Request....

If you happened upon my blog somehow, would you mind leaving a comment on this post saying how you found it and where you are in the world (which country and or state) .... Don't worry you don't have to list your address or any super personal information.. I'm not out to stalk you- just curious who is visiting me!

Thanks!

Joshua Radin Concert

I have been meaning to post these pictures Forever... but just kept forgetting. Jay surprised me with tickets to the Josh Radin concert for my 30th birthday. If you don't know who Josh Radin is, he is amazing. He has to be one of my favorite musicians of all time. He calls his music "whisper rock" and I'm not sure of any other way to describe it. His music has been used on tv shows and movies and I discovered him when I saw "The Last Kiss"...

I went with Jodi and we had a great girls night out. We were right in front by the stage and it was incredible. Jodi talked me into waiting in line to talk to Josh at the "meet and greet" and I'm so glad she did (thanks Jodi) because I'm not a big fan of huge crowds or waiting in line for anything so I would never have done it otherwise, but we were able to get pictures and he autographed my cd case! It was such a fun night!

Thanks Birdie!!

New Pictures....

We were playing with the camera today so I got some pictures of Isaac's new hair cut.. He's such a handsome kid! I can't believe he is 12!!

These two are best buds and partners in crime.. Always getting into mischief together! I love this picture

The boys had their first flag football game yesterday.. and even though they didn't win, it was fun to see what an improvement they have both made since last year..

Of course Jake wouldn't be Jake if he didn't mess around a bit on the sidelines..

Feeling determined and not so creative....

I am recently discovering how amazing the internet (which I refer to as the worldwide web to my husband because it drives him insane... and I also call my cell phone a cellular phone just to annoy him.) is! I have had a little extra time during the days because Sophie has been taking really good naps (knock on wood)... so rather than waking her up doing productive things like laundry, cleaning and planning dinner, I have spent my time browsing blogs and finding some really cool websites!! I will list some of them but it is just a small portion of the incredible stuff out there.. You have probably all heard of them and I am just really slow at discovering all of this stuff but if not, I promise they are fun to browse but be careful because you might get addicted!

1. http://www.slickdeals.net/ !! I love this website... I have found so many amazing deals.. Mammoth crocs for Sophie for $8!! I don't usually buy a bunch of stuff on here but I just love looking at all of the crazy things they have for SO cheap. It's a group of people with a lot of time on their hands that post deals they have found in stores and on the internet....

2. http://www.babysteals.com/ This one is better if you have a baby rather than a toddler like me but every once in while they have toddler stuff too.. They post one deal a day at 9 in the morning Mountain time and there has been some really cute stuff for fairly reasonable prices.. Once it sells out they don't post a new deal until the next morning.

3. http://www.woot.com/ This is the same concept as Babysteals except it's stuff for adults... electronics etc. It's pretty cool.

4. http://www.mykitchencafe.blogspot.com/ I love this website. It has some really good recipes and they aren't hard to make!

5. http://www.allrecipes.com/ This is my go to site for recipes in general! You can find a recipe for anything and they all have reviews sometimes with variations people have tried! I can't tell you how many delicious recipes I have gotten off of this website.

6. http://www.coffeeteaphotography.blogspot.com/ On this blog she offers all kinds of free actions for Photoshop and Photoshop Elements... I haven't really had the time to download them and use them yet but the fact that they are free is really cool!

7. http://brookie-wookie.blogspot.com/ Ok I stole this from Megan's blog but I love this girl's blog! She is so creative and I just wish I had half of the talent she has!! She has some great ideas!



I have also gotten in to digital scrapbooking!! Are you kidding me? I didn't even know digital scrapbooking existed until a few months ago!! It is the coolest thing in the world.. No mess and there are free kits all over the place!! Not to mention when I was doing regular scrapbooking, by the time I got all of my stuff out and set up to start, something would come up and I would have to put it all away again!! And it was like a Sophie magnet.... She would be all over everything! I will still do some normal scrapbooking but the fact that all I have to do to digital scrapbook is turn on my computer is one of the coolest things ever....

Great digital scrapbooking websites... also stolen from friends blogs...

http://www.shabbyprincess.com/ This is the best website!!! They have tons of free scrapbooking stuff you can download and so many cute things to buy and a great gallery for ideas, plus they have tutorials which is where I learned how to make my first layout! LOVE THIS WEBSITE!!

http://www.ggdigitaldesigns.com/ Really cute stuff on here too and they also have free stuff sometimes!

http://www.peppermintcreative.com/ Again... really cute stuff!

http://www.howfasttheygrow.com/ This is a digital scrapbook website... you upload photos and just add them to the ready made pages... (which are SO cute) and then you can print your book from the website.. Really cool idea if you aren't in a creative mood because they do it all for you! It's really a cool site.

There are so many cool sites, I can't even begin to list them all but thanks to Megan and Jodi... because I found the majority this stuff from you guys!!

Sophie is still sleeping so I am going to go play with Photoshop Elements!

Loving the warm weather!!

It has been so warm this week and we have been loving it and spending as much time outside as possible!! I for one am not looking forward to the drop in temperatures this weekend!! Why can't it just be Spring already??? Of course, come Summer, I'll be complaining that it's too hot! The grass is always greener right?

I know it looks like this was planned but it wasn't,

I just thought they looked so cute!

My cute boys! Can't believe how big they are!

This is Sophie pushing Jake on her bike... It was hilarious!



Handsome Jake!!

That's better! I'm pretty sure this is how it's suppose to go.

I guess it's update time.....

Time is flying.... it seems like the kids just started school and now it is almost Spring! I have a little time because Sophie just went down for her nap, Jay is at work and the boys are at school so I will just post a little update on everyone....

Isaac is liking 6th grade... the social part anyway. He's doing well at school but really hates homework..(but who doesn't) He looks forward to seeing his friends every day. His favorite things right now are football and shoes. Seriously.. he will get online and just browse shoe websites for as long as I will let him. I can honestly say he didn't get this from me because although I like shoes I'm not a freak about them. If we let him, he would have a new pair every week. He is starting flag football soon because in his words..."he needs to get in shape for the fall tackle football season." He jumped from sport to sport for a while but I think he found his niche. He really loves football, has learned a lot and is determined to get better and better. It's been really good for him to find something like that that he loves. He saved his money and recently bought a PSP that he loves. (it's so funny that when they spend their own money on something they take such good care of it.) Isaac is such a great kid and I think sometimes I don't realize how lucky I am. He is so sensitive and has such a huge heart!

Jake is my wild child. He is SO comfortable in his own skin and is such a good example to me of just being who you are. He doesn't care what people think and is so carefree! I really admire him. He is doing well at school and says he doesn't like it but I think secretly he really does like it. He really likes to be challenged and is always teaching me something. His favorite thing to do when he comes home is strip down (leaving a clothing trail to his room) putting on his pajama pants, and curling up in front of the tv. If I let him he would sit there for hours. We have had to put a very strict limit on his tv time. Jake is such a witty kid and makes me laugh every time he opens his mouth. He is an old soul and I am so grateful to be his Mom!!

Sophie... the terrible twos seem to be tapering off! I think anyway... She naps like a champ and at night she is doing a little bit better. Last week we would put her down and in the middle of the night she would quietly sneak in and catapult over Jay and end up between us. One night I was still reading and I heard a noise.. I looked at the doorway and saw a flash of hair. When I went to her door she was on her tip toes sneaking back to her bed. I realized that she was checking to see if we were asleep yet so she could sneak into our bed. It was hilarious. Last night was the first night in months that she slept in her bed ALL night and I think that might be because she is starting to get over being sick. She has had a terrible cold and slept horribly for the two nights before last so I think she is just catching up. She is such a funny little girl... Her favorite things right now are her ballerina clothes, her dollhouse and music. She knows the words to a million different songs and sings them with such enthusiasm! Her favorite movie right now is Annie and we have watched it about ten million times.

Jay is working at the distribution center still. His hours have been cut drastically which is kind of scary but we are getting by! He is also still going to school.. This semester he has one class that he actually goes to and one online. He is doing well with so much going on! I'm so proud of him. I know it is hard to stay motivated when he can only take two classes at a time but he never complains! He is such a great man! I know it sounds corny but I really am so lucky to be married to my best friend and he takes such great care of me and the kids!

We are all happy and relatively healthy so I have no compaints!

M