Halloween....Schmalloween!!

It is pretty safe to say that Halloween isn't my favorite holiday. I don't like costumes. They are so much hassle and expense for one dumb night. Case in point. I went to Wal-Mart yesterday. I got a few groceries (like 10 small items), candy for the ward party, decorations for my trunk (for the trunk or treat), and some final small things for the kids' costumes (we had bought the costumes in a different transaction) and I spent $127!! I have determined that it would be a much better deal for me if I just take my kids to Wal-Mart and let them each spend $20 on candy and forget all of this nonsense. I would come out WAY ahead of the game! I know what you are all thinking. How much fun would that be? And your right. There is something really cute about dressing up the kids when they are little. Not so much fun when they are Josh's age. One minute it is one thing with an investment of $30, then he wants to switch to something different with an additional investment of $20. All for $5 worth of candy! OK...I think I am done now...time to put on my happy face and talk about pumpkin carving. This is one part of Halloween I do like. This year we printed some patterns off the internet. Josh did the Frankenstein face, Neely wanted the ghost (I carved it), and I did the spider. I have to say they turned out pretty good...even if most of my spider's legs are broken! We had a great time! Carving pumpkins in Arkansas is a lot more fun than Colorado. We did it outside, and it wasn't even cold! It was actually warm inside the pumpkin....that is a far cry from fingers throbbing from the cold inside a cold Colorado pumpkin! When I was a kid, most Halloween nights were spent in your coat and boots. I'm serious! My memories of trick or treating are freezing! It was always snowing, or there was snow on the ground, or it was below 30 degrees. No wonder I don't like Halloween! I've been emotionally scarred by cold weather!


Joshua had to paint his, he said it would look scarier that way.

This is me being sad because all my legs broke!

Look at That Pretty....I Mean Naughty Little Girl!

Last Sunday Neely wore the dress that Grandma Chapman bought her for birthday. It is long sleeved and last Sunday was they first Sunday cool enough for her to wear it. (Those of you who have never lived outside Arkansas will never understand how much joy that sentence brings me! HeHeHe!!) Anyway...I wanted a picture so I could post it on the blog for grandma to see. The whole morning had not been good and Neely was in a foul mood, so it's no wonder that when I asked her to pose she gave me some attitude. So those of you who say "She is soooo cute."....I just want you to remember this moment and understand why I giggle when people tell me that. My little Neely is the "Mother's Curse" at it's finest. I'll just leave it at that. Thanks for the dress Grandma...it is VERY cute!

Love Ya!

Donan

Here is the "happy" picture...notice the tears?

Here is after the "happy" picture when she didn't get her way. Gotta love her!

Evan Michael Rogers

My youngest sister had a beautiful baby boy, Evan Michael Rogers, on Tuesday. He is the 6th grandbaby for my parents and everyone is excited to have another baby in the family. Neely was the last one so it has been a while. Everyone is fine and home from the hospital in Oklahoma. Can't wait to get over there to see him. We had plans to go this weekend but Neely came down with the green nose and nasty cough, so we stayed home. Oh, the joys of motherhood!

Just Another Day.....

OK....I'm feeling really bad about the fact that my life is so boring that I can't seem to think of anything to post! Hehe! Just another day in paradise....lets see....woke up....picked up....made breakfast....checked blogs and facebook...picked up again.....made lunch....picked up again....deep cleaned the laundry room, swept the floor, vacuumed....had to pick up again...Josh got home....went for my walk....talked to the neighbor...picked up again....made dinner....picked up again....and now I'm sitting wishing I had something better to post on the blog. Somone help me!

I've Been Tagged!!

I'm so excited....I've been tagged! It's my first time! But just as quickly as I became excited, I also freaked out. Coming up with things that I am good at has never been easy...it's this whole self-esteem thing. Anyway...here goes nothing!

7 Things I Can Do

1. I can see the good in almost any situation. Although I do have to be reminded to look for it when it comes to my kids.
2. I can tend to be controlling and OCD about the way I like things done.
3. I can cook and bake well as long as I have a recipe.
4. I can play the piano. (that was Josh's suggestion when I asked him)
5. I can organize and simplify any situation, no matter how chaotic.
6. I can seem unfriendly at times....but I'm not...just unsure of myself in new situations.
7. I can forgive anyone for anything...just ask my ex-husband. :)

7 Things I Cannot do

1. I cannot just turn the other cheek when I feel like something or someone is being treated unfairly.
2. I cannot just "whip something up" like my mother. There must be a recipe with exact measurements. (It's that OCD thing again!)
3. I cannot go out to the movies or out to eat alone.
4. I cannot sew. Little repairs, sure...building something from a pattern...forget it.
5. I cannot sleep at night without the ceiling fan on.
6. I cannot sleep at night if I can feel the stubble on my legs....or sleep in socks!
7. I cannot make a decision about what to do about the upcoming election. (uh-oh...did I really just mention politics?)

7 Things that Attracted me to JC

1. He was too shy to ask me out...so I asked him.
2. His size...he made me feel safe...and small :)
3. He was like a lost puppy. He was driving truck at the time and always drove into the dairy I worked at looking all dirty and tired. It made me want to take him home, give him a bath, and feed him.
4. It mattered to him what I thought and how I felt.
5. We could sit and talk for hours and never get bored with each other. He would be on the road and we would actually talk for hours after 9:00 pm (cause our cells would be free) while he drove to some place I had never heard of.
6. His drive and desire for the things he wanted in life, and his desire to take care of me and Josh.
7. He wanted to have children and start a family. (he was 41 when we met)

7 Things I Say Most Often

1. Are you kidding???
2. Whatever!
3. Love you!
4. Josh, knock it off!
5. Neely, knock it off!
6. Where's the phone? or Where's my cell phone?
7. Has anyone seen my keys?

7 Celebrity Admiration's

1. Bill Cosby for making fun of everyday life with kids
2. Oprah Winfrey for the good things she does in the world
3. I don't know....Judge Judy for keepin' it real...LOL
4. Sheesh these are hard....
5. Tina Fay, for her flawless and hilarious impression of Sarah Palin...LOL
6. OK...now I'm just crackin' myself up!
7. I like Ellen Degeneres too.... I agree with Janae'....that woman is funny!

7 Favorite Foods

1. Fresh baked bread
2. Tres Leche Cake
3. GOOD Ice Cream...not the cheap stuff
4. Any kind of pastry
5. Crab Legs
6. BBQ (only the good stuff)
7. Funeral Potatoes

7 People I Tag

1. Are you kidding? I don't even know 7 people with blogs!!
2. Jen Rogers
3. Lindsee Shipp
4. Misty Gifford
5. Michelle Cannon
6. Veda Charlton
7. That's it...cause I bet Celeste and Maureen don't even remember who I am!

Retakes....Definately

Joshua brought home his school pictures yesterday afternoon. I was shocked when he handed them to me, they were actually......GREAT! I thought to myself for a very long time about how good they had turned out. It is a much different process now than when I was a kid. You can pick your background color and your pose. Preparing for the worst, we picked a nice shirt with some blue pinstripes and the blue background with a normal pose. With boys there is no need to spend all night fussing over their hair and stuff like that like we did when we were kids. That morning I sent him out the door to have his 6th grade school pictures taken that are, by all rules of nature, supposed to be horrible. Isn't that right? It is like an unwritten right of passage that all of your school pictures, right up till your JR yr of high school are supposed to be awful. That way your senior pictures, as you go into the big, bright world, are fabulous. It's planned that way so when they bring home friends and prospective mates later in life, you can embarass them to death by pulling out the school pictures. I really feel like I got ripped off here! So on that note, we will be doing picture retakes....I need a full arsenal of bad pictures for when he is older!

Enjoy! And no, I'm not REALLY going to make him do retakes....but I do think I got ripped off!

Love Ya!

Saturday Night Lights!

Joshua is playing football for the second year this year. Small town Arkansas (and Oklahoma) football is something that you can only understand if you experience it. It is intense to put it lightly. It is taken just as seriously as the Arkansas University game that had been played earlier that day. Joshua's game this weekend was "under the lights". It was so fun to watch him and Joshua enjoyed it as well. I think it made the boys feel like they had hit the "big time". Joshua was especially pumped up because Brandon had made the trip over to spend some time him and watch his game. Neely, as well as several other small girls, had their cheering attire on, watching the big girls do it for real. The whole scene was very fun, and nostalgic. It made me very happy to be here in Vilonia, raising my kids in a small town. The boys won their game 14-12 and celebrated at our McDonalds (which is the other half of a shell gas station) when it was over. We packed the place! It was a great evening for everyone! Here are some pic and videos of our night!

Thank Goodness for Home Teachers and Retreats

I thought about a really long post explaining the small miracle that took place in our home over the past couple of weeks, but decided on a summary, cause the other was getting just to sappy....but I want my Heavenly Father to know how thankful I am for His love. The past 8 months have been some of the hardest of my entire life, and our family has moved 3 times in less than a year. This migration has left me feeling very isolated and alone in our struggle. This attitude has been extremly hard on my personally. A couple of weeks ago I received an email from my new home teacher's wife setting up an appointment for him to come see us. My initial response was "Oh, great.", since I had been avoiding anything "churchy" for the entire summer, due to my extremely bad attitude about moving AGAIN, and having to try and "make nice" with ANOTHER new ward. So anyway, our home teacher comes, and I immediately like him. He is kind, quiet, and immediatly understanding of our tough situation. He also mentions that I should get to know his wife and that we sound like we have a lot in common. A few days later she calls and invites me to lunch with herself and several other women in the ward. I pulled myself out of my comfort zone and went. I had a great time and decided to attend the Relief Society Women's Retreat for our ward a couple of weekends later. My immediate concern was what to do with my kids. I tried to get my mom out, but all the flights were full (she works for United) so that was a no go. Then my home teacher's wife volunteers him to watch my kids for the night, I accepted, even though I think he was crazy, and went to the retreat. It was exactly what I needed to mend my wounded spirit, and my Heavenly Father knew that. I didn't have any reverent or spiritual experiences, but I laughed and cried with a unbelievable group of women, and left hoping I could call many of them my friends. My Heavenly Father knew exactly what I needed to keep going at just that moment in time. I know I am truly a Daughter of my Heavenly Father, and he know me just as well as I know my daughter. He knows my weaknesses, and knows how to work around them to get me where I need to be, and I am SOOOO thankful for that. I have no idea who I would be without that knowledge. All of this because my Home Teacher's wife sent an email. So, thank you to my Home Teacher (the Thompson's) and their love and help, Janae' for reaching out to be my friend, and to all the wonderful women I met this weekend at the retreat. I look forward to being a bigger part of the ward and getting to know you better.

Donan

Diet Update

The diet is going great! Staying motivated....but with all the kids' activities, I find myself eating out more that I should, and of coarse I ate way tooo much at my women's retreat this weekend, which I will update you on tomorrow. As of today...29.5 lbs off! Thanks for your thoughts and prayers!

Neely's 3rd Birthday!

NEELY OPENING PRESENTS
IN THE SANDBOX WITH OUR NEIGHBOR ASHLEY

BLOWING OUT HER CANDLES
YUMMY!
OPENING HER NEW DRESS FROM GRANDMA CHAPMAN

Neely's birthday was a hoot! We celebrated with our family, and some of our new neighbors. We had a PINK princess party. We had a princess cake from Baskin Robbins, complete with pink bubble-gum ice cream. I even bought a dozen pink roses for the table centerpiece. Truly a girly event. She has been asking for a sandbox with pink sand in it since she played with her cousin Haylee's back in April. So we found the sandbox, the pink sand, and all the fixins. We set the sandbox up in the backyard before the party, and she accidentally noticed it while daddy was BBQing our dinner. OPPS! So she played some before the party. Then during the party, I had taken all the sandbox toys, and put them in one of those giant gift bags. She opened a few other presents, and then we let her open the big one. She opened that thing up, and as soon as she figured out what they were, she got the most astonished look on her face, grabbed her bag, and headed for the door! We had to stop her because she had more presents, cake and candles still to go, but she could have cared less...she was soooo excited about the sandbox toys. Our neighbors still tell me that when they think about it, they still laugh. Anyway...here are a few pictures from her special day. Enjoy!

Our Trip to Denver in July

Grandma and Grandpa Trefry recently visited and brought my camera back to me. I had left it there when the kids and I visited in July. So here are the pictures from that trip. We had a great time. We swam a lot in mom and dad's pool, went shopping, and spent a day in Copper Mountain riding the alpine slide and chair lifts. We also spent one afternoon shopping with Lori and came across some water fountains. Neely quickly decided that they were not for looking but rather for playing. It was late in the evening and beginning to cool off. There are people in the background having dinner at a restaurant, who just got a hoot out of watching her. Luckily we were still in the middle of potty training, so I had an extra set of clothes with me in my purse to put on her when we finally drug her away. Enjoy!

Love Ya,

Donan

More Colorado Pictures

Here are pictures of our day in Copper Mountain. We had a great time, but I was certainly dissappointed with the scenery. The pine beetle kill all over the mountains of Colorado has become a real problem and is effecting the beauty. It was really a sad thing to see...but we still had a great time on the alpine slide!

Pictures, Pictures...anyone want a picture?

I spent the whole day...and I mean whole day...going through and grouping photos by date, occasion, person, etc. Up until today, they were just scattered everywhere on my computer with my true intention being to organize them someday. We today was the day. My computer recently crashed and thanks to Brandon, they were all in one folder so I used some software I had and....Bodda-Bing!! Organization at my fingertips! So for all my loved ones out there...if you see anything you love and want me to send it directly to you so that you can print and frame or whatever...just let me know. And now that I am organized I will get back to adding to Grandma Chapmans picture book.

Love Ya,
Donan

Here Goes Nothing!

Inspired by my new friend Janae', I have decided to try this "blog thing". I have enjoyed reading hers and have wished many times in the past that I had an outlet to send pictures and news to our families. I tried the myspace thing, but there is no room to post daily thoughts, activities, and complaints. (I added complaints so when I vent about things, you will all be ready :) ). Anyway...welcome to our crazy life, and inside my crazy head.