up on getting Nathan's SS# and so that was our excuse up until February (when we FINALLY got it!)... but since then, I've wanted to spend my *free* time designing or playing with the boys... not doing taxes. Well, I realized I would probably feel more creative and productive if I just got them done so that nagging feeling would go away. Truthfully it only took like an hour and the end result was WELL WORTH IT! I was so excited to see the final number. It will actually be the highest return we have ever recieved (and in the past, I've felt that we've gotten a good return!)... so I'm pretty happy right now!

Look at my little Bronco boys! Aren't they too cute! Of course everyone in the family has BSU gear, and today Ben and Nathan decided to sport theirs (I guess it would be more accurate to say that "I decided" since I'm the one that got them dressed - heheheh)... Anyway, Ben has been dying to take have a picture of just he and nathan taken, so thought this would be a good opportunity. yes, I know I'm biased... but they are just soooooo adorable! I'm glad that Ben has taken to his place as "big brother" so well (since he was the baby of the family for 4.5 years). He had a little rough spot for about 3-4 weeks but ever since then, he is really protective of Nathan and is always so excited to show him off. He has asked on several occassions if he can take Nathan to school when it is his "share day".

All boys are in bed... John's up in Seattle for a few days and I'm thinking I might go scrap. oh, speaking of scrapbooking... there was a challenge at Scrapgal.com to get inspiration from a product packaging found in your pantry... Oddly enough I decided on using this 2000 flushes box and ended up with this:

77 degrees!

yep... that's what the thermostat in the house read today! I just about took a picture of it! C.R.A.Z.Y. stuff I tell ya! Spring and summer will be here before we know it! It was so beautiful that the 3 older boys spent most of the afternoon outside playing. It was nice not having them couped up in the house!

I had my Weight Watchers meeting today -- a little discouraged. I have been stuck at a plateau (fluctuating up and down with the same 3 pounds - UGH!!) for 4 months! Yes, you read that right, F.O.U.R.! I exercise 6 days a week for 45 minutes and follow the CORE plan religiously. I've lost 50 pounds in about a 6 months time period but have been STUCK since November and am getting discouraged. Well, my leader thinks it's becuase I'm nursing and my body wants to protect the milk supply. Makes sense to me... since I have heard that from several sources. With my exercising and nursing, etc... we figured I *should* be eating 36 points a day! Since I do CORE and don't count points I have no idea how close to that I eat and so it was quite possible that I haven't been eating enough and my body thinks it can't let go of the fat... so today wa my first time to count up all the points for my day... come dinner time, I still had 20 POINTS left! so, I'm thinking maybe I haven't been eating enough.. I'm going to keep track for this week and beef up my eating to see if that helps. John, always looking on the bright side of things, said to me this evening after my rant about the whole "plateau" thing... he says "well, if you're going to be stuck at a plateau.. .what a GREAT place you are at to be stuck at!"... it made me feel happy :)

ok.. enough about that... sorry for the rambling! Let's see... the boys all spent the night with Grandma last weekend.. here's a picture of them with her. Of course, she spoiled them all and they returned home will new Tamagotchi's! Which my boys all think are so cool - LOL... alright, it's quite late.. so better get..

Seth's 1st Layout

This is Seth's entry (in his own words):

This is my first digital scrapbooking layout that I did for mommy time and I want to remember this so maybe if I have a girl I could teach her how to scrapbook and I also want to remember my very first digital scrapbooking layout. That's all I want to say. Goodnight, I am going to bed now.

Snowmen in March

Our weather has been quite crazy here all week. Each morning there will be snow on the ground but pretty much be melted away before mid morning... well, today it snowed off and on for the majority of the day. When August and Seth got home from school, it was snowing BIG HUGE flakes! They ran right through the house to the backyard to go jumping on the tramp! Then they decided to make snowmen. Here are their creations. Benjamin has been itching to make a snowman for ages! Every time there's snow on the ground, he asks if he can make a snowman. usually I have to tell him "no" but today was different. He really wanted me to come out and help him so after I fed Nathan, I put on my coat, hat and gloves and went out. He just wanted me to show him how to get a snowball started for the base and he said "ok, you can go back in now"... the next thing I know, he's at the door excited to tell show me his snowman that he literally made entirely by himself! I am so proud of him! He was super excited as well! He asked if I'd take a picture of him with his new buddy... (I even got one where he was kissing the snowman! isn't that a hoot!?).

Well, I finally went in to the Dr's tonight and got it confirmed that I do, indeed, have an ear infection :( I'm just wanting some of this pressure to be released from my ear! So I'm on some antibiotics and will hopefully feel more normal soon.