Our 'little house on the prarie'....

Last weekend found us in Wellington cleaning up the mess left by our previous renters. The outside of our little home was hardly visible through the 4-5 feet tall weeds and trees growing up in the ditch bank along the front of the house, and inside hadn't been cleaned for awhile. There was dog hair matted down in the carpet of the one bedroom where the dog must've slept under a bed and the carpet in the living room was just black where the guy obviously came home from working in the coal mine and didn't bother to take his coal boots off outside (or in the back room for that matter). It just disgusts me to see the lack of care and respect shown by these people while they were living in MY Home.
It was kind of fun to spend a little bit of time in our little old house again. The kids enjoyed running wild on our 3 acres of 'weeds' and seeing our old neighbor with her 3 goats, dogs, cats, chickens, and so on. While we were there our cat Skittles made an appearance, so we decided it would probably be best to just bring her home with us. Since she wouldn't stay at my mom's when we tried to move her over there and has basically been on her own for this past year, we couldn't bare to leave her again. So now she is in hiding behind our washer and dryer, hopefully she'll get used to us again and warm up to being in a new home.
We have alot of great memories from that cute little house, and I didn't get to do any of the major renovations I had in mind for it but I know it will make a nice place for another young family. It would be so great if the young family meant to enjoy all our little house has to offer would find it real soon!

Potty Trained!!

WOW!! It has happened and I'm not really sure how it came to be. I think it all started when my friend Ilene gave me a package of pull-ups (which she got for free but didn't really need since her baby's only 1). Then we went to spend a day with my mom and sister in Park City and Nana was very encouraging. That's about all it took to get the ball rolling, and with just a little bit of perseverance and patience, McCrae is now a very BIG boy!

Like we did with all of our kids, McCrae was promised a special prize when we felt like the training period was done; so Friday night we were at Wal-Mart and picked up a new Lightning McQueen movie (since McCrae broke our first one). I think we've watched it at least three times a day since, which would make about 18 times in the last six days...but we love it!!

I'm so proud of McCrae for basically making this BIG step on his own, he was definitely ready because I had very little to do with it. Yeah, no more diapers at our house!!

Go Spartans!!

Well, football season is upon us! Stetson has been talking about playing tackle football since last fall when one of his good friends was playing and he wanted to sooo bad. We kept hearing about sign-ups from our neighborhood friends, and thinking we were going to be moving we just told Stetson we'd have to wait until we knew where we were going to be. So, it ended up that we put it off long enough that we missed the sign-ups all together. Stetson's two neighbor friends started going off to practice every day from 6-8 and all we would hear was, "They get to play football, and I don't...now I don't have anyone to play with!" After two weeks of this and hearing that their team had a boy quit, we checked into getting Stetson on the team. As luck would have it, we got him on just in time and they had their first game last Saturday. He mostly plays center but also really likes to play tight-end; he's having the time of his life and all the rest of us enjoy watching him do it!

Girl's Night Out!

Last night we had scheduled a little get together for a bunch of the girls in my ward. We were going to have everyone come to my house for a casual dinner get-together and bring their favorite salad or dessert, etc. All in honor of Bonnie Sharp, one of the nicest girls you could ever meet, because she is moving out of our ward this weekend ;( Boo-hoo!! My assignment was to make the infamous Chicken Salad that I had made for our R.S. B-day Party in March. It's got to be the best chicken salad ever and I promised I would post the recipe on here for anyone that wanted it; so here it is:

3 to 4 chicken breasts, chopped

3 c. chopped celery

1/4 c. chopped onion

2 lrg. cans pineapple tidbits, drained

3 c. grapes (optional)

1 can cashews, halves and pieces

3 c. mayonnaise

2 Tbsp. pineapple juice

1 Tbsp. soy sauce

Mix dressing and combine with all other ingredients. Salt and Pepper to taste.

As nice as it was to get together we didn't have near as many of the girls come as what we had hoped for. With everyones busy schedules and all it's just so hard to juggle everything. But the biggest damper on our party was the reality of a tragic accident that happened in our neighborhood that morning. 4 year old Cooper M. was hit by an under-aged driver while crossing the street on his bike Thursday morning. For those who were not directly involved with the family found it more fitting to be at home holding onto their own children for dear life. What a sad and tragic thing to have happen; our hearts and prayers go out to both families struggling to understand and cope with what has come to pass.

Back to School!

Well, school has been back in session for a week now. I still can't figure out why the school district would want the first week of school to be a full week long, but the kids have handled it very well. We only missed the bus once and that was because the alarm didn't get turned on; I woke up at 7:40, five minutes after the bus picks the kids up but we got them up to the school by 8:02, only 2 minutes after the bell. After having the kids on B Track last year they decided they wanted A Track this year. I wasn't too sure about that plan because we never made it to school on time in Wellington when they had to be there at 7:40, and they had their fair share of tardies last year when starting time was 9:15. But, so far they've done very well and I'm proud of them. I just hope it continues, there is nothing worse than fighting your kids every morning to get ready for school, it's just a bad start for the day!

We are very happy and excited about our teachers this year. Sydney got Mr. Dias, just who she was hoping for. I never really have to worry too much about her, she enjoys school and excels wherever she is. Stetson on the other hand doesn't have the same attitude about learning; he needs a teacher that makes learning FUN! When we went to check the list two weeks ago we found his name on Miss Durfee's class list, not the teacher he was wanting. So we had a major meltdown and threats of not going to school, but we didn't know anything about this teacher and I was doing all I could to talk her up and change his attitude. Then last Wednesday, the night before the Back to School Open House we had a knock on our door. Matt was wearing Stetson's Optimus Prime helmet with voice changer, and thinking it was one of the neighbor kids went to answer the door. It happened to be Mr. Goodman, who was completely speechless having been greeted by Optimus Prime; he had come to inform us that some changes had been made to the class lists and Stetson would actually be in his class rather than Miss Durfee's (Note: He is the best 3rd grade teacher at Saratoga Shores and my first pick for Stetson). I was ecstatic, I started jumping up and down, and I'm sure at that point Mr. Goodman thought we were all a bunch of lunatics; needless to say we are very happy about the change!

Sadie will be going to preschool there again as well, she starts next week but asks everyday if she gets to go TODAY! It should be a great year and I told Matt we just can't move!!

Banged Up Boys!

After Stetson's little accident and injury at Thanksgiving Point on Tuesday, we ended up in the Emergency Room at AF Hospital with McCrae on Wednesday night. We had come home late after Matt's softball game with peaches from Papa's tree, so as soon as the kids got their jammies on Matt went to slicing the peaches for a little bedtime snack of peaches-n-cream. I was sitting at the table reading papers from Stetsons new teacher and McCrae decided he wanted to be on my lap, so he tried climbing from his chair to my lap but slipped and whacked the back of his head on the edge of the seat in the fall. I reached down to help him up and Stetson started screaming, "He's bleeding, his head is bleeding!!" This started a chain reaction with all three kids totally freaking out, so we put a towel to his head and took off. On our way to the hospital McCrae fell asleep, the bleeding stopped and the inch long gash on the back of his head kind of closed itself back up. Papa met us at the hospital to take the big kids to his house while we took McCrae in just to be checked; everything turned out to be fine...no stitches, thank heaven!! They sent us home with four suckers and a cleaned up head wound; the suckers were all gone before we got to Grammy and Papa's house to get the other kids and the head wound has pretty much been forgotten. Thank goodness for tough little boys and their ability to bounce right back to their rough and tumble activities.

$2 Tuesdays @ Thanksgiving Point

Well, better late than never, right?! I have been meaning to share the fun we had at the Thanksgiving Point Gardens last Tuesday, but I always get sidetracked. So, anyway, I wasn't about to let this opportunity pass us by and after Matt got home from work and Sydney got home from Activity Days we loaded up and headed out. We've always enjoyed visiting the gardens, the kids especially love Noah's Ark and the maze, but this time was definitely the best time we've had so far (even if we did end up with an injury....more info will follow). I think the reason it was so much more fun this time was because everyone was able to run around on their own, no baby or toddler in a stroller or wanting to be carried after just a short distance of walking. We started at the entrance to the Children's Garden and played in the water for a little bit, then a quick run through the mazes, after which we (meaning the kids and I) crawled all through the tunnels into the bear cave; what can I say, I like to play and have fun as much as they do. Then after we wandered through the rest of the Children's Gardens we went into the Adult Gardens with the Amphitheater and waterfalls being the main draw for the kids. Matt and I sat on a bench at the top of the amphitheater watching the kids run like crazy all over the place, but I couldn't sit still for too long; I just had to put that long grassy hill to the test. So, regardless of the fact that the last time I rolled down a hill was when I was about six weeks pregnant with Stetson and felt nauseous for three days after, I plopped myself down and started to roll. After I got about half way down the hill I was so dizzy and my head seemed to be spinning out of control; all I was able to make out of the confusion was Stetson staggering up the hill toward me crying. So, as I'm trying to focus in on him the first thing I noticed was that one side of his chin was about twice the size of the other. He had been playing and dancing around on the stage at the bottom of the amphitheater and fell, smacking his chin right on the cement; he got an instant goosebump about the size of a small grape just on the right side of his chin. He was so embarassed and thought everyone was going to notice it and be staring at him, but we convinced him it wasn't that noticable and continued through the gardens. This was actually the first time we've been able to go beyond the waterfall portion of the adult gardens and I was so amazed at all of the glorious beauty that surrounded me there. It was just unreal, I can't even explain it. Although I loved the whole experience, my favorite part was definitely 'The Secret Garden'. I look forward to visiting The Gardens again, soon I hope; but for next week I think we'll try and visit the Museum of Ancient Life.

The above picture is of the rose gardens and the beautiful trellis that encircled them.

Tag Time!

Something to entertain all.....



YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet & current car): DeeDee Chrysler

YOUR ROCKSTAR TOUR NAME: (”The” + Your fav hobby/craft, fav weather element + “Tour”): The Chillin' Spring Tour

YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (fav ice cream flavor, favorite cookie): PB-n-Choc. Chocolate Chip

YOUR “FLY Guy/Girl” NAME: (first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name): S-Cox

YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal): Red Horse

YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born): Shantelle Price

YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first): Coxsh

SUPERHERO NAME: (”The” + 2nd favorite color, favorite drink): The Green (Dr.) Pepper

STRIPPER NAME: (the name of your favorite perfume/cologne/scent, favorite candy): Pink Chocolate

WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother’s & father’s middle names): EarlAnn

WEATHER ANCHOR NAME: (Your 5th grade teacher’s last name, a major city that starts with the same letter): Arnold Anaheim

SPY NAME: (your favorite season/holiday, flower): Christmas Daisy

CARTOON NAME: (favorite fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing right now + “ie” or “y”): Pineapple Hattie



**I Tag: Kim, Denette, & Jonie**

Memory Lane!

Okay, since there's nothing exciting in my life to post about right now, I decided this might be fun. So, here are the rules:
1. Add a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!
2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.