Happy Birthday.

Today is Dev's little brother Dane's Birthday. Dane is so fun, and always always has a smile on his face. He is so good with our boys and they love him so much. Thanks Dane for being such an awesome uncle. We love you and hope you have a great birthday. Wish we could be there with you!

Deagan's Visit to see Dr. Bob

On Monday we took Deagan to the dentist to get his teeth fixed. He did awesome. He only had a hard time drinking the "special" juice.... we had to force it down. He calmed down after that. We got to go into our own little room and watch a movie while we waited for the juice to start kicking in. It didn't take long... he was out of it in about five minutes. Then, they came to get him and offered to take him on wagon ride. He wasn't having it... he wanted to pull the wagon himself. That is so Deagan. So, being the nice girls they were they let him pull the wagon... and since he couldn't even walk straight they carried him along while he did it. Haha. It was kind of funny, but Deagan was happy. They took him back into the lab, and Dev and I had to stay behind. I was nervous, but I knew he was in good hands. The procedure took a little over an hour, not bad at all. They brought him out and told us he was pretty entertaining. Yep, that's our Deagan. Who knows what he was doing back there... he was out of it for the rest of the day, and spent most of it sleeping. We are so proud of him, he got quite a bit of work done and he did so awesome. He doesn't remember much, just something they put on his toes and some bleach stuff that kinda made his teeth feel funny... haha. Here he is with his new teeth!

He is most proud of these ones... He calls them his silvers!

And they fixed his two top front ones, now they're both shiny and white....

Good smile before, now it's even better!

Deagan loves his new teeth and tries to get a look at them any chance he gets, he is always in the mirror checkin em out. It is funny. I am so glad that he had a good experience. I was worried that he wouldn't and our visits would be ruined from now on. I am so thankful that everything went smoothly... at one point they came out and told us that they may have to pull one his front ones because they thought the root was fractured... I am SO happy they didn't have to though. All I can say now is thank goodness for dental insurance!!!

The Elf on the Shelf

We started a new tradition tonight. Have any of you ever heard of this? It is called The Elf on the Shelf. It is so cute. I had Dev put a box on our doorstep with this book and little elf inside... then I let Deagan answer the door. I had been telling him all day that we were going to be having a little visitor tonight, so he was so excited to see who it was... He ran in with the book screaming and we all sat together and read it.

You get the book and the Elf, you name the Elf. Ours is named Tiny. Deagan picked it out, good name for him. You read the story. Basically it says this...

Santa Claus has sent this Elf to watch over you and make sure you are being good. Every night while you are sleeping he flies back to the North Pole to report to Santa if you were good or bad. He flies back before you wake up the next day. So, every night while the boys are asleep we have to move the elf to a new place to make it seem like he had flown to the North Pole and back...

Deagan loves it, he is so excited to go find "Tiny" in the morning... and I am hoping I can use this to my advantage... any time he is being naughty I can just remind him "Tiny" is watching :) We will see how it works... Tiny may have to stay out all year! I am so excited to have this new tradition and I hope it stays in our family for years to come. I love this time of year. We put our tree up on Sunday and all our decorations. I love the way Christmas makes our house look and feel. So warm and cozy. I can't believe it is already this time again though... it came quick. It seems like it comes faster every year. Our neighbors across the street have a huge coutdown reminding me just how quickly the day will be here... down to the second. It's crazy, but exciting at the same time. I still have A LOT to do... Deagan understands it a lot better this year so it has been fun telling him about Santa. The first thing he asked was, "What does he drive?" Shocking. That kid.

Anyway, just thought I would share. What are some of your traditions?

Thanksgiving in Texas.

We spent Thanksgiving this year with the Sherwood part of the family in Texas. It was a LONG drive. We took two vehicles. Ours had Dev, Josh, Treyden, Zoe and I. Mike, Melissa, Riley, Dane, Tank and Deagan were all in the Yukon. We were really nervous about how the boys were going to handle the ten hour drive so we left at about four in the morning in hopes they would sleep most of the way... They both did pretty good, I was surprised but thankful!

Treyden had had enough about the last fifteen minutes of getting there though. I had enough too, I think we all did. It was so nice to finally get there.

We took family pictures while we were there. It was really neat to see everyone together. There was definitely a bunch of us!

Poad and Grandma Sherwood with the boys.

Poad and Grandma.

Treyden and Parker... haha, I just thought this one was funny.

Us.

Thanksgiving couldn't have been more perfect. The food was delicious, the weather was great and the company was even better. I am so thankful to be part of such a beautiful and wonderful family. We definitely don't get to see them enough so it made it that much more special. I hope we are able to do this more often. Deagan loved every second of it. He was outside pretty much the whole time and made some new friends. It was a quick couple of days and most of it was spent driving. But it was all worth it. We love you all.

Going Private.

I have been debating whether to do this or not, but after a wierd comment I thought it was time. It's kind of a bummer, but I would rather be safe than sorry! SO, if you read my blog and would like to continue to read it leave me your email and I will be sure and send you an invite :D Thanks.

P.S.
Thanksgiving post to come...

Happy Birthday!

Today is my "little" brother's birthday and I just wanted him to know how much we all love him. Thanks for always coming to visit us, Deagan loves your company and you are so great with him. He is always sad to see you go. We hope you have a fabulous birthday... wish we could be there to celebrate with you :) Thanks for always makin' me laugh. Love you.

Lunch with Dad

Every once in awhile Dev gets a job close to the house so when he does he will usually come home for lunch. Which means he drives a big work truck. Which means Deagan hears it coming from a mile away... He watches out the window and yells and screams when Dev pulls up. He never lets Dev come inside until he gets a few minutes behind the wheel, then its "Dad, can we go up in the bucket? Dad, can we drive it down the road? Dad, can i honk the horn?" Dev had a little bit more time today than usual so he took Deagan up in the bucket... and not just a little ways, he took him ALL THE WAY up.

Fearless

All smiles.

This was Deagan's 2nd time in the bucket. He LOVES it. Obviously. It makes me so nervous, but I know that Dev is super careful and would never do anything like that unless he was comfortable. That ten minutes made Deagan's week. He is still talking about it. He loves his Dad and wants to be just like him and do everything he does. He is going to work at APS and drive a bucket truck just like his Dad. Great...

Happy Halloween, a day late.

The last two weeks have been crazy. I have barely gotten a chance to sit down and breathe. The week before last my Grandma from Colorado drove down to my Mom's for a few days so me and the boys stayed with my Mom for the week so we could visit her and my Grandma for awhile. It was so nice to see her, it doesn't happen that often so we had to take advantage of the opportunity! I was excited for her to see the boys. So, that was fun to be able to visit and just relax for a few days. We came home Saturday and later that night Dev started feeling really sick... he was sick for about three days and we weren't really sure what he had but we knew we didn't want the boys getting it so I had to keep them away from him, and I didn't want to get sick so I stayed away as much as possible. I slept in the boys room with them, which pretty much meant no sleep at all. It was a rough couple of days and once we thought we were in the clear Deagan started getting sick... we were worried he might have swine flu so we were trying to keep Treyden away and I was washing my hands and sanitizing everything the best I could... fortunately we took him to the dr and it turned out he didn't have swine flu, just the flu. He is feeling a little better. He still has a pretty nasty cough. Treyden and I still have yet to get it. Hopefully we don't! I am running on no sleep. My good sleeper Treyden has turned into a horrible sleeper... it all started while we were visiting my Mom. I thought maybe it was just because he wasn't in his own bed, but since we have been home he hasn't slept any better. He wakes up every couple of hours. For no real reason, just to know he is not alone I guess. I am really hoping this is just a phase and that he grows out of it really soon! Two bad sleepers equals one grouchy mama. I am still catching up on laundry from two weeks ago and my house is a wreck... I probably shouldn't be on the computer, but I had to escape for a little bit while everyone was napping! I am hoping this next week is a smooth one and everyone is healthy!

Here is a little peek at our Halloween. It was fun. Deagan decided he would dress up so we took the boys to a few friend's houses. The fun didn't last long, Treyden hated his fat costume, he couldn't get around in it at all and Deagan was just ready to get home and watch a movie. Haha. That's Deagan. Hope you all had a good Halloween!







And these are our Pumpkins... Deagan was pretty proud.

My Dearest Treyden

Dear Treyden-



I forgive you for waking me up at 3 o'clock this morning. I mean yes I would have liked atleast another 2 hours or so, but it is hard to be mad when you are bright eyed and full of smiles.



Waking up at 3 definitely has its ups... we got to watch the sun come up, dad didn't have to drag me out of bed to make his lunch and I was actually able to spend a little time on the treadmill...



Let's not make this an everyday

thing though ok? I love you.



-Your Mom

Morning

Just wanted to give you all a little taste of what wakes me up each morning... even if I have a bad day, it's always a good morning. Thanks to this little guy and his charming big brother who will grace us with his presence in about an hour or so...

Hope your day is happy!

My "Hot" Apprentice

This is a little late... sorry babe. I know your feelings are hurt that I didn't blog about this right away because you love being the topic of discussion on the blog! So here it goes...

As of last Friday Dev is now a "hot" apprentice and was awarded his rubber gloves. Meaning he can now work on live power lines... meaning his job just got even more dangerous! Because being 65 feet in the air wasn't enough.

He loves his job and he is sincerely happy to go to work everyday... even more now than before. When he got home on Friday the first thing he did was show me his rubber gloves. With a big smile on his face. He was so proud. And he has every right. He worked hard for them. So, even though his job is super dangerous and scares the crap out of me I know that he knows what he is doing and that he is good at it.

Congrats Babe. I love you and I am so proud of you. And for the record I have always thought you were "hot."

I love him

What is your favorite color?

Red

What is your favorite song?

Big Green Tractor, Rubber Boots song (aka: Boots on by Randy Houser)

What is your favorite food?

Turkey Steak (aka: Steak)

What is your favorite movie?

The Fox and the Hound

Do you love Treyden?

Sure, of course.

What do you want to be for Halloween?

Nothing.

What do you want for Christmas?

A little treadmill, just for me...

Dear Deagan, Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy day to answer a few questions for me. I know it was hard and you had much better things to do. And thanks for making me laugh. Love you.

-Mom

Great Idea.

I came across this on Coupon Sense Blog and thought I would share... It is pretty cool.

Walmart and Gazelle have teamed up so you can help the environment by recycling your old electronics and earn Walmart gift cards at the same time. Go here and do a search for the item you want to trade in. Shipping is free, all you need is a box. So gather up your old cell phones, cameras, computers, DVDs, video games and other electronics you are not using and send em in... even if it doesn't get you any money atleast they will take if off your hands and recycle it for you at no cost! Sounds good to me!

Finally!

My hubby is finally home for good tomorrow. I can't wait! He has had hot stick school for the past five weeks and has only been home on the weekends. I am totally drained... I can honestly say that I have not went to bed before 1 am since he has been gone. I am paranoid. Every little noise wakes me up and I am constantly getting up and checking on the boys. I even tried to make it a little easier on myself and actually just slept in their room a couple nights. Can you say CRAZY?! It is definitely lonely without him here. I have been filling my days up with all sorts of crazy projects just trying to make time go by faster... I have done A LOT of baking... A LOT. And a lot of organizing and cleaning... little projects with Deagan... and it has worked... sort of. I guess I can't complain too much, he does come home every weekend... and this year it was only five weeks instead of nine like last year...The boys have really missed their daddy. Deagan asks me daily when he is coming home. So we will all be so happy when he is finally home for good!

On the other hand, the weather here has been amazing. It has cooled down a lot in the evenings and early morning. Love this time of year! It definitely makes me miss home. It is so pretty there in the fall. I have been so excited trying to think of costumes for the boys... I had all these ideas and Deagan hated every one.

" I don't want to dress up Mom, I just want to be Deagan, forever and ever."

He has never been a fan of Halloween and dressing up, but I can usually talk him into it eventually... I don't know about this year though... he is pretty serious.

I already got a costume for Treyden though :) He can't tell me no yet.

I love it! Can't wait to see him dressed in it.

Sunday Chit-Chat

This is while Deagan was driving his monster truck this afternoon.

"Mom I am going to the Promised Land."

"Oh yeah, Deagan."

"Yep, and then I am going to the Pet Store."

Happy Sunday!

Yay Deagan!

It's official! Deagan had his very first visit to the dentist today... and as you can see by his cheezy grin he LOVED it. I was shocked. I have been worried about him freaking out since the day I scheduled the appointment. I always hear the horror stories of little kids and the dentist... I thought for sure he would hate it. I took him to the KidZaam Dentistry in Prescott and oh my heck it is amazing! It reminds me of Toon Town. Definitely the best place to take kids. Deagan was beaming right when we first drove up, he was so excited. And he had to check everything out. They have a little movie theatre for when you are waiting and a video game room... What's not to love?? It was really neat. He got a little nervous when they called him back, but once he warmed up to it he did great. And of course he got all kinds of goodies for being such a good boy... a balloon, a sword balloon, a toothbrush, a sticker, and he got to spin the prize wheel and get a special prize. So, after all that fun of course he didn't want to leave, and now he keeps asking when we are going back.... I love it. And we will be going back... soon... this time to get some work done. Hopefully he still feels the same way after that visit... and he will be cutting back on his sugar intake... after the ice cream cone I promised him :)

P.S.

On the drive home we drove by some control burns and Deagan was yelling... and I mean yelling. "MOM MOM MOM!" "Look at those huge fires!"

And after a couple minutes of me explaining to him why there were fires and all that good stuff. He says this.

"No, I don't think so. I think the fire guys just wanted to roast Smarshmallows. Cuz smarshmallows are really good and that is fun."

Those are pretty big fires Deagan.

"That's why they use the big marshmallows mom!"

Oh my little Deagy, I love you. You always find a way to make me laugh. Thanks for the fun day and thank you for being so good at the dentist. I am so proud of you. -Love Mom

2 Teeth Down...

Our little Treyden has 2 teeth on the bottom, he has for awhile now but I have been waiting to get a good shot of them... this is the best I could do! While the boys and I were driving home from the store the other day I overheard this...

" Oh, I see your teeth Treyden... your 2 teeth."

"Mom, I saw Treyden's teeth!"

"Aww, Treyden I am so proud of you that have teeth."

Haha. What a goof ball. He has been trying so hard to see Treyden's teeth but it is hard to get a peek at 'em. He was so excited that he finally did.

Thank goodness we had this thing to help us through teething. I would fill it with ice to numb his gums... he loved it. Poor little guy had such a hard time... 2 teeth down... lots more to go!


I am so happy that he is finally feeling better and we get to see this sweet smile more often.

I can't believe in a few days he will be eight months old. We will be celebrating his first birthday before we know it! He still has no desire to crawl... which I am totally ok with! He is a lot easier to keep track of when he can't go anywhere... haha. He is fine and content just rolling around. He sits up like a pro though. His newest trick is sticking his tongue out and blowing. He spits everywhere but it is so funny... he thinks it's pretty funny too. He is chatting like crazy, no real words but I am pretty sure that he can say mama. Dev doesn't agree. Both our boys are growing up so fast and I love the little boys they are becoming. I look at them in amazement everyday. I am so blessed.

Deagan wanted his picture taken too... so here is his. Fingers in the mouth. A new little habit he has picked up on that drives me insane! Especially right now with the swine flu. Any tips on how to make him stop?? If I catch him doing it I immediately tell him to stop, but I can't follow him around every second of the day. Maybe he is teething too?? Haha.

Mr. Deagan

This picture portrays his personality so well. He is the most energetic, hilarious, opinionated, full-of-life, adorable, kind hearted little boy I have ever met. By the time the day is over I am exhausted from answering his endless amount of questions. Exhausted from tripping over and picking up his ridiculous supply of toys. And exhausted from laughing at the crazy things he says!

These are just from today....

"Mom, what does Heavenly Father drive?"
"Umm... I don't think he drives anything Deagan....."
"Yes, he does... I think he drives a BIG HUGE EXPENSIVE truck."
I didn't argue.

"Mom, I love you so much"
"How much Deag?"
"38"
"Wow, that's a lot! How much do you love Treyden?"
"2 hours."
What the???

"Mom, did Heavenly Father send me in the mailbox?"
I said nothing.

Where does he come up with this stuff? It is hilarious... can't wait to hear what he has to say tomorrow.

Cookies

We made cookies today... YUM!

Sprinkles

I think that means he approves!

And of course Treyden had to get in on the action too... just a little cookie dough :) I love the second pic. He pulls some of the funniest faces. Our baby is growing up so fast.

Anyway, our cookies turned out good. Thanks boys for all your help!! Hope you had fun.

Why is it??

Why is it that whenever the hubby is gone and I am home alone with the kids all kinds of creepy crawly things decide to come into our cozy little home... forcing me to freak out, scream, and eventually kill them?? IT NEVER FAILS! I absolutely hate spiders... or any type of bug for that matter. They creep me out... and this town... where we live is FULL of them. For instance... when we first moved in we had a bit of a cockroach issue because our house had been vacant for so long... we have since gotten it under control (thankfully). Worst two weeks of my life!! We have the bug guy come visit atleast once a month just so we can make sure NOTHING can sneak in... and nothing ever does. Unless I am here with no one to take care of them for me... OF COURSE! So, one day while Dev was at work Deagan and I were making lunch in the kitchen when out of the corner of my eye I could see something moving, so I look and it was a SNAKE! Not even kidding. I was freaking out, which freaked him out so I was trying to calm down. Watching this thing slither across my floor I quickly grabbed a broom [it was the only thing I could think of that was long so I didn't have to get too close] and sweeped him out the front door. Screaming the whole time. And Deagan was laughing at me... and then I cried. Haha. It was so scary, not a big snake but still... they don't belong in houses. Not mine anyway. Can you imagine if I didn't see it?? Ugh. Just the thought of it gives me the chills. We still don't know how it got in, but haven't seen another one since [fingers crossed] And there was this other time when Dev was out of town and I found a scorpion on my bedroom floor... that one took me like five minutes to work up the courage to beat him with my flip-flop. But I did it... and screamed the whole time, and Deagan laughed... again. 2 for 2. Go me! Annnd then there is tonight, and what brought on this post.... I had just gotten the boys to bed and I was walking to my room when I spotted the biggest spider I have ever seen [in my house]... it was like a small tarantula. So I am pacing back and forth wondering how I am going to kill this thing... bug spray? no... vaccuum? maybe.... no. Flip-flop? No way, not getting that close... Baseball bat? it's worth a shot... so after about ten minutes sitting there, bat in one hand, dog in the other [as if she was going to protect me or something] I finally smashed him. I probably almost put a hole in the wall but it would have been worth it. Stuff like that is my biggest phobia. I am rather proud of myself though for how much more brave I have become... amazing what being a mother does to you. Haha. My boys are always the first thing that come into mind when something like that happens, the second being the fact that if I don't kill it, it will get away and I will always be wondering where it went... and for sure lose sleep over it. I am just glad that Deagan is the only one to witness how ridiculous I am during all this... no wonder he finds it hilarious... I just hope he forgets it all.

So, now that you all probably think I am crazy I feel much better now... anyone else have some funny stories??

Busy, Busy, Busy

Last Tuesday we all headed down to the valley to stay with Aunt Riley :) Dev had JPE's the next day and my grandma was flying in from Colorado for my great-grandma Wallis' 90th birthday. It is a rare occasion that my family gets together so I was pretty excited... we went to dinner with them at Red Lobster [YUM] Wednesday... came back to Riley's and went bowling. Deagan had a blast... I had fun too besides the fact that I did TERRIBLE!! Thursday morning we went to breakfast with my family and then headed up the mountain to Snowflake. We were going to spend a little time with family up there and do some canning for our year supply!

BOWLING


Little Deagy... what a stud.


Getting some help from Daddy :)


Silly Boys.


Our little family.


The final score... I wasn't kidding when I said I did terrible... I beat Deagan by 2 points?! And this was only the first game... I did even worse on the second one. We should have a rematch, after I practice a little... then we will see who wins!



Poor Treyden was pooped.


Deagan and Great-Grandma Wallis... I love this picture.

The rest of these are just random pictures I took of the boys throughout the week. I love these boys.... these silly little boys.

Aww... don't you just love that smile?? Our little Treyden is getting so big. He is sitting up on his own pretty good now and rolling and scooting all over... he will be crawling before we know it.


Me and my boys.


Sweet brotherly love.

Kisses.

And this would be all of our hard work... 36 bottles to be exact.... half chicken, half green beans (picked by hand I might add) Now times that by four... and that is how much canning we did this weekend?!

We were pretty busy. But we had a lot of help, and it wasn't all for us. I actually really enjoy canning, especially when there are a lot of people to help! And it is such a good feeling to know that we are a little prepared... Thanks Grandma and Grandad for letting us use your pressure cookers! So, we had a pretty good week. It is always nice to spend time with family. We miss them all so much over here...

As for this week... who knows....

Fun Week

The pool has been a big hit... we use it almost everyday. I feel much better about it now that we have a safety lock on the back door. Deagan had Castin and Tanner come over last Wednesday to try it out. I think they had fun...

That was the highlight of the week. Thanks boys for coming over and playing... come again soon!

For the weekend we went down to the valley on Saturday so I could my hair done... and while I did that Dev and the boys went to Sportman's. Deagan LOVES it there... why? Well, because

they have little carts just his size. He loads his cart up with whatever he likes... so while he loaded it as quick as he could and Dev unloaded it just as fast... after that they went to a couple other places. Then, it was time to come back and get me and we all went to lunch at Peter Piper Pizza... While Deagan drove the cars... which is pretty much the ONLY thing he does there, Dev and I got hooked on the Deal or no Deal game... I actually only played once and let Treyden pick my case, and I won 200 tickets!! Imagine if it was the real deal, Dev and I would be millionaires! Ha. Thanks Treyden, good choice. So, we ate pizza and used up all our tokens and then we traded in all our tickets for a couple of cheap toys that Deagan has already broken... And we headed home. It was a fun Saturday... Deagan and I especially loved it... I got to relax and get my hair done and he got to go crazy with his Daddy and his brother...

Then it was church on Sunday. Doesn't Deagan looked so thrilled to be going??