Her blog

So I'm slow and forgot to post Nicole's blog. She's the one that took my boys pics. Check her out she's great!

http://photographybynicoleroberts.blogspot.com/

My handsome little men

A friend of mine does photography (ok several of them do) but this one needed practice with older kids. So she practiced with my kids. They weren't totally cooperative but I think the pics really show their personalities lol Here's a few of the pics from the shoot.

8's meme

Here be Da Rules:1. Mention the person who tagged you.2. Complete the list of 8's.3. Tag 8 other bloggers.4. Tell them they have been tagged.

I was tagged by Jen, Abby and Tonya

Eight Things I Look Forward To:

1- having more money now that I work FT
2- vacation at the end of june
3- Tristan starting kindergarten in the fall
4- Tina's baby coming today :D
5- some sleep would be nice
6- going camping this summer
7- a clean house .. that stays relatively clean.
8- just life in general

Eight Things I Wish I Could Do

1- go to sleep right now
2- stay home with my kids and afford it
3- live in a larger house
4- have dogs that behave
5- visit some of my internet buddies I've known for almost 6 yrs and have never met
6- get all my sewing projects caught up
7- get my scrapbooks all caught up
8- take a nap

Eight Shows I Watch
1- house
2- bones
3- ellen
4- Road Rules/Real World challenge (the Duel) yes I'm a nerd
5- AI
6- So you Think you can Dance
7- Ghost hunters
8- Doll House

Restaurants:
1- McDonalds
2-Wendy's
3- Subway
4- Ixtapa
5- Crown Burger
6-Denny's
7- Dairy Delight
8- American Burger

8 of my Quirks:
1- I need lots of sleep to function properly
2- am addicted to working out but don't get to go as often anymore :(
3- not nearly as shy as I used to be
4- I snore.. really loud.. pretty sure it's sleep apnea but it's really embarrassing to sleep around anyone
5- I love my mommies group a ton!
6- Before my mommies group almost all of my friends existed in my computer
7- I met dh online, and have met some of my online buddies IRL
8- I have been married before... yes people are always shocked

Eight Friends I Am Tagging:

Let's see... my mommy friends who need tagging.

Michelle
Camille
Marcie

anyone else who may or may not read my blog lol

Eight Things I Did Yesterday

1- went on a tour of a small fire station
2- took Tristan to his kindergarten check up
3- ate at wendy's
4- Skipped soccer practice
5- stayed up way too late with a feverish and sick 5 yr old and a wired 3 yr old who took a power nap at 9pm
6- had pizza for dinner
7- read my book (Nineteen Minutes)
8- took a shower

That was fast...

As of next week I officially go Full time at the gas station. I was offered the position of 3rd assistant manager and I took it. We could really use the money and it's a good opportunity so I took it! I had no desire to go FT when I started but now it just makes sense since I work close enough to FT as it is. Might as well get paid more too LOL

End of a Journey

For the last 5 1/2 yrs I have had my own little crafty business making children's items. It started out making baby blankets and slowly grew and grew into making over 10 different items for kids! I have gotten to a point I don't have time to sew as often anymore and I'm shutting it down :(. No more craft shows, no more online sales (aside from an occasional order for friends). 5 1/2 yrs isn't too bad though!

I am clearing out my inventory as I still have quite a bit so anyone is interested please let me know :) The lists are in my myspace blog at http://www.myspace.com/shannonscreations2006

I will be listing fabric on there soon too so I can clear out my many many drawers and totes of it and make some room in my craft room!

Thank you all for your support over the last 5+ yrs I couldn't have done it with out you all!!

Griffin's Spring School Picture

I didn't even know they were taking pictures but he's super cute!

The first time in 5 1/2 yrs

I have an actual job with a schedule and a pay check outside of my house. It's only part time at a local gas station but money is money and a job is a job! I enjoy it so far but am still adjusting to working again and taking the boys to the sitter and of course the joy of being on my feet for 4 or more hours at a time :| This should help us out a ton money wise though!

First Camping Trip of the Season

Jason decided last minute to go camping with friends this weekend. We were just going to go visit but ended up camping instead. It was lots of fun and a beautiful day until about 1:30am when I thought for sure our trailer was going to take flight. Sunday morning we got up, hurried to eat and packed up and just barely left right as the snow started moving in!


Tristan with his new headlight


Setting up the camper


Griffin around the fire pit


Playing catch with Bruce's dogs


Griffin and his headlight


Griffin playing a bean bag toss type game. He was doing really well from this distance!

My Weight Loss Journey

I started working on losing weight Jan 1st. Late January I bought me some cute shorts and a tshirt a size smaller than what I normally wear. I tried them on then. The shorts fit pretty well (yay) but the shirt was very snug and I felt stuffed in it. As I was doing laundry today hanging up clothes I came across it again and pulled it out to try it on just for the heck of it. It fits! The only really snug part is in the arm but it FITS! I'm seriously beyond excited!!!

I am down about 12lbs.. not a huge loss yet but baby steps!

Another Griffin update

We had an ultrasound done on the lump on his leg today at Primary's Children hospital this morning. It's what is called a bakers cyst which is most likely from him getting hurt (doing what, I'm not sure) and caused the fluid to accumulate behind the knee. His reg pediatrician called and said that it should eventually heal on its own and that we can cancel our appointment with the orthopedic surgeon. I'm so relieved! I wish I knew what triggered it but at least we know now what it is!

Griffin's First day of Preschool

went really well.

He's been SO excited since we got his back pack. He carried it everywhere and even slept with it last night.


This morning he couldn't decide WHAT to wear... I finally steered him away from buzz light year jammies to regular pants and shirt lol.


Tristan was good til it really dawned on him that we were dropping Griffin off with out him. He cried and cried that he'd miss him and refused to walk up to the door to drop Griffin off.

Gman did SO good going with his teacher. He just gave me one look to make sure it was ok he left and off he went! We went to the gym while he was in and tristan wanted to go pick him up right after but we had another hour to wait. PIcked him up and he was excited to see me but more excited to see Tristan. They had a note in his bag that said he did participate in the calendar time. He picked sand table and painting during centers. Played with his friend Ashlynn (never met her lol and she's the only girl in his class). And he had oranges for a snack and that he was happy today. so over all it went really well! I didn't cry either just got a little misty when he left.

Kindergarten

Today was Kindergarten registration for the 09-10 School Year. I can't believe Tristan is going to be starting school in a short 6 mths. He'll be attending West Elem here in Tooele. I'm not sure I'm prepared for that just yet! He's very excited to go but a tiny bit nervous too. he will be one of the oldest in his class since he'll be nearly 6 by time school starts! I know he'll love it but he's my baby! Thankfully he has a few friends already that go to that school, just sucks they are at least 1 grade above him.

Is it spring yet?

Sorry I haven't update for a few weeks the last couple weeks have been crazy! Me and Jason were both sick with sore throats for the first 2 weeks of Feb. As soon as we got better we joined the new Gold's Gym out here and were excited to get going. That evening we went to dinner with my parents for Valentine's day and Griffin spiked a fever. He had it on Monday too so no Gym. Tues I had a fitness evaluation so I dropped the kids in the day care and left. Not even 15 mins later they come to get me to tell me he had thrown up. lovely. Thankfully my friend Sarah could come and get him and watch him at my house until Jason got home from work. He didn't throw up for 24 hrs so we tried to go back to the gym Weds for Jason's fitness evaluation. Went to pick him up and he suddenly had pink eye *sigh*. I whip out the drops I had from last time and start treatment. The next day as he's walking past (naked of course my kids never wear clothes at home) I notice a lump on his leg that's not baby fat. No it looks like someone took a bouncy ball and stuck it under his skin. Immediate call in to the dr. She runs a CBC test and an LDH test to see if it's more than a cyst. I stress all night, all day friday when they finally call to say the CBC is perfectly normal but the LDH isn't back yet. The LDH is the scary it could be cancer test. So I stress all weekend, I got sick, threw up, Tristan has had a fever all weekend and Jason's been sick too. I got the call this morning that his LDH came back NORMAL. I am so relieved that my baby doesn't have something scary. Now we'll just wait for the order for an ultrasound to be done and then meet with a general surgeon at primary children's hospital to decide what's next for the mystery lump. Needless to say it's been a very long and stressful week and half. I'm so done with it all and wish it was spring so we can be done with being sick and I can get in the gym! My body is just craving the work out and it sucks not being able to go! Funny to think that *MY* body craves the gym. I did get in there Friday thought and decompressed from the anxiety I was feeling because of "the lump". Amazing what 90 mins in a gym will do for your mental state.

Small weight loss update

I've been sick this last week and been a slacker on the work out dept because the one time I tried I ended up on the floor hacking LOL Anywho... aside from that I worked out over 22 HOURS in the month of January! This month I'm at a measly hour but all well. I stepped on the scale this morning and am down 10 lbs!!!!

Last night I got me a cute new summer outfit at walmart and bought a size smaller in pants and shirt than I would normally buy........... and they fit! Well the shirt is snug in the tummy but hey I at least was able to get it ON. And the pants fit perfectly!

Anywho just had to share cause I'm so excited!

Just for you!

Something just for you! Lucky you! The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me! My choice. For you.This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:

1- I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
2- What I create will be just for you.
3- It'll be done this year. (might be a little while)
4- You have no clue what it's going to be. It may be a story. It may be poetry or an article on properly cleaning your face before a masque. I may draw or paint something. I may bake you something and mail it to you. Who knows? Not you, that's for sure!
5- I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.

The catch? Oh, the catch is that you must repost this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on your blog.The first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they did win a FAB-U-LOUS homemade gift by me! Oh, and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it! Good luck!

The results are in...

Head start called me back today and said that Griffin qualifies for speech services. He passed his cognitive test perfectly fine and his vision test. Setting up his retest on hearing this week. But on articulation she said he scored at 3% (which I'm not sure is 100% accurate because he was SO shy) which means 97% of kids his age score higher than him. So he definitely qualifies. He'll be going to class 2x a week for 2 1/2 hrs each day. he can ride the bus (which makes me cry to think of my baby riding a bus all alone!) I just have mixed emotions over the whole thing. Anywho.. that's all I know so far. We'll have his IEP meeting in the next week or so before he starts.

I'm somewhat relieved that I know the process fairly well... seeing as that's my partial minor from college. So I know the IEP process and what not... just never thought I'd be going through it for my own child.

Vote for Tiffany

I'm just passing this along for my friend. I know not many read my blog but for those that do... please vote!

Honestly I have never met Tiffany. I came across her blog through my friend Kim's blog. I have never cried so hard over a blog story my entire life! You can read it HERE (warning you will need a tissue!!!) It is the story of her pregnancy in which she learns that her daughter's chances are that she won't live beyond birth and her decision to carry her as close to full term as possible.

Anyway the voting part. Tiffany gave birth just over a week ago to her angel Emma. Emma died shortly into labor. Tiffany is a finalist for a makeover and I think that she so deserves it. You can vote HERE.

If nothing else do it for me!

Thanks!
Camille

Let's see how much I really read

I love reading although the last few years it's been nearly non existant til recently. These are the top 200 novels... not sure how many i've actually read. Bold are ones I've read. Italics are ones I'd like to read.

1. The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien
2. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
3. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman
4. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling
6. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
7. Winnie the Pooh, AA Milne
8. Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell
9. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, CS Lewis
10. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë
11. Catch-22, Joseph Heller
12. Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë
13. Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks
14. Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier
15. The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger
16. The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame
17. Great Expectations, Charles Dickens
18. Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
19. Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Louis de Bernieres
20. War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy
21. Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell
22. Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone, JK Rowling
23. Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets, JK Rowling
24. Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, JK Rowling
25. The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien
26. Tess Of The D'Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy
27. Middlemarch, George Eliot
28. A Prayer For Owen Meany, John Irving
29. The Grapes Of Wrath, John Steinbeck
30. Alice's Adventures In Wonderland, Lewis Carroll
31. The Story Of Tracy Beaker, Jacqueline Wilson
32. One Hundred Years Of Solitude, Gabriel García Márquez
33. The Pillars Of The Earth, Ken Follett
34. David Copperfield, Charles Dickens
35. Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl
36. Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson
37. A Town Like Alice, Nevil Shute
38. Persuasion, Jane Austen
39. Dune, Frank Herbert
40. Emma, Jane Austen
41. Anne Of Green Gables, LM Montgomery
42. Watership Down, Richard Adams
43. The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald
44. The Count Of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas
45. Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh
46. Animal Farm, George Orwell
47. A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens
48. Far From The Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy
49. Goodnight Mister Tom, Michelle Magorian
50. The Shell Seekers, Rosamunde Pilcher
51. The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett
52. Of Mice And Men, John Steinbeck
53. The Stand, Stephen King
54. Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy
55. A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth
56. The BFG, Roald Dahl
57. Swallows And Amazons, Arthur Ransome
58. Black Beauty, Anna Sewell
59. Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer
60. Crime And Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky
61. Noughts And Crosses, Malorie Blackman
62. Memoirs Of A Geisha, Arthur Golden
63. A Tale Of Two Cities, Charles Dickens
64. The Thorn Birds, Colleen McCollough
65. Mort, Terry Pratchett
66. The Magic Faraway Tree, Enid Blyton
67. The Magus, John Fowles
68. Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
69. Guards! Guards!, Terry Pratchett
70. Lord Of The Flies, William Golding
71. Perfume, Patrick Süskind
72. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, Robert Tressell
73. Night Watch, Terry Pratchett
74. Matilda, Roald Dahl
75. Bridget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding
76. The Secret History, Donna Tartt
77. The Woman In White, Wilkie Collins
78. Ulysses, James Joyce
79. Bleak House, Charles Dickens
80. Double Act, Jacqueline Wilson
81. The Twits, Roald Dahl
82. I Capture The Castle, Dodie Smith
83. Holes, Louis Sachar
84. Gormenghast, Mervyn Peake
85. The God Of Small Things, Arundhati Roy
86. Vicky Angel, Jacqueline Wilson
87. Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
88. Cold Comfort Farm, Stella Gibbons
89. Magician, Raymond E Feist
90. On The Road, Jack Kerouac
91. The Godfather, Mario Puzo
92. The Clan Of The Cave Bear, Jean M Auel
93. The Colour Of Magic, Terry Pratchett
94. The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho
95. Katherine, Anya Seton
96. Kane And Abel, Jeffrey Archer
97. Love In The Time Of Cholera, Gabriel García Márquez
98. Girls In Love, Jacqueline Wilson
99. The Princess Diaries, Meg Cabot
100. Midnight's Children, Salman Rushdie
101. Three Men In A Boat, Jerome K. Jerome
102. Small Gods, Terry Pratchett
103. The Beach, Alex Garland
104. Dracula, Bram Stoker
105. Point Blanc, Anthony Horowitz
106. The Pickwick Papers, Charles Dickens
107. Stormbreaker, Anthony Horowitz
108. The Wasp Factory, Iain Banks
109. The Day Of The Jackal, Frederick Forsyth
110. The Illustrated Mum, Jacqueline Wilson
111. Jude The Obscure, Thomas Hardy
112. The Secret Diary Of Adrian Mole Aged 13¾, Sue Townsend
113. The Cruel Sea, Nicholas Monsarrat
114. Les Misérables, Victor Hugo
115. The Mayor Of Casterbridge, Thomas Hardy
116. The Dare Game, Jacqueline Wilson
117. Bad Girls, Jacqueline Wilson
118. The Picture Of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde
119. Shogun, James Clavell
120. The Day Of The Triffids, John Wyndham
121. Lola Rose, Jacqueline Wilson
122. Vanity Fair, William Makepeace Thackeray
123. The Forsyte Saga, John Galsworthy
124. House Of Leaves, Mark Z. Danielewski
125. The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver
126. Reaper Man, Terry Pratchett
127. Angus, Thongs And Full-Frontal Snogging, Louise Rennison
128. The Hound Of The Baskervilles, Arthur Conan Doyle
129. Possession, A. S. Byatt
130. The Master And Margarita, Mikhail Bulgakov
131. The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood
132. Danny The Champion Of The World, Roald Dahl
133. East Of Eden, John Steinbeck
134. George's Marvellous Medicine, Roald Dahl
135. Wyrd Sisters, Terry Pratchett
136. The Color Purple, Alice Walker
137. Hogfather, Terry Pratchett
138. The Thirty-Nine Steps, John Buchan
139. Girls In Tears, Jacqueline Wilson
140. Sleepovers, Jacqueline Wilson
141. All Quiet On The Western Front, Erich Maria Remarque
142. Behind The Scenes At The Museum, Kate Atkinson
143. High Fidelity, Nick Hornby
144. It, Stephen King
145. James And The Giant Peach, Roald Dahl
146. The Green Mile, Stephen King
147. Papillon, Henri Charriere
148. Men At Arms, Terry Pratchett
149. Master And Commander, Patrick O'Brian
150. Skeleton Key, Anthony Horowitz
151. Soul Music, Terry Pratchett
152. Thief Of Time, Terry Pratchett
153. The Fifth Elephant, Terry Pratchett
154. Atonement, Ian McEwan
155. Secrets, Jacqueline Wilson
156. The Silver Sword, Ian Serraillier
157. One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, Ken Kesey
158. Heart Of Darkness, Joseph Conrad
159. Kim, Rudyard Kipling
160. Cross Stitch, Diana Gabaldon
161. Moby Dick, Herman Melville
162. River God, Wilbur Smith
163. Sunset Song, Lewis Grassic Gibbon
164. The Shipping News, Annie Proulx
165. The World According To Garp, John Irving
166. Lorna Doone, R. D. Blackmore
167. Girls Out Late, Jacqueline Wilson
168. The Far Pavilions, M. M. Kaye
169. The Witches, Roald Dahl
170. Charlotte's Web, E. B. White
171. Frankenstein, Mary Shelley
172. They Used To Play On Grass, Terry Venables and Gordon Williams
173. The Old Man And The Sea, Ernest Hemingway
174. The Name Of The Rose, Umberto Eco
175. Sophie's World, Jostein Gaarder
176. Dustbin Baby, Jacqueline Wilson
177. Fantastic Mr Fox, Roald Dahl
178. Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov
179. Jonathan Livingstone Seagull, Richard Bach
180. The Little Prince, Antoine De Saint-Exupery
181. The Suitcase Kid, Jacqueline Wilson
182. Oliver Twist, Charles Dickens
183. The Power Of One, Bryce Courtenay
184. Silas Marner, George Eliot
185. American Psycho, Bret Easton Ellis
186. The Diary Of A Nobody, George and Weedon Grossmith
187. Trainspotting, Irvine Welsh
188. Goosebumps, R. L. Stine
189. Heidi, Johanna Spyri
190. Sons And Lovers, D. H. Lawrence Life of Lawrence
191. The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Milan Kundera
192. Man And Boy, Tony Parsons
193. The Truth, Terry Pratchett
194. The War Of The Worlds, H. G. Wells
195. The Horse Whisperer, Nicholas Evans
196. A Fine Balance, Rohinton Mistry
197. Witches Abroad, Terry Pratchett
198. The Once And Future King, T. H. White
199. The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Eric Carle
200. Flowers In The Attic, Virginia Andrews


Ummm apparently not enough. 10 of 200.. wow I better get reading!

The simple things

Ahhh to be a child again and take joy in the simplest things in life. Yesterday was our big grocery shopping day. I went with out Jason this time and just went with the boys which is always an adventure. While looking for the right razors for Jason, Tristan comes RUNNING back so excited "MOM! Come look at the new toothbrushes in town!!!" LOL It was a astronaut one and a soccer toothbrush and he was SO excited! Too bad they were $6, but ya know they ARE the new toothbrushes in town hehe.

Later on we make it to the fruit snack aisle. We can't ever pass that up. Tristan runs to go pick out his box and immediately yells "MOM!!! They got new fruit snacks!!!!" He was SO excited that they now had Operation (the game) fruit snacks. So of course they each had to have a box. There was another lady in the aisle just laughing and laughing but she reminded me to enjoy the excitement of fruit snacks while it lasts because they grow up, then pointed to her teenage daughter who was trying really hard NOT to laugh.

Putting it out there to the world

I figure if I post it to the world (or at the least the 5 people that read my blog) I will hold myself more accountable! I have always been the big girl since I was 13. I thought I was HUGE back then... I had no idea. I am to the point I have to do something so I can be around to see my grandkids. I'm not unhealthy. I have no immediate health concerns other than my weight! So I am putting it out there that I will lose weight and I will keep it off (unlike in the past).

I have been working for almost 2 weeks now doing exercise of some kind every.single.day. I lost a few lbs the first week but they have since come back but I will keep going. I have to. Tristan is so good about reminding me to work out and he will even do my obnoxious Denise Austin Cardio work out with me LOL I just wish I had his energy! After 30 mins he still wants to do more and more!

Now I'm not living like a rabbit. I love my food but I am watching what I eat and most importantly how much! That seems to be my biggest problem, not so much what I'm eating but I can't eat for 3 people. So if you happen to read this..help me stay accountable and on track. They say it takes 3 weeks to form a new habit. I'm about half way there. If I can make it a month I think I'll be good to go!