Dinner

I realized during Thanksgiving when Shari let the kids help her measure flour and sugar and what not, that Axton is old enough to help some with Dinner. So when we got home we broke out the ice cream maker we got for Christmas (yeah we opened it early, thanks Don and Shari!) and Axton helped Greg a little with that.




So while Greg was mixing the ice cream outside in the cold I brought Axton in the help season the french bread for dinner.




He sure made a mess with the spices but it was fun. He's now my little helper with french bread every time. I look forward to involving him in more dinner preparations and doing fun food items with him.

Park

I'm so glad that I live so close to family and that we are able to trade off babysitting when we have dr appointments, errands, etc. that have to be done without munchkins.

On one such occassion I dropped Axton off with Kim for an hour or two. She also had Daniela and so she decided to be brave and take them all to the park by her house. She's such a great and fun aunt. Axton is so lucky to have her, and me too!






Thanks Kim for pictures and memories. You're amazing.

Thanksgiving

We went to San Diego at the last minute, like usual, for Thanksgiving. Also, like usual, I didn't take any pictures so thankfully I have an amazing sister-in-law that we can count on.

We didn't do a whole lot other than hangout. We went to the Wild Animal Park, but we were all slackers and didnt' bring cameras. So the only thing we have pictures of are the kiddos playing on the stairs.

Shari put down some blankets and pillows to show Axton how to run and jump on them. The ever fearless man understood it right away. When Brooklynn was around they showed her too. She is definitely more cautious than Axton but they had a blast together.

Axton jumping and tackling Brooklynn



Ready, get set, go....




It was so much fun to watch them, and now I am really grateful that we have no stairs in our house!

Little buddies chillin' together.

Actual Halloween

One of the many great things about living by so many relatives is that you always have someone to go Trick or Treating with. I love seeing them all together and all of the costumes were too cute.

J.J. and Brooklynn as bees, Vanessa and Daniela as super women, Talia as a giraffe, and Axton as a St. Bernard.

Axton's first house.



Axton trying to figure out if he was allowed to get candy or not.


So many to choose...


The only picture of me, but I was there!! Gotta love the orange for halloween. I had scratched my cornea sometime during the night and so for Halloween I was walking around in sunglasses and avoiding camera flashes, and any other light source, at all cost.



It was a fun night with the cousins. Can't wait for next year. Hopefully I won't scratch my eye again and I will be able to enjoy it more next time.

Trunk or Treat

I was a procrastinator in getting Axton a costume. I just never saw any that jumped out at me. So the day before our ward halloween party, which was the day before halloween, I decided it was time to go looking and new my options would be slim. The only costume I even slightly liked was the St Bernard, but I knew it was going to be close. It was a 2T but Axton was beyond the measurements given so I made Axton put it on in the store to see if it was even a possibility. Boy was it tight but it had to do.

He wasn't very happy about having to put on his costume.


We had a chili dinner before we did trunk or treat. Needless to say all of the kids were getting pretty wild. Here's Axton locked behind a gate like a good doggie!


Definitely too small, he had a permanent wedgy, and the sleeves were almost at his elbow. The only thing that saved us were the shoe straps to help pull it down so it wasn't high water too! Next year I'll be more prepared.


Bag open and ready to hit all the cars!


He got a pretty good amount of candy for a 2 year old. but of course we helped him eat it, especially the full size candy bars some people were handing out!

Getting caught up... the story of my life

I don't even know how far behind I am but I'm pretty sure I haven't done from Halloween on. So these posts will hopefully get me caught up.

The week before Halloween I wanted to go to a corn maze. I went to one almost every year when I was a teen and loved them. I took Greg to his first one and so I wanted to do the honors with Axton as well. I have to admit I was pretty bummed by the ones in AZ. In Idaho you start at one place and come out a completely different place. They usually have lookout points to help you get your bearings because you can get so lost. This one started and ended in the same place. You went up and then back down, the only point to it was to find all 6 different hole punches and punch your card to show you went in, kind of lame to me. But it didn't really matter because we really just hoped Axton would run and tire himself before naptime.

Axton realizing that he was free to run wherever his heart desired.


Greg would run down a different path and jump out at him.


Axton loves to be chased so this was pure heaven to him.


Couldn't resist this one of Greg trying to scare Axton.


With entrance to the maze we got a free ticket to ride the "cow train". Greg couldn't fit in it so I ended up taking Axton and he wasn't happy about that at all. He cried almost the entire time even though Greg was walking right beside us.


After we got off the ride he was all smiles and ran straight to Greg.


While on the ride we spotted a little park area so he had to go ride on the swings.


Then he saw a play structure with slides and pointed at it, letting go of the swing and fell right on the ground.


That quickly ended our trip because it lead to a full blown melt down due to pain, hunger, and exhaustion. We ended up not getting any pumpkins this year. Oh well.

Q and A on Bountiful Baskets previous post

Check out the post prior to this one if you haven't read it.

Q: hey breonne i saw that they have a pick up location in idaho falls too and im interested in trying it out. do you get to choose the fruit and veggies that go in your basket?? once you sign up do you have to do it every week or 2 weeks? its usually just me at home and i dont think i will need too much stuff but definatly want to give it a try. thanks for your help.

A: They do have a site in I.F., Malad, and Rexburg. It will expand to other areas as they get emails from volunteers to help find and run the sites.

You sign up for the basket, pay for it, and then they go to the suppliers on Thursday, or something like that, and get the best deals. The best deals will usually be whatever season you are in. Summertime is all of the berries and tree fruit (peaches, pears, oranges, etc), fall is squashes, pumpkins, etc. Then the produce is shipped to the sites. There the volunteers take all of the produce and divide it out equally to everyone who is participating. So you don't know what you'll get and you don't get to pick and choose but you'll all get roughly the same things. If there is an unequal amount of something than the volunteers get to divide it amongst themselves for volunteering! If they do it like here there's usually not a lot left over.

*For example if they have 20 people participating and they have 13 cucumbers and 10 squashes left after everyone has gotten some, then they will add one cucumber or squash to each basket and have 3 left. The volunteers than get to split the remaining 3 items. So the baskets vary only slightly, person A will have one more cucumber than person B who will then have one more squash than the person A but they'll both have 6 oranges (or whatever else is in the baskets). The volunteers though will usually end up with 1 or 2 (or 3, etc) more pieces of produce than the others. One of the benefits of service!

As far as how often you have to do it, it's up to you. They will provide it every other week (with holidays being exceptions). So if you sign up for it for next Saturday and decide you don't like it than you don't ever have to get it again. If you do like it than you sign up again in 2 weeks and pay the $15. I did every other week here during the summer. We didn't go through it fast enough so I ended up freezing or canning some of it. Then by the end of the summer I had a lot of frozen and canned produce so I decided to save the $15 per basket and eat what we had. So I didn't get any baskets for a few months. Then last Saturday I decided I wanted a basket so I got one. It's simple and easy. No one is forcing you to get one and you get it whenever you want it (given that it's available of course!).

Make sure you pick it up on time though or else they give it to a fire station. Yes this happened to me ONCE! It was the 3rd time I got it and I forgot. My phone with my reminder had gone swimming the night before and by the time I remembered it was an hour after my pick up time and they were already gone! So my biggest tip is to not be late, even be a few mintues early, because it only takes about a 1/2 hour to get through everyone (and my site has almost 100 people picking up there). It's quick and organized, usually. My site is about a mile from my house and it takes me about 10 minutes from the time I leave my house, get my produce, and walk back through my door. It's fabulous.

If you are an adventurous eater or looking to expand your tastes this can be really fun since you sometimes get weird things like brocc-a-flower or brussel sprouts (both I'd never had before but were fine for a once a year thing!). I never eat squash but because I got it in the basket I'll find a new recipe. Most of the time though it's normal enough stuff. The fruit we always eat, the veggies vary. We'll eat at least 1/2 of it because who doesn't use lettuce and tomatoes on a regular basis (and they're almost always in the basket)? I've gone to the store, randomly throughout the year, with the list of stuff I've gotten in the basket to compare prices, and the baskets have almost always been at least 50% less. So if I throw some of it away I don't feel too bad since I would have spent more at the store for the things we did eat. If you are pretty strict about the produce you want to eat this may not be the best way for you. I usually plan my meals on Saturday (after I get the basket) or Sunday for the following week so I use all of my produce.

Sorry this was so long winded.

Bountiful Baskets is in REXBURG

Some of you have probably seen other posts about this co-op but I figured I'd share again since a lot of you can now participate in it if you want to.

The Basics:
Bountiful Baskets is a volunteer co-op where you pay $15+$1.50 shipping fee (at least that's what it is in AZ) for fresh produce. They try to get 50% fruits, 50% vegetables. You don't know what you are going to get because it all depends on what they can get the best deal for. You log onto their website which is bountifulbaskets.org on either Tuesday or Wednesday of the week you will get the basket (if you want to try it then sign up on either the 15th or the 16th) and then select your state, they have spread like a wild fire lately since it used to only be in AZ. Then follow the instructions from there. For your 1st basket there is a $3 fee but after that it's just the above price. Then you will select your location which should have the time on there as well. For now Rexburg's only site is the Middle School in the cafeteria, don't know the time. More sites will be added if the popularity increases. Then you go armed with your own laundry baskets (or I've started using the reusable bags- they're easier for me to carry, I usually take 2-3). They tell you what basket is yours and then you load up and go home!

They also sell other things throughout the year. I bought 2 boxes of peaches, 1 box of pears, a picnic basket, and a mexican pack from them. We also bought our christmas tree through them last year. You can also get boxes of cherries, tomatoes, oranges, itialian packs, etc. The mexican pack is everything you would need to make salsa at a great price. The picnic basket had all kinds of summer fruit such as watermelon, blueberries, strawberries, etc. I look year round at the price of produce so I can can it since we don't have a garden yet and the best price was through these guys. All of this stuff is option but you get it at the same time as your regular basket.

They do ask that you volunteer on occasion which is super easy and only takes a few hours on the day of pick-up.

My camera is dead and I can't find the charger so here is a picture of a basket I got back in June.

In Saturday's basket I got 10 bananas, 7 oranges, 11 pears, 1 container of strawberries, 10 apples, 1 of those really small watermelons, a head of lettuce, 2 bunches of broccoli, 8 tomatoes, 2 green bell peppers, 4 yellow squash, and 4 cucumbers. Nothing crazy this time.

They say it will last a family of 4 for 2 weeks, which is what we do. My sister-in-law buys it weekly though. I have mixed feelings on this. If you eat your fruits and veggies like you should (we don't- oops) than it will probably only last about a week. However I think it's only being offered in Rexburg every other week anyways. The other thing is that sometimes the produce is very ripe and needs to be eaten quickly. I love it when some of the produce is ripe and some needs more time. Also some of the stuff has a longer shelf life than others. But a lot of it you can freeze, we always have too many bananas left so I freeze them for smoothies or bread.

On their website there is also a link called produce storage information so when you get random things like brussel sprouts you will know how to store them and for how long. They also have a chat room where you can share recipes and ideas. I found some great fruit leather ones for when I have too much fruit of any kind left and it needs to be used. Hope this was helpful and not overwhelming. Let me know if you like it!

Dentist

Well Axton gets to go to his first dentist appt tomorrow! He jumped off of his picnic table outside and must of landed on his face somehow. He chipped one of his bottom teeth and so we get to take him in tomorrow morning to have it looked at. Wish us luck and if anyone has any advice on how to make this a good experience I would love to hear it!

Black Friday

I had a different kind of black friday shopping experience thanks to couponsense. CVS does some killer deals, a lot of basically free stuff. Between CVS and Walgreens I got 3 bodywashes (st. ives and johnson); 5 lotions (vaseline sheerinfusion and lubriderm); 3 degree deodorants; 3 bottles of complete contact solution; 3 bottles of herbal essences shampoo/conditioner; 1 herbal essences mousse, hairspray, and gel; a box of 64 crayola crayons, 5 candybars, and a universal remote (yes we actually needed it!).

The grand total: $153.50, my total: $29.48!! A savings of 85%! And the BEST part..... I now have $76 worth of "cash" rewards for future trips for anything I want!!!

When I include my "cash" rewards ($12) that I used to help lower my final bill and the $25 gift card I had received for transferring a prescription along with the cash I spent ($30), not only did I end up getting everything for free... I made a whole $9 on top of it! Now that is definitely worth my time, and my kind of shopping! Hope everyone else enjoyed their shopping as much as I did.

BzzAgent

I recently joined a website called bzzagent.com. It's a site where people share their opinions about all sorts of products. Along with joining it you can participate in campaigns. My recent campaign was for Aveeno Baby.

They sent me a whole bottle of their new baby moisturizing shampoo to test out and report on. As part of this campaign I have to spread the news. The more I do for each campaign the better my status becomes and the more campaigns I am asked to join and get free stuff for. I love free stuff so I'm sure there will be lots of blogs to come! Anyways, my thoughts on the shampoo... It is easy to wash out of Axton's hair. With his crazy hair getting soap out can be a process. It also leaves his hair really soft. It's made of all natural ingredients which isn't a big deal to me but it might be to others. It doesn't really smell like anything, which I don't like but others do. I like smell and I love to smell Axton's hair right after a bath and smell how clean and fresh he is, this doesn't smell at all to me.

They also gave me some samples of their diaper rash cream which worked out perfectly because I rarely use it but Axton was on some serious antiboitics for a sinus infection and he broke out like mad on his bum. To me it seemed a little thicker than other diaper creams I've used, making it a little harder to spread. It does come off your hands easily though which is nice. It stayed on really well and I didn't have to use it as much as others. In this case the lack of smell was a nice thing for me.

Overall I would purchase both of these products in the future if their prices are comparable since I don't have a clue what they cost. I also have a bunch more samples of the shampoo and cream if anyone wants to try it out and give it a review!! Also I have some coupons if anyone wants some because they use this product or just want to try it out.

If you want to help me on my quest, or yourself by getting a chance to win gift certificates, or a charity to receive a donation because you helped spread the word you can go to chatthreads.com and enter 101 282 289033 for your conversation id. Answer a few questions and that's that. If anyone finds some great deals let me know. It's my new obsession.



Couponsense:
I know there are other websites for coupons and all of that but this site is just so user friendly to me and doesn't take me very much time anymore. Today I went to Safeway and got 3 bags of plastic cups (30 count), 2 things of plates (50 count), 1 thing of bowls (50 count), 2 bags of betty crocker cookie mixes, 2 tubs of frosting, 3 huge containers of canola oil, and 4 tubes of crescent rolls for .... $5.60.

From Walgreens I got 1 super nice razor with 3 boxes of refill razors (4 count), 8 things of shaving cream, 6 bottles of shampoo and conditioner, and some cough drops for.... about $15. And I have $12 in rewards to use on my next trip.

I love couponsense! Also I am stocked up on campbells "cream of" soups for the YEAR because coupons came out for them and stores put them on sale for about $0.35 a can! I will take a picture of my pantry and bathroom soon so you can all see how much "normal" stuff I have gotten with the meager budget that we were using to barely get by before coupons. I'm addicted.

Funeral

As some know, and many who don't, my g-ma passed away on Oct 14. She had battled cancer for as long as I can remember, around 17 years. She had it beat once (large cell lymphoma) and then came down with a completely different, and unrelated type (renal), which ultimately took her life.

Despite having cancer she was able to serve a mission with G-pa which I think brought her some of the greatest joy she has ever experienced.

In May of this year she orginized what would be the last family reunion with her. All of her children and most of her grandchildren where able to attend. It was a wonderful event. My g-parents had pictures of G-ma taken so everyone could have one to remember her by. At the time though no one knew how short her days really were, we simply knew it would probably be within a year.



On July 23 G-ma collapsed at home at the dinner table. She was taken by ambulance to the hospital in St. George. Because she was displaying symptoms of having had a stroke, a CAT scan of her brain was done. It was then that a large cancer mass was discovered in the right side of the brain. The Renal Cell cancer had now metastasized to the brain, as well as other places previously that we knew about. She was given the choice to have surgery and prolong life for a few additional months or just let it take its course. She chose the latter.

So G-ma and G-pa moved to Rexburg and lived with my mom to wait out the few short (and long) months. My uncle got remarried at the beginning of August, he moved up the date and changed the location from SLC to Idaho Falls so G-ma could be there for it.
(Thank you Deanna for introducing my g-parents to the church so we know that families can be together forever)

At the end of August I was able to go to Rexburg for almost 3 weeks to help take care of her. What a blessing that was to all of us, especially me. In a month she had gone from being a crazy, independant woman, to being totally dependant and as a little child. We had to help her walk, go to the bathroom, get dressed, everything, day and night like a new born or toddler. But it was the greatest opportunity of service I have ever had and I am so greatful for it. She did so much for me growing up it was the least I could do. We got to spend a lot of time talking and playing cards. How I will miss playing cards with her. I will cherish those few short weeks I had with her.

Her she is in her wheelchair (by the time I left she couldn't walk at all or even really use her hands). At least I have pictures of Axton and her so he'll have somethign to know this wonderful woman by.


The biggest thing about my g-ma that I remember is that she NEVER complained, and if she did I never saw it and it was probably few and far between. She was dealt an extremely rough hand in life and yet she was able to overcome it all and be so happy and positive. She knew that the gospel was true, that the Savior loves her and that she would be returning to live with him again. She knew her work was done here on earth even though she didn't want it to be. She was a silently strong woman. We all love her and miss her but I know she is doing more good where she is and that she is looking down and watching over all of us.

Axton's Birthday

My baby turned 2 a month ago and I've been a slacker. But with everything going on who can really blame me!! Like I mentioned in a previous post we were in Idaho and then flew to San Diego the day before Axton's birthday so he got a little jipped but we made up for it. He got a monkey cake in Idaho with Grammy and Papa and some other relatives which I already posted. Then when we got home (about a week after his birthday) I got around to wrapping his presents so he could open them.

He definitely understood the concept this year but he still wanted to pull the wrapping paper off piece by little piece.


I'm always amazed by the things he likes the most and those that he's not that interested in. He loves his flash cards and his choo choo train, but didn't care too much for his truck with shapes or another one that I don't know how to describe. The movies didn't get his attention either, but boy were they a lifesaver on our road trip to Idaho (more in another post to come).





His cousin also got jipped for her birthday so Kim made cupcakes and we all went to the park with Brad and Corina's family and also Greg's cousin Gina and her family. Once again Axton had no trouble blowing out the candles!!



All of the great grandkids on Greg's mom's (Shari) side of the family. 6 of the 7 are Don and Shari's grandkids and they all live within a few miles of each other!! Family is great!


I can't believe he is 2 already!!

My favorite things:
1. If you ask him how he is and how OLD he is- the answer is the same... 2 using his hands to demonstrate. He can't hold up only 2 fingers so he holds up 4 put crosses the middle and pointer fingers so you get it.
2. He loves the word NO but says it so sweetly that you can't help but smile and laugh when he says it.
3. He is obsessed with coloring, I have to hide all pens, pencils, crayons, markers, etc. This boy will find anything and draw you pretty pictures... even if it is on the bathroom wall where you have spent hours tracing designs (long story-pictures to come).
4. He loves "helping" us with projects. He gets right in with Greg when Greg is trying to fix things and Axton will often times take the screw driver (or any other tool) and try to do the same things as Greg. He loves to help me mop the floors and gets out his own vacuum when I am vacuuming. He loves to wipe down the toilets with disinfecting wipes too!
5. A recent discovery is that he'll repeat anything you tell him too (if he feels like it) except one person's name.... Katie!! Sorry we still love you. We will go through EVERYONES names on both sides of our families and he will repeat them until we ask him to say Katie. Then he just shakes his head and say nu-no in the sweetest little voice. I don't know why he won't say Katie but he just won't.
6. He loves to have clothes on. So often you hear the opposite. This boy does not like to be naked for anything. You might be able to get away without pants on occasion but if you leave him shirtless he cries and cries and until you or he finds one and gets it put on. He doesn't like to get his clothes wet either, that calls for immediate crying or changing of clothes.
7. He's a lover. He will get in random moods where all he wants to do is go back and forth and give kisses alternating between Dad and I. It usually doesn't take him long to start giving kisses to G-mas and G-pas too.
8. He loves his sleep and alone time!! We put him in bed and he plays for who knows how long and then sleeps. We put him to bed at 7 and he usually "wants" out at around 8-8:30 the next morning. I say "wants" because he's usually awake by 6 but loves to just hang out and kick the walls, blabber to himself, or do seat drops in his crib. If we interupt this then he's usually pretty grumpy the rest of the day. I also put him down for a nap around 12 and its not unusual for Greg to get home at 4:30 and have him go get Axton out. I'm spoiled I know!
9. He has the most mischievous looks. You can almost see him plotting his next move. He usually does it when he is planning on taking something that will get one of us to chase him around the house. How the boy loves to be chased and scared!
10. I love that he's just so happy all of the time. I definitely got it easy with my first, and I hope it's not because he'll be my only!! Rarely is he overwhelming. He has his moments when he doesn't want to share toys, or doesn't want to eat dinner, but on the overall he is really easy going and loves people. I am so grateful that I have at least one beautiful child to spend my days with and who lights up my face daily. Motherhood is a wonderful opportunity to love and grow, and become more christ like. Thank you Axton and Greg for letting me have this wonderful opportunity in my life.