The English Family

My Boys!

2011-05-30T23:22:00.000-07:00

Found this photo...Ry was just a week old.

2011-05-30T23:09:00.000-07:00

Chimichangas....veggie style!

2011-03-03T23:07:00.001-08:00

Veggie (sort of) Chimichangas!

2 Morningstar Chipotle Black Bean Burger patties
6 Flour tortillas
1 cup cooked white rice
shredded Cheddar cheese

I save pretty much EVERYTHING from most dinners. I like to use and reuse to not waste. so my mom bought these bean patties at Costco and sent me home with 4 patties. we tried them hamburger style and we just weren't feelin' it. so the remaining 2 sat in the freezer for a long time! finally i decided that it was time to use them. but we already established the whole not loving the hamburger thing...so i grabbed everything i had left over and made some chimichangas out of them!

defrost the patties and then mash and heat in a skillet. while that is warming up shred your cheese and warm your rice in the microwave. I just had white rice in the fridge , it turned out to be perfect because the patties have ALOT of flavor! once everything is warm turn on your griddle or clean skillet get it pretty warm, warm enough to heat the tortilla with out burning and still sear the chimichanga. after you warm your tortilla ,fill with ( i used those cool cookie scoops, just so i get the same amount every time)2 scoops mashed patties, 2 scoops rice and a sprinkle of cheese. now the rolling seems to be the tricky part for alot of people. here is what works for me...put the filling in the center, tuck the ends in and fold the side of the tortilla closest to you and roll it all over. now spray the skillet or griddle with a little cooking spray and lay the roll seam side down to seal the seam.
And THERE YOU GO!
if you must...put some enchilada sauce on it, but might i suggest....

1/2 cup cream cheese
1-2 Tbsp milk/soy milk
2 Tbsp dried onions
1 Tbsp tomato sauce
salt
pepper

magic bullet this until its a dip consistancy. for those who enjoy the burn a couple red pepper flakes and your good to go! this is a dip not a poor over!

http://www.morningstarfarms.com/products_chipotle-black-bean-burger.aspx

Try This....

2011-03-02T13:44:00.000-08:00

Hawaiian Sloppy Joe's

1 cup crushed pineapple in juice
1 1/2 cup BBQ sauce (I used a savory flavor)
2 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
1 Tbsp Tomato Paste
1 Lb Ground Turkey
1 Pkg Kings Hawaiian Rolls

we have football practice every Tuesday evening right now, so dinner has to be cooking while we "go team go"! So i made this yummy variation to regular sloppy Joe's(which i don't like, regular sloppy Joe's that is). so i browned the meat in a skillet while the other ingredients were warming up in the crock pot ( remember warm in warm / cold in cold) then i dumped the browned turkey into the crock pot ( stir, stir) and off we went!
I sent the hubs to the store on the way home from football to pick up the Hawaiian rolls and BAM. your done!

Just an FYI on all my cooking... i cook with a "Little bit of this...and a little bit of that" so amp up whatever you'd like.

This one got a "no leftovers" rating in my house! (the dog was so bummed)

Go Go Gadget ARMS!

2011-02-13T20:58:00.001-08:00

why is it that the binky is always out of reach in the car?

two..two..two loves in one!

2011-02-13T20:54:00.000-08:00

I have put matthew on notice... i even put my parents on notice. that when the day comes that we no longer buy diapers, ask "do you have to go potty" or have a car full of carseats i will be departing for a dream vacation full of food and ITALY!

http://www.joanneweir.com/tours/index.html

Taxes

2011-01-17T23:32:00.000-08:00

it used to be a sickness, every year around Dec 1 i would start to get a little antsy wondering WHEN oh WHEN would my turbo tax for that year get here so i could start on my taxes!!!The immense joy i felt with the thought of hours on end and HUNDREDS of pieces of paper! Now i find it all quite sickening! I say this as i sit in a house that WAS clean about 4 hours ago and has now been torn apart like the toy section on black Friday! toys stroon about , clothes both clean and dirty on the living room floor. Lets not forget the questionable smell from tonight's dinners dishes still sitting in the sink! through all that i still sit here with a small amount of joy reading about the new deduction and filling out some of the hundreds of forms just waiting in anticipation for all of my 1090's to get here! But on the whole the thrill is gone! i want to sleep, clean or get rid of that awful smell ( whatever it is ) rather than sit here plugging numbers! OH how life changes and your expectations change! my evolved dream of being a power house, work aholic in a high rise apartment driving a Aston Martin are gone. now i sit drooling over the latest minivan and all the perks it will bring to our drives to football practice! Matthew promises that someday he will arrive at our door with my Aston convertible. I believe him. i just don't see how we will get 3 car seats in it, but i am willing to try! So here is to embracing and blooming where you are planted! 30 years on this earth have been good to me so far...in this moment a minivan, dirty house and weird smell will have to be my joy! i will do my taxes when all my little people are off being Presidents , Doctors and Rock stars! yes i am aware of that last one...but if that's what BT wants to be then its just as important to me as being a President. Heck look at Oprah, fame's done her good!

Me?

2011-01-11T22:51:00.000-08:00

If any of you have visited my sisters blog you will see under her list of blogs she follows there is a blog she has called "Ashley's Thoughts". If you were to click on that link it will take you...to... this blog. imagine that! Why you ask am i telling you this and very obviously stating the obvious. well...i have decided that I'm going back, WWWAAAYYY back back to when i had something to say other than No, Stop that or even before "where is that amortization schedule?". Yep I'm going WWAAYY back. If you can believe it there was a life before kids and believe it or not there was a life before accounting! a really different life. One were i LOVED to write. (i know...CRAZY!!) One were i moderately enjoyed the hours of foot pain from standing at the design table knee deep in flowers. One were my one goal in this life was to eat my way through Italy! So the long and the short of this is that from today forward this blog is going OLD SCHOOL! back to me, back to who i am.Back to "My Thoughts".

I feel most of my family having a small come apart right this moment in front of their computers so please let me help you... i will continue to post everything English Children to www.troublehadchildren.blogspot.com so you can see everything there. For those who want to see house progress you can see all things house reno at www.deathtaxesandrealestate.blogspot.com But for those who wish to see this chick get back to basics. stick around!

Using Tokens...

2010-09-08T22:32:00.000-07:00

Does anyone do this? I think i just might try it( modified , because well lets be honest making them pay for TV might just kill ME) .

http://www.vanessachristenson.com/2008/03/so-you-want-to-know-about-token-system.html

Somethings....

2010-08-17T08:57:00.000-07:00

You never forget from your childhood!!!

So what do you do....

2010-08-16T22:03:00.001-07:00

When you swear out load that you wont do something, then something changes your mind?

2010-08-12T21:23:00.000-07:00

What happends when you take ookie to golden spoon!!!

Baby "Ryder" update!!!

2010-08-11T19:19:00.001-07:00

Matthew swears he looks like Luke but seriously i cant see anything!!!

Going Pro

2010-06-29T22:44:00.001-07:00

I forgot to mention, erick and Luke are training to go pro!

p.s this was from A LONG time ago but... well deal with it!

So there is this guy...

2010-06-22T22:10:00.000-07:00

Cute, red head, chubbie,awesome smile, sweet and has a good heart. well it just so happens that its this guys birthday!! I would like to say "i CANT belive this guy is 2" but being super honest...he acts 2 sometimes! but other than having the infection of the 2's this little boy is my hero! I love him with all my heart and hope that he knows how grateful this mama is that he came to my home! so the day started EARLY!!! i usually make the little people stay in bed if they try an hour that comes before the 8 on the clock... it just seems to make the span between morning and nap go a little easier! but this birthday guy was up at 7AM... we got up shortly there after and proceeded to blow up balloons...it was time for the Shea family tradition of out of control decorations. Mama had to run some errands so we all got ready for the day and headed out to big red. brayden asked if he could get the birthday boy a little something from him i agreed and told him that we could take some money from his little bank and off we went.

Dinner for our special dude was apparently a hit...

Then opening presents...

We took a short break from the festivities to play with our new toys...

then on to cake... Cupcakes to be exact!

by this time it was late, way past the boys bedtime and everyone was strugglin! but this little love of mine held up like a champ!

I Love you my ookie poo and i wish for so many more birthdays with you and i am so grateful that Heavenly Father gave you to me.

BTW, thank you to everyone that called today... man i think of all this that was okies favorite part! Love you all!

Provident Living or Just Good ol' Gardening?

2010-06-18T22:03:00.000-07:00

So with this "fixer" of a house comes a awesome sized back yard. We have had a dream from the beginning to have a garden big enough to feed our little family. it has been on the back burner through the winter and while we finished some projects. we decided last week that we would try and work at it little by little! so here is our progress....

It was a pain in the butt, but we all pitched in and did a little. the boys loved it... well because they got to dig in the dirt.

I have to say the hubs really has been a huge help in the last few hot months when this 6 month prego momma isnt dealing with heat very well! he is so awesome he babysits as he works...

so weeks later we are still working on our garden but we have some success...

we have already harvested our first carrots...and well we learned to space seeds better next time!! BT doesn't seem to mind a little strangely formed carrot.

and the newest member to our little garden family... a Santa Rosa Plum.

The end result is that... well we aren't at the end but we have a very good head start!

I should not blog when i am tired... I complain!

2010-06-17T22:03:00.001-07:00

Please forgive my tired nature and excuse my complaints.
My exhaustion comes from a day filled with getting things done and learning things. Learning isn't always easy, most of the time the emotional lessons learned take a bigger tole on the ol' bod!
It started slowly, this learning process , but then took off like a spooked horse or (insert crazy fast analogy here). It was one of those lessons that you have already learned a ba'zillion times but it seems to be the hardest part of your life to in act the fix, ya know what I'm talking about? well i decided that aside from being 6 months pregnant i feel like crap most days in fact everything hurts and well i just don't feel 'good'. so I must do something about it and that this pregnancy was gonna be different. I was gonna stay / get back / head towards in shape, yes i know i am already a shape but its not my favorite shape. so i decide because of our current time issues that the gym just wouldn't work for me, but my oh so fabu MIL gifted the gift of the century for Christmas and so i decided that i would Wii - active and walk to stay / get back / head towards a different shape. so dun dun dun, by legs, butt and knees are killing me! with all that said on to lesson 2 for the day...

some times its important to admit...someone else can do it.
now for those of you that have the awesome fantastic privilege of knowing myself or my dear sweet hubs up close and personal ( which isn't many people) you will know we have a ...
well lets say its a ...
hum...
we are both VERY stubborn , OK!
we didn't think about this "thing" when making other people so now we have 2 amazing little stubborn boys. but also those of you that know the hubs and I know that we pretty much created 'Mini mommy and daddy's' when procreating. there is one little boy in particular that is so much like his dear sweet daddy ( no way that could be my traits) that i have a hard time teaching him ANYTHING and by teaching i mean literally like ABC's , 123's and other scholastic ventures. I figured this out at a early age (yeah i know hes only 4, but believe me you don't gotta burn me twice) so i knew preschool was in our future and that the dear sweet hubs would be teaching the bike riding and such. which the thought never bothered me, until today. we took our little mini hubs to his first "swim lesson" i walked him in to hit the pools and his teach said hello brayden he was very scared and didn't want to even look at said teach. so i walked him over to the steps and he got in, i hurried to the observation room and watched someone teach my baby to swim. i know it seems odd to get all upset but it was the moment of i would like to do that for him and i cant teach my kid!!! I'm a failure as a mother! i cried about it in the child's play area for a second then composted myself with a warm though that mini hubs doesn't need me to teach him to swim he needs me to love him and be his rock be the place that is safe and to be there when he rocks the bubble blowing in the water and high five him when he recovers like a champ from a large suction like mishap when trying to impress me with his bubble blowing skills! so lesson 2 i don't need to teach him to swim, i need to teach him that i love him and that i am his cheerleader and safe place.

I know i know you think no way with the way your day went already can there be another lesson...OH YEAH!

This time it was the dear sweet hub learning it.i was just hearing it for my good as well. ya see my dear sweet hubs has this awesome promise from the Lord that he will be ...well...awesome! and he is...so yesterday after a little snooze button 'malfunction' the DS hubs missed his class. so taking into consideration lesson one ( from above) and convo's we have had. I poked him in his chest and said get up...your going for a run he grumbled then took off, informing me he was going to run towards the fire station down the street so that medical personnel would be close when he killed over! he was gone for a LONG TIME so i texted...
Me - "you k? need medical attention?"
Him - "not yet" he said.
so i put the worry in my back pocket and carried on. turns out he ran 5.5 miles... on the first day back! i thought maybe 2 or even 3 would have been sufficient! so anyway we were talkin as usual about our S.T.U.P.I.D house and he said
Him - ya know i learned something yesterday...
Me - oh yeah what was that?
Him - i need to focus on whats in front of me...
Me - huh?
Him - i realized as i was running that if i looked up the street my body started to ache and i started to get tired but if i looked at the ground right in front of my feet i was fine. i need to focus on the ground in front of me.
Me - *silence*
Me again - wow , i love that! good life lesson.

We went on to talk about all the things in our lives that applies to and how we need to focus on today because our to do list for the future makes you doubt your ability to do it all. ( insert gospel comparison here)

so all that coupled with some to do list cross offs I'm tired and tomorrow starts a new day of one task at a time. oh and the terminex guy is coming...oui i hate bugs!

night!

This is what happens when...

2010-06-07T23:23:00.000-07:00

you put up a baby gate to keep a very determined little boy out.

2010-06-01T13:23:00.000-07:00

we are yielding the vegatables of our labors!
BT loves carrots and finally got to pull one out and eat it today.
I love that these boys will know that thier food comes from hard work
and that they can support thier own friut and vegatable habits!!

Hangin With the Pook's

2010-05-02T22:52:00.000-07:00

So Brayden feel asleep in the car on the way home from dinner at my parents tonight, so he went straight into his bed.so Matthew and I got to spend a little quality time with our pookies...which never happends. It was so nice to talk to him and to see him enjoy the "only child" time too.

He definatly gave his daddy a run for his money...

We love you ookies...

(yes matthew and i are fully aware of our inability to smile normally!)

Oui!

2010-03-23T22:10:00.000-07:00

I have no words for this...but this isnt the only childs play structure that this dog loves! he LOVES the trampoline! the only problem with both is that he cant get up alone so he comes to me (where ever i am) and wags his tail and scratch at my feet until i put him either on the trampoline or on the play set.

2010-02-08T10:32:00.000-08:00

I really love this quote, I think some times we get so caught in the current of things in our head that we forget to sometimes release those things that maybe can be resolved by saying them out loud. That is not to say that everything must be said, but sometimes a audible emotion sometimes relieves our mind of the trouble of dealing with it alone.

"Saying things out loud, even if only to yourself, changes how you think and feel about whatever it is you choose to say. On the first day someone speaks the truth about something everyone else has been too afraid to say, or admit to themselves, the world changes forever. Telling someone you love them for the first time, or that they've hurt your feelings, or a thousand other scary things can take more courage than any amount of action."

This is so cute!

2010-01-13T21:12:00.000-08:00

Miss. sent this to me...i totally get the note!

Cute Dog Story...

An older, tired-looking dog wandered into my yard. I could tell from his collar and well-fed belly that he had a home and was well taken care of.
He calmly came over to me, I gave him a few pats on his head; he then followed me into my house, slowly walked down the hall, curled up in the corner and fell asleep.

An hour later, he went to the door, and I let him out..
The next day he was back, greeted me in my yard, walked inside and resumed his spot in the hall and again slept for about an hour.This continued off and on for several weeks.

Curious I pinned a note to his collar: 'I would like to find out who the owner of this wonderful sweet dog is and ask if you are aware that almost every afternoon your dog comes to my house for a nap.'
The next day he arrived for his nap, with a different note pinned to his collar:
'He lives in a home with 6 children, 2 under the age of 3 - he's trying to catch up on his sleep. Can I come with him tomorrow?'

Welcome 2010!!!

2010-01-06T15:18:00.001-08:00

Thanks 2009 for all the ups and downs, I’m grateful for the lessons learned and the awesome joys! Here is to a year of personal healing, Change, Improvement and Forgiveness. 2010 is going be great!

My Name is... Fred!

2010-01-03T23:08:00.000-08:00

3rd Ward had a primary pizza party Saturday...kind of a getting to know you for the new teachers and the new kids i think. so i stayed mostly because well in nursery last week the nursery people didnt know who luke belonged to and held him crying in the hall until matthew happend to hear him...so naturally i was a little apprehensive about just dropping BT off! anyway... so they had all the sunbeams in the sunbeam room introducing themselves. so the sunbeam teacher threw the ball to BT and said Brayden can you tell us your name... he looked at the ball for a minute and she asked him again... Can you tell us your name? then said does everyone know Brayden?? he finally looked up at her like... seriously lady... and said... my name is... FRED! she looked at him and looked at me like um ok! laughed and said your funny brayden. he threw the ball back at her like...DONT FORGET IT!

Smart-alic!

PreSchool Genuis!

2010-01-03T22:17:00.000-08:00

BT goes to 3 days at Preschool this week! I am a little sad , but Ms. Betty says that he does so well that he would really benefit from working with the 4 year olds!! GO BT!!! he's a smarty!!!

Updated the Kids Blog!

2010-01-03T22:15:00.001-08:00

Finally i have posted some new pic's on the kids blog! if you want to view send me your email.

This is kinda cool!

2009-12-25T22:00:00.001-08:00

OK Robers this is pretty cool, i stole this from a friends blog!

Lesson for the day...

2009-12-09T21:58:00.001-08:00

Dont try and fix anyone! For now i am working on me!

Drama free today.

2009-12-09T00:24:00.000-08:00

So I have decided it's back to basics for me. For a lot of reasons but
mostly because I have to. It's survival mode for me at this point. I
need sanity around me because I am so not sane! Life with a 1 & 3 year
old is amazingly hard for me and takes my every emotion. Not to
mention a house under construction, working and everything that comes
with being a CEO/CFO of a major operation like a household!!!
This has been a long time coming this revolution to the basic. I'm glad
it's finally here.
Each day I will make an effort work on something...today. Limit those
who maintain and breed drama.
Today so far so good!!!

Facebook | Ashley Shea English

2009-12-06T21:04:00.000-08:00

"its a funny thing about last straws...sometimes they are hurtful and sometimes they are liberating...but most times the life after that last straw brakes is simple! this is me going back to the simple life!"

Not Going Private...Just gonna Move!

2009-12-06T20:04:00.000-08:00

I have a issue...i really really dont like private blogs but i really really dont want strange people lookin at my cuties! so i have in the past months really cut back on my posts because i have this delima!
Here is my solution. I am going ot maintain my blog and post crazy amounts of pictures of my cuties on a private blog.

www.troublehadchildren.blogspot.com

this one is private so if you want in let me know!

Happy Blogging!!

Halloween 2009

2009-11-01T21:19:00.000-08:00

So in the name of tradition we headed over to Lombardi Ranch to check out the festivities and get a couple pumpkins. We told the boys that we needed to pick out 2 pumpkins, one to make their pumpkin dinner in and one to make a creepy one. Though this is a cute picture, this was not their selection.... These were their picks...

So once we got our pumpkins home we set up our pumpkin carving "station"! The boys loved it, all except the gutting of the pumpkin.

So we thought it would be great to do a family Halloween theme!

Shout out to Gramma Missy for the costumes...
I am sorry to say i kind a messed up and didn't take any good Trick or Treating Pics of the munchkins...here is what i have!

Pookie made out like a bandit because everyone thought he was so cute... so he always got a second run at the candy bucket. by nights end we had him saying something that very much resembled "trick or treat". We went Trick or Treating with the Cunningham's, which was so fun

It was a great day. we really enjoyed each other and had a ball!

BT's Preschool "Play"!

2009-11-01T20:30:00.000-08:00

For learning these songs that day i think he did pretty good!!! Plus check out the bow!!! who taught him that?

p.s sorry about the shakey i was trying to clap and this video is just from my little camera!

Miramar Airshow

2009-10-03T21:13:00.000-07:00

Check out these hot fella's!

BT is ready for the blue angels! we got to the airshow just in time.

BT being strapped in to the new huey!! Let me just tell you Brayden loved it but i must confess matthew and I saw this new huey flying on our trip to SD a couple weeks ago and we were uber -impressed!

So the boys (of course) went a hunting for "the" 53! FOUND IT! funny thing is that it was from his last squadrun. so... we took a picture! for a split second...we missed it!

Washer / Dryer

2009-08-05T21:24:00.000-07:00

Ok I have to sell my brand new washer an dryer ! They were used for
maybe 6 months. Please pass this along to all you know. Call / email
with questions.

I can't get him off the couch

2009-07-20T10:58:00.000-07:00

Email from Matthew while I was at work!

Happy Birthday ...My Little Monkey!

2009-07-13T22:15:00.000-07:00

Yes it is Braydens 3rd Birthday! i think i might still be in denial about the fact that he is 3 years old! 3 years i cant believe it... man have they been a hoot! this little guy is all that we paid for and more! He defiantly gives us a run for our money! FOR SURE!

But i cant imagine our house without this goof! he is a blessing in so many ways ...mostly in the way of a lesson in patients for mommy and daddy! ; 0 )

there are days when life is kinda rough, the minute he senses a sour note in the day he is singing , dancing or offering a hug and a kiss to mend the day. i cant wait to see what our family will be with this little guy.

BT I love you! Each day more and more and pray every night in gratitude for you. you are a awesome kid with awesome tasks in this life... be who you are...and most important... BE GOOD!

we love you baby boy!

Follow the house hunt! let me share the PAIN!

2009-07-07T23:26:00.001-07:00

http://deathtaxesandrealestate.blogspot.com/

Helping with the pancakes!

2009-06-25T20:16:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday my little Luke !!!

2009-06-22T21:32:00.000-07:00

My baby is 1 today!! I am so excited to have this baby in our family.
He is my little love, but with that love comes the ability to shoot
lasers from his eyes!!! This pic is how most see my sweety! Check out
the look he's giving my poor mom!

But to me he is this baby....

I Love you Luke Mason. I am so grateful every day that you were sent to me. You have a important job here lukes and i know your kind spirit will be what people in this world need. you make me smile all day long. I am so looking forward to the eternities with you , your daddy and I Love you so much and will always.

You are loved Luke Mason!

(a little bit of trivia... when we were batting around names for this little guy we were having the hardest time with his middle name...one day i was watching a tv show were a mother and son were being interviewd. the man was serving in the army as a captian? i believe. he was on the show via satelite from Iraq. when the program ended the host asked his mother if there was anything she wanted to say to her son...she looked at his face on the screen in the studio and put her hands together and said..."Mason, you are loved!" i knew that was the name for my luke! after that he shrugged his shoulders and said, "i know mom!" i hope forever this little baby of mine will know that he is loved. not just by me , but by his grandparents, his aunt and uncles. )

Going Private - NEED EMAILS!

2009-06-19T00:05:00.000-07:00

OK guys it official... we HAVE to go private!

(for non bloggers this means only people with approved access can read the blog)

I have been toying with the idea and as much as I love to blog stalk (look at others blogs) and love to be blog stalked (questionable phraseology i know?!) I just cant keep posting pics of my babies with some of the weird crap happening. Its just WAY to scary. I know some of the family relies heavily on this blog to keep up to date with us and i wouldn't want to compromise that by not posting pics of the 2 cutest kid EVER!

I will keep it public for about a month so send me your email addresses so that i can put you in!!!

yeah i know its gross...

2009-06-17T21:25:00.000-07:00

but seriously dinner is like this every night with ookies!

(this started out tuna casserol, believe it or not he ate a lot)

i couldnt help myself....

2009-06-17T21:21:00.000-07:00

I am sure my family will find this funny... looks shea's its DJ shook 'da house!

Change...

2009-06-14T23:42:00.001-07:00

Isn't there something magical about change. isn't it amazing that who you are today do sent have to be who you are tomorrow. How awesome the motivation is in change, i can see a very clear 'push' i will say from the Heavens when change is necessary to thrive. I am sure there are very clear dare i say destinations for certain people. though as a belief i do not believe in being predestine i think there are some people that the Lord puts in place to enact change. growing up i wanted so badly to be the one called to enact change. and by change i mean build orphanages and take in homeless unloved children. my dream at large is a rehab center ( not drug related) , i truly believe that sometimes people need a small path in front of them cleared so that they can see the the path in the distance. but today i feel no change made by these hands, no life altered no larger calling fulfilled. at some point in my life the wild call of the business jungle caught my ear and since has held me captive. I have learned to feel 'change' by the well worn tips of a tall # 2 pencil or a sufficiently confused excel spreadsheet. this life has sufficiently taken my time and i must say all of my talents for to long. there is often a battle of wills at evenings end that brings a laundry basket to riot against a laptop equipped with the latest technology to zoom me directly into a computer that it self should be sleeping for the evening.Neither win..there is no victory int he end, both suffer but none the victor.

How to clean an 11 month old!

2009-06-02T22:47:00.001-07:00

Yes it is what it looks like! That is uncle mike and matthew hosing
off a child! Gamma missy granted a cupcake to our big lukes and well
we had no choice! What can I say luke loves his food!

2009-06-02T22:46:00.001-07:00

Classic!!

2009-06-02T22:34:00.002-07:00

Never to young for chores, right?

2009-06-02T22:34:00.001-07:00

Who says you need pants to battle!

2009-06-02T22:33:00.001-07:00

Trouble !

2009-06-02T22:32:00.001-07:00

So mom went to take care of a very broken Megan for a week and left
dad and gav alone...well on a short stop on our way home from a yummy
BBQ at the in-laws all the boys managed to spend and hour 'smoking
out' a gopher! Now as much as I think this was insanely stupid it was
entertaining!

The Zoo!

2009-06-02T22:27:00.000-07:00

So matthew had to work Friday and well I am tierd of being in my
lovely dwelling so we took off and went to the zoo. Were only there
for about an hour and a half but we had alot of fun. The weather was
perfect for a day outside , but not for the hair!
So gamma Missy gave us a animal book / magazine subscription and it's
awesome. We took it and looked for all the animals in the book.
So thank again gamma miss!

P.S check out those ears!!!

Bud Light® Real Men of Genius • Mr Rolling Cooler Cooler Roller

2009-05-30T22:30:00.000-07:00

Can anyone say...Matthew!!! We have all seen his lunch box, right?

Love you babe!

> Check out this video on YouTube:

> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9I7Dy1xlTTM
>

16 months, 2 days...

2009-05-13T23:09:00.000-07:00

The quest to find a home has become much more than a search for shelter. This search has become another growing experience. i feel ripe with those opportunities these days. I wouldn't want to call them trails they aren't that important. they are much like a small tropical storm that festers then dies just off the horizon. defiantly something to dedicate some attention but not important enough to call in the guard.

I wish sometimes that there were clearer answers or instructions on how to deal with these 'growing experiences'. My nerves are frayed my temper is hot and i wish for a due over on most interactions with other humans. The master with a hammer and chisel feels like a permanent life lesson.

What to learn from this life of constant thorns and thistles? Not sure yet, but there is something new everyday. Today i think that the lesson is clear...Turn Inward.

with the onset of winter penguins gather their flock/family and all face inward with their backs to the cold , sleet and snow. this 'huttle' gives them a fighting chance to survive the storms of winter. We need a 'huttle'. we must turn our backs to the adversary and turn our bright shining faces inward so that as a family we can weather this storm. truthfully because the only way to survive it is together. which means... DONT YELL AT EACH OTHER!

No better Reason ...

2009-05-04T22:32:00.000-07:00

To brush off the Blogger dust then to tell my sweetheart...Happy Birthday!
It was not a true 'shea' birthday today i must confess. though the boys and I put up streamers and a cheesy Happy Birthday sign there wasn't the hoopla of it all this year. I'm sorry babe!
But all the hoopla aside, your the love of my life! I love you i hope that you know that on this day!

p.s now that i am a mom i must ...MUST give credit where credit is due on 'labor' days like these. Thank you missy for bringing this wonderful man into this world, i cant imagine my life with out him and i know you feel the same. He has been and will always be my 'bestest' friend.

To an eternity of birthdays my best friend, I Love you!

Your wife.

Jamba Juice

2009-04-25T22:24:00.001-07:00

Friday morning we walked up to jamba juice. It's a special treat for
matthew. Luke and BT and I share a Jamba, it's amazing how the time
fly's. It became very apparent that we will need to get ookie his own.

He's happy...

2009-04-10T00:33:00.000-07:00

> Even when he's sick!

Thanks!

2009-04-08T22:07:00.000-07:00

Shout out to Megan.... um the bling has landed that I LOVE them...

I cant believe i lost a bling the first day though...DANG ZOO!

Put me down for more bling when you have time!

Love you!!!

Blog Failure...

2009-04-08T20:48:00.000-07:00

I think that i will echo kara's statement about my blogging abilities!!!

But in that same vain i will say " You can do it"!!! for the life of me i can not figure out what movie that is from, i totally hear it in my head... ooohhhh 50 first dates??? Someone help me?

anyway TANGENT! so though i am a bad blogger, i cant do it. Blogging will prevail!

so falling off the blogging wagon is not for lack of things to say or events in life, quiet literally the exact opposite. life has taken over. Many nights i have cracked the hinge of this trusty laptop in perfect intention to write a story, sing a song or just complain. but as the mommy tale goes it seems life interrupts each time i begin to 'feel the blog'. ' We have run the spectrum of issues and upsets in this house. currently we are battling croup. Yep, Croup! Before that we had it out with a bout of the sniffles and snots. Before that it was a battle of the barf and the ...well! As you can see we win the award for most illnesses in the course of a month! as i accept this award i would like to thank the academy, the mothers who bring sick kids to nursery and oh i cant forget all those people that leave their house with their disease before their fever is gone!!! I don't know what my life would be like without you all! WAIT...yes i do!!! GOOD! but alas nothing to be done.

So this last and current illness strike sent Lukie to the ER. Bless my wonderful hubby's heart. last night after a full day/night of work he came home and took our 9 month old to the ER at 3AM. He was in the house just long enough to change his clothes , give him a blessing and scoop up our little wheezer! This poor little boy is defiantly a 'shea'. mom says we spent many a night with our heads in a steamy shower. which is exactly what i did with lukie for most of the night last night! So being sick myself...inhaler/ cough medicine dependent for DAYS it made me feel better but wasn't seeming to help the little dude. so i sent a few frantic texts to Matthew and my mom of our impending trip to the ER and sat and cried. Isn't it awful when you cant do anything? i tried everything in my power to make this little guy comfortable and everything i did failed. i began to drive myself batty after a while, thinking of the worst case scenario and praying so hard i am sure Heavenly Father was like...UM OK ALREADY! So 5 am rolled around and with 2 hours of sleep under my belt i sprung up when i heard the garage door open. i ran to the living room to find a very tired hubby and a very shaky lukie ,they gave him 2 breathing treatments and some steroids. if you have ever had to use an inhaler or had a breathing treatment it totally makes you shake like you are having withdrawals. So we tucked everyone back in bed and was up again at 7!

He is much better today, still very sick, but better. Matthew said he knew he was really sick when he wouldn't flirt with the girl at the ER. and for those of you that know ookie you will know that he will smile at anyone (you cant hold him , but he will sure smile and wave at ya). He is sleeping and breathing clear for now, we pray it lasts through the night!

-thanks mom for coming and letting me sleep. I REALLY needed it!

I am sure we will be on round 2 of Croup with Brayden shortly. So don't expect to see us out and about for another week or so!

just because i need too... um hey Matthew what was the doctors instruction about the humidifier??? huh, huh??? Yeah i am not co-dependent on the humidifier, thank you very much!

Oh, went to target to fill lukes RX and BT asked if he could get some sunglasses...really is that what you are thinking about at 3?? that you need sunglasses? he is so his daddy! so we head over to the sunglasses and please dont think i am over exagurating when i say we tried ALL of them on. he finally decided on the transformer ones but mommy couldnt do it...they where stupid looking. so i talked him into the hot wheels ones...

How to entertain...

2009-03-25T23:54:00.000-07:00

a VERY awake 9 month old at 1130pm!

Never say never...

2009-03-25T23:38:00.000-07:00

Yes he has no pants on!

Thank You Nate!

2009-03-25T23:27:00.000-07:00

We came home with a little something extra from the Gardners house today!!!Thank you Nate for giving Brayden this Awesome scooter!

I was afraid it would go the way of the bikes but he hopped on this thing and took off. i finally had to take it away when it became clear that the fear had left him... i was having flashes of emergency room in my head!

2009-03-17T11:14:00.000-07:00

Happy St. Patricks Day to all!!!!!!!

Love webcams!!!

2009-03-07T18:04:00.000-08:00

all he needs ...

2009-03-04T21:02:00.000-08:00

is some zinc on the nose, a lawn chair and a beach umbrella!

(thanks a.megan & u.erick for the shirt from hawaii, it was really purchased for BT but hey!)

this is what happens...

2009-03-04T20:59:00.000-08:00

when you crawl...you get into some strange places!

"fun day"

2009-03-04T20:56:00.000-08:00

ok so for those of you who don't know, i have 'boys'! and when i say 'boys' i am not referring to just their anatomy. they are ruff, love cars trucks tractors etc. everything destructive you can imagine they both love. now i NEVER have let Matthew take BT in his truck cause its a single cab and well it just scares me. everyday of this little mans life that he has been able to speak he has talked about daddy's truck. he wants to touch it , go in it. fix it. whatever he can do that is related to that ...hhhuuummm... 'lovely' truck. so i said to Matthew...( teeth clenched) will you take BT in your truck. i am not sure who's eyes where bigger Matthew's or BT's... Matthew loaded up the car seat and off they went to do boy things... ( as you can see there is a tractor out BT's window) .

If you ask BT today did you go in daddy's truck be prepared to hear ALL about his....'fun day'.

what a trade off...

2009-03-04T20:47:00.000-08:00

He plays Wii and i fold a bed full of laundry??? not sure how that ended up fair?

If the glove dosent fit....

2009-03-04T20:41:00.000-08:00

You MUST acquit!!!

Seriously....

2009-03-04T20:39:00.000-08:00

How could i NOT blog this????

So Awesome!

2009-03-03T23:32:00.001-08:00

Oh Boy it feels good...

2009-03-02T16:28:00.000-08:00

what a glorious feeling to say hello to our tax return and than even greater feeling to say goodbye to loan balances!!!!

" Its all a bit of sillyness really..."

2009-02-27T21:08:00.000-08:00

I'm stuffed...like a pig i say. but i think i will have a bowl of ice cream. why, why...for the love of the "baby weight" diet...why? well because i am 28 years old and i ...well cause i can!

We took Matt's mom out to dinner tonight to celebrate her 25th birthday! we went to new moon , i believe Matthew and i pray daily for a reason to go. Once we arrive at this heavenly place we gorge ourselves until we are delusional.

before the heavenly feast began i went to visit my stuff... well even before that i visited my favorite friend(sorry i couldn't be of more help) after visiting my favorite friend i begged Matthew to please take me to my things!

now for those of you who don't know we are moving! in 3 months from last February we will be in a house! ok so for those that don't get my sarcasm ...we moved out of the house we were renting in to an apartment and decided that we would buy! we weren't really ready to buy at that moment but the situation was ...well it was what it was. so we looked and looked and well you get the point. Now here is February /march and i still wake up in the AM and look at realtor.com just in case the house for little ol' me is listed for a buck fifty and no one in the world can bid but...ME!

anyway i digress...we never unpacked! still today we have not unpacked...because it could happen tomorrow! ;) so we rented a storage unit to store all things boxes and Tupperware! I miss my things... i needed something from that place that holds things so i asked Matthew to ..."take me to my things"... as we walked in to the building i began to get excited!! My things, i haven't seen them in so long!!! i kept telling BT... "Bt we are going to see mommies things"! He smiled and said..."yeah, mommies things".

Matthew rolled the door up and i heard angels! I want to stay here with my things i said. so as i looked for the "thing" i needed Matthew put Chubs and BT in our little red wagon and rolled them around the storage unit. in between laughs, giggles and screeches i coveted my own belongings. "oh to use this thing again"! i found my thing and decided to re stack the storage unit( Matthew loaded it all on his own, what a great husband...yikes!!) I cracked open the last few boxes and in the last box... GASP... MY KNITTING!!! oh i must take this, i can not live with out it!
so we packed up what i couldn't live with out for another minute and set off. sad and forlorn, good by things til we meet again!

...let me sum up!

1. I want my things back.
2. Brayden greeted gramma Missy by showing her all his "things" in his room!
3. I HAVE MY KNITTING BACK!!
4. Watch out world...I'm a knittin' fool!

Thank you and....Good night!

Simple but so true!

2009-02-26T22:21:00.000-08:00

"Be kind, everyone is fighting the battle" - John Bytheway

"I sorry momma"....

2009-02-17T22:57:00.001-08:00

So BT was running around pushing his truck at mock speeds when he ran this frog over. it slowed him down a bit so he took the time to pick it up to move it... he looked at it cocked his head to the side and ran over to me. he stood in front of me eyebrows furrowed and said in the angriest voice he could find in that little body and said "brayden did it" very matter of fact , very own discipline sort of way. i tried to explain that Harley had munched it to pieces earlier but he wasn't buying it. he was sure he broke it. i finally said, its ok babe it was an accident so he walked away. moments later he came back to me with the frog in one hand and a superman band aid in the other. "i sorry momma, momma fix it?" my heart melted. so i took the band aid out and patched up the eye. "all better" he said and left me with the frog!

Thanks aunt Megan for the cookies!!!!

2009-02-17T22:51:00.001-08:00

Mom and Dad

2009-02-17T22:49:00.001-08:00

Me and Gav

2009-02-17T22:48:00.000-08:00

I love this guy.....

2009-02-17T19:25:00.000-08:00

Battles won and lost...

2009-02-17T00:21:00.000-08:00

He fought the good fight today, and as my dad would say he didn't win any today...at least he fought!

BT was a mess today. every time i looked he was stubin' a toe, wackin' his head or the doozie for the night...a split chin!

I always imagined that his split chin ( cause you know we all have one from something) would be from something very ' matthew'esk'. but unfortunately for him he doesn't get a great story with what will be the battle wound of childhood. i cant remember what mine is from but its there.

ya know as i type this lament for the lack of story i realize that BT is Matthew's son and this probably wont be his only split chin... PRAY FOR ME!

Falling Asleep standing up Cont....

2009-02-13T15:06:00.000-08:00

ok so i scooted matthew off to work this morning around 11 then quickly fallowed that scoot by a high five in the rain hand off of BT to my mom and dad. So with pooky in tow i head down the hill to Sams to get a few 'small' things. I pulled in the parking lot just in time for it to begin raining bullets. i sat and thought better of dragging the poor boy through the rain into the cold sams. so i headed home. Just me and pooks. we came into the quiet house ( i mean without the dog yelping like a wounded cat) so i stand in a semi-clean house wondering what to do. its one of those moments where there is so much you want to do you don't know where to start...

as the angels began to sing i thought of my post from last night... ba'ngo! i will read a book. so i ran in and looked at all my books that i have 'purchase with the intent'.

ooohhh, i started to do the pee pee dance... I CANT CHOOSE! i gab the last purchase ( last in first out right?)

I ran back to the couch... with pooky on the floor play nicely i cracked the binding... forget the preface... chapter 1... YEAH i'm reading a book! read, read, read, read... YEAH i'm reading a book...read, read,read,...yeah im reading a book....read, read, YEAH i'm reading a book...read, YEAH still reading this book. but now i am thinking more of how awesome it is that i am reading this book then ACTUALLY reading the book. Forget it. at least i tried!

Fall Asleep Standing Up....

2009-02-12T20:19:00.000-08:00

ok so i have decided that i will create a database in access that will randomly select meals for the week. yeah ok so it sounds like a great plan right... wrong..i know nothing about access and well i don't even know if access does that sort of thing but i am going to try...well wait i have one more problem... i got a book from my techy mother but... i cant stay awake long enough to read it. is it me? i read on all these blogs about women who read book after book and i cant stay awake long enough to read most intro's. I used to burn through a good John Gresham in a day ( ok well yes Matthew was overseas and i was living with my parents and i was unemployed, childless and young but it shouldn't matter ,right?) my point is i LOVE to read. am i just old? cause seriously...not 30 YET!!! eeww it totally just hit me that i will be 30 soon....OH i need to lye down.

This Guy...

2009-02-05T21:32:00.000-08:00

'laxes on the couch better than anyone i know!

Wanna laugh....

2009-02-05T21:20:00.001-08:00

He's your man!

He can be...

2009-02-05T21:20:00.000-08:00

the sweetest boy, with the biggest heart and a caring soul...all trapped in a 2 year olds body. someday we will get our sweet boy back...but for now these are the moments i cherish.

Could they be...

2009-02-05T21:16:00.000-08:00

1. Anymore different.
2. Any cuter.
3. Anymore 'BOY'
4.....The best kids?!? today...YUP!

I never want anyone to doubt...

2009-02-05T21:03:00.000-08:00

THAT HARLEY LIVES THE GOOD LIFE!

I'm having a greys anatomy moment...

2009-02-02T16:18:00.000-08:00

.... Ya know when its been really LONG and HORRIBLE day they dance in the livingroom?!
well its been a HORRIBLE day. so Me, BT , Luke and Harley decided that the link below was the answer.

Now please push your chairback, hit the link and D.A.N.C.E. and if you got a webcam... lets post it. cause some times.... ya just need to D.A.N.C.E!

believe me it helped!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M65zI9LH-as

I think...

2009-01-28T22:19:00.000-08:00

I think i will say goodnight....goodnight to a day filled with sniffles, soar throat , fever and a not so there cough. I wish that we could not be sick so often here . It gets to be terribly painful the constant round of illness. I will also say goodnight to a few hours - enough- of 2 year old tantrums and drama. I have seen and heard enough for the day. I will say goodnight to a tired body and the last few sleepless nights. I will say goodnight to wishing we weren't in this place and feeling terrible that BT's room doesn't feel like home. I will say good night to the guilt of lying to my baby about where his dear Bink's really went. I will say goodnight to missing my hubby. I will say goodnight to all of the laundry and the dishes and the work worry.
I will leave it all here in blog land for tonight.
As for me and for tonight i will take my cough medicine ('tusin cures EVERYTHING much like Windex) and i will crank up my heater and i hope and pray that the Lord answers prayers tonight and lets me sleep. Because the day starts again tomorrow.

p.s. thanks mom for taking BT today. It was nice to clear my head.( figuratively of course because i still cant breath through my nose.) I Love You.

All in a days work...

2009-01-19T23:33:00.000-08:00

3 hours of work.... Check!
5 Loads of Laundry (still not all done)...Check!
Realize that BT going to pre-school in the fall isn't OK...Check!
Clean House... Check!
Pee Pee in a bush, successfully...Check!
(before you call the cops, we have been potty training BT and mommy's fun way of making sure there are no accidents on outings is the privilege of Pee Pee'ing in the bushes. it has never been successful until today.remind me to tell you the zoo story! its a mamma's doozie!)
Jog 1 mile, walk 1 mile...Check!
Walk Dog...Check!
Have a asthma attack...Check!
Make dinner...Check!
Clean up dinner...Check!
Bath time...Check!
Reading time...Check!
Bedtime...Check!
Hold crying baby..Check!
Balance Checkbook...Check!
Hold Crying Baby...Check!
Give in and look at houses in P-dale.YUCK...check.
Hold Crying Baby...Check!
Realize that demi moore and ashton kutcher are kinda idiots...Check!
Hope Obama lives up to the hipe and the credit they give him...???
Hold Crying Baby...Check!
Watch Gossip Girl (at suggestion of a friend)...Check!
Hold Crying Baby...Check!
Get a frantic email from a client and handle it...Check!
Hold Crying Baby...Check!
Update all social Networking and Blog Sites...Check!
Hold Crying Baby...Check!

Note to self...

2009-01-14T22:02:00.002-08:00

Don't be overzealous and take the Binky away without a plan!!!

P.S. - Never and I mean NEVER serve cool-aid in this house AGAIN!

Did you know...

2009-01-14T22:02:00.001-08:00

you could buy caskets at costco?? is that only wierd to me?

Credit Due...

2009-01-14T00:29:00.001-08:00

So I must give credit where credit is requested...I mean due!!!

So the pic above was taken in my "home"(san diego) we went to see my
grandmother in the hospital then we strong armed my dad into going to
the beach.
Gav and I have the same passion for the beach, his more a get in the
water kind and mine more of a pretty from afar passion.either way we
love the photog'ness at the beach. He had my moms camera and I saw a
shot I wanted so with my eye and his talent viola! So because credit
is due... You are a photog ubertalent my little bro!!

Danger...

2009-01-14T00:20:00.001-08:00

> Will Robinson!!!!
>

Oh, no words...just so cute!

2009-01-11T21:05:00.000-08:00

Look at how cute he is... isnt his hair so cute. He is SO his mommy.

Brayden just figured out...

2009-01-10T16:27:00.001-08:00

that life before Brayden and Luke yielded a beagle that could entertain.

Does this happen at anyone else's house?

2009-01-07T21:46:00.001-08:00

Every time the vacuum comes out everyone ( except daddy) runs for
shelter. Seriously even when it was just Harley James he was afraid of
the vacuum. SO WEIRD!

2009-01-07T21:40:00.001-08:00

So while matthew was off for Christmas and while kara was in town the
boys got the quads out at Gr. & Gr. Shea's and took BT out. Well he
is his daddy's son DEFINATLY. So the other night BT decided that he
would give pooky a quad ride too.

2009-01-07T21:35:00.000-08:00

BT's best impersonation of grampa mark, well minus the binkie. We took
grampa marks away along time ago! Love you dad!!!!

Is it wrong...

2009-01-07T21:33:00.001-08:00

That I am moving "Priviledged" up to the top of my must watch list?