Hautala Family

Bikram Yoga

2011-04-19T08:07:00.000-07:00

I have been wanting to try out Bikram yoga (Hot Yoga) for a while now, and then I got a livingsocial email with a deal that I could just not pass up!

It was an unlimited month for $33!! Yep, that's right, $33, compared to the $155 per month, so I knew I just had to try it.

Luckily two of my good friends decided to go with me, and we were scared, BUT we made it through! During the class I kept looking for a clock, yes, that's right a clock, to see how much longer I was going to be tortured, but they are smart, they took off the minute and hour hands, so the clock only has a second hand revolving around. Yikes!! I had no control and nothing to base how to ration my drops of water left in my bottle!

I must have been looking pretty pathetic because a girl next to me said, ":your doing good, only 3 more reps and we are done". I will call her "Hope" because she gave me hope to finish the class, haha!

We finished and we all got little pins stating that we completed our first class! Yay to tghe 3 of us and a big "High Five!"

We LOVE the ballon guy at Macayos

2010-09-25T21:36:00.000-07:00

When I crave Macayos, I know I can get the kids to agree with me, well actually this time is was Matt that bribed the kids for me - thanks babe!

The balloon guy there is awesome and we love him!

Tyler asked for Darth Vader and he made a Darth Vader helmet and mask

Ryan picked the fishing pole from the list

And Ashlyn picked the butterfly

Sorry for the bad pics, these were from my phone, I had to hurry and capture them before we popped any or anything drastic happened.

Fall is in the air

2010-09-16T08:37:00.000-07:00

I just got up some of my Fall decor... I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to decorate, and even more when its for holidays!

I need to start rummaging through my Halloween stuff, so I can have that ready to ge out on the 1st. I have to be careful with what I decorate with, with me doing daycare, I can't do anything too spooky. Last year, I had black sparrows on hay stacks, and I had to take each child out there and pet the birds and tell them that they were "nice birdies". SO CUTE!

Cruisin' in the Atlantic

2010-09-06T15:13:00.001-07:00

We just got back from a 5-night cruise out of Jacksonville, Florida. The kids did wonderful, therefore Matt and I had a great time!

We flew to Jacksonville on Saturday and spent the night with his younger sister Corinne and her husband Sammy. It was great to have some bonding time with them, and thier "baby" Zonie thier puppy. Corinne also took us to her newstation where she is a reporter and the kids and I were able do the weather in front of the "green screen". We had so much fun!

On Sunday, Matts parents and older sister and family flew in and we all met and stayed at a hotel together right by the port, it was the first time we have all been together in almost 2 years. We went to dinner and had a great time, laughing and teasing and anything families to together.

Monday morning we were all up and early and on the shuttle to the port, went through security quickly and was on the boat before we knew it. We enjoyed our first of many meals together with choices of pizza, hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken nuggets, mongolian grill, pasta, sandwiches, and I probably a lot more that I can't think of at the moment. That's one thing about cruises, chances are you go home at least 5 pounds heavier than you came!

Before we knew it we were off to sea! Tuesday was a "day at sea" so we spent most of our time at the water slides. Tuesday were stopped at Key West. Having the kids it was harder to do a lot of "touristy" stuff, but we were able to walk around the island and see a few things. Lucky me, I actually have a cousin that lives there and her schedule worked out that we were able to meet of and visit, which was great because I hadn't seen her in over 5 years! Before we knew it, it was time to board the ship again and we were off to sea. Thursday we stopped in Nassau. Again, we didn't pay for an excursion, so we managed our tour ourself. We bought water ferry tickets and took a little boat across to Paradise Island which is where Atlantis is. We kinda snuck into where its "guests only", but when we got to the beach (which is all we wanted to to) the waves were humongous!! There was no way I was letting my kids or myself in that water, I think it was all related to the hurricanes further out, but I was not taking any chances, we walked back up to a pool and swam for a bit, until a security guard noticed that we didn't have the guest bands and rather had Carnival Cruise bands on - whoops! Oh well, we left and just walked through the hotel part of Atlantis, it was gorgeous, reminded us a lot of Vegas hotels. Very Glamourous, with a casino in the middle, ha! Friday was another "day at sea" and saturday we were back at port in Jacksonville.

And now we are back to reality and hoping to be cruising again soon!

Next week, and things will be back to normal....

2010-08-05T08:07:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is the last day of summer and then next week, I will be busy "trying" to catch up my blog, with a gazzillion pictures and stories. This past year had sure been a busy chunk of time, and I am so sad that I haven't been up to date with the blogging.

I have finally sorted all my pictures and hope to start on the kids and family picture books. This is a HUGE chunck off my shoulders. My laptop has crashed 2 times and all I could think of was "oh no.... my pictures!!". Luckily the second time I was prepared, because that was the time we had to wipe everything off :(.

Tomorrow Tyler is having some friends over to celebrate the last day of summer and then back to school and back to a "regular" schedule for me as well. (Yippie)

IMG00472-20100309-0941.jpg

2010-03-10T12:53:00.001-08:00

Tyler and I having some fun on the school bus on the way to the Phoenix Science Museum

Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

2010-03-10T12:42:00.001-08:00

This is a test - just configured my phone to be able to blog remotely :)

Hope it works!

Grandmas 80th Surprise Party!

2010-02-23T23:42:00.000-08:00

For the past year and a half, I have been planning my Grandmas 80th SURPRISE birthday party. While I knew this was going to be a big task to pull off I knew it was do-able. I gave all my relatives plenty off time to plan and make arrangements, and after all 80 is HUGE!!

My Grandma and late Grandpa have 6 kids total and between those 6 kids, they have 18 kids (grankids) and between the 18 grandkids they (we) have 8 great-grandkids. We are all over the US; Georgia, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Florida, New Mexico, Hawaii, Nevada and here in Arizona. So not only did everyone have to get here, we had to figure out sleeping arrangements and cars for everyone, BUT it all worked!!

Some relatives started arriving on Wednesday to spend more time here, but we planned the party for Friday night, so everyone would get to have some quality time together and not have to "hide" from Grandma.

We decorated and had silly string, waiting to surprise her, hoping that it wouldn't be too much for her :)

My mom and I had told her that we were taking her to a nice dinner, and that I was running late on getting the kids ready and to just come to my house and wait for me, so that we can all go together, so when they got here, my mom and my aunt came in rather fast and I held the door open for her and Pedro (her husband) to come in. She was so excited, I think the silly string blocked a lot of her sight, and she didn't realize that so much of her family was here until each person gave her a hug one by one. She started crying again over and over as she was seeing who she was hugging and realizing that almost all of her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren were here!

IT WAS AWESOME!!!

My grandma did so much for me growing up that just thinking about her face and reaction, brings tears to my eyes again! I appreciate her more than she will ever know and throwing her that party was just a small way of thanking her for all that she has done for me!

We had dinner catered and I had a friend make a gorgeous cake, my cousin made a memory dvd with pictures from the whole family from years and years. It was so amazing to feel the love in the room as we all sat and watched the dvd together, we cried and we laughed, it was awesome!

Happy Veterans Day!

2009-11-11T06:34:00.000-08:00

Thank you all past, present and future military and anyone who serves our country!

I have Freedom because of you!

Our trip to the Dunes (Buttercup)

2009-11-09T15:02:00.000-08:00

Here is a slideshow of the pictures of our trip this weekend to the Dunes.

We had a great time, Ryan slept good so everyone slept good. It was a little too hot for comfort on Saturday, but it was bearable.

infomercial junkie

2009-11-06T14:48:00.000-08:00

So I may be a sucker for infomercials but who isn't? They make the product look like the best thing in the world. Soanyways - I have been wanting the "instyler" for about a year now or even since it came out. I wanted to buy it but first off it wasn't ne0essarily cheap and second can I return it if I don't like it? Well last sunday I was going through the sunday paper and notice that Ulta h now carries it - wow I was so excited and I could use the 20% off coupon with it - Yay!!! Then my friend tells me that Walgreens sells "Bump-Its" Yahoo - I don't have to order anything off TV and I can return them both if I don't like them. So I did my hair this morning with my new "Instyler" and my new "Bump-Its" and I am one happy lady!

Trip to the Dunes

2009-11-05T12:34:00.000-08:00

On Friday we are going to the Dunes to meet up with a few friends for camping and riding. While we don't have our own toy hauler a good friend of ours always will take us when we want to go. I am now trying to pack and not take too much, but just not know the weather is hard. And if I pack too much then I know I am washing clothes that didn't get used but are just dirty for being exposed to the sand.

I hope Ryan sleeps good - he is always our challenge. On our last trip to CA I ended up sleeping in the car with him because we were staying with Matts aunt.

I will be posting if I have signal or have energy. And I will be uploading pictures when we get back.

A little pampering never hurt anyone

2009-11-04T17:45:00.000-08:00

After a few months of dying my hair myself I have decided to get highlights again and go to a salon to have it done. And boy did I forget what it was like to sit and have someone comb your hair while you just sit there and do absolutely nothing at all, no kids screaming or fighting for your attention all while just trying to have a conversation with your husband.

AAAAaaaahhhhhhhh ( just imagine if you will). I think just imagining it is relaxing, haha! Maybe I will have to imagine it in between visits.

I love having highlights again, as always, but I know once I start to see root growth I will know how the upkeep can be a hassle and not to mention not very cheap - but I think we all need a little pampering - I mean after all a mommy has THE HARDEST job in the universe!

And just as I am thinking that I will come home to kids bathed, teeth brushed and in bed - reality sets in. As I pull into the garage the kids come to meet me in their clothes with dirty feet from playing outside barefoot and very hyper.

My somewhat guilty feelings disappeared immediately!

Poor, poor neglected blog...

2009-11-03T09:14:00.000-08:00

My last post was over a month ago!

What happened??

I used to be so good at blogging all the time, oh I know, my kids are older and are demanding more time, and not taking naps daily. I have started selling Scentsy, and not that it takes a lot of time, I spend time with it, you get what you put in. And I have started doing more crafts. I invested in a vinyl lettering machine, and have been sewing a lot more.

I miss blogging and blog surfing. I seem to be on facebook now and that seems to be my updating and networking.

Facebook doesn't even compare to blogging though...

So I have decided to do NABLOPOMO again this year. Its where you commit to blogging everyday for the month of November. I did this last year, but I stopped just short at the end of the month. I am hoping that this will get me back in the habit of blogging regularly again.

Thanks Natalie for bringing this up again this year, I hope that this is what it takes for me, everyone knows I love a little friendly competition!! :D

Congratulations Natalie!!

2009-11-02T09:28:00.000-08:00

My dear, sweet, awesome friend has just announced (so I can annouce it now too) that they are expecting #3!!!

I know you have been trying for quite some time now, and I am sooooooo Ecstatic for your family to be growing!!!

Love ya girlie - HUGS!!!

BYU, Boise State, and Univ of Utah fans....

2009-09-29T14:28:00.000-07:00

Here is the newest line of warmers that Scentsty is offering!

Available here on Oct. 1st!

When you purchase a Campus Collection Warmer, you not only show your school spirit, you also help fund your school's general scholarship fund or other important programs.

Girls Weekend!

2009-09-24T08:13:00.000-07:00

As an extension of our 30th Birthday celebrations, Cheryl, a dear childhood friend, and I went to Palm Springs for a weekend of relaxing and shopping.

Every year we would do little things together for our birthdays, i.e. Sunsplash (a local waterpark), tubing down the river, concerts, whatever seemed fun at the time. This year we had talked about going to Palm Springs for a while and then fianlly made that happen. Seems like unless you just pick a day and plan it, some things will never happen. So thats what we did.

We left Friday after work and got there for dinner. Neither of us had stayed in the area we booked a room at, Rancho Mirage, but it was absolutely stunning. Everything was walking distance from our hotel, so that was nice.

On Saturday we went to the outlet mall, and unexpectedly ended up spending most of the day there. When we got back to the room our legs were numb and just layed around until we walked to a place called Maki Maki for some sushi.

Sunday we got up and headed to downtown for lunch and yet, more shopping. We had a great mexican lunch and walked a bit until we decided that we had spent too much money already, ha! So we got in the car and headed home.

It was a great weekend and we said that we were going to make a point to do it once a year and we would just meet there now that Cheryl will be moving to San Diego after she gets married in March.

Can't wait till next year!

Little league parent class

2009-09-09T18:44:00.000-07:00

Tyler is in his second season of t-ball through the City of Goodyear. In order for him to actually play a parent needs to attend a parent code of conduct meeting. How sad is it that they actually have to tell parents not to yell at the coach, not to yell at other teammates and not to yell at their own kids. I guess that this is what the world is coming to that we have to attend a mandatory meeting for this?

To the parents out there that this is for: what message are you relaying to your children when you act like this?

Scentsy Jack O'Lantern - warmer of the month

2009-08-31T08:04:00.000-07:00

Welcome fall with the oh-so-mischievous, Jack O’Lantern, Scentsy’s unique interpretation of an enduring seasonal favorite, and our newest Warmer. From the embossed green, swirling vines on top to the perfectly-carved grin and debossed pumpkin sections, this “Jack” is sure to be a delightful decorative accent in any room this fall.
Jack O’Lantern’s base, in a high-gloss pumpkin hue, glows like a real carved pumpkin when lit, and is topped off with a kelly green embossed dish- perfect details for bringing a safe and fun pumpkin indoors.

Scent of the Month - Toasted Caramel Sugar

A sweet and rich fragrance that will warm your heart and home - featuring warm milk with caramelized sugar and toffee, all swirled together with the scent of silky, sweet vanilla musk.

Please remember Kim Miller and family

2009-08-27T21:10:00.001-07:00

I was informed today that Kim Miller has lost her battle with cancer. She passed today around 2:00. As I have only met her once, I feel like I know her so much better. I have been following her blog since my original post and have been praying for her that she would soon be a survivor. Heaven has a new angel, and as we would love to have her here, she is no longer suffering.

Please keep her husband, kids and family in your prayers.

WE WILL MISS YOU KIM!!!

Ron Smith and his battle with Leukemia

2009-08-26T10:22:00.000-07:00

As most of us come across old friends and co-workers and reconnect through Facebook, we also find out that some have encountered some bumps in thier life.

As I came across a familiar face, Ron, I was happy to see his smile. We had went to high school together and then we ended up working together for a couple of years. He married his high school sweetheart and they have a beautiful little girl. As I browsed through his profile I ended up on www.iamronsmith.com. It's his website that he has put together so we know how his journey is going.

I emailed him and let him know that I am praying for him, and his family, and that he will win this battle. I also asked him what I could do for him. He responded, and asked that I make people more aware of how easy it is to become registered on the National Marrow Donation Program. Spreading the word, that a simple mouth swab test and blood draw can help save someones life is something that most people are not aware of, but it really is that simple.

Here is the link that he provided me http://marrow.org/JOIN/Join_Now/join_now.html.

So here I am asking that you join me to join the National Marrow Donation Program, let's help those that need us!

Scentsy Warmer and Scent of the Month - Surf's Up

2009-08-20T12:17:00.000-07:00

Finally getting back into a schedule

2009-08-20T07:50:00.000-07:00

With Tyler being on summer break and then watching a couple of older kids here and there, "my quiet time" aka nap time disappeared....

My blog was one of the many things neglected, along with laundry, cleaning, and just hearing my own thoughts!

I will be doing some rather random posts as I try to catch up here. I have so many pictures and stories I hate that I was not on top of it at all.

Scentsy - 10% off entire catalog

2009-08-14T12:37:00.000-07:00

Last chance to order some of the Spring/Summer scents before we transition to the new Fall/Winter catalog. A lot of popular scents are being discontinued and will be your last chance to get them. Please visit my website or call me to place your order! If you are interested in earning free Scentsy contact me about hosting a party, start your Holiday shopping early. If you are interested in extra holiday cash, now is the opportunity to sign up and start earning income!

Happy Birthday Matt!!!

2009-08-14T09:55:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to my incredible, awesome, amazing, supportive, best husband, best daddy, best friend ever!!!

Matt you are the best thing that ever happened to me, and I thank God for you everyday.

~ I Love You ~
XOXOXO

Cheers to 30!!!

2009-07-20T08:49:00.000-07:00

My husband along with our parents and our friends put together an awesome surprise 30th birthday party for me - I am such a lucky gal to have all these people in my life!!

So the plan was that we (Matt and I) were going to dinner and a movie. We (my knowledge) were supposed to meet up with all our friends the next night for a b-day celebration. so anyways, we went out to dinner at our favorite place, but as we walk in the hostess tells us that a chef has walked out and that the wait for food might be close to an hour. I saw ok, and we sat and chatted, we had a ton of time before the movie started and it would be nice to just sit and relax. Little did I know that Matt was freaking out, he asked if I minded if we went somewhere else because he was really hungry, so we left and went to another place. We waited there and then the service was incredibly slow. Poor Matt, he was stressing out and I was so oblivious! You see, people were actually waiting around the corner from our house for us to leave so that they could come and set up for the party. So as we are restaurant hopping, people are at our house waiting for us to come home. As we are finishing up, he said that Molly (our awesome sitter) had called 3 times and so we called her back and she said that Ryan was sick, so then we decided to come home after we ate instead of go to the movies. As we pulled into the garage, I ran inside to get Ryan and here everyone was waiting and yelled "surprise"!! I never thought Matt coupld pull that off, so I never thought twice about it, and the fact that everyone kept talking about saturday night, I never even thought about it.

It was awesome, great to see all my friends (well all the ones that weren't out town, there was a lot of you) that was an awesome way to enter 30, hopefully its full of many more awesome surprises!!

Cheers to 30!!!!

Corinne and Sammy move to Florida!

2009-07-10T16:52:00.000-07:00

As many of you know, my sister-in-law Corinne (Matts little sis) is a news anchor. She has been living in Nebraska for the last 2 and a half years, in a small little town called Hastings. She has been exploring other locations (specifically Tucson to be closer to home) but as we all know the economy is not so great at the moment and a lot of stations are on a hiring freeze. When she brought up the possibility of Florida, I knew at that moment, it was going to happen. Not exactly when, but I just knew that her and Sammy would be moving farther away.

While I am sad, it's greedy for me, but I am so happy for her. I know she has been looking for somewhere else, specifically something a little more "exciting" than Hastings. I am sad because we never got to visit her, we had planned on going out there, but then when we found out we were expecting Ashlyn, it changed a lot of plans :). I am sad because if they have thier first baby in Florida, I won't be able to cuddle it only hours old. I can go on, but let's list why I am happy: Happy because her and Sammy can go to the beach all the time. Happy because they get to live in an awesome place with water all over. Happy because when we go visit them we can take them to Disneyworld, haha!!

So Cheers to Corinne and Sammy, and the opportunity to move to an awesome place!!

Here is a tribute her old station made for her:

Vinyl Lettering

2009-07-10T09:23:00.000-07:00

After a lot of thinking and contemplating, I have decided to start doing vinyl lettering. I have bought so much and want buy so much more, I started calculating how much it would be to invest in a new little business. I have been saving all my profits from Scentsy and invested it into another business of vinyl lettering.

At first I just wanted to do more crafty things and projects, but it has ventured out to more business than I imagined. I think that this is also what has taken a lot of my time, just trying to figure out the machine and learn new tricks and functions.

This really is a great way to personalize your home and don't have to invest in painting, or making it permanent, you can simply take it off when you are tired or want new decor, great decorating with small investment!

Happy 4th of July

2009-07-06T18:44:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th of July

This is the best picture that I got of all of them. We stayed the night at the Wigwam, a local resort. We swam all day, had some friends meet us, went out to dinner, bought cheap toys for the kids and got back to the room just in time for the fireworks. It was great, our rooms little patio was in perfect sight of the Litchfield Park firework show.

Here is a cute of of Tyler, Ryan and Dylan with thier lightsabers (cheap toys) watching the fireworks:

Happy Birthday Ryan!

2009-06-30T18:52:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to my baby Ryan!!

3 years ago you entered our lives, and we should have known then that you were always going to have us sleeping with one eye open :D

You had fluid in your lungs, so you had to stay at the hospital a couple of days and I had to go home. That was one of the hardest things that I have ever had to do. I wanted nothing more than to just hold you and we couldn't even do that until you were 4 days old. We brought you home on the morning of the 4th of July, and I will never forget that feeling.

Here we are 3 years later and you are always keeping us on our toes, you are a clown, and LOVE to be the center of attention. You love to share, and make sure that if you get a treat that everyone else does too.

We love you Ryan!!

Happy Birthday!!

Final countdown to 30

2009-06-17T13:08:00.000-07:00

As of yesterday I have one month left of the great 20's. I am not quite sure how I am going to react turning 30, seeing that I had a small breakdown when I turned 25. I think that is was a classic "quarterlife crisis". Many of you have not heard of this, but there is a whole section at Barnes & Noble that is dedicated to it, so I must not be alone (thank God).

Wow, it sure has been a while....

2009-06-09T08:47:00.000-07:00

I was doing pretty good keeping up with blogging, but then once my computers hit a slow note, it takes about a day to even check my email, so no thought on even trying to log on to blog, that just might make me crazy!

Here is a little of what has been going on:

Tyler graduated kindergarten and is now a big 1st grader - I cannot believe that, I have some great pics of his little ceremony, where they sang some really cute songs.

I have been finishing up quite a bit of stuff around here. I seem to start a lot of "projects" and never completely finish them off, so then I add them to my "rainy day" list thinking that when I am bored I will get to them. I think I tell myself that in hopes of "boredom", haha!

Paint the trim and crown moulding - check!
finish sewing Ashlyns bedding - check!
clean out closets - check!
garage sale - check!

there is still a lot on my list, but everything is not always going to get done, and some things don't matter if they ever get done.

My paternal Grandma and Aunt are coming to visit this weekend, and they have never been here, so I think that is what started this list of stuff. I am so excited to see them. The last time we saw them was when we went to Colorado for thier 50th anniversary celebration. Ryan was only 6 months and Ashlyn wasnt even around. So to get to spend some time with them is exciting for me, and to catch up on a lot of time lost. The last time I saw them before that was when I was 8 years old!!!

On another note, I scratched myself yesterday with my wedding ring and noticed that a prong had broke. I took it in to Jared last night to have it fixed and they noticed a chip in the diamond. So when I asked about the warranty, they asked if I routinely brought it in every 6 months for the check up and I said its about once a year, and they informed me that if I did not keep up the checks every 6 months, that that voids the warranty and that they cannot help me. I am so disappointed to say the least! So then I asked if it affects the trade in value and she notified me that they do not accept trade on chipped diamonds! Wow, I left feeling like someone just squashed me. What a crappy feeling and such a disappointment.... I really don't know what to do, I mean, that is my ring and my diamond, but now I know that it has a chip in it and I want it fixed, but now there is nothing that I can do, what is that all about?

Anyhow, whats meant to happen will happen, lets just hope they let me pick out a new diamond or at least trade up with full value. Wish me luck!

Darn computers....

2009-05-21T09:08:00.001-07:00

So I think I got a virus or something....

My laptop is now slower than a snail! And I am so impatient I can't take it! Just when you think that you are somewhat up to date with technology, wham, it's knocks you down on your butt.

I have ran McAfee virus scan, and deleted everything it told me to, I have disconnected my wireless router, and still no speed. Am I doomed? I don't know, can you fully recover from an attack?

Anyone, please help!

Tylers kindergarten graduation

2009-05-12T08:46:00.000-07:00

My babys first year of school went by way too fast. But as I sit here and think about everything that he did this year, there was a lot.

Here are some pics of the graduation ceremony, well more like a performance, but made me teary nonetheless :)

AND THE WINNER IS.....

2009-05-08T20:14:00.000-07:00

(by random.org)

TRUBLUBYU!!!

Congratulations!!

She posted this link as she listed her reasons before in one of her blog posts:

http://laughingatlifeslittlewedgies.blogspot.com/2009/03/lists.html

Thanks to all who participated in my first giveaway - it was fun!!!

Last day to enter for FREE Scentsy!!!

2009-05-08T13:14:00.000-07:00

Click here to find out more...

the winner will be picked tonight at 8:00!!

In Honor of Mother's Day

2009-05-08T13:10:00.000-07:00

Before I was a Mom,

I never tripped over toys or forgot words to a lullaby.

I didn't worry whether or not my plants were poisonous.

I never thought about immunizations.

Before I was a Mom,

I had never been puked on.

Pooped on.

Chewed on.

Peed on.

I had complete control of my mind and my thoughts.

I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom,

I never held down a screaming child so doctors could do tests.

Or give shots.

I never looked into teary eyes and cried.

I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.

I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom,

I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn't want to put her down.

I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when I couldn't stop the hurt.

I never knew that something so small could affect my life so much.

I never knew that I could love someone so much.

I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom,

I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body.

I didn't know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby.

I didn't know that bond between a mother and her child.

I didn't know that something so small could make me feel so important and happy.

Before I was a Mom,

I had never gotten up in the middle of the night every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay.

I had never known the warmth, the joy, the love, the heartache, the wonderment or the satisfaction of being a Mom...

I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much, before I was a Mom

Happy Mothers Day to all of you Mommies!!!

Happy Cinco De Mayo

2009-05-05T13:37:00.000-07:00

I got this dress for Ashlyn a while ago - and what a perfect time to wear it other than on Cinco De Mayo!!

We got so many compliments on her - I so think she is cute myself ;) I think I am partial though, lol!

I know it's a goofy picture, but she refused to sit still and smile for me...

Did you remember to thank your teachers??

2009-05-05T13:30:00.000-07:00

This week is Teacher Appreciation week... We all know teachers are overworked and underpaid, but what makes it worth it when they feel the gratitude from the kids and parents.

I know how I feel with a simple "Thank You" - or "You are the best" - and I only have a handful of kids not a classroom!

Monday is a "thank you" card

Tuesday is flowers or candy

Wednesday is lottery tickets

Thursday is donate a book to her library

Friday is a small denomination gift card

Thank You so much Mrs. Powe - you were the perfect teacher for out first year of school - we couldn't have asked for a better one!!!

T-Ball

2009-05-05T10:58:00.001-07:00

I can't believe that t-ball is already over with, seems like we just started! Time is just flying, and to think that there is only 13 days of school left until I am the mother of a 1st grader! Wow!!

Here are some shots of a future famous baseball player, you can say you saw pics of him when he was little, lucky you! :)

Scentsy Giveaway

2009-05-04T11:02:00.000-07:00

In honor of Mothers Day, I am jumping on the bandwagon of blog giveaways...

I am going to give away a Scentsy warmer and a Scentsy bar. All you have to do it leave me a message with how much motherhood has positively changed your life in ways that you never thought it would or if you are not yet a mother, what you learned from your mom that you will want to teach your children someday.

I will pick one person on Friday at 8:00 pm.

If you do not have a blog you can still leave a message, just make sure you leave your email address or some kind of contact info so that I can reach you. When the winner is picked I will let them choose thier favorite type of scent for the bar.

You do not have to be on my bloglist to enter, this would also be a great time to introduce yourself if you haven't already :) This contest is for everyone!!

Good Luck!

**EDITED**

The ways that motherhood has changed me are: I appreciate the little stuff, because in reality it is the big stuff, I have learned patience, to just sit and talk or to sit and play, what may seem boring to us is exciting to them in thier little world. To watch a baby sleep is one of the most rewarding things in life, it brings me peace. I have learned to overcome my fears to teach my children bravery. I have learned that my heart is much bigger then I ever imagined, I was worried that I wouldn't love my second as much as my first and my third as much as my second. My heart has grown so much, not only for my children, but my family as a whole!

Trust

2009-04-30T07:58:00.000-07:00

I got this quote from a friend on facebook...

When God leads you to the edge of the cliff, trust him fully and let go. Only 1 of 2 things will happen, either he will catch you when you fall, or he will teach you how to fly.

Happy Thursday everyone!

new family members

2009-04-29T08:00:00.000-07:00

These are the newest addition to our family, "Bowser" and "R2-D2".

Yes, I do have a 6 year old boy, why do you ask, are these not "normal names"?

Bowser and R2-D2 are red eared slider turtles, and they are so cute to just sit and watch, and another great perk is that they are hypoallergenic, haha! So no worries about Ryan having another reaction.

My neighbors mom had about 40 of these little guys and was looking for homes for them, ironically that morning at Tylers t-ball game a little kid had one and we thought, "that would be a good little pet", so when my friend mentioned that it just worked out perfect. We went to petco and bought a tank and all the stuff for them, these "free" pets ended up costing $75!! Anyhow, they sure are cute and the water filter is relaxing to listen to in the house.

How does a Scentsy warmer work?

2009-04-20T16:25:00.000-07:00

Resemblance?

2009-04-20T16:18:00.000-07:00

We have been told a couple of times that Ashlyn reminds people of Boo from Monsters, Inc. I kinda see it when she has ponytails...

I can only imagine if she had bangs too, haha!

a little girl and her stroller

2009-04-20T16:13:00.001-07:00

she just loves this little stroller...

Before and after the 1st lost tooth!

2009-04-20T16:08:00.000-07:00

I finally downloaded my 600 and something pictures... I swore I would never do that!!

Here is a before:

And here is the after:

we have found a babysitter!

2009-04-20T13:55:00.000-07:00

When people ask if we have family that lives in town we always hear how lucky we are, and that they must help a lot with the kids. For some reason, it's not that way. Both sets of grandparents live here, and we are lucky if we get a two hour dinner once every other month. Now I know that it is not written in the book of Grandparents that they must babysit the grandkids, but you would think that they would want to. The times that they have watched the kids over night, we are in the hospital having another, so I really wouldn't call it an "overnight out", haha!

Anyhow, we have FINALLY found a babysitter that the kids love and she was awesome!!!

Molly came over on Saturday so that Matt and I could go to a wedding that we were invited to. As soon as she got here, she started playing with the kids and was right at thier level. It was so reassuring to see that. No one cried for us as we left and she said that they never even batted a tear once they realized that we were gone! YAY!! Molly you are a godsend! We will be having you more often, Matt and I need date night more often!!

For any stay-at-home mom, I think we all need our time for adult conversation. I know you know what I mean. I absolutely LOVE being at home with my kids and would not have it any other way, but it does get tough being with kids 24/7. Always having food on my clothes (that hardly match), hardly ever getting "ready", not knowing how to have an adult conversation without kids interrupting, I am sure that I can go on.... I always tell Matt how lucky he is to just have a commute to work, a kidless drive in a car - now that sounds refreshing, haha!

Well this post is going in all sorts of directions... we are happy to have found a sitter to help out once in a while, YAY!! I hope I will be posting of more "date nights" in the future!!

Bittersweet

2009-04-14T10:28:00.000-07:00

So as many of you know we have been battling with Ryans eczema for a while now. Just when we think that it is all clear, we have a flare-up again. The past few weeks have been the hardest few weeks of our life. Ryan has been up for hours a night, scratching, crying and screaming. The eczema has spread to his arms and now to his back and stomach. I would post pictures, but I know that they would break your heart. Matt and I have been sleeping in shifts of about 30 minutes, while the other is rubbing Ryans legs so that he can sleep.

Last Thursday I took Ryan to an allergist to get to the bottom of this. We had appointments at both the allergist and the dermatologist, but figured that the allergist would find the reason of the eczema from the inside out, so to speak.

He was tested for most common allergies (milk, eggs, peanuts, grass, trees, etc). As I was holding him after the nurse applied the test, I could see that #12 and #13 were flaming up, I was thinking, its the dog, I just know it. After 15 minutes the doctor came back in and sure enough, Ryan is not only allergic to dog, but to cat as well. We have both, Lola our pooch and Callie my ancient cat. This is an easy fix, just a lot of emotion tied to it. I would rather him be allergic to a dog or cat, than dairy or peanuts. I think that would be a lot harder, and I know those allergies are a lot more common these days. I feel so sad for the kids at school lunch that have to sit all by themselves because of peanut allergies, so sad!!

So now we have to do the dreaded, break the news to Tyler that Lola will have to move in with Nana, my grandma. She offered to take her if in fact Ryan was allergic. Tyler loves his doggie, she sleeps on his bed everynight and follows him all over. I mentioned it a little on Thursday afternoon, and Tyler got a little teary eyed, but I told him that we would talk more about it later on. On Friday he had a half day and Matt had the day off so we picked him up from school and had Peter Piper for lunch, on the way home, I brought it up again. I explained to him that Lola was the reason that Ryan was so itchy all the time, and that Nana would let Lola live with her and that we can still go and visit her and she can come and visit us, just not live with us. He was sad, but then asked if she could sleep in his bed one more time. So we decided to let Lola stay one more night and take to her Nanas house on Saturday.

Once we had everything Lola related loaded up we headed to Nanas, granted she is just about 3 miles from us. We stayed a while and played, then decided that it was time to go. Ryan had a hard time leaving with out her. He cried for Lola and then got mad that we left her. Poor baby, he just doesn't understand yet. Hopefully this is something that he will outgrow, and we can introduce Lola back into the house, keeping her out of his room entirely. We'll see....

Anyhow, the new steroid cream that was prescribed to us, is working great, along with the anitbiotics for any infections that he may have had in the cuts. The weekend and first park of the week have been spent washing everything, my washer and dryer are on overload, haha! BUT we have noticed a HUGE IMPROVEMENT in Ryan, he is sleeping, not scratching and his legs and arms are getting back to soft baby skin again!!!

Thank you Dr. Casper!!! You saved my Ryan - he is back to being a clown!!! I told Matt that I wanted to send him a dozen roses for my gratitude!! Haha, I guess he is just doing his job, but he was so nice and friendly with kids as well!!

Geography Challenge

2009-04-09T07:43:00.000-07:00

My friend Shawn sent this link to me back in 2004 and I have saved it in my inbox to test myself every once in a while.

Think you know exactly where all the states belong?

Click here and find out!

Geography Challenge

Have fun!!

Scentsy does fundraisers

2009-04-08T08:55:00.000-07:00

Did you know that Scentsy does Fundraisers?

You can earn up to 25% of total sales back towards your charity, foundation, family, youth group....

Great products for customers!
Prices not increased for fundraisers!

Contact me for information!!

www.scentsy.com/trinahautala

Bunco night

2009-04-05T08:48:00.000-07:00

Well after many years of saying that I was going to host a bunco night, it finally happened. Friday night 11 friends and friends of friends came over. It started out a little confusing, because of the different ways that people have played, but once we got it all figured out, it was fun! We did 2 prizes, one for the most wins and then one for the most buncos. We also played left-right-center and that was great. The best part is that these games require no skills whatsoever!!

Food, drinks, and other girls, just what a mommy needs every once in a while :)

Thanks girls for coming over, I hope to plan another night soon, and this time I have already made the scoresheets so that there is no confusion!

Tooth Fairy visit

2009-04-03T08:02:00.000-07:00

Tyler has lost his first tooth!!!

It has been loose for a couple of weeks now, and I just kept crossing my fingers that he didn't loose it at school. I wanted to be there when he did to take a picture and all that fun stuff. So last night we were eating dinner and then all of a sudden it just fell out. No blood, or pain, just plopped right out. Good thing he noticed, I would have vacuumed it right up after dinner.

So we put it in a bag and put it under his pillow and this morning he woke up to $5 from the tooth fairy!!

He is so excited, he was showing everyone at the bus stop this morning. Most kids his age have already lost 4 or 5, so he was starting to feel a little left out. He just could not wait to go to school and tell his teacher. He gets to put his name on the "Lost Tooth" chart!!

Twilight - the movie

2009-03-30T13:39:00.001-07:00

I finished the book friday night, and knowing that I would I rented the movie... I watched it and I could not get "into" it. I just LOVED the book so much more. My mom said that I should have waited to watch the movie, but I was just so excited I couldn't wait. For those of you who have only seen the movie, you are soooo missing out on a MUCH better love story in the book!! So new note to self: read a book and then wait a little while before watching the movie, not 5 minutes! Ha! I may try and watch it again and see if it is better the second time, but I am not going to hold my breath.

Now off to read New Moon.....

Cuttlebug

2009-03-27T05:08:00.000-07:00

I fnially broke down and bought a Cuttlebug, at least it was on sale 50% off at Michaels, well that is the only way to justify buying it. I JUST LOVE IT!!! I am not a big scrapbooker or cardmaker, but now I think I can be, and it just makes it so much easier to be crafty! I hvae made a couple of cute cards, but of course I forgot to take pictures of them before I gave them to their recipients. Oh well, I am sure that as I get better I will be glad that I didn't take pictures so that I won't laugh. You know, when you are just starting out, and then as you get better you tend to look back and think "wow, I thought that was good?". I know you all know what I mean. But hey well all start somewhere and that is how we learn, thats what makes it so much fun!

The last of the Trilogy...

2009-03-26T09:23:00.001-07:00

Ashlyn

Ryan

Tyler

All of them are around a year old in these pics. We just picked up Ashlyns last night.

Tyler hated the hat, somehow the photographer got one with the hat on and missed my arm (I think we did it about 20 times). I remember that day like it was yesterday...

Ryan was in the beginning stages of Roseola (didn't know at the time) he had a high fever that morning, so he wasn't a happy camper, you can see his eyes are a little teary... my poor baby.

And Ashlyn, oh I was at wits end with the photographer!!! I stated that I wanted one with out a top on (like the boys) and he proceeded to take all these other pics of her, and I kept reminding him that I wanted to get the one with out the top because that one was important to me... so needless to say she was done taking pictures by the time we got to this one (GGRRR) so we had to take a break and then we got lucky with this one, she wasn't screaming, of course all the others she had big happy smiles... oh well I guess you can't win them all...

Tyler Football picture - Allstars

2009-03-25T10:28:00.000-07:00

We finally got his Football pictures (somehow we got the wrong team one though ) so I thought I would post it for all to see. Tyler really liked football, but I don't know if we will be doing it again, well maybe wait until he gets a little older. He was so busy with football practice and Karate I think it kind of wore him out a little, not to mention it wore out the taxi driver (me).

Twilight

2009-03-25T09:25:00.000-07:00

So I think I might be the last one on the planet to read it, but hey better late than never right?

My friend Jacy let me borrow her set around Christmas time, and of course there was no time for reading, so I have been putting it off. I have been dying to read them but I do remember a friend, *cough Natalie cough*, talking about the cheese dripping off the pages, so I have been a little hesitant (even though it was a different book). Haha, funny how one little comment will stick in your head, huh? A neighbor told me to read it, knowing that it was cheesy so here I am... I just finished chapter one last night and hopefully I will finish it by this weekend.

I am already regretting that I didn't read them months ago!!

Luke Days 2009

2009-03-24T07:49:00.000-07:00

Once again it is time for Luke Days. For those of you that don't know what that is, let me tell you. Every other year the Luke Air FOrce Base opens its gates and puts on an amazing show. You get to walk on the tarmat and take pictures in airplanes, sit in the pilot seats and watch the air show fly right over your head.

This year we decided to meet some friends that we hadn't seen in about 5 years! Luckily we had them meet us at our house instead of at the base. We got on the road (mind you its about a whole 5 minutes from our house) and the traffic was backed up about 3 miles down Litchfield Road. So we cut through the neighborhoods thinking that would help, well it did, but once we were on the road there was no turning around. We finally made our way up to the makeshift parking lot and saw "the line" to enter the base. "The line" was about a mile long (no joke) and it zigzaged back and forth!! This was just to get into the base, once you got in you had to walk all the way back to the tarmat. This was a VERY LONG line and all I coupld picture was the kids wanting to kill us while we waited to get in! The sun was beating down and everyone in line had red faces, it wasn't too appealing to me.

I called my girlfriend, Becky, who luckily was right behind us in line and we decided to ditch the air show and head to lunch to catch up. We headed to Sabatinos Pizza and had lunch, from there we went to a park hoping to catch the air show from the park, but the planes took off a little later than we hoped and the kids were red faced and tired. By then they really didn't care to see anything but a bed for a nap.

Right as we were turning the corner on our street the Thunderbirds started flying, so we turned around and drove to a nearby field and parked and watched them. It was surprising that Ryan and Ashlyn slept through the show with the thundering engines flying right over our heads.

I absolutely love watching the air shows, I think it reminds me of my Grandpa, and the meaning behind it all... FREEDOM!! I remember sitting on the back patio when I was little and him telling me all about the airplanes and which jets were which jets. He was retired Air Force and the shows had more meaning to him than just an airplane flying over our heads. I am so grateful to have learned that as a young girl and I can carry that on to my kids and hopefully relay the same message that I learned growing up.

Tyler Yellow Belt

2009-03-20T16:03:00.000-07:00

Wax -On. Wax-Off. Anyonw who grew up in the 80's knows what that means.

Tyler has been in Karate for about 4 months now and he just takes to it so naturally. They start with a white belt and then they work on thier "stripes" he has tested for 3 yellow stripes individually and the next step was testing for the yellow belt. He tested about 3 weeks ago and earned his yellow belt! We are so proud of him and I know that he was so proud of himself. He is learning that if you practice you earn stuff, and I think that is a much more valuable lesson than actually getting the belt.

I tried to upload this video so many times I was ready to give up!! I think our computer is sick with viruses or fighting them off, it has been sooooo slow. Anyways, I finally got the video up and here he is testing and passing his Yellow Belt.

(The little girl behind him is Brianna - when I used to work, Tylers babysitter used to watch her as well, so they have been friends since they were about a year old, then when I started babysitting I watched her for awhile, it's so cute that they are growing up together, I have pictures of them before they could talk and still in diapers - and her parents are some of the nicest people we know!)

Spring Break!

2009-03-19T14:25:00.000-07:00

Oh how the meaning is so different now that I am not little, in high school or college for that matter.

No lazy days of sleeping until noon.

No lounging in the pool ALL DAY!

No vacations, California, Mexico, or anywhere for that matter.

But!

We have got a lot of good movies for rent for Tyler (at least that is what Matt and I are saying). Karate Kid (1 and 2) Star wars (3, 4, 5 & 6). Monday night Matt and I stayed up and watched Karate Kid until 11:00 and then again on Wed night. What a great movie that is!! And Tyler is totally adorable walking around doing the karate kicks. Oh that leads me to another topic.

Tyler got his Yellow Belt last week at Karate!! YAY!! He absolutely loves this sport! It just comes naturally to him, unlike Football, haha!

We did do a couple of trips to the duck pond and the park so I will post pics later on....

Family Bike Ride

2009-03-02T07:50:00.000-08:00

Since the weather here is so great we decided to take advantage of it and go on a family bike ride. (Sorry for the lame picture, but I didn't take the camera with me).

They are building a new park here well I think its one of those wash/parks but its going to be great! There is a park in our neighborhod that has a bike path and a tunnel that goes under the street that leads to the rest of the park that they are building. There are paths that cross back and forth, playgrounds, and even a couple of little ponds that will probably have ducks and fish. So yeaterday we were going to ride to Paradise Bakery for breakfast, but we would have had top cross a major street and the paths were not done yet, so we settled for muffins and juice from Bashas.

Hopefully we will be taking off Tylers training wheels soon, and we will have a little more speed, but for now we are taking in all the sights slowly :).

Ryan - our accident prone child

2009-02-27T13:38:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted about Ryan and all his accidents yet. Maybe I was scared that they would keep happening, who knows...

On December 23 we went to Sports Authority to get a couple of last minute gifts, while we were there Ryan and Tyler were goofing off (go figure) and Ryan ran into a tiered table with sweatshirts, he fell and a couple of shirts fell off, then all of a sudden blood started to run down Ryans head. AAAAHHhhhh!!!

We swooped him up and off to the ER we were. On our way, his head stopped bleeding so I called my friend, and ER nurse and asked if we could stop by and give us some advise. She said that since it stopped bleeding, he should be fine. So we left it and kept it clean with medicine.

Two weeks later....

We are watching the Cardinals playoff game and Tyler and Ryan are playing with hot wheels on the coffee table. They start to fight over one and Ryan falls and slices his eyebrow on the edge of the table. I rush him to urgent care and we get the skin glue on it..... He is alright.....

Two weeks later.... (see a pattern here?)

I am at karate with Tyler and Matt is at home with Ryan and Ashlyn, giving them a bath. Matt calls me all frantic, Ryans chin is cut open and blood is all over. Apparently he just fell standing there (bathtubs are so dangerous). Hit his chin on the edge of the tub and sliced it a good one!

Off to Urgent Care - Again! My girlfriend jokes that I need a frequent visitors card - HA!

He gets 8 stiches in his chin - 8!! That was one of the hardest things as a parent that I have experienced yet. He was terrified!! All wrapped up in a blanket to hold his ams and legs still. Crying and sobbing. I wanted to sob with him, wwaaahhh!!!

So things come in 3 for sure, hopefully Ryan is done breaking things for a while now. I don't think this momma can handle anymore....

Tyler was Student of the Month for January!!

2009-02-27T13:31:00.001-08:00

I am so proud of him - Student of the Month!! That is awesome :)

Here he is showing me the plaque that he got - he was so proud of himself.

Here is Tyler with his teacher Mrs. Powe - we just love her she is awesome - I hope that Ryan and Ashlyn get to have her too - did I mention that she is awesome?

Here he is at home, showing me the award he got....

Tyler playing football (flag)

2009-02-27T13:20:00.000-08:00

Here are some pics that I haven't uploaded yet.

Tyler has been playing football for about 7 weeks now, and has had games too. Here are some pics of him at his games. Did I mention that these are just about the cutest games ever! The kids are running all over, pulling flags off everyone with or without the ball, I just LOVE it!

Here he is so close to a touchdown... Woo Hoo!!

Spring Fever

2009-02-25T12:15:00.000-08:00

What beautiful weather we are having here in the AZ!!!

Talk about "Spring Fever" - who wants to be inside when you can do everything fun outside? This is why I live here, I just have to remind myself about that when it is 200 degrees outside in the summer and I am dreaming for an automatic car starter....

This morning I took the kiddos and we had a picnic at the park. What a classic pasttime. They LOVED every bit of it. As soon as I got them unbuckled off they ran to the slide, then to the swings then back to the slide then to climb and just run around in circles.....

Oh to be a kid again, running falling in the sand standing up rubbing it off and taking off again. I think we took most of the sand home with us, and some stayed in the car the rest came out when we took of our shoes and washed our hands (I love my vacuum).

I was like pulling teeth when it was time to leave - poor things - its not like they will never go back - but each time its like the end.

Makes me think of grade school - recess time. I used to love to play on the merry-go-round and the teeder-tawders (sp). Oh how our kids won't get to experience the really fun scary toys. Of course we got hurt, but our parents didn't sue everyone when we did. Just got a bank-aid and then jumped on again, learning our limits.

I want to upload some pics, but my lap-top is not working right now, well the wi-fi is not, so I will have to wait, and when I download them onto the desktop it taked forever..... so you will have to wait.

I just LOVE Springtime!!!

2009-02-17T12:17:00.000-08:00

So I was just informed that it has been 3 weeks since my last blog..... I knew that, but just seeing it on paper (so to speak) was disappointing....

What happened to me? I ask myself. I really don't know..... I have been cleaning like a mad woman, rearranging stuff, organinzing stuff, etc. I mean, I know it doesn't take a whole lot of time to blog, but then once you get on you blog surf, and so on.

So I am challenging myself to another blogging month. I can't believe that so much has happened that I have not blogged about. My goal is to blog at least every other day for the next month, to get me back in the groove. Even if I have nothing exciting to blog about that day, I will post pics of everything that has been going on around here.

Hope all is well with all of you!!

Free Chipotle Burritos!!

2009-01-23T10:39:00.000-08:00

I know I LOVE Chipotle burritos, and if you do too here is the inside scoop for you:

To honor the Cardinals going to the Superbowl, All Arizona Chipotle restaurants will offer a FREE burrito, taco, bowl or salad with no strings attached the day before the big game.

All you have to do is go to any Chipotle between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. on Saturday January 31st wearing red.

Visit this link to find out more.

YAY Cardinals!

2009-01-19T06:52:00.000-08:00

I am not a big football fan by any means, so you can call me a bandwagon fan if you like, haha! But I am excited that our hometeam has made its way to the Superbowl. I always like the story of the underdogs making it to the top with hard work!

So YAY Cardinals!!

Congratulations Cheryl!!!

2009-01-12T12:52:00.000-08:00

I want to give out my congrats to my good friend Cheryl - she just got engaged over New Years!! I am totally excited for her and Steve!!

I just knew he was "the one" the moment I met him, they are so cute together and compliment eachother nicely.

Cheryl is a good friend that I met in 2nd grade. I don't see her often, maybe once every couple of months, but her and Matt work together so I always know the latest from him, which is nice. On Friday we went to see Bride Wars, and we laughed and cried. I LOVED this movie!!! The part that made me cry so much was at dinner before the movie, Cheryl asked me to be her Maid of Honor!!! I cried, I totally did not expect that at all, but am so honored!! So the point of the movie was all about friendship and all that mattered was that they were there for eachother on thier wedding day, so it made me cry and then Cheryl started crying and then we laughed, it was funny!

Of all the things about the wedding and being in it, the part that I am already planning is the toast, I am fortunate to not only know Cheryl but Steve too! I get the chance to tell people that I was there from the beginning and how I knew he was different and yadda, yadda, you know the mushy stuff, but I can't wait!!

Anyone out there a good writer? send some tips and ideas my way...

So Cheers to Steve and Cheryl!!! And I am sure that I will be posting stuff about showers and stuff, I love to be a hostess, so I am excited and already planning stuff - YAY!!!

My BIG girl!

2009-01-08T14:24:00.001-08:00

This morning when Ashlyn woke up, I realized that she is no longer a "baby". She is so big now and walking, it's bittersweet....

She just looks like a little girl and the outfits that she wears make her seem so girly, less baby. I am having so much fun with her and how I can be creative with her clothes, you know, stuff that you don't get to do with boys. Dresses, tights, different shoes, hair clips, etc.

The more she grows, the more that I want another baby....

I just have no desire to be pregnant again, don't get me wrong, I absolutely love feeling a baby inside me, but I just have the worst pregnancies. I miss out on so much because I am so sick. I don't want to miss out on another 9 months of any of the kids lives.

I do want for Ashlyn to have a sister, one thing that I did not have. I see the bond that the boys have and I want her to have that with a sister. So many of my friends have a sister, and yes you do fight, but that is one friend that you will have forever, and I so want Ashlyn to have that.

Another baby is not guaranteed to be a girl anyways....

Sooooooo on that note.... I think that we are done with having kids. (and even as I type it, I still feel like I am lying).

Has anyone else gone through this? I know I am not the only one.....

Host a Scentsy party in January - receive double half off items!

2009-01-06T06:55:00.000-08:00

So here is the scoop:

For all of you out there that have been wanting to host a party and have not, January is the month to do it!

For any party hosted in January we will double your half off items!!

Please keep in mind that you can host a "basket party" so that you do not have to actually host a party at your house. I have a full set of all the testers in a mini version. They all fit into a small bag (size of a lunchbag) that you can easily take to your office or just share with your close friends. This is a great way to reap the rewards with out doing a ton of work!

I can also mail out the testers to any of you that are out of state and interested in free stuff!!

Check out my website www.scentsy.com/trinahautala for more information or how to contact me!

Time to catch up

2009-01-06T06:48:00.001-08:00

So I guess that it is about time that I remove the Christmas countdown, I mean it is only about 2 WEEKS PAST Christmas, HA!!

I cannot tell you enough how I feel like I have had a huge weight lifted off my shoulders with the holidays passing. Is it bad to feel like that? I sure hope that I don't have that feeling every year.... The holidays are supposed to be fun and enjoyable! Anyways, I am back into my regular swing of things and fell wonderful!! I am able to focus on what is important and get all the regular stuff done.

I have turned into one of those people with a TOn pf pictures in her camera and need to download those and catch up! horrible-horrible!

Ryan has started potty training himself and I am stoked!! Woo Hoo, one less in diapers and more money back into the wallet! I kept joking that I would have him and Ashlyn potty trained together, haha, boys are later and I hear that girls are earlier, so I will keep believeing in that one for now :D.

such a slacker!

2008-12-30T07:49:00.000-08:00

I cannot believe how much of a blog slacker I have become!! I have never been so bad!

This holiday season seriously kicked me in the butt. It seems that most I talk to it was the same all around.

I started selling Scentsy at the busiest time of year, which is awesome, it totally kept me busy until just last week, and the comission checks are awesome, great extra money at the perfect time of year!

Christmas was so crazy, I was finishing up gifts right before I was giving them to the recipients. That is not like me!! I used to love to wrap perfect with great ribbons and decorations, but I think this year it was all bags! Can you get any more simple?

When I should have been home finishing or cleaning for Christmas, we were at the Wildlife Zoo. Why should the kids suffer on thier holiday break? For those of you that have not been to the zoo yet, beware of the increased admission fee!! BEWARE!! Since they opened the aquarium, they have raised thier prices to $26 per person!!! We were not expecting this at all. It was a great day at the zoo, so they money was well spent, it was so dead that all the animals were hungry to be fed and interested in the kids, it was great! We were actually bombarded in the petting zoo and I had to had Ryan over the fence to Matt because he freaked out and the goats were eating our clothes and shoes!! I have pictures and a funny video of the monkies to upload and hope to get to that today.

Until next time - Happy New Year!

Jingled by the elf!

2008-12-12T11:31:00.000-08:00

I saw this on Natalies blog and thought that it was a cute idea. We have done the Halloween one in the past, but it is the first time I have seen the elf one. Click here to see the website and start a little fun holiday spirit in your neighborhood!

Susan Mortensen

2008-12-12T09:29:00.000-08:00

This blog was brought to my attention through Kims blog.

Susan is in her resting place and is at peace and no longer suffering, please keep her husband and family in our prayers as the holidays approach.

Why does this seem so uncommon now? Such young people, it's not fair, its never fair!!!

Light bombs and swat team

2008-12-10T15:39:00.000-08:00

This morning was not our "normal" morning.

I was just getting out of the shower and brushing my teeth when I heard a couple of bangs. I thought it was Ryan hitting our bedroom doors against the wall (he is our destructive child). When I went to tell him to stop, there was nothing there. He was sound asleep in bed. I was a little freaked, but just thought maybe I was just hearing things. As I turned around to go back to getting ready, I heard another "bang", LOUD, VERY LOUD!! I proceeded to walk over to one of our bedroom windows and peek out. I saw a TON of red and blue lights flashing on the next street over. Just then two more "booms" with light. OMG!!! I freaked out, I called Matt (he was at the gym) and said get home NOW, there are gun shots and police outside. I called 911 to ask if I should be paking up the kids and leaving and the dispatcher told me that it was light bombs and they have apprehended the suspect and that I have nothing to worry about. WHAT!?!?!? Nothing to "worry" about, there are a ton of cop cars and light bombs this is not normal!!!!

Anyhow, after a lot of phone calls to and from neighbors, we have figured out that there was a warrant served at that house, to a "very bad dude" as one of the officers stated it. How scary is that? Here we have lived by this guy for a few years, but somehow, a lot of us have always got the eebie jeebies from him. Who knows...

Later when I left to run some errands, I drove by the house and a lot of the windows are broken, I guess they were using sledge hammers to break the glass to throw in the bombs. Craziness!!!

It was crazy and the "talk" at the busstop this morning for sure. Hopefully this "very bad dude" will not be returning to this neck of the woods, EVER!!

** Edited**

Just came across this link to the local paper.

sickies all over

2008-12-09T07:19:00.000-08:00

This darn weather - well I guess it is expected in the winter anyways, most of the kids I babysit are sick. My poor babies, it just makes me sad when kids are sick, they can't tell us what is wrong and where it hurts. Hopefully they all pass it soon and are in tip top shape for Jolly Old St. Nick!

Boy oh boy, as usual, Matt and I have absolutely no Christmas shopping done, and have no idea what to get anyone. Good thing is that I still need to place a vinyl order with Marni and then hopefully I will be a little caught up. As everyone is stretching the dollar, I plan to make a lot of our gifts to people. So that means I need to start, hmmm, well about a month ago, Ha! I am sure I will pull something together :).

Well I have one (two) parties down and another this weekend. Its our annual Family White Elephant gift exchange. So funny who knew that it would still be going on after all these years? We keep inviting new people and gets bigger and bigger. Most of our friends are still having kids, so that makes it fun too. We provide the ham, drinks, and basic side dishes and ask everyone to bring another side dish or a dessert. It makes it so fun, so many varities of food and desserts. Santa makes a visit to the kids and then we start the gift exchange. Some years there are really good gifts and some are real doosies, but that is the fun part!

I also want to plan a tamale night with my family. I have wanted to do this for a few years, but never really planned it. I know my grandma likes to make tamales, but you know its really time consuming, so I want to have the families get together and make a ton, that way we can have a good assembly line and everyone gets in on the action and gets to go home with tamales!! I need to plan that right now...

I also need to download my picutres, I have so many that I need to update my blog with.

I promise that I will never be this bad again!!!!!!

Busy busy weekend

2008-12-08T08:21:00.000-08:00

Wow, I am still recovering from a very busy week and an even busier weekend!

The Holiday Vendor party was a success!!! Thanks to all that came and thanks to all that placed orders with Scentsy. I know that Marni did great with Choose the Writing vinyl lettering. She had a lot of great holiday stuff to take home same day. The Boutique to You was also a great hit! I think I may have one of these parties evey holiday season. A lot of people got thier holiday shopping done and some just started. I know I just shopped for myself, but thats ok, all the hard work put into it, I deserve it!! Haha!!

Sunday we had a small birthday party for Ashlyn, just the family. I cannot believe that my baby is 1 already!! So sad, so sad!! Hmmmm, seriously makes me think about another.... but thats a whole nother story..... wont start on that just this minute. :)

Today I still recoping from the weekend, have a couple of dayacare kids and its an aerly day, cant complain! I am getting ready to take Ashlyn to her 1 year appt, poor thing she has no idea whats in store.... and I just called my friend Jennifer to do my hair tonight, YAY! That is always fun, I just love Jen and her awesome hair talent, she was born to do hair, never dissapointed, and just like today, I can call and schedule her right away!!

Anyways, better get started on the day and wake Ashlyn up and get her ready!!

Happy Monday to all of you!!!

this holiday madness.....

2008-12-02T20:05:00.000-08:00

Aren't the holidays supposed to be fun, enjoyable, sweet cherished memories?

Lately I have been feeling overwhelmed, that is probably why I have not been on very much. I think it's a mixture of many things, but I think the main thing is that when I started selling Scentsy, I was happy just making back my sign up fee, but it has quickly grown, and has kept me very busy. I am so grateful for this great opportunity, I just wish that I wasn't so new to everything at the busiest time of the year. I am just now getting things all situated so that if someone were to call for a party the next day, I am ready, I am not running aroung getting this and that together. Don't get me wrong, it's not much, but you get what you put into it, and I am a 100%er. If I have my name on something, I want to be proud of it. Know what I mean? Anyways, now that I seem to have all of that under control, I hope to get bach to my daily blogging, and all the other good stuff.

We got out the totes of Holiday decorations, and to my surprise, I forgot that I bought a whole bunch of new outside decor last year when it was all .50 or so!! How awesome is that? its like finding a $20 bill in your winter coat, haha!! So we got the outside done, but for some crazy reason, we cant get any of our small extension cords to connect to all the lights, so back to Home Depot we go. We got the tree up and decorated, I just need to do all the smaller indor decorations, and then we are set. I have my holiday party with Scentsy this weekend, and then next weekend we have our annual family party here. Santa always makes a visit for the kids, so they are unpatiently waiting his arrival! So it seems that I am pretty much a busy bee and do you think that I have any Christmas shopping done at all? Of course not, hahaha! That would be too much planning ahead of the game, ha! hopefully Matt and I can sneak out sometime alone and get it done. Hopefully is the key word.

Gotta go wake Matt up and take him to bed, he had an awful migraine tonight and fell asleep on the couch - poor baby :(

Trina has her groove back!!

2008-12-01T07:54:00.000-08:00

OH. MY. GOODNESS.

I can't believe that I totally fell off the wagon with my blog!!!

I have been so consumed with the holidays and Scentsy I have not had a moment to sit down and blog. Well I have not wanted to be at the computer any more than I needed to be.

I am back and ready to blog again full force!

There is so much to blog about and catch up on. I had relatives in town for Thanksgiving and Matt and Tyler went to the dunes for the first time. I need to get all the pictures in order and then I will post them.

I hope that you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!!

2008-11-27T09:55:00.000-08:00

poor blog - ignored

2008-11-20T07:38:00.000-08:00

My poor blog, I was doing really well posting everyday, until recently. I feel like I have just been bombarded with stuff to get done. Well, maybe I just decided to finish all of my half done projects. I get motivated to do something, usually crafting or sewing, and then when I hit a wall (usually need something from the store) I put it aside to complete when I get a chance to go to the store and that never happens..... so I end up with a lot of half completed things around the house.

no.good.

At least now that I am finishing things, I am getting all excited again over my original ideas, that's the fun part.

So for now, I will blog when I have a chance, I miss my blogging world out there, I have not been blog staking as much lately, haha!

I have failed....

2008-11-17T07:34:00.000-08:00

SO I tried and tried to do this NOPOBLOMO, and I give up.....

I hate to quit things!! But this blogging on the weekends when we are so busy, it is just not working for me now :(

I really wanted to be able to do this blog a day, but at least I was able to blog a day for the most part....

Cheers to eveyone else that is making this happen, I am still going to try and blog as much as I can!

My newest adventure!

2008-11-13T18:38:00.000-08:00

Ok, it has been my passion since Tyler was a baby to make childrens clothing and some accessories. Until recently I have had that idea just sitting on the backburner of my life. I think having a little girl makes it a little more fun and desirable. I have started another blog www.hautalacouture.blogspot.com to feature what I have made and I am going to start selling it etsy.com: www.hautalacouture.etsy.com.

I dont have it all set up yet, but hope to this weekend and at least have a showcase of what I will be offering. I plan to offer custom baby blankets, baby sun hats, dresses, tank tops, t-shirts and short and pant sets; tutu's, magic wands flower tiaras, picture frames, hair bows and clippies. I guess that is a lot.... I better get busy, I want to get this up and running ASAP!!!

Superrior Scribbler Award

2008-11-12T09:21:00.000-08:00

I was awarded by Natalie, thanks so much sweetie!

Here are the rules for this award (copied directly from Natalie, so hopefully, all the links are still good!):Each Superior Scribbler must in turn pass The Award on to 5 most-deserving Bloggy Friends.Each Superior Scribbler must link to the author & the name of the blog from whom he/she has received The Award.Each Superior Scribbler must display The Award on his/her blog, and link to This Post, which explains The Award.Each Superior Scribbler must post these rules on his/her blog.Each Blogger who wins The Superior Scribbler Award must visit this post and add his/her name to the Mr. Linky List. That way, we’ll be able to keep up-to-date on everyone who receives This Prestigious Honor!Here are my nominees:

1. Natalie; I don't know if you can nominate the person who nominated you, but here goes... Natalie is a dear old friend, who after all these years we are still great freinds. We may not see eachother as much as we like, or talk as much as we like, but when we do we just pick up right where we left off. She understands that life is busy and our own families are whats important to us first. We were in eachothers weddings and that will always hold a special place in my heart; Thank you Natalie for just being you!!

2. Corinne: My little sister ;) She just started blogging and has taken off like fire. She is such a talented woman with an awesome drive. I wish she didn't live so far away but I love that she blogs so that we can keep up with her and hew new husband Sammy and their lifes adventures.

3. Raquel: A great friend from high school: we have reconnected through myspace and facebook, but I ultimately keep up on her through her blog. She is always a riot to be around and has the best laugh and smile. She is an amazing mother to her boys and inbetween them running her own business.

4. Sheralyn: I met her through her mother, who is equally awesome. She is a talented young woman who is having her first baby! She is entering one of the most exciting chapters of her life, I am so excited for her, babies are such a blessing!

5. Sarah: Another friend from high school. Although we werent close friends I always thought that she was an awesome person. She married her high school sweetheart (who I have funny memories of in 8th grade math) and together they have a beautiful daughter. She is also running her own business and doing great, it was also just featured on Your life A-Z on channel 3 last week!!

Kim fights cancer...

2008-11-12T06:24:00.000-08:00

Today I received an email from our PTO president regarding a mother of a couple of students at Tylers school.

Her name is Kim, and she was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer last month. As I sat here and read about her, I just started crying, this is a young mother with young children! I am starting to tear up again just typing this.

They are having a fund raiser and I am going to donate some stuff for the silent auction, but the annual guns 'n hoses football game this saturday is donating all proceeds to her family. If you have nothing planned join us to help support a mother, and her family. Her husband is a Goodyear Police officer and her kids are so young, they need support!

Please keep her and her family in her prayers.....

http://www.kimfightscancer.blogspot.com/

2008-11-11T20:19:00.000-08:00

With Matt being out of town I usually try not to do more than is necessary outside of the house. Meaning if I don't have to leave I won't. BUT I had Michaels coupons that were 50% off, I think that is necessary to leave, right?
The people at Michaels constantly tell me that they are only allowed to take one coupon, but they say "this one time" and take two. Why am I complaing, well because, I asked if I could to separate transactions and she tells me that I have to pay in a different tender, what??? Does the register even know, of course not, but they are just trying to make it hard on people like me... well I just might have to start going to Jo-Anns, they will take as many coupons as I have, just have to be a different coupon (newspaper, mailing, printout, etc). Hello people, I am willing to spend my money, just want to use a coupon... I guess I will just take my business elsewhere...
So anyways, I was a Michaels last night and tonight using 2 coupons each time...probably spend what I saved on the gas to get there and back, ha :D
I also had to go to Sams to get diapers...... I am so done with that chapter... 2 boxes and spent $80! Each time I buy a box for Ryan I tell myself that it will be his last box..... I think I have been doing that for a year now, at least I have positive thinking!

Thank You Veterans

2008-11-11T12:01:00.000-08:00

Today is Veterans Day - we owe our freedom to all of those who serve in our military!! Thank you for putting your life on the line so that I may have mine.

My grandpa served in 3 wars and my brother served in one. I can only imagine what they went through day in a day out. I am so lucky that I knew my Grandpa so well (he was like a father to me) and my brother back home and safe now.

Thank You Veterans for serving for our Country!!

monday, a good day

2008-11-10T17:49:00.000-08:00

Today started out very slow, and not much later (and nothing on the list of to do accomplished) I had a visitor...

Jacy my Scentsy leader stopped by! I never have daytime visitors, it was great! Jacy thanks so much for all of your help and instructions, I am so glad that I am on your Scentsy team! This girl is awesome!!

Later Natalie stopped by with my vinyl order from her party! Another visitor with gifts (Jacy brought me new scentsy bars, that were YUMMY) how did I manage to get lucky!! And she brought Lily, she is such a doll!

Thanks ladies for visiting, sorry the house was a disaster, but I had fun chatting with you both :D

Monday, Monday....

2008-11-10T06:51:00.000-08:00

I am soooo tired....

the house is destroyed.....

clothes are dirty......

kids are tired......

will. blog. later.

another busy day....

2008-11-09T10:48:00.000-08:00

Today I am getting caught up on some of the housework, how does it pile up so fast?

I have my first Scentsy home party today, and am quite excited! I really feel like I am doing well, well a lot better than I thought I was going to do!

Matts relatives are in town and I am meeting Matt at his parents to visit with them, I see another late night in our future, but oh so worth it! :)

here we are, there we are....

2008-11-09T07:13:00.000-08:00

What was supposed to be a lazy weekend turned into the exact opposite!

Enjoyable non-the-less, though. Saturday morning, we started out cleaning and cleaning. We had a birthday party at 11:00 at my cousin Dotties house. It was so good seeing her family and her beautiful new house!!! Talk about ginormous, wow we almost got lost in there, I LOVED IT!!! The kids played and played, and had a blast. As soon as we loaded up in the car they were out, so worn out from all the fun.

So home we went for the kids to sleep, although, Ryan wanted nothing to do with going back to sleep.

Ashlyn slept and then as soon as she woke up we headed to the graduation party (that we were already late for). It was great, we met a lot of new people and there were so many kids. I wish that my family had other kids for mine to play with when we got together, it was so nice. We were there until about 10:00 and the kids were done, along with Matt and I.

It was a loooong day....

Happy Friday!!

2008-11-07T21:34:00.000-08:00

What a busy week it has been!!

Whew.... time just flew off the clocks this week. So many days I would be in the middle of something and then realize that the bus was coming in a few minutes..... I hate that, never feel like I finished something.

Hopefully I can get caught up over the weekend. We have a birthday party on Saturday and are excited, we don't see my cousin Dottie enough and she only live a few minutes away! The kids should have a great time, they are the same ages as the boys, so I am sure they will just run wild for a while.

I have my first "Scentsy" party this weekend at Shannons, I am so excited!! Hopefully I can get a couple more bookings for parties.

Anyone bored and wanna help?

2008-11-06T11:41:00.000-08:00

I am not a hoarder by any means, but I hate to get rid of toys that people have spent money on for the kids. Good working toys....

This is what happens when you don't get rid of any, and this is only half of it, there is a walk in closet (well supposed to be walk-in) that is in this room full of more toys.

Matt and I have finally said no more toys for gifts. Play-Doh, Legos, you know the classics, board games, etc., will be allowed. Anything relating to Wii or the computer, clothes are always a good one or a nice savings bond. These toys want to be played with, I constantly think of Toy Story when Woody get "Shelved", aahhhh, I would never want to put a poor toy through that, so we are cleaning and going to have a garage sale and DONTATE all the rest, so that no one gets "shelved" in this house :D.

Of course, this is what I would want my play room to look like, but do you think kids actually play in here, I mean there are crayons, chalk, pencils, and paint and no kids ever touch it?? yeah, right!

sleepy head

2008-11-05T14:26:00.000-08:00

this is what I saw when I got done checking my emails (fast asleep at the base of the fridge)...

he insisted on not taking a nap, and I was fine with that, so we put on a baby einstein dvd and he was eating a pumpkin muffin.... not for long!

Those are his Peeps, we stared with one and somehow those rabbits multiplied (ha, actually they were backups and he found them) and so yes, he carries around all 8 of them.... needless, to say, they get washed a lot!

Delicious!!!

2008-11-05T11:22:00.000-08:00

For those of you that LOVE pumpkin stuff please try this at home:

mix this...

with this...

and you get HEAVEN!!!

2008-11-04T09:47:00.000-08:00

I am taking up Natalies challenge from NABLOPOMO.

I am member #9797, NABLOPOMO (National Blog Posting Month) is the epicenter of daily blogging! People who want to set the habit of blogging by doing it every day for a month, including weekends, can come here for moral support, inspiration, and the camaraderie that only marathon blogging can provide.

Anyone out there up to the challenge?

I think it will be fun!!!

2008-11-04T07:44:00.000-08:00

We should be proud that we live in American and that we get to vote our next leaders into office. Everyone should be out there voting today, speak your voice and let it be heard!!

I voted this morning and am excited!!!

GO VOTE!!!

Thanksgiving...

2008-11-03T13:47:00.000-08:00

I love Thanksgiving, to me it's really what the holidays are all about family, friends, and just spending time together. Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas, but people all too often forget what the real meaning of Christmas is and get all caught up in the hype of gifts (giving and receiving).

As I look around my house I still have my Halloween decorations up, yeah I know, I used to have them down and switched out the very next day, but I enjoyed a nice afternoon at the craft fair with my family. What's the rush anyway?

This month, lets all be thankful for what we have and make a point to tell others that we are thankful for them. It's taken for granted too often and I know when someone tells me how much I mean to them, I am on cloud nine for a while. Shouldn't we all feel that way?

To all my readers, THANK YOU!! I never thought that anyone cared what little 'ol me had to say, but this blog has boosted my self asteem up quite a bit.

Thank You!!!