Family day!

Today was family day for Lilly at school and let me just tell you how much Lexi looks forward to this day once a month! They had a blast planting flowers, painting, watering Lillys grass and bean she has growing, circle time, snacks and the sand table! I love watching Lilly in her school environment, it just makes me see even more how much shes improved over the last 7 months and that's a great feeling!

The girls planting flowers!

Watering the grass!

I just had to post this picture of Preston, this was the look I got when I interrupted him watching cartoons the other night, Seriously isn't he too little to be giving looks like this?!? Seriously though I think I just caught this look by accident because knock on wood he hasn't done it since and I hope to keep it that way for a few more years :)

Last Sat. night I took a class down at scrapadoodles from Melanie and made this nifty little calendar, so fun and cute!

Melanie and I had our much anticipated yard sale last weekend and it went great! Who would of thought my junk was worth 280.00 bucks! Woo Hoo! So not only did I make me some sweet moola, I also got a head start working on a tan! Now I didn't tackle my ghostly white legs, I eased in with just my neck and face,lol! I think I'll be investing in some trips to the good ol tanning bed before I even think about shorts!

OK I'm off to go watch 27 Dresses!

Kindergarten Orientation!

Well yesterday was the day Lexi has been waiting forever for, she is now officially registered for Kindergarten! She is sooo excited and I'm pretty sure I'll hear her asking me a million times a day over the next three months if it's time for her to start yet! This year has totally been rough on her not understanding why Lilly gets to go to school and she doesn't even though shes older so finally her time is coming! I on the other hand am totally in disbelief that 2 of my kiddos will be in school next year. Seriously where did the time go, I know I sound like every other mother when it comes to this subject but I seriously feel like I just had them, I feel like there's NO WAY I could even be old enough to have kids in school, WOW what a reality check, hello Nichole I'm pretty sure your considered mid 20's now :( I do think I'm going to have one happy little man though when he gets all my attention while his sisters are at school, it's definitely over due to finally have some one on one time since he's patiently waited 2 1/2 years! Anyway here's a few pics of Miss Lexi as we were headed to the school for orientation!

and no I don't tell her to pose like this!

her way too excited cheesey smile!

Less is more!

Less is more or at least that's what I keep telling myself as I'm going through every inch of our house to get ready for a yard sale this weekend at Melanie's! I think I've seriously gotten rid of 4-5 garbage bags of TOYS! Words can not even explain how sick of toys I am! I'm sick of the mess that my kids refuse to pick up, the stepping on them, the constant fight with the kids to at least make a walk way through the toys in the basement, toys in their room, man I could just go on and on! I feel like toys are taking over my life! So I'm definitely going with the "less is more" in the toy department at our house and man does it feel good!

So as I was going through some stuff I came across this bag of memories! It's one of those plastic bags that comforters come in that zip, now make a note to yourself NEVER NEVER try to preserve any memories in a bag like that unless you want it covered in mold and ruined. I'm so sad, it was most of my birthday cards from like 3-8 , all my school work, report cards, well basically anything that my mom kept from my youngin days! I was able to save a few of the things that were laminated so that was good! The funny thing is, is that I remember making every single thing in that bag, crazy huh? since most of it was from kindergarten! So just a little reminder be careful what your storing your memories in so that killer picture you drew in the 5th grade, yep the one that got you 3rd place at the Navajo county fair doesn't get ruined,lol!

What I saved!
No other pics in this post because my sweetest little boy decided to snag moms memory card off the desk and suck on it! Yep totally ruined, so any pics I took last week are long gone! It was a sad sad day!

Ok I'm outie to go do the "less is more" effect on Prestons room!

Little house update!

So I was going to be so on top of things and get some pictures of the "flip", get there and take two pictures and my camera dies! So I got in a little sneak peak of the kitchen! It's so close to being done! We went yesterday to get all the pulls and hinges for all the cabinets, so much fun picking those out but geez I had no idea they were like 4.00 a piece and when you need 50 that sure adds up! Also picked out the counter tops, I think it's all going to look so good! So it should be completely finished tomorrow besides getting all the new appliances! So the count down to being finished includes painting the living room, dining room, sun room, sand and stain the floors and finishing the basement so it getting close! Well here's a little sneak peak of the kitchen, I'll get the finished up stairs pics on here when I go take pics when the counter tops are done in the kitchen!

Shopping at Lowes!

Before...

Almost done!!

Man the floors looked so clean yesterday, but from the looks of these pics they need another wipe down!

As for the rest of the week nothing too exciting, painted our dining room, made some Jello Jigglers for the first time (I know, my poor deprived kids,lol) watched the much anticipated "Biggest Loser" finale and of course made me a little trip to Walgreens! All that for 3.00, then I priced it and it went directly to my yard sale pile for next weekend!!!

The young guy checking me out at Walgreens was like "wow" , "atleaste your not all old and doing coupons"! Hmmm ok all I could say is yep I'm not old. Kinda funny but I'm sure it's one of those "you had to be there" kind of things!

Beautiful weather, green grass, BBQ, AZ visitors, tooth fairy, scrapbooking, what more could you ask for?

My brother and his wife came to visit this weekend and our kids were on cloud nine! The kids LOVE their Uncle Rhett so much, hes been there every day since they've been born and they really had a hard time when he got married and moved away, so this little visit was much

needed to give them a little "fix"!

(They'll probably kill me for posting this pic but it's the only one I got!)

We threw together a last minute BBQ with the Farrells so everyone could visit before they left, the weather was perfect which made it possible for a little backyard fun!

It wouldn't be a Fogle get together without one of our kids stripping down to their diaper!

Lexi sporting her new outfit Nana sent her last week! Last but not least I actually got to steal a pic of miss Kolbi!

As for the tooth fairy visit, she came Saturday night and left Lexi some fairy dust and some money! Lexi was once again sooo excited but so disappointed because "she tried so hard to stay awake so she could meet the tooth fairy and ask her if she knows Tinkerbell", I love her imagination!

Chris had a little "awww" moment about his little Lexi as we were waiting for her to fall asleep, the whole loosing another tooth, the I can't believe she's already old enough, she's getting so big, wasn't it just yesterday.... I must say I didn't indulge to far into that conversation cause at 1am just getting home from scrapbooking, I was tired! Yep we were waiting for her to fall asleep at 1 am, that's what happens when dads in charge while moms scrappin her heart out,lol!

The Last Lecture

I don't know how many of you out there were *lucky* enough to catch Diane Sawyer last night and her interview with Randy Paucsh, so I'm dedicating my blog for today to this story! That's right I said lucky, because I feel so lucky to have watched his last lecture, it's amazing, life changing, leaves you speechless and just gives you one more reason to not take life for granted! Randy Paucsh is truly an amazing man, his strength and outlook on life basically leaves me with a loss of words! I can't wait to get his book, I'm sure it'll be one you can't put down from the minute you pick it up! I lied (layed???oh no bad grammar check!) in bed last night for hours after watching his lecture trying to get to sleep and one of the things that stood out the most was him saying over and over that he could never say getting Cancer was unfair to him. I mean WOW to really be in that place in your life and still be so together when you know you ARE dieing, your leaving 3 kids and a woman that the world can visibly see your madly in love with and yet you don't let anything get you down, simply amazing! There's not one person I wouldn't recommend taking the time and listening to his last lecture, I promise you'll walk away with something!

Here is a little clip from last night!Theres a little commercial before the clip, but it's worth the few second wait! http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Story?id=3633945&page=1

or when you have time watch this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo

The Last Lecture "We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand." --Randy Pausch

Anyone want a.....

SWEET 2yr old little boy....

Who likes to throw his dinner on the floor???

Or possibly a little girl that looks like this when her hair doesn't look like Jesse's from Toy Story!

Apparently Jesse only has 1 pony tail, but my little drama queen assured me that it's alright after pouting for 10 minutes that she had a great idea, "you can just do my hair like Jesse's in the morning. Alls I gotta say is KIDS!!

On to my guilty pleasures from the weekend!

My 2 layouts and "F' I did Sat. night! I loved doing these pictures of Lilly, for being my tiny peanut when she was born (5lbs 15oz) she sure chuncked up by 9 months!

and here's my freebies so far this week..

Made 5 bucks off this deal at Walgreens and made 3.00 off of the Zantac from Walmart, not too shabby!

Ok off I must go to watch me some

I love it when...

The day goes by so fast that next thing you know your laying in bed going "huh" where did the day go?!Not that I want every day to be like that, but since we've been boring lately and the days seem like they're never going to end, it was nice! I know I'll probably complain a time or two over the next 5-6 months about the dragging days when it doesn't get dark til 10:00pm! Anyway yesterday was just a good day! First off Chris took Lilly to school and I tried to decorate this vase that I got from my mom like 4 years ago for Christmas, it's huge and I never knew what to do with it! So finally I made me a little trip to Micheal's Wednesday night and got me some fillers! I still think it's missing a little something so it'll be my work in progress, most importantly it's not collecting dust in the closet anymore!

Thanks Mom!

Then I (GASP) coloredmyhairfromabox (GASP)... I was desperate! I just have such a hard time making appointments in advance and being worried if I'm going to be able to keep them! I'm small town that way, I just want to walk in and say hey so and so my hair needs help, or being at the store and so and so sees me and says "Nichole get your butt over to the salon, your hair needs help!", lol and ya know you just don't get that in the city! No pic of the hair, it's nothing special basically just pulled it through the cap and I don't have 4 inch roots anymore!!

Then I was able to finish my little wall project I posted about over the weekend and while I was ever so carefully trying to tie all the knots evenly my little monster Preston decided he didn't want to wait for me to get a drink so he opens the fridge and tries to pull one of those gallon jugs of apple juice from Costco down and drops it, the bottom busts open and yep the whole gallon was all over the whole kitchen floor!! Fun, fun, the floors are still sticky today, yuck!

Then it was crunch time to actually get showered, put the good old "face" on, get Lexi and Preston dressed and next thing you know it's 11:15 and we're picking up Lilly! Took a little detour home and swung by the "flip" house to ya know make sure Chris isn't slacking,lol! Ya right, the man never takes a minute to slack, it's looking great! I need to go take some pics! Ok so did the whole "Hi Dad", hugs, kisses, umm ok bye now thing and off to the Redbox we went to rent "Alvin and the Chipmunks"! Then we were home bound and it was lunch and (YAY) nap time for the "P" man!! The girls watched the movie and I sat my butt at the computer, ate lunch, and watched "Days", see I'm a total multitasker!!

Just as I was like hmmm I'd just love to take me a nap today it was time to wake Preston, get the girls together and go drop them off at Aunt Melanie's so I could go to my first Parent teacher conference!! Just another mile stone to make me sad and realise how fast life is going! It went great I was there a whole hour because I just LOVE Lilly's teacher! She's great and we just "click", she was full of great things to say about Lilly and of coarse that makes us proud!!

Then back to Melanie's where the kids were soaking up the perfect day outside on the tramp, when they decided they were hot! So what better idea then to strip down to their undies and play with the hose on the tramp? They had a blast until they were little Popsicles and wanted to come inside! (not the best pics, they're from my phone!)

Then it was off to take Lexi to dance, the other two kids and I just sat in the car since they were still half naked and we'll I won't lie, Preston thought it would be nice to give me a headache with screaming the whole 30 minute while we waited for Lexi! Can we say tired? or brat? I'm not sure just yet since terrible two just hit with a vengeance!

Last but not least Chris beat me home AND had some yummy dinner made! What a guy...

So there you have it, a day in the life of me! So exciting huh?!?

Now to end my novel I just wrote I have to share with you all the book thats going to change my life,hehehe!

Did you read what the cover says?!? " Faster, EASIER, Better Ways to CLEAN Your Home and Everything in it"

I'm putting some MAJOR faith in this book that it makes my life easier because I used my last 50% off coupon on this book, I mean do you know the possibilities that coupon could have went to at Micheals?!?

World Autism Awareness Day!

I just wanted to dedicate a little blog to this very important subject that is close to our hearts. Around this time 1 1/2 years ago we had to make the hardest yet most important call to get our little Lilly in to the Dr for an evaluation. I just kept telling myself she's just a little bit behind, she'll talk soon but soon wasn't coming soon enough. I put myself and Chris through hell when I started doing my own research online because EVERYTHING pointed to Autism, it was totally devastating. So for the next year fallowing she had countless people come to our home to do evaluations on her, she qualified for the Early Intervention program and had a speech therapist and an OT that she saw 2 times a week. The first year was hard, no real answers, is it Autism? Is it not? Those questions went on what seemed like forever!Fast forward to last November, Lilly turned 3 and had to be turned over to the school district since EI only did babies to 3 years old. What a turn around!! She has done AMAZING! She talks, she knows her colors, shes controllable, listens and just improves every day! The word Autism hasn't been brought up in a year and that truly is a blessing, but ya know *if* she had been diagnosed with it, we were ok with it! I felt like some days I had more than I can handle but I know we could have been SOOO much worse off! We truly are a lucky family! We also have a very close friend who's also had to go down the rd. of Autism, so I just think it's very important to spread the word, it's soo common these days, it's unreal. Also it gives me a whole new look on life, as in if I'm at the store and I see some kid acting terrible as I admit I used to think "Geez lady control your kid or something" , I now know that I have No idea what their story is! What if her kid has Autism, and the kid is having a melt down and all the lady needs is a smile and nod that "u" or "I" get it! You never know that smile could make her day! I guess it just teaches me not to be so judgemental cause I've been there! Anyway here's some info if it's of any interest to you!




World Autism Awareness Day
An organization called Autism Speaks has designated April 2 World Autism Awareness Day. For those of us who love someone with autism, it's an important opportunity to spread the word about this often devastating disorder.According to the website:Autism is a complex brain disorder that inhibits a person's ability to communicate and develop social relationships, and is often accompanied by extreme behavioral challenges. Autism spectrum disorders are diagnosed in one in 150 children in the United States, affecting four times as many boys as girls. The diagnosis of autism has increased tenfold in the last decade. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have called autism a national public health crisis whose cause and cure remain unknown.For more information, visit autismspeaks.org.To read a fictional story based on a mother's real life emotional response, click here.





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ba5B-Bgt8g



http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/autism/detail_autism.htm





http://kidshealth.org/kid/health_problems/brain/autism.html