cute Lacy story

The other day while I was making Christmas treats for Shawn's co-workers and some friends in the ward, Shawn decided to come home for lunch. A few minutes after he got home Lacy comes in from the bathroom, soaking wet, with her pants in her hands and goes on to tell us that she has made a big mess in the bathroom, using too much toilet paper. She tells us she is very sorry and asks if she should go to time out in her bedroom because she "knows better". We tell her that she doesn't have to because it was very good of her to come in and tell us what she did and that she was very sorry. We go to check the damage and come to find that she has overflowed the toilet and flooded the bathroom. She is very sad and remorseful and with a very sad look on her face asks us,
"does Santa still love me?" awh... of corse he does.
Then, "does Jesus still love me?" yes... he always will.
"do you guys still love me?"
"will you love me until I am a hundred and fifty one years old?" Yes we will love you forever and ever and ever and will never stop.
It was a sweet moment with Lacy, I know she's got in in her ;)

A picture of the treats we made

I also just had to throw this picture I snapped on my camera phone in here... It was a Merry Christmas from QT!! More Christmas posts to come. We have had a great holiday week so far, I hope you all did too!

Christmas cards

I am getting ready to send out Christmas cards, one of my favorite things to do!

So if you want a card, can I have your address?

You can e-mail it to me at jennylynnbrown@hotmail.com or just post it here if you want. Thanks!

random

I showed up to my moms house today and we totally matched. Nice!

And this little guy is just too cute!

Finally time for Christmas

I have been super sick lately due to the baby in my tummy who likes me to throw up and have headaches all the time. I just have to keep telling myself what my mom told me when I was pregnant with Hugo... The sicker I am, the healthier the baby.

Well because of being sick, I haven't blogged at all lately but I also haven't been very good at keeping my house clean. Well today I had a good day and decided to use it as best I could.

Lacy and I put up all the Christmas decorations, including the tree and I hung the christmas lights ALL BY MYSELF. You really should be proud, this is a huge accomplishment for me. The only bad thing was I pounded my thumb with the hammer on accident once and it is still throbbing. I also got a lot of laundry done, mopped the whole house, straitned some of the rooms... but for me... today was a success.

a success i might regret in the morning when i wake up sore and throwing up.

Susan's Golden Birthday

While the Jones' were here for Thanksgiving we had a super fun mini-party for Susan's 2nd birthday, up on south mountain. It was a tutu party for her turing two on december 2nd! Special little girl!! Only WE would have a tutu party in the desert. True hillbillies if you ask me, and I wouldn't have it any other way. We had fun cooking hotdogs and quesidillas, climbing big rocks, swinging on the swings, kicking some dirt, eating cake... all with the little girls in tutus!

Thanksgiving

I didn't get any pictures on my camera of Thanksgiving, but we had a wonderful weekend filled with family and delicious food. I am so grateful for all the blessing I have and consider my life to be the happiest and most loved of anyone I know :)

Thats it for my Thanksgiving post, short and sweet!

Wow... I have a LOT to catch up on

November 8th my baby boy had his 1st birthday!


We had our family over on Sunday and had a little mini party including dinner, cake and presents. Hugo's favorite was definitly getting to sit in his diaper in the middle of the table and have at his very own, very huge cupcake presented in his very own new tractor. He loved it all!

I still can't figure out how to get video's onto this computer so once the other one is back up, I might post some hilarious videos of him eating his cake!



Some of my favorite things about Hugo:
-his cuddle hugs
-his walk with his arms always up in the air
-the sound he makes when playing with toy cars
-he is such a sweetheart
-getting stopped everywhere I go and people telling me I have the most beautiful baby (i know its vain but come on, have you seen the little guy?)
-he is such a good sleeper
-he isn't picky when it comes to food
-how he misses his sister when she is at school
-his laugh and how much he loves to play
-his huge teethy grin

He is my perfect angel baby and is such a gift for us in our home. I could go on for days about all the cute little quirks and sweetness that is my baby boy... I guess you'll just have to meet him and see it for yourself!

Happy Veterans Day

Happy Veterans Day to my most favorite Veteran!

I am so proud to live in this country and so grateful for all the men and women who have fought for the freedom we enjoy. God Bless America!

So Barack did apparently Rock the Vote. Congrats... should we be afraid?? He wasn't my first choice, by any means, but we'll make it work, I hope! I'm not going to lie, I was a little discouraged... but I feel really awesome this morning after checking out the results of the election and finding out that ...

Proposition 102 PASSED in Arizona

Proposition 2 PASSED in Florida

and perhaps the biggest surprise and the biggest victory is that Propositon 8 PASSED in California.

Boyd K. Packer said on Sunday in our Stake conference that was broadcast around all of Arizona (in regards to prop 102) It is NOT a Political cause, it is a MORAL cause. I thought it was an awesome explination of why the church was so involved. They usually don't get into anything political and tell you how or what to vote. I was impressed and I do feel it is a great win that marriage is that much more protected in these 3 states.

I'm going to call this one a VICTORY.

Big Announcement

So surprise surprise... I've got another little bun cookin in my oven. 3rd times a charm, right? I'm 10 1/2 weeks along. Due June 2nd. I am sick just like I was with my other ones but I've got some good meds and a great doctor so I'm not worried. Just wish us luck, we'll need it :) our little gummy bear

Can't leave out Halloween

Lacy's preschool class had an adorable little Halloween party the day before Halloween. They let all the parents come the last 30 min and watch them sing songs, recite their poems and even break open a pinata. They seperated the boys from the girls for the pinata. I figured it was because all the boys were a little bit more rough then the girls. Well Lacy was the 8th or 9th girl to go and after each girl gave their 3 sweet delicate girly swings to the witch's head Lacy comes up and swings her first swing with all her might and knocks the head right off the witch and sends it flying!!! The girls' pinata was bust open long before the boys. She's definitely her daddy's little girl. I wouldnt expect anything else with Lacy. She had to tell EVERY adult there that she "bammed the head off the witch" She was so proud.

Here are some friends from the ward that are in her class. She LOVES preschool and begs to go every day. I never thought I'd say this, but I can't wait until Kindergarden. So instead of breaking her heart and saying she cant go to school for 5 more days (on the weekends) I can say only 2 more days. She really is heartbroken when she has to wait so many days to go back to school.
For Halloween Night we went to our wards Trunk or Treat. Lacy told us that we were not allowed to go with her unless we all had our "costuNes" on. What a sassy little girl. We all threw something together and headed out. I'm usually pretty cordinated... not this year!

Lacy Graduated!

Lacy graduated from her Tot Tumbling class. They had a preformace the last day and Lacy was definitely the shining student. She was the least shy and gave everyone a good laugh with her dancing skills. If I can get the video to work I'll post it later. If not, you will have to take my word for it, because she was adorable!

Flagstaff

Ok I have been such a blog slacker lately, I've got a lot of catching up to do!!

First off we went to Flagstaff early October during fall break with our besties Mark and Caroline. We had so much fun!! It was freezing cold, super windy and both my boys were sick, but we made due and had fun just relaxing. We went on a picnic, little hike, made some crafts, watched some movies, and even went to Prescott on the way home and spent a lovely day with Ryan and Krista at the boys soccer games.. and had a babysitter and an awesome date night. It was a much needed, super fun weekend. Thanks Mark and Caroline for being such good friends and inviting us to go! We love you!

Caroline came up with these cute crafts that the kids LOVED. They made nature bracelets from duct tape and things they found around the cabin. Leaves, flowers, sticks, etc. Then they made rock necklaces and also did some fun things with popsicle sticks.

Another Trip to Cali

I wrote this post weeks ago and forgot to actually POST it... silly me. This was conference weekend, the first weekend of October.

My itinerary:

Wednesday:

5:00 pm: Call Clarissa to ask if I can borrow her Garmin for my lonely ride to San Diego. All my other plans had fallen through, but I wasn't going to let that keep me from going. My kids and I were going no matter what.

5:10 pm: Clarissa calls back and asks if she can come with me! So exciting!

Thursday:

3:00 pm: Finally get on the road on the way to San Diego

9:00 pm: Arrive ready to party! All the kids, but Katie are asleep. We stay up and talk/craft/etc.

11:00 pm: Susan wakes up and wants to sleep by Lacy.

12ish: We are all in bed, sweating to death because of the dreaded heat and no a/c!

Friday:

8:00ish am: Get up and ready for school for jr and shopping for the rest of us

9:30 am: Take B to school and go thrift store shopping

11:00 am: go to Hodads (an awesome burger place in OB) then walk over to the beach

3:00 pm: Get home and get JR from school, get our craft on!

5:30 pm: Make a wok dinner with rice, chicken, black beans, tomatoes, corn... turns out really yummy with sour cream, guacamole, and on cheesy tortillas (I'm pretty proud of this random dinner)

8:00 pm: Go to super fun craft store, Beverly's, and to Mardells to get more crafting supplies

9:45 pm: Brian Sr. is home and we enjoy his company while we craft the night away

Saturday:

1:30 am: GO TO BED!

9:00 am: I am the last to wake up, and I wake up to conference beign played on the computer in the room I was sleeping in. It was the perfect way to wake up to, beautiful music being played by the MOTAB and bacon and pancakes cooking in the kitchen.

9:30 am: Enjoy crafting while listening to much inspiration

11:00 am: Head to McD's and Walmart to let the kids get some energy out before another session of conference

1:30 pm: Start the 2nd session of conference (dont worry, we started from the start!) and more crafting

5:00 pm: house is clean, crafts put away and Chantal off the get the baby sitter

5:45 pm: Off to our sisters date while the men are at priesthood session

- the rest of the night: Shopping at an awesome purse store and get a cute purse for myself and an even cuter one for Chantal's birthday

Dinner at Olive Garden with Mardell

Walk and dance in the rain

Switch clothes in the car and head to the beach

Take some pictures, splash in the shallow, low tide, laugh and enjoy sister time (and miss Charmaine like crazy!)

loose the keys (my guess is in the low tide, when I unzipped my jacket for a more flattering picture)

break into my car like the superwoman that I am (look for blog about this to come!)

laugh like crazy!

11:00 pm: come home to sleeping kids and celebrate the victory of grand theft auto (of my own car)

rest of the night: craft, what else!

Sunday:

1:00 am: GO TO BED!!

9:00 am: Wake up to conference again

craft, but not crafts that will make us money (thats work!)

11:00 am: picnic at a beautiful park, Lacy throws HUGE tantrum when its time to leave!

1:30 pm: Call Daddy to get Lacy calm so we can watch the last session of conference in peace.

5:00 pm: another awesome dinner- FRITO PLATE (an Ollerton specialty)

8:00 pm: Head to the Wengers for some awesome company

10:00pm: Kids in bed and we craft until I fall asleep practically in Chantals lap on the couch

Monday:

1:30 am (I think, I was a little out of it!): GO TO BED!!

9:00 am: Wake up just in the nick of time to get B off to school and ready to be a guest at Katie's preschool

9:30 am: Preschool with the kiddos

12 noon: Lunch and window shopping at Seaport Village

2:00 pm: Head on home and forget formula for Hugo... I scream "Snap the Puff, Man!" Chantal and I laugh for hours wondering where the heck that came from!

3:00 pm: Clarissa, Chantal and the older kids go to the beach while I stay home and get the car packed and ready to go home.

5:00ish: On the road home :(

11:00 pm: Home Sweet Home to my wonderful Husband who I missed dearly. I love him so much and am so grateful that he lets me do fun things like spur-of-the-moment trips to see my sister

Free Bag?!

Register to win a free purse. If you know me at all you know I am in love with purses and shoes, so anything I can do to get one free.
Go HERE! http://www.handbagplanet.com

Oh and happy 101 posts to me!

Yes for Marriage.. and VOTE

Okay quick note. The deadline to register to vote is OCTOBER 6. That is just one short week away. If you have not registered to vote.. DO SO NOW! If you live in AZ you can vote here.

Now as for today. We had an excellent meeting with our stake president discussing prop 102 in AZ. What is Prop 102?
Proposition 102 is 20 simple and clear words that define marriage as the union of one man and one woman. Prop 102 reads:
“Only a union of one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in this state.”
Prop 102 is on the November 2008 ballot in Arizona.

In May, California judges redefined marriage in that state. The Arizona Constitution is
the highest law in our state, so amending the constitution is the only way to prevent judges or
politicians from tampering with the definition of marriage here. In addition to being merely
statutory, the current law is also more limited than Prop 102 because it does not define
marriage as the union of one man and one woman.

We got lucky in our ward because we have Laura Knaperek (who is the Executive Director of United Families International) in our ward and she gave us lots of very valuable information about the effects of this proposition. Yes the proposition we are voting on is only the DEFINITION of marriage, but how you vote will vastly effect many things.

If this proposition does not pass these are just a few things that might happen:
Just like you can get a drivers licence in one state and drive all over... if 2 people of the same sex go to California, Massachusetts or Canada and get married soon wherever they go they will be recognized as a legal lawful marriage.
This one day could be the end of LDS social services because the LDS church could not legally refuse to give children to just man-woman marriages.
Doctors with anti-gay religious beliefs are not excused from obeying the laws that govern all of us, there have been doctors that have lost their licences due to not inseminating lesbians.

Recently, there have been cases of doctors who were *forced* to perform abortions and artificial inseminations even when they objected to the practice. There were ample alternatives available, but the poor doctors were given the choice to perform the work they disagreed with or face penalties.
Why should we expect religions be treated any different? Churches will be sued and could face varying degrees of penalties for failure to comply. They could face the loss of non-profit organizational status, meaning they would have to pay taxes.
The churches could face financial penalties of fines and punitive charges. On and on the list could go.The leaders could face personal financial penalties including fines and punitive charges.
They could face potential jail time for failing to comply with a court mandate. They could face varying degrees of punishment for a desire to follow their beliefs.

I know it all sounds a little extreme, but I figure if it is important enough for the church to discuss it, then it is important enough for me to express my opinions. I know the church always emphasizes that they are politically neutral and do not ask the members to vote any certain way. They are always very careful to let members have their own freedom to vote however they choose. However, I know the family is sacred and that we have obligations to uphold to keep the definition of marriage sacred.

Sorry, it is all a little jumbled. I am not going to edit. I was just rambling and so now I am clicking publish post with out even reading over.

Crazy Night!

We invited Mark and Caroline over for dinner and had the craziest night ever! The first thing Braiden (their 6 year old son) said to me when he walked in was, "Can I jump on the trampoline?" I told him it was a little dangerous because we have these poles of death sticking up around the trampoline because we are building a little fence around it, and the cover that goes over the springs was all torn up. Well the boys decided to take the kids outside while the girls finished up making dinner. Then, Mark decided to jump Braiden on the trampoline and I think they just had tooo much fun. Mark jumped him really high and Braiden landed wrong and really hurt his arm. He came in and was just hanging it limp. We all thought he just dislocated his elbow or something, so Caroline took him to the ER while the rest of us ate dinner.

She called later and said the DR could not see him for 4 FREAKIN HOURS!! Well we decided Shawn would take Mark and the baby down to the ER so the baby could nurse and Kloey would stay with us. Well while they were trying to get out the door, we found an ant infestation in Hugo's crib (GROSS)!!, had to clean, vacuum, spray, wash the sheets, etc. Then while I was trying to make him a bottle he decided to put a dishwasher soap tablet in his mouth and it exploded. He got a whole mouthful of the dry dishwasher soap. YUCK! I quickly called our favorite pharmacist (Marks dad Dale) who told us as long as he didn't throw up and he is breathing fine, we could just give him a big cup of milk and put him to bed. We just have to watch for some major diarrhea to come! (I can hardly wait for that....)

Well anyways, the boys left and we were fine. But come to find out, Braiden's arm is broken all the way through. He had to go into orthoscopic surgery and got the bone set and pins put in his arm. Then in a couple weeks they will take the pins out and put a cast on. I feel so horribly bad that the poor boy got his arm broken at our house.

It was a crazy night! I am glad that we have such good friends that don't sue us or something :) I hear he is doing fine now though, I sure hope so!

Flowers and Wreaths

Heather and I had another couple of fun days crafting. We made some super cute wreaths together and went shopping for some fall decorations.

Lacy had fun making her own wreaths for Mimi and Grandma. She decided all on her own to make it for them. She made one for Mimi then said, I need another one for Grandma. So thoughtful!

Then on Friday we went and bought some flowers to go in the lovely flower pots from Kim (thanks Kim, you are awesome!). The most awesome Lady from my mom's ward gave us some patio furniture and some flower pots. I also know Mark and Caroline got a brand new TV entertainment center. I can't wait to see it up in their house!

We did the potting in our house because Friday was a super HOT day. We did it by the back door then swept it out when we were done. True Arizona style!

Lacy is so happy she finally gets to use her watering can she got from the prize bag for being so good!

as for this last picture... its just so adorable. I can never leave my little Hugo out. He is doing so good at walking. He now can walk clear across the room. Its adorable, we will work on getting it on tape this week. Be excited... because its so dang cute!

2 Random Pics

I just took this picture of Hugo and I LOVE it! He is sound asleep. What do you think he is dreaming about? I think he is a ninja flying through the air kung-fuing someone. He is such a stud that little boy!!










The other picture is obviously of me. I dyed my hair black! It wasn't supposed to be this dark!! It was called "Nutmeg" and it was just a darkish brown. I decided I look much better with a little red, and not so dark. I'm crazy, I know. Thats what I get for being cheap and not getting it done professionally (I miss Sheri!)

Mr. Handyman!

I know, I know. I've done it once before- told the embarassing stories about my husband trying to be "Mr. Fix-it"... well here's another one for the books. He actually wasn't trying to fix anything this time, but just trying to be handy. He had put a bunch of boxes in the attic a while back (with out my say!) and I had no idea what he had put up there. Well he put some boxes up there that I actually get into on a regular basis. One is a box full of purses and bags. I like to have them handy so I can rotate. Sometimes you need a bigger bag, sometimes smaller, sometimes a backpatch, or a clutch... Come on women, you know what I mean. Well when shawn got home from work yesterday I asked him if he could climb into the attic and get me this box (or at least the bag I was looking for) He agreed, after some grumbling, and climbed right up there. He was only up there for a split second when I had this feeling that I should move to where the was no noise above me. The second I turned to take a step, Shawn fell through the attic and landed right where I was standing. I didn't see it because I had litterally just stepped over. He landed right on his feet... but we were both covered in dusty crap, and his arms were scraped up pretty bad. He's so tough though, he took it like a man and hopped right back up, got bandaged, and watched the kids while I went to mutual. What a good hubby.

I am just so greatful for the spirit leading and guiding and being a constant companin to give you those little thoughts in your mind like, "Move out of the Way!"

I love my hubby so much and I am so glad he is so strong and tough, and landed on his feet!!

Heathers first question was, "well did he at least get the bag?" the answer is, no... but all I need now is a ladder and I can get it my self by just putting the ladder up to the huge hole he left me! Way to think the glass is "half full" right?

Lacy started TUMBLING

We signed Lacy up for a Tumbling for Tots class and she had her first one on Monday. For anyboy who knows, have ever met or seen, heard anything about, or reads my blog knows that Lacy is SUPER active and needs lots of stimulation. She gets bored and antsy easily and I thought this class would help her get some wiggles out... plus she loves to do "tricks" and show off all sorts of things she can do. They wouldnt let the parents stay in the room but I got a few snap-shots the the window on the door. Lacy always had to be right close to the teacher and was definitely the shining student listening very carefully and doing all her teacher asked her to (why isn't she like that with me??) They seemed to have lots of fun and she said she is really excited to go again next time... but told me she needs her own water bottle to bring some gay-dor-aid in next time.

Duh mom.. what were you thinkin?

I Love Monsoon!

I dont know if it is still technically "Monsoon Season", but we got to enjoy some really nice Monsoon weather last week. We went out to a very fancy dinner at the Taco Bell with the Baxters and then all of us and my parents went to the park where Lacy got to run wild and Hugo got to play on the swings. We stayed until it started to rain, then I opted to walk home to my parents while Shawn and Lacy drove. Hugo and I always enjoy the rain together :)

1st Field Trip

Lay's preschool had their first field trip on Friday. We went to such a cute museum, The Hall of Flames. They got to hear a story from a real firefighter, watch a movie on fire safety, climb aboard a real, old firetruck, try on some old stinky jackets and hats and play at a little fire safety house. They had so much fun and I got to see lots of old trucks and meet some more moms from the school. We had so much fun and got to go to McDonalds afterwords with lots of Lacy's friends. We are both looking forward to many more Field Trips in the future!

Koby's baptism

A couple Saturday's ago we went up to Prescott for an awesome day! I spent the day at my nephews soccer games, shopping with Heather, haging out with family and most importantly, KOBYS BAPTISM. I am so proud of Koby for being such a shing young boy and doing what is right. He is the oldest of all my neices and nephews and he is setting such a good example of what a young boy should be. He did so good and we had such a good day. It was a beautiful service and I was so happy to be a part of it. After, we had a little get together to celebrate such a wonderful occasion and also a birthday party for Koby and Billy... or should I say Darth Vader and the Storm Trooper.
I only got a few random pictures from the day... it doesnt do the day justice. The weather was gorgeous, the company was divine and we were all super happy to be there, and sad to leave and have the day end so quickly!

Warning!

The YW work is done, the birthday cards are done and Hugo is sleeping. I have a few moments so I am going to try to catch up on all the blogging I've been meaning to do. So my warning is, you are going to see lots of posts here and on my other blogs. I hope you enjoy! :)

My AWESOMETASTIC Brother!

I was over at Samuel Fullers house the other night (my lovingly sweet, best friend of a younger brother) and I heard him and his friends talking about getting "Sam Fuller married!" They told me of a bet or competition they have to find him a wife.
They joked that everyone should start a blog to advertise him and help him find a wife.Well I love my brother dearly and so I am going to be number one in helping in this cause. I am going to post all things about Samuel. You can all be my helpers in looking for good single girls to set him up with.
Add to the comments, or send me an e-mail ( jennylynnbrown@hotmail.com) and I will post anything nice or sweet you have to say about Samuel. - he says he really wanted me to do this, but I think he only said that because he doesn't think anyone actually will. I told David Mortensen it was going to be a race to see who can get the blog address "getsamfullermarried" first, I decided to give that to him since I dont call him sam... he's always been Samuel to me. So I am all about embarrassing the heck out of him.. as long as I find him a wife!!

check it out and tell all single girls you know to check it out! (click below)

Samuel Needs a WIFE!!

this is samuel

Memories

I just left a really funny memory on Kyle's blog so it made me want to post too to see what kind of funny memories people can think of.

Here’s how you play:
1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn’t matter if you know me a little or a lot, anything you remember!
2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It’s actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I’ll assume you’re playing the game and I’ll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don’t want to play on your blog, or if you don’t have a blog, I’ll leave my memory of you in my comments.

CALIFORNIA!!

Oh man, I had way to much fun in California. It was so hard to come home and face reality. I'll give you a little outline of what we did..

Friday

6:30 pm: left AZ after work to head on out.

12:00 am: finally arived after too many bathroom breaks

Saturday

2:00 am: go to bed after chatting for a long time (kids were asleep when we got there, made for an easy night of putting kids to bed :)

Too early: Kids get up

10:00: Wake up to yummy pancakes that Brian has made. He's famous for his delicious breakfasts- Your lucky to stay there just to get his breakfasts!

12:00pmish: Head out to the San Diego Zoo. SOOO much fun- kids loved it, was a bit hot towards the end but we had so much fun.

4:00 pm: Little nap with Hugo

6:00 pm: Babysitter arrives!!!!

6:30 pm: Yummy ribs dinner with BC and Patrick and Chaz... with no kids!

8:00 ish: Shopping at the mexican stores on a little errand

9:00 pm: Patrick and Chaz park their car so we can go get desert!

9:50 pm: We finally get a parking spot

9:55 pm: The yummiest sundae EVER at Ghiradelli's. Oh so yummy and of corse some really fun company!

10:30 pm: Come home to a clean house and ALL the kids asleep in their bed. The best babysitter ever! Another easy night of putting kids to bed!

11:30 pm: Brian and Shawn lay down to watch the office and Chantal and I get our craft on!! She taught me how to make bias tape, how to sew aprons, lots of little sewing tricks and tips. We had some awesome conversation and had sooo much fun! I miss my sister sooo much! I can hardly wait until Brian graduates and we can hang out more. Shes my BFF for sure!

Sunday

4:00am: Chantal and I decide its time to go to bed, Brian and Shawn have been asleep for a long time!

Too Early: Kids get up- Shawn gets up with the kids because he is the best husband and uncle in the WORLD!!

10:30-11:00: The rest of the adults get up, eat breakfast, get the kids ready, get ourselves ready

1:00 pm: Head out to church

2:15 pm: The Browns come home from church (minus Lacy) becaue Hugo is super fussy. He falls asleep the minute we get in the car, Shawn gets a nice nap and I clean up a little bit.

5:00pm: Awesome dinner out on the patio

6:30pm: Head out to La Jolla to see the seals on the beach. It was so fun and we saw some seals. The kids all loved it!

9:00pm: Head over to Sea World to see the fireworks. We didn't go inside Sea World, we got even closer to right where the set them off. We had popcorn and Hot chocolate. So fun, the kids all loved it, Hugo was adorable, a little scared (they were SOOOO loud, you could feel them in your chest) but he let me hold him and he just pressed his cheek to mine and watched in awe!

11:30pm: We get home home and the kids are asleep!!! This trip was the easiest ever in putting kids to bed. We had so much fun playing with Susan and chatting (Susan was the only one still awake)

Monday

12:15am: Office comes on and Chantal and I get our craft on one more time!

2:15am: Off to bed!

Too early: Kids get up. Hugo has fussed all night!

10:00am: Head to the beach in Coronado! The kids were all so cute. Lacy had a blast on the boogey boards. Hugo got to touch the ocean for the first time. He wasn't sure about it at first, but he got a little better after a few times. I dont think he felt very good though. He spent most of the time up on the towels playing with his toys and eating snacks.

3:00pm: Get home and do white-trash showers in the back yard. Soap and a hose... kids and Shawn and I all get soaped, hair washed. The whole bit. I'm sure the neighbors think we are total hilbillies.

3:30pm: Chantal and I get our craft on.

6:00pm: Head on home- greatly against my will. I DID NOT want to leave!

11:30pm: We arrive to our home in Tempe and you guessed it, the kids were asleep. It was the best little get away I've had in a long, long time. I'm going to go back in October and nobody can stop me!

Thanks Jones' for letting us come and for being such awesome hosts, it was way super fun!

Amazing people

I was inspired by Toni and Andrea to go read about this amazing family, the Nielsons. They live here in the valley and recently survived a plane crash. The husband and wife are in critical condition, the pilot actually passed away shortly after the crash and their kids (who weren't on the plane) are with their aunt and uncle up in Utah. I am so moved by the love and compassion from people all around the world who don't even know these people. And especially by their family who have stepped up in any way possible.
It made me think (and want to share)that I hope my siblings know that I love their kids so dearly... I would do anything at all for my nieces and nephews. I would give up my whole life to help them or do anything I can. I hope that my sisters and SIL's know how much I love them, their kids, and their families. I love them so much and I was really moved to tears reading this families story. When you try and imagine all that they are going through... I have always said that I may not the be best mom in the world (I really do try) but I DO pride myself on being the best Aunt. ... I'm kinda emo right now just thinking about it.

That's it, I'm going to Cali, I miss those kids too darn much!!

Check out these stories and their awesome donation pages and auctions all to benefit this family. They are going to have upwards of a million dollars after all the medical bills etc. Its pretty amazing seeing all that is being done to help this family.

Thats certainly NOT Katie!

Little stinker.... (refer to yesterdays post.) Well today I caught Lacy with a starburst. We keep our candy safely secure in a pot on top of the fridge. I asked Lacy where she got it and she confessed to also eating 2 pieces of pink bubble gum, 2 lollipops, some fruit snacks (we consider those candy), and more starburst. I was so baffled when I went into the un-touched kitchen. I made her show me how she got them and this is what I witnessed. I was so angry, yet sooo amazed.

It reminded me of a story Shawn's family always tells of when they lost Shawn when he was only 2 years old. The whole family was frantically looking all over the house and neighborhood for their sweet boy to find him sitting quietly on top of the fridge watching all the commotion. Who would have thought to look UP for a 2 year old?? Well like father like daughter... the little monkey climbs right up like its the easiest thing in the world. AHHHH... what am I going to do with her!?!?!

At least some happiness came when the dark clouds rolled in yesterday and brought us some much needed moisture. We went for a walk in the sprinkling rain and then went to Kelly's house for some yummy ice cream sandwiches. When we left their house it was pouring. Hugo loved the rain! IT makes me so happy, because I do too!! We had a super fun walk home with his hands in the air looking up in wonder giggling at one of the mysteries of the falling water coming from seemingly no-where. Can you imagine witnessing rain for the first time on your face. The sweet innocece of children. I loved so much this tiny experience, my boy is such a sweetheart!

You know you are an Arizona native when the happiest moment of the week comes hand in hand with dark black clouds rolling in from the southeast promising a heavy load of moisture to pour all over your clean car, dirt pile in the back yard and strait hair... I love monsoon season!

That Darn Katie!!

Has anybody ever seen the move Drop Dead Fred? I used to love this movie when I was a kid- it is the darn funniest movie ever, I still love it.

Except now, Lacy has her own "Fred"... and her name is Katie Bella Jones. All day long, every single day Lacy is playing with Katie, up to no good, wreaking havoc and being mischievous with her friend Katie. But un-like Fred, Katie is a real girl who we can all see... except Katie lives 355 miles away.

Every time we need to scold or punish Lacy, she said "Katie did it."

Me: "Lacy why did you push Hugo over?"

Lacy: "I didn't, Katie did, we should put her in time-out"

Me: "Lacy are we supposed to dump out all the juice on the floor?"

L: "No Mommy, that's bad, Katie did it"

L: "Katie hit Hugo"

"Katie un-buckled my seat belt"

"Katie doesn't want to go to bed"

"Katie left the door open"

"Katie woke Hugo up"

"Katie painted this shirt"

"Katie dumped all the buttons on the floor"

"Katie got all your shirts out"

"Katie got into the nail polish"

"Katie climbed on the fridge and got the starburst"

KATIE KATIE KATIE!!!!

I told Shawn the other night we need to get Lacy a new imaginary friend, because next time I see Katie I'm going to be really mad at her! She is always getting into so much trouble at our house. Either that or the Jones' really just need to move closer so I can spend more time with my sweet niece and see that she really isn't the demon I'm starting to think she is!

I love my nieces and nephews dearly, and miss them terribly.. and Lacy is just tainting their images!! Katie isn't the only one though.. Israel, Cameron, Anna, Susan, Brian Jr, Koby, Billy, Alex, Jaden and Braxton have all been known to cause some drama over at our house. The only one that hasn't caused any problems is Paxton and I haven't even met the little guy yet!! Katie is just the most awful of them all!!!

Lacy has such an imagination.. she needs more friends. REAL friends!

After the game was even better!!

When we got home from the game the kids were so excited to see us, HUGO TOOK HIS FIRST STEP WITH NO HANDS!! We didn't get the first one on camera, but we did get the second time. It wasn't as good, but it was still super cute. I was so excited. He is so good at pulling himself up on anything he can get his hands on, but he is usually too chicken to let go of anything, he automatically sits down... he is sooo cute! I love him!

Fun at the Game

My dad got way awesome seats to the D-Backs game up in a party suite. We weren't sure how awesome it would be, especially because we felt like we were walking forever into the back corner of the whole stadium.. but it was incredible. We got some awesome free food and deserts, had seats floating over right field with the best view of it all, and got to spend some quality time with the parents and hubby, kid free! PLUS... My awesomely fantastic, wonderful, amazing, radical, sweet, incredible, un-selfish brother watched the kids so we could go. (He turned down the seats and told my parents to ask us) Not only did he watch them last minute. He played on the slip 'n slide with Lacy, folded my laundry and took out the trash. I told you, he's the best Bro ever!!!

Oh and the D-Backs slaughtered the Padres!