Man we were livin'......

Sorry I know this is a serious/spiritual post, but I've had an Ah-Ha moment, so I wanted to share.....

So it is not any surprise to any of you who have talked to us in the past several months (or year and a half since we moved) we have been faced with many trials and struggles in all shapes, sizes, and varieties. We have had many good times (as you have seen in previous posts), but what seems like so many hard times too. It is so easy to get caught up in the misery that trials can bring, and all too often we only focus on the bad things happening around us and don't see the little things that make life so good. 

Lately Patrick and I have been kinda caught in this, and wishing we would have what we call a "man we were livin' moment". Then yesterday at church we got the gentle reminder... ok... kick in the butt, that we are in control of our own happiness and to just find joy in the journey because there are so many little things all around us everyday that are "man we were livin' moments". 

This is one of those..... so I ran to get my camera so we could remember it....

Conner is jammin out while listening to Patrick's IPod. This is one of his favorite songs because it's from the movie Alvin and the Chipmunks. It's "Bad Day" by Daniel Powter. He bobs his head and sings mostly the wrong words every time he hears it and it is just HILARIOUS!!!!!  I'm kinda bummed the quality of the video isn't as good once I loaded it onto Blogger, but its still funny and I laugh every time I watch it!

So since this is the week of Thanksgiving, I am taking the time to remember that I am really truly so incredibly blessed! I have an amazing husband who loves me unconditionally, 2 wonderful boys that bring such joy and laughter to our lives, awesome friends who I can count on, and an incredible family! And for all those things, I can't even put into words how grateful I am!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!!!

Going to Grandma's House....

Since Brayden is on track break for all of November, and Patrick was going to be working a bunch to get ready for his audit, I decided that would be a great time to go and visit my family in Prescott. So me and the boys loaded up and went to go and play. My boys absolutely LOVE their cousins, and they always have fun when they are with them, and this time was no exception. My parents have a big backyard, and it happened to be full of leaves, so what else do you and your cousins do but gather them up to jump into them. I don't think that my kids have ever done this before, so they thought it was just about the coolest thing ever!

They all carefully helped get the leaves into a pile, even sweet little Ainslee was in on the fun, just because she is the youngest, she wasn't going to get left out! 
 

Get ready.....

Get set... GO!

Then do it all over again.....

Then Uncle Russ made sure all the leaves were off the kids before going inside grandma's house by shaking them upside down. Brayden thought this was just hilarious! Uncle Russ is always fun to play with!

The kids also got to get in on the action packed family movie night at my brother's house. Russ also invited the boys to spend the night at their house. My boys have never slept over at someone's house before (mostly because Patrick and I don't allow it) but since this is my big brother we were talking about, I jumped at the chance to let my kids have fun with their cousin's and for me to get a chance to sleep in!! Ok, so it was partially for selfish reasons, but before we left AZ, I returned the favor, and had all my brother's kids over at my mom's house for a sleepover too. We watched movies, made chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast, and had lots of fun.
I think it's so cute how Brayden is laying on Sierra's lap. He sure loves his cousins, and thinks they are the coolest thing ever.

My mom, me, and my sister in law even got a chance to stamp and make some cute cards, and a very cute pumpkin! I even got a little scrapbooking done while I was there. I borrowed on of my mom's Cricut cartridges and have made some way cute christmas ornaments with them this past weekend when our great friends, the Grigg's came to visit. Melis and I love to craft together, so thanks mom for letting me borrow your stuff!!  :)

Here are all the cousins that got together. The rest are all in Texas, and we can't wait to get together with all of them. It's always fun to be with my family!!!!
Here's Jeffrey, Brayden, Sierra, Ainslee, Conner, and Kenzie!

We had a fun time!

Field trip!

Yesterday Conner got to go on his first field trip with his Preschool. Since Brayden is on track break, he got to go too. We all had fun. We went to Anderson Dairy and saw how they put milk in the jugs, the machines that make ice cream (my fav!), and a cute little show that taught the kids all about the dairy. The highlight of the trip for us all, we got to sample some of their ice cream at the end. As you can see, Conner thought that was awesome! He was so excited that it had cookies in it!

Here are the boys enjoying ice cream with their little friend Brenden. 
This is the little area where the kids got to hear from Calci Yum the Cow and a talking rooster (he had some clever name, but I don't remember it). Calci Yum  told the kids about the dairy and things that they do there. The kids thought that was great.
Conner smuggled in some pennies on his field trip, and was very protective of them in his pockets. That kids loves money!
Watching the milk getting put into the jugs...... very interesting......
We all had a good time at the Dairy. 

8 Things.....

I have been tagged with this a few times, so I'm finally getting around to doing it, so here it goes.....

8 favorite TV show...

1. Grey's Anatomy

2. Heros

3. The Office

4. Survivor

5. Life

6. The Amazing Race

7. Oprah (most of the time)

8. Brother's and Sisters

8 Favorite restaurants...

1. Cafe Rio 

2. Chilis

3. Mon Ami Gabi (inside Paris hotel)

4. Wendy's

5. Macayo's

6. Golden Phoenix (chinese place by my house, but we usually just get take out!)

7. Subway

8. Olive Garden

8 things I did yesterday...

1. got gas in my car so we could get home and was excited that is was only $2.27/gallon

2. drove 4 hours home from my parents house in AZ

3. talked on the phone with my sister for like an hour while I drove 

4. used my hands free headset for my cell phone, I finally pulled it out to use.

5. Got super excited to see Patrick after being away from him for 5 days!!!!!

6. Watched my kids play with their cousins. 

7. Held my niece Ainslee down while my brother dug slivers out of her hand, she's not a fan of me now!!

8. Watched some of my fav shows on DVR that I missed while being gone.

8 things I look forward to...

1. Christmas time!

2. going to TX for my new niece's baby blessing, and hanging out with my entire family!

3. Patrick's birthday later this month!

4. getting out of debt

5. see my friends in UT, hopefully next month... (here's hoping!!!)

6. christmas shopping (I love it!)

7. a wonderful drug-induced sleep

8. TWILIGHT MOVIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

8 things I love about fall...

1. it's not so friggin hot!!!

2. Thanksgiving

3. Halloween

4. Fun fall decor for my home

5. fall colors

6. getting to think of christmas shopping

7. Patrick's birthday!!!

8. my power bill doesn't make me cry!

8 things on  my wishlist...

1. things to not be so complicated with Patrick's job (wouldn't that be nice Kym?!?)

2. new clothes (I always want those)

3. a very cute pair of Sketchers that my sister has, and I have wanted to buy forever!

4. a new couch for our family room

5. new washer and dryer (I hate mine that came with our house, and they are smaller then any I have every had! Annoying!!)

6. a maid so I don't have to clean and do laundry all the time

7. to travel with Patrick

8. my backyard to be landscaped and awesome!

8 people I tag...

1. Kym (maybe then you'll blog)  :) luv ya!!!

2. Suzie

3. April and Rob

4. Ashley

5. Janette (maybe you'll blog again too!)

6. Lisa K.

7. Rhia

8. Annie

LOL!!!

This morning after Brayden got home from school, I had to run some things to Patrick at his office. While in the car, I asked Brayden how his day at school was, what he learned, all that kind of stuff all mom's ask their kids after school. He gave me the usual answers, then told me that tomorrow was Reflection Day. I said, "what?? Do you mean track break?" (he goes off track this week) He said no, so we were talking and I was trying to figure out what in the world Reflection Day was. Then finally he said "it's where you get to go and vote." I said "Oh, you mean Election Day?"  He said "OOOOO yeah, ELECTION Day! Who are you going to vote for mom? Obama or McCain?" 

Geez, for being one of the worst school districts in the country we have here in Vegas, he sure is learning things I would never think to teach him..... I didn't even know he knew who Obama and McCain were. But he told me they are trying to be president. I was pretty impressed! It gave me a good laugh!  

Halloween...

A few weeks ago was our ward's Trunk or Treat. Yes, it was way too early for a Halloween party, but we had a good time anyways. The boys had so much fun dressing up in their costumes. I did end up finding the ones they wanted, and it didn't break the bank either.

Why yes, it is a little big, but I kinda did that on purpose, so he could wear it next year maybe, or at least Conner can someday.

Conner showing off his Spidy muscles... He's so cute!!!

Since our Trunk or treat was so early this year, I don't really know what to do with the kids. We have never taken them trick or treating, we've always just done the ward party thing and called it good. Maybe we'll let them go up and down our street or to some people's houses we know, I think they will think that is so cool.

Also, last week while Patrick's mom was in town, we went out to dinner at Big Dog's, hence, the big dog.....

The boys love that place partly because of that huge dog. It does have pretty good food too. They think it's awesome that they get 2 Oreo's for dessert with their dinner there.  I personally love to go out to eat anywhere, then I don't have to be on the one who cooks and cleans up..... always a good thing!

Makes you think...

Yesterday I found out that a co-worker/friend of ours was involved in a pretty serious car accident with his family late Wed. night. His son (13 or 14 I think) was killed. I didn't know his son, but I have known the father of this family for years, and Patrick has worked very closely with him. Hearing this heartbreaking news stopped me in my tracks. I suddenly found myself wanting to do nothing but to just hold my kids on my lap and thanking my Heavenly Father for them. Patrick came home and just had the boys climb up on his lap and sit there as we all watched cartoons together. 

Usually I think we get so caught up on the stress of keeping the house clean, making dinner, stresses with work,  and all of those kind of things that we forget about all the little things that are even more important then those seemingly important tasks. I have been very humbled by this. I hate that it has to take something so tragic to make you realign your priorities. I have found myself making a conscience effort not to yell at my kids just because I'm frustrated (which I do all too much!) I cannot imagine the heartbreak this family is going through, but they are in our constant prayers. And Patrick and I are hugging our sweet boys a little tighter, and thanking Heavenly Father a little more for them. And the blessing we have of the knowledge of an Eternal Family is suddenly a little more meaningful.

For all the Shumate's out there...

YAY!!!  I am happy to report to all the Shumate's out there (or anyone who knows our family) that my sister, Janette and her husband Jeff welcomed little Bailey Elizabeth into our family tonight at 10:01 pm TX time. She weighed in at 8 lbs. 12 oz. and 21 inches long. (go big Shumate babies!!!) After a long day of labor, she ended up being born c-section, but both mom and baby are doing great. The new Dad sounded very excited and proud when I talked to him!  :)  Congratulation Jeff and Janette!!! We love you guys so much, and we couldn't be happier for you! Bailey, I can't wait to meet you in a few months, you have no idea the obscene amount of love this family has for you!!!

Where did my little boy go?!?!?!

How does my little boy go from this.......

(15 months old)

To this......

Brayden brought home his first school pictures the other day. I'm such a nerd, because it literally brought tears to my eyes to see him so grown up. He is just getting so big so fast. Especially since he has started school. He is so smart, and learning things so fast. It amazes me!! And, even though I may be a tad biased, he is a stinkin' cute kid!!! I absolutely LOVE that he got his daddy's dimples. He really does look a lot like Patrick did when he was younger. 

Seriously!! Where has the time gone???

Fun in the... uh, dirt?!?

Oh so many of you know that I'm not exactly what one would call an "outdoors-y" kinda girl. So when Patrick told me that he really wanted to take the boys on the Ward Camp Out I was a little hesitant. First of all, we have no tent! Major problem. Second, I don't go to the bathroom in the woods, it just doesn't work well for me! Yet some how our nice neighbors (and fellow ward members) lent us their old tent, and Patrick assured me that the ward was renting porta-potty's for the camp out. So I agreed because Patrick was just so excited that our boys were getting old enough to really enjoy those kind of boy things. So we packed up the truck, and headed to Mt. Charleston, an awesome, cool getaway for all of us Las Vegas people that cook down here in the valley all summer long. We actually had a fun time. Especially if you don't count the horrendous  wind storm that blew threw in the middle of the night making it freezing cold, and made us feel like our tent would blow away at any moment. The boys had a ball running around and playing with their friends, and Patrick and I got to relax and visit with our friends. We did however develop tent envy for the Casper's tent that was right next to ours, it was huge compared to our little tent that said it slept 4, but 2 adults and 2 kids barely fit! So Patrick has decided that we will be purchasing a bigger tent like theirs for next summer. Oh joy!

Here are the boys in front of our little tent, having tons of fun!
Conner was enjoying all the snacks we brought!
Patrick enjoyed just sitting back and relaxing, something he doesn't get a chance to do very often.

Here are a few pics of the boys playing in our (oh so sad) back yard. This yard was one of the things that we loved about this house, because it is so big, and that is REALLY hard to find in Vegas. The downside...... 
As you can see is that is is not at all landscaped! YIKES!!! That is just a job that overwhelms me!! But luckily we have boys, and we all know that boys love to play in dirt! And we have plenty of that!!! So these are some pictures I took of the boys while they were playing outside the other day. It is finally getting to be a nice temp outside, so the boys can go out and play again! YAY!!

In case you are wondering, yes, Conner is wearing 2 hats, I don't know why he thought he needed 2, but really, no one was around to care about it too much!

Then after all that playing in the dirt, a trip to the bathtub is inevitable! I just thought this was funny, so I ran to get my camera. Last Christmas both the boys got this bath set thingy that came with soap, shampoo, and fake shaving cream and a pretend shaver. Brayden all of a sudden has decided that every time he is in the bath, he absolutely must shave "just like dad" does. 

I know this picture has way bad lighting but I just loved Conner's grin! He looks so grown up!

I just love my boys, they make me laugh almost everyday. Somedays they make me wanna scream, but I usually laugh too! They are such a blessing to our family!

The Patton Family

Create your own family sticker graphic at pYzam.com

Geez!

I just realized how long it's been since I posted last. I guess life has been too boring to post anything. 

So here is my latest thing I'm working on... Halloween costumes. Now I'm usually pretty on top of things when it comes to getting Halloween costumes for my boys, but this year, it just seemed to creep up on me, and now here it suddenly is Oct. Some may be wondering "geez Melis, you still have a month!" But I don't really. Our ward is having the trunk or treat in 2 WEEKS!!!! (apparently they couldn't get any of the church buildings any closer to the 31st.) So I asked the boys what they want to be for Halloween, and this is what I got...

Brayden wants to be...

And Conner wants to be...

Now both of these choices are fine and great, I'm just trying to find them for less the $30 a piece. I hate spending a bunch of money on costumes, especially when I have to buy 2. So I have been watching Ebay like a hawk the last few days. I have my eye on a few, so hopefully they won't get bid up too high. And by too high, I mean more then I'm willing to pay.

Anyone know any good websites or anywhere to get good costumes for cheap???

I tried really hard to convince Conner to be a Power Ranger, since I have 2 Power Ranger costumes from Brayden for the past few years. But he didn't go for it. Dang it, my kids are too old for me to pick what they will be!

I love Halloween though, I really should get all my cute decorations out....

Our House

So I feel kinda silly posting pictures of our house. I feel like I'm bragging, but everyone keeps asking me to post pics, so here is what I've got done (or at least close enough that I'm ready to show it to everyone).

Here is the front of our house. Believe it or not, Patrick has already done some work on the front yard. There is still a lot to do, but that has to wait till it's not a million degrees outside. At least now it doesn't look so overgrown, and is somewhat nice.

Here is our cute little front porch that one day I hope to have a nice little bench or something there to sit on while the kids ride bikes or something. This is also where all the Black Widow spiders live, and we are hating that, but the bug sprayer guy swears the stuff he uses will kill them, and I hope he is right. I haven't seen any in a while.

Here is the boys room. Brayden and Conner decided that they wanted an Optimus Prime room, so we agreed thinking that red and blue are great for everything from Transformers to Spiderman, sports, anything boy. We are still working on their room a little, we are going to put up a chair rail to separate the red and blue better. It is kinda hard to see, but those are Transformers Wall Stickers all over their room. 

This ENTIRE wall is one big huge closet, and I LOVE it! They can fit all their toy boxes in it, and big trucks. There is tons of room. And below is part of the play area in their room. I love their room, its just huge. We are talking bigger then the Master bedroom, so it's perfect for 2 crazy little boys and all their trucks, toys, legos, etc.

So here is our dinning room and kitchen. I was standing in our family room to take this picture. Pretty much all these rooms are one big room, so it is nice and bright and open. I absolutely love Americana decor, so that it what I've done my kitchen in. The pantry is that door on the far left of the picture, and the bright spot to the right of the table is the door to go out in the backyard. I'd take a picture of that, but it's just dirt and rocks still, so that isn't very interesting.

 

Love my Granite countertops!

Here is quite possibly my favorite room of my house, our formal living room. This is what you walk into from the front door. I love, love, LOVE my red wall. The picture kinda makes it look brighter then it really is, oh well. 
Here is our new living room furniture we just got. We actually have 2 of those chairs, the other is under the front  window, but wasn't exciting enough to take another pic of. It's also hard to tell, but the couch is a really pretty dark charcoal color. I love it! 

Okay, so that is all I have done so far. My house is still a big work in progress. I am happy to report that the number of boxes sitting in the garage is dwindling, so that is progress, right?!?

I'll post more pics in the future. 

We love our new house!!!!

Wishlist...

I just got home from Costco, and while I was there, I saw these AWESOME pictures of various temples and beautiful pictures of Christ. I first saw the Mesa, AZ Temple, and that is kinda unusual to see unless you are actually in AZ. Since that is where Patrick and I were married, I instantly fell in love with this picture and want to buy it! So I came home and Googled the name of the company that makes these art pieces, Cultural Hall. Now, they are WAAAAAYYYYY more expensive on the website then they were at Costco, so I wouldn't suggest buying it off the webpage if you can help it. I now am officially taking donations so I can buy this awesome picture of the Mesa Temple. Any one wanna donate.... no?? Dang it!  Ok, then this is most defiantly the next thing I'm saving up to buy!

Trust me, this downloaded pic doesn't do this thing justice, it is so amazing in real life, it has subtle colors in it to make it unique and beautiful. I want it!!!!!

Week in Review...

Okay, so I feel like I have been busy this week so I really haven't stopped to post anything new, even though there probably is something to write about. 

Ok, so my birthday was on Labor Day, and it was so nice that Patrick was able to be off work and spend the day with me. We haven't seen much of him in the past few weeks, so it was great to actually be with him all day! He secretly arranged for some of our friends to watch the boys while he took me out to lunch, I love to go out to lunch with him, I guess thats because I never really get to since he is at work at lunchtime. So he took me to the Cheesecake Factory. It was our first time there, and I must say, I am now a HUGE fan! Way yum! Since we just bought some new furniture, I told Patrick that was my birthday present. I only have a picture of our hutch taken so far. We also got new living room furniture, but I'm waiting to get the room decorated before I post pics of that, it's getting there. So here is our new hutch that is in our dinning room. We found one that matches our dinning table exactly! I LOVE IT!!

(please never mind the fan and boxes still out, my whole house is still a work in progress!) Also in this picture you can see our new floors. We ripped out all the old ugly flooring downstairs, and put in Pergo throughout most of it. There is carpet in the family room (on the left side of the pic) and in the living room (on the top right side of the pic by the front door)

Another one of the highlights of the week was that Conner started Preschool!! He absolutely LOVED it! When I came to pick him up, he came running out with the biggest smile ever on his cute little face. His teacher told me he did really well, only he tried to give himself a haircut with the scissors. Luckily his teacher caught him before he had a chance to do any damage. 

The sad, and horrible part of my week was one day I decided to be all productive and get things cleaned, and then unpack more stuff. So I start with cleaning my bathrooms, which by far is my least favorite chore. As I'm finishing up with the boys bathroom, I went and tried to hold the Clorox Wipes, Lysol toilet bowl cleaner and brush thingy, and Windex. Of course, I drop the  Lysol on the bathroom floor. Not a big deal I thought, it didn't spill hardly at all. So I pick it up and hold it with my arm against my body and head downstairs to clean the downstairs bathroom. When I got down there and started unloading my cleaning supplies, I realize there was a bunch of Lysol on the side of the bottle that I didn't see before, and OF COURSE it has bleach in it. So it completely ruined one of my favorite shirts!!! SAD! 

It was one of my fav shirts, not that it was all that special or expensive. But it was comfy, and kinda cute, and just one of those shirts you want to wear all that time because it is just relaxing, but looks better then just some old t-shirt. So I told Patrick this is why I need a maid to clean my house for me, then we could avert such a tragedy. He still isn't convinced! Dang it! I thought it would be a good idea!  :)

Most of the rest of my week has been filled unpacking, organizing, and hanging things up. Last night we went out to dinner with some friends and we went and had Thai food. We have never had Thai food, and for the most part it was good. I wasn't a fan of the curry because I HATE coconut, and it's all made with coconut milk, but the rest of it was really good. We liked it, we'd go and eat it again. I think that I'd like to try the curry that they had that didn't have nasty coconut milk in it, I think that might be better. 

It has finally started to cool down a little here, fall is on the way! It's nice enough in the mornings that I walk Brayden to school with our neighbor, her daughter is in Brayden's class. The kids love it, and it helps me get out the door on time when I know the neighbors are waiting on us.  I have suddenly felt really grown up and old this week. Not just because I turned 28 this week, but because Brayden is in school, Conner is in preschool, (so for 2 days a week in the morning I have no kids!), I asked for furniture for my birthday present, and I'm now driving car pool! Doesn't that just scream MOM or OLD?? Ok, so I realize that I'm not that old yet, but 30 is looming!! And it is hard to believe that, I don't really feel like I should be that old.

But quite possible the best part of all is that I don't have to teach Primary tomorrow because it is Stake Conference! YEAH!! After last Sunday, I really need a break!