I Won a Contest!

Sweet! I won a case of 6 #10 cans of food from The Ready Store! It was worth $148! Yeah for my food Storage!!

November 10

Today would have been my brother Jared's 27 Birthday.

Happy Birthday Little Brother. I'm so glad that you have a perfect body now and can live in glory with our Heavenly Father. I will be with you again and am so happy to have that knowledge.

We miss you very much every day.

Early Morning

Josh went to the lovely and warm Phoenix, therefore I have to teach Seminary in the morning....Wish me luck! At least it got me reading the scriptures this evening...And I have to teach next wednesday when he is in Chicago. Is he making this a weekly thing?

FALL FUN

Fun in the leaves at Granpa's house! The kids "Helped" rake leaves this weekend. Talk about a good workout...running and jumping in leaves!

Announcing Baby #3!

I can't hold it in any longer...We are proud to announce (cautiously) baby #3!

My anxiety level has come back down today after seeing this sweet little miracle today in my ultrasound. Although I can't feel anything, she/he was kicking and moving away and that little heart was beating strong at 170. (which says GIRL to me). Darcy was always in the 170's, Zach always in the 140's.

It is even more amazing on #3 to me, that 9 weeks ago it starts as a cell you can't even really see, and after 9 weeks, there is a little body and a heartbeat. It Really is a Miracle from our Heavenly Father and I felt so blessed just hearing that heartbeat today. I know I'm not out of that Danger Zone yet but I sure have been praying hard.

She / He is 9 weeks old today and look at those budding arms and legs!

This pregnancy has definitly been a little different for me so far. Way more cravings than with the other two. Chipotle (in small quantities), pickles and banana peppers, SALT, McDonald's Cheeseburger...I mean seriously I might go broke by the end of this one...

Also, I NEVER threw up with the other two...Broke that record the other day...Yuck...

So there you have it, Our big Announcement...I wanted to wait a little longer, but I couldn't contain my excitement after today!

Halloween!

Suiting up getting ready for some trick or treat time!
Incredible Love...

Grandpa is taking them out! (my dad...not that you couldn't tell)
Counting up our results!
We had a fun Halloween Evening!

Happy Halloween!

My husband, who never dresses up, Dressed up for the Family this year. Yes I repaid him...He wasn't the happiest Mr. Incredible, but he'll do anything for his family! Love you Honey!

More pictures to come...

Creative Find

How Genius is This!! This person repurposed an old entertainment center...

Before:

Into an AWESOME play kitchen!

I love it!

Fall Fun

Monday, I had to work so my mom and gigi took the kids to the pumpkin patch for some fun! They met their cousin Liam there too!

We went to a farmer friend's home to see this cute little miniature colt that was 3 days old!Fall is really beautiful this year! I'm loving the drives looking at all the trees!

Accountability

*Caution* I may offend somebody...But it's my blog...

As I lay in bed for the THIRD day, I caught something on Fox News that really irked me. The reporter was talking to the Coca Cola CEO about Soft Drinks being Taxed more because it caused Obesity....EXCUSE ME!???? But last I checked everyone had free agency on what they want to put in their body!! If I want to have a soft drink, I'm entitled right! What happened to making everyone responsible for themselves and what they eat! That's why we are here right? To test our free agency?

When we were at Disneyworld a few weeks ago , the first day we were at Magic Kingdom, I noticed something very scary. This is no exaggeration, I bet 3 out of 4 people were completely overweight. I'm not talking a few pounds...I'm talking WAY overweight. Kids too! It was the first time I've really noticed this epidemic that the media continues to talk about.

Don't get me wrong, I could stand to lose a few pounds,

BUT, people have the free agency to choose what goes into their body and when and how much they exercise. Why should there be extra tax on soda? Silly to me.

I had to get that off my chest.

Flu season already?

REALLY? It's October 8 and already the flu hit my house hard! It started with Zach a few weeks ago! Then it hit Josh right before vacation, Then Hit Darcy ON Vacation, and now it's finally hit mom. Mom's are NOT made to get sick! Too much to take care of!

I've had this junk in my head and chest since last Friday. Started feeling a lot better on Tuesday and Wednesday (substituted school on those days too!) and by wednesday night and Thursday , it hit me like a freight train! Stopping me in my tracks! Who knows HOW many people I infected at Josh's Aunt's funeral we had to attend yesterday! (Julie was really ill and she is at peace now.) Talk about a bad day!

I'm not just looking for sympathy here...There is a point to my story!

I am a girl who doesn't do nose spray or anything else that goes up your nose...Can't stand it...

BUT I finally resorted to this yesterday... THE NETI POT.

It wasn't near as bad as I though it would be. Pretty gross actually. Josh said we've reached new heights in our marriage...He watched. That's love right there. It did help! but not enough for me...

I finally drug myself to urgent care after spiking a fever yesterday. I have the Flu AND a Sinus Infection. Super.

I don't know how many flu viruses are out there, but watch out for this one..!

Stupid Flu Season. What's scary to me is that it's only October 8.

Where Dreams Come True...

The Whole Kingdom was decorated for fall!

We even took a day off for the beach!

Zachary IS Buzz "Lighter" as he likes to say...

The Tree of Life at Animal Kingdom...I think the Bug's Life Movie inside the tree was Josh's Favorite!
My little "Safari Girl"

My little Zebra

My little Enthusiastic Park Goer...

Zachie was in love with Minnie Mouse. He hugged her for a whole minute!

What a wonderful Trip! We had a blast! Disney really is the most Magical place there is!

I have tons of Pictures, Just thought I'd catch up the blog a little!

When You Wish Upon a Star...

I love this song! And I can't stop singing it!

This is a big deal and a dream of my own since I was a teenager! The day I would take my own kids to Disneyworld to see all the Magic! And My hubby has never been!

We leave Thursday!!!!

Happy Marriage

I came across this article through another's blog about marriage and thought it was beautiful!

I had to share!

Marriage isn't easy sometimes. It's the tough parts that makes a marriage stronger.

I am thankful for my loving husband, even through the ups and downs! I love you Honey! 2 weeks til vacation!

Buddies

Whose kid is this!!?? We love Jack!

Football Season Kickoff

LOVE FOOTBALL SEASON! It's my favorite sports season to watch at least..
We took the Kids to the Chiefs Game with Grandpa last week...Always fun and don't forget we always reach our goal of getting on the big screen!



We took the Kids to the Chiefs Game with Grandpa last week...Always fun and don't forget we always reach our goal of getting on the big screen!

Letting Go

As if the first day of kindergarten wasnt' tough enough...The next week I let her try the bus...




Do you know how hard it was to put my 5 year old on the bus? Although I have to admit after 1 week of driving and picking up from school (6 miles away), that was going to get old real fast! Darcy wanted to ride the bus SO bad. Had to lay down some ground rules but it seems to be going well!

Coming Together!

My home town is getting bigger but it still has that small town feel! Recently a friend of the family (or whole town for that matter!) had a life changing incident and is now paralyzed from the waist down. 1 month before that her husband had lost his job. I have been pondering this a lot lately and wondering why this has happened to the nicest family you would ever meet. This is a family that grew up in the town and treats Everyone as their best friends. The only conclusion I've come up with so far is that maybe it's to give the people around her, a chance to serve them. We are given trials without knowing why to test our faith. It is testing this family tremendously but I have no doubt that they will come through it just great!

Today we went to the pizza hut there in Smithville because they are donating 20% of the proceeds to this family. Everyone has on these great Hot Pink Shirts that say "Team Shauna" on them. (I will post picks after I go back for dinner) The feeling and spirit of watching a community come together for a family is amazing. What a fabulous feeling I've had being around all this kindness! I encourage you to go for dinner if you have no other plans!

Also, a HUGE benefit is being put on this Saturday (see below) There will be pony rides, face painting and a HUGE silent auction with things such as chiefs tickets, a side of beef (raffle) donated by a local farmer, and many other things. There will be Fabulous Food (mexican ) as well! Please Join and watch how a community comes together for a cause!

Mexican Fiesta/Auction for Shauna

Let's all pull together for Shauna Martinez!

Location:American Legion

Time:2:00PM Saturday, August 22nd

After a Day of Kindergarten

Darcy had a great first day of kindergarten! Here is her update!

"I ate all my food at lunch mom;corn dogs, chocolate chip cookie, green beans and my chocolate milk. And we got 3 Recesses! we had rest time but the mat I got was UNCOMFORTABLE and I told the teacher that!"

I pressed her for more, one kid threw up already, 3 kids had to go sit at their seats during circle time, she met 2 friends at recess to play tag with. She sang songs, got to go to library, and had a pretty good day!

We came home for a rice krispie treat and then she fell asleep! What a long day!

My day involved getting things done, playing with Zach (who kind of wandered around for awhile not knowing what to do) and a small workout. We survived the first day of school!

Kindergarten!

So today is the day that I've thought about since last year at this time when I saw kids getting on the bus...Today is Darcy's first day of Kindergarten!

In Darcy's words as we headed to the grocery store saturday , " This is the BEST time of my life! I get to start school!" This IS a whole new chapter in a child's life. Starting school IS a big deal! I'm am now the mom (and ex-kindergarten teacher ) that is beginning to understand what My mom has understood since she became a mom and what other moms felt like dropping their kids in my class. I feel like I'm being inducted into a new chapter of the Mom's Club. And this is just kindergarten. This is a BIG step for me, letting her leave the safety of our home everyday for 7 hours. My fears for her is what scares me. What if she get hurt and I'm not there, or she's hungry or someone hurts her feelings or blah, blah , blah. I know theses are lessons they must learn to make them stronger. But our children get to come home to their haven every afternoon and discuss their day. I guess we start out with the small steps of going to school and the steps get bigger as our kids get older. I'm grateful for the small steps, even though it feels huge. So my next step will be to let her ride the bus. Give me a few weeks...

I had my mom breakdown moment last thursday after back to school night. Got it all out. We as moms are entitled to those moments. How can I not be excited for her! She is Thrilled to go to school. I'm thrilled too, just a tad sad. She will LOVE school. She has a love for learning and meeting new people, helping others, pleasing others. I'm so grateful for all the qualities in my little girl!

Today I am holding it together better than I thought! I get to have alone time with Zach now. She was totally excited and a little nervous. Once we got to the classroom though her big smile came!

Happy first day of School to my Little girl!