Fun Times!

My brother, Brett, was able to baptize Rachel on May 30th. Hard to believe that she is now 8. She was baptized in the Temple Ward Building, and most all of us were there. Only 8 cousins were not there, and how we wished they were all there.

"It's always fun when cousins come!"

After the baptism, I told Lauren, Kayley & Rebekah that I would take them dress shopping. It's so hard to find modest dresses. I thought these were cute...

But when I told Lauren she wasn't gettng it, they frowned. Reason? We couldn't find a cover-up-type thing. We finally resorted to the girls department of Dillards, and found a cover-up in that color blue, and it was perfect! I will try to post a picture of it, and the cute one that Kayley got too.

Our cute little cousins... May 2009

Mariella being happy as usual. Brett & Cindy are hoping that adoption will happen sooner then later. She was 9 months old in this picture.

Eathyn, 9 months old too. He is such a cute little guy! He is the little brother to Mariella, being a few hours younger. Their birthdays are a day apart, but to us, they will always be the twins!

Lexi Lou Who, age 3 months. She is such a doll. She reminds me of Lauren when she was this age. I just love holding her! Maybe it's because she isn't mine, and I don't have to feed her.

Jared, age 2.3 years. He and Joey connected so well during this trip. On the Sunday that we were there, Joey of course screamed his head off when I stuck him in nursery, but when I picked him out later, he was happy, picking up toys, and loving it! Joey has loved going into nursery ever since!! Thanks Killeen 1st Ward Nursery Leaders, and Jared, and...

Ella! Ella just started nursery so she was in there as well. Ella is just to cute, and so quiet. I don't think I have ever heard her make a noise! She is a sweetie!

Dallas LDS Temple

On our way to Killeen on May 29th, we made a brief stop to the Dallas Temple. This is where Shawn and I were married in 1989.

I took this cute picture of them sitting out front. The fountains were not working that day or I would have had the kids sit next to that.

We went suit shopping...

6 weeks is NOT soon enough to get this kid on his mission! Talk about a pain in the boo-tay! We went to Dillards to get measured for a suit. Of course, he liked the suits there, but let's get real... I am not paying that much for a suit, that will possibly never make it back to my house after his mission...

We went to JCPenny's, and he thought he was a model for GQ or something... We didn't get suits yet, but we did find some nice ones, and some cool pants that he liked.

Welcome Babe!

This is Babe, who was Wilbur, who was Squealer, who was just a regular wild pig Friday morning before Josh found him on the side of the road.

AND I get the honors of having it at my house for a while. Of course, I have banned it to the outside, where he is sleeping and living comfortly in Ollie's kennel, who is not happy at the present time. He rather have some fresh pork kill then share his kennel with Babe. AND I got to go buy a bottle with a preemie nipple AND formula (good thing it was on sale for $18.00 for a 32 oz. can of Nestle Good Start Supreme) so that Josh can have his thrill of all of 7 1/2 weeks of raising a baby pig before heading on his mission. What the heck am I suppose to do with it afterwards? It's a WILD PIG! I want Josh to release it back in the wild, but it's momma is gone, and he will be killed by a coyote. But at the same time, that's the circle of life, but I'm really not that mean (ok, kids may think different!). Shawn's dad gave up raising pigs YEARS ago! He doesn't want to start again, which I don't blame because PIGS STINK! What to do, what to do?!

Idaho Pocatello Mission here he comes!

Josh got his mission call today! He reports to the MTC on August 5th. Less then 2 months!
Funny that he got it today, because I was thinking how cool it would be if he did. You see, his Mimi, Aunt Hilary, cousins Meghan & Jannie, and his girlfriend, Amanda, are all here. I sent Kayley out to get the mail, and SHE RUNS back in, saying "I think Josh got his call!" I looked and sure enough... Elder Joshua Alan Miller. "QUICK!" I said... "go get Josh!" She runs out, and he about has a heart attack running back in the house. As he is coming in, I am trying to call Shawn at work (sorry, he has stepped out!), and my mom is trying to call my dad (not answering his phone). We are sitting in the living room, waiting. I call back Shawn, and he answers, but not my dad. We were going to wait... but Shawn had to go quick. So, we opened it, and all were excited. This is what Josh has been waiting for all his life! To serve a mission, no matter where! We have 6 weeks to get this son of mine ready to leave. I was hoping that Shawn & Josh could drive out, and I fly out to meet them there, and leave kids here, but kids really want to go. Maybe we need to rethink this. I will keep you posted with the Temple and Mission Farewell dates.

1st time for everything!

And today was the day for me to try gardening. I have never enjoyed gardening. Even as a child, when my dad would load up Brett, Todd and me to go with him to the Fort Rucker garden plots to work on our little section of a garden, Brett & I would take off the minute we got there to the nearby lake and park. We hated working in the garden, and we were determined not to. Todd loved working in it with my dad, and he always did say that "Todd was a busy little bee." So today, I went to the blackberry bushes and helped prune and weed. I even got on my knees, and having more fun catching the earth worms. Some of those things were like a mile long! I would call over the little girls, and they would freak out. Joey called them snakes, and Jacob would pretend he was eating them, or Shawn would pretend he was going to put one in Jacob's ear. We had a good morning. The weather was perfect, and it actually was perfect the whole day. I hope that our blackberries will start turning color soon.

But next time, I am wearing gloves. My palms are so sore. I got a splinter in one of my fingers from using a rake that got struck by lightening a few weeks back, and my nails have not seen this much dirt under them for 23 years!

Arkansas & Texas Cousins, May 2009

The boy cousins, who will be all 11 this year. There are also 2 girl cousins the age.

Reilly, Austin, Jacob

The 3 girl cousins: Rebekah, 13; Kayley, 12; Lauren, 14

My handsome son, Jacob.

Joey, age 2.5 with cousin Jared, 2.3. This is the first visit that Joey has not screamed or cried the whole time. He had a great time with Jared, and were the bestest buds. Joey even went into nursery, even though he screamed at first... but with Jared & girl cousin, Ella, all were happy at the end.

Another cute picture of Jared & Joey. We are at McD's in most of the pictures. We like to hang out at the one in Temple off I-35/Loop 363 because of the cool (nasty) playground.

Most of the Arkansas & Texas cousins.

Sorry that the pictures are small. With this stupid dial-up, I am having tons of problems now. I have thought of calling AT&T again, and crying telling them that I really need wireless. I am so frustrated with dial-up because I am beginning to not have good access. I cannot get on Facebook anymore with the home computer, so when you see that I am on for a few days in a row, or only once a day, it's because I have 1) taken the computer to a local business to use their wireless or 2) I am in Killeen where my parents have wireless. I can get to my profile on Facebook, but I cannot post or add anything. This morning I was in Ashdown, so I made a brief stop and added the above pictures to my page from my sister's page, and then I accessed my profile after getting home and saved the pictures. It's so crazy. And so making me crazy!

My goal for this summer is to get this house in order. Since I cannot get on Facebook, and you can only post so much on Blogger, I have decided to start now. But not until I get off this morning... LOL!! I also went to the Bishop's Storehouse in Carrollton, Texas this past Thursday, and got a lot of food storage. I am going to be busy the next few weeks anyway getting things canned and mylar bag sealed. Shawn planted another garden this year, and just today we got our first stuff... some onions, yellow squash & zucchini.

My Relief Society Enrichment is this Saturday, and I am very nervous about it all. I have teachers who can't make it now, and I've heard a lot are going to be out of town. I have decided that next year I am doing the 4 Enrichments in February, May, September & December, hopefully all on the 1st Saturday of the month. I am so stressing out, it's not even funny. Plus it's my turn for the lesson on Sunday, which is no biggie, but I still need to get it written down. I am doing it on the "The Language of Formal Prayer" taken from a talk in the January 1976 Ensign, and another with the same title in the May 1993 Ensign. I hope it's good. I also have to get the newsletter typed up.

Lauren left today for Drum Major Camp. She was selected as 8th grade Drum Major, and is very excited about it. Her 3 day training is in Arkadelphia. She took Shawn's cell phone, so I am sure this week she is going to think she is way cool since it has texting...

Josh's mission papers were returned again because the blood-type was not entered. I mean, hello? Why did I pay a doctor to do even do this physical? Good thing President Platt is around. I also saw that the urine test was not written down, so I am sure it will be sent back for that too. Will I ever get this kid sent off? Stay tuned for the mission call! Hopefull it will be soon!

Our Trips...

The weekend of May 23rd, the kids and I went to College Station to visit our friends, the Decells. They have been our bestest friends forever, and we miss them so much! But like I said below, their oldest son was leaving on his mission. We went to his mission farewell in their ward in College Station, and Kyle gave a very good talk. It's so hard to believe that he is now Elder Decell. We have known Kyle since he was 5. After Sacrament Meeting we quickly headed over to Bryan 1st Ward to visit our old friends, no pun intended! LOL!! Kids loved seeing their friends, and actually attending a HUGE Primary. I was certainly amazed by all the pregnant women and small children in both wards. Not that I want to be pregnant or anything, but our small ward just doesn't have a lot of babies. After church we headed back to the Decells for a great lunch of lasagna, bread, salad, and 3 different types of desserts. It was a short trip, but we loved having the chance to see Kyle before he headed off for 2 years.

On Thursday Josh called me to say that our stake president had received his mission papers back because they were not completed. The eye exam was left off. Good thing our Stake President is a doctor because he was able to finish it, and was suppose to send them back off. Maybe we will know by June 25th where he is going to be serving... plus I am leaving that day for 10 days, and I would like to know before I head.

I told Lauren & Kayley that I would take them shopping on Friday in Shreveport. Trying to find dresses for these girls that are modest is a pain in the boo-tay! As I was preparing to leave around 9am, I checked my email and saw that Brett's daughter, Rachel, was being baptized on Saturday @ 10am in the Temple Ward. I checked my calendar, and besides the shopping with the girls, NOTHING! So I told the girls if we could go to Killeen, they could go shopping with their cousin Rebekah. They said okay. I gave the kids 2 hrs to be ready to leave. I didn't tell my parents that we were coming, and away we left. As we approached Dallas, we made a detour to the Dallas Temple. Kids took some pictures (maybe I will post later). We finally made it to Killeen about 6:30pm, and showed up at the mexican place they were eating at. They were happy to see us. Next morning was the baptism, and it was nice. Afterwards, most of us went to McDonalds to eat lunch (small kids!), and my mom took home Joey & Lindsey, and my sister took home Jacob & Krissy so that I could take the big girls (and Rebekah) shopping. We found 1 dress at Ross, and 3 dresses at Dillards, but 3 cover-ups since all the dresses were immodest without the cover-ups. We had a great time trying them on. We then went to Payless and got 2 pairs of shoes for Lauren. I think she is taller then me when she wears them. I will post pictures with those dresses on later too. They are cute. We had a great Sunday night dinner with the whole family that lives here, and my dad made 2 chocolate cakes. I didn't stick to my diet while here. I ate a HUGE piece!!

One big milestone with both these trips, is that Joey has not screamed his head off at all! He has had a great time here in Killeen playing with his cousin Jared, who is about 6 weeks younger then him. They have been getting along so well, it's been amazing! Of course I didn't bring my new digital camera (that I got for Mother's Day), but I know that others took pictures, so maybe I can post some of those later. I've also have had a great time holding my new little niece, Lexi. She is almost 3 months old. She reminds of some of girls when they were this age. She is so stinkin' cute... but I am not baby hungry. Which I am so glad about!

Going home... to Bryan!

This is {the soon-to-be} Elder Miller, and Elder Decell back in 1999.

This weekend is Kyle's farewell! He is going to Mexico City. We are headed down on Saturday to listen to him speak, and to say our final good-byes for 2 years. Kids are excited about going down. I told them we would go to Bryan 1st Ward for 2nd-3rd hours after Sacrament Meeing in College Station. Yay! Josh's mission papers were sent last week, so hopefully by the end of next week, we should know where he is going!!

Am I cool or what?

See that? That is my new phone! I actually upgraded to a more modern, hip, cool phone. Josh is so proud. I.ABSOLUTELY.HATE.IT.THOUGH! I guess it's because I am so used to my little "plain-jane" phone, which I loved! But, I am learning. I haven't learned to take a picture yet, but I am sure I will soon. Shawn downgraded to my old phone. Won't go into details, but he no longer has his Blackberry. Josh also got an LG Shine, and when he leaves for his mission, then Shawn can take his, and Lauren can use my old one if she wants.

And I was joking below when I said that Facebook is #1 priority. My account is no longer active, even though I will be getting on there for a few days to announce Josh's mission call, hopefully within a week...

I know!

I know I haven't been on for a long time. And I haven't posted pictures either. My old dig. camera that I got in 2003, finally died. I got a new one, but have yet to download anything because after only 5 pictures, it says I need more memory. Shawn says he has a chip or something to put in it, but alas... he has not yet. Let me try to update:
Week of April 20th: 4 kids came down with the stomach virus, and Shawn. I am glad that Lindsey, Joey or Josh (and me too) did not get it. Shawn missed a whole weekend of work.
April 26: Lauren & Kayley had a great band concert. They did awesome.
April 28: Had to go to Shreveport again to take Jacob for 2 doctor appts. For about a month, I was heading to Shreveport on a weekly basis, and I am glad that I have a 3 month break, unless of course, I have a church meeting or something like that.
April 29: Decided to get a haircut. Went to a new person, and we kept it long. Well, long like it was... longer then what I was used to. 2 days later, it was shorter... 1 week later, even more short.
May 3: Went to a Mary Kay party after church. My sister-in-law, Michelle, was hosting it, and wanted Lauren, Kayley & me to come. The girls did the make-up. They looked nice, and had fun.
May 7: All of Shawn's siblings and spouses took his parents to Cracker Barrel for their 46th Anniversary.
May 8: My parents arrived for the weekend. I was so happy!
May 10: Mother's Day. Got to church about 8:30a, and abt. 8:55a walked in my 2 brothers and 2 sisters with their families! It was a surpise! They had arrived in Texarkana the night before. One sister that didn't come, knew about it. Thanks Hilary! Guess they all decided they couldn't spend Mother's Day without Mom, which is fine, but I never get her either on Mother's Day. We had a great time visiting and eating, and was sad when all left.
May 14: Started the Wilton Cake Decorating class at Hobby Lobby. I've always wanted to take it, so I did. I am taking it with one of my sister-in-laws. It's a 4 week class.
May 16: Took Kayley, Kristen & Lindsey to Hannah Montana, and Lauren and a friend went to see "17 Again." I actually survived through the movie, and really did think it was a fun movie.
And today was church day. Had a good day. Josh and I are about to make tacos for dinner.
Lauren turns 14 on Wednesday! Wow! She is excited!! Maybe one of these days I will get the pictures all posted that I have. School is out May 29th, and we are heading to Killeen on June 24th. And since discovering Facebook, I am on that more. Sorry... priorities first!

Thanks Rebecca!

About a year ago when I was sooooooo poor, I was talking to my friend, Rebecca, and she told me to see if I could get Lindsey & Joey on WIC. I remember getting it for Josh so many years ago, and the embarrassment I felt then , I just didn't think I could go through it again. I took Lindsey to the county health department last week to get shots so she could start school this year, and the nurse and I were talking. This led to that, and that led to WOW! You have 7 kids? I said yes, and then she asked me if we were on WIC, etc... No, I told her. She asked if I knew what our income was since we had so many children, and that I was a SAHM. I just so happened to have one of Shawn's pay stubs in my purse. We checked it out, and we BARELY qualify for Joey. And then all my conversations with Rebecca came back to my head. Today was his first appointment, and we got the vouchers. I will not be using them in my town as I am so embarrassed to use them here. Everyone knows me here! Thanks Rebecca! Love ya!

To many things...

After slacking for a few weeks, maybe even a month & a half... I am getting back on track with loosing more weight! I've only gained 4 lbs (as of this morning), but all in all, I have been eating better, and have not had a Sonic drink in over 3 months! Yay for me! Walking isn't happening as much as I would like. We have had a rainy and/or cold Spring time. It's suppose to be really nice this week, so I hope I can get 3-4 days in of walking. I am going to concentrate on crunches and leg exercises too. I only have until June 25th to loose the last 40 lbs, but I will take another 30 if possible.
Josh got a new calling today. I've never seen a person go through so many callings as him... LOL! Today he was called as 1st counselor in the new YM Presidency. He was so happy because he doesn't have to teach EQ anymore. He had a hard time with some of those lessons in the Joseph Smith book. He is looking forward to be working with the new YM President, and hanging up with our great youth. I know he will do well until he leaves on his mission.
I guess I use the phrase "I am so not in a good mood at this moment" just a little bit to much. Last night I was getting onto Lindsey to go brush her teeth, and to do something else, and she walks in the bathroom (mad of course) saying, "I am so not in a good mood at this moment because of Mom!" Got to love kids!
Yesterday Krissy was invited to a birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese's. Gag. Barf! Anyway, since it's located at the mall, and I had already told Jacob, Lindsey & Joey that they could go also (Lauren & Kayley were to be in Shreveport... Kayley ended up at home because of puking for 2 days!), we headed to the mall at 4pm so we could be done by 6pm (remember it's a 1/2 drive and we needed to make a stop @ Target too) for the party. We go to Dillards. Haven't been shoe shopping for a small kid at Dillards for a long time. But Krissy needed church shoes, and we just couldn't find any these past few weeks at Walmart, Target or Payless to fit her skinny little feet. I decided to buy her some Stride Rite Mary Janes. She has been wearing those kind for a long time, but she finally outgrew the size 12's (that had been Lauren's & Kayley's), and needed more. We found a pair on the 40% off rack, and were happy they had her size. She was happy to wear them today to church. I even got her some socks for them... either tights or sandles so never saw the need for socks until now (now that the weather is getting to warm for tights). As we were there, I found a cute pair of shoes for Joey. I am ashamed to say, I have never bought shoes for the child except for some crocs! Sandles were given to me, and he was wearing some cute shoes that had saved from Jacob. So, I was desperate. Again, nothing with shoe laces that met my standards at Walmart, Target or Payless. But Dillards saved the day. I then realized that the poor child had nothing to wear to church. I've been dreading actual khaki shopping for him. But I went to Baby Gap, and again, they saved the day! Cute cute pair of khaki pants with little geckos, grasshoppers, fish and palm tree on them for $10. I bought size 18-24 months! He is so skinny! I knew Gap would have the adjustable waist khakis. I got him a green polo to match, and he looked so handsome today. Maybe this week I can take the laptop to town and get on eBay and see what I can find cheap for him...

Tax day = T.E.A. Parties

Who went? I so wanted to go to the one in San Antonio but alas... no where close to SA! Besides I paid my taxes in February, so oh, well. Watched on Fox News today that the Secret Service wouldn't allow for a rally at that one building by the White House accross the street from the park? Since when does the Secret Service care about that? Oh, ya... I forgot!

Life here sucks. Okay, not to bad, but sucks because I don't have wireless. I am sitting in town in a parking lot using (or is it stealing?) the business's wireless because it's free, and I am in need of it. LOL! Our new computer sucks because it only has a soft-disk drive, and our lovely dial-up can't work with it. Shawn had to order a hard-disk drive off the internet because not one place here in town or the next town sells them anymore! It should be here Thursday. Maybe I can use my new computer then. I wish I can get wireless at my house. Why can't AT&T come 5 more miles out? It's making my life miserable because of it!

Easters was good. Had a good weekend. Easters bunny didn't come, but I did allow kids to dye some eggs. Sunday was a horrible rainy day. Just miserable. We had a good dinner, and good company, so that made the day. Shawn was able to go to church with us. Kids were happy.

Shawn's cell phone got fried because of the computer problems of trying to update downloads. AT&T is sending him a new phone. Not happy that he has had to wait for so long to get a new one. Oh well.

Printing off Josh's missions papers tonight. They will be submitted April 29th! Another friend of his is going to Madagascar french-speaking Mission. Reports to the MTC the end of June. Very cool!! 3rd friend that is going foreign!

Been nice to have Shawn home past 2 weeks. He goes back to work Friday. Got upstairs almost done, and the garden planted. We are trying to be self-suffient more... We plant a huge garden, milk cows, get eggs from our neighbor, slaughter our own beef cow. Still need to order that wheat. What is holding me back? Scared to use it?

Guess I should go. Kids will be home from school soon. I need to go to Walmart before heading home. Got to go to church activities tonight. Shawn is now in Cub Scouts. Jacob is happy for that.

HaPPY BiRTHDaY KaYLeY!

(Because of the new computer, pictures will be uploaded later when I finally learn how)
KAYLEY turned 12 on April 1st! And it was her first day of going to Young Womens! She was so excited, and could not wait! Plus she gets to go to Young Womens Camp in July. YAY! When she got home from school, she was surprised with with a bouquet of balloons. Really, that was it. Because we all had to be at the church that night, I just didn't have time to do a full-blown party & dinner. I told her that we would have her party on Friday night, and I would allow her to invite some friends too. All my kids know how much I *love* having birthday parties. She wanted: a red velvet cake, tacos for dinner, and to watch Marley & Me. On Thursday night, I rented Marley & Me from Redbox. Shawn and I decided to watch it that night. I am glad we did. While it was a very cute movie, and that this couple was actually married in the movie the whole time, sex talk kept coming up, and a few swear words, and I just didn't feel comfortable with a bunch of 12 yr old girls watching it who were not mine own, let alone my own watching it. I called some of the moms the next day and told them that the movie had been changed to A Cinderella Story. During the day, I made a red velvet cake, and I will say, if anyone is allergic to red dye, you don't want to eat this one... 1 1/2 bottles of red dye!! After tacos, and eating the WHOLE CAKE (it was very yummy), girls started watching the movie. But since all had seen it like 10x before, and since the weather was beautiful, they all went back outside until 9:30-10p to jump on the trampoline until rides came. Kayley got some cool stuff from her friends. She wants some contacts, so we are going to let her try them out. She also wants her ears pierced again... she had them done when she was 5 and hated them. She took them out, silly girl.

New Computer and Car

We bought a new HP computer at Sams a few weeks ago. We have been Dell fans for so long, but this was a good deal at Sams. We bought it. NOTHING BUT TROUBLE SINCE! Okay, maybe it's because we are still on dial-up, but it just sucks. And of course I cannot find the receipt, but I do have the credit card bill for it. I am thinking of taking it back to Sams.

On March 21st, our 1993 Honda Accord, with over 300K miles, finally died. Shawn drove his truck for about 2 weekends to work. We knew he was going to be off for a few weeks while recovering from his surgery. Today we decided to head towards Dallas to look at a few Honda Civics. We found one at Huggins Honda in North Richland Hills. It's a 2006 dk. blue Honda Civic Coupe. It was the best experience ever at buying a car. I cannot believe how nice it was! Awesome! We decided to stay the night here as well since Shawn wanted to go to some gun store as well and we knew we couldn't do it all in one day. We are staying at Holiday Inn Express in Hurst. Since we have wireleess here, Shawn decided to bring the HP computer with us to see if he can reload it and a few more programs. As of right now, he is getting fed up. Probably going to be taking it back... I will have to update later.

We brought along Lindsey & Joseph with us, and for being in the car all day, they are pretty good. They are watching Sponge Bob. We are going to go eat in a few minutes, and head over to Cabelas. Yee Haw!

My brother Chad...

He may be a goof, but we are proud of him! In the local paper...

Wireless & Blogs

Because I am in Shreveport tonight because Shawn is having surgery in the morning, I have been able to get on all my friends blogs, and then some... and watch all the cute videos, and actually see clear pictures!! I love wireless! :-)

Day of Service, 25 April 2009

Be a part of history by participating in Day of Service 2009. Join hands with over 50,000 Latter-day Saints all over the North America Southeast area.

Conference Time

Tonight is the annual Young Womens Conference broadcast. In the post that I did earlier today, I said I was going to Shreveport, but since that time, plans have changed. Lauren, Kayley & I did not go to the Stake Activity that was happening before the broadcast. I was going with Suzanne & Victoria, and when they couldn't go, I decided it was to much for me to go today. I've been going back and forth to Shreveport numerous times these past 2 weeks, and I needed a break. I have to go to Shreveport tomorrow. So the girls and I, along with another YW in our town, are going to watch it on BYU-TV at our house. We may have to go to Walmart to get a bunch of snacks...

And just to remind all my family and friends... that General Conference is next weekend, April 4 & 5. I can't wait to watch it!! I love watching conference. I need to go find a conference activity packet for my little kids. They always have fun doing that while watching it.

Potty 101-7

Meaning... I am doing this for the 7th time. And last time!! Because of a hectic day of me having to go to Shreveport with Lauren & Kayley for the YW Activity & Broadcast, I decided to bathe the younger kids this morning so I wouldn't have to worry about later tonight. As I took off Joey's diaper, I noticed it was wet, but that he hadn't wet it recently. I pulled out Dora & Boots, stuck it on the toilet...

and he peed!!

I know he isn't even 2 1/2 yrs yet, and I know it takes longer for some boys to get fully trained, but this is a start! I am pretty happy. I hope within the year (LOL!) I won't have to buy anymore diapers!! You know how happy I am? I have been buying diapers monthly for the last 14 years!! When I started to potty-train Josh back in 1992, I bought the standard white potty chair. I do have a picture of him sitting on it... I need to go find it. I saved it for Lauren & even Kayley. But when it was time to train Jacob, the thought of using it again totally grossed me out. So I threw it away. Made Jacob learn by standing and actually sitting on the toilet. When Kristen started, I found the above seat at Walmart, and she & Lindsey used it. I debated with getting a "boyish" one for Joey, but he loves Dora & Boots. When I sat him on it this morning, he kept pointing to Boots and saying his name. He loved it!

i HoPe THeY CaLL Me oN a MiSSioN

The paper work has been started! I hope this kid gets his mission call by the middle of May. It's been exciting helping him fill out the forms on-line (isn't that wild?), but we still have a few more to finish. He actually can't send them off until April 29th, but we are going to be ready! He is getting more excited as more of his friends get mission calls: Kyle Decell to Mexico City, and James Peterson to Ecuador. I've always told Josh that he was going to go to Tonga. Sometimes I hope that will "come to pass" but other times, I am secretly hoping that he stays in the States... Hey~ I'm a mom! What do you expect?

But no matter where he goes, I know he will be a good missionary. He is a good kid, and I am honored that Heavenly Father trusted me to raise him. We will let you know about the mission call as soon as we get it! Stay tuned...

Spring Break Week!

Oh what a week! Of course it had to start raining Monday afternoon, and by Saturday it's suppose to be in the upper 40's as the high! Kids have been enjoying the few times they have been outside helping Shawn plant some new blackberry plants, and enjoying the rest of the time playing on the old computer upstairs (Shawn loaded tons of games on it), and sometimes with the new computer downstairs, Gameboys & N64 (yes, we still have the new classics... real classic would be Atari!) and watching TV. Not much more to do when we couldn't go anywhere this time for Spring Break. It has been a nice break getting to sleep in until 7am... you would think the kids would sleep in longer, but NOOOOOO!
This past Saturday was my very 1st Relief Society Enrichment that I was in charge of. I think it went well, and I think the sisters that came (abt 30!) had a great time. Lunch was good, and so were all the cakes. My mother-in-law said that sisters told her that it was great.
On Friday night, Brett & Cindy and their 6 kids decided to make a short sweet stop at our house to stay 2 nights. They had been on their Spring Break, and were returning from their vacation. They went to Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Illinois & Indiana. They said they had a great time, and we were glad they had stopped here. Kids were dying to see them, so it made their beginning of Spring Break great! They left early Sunday morning as their babies were not sleeping or eating good. We were sad to see them leave so soon,
Sunday morning I woke up with a very sore back. It started to hurt Friday morning, and with moving a piano at the church on Friday night, didn't help it I am sure. I decided to stay home from church and veg out on the couch while Josh took Lauren, Kayley & Jacob to church. The younger ones stayed home and played while I slept some.
Last night, Shawn, Jacob and I drove to Shreveport to stay at the Holiday Inn Express. Why? Jacob had to have surgery this morning at Willis Knighton South. I wrote about it a few weeks ago. Surgery went great, and a little muscle had been wrapped around the testicle causing it not to come down. We were all happy about that. He is going to be sore today and tomorrow, but will be able to go to school Monday. No PE though for 4 weeks. I am typing this on Josh's laptop at the hospital as Shawn is getting Jacob ready to go because there is wireless here (reason why I have a new layout!).
Shawn returns to work tomorrow for 3 days, and on Monday he and I head back to Shreveport morning as Shawn will have surgery. He will be off work for 2 weeks (oh, no... shoot me now!), but he does have plans to finish a lot of stuff (maybe don't shoot me now!). He also got a new calling at church... Cub Scout Leader on Wednesday nights. He is happy about it, and looks forward to starting next Wednesday night.

It's been a while

I thought I would put an update about my weight loss adventure...

It's been 63 days since I have had a diet Dr Pepper, and I have lost 25 lbs as of this morning.

At the end of December I bought a pair of size 16 jeans. About a month later, I bought a size 14, and last night I bought me a size 12!!

WooHoo!!!

WeLCoMe To THe WoRLD!

And they so aren't mine!! That's the best part of it all!!!

~Welcome to the world~

Maxwell Beck Pritchard (Todd & Sunde)

4 March 2009

~Welcome to the world~

Alexis Hope Pritchard (Scott & Val)

1 March 2009

This makes me an aunt for the 23rd & 24th time (that's includes the 4 on Shawn's side).

Cousins

We all know that Brandon and Tyler are

14 yr old dorks...

And that Lauren & Rebekah are pretty

much behind them...
Austin, Jacob & Reilly are typical
10 yr old dorks too...
But I swear! These 2 girls... Meghan & Kayley
have got to be the biggest dorks of them all!
Just listening to them talk on the phone makes me
sad that I didn't get to know my cousins better
when I was growing up. Haha! You the know
the reason... each phone call back then cost
like $10 a minute, so we were never allowed
on the phone. But I am so glad for unlimited calls
because these girls have so much fun chatting with
each other all the time!
We LOVE our COUSINS!

My parents 20th

In 1988 was my parents 20th anniversary. Scary to think about because my 20th is this year!! I decided to have pictures taken of us kids. I don't know if I ever got a final one of all of us together, which, if I recall right, is a really nice picture and I wish my parents would hang it up somewhere in the house... but I did manage to snag these 2 proofs.

The girls: me, 18; Heather, 14; Hilary, 12; Holly, 8

The boys: Brett, 17; Todd, 16; Chad, 10; Scott, 5

Mini Mi

Mimi

Mini Mimi

Can't believe my Mom loved this hairstyle so much! The first picture was when I was like 6 weeks old, and the 2nd is when I am 9! When I posted this on Facebook, we were laughing. I told her when she made me ride the bus with hair like this, I was laughed at. I actually can't believe how long my hair already was since the year before my hair had been whacked off, and I looked like a boy in a dress (Holly... I had to get revenge!).

Bunch of sickies

On Sunday I came down with whatever this is... fever, chills, very sore throat, cough. I figured it was the stuff that Joey had the week before, but apparently it wasn't... as of tonight, Joey & Lindsey both have fevers, and Jacob is starting to cough. I am sure by the end of this week, I will have more sick kids. Will this madness ever stop?
I'm still not well. I think my fever has broke, but I still feel awful. My friend's husband also has it and went to the doctor. They said it wasn't the flu or strep, but it has to run it course. Blah!

I just had to tell you!

As of this morning... I have lost 21 lbs!!! AND it's been 33 days

since diet Dr Pepper has touched my lips!

I think I am a litle excited!!

Happy 43rd Birthday Shawn!

This is Shawn 26 years ago. The year my youngest brother, Scott, was born.

Shawn wanted fried chicken for dinner, but I convinced him that he needed to have lasagna from Sams. I also got him a New York Cheesecake (2nd favorite) because I haven't had time to fix his 1st favorite dessert... coconut pie.

Happy Birthday Shawn!

I love you!!

Relief Society Blog gone

We had a Relief Society Presidency meeting tonight, and our bishop came in for a moment. He told us he had some bad news. "Yikes... what?!" He said that our Stake President got a letter from Salt Lake saying that Relief Societies should not have their own seperate blog... that's what the www.lds.org website was for. So gone is our Texarkana Ward Relief Society Blog. Suzanne did it so cute. I love reading other RS blogs too... oh, well.

*February 2nd-9th Weekly Update*

So since adding myself to Facebook, I have lacked in my blogging (have I said that before?). Maybe if I do a once-a-week blogging, then maybe I can keep you all updated more. Where to start, and I guess I added the pictures backwards, so we will start with today:

I should have done before and after pictures of the bedrooms. Before the carpet man came today and took $305, these carpets were a mess, thanks to Shawn who didn't think that he needed plastic to cover them as he sprayed texture all over the walls & ceilings. I bet next time he does!

This is the after shot of Kristen's & Lindsey's room... so nice!

And the after-shot of Lauren's & Kayley's room... sweet!

On Sunday, we had 3 milk cows delivered to us. Not exactly what I needed in this moment of my life, but they are here. One of them had a calf 2 weeks ago, and the other 2 are preggo. I named them... Bessie, Delsa & Kathrita are the momma's, and Sir is the boy calf. Why those names... well, I felt bad that Shawn or I didn't name any of our girls after their great-grandmothers, so Bessie (my Mom's mom), Delsa (my Dad's mom) and Kathrine & Rita (Shawn's grandmas) all should be proud that we named the 3 next important females after them. We already have started to drink the milk, and my kids do like it. I think Josh is the only one that complained. But what 18 yr old doesn't complain? The kids are learning how to milk, and that will be one of their after-school jobs soon. My sister, Heather, says she is going to send her boys up to learn how... LOL!! The boy calf is going to be called Sir, as in Sirloin, because in a year that's what he will become... lots of sirloin steaks for us (and roasts, and hamburger, etc...). I know, I know!! Gross!! But, Holly... if you ate my chili at Thanksgiving, you ate one of the cows from here! ;-)

I have successfully lost 16 lbs so far. I did get in a small rut on Friday & Saturday when on Friday I ate a 30 carb candy bar (couldn't resist that Heath Bar), and on Saturday I ate an apple dumpling that Shawn brought home for me from work. He has been bragging and bragging about this dessert, and I told him next time he can snag an extra to do so... well, I said that months ago! I didn't need it now. I'm not going to tell you how much I gained, but as of this morning I am back to my 16 lbs lost. I am now the proud owner of a pair of size 14 jeans! Woo-hoo!! I haven't been in 14's since before Joey was born. This morning as I put them on, I can tell that my butt area is getting looser. Great! Great as in yay!!! And Great as in geez... I'm going to have to go buy me 12's soon (oh darn!).

This is just a cute picture of Joey taken on Saturday, the 7th.

Lindsey Lou Who is a little more then 2... she is 5! We celebrated her day on her day: 2-2!

Don't look to close at the cake. It was horrible! But it was the cake she wanted... chocolate cake with pink frosting. I almost threw the cake outside to the dogs because the frosting was so runny (I decided that the frosting needed more sugar, even though it's the same recipe I have always used!). I stuck it in the fridge instead, and wah-la! So (not) perfect for a 5 yr old!
She has fallen in love with this doll, and wants more clothes that you can buy seperate. It really is a very cute, just like Lindsey Lou Who!

I think this is all the exciting things that happened this past week. This week there will be a bit more, so look for an update next Monday!

Happy Birthday Lindsey Lou Who!!

Today she is 5!!

She wants a chocolate cake with pink frosting, and wants ham-ba-gas for dinner.

Like I have said in a previous post, Shawn deleted all my 2003, 2004, & most of my 2005 pictures. I have none of her as a baby on my computer. So, by the grace of Grampa... I do have a few that he had downloaded, but she was 20 months old. Anyone else with younger ones of Lindsey? Here she is in late 2007, early 2008. I couldn't get Blogger to download anymore after this one. I don't know what the deal is today with Blogger!
2006 with Krissy Sue

October 2005 with a Pampered Chef Clip in her hair. Those make excellent barrettes! LOL!!

October 2005 again.

My favorite of Lindsey!!

Happy Birthday Lindsey!!

We love you so much!!