CNC

I know, i need to update

2010-05-13T11:21:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted pics of my Dubs since January....how sad. I will soon though!! They're both growing up so fast, right before my eyes!

Mak's Cupcakes!

2010-04-21T10:57:00.000-07:00

On May 3rd, I have some special cupcakes coming. They are going to be the most vibrant hot pink I can create with frosting. There should be a baby girl blowing out her one candle on a birthday cake that day. Instead, it will be a day we remember her and pray for her family.

100% of the proceeds for these cupcakes ordered for May 3rd will go to Mak’s momma. She can use it for whatever she feels most appropriate, whether that be to help pay for the classes she’s taking right now so she can get the great job she’s after to create the life she wants for her and Cheyenne, or to help with her living expenses until she gets that great job, or to put towards a cause to remember Makenna. Whatever she needs most right now.

I can’t rewind time. I can’t make the hurt go away. I can’t fix Jessica’s financial stress. But I CAN bake!!!

The details:

• The cupcakes will be $20/dozen and $10/half-dozen.
• All of the cupcakes will be frosted in buttercream. Hot pink. Pink is Makenna, so pink they will be!
• Choice of 3 flavors: Chocolate, vanilla, or butter cake (aka yellow cake).*
• I will take orders from now til Saturday May 1st. All cupcakes will be delivered May 3rd.

TO ORDER or if you have any questions contact me at:

Wildsugar.blogspot.com
wildsugarconfections@yahoo.com
Facebook
208-705-3555 (text or call)

I know Jess has a lot of family and friends that are too far away from me to order cupcakes that would like to be involved. Don’t worry though, I have a plan for you guys too! Details to follow soon! (Let me know if you are interested though ok!)

*If you have a specific request for a flavor, let me know. Depending on how many orders I get, I may be able to get more creative with flavors!

Happy New Year!

2010-01-01T17:41:00.001-08:00

New years used to be be a party. Drinking all night, hangover the next morning....

Now it's bananas and popcorn! lol!

Yes, that's what the kids wanted for dinner. So that's what they had!

And of COURSE they had to eat it in the tent!

And make some funny faces for the camera!

And burst into giggles when i show them the screen and their funny faces!

New Years kisses! So what if it was at 9 o'clock?

I decided to be brave and let two three year olds loose with water colors in my kitchen! The adults were watching movies in the other room, and they weren't as kid friendly as they probably should have been. So water colors kept them entertained when they weren't busy fighting over who got to sit in the tunnel upstairs! Lol!

A new years treat for them!

The results!

Happy New Year to everyone! 2009 brought a new little life into our family and ya never know what 2010 might bring!

I'm not big on resolutions, but there are a few things i really want to be better about sticking to.

One is yoga. I really like it, and my waist really NEEDS it, but it's hard to find the time and energy with two little ones. I'm going to try really hard to do a half hour of yoga every morning.

Two- Have more patience with Wade. Job might have had a hard time with this kid, so i'm not sure how i'm supposed to be as good as i should with him. But i'm going to try harder!

Three-MONEY. Good Lord how i hate money. But i need to get better about saving and planning and such. We want to follow Dave Ramsey's plan, and we always have good intentions to, but i need to be more disciplined with it. It's ridiculous how much money we blow when we could save so much and have what little debt we have paid off soon.

I hope the new year brings good changes, and great things for everyone!

New Christmas Tradition!

2010-01-01T16:35:00.000-08:00

We decided that we were going to start a new family tradition this year. Chuck takes Wade out ice fishing all the time, and he just loves it! I hadn't been this year yet, because i didn't want to have the baby out in the cold that long. So Chuck got all creative and built us an ice house that was ready just in time for the whole family to go fishing Christmas Day! We packed up the kids and headed down to Devil Creek reservoir.

Wes all snuggled up in his warm clothes!

This is Chuck "skiing" down the hill on the ice house. Yep, i said ON the ice house! He's pretty ingenious when he wants to be and built the thing to fold up on skiis. Kinda cool! I just wanted to see him crash it, but apparently he can ski too. Even if it IS on top of an ice house!

Getting ready to break the first hole. I think he wanted me to stop taking pictures and help him. At least that's USUALLY what that look on his face means! We REALLY need one of those new fancy gas powered augers. But for now, we'll use our man power! Or at least Chuck's man power. I just hold on to it and pretend to help! (Notice the baby in the sled behind him! That's how he rode down the hill and over the lake! And he SLEPT through the whole thing!)

Just waitin' on fish!

Wade got bored waiting. So he took Trip out to find something more fun to do!

Mom may have gotten a little bored herself and went wandering around. Check out the crack in the ice between my feet. NOT cool. If you've ever been ice fishing, or out on a frozen body of water, you know the ominous sound of ice cracking. Chuck insists that it's the ice getting colder and freezing, and it may be true and make sense. But in MY brain i hear that deep, echoing, booming CRACK and the "fight or flight" instinct tries to take over. I really have to suppress the urge to grab my babies and run screaming like the little girl i am to go cry in the truck! But instead, i give Chuck even more reason to tease me and yell "NOT COOL!!!! NOT FREAKIN' COOL!!!!" from across the reservoir!

All warm and toasty in the ice house! We put the propane heater in there and it's warm as a summer day!

Wade trying to convince dad to give him some of his coffee.

Wes was so excited to be fishing.....this is what he did most of the time we were there.

He slept.......

And slept.........

And SLEPT!!!!

He didn't miss anything though. I guess i'm bad luck and all we got was one little nibble. And Chuck missed that one because he was out bs'ing with the game warden! Lol! Oh well, we'll try again next year!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!

ChRisTmaS!! 2009

2010-01-01T15:10:00.001-08:00

Christmas was SO much fun this year! IT started at my mom's house on Christmas Eve this year. All my sibs and a few other extended family had dinner and opened presents. The kids all hit the jackpot! My mom went crazy with the babies (again) this year!

Christmas is always fun, but it seems like the "magic" really starts at three years old! I love being a kid again and enjoying that magic through my baby! We had so much fun telling him about Santa and how he was going to come down through our wood stove (no chimney! lol!) and bring him presents to leave under the tree. He told us stories for a few days afterwards about how Santa got those presents there! Almost every night at bedtime we read "T'was the night before Christmas" and "The Polar Express" (along with watching the movie over and over and over!) and i just loved it!

Wade showing Grandma the shovel he got....From her...she was very excited for him!

The kid was a million miles an hour the whole time! He was SO EXCITED to see all the presents!

He was so very helpful in bringing the presents to let her tell him who to give it to!

And when he gave it to the recipient, he just HAD to help them open it! Carson probably could have used the help...lol!

Little Carl wasn't so excited about them cool new clothes!

"Thanks dad....you're hilarious..."

"You too mom....funny stuff. How would YOU like a bow stuck to YOUR head?"

"HA! There! Take that! Put one on my pesky brothers head too!"

Chance and Carissa and their new giant blanket! At least it's not a "big ugly"! ;)

The next morning we had our family Christmas at home. It wasn't the explosion of presents like my mom's house was, but Wade had fun! Wes slept through it...lol! I didn't really take a whole lot of pics, because we had a video camera set up. If i was smart enough to figure out how to get video on here, i'd share it with you, but i'm not. Which is your loss because Wade has some pretty hysterical one-liners! :p

We started with stockings. (I finally got the Wrangler stockings i've wanted for years! And they conveniently have "W's" on them for the boys names!)

I was so excited to give this to him. He LOVES all things firetruck and was so happy to see the ladder move up! (Sorry about the blurry pics. My camera is challenged)

Checking out a new book with dad. It's called "We're going on a bear hunt"! How fitting! lol!

Then it was time for mom and dad to break out the scissors. And knives, and chainsaws, and machetes....and dynamite....to open all the stupid boxes. It's the worst part of Christmas. Even worse than the rats nest of lights i set myself up to unravel every year. Miserable. I'm pretty sure there were a few swear words muttered in the process. And probably a few new made up ones too. Stupid boxes.....

The cool tent and tunnel from Grandma was one of the first to spring forth from it's packaging. Mostly because it was the easiest to get out. When i say "spring" i mean "SPRING"! The tunnel was like a giant slinky coming out of there!

The tent wasn't so obliging. A few of those new words were exchanged between Mom and Dad in the process of putting it together.

The tent and tunnel were finally in once piece. Not as much could be said for Mom and Dad's relationship for the day. Tents are NOT good for marriages. We should know this by now... LOL!

As i said before, Wes slept through the excitement of the morning. I've heard it's been said "let sleeping dogs lie" and i assume it applies to babies too. I stick to that and it seems to serve me well! Lol!

He seemed a bit aggravated at first....

But i told him Santa didn't forget him!

That seemed to make him happy and i got some sweet baby smiles out of him!

That was our morning. Christmas "Part Two" with our new family tradition to follow soon!

2009-12-26T09:24:00.000-08:00

December was a pretty busy month! We started it with a trip to northern MT to visit Chuck's Aunt V and see some friends and pick up my new dog. We had a lot of fun catching up with everyone! I was really bad about taking pictures, so the only ones i got were of deer and elk. Go figure. LOL!

On our way home. VERY very cold at this elevation! 4 below zero when i took this pic!
A deer out in front of the Slaybaugh's house

A huge herd of 400+ elk between Kalispell and Bozeman

Then my birthday came. I turned 25 AGAIN this year! 26 sounds too old and too grown up, so i'm sticking with 25 for a couple years! My sister came up and watched the boys for us and we were supposed to go to Parsons Christmas party (the company Chuck works for) but we decided that going to see New Moon would be MUCH more fun! The movie was GREAT, and it was so nice to get out and be Chuck and Crystal and not Mom and Dad for a couple hours! Although, i dont think my sister will be watching the boys again anytime soon. One kid was running around the house like a crazy person, the other one screamed at her for a while, and Trip had a cut on his face from getting to know the new dog and it decided to rupture and bleed all over too! It was NOT a good night for her!

One of my favorite parts of Christmas is all the Christmas special shows that are on TV all month. We've always joked that Wade is our little Linus (from Peanuts) because he has a blue nigh'night that he drags EVERYWHERE, and he sucks his thumb. So i just could NOT resist taking this picture! It's my favorite part of A Charlie Brown Christmas, and my little boy loved it too!

Wade just loves to go out and help Chuck and I get wood for the stove. One night Chuck went out to get wood, and next thing i know, Wade has his boots on over his pajamas and is running outside in the snow! It was REALLY cold so the snow was that fluffy powder and Chuck kicked some on Wade. He didn't think it was very funny! Lol!

December was an extremely COLD month for us up here in the arctic tundra! My laundry room is in the mudroom off the back of the house. That room was added on to the original house and whoever did it didn't insulate it, so that room gets frigid cold in the winter. Well it was SO cold that the pipes to my washing machine and the washer itself froze the week we got back from Montana. It broke something in my washer so it doesn't work right anymore. So not only did i have tons of dirty laundry from being on vacation, now i couldn't even WASH it! Thank goodness for mothers that have extras of everything! We got a washing machine from my mom, and i'm ALMOST caught up on laundry now! lol!

Do you see the little yellow box on my computer screen in this pic? That box is the Weather Channel thing we have that tells us the temp outside. It says NEGATIVE 22 degrees! THAT is why my washing machine froze! Lol!

December has been a fun month with Wes. He's learning to talk and smile and even almost laughing! And, of course, growing like crazy! I love my chunky little baby!

He's starting to really notice things and was totally enthralled by Chuck's shiny belt!

My little roly poly man after a bath!

One of the reasons we went up to MT was to get my new dog. I've been wanting to get into bird hunting, but Chuck didn't really have an interest in it, and as smart as Trip is he is a bit gun shy so he wouldn't be much of a bird dog! But over Thanksgiving Chuck took some old friends from MT deer hunting in Idaho. One of the guys has bird dogs for trials and wanted to get rid of one. So we ended up with a really great dog! He's a four year old german short hair pointer. He made himself right at home when we got him back here, and is part of the family already! He even sleeps in Wade's bed with him at night! He's a pretty good bird dog too!

Me and Tug on our first hunt together!
This is where Tug thinks he belongs!

December has been so cold this year that we've been able to get out on the ice and fish sooner than we usually would. Wade is old enough now to really get into it and enjoy it, so Chuck has been taking him with him a lot. Which is really nice for me. I forgot how much easier it is to get stuff done (or get a nap in...) with just one kid in the house! lol!

Got one!

Waiting patiently!

I think i got one! (By the way....that hole isn't as big and kid-swallowing as it looks. It freaked me out at first too, but really it's a little hole with lots of slush and water on top of it because it was so warm that day!)

Chuck has been out fishing with some friends too, and caught a couple of pretty good ones. He brought home a couple and cooked them one night, and they were pretty tasty. For fish....lol!

We always take Trip with us. He looks kinda chilly is this picture!

Our friend Tejay caught this cool native!

One of Chucks fish

So that's our December! I'll do Christmas in another post!!

Kitchen Project!

2009-12-16T08:00:00.000-08:00

One day i decided i was going to paint over the weird green color that was in my kitchen. Chuck had taken down the ugly paneling that was in there and replaced it with barn wood, then the ugly green was the rest of the way up. ALLLLLL i wanted to do was paint the green with the same tan that is in the living room. That's it. Just paint. But noooooo. I mention it to Chuck and he says if i'm going to paint, we might as well do it right! SO down came the barn wood, down came the paneling in the hallway, the wall paper border, all the trim, everything. Then we have to re-texture everything too...gotta love 1940's lathe and plaster walls! lol!

Re-texturing was a pain in the butt. We had our good friend Jason come help so it didn't take us nine years to finish it! Meanwhile, i'm waiting very patiently to PAINT.

This is what was behind the paneling in the hallway. LINOLEUM? Seriously?

Buh-bye ugly green!
You can see over on the right the lathe and plaster that was behind the wood, and why we had to re-texture!

Wade was SO much help!

Messy boys taking a break!

Sasquatch...err....Jason helping us texture!

Texured and ready for a coat of Kilz!

No more green! And that wood box between the stove and fridge is our garbage box. Looks kind of neat, but is kind of a pain in the butt. Garbage seems to miss the can a lot when it's hidden!

No more ugly paneling in the hallway!

Kinda bright orange!

I really like the barnwood trim! Jason even made a switch cover out of it! It's good to have carpenter friends! lol!

When they were done and i finally got to paint, i was about sick of the project! I wanted my kitchen back, i was sick of the dust and the mess, i had a halloween cake to make and Wade's birthday cake i SHOULD have made. The excitement of a new color on the walls had lost it's intrigue. I just wanted it DONE at that point! But i started painting anways. After i finished painting, Chuck and Jason used the barnwood and made trim out of it. I picked a fall colors bird hunting theme for my kitchen. Unorthodox, i know, but it fits us! I think it actually turned out pretty good! The orange i picked is WAY more pumpkin orange than i wanted. It sort of blinds you at first, but you get used to it and can eventually take off the sunglasses in the house! lol! Someday when i get another sudden impulse to change the color of my walls, i plan on putting a darker glaze on the orange to tone it down. I have no idea how this technique works, but i'm sure i'll figure it out! And HOPEFULLY Chuck wont turn it into a huge project when i do it! :D

November

2009-12-16T07:23:00.000-08:00

I'm getting so far behind on my blog i think i'll just catch up on everything once a month! I'm a little late for November, but here's what we were up to!

First of all, my little boy turned three years old on November 5th! It's simply amazing to me that i have been a mom for more than three years now! It's even more amazing to me how much this tiny little baby turned into my big boy!

Wade- 4 months

We had all our family and a bunch of friends over to the house for chili for Wade's birthday. He had tons of fun opening presents and eating cake! The week before the party we remodeled our kitchen, so i didn't have a chance to make him a cool cake. Crazy, i know! Chuck actually ended up decorating his cake while i cooked! He did a great job. It was a belt buckle that said "Mutton Bustin' Champ" on it! His big present this year was his bow. He is facinated watching me and Chuck shoot ours, so we figured he'd enjoy one of his own. Now he has his own little Bear Scout bow and he LOVES it! It's so much fun to let him shoot with us! He walks around like he's so big and cool with it!

Then, of course, we had Thanksgiving! I made pumpkin pies to take to my aunt Lisa's house for dinner. Wade just LOVES to help me mix things, so that was his job! A huge bowl of pumpkin pie mix, a big spoon and he's a happy boy!

Dinner at my aunts was great! It's always fun to get together with family and good food!

Wade hanging out with uncle Carson, watching some football!

My little Wesser man!

My new baby boy learned how to smile! It's just one of the sweetest things you've ever seen! His little eyes scrunch up and his whole body wiggles when he smiles! And he's got the same big huge wide-open-mouth smile that his big brother does! I just love it!! It was really hard to catch him smiling on camera, but i DID get him sneezing! lol!

I love seeing the differences and similarities in my boys as Wes grows up. Wade never was really chubby. He was always in the low percentiles for weight and really high percentiles for height. But Wes is my little chunky guy! I just love his chubby legs and chubby arms!

Learning to be a mom of two!

2009-10-28T15:27:00.000-07:00

It's been almost two months since i updated this so i figured i better get caught up! It's been crazy getting used to having two little boys! It seems like Wes just fell right into his little place in our lives like he's been here forever, but on the other hand it's thrown my routine and life for a loop! I'm learning every day though. I'm learning that, despite my former belief, lack of sleep wont actually kill you! And to always have a burp rag around, babies can puke a LONG ways and only when you least expect it! And doing my hair and makeup isn't essential. Neither is getting out of pajama pants before 2pm. Desperately needed showers are trumped by baby baths. I'm learning that Mom's clothes and Dad's clothes must be having steamy late night trysts and are reproducing loads and loads of Baby clothes. And shopping carts were NOT invented by a mother, otherwise they would come equipped with 5 point harnesses and duct tape. And probably ear plugs. I'm also learning that a baby's first smile and a toddlers spontaneous kisses are the anecdote to exhaustion. And that, ironically, it's my kids that keep me from going crazy!

Wes is getting CHUBBY! I just knew that he was going to be my chunky baby! He has acid reflux but the doctor got us a prescription for baby zantac and he's a happy baby now.

Wade is his typical naughty little self. He's not liking being cooped up in the house because of the cold weather we've been having. But as much as he likes to get in trouble, he keeps us laughing! He's such a smart, funny little kid! Definitely one of a kid! We're getting ready for his THIRD birthday party soon! It's so strange to think i've been a mom for three years!

Westley Ray!

2009-09-10T08:45:00.001-07:00

Baby Wes is here! He was born at 4:30-something on 9/9/09! Weighs 6 lbs 12 oz, and is 19 1/2
in!

I went in for my almost-38 week appointment that morning at 10:45 and my doc wanted to check me, knowing how FAST Wade came. I wanted to have some kind of warning this time! Sure enough, i was dilated to 5 cm! Doc told me to hurry home and get my things and get back ASAP. I could tell he was a little worried about me going 45 minutes away from the hospital and making it back by myself! But i did, and Chuck met me at the hospital. I got checked in around 1 and they started me on an IV around 2 with a bit of pitocin in it. At that point, i could barely feel the contractions even though i was dilated to 7 by then. But then at about 3:15 they broke my water...the contractions started coming one on top of another and they HURT! I was going to go natural, but i chickened out! I could handle the contractions, it was when i started feeling like i needed to push that i couldn't handle it! I was complete by then so instead of an epidural they gave me a spinal block. (Different than an epidural. I guess it's medicine as opposed to a nerve blocker catheter? I dunno, all i know is that i could still feel parts of the contractions and my feet and legs felt REALLY weird, but i couldn't feel the worst pain.) So i pushed a few times and Wes was out!

He's such a little cutie! He looks SO MUCH like Wade did when he was new. Not quite as much hair, and not quite as blond, but his facial features and the faces he pulls are JUST like his brother!

Wade doesn't really know what to think about the whole thing. He just keeps looking at him and doesn't really know what to do! And last night when Chuck took him home he was UPSET that mom wasn't there to go to bed with him! He was one mad kid! So there is going to be some adjustment to having a baby brother around! He does keep sharing his nigh'night with the baby though, which i think is a good sign because he normally wont even share that with ME! LOL!

Random catch up stuff!

2009-08-20T08:12:00.000-07:00

I haven't been the greatest at keeping up on this blog lately! So here is a run down of what we've been up to the past few weeks!

We went fishing at a reservoir up here the other day. Wade just loves worms and insisted on having one of dad's fishing worms. He was very proud of it!

I wasn't really excited about being wormy babysitter, but whatever. It's a good thing i grew up such a tomboy! lol!

He was kinda mad at us for not letting him in the water. That's the problem with the reservoirs here though, there is no "shore" so they get deep fast.

He really doesn't understand the concept of waiting for the fish to bite yet, he just wants to reel it in! He has fun though!

After the very unsuccessful fishing outing, we took the long back way home and did a little scouting. We found a few bucks and a bunch of does. This was the biggest of that bunch

Then we saw the elk. I love watching them! We sat there for probably 20 minutes looking at them! I wish i had a decent camera, because there are a couple of 6 point bulls in this herd. And i wish i knew how to upload video from my camera, because you can hear the cows calling to the calves in it! Elk make the most amazing sounds!

This is my most recent fat-momma picture. Wade just wouldn't stay out of them!

He's such a camera ham! lol! And he loves being "handsome man" when i comb his hair, even though it lasts about 2 minutes! lol!

And this is what Wade does with toys. Doesn't even play with all of them. Just dumps them out, finds his favorite car, and sits there in the middle of the mess watching his 'toons! Lol!

Carissa's Birthday!

2009-08-10T09:43:00.000-07:00

My mom had a bbq Sunday afternoon for Carissa's 19th birthday! I brought the cake, of course!
I forgot to take many pictures, as usual, but here's the birthday girl! I cant believe she's 19!!!

My cutie patootie twin nieces!

Wades Crash!

2009-08-08T07:39:00.001-07:00

A couple days ago, i was washing my truck, so Wade just had to wash his trike too!

He was so proud of himself! (Dont ask why his hat is backwards. He has a weird thing about putting his cowboy hats on the wrong way, kinda like his boots always end up on the wrong feet...BOYS....)

THEN he decided to ride his trike off the back steps. I'm not sure WHY he thought this was a good idea, but he cracked his head pretty good! It was kinda cute after he calmed down because he doesn't say "head" anymore. He says "noggin" (Because i say it all the time) and it's SO CUTE! So he walked around whimpering saying "I bonk my noggin"! LOL!

When he got over his own hurt head, he took the ice pack that was intended for his bump and started chasing Trip around the house trying to put it on his head! The poor dog finally gave up and let him do it!

New cake blog!

2009-08-07T09:53:00.000-07:00

Check it out!

http://wildsugar.blogspot.com/

Wades new room!

2009-07-16T14:09:00.000-07:00

I've been working on getting Wade's room done. I FINALLY found a quilt i liked for his bed, so i could decide on colors! I'm done painting, and now i'm going to see how talented i am and try to put up a wood trim and baseboards. I was going to do a wallpaper border, but i dont want it to be too busy since it's not a huge room. I still have to put his dresser and toy box back in there, and put up all the decorations, but here's our start!

Here's what we started with. The beautimus blue and lightning mcqueen half peeled off border.

There was some nasty glue crap under that border...

No more blue!! I put a layer of Kilz on first because i did NOT want that blue showing up again! Lol!

The new brown walls! It was the funniest thing....Wade walked in the room when i was halfway finished with the first wall and said "OH MOM! CHOCOLATE!"!!! It was hilarious! I was afraid he was going to lick the walls or something though! Then he kept wanting to touch it, so i threatened him within an inch of his life not to (which didn't work...) and now that it's dry, he walks up and stares at it for a minute then wipes his hand across the wall and looks to see if it comes off on his hand! He's such a little trouble maker!

Wades first big boy bike!

2009-07-14T08:23:00.000-07:00

Wade has had a tricycle for a while now, but this weekend when we went up to see Chuck, we made an impulse buy at Wallyworld and got him his first two wheeler! He LOVES LOVES LOVES it, even though it's just a teensie bit too big for him. He needs to grow about half an inch and it will be perfect! Lol!

Shay Shay showing him how to get on it like you get on a horse! (Shay is our babysitters daughter, kind of like an aunt!)

First crash! But he got up giggling and jumped right back on! I'm not sure i LIKE the idea that he thinks crashing is funny though...

Gettin' the hang of it!

Rockin' the new helmet mom insisted on!

The training wheels were too low at first, so the back tire wasn't even touching the ground. It was very frustrating to Wade, as you can imagine, so dad had to fix it!

Me and Wades campout!

2009-07-09T09:12:00.000-07:00

Wade and I spent most of the day outside yesterday. I set up his pool and he proceeded to make it a mud pool in about 10 seconds flat, but he had fun, so whatever! We set up the tent, roasted hot dogs and s'mores and had LOTS of fun! We didn't end up sleeping in the tent though, because i think Chuck has all the memory foam pads with him in the trailer, and my pregnant butt is NOT sleeping on the ground right now! LOL!

The best way EVER to eat s'mores! Chewey Chips Ahoy cookies and a gooey marshmallow!

Yes. My stupid annoying dog is stealing food off my plate right in front of me.....

There is more than one way to eat a hot dog!

He wouldn't put the hot dog over the coals. He wanted it straight in the flames. Gross, but whatever!

Our 4th of July weekend

2009-07-07T19:47:00.000-07:00

It was quite the weekend. Quite a LONG weekend actually. Chuck is working about 2 hours north of home right now so he's been staying up there in the trailer. Wade and I left Wednesday night because Chuck needed some vests they forgot to take. Wade and I went to the zoo in Idaho Falls, and he just LOVED it! Then we left late Friday night to go up to Chucks sisters house in Priest River. They had a big family reunion thing up there. It was VERY interesting meeting the side of Chucks family i'd never seen before, besides his sister. Chuck hadn't even seen most of them for 10 or 15 years either. They are VERY redneck, and proud of it! We had fun though!

Chuck's brother, sister and the kids

Jordan, Wade and Jade

He was pretty excited about his ringers!

Going for a ride!

We celebrated a bunch of birthdays, and Jade was very excited about her new Cricket!

Wade looking at the lion. Or something...the dang thing never moved, so i dont know if Wade believed me when i told him it was a lion! lol!

He loved the tigers!

On the way home Sunday, we had a little issue with the trailer. Chuck looked back and saw something flapping on top of it, and when i looked back, i told him it looked like the top of the trailer was gone. He didn't believe me til we stopped at the next exit and got out and looked. Sure enough, the rubber covering had come loose and ripped and was flapping all over the place. And we were 350 miles from home.....we stopped and bought some duct tape, but that was useless, so we just headed home. Then, of course, we had to run into a freak thunder storm. We got POURED on! With a trailer with no protection on top but some flimsy plywood.... (oh, and did i mention that *I* had to be the one driving the stupid 30 foot long trailer for the first time 40 miles an hour down the freeway because the rain was so bad?? Fun.) So the next stop we made, we found the trailer full of freakin' water because there was nothing to keep it out! GREAT!!!! Thank goodness none of the beds got wet. Just the counters and the floors were soaked. So now i'm in a fight with the dealership because i dont WANT this stupid pile of junk anymore (this is just the most recent in a very LONG list of major problems we've had with this thing since we got it last fall) So irritating......Dont EVER buy a Starwood Mackenzie camp trailer. They are JUNK!

Somewhere in the middle of BFE Montana with our defective trailer

Camping!

2009-06-28T14:23:00.000-07:00

Some friends of ours went camping this weekend at Hawkins reservoir, and we went up yesterday to hang out with them. Wade had a ton of fun playing in the water! Chuck wanted to go to dinner and a movie for our anniversary so Wade stayed there while we went out. It sounded like he had a lot of fun roasting marshmallows with them!

Playing on the dock with dad!

Treyton, Trenton, and Ashley

Sandy (aka: Best babysitter EVER!) and Wade!

Both my boys LOVE the water!

So does Trey!

Yes, that's my crazy dog way out there!

Wade has a bad mommy that forgot his swim suit, so he played in his undies!

Odd's and Ends!

2009-06-25T13:45:00.000-07:00

Just some new and cute stuff from the last week or so!

Not really sure what the chair was for!

He had so much fun!

Wade playin' in the sprinkler!

My million dollar hair! Ok, so it wasn't a million, it was only a hundred, but i sure love it! It's the first time i've been blond in a LONG LONG time!

Wade likes to go potty standing up....until he slips and falls in and gets his sock all wet! LOL!

Driving with dad!

Sleepy baby!

Belly pics!

2009-06-10T16:37:00.000-07:00

Here's me at 24 weeks (6 months). I dont really look it, but i feel about as big as a cow already! Only 15 more weeks!!!

Wade just HAD to be in the pictures! lol! Then he wanted to give the belly kisses!

Ugh....i knew my butt was getting big, but these pics made me notice how chunky my FACE looks! lol!

Here's the profile ultrasound of the little ninja. I swear he's got Chuck and Wade's double chin!! LOL!

Wade has an invisible tiger!

2009-06-09T20:02:00.000-07:00

I really wasn't expecting the invisible friend stage to start for a while yet, but apparently, my son has his dads imagination! He usually plays like he's a lion, jumping up the stairs on all fours, and that sort of thing. But today, he was upstairs playing in his room and all of the sudden he comes tearing down the stairs, jumps on the couch with me and is trying to hook a bungee cord he had to the chair that was in front of him, all the while saying "tiger comin". He was in a PANIC because he couldn't get the bungee cord to work right!! He kept asking me to help him and got really frantic when i just laughed at him. He had tears in his eyes and everything saying the tiger was coming! I have NO idea what the hooking the bungee to the chair had to do with the tiger coming, but it was critical apparently! So i finally helped him hook it up and he calmed down. I asked him where the tiger was and he told me "upstairs".

Then later, when i was getting him ready for a bath he FREAKED out because he wanted "tiger" to come with him!!! I asked him where tiger was again, and he told me upstairs but he wanted him to get in the tub with him. So i told him "tiger" was upstairs sleeping. That seemed to satisfy him for a while. Then after his bath he ran around yelling for "tiger".... runs to me and says "Tiger comin'!!" Every...Two....Minutes. I really wanted that tiger to come so i could tackle him and tie him up.

So then i tell him it's time to go to bed. He reminds me, once again, that tiger is upstairs. I say "Fine, it's time to go to bed with tiger". We get upstairs in his room and he asks where tiger is. I point in his bed and say "He's sleeping right there!". He looks at me like i am INSANE.....shakes his little head and says "Noooo". It's amazing how dumb a two year old can make you feel with just a look on his face.....anyways, i ask him if tiger is sleeping outside with Mocha and Trip. He says YEP! And lays his crazy little head down.

Ay yi yi....i really hope i dont get 2am wake up calls about this "Tiger".......

The naughty file

2009-06-02T12:38:00.000-07:00

My little boy is CONSTANTLY into something naughty. I've decided to quit yelling and start taking pictures. Yelling does absolutely nothing except make him grin at me, and some of the crap he gets himself into actually IS kind of funny, so it makes my life a little easier! Here's a few pics of my baby being naughty!

He's tall enough to reach everything on the counter now. And apparently doesn't understand what "NO more cookies" means....

See mom, i ate all your chocolate cake! Then dumped the crumbs on the floor! Then licked the plate!

Kind of proud of himself for being so smart to think to climb on his rocking horse to get in the window sill.

Why, YES mom! I AM trying to break my neck, as a matter of fact!

Notice the shirt says "I didn't do it!!" I don't even remember what he was acting so innocent for...And what is it about little boys that makes them put their boots on the wrong feet EVERY time? And dont ask why he never has pants on. I really have no idea what he has against them!

And then he looks at me like this.....and what am i supposed to do but snuggle him up and give him kisses??

And Newt makes FOUR!!!

2009-06-02T11:54:00.000-07:00

Could someone please tell me how i went from one single very well behaved dog to a pack of crazy pain in the butt hooligans???? Seriously....

Meet Copper. She's a black and tan hound/blue tick hound mix. Very sweet girl, great with Wade and apparently loves to hunt. We kind of wonder if she likes to chase deer more than bears, but we'll see. She really does have a face you cant help but love! No mind that we went about 400 freakin miles ONE WAY to get her....

This little bundle of big feet, bigger ears and even BIGGER bark is Newt. He's a 4 month old red tick hound cross. He really is a doll, loves Wade to death already, but barks even louder than Copper. Keep in mind, these are hound dogs, they dont bark like normal dogs.....thank GOD we have 5 acres so they can be FAR away from the house!

So this little kennel of ours just keeps getting bigger! If you remember correctly, we just got another border collie pup not too long ago. Mocha is the biggest pain of all of them. I was counting on getting another border collie like Trippers, but no, she's stubborn as a mule and as mischevious as Wade.....

WHY do we have all these dogs all of the sudden, you ask? When i was content having the two we had to breed and sell pups from. Well let me tell you a story. Chuck went hunting. We have a couple friends that have dogs they run on bears and mountain lions and coons. Chuck just went along for fun but fell in LOVE with it. So here we are with FOUR freakin' dogs. Did i mention that the GPS tracking system we need for these dogs so they don't get their butts lost when they hunt is around $500 bucks?? Not to mention the shock collars we're going to need to train them.

It's a good thing i love that man.......

House pictures!

2009-05-13T13:03:00.001-07:00

Here's a few of the outside of the house, and Wade's new tire swing. I'll do inside pics when all the cardboard boxes are gone and our new furniture is here!

The front of the house, and my fierce guard dog! lol!

The little shed out back that will eventually be taken down and where the barn and garage will be.

The acres of pasture behind the house. Chuck is going to get the fence stuff this weekend, so i'm sure it'll be full of animals soon!

Wade's new tire swing that he absolutely LOVES!!

Anyways, thats the new place! We have huge plans on re-doing, re-modeling, tearing down and building, so you'll see a lot of updates in the future!!

I need help

2009-05-12T19:42:00.000-07:00

My blog is really boring looking. And everyone else's are so cute. I want a cute blog.....Help me pleeeeease!!!!

All the latest news!!

2009-05-10T14:26:00.000-07:00

Well first of all, i have internet again! That means i will be keeping up MUCH better with my online world!! The reason i can have internet now is because i no longer live in a freakin' camp trailer. I own a home!!! We FINALLY got the loan finalized and bought our house! We moved in the first weekend in May, so it's just been crazy unpacking and moving everything in. It's getting close to being done, we're just waiting for our new living room couches to come in!

The other big news in our family is we just found out that we're having another baby boy! Wade is going to have a little brother! I'm so excited to see how much alike (or different) they will be! It's so hard to imagine another son when i already have one with such a strong personality!

Wades big news is that we're potty training! He's doing really well with it, and is absolutely devastated if he happens to pee on his favorite Wall-e undies.....or Nemo undies....or whatever he happens to be wearing at the moment! lol! As exciting as it is to have him out of diapers, it makes me realize my baby boy is turning into a little man and that's a little heartbreaking for me. He does get more entertaining by the day though. He talks just like a big boy now, and cracks us all up with his view of the world. Even his naughty moments are pretty hilarious! The other day he was outside helping dad with something, and ended up playing in the big giant mud puddle (which he KNOWS he's not supposed to do...) then he found the poor kitty. He loves that cat......but the cat just really doesn't love him back. In fact, she's kind of terrified of him. Well, he managed to get a hold of her. I was in the house in a HUGE hurry trying to get ready to go to work, blow drying my hair in the bathroom. I look up because i heard little foot steps, and what do i see?? My little boy, holding the kitty by her head, grinning from ear to ear saying "MOM! I did it!!", not to mention he is covered from head to toe in MUD. What could i do but giggle, free the poor kitty, and go yell at Dad! LMAO!!!

Oh my......and i'm going to have another one of these little creatures...... :D

2009-03-25T15:33:00.000-07:00

I dont know how to put little captions with all the pics, so they're all in just one blob. Well, two blobs i guess! Lol!

Some of them are ice fishing, then fishing on Oneida Narrows with Jason, My cutie pie twin nieces, our crazy new puppy Mo (that was the day she flew out of the truck, btw...)

Anyways, thats a little bit of our winter fun this year!

Pictures!

2009-03-25T15:22:00.000-07:00

2009-03-23T16:19:00.001-07:00

I realized i've been neglecting my blog lately, so i figured i might as well do an update! Not a WHOLE lot has changed since my last one.....yet anyways. We're still in the pain in the butt process of buying a house. We're down to the wire with it now. The underwriter is being EXTREMELY annoying with the information he wants. It's come down to my employment history from FIVE YEARS ago. No joke. Five years. That was like, a lifetime and two husbands ago.....but whatever. We have to close by at least the 31st or we lose our interest rate, so we'll know one way or the other by then! Hopefully the news will be good and we wont live in this stupid camp trailer anymore. I will not even get into how much fun that has been this winter!

We added on to our little family. Wade got his wish and got a puppy instead of a little sister or brother. She is a little baby red and white border collie, and Wade just LOVES her! Little does he know.....Mocha does not replace little sibling. I dont know if he realizes this or not, but he is still getting a baby too. I'm a little curious to see how he reacts to a baby. Hopefully he understands he cannot carry the baby around and whack her on the head when she steals his toys.....

A little side story on Mocha...we thought about changing her name to Crash. She decided the other day that she didn't want to be in the bed of the truck anymore and jumped out. (Or Trip threw her out because she was chewing on his ear....) Problem is, we were going 55 mph down the road. Somehow, the little turd not only lived through it, but is just fine!! I have no idea how, but she just got up and ran around, and went on the hike with us! Crazy puppy....

As for baby news, i had an appointment a couple weeks ago and they said i was due September 28th which makes me around 3 months along. I have another appt on the 2nd and they will do an ultrasound so i'll get a more definite due date. Any way you put it, it's WAY too close to deer season! lol!

Thats about all the exciting news. Sorry i still dont have new pics up. I'll get some one of these days, i promise!!

The Nelsons are growing!!!

2009-02-01T16:18:00.000-08:00

We just found out last week that Baby Nelson #2 is on the way!!! It happened a little quicker than we were expecting, but it's ok by us! The new addition will make it's appearance sometime in October, and i REALLY hope Chuck isn't deer hunting that day! LOL! I have a hunch that it's a girl, daddy says we're not having anything but boys, and Wade says he wants a puppy.......we'll see....!

Vegas Baby!!!!

2008-12-04T11:07:00.000-08:00

We're going to VEGAS!!!! For the NFR! I'm so excited i can barely contain myself! We're leaving Wade with Stephanie and my mom, so we're counting this as our Honeymoon/my birthday present! Wish us luck, because it's inevitable that Chuck will be at the Paigow tables.....lets just hope he still has the luck he had in CA! Maybe we'll come home with an extra thousand or two! :D Anyways, i'm sure we'll have lots of pics to share when we get back. I've never been to NFR and i cant WAIT!!!

Chaos...

2008-11-25T15:12:00.000-08:00

Thats the story of my life. Here's a bit of an update. We moved out of our house and into the travel trailer. We WERE going to go work out of state. That's what Chucks big plan was. Instead, we moved into our friends driveway..... Apparently with this being an election year and being in a "recession", the job market in Texas and elsewhere for the type of work Chuck was planning on has nosedived. We thought he had a job in Kansas, but they punked out. So now we're staying here in Idaho. In a trailer. With a two year old.....and a dog.... Have i mentioned yet that i'm going insane? So now we're going to see how long Johnsons Excavation can keep getting projects and keep Chuckles working. It's almost inevitable that the snow will bring most construction to a screeching halt, but we'll see. If that happens, i'll go back to work, which i am NOT looking forward to. I really have enjoyed being home with Wade. (Unless it's one of those moments when he's eating dog food, or scaling the walls of the trailer...) Especially if i get knocked up anytime soon, which is a pretty good possibility. Working will be even that much more of a PITA. And after this winter, the HOPE is (notice i dont say plan anymore. I give up planning...) that Chuck gets the city job he is up for. The commitee is supposed to meet in April or March, and we'll know then. I really would be so excited if he gets that job. That would mean no more worrying about wintertime and money. I also HOPE that we can buy a house in 2009. Then we can sell this stupid trailer (or at least trade it in for an actual camp trailer instead of this insanely big house on wheels) and not live in our friends driveway! Who are great by the way. Jason and Steph have pretty much opened their home to us. We love them!

On a happy note. I finally have my own wheels again! After a two week stint with the fan-freakin-tastic mini van and a week with Carsons Focus AKA The rollerskate......i finally found a truck i liked!! I just bought an Explorer. It's great. Eddie Bauer edition with leather and every button imaginable on it! The only problem is it's white, but i can live with that i suppose!! And it sure feels great to be back in a Ford again!!!!!

Finding my Faith

2008-11-13T11:06:00.000-08:00

I've been struggling with this issue for a very long time. I've always felt that there was something "more", but never knew what it was. Still don't, really. I've never been content with what i believe. On one hand i really want to believe that there is a God and he created us all and we'll be with him again. But my logical "have to see it to believe it" brain of mine takes over and i start doubting. How do you have that faith? Chuck told me the other night that that is what faith is. Believing in something with no evidence. Which i guess some could argue saying that there is enough historical evidence to believe without a doubt. I've thought about that, and in my limited knowledge i still think "Well how do I KNOW that there is a God in Heaven?". (Obviously i need to do a LOT more reading and research)

Being raised in the LDS heavy state that i was, this has been something i've thought about a lot since i was little. You cant really escape religion around here! But it's just been the last few years (since my Dad died and my son was born) that it's really started to weigh heavy on my heart. More specifically, the last few weeks have brought it front and center. My youngest brother was in two potentially life threatening car accidents within two weeks, but barely had a scratch on him. I felt in my heart that our dad was watching over him. Then i was talking to my other brother and he said the same thing. We both came to the conclusion that the first accident was my dad "teaching" Carson defensive driving, because he would have been the one to do that had he been here, which probably very well saved his life. And the second accident was dad teaching Carson that doing stupid things in vehicles is not smart. Because, goodness knows, my dad has been there and done that! lol! (BTW, thanks a lot dad....why MY car??? ;) Sheesh.....)

Then the other day, i bought a new CD. I love music, particularly country music. With country music comes God. I've always loved country songs about faith. They always make me feel better about my standing with God. For some reason, this particular song on this CD hit me harder than the rest. It's about a man telling his granddaughter about building their home out of the heart of the wood, and making a guitar and the music being in the heart of the wood. The final verse is about the cross made of wood. The last line says "it held the son of God like it should but i bet it broke the heart of the wood". I cry every time i hear it. There's also a song called "Loved the Hell" about a woman loving her husband so much she loved the hell right out of him. (which is a different blog for a different day!) .....And one about saying goodbye to a loved one that has died. Seriously, i cry throughout the whole CD, but i still listen to it over and over! (It's Joey + Rory, by the way. Google them, they are amazing)

Anyways, my whole point of this rambling is; i've come to the point in my life that i really feel compelled to find what it is i've been wondering about for so long. I've started doing a bit of research and i found a great article that made me feel pretty confident that i'm not completely hopeless. I saved a quote from it:

"Faith causes questions and seeks answers from God and transforms, it sees the mystery of God and his grace and seeks to know and become obedient to God"

Which makes me think, if faith causes questions, and i have questions, i must have faith, right??

And boy do i have a lot of questions!! Like, do we believe in God and heaven and angels because it makes us feel better or is there really an afterlife? Where do i start finding the denomination that works for me? Or do i really need to have a denomination? Cant i just study the bible and just know i have my faith in my heart? Does cussing and having an occasional drink put me on the fast track to hell? Not to mention that i'm fairly certain i've broke a commandment or two in my past.

In that same article, i found another bit of info i really liked. The source surprised me, but it was very simple. It is said that in the Qur'an, Allah says "Surely, those who believe, those who are Jewish, the Christians, and the converts; anyone who believes in GOD, and believes in the Last Day, and leads a righteous life, will receive their recompense from their Lord. They have nothing to fear, nor will they grieve"

That is the closest i've come so far to finding something similar to what i *think* i believe. If i believe in God, and live life like he says i should, i'll be fine. I just hope it says somewhere in there that i can make mistakes and still be ok.

So my first step is to go dig out our bible (Which is going to be a feat all it's own, considering the half-packed mess my house is...) and just start reading. I'm sure that will open a whole new mess of questions, but i guess thats what it's all about, right?

Thanks for reading, and if you feel so inclined, share with me your version of faith!

2008-11-10T10:07:00.000-08:00

This is one of the reasons i love living where i do! We went for a drive up one of the canyons out here, and the sunset was gorgeous!!

My babys 2nd Birthday!

2008-11-07T08:02:00.000-08:00

My little man is 2 already! He loved his new toys, and his new CAT sweater! He wont go anywhere without it!

2008-11-07T07:52:00.000-08:00

This is my poor car after my youngest brother tried to play Nascar. He was out on west Forest street going about 90mph.In the dark. Crazy kid.....he's fine, just a few bumps. But now i get to find me a Jeep like i've wanted to for YEARS!!

Just like Dad

2008-11-07T07:51:00.000-08:00

My boys fishing Henrys Fork in Island Park!

Blog numero uno!!!

2008-11-07T07:12:00.000-08:00

A few people (*cough cough Brittany cough*) have requested that we have a blog so they can stalk us in our adventures! So here it is!

A short summary of us right now. Where do i start......First of all, we're still in Idaho for now. We're slowly moving out of our house and into the brand new camp trailer. We plan on living in it while we're out of town. Chuck is looking for work for the winter because we cant live on what he makes on construction in the winter around here. We've considered anything from southern Utah to Texas to Kansas, so who knows where we'll end up! We plan on being back in Pocatello in the spring. There is a potential job with the City of Chubbuck that Chuck is pretty much a shoe-in for, but they aren't hiring til around March. We planned on moving closer to Poky anyways, so we're planning on buying a house, or some land to put a house on when we get back. But if you know us at ALL....you know our plans never go as expected!

My youngest brother was in two different car accidents recently, and one of them TOTALED my car BAD, so we're Jeep shopping right now. That might wait til we get back next spring, but we'll see.

Our baby boy Wade just turned 2 on the 5th. It's amazing to me that i've been a mom for 2 years now! He's a crazy little man, but he's the love of our life! We've recently decided to work on Baby Nelson #2, so hopefully in a year or so, we'll have another little love of our life!

I think that sums up everything for now, but who knows what tomorrow will bring!

I'll get pics and such on here as soon as i can!