A Nice Challange

So, I was challenged last week by my friend Jill McNeil Beach to start a program called "8 weeks to a better you". I took her up on it fully, and have done everything required in that challenge. I am loving it! I have lost a pound a day, I am eating better, and I'm doing better spiritually. I've been needing a change for awhile, and this has been a godsend. If you want to know about it, just check out the blog with the same title. It's been amazing.

Now, I just gotta say that I am sorry that I am such a slacker at keeping up with this blog. I thought I was getting back in to it last year, but then only wrote twice. The last time was 9 months ago. I've had a great 9 months though, and even though it feels like my life is just plain ol boring, I have a lot of laughs, and a lot of things that keep my busy.
I had my son, at home, with a midwife. On my own, no drugs, and no c-section. I will write about that whole experience at a later date. My son is now 7 and a half months old, and he is crawling all over the place, pulling himself up to things, and falling magnificently. Usually straight back on to his back and head. As much as he falls, he should have more bruises, but he has only had one tiny one.
My oldest daughter turned 12 this summer, and is now in Young Womens, went to Girls Camp, and starts Junior High this year. (This one makes me hyperventilate) I hated 7th grade! Kids are so mean, and I worry so much for my sweet, tender-hearted little girl.
Last week I sent off a bunch of my cards to get sold in a little store in Eager, AZ. That is so awesome to me, I love to make cards, and have always wanted to sell them, but here in Utah, people just look at something, then say to themselves, "I can make that" so your ideas, as great as they are, are easily copied, and then you don't get the sale. I have no idea if it's any different in Eager, AZ but I am willing to give it a shot.
Russ and I will celebrate our 13th Anniversary in a few weeks! Holy Cow, where did the time go!?
So you see, I have so much to be thankful for, and so much to remember and write down so I don't forget to be grateful.

Bathroom Remodel

SO, I finally have some pics put on my computer that I could publish in my blog. Here is the bathroom remodel from start to "almost finished". There are a few more things we need to finish, like the plumbing fixtures, shelves in the shower, put up a new mirror cause the bottom long one broke, put up the other mirrors, and then touch up painting all over. I will still take pictures and document all the hard work my hubby has done! Mike, my brother-in-law, the guy in the first picture helped tear it all down, and he also did the granite. It's going to look gorgeous when he's done!

Bathroom Remodel Pictures

Shocked and Appalled!

So, my girls decided one day to play around with the camera making funny faces to see which ones Elayna would mimic. This one happens to be my favorite of Sandi. She looks likes such a goofy looking toothless monkey! Never a dull moment in this house with 4 girls! You also gotta love the red punch mustache on Elayna!

It's been SOOOO long!

So, I guess I have taken my year off of blogging, and looking back I can't honestly remember why I quit doing it. It's been fun to read back what I put up and notice that it's been like a journal entry of our first year in Eagle Mountain.

This past year has been interesting. The end of last school year I had to help Jurnee and Millene bring their grades up because they had both been slacking in class. I didn't learn until a month and a half after the fact that Jurnee hadn't been turning her homework in! I was in shock that the teachers (there were 2 of them) didn't let me know after just a week of no homework let alone waiting until Parent Teacher conference. So, we had to work hard and push like crazy to get her grades back up from a 38%. She ended up getting a B, but only after many tears and tantrums, and being grounded the rest of the school year. For Millene it wasn't so bad, but she just couldn't seem to focus in class. And her spelling and reading were terrible. I think it's because she was in dual immersion in Kindergarten and 1st grades, so she didn't get to practice spelling and reading as much as she could have. So, we worked with her as well, until she came home with a 100% spelling test which required me to throw her a party.

In May I found out I was pregnant, and then spent all summer long being sick. We went to Lagoon once, and Thanksgiving Point a few times, but we didn't do any family vacations this Summer due to morning sickness. Bleh! Then the first weekend in July we decided we would redo our master bathroom. (I'll post pictures later). I gave Russ 2 months to complete the job, but as you can see it's the middle of Sept. and I'm not cheering over anything. I'm tired of dust all over the place, including every surface of my bedroom! When construction moves out of my bedroom I will get it ready for my home birth. (Oh yeah, I am having this baby at home with a midwife from my ward. Valerie ElHalta is her name, and she's fairly famous. Google her).

The highlight of my month though is the fact that I can feel the baby moving around like an Olympic Swimmer! This is the best part of the pregnancy for me, not too huge and uncomfortable yet, but the baby is big enough to make me feel the movements. I am happy that my girls are all going to school all day this year, and TJ and Elayna are becoming really great buddies. The coolest things about Elayna right now is the fact that she is potty trained (knock on wood), and when she is tired she tells me she's ready for bed. Is that strange for a 2 year old? Maybe she'll just like sleeping like her older sister Sandi.

Well, I will close my year catch up, and get some pics in again. Enjoy this last bit of Holiday free time before life gets too crazy!

Wisdom Teeth

I just thought I'd share what my wisdom tooth looked like. My dentist said it was the weirdest root he'd ever seen. But, it shows what a good dentist he really is that the root tip didn't break off during the removal. I am so glad that he didn't have to go digging for the root!

TJ's New Bed

Russ has been working on this bed for a couple of months now. The first stages were awesome, cutting out the wood and prepping it. I learned how to measure and use the cut-off saw pretty good with this project. Then Russ told me to sand it and paint it. I got busy sanding it, but ended up quitting because the sand paper kept coming off the dang machine. I told Russ he'd have to finish painting it too, because I was just done. So, about 3 weeks ago, Russ had TJ help him paint the wood pieces red, and boy did TJ enjoy that! He's been wanting to paint something for months now, he didn't care what, as long as he could use the paint brush!

















Russ also put in these headlights. I know that Lightning McQueen does not have these in the movie, but TJ really wanted a night light, and so Russ came up with this idea. The light isn't bright, so it's prefect at night.

Then came the detail painting, Russ free handed everything in pencil first, then used a spray paint machiney thing (ha, don't tell him I called it that!) and just went to town. He wouldn't let me help him, other than holding up the wood pieces so he wouldn't have to bend over too long. He even had to fire me from that because I was too wiggly. But, now it's done, and when TJ came in to see the finished product, he kept saying over and over "Dish ish sho cool!" I think he likes it.