Not much has happened in the last several weeks. School is going great for both kids. Jayden is doing great with his reading, he gets better every day. Emma is finally liking her teachers and has fun, no more crying! She even tells all the teachers and helpers there that she isn't crying anymore! They all think she is precious and love telling me stories about her. I am looking forward to the holidays and some time off of work. Kelly came to me just the other day and told me I needed to be watching my annual leave because I can only accrue so many hours before they stop adding up. So basically, I need to take time off work! Yes! No arguments there! I have a new snake baby added to the family last month. She was a surprise from Nick. I picked her out and all that kind of stuff, but he surprised me one morning by just telling me I could have a Hognose! When I asked him about it later, he said he felt bad about our date I was trying to plan for us. I could not find a babysitter so we could go just for fun to a reptile show in Springfield. I asked several friends, posted on our church group and finally posted 3 separate times on my personal Facebook page with a plea for help. No one was able to help us. It was difficult to accept that everyone is just busy sometimes and it put me in a sour mood. I shouldn't have gotten upset, but I did. Anyways, Nick said he wanted to still go and just take the kids with us. I wasn't really in the mood to chase them around the place while trying to enjoy the show, but we went ahead and went. We ended up having a good time and I got my little girl Western Hognose snake I named Juliet. She's a doll and hisses at me every time I pick her up. She thinks she's big and bad, so adorable!! We are all looking forward to Halloween this week. Jayden is going as Batman and Emma is going as Rapunzel. We'll see if she actually wears the long hair wig we got to go with the costume. It'll be so cute if she does! Halloween is all Jayden has been talking about for the last month and a half. He is so excited.

Friday September 4th was a very frightening day for Nick and I. I was at work and he was on his way to work in Miami (he's working with some guys doing construction work a few days a week.) I got Nick's call that our house was on fire, I needed to go home. I tore out of here as fast as I could. Thank goodness my bosses are awesome and I didn't loose my job. All I could think of as I was driving home was that my babies were at school and they were okay. And of course thinking of my animals... My snakes and my cats... I didn't know if they would be okay. Turns out, our house was still standing. I had laid a wet towel over Luca's cage to help raise the humidity in his cage because he was getting ready to shed his skin. It's just something I do to help, always have done this. Well, the heat lamp I have over his cage got knocked down (probably my cat!!) and fell onto the towel. It dried it up and began to burn it. Because the towel was still wet on the ends, all it did was smoke and smolder. The smoke alarm went off and, because it is linked with a phone line to our ADT alarm system, it called the fire department for us. They had to bust our front door window to get inside. By the time I arrived, they had the towel and the lamp out and had big fans set up in the door to help get the smoke out. They said I could go inside and I immediately began bagging up the snakes and getting them outside. The smoke was all gone, but the smell was still very strong and I just wanted them to have some fresh air. I was actually very surprised poor Luca was still alive. The poor thing was terrified though. He balled up and hid his head when I picked him up. The other snakes also acted strangely, thrashing around is something they never do... The fire department packed up their stuff and left since everything was okay. Nick and I had to run to town to buy a whole new door because they couldn't order new replacement glass. It was a very stressful morning. All of my snakes seem to be doing just fine. And all the cats are fine, too. I was worried they had escaped outside when the front door was wide open earlier. They didn't come out when we called and we couldn't find them anywhere. They were hid good though, because one by one, they all came out when everything settled back down. I was so relieved. That night I washed all our bedding to get rid of the smoke smell. Surprisingly, it didn't take long at all for it to all air out. We couldn't smell anything the next day. I am so very grateful that everything turned out okay. It could have been so much worse. Had we not had the ADT smoke alarm, it would have taken flames on the outside of our home and a neighbor seeing it before the fire department was called. ADT literally saved our home and our pets' lives. And of course our Heavenly Father, I cannot thank Him enough for His hand in everything. It has all been a wake up call. I wonder how much renter's insurance is? =)

Reptiles and boats!

We had an eventful weekend. We visited our local reptile expo. I have so much fun when we go. They are small, with only about 10 or so vendors. But they have lots of snakes and lizards to look at. This time around I got to hold a big male ball python that was sweet as sugar. Wish I could have brought him home. And all of us got to hold two different crested geckos. We love those guys!! We ate at McDonalds afterwards and then headed to Bass Pro. The kids love going and sitting on all the boats and four wheelers. Speaking of boats, our final destination was to go view a pontoon boat and take it out on the water. If we liked it, we would buy it! So the kids got new life jackets at Bass Pro. They were just so excited! So the boat... We met the fella and my immediate impression was.. meh. I didn't like the looks of it much. We knew the boat was old, it was a 1991 model. But it was much older looking than I liked. The seats had cubbies underneath and they were all full of cob webs and dirt. One even completely fell off because the hinges were broke. The motor looked ancient and we were told it was original to the boat but had been rebuilt. And the trailer was dunky and looked way too small for the boat, plus it had a flat tire. We just weren't impressed. We decided to go ahead and test it out on the water though. We followed the guy to the lake. The kids got their life jackets on and we were just waiting to get on. But the guy couldn't even get it to start! We stood at the edge of the water for about 15 minutes waiting for him to get the thing started. He finally got it started and as we started to walk to the dock, it turned off and he never could get it going again. We knew this was a big huge NO!! I felt bad for the man, I'm sure he was embarrassed. But I also feel like he knew this boat was in bad shape, like he was trying to pawn it off onto someone else. That's the way the world works, but it's so rude. We won't be getting that boat. Nick found another one that is a little newer. He feels pretty excited about it because the man who owns it used it to take his grandkids out on the water. He bought it from his friend who bought it brand new. So hopefully everything works out and we can get it. I just don't want to be wasting our time and money! Nick's always wanted a boat though and now that we are able to handle the cost of one, we've figured why not! Fingers crossed! These pictures are from a recent birthday party we went to and from our trip this weekend. My how these kids are growing!!

Can it really be a year and a half since I updated my blog? Sheesh! Well, here I am to try again. I came to update on what my family has been up to, but also to mourn the loss of a friend. My best friend, Sarah Weldon, has lost her amazing husband, Rusty Fry. My heart absolutely aches for her. He was only 28 years old and they have two young boys together. I went to see Sarah yesterday and felt so helpless. I wish there was something I could do or say to help her feel better, but there's nothing that can. All we can do as her friends is be there for her. Sarah is a strong young woman and an even better mother. She's going to make it through this. Somehow. Anytime a friend or family member is lost, the world stops turning so fast and everyone goes about each day in shock. Then slowly, life gets back on track and we again forget just how short life is and how easily and quickly it can end. It makes everyone stop and think about life and death and makes them take an extra moment to hug and kiss their loved ones. Then back to the fast track again until the next person passes away. We need to never forget how short life is. We should always take the extra moment to give a hug or a kiss. I love the quotes "Never go to bed angry." and "Always kiss me goodbye." We just simply don't know when the last time will be. I love my family so much. My kids are the light of my life. They seriously drive me crazy a lot when they fight and bicker, but that's how it should be. They are healthy and (usually, lol) happy and that's all that matters. I wish I had more patience with them. I hardly remember my mom ever loosing her patience with me, and I know I deserved it a lot. I hope someday I can be just as wonderful as she was to me. Jayden loves keeping busy and is always ready to go outside and play, even if it's 95 degrees outside! His new hobby is catching lightning bugs. A couple nights ago, he and Emma and Nick caught 4 of them and we put them in a little critter keeper with some grass. The kids took it into their room with the light off in hopes of seeing them light up. The bugs found a small whole in the lid of the cage and got out! Jayden was then concerned that they were flying around in his room. I'm not sure if they ever found them! Emma is talking like a little pro. She's going to be going to Turtle Tots in August. I cannot even believe she is old enough to go to school. It seems like it took forever for Jayden to be old enough, but time really flew by with her. She is still sporting short frizzy hair and huge blue eyes. I hope she will grow some hair soon so we can start playing hair stylist! She's still obsessed with Mickey Mouse, but we have added a few new friends to the line up. Paw Patrol, Frozen and Tangled to name just a few. Oh, can't forget about Ninja Turtles. She and Jayden love the turtles and she can name them all just as easily as Jayden can. She potty trained within 1 month of really trying. I have to give credit to her baby sitter Corey for that. She only went to Corey's house for about a month before something came up and she was unable to continue baby sitting. But in that time Emma decided she would start using the potty at Corey's house and then finally at home. She was almost easier than Jayden! And he was super easy! Now I need to brag on my super hot husband, Nick! Gosh I love him. I want to cry now just thinking about how much I love him. I hope he knows it. He does so much for me, it's unreal. Just the last couple days he let me drop everything to go on a late night trip to Joplin with my friend Tara R. to pick up some stuff to take to Sarah. I was gone till almost 1:00AM and he never once complained. Then the next day he kept the kids so I could go visit her. It may not be much, but that's huge to me. Nick makes me speechless. I am struggling to put into words how much he means to me. He is my other half. He is my strength, my light, my friend. I love you, Nick. Always and forever. I've tried to add several photos but can't for some reason. It just keeps hanging up on me. I'll try again next time!

We had an absolutely wonderful weekend! We went to Branson, MO! We have gone before with Jayden, but he was still a baby, so he doesn't remember it. The drive was uneventful, but was full of the classic "Are we there yet?" Jayden complained more than Emma did! In fact, she didn't fuss at all except when the sun was shining in her eyes, which I fixed by pinning a jacket up on her window to block the sun out! We first stopped at Bass Pro in Springfield. I'd never been before and Nick had been there once, but didn't have enough time to really look around. We all actually had a lot of fun. There is a lot of stuff to look at. The kids sat on several different four wheelers and a big truck thing, I think it's called a gator? They had a ton of fun and were both very well behaved. Jayden enjoyed the fish. I enjoyed the display of water turtles! I used to have one as a pet and just love those guys! (the green ones with the red spot on their necks!) Jayden had been wearing one of Nick's camo hats and loved it because it was just like Daddy's. But it was an adult hat and was too big. So we found the kids section there and Jayden picked out a new hat that would fit him. Emma got one, too. Pink of course! We finished looking around there and headed back on the road. We packed already made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and chips, so we had those for lunch instead of stopping to eat. Yum! We finally arrived in Branson. We stayed at a hotel that has an indoor water park. We'd been there before and loved it. The kids were so excited to be in the hotel. There is just something about a hotel room that gets kids hyped up. They thought it was the best thing ever!

We were ready to go play at the park, so we got our bathing suits on and went on down! I don't have any pictures of the kids at the park because I didn't want the camera to get wet! They have lockers, but they cost to use. We didn't want to bother!

It was really fun. Jayden wasn't really into doing a lot of the slides, plus that water was freezing, even though it was inside! We mostly hung around in the toddler area, where Emma certainly had a blast. They had a small slide that she was able to climb up on by herself and slide down. I swear that kid probably did it 500 times. No exaggeration. She absolutely loved it. Jayden went on the lazy river with Nick, where they sat on an intertube and just floated. Nick said Jayden insisted that Nick do back strokes to make them go faster. So he did. :) We finished up the night by getting changed back into dry clothes and heading over to the pizza place and arcade that is part of the hotel. The pizza was good, but Jayden and Emma both refused to eat much. They were ready to go play some games! There wasn't much of anything Emma could do, so she just pretended to play. We ended up with some tickets and were able to get the kids each a small bouncy ball. Emma and I headed back to the room while Nick and Jayden went to play mini golf. When they got back, we put a movie on for the kids and were in bed by 10:00. Nick went and bought Krispie Kreme donuts the next morning. We packed up and headed on out shortly after that. We made plans to stop in Springfield again to visit the Discovery Center. It was very fun! I don't think the kids learned anything, but they both had fun looking and playing with all the stuff. Jayden and I became emperors for the day. Haha!

It was a short trip and all too soon was over. It was perfect though. Nick and I are both ready to go on another trip. We want to take the kids to Silver Dollar City next time, now that Jayden is old enough to enjoy the rides there. It would be fun! I can't wait!

Yesterday at church we talked briefly about how wonderful technology is and how awesome it is to always be able to have our scriptures and other church resourses so handy. I looked around during class and almost everyone was holding a tablet or viewing the scriptures on their phone. Even the older people have embraced the technology. How cool is that! We are so blessed to be able to have the Lord's word literally at our fingertips just about any time we want. It got me thinking about how nice it is to have to have our phones with great cameras. I often whip out the phone camera to take pictures of the kids when they are being cute. We have a nice real camera that we love, but sometimes the phone is just so neat to have around so I can catch those little moments so quickly. Just a little blessing I am thankful for today! Nick was playing around with the effects on my phone the other day. I laughed so hard. He is such a goof ball!!

And a normal one of us together. :)

And here's one of the quick shots of Emma in her new dress from Uncle Tyler and Aunt Trudi! Love it! I am so in love with fancy dresses for her. Dressing her for church is totally one of my favorite things to do with her!

I had a video of Jayden and Emma playing with some boxes that was pretty cute, but I guess I can't figure out how to upload it onto here. Maybe next time!

Well, it's been a long since since I updated this thing. I'm hoping I can keep up with it. I really enjoy reading everyone else's blogs, especially when they share pictures! So here I go: January started with the ending of a wonderful year. We didn't get any new jobs or a new house or add any new family members, so it was a pretty average year. It was great though. We had a great Christmas, which I will try to upload photos from later. For now, here is one of Emma pushing her new best friend, Mickey Mouse, around in her new stroller. She is in love with this guy. Actually, Jayden is, too. They fight over him a lot. Crazy kids!

And my favorite gift, an Origami Owl necklace from Nick. It has a CTR shield, Jayden and Emma's birthstones, a "Mom" engraved back, and my favorite: an "In memory of" charm along with my mom's birthstone. Nick was so thoughtful. I absolutely love it!!!

This month started off with a bang. Poor Jayden had to have surgery on the 3rd! Without going into detail, he has been having some trouble with his little boy parts and it needed to be corrected. There was some fluid collecting that needed to be drained and he also ended up having two hernias! The surgery was about 1.5- 2 hours long. I was able to go with him while Nick stayed home with Emma. Jayden was a trooper. He was super anxious though and almost refused to take the liquid medicine that would make him pretty loopy before going to sleep. I had to threaten him with a shot to get him to take it, which is exactly what would have had to happen. He does not like getting shots, so he decided drinking the liquid would be alright. He immediately became drousy and silly. He kept trying to clear his throat but was too sleepy and was making himself and me giggle. He sat on my lap and closed his eyes and just relaxed until the nurses came to get him. I put him in the little red wagon they use to wheel him into the OR. He didn't complain or realize what was going on. I am very glad they gave him that medicine because that is where his breaking point would have been. He would not have willingly left me. His best buddy "Puppy" got to go with him and was even wearing a hair net! I passed the time by cruising Facebook and reading my Nook. When Jayden was finally done, he was brought back in to me in a bed with an IV still in his poor little hand. He was crying for me and it was so heartbreaking. I didn't worry too much until that point. He was in pain now and this mommy did not like that. Jayden saw me and immediately asked for Puppy. His little buddy. He kept looking under his blanket at the bandages and told me he was hurting. I was so sad. The nurses finally brought him some Tylenol with codiene for the pain. Jayden fell asleep within 10 minutes. He slept for an hour. When he woke up, he was a totally different kid. He had previously refused to drink any pop, which is highly unusual for him. But now he was ready for it. He took a sip from the straw and said "Pretty good." Jayden was back! He was happy and no longer complaining of the pain. He was finally ready to go home. Since Nick had to go to work as soon as I got back home with Jayden, I had to take him to Walmart with me to get his pain medicine, more Tylenol with codiene. It was an adventure because he now weighs over 50 pounds and was unable to walk, so I had to lift him into the Walmart basket without hurting him. It was also a very cold and windy day, so that made it even harder. Jayden did great though and happily sat in the basket. We got his medicine and also picked up a bottle of chocolate milk. (I got one, too. lol) Back into the car and home we went. Jayden recovered very quickly and is now back to normal. Nick and I have to get on to him to settle down and stop jumping and horsing around. He doesn't seem to have any pain, he has not asked for medicine in two days. He will not be able to return to school until next week though. He has to be cleared from the doctor, first. He goes on the 9th and will likely be able to go back to school next Monday. I'm so proud of Jayden, he was such a big brave boy. I just hope this is the last surgery he will ever need. It was a very minor surgery but was no fun for him or us! I am very, very grateful that both of my babies are happy, healthy kids!!! Some pictures! Jayden got to pick out special pajamas to wear to the hospital. He picked Mario Kart!

Waiting for the nurses to give him the loopy medicine!

We got to watch Dora the Explorer while waiting.

And this was Jayden right after he fell back asleep after getting his Tylenol with codiene.