Hee Hee

I laugh looking at my last post and how LONG it's been since I posted that. I know I should feel bad about not posting more often, but I just really don't. :) I might regret it one day, but for now I'm fine.

So, this summer has been tons of fun so far!! We've been able to get away enough for it to feel like summer (aka...go to places that actually have summer!) It officially started when the kids and I went to Invermere with Cyndi, Heather and kids and Brett. We just went for a few days but it was so fun! The first night was not so much fun. Me and the kids were all sleeping in the same room and there wasn't much sleeping going on. Jeffrey surprised us and came out to stay for the rest of the time. I was sooo happy and soo grateful that he could help with the little crazies!! We did nothing but play at the pool. What more could you want though?


Next, the kids and I went down to Cardston with my sister, Becky and her kids for a week. Mandi came down halfway through the week with her kids as well. We had tons of fun, riding in the wagon, going for argo rides, going to see the neighbors new kittens, swimming at the swimming hole and riding Scout (he's a horse) :) It was pretty windy down there, but the sun shone every day and it was warm enough to be outside! When we weren't doing something specific, the kids would stay outside and just play. Blowing bubbles, riding in the horse swing, playing ball...we even tried the sprinkler one day, but with the wind, it just felt too cold! Becky, my parents and I watched movies each night. Jeffrey and I are movie lovers and I had a whole list of movies for them to see that they hadn't yet. There was also lots of game playing and yummy snacks. It was really fun, but I missed Jeffrey terribly and I'm not sure when I'm ready to do that again. He stayed at his parents' house that week and hung out with them and his brother. They were able to go to the rodeo and the grand stand show, so he had lots of fun and had things distracting him enough to not miss us too much. Who am I kidding? He missed us insanely and told me I'm never allowed to go anywhere without him again!! Haha!!

After Cardston, I thought our summer trips were over. Jeffrey has officially started his own company Alberta United Insurance. He's doing it with Mark Stehmeier and they have been super busy getting things up and running. They're doing really well so far, things are moving along a lot better than I thought things could this early in the game! And of course I'm biased, but they really do provide GOOD, quick service (in French and Chinese too) and they have some really competitive rates. So if you're looking for insurance, or think you might be paying too much for yours right now, check out their website and contact them for a free quote. Auto, Home, Renters etc. I'm really proud of him and all his hard work and all the TIME he's put into it. He's been working long hours every day (except Sunday of course). Needless to say, we miss him around the house! :( Anyway, because of all that, we decided we wouldn't go anywhere this summer and we wouldn't even go to the Palmer Family reunion in Sandpoint. The Palmers all left to go, and we decided that to make it feel like a holiday, we'd live at the Palmers' new house while they were gone. It was fun, but I didn't enjoy following my kids around cleaning up after them and making sure they didn't destroy anything! After a week there, Jeffrey had a change of heart and decided that maybe we should go to Sandpoint for a few days!! I was ecstatic and agreed with him very quickly before he could change his mind again! We left Saturday and came back the following Friday. :) :) :) I was sooo happy to go! It was so fun to be there with everyone (and to see Kandice and Brady again!!!) and enjoy the SUN!! My kids were little fish, which is what I was hoping for! Last year in Sandpoint was when Jacey really took to the water and I was hoping Jaclyn would do the same thing. And she did! I think it helped that Claire was swimming around on her own too. Jaclyn loves to do what those she loves are doing! And on a side note, I'd just like to say right here, that I'm so grateful that my kids do have older cousins who are a good example, because little kids really do mimic what they see other people doing. Setting a good example is sooooo important!! It's just something I've been thinking a lot about lately because Jacey especially will do something or say something and then tell me exactly who was doing it and where and why. So I'm thankful that for the most part, it's been good stuff!! Anyway, back to Sandpoint. We literally tried to spend every moment we had outside. Either at the pool and hot tub or on the boat. It was literally heaven. My kids were so independent that I could lay out if I wanted to, or be in the hot tub or pool when they were in the other. And there were so many adults around and other kids, that there was always someone close by to give a hand. And they loved the boat. Although they usually ended up falling asleep by the time the ride was over. How can you not with all the lulling rocking! It was really really hard to leave this year. I think it meant more this year because we almost didn't have it. I miss the lake already. I absolutely love lake water!! It's so refreshing and one of my favorite things is to jump in from the boat and go for a swim. Jeffrey and I on our last night, left our kids with Cyndi and went down to the dock to jump in for one last swim. Ahh..it was really hard to leave. :) The kids traveled really well this year. I used someone's idea from FB (can't remember who) and had wrapped up little trinkets (a car, a ball, a book etc) to give to the kids each hour of the drive to keep them entertaining and happy. They loved it and it honestly made the trip go so smoothly. As did these-thank you Lizzie for introducing them to me:Wow, that's a large picture. Anyway, they were perfect. My kids love to tip their ziploc bags of treats over and I can't tell you how ANNOYED I get of cleaning up crunched up fishies, or salty popcorn twists from the car floor!! But these amazing, heaven sent snack bowls, allowed the kids to tip all they wanted and only very few crumbs could escape. PLUS, it takes the kids MUCH longer to get through the snack, because once they stick their hand in, they can only pull out a few at a time. So they were happier longer. :) And I was happier longer! You can get these miracle bowls at Walmart for only $5. :) WORTH EVERY PENNY!

There is a Cameron Family reunion (Cyndi's side of the family) down in Cardston this weekend, and we are contemplating going down for the saturday. To go to the parade and participate in some fun activities. Then the weekend after that, we are planning on having a GIRLS' weekend in Invermere. NO KIDS ALLOWED! Except for baby Warren of course. It's still a little up in the air because of a few things, but I'm determined to make it work....I want a REAL holiday ;) And depending on if Jeffrey and I can separate again, I may or may not go down to Cardston again to my parents' place. Totally undecided still.

For now, I'm working on potty training Jaclyn. She's showed a lot of interest in going and has actually gone a few times on the toilet before. Having Jacey as her example (again with the good examples) has helped her a lot. She wants to be like her big brother! I follow the book 3day potty training (if anyone wants it, I can email it to you) and one of the things it suggests, is to completely take away diapers and to not use pullups or any sort of "crutch". That way, if they have an accident, they're aware of it and the discomfort and don't want to do it again. Of course, it takes a LOT of tries, but I think it's a pretty good method! We're on day two right now and so far we've had an accident free day. Yesterday, we had 4 accidents, but she went on the potty 6 times, one of which was NUMBER TWO!! (sorry for details, but every mother knows how exciting that is!!). I'm excited!! It's hard work and I've never really had to do it before (Jacey's a freak of nature and potty trained himself, if you remember). It's so fun to see her run around in big girl underwear though and I know these few days of dedication and work will definitely pay off!! Okay, I just have to add that she JUST opened the bathroom door, turned on the light, took off her little undies, climbed up onto the toilet and went to the bathroom ALL BY HERSELF!!! :) This method is working so well!! Major progress! :) So proud of her!!

There are two things that happened this week that I've been wanting to document. One cute, one scary. I'll start with the scary. We had the youngest two Sherwood kids with us this past weekend while Becky and Keith were at trek. That's it..that's the scary story. Haha, jk. (lame joke) We were at the Palmers for sunday dinner and afterwards, they were all playing outside. And I rarely check on them out there, because everything is gated off and they always have fun and keep themselves entertained enough to not try to escape. But thank goodness for promptings and the Holy Ghost, because I felt prompted at one point to just go see how they were doing and when I went out, Jaclyn wasn't there and the other kids didn't know where she was. I paused to listen to see if I could here her somewhere and sure enough, I heard SCREAMING, but FAR away!!! And I couldn't figure out what direction it was coming from. I called Jeffrey to come and he pointed to where it was coming from. She had gotton through some bushes at the top of the yard and took off. I booked it to find her, thinking she was stuck somewhere, or in someone's yard with a dog or who knows what. Her scream was one of those "I'm dying" screams. Apparantly I was really moving, because Jeffrey said that he and Brett were sprinting behind me and they couldn't keep up with me! I found her 5 yards away, crouched over on a rock. Nothing was wrong with her, nothing was physically hurting her, I just think she realized she was lost. I am SOO grateful she was screaming because we would never have known where to look!! And I'm so so so grateful to Heavenly Father for looking out for us and letting a negligent mother know when to check on her children! Looking back on everything, I know that it could have been much worse, and we were really lucky, but when I start thinking about all the things that could have happened, it makes me want to cry and my heart starts pounding!!! Anyway, on to the cute thing. Jacey has his first crush. Or rather, someone has a crush on Jacey for the first time (that I've been aware of anyway). There is a beautiful, curly haired blonde girl in his primary class at church. This sunday when they came in from class to sharing time, she sat down on the same chair as him. He was there first, and so immediately he starts complaining that it was his, he was there first, blah blah blah! I asked the little girl if she wanted to sit beside him or move to another spot. She was like "no, i want to share with him!" and Jacey kept getting upset. He didn't want to share. Of course, he wouldn't move to another spot either, he was there first after all. (stubborn child). Cyndi tried physically lifting the girl up to move her over a chair and she held on for dear life and was like "NO, I want to share with him!" So she stayed. And stubborn Jacey didn't move. So for most of sharing time, they both sat there, side by side, sharing that small little sunbeam chair. It was soo funny to watch!! Eventually her mother (who is their teacher) made her move over, but I almost wish she didn't, it was so cute!! What's funny, is that the little girl's younger brother is in nursey with Jaclyn and has tried kissing Jaclyn before. Who of course, always refuses! Such cute little romantic children. :)

Well that's been our summer so far. Hopefully August ends up being as great as July's been! :)

PS. My blog is no longer private, so those of you who have my link listed as private, might want to switch it so that you can see when and if I update. :)

Does anyone even look here anymore?

I'm quite sure that my blog has become one of those blogs that people never check anymore because I NEVER post!! :) But, I just can't do it without pictures. So I'm determined to bother Jeffrey until he edits some pics for me and then I promise I WILL blog....soon...so stay tuned! :)

Enjoying the Sun

This past saturday, we were determined to enjoy the "good" weather. :) We went on a bike ride with Michael, Melinda and Claire and stopped at a park for a picnic and some playtime for the kids. The kids had a blast and it was a good workout for the adults. Well...at least for me. My backside's a little sore from the puny bike seat. I need a few more rides until I'm used to that again. It was a little windy, but the kids were bundled up in the chariots and the rest of us worked up enough of a sweat to actually enjoy it. Here are a few pictures from the day.

We're Alive!!

Last week was the worst week of sickness we've had around here for a long time!! We all got what I'm guessing was H1N1? I don't know...but it was awful! Coughing, stuffy/runny noses, sore throats, fever, chills, body aches! It started out with the kids, which worked it's way to me and then on to Jeffrey. From about monday of last week (the 1st) to monday of this week we've been kind of quarantined to our house. We didn't want to go anywhere in case we got anyone else sick..and quite frankly, we didn't feel like leaving. Until about thursday when I started going insane from being stuck in our house all day everyday with no change in our routine. And having Jeffrey at home only made it seem longer, because we didn't have him coming home after work to break up our day! We decided that we needed to get out and take a walk around our street and get the mail. It was a very small thing, but I think it saved us!!! It felt so good to have fresh air and to move!! Anyway, we still are coughing and have runny noses, but we feel so much better now and I think the contagious period is over! So we'll be able to go to church this week, which I'm excited about! I always hate missing church, it definitely makes the week different...and not in a good way!

Do they not look ecstatic to be outside???

This week has been MONUMENTAL for us!! In terms of bedtime! We've had Jacey in our bed for I don't even know how long?? Coming up on a year maybe?? Anyway, it's just getting awful, he's so big now and he sleeps sideways with his feet in my back and we wake each other up all night and are pretty much miserable with each other the whole time! Poor Jeffrey is sleeping on the edge of the bed holding on to the bed frame for dear life so that he won't fall off! And Jaclyn's been sleepng like a queen in her own room!! So we decided to brave it and are preparing ourselves for a really scary month (hopefully not longer than that) and have started putting Jacey back in his room in his own bed. The first couple of nights, we put Jaclyn in the playpen in our walkin closet and had Jacey by himself in their room. Those nights ended up with me sleeping in Jacey's bed the whole time and Jeffrey in our room dealing with Jaclyn who would wake up every couple hours crying. So we thought we might just abandon ship and return to the old routine. BUT, I felt prompted to put Jaclyn back in her crib and try to get them to sleep in there together. It didn't really seem like it would work, I just couldn't fathom how they would fall asleep together..especially Jaclyn who has been used to her own room forever. But that first night, after a lot of praying and perserverence and explaining to Jacey, and an hour and 15 minutes of making sure Jaclyn stayed in her crib(she decided that day to attempt climbing out!!!) and telling Jacey his choices were sleeping alone in the room, or sleeping in there with Jaclyn (he kept crying to come in my bed with me)....they actually fell asleep!! And slept the whole night with no interruptions until 6:30am. UNBELIEVABLE!!!!!!!! Even when Jacey's in my bed and Jeffrey and I haven't gone to bed yet, he wakes up. Every night, without fail. So I was kind of in shock when I looked at my phone and saw the time when Jacey appeared at my bedside the next morning!! I knew that it could possibly have just been too good to be true, but last night, our second attempt at the new arrangement only took 40 minutes and they were both fast asleep!!! Jacey did wake up around midnight and woke Jaclyn up with his whining and crying. So Jeffrey was trying to settle her down and I was trying to reason with Jacey and get him to stay in bed. It actually worked...my reasoning with Jacey that is, and he laid back down, and after 10 minutes of Jaclyn crying it out, they were both back asleep again!! Till 6:30am. Normally Jaclyn wakes up at 7am and Jacey wakes up at 8am, but I will take 6:30 for a while, until they can get used to all of this!! I can't even tell you how ECSTATIC I am about this!! And to sleep in my bed with JUST Jeffrey and have my own space and comfort, it's surreal!!! I barely remember what it feels like! And actually, I keep waking up throughout the night, expecting Jacey to wake up and come in...or something bad to happen. But so far, so good!!! I really can't take any credit for any of this, and nor can I explain how this has actually been working so far...except to say that I KNOW this is a direct blessing from Heavenly Father!! This is something that we've struggled with for a long time...Jacey and his sleeping issues. And for some reason, this new change just seems to be working and I know Heavenly Father is answering our many prayers and pleas for help!! It's an amazing feeling to feel the loving hand of our Heavenly Father in our lives! It for sure gives me strength to go on and deal with all the problems and trials that I will face, knowing that I don't have to do it alone!

Her favorite outfit..doesn't quite fit yet!

Helping me dust. I love this picture sooo much. Notice how Jaclyn's looking at Jacey? She WORSHIPS him and will watch his every move and try her hardest to do exactly what he's doing! It is so adorable and I just hope Jacey will always be a good example for her, cause she'll definitely follow it!

pretending she has hair (this totally did not work at all by the way!!!)

Sporting my new boots (I'm 27 and still get hand me downs from my sisters...thanks Becky!)

Jacey's little sidekick

There is nothing more adorable than a sleeping baby!