After some major convincing by Aunt Natalie and sweet cousin Allie...Abigail had a successful visit to the dentist. Not one tear and not one cavity!! Way to go Abby!

Jackson's B-Day Party w/ Friends

I figured since my Jackson was turning the big 10 this year...it was time for a real birthday party. The last one he had was when he was in Kindergarten. I think I like them about every 4-5 years. I think this could be one reason why I am called a "fun-hater" by my sister who plans her kids birthday parties literally 363 days in advance! I made it easy though, (which by the way, was an excellent idea that I would highly advise to others) we had it about 2 1/2 weeks prior to his actual birthday. It made the real day kind of low key and quite nice if I say so myself.

We met at our house and they hung out for a bit, opened presents, had a cookie, and we headed off to see the highly anticipated movie "Diary of a Whimpy Kid." They had a good time....Jackson has some really great friends, and of course his little bro joined a long for the fun. He fits right in their with all of them, they all treat him like his one of them.

Our First Gala...I will remember forever!!

Jayson and I were invited to a Heart Transplant Gala back at the beginning of March (yes I know it has been a really long time since I have made a post...what can I say, we are kind of boring). Anyway, I was excited. I had never been to such an event. It is always really fun when you have an excellent excuse to go out and buy a "fancy" dress and new shoes and jewerly to match.


Jayson and I thought we would make a fun night and booked a room at the Little America Hotel. My parents watched my kids for the day/evening and we headed off. It came time to get dressed for the party and I was making sure every hair was in place and makeup was perfect! Then came time to walk out the door...the last thing I needed to do was put my brand spankin shoes on (which I had only tried on the right shoe at the store and still had tags and all on). Anyhow, feeling pretty good, until I get my left foot in the shoe.....

Do you see anything wrong with this picture?????? Yes, don't worry, I had purchased 2 right shoes!!! I literally had about 3 minutes to freak out and just had to buck up and walk out the door as if nothing was wrong. Now mind you, it could have been worse if they were not open toed shoes. I knew that probably not one soul would notice my shoe problem, but I still felt very, very awkward and slightly foolish!! I sat down at a table with some pretty important people at Primary Children's Hospital (including the CEO) and enjoyed a lovely dinner with my husband and several people who have lived thru heart transplants. I had almost forgotten about my shoe dilemna, that is until the dinner was over and it was time for the dance. "No way, we are out of here" I said to Jayson. Someone will for sure notice my 2 right shoes (I guess it could have been worse and been 2 left shoes!!) Anyway, we ended the night and headed back up to our room. What a memory...one that will last forever!!!

A Neat Experience

I wanted to document a neat experience I had this past week. There is a bitter divorce going on between the Canyons School District and the Jordan School District. Last Sunday, the Superintendent (a friend of mine in the neighborhood), was on the KSL news explaining the Canyons point of view about a bill that was being presented during the current legistlative session. This bill would require our district to give the Jordan District millions of dollars each year because they are experiencing a huge budget deficit. Well, I decided to give him a call and ask what I could do to get parents to help "Kill the Bill". He informed me on the issue and asked me to get the word out and to e-mail legistlators on the Education Committee and attend a hearing scheduled later in the week. I really felt energized and excited to help out.

The day before the hearing I was asked to give a brief statement during the public comment portion of the hearing. I have honestly never been more nervous in my life than I was that evening. I had envisioned myself sitting as if I were Timothy Guethner, or Hank Poulsen in the "hot seat" pleading my case as to why we could not allow this bill to pass. I didn't sleep much the night before and was filled with anxiety the entire next day. My good friend Dina and I headed up to the Capitol ready to fight! I was somewhat relaxed throughout the hearing, until they decreased the amount of time for public comment to 1 min. My heart was pounding in my chest as I stood in line waiting for my turn,rereading my statement over and over making sure I made points that had not been made yet as well as keeping them to a strict 1 min. There was a lady who was timing and at the end of your min literally yelled "TIME". It was finally my turn and I sat at the podium, pronounced my name, and quickly got my points across. What a relief...my 1 minute of fame was finally over!! I thought to myself, all of that worrying and anxiety over that. These legistlators probably weren't even listening! Oh well, after they took the vote, the bill was killed 11-3. The people of the Canyons District were succesfully that evening. It was a great experience to be apart of the process and it taught me a valuable lesson, "we the people" can have a powerful voice.

I am not sure the best way to solve our state or even countries educational shortfalls, but I truly felt that this was the wrong bill with the wrong language to begin doing it. I want each child to have a fair opportunity at gaining a good education, but we have our own fiscal challenges on the east side of the valley just like every other community does! My friend put it perfectly, "we aren't the federal government handing out stimulus checks!"

The next day, I was contacted by a legistlators assistant asking if I would be willing to be a precinct chair for her candidate. I am still working out the details of my exact duties. (hopefully not too time consuming) I seem to get myself into things that seem to be small, but in reality are more of a time committment than I had imagined!! Needless to say, I am excited to be involved in the political process of voting our legistlators into office. I guess you could say it is a hobby, having passion about political matters, especially the ones I know I can truly make a difference by being involved!!

Big Girl....

Let me give a little history....Abby has some MAJOR separation anxiety issues when leaving me. Nursery was a nightmare and even to leave her at home with her dad is not very fun. I took her to her 3 year checkup and the dr. thought it would be good to find some ways to start leaving her more often. It got me thinking...

I started thinking ahead to next year trying to find a preschool to put her in. (I don't care too much for paying outrageous prices for preschool, so I started with a nice cheap one). I wanted to put her on the list for next year, when the lady said "Well, if she is three we have a spot for her now." So needless to say, I decided to try it out. The first day she went and cried hard, the second time was a little better, and the third was awesome. She didn't cry and most importantly, she loves it! Even though, I am not trying to wish her life away and I do love the time I get to spend with her, this has been a really good thing for her social and mental development!! (Not to mention my mental stability as well)

MERRY CHRISTMAS 2009

This year Christmas was a lot of fun! I was actually organized and done with shopping so we could really enjoy Abby's b-day this year. The holidays have to be one of my favorite times of the year. Jayson usually takes most of the christmas break off and we just play....I don't seem to do anything too productive the entire time. We manage to get a lot of movies, skiing, sledding, and hanging out with family done in these 10 days!! Let me just add...I am still working on taking pictures, I need to really do a better job of documenting events thru my camera! After Christmas, I realized there weren't too many Christmas morning pics taken including one of Jackson or one of them by the tree in their pjs! Oh well, one more thing I need to get better at! I think it would help if I had a better functioning camera, but my husband thought we needed a bigger, better tv this year...

I always start out doing the gingerbread house, but Jayson usually ends up taking over. ( He thinks he does a better job at constructing houses I guess!!)

The Annual Harris Santa Party......

As you can see, Abigail really loves Santa!! (I was too lazy to fix the red eyes I have!)

We spend Christmas Eve with my family, it is a fun tradition. My mom reads the kids a cute little story and we open gifts and eat, eat, eat!!

Christmas Morning.....

We all need to learn, that if Abby doesn't want her picture taken, then she doesn't cooperate!!

Homemade sledding hills/slides in my parents' backyard...(all my dads doing!!)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ABIGAIL!!

If you look close....I think her dad has aged since her birth!!

He has a few less gray hairs in this photo!

My baby girl is 3 years old!! What a crazy 3 years it has been. I have to be honest...out of all 3 children, the 3rd and only girl has been more of a challenge. When she was born she quickly learned how to not only cry, but cry incredibly loud and for a very long period of time. That lasted pretty much until she was 18 months old, now she only cries when she doesn't get her way, someone has hurt her feelings, or she is without her mom! She is slowly learning to go for periods of time without me and trying to like her dad. But as far as I can tell, things seem to be getting easier as she gets older.

Abigail is a very sweet girl and just loves to be at home and playing with all of her girly toys. Although, she does like an occational trip to the store for some shopping, but only the store she wants to go to, and for the amount of time she wants to be there. She has her favorites, lets just say that "Old Navy" is not on that list!!

She is a joy to have in our home and we all LOVE her dearly!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ABIGAIL!

Change is in the air....

We had some big changes happen this past Sunday at our church. Some that you could say we have been really praying for. They changed the Ward boundaries within our Stake. It is funny because as we took our house off the market this past spring, I thought to myself, you never know, they could change the boundaries of our ward someday. Who knew it would be so soon!! It was quite an emotional day, I was sick inside, but really happy also. We lost some really neat and fun families, but we gained some as well. We added 12 new kids to our primary!! This seems to be such a blessing because that is the one thing that I have worried about...having enough kids to not only fill our primary, but make a good youth group once they turn 12 years old. Jackson's class grew a lot, and one of his best friends is now in our ward. I am excited. I am a person who likes change. Change is good, it seems to refresh and give a little extra excitement to life.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

Halloween has arrived....I really dread it to be honest. I wasn't very good about thinking of clever costumes this year. My brain is usually too tired for those sorts of things these days. I am the type of person who enjoys being different and out there when thinking of costume ideas, I just don't personally enjoy creating and making the costume! This year KSL was my friend. I bouth costumes that were pretty much in "last year" for two kids and ended up compromising a bit on Jackson's. The one that I was most excited about was Austin's. He had lost a tooth recently and I thought that a mullit wig would really fit the face. After we got the costume all put together, lets just say he lacked enthusiasm!! Anyway, next year I pledge to be clever when putting together costumes! Here is mine and Austin's conversation the morning he was to go to his Halloween party at school.

Austin: "This costume is stupid, I am not wearing it, what am I even supposed to be?"

Me: "It is not stupid, it is really cool, everyone will love it, especially the adults. Just tell people that you are an kid from the 80's."

Austin: "What is a stinkin kid from the 80's?" (near tears)

Well I eventually talked him into going to school. When he got out of the car, his friends were coming up to him saying, "What are you supposed to be?" He replied, "A HOBO" He was obviously confused. I laughed and drove away hoping all would be well for the day. He had his school parade, and he was a hit with all the adults!!

What a "Great" Mom I am...

Just the other day I had to run Jackson to soccer. I grabbed everyone and everything and quickly hopped in the car and zoomed off to practice. Just let me note that I USUALLY do not have Austin with me when I drop off Jackson at soccer. Anyway, we get to soccer and I always wait in the car for the coach to arrive. Jackson hopped out of the car and Austin started to beg to get out and play until Martin arrived. I finally gave in and let him out. Just a few minutes later Martin showed up, I pulled out and was on my way home to prepare dinner. When I was almost home, my phone rang and it was another mom from soccer. "Hey Jaime, is this your little boy at the park?" I respond, "Oh my gosh!" "Is he o.k., tell him I am turning around right now!" She says, "No worries, he seems fine, I will let him know you are coming back to get him." Feeling like a real low life mother to just forget your child at the park....I hurry back, pull into the parking lot, and here comes Austin running for the car. He has a big smile on his face, hops into the car, and yells loud, "DITCHER!!" He didn't seem to mind too much, he thought he was pretty cool for getting to hang out with the older boys for a bit. Needless to say, I will really try hard to get my head on the right way from now and try to remember all my children!!

My first official blog post!

O.k., so it took quite some time to get me convinced that I should start a blog. More than anything, I think I felt like life was happening and I wasn't documenting it. It will also maybe push me to try and take more pictures so we can have memories to look back on, because I am not getting any younger and my mind isn't remembering things any better.

So, we will see how it goes. I think I will actually enjoy it! There are so many things my kids say or do, or deep thoughts I have on a daily basis that would be nice to have written down somewhere. Here is to blogging!!!