Fall Brings.....

Green grass

Warmer clothes

Lots of time outside

A trip to the AZ science center

A garden

A trip to the zoo

Hiking with the honey

and three darling Trick-or-Treaters

In the mood to blog...

Wait did you hear that?? I haven't felt like blogging for, well, about 2 months now. Since I happen to be on the computer without my pictures on it, then you get the hear me actually write a few thoughts down.

1. If you don't know by now, you must not have talked to me in the last few months because I can't talk about anything else, my sister moved to Georgia on Sunday. She took a piece of my heart with her. Holy Cow, who would have known it would be so hard to have her go. She works full time so we have never been able to spend tons of time together through the week but we defiantly have a close relationship. We have talked to each other on the phone every Friday morning on her way to work for years now. I have watched her kids lots of time and I think of them as my own. I'm really going to miss her! On the other hand, I'm so excited for their new journey and adventure together as a little family. I can't wait to visit them!!

2. Having three small children home all day this school year so far has been hard. I feel like I'm spending most of my day correcting, disciplining, and teaching them the right way to act and behave. We are coming up with some creative things to do to keep us busy. On the flip side, there are some really neat things about having all my babies home with me one last year. We do whatever we want, read, snuggle, do crafts, play, go to the library, and anything else that happens to come to mind. I'm trying really hard to bottle this time up and appreciate it because I know that one day I will miss it!

3. What a fun time of year!! I love everything that comes with it. Weather, holidays, outside activities, going to the park, warm food........... In the last week, we have eaten dinner outside and it has been so nice!! It is so relaxing I could sit out there for hours!!

I can't remember the last time I wrote this much on here, I better quit before I loose you guys.
night-night

Fun Family Pictures

Thank you Jessica for such great pictures!!

Hockey Highlights

Westin was in a little ice hockey class for the month of July. He loved every minute of it. The first week looked like a sea of kids falling flat on their face. After about an hour, the only difference was that they had spread out. There were buckets and small goals to hold onto to help stabilize them. The difference between the first week and the last was amazing!! In the last class they had a scrimmage and Westin even got a goal. One of the funnest parts was that Westin had four cousins and two friends who did it with him. Amid all the bumps and bruises, I think it was a success.

Have you ever been to Legoland?

Legoland was hit with the kids. My cousin hooked us up with some tickets to legoland. What? free entertainment? How could we possibly pass that up? So we made a trip out of it.

We stayed with my Aunt the first night then it was off to the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th happiest place on earth! The kids had so much fun and they did so good there. We just took our time and only did what we wanted to.

My kids are pretty boring so the cheap thrills were great for us. Cheesy train rides, statues, and water guns were all they needed!

After a very long day, we crashed at a hotel near the beach. We woke up in the morning feeling refreshed and ready for what the beach had to offer. Sage got plenty of sun at Legoland so I pretty much turned into a sun freak and didn't want either of them getting more red. Perfect timing, it was time to go home!! Quick trip, but totally worth it!

Moving On...

After the Shumway reunion, two weeks later, it was back up the mountain for a long weekend with my side of the family. The camera didn't make it out very much for this gathering so here are the highlights!

* - a bear was spotted, tracked down and stalked as it rummaged through garbage and other nearby cabins

* - Family pictures were taken at a lovely lake

* - very yummy food was eaten, my family knows how to cook.

* - Lots of memories made

Another very exciting happening around this time was that Ben completed his Masters degree!! We are so proud of him for all he has accomplished! He has been very diligent with balancing his work, school, family and church responsibilities! We are loving a school free life!!

More Pictures

Here are some more pictures that didn't make it on my last post.

The Fish hatchery was so pretty. We stayed for a picnic lunch and looked around.

This is funny, the boys have cheesy grins, Sage is clearly unhappy, and I just look fake...

cousins exploring

The boys - Wes, Mike and Grif

Me and Sage

Rhett was there too!

Cousin Alex - It's a good thing he didn't try out the zip line on day one because I'm not sure we would have gotten him off it

Everyone who came!! So much fun!

Isn't it amazing how you can look at this picture and it looks like it was so easy to take? It wasn't, so please appreciate!

Lets Start From the Very Beginning

A very good place to start...

Well, the summer is in full swing and has been filled with lots of fun. Or so says the pictures, the mileage on my car and the suitcases that haven't been put away for a few months now. All this planning, preparing, and executing is very exhausting. I think we are planning on staying put for awhile now so that will be nice (anyone want to go camping?? See how I am?).

We kicked off the summer with a trip to a cabin with all the Shumway clan, only missing one brother-in-law. It was a great time had by all in attendance. We managed to fit in some grand ventures to the local high school baseball feild for some kickball and t-ball, and a trip to the fish hatchery. It was so nice to be where it was cooler and to hang out as a family!

Rub-a-Dub-Dub

I stopped giving Rhett a bath in my sink (another sign of them growing up way too fast). Here they all are, having a ball in the tub together. This has got to stop though! It is too crowded, I can't even get a decent scoop of water without knocking one leg here or a booty there. I also have two other children trying to be big helpers with washing the baby and it stresses me out!

Growth

My kids are getting so big lately.

Rhett is growing like crazy. He has started eating solid food. Feeding babies solid food is not my favorite thing. It is a mess, they have to learn how to eat with a spoon and It makes their poop really start to stink. It's just a lot easier to give them milk. But, I do what I'm supposed to. Rhett is rolling everywhere. When I put him down on the floor and I come right back he is in a totally different place. He is almost ready to sit up on his own, I think he will really like that.

Sage is potty trained! Hip Hip Hooray x 3!!!! I tried to train her during spring break but come to find out, you can't force a kid to potty train. Once we stopped, she wanted to go potty like a gazillion times a day, taking off all her clothes. That is so annoying!! So I just put panties on her and off we went with the occasional accidents and finishing off with a sticker chart. It seems to have worked and we are all happy about that.

Westin, Westin, Westin. He is a handful!! He is so excited about life and he wants to help with EVERYTHING!! In so doing he is pretty rough with the baby and with his sister. On the flip side, he is so obedient. He usually follows through with anything I ask him to do the first time I ask. He is starting to sound out words and want to learn to read. Preschool will be over in a few weeks and we are not going to know what to do with ourselves. He has had such a fun year going to preschool!

Ben is almost done with his Masters program and we are thrilled! I am totally into building our food supply lately. I wish I could actually do all that I want too with it. I have been enjoying canning and making bread. It's been really fun!!

I have been tagged, by a wonderful sister in law, so I must follow through.....

5 Things I was doing 5 years ago (May 2004)

1. Finishing up my student teaching in Flagstaff, AZ

2. Buying our first townhouse

3. Planning for our first baby.

4. Serving as a ward missionary

5. Looking forward to finally making some money.

5 Things on my To-Do List

1. Clean my bathrooms

2. Fold my laundry that is all piled up

3. Make dinner

4. Give Rhett a breathing treatment

5. Take a shower

5 Things I would do with 1 Million Dollars TAX FREE

1. Pay off our house

2. Buy Ben a truck

3. Save it

4. Buy a cabin

5. Save for my kids to go to school

5 Places I have lived

1. Mesa, AZ

2. Gilbert, AZ

3. Flagstaff, AZ

4.

5.

5 things I want to be doing in 5 years!

1. Vacationing more

2. Done having kids

3. Still enjoying the stages of my kids lives

4. Have a full year supply

5. Be very physically fit, running regularly, because it is fun!

An Auction For a VERY Good Cause

My cousin Jennifer is heading up a fundraiser for a well-deserving family, here is their story....

Our friend Shannan and her husband Monti gave birth to a beautiful 8 pound boy last Sunday after emergency c-section. The cord came first which is the baby's lifeline to not only food but oxygen and blood. The doctors and Phoenix Children's Hospital did all that they could, and after many tears, prayers and medical life saving measures the machines were turned off on Friday, and he was returned safely to heaven on Friday afternoon.

This was supposed to be a time of rest and relaxation for the family, but that was not meant to be. They are reeling, emotions are raw, and the funeral expenses were not expected.This is were you come in.

"WHAT CAN WE DO TO HELP?"

This Thursday through Saturday (hopefully many) blogs will be hosting online auctions to raise money to cover the funeral expenses, and time off work for the family.If you will be hosting an auction or would like to donate an item email me at shannanrandall@gmail.comI will have a list here of all the places you can shop!

AUCTION RULES AND INFORMATION If you would like to bid on an item:*Please place your bid by leaving your Name, Email, and Bid Amount in the comments section of the item you are bidding on. The auction will go on from Thursday till Saturday, keep checking the comments to see if you need to bid higher!

IF YOU WIN THE AUCTION:*Please pay your high bid amount directly to the Baby Harry Fund at PayPal by clicking on the link on the sidebar.*Please forward the receipt they email you to the person running the auction with your shipping address. The person running the auction will then ship your won item.

Here is what I am auctioning off...

A Cherry Blossom Scentsy Warmer, perfect for spring time, along with a Lucky in Love Scensty bar!! If you don't already have a Scentsy Candle Warmer, you need one!!

This would make the prefect Mother's Day gift!!

The bidding will start at $1.

Check out Jennifers blog for more auctions! Happy bidding!

Nice Mom vs. Boring Mom

When I'm feeling really willing to please and I get nagged enough by "I'm bored, what can I do?", this is what we do....

When I ignore it too much, this is what I FIND!!

What are your Sunday afternoons like?

When I was a kid, you would never know how Sunday afternoons would end up. We would all just get sick of being together all day and it would end in fighting. The other alternative would be that we would all just get silly. We would feel it coming on and we would call it, "uh-oh, silly Sundays". Here is a glimpse into our Sunday afternoon...

Happy boys

Sage Coloring (her assumed position, she loves to color)

I tried my hand at making bagels and they turned out pretty good, like the real thing.

I was pretty sure I got a picture of Ben sleeping but mysteriously it isn't on my camera anymore. I wonder where it went.