Going Short

Wanted to show my sister my new hair cut! Pictures don't do it justice but you get the picture.

Also, I am planning on going to help Melanie with her new baby next week. She is 37 weeks and more than ready to have baby Keldon. She is so cute and pregnant. I wish my mom could see her. She would've been so proud of her. I am also trying to plan meals for my family while Im gone so they can have some comfort food while their mommy is away. Darin has been asking for some cinnamon rolls lately. That is really funny because when we were first married and a little later I would make yummy stuff and he would eat it because it was there but now he is to the point where he is asking. I knew that I could show him what was good!! I always pull a line from my mom and say "They're not very good! You wouldn't like'em. They are pretty nasty, you better just go have a cookie instead." I remember the first few times I heard those phrases. I believed her and then realized that she was pullin' my leg so that her and my dad could have more of the good stuff.
I do the same thing now to my kids but they don't fall for it anymore either. They know whats good!

Off To Seattle!

Sherri suggested I post to her blog. She hasn't touched it for some time now, and rightfully so, as both of us have been through a whirlwind the past 2-3 months.

Yes, it is true. We are officially victims of the recession. Of course, you never think it will happen to you, until it does. Many of us feel we are immune to the economic woes of today. However, it seems that the economic problems are affecting everyone in some way or another. For some, it is small things. For others, much larger things. For us, it means a change of place we call home (or at least for the time being).



As many may know already, the company I work for has decided to close our Boise facility in an effort to trim budget costs. However, we are fortunate to have been offered an opportunity to transfer to the Seattle, WA area. Thankfully not right in the heart of Seattle (not that there is anything wrong with Seattle), but rather 40 miles north of Seattle, close to Everett. I consider myself somewhat of a city person now, but just not Seattle city! It's a bit too big for me.

My company has an office in Lynnwood, WA, and they felt it made sense to consolidate our division to a single location. Therefore, we will be making the journey to Seattle before the summer is through.

Yes, we definitely don't want to go, and we definitely will miss our family and friends here in Boise, but that doesn't mean we have to stay up there. We told ourselves we will try it out for a couple of years and see how we like it. Then if things don't work out, we will look at making our way back here to the place we love.

Now the hard part. We are trying to sell our house. And anyone who knows anything about the housing market right now knows that not only is it difficult to sell a house right now, but you can't make nearly what you could have made on it had you sold it 2 or 3 years ago. So that will be a hard pill for us to swallow. Knowing how much we will lose on our house makes us queezy to say the least.

Anyway, we are looking forward to a new adventure. One that will hopefully bring us some new friends and relationships we will have for a lifetime.

Pray for us! We will need all the help we can get!

Love this Duvet Cover

i am getting the itch to redo my bedroom. so I am looking for a brown/blue color combo. I am loving this bed but can't have it cause its like $350 just for the duvet cover. But now I know what I like.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAVIS!

DAVIS IS 2 YEARS OLD! whoa, that went to fast!

With school out on Friday and being Davis's birthday we had to do something FUN! It was actually kind of a wild day. I made a fun car cake (my first attempt at this kind of cake) thank you Marne. I thought I did a pretty fantastic job myself. Carson told me while I was decorating, "Mom, you don't even need to take a class, you're already good at this!" They were already picking the kind of cake they wanted for their birthdays!
At about 4:00 we met Daddy for dinner at Baja Fresh but we just about didn't make it without a accident. On Eagle Rd I had to slam on my brakes and veer off to the right to miss the car in front of me. In doing so, the car cake made its way off the seat smashing it way into the floor. Luckily the saranwrap held it on and only smushed the front end of the car. I guess its better for the cake to be smashed rather than our van. The kids were pretty upset about it. They kept getting mad at the driver in front of us.

Two Short Years Ago

Just minutes old

Love at first sight

Love this Quote

"Our realization of what is most important in life goes hand in hand with gratitude for our blessings...........Brothers and sisters, my sincere prayer is that we may adapt to the changes in our lives, that we may realize what is most important, that we may express our gratitude always and thus find joy in the journey." President Monson


Thanks Melanie for the great quote!

Welcome to Motherhood

So at times I ask myself, what is included in motherhood. What things are required of me. Well, this morning I was faced AGAIN with the bitter truth. So for all of you newly married, young folk, who are at the present time kidless. BEWARE! Do you really know what you are in for.
So it all started after I pulled Davis (almost 2 yrs) out of the shower. I left the bathroon yelling for Chelsea to come and brush her hair for preschool. I swear it was not 20 seconds later I came back into the bathroom only to find one naked baby with brown something on his bum and on his foot. Ok, what is that? Then with a point of his finger, Davis clarifies for me and says "Poops!" Are you stinkin kidding me! I follow him into the closet and sure enough, there it was for all to see. SICK! and GROSS! Just the thought of cleaning it up disgusted me. Let me remind you that this was just a easy -grab it and throw it in the toilet- it was runny, liquidy, smelly diareah. It was totally soaked into the carpet. Soooo, I scraped what I could off the top with a spoon, and then started scrubbing with good, ol' soap and water. I even gagged because the stench was so bad. All the yummy gasses were locked into the back cubby of my closet. I hope this is grossing you all out because it was gross. And to top it off, I did this with my bare hands. No gloves!

Where the Red Fern Grows

The kids and I had a little meltdown tonight. We watched
"Where the Red Fern Grows" which probably wasn't a great show for Carson at age 7 and Chelsea at age almost 5. Tears started flowing at the end of the show. My kids are so sensitive. After the talk of the dogs dying it evolved into talking about Grandma Carver. Chelsea lost it and talked about missing her. She said that she remembers her sewing and jumping on the trampoline with them. I explained to her that Grandma is really happy now and that she can probably curl her long, dark hair and she is laughing because she feels so good. Chelseas reply was, "I don't want her to be in heaven, I want her to be at her house with Grandpa." I couldn't hold back the tears to that one and we just held eachother and cried. She told me that she wanted a picture of Grandma sewing her quilt to have in her bedroom. Why didn't I think of that? I have been too focused on me that I don't even realize that my kids are sad too.
After the movie Chelsea said "I don't want both of my Grandmas to die. Children are so tender and to the point. They say it exactly how it is. They say all the things that adults think but just don't say.

M. Russell Ballard

I came across a quote while shopping at Craft Warehouse. It was on display on one of those boards. It said What matters most is what lasts longest, and our families are for eternity. As I read it tears came to my eyes as I thought of my sweet mother and how our families are forever. She will be waiting for me and we will all be together someday but this is my time now to see how well I can do without her. It is my test, my journey and now I must take everything that she taught me and put it to use. As soon as I read that quote I knew it was what I was looking for for a project at home with our family pictures. Now every time I look at it I will think of my sweet children and family here but also my dear mother who has passed on before me.


"Brothers and sisters, as we hold up like a banner the proclamation to the world on the family and as we live and teach the gospel of Jesus Christ, we will fulfill the measure of our creation here on earth. We will find peace and happiness here and in the world to come. We should not need a hurricane or other crisis to remind us of what matters most. The gospel and the Lord’s plan of happiness and salvation should remind us. What matters most is what lasts longest, and our families are for eternity."

A Whole Different Kid

Can you believe this? Carson needed glasses! I never thought that I would have a first grader in glasses. Well, I thought wrong! He started complaining of his eyes hurting when reading and words looking blurry. He said that sometimes when he was reading the lines would move around and switch places. I knew then that the school nurse was right and he definately needed some glasses. The part that stunck about the whole thing was that we didn't have vision insurance on Carson when this all happened. We can only add dependents in November and this all happened just one month after. So $300 later we have a new kid with missing teeth and new glasses. Fun, Fun, Fun! Life has a way of throwing us curve balls!

Macy ** Our Golden

I wanted to give an update on Macy. The first two day were a nightmare! She was running our house cause wherever she wanted to go we let her. She was jumping on Davis, he was crying she was chewing on EVERYTHING she could find. It was crazy! Then that night Darin and I turned to the internet for some info. I had read some books on housetraing and thought I was ready. Then we came across a guy named Trey Stevens. He has a e-book called "How to Train My Puppy" Fastrack. It was exactly what I needed. Someone to tell me exactly what to do down to the hour. He has a schedule for moms who are home and when to feed, play time etc. Its called crate training and I knew a little about it but this guy made it so much more simpliar. Macy has now not had a "accident" in the house for 5 days now. Yea!! So far she has been easier to potty train that my kids. If we could only stick our toddlers in a pen that they know not to pee or poop in we would be good.
So we still have a puppy eventhough I have to admit there were times I was thinking about selling her and being done with it. But I don't give up on anything that easy so we are going to stick it out so we can benefit from the results of a well trained adult dog.
Even yesterday, Macy had some free time in the house and after a bit she walked over to the door and sat and looked up at me. I took her out and sure enough she peed! Afterward she always comes over wagging her tail as if she were saying "I did it now can I have my treat." She is such a pleaser, we can definately tell that already.
One thing is true though...the kids love her and have a lot of fun playing fetch and chase. Its funny how much Carson and her are alot alike.

*Both of them need exercise every day to be happy.
*They want to be included in everything.
*Cry when I leave
*Do anything for a treat
*Need constant praise and attention

Note: She actually does better finding something to do!

sherris2cents

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Frederiksen's Christmas!

This picture says it all. Yes, the newest member of our family. A 2.5 month old Golden Retriever. We couldn't decide on a name for her until late in the afternoon. The names we were debating were:

Mitzi
Mollie
Annie
Brandy
Macy

We finally settled on Macy for her name. We love her!

It's kind of funny how the whole thing shook out. Santa came to our house before midnight. Of course, kids are curious. Carson is probably the most curious of all 3 of our kids. So he managed to wake up around midnight. He noticed that Santa had already been to our house and proceeded to snoop around in the front room. We told him earlier that he can't open any presents until morning. We failed to mention stockings in that sentence. So in the process of looking in his stocking, he heard a strange sound coming from upstairs. What could it be?

His curiousity led him up the stairs to the place where Santa had left Macy in a dog crate. Chelsea soon joined in the curiousity and then the rest of the family. It was early Christmas for all of us.

After playing with her for a few minutes, we put her back in her crate and told the kids to go back to bed, which they did. But Carson was unable to fall back asleep quickly. There was too much excitement to sleep.

Needless to say, Carson was up again during the night. But we did manage to sleep in til 8:30.

It truly was exciting to see all the kids so excited about the new addition to our family!

Homemade Bread w/honey!

Ok, one of my favorite things in the whole world is, yep, you guessed it toasted homemade bread with honey. If I am really loving life I will have hot chocolate with it. I am a sucker when it comes to hot chocolate. This is something my mom and I used to eat during our late night chats. Those are memories never forgotten!
I have only ever made bread with my mom and it was a long time ago. So I wanted to try it and use up some of my wheat now that I have my moms wheat grinder. I don't think I did to shabby for my first time going solo. If you think honey is good with it, just try some homemade raspberry or strawberry freezer jam. I guarantee you cant have just one bite! Im so grateful that I took the time with my mom to learn how to make yummy food. It helps me to feel close to her whenever I make something from home. I feel like it honors her to bake using her recipes. Thank you mom, for teaching me, loving me.

Couch to 5K and thoughts..

So I have always told myself that "Im not a runner" and I cant run. I think some of it stems back to sports growing up where running was a punishment or when the new season started and we had to condition by running. Which everyone dreaded and some puked there guts up during. Needless to say I have always hated to run and could never figure out why people run for fun. I am not a "quitter" and am usually up for anything and so its always bothered me that I cant run miles with some of my friends or even for myself until I found this. I found this program soon after my my died and I decided to go for it. I can run/walk so I thought it would be good to ease into it.
I can officially say that I have hit my 2 mile mark. WOW! That is impressive for me. Running two miles, granted it was on a treadmill but still. It wasn't easy but somewhat enjoyable. Now I am on my way to 3 miles. My goal is to be able to run a 9 to 10 minute mile outside. Also, I would love to compete in a 5K race. I want to do it for me, to have proof that "I can do it."

So far losing myself in exercise has really helped me start to heal the HUGE whole in my heart. I have a good cry every once in while now and last night was another episode. If I look at my mom's smiling face beside my bed for my than a few seconds, the tears are sure to follow. Dangit, I miss her so much, I could just scream!! I was thinking the other day about how her death is similar to being called on a great mission. This analogy has helped me do deal. To me I picture a lot of really great people that sign up for this mission cause we all want to go. Its a great opportunity to serve and it would be an enormous accomplishment. But, there are only a few people that get chosen to go. Only the most righteous are chosen amongst the crowd. We are all trying to live our best so we can get picked. So out of the crowd my sweet, humble mother got chosen to go. This mission is a Heavenly mission that doesn't allow emails or even phone calls on mothers Day or Christmas. How I wish I could squeeze in just a few more conversations to tell her what is on my mind. This analogy helps me to realize that she is in a great place surrounded by wonderful people and that she is busy, lost in a great work that only I cannot understand. I look forward to the day when I can again kiss her sweet cheeks and feel her arms around me like all the hundreds of time before. In my mothers arms is when I feel at home. I miss that feeling and nothing can take its place. A mothers love is like no other and that is why I feel so empty.

This post started with exercise and ended with me crying. I don't know how that happens. All in all, I feel good and I know that a strong testimony and a great workout are to blame for that feeling within me.