Luggage tags

I am getting super excited about my cruise in February. I have been looking for some really fun luggage tags so I will be able to spot MY luggage right away. You know how lots of people put something around the handle of their luggage? Well I had planned on doing that too along with a fun luggage tag. Now, after some investigating I found exactly what I want!

Simply wrap them around the handle of your luggage and off you go!

Aren't those just the coolest things ever???? I know you aren't as excited about it as I am:)

They are a little pricey if I am planning on doing all 4 bags, but I only have to do this ONCE and that's it!

Do you think I should get one of these too?

I just LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this SITE! They have all kinds of fun stuff. I think I will be getting several things from here in the future.

We've been busy

We have been super busy!!!!

We have been to the Great Wolf Lodge, had Christmas parties, Christmas programs, shopped and had some family time.

Enjoy the show of pictures to follow:

braylon feeding the fish at cabelas

getting to see santa at the great wolf lodge

braylon sliding down the slide ALL.BY.HIMSELF. he was so proud of himself.

doesn't he just look ornery?

the 3 B's

and again

love this picture of jared and bronson

bronson and tinley at the christmas program. this little girl thinks bronson is HOT~

playing the bells together

rubbin his belly for some song action

his christmas party at school. i didn't get to take very many pictures because i was running back and forth between his and braxton's rooms. i didn't even get any of braxton's party.

i also didn't get any pictures of them at the great wolf lodge b/c they were too busy running around while i was chasing after braylon.

we had a great time at the great wolf lodge. it was so nice to get away from the hustle and bustle of things and just relax.

11 years ago today.....

i was holding my first born son, Braxton! WOW, where have the years gone? It seems like it was just yesterday when I found out I was prego with him.

Jared and I had only been dating for a few months when I found out I was pregnant. It was a big shock. I had some disappointed parents, but things have worked out for us. God had his plan....

Braxton was due on December 24th. I started having contractions on the 17th. I went to the hospital on the 18th and they sent me home and told me to walk. It was a beautiful winter. My father in law and I walked outside with no coats on for what seemed like hours... nothing! On the 20th my contractions returned that night. Jared woke me up around 2ish and told me it was time to go to the hospital. He had been timing my conractions while I slept and told me they were getting harder... he could just tell. So we loaded up and went to the hospital about 3. They broke my water at 7 and I was in labor all day long!!!! It was a great labor and I didn't get my epidural until I was a 7. After I got that the contractions started coming faster. I pushed for a very long time. Once the dr. got there and I pushed a few times for him he called for the surgeon and the emergency c-section crew. This scared me to death. Things started getting crazy then! People drawing blood, geting Jared dressed, taking my jewelry off and on and on and on. I guess when I was pushing Braxton's heartrate would drop. Come to find out he was a stargazer and his head was turned 180 degrees. When the Doctors said it was a boy, I had never seen Jared so proud. Braxton entered this world at 6:02 pm, weighing in at 8lbs and was 21 inches long. He had lots of dark hair. He was a fantastic baby and got spoiled by lots of people.

He has grown into quite the young man in the last 11 years. He is a very tender hearted person, talented, soft hearted, and very genuine. I have no idea what I would do without him. So Happy Birthday Big Man! Hope you have several more birthdays to come.

Love,
Mom

Here is a recap from tonights festivites.......

brotherly love!


and again!

acting like a hillbilly!

we are quite the crew!

reinacting blowing out the candles.

Braxton got new camo boots, underarmour shirts, socks, a new cardinal chair, money, money and more money! He was one lucky boy!

First Snow of 2009

What a great night tonight was!!!

First we had our first Awana Christmas Program. The kids did great. (pictures to come soon)

Then Jared went coon hunting so the boys and I headed home for some mommy/son time.

We watched The Christmas Shoes and I cried like a baby.

Then the boys wanted to know if they could open "just" ONE present. So.... I let them. They opened the one that was for all of them, a dvd player for the van.

Then they were so excited that it was still snowing and that it was all over the ground that they wanted to go out and play in it.

I looked at the clock and it was after 10:00, on a school night.

I thought "what the heck?" we only live once.

So I yelled "get your stuff on, we are going out to play in the snow!"

They couldn't believe it!!!!

So we all ran around and yelled and laughed, we made snow angels and they tackled me and we laughed until we cried.

They kept saying..... "this is so much fun"! even after we came in I heard them say how much fun it was!

AND it was so much fun!! I am so glad that we did it.

I hope it is something they remember forever!

Can't you just see the excitement:)

Our snow angels!!!!
L to R... Bronson, Braylon, Me and Braxton

grrrr

well tonight was one of those nights where i wanted to have a pity party..... so i did, ALL. BY. MYSELF!

jared goes to this annual coon hunt on the wednesday night before thanksgiving every year. does this bother me? nope! braxton loves going with him too. does this bother me? nope! but this year bronson wanted to go. jared didn't care that he went but also knew that he would be exhausted b/c they climb lots and lots of hills. so i asked bronson if he wanted to just stay home with me and we would go to kirksville and i would take him and braylon to the movies. but he didn't want to, he wanted to coon hunt! did this bother me? not really.....

BUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

then it is time for everyone to leave and jared and i are still trying to talk bronson into not going to the coon hunt and to go with me instead. he was not budging. he wanted to coon hunt. fine.

so i decided that is fine, braylon and i will just go to the movies ourselves. so i go to get him and he throws a big fit and doesn't want to go. he wants to stay with my mom and dad. fine! F.I.N.E.!!!! does this bother me? you better believe it does! so, i leave him there and then i text jared and say.....

"guess no one wants to be with me, not even braylon!" yes, i was feeling sorry for myself!

so 15 minutes later, jared calls and said bronson wanted to go with me! tough!!! i am almost to kirksville. then he calls back.... the boys said they wouldn't go hunting they would stay with grandma until you got back and then you can rent a movie with them. NOPE, NOTTA, NO THANKS!!!! why would i want that? you have to make them feel guilty so they will spend time with me? NOPE, NOTTA, NOT HAPPENING! if they don't want to spend time with me just because, then no thanks!

THEN, braylon calls and wants to go with me. my mom says "i will bring him to you". NOPE!!! he had his chance!

so i went grocery shopping by myself and ate out by myself! it was easier but i still didn't like it.

so, i am going to prove a point and the next time they want to go with me somewhere..... NOT HAPPENING! the next time they want me to do something for them..... NOT HAPPENING!

is that bad of me?

i just want them to realize that i have feelings too and that i do a lot for them and that they don't appreciate any of it and take me for granted!

so, now that i have that off of my chest:).........................................................

have a great thanksgiving!

My Beautiful Tree

So,

I finally got what I wanted.

A huge Christmas tree

Like 9 1/2 feet tall Christmas tree

It was a lot of work putting it up

Like hours and hours of work

Shaping

Putting lights on it (after a late night trip to walmart to get more)

Like 3000 lights

Standing on a ladder to put the bow on top

Adding lots and lots of ornaments (after another trip to walmart)

Like 118 to be exact

Plus icicle looking ones too

Then walking around and around it to make sure it was just

PERFECT!

And it is

J.U.S.T. P.E.R.F.E.C.T.

So if you are out and about

drive by and look for the big GLOW

and you will see my

huge,

beautiful,

just perfect,

chocolate brown,

sage green,

and gold,

Christmas tree!!!

p.s. the picture doesn't do it justice, so you should really just stop by and look at it in person:)

aLvIn the elf

I saw on one of my friends blogs about Elf on the Shelf. I thought it was a great idea and decided that my kids needed one. So..... I ordered one:)

He arrived last week on Friday and the boys couldn't quite understand it all. I read them the book and they asked lots and lots of questions. They couldn't understand how he could fly, why he couldn't talk to us and how he got here......

They decided to name him Alvin! Braylon came up with the name. So we registered his name and printed out our certificate of ownership and he is ours forever!!

So meet ALVIN!

Isn't he just adorable?

Bronson jumped out of bed Saturday and Sunday at 7 to try and find him. I was so excited to get Alvin but wasn't excited to have Bronson waking me up that early to see if I knew where he was.

Hopefully having Alvin around will help with some of our behavior issues and all!

I am so excited to be starting this new tradition in our family.

I GOT MAIL!

Look what was in my mail today.........

that's right, our passports for our upcoming trip to the Bahama's!

Exactly 3 months from today we will be in Nassau. Everyday I get more and more excited!


Nothing much has been going on with me. I have been really busy with work and trying to get my calendars done for the fam for xmas. I have them all done and ordered! I am leaving tomorrow to go shopping with my aunts, my mom and my cousin. I am super excited. Kansas City better look out b/c us girls are some kind of dangerous!

I also joined weight watchers almost 3 weeks ago. I lost 7.8 lbs in the first two weeks. It has slowed down this last week though. I really enjoy ww and it isn't as hard as I thought it would be. I can definetly tell that I am losing inches b/c my jeans are looser and I can just tell. That makes me excited. I have 18 more lbs to go to be where I want to be for our cruise. So I have 3 months to get it off. We will see!

The boys are really excited to go deer hunting tomorrow. They have BUCK FEVER! I hate that I am going to be gone if they get a big one. Thank goodness for camera phones:)

So hopefully next week I will have lots of pictures to share. I know I have been terrible about posting, but I have super busy. I promise I will do better:)

Have a great weekend everyone!!

Oh and I would like to wish my neice Gabrielle a very Happy Birthday and my cousin Amber a very Happy Birthday too.

Bronson's first deer

This was Bronson's first year to be able to deer hunt. He has been so excited for the last several weeks. I don't understand how come he was so easy to get up to go deer hunting, but when it comes time to get him up for school, it is a chore:)

Jared and Bronson went together and Braxton and I went together.

We heard Bronson shoot once and then we heard nothing. So we figured he must have gotten something. He called me and to hear the excitement in his voice was priceless. He said, "mommy, I killed one!" He shot a doe! When we finally got to see him, his grin was soooo big! and he was sooooo proud. His bubble bursted when I told him that he couldn't shoot anymore for the rest of the weekend b/c they are only able to shoot one deer during youth season. I felt bad that I had to be the one that told him. So then he wasn't to excited to have killed one. He wanted to shoot a BUCK! When we went to get his deer, we found out that it was a button buck and it was bigger than Braxton's first deer. This made up for all the disappointment! He could not quit grinning. He said it was alright if it was a button buck b/c its horns would still grow. Braxton had to explain to him that once they are dead that their horns don't grow anymore. He still thinks they might grow some more. I think he will be a little disappointed when they don't!

After getting it loaded and gutting it, he had to call everyone!!! After we got home he couldn't quit going outside to just "see" his deer.

I am so glad that he got one and that it only took him ONE shot! I think we have another great hunter in our family.

So in a couple of weeks he will be able to go again and he can get a BUCK if his little heart desires:)

Here he is ready to go!
SO, SO, SO proud of his kill!

He kept saying, EWWWW. Braxton told him that he was worse than a little girl:)


After getting him home!

Congrats Bronson! We are so proud of you.

Halloween Parties & More

Halloween brings on some Shaw family traditions. Every year the boys carve lots of pumpkins and then we deliver them to my mom and dad, my two grandma's, jodie york's and we used to take one to jared's grandma and one to our neighbors, but they are all in the nursing home. So here we are cutting, cleaning and carving the pumpkins for everyone. When we deliver them, everyone is super excited to see them.

I couldn't get a good picture of all three of them. In every one of them one of them was "acting" crazy! BOYS!

Every year my babysitter brings all the kids trick or treating around the square and to my office. Here is the group.

AHHH, doesn't this cop look awful cute with his mommy?

Braylon and his partner in crime, Mason.

Ashlyn, Adi and Braylon.

I just LOVE this picture! Can you just see how ornery he is? It is just pouring out:)
I kept fixing his hat, b/c everytime it would fall down, it would make his ear stick out. He could've cared less!

This was Bronson's first year for a class party. And it was my first year of trying to divide my time up between two rooms. That wasn't what I call fun.

Bronson eating an apple. Silly kid.

Braxton's class got to play some games. Braxton's team did pretty good and won most of them.

Bronson the pirate! We lost his headband at school and we looked everywhere for it. The lost and found, Braxton's room, his room, the halls.... nothing! He found it later that night..............in his POCKET!

This was the extent of Braxton dressing up this year. A punk rocker. He thought he was too old, so he just handed out candy this year on Halloween night. It is so sad, he is growing up way too fast.

All in all we had a great Halloween.

bunco

i just love it!

i think we have a great group of girls that play.

you know the loud and thunderous kind

the quiet and meek kind

just a very well rounded group!

i think we need to make sure and re-emphasize that it is a no kids zone though! not that i don't love kids, but all of us girls need a GNO!

excellent food!

new recipes, that we have seem to have forgotten to bring the recipes for the last few times....

great ideas!

good conversations!

the body's best medicine..... LAUGHTER!

i am so glad that we have decided to donate some money to get a present for an adopt a child

and i am also excited for our gift exchange!

so thank you girls for such a fun and exciting last several months of BUNCO!

texting

everywhere you look someone is starring at their phone punching away furiously so they can get that next text sent. whether you are walking down the street, sitting in a restaurant or driving, someone is always texting. if you haven't noticed then the next time you are out and about check it out.

now don't get me wrong and think that i dislike texting, b/c you are wrong. i love texting. but i also have some mixed feelings about it.

i think it is a great handy little tool when you want to just ask someone a quick question or when you are in a meeting and you want to send a text for some reason.

but i think it is bad b/c you quit "talking" to people. it is just like all you are doing is emailing them and not ever "talking" to them. i like to "talk" to people! i think if all you do is text back and forth with someone you miss out on a lot of discussions because you don't want to type that much.

so what is your outlook on "texting"?

friends

do you ever wonder who your true friends are?

i mean when i was growing up my mom would always say " bree, i don't know why you are friends with her, she isn't a very good friend." i would say "whatever, mom like you know!" b/c you know i knew everything and she didn't know anything. i would say about 95% of the time she was right and i was wrong.

i don't understand how she could pick them out and i couldn't. i guess she had been there and done that! plus, she was looking from the outside in.

but now as a parent, i see what she means. i can see who braxton's "real" friends are right now and the ones that are "just' friends.

i have had several friends, best friends, true friends and not so true friends in my 30 years. i am still in contact with some of those friends. we may not talk everyday, or see each other EVER, but we still have that kind of friendship where we could pick up the phone and call California and start talking like we lived right next door. that is a "true" friend to me. i have that "best friend" from back in the days, i have that "best friend" now, i have "friends" that i can call whenever i just want to chat and then i have those "not so true friends" that only talk to me when they need something from me and then there are my "true" friends.......

when i moved to lancaster, i thought i would never make friends. here i was 18 and all the kids my age were going away to college and the older ones already had their "friends", so they didn't need me. but slowly, i started making friends. they may have been the girlfriend or wife of jared's friends, but friends nonetheless. after living here for 12 years i feel i have made several friends, best friends, true friends and not so true friends.

i know i haven't been the best of friend to lots of people but i also know that i have been a great friend to others. i have had friends that we have just grown apart for reasons unknown.

then sometimes i feel like i am the only one giving and not receiving. and i have to think "is that really the kind of friendship i want?"

then somedays i feel like i don't really know who my friends are and then there are days that i feel so blessed to have so many great friends.

so tell me, what is it that you look for in a friendship?

This one is for the girls!

Where does the time go?

'Remember yesterday, dream about tomorrow, But you better live for today.'

How quickly the years pass!

Oh, how true this is!

Stretch the incredibles

Homecoming is on Friday!!! And "STRETCH THE INCREDIBLES" is our theme.

Braxton is now in 5th and 6th grade football. They usually do something for the parade, like throw all the football players in the back of a truck and put a sign on the side of a truck and "wa~lah" they have a float. Well if you know me well enough, you know that that isn't going to fly by me! So we all decided to do a "real" float. We all met at our house last night and worked very hard for 2 1/2 hours! and it is almost done! we have a few finishing touches to do but for the most part it is done. The kids even helped! Can you believe it? We gave them each a box of Kleenexes and said start stuffing! Some did better than others, but the kids did it so that is all that matters. Us parents helped out too.

The kids thought of what they wanted to spray paint on there. We had some other ideas, but this was their float so we did what they wanted! I can't wait to see all of them piled on there on Friday and know that this is the best 5th and 6th grade float yet! I am not biased at all :)

One of the parents made a comment last night that "we are going to have the best floats for the years to come"! I think they are right! We have a great group of kids and parents that are willing to help and not just leave it to a select few. Hopefully this trend will continue! I'm not going to hold my breath though!

One side says "INCREDIBLE RAMS"

An AWESOME goal post made by one of the dad's and his side kicks.
Some hay bales brought by one of the dads.



One side says "HEAD STRONG"

I wanted to put "stretch the midgets", but one of the kids said we don't want to stretch them.... we want them to stay midgets! GOOD POINT:)

The back is going to have a sign on it and all the kids signatures with their numbers!

We also made some signs for the boys to break through when they run out onto the field for their game on Saturday night. Hopefully this will get them pumped up and ready to play some football! Lord knows, they need all the pumping up they can get!

All in all, we had a great time and got a lot done in 2 1/2 hours!

Now........... no rain!!! otherwise we will have some wet tissue:)

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to my man!!! He really is 33 this year:)

Do you guys remember last year when I posted Happy Birthday do him and I said he was 33? Well he really is 33 today!

We don't have much planned today. I think him and the boys are going to go fishing and I am going to run to KV to get some groceries and his bday present. Nothing like waiting till the last minute:) Then we are going to his mom's for fried chicken, mashed tators and the fixings (are you jealous andrea??).

So if you see Jared today give him a big fat kiss or spankin'!

Happy Birthday Babe. I love you more today than I did yesterday, but not as much as I will love you tomorrow!

"Rusty"

Every day that I take Braylon to the babysitter he wants me to call and tell my dad to pick him up in Rusty! What kid would want to be seen in a vehicle like this?? Braylon thinks it is the best thing in the world and can not wait to get in it. This truck that we named Rusty, was my Grandad's. My dad now has the privilege of owning and driving it. I do have to say that "Rusty" is quieter than any truck in town, gets around good for how old it is and can still spin rocks.

I just love that my kids are getting the chance to ride in something that their Great Grandad owned.

Do you have any idea where the name "Rusty" may have came from????