Santa

Last Sat we headed out to dinner and to finish the last of the Christmas shopping for Seans family. Since ALL of them live out of state we had to get gifts mailed but Mon. Anyhoo... we get home from shopping and in by our light on the buffet there were 2 notes from santa. The boys were convinced that Santa had broke in. Santa left their notes cover in MAGIC dust!!!! I love the Christmas spirit. They looked so excited. So we went in their rooms and read their notes aloud. They were super pumped for CHristmas.. heck they had an eairlier visit than most kids get. We made reindeer food for them to take to their dads and they made one for their sister too. We left the rest of the reindeer food out on the front porch on Christmas morning. Needless to say it was raining and the reindeer food was scattered all over the front porch and then to top it off... santa left white boot marks in the entry and on the carpet. The boys love this. I don't want them to realize that mom did this... I love just seeing what their faces look like with all the fun and surprises.

Takin a Hike!!!

The Sat before Christmas Rylle and Sean went for a BIG hike to the wind cave. It's a 3 mile hike both ways. They had tried to takle it a few weeks earlier but they had Tanner who wasn't so happy about hiking all the way up. So the morning of the big hike Sean and Rylle got up at 7 on a Sat and Packed some snacks and took their water bottles and headed off. Rylle sent me a text message when they reached the top. He had soo much fun. Seans planning a surprise hike on Sat.

Family Pictures

We went out for family pictures last week. Kelsea did them for us since my hubby couldn't take our pics and still be in them. She did the most amazing job!!! I love the things that she managed to capture of our family.

Gingerbread.....

We had a night of Gingerbread house making. Sean and Mitchell had never done this and neither have the boys. So Kelsea and I planned a family night of fun. We first got into our jammies to put together the Gingerbread Houses. After we were done we had hot chocolate with uber lots of mallows and watched the Polar Express. The boys camped out on the floor as we watched it as well as Mitchell and Kelsea. So once it was over we put the boys in their beds and Kelsea and Mitchell stayed the night. The boys had more fun that night!!!

What have i been doing????

Well I get a call from my mom this morning telling me how she doesn't know what's going on since I haven't blogged in a a few weeks. WEll here's the poop on what's been happening. My bff Michelle aka my sister is still pregnant. I have spent the past 2 weeks shopping with her so she could get her Christmas shopping done as well as keep the contractions going. She got her membranes stripped and still nothing. SO we wait.. but in the mean time I got ALL my Christmas shopping done!!!! The first time in a few years it was done before Christmas Eve. I"ve managed to fit everyone in for hair and get my house some hwat in order. That's a feat unto it's self. Since Sean and the boys tend to just leave things when they are done with them. So I'm just getting on top of laundry and I have managed to lose 10 lbs in the past 2 weeks. I think with all the walking that I've been doing with Michelle. So that's what's been going on here. The kids are ready for winter break and they are excited to make reindeer food and gingerbread houses and watch Polar Express. All I can say is that I'm twice as busy now than I was when I was working!!

Stay at home

Ok this is my first week back as a stay at home mom and I must say I forgot how much I loved being at home. I have been able to catch up on all my laundry and start my Christmas shopping. I love just being able to pick up my boys from school and drop them off at school in the morning. I love being able to sit at home with my hubby as he's working. I feel like I haven't seen any of them or at least spent the time with them that I needed to. It seems that all I ever did was work. I gave up soo much of my time with my family all for a job. I know I will never do that again.

A Blessing In Disguise

On Thurs my boss came to me and said that he needed to talk to me in my office. I figured he was wanting to know the details about a tenant who was canceling their service with us. But was I ever wrong.... he fired me!!! Or as my mom said they just let me go. I figured I was the back bone to the tenants and the business. But I guess I was wrong. He told me that they would pay me for the rest of the week and pay me the 5 vacation days that he gave me in my review the week before. So I packed up my desk and bolted ou tof there with tears flowing down my face. The thing that gets me is that he told me at my 3 year review in April I would be receiving a raise. HAHAHAHA well I came home spent the past few days crying and the whole woe is me. BUt Sean and I have both talked about it and we have been praying about a way that I can spend more time at home and look at what has happened. So it looks like now I am going to be a stay at home mom again. Oh the clincher to the story is.. I had over 100 vacation hours saved up. So I sent my boss an email telling him that I want those hours paid on my last paycheck. Hahahahaha so who got the last laugh!!!

Closed Minds

Well here's how the story goes, there's a guy in one of my buildings. He claims that he's fallen away from the church but he still wears his garments. So we got to talking today about the prop 8 and he asked me if I voted for it. I said no I voted against it. I said I come from a family where I have plenty of gay relatives and I think that they deserve to have the same family rights as we do. Well he went on to tell me that my opinion is wrong with the church and I"m going against the church. I said I believe that we are given choice and accountability for a reason. I know they may not choose to be gay, but there is still accountability that they will have to face. I said my mom raised me to be open minded and not to worry about what will happen to others when they face god. I know I only worry about myself and my family.
He then went on to tell me how they didn't have a "vision" to allow the blacks into the church. He was telling me that the government was hounding the church and saying they would take away tax credits from BYU if we didn't allow the blacks in. I told him that we don't know what really came about. WE weren't in with the first presidency when they were praying about it.
Needless to say he's always trying to get me to read anti-mormon literature. I told him I would read it the day he quit being a hypocrite and quit wearing his garments. I told him that I've had a pretty shitty life and as he said "why would god make someone gay if it's against his will" and my reply was " I've had a pretty crappy life. I could have many times said God why did you give me sooo many burdens and hardships. But I didn't I grew from them and I learned and my faith is increased ten fold" With that he shut up and walked away. As for me I think he's a tool!!

Tanner..

Tanners new thing is SPIKER color!! He loves it. We can add fun color to his "new hawk" That's what he calls his faux hawk. H changes colors everyday.. he has the choices between Red,blue,green. He loves that kids at school really dig the colors. I see it as a way that he is expressing himself. (he's wearing the red in this one)

8 Things I am passionate about.

1.Rylle & Tanner
2.My Hubby
3.My Family
4.The Arnett family
5.love
6.religion
7.being there for people.
8.Haircolor


8 Words or phrases I say often
1.No Way
2.FLippen A
3.for crap sakes
4.I love you
5. holy crap
6.Sean Patrick
7.Rylle Pratt
8.I hate snowbirds

8 Things I wanna do before I die
1. Be a good mom and wife
2.Travel the world
3. be more organized
4. Live the moment
5. Adopt a baby
6.get healthy & stay healthy
7.play more
8. not take things so seriously


8 Things I have learned
1. Life is hard...
2. it takes alot to keep a relationship so strong and great.
3.You are your strongest alli
4. some people will never grow up, so you have to move on and live your life.
5. when you feel like you cant keep going.. the spirit is there to guide you.
6.life will give you hard times..you just take a big girl pill and keep going
7.Love your husband
8. it takes time.


8 Places I would love to go to or see
1.australlia
2.ireland
3.hawaii (again)
4.Italy
5.Rome
6.the island where bella and edward spent there honeymoon.
7. To the temple with my hubby
8.

8 Things I need or want
1.A nap
2.A fresh Dp
3. New Jeans
4. to go on a great trip.
5. To Lose 30 lbs
6.To see my kiddos
7. new clothes.
8. A smooch from my hubby


8 foods i love
1. Dp
2.cereal
3.Cornbread
4.Rolls from texas roadhouse
5.Spaghetti
6.Dookie Dough
7.Dp
8.Dp

I Tag Rottennanners, Emily, Meghan

A day at the farm

Well as everyone knows that we have been moving. Our sweet sitter took the kids to her house in Florence, where they have pigs, goats, chicks, and horses. They had so much fun!! It was cute to hear Tanner talk about the baby chicks and how fuffy they looked. Here are some pictures that Kelsea took while they were there

Before and after..

People keep asking me which picture below is the before.. well the one with the blue floor is the before picture. The one with the black cabinets is the after.. so me don't you think?

House

Well the time has come that we are FINALLY moving!! I am soo excited!! This will be MINE! I have owned houses in the past but I was never allowed to decorate or paint them how I wanted to. Sean has given me full reign over the decorating. I love what our house has become!!
I have attached the after and before pictures of my kitchen.

Marie-Therese Gown GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

Marie-Therese Gown GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

Parent Teacher

I went to parent teacher conference this past week, and I am happy to say I have 2 smart kids! Tanner is in ELP now. He is only 1 of 2 kids in the entire Kindergarten class to be doing this. It's a first grade class that he goes too for 2 hours a day. He also gets to start taking AR. he read his first whole book last night by himself. It was soo cute to listen to him sound out the words.
Rylle is doing good for all accounts. We are not liking his teacher and he is growing bored. She's not challenging him. For all that know him know that he's one that needs to be challenged. So we are working on getting him a new teacher!

I love this..

Ohohoooh..oohhoohhoooh...you got the right stuff!

Last night I was able to relive being 14! It was soo awesome!! I saw New Kids On The Block! They did a great show I was surprised. The funny thing was... just about everyone there was my age or OLDER!!! So it was funny to watch these chicks get all mushy and cry over someone they dug 15 years ago! I had soo much fun I didn't get home until after 1. I can say that it was the best thing ever. It's not very often that a girl gets to see her favorited boy band of all time!!!!

Priesthood

Well I must say today has been a day.. Sean has spent the past week stressing about doing the sacrament for the first time. I must say it was awesome to see him up there breaking the bread and setting such a great standard for the boys. It was soo awesome that Kelsea and Mitchell and by bff and sister from my previous life were there for the support. Than Tanner talked Sean into going up with him to bear his testimony. I almost cried listening to Sean. But the kicker is once Sean finished Tanner was like no I don't want to! he just knew Sean needed to do it!!
I can't say enough about what an awesome guy I got. I have never felt this way for anyone other than my kids.
I also want to thank Kelsea for becoming a BIG part in our family!! I don't think Michelle or I could EVER function without you!

Conference

Here's a few quotes from conference that were soo good!!

Just because a marriage starts with two imperfect people, happiness is not unattainable, he said.

"Just as harmony comes from an orchestra only when its members make a concerted effort, so harmony in marriage requires a concerted effort," Elder Nelson said.

Focus on gospel principles that will strengthen marriage and faith often comes from teachers in the church.

Challenges faced the pioneers in the 1800s, and challenges face the church today, though they are different.

"Instead of angry mobs, we face those who constantly try to defame. Instead of extreme exposure and hardship, we face alcohol and drug abuse, pornography, all kinds of filth and sleaze, greed, dishonesty and spiritual apathy," Elder Ballard said. "The Lord isn't asking us to load up a handcart; he's asking us to fortify our faith. He isn't asking us to walk across a continent; he's asking us to walk across the street to visit our neighbors."

Toofers

Rylle pulled out his bridge the other night. It's been loose for a while, so I sent him to bed one night and I hear water running in their bathroom about 10 min later. So I went in to see if her was ok. I saw he was pulling it out. He's never pulled a tooth out by himself. I've always had to use a floss pick and I get it stuck under the loose tooth and pull it out for him. So he was brave enough to do this one on his own. he was so proud!! So the tooth fairy left him 5 bucks for the effort!!

Baby, baby, baby!!!

Good news!! Sean and I are starting our adventures with foster to adopt. We have our first class on the 8th of Nov. We are so stoked. We have a piece missing in our lives and we are unfortunate to not be able to have kids together. So we are going to be giving an infant a home. We get to choose the age range that we want. We are going from newborn to 1 year!!! Keep looking back for more updates!!!

Hardest Thing To Do..

I had to do one of the hardest things today. I had to fire a girl that I really like. I've never had an issue firing someone in the past but the difference is that I really really liked this girl. I was told earlier in the week that I would have to fire someone, but they made it sound like it would be in the next few weeks. I got an email this morning telling me that I had to fire someone. I have had the worst day just knowing that I had to do this.

To Jesus

Ok I must say that my Tanner bud is the cutest thing in the world. He say's some of the cutest things. This morning we are driving to school and he's telling me how he loves Sean to Jesus. I was like wow Tanner that's lots of love. He responds " mom I love you to Jesus and that's more than to infinity and beyond and gogoplasmius." He than goes on to tell me who is to the "Jesus" level as he would call it. Ryan, Michelle, chuckles, Aubrey , Shelby, My grammas and pappas. I was like what about your dad? He goes : well when he's on my good side I can love him to Jesus" That was too funny and a great way to start the day!!

Horses Horses Horses.......

This past weekend Sean and I went to my boss's new cabin in Showlow. We got up early on Sat wondering what to do with our day. I suggested that we go ride horses, well needless to say it's been about 10+ years since Sean was on a horse. So we head out to Porter Mountain, and meet up with our guide. Now as we all know Sean is a big guy, so the guide gives Sean a bigger horse. I got a horse that had been used in roping events so he was easy to ride. Sean's horse wasn't so easy. The guide and I got a good laugh quite a few times as the horse would wonder off and stop dead on the trail. We were out for a little over an hour and we had so much fun. We are going to take the boys riding the next time we head up, but first I''m hoping that Kelasea can give the boys some riding tips.

Kindergarten.....

I just got back from my day helping with Tanners class. I must say all those kids are a handful and Mrs Ide has the patience of Job!!! I love surprising tanner, he didn't remember that it was my day for a visit. His face lit up so bright and he stretched his arms out to me. It was all I could do to not think he used to do this when he wanted to spend the day on my hip! I miss those days!!! It was fun working on numbers with the kids, it amazes me as to how many kids can't count to 10. I feel so blessed knowing that I armed tanner with the tools that he needs just to make it to kindergarten!

BOUTIQUE!!!!!!

TATTERED LADIES BOUTIQUE

Fall is soon to be in the air and that means it's Boutique time! Save the dates and mark your calendars!

Oct. 16, 17 & 18 at my home. 3745 E Hopi Ave. Mesa
Thurs. and Fri., 10AM to 7 PM Sat. 10 AM to 5PM

All kinds of holiday craft items, home decor items, one of a kind shabby chic and lots, lots more. Hoke will be in the kitchen making homemade green chili burros and salsa by the jar. Homemade holiday treats and all kinds of goodies. You won't want to miss this. Look for the TATTERED LADIES signs directing you to the Fun!

Playground

I think that we've finally gone off of our rockers!! We had my sweet niece and nephew for the afternoon. So after a movie and lots of popcorn and soda, we decided to go to the park. Mind you it was only 100 degrees and extremely humid!!! We left the kids to play and get all hot and stinky. They had so much fun and ran around as if it wasn't quite so hot! I love spending the time with them!!!!

Purple People Eater

Ok.. so today I'm sporting purple hand and fingernails. No I'm not losing circulation.. I found the best hair color that is bright and fun. But I did Missy's hair last night and I added this new purple. But the funny thing is.. that no matter what I touched last night (after washing my hands and everything ) is PURPLE.. the bottom of my tub my bathroom sink. Geez looks like a big purple dinosaur came in

Pee Pee Hotel

Ok here's the deal... Sean and I went to Page this past weekend. He got a gig to shoot pics of the Best Western in Page. So we thought cool.. A chance to have a get away. So we make the 5 hour drive ( which by theway is really long after Flag) We get there.. Not a bad motel. We go inside, that should have told me everything!! It smelled weird just in the lobby alone. So we head down the hall to our room. We open the door and we are hit with the most NASTIEST smell. I can only describe it as a cross between pee and bo mixed with moldy mildewy smell!! anyways.. I had Sean take me to Walmart to buy some slippers because I wasn't about to touch the floor. I also took a shower standing on a wash cloth.. because I was afraid of what might just live in the shower.

Nancy Rao

Sean's sister nancy was in town for a brief but too too short visit. I really enjoyed FINALLY meeting her and getting to know her beautiful spirit. I"m sad to see her go and actually am quite emotional, and for all those that know me know that I"m not one to get all sappy and teary over anything. We spent the afternoon shopping and chatting. She is really something amazing. He has got such an amazing family. Linda is super super sweet and I wish we saw more of her since she is a matter of hours away. I can't wait to start devoting summers to visiting his family.

Back to school

Rylle and Tanner have started back to school. Rylle is in the 4th grade and thinks he knows EVERYTHING. Tanner is starting kindergarten, my baby is all grown up. i had a hard time dealing with that. So I figured I would work more to help me deal and cope. Sean has also started a new job. He's working with his photography backround. He is so talented in so many areas