An Ode to my new Swivel Sweeper....

My swivel sweeper is my new most favorite thing in the whole world!!! I love that thing, I actually have clean floors because of it. We just got the new floors in at our new house, and we have Pergo throughout most of the downstairs. Since I HATE sweeping, and rarely do it (as you may have seen if you've ever stopped by my house unexpectedly) but even my kids want to use this wonderful invention to clean up after they have made a mess while eating. 

So thank you Mr. Inventor of the Swivel Sweeper, you are my hero! Everyone needs to own one of these, it is life changing! It is so worth the money. (but I did get mine off Ebay, so it was a little cheaper) 

The craziness that is our lives!

So these past few weeks have been very stressful to say the least! We have been trying to close on our new home and have met just about every obstacle imaginable in the process. If it wasn't one thing, it was another. Each day, whoever I talked to, they would tell me, "we are just waiting for one more thing." Then as we would get that, it was "just one more thing." So this became a big problem, because we were suppose to move out of our house by Sat. the 19th. new renters were moving in on the 21st. So after coming to the realization that we would have no where to go if we moved out on Sat. Patrick made some calls and was able to manage to get our landlord to let us stay till Thursday (the 24th), and have the new renters move in on Friday (the 25th). So that at least bought us a few more days to figure things out. 

So I started harassing everyone I could to get things done so we could close on our house. I informed them all that we would not have a place to live, and we do have 2 small kids, so it's somewhat important we close so we can have a place for them to live! I seriously think that my loan officer started screening my calls, because I was calling her so, so much! So after many nervous breakdowns, and big, BIG prayers, we finally got a call on Friday afternoon that we could close today!! Oh happy day!!!! We won't be homeless after all! So I am leaving in a few hours to go and sign our life away on our new house!! I'm so excited for it. We were able to go in this weekend and start to clean it, and it's starting to get painted today, and we will move in on Thursday! It's looking so good! I'll post pics after it's all painted and the new floors are in. 

This is why I hate moving so much... it's so incredibly stressful! I have gone from completely pissed off, to breakdown hysterical crying, to "this is gonna work" all in the same day, most everyday for the last week and a half. I'm exhausted! What a pain. I am going to be so relieved when we are moved in and get to put this behind us! And I can testify, that I WILL NOT be moving again for a very long time... if I can help it!

Conner's Birthday!

Happy Birthday to our little Conner man!

Conner had a great birthday! He has been talking about having a Spongebob cake for a while now. I was going to make one for him, but since we are in the mist of trying to pack up our house and move, I decided it would be easier to just go and buy him one. So this is the one he picked out. He was so excited about it. 
He got a Thomas tent and tunnel from mom and dad, and Brayden, and Grandma and Grandpa Shumate gave him some toys, some very cool Spongebob pj's, a Lightning McQueen hat, and a Wall-E shirt that he wore for 2 days! I couldn't get him to think it was dirty enough to put in the wash until today!
He had so much fun on his birthday. He keeps showing me his presents, and tells me that he got them for his "birf-day"!
He decided that he wanted to go to Chuck E. Cheese for his birthday dinner. Both boys had tons of fun playing the games and riding the rides. I think he only wanted to go there for his birthday, because that is where Brayden went for his birthday last December. 

He is such a cute kid! We love him to death!!!

I got tagged!!

10 years ago...

~I was getting ready to start my senior year of high school. Patrick had just left on his mission and was still in the MTC, awaiting leaving for Budapest, Hungary. 

5 Years ago...

~We had just had Brayden, and had just bought our cute little condo in Lehi. Patrick was just about to start at BYU. 

5 months ago...

~We were loving the Vegas winters. We made a trip to Jackson, WY for Patrick's grandma's funeral. 

5 things on my to do list tomorrow...

~Pack

~pack

~pack

~pack

~go grocery shopping, then pack some more.

5 Things I would suddenly do if I were a billionaire...

~Pay off everything!

~Pay off everything of my family members (at least the ones I like!)  :)

~Travel

~Put money away for our boys missions and college

~Do some SERIOUS shopping!

5 bad habits...

~saying "crap" too much

~spending too much time on the computer

~not putting the laundry away after I've washed it

~not sweeping my floors enough. I am hoping to remedy that cuz I just bought a Swivel Sweeper at the suggestion of my friends Lindsey & Lisa! Thanks!

~not getting dressed till 10 or 11 in the morning :)

5 places I've lived...

~Prescott, AZ

~Salt Lake City, UT

~Lehi, UT

~Taylorsville, UT

~North las Vegas, NV 

5 Things people don't know about me...

~I absolutely HATE gum, and I won't let my kids have it. I think it's disgusting, and I won't even kiss Patrick if he is chewing it. Gum just grosses me out!!

~I hate scary movies

~I'm a little more obsessed with the Twilight books then I let people know...

~I'm not all that confident with myself

~I worry way to much about what people think

I tag...

Whoever is trying to avoid things they should be doing...like I am now!  :)

Happy Birthday Conner!

Conner is 3! Can you believe it!?!

Here are the facts:

Name: Conner Taylor Patton. We almost named him Cohen, but decided Conner fit better. His middle name is after Patrick's youngest brother, Taylor.

Born: July 9, 2005 at 12:56 am

Where: American Fork, Utah

Weight: 8 lbs. 1oz. my biggest baby thus far, yet still small for a Shumate or Patton baby!

Length:20 Inches

Proud big brother: Brayden! Conner is 2 1/2 years younger then Brayden.  

                             

(I can't believe how young and little Brayden looks in these pictures!!) 

Conner was born 2 weeks early, and was a happy and healthy baby. He did however have jaundice, so he spent the first few days of his life in a billi-bed. 

Conner decided to surprise us by joining our family, but look at how happy he has made us!

   

       

He has grown so much! He loves to play with all kinds of cars and trucks. He adores his big brother, and follows him around everywhere, they are very good buddies! He loves milk, juice, goldfish, dogs, climbing on things (much to my dismay!) being silly, giving us hugs and kisses, back scratches, and playing with his friends. He is defiantly a momma's boy! He loves to come and cuddle in my lap, and I just love it too! He gets very excited and happy when his daddy comes home from work, he will run to the door screaming for him and hugging him. I love the way he talks, and his little facial expressions as he is thinking of what to say. I just love, love, love his curly hair! 

We are so grateful and blessed to have Conner in our family! He made our family a bit more complete! We love you Conner! Happy 3rd Birthday!!!!

Happy 4th!

I love the 4th of July!! I love everything about it, the BBQ's, fireworks, parades, everything!
Maybe it's because I come from a family who has had members in the military. My grandpa fought in both World War II and Vietnam. I had a great uncle that was shot down and killed over Japan during World War II also. And I currently have a cousin serving in the Air Force. I love the sense of patriotism that people get during this holiday! I love hearing our national anthem, and other songs like "God Bless America"! 

A while ago, when we went to see the fountains at the Bellagio, one of the songs they have a show for is that song "God Bless America" and I get teary eyed watching it, not only because it was so awesome, but it really made you feel pride for our country. 

So make sure to thank all service men and women you see, because they (and their families) really so sacrifice a lot that we will never realize!

Happy 4th! 

Ask and ye shall receive

This morning, I told Brayden to go and get some clothes on. About 10 minutes later, this is what I got...

Here is his outfit for the day. It starts off with his Power Ranger sweat pants. (he apparently doesn't care that is it already 95 degrees outside, and is suppose to get up to 108) Then let's move on to the 2 shirts. One is long sleeve (again, it's suppose to be 108 today!) that is dark green and red striped. Then his grey short sleeve shirt over the long sleeve shirt. I can't seem to convince Brayden that it is too hot not only for 2 shirts, but also for long sleeve. So I usually just let him wear the long sleeves because all the mom's out there know that one is just not worth the fight. Then I just smile and laugh when we go out to stores or something, and people are giving me the weird look of "why are you letting your kid wear that? Don't you know how hot it is outside?" The answer is YES I do know, but he doesn't care! Since we aren't really planning to go anywhere today, and I am just trying to get things done around the house, this is what he will wear today. Could he be the next fashion guru?? We shall see!

Whatever crazy kid!!

Total Shocker!

Last night Patrick and I went to RC Willey to look at some furniture for our new house. We were trying to get an idea of what we want, and how much we'll need to save up for it. So we are just browsing around, looking at different sofas, love seats, chairs, coffee table, etc. And of course we have like every sales person around trying to follow us and swoop in to get the sale. Too bad for them, we weren't there to buy yet, just look. Yet, no matter how many times we told the annoying sales people we were just looking, there were a few that kept following us around. One guy who had been following us for a little bit saw us sitting on a couch, and the matching chair, and came and told us how great it was, but that it was being discontinued. Then we move onto another sofa/love seat set, and he says the same thing, that it is being discontinued. To me, that seemed weird, but I wasn't too upset, I didn't have my heart set on those pieces or anything, so we kept looking. While we were there, we were trying to slyly write down the sku numbers of the things that we liked. We did this because Patrick's cousin works at RC Willey up in Orem and she told us that anything that we see that we like, just write down the sku, and she can get it for us, and we'd get her family discount. Awesome! So that is what we did, we found a few things that we liked enough to write the number down, including those 2 different sets that Mr. Salesmen told us were being discontinued. So as soon as we leave the store, Patrick calls his cousin and sent her a text of the sku numbers so she can look them up, and he mentions the ones the are being "discontinued" and ask her to check into that. She calls back like 5 minutes later, and says that nothing on our list is being discontinued, that the sales guy was probably just saying that to get a sale. I was kinda shocked by that!! 

Really, you are so desperate for a sale that you are lying to customers that something they want isn't going to be around for long?? That is a little sad and annoying to me. I know you work off commission and everything buddy, but I really don't think you would have made much off a couch and chair that together was only like $800! Does anyone else find this just crazy?? I know that most people out there are looking out for #1, but it really annoyed me that he was lying to us just to get us to buy something from him. Little did he know that we aren't gonna buy from him anyways, cuz we actually have someone who isn't going to lie to us to get a sale, and she is giving us a discount!

So the moral of this story is..... DON'T LIE!!!!! It so doesn't get you anywhere! And don't believe stupid sales people who follow you around a store!

Swimming lessons

I am feeling a little like I am gonna win the "Bad Mom" award. Here's why...

Yesterday, I called to get the boys into swimming lessons. The nice lady asked me how old my kids were, so I said one was 5 and one would be 3 by the time he started the lessons. She asked how many years my 5 year old has taken lessons and I thought.....uhhhhhh, he hasn't yet, hence the reason I'm calling you. When I told her that he hadn't taken lessons before, she was a little surprised! I felt so stupid! I guess I should have got him into swimming lessons before now. But in my defense,  when we lived in Utah, he was only 3, and really, did we ever go swimming in Utah, not really. So I didn't really ever see a need for it. Then last year, we had just moved here, and I didn't have any idea where to take him for lessons, and we sure didn't have the money, since we has just moved here, and gone to Texas, all in just 2 months! So last summer, I vowed, "next summer FOR SURE!" 

So now poor Brayden is going to be in a class with a bunch of 3 year olds, cuz she is going to put him in the beginner class, and that is the same class as Conner! I feel so bad, and I hope he doesn't notice that everyone is younger then him. Hopefully he'll catch on and move up quickly or something, then I won't feel like such a neglectful mother! Did I miss the memo on this or something??? When are you suppose to start your kids into swimming lessons??

Sometimes ya just gotta feel bad for first born's , they always seem to be the experimental child that you are figuring everything out on. The rest of your kids, you have already learned by the time it comes to them! Maybe that is why youngest children are just so dang perfect!!!!!    :)    

(FYI, I am the youngest!)  ;)

Our little soccer player!

I finally got Brayden's soccer pictures, so here it is. I love it! I think he looks so cute and grown up! He is already asking when he gets to play soccer again. He had so much fun with it. He also got a trophy for playing. He was SO EXCITED about that. He came running in to show me, and said "MOM! I don't believe I won this!" I decided not to mention that everyone on the team got one for playing because he just thought that was the coolest thing ever that he "won" that one! He is such a funny kid!

Fun Family Times...

Last Friday, we were able to go up to Salt Lake for my cousin Robert's wedding. We gladly welcomed April to our crazy family. 

Here is the cute couple at the rehearsal dinner. When I tried to get their picture, cute little Jacob popped his head in, and it was too cute! I guess he didn't want to be left out of all the pictures that were being taken.

My sister and her husband were able to fly out from Texas for the wedding, and it was so much fun to see her, and hang out with them. Lots of people seem to think that me and my sister look a lot alike, but I'm not so sure...what do you think?? I don't see it, I'm like 34 feet taller then her and I have the red hair of the fam. 

Here is the first dance, and I just had to throw this one in, cuz it was just a cute picture. And Robert, I totally saw you singing to your beautiful bride, and I thought was the sweetest thing ever! Loved the song choice too! (for those of you who are wondering....the song was "The Luckiest" by Ben Folds.....go find it on Itunes...it's a good one!)

I also loved the photo op we had at the rehearsal dinner in the Joseph Smith Building.  Conner was so excited about seeing the "big temple". After that night, every time we saw a "big" building, Conner was just sure it was the temple. Now I know that there are lots of temples in Utah, but not that many. 
It's always fun to get together with the Shumate side of our family. Even though not all could be there. My niece was graduating high school the next day, so my parents were out in Dallas for that. And my other cousin, Jon, is in the Air Force and is off serving in Africa. We all missed you Jon! Family get togethers aren't the same without some hilarious story from my cousin Jon.

We had a bunch of fun up in Salt Lake, but it was cold up there! At least compared to here in Vegas. It's always nice to go back up for a visit, cuz we still miss it.... a little! 

Just for fun...

So I've noticed that many people are getting playlists on their blogs, so I figured what the heck...I'll try to make one too! So I tried to find some songs that both Patrick and I like, so hopefully it's a good mix. 

5th times the charm!

Well, while we have been in Utah for the past week for my cousins wedding (more about that in another post), we got a call that we FINALLY got a house! Yes, the 5th time we put an offer in on a house, we finally got it! We are very excited! It is on a street that has many people from our ward on, some of the boys friends, and ours live there. Brayden will still get to go to the same school that we live right by now. And we are just glad that we were able to find something in our ward so we don't have to start all over again with meeting new people in a new ward. It's a nice house with 4 bedrooms, 3 bath, and 3 car garage....which will come in very handy to store all of our crap! I'm not sure when we will be able to move, but we are trying to get out of our rental ASAP! So we are hoping in the next month we will be able to be into our new place, but we will see. We have to do some things like paint, and either clean or replace some of the carpets (since it is a foreclosure, it needs a little work, but not much!) and we are hoping to do that before we move in. We are so excited!!! I'm so happy that we finally found something that we really love, and got a screamin' deal on it too!! YAY!

Girls Night!

On Friday night, I was able to go out with a bunch of my friends for a good old girls night out. We were celebrating my friends Samantha's birthday. (she is the tall one standing in the back) We all went to dinner at PF Chang's, (so yummy!) and had so much fun...and laughed....a lot! Probably more then anyone would believe. Many got their Diet Coke buzz, and that made for tons more laughter. But hey, this is how us Mormon Mommies have fun.  :)

We were just being goofy in front of the restaurant after dinner.

Some of the girlies decided to go dancing after dinner. But as one of my friends put it that night..."this white girl don't dance!" So I agreed with that, and took a pass on the dancing. 

I love girls night's. They are tons of fun, and it gives you some much needed R&R from the daily rut that you get in being a mom. Thanks girls! I had fun!!!!!

What a long week!

This week has seemed to last forever! I think it has a lot to do with the fact that Patrick had to work a TON! (For some audit thing or something...) We are talkin till after midnight some nights. In fact, he didn't see Brayden from Sunday night until Wednesday night because he was going to work so early and then working so late.  (Usually he is a 9-5 kinda guy.) He would barely see Conner in the mornings (he is my early riser!) but that was about it. I can tell when Patrick hasn't been around for a while in many ways, not only do I miss him, but the boys really miss their dad. They start asking where he is, if they can call to talk to him, when he will be home, and so on. It's hard for little kids to understand things like work, and why somedays it lasts longer then others. But the good news is that he has a 3 day weekend to spend with us, and no work!! YAY! I'm so grateful that my husband works so hard to support our family, and he sacrifices a lot.  He has a hard job, and I know for sure I could not do it. I love that he is usually home with us every night, and is able to do things like coach soccer for Brayden. Cause to a little boy, that is just the coolest thing in the world to have your dad do something like that with you.  And I shouldn't complain, I did at least get a chance to do some scrapbooking, and play with my new Cricut cartridge I got a while ago. So I did keep busy, but it's hard to keep your sanity when your husband is gone for so long! Thank goodness for kids bedtime! Somedays it is THE BEST time of day.