Be Grateful

Many of you don't know, but my little brother Austin, who is now almost 17, was hospitalized last year after getting GBS, or Guillain-Barre Syndrome. His blog explains it somewhat, and we are all grateful that he is doing great and living life like a normal teenager. I had just found out that I was pregnant with Daisy when he was in the hospital, and I remember thinking how awful I felt with morning sickness. But as my brother lay in his hospital bed not able to move and having to have my dad help him shower and use the bathroom, I felt so selfish and stupid. I couldn't believe I was complaining! It was extremely humbling. As the holidays approach, remember what a wonderful life you have and of all the little things you are grateful for. Happy Holidays!

Busy Week...

These past two weeks have flown by for me! I am finally able to post today! Last Friday, the 9th, Slade turned 2! My neice Bostyn, was blessed two Sunday's ago, so my in-laws came down from Utah, and, being an 8 hour trip, we decided to have a combined birthday party with Slade and Kinley, my other neice, who will be one this weekend. Then, Slade had a Barnes side party on the Saturday after his birthday. He now sings Happy Birthday all the time and carries around his birthday cards and asks if he can go to a party. Anyway, I am helping Skylar get ready for his hunt that is coming up this month. He is going scouting this weekend, and then will be gone for 8 days hunting over Thanksgiving! And, I get to stay home. He is really excited, so I am also trying to be excited for him. It's hard, knowing he will be gone for so long. Hopefully he finds 'the big one' and comes home early. This is a little of what went on the past couple weeks...



Slade is doing quite well at the potty training stuff. He understands what to do, just not when to do it. For his birthday, I took him to McDonald's for lunch and as I was cleaning up the kitchen, he was still in his highchair saying "mom, bee poo poo!" I turned around to find his Happy Meal toy going poo poo in his chocolate milk jug.



This was my latest project. Skylar made me the frame, I painted it, put glass in it and ordered the vinyl from a lady in my ward. It turned out perfect! I love it. It is going in my nook on a wall that has been naked for about 9 months. By the way, it's huge. I tried hanging it, but it was too heavy for the several saw tooth hangers we put on it, so Skylar said he will have to use screws. That is why it is sitting on the floor.

We also made these two frames. We put them in a boutique this past weekend and sold both of them for $65! Yeah! It's a good feeling to know that other people will buy things that you have hand made.

This is my grandpa pushing Slade on the swings at his birthday party. My sister took all of the other pictures with her camera and I haven't gotten them yet, so this is it. He and my grandma are snow birds from Michigan. I believe this is their 12th year coming down. It is fun to have them still be able to play with their great grandkids.

Good 'ole Taylor Arizona!

We headed up to Taylor this past Friday for a benefit dinner in honor of Skylar's uncle that has Wagener's Disease. All we know about it is that it attacks the vascular system. I didn't get any pictures of the actual dinner and auction, but boy is it different up there than down here! The majority of people were wearing cowboy hats and the items in the auction consisted of wire wreaths, cowboy pictures, antler chandelier, stud services and many more cowboy stuff. I thought it was pretty funny. They also had a cow outside that was part of a raffle. They marked the ground with squares and put numbers in the squares and people got to choose a number and they had to wait for the cow to poop on a certain number and whoever chose that number, won the cow!




This is the Stock Up Feed and Tack store that Skylar's uncle owns in Taylor. They had their 1st Anniversary on Saturday. They served hot dogs and had roping contests.

I realized I hardly had any pictures of Daisy, so I put this one on of her in her car seat :)

This sadle is on display at the store and Slade just had to sit on it. I just saw that Sadle and Slade contain all of the same letters. Hmmm... Anyway, I told him to start riding it like it was a horse, and the wooden stand it was on started cracking and falling forward. I caught him just in time and we tried to make the stand look like it did before, but then I saw they had camera's in the store. Oh well, hopefully they won't get mad because we are family....

Skylar and Slade enjoying the party... Yeah, we had to sit on hay and when you would stand up, it all stuck to your pants. It was great. I stood up once and was brushing off and the wind took the hay over to the lady sit next to me and landed on her hot dog.

This tractor was on Skylar's uncle's ranch and Slade LOVES tractors. I told him to stand by the tractor so I could take his picture and this is how he posed for me. I

Slade loves horses too! I think it runs in his blood because Skylar's grandpa was a bull rider and lives for horses. So does Skylar's dad and uncle. I am surprised that Slade is not afraid of them, but then again, he wanted to get into the Tiger cage at the zoo.

Skylar and Slade by the cows. They have tons of cows and Slade was in heaven of course.

Slade posing for me agian. I promise he did that all by himself!

The Thursday before we went to Taylor, we went to the Phoenix Zoo and visited the Stingray Bay exhibit. It was so neat! You just stick your hand below the water and the stingrays will swim right up to you. It was scary at first because they feel so weird and they bolt at you, but it was really fun. You all have to go! I have a membership, so the exhibit was only $1 per person. For non-members, it's $3 per person and kids 2 and under are free. Slade loved it! I didn't think he would, but he didn't want to leave.

Roosevelt Lake Day Trip

We went to Roosevelt Lake on Saturday to go fishing with our friends. They camp there for four days! I'm glad we just went for the day. We all had so much fun. Although, we discovered that Slade gets car sick almost every time we go on a trip. Luckily, it wasn't too bad this time, but it was right before we got to the camping spot which irritated Skylar. Also, he has to drive super slow so that Slade doesn't get dizzy.


This pic is of Slade as he tripped over his own feet.




This is Slade falling into the lake for a second time. The first time was only 30 minutes after we arrived, which to my surprise was later than I thought.
















Against my better judgement, I let Skylar take Slade out on the pontoon boat without me. But, it turned out to be okay. As you can see, he loves to go fishing.
















I guess Slade either became bored, or decided he was too tired to wait for the fish to bite.















Skylar caught a crappie and was overjoyed. I asked how to spell crappie and apparently this is correct, although it looks like crappy. It is pronounced croppie for those of you that don't fish, like me...















Slade in his life vest. Again, I was surprised that he actually let us put that on him. I thought he would throw a fit, but we told him that he couldn't go on the boat without it and he said, "okay."















Daisy just being herself. She was so good the whole time. We didn't have a life vest for her, so she didn't get to go on the boat, but like she really cares anyway. She would stare at the water and get all excited. It was pretty funny.

Croup...

Last Monday, Slade woke up with a barking cough and a 100.5 degree fever. I took him to the doctor and he was diagnosed with Croup. He was given a steroid and we were sent home with several instructions to get through this virus. He didn't sleep well that night and of course neither did I. Tuesday was okay, he just layed around and coughed. Tuesday night, I noticed Daisy starting to cough a little so I called the doctor and asked if she should come in because of her age. Good thing I got an early appointment because she started the barking cough and same degree of fever Wednesday morning. Off we were to the doctor again. She was given some meds and sent home. The both did pretty good all day Wednesday and we slept better that night. Thursday was a big coughing fest and Friday Slade had another fever! But this time is was only 99.3 degrees. I called the doctor to see if it was of concern and I was told that he must be teething along with this virus. Which makes sense because he has had his hands in is mouth a lot. They are both doing a lot better now, coughing occasionally but acting like themselves. I'm just waiting for Slade's two year old molars to come in, in the up coming months. I hate when my kids are sick because I feel so helpless. All I can do is hold them and tell them it's okay.


My sweet babies! Slade loves holding Daisy. They both must be teething because you can see the drool on their clothes!

This is where I found Slade and Skylar after conference was over. Slade stayed in his dinosaur pj's all day! He thinks he's sharptooth!

Daisy is such a happy girl! She is finally getting some hair... She always has a smile on her face.

On Sunday we took a walk to Aunt Kendyl's and Uncle Tyler's house and Slade was jumping on their couch. His foot got caught in between cushions and he hit his eye on the edge of the arm where it's hard. He ended up cutting his eyelid. It turned a little black and blue today, but he thinks its pretty cool that he has an owie on his eye.

I thought this was so funny. Slade was just minding his own business and I put Daisy on top of him. She grabbed his cheeks and tried sucking his hand and he just let her. He is so good with her.

Scrapbook Store!

There is a new scrapbook store open as of Wednesday! It is on Ellsworth and Ocotillo by Cravings. It's called Family Scrapbook Studio and is owned by the Penrod family of Queen Creek. You have to check it out! Their website is familyscrapbookstudio.com They have the cutest paper and fun ideas.

Tagged Again!

10 Favorites
Favorite Color: Pink
Favorite Foods: Italian, Mexican, American, Chinese
Favorite Month: May
Favorite Song: Hey There Delila (sp) I love the voice!
Favorite Movie: Haven’t been to the theaters for over a year and a half... gotta be Cars.
Favorite Sport: Track
Favorite Season: Spring
Favorite Day of the Week: Sunday
Favorite Fruit: Pineapples, peaches and oranges
Favorite time of the day: Dinner time!

9 Currents
Current Mood: Rested, happy...I got a nap today!
Current Taste: No bake cookies that my brother made
Current Clothes: Jean shorts, white shirt and camo flip flops (they are really cute I promise)
Current Desktop: Family Picture
Current Toe Nail Color: Pink!
Current Time: 4:49pm
Current Surroundings: Parents house, toys everywhere, Slade reading a book while watching cartoons.
Current Thoughts: My mother in-law just called and I should probably call her back...

8 Firsts
First best Friend: Kristen (Corrie) Rogers, Cali Jones, Mary Shifflet, Lindsey (Passey) Asburry. Can’t remember who came first.
First Kiss: 6th Grade. I’m not saying to who J
First Screen Name: I can’t remember...
First Pet: Bunny named Scruffy
First Piercing: Ears when I was 6.
First Crush: Can’t remember...
First CD: I think it was Brandy...I just have to laugh
First Car: 2001 VW Jetta

7 Lasts
Last cigarette: Never
Last Drink: Water
Last Car Ride: Heading back to my parents from Barro’s Pizza
Last Kiss: Daisy on the cheek
Last Movie Seen: Land Before Time
Last Phone Call: Skylar
Last CD Played: Toddlers Sing-Along

6 Have You Ever?
Have you ever dated one of your best guy friends? Probably
Have you ever broken the law? Pulled over for speeding but no ticket!
Have you ever been arrested? Nope
Have you ever skinny dipped? Yes, at Kristen’s b-day party a long, long time ago! Girls Only!!
Have you ever been on TV? Yes! I won a contest for Mother’s Day and got Chef Eddie from Channel 3 to come make dinner for my mom at her house. They put it on TV!
Have you ever kissed someone you didn’t know? No

5 Things
Things you are wearing: Shorts, Shirt, Shoes, Wedding Ring, Make-up
Things you’ve done today: Took Daisy to the Dr.’s, went to my parents house, went to Barro’s, took a nap, Blogged!
Things you can hear right now: My brother talking, my dad talking, Daisy squealing, Slade crashing cars together and me typing.
Things you can’t live without: My kids, My husband, disposable diapers, food, water...
Things you do when you are bored: Call my mom, my husband, take a nap, read a book or clean my house.

4 Places You’ve Done Today
1. Daisy to DR.s
2. Parents house
3. My house
4. Lunch at Barro’s

3 People You Can Tell Anything To
1. Skylar
2. Mom
3. Dad

2 Choices
1. Black or White? Black
2. Hot or Cold? Hot weather, Cold drinks

1 Thing You Want to do Before You Die
Invent Something

I tag Kayci and Kara!