Charly Sue Turner

My new niece- Charly Sue Turner- was born on Thursday evening. Her proud parents are Cody and Tori. She weighed in at 7 lbs. 2 oz and 20 inches long. She has long fingers and toes and sandy blonde hair. She's beautiful and we are so happy that she is here and healthy- and Momma is doing well too! What more can you for?

She slightly has a proud Daddy too. She spent the first night of her life asleep on his chest and every visitor has to practically steal her out of his arms. Even her mommy has to fight for a turn :)

Organization Week 2

Closet- Check. I seriously took 8 garbage bags full of clothes to the DI. It's still FULL! Ridiculous. Ignore the television on the floor- Shelby insists on keeping it so he can put it out in his shop or 'man cave' as he likes to call it.

Pantry- check. I also went shopping restocked those short-term food supply items that we were getting lower on. It may not look so organized to you, but I now know where everything is and exactly how many I have.

On to week 3- the office. However, I need to post a disclaimer- Shelby's little brother comes home from his mission Wednesday and the kids and I are spending a few days in Tremonton with them. So, hopefully, I'll have a very productive Monday and get the office done, but if not it may spill into Week 4.

6 Weeks of Organization

I love blogs. Seriously I do- there are many that I follow and are addicted to. They motivate me to be better about couponing, cleaning, organizing, doing fun activities with my kids- you name it. One blog that I follow quite often- http://www.momsbyheart.net/2009/09/6-weeks-of-organization-day-1.html is the post that got me motivated to start a 6 week organizational push. I actually started two weeks ago with Wyatt and Livvy's rooms. I went through all of their clothes and sorted those that fit and those that were too summery and also went through the many boxes of clothes that I have bought at garage sales for them to grow into. We organized their drawers and closets to have certain types of clothes hanging together and in certain sizes so that at first glance it is easy for me to see what they have plenty of and what they need. I then bought some flat totes and put the clothes that they need to grow into in them, labeled them clearly from the front, and stored them under their beds. We went through all of the toys and gave many, many, many away to DI- after all Christmas is coming and there is nowhere to put all the fun stuff that Santa and Grandmas' bring! It felt wonderful to have it all organized. The best part is that the kids helped me do it- so now they know where all the toys go in the right baskets and are great at cleaning their own rooms- Hooray!

So following this genius lady blogger's schedule- I'm going to tackle the next projects:

Week 2 (this week): my pantry. I want to move things around, clean it out, and take inventory of what I have and need to stock up on. Then I'm going shopping :). I'm also going to try to tackle my closet this week and take all of those clothes that I don't wear anymore to DI. Hopefully I can also get Shelby to get my maternity clothes out from the crawl space so I actually have something to wear.

Week 3: My office. It's become the room to dump all of the stuff for the baby that I keep buying and don't really know where to put it. Also- my desk needs some serious TLC and I need to organize all of my stacks of coupons that I keep accumulating and need to clip and sort.

Week 4: Outside. I want to clean out my flowerbeds and prepare my garden and trees for fall. I need to sort all the kids outdoor toys and store them away for winter. I'm also going to try to get Shelby to finish his kennel for the puppy to keep him from chewing up everything in the yard. Finally- I plan on tackling our cars this week. Cleaning them out really well and then getting them winterized- I'll ask Shelby what that entails :).

Week 5: Mud Room/Laundry Room. I'm going to need Shelby's help for this one too because I want him to build me some shelves so I can incorporate a new laundry system before the baby comes. I can't stand having folded laundry on my couch, but the truth is that sometimes I just don't have time to get it put away as fast as I'd like to. BUT- if I had baskets to fold it in on shelves- it would look much better. I'm also going to clean out all of the shoes/boots and tools etc. in the mud room.

Week 6: My part this week will be better planning. I'm going to really work to plan a better menu schedule, shopping schedule, cleaning schedule, and a schedule of projects for the kids. It's so easy for me to get tired in the afternoon, and I really want to have fun projects and goals to work toward- especially working with Wyatt's fine motor skills every day. I'm also hoping that Shelby will get our new wood stove installed this week and the tile laid around it- cross my fingers. Although hunting season may postpone all of the things that I really want him to help me with. His part in this process may make it more like 12 weeks of organization :).

It's no fun to do big projects alone- and it's easier to stay motivated if you have friends doing it with you- SO- anyone wanna join in and keep me accountable? Come on...... it'll be fun-- sort of.

A boy and his dog...

Shelby was able to get a great deal on this sweet little yellow lab puppy this last week. Since our lovable old lab had to be put to sleep last fall, we've been looking for another. This little guy was the lucky one! Wyatt loves him to pieces and is trying to teach him not to bite or jump up on his sister- who absolutely does not like that. Livvy is trying to learn not to freak out when the puppy chases her :). Wyatt promptly named him 'Bolt' and although I tried to talk him into 'Tonto' thinking then he would quit trying to name my baby that, there was no compromising. So Bolt it is. Welcome to the family sweet puppy!

First Day of Preschool

Wyatt and Livvy started preschool this last Monday. They were both so excited to get back to school. We had decided to let Wyatt spend one more year in preschool in the hopes that his little hands would catch up with his brain and so both Wyatt and Livvy are able to go to preschool together three mornings a week. You know what that means......free time for Mommy- it's heavenly and amazing what you can accomplish with all that uninterrupted time :) But I am very ready for them to get off the bus when 12:35 rolls around.

I remember....

Like many of you, I remember vividly where I was when I heard of the events of Sept. 11th. I remember how I felt watching the second plane crash into the building. I remember the deep fear and unshakable feeling of dread. I cried as I thought of all of those that lost their lives that day and how many people were affected forever.

I am filled with many emotions today as well as we remember the events of that day. I am still filled with that same sense of dread as I think about the direction that our country is taking today- many by our own choice. My hope is that as we remember Sept. 11th, let us also bow our heads quickly and thank our Heavenly Father for our continued freedoms and pray that we might be led to the right path again.

4 wheelin in the desert

For FHE this last Monday we went on a 4-wheeler ride out in the desert with Daddy to look for deer and set up bear baits. While we were waiting for him to set his baits, we had to be VERY quiet not to scare off any potential wildlife :) so I took cute pictures of the monkeys. Poor Wyatt is only half in this picture because I thought I heard a rattlesnake behind me and kinda jumped- just a weed blowing in the wind. Wyatt was just chillin, minding his own business laying on Daddy's 4-wheeler and Livvy walked over there and just laid down on top of him. He didn't even squawk- he just let her squish him for a minute until she got bored and got off.

It was a VERY bumpy ride for this prego mama- I had to go pretty slow and was a little sore, but well worth it to spend time with my studly hunting man and his dang cute offspring :)

Fair Fun

The Gooding County Fair and Rodeo came and went a few weeks ago and Wyatt and Livvy get so excited for it. We started the weekend off with the annual parad- just a look at Livvy's red cheeks can let you know how hot it was. She finally just gave up and went and sat in the shade with her grandma. She must have been smokin hot to give up candy!

Their next favorite part of the fair was the rides. After the rodeo on Friday night we always let them ride a few rides and have cotton candy. Aunt Fallon also talked us into letting them ride one more on Saturday night after the rodeo so she could take Wyatt on the big swings. He LOVED it. I was nervous for him since they go so high, but he wasn't scared at all. Isn't he just so dang handsome in his cowboy hat?