OK--I thought I was patient until I had kids. My biggest challenge these days is getting Owen ready for school. He is distracted very easily and I get very frustrated telling him 10 times to get his clothes on. So I decided NOT to get frustrated and try to get him ready for school in a way that we could both be happy. So I used reverse psychology. I told him that I wanted him to listen to me and that I wanted him to stay in his PJs all day--don't get your clothes on at all. He started giggling and went and got his clothes on BY HIMSELF! Then I told him that I was disappointed that he disobeyed me and that he needed to listen to me and NOT brush his teeth or comb his hair. So he giggled and did it all. IT WAS WONDERFUL!!! We were both happy and both ready. He told me, "mom, you're being wierd".
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Reverse Psychology and Doing It Together
Friday, December 5, 2008
Santa's Nice List
I did this for Owen and he thought it was pretty cool. He kept asking, how did you do it mom? If you want to do it for your kids the link is: Santa's Nice List.
Friday, November 28, 2008
Happy Thanksgiving
Happy Thanksgiving to all you friends and family. I hope you all had a wonderful day. We had a nice and somewhat relaxing day. Jared and I hosted the dinner, but all helped with the food. Jared made the turkey, potatoes and gravy and I whipped out a couple of pies ;). The kids had so much fun playing together that there was a lot of bribery to get them to eat something! Football was on and then the day was over. It seemed to go fast. But it was nice to have a low-stress holiday. The second picture is of the boys and their cousin Siatyl (Nash is in the back) watching Kung Fu Panda. The other pict is the train track we built in the boys' room the other day. Aidan and Owen have had a lot of fun playing with Thomas, again. (It's been in the basement)
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Happy Halloween
Happy (late) Halloween everyone!!! Hope everyone had a good time. Ours was a good one. Owen got to dress up for school and the kindergarteners had a carnival. He was Dash from the Incredibles, but we couldn't find a Dash costume, so Mr. Incredible had to do. When I asked what he did at his carnival, he just said, "We did fun stuff". That's about all I can get out of him--no specifics. No one else could get anything else out of him either, so the kindergarten carnival is a mystery. I tried all day to get Aidan to put his Thomas the Train costume on so we could go to the store, but he wouldn't do it. They still gave him candy. I wanted to get some picts of the boys, so before we went to our neighbors, I fought Aidan to keep his costume on so I could get his picture. It was a lot of effort, but we got some good pictures. It's a good thing we went to the neighbors, because no one else came to our neighborhood that night. They were happy to see the boys. We went to the 'trunk or treat' at our ward building Jared's sister, Tailona, and her stepson, Drake, and thank goodness for that. Owen was off with his friend and Aidan, I and Drake made our way around while Tai handed out candy. About halfway through, Aidan figured out what he was supposed to do and he was off. We had to hurry to keep up. He had a sucker in one hand and his bucket of candy in the other and he just made his way around to everyone, some two or three times. They had fun and were excited about all their candy. Then after we got home, to our suprise, Jared came home shortly after. It was nice to have him home even if it was for just a short time. We're glad he made the trek. He had been in Florida all week for a conference and flew to Vegas that morning and stopped in St. George for about and hour and then was off to see us. Then later that night we were graced with the presence of my brother, Matthew and his girlfriend, Sheena in their costumes. They wore these to the USU Basketball game. They got quite a few stares, but I have to agree, they were pretty good costumes. Brave, they were. And that was our Halloween!! We're doing pretty good with the candy stash and the boys have been pretty good about getting a little here and there and I'm grateful for that. So here are some picts of everyone for you to enjoy. Hope your haunting was happy and hope your ready for Thanksgiving soon!!!
Friday, October 17, 2008
Sunny St. George
We made it here to St. George--just to visit though. It's been nice to see Jared, friends and enjoy the sun! Thanks to Janet & Savannah Walker who have so graciously let us stay with them. We sure appreciate you guys. I am so excited to move back and excited to be able to see all of my St. George friends again... on a regular basis--I've missed you guys!!!! We'll now miss all you northern people too :( ...man, I just can't have it all, can I?
Our house is still on the market. We're still doing all we can to get it sold. Soon, right? I sure hope so. Take care ya'll and thanks for all your comments and thoughts! LOVE U!!
Thursday, October 9, 2008
7 Years!!!
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Thanks a bunch!
I just wanted to say thanks to all of you for your love, support, prayers and fasting in our behalf. Thanks to Tiff and Matt for being willing to help, babysit, shop or just talk to me when I need it. My neighbors are so good to let the kids play and to visit with me too. I sure need an adult to chat with or I seem really desperate for conversation. Jared is loving his job and grateful to be back. I am glad to have him happy, but sad that we're so far apart. It's very different not having him around and as always, I took that for granted. Me and the boys are doing good. We have our good and bad days. Aidan tracked mud through the carpet last week--great for house showings! But LUCKILY, it dried, I brushed it, vacuumed it and you can't tell ( or at least I can't see any footprints!) I am learning to love my boys more each day. They are good kids, so different from each other, but I've realized what kind of love they need and how I can better take care of them. It's been a great experience. We've learned to work better together instead of always seeming to butt heads. I love it!
Keep praying for us. We really want to be together and start establishing some roots. I think we will again fast this next Sunday to see if we can't be down there before the holidays start. Who knows, we seem to like to move in November (every time we've moved it's been in November). So maybe this time will be the same.
Take care and LOVE you all!
Monday, September 8, 2008
Jared's last day, Owen's first day
We've been a bit busy with life. We had many happy travels in August (as listed below) and then after that we began getting ready for Owen to go to Kindergarten. August 28th was his first day. He was pretty happy to be able to go to school. We (I mean, I) had problems trying to find which bus he rode and what times. It took us until after Labor Day to get it all figured out, plus we even got the buses to stop outside of our neighborhood (a big pat on the back to me) for him and another boy. He loves to ride the bus with his friends to and from school. He has a really nice teacher, Ms. Chris and is getting to know the kids in his class fast. He's learning to write his letters and this week he'll have homework!! I didn't seem too excited when I told him about it. He said that it was boring :( We'll see. Me and Aidan have been hanging out while he's been gone. I've been reading books (Sisterhood of the traveling pants series & now I'm on the last book of the Twilight series!!) like crazy. It's been fun.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
BIG NEWS!!!
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Slacker!
I have so been a slacker, but I am not connected to the worldwide web anymore. I try to forget about it, but sometimes I wish I still had it. Maybe some day. Anyways, we are moved it, not quite settled, but we are really enjoying the space and all the conveniences. The kids have friends to play with and we do too!! We have a good ward and work is not that far for Jared. It's nice to be on the way to settled. HOpe everyone is having a good summer! We love you!
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Moving day!!
Monday, June 16, 2008
I was supposed to have this up for Father's Day and I forgot that I had done it. So here it is. It's my favorite picture of Jared and the boys. Jared is such a good dad to them and loves them very much. He helps me out with them and is good to take them when I need a break. He calls them his "Bestest boys." It's always special to go with him places because he always gets treats :) And they get so excited to watch race cars (Nascar) with him. He is happy to have 2 gr-r-r-r-eat boys and they love their #1 dad!
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Neighbors & friends
Wow! It's been awhile. Nothing great and exciting has gone on. We've just be waiting for our house to finish and it's like watching paint dry--slow, slow, slow. We should be moved by the end of the month. To say I can't wait is quite the understatement!! I can't wait to have my own kitchen (mostly a dishwasher), my washer and dryer back, my own bedroom and bathroom, my own scrapbook room!! Can't wait!
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Solution for a Cuter Computer
One day I was tired of all my desktop backgrounds. So I searched the internet for desktop backgrounds. I wanted one that was kind of scrapbooky ( I hadn't started digi-scrapbooking, yet) and I found this cool website that sends me a new background each month. Plus I can insert my own picts in the cute layout. I thought some of you might like it. It's Scrapbook Dimensions. Here is a pict of my current June background. It's all cute and makes me happy! This one I actually tweeked a little. I added the "remember this" and the other journaling because it was kind of empty on one side and I thought I might turn this into a scrapbook page one day. Anyways, just something fun I found to make my computer a whole heck of a lot...CUTER!
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Play, play, play
It seems like all we've done this week is play. We had a great memorial day weekend with Jared's family. The cousins had so much fun playing together. It was fun to see everyone and we are so grateful everyone made the effort.
Monday, May 26, 2008
In Memory
To me, Memorial Day always meant the end of school and the beginning of summer. I didn't care much for going to the cemetaries to visit our ancestors. However, things have changed. I have lost some very dear relatives that I miss very much. I am now grateful for the opportunity to remember them, their legacy and to teach my children about these wonderful people. The most recent that we've lost is Jared's dad, Tom, and my Uncle Clayton Merkley. I miss that my boys won't get to know their Grandpa Johnson very well and that they won't remember the times they had with him. He was a generous, kind and loving man. I am so grateful to have a husband who loves and tries to emulate his father. My Uncle Clayton was always the life of the party. He loved to laugh, tease and enjoy life. We miss him and his laughter very much. It almost doesn't seem real. There are many others who have been an influence in my life and I will be eternally gracious of their lives and for their legacy. I hope I can be worthy to be called their posterity. We miss you and we love you.
Friday, May 23, 2008
Little Trip
This past week we went to Vernal then on Thursday we went to "A Day Out With Thomas" again.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Grateful to be a mom
I did this layout in honor of mother's day. This picture is probably my favorite so far of me and my boys. I love being a mom and I love that I get to watch my kids grow. I love their smiles, their laughs and the joy they find in the very simple things. I am so grateful to be a mom.
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Aidan's before and after
After 4 months, I finally made it to the Logan temple today. Hopefully next time it won't be as long. It was very replenishing and very calm. I needed it. There has been a lot on my mind. So it was nice to have some of that settled and be able to move on with life.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Heavenly Father's buttons
Today, was a warm, windy, cloudy day. Perfect for some playtime at the park and to go fly a kite. So after running a couple of errands, we stopped at the park that will be near our house. The boys played for a little while and then I got out Owen's kite so he could fly it. It didn't take long to get it up in the air. He had fun flying it and running it around. Except he kept getting near the trees and the wind was kind of crazy which made the kite dive. I was afraid it was going to get caught and I couldn't get it out. So I kept telling him to go out further in the grass away from the trees, but in a few minutes he was back near the playground, pavilion and trees. After telling him for like the fifth time to get away from the trees, I got upset with him. (I was actually upset about something else and I ended up taking some of it out on Owen.) Then he accidentally let go of the kite and it started flying away. He ran as hard as he could to get it back, but wasn't catching up to it. Luckily, it got caught on top of the restroom shed. I was still upset at him and shouldn't have been and now it was caught. He was sad as I tried to get the kite free and I felt bad for getting mad at him. Then just as I was about to give up and say it was stuck, the wind picked the kite up and I was able to get it free. At that moment I knew that this was a lesson for me and Heavenly Father helped us. So later I told Owen that Heavenly Father sent the wind to help us get the kite free and he said, "Oh" like everything came together and he understood.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
All girl!
OK, I haven't done much this week or haven't found anything profound to say. Plus I like the comments that I'm getting for my pages:) So here is another one. I don't do very many girlie pages, and I've had these pictures for years. So without having to go to the scrapbook store and the photo lab, I had to scrap these pictures. Jann this is for you!
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
More Digital...
This is starting to become fun. There are so many things that I can do! Thanks for your comments on the last layout. This one is all from ShabbyPrincess.com. Thanks for your adorable FREE downloads! I have a link on the left side, down a ways, for anyone interested.
Monday, April 21, 2008
Dabbling in Digital
It's super late and I should have been in bed like two hours ago, but I've been busy creating my FIRST digital scrapbook page! I think it turned out good (you tell me). I have a lot to learn and relearn. Even Jared had to help me remember Photoshop. At the Expo, I got a CD full of papers, embellishments and alphas to try out. I also downloaded a lot tonight from the internet. But here is my very first page that I created.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Birthday and Run
Well first off, yesterday was Jared's birthday. He's now the big 35! He thinks he's old, but he's not really. His work surprised him yesterday with lunch and a party. They overheard him talking to Owen on the phone, the day before, about his birthday being tomorrow. Then they stole his phone, got my phone number to call me and confirm. He didn't think anyone knew, but then started to suspect when surprise meetings popped up and everyone in the office vacated right before noon. He's too observant. We showed up for the party afterwards for a little while. Aidan was going nuts with the Olympus water dispenser, cups were everywhere and he kept pulling the water knobs. Owen was happy typing away on his computer--"working". They liked riding the bus to dad's work and back. Pretty exciting for a 2 and 4 year old. Then later we had a party with his sister, Tailona, and my sister, Tiffany. Owen absolutely refused to eat cake until we opened presents. For his presents, Jared got a two new race cars (one on the cake) and some levi's. He's old ones have to go! He had a good day he said. We love him and are grateful for all he does for our family. He's a fantastic dad and husband.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Happy, Happy Spring!!
Sunday, April 13, 2008
A Warm, Baby Animal Day
Yesterday was FINALLY a beautiful day!!! So we spent most of it outside. Our "soon-to-be" neighbors, Tarasha and Taya Haslem, invited us to go to Baby Animal Days at the American Heritage Center. Tiffany and Matt (boyfriend) came and hung out with us. Owen really liked seeing the animals and petting them. Aidan didn't mind looking, but it took a lot of coaxing to convince him to touch the animals, then he'd touch them for a second. He liked climbing up on the wood fences and then he'd point at all the different animals and say, "Puppy, ooh (moo)" I kept telling him the different animals and sounds that we saw, but each new animal was a puppy. It was cute. I think he enjoyed most the ride in the wagon, pulled by the tractor. Every time he saw the tractor, he'd point and say,"tacter, whoa".
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
I was wrong...
I had my hopes up to go to the expo this weekend, but it's next. I was a bit disappointed at that moment, but it's fine, I still get to go! I just get more time to prepare.
Monday, April 7, 2008
Quiet weekend
This weekend, Owen took a ride with my sister to my mom's house (Vernal). It was quiet, just what I needed. Jared didn't even make me cook and we even got to sleep in a little. Owen had a blast at grandma's playing with them and helping Christopher and Emily build their house. He loves to help and work. They gave him a little tool belt. Pretty nifty! I told him that it was my scrapbook belt, but he said, "No".
Thursday, April 3, 2008
This one's for you, Russ!
If you don't already know, my husband is a big Nascar fan. He loves to watch the race every Sunday and sometimes Saturday. He likes Tony Stewart (Home Depot car), Dale Jarrett (UPS car), Dale Jr. (now that he's not driving the Budweiser car), and Kevin Harvick (Shell car). I like to watch it with him sometimes. It usually lulls me into a nice nap on Sunday afternoon. I still haven't decided on which car and driver I like the best. I told Jared they really need a Wal-Mart car because that's where most of our money goes! During the last race, Owen found the McDonald's car and cheers now for it along with the M&M's car. Aidan loves to play with the race cars and Nascar haulers that Jared bought. I guess it has turned into a family affair.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
What more could a 2 year old want?!
Aidan had a good birthday. I only got Happy Birthday Aidan! up because I was trying to download a video, but it was taking way too long. So I don't know if just takes a really long time or there is something wrong. We had lunch with my brother, my sister and her boyfriend. Aidan loved his presents--Henry train, Annie and Clarabel trains, Cars shirt, Thomas and Cars books, train balloon, and a Thomas bike. He can't quite reach the pedals on his bike, but he likes to sit on it and can push himself. He even tries to carry his trains while on his bike. We sang Happy Birthday to him and he tried to blow out his candles, but couldn't get enough wind. Owen helped him out. Then the fun part was licking the frosting off the candles and then sticking them back in for more frosting. Hope no one gets sick :D He was so excited about his trains that he took one bite of his birthday cake and he was done and I don't think he ever got another piece of his cake. It was a fun day. He loved his presents and had fun with his family. What more could a 2 year old want?!
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Bathing in socks & 4 is my lucky #
One of my least favorite things to do as a mom is bath my kids. It's such a huge undertaking and in addition to making a huge mess it really tests my patience. I've finally resorted to bathing them separately most of the time just to keep my sanity. The other night I was trying to get Owen in the bathtub, but Aidan wanted to get in instead and in a hurry to get him in, I stripped him and forgot to take off his socks. I didn't realize it until Owen and Aidan were laughing loudly about it and I went to check on them. I had to laugh and then stop Owen from getting some of his socks to bath in. I did have to take a photo because I thought it was pretty silly and this one says it all.