Jake's Leaving us...for 6 Months!!

I'm excited, nervous, sad, anxious and have never wanted time to go by fast as much as I do now! We are excited for new opportunities for our family and even though it seems like a huge sacrifice now, I know that we will be better for having gone through it! Last year Jake was working in Vegas during the week and now I think that that was just gearing me up for this year since Jake will be leaving for Guantanamo Bay, Cuba(GTMO) sometime this week! Or "Git-mo" as people call it! He will be gone for 6 months. He will be running an underground crew for building houses! I hope time goes fast! There has been a lot of things we've needed to get done before he goes and I can hardly believe the time is coming, ok it's here! I am staying in Utah for now unless if Jake convinces me to go there eventually. We are going to stay busy busy while daddy's away. We really thought about this job opportunity and thought the worst part is being away from each other, but Jake said that I will only have to miss 1 person and he will be missing 3! He will also miss our anniversary, my birthday, and most likely Jaxon's birthday. He might be home for Thanksgiving but I'm not sure if he will even be home then-or for Christmas! But we will be together in January! I can't wait for January! It will be worth it!! I'm so very grateful that my husband has been able to stay busy here in St. George but when his cousin called and asked him to come work we decided he couldn't pass up the chance! I'm excited for Jake to get to go. They have a golf course, outdoor movies, scuba/snorkeling, and a half-marathon and full marathon. I told him to start training and if we get down there we can run a marathon together-he told me to keep dreamin! I had to say it though! I'm excited to hear about his adventures and I feel good knowing he will be there with family! Is is January yet?! LOL

Happy Birthday Jake!

Happy Birthday to Daddy! We had a fun day hanging out together and I even made him a steak! I hate steak! Not even dislike...hate. LOL But I would cook anything for him ;) He had gone fishing for a while and brought me back some trout and he cooked it for me, pretty rude on his birthday I guess! I just love the way he cooks it so I had fish for dinner and he had his steak...that I didn't even burn! Jake's parents came to see him before they went to Mesquite and she made a DELICIOUS cheesecake for him! She said she didn't even try any-WOW I don't know that I would have that much willpower-she looks incredible and she has given me a lot of motivation this week to go running! I've ran a few every day this week! YAY Anyway back to Jake's bday...I got him a "fly rod" from Dick's Sporting Goods and when I gave it to him he says "this is great." I could tell just the way he said it, that it wasn't the right rod. I even swallowed my pride and asked an older man who worked there about buying a fly rod. He showed me the fly rods and said to me "These are what I use." Ok dude, so I was totally trying to be a cool wife and go out on a limb and buy him something COMPLETELY out of my comfort zone and what happened I bought the wrong thing! I ended up returning it to Dick's and again swallowed my pride. Obviously you can't put a fishing pole/fly rod in a grocery bag, ugh it still makes me uncomfortable~! I don't have a problem returning things but out of my own insecurities, to me it looked like I was that wife who obviously bought the wrong thing and I just wanted to return it. I didn't even want anyone to ask me if I wanted to look for something else to exchange it...but they did, and I returned it AND the free sweatshirt (the cashier wondered why I was returning the sweatshirt bc it was free). I just said it seems like the honest thing to do, right? I know he had a great birthday and he's still undecided about getting new work boots or a fly rod. WOW we are so sentimental for birthdays arent we?! Probably the only family picture we have....I'm so bad at getting pictures done!

My sweet boys!

Sleeps anywhere..like his daddy! AND Jack Frost...

Logan fell asleep yesterday and today in his high chair! He was fussy and I was getting ready to give him some homemade mac and cheese (my fav) and as soon as I finished making it he was asleep! Should I be offended that Jaxon won't eat my mac and cheese (he loves mac and cheese) and besides a few bites here and there all he has wanted is hot chocolate?

It snowed a little today and he had to go out in his coat and pjs and see the snow...and he wanted to make a snowman and have hot chocolate, and of course sing the song "Hot Chocolate" from "Polar Express!"

Jaxon says his name will be Frosty, and he needs a button for his nose, and eyes of coal and we gotta have a carrot...so we used TINY rocks for eyes and made about a 2 inch snowman! He melted by 11!

Jax and his CTR ring..don't mind the pirate sword!
Jaxon also sings "I Am A Child of God" by saying "lead me, beside me, lead me, beside me" (that's pretty much the whole song that he sings) I love it! ;) At the primary program a few months ago all the kids told their favorite scripture story; Jaxon's was "Noah and the Whale" and I thought it was PERFECT! After he said his favorite story all the kids left in his class said the same thing...Noah-and the Whale! So many people were cracking up because we all knew it was wrong but it was too cute!

What do I do all day?!

I have so many things I want to be doing right now but it seems like I don't get a lot done that I want to do unless if Jake's home! Logan is into EVERYTHING! Yesterday he dumped crackers all over in the pantry and thoroughly enjoyed every last bit of it...until I cleaned it up but really, I'm not kidding that he's busy...every day he has what I call "makin' his rounds!" He knocks off everything on the coffee tables and end tables and then he goes to the entertainment center and clears off the pictures and decorations and then he goes to the pantry and grabs various items and throws them on the ground without even looking at where they are landing! The other day I was trying to get him away from all my beads and fabric that I had left out because I was trying to work on them every day and while I was trying to clean up and put my bead tray on the top of the couch to keep them high so he couldn't get to it, and what happens? Well I made the biggest mess when I went to sit down and beads were all over in the seat cushions and somehow managed to land down the back of my shirt...Jaxon thought that was hilarous because some of the beads are chunky and COLD going down my back! I thought oh my heck why am I the one making the mess?! Day in the life at our house :) Needless to say that Logan wears me out especially since Jake works at least until 7, but I love my little squish squish anyway!! The other day a lady asked me if he was 6 months old!! WHAT?! Say that again...ya she asked if he was like what 6 months or so...ya sure ;) try 10 months, but I took it with confidence because that has never happened before! Most people think my babies are way older than they really are because they are just big babies!! And now Jax is just skin and bone...wish I could say the same for myself!LOL Gotta go..Logan is grunting and growling at me..HILARIOUS, I've never heard a baby who grunts and growls so much!

My bows that Logan miraculously opened and had to explore! Nothing is EVER child proof!

Spongebob..Jaxon wanted his picture with my fabric too ;)

Jax and SpongeBOB!!

Logan playing with my fabric

Christmas Rocks!!

Polar Express Day

Today was Polar Express Day at preschool and Jaxon got to wear his PJ's to school! I was so excited-I kinda wish I was invited to go to the Polar Express Day! Tiffany, his teacher set up different stations-the story station of "The Polar Express," the counting station, the craft station, the snack station, the letter station, and the color station! All the kids were super excited when the moms came to pick up their kids-I know it was such a fun day! Jaxon also did the show-and-tell today! He wanted to bring his Buzz and Woody, and he also brought something for the clue bag! He could pick from a list of letters and he chose to bring his Pirate Potato Head! Tiffany gave each of the kids a reindeer chocolate milk, and their finger paint pictures!



He has learned SO much in the amount of time he's been in school he's learned how to spell his name, he can say the alphabet without any help, and he can count-they are learning about the number 12 right now! I'm so happy he loves school! On Monday he had a Christmas program and all the kids sang songs and did a Nativity scene! Jaxon was a wise man! They dressed up like reindeer and Santa even came. They also made a special gift for their mommy's and daddy's of their handprints in mittens! I love that kind of stuff! :)Jaxon keeps telling Santa he wants a big car...then he'll say "well, a medium sized car." So I think we figured out that he wants a remote control car-looks Santa better make sure he's got that it's the only thing I've heard him tell Santa!

I don't know what I'm going to do for a few weeks without school because Jaxon asks me every day if he has school today...I guess we will have to play our own school!

Little Golfer

If you ask Jaxon if he wants to go fishing, sometimes he does and sometimes he doesn't but you never have to ask twice if he wants to go golfing, especially with our friend Matthew! I haven't been golfing since I was pregant with Jaxon-I know me pregant and golfing-I quit before it was hurting too much and then I haven't been since, but maybe one day when Logan is older I can start again! Anyway so Jake got Jaxon his first REAL set of clubs and a few weeks ago we walked to the golf course and putted. I had never seen Jaxon golf or putt but I was impressed! I'm glad Jaxon and Jake can go to something they both like to do together!

Jaxon's Birthday

I never posted about Jaxon's birthday. He had his first friend birthday with 2 of his friends from our ward! Can I just say that these boys are like the 3 Muskateers?! They all get along so well together and I had all things games planned for the party and all they cared about was playing toys and eating cupcakes! If I'd known that I wouldn't have worried about what we were going to do all day for the party!
Hangin' out, I guess what boys do!

Opening presents from his friends! They were so cute when they were giving him their presents! To this day Jaxon plays with the toys they brought every day! So cute I love this age!



The party was a pirate party and I told them to give me their best pirate faces...Micah just smiles! I love it Janson's is pretty cute! Jaxon is pretty good at pulling faces!
Later that night my parents came down to celebrate and we opened presents! He got so many fun things-ok he was spoiled!

Star Wars

Jaxon got a light saber for his birthday and he always tries to get Logan to play with him! Logan is good at holding up the cheap one from the dollar store but obviously he doesn't know how to actually play with it, but Jaxie still tries! Jaxon is so good with Logan. When we are out running errands sometimes a mom who looks like they have kids around the same age as mine will ask me how my older child is with my baby. My first thought is great! I guess I never really thought about it though because Jaxon really is a good big brother! He helps me with him and he knows to play softly but I know he's only 4 and I can't expect him to be perfect all the time, but to me he is! Logan thinks Jaxon is the funniest person ever-all Jaxon has to do is simply talk and Logan has a deep laugh-like the kind that when you laugh so hard it hurts! I can't wait for Logan to get big so Jaxon can have someone to play with!

Thanksgiving Program

Jaxon's school did a Thanksgiving program at Kolob Care Center last week and it was great! The kids were all so cute and SMART! I'm surprised that Jaxon is so outgoing! I don't mind having to speak sometimes but Jaxon likes being the one with all the attention on him. He was good to speak when it was his turn and he even spoke loudly so every one could hear! The kids had made a handprint made into a turkey for all the patients and all the kids passed out a turkey handprint to all the patients. My friend's mom came to the program to watch her grandkid and one of the girls in the class handed her a handprint! She was laughing and said that's the last time she's sitting down! Judy her daughter was laughing so hard-It was pretty funny and the young grandma had a sense of humor about it!

Thanksgiving, Black Friday

Oh I love Grandpa Staheli so much! There's just a special connection that we have, and he is such a sweet man! I'm so grateful he is our grandpa! We went to G&G Staheli's house after we had Thanksgiving at Jake's parents house! Jake has been working up at his parents house and the last time he went to see G&G they said to not come back until I come back with him! So we did! I haven't been up to Enterprise since Jake's sister, MaryLynn had her farewell so it was nice to be able to go to their house and visit with them for a few hours! I'm just mad I didn't get a pic with grandma and Logan. We were going to but then we'd get to talking and forget about it! Jaxon was tired and onry so no pics with him!

I got home just in time to drop off my stuff at home and headed over to Walmart at 10 for Black Friday! It worked out perfect because my friend was coming down from Enterprise and we shopped all day together! I got every thing I wanted to get and the lines werent too bad, but I have to admit I was wondering if I was ready for all the chaos because it was pretty chaotic at Walmart! I was just grabbing things to put in my cart and checking prices as I went! Then we headed to Kohls and Old Navy and then we went to the Boulevard Home Furnishings because my friend wanted a washer which they only had 10!! AHH we hadn't planned on staying in line and luckily her mother-on-law brought blankets for us and I kept asking Jenny if we were really doing this! I couldn't leave my pregnant friend to fend for herself so of course I stayed and we ended up getting the 10th voucher! Talk about lucky-I might have cried if she didn't get it! It was actually pretty fun talking to the people around us and staying warm with hot chocolate! Then we drove out to Hurricane to pick up her washer and went to Kmart and we were spent! I got some pretty awesome deals and I must say I'd do it again in a heartbeat! Overall it was a great day and even though I had no sleep until noon Friday it was worth it and I must say it's an adrenaline rush!

Chicken or Turkey

My friend up the street did these cute turkey's for her daughters class and she brought a few she had left for Jaxon to do! He loved doing it and I was kind of surprised that he sat down and finished each chicken...as he called them!
Jaxon was done with me taking pictures, but I couldn't resist!

He was really concentrating and working hard to finish his turkey. We have 3 of them and he has taken a few eyes of and feathers, and then he will re-do them! I just might save these for next year, because I think they turned out very cute! My neighbors are so sweet to always think of Jaxon!

Christmas Concert

Last night we went to the first concert for the Christmas Season at the tabernacle! I love going to the concerts there but for some reason we didn't go a lot last year! I was nervous taking a 7 month old because he can be loud sometimes ;) What baby isn't? He did pretty well, but I'm sure the people sitting behind us were annoyed but I want my kids to experience the concerts there, and going to the visitors center and enjoy (hopefully one day) the performing arts! More than half the group singing last night were our ward members! I had no idea that some of the people singing last night could sing...one talent I wish I had, but that doesn't stop me from singing in the car! It was so good and it has put us in the Christmas mood! Tonight we went to Bloomington to the Christmas lighting of the giant Christmas tree by Walmart! Santa came on a giant crane and handed out candy canes with M&M's inside! Jaxon got to see a few of his friends and watch some of them sing in a Christmas program! It was so fun I can't believe I never knew about it before!

My Grandma Hofler took all 7 of her grandkids to plays and every year we would go to "The Nutcracker." I LOVED that tradition and luckily Jake will go with me and he even enjoys it too! Jaxon really gets into it too-last night he was dancing and leading the music and having a great time! He is really good at hearing the beat to a song and picks it right up every time a new song starts! Jake and I hope he will have some kind of musical talent!

Afterwards we went Iceberg...Jaxon's favorite "corn dog and ice cream" place and I guess it was a great idea because all the people who sang at the concert came there for ice cream too! Our friends came to our table to say hi and I was in tears because Logan had just choked on a french fry and I had to dig down in his throat with my finger and got a HUGE chunk of french fries! Oh my heck I was so emotional but at the time when he was leaning back in his car seat the first reaction was to get him out he was gasping for air and trying to cough. It-was-scary. Every day I get to be a mom I'm amazed that things don't necessarily shock me until after it's over and then I'M SO EMOTIONAL and wonder how I reacted so quickly! So from now on it's only baby food, rice cereal, or milk. I'm so grateful for my kids and for getting to be with them every day.

Our neighbors brought a Christmas countdown calendar to Jaxon today. He has all ready opened a few of the days-what do ya expect from a 4 year old who loves chocolate and I wasn't going to worry about it if he wanted a few of them! I told him a few times that if he eats something for lunch, dinner then he could have a couple chocolates! I always loved those calendars!

It's Beginning to Look Alot Like...

Jake took Jaxon to Enterprise today and I stayed with Logan. So what did we do today? Well put up the Christmas tree of course! Yes one of the Christmas trees is up and decorated! There's been times in the past that I have Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas all up at the same time! Hey I'm just trying to make the most of my holidays! ;) I turned the lights on the one tree I have decorated but I closed my blinds because I know a few of my neighbors will give me a hard time about having Christmas up before Thanksgiving! Although Logan likes to watch the lights on the tree-he sat in the bouncy chair tonight and played and watched the tree and then went back to playing! This went on for almost an hour! Looks like he likes Christmas decorating as much as I do! It's the first time he's even seen a Christmas tree, and I just wonder what he thinks when he's looking at it because he just looks surprised every time he looks up at the tree! We have a busy weekend but it's nice to have Jake home more than just Friday evening, Saturday, and Sunday! He's been working out of town during the week since August and it's been so nice getting to see him every night...but he said he refuses to help me decorate the trees until after Thanksgiving, but I just can't wait! I love Christmas!

Ugg! My Stuff is Messed Up

Somehow I changed the layout of my blog...yes I remember how I did it but I was just trying messing around and now it's not how I wanted it AT ALL! The background is wrong, and the picture on the top bothers me, and the font is wrong too! I thought I was so cool learning something new but instead I messed it up and I don't know how to fix it!

My Life as a Smuggler

I found this article on "Mormon Mommy Blogs" entitled "My Life as a Smuggler." I just thought it was hilarious...maybe because my mom and I would probably do the same thing! When we were at Swiss Days this last September we brought our own Diet Coke to drink, and a few people actually asked my mom where we got them because they wanted to buy some! Anyway I know that there's a lot of people who might get a kick out of this story about a lady who went to a conference at BYU, knowing Diet Coke wouldn't be available on campus-I just got a kick out of it because I think I could relate, so I had to share!

I went to BYU for a conference a while back and I knew that I wouldn't be able to get a Diet Coke on Campus. I knew this from past experiences of being Diet Coke-less. Or, more directly, Caffeine infused Diet Coke-less. The other stuff is just brown flavored water. Why even bother?

My pal DeNae and I stocked up on our crack at the local gas station along with some chocolate so that we could summon our mojo from those stingy creative gods.

I was wandering around lost, apparently flaunting my naughty Diet Coke, when I stumbled up to the information desk at BYU to have the cute girl help this sad lost soul. A woman came up behind me and pointed at my glorious juice of the gods and then looked at the person behind the desk as if to say "Are you KIDDING me?"

She said "Where... where.... WHERE can you get this on CAMPUS?"

I smiled my all knowing smile, and said that you couldn't get this sweet goodness on campus, but that I had actually stocked up before I arrived.

She huffed: "Well. You know, Caffeine isn't allowed... Or is it?" And gave a knowing, nodding glance to the students.

I laughed, and said "Oh I know they don't sell caffeine on campus. I "smuggled" it onto campus. I bring it every year for the Women's Conference so that I can survive.

She snorted at me.

Oh yes she did.

She totally snorted at me.

She looked at the students and said "Can she have this here? It has caffeine in it."

They said that they weren't "affiliated" with caffeine, so they couldn't respond to that question.

Really?

You're not "affiliated" with caffeine?


When he calls, do just hang up on him? Do you slam the door in his face when he rings the bell?

What do you mean you're not "affiliated" with caffeine?

"WELL", the crazy-lady said "It's against the rules here. I know that smoking is not allowed on campus, so I'm not going to light up. I go to my car to drink my caffeine Diet Coke. You need to put that away."

And then she took my Diet Coke and put it inside my coat pocket.

Yes. She did.

She totally TOUCHED my Diet Coke. And. AND! She put it underneath my coat, as if to hide my sins.

I promptly took my Diet Coke back and placed it on the counter while saying: "I don't hide my sins under a bushel, I flaunt them for all the world to see."

She didn't think that was very funny, so being the consummate performer that I am, I put that Diet Coke right back underneath my jacket and then turned very slowly towards her and while opening my jacket (to expose my Diet Coke) I said in a deep gravely voice: "Hey little girl, wanna buy a Diet Coke?"

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No Bananas

I took the kids to the pediatrician this morning, and Logan is of course still in the 95 percentile for his height and weight. I wasn't too shocked because Jaxon was always that way UNTIL TODAY! Jaxon is now in the 75th percentile for his height and weight...yes he's still a big kid but finally at 4 years old he's not in the 99th (well for right now anyway)! He didn't have to do any shots because he was caught up on them, until he goes to kindergarten. I could do the shots between now and when he starts kindergarten so I decided to wait-he was soooo worried about getting shots today-and so we just did the flu mist in his nose-he was a lot more calm about that! Dr Karl is so cute with Jaxon-he kept asking Jaxon to if he could see if there were any bananas in his ears and tummy, and Jaxon thought that was hilarious!He kept telling me on the way their he just wanted to go to my doctor (meaning the baby doctor from when I was pregnant with Logan) because he says its fun there! Ya fun for him because every time we would go to Dr. Thompson's office he would always get a sticker and a sucker-for no pain ;)

Logan on the other hand had to have shots-I of course was more worried about it because he didn't know what was coming to him! So when they gave him the first 2 shots he just stared with a panic look on his face and then it came SCREAMS!! When this baby is mad he definately lets everyone know about it! After the last 2 were done he got crayon bandaids and then I picked him up to snuggle and comfort him and he was still mad...and then he looked at the lady who gave him the shots and he smiled so big-and he's been fine ever since! Thank goodness! Logan had some tylenol and he's now as happy as can be! When my kids get their shots it doesn't affect them too much, thankfully! Now he's back to Mr. Smiley!

Painting Pumpkins

Last weekend we painted pumpkins! Jake and I helped Jaxon with his pumpkin and then I had fun doing it I went a bought another pumpkin for myself to paint! Both the boys fell asleep early Saturday night so I worked on my pumpkin! I've never actually carved a pumpkin-I know I know, but painting is just as fun and it's alot less mess!




Here is mine....it's Tink!

Scary Skeletons

Jaxon and Logan are skeletons this year for Halloween! Last night we had a ward primary costume party and they both wore their costumes! They had so much fun I had to get a picture of them together before Halloween is over! Jaxon has gotten good use out of his costume! They are pajamas and he wore them to enrichment night and he'll probably wear it tomorrow at school for the costume party! The best part is that on Halloween we can just come home and he can go right to sleep in his jammies ;) We experimented with some face paint today for the costume party tomorrow and let me just say I am no artist, but Jaxon loved having it done so of course it was worth trying!


Jaxon wanted Logan to look at me, so he thought he needed a little help! My mom got their costumes and they even glow in the dark!

Look Who's Sitting Up!

Logan is 6 months all ready and I can't believe it! In the last few days he has started to scoot! He doesn't scoot like Jaxon did though (Jaxon would scoot around on his bum, causing major holes in many outfits)! Logan scoots on his back-it's so crazy to me! I was talking to my mom earlier and I was telling her about how he started scooting around on the floor and we both couldn't believe it! Jaxon also never crawled-he went from scooting to walking so it will be interesting to see if the scooting on the back thing is here to stay for Mr. Logan! I think that the querky things like that make me love my kids even more!