I am not sure how this day got going but it was not at all what i expected. Last night at about 3-Shea came in and got in bed with me. Then about an hour later Ben came in too. I am sure its because Dad was not home and they wanted some Mom time. Well I like to think that anyway. I woke( because Patrick woke me up) and got Patrick off to school only to come home and not sleep a few more minutes. Not what I wanted at all. But the rest of the kids got off to school and got ready for the day as well as getting Bennie and Shea ready. She decided today was the magical day that the underwear would be most useful. And she has only had one accident so maybe she was right. But now I remember why I dislike potty training. And it only took like 15 seconds to remember. Off- Bennie to school-and me to Walmart and get Patrick's glasses fixed.

Now what? They have to have an exam-to get new glasses. Now I have to backtrack and get the kiddo out of school to get an exam. You would of thought that his eyes changed by the way they were insisting that he needed an exam but nope his eyes are still the exact same vision. So we did that and finally I stopped by the store and back home. Right now I have 2 in piano and just as that finished I have scouts. Well me and Liam. Then home to start dinner. Well if they get dinner tonight then I will start it but if I think they have eaten enough this week I will forego dinner and take a bath instead. Ahhh that actually sounds nice right now. All in all this day did not go at all as planned-You know. . .sleeping.

Our House during the home show-we didnt get pictures of Patricks room but his is a silver tree with blue ornaments and blue lights. It looks more like a space tree. Look hard cause this maybe the only time the whole house is clean at once, including the toilets, until a mission farewell....just sayin

Its been a while and we have been busy. We had Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and a New Year. Its been busy and full of fun. Patrick and Liam are now playing basketball and in both of their first games they scored. We were pumped-They are learning their ball handling skills pretty well and seem to be having fun. Patrick takes the game alittle more seriously and Liam does alot of bouncing around. He has alot of energy. Ben has been reading better and better each week. He is now reading real books on his own. He actually has more energy then Liam. Its like he is a jellybean flea if that is something. Irelands skills in the kitchen have improved. She is getting more and more comfortable making desserts. I guess one day I will have to break down and teach her how to make some other real dinners. Shea is Shea. She is just growing and doing the 2 year old thing. We love watching her learn how to talk and to express her self. We have also noticed that she is still pretty bossy. Can you blame her-she has to hold her own in a family of 4 other siblings. Sean is busy fixing computers as a side job-he is just doing that dad thing. Me? Same as before. Doing the mom thing. Dishes never go away and neither does the dust.

We are getting ready to celebrate Irelands birthday and I think that she wants a Lizard cake! That will be a fun one to make. But will post pictures soon. All is well in the Rawlinson household......

A few weeks ago we all went up to the mountains to spend some time with grandma and grandpa. It was the black powder part of the deer hunt. There was a splender of colors in the trees and we were so happy to jump off the 4-wheelers and play in the leaves. The pictures we got of the family hanging out together were really beautiful and brought out that in the kids. We all rode around on the 4 wheelers, racing eachother and through the streams. We came away needing a shower!!


Now Sean and I are away on a work trip. Its good for ONLY me because I dont have to go to the conferences-I get to sit and sleep or sleep and shop-its great. Tomorrow is the last day but thats ok we have had quiet time and I think we are ready to get back into the grind of things for a few more weeks. I do hope that there is another conference in like another month. Just sayin!

Just a week until school starts. The kids are having to go to bed a little earlier now then they could before. They are so picked on.

This week should be fairly easy for us as we have the clothes bought and the shoes ready. New socks (theirs had holes in them and while we bought them white they now belong in the darks pile) and a new experience. Patrick starts the middle school. I think I will push to home school him.

Ireland starts the 5th grade with a good teacher. I think I will try to home school her.

Liam starts 3rd grade with Sister Anderson. She will probably ask me to home school him.

Ben starts kindergarten this year and he is so excited and I think I want to home school him.

Shea is still only 2 but I think I will send her to school-She wants to be busy somewhere else. Just kidding. But she is learning her ABC's and her vowels. She also can count to 3 and count from 3 to 1 by herself.

We are slowly coming to terms with the new school year starting. I am not so excited to have the kids gone this year and I am having my own issues with them leaving every year. One day it will be for good and that does not sound so desirable.

On a lighter side it has been a fun summer with Ireland and Liam just starting swimming lessons with a small group in the next town. They will learn alot and I am glad they like it. The teacher is as willing to teach as they are willing to learn. That is good for us. I send Shea to play in their super yard (full of toys and real boats that have been dug into the ground for kids to play in) while I read a book. It is a great set up.

Patrick has just discovered the Tennis Shoe Nephites book series and will have no problems reading the 10 book series before the 27th. Yea Wonder how many pages he can read this month?? I guess we will see. Shea has slowly started using words. Seems like her favorite words are "moph" aka move, "say" aka stay(not to be confused with say aka Shea), and "mine". Patrick seems to be sure she will learn the ABC's before she is 3. She is well on her way. She also makes all of the movements to the songs "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star", "The Foolish Man", "Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree". So that is how we spend our nights at dinner time. Singing church songs.

Our little world is pretty perfect right now. Hopefully, we can stay that way for a long time!!

This week we are finally kinda ready for the 24th of July celebrations. Our town has a huge celebration that starts 2 weeks before the 24th even gets here. So, Sean and I and a couple of friends are on our way to get the parade under control. We love doing the parade and love seeing all of the entrants and their floats. Ireland and her cousins also ride in the parade and throw candy at a pace fitting any race car-you know fast and furious. We love having all of the family here and finally this year we have enough room to accommodate everyone. So we will have all of Sean's family come and hang out for the weekend. The part we could do with out is the sirens going off at 6 am in the morning along with the cannons!

But we are looking forward to a fun filled day with lots of food, entertainment, and family. Hopefully, Baby Shea will cooperate with us and be good-no naughtiness! But I think we have too high of expectations on that one for this year! More pictures when we have them.

I must say that one thing that I find incredible humorous is who the Lord puts together as a "family". That is where you can put that saying "You cant pick your family" comes into play. (rolling my eyes and sighing loudly)

But, I will also say I am grateful for my children and my wonderful husband-who I did pick! Getting through this summer has proven to be a task in many more ways then one. But I think those "tasks" are done.

Well after almost 3 days of seclusion I can honestly say that I would be one boring person with out my family. I would have to provide all of my own entertainment and then go alone to that place to be entertained.


WHAT???? Why in the world would I ever want that? They provide all of the entertainment I need and I am never alone. I like the family thing more.

Busy bee summer

Its been a while but we have been busier then bees. We started baseball and have decided that while the older two kids are really good they might not want to do baseball next year. I think that is a great idea. Last week Patrick caught an awesome pop-fly and Ireland is pitching an inning or two per game. They are going to stick to golf once a week and tennis. They love those. Liam loves baseball and just goes out to have fun. i am glad he dosent take losses personal and is there to just play the game. Sean likes to be the coach.

Between the time of signing them up and starting I was diagnosed with Thyroid cancer. Eww. What does that mean? Lots of dr. visits, body scans and blood work. Thank goodness we have insurance to cover most of it. They took the thyroid, 1 parathyroid and a few lymphnodes on May 14, and I did have cancer in most of what they took out. Right now, I am sitting at my moms in her basement on the computer radiating. Not merely because of my beauty but of the radioactive iodine that has a 12 foot span all around me. So, yesterday I could truly say I was "hot" and had a little blue pill. The hardest part is the diet you have to be on. . .no eggs, soy or soy by-product , iodized salt, yellow or red food coloring, no dairy or prepackaged food. No fish product, no butter or margarine and no prepackaged foods. That should pretty much cover everything you can buy that has any taste. I eat fruits and veggies, 4 ounces of meat per day and 4 ounces of grain or pasta a day. Thats it. Grrr. I have been almost a month on this diet and inspite of the awesomeness of the diet you dont lose weight because with no thyroid you dont burn any calories. That is the control center. It also controls body temperature and hormones. Nice huh. Monday, hopefully, I can start the medication and with in a day or so I will have a surge of energy as well as some insomnia. Its a night and day turn around. I guess with all of the sleep you have had you cant not start going the other direction. I am happy for this because it explains alot of my tiredness in the last few months. Sean is happy too for the change as he has watched me go down hill and we both had no explaination for it. He wins the brownie points of the lifetime because he would come home for lunch and I would have to say "I haven't done one thing all day" he would reply with "good hope you relaxed"-now looking back he was somewhat concerned too. I love having answers to questions.

A Snowy Spring April...

So here is the latest on the Sean & Shauna Rawlinson family:

Shea's birthday was yesterday. Grandma and Grandpa Rawlinson came over on friday morning. Dad and I played 9 holes of golf in the morning, which was lots of fun! It's been a while since I've been golfing... We got back in time for Grandma and Grandpa to watch the kids while Shauna and I ran up to Provo to a doctors appointment. The most amazing thing about that is that when we got back, Grandma and Grandpa were still alive! We then had a birthday celebration for Shea, where the kids had a lot of fun bonking her on the head with her gifts and watching/helping her open them. We always love it when Grandma and Grandpa come to visit! =)
We're finally starting to get some grass poking through in the front yard. We spread a bunch of seed a couple of weeks ago, and have been keeping it wet between snowfalls. Shauna spread more seed and a bunch of topsoil this past week, and we are now seeing the rewards of our hard work. We have also been working on the rest of the yard by cleaning up the extra wood from the construction, and cutting it up and stacking it for winter. We have a couple of mounds of dirt to take care of still, but have a good friend who is willing to let us borrow his small tractor to clean stuff up. We hope to get a lot done this summer, but I'm sure we will be improving the yard for as long as we are in the house. :)
Today, we were very lazy. I almost fell asleep twice before the kids woke me up... Shauna got a much needed nap. She has been SOOOO positive. It's almost hard to keep up with her!

We were running to the post office and Ben said to me . . "Do you remember when I won the game the other day-not today"

SWEET! My kids are sooo cool!