Randomness

It seems like we haven't done anything really note worthy this week (hence the lack of posting).  This week has gone by fast.  Tony is currently at Julie and Boyd's house helping put on a new roof.  Boyd has been working very hard at fixing up the front on their house and it is looking good.

Tyler has been extra hard to deal with this week.  He has really been pushing his bounds and not listening very well.  It has been very frustrating.  He also has gone back to pooping his pants, which is just disgusting and frustrating.  For a couple days I have been able to get him to go in the potty at least once, but then he goes in his pants again later that day.  I have taken away all treats until he poops in the potty.  Once he poops his pants again then I take away the treat privilege again.  He did go poop on the potty at the grocery store yesterday, so I was very proud of him.  I know that he can do it, he just need to...do it!

I have been feeling a little undervalued since I lost my job.  I know that my family loves me and that Heavenly Father and Jesus love me...it is just kind of like I lost a piece of my identity...and it was a piece that I (and Tony I think) really valued.  I have worked since I was 14.  I have worked ever since Tony and I first started dating, so it as been a big change to not have me work at all.  A change in our schedule, a change in our finances, and a big change in the way that we live our lives.

I can't help but be optimistic about the situation and think that we will be fine if we just budget and watch our pennies.  Tony on the other hand is being completely pessimistic and is talking about him getting a second job, or selling a car.  We are no where near that, but that is how he is thinking.  It is a total bummer and makes me feel like he just wants me to go out and get a full time job so that he doesn't have to worry about money.  He says that isn't what he wants, but he just wants to be prepared with ideas in case something big happens and we really need the money.  I understand being concerned and prepared for the future, but such extremes makes me feel like a loser for losing my job in the first place...or that it's all my fault that we don't have more money in savings.  I know that these things are not true, but that is how I feel.

I have also been having some other strong feelings about certain things and in our current situation it just seems like it isn't feasible.  It is hard to know what to do and to try and be on the same page as someone else.  I know that I need to trust the Lord and do more praying, scripture reading, and go to the temple more.  Maybe then I will learn what the Lord would have me do!

Pioneer Day

Yesterday was the 24th of July which is also Pioneer Day in Utah.  It is also my sister Wendy's birthday - lucky gal.  We went over to my parents yesterday and spent most of the day hanging out with family.  My sister, Julie, got out her slip'n slide and a bunch of us had a good time sliding around on the grass.  Julie, my mom, and I even had some fun getting all wet.  Who says that those things are just for kids?  Not us.

We had a yummy BBQ and then Julie, Tony, and I took the kids for a walk around the block.  We took Tyler's bike so he enjoyed riding it along with the big kids.  After that we set off a ton of parachutes and gave the kids some snaps.  Always enjoyable things to do while you wait for it to get dark.  Josh took a late nap so he even got to enjoy the fireworks this time.  Tyler spent most of his time playing with the old parachute cases with a couple other kids.  I don't think that he even watched any of the actual fireworks.  Kids are so funny.  It was a fun day of hanging out with the family.

My sister Wendy and her family headed back to California today.  It is really sad to see them go and to see this past week go too.  We had the whole week of having Tony with us that it will be hard to see him go back to work tomorrow.  Such is life, and it has been a
good one!

We have a crawler

Josh started crawling last Sunday.  He isn't a pro yet, but it is definitely crawling.  It is so cute to see him go and get what he wants.  He can pull him self up to things and has even started moving along the fireplace bench.  I don't think it will be too much longer until our little guy is walking.  He is such a happy and wonderful kid.  We sure do love him.

Willis in the Wilderness Reunion

The whole Willis Clan

We got back from my family reunion on Thursday afternoon.  We left Monday after Josh's nap and headed to The Hidden Springs Ranch.  It is located in the small town of Altamont, Utah.

We stayed in a beautiful and huge cabin.  There were about 70 of us all together and the cabin still had more room to fit more people.  It was awesome.  There was a swimming pool and hot tub.  Four-wheeling trails.  You could go horse back riding.  They also had a recreation center where you could rock climb, play basketball or volleyball.  The cabin had a huge great room and kitchen 5 large bedrooms upstairs and like 8 large bedrooms downstairs that had four bunk beds in them.  They had bathrooms for the boys and girls with showers that were really nice too.  They also had a play room with games.  They had a fire pit where we roasted marshmallows and we even roasted a whole pig one night.  I even got to help spin the pig for a little bit.  It was way gross if you ask me.


It was so nice to spend time with my extended family and get to know some of them better.  Tyler loved having tons of friends to play with the whole time.  Josh did pretty good most of the time.  He had a little trouble sleeping, but that is to be expected when you are away from home.  It was so hot at nights that we all roasted in our beds.  The one bad thing about that place was no AC, but really we just needed it cooler at night.  The last night there was a big rain storm that came through and that really cooled it down.  That was the night that we got the best sleep.

We went on a lot of four-wheeler rides and went swimming every day.  On Wednesday it rained a ton and then the sun came out so some of the cousins and Tony took the pool tubs and went and played on the grass where the rain created big puddles of water.  It was way fun to watch them try to ride the tubs on the grass and beat each others distance.  Tony face planted in the grass and hurt his head and that ended the tub game.  I put Josh down in the watered down grass and he loved playing in the water.  So much fun.

It really was so much fun.   Everyone had a good time and there weren't any real problems and we can't wait to do it again.  I heard that maybe we will do it every 2 years now, that would be great.  My grandpa Willis paid for the place and then we all went in and did the food together.  It worked out great and I am so glad that my grandpa was able to do that for us.  Family really is important and I can't wait to do it again!

More fun times

Today has been pretty fun so far.  We just got back from Daybreak, which is a ward activity where once a month the ladies and kids get together to play and eat.  Always a good time. I enjoy chatting with friends and Tyler loves all the kids.  Josh mainly just hangs out.  Today he got to hang out with Kitty, it was nice having someone else hold him for a little while.

Josh currently has an ear infection.  Way sad.  He hasn't been too fussy about it, so that has been nice.  He was pulling on his left ear for a couple days, that is why I had Tony take him in.  Turns out it is his right ear that is infected...so funny.  He is a good medicine taker, so that makes it nice and easy.  We moved his crib all the way down this week as he has learned to pull him self up to stand.  Before he would just knell in his crib, but now that it is so low I went in today and he was standing.  He is becoming such a big boy.  He is so cute and we just love him to pieces!

Yesterday Tyler went to play outside right before Tony left for work (about 12:15) and I went out about 12:30 and he had fallen asleep on the swing.  It was so cute.  He was so tired that he ended up sleeping for 4 hours.  I don't think that he has ever taken such a long nap.  A couple hours later I put Josh down for his nap and I watched a ton of episodes of The Office on Netflix through the Wii.  It was a nice break.  I probably should have taken a nap for my self.  I have a hard time napping if I think that one of the boys will wake up soon, so then I just lay there waiting for them to wake up.  So if I would have known Tyler was going to sleep so long, I probably would have.

After both boys woke up we went and spent the evening at my parents playing with cousins.  Always a good time.  We went on a little walk, played outside, and I got to chat with my mom and sisters.  All and all things are going pretty good.

Summer Fun

Yesterday we got out our little swimming pool and filled it with water.  Tyler and Josh love to play in the water.  Tyler didn't mind the cold water when it was first filled up, but Josh thought it was too cold (we just stuck his feet in the water).  Later that day, however, the water temperature was perfect for a baby and Tyler and Josh had lots of fun playing in the water.  Tyler had let out most of the water and the air to the pool so it made a fun wading pool for Josh.

Tony works nights this week, so that kind of sucks.  I am finding that each Tuesday I think that I should be at work talking with co-workers and letting my kids play with Grandma.  I miss my break from home life for my one day a week.  I think that I need to call some neighbor friends over to play, but then I get lazy and never call anyone.  I especially should do it this week while Tony is working late.  I get so lonely in the afternoon's and evenings without him.  I know I am dumb, but it is true.  I am a needy person...I need my husband.  Not just for the help that he provides with the boys, but for his companionship. 

We got the last of the windows last week.  It is nice to have all new upgraded windows, but they also charged us for our new windows last week.  Looking at our budget we only have about $100 left for the rest of the month.  We are leaving on Monday to go to a Willis Family reunion that is about 2 1/2 hours away.  So that will be a tank of gas (which is $50 for my Trail Blazer) just for that and then we still have to buy food for the reunion too.  We were just in the habit of being able to get whatever we wanted and now it is totally different.  I am really going to have to re-look at things and see what we still need to cut back on.  This is good for us.  We needed the humbling and this is definitely doing that.

Gotta love when Friday feels like Saturday...then you still have Saturday

Today we (as in Tony and I) decided to start doing some of the little projects around the house that have needed to get done for a long time.  So he got some mud to patch up the walls and now it is all drying.  I just hope that I am not stuck looking at patched walls forever with no paint on them.  I guess we shall see.  Now that we don't have a lot of extra money, we get to stay home more and work on these fun projects.  I got to put stuff back together in the office and laundry room since we got new windows in those rooms on Wednesday.  They look really nice and I am glad that they are in.  I really need to work on decorating the office so that it looks better.  Maybe that will be my next project.

This afternoon my parents took us all out to see Toy Story 3.  We had already gone with Tony's mom and weren't sure if we should go again, but decided it would be a fun outing and fun for Tyler to see it with his cousins on my side (and my dad was paying...can't say no to free stuff).  A big Thank you to my parents for taking us all out to the movies.  Tyler and Josh did pretty good.  Josh did start to get fussy at times and Tony and I took turns taking him out or standing up with him.  Tyler did really good telling me when he had to go potty.  Once he found the automatic air blower in the bathroom we ended up going two more times within like 20 minutes.  Fun stuff.

Tony's mom got Tyler a bike this week.  He really loves it and is a pretty good rider.  At first he always wanted to peddle backwards like he did on his tricycle, but since on regular bikes it is the break he didn't go very far.  But a couple days later Tony was able tot teach him well and he is a good little rider.  I will have to take pictures of him on his bike.  Thanks to Grandma Margie and Papa Lloyd for the fun new bike!  Tyler loves it...and so will Josh...and whom ever else my come into our family (no this is not an announcement).

We have a pooper

Not having my lap top anymore as really put a damper on my being able to blog as much as I like to.  Now I have to go downstairs to the office to use the computer and so it just doesn't happen as often.  I will try to be better about that.

Tyler has now pooped on the potty for two days in a row.  Before that he would only poop in his underwear.  I am so proud of him and I am really glad that I decided to use the method of potty training that I did.  At first I wasn't sure, but now that I am seeing such great success I would totally recommend it.

We had a pretty fun Independence Day weekend.  On Saturday we went to the Murray parade with my family and then after we hung out and my parents, had a yummy BBQ, and then did fireworks.  My Grandpa Clark came in from Oregon and it was so nice to spend time with him, since we hardly ever see him.  We set off a lot of parachutes and the kids all loved those.  My grandpa even gave us extra money to go and buy some more.  Tony had his shoulder wrapped up to heal a torn something or other, and so I got to set off all the parachutes.  Then my brother set off the rest and we all enjoyed celebrating our freedoms.  Tyler loved it all, but Josh wasn't too happy.  He tried to sleep, but was woken up and just wanted to go home.  Maybe he'll like it better next year.

My sister Wendy and her boys are in town for a while.  It has been really fun spending time with them and letting all the cousins play together.  Generally they all play well, so that makes it nice.  The kids are learning to share and take turns very well.  I am very proud of Tyler and how well he is doing with all the kids and people telling him what to do or not to do.  Josh generally goes with the flow.  They both have pretty bad colds right now, so that really sucks.  I think that Josh is getting better and Tyler is at the hardest part.  He just coughs and coughs all the time.  Poor kid, I hope that he gets some sleep tonight -- and me too.

Fun in the sun

Today we got to go over to a ward members house, the Larsen's, and go swimming in their pool with their kids.  It was lots of fun.  They have a really big pool and Tyler and Josh loved it.  We got out Tyler's floaty thing that you can sit in that kind of looks like a jet ski and he had so much fun in it and so did Josh.  Tony's brother, Nate, and his wife got that for Tyler for his first birthday.  I couldn't believe that he still fit in it.  Worked great, can't wait to take it swimming again - hopefully soon.  We also ate dinner at their house.  It was nice to get to know them better and to let Tyler play with kids.

It has been hard and weird not having work or going into work this week.  I got used to having that one day away from the kids, and so did Tyler.  That one day rejuvenated me and made me a better and more patient mom.  I am going to have to find something that will do the same thing without actually having to get a job.  I don't want a regular job - even part time, I want to be a mom.  That is what was so nice about my old job...but all good things must come to an end. 

I am really looking forward to this weekend.  My grandpa Clark is coming into town from Oregon and I hardly ever get to see him.  Plus it is 4th of July weekend, so that means the Murray Parade, a BBQ at my parents, and fireworks that night.  All good things! -- Tyler just woke up -- duty calls.

What a crazy week

We are all still a little in shock about me loosing my job last week.  It has been kind of nice and weird not having to worry about getting work done this past week and not having to worry about going into work tomorrow.  Since Tuesday I have found out more people from my work who lost their jobs and it really makes me sad for the families.  You don't really understand how hard the times are right now until you loose your job.  We are so blessed that Tony is still employed.

On Friday Tony's brother-in-law, Tim, left for his tour of duty to Washington and then Iraq for a year.  It was nice being there with him and the family.  Tim is a really nice guy who would do anything for you, so he will truly be missed.  He leaves his wife and four kids at home.  It will be hard on all of them, but they are so strong I know that they will do great!  I was able to take lots of pictures of the event and was glad to get a couple of the cousins being so cute with Tyler and Josh.  They are great cousins and my kids just love them.

Saturday was my ward's Super Saturday.  We had fun crafts and my sisters, Julie and Wendy were able to come.  Not too many ward members came, but enough to make it a good time.  We had tons of yummy food and people seemed to enjoy all the crafts. Later that night, Tony and I got to go out to dinner with Wendy and Julie and their husbands.  It was lots of fun.  We ate at Tepinaki's (however that is spelt) and then had some ice cream after.  It was really fun to go on a group date with just the adults.  We had a good time being silly and being entertained by the Japanese cook making our food in

front of us.  Good times.

Potty training has been going pretty good.  Tyler is really good at going pee in the potty and several times today he went all by himself.  He still, however, goes poop in his pants.  I am not really sure what to do.  I try to talk to him about how big boys don't poop their pants only babies do, but that obviously isn't working.  I'm at a loss.  I guess I keep hoping that it'll just click and he will start pooping in the potty.  Wishful thinking I am sure.  Today Tyler put his underwear on his Tigger stuffed animal and pretended to potty train Tigger.  It was pretty darn cute!  Tigger did poop in his pants once, but Tyler cleaned it all up.  He is such an awesome kid.  I just love him and Josh so much.  I am a very blessed person.