Small update...big update...

Well....I completely forgot my camera up in Holden, otherwise I would have been able to update about Labor Day weekend (AMAZINGLY AWESOME), and taken some hilarious photos of Dawson. Since I don't have a camera for the time being, I just want to update on a couple of things before I forget.

First- It's official! I turned in my graduation papers and paid the diploma fee! I graduate in May! YAY! I was nervous about taking all psychology classes next semester, and I didn't really feel that good about it. I really enjoy Family Life and Human Development. It's been so amazing to learn things about the family. SO- I made a small switch and things worked out more perfectly than planned. I feel so good about my degree, my classes, and what is expected to take next spring. I couldn't be more proud of myself. I came home the day I turned my papers in for graduation and said, "HUN! You're going to be married to a college graduate!!" lol! He just laughed and was so excited for me. This is personal and I don't want to put a downer on people not being college graduates- heck my whole family minus my brother and sister in law aren't college graduates. BUT this is something that is PERSONALLY important to me and my self worth. Doing this and getting a diploma just boosts my own perspective of myself-which isn't very high..so this diploma is huge. :-)

I truly am loving school and what I'm learning. I feel like I know myself better, I'm becoming a better person, and a better wife and mother. I love applying what I am learning to my own life.

Second- Just know- J.D. is doing great. He is seriously becoming the handiest handy man I've ever known. I need to brag a little- he can build ANYTHING, fix just about any motorized vehicle, and fix any yard thing ever possible. anything about building a house- carpet, laminate flooring, plumbing, electricity, roofing, sprinklers, washers and dryers, clogs, refrigerators, doors, window installs, installing cabinets, or any other household item, and does it all within a budget. He's amazing! Our truck needed some major repairs on the idler arm and pit arm (somewhere by the tires). Our tires were getting worn SO bad on the outside. Anywho, we took it to a mechanic once and it was going to cost over $1,000. Took it to a second mechanic at Bradshaw's and it was going to be $700. My husband fixed it in 2 hours and it cost us....$112. Yep! He's amazing.
*We will recommend Bradshaw's to anyone - they've been amazing to us with our vehicles and their prices are so reasonable. They have amazing mechanics.

third- Dawson's birthday is coming up and we ended up giving one of his gifts to him. (We don't really care, he's too young to remember anyways). His attention span on this toy is blowing our minds. This has been over a week and he will sit for hours ..yep hours! playing with this toy. He is so imaginative about what goes on. It reminds me of the little boy Andy in toy story.

His new thing is to wear swimming trunks...to him it's like the best underwear of his choice because it's connected to the shorts. (easier to deal with) and it's shorts. He's definitely still into no clothing, well.. I guess to better say it, he prefers ONE piece of clothing at all times. We can't keep shoes on, socks on, shirts on, shorts on, hats, ...etc. It's swim trunks, or underwear and that's all. He's so like his father.

J.D. comes home and strips down to his G's any chance he gets.

The whole thing kinda gets to me with J.D. because this just means- he hides out when guests come, he never has to answer the door, and while he's hiding out he gets to relax, play games on his phone, watch movies, and ignore the fact that it would probably be nice if he just got dressed and came out to talk to our guests.... I am pretty sure the thought hasn't crossed his mind. lol! Heaven forbid I do that...lol! All you wives know exactly what I'm talking about.

Well- this ended up being a big update. :-) Until I get my camera back...

"I'm Rapunzel!"

While I was studying at the desk, Dawson came in and took off our fitted sheet from the bed. I didn't notice because I was trying to focus on reading. J.D. was in on the couch taking a nap. Next thing I know, Dawson comes running in from the living room looking like this!

J.D. came in after him and said, "Jenny listen to Dawson."
Dawson, "Mom! I'm Rapunzel!"
Apparently Dawson went in to J.D., woke him up and said, "Dad! Wake up! I'm Rapunzel!"
We were totally impressed by his creativity!

GENIUS!
HE IS SO SMART! We couldn't believe that he came up with this all on his own with a fitted sheet! He is so creative!
After he told us who he was, Dawson left and started singing the 'flower gleam and glow' song. It wasn't perfect, but we could tell what song it was. Then he went to get the DVD and said, "I want to watch Rapunzel."

Mr. Commando!

I hope when Dawson reads this when he's older he doesn't resort back to his old way...lol! He has gotten into this new thing of not wanting underwear! It's HILARIOUS! I totally understand why too. It's kind of like putting a top sheet on your child's bed. They are never able to make it just right because the darn sheet is so hard to get straight and tuck under again. Dawson can't get his underwear on right...they are backwards, inside out, or twisted on him. SO- he just doesn't put them on. We've caught him several times asking, "Hey... are you wearing underwear?" or "Where's you underwear?" He just smiles and runs away! lol!

An update on his potty training...well i guess there is no more potty training. So, just an update- he hasn't had one accident in over a week! EVEN through the night! AND he is an expert at the whole thing, we NEVER have to ask. Needless to say, J.D. and I are LOVING it! lol! I think we are more excited than Dawson. After J.D. or I use the restroom Dawson will come up to us and say, "Good job! You get a sticker! Whoo hoo!" He never fails to make us laugh!

Good job Mr. Commando! We love you lots!

My First Day of School

I thought about doing a picture for the beginning of this school year.... I think I'll pass. It will be more exciting getting a picture of me graduating! Technically this is my 5th year going to school...not too bad when most people graduate in 4. I went to school for 3 years, had a baby and took a 2 year break, started up again a year ago (which was a complete waste unfortunately), and here I am on my last year and SOOOO ready to be done.

Last year was a waste because I did online schooling and nothing of what I completed counted towards SUU...therefore I am in the same exact spot. If I would have started at SUU last year, I would have graduated with J.D....so now you can see why is really was a waste.

I have 17 credits and 3 freshmen classes... I think I'm pretty excited for the freshmen classes because...well it's just entertaining to watch the new little ones come to college. I remember my first year of college... I didn't get a thing about college. It was SO confusing! Although, I was at the University of Utah and didn't know 1 person, and my classes were literally 400-600 people. It was insanely crowded and hard to get to know anyone. You would think with so many people I'd have more opportunity to meet people, but it wasn't. If you met someone one day, your chances of catching them again through the semester were EXTREMELY slim.

I know this is probably a boring post, but I just wanted to share how excited I am. I don't plan on using my degree in any career thing other than being a mother. Which my degree fits in perfectly. I mostly wanted to get my degree because all those years of schooling, money, and time would have been a waste with no proof I ever went to college. Now days people with a bachelors get paid more just for having a degree...so if I ever need to get a career then I will be better off (hopefully that never happens.) And third, I really am high on success for myself. That's just for me personally. I just really need this degree for me. Fourth, I really feel like finishing school with be so satisfying. Mainly to have proof of something of success that I finished myself. I really feel that finishing will allow me to move forward and help me finish other things I want in life. Plus, I get to do the thing I love most, be a mom! YAY! I just can't wait...even though I have to wait for 10 months... haha!

Wish me luck!

He Did IT!!

Dawson is officially potty trained!! We ran out of diapers and so Dawson just said, "okay..." Since then he hasn't had one accident in 4 days! We never ask him if he needs to go! EVER! He is completely independent about his whole the whole thing. He loves his big boys! AND since he is potty trained and has got all of his stickers...................He got his bike!!

We call it the dinosaur bike because it kind of looks like it has a dinosaur, but it's also green and orange! He is AMAZING on it! He cruises on this thing! He is getting stronger and stronger in his legs and being able to push forward on the petals. He leaves skid marks all over the side walks because he loves to go fast and slam backwards on the petals to stop. It's hilarious!

We are going to give it a couple more weeks and then our new goal is getting him to sleep in his bed in his room. He sleeps in our room on the floor, but I know it's because he gets scared of being alone... yes I think that part of him really is genetic because my whole family struggles being alone. BUT I think we will do another sticker chart for Dawson and let him pick out another prize...lately he keeps asking for a guitar and a real train.... lol!

Missouri

I didn't get any pics- I even had my camera! I'm so disappointed in myself. This last weekend we had the opportunity to go to Missouri and see my brother Chad and his family. We had a blast! Every night we stayed up until at least 1 am, if not later. None of us wanted to go to bed because we were only their for a short period of time and and wanted to get the most out of it. At night, it was the only time our kids would be sleeping and the adults could chat. And then in the mornings, we'd force ourselves to get up so we could spend as much time as possible with the kids. We are still trying to re-cooperate.

We had a blast! Dawson absolutely loves his cousins! This is the brother that has twins that are only 6 months younger than Dawson. These are his only cousins his age. Of course there is Carson and Taylee who are 11 months older than Dawson, but the twins will be in his grade for school. They had so much fun together! We played and played and played all day long! When it was time to go, Dawson just bawled! He cried and cried the whole way home and kept saying, "Mom, I want the kids!" I wanted to cry too- we hardly ever get to see these guys. Time went by too fast and we just wanted more time. I guess we will always want more time though. :-(

A side note: Dawson loves to go on airplanes! He didn't want to get off the plane when we got home. When we got off the plane in Vegas, Dawson woke up from his 10 minute nap he decided to take while we were landing. He freaked! "Mom! I want the plane! I want the plane! I want to see Miki! I want the kids! I want the plane!"

A day with Dad

Of course when J.D. and Dawson spend the day together...there aren't any pictures! Even though, J.D. told me that Dawson pulled out the camera, there wasn't any pics taken. BUT I need to write about it anyways.

I have been so busy trying to finish up summer school and needed a Saturday to do some work, so J.D. took Dawson for the day. The first thing they did was go fishing at the lake here in Cedar City. They had a blast! J.D. said Dawson was loud and trying to talk to the fish...they all got scared away. lol! Then, they went to McDonalds, got there food and went to a park to play for a couple of hours. Dawson loves it when dad goes to the park because he just acts like a kid with Dawson. They are best friends.

They were gone for 5 hours! Couldn't have been a more perfect day to spend time with dad, but it got better..... Grandma Shelley, Aunt Jori, and Carson came over to go spot lighting up on Cedar mountain with us! We saw SO many deer (some bucks and little baby deer too). The other night we were up there and saw an ENORMOUS buck- we were hoping to find him again, but we didn't. We'll probably go up several times because this buck was picture worthy! Dawson and Carson kept saying, "I see one! There's one!" Even if they didn't see one, they just wanted to join in! lol! It was so cute! When they both really saw one, they flipped out! Aunt Jori said, "It's Bambi!" After that, every deer was Bambi for the boys. It was Grandma Shelley's first time spotlighting. She loved it!

I have to tell a quick story so the kids can have something to hold on Aunt Jori when they grow up.... For some reason, anytime Jori or I ever go hunting with anyone, they always get a deer. (I was with J.D. for the first time hunting together and he got a deer..need I say more?) This has happened to us so many times, and the story I want to tell is of our first time hunting. The Shelley boys were on their annual hunting trip (not Elk this particular year). The girls all went up to their camp for a day and Jori and I really wanted to go experience what hunting was all about. So Choc jumped in his beater truck and took us around to the points. At the third point we saw a huge buck! Jori and I were freaking out- there was a buck, a doe, and two little fawns. Choc jumped out, and shot at the deer twice. There was a huge hill behind the deer and we thought it fell down it... anyways, Jori started bawling! At first she said, "Get him!" but then she went hysterical. She kept saying, "You shot Bambi!" Choc and I just started laughing! Jori was probably 6 or 7, so she didn't really understand...and Bambi was a bigger movie back in the day that we watched a lot. To this day, we never let her live it down... and she still believe Bambi is out there.....jk...maybe.

We tracked the deer down and then Jori said, "You shot Bambi's dad!" She was horrified that Choc would do such a thing...and when we got back to camp, she just left and didn't say another word about the buck. BUT she brags about how we got a buck 'that one time..' And since then, anytime Jori or I go hunting, the boys always get a buck. :-) Maybe they should start taking us on the Elk hunt...