Photo Shoot Giveaway

This gal has a darling photography blog and is just getting started and needs to get her name out there. She is doing a giveaway for a free photo sessions! Just in time for Christmas. Go check it out here to get entered!

5 lbs.

When Josh and I were dating, my cute niece Tyler, was about 3 year-old. When I would ask her how much she loved me, she would always tell me that she loved me 5 lbs. Josh and I still use this phrase today. We text each other, 5 lbs, leave notes that say 5 lbs, and to us it means. I love you more than words can say.

Tonight Josh and I had the chance to go to a 10-year anniversary party for two of our very best friends. Aaron is Josh's best-friend. Josh was his best-man and Aaron was his. Aaron knew that Josh and I were perfect for each other and he introduced us. Tyson's middle name is Aaron. We kinda like him, if you can't tell. Anyway, we had the chance to go and watch him and Kym renew their wedding vows.

What a neat experience! It was so neat to see the way that they still look at each other and to hear them tell each other why they are so grateful for each other. What an amazing couple!

It got me thinking about Josh and I. I LOVE him. He is perfect for me. We compliment each other so completely. Today I called him at work and I knew right off that something wasn't right. I could hear it in his voice. He was having a bad day. I love that I know him that well, that I don't need to be told somethings wrong. I love that he's seen me at my WORST (it's not pretty) and he still loves me unconditionally. I love that he works so hard for our family. He works hard so that I can stay home with our kids and that means so much to me. I love that we have fun together. We don't even have to leave the house to have fun together. I love that he gets exasperated at me and my forgetfulness and that he supports me in all of my endeavors, though sometimes he does grumble under his breathe, all the while :)...

I love this guy! You are amazing Josh and I love you 5 lbs!

Girlfriends and Kissin'

This kids is pretty cute. He's one of my very favorites :). Yesterday when I picked him up from preschool, my friend Shelley was telling me about Tyson and his girlfriend. She said all day, Makayla and Tyson called each other boyfriend and girlfriend. "Girlfriend, sit by me." "Boyfriend, play with me." Pretty cute, huh?

So Tyson told me all about his girlfriend on our way out to Costco. He told me that she was going to marry him and she kissed him!! Holy cow, Casanova! Who know, but it's super cute! So we are in Costco and walked past the flower and Tyson grabbed a bunch of flowers and brought them to me. "Mom," he said, "I need to buy these for my girlfriend." SO CUTE! When I told him no, he was so sad and hung his head and walked around muttering about how he needed flowers for his girlfriend.

And so it begins............. J.D. already likes girls way to much and now so does Tyson.

Halloween Cuties

WHAT A DAY! I'm glad it only comes once a year. We have an insane amount of candy lying around our house! It's amazing how much they can get in just an hour or so.
I think they are pretty cute kids. J.D. is Snake Eye's, Piper is Snow White and Tyson was Bumblebee.

Karate Kickin' J.D. had a great time. We had a ward trunk-or-treat on our street. It was fun, because the kids were comfortable running through all the neighbors houses. I didn't really want to do it, but it was a lot of fun doing it as a ward and not with the city.

Our cute little Bumble Bee man! He had a great time running with his little friends. He had his mask on almost the entire night. I bet he wears that costume until it has holes in it.

My pretty princess is such a menace. Her hair only looked cute for about 1/2 an hour. Right after this picture she was trying to get some water out of the fridge and slipped and spilt the cup right on top of her, soaking her hair. Oh well, at least I got a few cute pictures.

After the trunk-or-treat we went to Grandma & Grandpa's. We weren't planning on going trick-or-treating, but Grandma wanted to go, so we went around her massive block. They got sooo much candy. The boys had a blast, but it was Piper who was so much fun to watch this year. She was fascinated by all the different decorations at each house and to hear her say trick-or-treat made up for all the naughty today! She would blow everyone a thank you kiss as we left. It was so cute. She wouldn't let us help her carry her bucket. She had to do it all by herself. I think she thought that we were going to take it away from her. She was tuckered out. She is still in her costume sound asleep.

It was a great night. I hope my kids remember all the fun we had!

Quote of the Day

"Anyone who imagines that bliss is normal is going to waste a lot of time running around shouting that he has been robbed. The fact is that most putts don't drop, most beef is tough, most children grow up to be just people, most successful marriages require a high degree of mutual toleration, and most jobs are more often dull than otherwise. Life is like an old time rail journey... delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders, and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts of speed. The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride."

Gordon B. Hinkley

Self-Portrait

What kid doesn't like taking self-portraits? I'm almost 30 and I find it great fun!!

Gosh, he's cute with his little Josh face!

Pumpkins & Silly String

We went over to Josh's parents house tonight to celebrate Heather's 3oth birthday! Scary, huh. If she's 30, that means I am soon to follow! So unfair, though, that Heather still looks 25. I certainly do not look 25. Anyway, before I cry......

We went and had cake and ice cream and carved pumpkins. Everyone said, "Oh, the kids will have so much fun carving pumpkins!" Guess who carved pumpkins????? The parents did while the children ran like wild indians all over the place. Oh well, they had fun!

I have a ton more pictures of our new little niece Kassie, and of the kids but I will post those in another post.
Grandpa gutting pumpkins. He's pretty good at it! He's had LOTS of practice.

BayLee & J.D. are Best-Friends! J.D.'s pumpkin was a cool Jacob wolf! I kinda messed it up and we had to use toothpicks to fix it. Got a little happy with the knife.

10 Little Pumpkins all in a row!

Piper holding the Scooby pumpkin that daddy carved.

Piper covered in silly string!

Silly string on the dirt and on a cute little Tyson boy!

Kaleb covered in silly string.

Josh going after Heather. Varney smiling. Don't know why, but he is :).

Spooky Pumpkins

I love carving pumpkins. It mean's it's almost time for Halloween fun!! Instead of doing regular old Jack-o-Lantern's we went searching for templates online and found some semi=easy ones that Josh & I could do. Kids and knives, just don't mix in my book.

Here is a cute picture of Miss Piper. I tool this while my hands were all covered in pumpkin guts. She was being way cute and laying on the floor being, well cute. It's in her job description.

Tyson wanted no part of sticking his hand inside the pumpkin. He was content to sit and watch Josh carve his spider pumpkin.

Owl by Brandy

Spider by Josh

My cute hubby cleaning out Tyson's pumpkin.

Piper thought they were so cool! And they really are. I didn't have any tealights last night, so the lighting ceremony will happen tonight.

JD says....

J.D. told Carsyn this morning, "You wear man spray so you smell good and the girls want to date you."

Had to write that down. He was so serious while he said it. Funny stuff!

Gasoline

I just have to share this story somewhere, so we never forget it. Although, I am sure JD would like us to erase it from our memories.

Last night we were going to Mesquite to see my Uncle John. We haven't' seen him in 2 years and he was in Mesquite on business. So we thought we'd go and have dinner with him. So I got all the kids ready and when Josh got home we headed into town so we could get gas at Albertsons before we left. J.D. has a new obsession with helping pump the gas. He hopped out and went to help Josh. I am sitting in the front seat of the yukon and I see Josh go around the front and head into the store. I realize that J.D. is pumping gas by himself, so I hop out and go around the back and J.D. was holding the nozzle with one hand and looking at his finger on the other hand. He had pinched it when he had undone the stop. I told him to put the stop back down and was trying to help him, when all of the sudden he jerks the nozzle out of the tank and gas is squirting everywhere. All over the car, all over me, and all over J.D. I tried to grab the nozzle out of his hand, but he is jerking backwards, because gas is shooting back at us. We were soaked.

Josh comes back and starts SCREAMING at the top of his lungs at J.D. and J.D. is crying, of course. Josh had told him not to touch the nozzle, but of course, what is a 7-year-old boy going to do? It was not a good moment in the Doty family. Josh screaming, J.D. crying, and me trying to be the mediator in the ordeal. It was so embarrassing. We had to come home and change all of our clothes and I am washing them yet again, trying to get the smell out of them. I am sure to the onlookers, it was quite comical.

Well, we eventually made it to Mesquite, but without our children. My sweet father-in-law kept our kids because by the time we had everything all cleaned up and ready to go, it was quite late in the evening. Oh, the joy's of being a parent!

Poopy Water

To get the full effect, click on the picture to enlarge it.

I sent the kids out to feed the chickens this morning. J.D. came right back in for breakfast, and about 5 minutes had gone by and I hadn't seen Tyson and Piper. So I went outside and found them playing the mud. Rather than get mad, I got my camera and watched to see what would happen. Well, Tyson promptly told me it was poopy water and Piper proceeded to strip off and dive right in . It was pretty funny to watch. I had to take her out and spray her off with the hose. I didn't even try to save her cute pony undies, they were ruined. This all happened mind you before 9 am this morning. I'm glad that I can just let them be kids and have fun. Who doesn't love mud?

Cousins

We went to Marysvale last weekend and stayed at Sherry's while Josh and his dad went hunting. We alway's have a great time when we go home and the kids love top play with their cousins. On Saturday, we went to the pumpkin patch in Joseph and then played their in the little park. It was so much fun. They had teeter-totters!! You don't see those very often anymore. Mom, Sherry & I all had to take turns with each other. It was a lot of fun!

Another vote needed

Okay, so the photo contest is still ongoing. They had to restart the voting, because it looks like someone was trying to cheat. Atleast, that is what my friend, who is a computer guru, say's. Soooo, please click on this link to vote for J.D. or Tyson. Thanks so much! I know I don't need a contest to tell me that my kids are cute, but I do want to win the canvas print they are giving away! Thanks agian so much!

http://www.enchantedimagesphotoart.com/contest.html

Vote for my Cowboys

My kids are pretty cute!! Atleast, I think they are. They are entered in the Cutest Little Cowpoke contest. Voting begins on today and ends the 15th. You can only vote once per computer, but please, please go vote for them! I want the canvas portraits! You can only vote once per computer, so if you have more than one, please vote for them each if you can. How do you pick? Josh and I are each voting for one of them and then hoping that all my loved ones can do the rest.

THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Haunted Mansions

This is a tradition at our house. We make haunted mansions for Halloween every year. My kids love it. They also love making them at Christmas time. But it's the shooting of the gingerbread houses that they love the most. Oh, and the eating of the candy, while they make the mansions. The great thing about haunted mansions, is they don't have to be perfect, so the kids love to make them. If your interested in the frosting recipe, go here.

Toy Story

Mandee and I took the kids to see the double feature Toy Story in 3D. It was pretty fun. A long afternoon, though. The kids had a blast.

J.D. in all 2 pairs of the kids glasses. My head hurt so bad from watching the movie through butter covered glasses. Thanks Tyson!

The Toy Story Posse. I didn't even think to take Tyson's Woody or Piper's Jessie doll. They are the size of Baylee's. courtesy of Disneyland.

Best Buddies. They had the popcorn tub inbetween them and we ended up going through almost 2 full tubs. J.D. was so sick afterwards. He had to keep running to the bathroom.

Me and Miss Mandee!

He looks like the old man from UP. So stinkin' cute!

Hanging with my boys! Love them!

Journal Entry: My kids

For those of you who don't want to read this is a Journal entry ~

J.D.~ Oh how grown up you've gotten in the last few months. I know that sometimes you hate being the oldest, but your so good at it! You are so helpful and it makes my life easier. I know how you feel, because I was the oldest child and it's hard sometimes. I'm sorry I'm not always the most patient. I need to remember you are just a kiddo!

Have I told you how awesome you are lately? You've been playing football and having a blast! I think it may be one of your chosen sports. Your rock at it, dude! Your quick and tough. You pull flags off left and right. Your coach says that you have some real potential to do something with your talent.

You've had a great start to the school year. Second grade. Time flies by to quickly. Mrs. Thomas is your teacher and you seem to be doing well. At your first parent teacher conference we found out that you are reading above grade level and Mrs. Thomas said you have a great head for math. I love positive reports. She also thinks your really cute in all your cowboy gear!

I love you J.D. I love your bright happy attitude and I love how compassionate, kind and helpful you are. Your a good kid!

Tyson~ My sweet little man. You absolutely light up my life. Your smile is so contagious and so happy. Most of the time. Your going through a little Independence streak. You don't want us to call you Tootie any more. Every time one of us does you say, "I not Tootie. I Tyson!" It's so cute to hear you say it, that I call you Tootie more & more.

You are loving preschool this year. Your going 5 days a week and your behavior has done a 360. You seriously are so well behaved and you are doing so much better to use your mouth to say kind words.

You love race cars. LOVE THEM! You will carry around the same Matchbox cars for day's and play with them all day long. Your imagination is so great that way. You are on a kick of hanging your cars or your spiderman in our Halloween Spiderwebs, or in the blind ropes. You think it's hilarious!

I love you my blond headed boy. Gosh, your beautiful. Thanks for being so awesome and just being you my mini Josh!

Piper ~ Where to begin? Your my most strong willed child. I remember I thought Tyson was going to be extremely strong willed, but you my dear put your brothers to shame. Your strong willed, moody, crazy and wild. And I love all of it about you. Your tough as nails and don't put up with your brothers crap, but you also have a sweet little heart and you love to snuggle and hug them.

You are already potty trained and just barely two. You love to run around in your swimsuit. If it was up to you, you would live in it. It's starting to get cold here so we will see how you do in the next month with that! I honestly can't wait for you to wear clothes!

You are happy & cheerful most of the time. As long as your getting your way. You love to sit on my lap and to be held. You like to pretend you are a dog or a kitty. You lick us if your a puppy and pur if your a kitty. You love your Poppa, probably more than you love me or daddy and you love the 4-wheeler more than you probably love Poppa. Love you sweet Pip!!

3 years ago

I was checking a memory card for Josh last night and was delighted when we pulled up these pictures. Oh my goodness! Look at my boy's. It's sad, but that seems so dim in my memory and it also seems like it was just yesterday. I had to share a few with you.

Piper looks just like Tyson. Atleast in her facial features, but her coloring is all J.D. But oh my goodness, the resemblence is amazing.

Such a cute baby. Oh, he's grown up so much and slimmed out. He was so cute, though.

Feeding the ducks. I used to go feed the ducks like once a week, until J.D. got into school. Good memories.

And this kid's just cute. Oh my goodenss. I am so blessed to have such handsome men in my life!

A Snake is a Snake

Josh and I were out in the front yard on Tuesday night talking to his dad. We were walking back into the house and I was in front of him and I saw this little guy. I shrieked, and ran in the back door. Josh of course had to pick it up, I mean after all it's just a garden snake. A snake's a snake in my opinion. Gross and creepy and crawly!

It was kinda little, but again, a snakes a snake.

Piper running away from the snake. Smart Girl.

J.D. of course touching the snake.

Not something he inherited from me.

I made Josh take him and put him in the dirt up by the trail head.

Smart kids. They must have inherited that gene from me. Watching safely from the doorway.