Sniff Sniff Cough Cough

Ah the melodic sounds of the Keele house! LoL my poor little blog has suffered and I am blaming illness- yep! The first 2 weeks of January I was knocked flat by the cold from hadies!!! It started with chills and shakes on a Monday and increased through the week to a lovely dazed and drugged up stooper on Saturday and Sunday- thank you crappy equate! And THEN attack of the killer sinus infection!!! Fortunately I got to take my kids to the Dr's on Friday ( Daae-cold and Jax- pink eye!) and my awesome pediatrician took care of the kiddos and gave me a sample of Dimeatapp to shake the infection- love that stuff and it didn't knock me flat!!! And although it shook THAT sickness Monday morning rolled around and so did a new cold! GEEPERS! So now my whole family still it all stuffy and sniffy and boogery....again/still! Fortunately Riley and I seem to be getting the brunt of it right now- I hate it when our kids are the really sick ones :p We sound like happily married froggies lol So hopefully this sickness works itself out quickly and we can get back to life and blogging! Wish us luck!!!!!

The Magic Christmas Mice!

Have you heard of Elf on the Shelf? Weeelllll I kinda thought a little person watching us was creepy! So when I came upon a post on a blog I follow about a family tradition with a mouse that watches the kids, I thought that sounded right for us! In the other person's tradition they had an advent calender with little pockets and the mouse moved from pocket to pocket as the countdown till Christmas, and if the kids were good the mouse would leave a treat from Santa! Well I kinda took the 2 traditions and combined them to get our Magical Christmas mice! We had once mouse originally, but my daughter found the other 2 mice that came in the packet and decided they must be the lil white mouse's parents LoL So we had to put them in there too. Anyhow- all I did was take an old jean pocket and sew it to a piece of Christmas-like cloth leaving a place for the wire to go through- push the wire through and twist it off and WA LA!!! They move around from here to there in the living room and watch the family! Sometimes there is a note form Santa and sometimes a treat. It have been way fun and hey! The mouse is so cute! BONUS! Check out the Christmas countdown blocks in the background!

Lucky #7

Riley and I have been married 7 years today! WoW! :D I know it isn't a long time compared to some, but 7 years is nothing to sniff about! And we sure have accomplished much in 7 years! We've moved from Utah to Vegas to Utah again, had a beautiful daughter, and a handsome son, we've learned A LOT about eachother and have grown together through some tough times. There have been aurguments, and making ups. But for every one of those there have been 10 wonderful fun times together! Riley still makes me laugh and loves me like nobody ever would! I think I still make him laugh too even though I know he thinks I'm a dork! In short I would never trade him for ANYTHING!!! I love him and can't wait to celebrate many many more wonderful years together!

Jaxie Bug is One!

My little boy is one!!!! We celebrated yesterday with many rounds of "Happy Birthday", cake. ice cream and presents! But first- Pictures! My sister- Anisa- came down a few weekends ago and was kind enough to take some pics of Jaxie for me :D
What a grown up little man! Smiles!

I know everyone thinks their kids are the cutest, but SERIOUSLY! this kid is SO FREAKING CUTR I COULD EAT HIM!!! We have so much fun with him everyday! He is always passing out the smiles! There is never a time he isn't flirting up a storm with the ladies- grocery store, church, resturant- you name it!!! He also loves his family! He is always hugging on me, Riley , and Daae. He sure loves it when Riley gets home from work. Riley will walk in and go downstairs to put his stuff away and Jaxie just cries!!! He also loves playing with his sister; they will crawl around on the floor chasing eachother adn laughing up a storm. He'll even get her down and start "tickeling" her!! He also is a big foodie! Daaelynn was my light eater so this is a real change! He'll try anything you give him! He also is a little game player- peakaboo, high fives, race Mom to the bathroom door! I could really go on and on about how awesome I think my lil guy is. He has brough SO MUCH love, fun, and joy into this family. I would never ever trade him for anything, adn I only hope I can help him become the most awesome person because I know it is in him to be amazing!

MMMM Frosting!
Present time!!!

Yeah for the train! He LOVES IT!

Cake face!
" This cake is so NUM!!!!"

Cookie Time!

What a cute cookie face!!!! Jaxon had his first taste of the oh so yummy pumpkin chocolate chip cookies I've been wanting to make for so long! They are the best and most easy pumpkin chocolate chip cookies I've ever had, but with the darned pumpkin shortage last year we haven't had them in sooooo long! So here's the recipie for you all!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 can of pumpkin- small (don't use the pumpkin pie mix- it is more runny)

1 box spice cake mix

1/2 bag chocolate chips

Mix all ingredients together in large bowl, Drop by spoonful on greased cookie pan. Cook at 350 degrees 10-12 mins or until semi-firm on top. Let cool and ENJOY!!!

Note: You can double the recipie with a large can of pumpkin and another

Back from the Land of Disney!!!

We're back! We've been back a week now and I think we have finally recovered from our crazy fun weekend! It was SO FUN! And we had a blast! But the BEST way to share Disneyland is with PICTURES! Yeah!! So here we go!



This was the ride down :D I was pretending to be a lion..... it was a long drive and I was excited! SO! Moving on!

We went to Disneyland with G-dad and......

Maemaw!

Tigger was already there so we met up for breakfast one morning and he just HAD to try on Jaxon's hat!

The same night we waited for the World of Color's show to start and took pictures in the meantime :) Pretty ferris wheel- OH and the show was AWESOME!!!! I'll post the video I got of that later!

And here is Daaelynn, my brave brave girl, on Space Mountain.....BEST PIC EVER!!! This shall be cherished for ever. She went on EVERY ride she was tall enough for including Tower of Terror and Grizzly Bear Run! She was such a brave girl!

We also saw Minnie at breakfast and Jaxon was getting kinda fresh! There were some kissed going around! Good thing Mickey wasn't around!

Jaxon did get his hat back from Tigger by the way. Cutest hat ever, and he actually kept it on!

Better than the hat was ICE CREAM! Right from the yummy yummy creamery on Main street! It is ALWAYS crowded in there at night, but we have to have it at least once while we're there.

Riley,Mom, and Me on California Screamin'! Riley and I held hands and had them up in the air the entire time:)

This is just cute- they love each other so much ,and I hope they stay that way!

Jaxon, Daddy, and Mickey!!!!

Daae had to get a Mickey pic too!

Cinderella again!!! This was the first trip Daae got to see her FAVORITE princess, and we got to see her twice :D

Space Mountain was turned into the Ghost Galaxy for Halloween! There was a ghost-ish skeleton galaxy guy roaring at you in space, and apparently it was too much for my dad and he gave up the ghost on the ride :D But fear not! We resuscitated him and he's fine!

Hey that's not Disneyland!!! Nope! It's the beach! We decided to go to the beach on Saturday when it was the most crowded at Disneyland. Daae had a bit too much fun and ended up covered in sand- we just let her go for it LoL She ended up wearing a blanket back to the hotel, but ti was fun!

Here's my babies enjoying the waves!

Everyone in the waves! My kids have never seen the ocean so it was so much fun! Those waves are tricky though!!! Once of them swamped Daaelynn and she was at the top of the hill!

Back to Disneyland- here is $14 on Daae's face :D Killed me to pay that much, but she loved it!

Here's me and the babe on the Nemo Submarine ride- WoW claustrophobia! Good thing no one let one off in there! HEHE!

Vidia and Tinkerbell! Yeah!!! I was so excited to take Daaelynn to see the fairies! They were awesome! We also got to see Silvermist!

It's a small world after alllllll!!!!! I loved going on rides we ALL could go on together! And woohoo for Disneyland in September! Short lines baby!

Two pretty Auroras!!! Gotta love those skinny little legs DaaeDaae LoL

I LOVE getting natural shots of Daae. She is always posing! Here I caught her off guard and we are going to be in trouble in a few years people! Anyone have a good stick for beating the boys off???? :D

My sweet smiles boy! He did great in Disneyland and throughout the whole trip! I think he's happy to be outta that car seat though!!

Here are Daddy and Daae up in the sky on the jelly fishies!

And this is what you get after a crazy fun Disney trip! A pooped out little man snuggling with his Kermit!

It was an AWESOME vacation, and we had so much fun with Maemaw and G-Dad! We are even planning to go again on our 10th anniversary and their 33rd!!! So till then- we love you Disneyland!! See you in 2013!

Who Are You???

So last night I was feeling down in the dumps...again. And I just couldn't really pin down why I felt so down! One theory is that nursing or not- you still get hormonal once a month! :D So I went off to work in hopes that I'd find an answer to my sour mood. And I will say that the temple is a great place to think over your problems and find answers. Even though I am there to work, if I go there with a problem I come out feeling so much better! So last night I whittled my issue down to one question- who am I??? I was feeling overwhelmed with all my "projects" and trying to do everything and be everything that I've kinda lost who Megan REALLY is. So here is who I KNOW I am.......

- I'm a funny girl! I love making people laugh even if I look like a bozo doing it!
-I'm an avid reader.I LOVE to read!!! L-O-V-E!!!
-I'm an artist, and this is something I've neglected. I use to fill a sketch pad up in a week and a half. Sure, I have kids so there is less time, but not drawing at least once a week is not cool
-I'm a chill mom! We don't follow a strict schedule- we like to chilllll and go with the flooowwww.
-I'm a tom boy! Even at 26! Jeans and t-shirts are the best!!

So along with a list of what I AM, I needed a list of what I'm NOT and it's OK!!!

-I'm not a girly girl....I have learned and love some girly things like painting my toes and wearing bracelets, but that's it! No fancy clothes, no done up hair, no heels- it's not me and it's OK!
- I'm not thin :D I'M NOT!!!! And it's OK!!! Granted I do need to shape up a bit to be healthy, but I'm not the size 5 woman who's dresses to the nines with her perfectly presented kids in the back of her SUV and I never will be.
-I'm not super mom. I can't juggle piano lessons, dance lessons, school, PTA, book club, yoga group, and not want to just DIE! Some people can do it and that's them, and that's great! But it's not me and it's OK!!!
-I'm not a super crafter. I LOVE doing crafts, but I need to be more choosy. I can't expect myself to do everything just because I physically CAN do it. I need to find the crafts and projects I LOVE and just admire the rest :)

So what next?! How about what I WANT to become!

- I want to become a better daughter of God. I want to amp up my spiritual side in a huge way! For me and for my family. The visiting teaching message in the Ensign was about raising up a righteous generation and not letting our children forget our beliefs. I do not want that to happen to my kids and the only way to do it is to bring more of the spiritual teachings into my home.
- I want to be a better mom. I HATE when I get irritated with my kids.I feel like such a jerk after I have a melt down. Who wants a mom like that???
- I want to be a better Megan.I want to magnify my talents and just be me.I don't want to shove myself into a little box and feel like I have to do the things everyone else is doing. If it is something I enjoy then SURE, but if it is something I feel lukewarm about- I'm skippin it! :D AND IT'S OK!!!

So it is a start. I think my little list therapy has helped! Kinda like a talk in church- this post has more meaning for me than you, but I appreciate all the wonderful friends and family I have who keep track of me :) I also promise that a happier post will be fast on the heels of this one. I just have to get my other pics from Riley's phone and it'll be time to share the happiest place in the world with you :D