Birthday wishes

Well this past week I turned 35! I wish I could say it was a wonderful birthday, having a lot of people wishing me happy birthday to me on facebook made it all the better! They made my day. I took out my side mirror the day before my birthday which was a nice expense that we don't have to fix. On my birthday Jay had a doctor's appointment and I started my summer class that was 3 1/2 hours long that night! I have come to realize more and more that girls bring in the spice into the family whether it is a daughter or mother. Madie was the only one who was SO EXCITED FOR ME TO BLOW MY CANDLES. I wish I recorded my kids and Jay when they sang to me...it was PRETTY BAD but I loved it because it was my family.

On a brighter note:

I did spend the day celebrating Madie's preschool graduation and Jay taking me to lunch at some Jewish sandwich shop near his work. That afternoon I had Jay home with me while we watched Valkyrie. It was nice to have him home and relax. He also treated me by making my favorite cake which is German Chocolate. It was heavenly! Thanks hun!

Mother's Day Weekend

On the white bench is my niece Kenzie and her baby Brooklyn. She is such a doll. I was planning on taking more pictures but we got carried away on visiting and shopping! It was a treat to see family! I haven't seen anyone since last July.






Christmas greetings from Jason?!? On Saturday he helped our YW with a car wash and yard sale fund raiser for girls camp. Apparently he forgot the sunscreen! This is what his legs looked like later on that night. I couldn't resist myself for taking a picture of his HOT legs!

If you look really close....Madie is on the Carousel...I took my kids out of school on Friday to meet their cousins and go shop.

Happy Mother's Day everyone! If you don't expect anything....you will have a great Mother's Day if something is given to you.

2nd Semester over!

WOOT, WOOT! I finished up my 2nd semester at ASU West with great accomplishments this past week! The grading scale was much tougher than last semester...being in special education to receive an A in the class you need 95% or better. Given with some classes only having 100 points I could only miss 5 points. Other classes had 200 points and could miss 10 points to get your A. I accomplished my goal by receiving 4 A's in four out of my 5 classes. I'm not sure about my last one. Still waiting to hear about my grade on my Research paper... Anyway, I don't mean to toot my own horn and I apologize for bragging. I'm just so relieved! I decided to award myself by shopping at AZ mills, figuring I buy some things for MYSELF and that would go towards my grades, Mother's Day present, and birthday gift for this month. It was a fun day and I got some cute carpi's and stocked up on Bath and Body Works!

Side note: Received word that Jay's back is more than arthritis... He has a disc that is completely shot S 1 by his hips and Lumbar 5 is more than 50% compressed...He will be taking more x-rays and saline shots until he has surgery, ugh! We are relieved to finally know why he has been in so much pain. Poor guy! I may be using my CNA skills on him after all, hee-hee.

Close one!

We had a close call today without our house getting blown up, thanks to Brock! Brock did a service project and was dropped off at the house. Well we had locked the doors, knowing he didn't have his key I told him (by phone) that he would have to hang out in the backyard until we got home. The rest of us went to Surprise to see Drake play his football game. Well, I get a call from Brock telling me to hurry and get home because he couldn't open the side gate...so as a teenager, he thought I'll just stand on the GAS PIPE and jump over the gate. This kid is not light weight and apparently lost his marbles. He breaks the pipe and hears a shhhhhhh sound. My neighbor across the street hears it and saves him and our home by shutting off the gas.

I swear we have angels watching over our house. This isn't the only close call we have had... That is for another story.

Oh to finish the story, we get home 30 minutes later, I quickly call SWG and they immediately come out and fixed it, FREE OF CHARGE. Don't ask me why, I just feel blessed! By this experience we have learned a lesson!

Hormones!

Is there such a thing known as pre-menopausal??? I have had chills, patience is short, and becoming emotional again. This weekend I watched Marley and Me, Fireproof, and Seven pounds I could not control the tears. Either I'm really stressed and don't realize it or I am beginning to "feel" again.

TFL is back in business!

The Tooth Fairy Lady, is coming back to meet the Russell household. Madie has been complaining about her bottom tooth hurting these last couple of days...so I checked it out and felt it. Low and behold she had a lose tooth! She is my only child to lose a tooth this early at age 5. She was brave and let me pull it out for her. Ya you guessed it, I'm the tooth puller in my family.

Spring break

For our spring break we took the kids to Sedona (one day trip) its all we can do since I'm in school full force. It was a great get away and I thought you might enjoy the pictures. Here is Jay sitting by his monument that he created. Jay and I enjoying the sun while the kids dip their feet in the COLD water and trying to convince us that the water is "just right".

The boys getting ready to kill a crawdad while Madie pesters them (that is her job in this family)

Our little picnic area, called Castle Rock. It's not as famous as Slide Rock, so their are less people (that is my kind of life). Great back view, huh?

Drake, Brock, and Madie posing for mom.




Madie pretending to fish while Drake is helping her. This creek was right by our lunch spot. It's beautiful during the summer and fall, obviously its not that season yet.

I can't believe it!

I have to comment about today. This is one reason why I love Fridays! This morning I accomplished on finishing up my homework. Checked my bank to see if Jay's check came and my eyes about popped out! We not only received his check but also tax return money, yippee! I then got on the scale, which is always a drag, I checked it twice and I had lost some weight! My total weight that I have lost sense January is 12 pounds. I'm back down to where I was a year ago, even more of a celebration! My weight watchers is working for me (with some slim fast drinks here and there)! Now, I just need to lose about 12-15 more pounds and I will be a real happy camper (Pre-birth weight from Madie)!

Huey Lewis...The heat is on!

I can't believe no one guessed my title on which band sung that song. The answer is.... HUEY LEWIS AND THE BAND. Good old 80's. A little info on him is on this website that I pasted.

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.thestatenislandboys.com/Huey_Lewis/images/Huey_Lewis1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.thestatenislandboys.com/Huey_Lewis/index.htm&usg=__0NL1HiSsP5KabTO6RjI9kFYYONc=&h=432&w=282&sz=29&hl=en&start=3&sig2=mHQms6dpxihYWI4LdlCeGg&um=1&tbnid=KIPTT5x628G9dM:&tbnh=126&tbnw=82&ei=Qt-zSZXGBYr0sAPa8JyOAg&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dhuey%2Blewis%2Band%2Bthe%2Bband%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Dactive%26rlz%3D1T4ADBR_enUS279US281%26sa%3DX%26um%3D1

The heat is on...

Okay who knows who sung that song from my title "The Heat is on"?... I'm not kidding about the heat turning up around here! We hit 90 degrees on March 2, come on! Other than the typical heat, my life has been turned up a notch...with school assignments (midterms), the regular church callings, and family needs. Last month we did something every weekend that pertained to serving the Lord. Now that is dedication, right? It looks like March will be like that too.

Don't get this the wrong way, I'm not complaining I have everything under control and am getting my school assignments done early so that I can focus on the right things which are family and church. I am so excited to be a part of girls camp again! When I got released a part of me was so very sad! I loved the girls I was serving with. I understand why I was released, hello a new ward and hubby is a bit busy these days and I'm in school.

On a side note, today I went to an IEP meeting to observe and I got emotional. As I was listening about all the health problems this child had for the first time I couldn't help but think of how the parent would react. I almost wanted to cry! It was a real eye opener for me! I kept thinking to myself "you can not get emotionally attached". Think as an educator and not a parent! I thank my Heavenly Father everyday for my healthy kids. I feel spoiled to have them.

Stay cool everyone! Swimming is coming upon us very early this year! Which reminds me, that I need to get going if I'm serious about the triathlon in Litchfield next month, ouch!