The Schaugaards

A Well Needed Update

2012-01-16T14:43:00.000-08:00

My laptop stopped working when I attempted to clean it with a Clorox wipe. It got too wet, and now the keyboard and mouse do not work. It's quite sad. I have pictures on that computer that i am unable to post now, but hopefully we can get them somehow. So this post that I'm writing is being done from my phone. It's definitely not as convenient at all, but i definitely need to give you all an update. I'm hoping to be able to post some pictures from my phone too. We'll see! I don't have any control over the order that the pictures are in or to write about each picture, but it will let me post them. I still hope you enjoy them. We had a wonderful and busy Christmas--visiting lots of family. Zeb is getting so big so fast. Tucker is a good big brother. One sad thing that happened this last week is that our little Jemima dog passed away. She got hit by a car. There are a few pictures of her on this post, on one picture, she came in through the cat door at the Haroldsen's and didn't quite clear it. You can see it around her waist. It was so funny. The other picture is when we put Tucker's Christmas pajamas on her. That was hilarious too! It's only been a few days that she hasn't been around, but we miss her a lot! Even if I did complain about her getting into stuff all the time, she was still a part if the family. Tucker and Jemima would always wrestle like brother and sister. We didn't know if he quite understood what happened, but yesterday morning he started crying and saying that "Mima's dead". Broke my little heart. She was a part of our little family and we won't ever forget her.

He's Here!

2011-11-26T10:15:00.000-08:00

Sunday morning my water broke, but I didn't know it for sure. I put off going in to the hospital because I didn't want to go in if I had only peed my pants! Then when I "peed my pants a little again" in the afternoon, we decided to drop Tucker off and head for the hospital. It wasn't until we were waiting for them to check if it was my water that broke that I realized that I was at it again, so when they came in to check, they didn't really even have to check to see if it was my water that broke. By 11PM our little boy had arrived! I didn't realize that he could come that quick!

He was born 11/20/11 at 11PM weighing 7 pounds and 5 ounces, and he was 19 1/2 inches long. And I was able to have a successful VBAC.

Well, we did leave the hospital without writing a name down on the birth certificate information, but we have decided that his name is Zeb Arlo Schaugaard. So we definitely chose one quicker than when we named Tucker!

We are so happy to have him in our family! We still don't know how Tucker feels about it--he's had a lot of people in town to keep him entertained. Hopefully I can keep up with both kids when everyone leaves!

Big Belly Update

2011-11-13T19:33:00.000-08:00

Well, we have 15 days to go till my due date! The doctor says if he comes this next week, it would be great! We're hoping that I don't have to be induced since I am trying for a VBAC. I think that would be great too! I'd like him to come before the holiday craze. Any suggestions to get labor going? :)

Here are some big belly pictures :) I went to do a photo session for a family and decided to have Gary follow along so that afterwards we could get some before the baby comes. We lucked out and got Tucker to kiss the baby. I think he still doesn't quite grasp the concept that we will have another little boy soon.

Also, we are still up for any name suggestions!

Halloween Pictures

2011-11-02T19:57:00.000-07:00

This year I ventured out to make Tucker's costume. I decided that he would probably like to be Mater from Cars. I found some costumes online, but they were pricey and just didn't cut it. So I took some leftover fabric that I had lying around and looking at some of the costumes online for a reference, I went to work. It honestly cost me about $5 to make, since I had the paint and the fabric already. I used wire hangers to make the frame. It did take some time to make though.

Well, Halloween came and I was going to take Tucker to the gym daycare while I went to a Zumba class. (Yes. I for sure look awkward doing Zumba at 8 months pregnant!) The kids were supposed to wear their costumes so they could go trick-or-treating around the gym. Tucker threw a major tantrum and would not put it on. I was bummed. I took it anyway and told them at the daycare that it was there for him. Then halfway through my class, the kids started to pile in. There he was wearing his Mater costume. I was so glad he wore it!

Then when our friends, the Callisters, came over to get ready for the trunk-or-treat, he would not wear it again. Maybe it was because it was boxy and had to go over his head. I really don't know. But when we got to the trunk-or-treat and he saw that we would not let him have any candy until he put on his costume, he decided to give it a try. After that, he had a blast trunk-or-treating and trying to tow everything around!

A lonely Tow Mater with no one that would wear him

Lily was more than happy to wear the Mater costume to show Tucker that it was cool.

Lily and Tucker playing in the leaves

Finally Tucker put on his costume!

Little Jack was the cutest little devil!

Tuck finally got some candy!

Proof that sometimes Tucker does follow the devil

Two little buddies eating their candy

Daddy and Tuck posing for a picture

He does like the costume after all! I wish wish wish this one was in focus!

Mommy and Tucker posing for a picture--Tucker has on his crazy candy hyper face!


The Callisters all posing for a picture. They were the cutest little Dr. Seuss characters ever!

Wait--does Daddy know where he's going?

Tucker tried to tow everything: Lily...

...Jemima...

...and I think he was even convinced that he could tow our car.

A Busy Fall!

2011-10-30T19:54:00.001-07:00

We have been busy this fall!

We went to Staheli Farm with the Harmons and the Houghtons. It was a blast!

Gary, Tucker, and Sophie, going through the mini maze

Tucker and Sophie looking at the goat that climbed into the pony's food bucket

This was one of Tucker's favorite parts

Sophie loved it too!

Here are the Harmons on the hayride

And our cute little family on the hayride

Tucker and Sophie led the way through the corn maze...

They thought they knew just where to go. We ended up going in lots of circles!

Daddy and Tucker walking through the maze

Here's Daddy and Tucker pumping water to have a duck race.

Tucker was way into this duck race

Tucker loved it so much that he ended up peeing his pants. Really. He didn't

want to stop playing with the duck race and wouldn't stop to go to the
bathroom even though we knew he needed to. Then the fun ended, and we went home.

I guess this next event doesn't count as fun, especially for my dad. He ended up in emergency surgery on the 17th because his intestines got pinched and pulled up into his stomach taking up a 6"x9" space. They had to cut off 6 inches of his intestines. We went to Cedar City on the 18th to visit and wish him a quick recovery!

Tucker got to ride on Grandpa's hospital bed

Tucker wanted Grandma to chase him around in the foyer

Later that week, Gary's mom, DeeAnn, and brother, Nathan, came to visit. She and I worked on some Christmas crafts to use as gifts. Get this: she also loaded 17 pumpkins from her garden into her car and drove them all the way from Salt Lake so we could have a pumpkin carving party with the Houghtons while they were here.

Ashley, Nate, Jennifer, Gary, and Debbie


Here's Ashley and her pumpkin

Gracie and Jordan carving their pumpkins

Sophie and her pumpkin

Madi, DeeAnn, Gary, Max, and Debbie

Here's the kids watching Shaun the Sheep in the Laptop after they carved their pumpkins

Tucker sitting next to his "Mater" pumpkin the next morning

This was actually later that weekend, Gary had been so busy helping everyone else with their pumpkins that he didn't get to make his at the party.


Here he is with his Linux Logo pumpkin. It turned out awesome.

This is me a few days later with my "Mac" pumpkin--we lost the pic of me with it earlier.

That weekend, Grandpa Haroldsen joined the party too. It was nice enough outside to go boating!

Stay tuned for more fun! Halloween is next!

Is it Fall Already?

2011-10-09T15:27:00.000-07:00

Each year, we go to Monticello for the hunt. Gary's grandparents live there and the boys + or - some of the girls go up the mountain to deer hunt. It is sooo fun when we visit, and it always seems to mark the beginning of fall to me.

While we were there, Gary spotted a real life "Tow Mater" parked on Main Street. Tucker has a little Mater toy that he carries around, and we knew we had to take him to see it!

Tucker was a little wary as to if this was the "real Mater" when we showed it to him. He walked around the vehicle and compared his toy to the bigger version. When every part seemed to match, he seemed pretty happy that he had met the real life Mater! When it was time to leave, he did NOT want to go!

Here's Tucker and Daddy taking a ride on the 4-wheelr

Beautiful Monticello in the fall

Gary got a buck!

Tucker and Daddy Posing with Daddy's buck

My cousin, Becca, who lives in Colorado was able to visit while we were in Monticello and Grandma Schaugaard watched the kids while I got to go to the temple with her. Here's Tucker and Kelty eating some apples from Grandma and Grandpa's Tree.

Sandy and Wade finally came to hang out too!

Jemima got used to being outside while we were there :)

Here's Tucker and his Grandpa

Grandpa and his grandkids :)

It's always so sad when we have to leave! We're already looking forward to next year!

Who wants free Christmas Cards, a Calendar, and Photo Session?

2011-09-27T14:47:00.000-07:00

Hey! I am really hoping to get chosen to host a Shutterfly Holiday Card House Party! Here's some possible freebies for friends who can come to my party in St. George if I get selected. If I get chosen as a host for the party on November 12th, here's what guests and I will get:

Promo codes to redeem 1 set of 15 free premium Shutterfly holiday cards
Promo codes to redeem 1 free Shutterfly photo calendar
Plus I will be ready to give guests a free mini photography session, so they can upload some pictures to their free Shutterfly cards while at the party!

Follow this link: http://houseparty.com/events/discussion_view/954275 and (sign up or sign in to) comment on my post to help increase my chances to become a host!

and/or like or comment on my Facebook posts about it http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1506218888.

Here's just a couple of examples of what awesome cards they have!

(click on the image to find out more about it)

Thanks!

Funny Things

2011-09-22T14:00:00.000-07:00

Here's some funny things that Tucker has done lately.

A lot of the time if he is being naughty, I will count backwards from three, and if I get to one and he still isn't being good or obedient, he gets punished. We were in the car getting some lunch at the drive-thru to take to Gary yesterday and Tucker was antsy to get some french fries so he yelled, "Momma! French fries! Three!--Two!---One!"

He has been in big boy underwear for about a month now and has been doing pretty good about telling me when he needs to go potty. Today I asked him if he needed to go potty right before he went down for nap-time, but he said no. Then he tried to sneak out during nap-time to go potty all by himself and ended up not aiming so well and getting everything wet. I heard him, so I went to check it out. I was helping him put some new underwear on that had Lightning McQueen on them and he was all frustrated that McQueen was on the back and not the front. So He turned them around so that McQueen was on the front. That's got to be uncomfortable. But he seemed content after that, so I let him.

Since potty training has finally registered with Tucker, he doesn't like his clothes to be wet anymore. He was the total opposite before--he used to LOVE for his clothes to get wet--he would just lay down in puddles, etc. Well, we were at a BBQ with some friends in their backyard. They have a little rock waterfall, and at first I was worried that Tucker would jump right on it, but he seemed pretty content just playing with the other kids in the yard. Next thing we know, Tucker is flashing everyone. He had stripped down so he could play in the waterfall, because it's gross if clothes get wet.

Caught During Nap-Time

2011-08-31T15:15:00.000-07:00

Today Tucker fell asleep during nap-time next to his favorite "toys". I had to snag a picture.

We learned about temples this week for Family Home Evening and took Tucker to the St. George Temple to look around. He climbed up the stairs and knocked on the door, "Open door!" when we told him it was Jesus' house. He has now included the ceramic temple that sits on his dresser into the collection of favorite toys, Mater, and Choo-choo, that he carries around in a bucket everywhere.

Little Astronaut and More

2011-08-29T15:20:00.000-07:00

We went up North a few weeks back so Gary could do some work where the company he works for is based and so I could shoot a wedding up there.

We stayed at the Haroldsen's for the first part. Here's Tucker helping his Uncle Nate mow the lawn.

Tucker also got to hang out with Grandma--here they are picking some berries.

One day we went with Grandpa and Grandma Schaugaard and the girls, and my sister and her little boy, Jajue, to the Tree House. Tucker had a blast. There were so many things to see and do--it's just what a little boy could dream of!

All the little boys there were knocking all of the giant chess pieces down as fast as

all the other kids could put them back up!

Here's Tucker jamming along with Kaitlin in the music room

Here Tucker is putting on a show in the theater area

Grandma helped Tucker find an astronaut suit. He was pretty happy

about wearing it for most of the time that we were there!

Checking out the astronaut in the mirror

Look at this happy little astronaut!

Dreaming of outer space!

Hanging with Grandma and Grandpa

Mommy and the astronaut

After the Treehouse, we went to the splash pad to get cooled off!

Here's Jajue and Lizz after a nice run through the water

Amber and Tucker enjoying the water

After we came back from our trip up north, we had a blast when some family came down to visit for a weekend for a missionary farewell and baby blessing. We had 15 people staying in our house! On the Saturday they were here, we went to Sandhollow to go boating and swimming.

Tucker has no problem at all with jumping right in and following everyone else

I love this picture of Tucker and his Uncle Nate

Book Illustrations

2011-08-23T16:05:00.000-07:00

I thought I would post some of the illustrations I have been working on for a local writer, Walt Brooks. The book is called Walter's Pet Bee and will be getting published soon! If any of you are interested in a copy, leave your info, and I'll contact you when they are available.

Here's the front and back covers:

Here's a few random pages throughout the book:

Panguitch!

2011-08-18T15:21:00.000-07:00

Here are some fun shots of our annual trip to Panguitch!

Tucker and Sophie were pals throughout the whole camp out

Our little family

Tucker watching Daddy fish

Tucker loved getting dirty, but loved getting clean too!

What big boys on a four-wheel ride

Another ride on the four-wheeler

Tucker and Mommy eating some lunch

Grandma and Tucker while everyone was shooting guns

Tucker and Sophie on the boat

Uncle Scott let tucker drive the boat--Tucker was beaming the whole time!

Cute Emabelle and her momma, Aunt Sandy

Mommy and Tucker

Daddy and Tucker

Tucker fell asleep with his face in his bucket of cars

Here he is with tire tracks all over his little face

Blowing bubbles that he got from Aunt Sue!

Looking cool with Daddy's shades on!

Hanging out with Noah, catching some bugs!

Tucker put his car in the water drain on our camp trailer

Panguitch was so fun this year (as always!), and we can hardly wait for next year!

Help Name Tucker's Brother

2011-08-04T13:46:00.000-07:00

I've put together a form that you can fill out to help us in naming our next little boy! Anyone (anonymous) can fill it out and submit their answers by clicking on the submit button after the survey. I'd love for you to fill it out and to leave any comments on this post about what you think of the names listed in the form!

Thanks!

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Potty Training: Day 3

2011-07-28T12:25:00.000-07:00

I am quite possibly ready to pull out my hair. Today is day 3 of our "Three Day Potty Training" in which the queen of potty training explains, "In my experience, virtually all children can be potty trained at the
age of 22 months and can be trained in as few as three days." Oh and she also threw in, "Children with Apraxia of Speech can also be potty trained using this method. My fifth child, now 4 years old, has Childhood Apraxia of Speech and was potty trained at 22 months old in under 3 days using this method."

Well, I have totally stuck consistently with this method that for everyone else I know who has tried it, it has worked for. Tucker is not even close.

Apparently my child is the exception. I am convinced that he loves water and being wet so much that he would go pee anywhere just so he could dance in it. Sick. I know that he understands that he needs to go in the potty, but just does not want to. He will poop in the toilet, but not pee.

I "threw out" all our diapers and the training said to stay with the potty training with big boy pants and that you should not revert back to diapers, ever.

Any tips? Anyone? I am desperate.

Lots of July Fun

2011-07-14T21:16:00.000-07:00

Time for pictures and more pictures of this month so far! I'm talking lots!

We took a trip up north to visit family and have some fun at the beginning of this month. We stopped by Tucker's Great Grandma and Grandpa Lee's for Sunday dinner and hung out with cousins.

Tucker riding a little choo-choo train that my dad grew up with

Playing marbles on the marble ladder that Great Grandpa's dad made

Riding a cool trike in the backyard

Great Grandma pushing Tucker around on the trike

Tucker playing baseball with Daddy and my cousin Trent

My cousin, Amanda, Tucker, and Great Grandma on the swing while Great Grandpa checks the garden

Tucker playing in the playhouse in the backyard

On the fourth, we went to the zoo with Grandma and Grandpa Schaugaard, Amber, Kailtin, Sandy, Wade, Emabelle, Lizz, Jajue, Abbey, and Ginger.

Tucker is so funny. We showed him the elephants, and he just shouted, "Water!"

because they were in playing in water. As for all the animals,

I don't think Tucker knew what to think. He kind of just stood there

and tried to take it all in that all the animals he has learned about are actually real :)

Tucker is so intrigued!

Tucker and Emabelle scoping out the elephants

Tucker and Kaitlin--Tucker got his cool camo hat while we were there

and now he freaks out if he doesn't know where it is.

Love this pic!

We crossed a bridge and just outside of the zoo fence was a huge garden,

and Grandpa Schaugaard couldn't help but think that this was the greatest

exhibit there!

Mr. Tiger

Amber and Tuck

Daddy and Tucker looking at...?

Jajue being a turtle

Tucker going down the snake slide

Lizz, Jajue, Tucker, and Abbey

Kaitlin and Tucker in the slide

Jajue and Tucker in the dinosaur egg

Amber, Kaitlin, Tucker, and Emabelle

I'd say we measure up to monkeys!

Grandma and Tucker

Kaitlin and Tucker hanging out with the gorilla

Posing by the gorilla

Tucker and Ginger

Sandy, Emabelle, Tucker, Amber, and Kaitlin taking a ride on the dinosaur

After the zoo we headed up to the Calderwood family reunion for some fun camping. The campground was close to the river, but no worries, we didn't even show the river to Tucker until we were leaving. We pointed it out to him as we were driving over the bridge, and he just shouted, "Water!?" like we had ripped him off the whole time. But we did let him go to the reservoir to swim where it wasn't so dangerous while we were up that way.

The first night we went to the small town fireworks near the campground.

Tucker tried so hard to stay awake and actually made it to see them

But here is the scary part about the camp out. I have heard a lot of stories about bears attacking campers in the past few weeks because the girls in our ward were heading to girls' camp where rumor had it there were bears in the midst (they didn't run into any by the way). The first night of camping, we left some of our leftover chicken bones on our camp table. Well, in the middle of the night we heard a "GRRRRRRR!" Everyone in the tent immediately woke up. And...the tent that we were in did not have a functioning zipper closure. So we were totally exposed to outside. Du duh dum. I was freaking out at this point especially from all the bear stories. And whatever it was outside, brushed against my sister's leg in the tent right before we heard the growl (she was closest to the exposed doorway), and she was in total panic mode. Me too. We struggled to find our flashlight, and Gary went to inspect. I was afraid for his life. He didn't see anything. A few minutes later, back in the tent, we heard some rumbling around again. And...he went out to check again. It was a raccoon. I guess two of them were fighting over our chicken bones. And they ate my pastry that I was going to eat in the morning. I was so mad! We had stuff piled on top of the pastry box, and the raccoons totally went into the side of the box while all the stuff was still piled on the box. They didn't even wait for us to go to bed the next night, they were already scoping out the place as we went to brush our teeth!

Here is Tucker just hanging out around the campsite

I love this one, but just wish it was more in focus!

Here is Tucker with his choo-choo that he takes everywhere these days.

Tucker and Kelty having some CapriSun

My turn to beat Gary at our new favorite game on his iPad, Scrabble.

Gary making us some breakfast

My sis in her long-johns leading Tucker and Jajue through the campsite

Some more close-ups of this camping boy

In his natural habitat

Tucker playing the matching game with Uncle Andrew, Aunt Ginger, Aunt Abbey, and Jajue

Kelty and Tucker all ready in their suits to go swimming

Three kids buckled in and ready to go find some water

Finally we got to the water and my uncle, John, took Tucker and me for a little canoo ride.

Okay, so THIS one is really the picture of Tucker in his natural habitat.

Tucker and Aunt Abbey in the water

Me and Tuck in the water--poor little guy was getting cold

My mom jumped in the water with her clothes on and helped Tucker ride the rope swing

Go Tucker!

My nephew, Jajue, got into a mud fight...

...with his grandma and grandpa

Later that week we hung out with the Haroldsen's and went to see Cars 2, (which I totally loved by the way) and spent some time at Aunt Renate's wedding that was in Grandma and Grandpa Haroldsen's backyard.

Renate and her granddaughter

And how did I not get a pic of the bride and groom together?!

The kids all decided to play on the trampoline and Tucker wasn't about to be left out.

Here he is dragging a chair to the trampoline so he can climb up too.

Tucker found the dirt

"Momma, don't you tell me not to play in the dirt!"

Here's Gatlin, Tucker and another little friend looking at the chickens

One On The Way

2011-06-30T08:26:00.000-07:00

If you didn't catch on to the hints here on the blog (at the end of the last post, on our blog banner), you wouldn't have known that we are expecting again! I thought maybe we should add a little more info than just hints, so here are some pictures. I am about 18 weeks now, and we're expecting a...

BOY

Apparently we are good at making boys.

He should be here around the beginning of December!

Cramming Months Into A Post

2011-06-23T13:19:00.000-07:00

We're alive! As I look at my pictures I can't believe how much updating I need to do!

These past weeks months have been crazy busy! I have been busily working on some illustrations for a children's book and it is taking more time than I thought it would! But it's now close to being done. Poor Tucker has been watching way too much Sesame Street on Netflix.

Here's an attempt to show you what we've been up to.

Tucker in the water:

This kid will drop and roll in a puddle if he sees one, and I'm not kidding. He did that at the park the other day, and then proceeded to lick the puddle for a drink like the dog. Gross.

Cotton Days Parade with the Callisters:

A trip up North to see my sister and her family get sealed and to visit other family:

Visiting Gary's mom in the hospital:

Tucker and his cousin, Emabelle, looking out the window from Grandma's room.

Annual Blocked Off Our Street Day A.K.A. Iron Man (They race right by our house--we had to park our car at the park and walk to the park if we wanted to go anywhere)

Tucker's birthday/Memorial Day with the Schaugaards, Backers and some Haroldsens:

Tucker had his very own toy box cake complete with Toy Story toys!

The blocks inside were edible and spelled out Tucker's name. Pretty fancy!

Thanks Wade and Sandy!

We actually left our camera home on the day we went hiking

and swimming at some waterfalls in Leeds with the Schaugaards.

I am bummed that we don't have pictures.

Tucker's little Buzz and Woody friend birthday party at the Splash Pad:

And now that Tucker is two, we figure he is big enough to be doing some chores around here. You know, like mowing the lawn, gardening, vacuuming out the car--the usual:

And here's a little one day adventure to Baker's Reservoir that we took with Scott, Nate, Ben, and Elisha:

P.S. We are expecting!

Spring

2011-04-26T10:00:00.000-07:00

I'm a little behind because we filled up our picture storage on this blog---but it looks like it's fixed now! So here are some of our spring happenings.

Here we are planting our garden in March.

We went on a visit to Delta to see my brother's play. Tucker got to see Jane's duck while we were there.

I finished Tucker's Suitcase chair :) See the how-to HERE.

Here's Tucker and Lily sitting on the suitcase chair.

Tucker loves playing cars in the dirt.

Busting out the Slip-N-Slide!

Playing with some play-dough!

Tucker and Lily got to go to the kite festival. They rode Lily's Daddy's bus to the park.

And ran into their friend Livy when they got there.

Then they danced to the live band.

And watched the fireworks.

Stay tuned for Easter fun!

Pictures up

2011-04-25T15:34:00.000-07:00

These are from November, but I was checking to see if the pictures were working--they did!

Update!

2011-04-13T08:10:00.000-07:00

I tried to post some pictures and found out that I have officially overloaded my picture space on our blog. I didn't even know that was possible. I will have to purchase more space to be able to post more pictures! Hopefully we'll have some more pictures soon! Stay tuned...

Random Tucker Facts

2011-03-28T14:38:00.000-07:00

Here are some things about Tucker:

He fakes "owies" to try to get us to take him out of his crib. The other night Gary went and got him and put him in our bed (which never happens) because he kept crying "owie, owie!". Once he got onto our bed, he helped himself off the bed and started running down the hall. We were like, "What is this kid doing at 4 in the morning running around the house?!" Then we see the light from the fridge turn on as he opened it. I had given him some Koolaid the day before and he remembered that his sippy cup was in the fridge and he wanted some. Then he smacked his lips in satisfaction after his drink and let us put him back to bed.
He often drinks water from puddles like a doggy after it rains (We have yet to convince him that he is not a dog like Jemima)
He is OBSESSED with his little Buzz and Woody figurines. Gary even pretends to eat them and sneeze them back up and Tucker thinks it is amazing and hilarious. It's gotten a little out of hand though. Especially in church yesterday when he was frantically screaming bloody murder during sacrament meeting when he didn't see where they went when he dropped them. "WOO-IE! WOO-IE! BUHS! BUHS!" Oh boy.
He LOVES water. His face in it whenever possible. He is not scared of it at all!
He is starting to not go down for his naps so well. I am having a hard time keeping up with this boy's energy!
When I was reading his scriptures to him the other day, we were on the page about the Stripling Young Warriors and it shows a picture of a little boy hugging his mom (to show that "their mother's taught them") and he looked at me after he saw the picture and then gave me a big hug as if to say , "Look! That's like us!" It was just heartwarming.

Those are just a few things :)

Buzz & Woody or Airplanes?

2011-03-24T11:13:00.000-07:00

So I may need your help deciding. We want to redo Tucker's room for his 2nd birthday in May.

I was originally thinking airplanes, because he likes them...and I can think of TONS of fun ideas to make stuff for the room etc. Gary was even going to make an airplane bed for him similar to this one.

Here's the custom fabric I designed for his new blanky.

And I have an old dark blue suitcase that I was going to make into a little reading chair for his room like this one. I even have the legs screwed on already and was going to use airplane fabric to cover the cushions. I totally had the idea all in my head, then found out that I was not the first to think of this when I Google searched it and saw this one at Recreate.

I even have some fun Styrofoam model airplanes I found at the dollar store that I was going to paint to match and hang in his room.

But now, I think I may be choosing airplanes because I have so many ideas and not because Tucker would absolutely love it. Don't take me wrong, he would for sure like it---but not as much as a Buzz and Woody room. I can just imagine him hyperventilating (in a good way) if we unveil a Buzz and Woody Room!

He has two figurines that I got at the dollar store of Buzz and Woody. He seriously takes them EVERYWHERE. As Grandma Haroldsen puts it, "he will not have a problem losing his cell phone when he is older." If I don't see him with them, I'll ask him where Buzz and Woody are. He always seems to know exactly where they are. One time he even opened the fridge and pulled them out like, "See Mom, I put them right here in the fridge."

He is obsessed with all of the movies and has his very own favorite parts of the movies.

If we see anything at the store that has Buzz and Woody, he goes crazy, "Buhs! Wu-eey!"

So I'm debating which theme to choose! I was thinking if we do go with Buzz and Woody, we could make him a tent to cover his bed that looks like a Buzz Spaceship.

And could use Buzz and Woody fabric for his blanket,

and glow in the dark stars for his ceiling.

What do you all think? What should we go with? Any suggestions or ideas for either theme?

Flood!

2011-03-15T21:16:00.000-07:00

The first week of March was CRAZY.

Monday: I had just gone to the gym, came back, went to turn on Toy Story for Tucker so he could watch that while I took a shower when I noticed some sloshiness around my feet as I was just about to head back up the stairs. Oh boy. Not good. Called Gary. Gary came home to check out the mess. We moved all the stuff out of the way of the flood. It was a slow leak and we could not for the life of us figure out where it was coming from. So we took a hammer to our sheet rock, so we could see behind the wall if there was any source of water. Cause if all we had to repair was sheet rock, that would be an easier fix than calling our insurance and paying a $500 deductible. But to our wall's sacrifice, we found nothing.

It had rained over the weekend, so we thought maybe it was from that. We turned our water on and off, checking to see if it made anything stop or go. Finally at a loss of what to do, we call the insurance company. They sent out another company to clean out all the water and dry things up. This guy can only really tell me where our floor is wet--he was not there to tell us where it is coming from although he tried to figure it out. Then he says, "Most insurance companies don't cover it if it is an outside source of water coming in." Great (sarcasm). Because that is what it was looking like at this point. I tried to call the claims adjustor and no answer, but we were basically planning on canceling the claim. So how much are we going to have to pay this guy if we cancel our claim? $160 just for coming. Then about $500 to dry everything up. Well, we weren't going to pay $500 for something that we could do by renting big industrial fans for $20 a day each. So then we had to pay a cancelation fee of $60 so the guy would leave.

Darrell came by to check things out, and we all decided that it didn't look like it was getting worse. After we pulled up our carpets and rented stuff to dry out the place, Gary said he'd turn the water back on so I could finally shower. So we turned the water back on and then we saw the leak since the carpet is up. Yup. No shower for me yet at this point.

Finally after cutting some (more) sheet rock, Darrell found where the leak was coming from. He and Gary went outside and dug a huge hole in front of our house. A big, deep, hole.

They found the leaky pipe and fix it. But there is another leak! It's like 9:30 or 10:00 by now and no more time or light to fix it. So were without water till the next day. Tucker was already in bed, and Gina and Darrell said we could shower at their house, but we'd have to take shifts since Tucker was already asleep.

Basically I had given up on taking a shower, when Gary all of a sudden asked when our gym closed. Our gym is not even 5 minutes away. It was 10:30 and the gym closed at 11:00. So Gary went first and then I was off like a homeless girl sneaking into the gym for a shower.

The next evening we got everything fixed! Here's Tucker and Gary filling in the hole.

Hooray for water that I never realized how much I loved!

That weekend we got all the sheetrock fixed and painted, new padding put in and the carpet re-stretched, and most important of all, we don't look like we belong in an episode of hoarders anymore!

And who knew that Tucker knew how to drill screws into our wall?! He seriously did this by himself. He would put the screw on the drill and stick it to the wall and push the button. I kind of just let him because I wondered if he could. Yup. He can. Gotta hide the tools.

Apparently he was watching his daddy very closely as he was fixing the sheetrock.

I gave Tucker a clean roller to "help" paint.

Episode of Hoarders?

2011-03-11T07:06:00.000-08:00

This was our home last week. Ready to nominate us for an episode of Hoarders?

Stay tuned for our next post about why...

Tucker Teeth & Other Happenings

2011-02-15T07:15:00.000-08:00

Here's Tucker with his homemade slide that he made all by himself.

This little guy is a sucker for anything he can climb on.

He actually had a nasty accident on this one a few weeks ago. It was a Sunday and Gary and I were scheduled to speak in church. We were all dressed and ready to go to church, and we were scrambling to get our talks printed. Not much luck with that--the printer was out of ink. We had about 5 minutes before we needed to leave. Earlier I had tried to get a hold of someone to see if they would watch Tucker in the congregation while Gary and I were on the stand, but didn't get a hold of her. Well she called back, and while I was talking to Sasha, and I heard a loud crash, and then Tucker started crying. He had snuck out the doggy-door and we're assuming he tried to make this slide again and it slipped. He knocked his face right on the corner of the red box (that's where the blood was). I grabbed him and had his faces by my shoulder, and I didn't realize he was bleeding when Gary came in. Gary's was like, "He's bleeding all over!" We had blood all over my clothes, Gary's and Tucker's. I called the Sasha back real fast so she could tell someone that we might not make it--there was no way we were going to get a hold of anyone else that close to our meeting starting--they were probably all sitting down ready for church to start. Well, Tucker was pretty hysterical and we couldn't tell where he was cut because there was blood everywhere. A neighbor that heard the news came over to help out. Finally Tucker calmed down and we changed our clothes and rushed to church, just as the Sacrament was ending. Yup, we were up next. Everyone looked relieved when we scrambled up to the stand with Tucker. He started being fussy again, so our neighbor came and got him again. After the meeting we saw that he fell asleep on her shoulder and drooled blood all over her dress. Oops. So that was quite the ordeal. Then about a week later, Tucker bumped his teeth on a toy and they started bleeding again. We decided that we had better go to the dentist because his tooth was really loose. Now he is on a soft food diet for a month--it's hard because he's a picky eater as it is! We are just hoping that it doesn't turn gray and fall out!

Here is one of the many times Tucker has snuck out threw the doggy-door.

Here is Tucker and Daddy playing with his "Yi yoh" puzzle. It's an Old Mcdonald puzzle that makes noises when he puts the pieces in. He loves it!

One day we went to Creative Minds where Tucker enjoyed playing with Lily and Sophie and a few other friends.

Filling up the car with gas

Finding dinosaur tracks

Sophie riding on the horsey--Ashley says that since Sophie went to Creative Minds, she prays to feed the horsey every night. Cute :)

Being pirates!

Driving the car

Building something

Getting a drink all by himself

Being a cashier

Playing house

In the workshop

We all had fun, and when it was time to go, all the kids kept saying "Noooooo!" We'll have to take them back sometime.

Recent Pictures

2011-01-26T20:58:00.000-08:00

Here are some recent pictures!

On the 10th and 11th, Gary had a work trip to Vegas. So Tucker, Jemima, and I went on a little trip of our own to visit my parents in Delta. They are moving into a new house in February and there was a lot of cleaning/painting to do before they move in. We spent all day Monday helping get some stuff done. Tucker had his little toy hammer and wrench and was just following me around willing to help. My uncle helped cut some wood for a project in the kitchen and Tucker helped himself to make a saw dust angel. My sister, Jane, was a great help to keep Tucker entertained elsewhere while we pulled up tack strip.

Here is the house that I built. It's a Tucker house out of a TV box. I was maybe having too much fun making it for him, spray-painting it outside. It has a fun little mail slot, phone, and chalkboard! We put it up against the closet in our family room so that when he goes in, it goes clear back, and he has lots of room to play!

It was so nice out this last weekend that we decided to wash our cars--and Gary was in shorts!

Here are some things that Tucker loves to do:

He loves to mow the lawn...er...sidewalk,

as well as use his tools in his cupboard hideout,

use the doggy-door,

share a meal with Jemima,

and share a meal with Buzz Lightyear.

Our New Year's and A Snow Day

2011-01-17T10:28:00.000-08:00

New Year's Eve (during the day) we decided to go to Jumpin' Jacks with the Callisters. We had a coupon free admissions. If I would have known how much Tucker loved it, I would have taken him sooner. He really LOVED it. I can honestly say that he wore Gary and Me right out. We couldn't keep up with him. He loved all of the blow-up houses and the car game.

Check out Tucker's perfect form!

Then later we went to Cafe Rio for some yummy food.

On January 2nd, we woke up to snow! It was totally unexpected since we don't get too much of that here. This is the view from out front porch.

We decided to have a snow play day. All during December Tucker couldn't get enough of his The Snowman movie. So we finally got the chance to let him make his own snowman. Luckily we were bundled up and stayed pretty warm. Except when Jemima pulled Tucker's gloves off a few times...

Our Family is Getting Bigger!

2011-01-01T17:30:00.000-08:00

We wanted to announce that our family is getting bigger.

No, it's not another baby on the way. I must deny the validity of claim made on facebook under Gary's account last night. Haha. It was a little joke on us. Our friend Trish is due to have a baby 1/1/11 (Today!). Last night we had them over and she used our computer for a minute and was still logged into her facebook account. Gary thought it would be funny to change her status to "is going into labor right now" which she wasn't. Before the night was over, she had caught on to the trick, and when Gary was logged onto facebook but wasn't watching, she got us back.

But our family did get a new addition. Her name is Jemima Jane Schaugaard. She is a 4-month-old Labradoodle.

Gary's brother, Nate, came down with us when we headed back home from all the Christmas festivities. One day last week, Gary came home and wanted to go shooting with Nate since Gary got his new gun for Christmas. When they got back, Gary walked through the door and tossed this little fur-ball onto our floor!

It was a total surprise!

We have been looking at puppies for forever. Tucker loves dogs, and we thought it would be good to have one around. Gary has a lot of fun memories of his dog while he was growing up. Gary is allergic to a lot of dogs, so we had to look for one that is hypoallergenic.

We had looked at the dog he brought home before we went out of town for Thanksgiving. They wanted $500 for each of their pups, and we left without a dog, but thought we might come back after we had came back from being out of town for Thanksgiving. Well, Gary lost the phone number and we looked for the listing again but didn't find anything.

Well, when he went shooting, Nate and Gary went near where they had the dogs. They stopped by the house where they had the pups at and they had 2 left! They gave him the option to take her home for 24 hrs. to see if we wanted to keep her. Plus, she was only $125 this time :)

At first I didn't know if I could handle it. It's a big responsibility, and she needs to be house trained. The next day though, she went hiking with us up the red rocks in front of our house. We took Nate's new rock crawler up the rocks. She stayed right by the boys and just climbed the rocks with them. It was so cute! I then realized that I couldn't get rid of all these memories waiting to be made by our little boy and his dog. Then, that day, I thought we had lost her for a minute, and I was freaking out. Okay. I became attached. She wasn't even lost--she was just chilling in a chair.

Can you see Nate in this next picture?

She is a really good dog. She has been catching on to the house training and is sooooo good with Tucker, even when he tries to wrestle her to the ground.

Here's Tucker and Jemima during bath-time.

She got the name Jemima Jane because once, when Gary and I were at the temple, we were doing sealings for a couple and one of the names was Jemima Jane. Gary said with a Southern drawl, "I think the next girl in the family should be named Jemima Jane." He even asked his sister, Sandy, if she would name her baby (due this month!) Jemima Jane. But when we got our little doggy, it just seamed perfect!

Christmas!

2011-01-01T16:55:00.000-08:00

Christmas in our family makes for a busy time! There is always a lot of family to see!

We stopped by Delta to visit my family on the 23rd and stayed the night and partied with them for a while. We left the next day and headed up further North. We stopped by the Brockbanks (my aunt and uncle's) because we heard Santa was going to be there! We made green rice crispies wreaths and hung out with my sister and some relatives.

My little nephew was a little afraid of Santa.

After that, we went to Gary's dad's house and had some yummy soup for dinner. Then we read the Christmas story in the scriptures all settled in our beds so that Santa would come.

Sandy and Wade showed up early Christmas morning and we had a blast hanging out, opening presents and eating yummy biscuits and gravy. Tucker is still grasping the idea of Santa Claus. He knows who he is, but doesn't really get that he is the one that leaves the presents.

Here's Tucker and Grandpa on Christmas morning.

Can you guess what Gary got? Its the one in the green wrapping paper. It reminds me of the commercial with the viking kid that sits on Santa's lap with the obviously wrapped ax and the kid says "I wonder what it could be?" Then Santa pulls the kid's beard. Haha!

We left the Schaugaard residence and headed to Gary's mom's. We got to video chat on the computer with Grandma & Grandpa Bolin who are on a mission in Canada, and Gary's brother called from the MTC in the Dominican Republic while we were there.

Then we went to Grandma and Grandpa Green's.

While we were at Grandpa and Grandma Green's, Tucker snuck into the bathroom and started grunting on the toilet. Good thing the seat was down.

Then we headed back to Gary's mom's and opened some presents.

Then we went to Grandma & Grandpa Haroldsen's. We played the white elephant game and hang out with family.

Then we went to Grandma Birrell's. Tucker got a Wocket in my Pocket book and a stuffed Wocket. Here he is with his Wocket in his pocket. Cute!

And here is the painting that I made for Grandma and Grandpa Birrell. Sandy and Wade made the frame.

We had a wonderful Christmas!

Beginning to Look a Lot like Christmas

2010-12-21T15:29:00.000-08:00

...and by that, I don't mean snow. It's been nothing but rain here for the last few days.

Here is Tucker playing with Hawkeye at Ben & Elisha's.

Gary has had a tradition to paint a Christmas village house each year since he was little. Each year the village gets bigger. Here we are just carrying on the tradition with the Callister family.

Tucker was pretty upset when he ripped off the feet of the Elf that Grandma Haroldsen gave us. Pretty violent, I know. He just kept saying "uh oh!"

He tried to put them back on, but they just wouldn't stick. I finally glued them back on for him.

Here we are at the Johnson's. They cut their own tree, and it was pretty tall. They needed a ladder to get all the lights on. That was the first thing that Tucker went after and climbed up to the top. He loves any kind of ladder. We have to keep our eyes on him at Lowes and Home Depot for sure.

Here is Tucker opening his present at the Bolin Christmas Party.

It was a Buzz Lightyear!

He loves pushing all of the buttons.

Well, Sophie didn't handle Tucker's present quite so well. She got one of these for her birthday a few weeks ago. Apparently she thought that Tucker's Buzz Lightyear was hers. I can't help but laugh at this one.

Don't worry, her dad went back to their house to get hers so she would settle down. Good thing they didn't live too far away. One Buzz Lightyear + two kids= one kid not so happy! Two Buzz Lightyears + two kids= yay---two kids happy!

Here Tucker is hanging out with some cousins.

Today I had to grab some things at the mall. Tucker knew exactly who this was as we walked up. He pointed and said "Ho-ho-ho!" I almost just didn't bother with letting him sit on his lap because I was tired of shopping and wanted to get home. But I'm glad I gave in. Look how happy Tucker is! And Santa didn't even have to give him any candy to get a smile out of him. All the other kids were crying, but not Tucker--no siree! He must somehow understand that this is one guy he needs to be good around :)

Recent Happenings

2010-12-16T21:03:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures of what we have been up to lately. We have been out of town A LOT.

A couple weekends ago, Gary went to SLC for work for the weekend. I told Gary that when he got back, that our house would look like Christmas had thrown up all over it. ...and it did. :)

I decided that since we are cheap and didn't want to go all out on lights etc. that I would paint the windows all festive-like, like they do at all the stores. Here is Tucker taking a turn at painting.

At the Dicken's Christmas Festival, Tucker found a rocking horse that he just couldn't get enough of.

Tucker found a buddy at Gary's work party. There are hardly any boys his age around here, so it was fun for him to hang out with a boy for once.

Tucker is wearing the gift that Gary got for the white elephant exchange.

There was a post about play-dough that smells good on This & That Creative. I made some for Tucker that smelled like gingerbread. He did try to eat it. And then tried to eat it again.

Tucker met Santa at the ward Christmas Party. He liked Santa because he gave him candy. It was way funny. The guy who played Santa, had a little daughter at the party and she sat on his lap about 4 times and had no idea whatsoever that it was her dad.

I roasted a turkey for the Christmas Party and afterward I took the leftovers to make a homemade turkey noodle soup. I had just put the broth in the fridge so I could separate the grease from the top. All of a sudden Tucker yelled, "HOT!" I turned around to see that Tucker had thrown his sippy-cup into the broth.

He was seriously getting into everything! I made homemade noodles for the soup and got the flour from a big bucket that I dragged into the kitchen...and yup! Tucker got into that too. When I got after him, he took off down the hall screaming. Check out these little flour footprints

That night I was finishing up a painting for Gary's Grandma & Grandpa Birrell. It was for Christmas, but we got the sad news that Grandpa Birrell had passed away. I had to speed up the painting to get it done so we could take it up north for the funeral. Tucker got into my palette too getting oil paint all over his blanky.

I totally didn't even get a picture of the painting when it was done. I think because it was crunch time to could get back up north. It was a sad time, but we all felt so comforted knowing that death is not the end, and that he is not struggling with Lou Gehrig's Disease anymore. He lived an amazing life and was a huge sports fan. He had some tickets to a BYU game that Saturday, and Sandy and Wade, and Gary and I got to go instead. We really enjoyed it even though Gary and I didn't have the chance to change out of our dressy clothes that we had worn to the funeral.

Here is Tucker and his cousin Luke playing cars at the luncheon after the funeral.

After the basketball game, we went to the Grand America to check out the gingerbread house competition that Sandy and Wade entered. This is the house that Sandy and Wade made. The windmill worked and everything. Turns out they won the competition and now they get to stay in the Presidential Suite at the Grand America that costs $5000.00 a night! Lucky them!

They had people and a Christmas tree inside and everything. It was seriously amazing!

We stayed the night at Gary's mom's house and Tucker got into Uncle Nate's shoes. Putting on peoples' shoes is one of his favorite things to do.

And here is Grandma Haroldsen helping Tucker take a bubble bath in the jetted tub.

Tucker loves Brutis. He was so ready for Brutis to take him for a ride.

Stay tuned--I still have more to update!

Thanksgiving (A Little Late)

2010-12-15T20:46:00.000-08:00

Wow. As I am looking at pictures, I realize how much I need to update!

Here are some pictures from Thanksgiving. We ended up going up North to my Grandma & Grandpa Lee's for dinner. Leave it up to my sister, Abbey, to get headdresses and pilgrim outfits for everyone. She wanted it to be real authentic-like.

The pictures are all foggy because the camera was left in the car and got to a very chilly temperature. It was freezing. Very very cold. Tucker kept repeating "Brrrrrrrrr!" throughout our whole trip. He knows what cold is now. He also took a dive into a snow bank while we were up there. I can just imagine him thinking, "Wow, that looks white and fluffy like a bed." only to realize it was very much not like anything he'd ever want to take a nap on.

My family all gathered around the table

Two little indians (One was trying to get away)

My little nephew Jajue helping my brother, Andrew, out with his headdress

The camera had finally warmed up :)

Tucker and Great-Grandma Lee

Tucker and Great-Grandpa Lee

Well, then came the infamous Black Friday. Gary seriously gets all giddy about Black Friday like he is a little kid waiting for Santa to come, and I am not even kidding. I'm talking about him being so restless that he can't even sleep anyway. We got most of all our Christmas presents taken care of in one day! And we got great deal on a new TV while we were at it. Tucker was mostly excited about the box as you can see :)

Tucker and his little box house

Peeking out the window

Well, I have a lot more to post about...so stay tuned!

Sharing the Holidays

2010-12-01T20:44:00.000-08:00

I love Christmas. Okay, so most of us do (minus the few scrooges here and there). But I especially love sending and getting Christmas cards! It's kind of just that time of year to get caught up on the most recent family pictures of friends and family with an included warm holiday greeting.

We just had our pictures taken by my friend, Adri (check out her blog HERE), who did an excellent job photographing us. She is especially good with babies and toddlers! Well, anyway, I've been itchin' ever since she took them, to get our new pictures on a Christmas card!

That's exactly what Shutterfly does, so needless to say, I was excited when I stumbled upon them. Check out these cute Christmas cards HERE, that are perfect for such holiday greetings! There are also some good ones HERE. How do you decide with so many options?

HERE is one that I really like!

We are wearing brown in our pictures so I was thinking that these might go well with our pictures.

Find this next one HERE.

And this next one HERE.

They also have other picture goodies out there for you who want more than just Christmas cards! One option that I think is great that they do is custom photo calendars found HERE. I think that photo calendars are great ideas for Christmas gifts!

Also check out to see how you can get 50 free cards for yourself, HERE! Some friends recently got some cards back and they turned out great! I have totally taken up on this offer! How can you resist?

A Couple of Hints to the Crossword

2010-12-01T18:05:00.000-08:00

6 Down: Megs has been busy sewing

12 Down: We have a ping pong table in the basement that Gary practiced on

Giving Thanks

2010-11-25T22:47:00.000-08:00

Since it is Thanksgiving, I thought I would list just a few of the things that I am grateful for.

my family--my great husband and our little mischeivious boy
that I have a knowledge of the reality of my Savior and Heavenly Father
cleaning up after a little boy all the time
when hard work pays off
that we survived the blizzard of 2010 (haha)
cars, electricity--all the things that those poor pioneers lived without--I know I would have never survived a winter without these things
the wonderful family that grew up in and the wonderful ones that I married into
Christmas and seeing peoples' faces light up when you give them their gifts
my talents
good friends that still hang out even when they have kids and life slows/speeds up a little for them
black friday deals--mostly I think it is fun to see Gary get so excited about them
Gary's contagious smile--(his Grandpa Schaugaard has it too!)
the funny things that Tucker does that Gary and I can't seem to stop talking about
that when Gary and I are trying to go to sleep at night we think, "Let's go get Tucker up and play with him!" because we just can't get enough of him
honest people
uplifting entertainment
music
our home
being a mom and being able to be a stay-at-home one
summer time--when you don't have to wear 50 layers of clothes to be at a decent temperature
my new sewing machine
thoughtful people
my computer
my camera
Paypal
when Tucker snuggles and lays his head on my shoulder
moments when you start laughing so hard that your stomach gets a workout
that I get to watch cable at the gym and that it is literally 2 minutes away from our house
when you can't think of too many things you want because you are so happy with what you have
my ancestors and their lives that ultimately affected my own

Oh...I feel so grateful and I couldn't possibly list everything. I hope to remember to be grateful everyday!

Doodlepaws Extraordinaire!

2010-11-15T17:34:00.000-08:00

Tucker (Doodlepaws Extraordinaire) has been such a good boy today. So much in fact that I thought that it was worthy of a blog post.

I have been babysitting a little boy that is 9 months old on Mondays. At first Tucker was a little jealous because Owen likes to be held a lot. Today, he ran and got Owen's bottle when Owen was crying. He shared his toys with Owen and even tried to feed Owen some licorice. He helped me when my hands were full, by throwing stuff in the garbage for me. He wiped up his milk that he spilled on the floor. He was even helping me put the laundry in the laundry basket.

Then, as if he hadn't shined enough to earn a gold star already, tonight he did something that we didn't expect, HE ATE HIS DINNER! We had Fettucini Alfredo with chicken and broccoli. I don't know what it was. We try to feed him what we eat for dinner every night! I was very pleased with him today!

Thankful Wall

2010-11-04T07:59:00.001-07:00

I just wanted to post about our Thankful Wall.

I did a post about it on the This & That Creative Blog found HERE, but thought it would be fun to post on our family blog as well. I am actually super surprised that it has gotten so much attention in the crafting blogosphere! A special thanks to:

Dot To Dot This, who featured it on their blog HERE.
Tip Junkie, who featured it as a Thanksgiving project HERE. There are tons of other great ideas on her post, so check it out!
U-create, who posted about it HERE.
Tatertots and Jello, who wrote about it on their facebook page HERE.
Pirates-n-Princesses, who posted about it on their facebook page HERE.
And my awesome cousins, the Brockbanks. I think they are the actual ones that got this Thankful Wall started years and years ago and spread the tradition to my family!!!

Here's the post:

Since I was a little girl, we have had a tradition in my family to have a "Thankful Wall" during Thanksgiving. This is this year's version that I created!

Usually the Thankful Wall consists of a large sheet from a big roll of poster paper stapled to the wall.

We leave it up from the beginning of November throughout the Thanksgiving holiday and we all get to write down the things that we can think of that we are thankful for. It has been such a fun tradition, and I look forward to the Thankful Wall every year. I even had one with my roommates when I was single and in college. It's especially fun to have if you are the one hosting Thanksgiving Dinner so that all the guests can write down what they are thankful for. It definitely helps keep the meaning of Thanksgiving on your mind.

This year, I had decided to put a little more into our Thankful Wall. I have had this huge frame that I got at a thrift store for like $2 that has been hanging around my house.

It's an odd size, so I haven't been able to find any canvases to paint or prints to put in it. So I decided to do the DIY chalkboard from our earlier post by Kristin, found HERE, and make a Thankful Wall that we can use year after year.

I spray painted the frame white, used some chalkboard paint on a masonite board we cut for the inside (and by saying "we" I mean my amazing husband), and I cut out some white vinyl on my cricut for the "I am thankful for" part. I found some perfect little cornucopia shaped baskets that I added some ribbons to and nailed them to the frame to use to hold the chalk too!

I let my little boy write what he was thankful for on there too, because he was just begging to use the chalk on the chalkboard when I put it up. I think I see a tree in there somewhere...it's fun to interpret.

Some of you may notice the "bloating" listed as what someone was thankful for in the last picture. I had originally wrote boating, but my husband came home and asked me why I wrote bloating down on the Thankful Wall. Obviously he just didn't see it right, but after noticing that, he decided to put an "l" in there anyway, and I just left it there. It seems like every year there is a little joke with the Thankful Wall. It's part of the fun!

Some great ideas for variations that viewers have given me are:

use a framed dry-erase board
if you have the glass for your frame, you can leave it in there and use dry-erase markers, and even do a cute background behind your glass
leave the board up all year long, with or without the vinyl

So now you know how to start your own Thankful Wall, if you haven't already! It will be a tradition you look forward to every year that helps keep the meaning of Thanksgiving alive.

***Since I posted this, my husband has added "Power Tools" to the Thankful Wall. I just had to write next to it, "...and that I benefit from the power tools too!" because he is always busy helping me with some new crafty project that requires power tools. So I've also added, "my husband" to the wall. I couldn't have asked for a better one! Oh the list keeps getting bigger and bigger. There are just so many things to be thankful for!

What are you thankful for?

Linked up with:

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Blue Cricket Design

Fun Halloween Things

2010-10-31T18:09:00.000-07:00

So, I'm not really a fan of the haunted houses, and the creepy eerie stuff of Halloween, but I am a fan of all the dressing up, pumpkin carving, candy, and trunk or treating!

Our ward threw a Halloween party where we made our debuts as Lady Gaga, Joe Dirt, and a cute little cow.

At one point during the party, we were wondering where Tucker had ran off to. We finally found him with a cookie in each hand! Looks like those cookies were a little close to the edge!

Tucker and Sophie the Duck kept playing with the strings that were hung for the donut eating contest. I think they thought they might suddenly pull down a balloon or something.

The donut eating contest :)

A happy cow!

Tucker the Cow drinking some root beer from his trough

Daddy and Tuck just hanging out at the party. We finally just put some root beer in Tucker's sippy cup.

Gary getting ready to chug some root beer in a contest

So we decided to let tucker try on Gary's wig. We were seriously cracking up! He looked just like the little Joe Dirt in the movie that got lost at the Grand Canyon. "That's why Mom named you Joe Dirt!" Bahaha! I think he liked his cow costume a little better though.

Brad and Lauren as Salt and Pepper

Later, the next day, we carved a pumpkin that we got from Grandma and Grandpa Haroldsen!

Then we got dressed up all over again to go Trunk or Treating with our friends, Trish, Kody, and Lily. This time Tucker was a cute little chicken. Before we left, Grandma and Grandpa Bolin stopped by to see us all in our costumes!

I just had to show some pics of my Lady Gaga costume. I totally made it all homemade style, the clear origami shapes that I super glued together and everything, to try to look be kind of like this one, but more modest:

Here's Lily and Tucker showing off their cute costumes!

After Trunk or Treating, we invited Trish, Kody, and Lily, as well as Gina & Darrell, over to our house to hang out, eat pizza, and watched a movie.

Here's Tucker and Lily just hanging out on their little chairs. Oh boy...how did I not notice that Tucker had the fly swatter again?!

Here they are playing around in the pack-n-play. I made a fort for them, and they were having a blast!

Well, we are already looking forward to dressing up next year! With good friends, pumpkins, candy, costumes, and more, how could we have been disappointed? We had a blast!

Birrell Reunion

2010-10-24T21:22:00.000-07:00

We went up North the 15th, 16th, and 17th to go to the Birrell Reunion. We had a blast!

The first day we all helped build up some raised garden beds at Grandma and Grandpa Birrell's house. Grandpa Birrell has Lou Gehrig's Disease and wanted to still be able to garden, so this was a great solution. It was a lot of hard work, but I will admit that I actually enjoyed it. I kind of let go of my gym workout streak, and shoveling dirt and working hard made me feel like I got a little workout in :)

Grandpa Birrell proudly wearing an Alabama shirt!

Grandma Birrell in the shade. It was surprisingly warm outside (which I didn't mind at all!).

Lisa, Me, and Jenn hanging out at the dirt pile.

Hmm...let's see if I can list everyone in this picture. I see Gary, Chad, Kailey, Jamie, Grandpa Schaugaard, Christopher, and Korbin all helping out.

Lisa, Grandpa Schaugaard, and Gary shoveling away.

John, Jer, and Christopher working hard.

Briawna watching Lucas hang out on the dirt pile.

Krissinie giving us a thumbs-up!

Kaitlin showing us how to do a cartwheel. I think she is mid-air in this shot!

Tate and Briawna pushing Tucker on the swing.

They were Tucker's buddies the whole time (but his aunts were too)!

After that we went to a park that Gary used to go to when he was a little boy to get our family pictures taken. After the pictures, all the kids got to play on the playground, including Gary (hehe).

Just cousins having some fun!

Austin, Amber, and Krissinie

Tucker going through the tunnel to get Daddy!

Whoa! Tucker getting some speed on the slide!

Two kids having fun in the tunnel

Hey! There's a friend in this tunnel!

Then we went to a big huge garage set up (Gary was eyeing it the whole time--he would love a big huge garage) and had a pizza party and movie night on the projector. Tucker kept getting fed candy from everyone who didn't know that he had already had some. Hello Mr. Sugar Rush!

The next day we all relaxed a little and enjoyed everyone's company, then got to go to Toy Story 3, which I must say is such a good movie!

Sunday we got to go to church with Grandma and Grandpa Birrell, hang out and enjoy the company and eat some great food. Then we spent just a little time at Grandma and Grandpa Haroldsen's and had to go home.

It was a great weekend of delicious food, great company, and a lot of fun!

These next pictures are from a previous visit in August to Grandma and Grandpa Birrell's.

Tucker was getting blown in the face by Grandpa's oxygen thing. He thought it was pretty cool!

Tucker teasing Grandma Birrell with the car they let him play with.

Tucker playing with the cool truck they have at their house

Here's kind of a cute story from this visit. Tucker hadn't taken a nap, so he was a little grumpy. He fell and bonked his head and was crying. Grandma and Grandpa had cookies at their house and Tucker got one after he got an "owie", so he started faking that he was getting "owies" so he could get a cookie. Oh boy. That boy loves his cookies!

Monticello 2010

2010-10-11T17:13:00.000-07:00

It has taken me far too long to get this post up, but it's finally here!

I love Monticello. When we go there each year, it means that fall is really here! We always have so much fun hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa Schaugaard at their house and up in the mountains! I think Monticello is just beautiful in the fall :)

Look at all these dear just chillin' in the field behind the temple.

Tucker and Gary just having a little fun at the temple grounds!

We stopped to play at a park while we were taking a walk. Tucker is such an adventurous little guy on the playground. He wants to climb on everything!

Looks like Gary and Tucker got some speed going down that slide!

He climbed all the way to the top of this little yellow ladder thing! Gary was right by to catch him if he fell.

Petting some horses on the walk

I love this one of Tucker running through the leaves!

We took a drive up the mountains with Grandma and Grandpa to have lunch and help set up the tent for hunting.

Tucker is a good little helper!

Gary was hammering the stakes down, so Tucker pretended to hammer some on his own.

Once the tent was set up, Tucker thought it was the coolest thing ever!

Here is a dear that I saw when walking down a trail.

My favorite hunter.

We had a blast and can't wait to go visit again!

Major Food Groups

2010-10-04T18:33:00.000-07:00

Candy, candy canes, candy corns, and syrup. If any of you have seen Elf , you know exactly what I'm talking about.

Image from www.ew.com

Buddy the Elf and Tucker both think that these are the major food groups.

For example: To get Tucker to eat his chicken bacon tomato pizza today, I had to put maple syrup on it.

Buddy the Elf likes syrup on spaghetti. I have yet to get Tucker to eat spaghetti, but now I think I may have found a way...

Stay tuned for pictures of our trip to Monticello!

Labor Day Weekend

2010-09-16T21:15:00.001-07:00

To start off Labor Day weekend, we went boating with some good friends!

Here's Tucker and Daddy taking a swim.
This little boy is already trying to drive around and pick up on the ladies. We are in trouble! He absolutely LOVES to pretend to drive. Get him around a steering wheel and he can't hold back!
Here's Tucker and Daddy just hanging out on the boat. Tucker took his flag holding duties very seriously. If we tried to help him hold it up, he yanked it away. He didn't want us doing his job.
Here I am trying the wake skate for the first time, which I must say is sooooo fun! If you can catch the wave, you can let go of the rope and keep going.

I need to add that Gary is amazing at wake boarding now! He is all over the place over the wake.

This & That Creative

2010-09-01T17:21:00.000-07:00

I am a contributor on a new blog

called This and That Creative!

Today was our first day, but stay tuned

for some really awesome posts about

blogging, sewing, cooking, crafting, jewelry

making, and home design! We have scheduled

posts, so click on the schedule button to

see when your favorite topics will be featured!

Check out the blog HERE!

Recent Happenings

2010-08-31T09:29:00.000-07:00

Well, a couple of Saturdays ago, we decided to go to the fair. It was around 11 AM when we got there, and let me tell you, it wasn't as happening as we thought it would be. I guess people don't usually go to the fair in the morning. But, we did have fun on our little family outing, and a very nice owner of the horse we were admiring said Tucker could have a ride.

A while ago we went to Toquerville Falls with Aunt Elisha and Uncle Ben. It's this place in the middle of nowhere. You wouldn't expect it to be there at all, but it is a river that has a drop off and below the falls there is a place to swim. While we were there, Uncle Ben found a toad and let Tucker hold it.

And yes, Gary is wearing a swimsuit in this next shot--his good old Dolphins.

Here is Tucker playing with Ben & Elisha's dog, Hawkeye.

He was excited to play in Hawkeye's kennel. Maybe we need to get one of those (jk).

Lily and Trish invited Tucker and I to go the rec center on a day that it was only $1! They had a blast.

Tucker and his daddy are best buddies. Here are some recent (within the last month) Tucker & Daddy moments.

Now that we are not on a diet anymore, I have been making a lot of cookies. I don't know if that is a good thing. Here Gary and Tucker are just enjoying some milk and cookies together. Tucker is seriously a cookie monster. If he sees a cookie, there's gonna be trouble.

Panguitch from the Other Camera

2010-08-24T21:31:00.000-07:00

Taking a bath and loving it!

Everyone thought it was too cute!

Blowing kisses to his admirers. Oh boy.

Tucker got to ride the 4-wheeler with Uncle Wade. Tucker really did love it. He felt like such a big boy!

Tucker fell asleep with the little mini Tucker that Aunt Sandy made for him.

I am Tired of Poop

2010-08-15T08:32:00.000-07:00

It is only 9:33 AM, and I have already had to clean up two HUGE poopy blow-outs. I am so ready for Tucker to be potty trained!!! When he was littler, it didn't stink near as bad, it wasn't so hard to scrape clean, and he wasn't big enough to fight me the whole time I was cleaning it up. Oh, those were the days! I sooooo want to start potty training him! I used to put Tucker on the toilet when he was grunting like he needed to go, but he doesn't really grunt anymore. I have never potty trained anyone before. Any ideas of how to go about this?

Panguitch + Bounceback

2010-08-12T10:00:00.000-07:00

Well, we are just as lucky as can be to have been able to go to Panguitch Lake to camp for not one, but two reunions. What a wonderful place!

Also, we got to take our camp trailer out for a try for the first time. It hasn't been used in over 10 years. Gary camped in this little trailer when he was a wee lad, and we finally got a truck so we can take it out. I had to clean it out real good. Just a few days before we had to leave, I washed the curtains and the couch/bed fold-up cushion covers. This was the result:

So within the last couple of days before we had to leave I was in a sewing frenzy to get us some curtains and a bed cover made.

Here are some great shots of the first time around for the Bolin Family Reunion.

Tucker playing in some water

Fishing on the shore

Tucker playing in the water with Noah; Tuck's shoe has disappeared in the puddle somewhere...

Tangled up with Popo the dog

Grandma Haroldson eating an enormous marshmallow smore!

Tucker and me sitting toasty by the campfire

Grandma Haroldsen, Tucker, and Daddy, hanging out with the shooters

Gary and a gun

Me shooting

Grandma and Tucker fishing on the boat

Uncle Nate and Tucker at Mammoth Caves

Tucker and me going through a small space in the cave--Tucker was the youngest in the family to ever go all the way through

Hanging out in the sand with Katelyn

Taking Katelyn for a ride

Getting pulled on a bike ride

Nate, Parker, and Tucker just chillin'

Shay and Tucker at Pizza Hut--Tucker was copying everything he did

Falling asleep with his flashlight

Daddy helping Tucker out with some biking skills

The Panguitch Parade on the 24th of July

Throw some candy this way!

And here are some from the second time around for the Schaugaard reunion!

Great Grandpa, Gary, and Tucker hanging out on the sweet couch (Thanks to the Smiths!)

Tucker and his fishing pole are inseparable

Getting a good ride in the hammock from Grandpa Schaugaard

Hanging out with Grandpa

Amber getting ready to smooch the fish we caught--hers was the big one!

Tucker and me just hanging out in the back of the truck while others were shooting targets

"What?! I can't hear you?"

Amber, Nikki, and Tucker just hanging out

All smiles for Great Grandpa!

Grandpa, Grandma, Great Grandpa, Great Grandma and Tucker

The family

My New Photography Blogsite

2010-08-02T07:30:00.000-07:00

I just recently got a new look/name for my photography and merged my blog and website into one new Blogsite! Check it out here! You can follow it like any other blogspot blog. I will be updating it every Thursday, unless I notify via post otherwise. Visit my site and view Special Offers under Info in the menu bar to find out how you can save $30 on a photography session. Also, find my photography page on facebook here (Remember to like the page)! Thanks for checking it out!

The 4th and Fishing Poles

2010-07-07T19:14:00.001-07:00

For the Fourth of July weekend, we went camping at Kolob Reservoir. Tucker absolutely loves camping, maybe because of the endless dirt.

I had to clean out one of our coolers before we could pack it. I took it out back to hose it down. Tucker joined me. Then he climbed in. It was like a little Tucker pool.

On the way there, Tucker was already excited to go fishing.

That evening we were ready to fish! Here is Gary reeling one in!

Nice catch!

We tried to get a picture of Dale, Tucker, and Gary with the fish, but as soon as I snapped a shot, the fish wiggled right out of their hands!

Finally got it back :) Tucker didn't know what to think of it at first.

Tucker had a blast just sitting in the dirt the next day. Look at that face!

So dirty!

A camping family

A filthy little boy taking a walk with Leisa

Gary in the bootie shorts.

Why the bootie shorts? Well, Gary was sitting at his computer one day and then all of a sudden he says, "Megs! Bootie shorts are the new board shorts!" Apparently he found a magazine article about it online. That's why.

Also, Gary has been on a strict diet in a little family competition we are having. He's lost 27 lbs. already and looking good! I've lost 7 lbs. It's been since Easter. The rules: You get a point for each of the following in a day: no soda, no sugary snacks or fried foods, exercise for at least a half hour each day, and drink 64 oz. of water. The person with the most points by July 17th wins. Everyone pitched in a dollar per week. Gary and Aunt Debbie are ahead so far. I'll keep you updated!

Tucker was all tuckered out on the way home. He fell asleep with his fishing pole in his hands. He loves that thing.

After we got back from camping, we went to see the fireworks. Tucker was mesmerized. By the end of the night, this kid was OUT! And that is really saying something for this kid who NEVER wants to sleep.

The next day, Dale and Leisa had a little get-together at their house. We made a Fourth of July Cupcake Cake. I ate some. Gary did not. Tucker ate some and wanted more.

All the girls. The guys got a picture too, but we didn't get one with our camera.

I didn't want to make a separate post for this, so I am adding it to this one.

Tucker LOVES his fishing pole.

Gary tied a toy at the end of it so he could practice reeling one in. It is seriously one of the cutest things ever. Every single time we help him reel it in, Tucker's face lights up like he really caught one. Check out this face!!! Way funny!

Daddy

2010-06-21T09:50:00.001-07:00

Fun in the Sun

2010-06-08T15:05:00.001-07:00

The Schaugaards came to hang out with us for Memorial Day weekend. We had a blast! Saturday we went to Sandhollow. Tucker was in heaven; water and sand as far as the eye could see! We buried Amber (who's birthday is a couple days before Tucker's) in the sand and made her into a mermaid. We built a sandcastle and just hung out in the sun! We are so glad they came to visit!

Tucker and Cake

2010-06-02T16:29:00.000-07:00

Sandy and Wade, who made it into town after Tucker's birthday party, made Tucker the CUTEST little cake at their bakery Mrs. Backer's Bakery! It was complete with Tuckito Hill named after him and a four-wheeler on top!

"This whole thing is for me?"

"This is the fastest way to get it in my mouth!"

He shared some with Aunt Abbey who's birthday is the day before his.

"I like it!"