yeah, yeah, I know what you are thinking...

but keep your thoughts & comments to yourself! We are still alive~barely but we are here! Summer went by way too fast and we are trying to get back into the swing of school/work. Here are the kids back to school pics I made Tyson take them while I was finishing getting ready




My 3rd grader! WOW!!!



My 1st grader! Isn't she cute?


and Oh My Goodness!!! My MIDDLE schooler! Can you believe? I'm really not old enough for that to happen I really was a child bride and had her when I was 15! haha I kid I kid but let's not talk about how old I really am! (but my birthday is exactly 2 months from today~in case you need to write it on your calendar!)



a couple of funny ones~I have no clue what they were doing but it was their daddy taking the pics so you can just imagine! haha

Heather has settled right into Middle School and LOVES it. Caroline is loving her class as well but of course Jed could do without school and be just as happy!

I have 2 small classes this year and some really sweet kids~they just love to talk! I think we will have a great year!

A Post Worth Waiting For..

You know good things come to those who wait LOL well that's my excuse anyways! haha

Since I screwed up our Austin trip, I told Tyson we HAD to take the kids somewhere. We all love the beach so we made a quick trip to Galveston and used our free night there! We went through the Crystal Beach way partly because we wanted to see the damage from Hurricane Ike but also because Caroline had never ridden on the ferry. Poor baby!:(

I'm glad we did! We saw the dolphins as we loaded up!



Then we went swimming in the ocean Of course Caroline cut her toe on a rock as soon as she got in so her & I didn't swim long b/c the salt water was making it hurt.


After we swam we grabbed some dinner then we went back to the hotel. The next morning we got up and went swimming in the hotel pool~crazy kids! That's what they picked!:) Then we went back to the beach and got a sno-cone, looked at some monuments that were on the beach, then went seashell hunting.






we called it a weekend and came on home! It was a quick trip but we had a good time hanging out!

The other day when I went to the grocery store I got some AWESOME deals




The pens were 2/$1 and then I had a $1 off when you buy 2 so they were FREE!!!
The biscuits were 10/$10 so I bought 2 but I had a coupon for .35 cents off and they tripled it so 1 of them was nearly free!:) the torillas were 2/$3 then I had .55 cents off coupon & I had 2 of them so they were a good deal too!

The last 2 best things are I got a new haircut today~here are the befores






here are the afters


I don't think tyson liked it too much! lol oh well he doesn't have to deal with it. The best part is that it was FREE!!! I was waiting for my appt and I let a guy go in front of me & he asked my hairdresser if he could pay for my cut! :) I was so appreciative!

Also, finally I'm down 10 lbs (it's about dang time)



Can you tell? :) I've lost lots of inches though!:) I am wanting to go try on new pants but I'll be sorely disappointed if I'm not at least a 12 I would really like to be a 10.

The Birthday Party

Heather decided she wanted a cheerleader birthday~hum, imagine that...one of her cheer coaches is a HS cheerleader here so I asked her to bring a couple of friends to come to Heather's birthday! they did a great job and Heather really enjoyed it!




They practiced the cheers with them for a little while then we took a break and had nachos, then they practiced some more, then we had cake and presents. At the end, they let them change into some old uniforms and then they got to perform for us! They were so cute!

*Happy Birthday Heather*

It's hard to believe that Heather is 11 now! Where has all the time gone? We took her to celebrate on her birthday to Cafe Del Rio! That's our favorite place to go especially when it's a birthday b/c they serve up this yummy strawberry ice cream! Heather got a new camera for her birthday b/c her little sister broke her old one~which happened to be a good thing b/c mine got stolen out of my car when my wallet did!

Here's Caroline & I testing the camera out! We wanted to make sure it worked before Heather got it!


Jed & Tyson


The girls


Caroline



Heather I don't know what's with the crazy look on her face!


Here she is with her 11


I thought this was funny~I think she saw this on a friends blog and had the idea to take her own pics in the bathroom mirror! I'll have to teach her the art of self Portraits! haha

*A CRAZY week*

CRAZYNESS #1~Last Sunday night I was walking with my friend, Kasi when her husband Ted called and asked where we were~We told him and he said he was coming to pick us up, but he wouldn't tell us what was wrong so of course we were thinking the worse that something had happened to one of the kids. Turns out Tyson had called and we had a cop at our house~HUM...someone down the road found a wallet of mine in the top of their trash can~the wallet was in my car so it was stolen out of my car, I think my camera was too~Anyways, thankfully it was an old wallet that didn't have much in it and nothing appeared to be missing.

CRAZYNESS #2~Sunday and Monday when I first would get into my car my tire sensor light would come on. It never comes on unless there is something wrong with one of my tires~So Monday I went into Discount Tire and of course there was a nail~it was going to be a 2 hour wait so I told them I would come back the next day. Tuesday when I went in they found 2 nails in the tire close together~I swear the luck! They replaced thank goodness for $16 b/c I had the warranty!

CRAZYNESS #3~Wednesday as I was coming home from working out I ran over something in the road~Yep you guessed it another tire problem~as I got home I could steadily hear the air coming out of it. I called Tyson and he was able to come home on his lunch hour to fix it. Back to Discount Tire for another $16 bucks! Different tire though! :)

CRAZYNESS #4~We joined the local gym this week and I've been going to a kickboxing class with my friend Sunshine. I can't really keep up and I'm sure it's entertaining for the rest of the class but I enjoy it. We've also been hitting the pool this week! One day we went I had to rescue Jed & Caroline~LOL Remind me to tell you those stories!

I'm glad it's Saturday and this crazy week is over! Hopefully next week will be MUCH better~:)

Camera has been Found!

It ended up being in the floor of Tyson's truck~which is where I figured it was but I kept forgetting to look! We've been busy!

We took the kids to the lake last weekend and OMG the water was so hot~it actually felt better to be out of the water! Needless to say we didn't stay long!

The kids are in OK playing with aunts, cousins, and grandparents! So I finally gave in and went to play ultimate frisbee with Tyson! They have a group that plays every Saturday! It was an experience & Tyson takes his frisbee seriously!





I mean really who gets up this early on a Saturday because they WANT too~


We've been talking about switching the kids rooms and repainting! We finally got started on Jed's new room last night! Here are the befores




and here are the afters




Jed's going to have a hunting room and I think it will look neat when it's finished!

I have a million other things I want to do around here before school starts but dang I'm running out of time! I've been subbing some for summer school and then running the kids to different activities~

I'm taking piano lessons from a sister missionary at Church! So far they are going well but it's steadily getting harder! Maybe I'll make it through! I think that's about all going on here!

~The Case of the Missing Camera~

We went to the lake the other day and I took my camera with us! I can't find it now! I know I brought it home. I think it might be in Tyson's truck but I keep forgetting to look! Maybe I'll remember tonight! haha

The kids are in OK for a week or so! They were so excited to see Max(my mom's dog!) I am going to work on painting their bedrooms before they get back! Hopefully, I can get it done!

What's for Dinner?

Since we are watching what we eat & also trying not to spend too much money on eating out, I've been venturing out with my menu planning! I've found

Check this Out

I've tried 2 things off her recipe blog, the Bacon Cheeseburger Chicken (I even made real bacon bits) & the Mighty Meat Nachos (even made homemade torilla chips)!

They were both yummy! Tyson really liked the Nachos! It makes a ton so I need to adjust the recipe some for next time but it was Yum-O!

Anyone have any great recipes or recipe sites to share with me?

Where Oh Where Have I Been?

Truthfully I don't know! We have been busy everyday since school let out and we haven't been able to sleep in ONE.SINGLE.DAY!!!! If you know me at all, you know that hasn't sat well with me!!!

I've been walking with my friend Kasi every night and FINALLY made it to 100 miles with my Nike+! I got my own little mini me and they even got me a certificate! I thought this was funny so I took a pic of it! I guess in case I wanted to hang it on the fridge??? LOL


We walk for about an hour every night which usually ends up being a little over 3 miles!

Jed went to a baseball camp a couple of weeks ago and really enjoyed it! No pics from that though! (one of the reasons we had to get up early!!)

Then a couple of weeks ago we had a baby shower for my friend Rachella. It was a lot of fun! I gave her a diaper cake and of course have a story to tell! I didn't make it b/c I really didn't have time to do it! I have a friend whose mom makes them so I asked her to make it well here's the before


I about lost it! I know now why I make so much stuff~it's a control issue!!! I thought it looked tacky so I pulled all the stuff off of it and redid it!


this is the after!

I made this cute towel for a friend to give as a birthday gift!



I've also been working on some other towels for another friend and that's what has taken most of my time! I finished them though so now it's on to having fun right?

Last week we went to the dollar movies and saw Charolette's Web! The kids enjoyed it although it wasn't so cheap after we bought popcorn and a drink! haha

I FINALLY finished Breaking Dawn and I am so glad! I had a love/hate relationship with that final book. I MADE myself finish it the other day! I am reading the Shack now and a book called The Bad Girls of the Bible! We'll see how that turns out!


We went a few weeks ago and had family pictures done! It worked out really wierd and I have become friends with the lady who took our pictures! :)



Tyson and I also celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary! It's hard to believe we've been married 12 years!



Here's to another 12 years babe!

I've also been meal planning and we've been eating at home quite a bit! I'm always better about this in the summer I guess b/c I have a little more time but need to be better about it during the school year! I plan our meals from Thursday to Thursday b/c that's when Tyson gets paid! Here's our menu for this week!

Sunday (today)~Roast
Monday~basil chicken & angel hair pasta
Tuesday~spaghetti
Wednesday~Tacos
Thursday~Meatballs

We ate tacos last night so I'll have to come up with something else.

I think that's all to write about right now! See ya!

Catching Up...

We are into our 2nd week of summer and I can't say that I've done too much! Last week we had recital all week long & this week Jed has been going to a baseball camp! His league team ended up getting 2nd overall and 1st in their division! Friday night we had a great game against the Yankees so we were all excited for Monday nights game, but it didn't go so well! We only ended up losing 2 games the whole season, so they had a good run!

Here's Jed with his trophys and batting!





I've been walking with my friend Kasi every night~we go for about 3 miles! I FINALLY reached 100 miles with my Nike+~Other than that we have just been hanging out at the house! I'm trying to get things cleaned out for a garage sale and then hopefully I can start painting bedrooms next week when we don't have any obligations!:)