SNOWWWWW

So, last winter, Quinn was not old enough to really appreciate the snow. This year, bring on the boots and gloves!! He loves it! Jake was out plowing the other day, and we discovered that Q loves to ride on the machine with his daddy. Even though his hands were bright red (he won't keep gloves on), he didn't want to come inside. It was fun to watch. Lily loves the snow too. We went to Grams and Bapo's house today, and they played tag in the backyard running along trails made by bapo before the game. That was after they took turns knocking down the icecicles in the back yard.

tag!

Tagged!

Here's a gooey, romantic game of tag. Here's how it works: I will answer questions about Jake and I. At the end of the post, I'll tag 3 people and post their names. Then, those three people can do the same thing on their own blog and so on and so forth. I was tagged by my good buddy Erin. Now it's your turn!!

What is your husband's name? Jake
How long have you guys been married? 7.5 years
How long did you date? 6 months from meet to marry
How old is he? almost 30
Who is taller? jake
Who can sing the best? me. jake doesn't usually sing. if he did, he would win! ever hear Eclipse? all guys should sing!
Who is smarter? It depends on the topic.
Who pays the bills? I do, but he makes the money to pay them.
Who does the laundry? me
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? we don't really have a right side. we have a wall side and an isle side. I take the wall side.
Who mows the lawn? usually me
Who cooks dinner? usually me
Who is the first to admit when they're wrong? neither of us. we usually just let things drop.
Who kissed who first? He kissed me first.
Who wears the pants? I would say… me!

I tag Ashlee, Deb Plante and Becky Lutz

Houses

It's Christmas time! And that means it is Gingerbread house time!! Here are some pics of Lil Lily making her house. We really had a blast!! Kim and Shay made their house too. We had a little village!

Poor Fish

Yup. Lily has a beta fish in her room, named Princess Rockstar, and we finally decided to clean her tank! Once we were done, we put her back on Lily's dresser, and thought all was well. A few minutes later, Quinn starts crying...I found him in Lily's room, soaked, with an 'Oh dear, what have I done' kind of look on his face. Princess Rockstar only had half her water remaining in her tank. Quinn learned that he is not strong enough to lift her tank down all by himself!! I am just glad the fish was still in the tank. Poor traumatized boy. Poor traumatized Beta. ;)

Happy Thanksgiving y'all!!

Here is my Happy Thanksgiving post!! Hope everyone has a good Turkey Day. I know it is becoming more and more about the food and family, and less about the 'Thanksgiving', but this post is strictly to say Happy Day!! See the post right before this for a more interesting version of what to be grateful for.
Laters!!

A question from the Parkers

I was reading on the Parkers (good friends!) blog, and they had this question posted, that was asked to them by someone else. Their post asked readers to think about it, and then answer. Here is the question, and my response....

"If Heavenly Father was to come and spend an entire day with you just because He loves you, what would you do?"

Wow!! That really is a thought provoking question. I spend all day on Sunday trying to get my primary kids to realize that it is a very real possibility that they will one day be standing with the Father and Son, and I try my hardest to get them to think and do the things they would do when that time comes (refer to the primary song If The Savior Stood Beside Me). I have never had the question reversed though. When I first read the question about what I would do if Heavenly Father came to visit me, my immediate thought was of me sitting there holding my kids with my hubby standing by us, and we are just sitting and talking with Father about the kids. Of course, once I really thought about what I was thinking about, I realized that it would be silly to discuss MY kids with Him, because they were really HIS kids, and I was only taking care of them while on earth. So, I thought maybe we could go walking together, and look at the flowers and the trees, maybe go for a hike and take in a good dose of nature. But then again, what would be the point, since He knows what nature is all about already? He has already seen everything I would want to show Him. So, instantly my thoughts became restless...what could I do, what would I do, what should I do, if Heavenly Father came to visit me, just because he loved me? Well, the answer is not so elusive...it's really quite simple. I would do and show Heavenly Father things that make me happy, things that I am grateful for, things that I am trying to improve upon. I would definately start by showcasing my family, even going so far as to show birth pictures and things like that. Maybe He and Quinn could roll Q's ball back a forth a bit. Then we could see my flower garden together. I worked hard all year on that garden! And I loved every minute of the blooms and blossoms that grew! (can't wait for next years flowers!) After that, who knows! I know there would be plenty to do and talk about. Why? Because if Heavenly Father were to come and visit, just because He loved me, then I would show Him all the things I am doing, and all the things I love just to show Him that the love is returned. God gave me all that I have. He gave me my kids, my husband, my flowers, my home...... It would only be right that I show Him that I am grateful and that I am benefiting from all He has done for me. And I bet you dollars for donuts that Heavenly Father would enjoy seeing my kids, my garden, hearing about my day, my hard times, the good times....why? Because He is my Father, and that is what dad's are for!!

Tone those muscles!!

Jake bought me some exercise equipment that I can use at home. Knowing I like step aerobics, he bought me the step board, exercise ball, and 3 videos from a gal in Lehi that was moving. He put the board on the floor-minus the raisers, and put lily to the test!! She seemed to really enjoy doing step....she kept going even after I stopped recording. Then we bounced quinn on the ball. He liked that too. :)

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

TAG

Ok, I got the Tag from Erin, so here goes my list!
8 TV shows I love to watch (in random order)
1. SYTYCD
2. ANTM
3. Deal or No Deal
4. Kyle XY
5. Price is Right
6. Friends
7. Judge Alex
8. Judge Joe Brown

8 Favorite Restaurants in random order
1. Sizzler
2. Golden Corral
3. The Garden
4. OSF
5. Jalisco's
6. Black Angus
7. Souper Salad
8. Chili's

8 Things that Happened Yesterday
1. went to church
2. cleaned the house
3. made dinner for friends
4. watched Kung Fu panda with friends from #3
5. called mom
6. played with kids
7. gave quinn a bath
8. helped Lily clean her room

8 Things on My Wish List in random order
1. baby #3
2. money
3. college degree to come faster
4. new car
5. warmer weather
6. sunnier weather
7. piano
8. newer house

8 Things I am Looking Forward To (again, random)
1. college to be finished
2. baby #3
3. hubby to come home from work
4. Christmas with the kids
5. vacation to Phoenix
6. birthday
7. grass in the backyard
8. flowers in front yard next year

I TAG:
Jen
Ash
Janelle
Carrie
Ang
Bonnie

Lily gots smarts!

Lily and her dad are at it again! Read on for their latest conversation...
Dad: What's the square root of x?
Lil: Huh? I don't know!
Dad: What? Aren't you smart? Don't you go to school? What's the square root of x?
Lil: I just don't know dad! But I am smart. I can spell! See? Cat. c-a-t Pig. p-i-g Dog. g-o-d
the end!!! (she has since learned the correct spelling for dog!)

floats

How to determine what size of Rootbeer Float you should eat:

Lily and Jake asked me to make them some rootbeer floats, and while I was serving them up, lily commented that the largest glass should be for Dad because he is 'huge-mongous' and the next glass size was for Mom cause she is 'medium-sized' and she would get the smallest glass cause she was the smallest of all of us. I wonder if I will ever get to qualify as 'huge-mongous!'

(is that a good thing, or a bad thing??? ;) )

Update on Deer Head Story!!

I decided to tease Lily a little about her conversation with her dad about the deer in our garage. See a few posts below for the story. Anyways! Here is our conversation....

mom: Lil, is the deer in the garage alive?

lily: yes

mom: how come it doesn't move?

lily: it's alive, mom, but it's spirit is in heaven, so it can't move, dad told me.

mom: Oh. So, when your spirit is in heaven, are we going to hang you on the wall too? (she sat and thought for a moment)

lily: (she put her finger in the middle of her forehead as she spoke) Are you gonna have to put a nail in me?

And that was it! It was fun. I could tell that she knew I was joking, and she laughed with me about it later. It became the joke of the day. Good times when your kids are old enough to joke around! :)

Pumpkin Contest Results!

And the winner is!!
Not jake. Although Popeye did rake in a nice 2nd!! That is good enough for $100 cash....not too shabby!! A gal at Jake's work who works cashier decorated some pumpkins to look like the California Raisins, and she won 1st. Mind you, Cali Raisins are not exactly 'classic cartoon' as the rules called for, but it is certainly something none of the rest of us thought of! I would have liked to have seen them. Anyways, I am still happy that Jake placed. Thanks to all those awesome family members who helped build Popeye! Stay tuned for next years contest :)

Daily chore assignments

Here is how lily sees the chores in our house going.....

"If I make a mess, I clean it up.

If you make a mess, you clean it up.

If daddy makes a mess, daddy cleans it up.

If brother makes a mess, (pause), daddy just tells me to clean it up."

At least we all know who's mess we are responsible for!! hehehehehe what a nerd!

Halloween News

In other news, Jake's day job, Mountain High Motorsports is currently conducting their annual Halloween Employee Pumpkin Contest. The idea is for the employees to decorate or carve a pumpkin under certain criteria and then judge each other's pumpkins to determine the winner. A couple years back we did the Headless Horseman with an old motorcycle frame, and engine and a bucket for the body, and wires for the arms and hands, with, naturally, the pumpkin for the head (which was actually a helmet painted orange!). It was a hit, and it won first place. The next year we did Yoda. This one was also really fun to do! The pumpkin was the head, and then other forms of melons/squash were used for the hands and ears etc. This year, we did Popeye. He looks awesome!. Hopefully, we will win again, as has been the tradition so far.

Jake has a very talented brother who has assisted with the last two years donating invaluable time and talent to making our pumpkin creations come to life. Thanks Isaac!! I don't know about Jake, but I look forward to this contest each year. Lots of fun! Happy Halloween!!

Like mother, Like daughter

Lily's school is doing their Red Ribbon Week this week teaching the kids all about saying no to drugs. Tuesday (today) was crazy sock day, meant to encourage kids to 'kick drugs to the curb'! Kids who wore crazy socks would get a sticker that they could wear all day. Trying to convince Lily to dress silly is like trying to convince a dog to meow. Very difficult task! Just like her mother, dressing out of the comfort zone is not something we look forward to doing. I never did participate in Spirit Weeks or anything of the sorts in school. I would support my friends of course, but you would always and only see me in the regular jeans and t-shirt. It appears this is the case with Lily also. Wednesday is backward shirt day and when I asked her if she wanted to wear her shirt backward I got a look that said 'are you crazy??' at the same time her mouth said "no!"

Needless to say, I did convince her to participate in crazy sock day. She would not wear her own socks mismatched or anything, but she did agree to wear her daddy's socks!! So, here she is, in her dad's tall socks. Pretty cool huh?

We will keep working at getting her out of her comfort box a bit. :)

SO!! I found this pic on the internet while searching for all things Twilight with my sis-in-law Ashlee, and I thought it was awesome! It only shows a few of the characters in the movie, but it is still a neat picture. Can't wait for the movie to come out!

She says it again!

I just don't know what to do with this girl! Lily is becoming more and more intuitive every day. She puts things together and asks questions that we just don't expect, and usually what she says is just hilarious! Like her comments the other day about her dad listening to the devil, this one is just as good....
We have a mounted deer head in our garage, compliments of my uncle, and Lily likes to look at it. This is her conversation with her dad on Sunday evening.
Lily: Dad, is that deer real?
Dad: Yes it is.
Lily: How come it is not moving?
Dad: Because it's spirit is not in it. It's real, but dead.
Lily: Oh. Where is it's spirit?
Dad: In heaven.
Lily: Oh. Dad? When I die, are you going to hang me on the wall too?

Are you for real?! Jake told me he didn't know what to say, so he laughed, and sent her off to play. At least she left laughing too. Good times!

note about song

Lily has a cold at the moment, and it is affecting her voice, so she sounds a little froggy in her song video, but I think it is still pretty awesome that she has learned the chant, (and all the other songs we are singing!). You Go Girl!

Lily and her song

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Lily and her Dad

This was a conversation between Jake and Lily on Saturday. Just too cute not to share!
Lily: We have church tomorrow dad.
Jake: I don't want to go to church.
Lily: Dad, I think you have been listening to the devil.
Jake: Why?
Lily: Because the devil teaches us not to go to church.

How about that huh? I am glad that Lily likes church, and that she listens to her lessons!! Needless to say, Jake did come to church!

So!! We took the kids over to Gardner Village on Friday afternoon for some early Halloween fun. This year, Lily is Belle, and Quinn is Superman! It is so cute!
Lily got her dress from one of the booths at Swiss Days this past Augustand then I just curled her hair and added some make-up. For Q-boy I bought red and blue fabric at Walmart and my grandma and I made the cape, and we made the shield with the S on it, and simply attached it to a red onesie that I had at home. The tights are borrowed from cousin Shaylee, and voila! We have two cute kids all ready to go.
Once they were in their costumes, we went to daddy's work and told his boss that superman was there to spring his daddy from work for a day of fun. His boss agreed that a few hours wouldn't hurt anyone! And we were off.
It was a blast! There were a lot of people there, and a lot of cute photo spots. Both kids had fun, and Quinn is learning to be such a ham when we try and take pics of him! He has started to lean forward and make funny grins when we tell him to smile. Nerd. Lily as usual, just enjoys having people take notice. And she is great with her little brother.
Here are the pics!

Gold Rush Theme

JEN!! YOU ARE AMAZING!!!! Just so you all know, my sis-in-law Jen is the one who did my background, and our new header. Isn't it great?! And I have to say that it fits the whole Gold Rush theme perfectly. That is exactly what I was thinking about when we decided on 'Gold Rush'. During the actual Gold Rush in the Yukon, people were so concerned with finding the precious gold. It was all-consuming, and it ruined many lives. It also enriched many lives.....the few, the lucky. What we all could benefit from realizing is that it is within the walls of our own homes, and the arms of our own families, no matter how big or small, that we find the true treasures. My kids and my husband, (and our dog ;) ) are my treasure. They are my gold mine, and with out them, life would not mean what it does. It would truly feel like it held less value than it does now. I love them all so much!
Jen, thanks for doing such an amazing job (again) and for capturing the essence of what I was looking for. Love You!

One Day Later

Here we are, one day after I posted that last one on Quinn walking, and today....
He can go from sitting to standing and then to walking right after he stands all by himself!! He walked clear across the front yard today, turned around and took a few more steps before falling to the ground. We are all really excited! And he gets such a big grin when we cheer him on. Just love it.
I will have to get a pic of him standing on here. It will come soon!

Almost there!!!

So, we have been working with Quinn on his walking, and we were down to the fine art of him walking with only one hand for assistance. The other day he started to walk a little on his own in between my sister and me, and then today, he went from sitting down, to standing, ALL ON HIS OWN! And he can turn around and walk between two people for the most part, unassisted.....such a big boy!! It is great. He thinks its a game, and will laugh and laugh the more we do it with him. I think it is a great game!! Way to go big guy!

Too Cool!!

Lily told me today that she pledgered the flag in school. It took me a minute to realize what she was saying....but when I did, it opened a good discussion. She has been full of good discussions lately!
We talked about what it meant to pledge allegiance to the flag, and what it means to be a good person in our country! Lily learned that to pledge means to promise, and allegiance means we will respect our homes and care for the country and take care of what we have, and the flag represents our country. When ever we pass a United States flag I can hear her yell 'look!! another one of our flags!!' It's really neat to see how much she is learning and growing. Too smart for her own britches she is! Love it! Her little brother isn't too far behind either! Quinn is still working on walking, but he is getting better at walking with one handed assistance. He is also good at saying bye and little things like that. I also discovered that if it makes noise, he will be entertained! While I try not to be too partial, I have to say that I have some pretty terrific kids!

Realizations

So I realized something today...

Well, I already knew it, but it came to me in a new way. Since Lily has started Kindergarten, I feel like I have lost her in a way. I take her to school and leave her there, and it is up to her and her teacher to make it work. It's up to her to learn and grow and progress. And then, at the end of her short day, I go and get her and talk to her about her day. It's great!

Getting a bit religious here for a moment now;

Our Heavenly Father gave us the opportunity to come to Earth much like Lily and school. Like Lily and school, we leave the comforts of our Heavenly home to embark on a journey of learning, loving, hoping, losing, gaining....many of us just waiting for the day we get to go home. Unlike me, who gets Lily back every single day, Heavenly Father let us come to Earth knowing that many of us would never make it back.

I cannot even begin to imagine, or want to imagine how that must have felt. Realizing this loss to our Father brings new meaning to me in regard to how special and important each of us really is. We are all siblings in eternity, and we are all struggling for the same reasons. We chose to come to Earth and now we have to choose to go back home! It is not always easy to choose what is right, and it is certainly not always easy to stand up for what is right when we are faced with opposition so intense we can only force ourselves to stand and not shrink. And how much more important it is now to stand strong! Realizing that I am a mother, and caretaker to two wonderful children, I know that my responsibilities to Heavenly Father are great. Not only do I need to focus on my own personal and spiritual welfare, but I must focus on those respective welfares for my own children as well. I can only pray that I am doing a good job, and that my children will grow and come to understand that it is not about how many friends we make, or how popular we are in the eyes of the world. What matters most is how much we learn and grow and progress toward returning to our Heavenly Home with humility, love, charity.....

I am greatful to my Heavenly Father for helping me realize just how important family is, and for His allowing me to be a part of the wonderful tapestry of love that we weave every day we choose to live worthy of His love and guidance!

She did it!! Lily has successfully completed her first day of school! Mom did pretty good too, all things considering. I dropped her off, and took some pics and didn't even get teary eyed! That is, until Lily was out of sight....once she disappeared in to the school, my throat constricted, my eyes misted, and I called my own mom!! It was a very mixed emotion; happy for Lily, anxious for her to do well, and make new friends, and sad for me, because I feel my daughter growing up and changing, and I miss her already. AND SHE IS ONLY IN KINDERGARTEN!!! :{
All is well though. When I picked her up, I asked her how her day went, and she said that they can't sit on their knees, they have to sit like an indian, it's a special rule. She also said that she got her nametag, put it on, colored a picture of her very own puppy, and practiced recess! I wish we all could practice recess a little more!! Oh yes, she had fruit snacks too! Tomorrow we get to do it again, and then next day etc. I guess it feels like I am tied in to her schooling now, more so than when she was at day care. I don't mind it a bit though. The only hard part will be the scheduling. It is hard to have a commitment every day when you are used to having free time every day. Not really free time, motherhood is very busy....but still...thinking about getting her up and ready every single day, and taking her there, and picking her up...exhausting!! And wonderful!! and sad, and strange. Who knows! When I sort out all these mixed feelings, I will drop another line out there and let you all know how it is going!
pics of her first day are forthcoming as well! I used a disposable camera because I could not find our digital. Now I just need to get them developed on to a disc. hehehehe never a dull moment!

Lily Picadilly

Well, we survived Lily's last test prior to Kindergarten! We met her teacher, Mrs Thacker, and saw her classroom and where she will line up each day. All very exciting (and a smidge heartbreaking). As for her testing, Lily proved she could write her name, count to 30, add and subtract simple numbers below 10 (in the form of word problems no less!). She even recognized all the letters of the alphabet, and wrote the numbers 1-10 (with a small bit of assistance from copying off the number posters). I am SO proud of her!!

The word problems shocked me the most. I didn't know she could do it, but she told me later that her daddy has been teaching her math. GO DADDY!! Her teacher said to her "there are 4 ducks in a pond and 2 ducks come join them. How many ducks are there?" Lily correctly answered 6 without hesitation. Next "I have 5 bouncy balls all bouncing on the sidewalk, and 3 bounce away. How many bouncy balls are there?" And once again, Lily correctly answered 2 balls. Her teacher then used 4 round chips and 'hid' some of them in her other hand. Each time, Lily was able to look at her hands and determine correctly just how many the teacher was hiding. It was awesome!! We also have her first homework assignment! Lily gets to decorate a poster that we brought home from school. It has questions on it and places to put pictures and things like that. It is really going to be neat. I just need to get the pics developed from walmart that we want to use.

Anyways, it was a good day at Kindergarten for Mom and Lily alike. Still hard for me, but it feels better knowing how her day will go, and where she will be etc.

Kindergarten Girl!!

Lily is entering Kindergarten Aug 4! She is ready, her mom is not! What's a mother to do??? Some days I feel like crying, some days I feel like celebrating, and some days I just sit and think on it, and realize that here goes my little girl for the next 12 years or more! Today I am taking her to her new school for her last Kindergarten pre-assessment....hope she does well! She did really good on her last one, and is excited for this one. The funny thing is, she asked her daddy if we could take her to Gavin's dish of Ice cream (Leatherby's) for her doing good on her test. Smart girl! I guess she heard daddy telling me that he would take me out to ice cream for doing well in my own schooling! Despite my nerves about her going to school, I think we are all ready.....we have the backpack, pencil box, pencils, crayons, and glue sticks. Half of that will most likely not be needed or used, but it is still fun to get it for her; helps her feel like a big girl on her way to school. Well, as much as I worry, I know she will do well.

New background!!

Thanks a million to Jen, Jake's sister for our amazing background! Love the colors....very classy!!
Lots of love Jen!!

Lily Ballerina

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Here she is! (slideshow to come asap) Our little ballerina. Lily had the opportunity to take a 6 week ballet course through Community Ed. She loved it! And the nice thing is, she didn't chicken out at performance time. I think it helped that the performance was in the same room as her practices....no new scenery. The only bummer about it all is the stained leotard. She decided to wear her ballet clothes out to the garage to see daddy, and we didn't know it til she had the grease and oil, and who knows what else on her hands, then her clothing. Oh well. Good memories were still made!!

Yay for baby!!

Quinn has learned a new word!! He raises a hand in the air and shouts 'I'!!! He also holds objects to the side of his head and says 'I'. Sometimes we can get the h sound on the front.....too cool!! He is still working on waiving, and not just putting his hand up. He can do a really good finger closing wave with his right hand, ask him to do it with his left, and he stares at his left hand while trying to do it, and you can see his right hand doing it still! How's that coordination coming kiddo??
Now Quinn can say mama, daddy, lily, and hi. 'Mama' is really good, 'daddy' is good, 'lily' is still a yee-yeeeee, and 'hi' is just too stinkin cute. :)

Night and Day its Cinderelly!!

Well!! If this just wasn't a kick in the pants funny moment! I woke up, and Lily demanded I get her breakfast, I told her to wait till I got out of the shower, and I would get her something to eat.
Once I got out of the shower, I went downstairs to get dressed, and a few minutes later Lily came stomping down to my room and said "MOM!!! You STILL haven't gotten me my breakfast! And I want it! I told you. I am hungry!" I was shocked. At a complete loss for words, I said "Lily, you are rude. I will not talk to you right now. You go upstairs, and when I am done dressing, I will be up." She stomped off.
When I got upstairs, I proceeded to tell her that she was extremely rude to me, and that it was not nice at all of her to talk to me like that. I said I would get her breakfast, and she was mean about it. By now she had tears, and whispered she was sorry to me. I asked her "What do you think you make me feel like when you treat me like that?" With more tears, her quiet reply was "Like Cinderella". What's a mom to do now? I realized then that she realized that she was behaving like a wicked stepsister. Not quite the answer I expected, but one that will do just fine! She apologized again, and we hugged, and made breakfast together! What a way to start the day! Love you Lily!

look out hollywood stars!!!

SO!! There we were in the dollar store the other day, and I saw these HUGE sunglasses...the kind that reminded me of the shades worn by Hollywood stars trying to hide their faces...expect these were purple and yellow! Awesome! So I put them on Quinn, and the silly boy smiled and laughed and thought it was the greatest thing in the world! Of course then big sister lily and cousins kim and shay had to have their turn with stardome as well. And this is how it turned out......what do you think? Stars in the making??

All about the Gold Rush

Hi Everyone!! We thought it would be fun to join the wonderful world of blogging....so here we are!
Just a bit about our family......Jake (fearless daddy), Shellie (mom), Lily(best 5 year old in the world), Quinton (mommy's lil guy).
Jake and Shellie have been married for 7 years. Tough at times, but 7 years that neither of us would ever trade. True, we've had our ups and downs. But then again, the best roller coasters in the world are the ones with tons of ups and downs. More to learn, and more to love. Keep the adventures coming!
Lily was born March 17, 2003, and will start Kindergarten this year. Little brother Quinn was born a few years later on June 4, 2007, and he shares his bday with Dorothy Fast (Granny), one of the most amazing women who ever lived.
These are just a few quick facts about our family. More to come later, including why we chose the family name Gold Rush.
(dun, dun, duunnnnn!!)