The Winner is...

...not me! Haha, had you all going there huh!?! It was so much fun to go out of my comfort zone and enter the contest for the Shootsac! I was totally out of my league with most entries from professional photogs. She didn't post her top ten, which would have been fun to see, but she had her twin 7 year old daughters pick their favorites to post on her blog. You can see those here. I was excited to see that both Mel and I made her blog and that her picture is right above mine! That has to count for something right!! Mel had a fun and creative picture! You have to read her post about it, because her explanation for the picture is so creative. There were so many pictures that I liked, I couldn't pick my favorite. There we so many entries there ended up being two winners. Check them out here. 

Oh and if you want a Shootsac you can get 15% off through March 1st with this coupon code "actions3109". That makes it just under $200! If you were Becky Bloomwood, that's all it would take for you to put it on your credit card, a good deal! (Ha! If you've ever read "Confessions of a Shopaholic" by Sophie Kinsella, you know what I'm talking about. If you haven't, they're really funny books! Thanks for lending them to me Mandy!)

Wish Me Luck!

I decided to put myself out there and enter a contest. I figure what do I have to lose! At MCP Actions, there is a contest to win a Shootsac! These camera/lens bags are awesome! I'm in love! To enter the contest you're suppose to take a picture of why you need a new camera bag. I'm not creative to say the least. Matt helped me come up with this final image, he's the one with the brains. So I hope I win! If looks alone could win it, my kids would win it for me hands down! ;)

Anyone can enter, so if you want to have a go with it you can enter here!

I need a Shootsac, because my accessories live in utter chaos!


Update: Check out my sil Mel's entry! It's really cute and clever!

A Perfect Day

I've been waiting for the perfect day to get out and take some pictures. Well today was the day, it was warmer, close to 50^ , there was some sun and Matt was home to help tame the wild beasts. This month at Take Out Photo, the monthly special is background. I knew where I wanted to go for the pictures, because I've been wanting to do it for a long time. I'm glad the challenge pushed me to get out and do it. I got a lot of shots that I think are cute, some that I love, but a lot that aren't technically right, but at least I got out and did it. I also used a lens I had bought 5 minutes prior to doing the shoot.

On craigs list, Matt found a canon film EOS ELAN slr camera with a 28-80mm f3.5 lens and 9 filters for $30! Apparently some of the pictures were coming back with a big thick black line through them. I have no knowledge about the camera at all, but figured $30 for an extra lens would be worth it. We checked it out, it's older, but I couldn't pass it up. While Matt was running an errand, he took the camera into Kits Cameras and they think it was just the shutter sticking, and it looked like there's something sticky on it. So I think we got an awesome deal, I don't know that I will ever use the camera, but an extra lens and filters will probably be handy. She said most of the filters are for black and white photography, so I need to research them out. Sweet!

So I tried bribing the kids with ice cream cones if they would cooperate. They did okay, but they do not know how to sit still and look at the camera. Malcolm kept telling me it was boring. Then he always turns his head to the camera, but looks somewhere else out of the corner of his eye. Quinn just can't stop moving at all! I came home and have played on photoshop the rest of the night. I wasn't planning on it, but I got sucked in. I had fun playing with some free actions that I never use and got carried away. So here's my attempt, my different backgrounds, and some pretty handsome boys! I'll warn you, there's more then a couple.
I love Quinnie loving on Winston! Isn't that cute!
See, they don't even know how to look at me. There is a busy road about 20 feet from here, I'm sure that didn't help. But I like that there looking somewhere else!
We took our family pictures for our Christmas cards in this same area. I love the color of this old building. There are rail cars about 3-4 ft away from this building, so I had to squat underneath them to get the pictures.
Is that not cute or what! I must say, I have some good looking boys!
It was Matt's idea to use the contrast of the horizontal and vertical lines. He'th tho thmart!
Matt also took this picture while I was jumping up on the rail car to get a different view. He's way better at this then me!
I got some really cute pictures for this angle, but one of the boys were always doing something weird. See what I mean! Malcolm will give me his weird fake grin, but he'll look at something else. I try telling him to look at me, and he just turns his head and leave his eyes focused on whatever he's looking at! Ha!
I tried getting Matt to squat next to the boys, but he protested. Said he would have been willing to do it if I would have done it in the front of the building. So I took a picture of him anyways!
Quinn on the rail car with me. Malcolm wasn't willing to get up here, because last time he ran his hand down the wire cable and got poked. I love Quinn's eyes and his hair sticking out on the side.
I wanted one against this red door thing, but the sun was in the boys' eyes, so we did a shadow picture instead.
There was another door on the other side of the building, so we walked down that way. I think this picture is so cute!
Quinn actually stood still for more then two seconds!
But it didn't last long, here they are playing around again. Probably playing guns or something. Earlier they were doing the robot as they sang "Mr Roboto". They are some cute boys!

He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not

So remember how in the last post about Valentine's Day I mentioned how Matt brought me home flowers, and it was only like the 6th time (I'm totally making that number up, but I swear it's less then 10 times!) in our 7 years of marriage. Well I sent Matt to the store yesterday so I didn't have to go, and guess what he brings me home. A dozen red roses!! (Notice in the picture, I still have the last flowers.) I laughed when he came in with them and told him he's only doing it because I wrote about it on the blog. He says every time he goes to the store now, he's going to bring me flowers! Ha! Yeah right, but maybe I should send him to the store just to test that theory out! Hehe!

Winston Laughing

After giving Winston his antibiotics tonight, I pulled the little syringe apart and it made a popping noise. He thought it was so hilarious, so we did it over and over for him. I couldn't resist getting it on video and posting it! Enjoy! Two post in one day, I'm on a roll!

Our Valentine's Day

We had a good Valentine's day. We didn't have any big plans, we never really do. I only had one agenda that day, which I'll blog about later, maybe. My mom called me that morning and asked if we wanted to meet them up in Spokane, so we got to spend the afternoon hanging with them. We ate lunch, did a little shopping, hit Costco and went to a pet store. It's always fun to spend time with them, but never long enough when we meet them somewhere. Thanks for the fun day Mom and Pop! We love you!

We started our Valentine's Day celebrating early by making some sugar cookies a couple days before. Or I should say, I started the celebrating early. I made the cookies one night after the boys went to bed, then frosted them the next day. The only thing the boys did to help, was decorate their own cookies. I ate probably close to a dozen all by myself. I love to bake/cook, but I love to eat it way too much! That's why I like to bake and share.
Friday the boys received two packages in the mail, one from Grandma Hardy and one from GraMimi. They were pretty excited and wanted to open them themselves, with butter knives of course. Malcolm is scared of anything sharper since his pocket knife incident!
The boys were poking the tape with the knife and it was making a popping noise. Winston thought it was hilarious and laughed over and over.
A fun game of Book of Mormon checkers and tic tac toe. Thanks Grandma Hardy. Malcolm is enjoying playing with it, and tell me how you already taught him how to play.


Next up is the box from GraMimi.
Winston cracking up over the popping noise and trying to get to the candy.
Sweet Speed Racer cars, thanks GraMimi!!

Matt then started stepping on the bubble wrap and the boys joined in, but Matt took off when I got the camera out. I guess he's embarrassed he still loves bubble wrap. But who doesn't!?!
When we got back from Spokane Valentine's day, Matt ran to the store to get some milk. He came back with some flowers and a card for me! He's so good to me and wrote such sweet things to me. I was very impressed, this being like the 6th time he's brought me home flowers, and he actually not only signed the card, but wrote in it! Ha! He's always doing way too much for me, like saving up money just to buy me an awesome gift, or bring me home chocolate from the store, just because! He's great, but I just had to point out to him, it's like less the 10 times he's ever gotten me flowers! Hehe! Thank you Matthew, I love you! You are the best husband and I made the best choice marrying you!
I couldn't resist taking some pictures of the flowers. I don't have a macro lens, so I had to do with what I have. I have always loved flower pictures, but I never like the way they look. I think I like these the best ever. They make me think of spring and that's why I like them so much!


I took Winston into the walk-in yesterday. He's been sick the last week and a half, with a cold/cough and a fever here and there. The last few nights though, he's been sleeping terrible, so I thought I better get him checked out. Sure enough he has double ear infection. He's on his third round of antibiotics since the first of the year for ear infections. I blame them on his four top teeth coming in. Two have broke through, and the top two middle teeth are really close too. Poor baby! He's probably had the most ear infections of any of my kids, and is the worst teether!

He loves one cupboard in the kitchen and is constantly in it all day. It kinda drives me nuts, but it keeps him entertained, where toys don't! Ugh! Why is that? He always pulls out my four red bowls, and the plastic pitcher. Recently Quinn taught him how to put them on his head. He thinks it's so funny to do. This boy is such a joy in our house!

Here Comes Trouble!

Winston is quite the daredevil with a lot of determination. I sometimes wonder if he's going to be our hardest child. He has a temper too and already will throw tantrums or scream if he's not getting what he wants. It's a good thing he is just so dang cute!! It pretty much makes up for it. So this post is all about Winston's doings lately.

As soon as he hears the fridge or dishwasher open, he is right there. He loves unloading the utensils as I'm loading the dishwasher, or trying to climb onto the door. But once I'm done, he's very good at shutting the door. It's cute that he likes to help with it!

The other day Quinn asked if he could have a yogurt, so he gets it out of the fridge. I realize I didn't hear it shut, go to investigate and find Winston in the fridge. He's such a little monkey! He was so proud of himself.
This is his other past time. He loves to get into the pantry and climb up as far as he can and pull everything down. I love it because I have nothing better to do then pick it all back up over and over. I'm so glad he's helping me stay occupied!
This boy is just a climber, ever since he was big enough, he's been climbing up and down on Quinn's bed. He will climb anything he can figure out, upside down laundry baskets, my file boxes and the boys' little chairs when they're set up.

He figured this out the other day. He can't walk, but he can climb the ladder. When he wants to do something, he's going to do it. The ladder is one of those things. Walking, he could care less.

He get so excited when he gets up there. He'll be up there for a few minutes, then wants back down.
Just so he can do it all over again.

The smart little booger. We now have to put the ladder up every day. I'm afraid I'm going to forget one day, and he's going to fall off. :(
Whenever it's time for him to nap or go to bed, I will try to get him to snuggle and sing to him. He usually will lay his head down for a few seconds then just want in his bed, before I've even finished the song. He's been sick the last week and a half with a fever here and there, cold/cough, and his two top teeth are still trying to come down. This particular day when I went to lay him down for his second nap, he really snuggled up to me. I sang to him one lullaby, two lullabies, three lullabies and he was still snuggling. So I just continued to sing, primary songs, then onto some Hilary Weeks. Two of my favorite things, singing and cuddling. I couldn't resist while he gave me the opportunity. He let me sing him to sleep. It was so sweet, I loved it. The other boys were playing a little Wii, so after I was sure he was really asleep, I had Malcolm grab my camera and take a few pictures. He thought he was hot stuff! This is the reason why I love being a mom!

25 Random Things

Mandy tagged me on facebook, but I wanted to do it on my blog, so that I could someday print it out in my blog book and my kids would know 25 random things about their mom. Although, I don't know if I want them to know it all. I guess they can read it after their married and are smarter then me!

This was really quite hard for me! It's taken several days for me to come up with things. So usually you tag people, and I hate putting people on the spot like that, so I'll just say, if you've never done this, do it. It's fun to come up with it and really think about yourself. Come on Mom, do it!

1. I have 17 siblings. Milo, Brianne, Malissa, Amanda, Landon, Leisha, Jason, Ryan, Calvin, Nathan, Tyler, Jacquelyn, Carter, Spencer, Trevor, Tanner and Kathryn. Whew, that's a lot!

2. I'm the youngest, one of the oldest, middle child!

3. I have the biggest sweet tooth ever. Doesn't help with the baby fat belly!

4. Since having Malcolm, I don't like meat hardly at all. It looks and smells good, but I just don't like it. It's weird and I hate it.

5. I'm very self conscious. I don't like attention.

6. The above makes it very hard for me to accept compliments, I get so embarrassed! It's not that I don't like them, they just make me feel uncomfortable. But of course, I still like them! Ha!

7. I hate being late. I have to be early to everything. I hate walking in late and everyone looking at me, or I FEEL like everyone is looking at me. See #5.

8. I love singing, and would be a country singer if I had a choice.

9. My biggest fear is Matt dying. I think about it all the time and have been really scared sometimes that it's going to happen. To the point that I go through ALL the emotions of it. But do we have life insurance, no, we've looked into it several times, but have just never gotten it. I think sub consciously, that means I accept it!

10. I used to have 9 piercings. Five in my left ear, 3 in my right and one belly ring. After President Hinckley counseled us to only have one pair of earrings, I took them out. Not right that instant, but a month or so later. I eventually realized that although I didn't see why at the time, I sustained him as a prophet and so I needed to follow his counsel. (I understand now, since I'm older and more mature. I had to look up when he said it, he said it here and here. I had to share, because it was really hard to find!)

11. I also have a tattoo that I regret, but most of the time forget I have. (Don't judge, I'm still a good person! I've repented! Ha!)

12. I gained my testimony of eternal families when I was eleven and my little brother drowned. The spirit testified it to me then and I have felt it through every other lose it my life! FAMILIES ARE FOREVER!!

13. I'm a homebody. I like nothing more then to hang out at home with my family.

14. I love to bake. Especially when I can share it with people. I wonder why I have a hard time getting the belly fat off!

15. I love newborns. I love the newborn cry. If I hear a baby crying, I just want to hold it and comfort it myself, even if I don't know the people! I do resist the urge though. That would be weird.

16. I don't have a middle name. Tradition in my family, girls don't have middle names. If I ever have a girl, I won't carry on this tradition.

17. My nickname is Shaila Lou, or Lou, or Louser. My family all calls me Lou, or Shaila Lou. My grandpa called me that as a baby, and it's stuck. I've always wanted it to be my middle name. Also, I try to get my nieces and nephews to call me Auntie Lou, I just think it's cute!

18. I sucked my thumb until I was 12. It was such an embarrassing habit I just couldn't quit. This is why I really tried getting Malcolm to stop by 5, and it worked.

19. I love a clean, uncluttered, organized house. I can't function in disarray and I get grumpy in it. I can also lift my mood by cleaning. But this doesn't mean I never have a messy house. I do live with 4 boys! I mean, 3 boys and one MAN!

20. I love to iron, although I'm WAY behind, ever since having Winston. (He's a year Shaila, get with it!) My friends always made fun of the fact that I always ironed my jeans in high school. (Thanks Tami!) I don't iron ALL my clothes now that I'm a stay at home mom.

21. I had my wisdom teeth pulled when I was 7 months prego with Quinn. I was awake the whole time. My left bottom side got infected, or something, and I couldn't barely open my mouth, let alone eat, for a week.

22. I don't ask for help. I have a hard time accepting help. I'm working on it. It makes me think of my wisdom teeth situation. I was in a lot of bad pain, I had an almost 2 year old to take care of, I was pregnant and I was sick with a cough on top of the infection. My mom called and I just happened to be crying. I vented, and after she asked me if I wanted her to come over after work. I told her I was fine and she didn't need to come!! Ha! She came!

23. I have a girl name all picked out if we ever have one. It's Matt's aunts name and mom's middle name. I don't know what we'll name another boy. Yes I want more kids, I'm just not ready to be done. But give me some time though, I want my body for a while!

24. I met Matt at singles ward FHE the day after I got back from Ricks. My sister liked him at the time, and I was dating another guy. He kept trying to get me to check out his butt the whole time, but I resisted. I was committed to someone else for goodness sakes, even if he was incredibly hot. Eventually the other guy dropped me, and I fell for Matt! How could I resist his hotness!

25. I was a 911 dispatcher when Matt and I got married and worked until I had Quinn. I LOVED it and miss all the police pursuits, fires, accidents and 911 calls. It is such an adrenaline high that's so hard to explain! Although I loved the work, I hated the atmosphere and a lot of the cocky officers. I also hated the shift work and working on holidays. But most of all I hated missing out on Malcolm's first 2 years of life!

Surprise Visitors

Friday morning I got a call from Merle. He was wondering if they could come down and visit us. I was happy that I had kept up with housework all week, and had just vacuumed the floors Thursday. I asked the boys if they wanted Grandma and Paka Hardy to visit and of course they said yes, but it didn't sink in. So when I happened to see them pulling up, I told the boys to come look out the window. They saw them and just ran out the door, no shoes on. I was extra surprised when Jeff came in as well. How sweet that he wanted to see his nephews!

Since it was just Winston's birthday, Grandma came bearing gifts for him. Matt had given him a candy cane, so he was extra happy about that.
Winston got some fun books and cute new jammies. It's funny how I've had two previous boys and I pull out a box of the next size of clothes, and it's lacking. He was really lacking on pj's and most of the clothes are summer, since the other boys are summer babies. Thank you Grandma and Paka for the present!!
Matt came home early from work and we all went and had some Cougar Country for lunch. Two times in one week, and we didn't care! I love when we get to go out to eat, since we rarely do. After lunch, Cynthia, Quinn, Winston and I ran over to Walmart so Cynthia could get Madagascar 2. We love that movie! Thanks Cynthia! Malcolm stayed at home with the big boys so he could play Wii. He loved playing it with everyone, and we spent the rest of the afternoon playing.
Quinnie really wanted to go to the store with Cynthia and I, because he had some money left over from buying his ice cream cone at lunch, and it was burning a hole in his pocket. He bought him and Malcolm, with the help from mom, a push up sucker. Don't you love Jeff in the background!?!
Malcolm and Quinn wanted to take turns playing Wii with everyone. Grandma was very good at a target shooting game we have! Way better then I am, I'm sure! Winston LOVES his Paka! He is always wanting him to hold him and trying to get his attention. It's so sweet, and Paka can't get enough of him!
I always love it when Matt changes Winston's diaper and leaves his pants off. I never quite understand what's so hard about putting them back on. But he was looking dang cute in his hoodie and no pants. He thought Uncle Jeff's foot was pretty entertaining.
Thanks for the visit!! It was so fun having Grandma, Paka and Jeff visit for the afternoon. It wasn't nearly long enough, and I was sad to see them go so soon. Come back soon!! We love you!

The things he gets into!

A couple days ago while Matt was getting leftovers out for his lunch, Winston found Malcolm's leftover gogurt and squeezed a little out on the fridge shelf. I took it and put it in the garbage. So after Matt left and I was getting ready, Malcolm came back and told me that Winston had gotten into the garbage. I was comforted that at least I had just put it in there, and it was at the very top. He was very pleased with himself, I was a little grossed out!

Wii Party

A couple of weeks ago we hung out with some long lost friends from the married student ward we used to go to. It was such a blast to hang with the Rupp's, Harper's, Platt's and Poteet's. We still hit the same ward with the Poteet's but we started out in the student ward together. We brought lots of treats to eat, the Wii to play and the kids to create lots of noise! The kids had a blast together. The Rupp's are pregnant with their first baby, so the toys were lacking, but the imaginations ran wild. I'm not quite sure what the kids were playing at this point, but looks like fun! Madi, bottom left, and her little sister Lily were the only girls. Madi got right in and played with the boys. Carter, right above Madi, is only a year and a half, and played like he was big and tough too.
Matt with his best little buddy Grayam. Grayam, Poteet's youngest, is really into Matt and calls him "maa". It's so cute, and Matt's always giving him his wintergreen lifesavers. Must be why Grayam loves him so much.
This would be called a Quinnie sandwich. I'm not quite sure what Malcolm and Georgey are doing with him, but they were all happy!
Carter is the sweet boy of the Platt's. He is sooo stinkin' cute. He is the friendliest little guy and totally let me hug him and it didn't phase him. I LOVE his curly hair. This picture doesn't show how smiley he was the whole time! The Platt's now live in Tri-Cities and came down for the weekend, so it was fun to see them, even though we didn't get a good chance to really catch up!
I tried entertaining the kids for a while with their own kids games, but it didn't last long before they wanted to really get into playing. I'm not sure what they played, just a lot of running, jumping and yelling. Maybe Quinn is trying to swim here, not sure!
The boys were wanting to play Wii and were disappointed the adults we so into Guitar Hero. So right before we went home, they got their chance. Malcolm and Georgey were the first ones up. When I creeped in front of them for some pictures, Georgey had to pose in a true rock star pose.
Is this what it's going to look like when they're teenagers? Aren't they looking so grown up?
I love how they kept pulling the rock star stances. I think they might have enjoyed the attention a little!
Winston was in front with me enjoying the show. I think he's wishing he could rock like the big boys.
I have some handsome men in my life...that's all I know!
Lastly Quinnie and Madi had a turn at it. They didn't pull the crazy rock star moves as much. They more just concentrated on the song.
Madi is the Harper's oldest daughter. They have two of the cutest girls. I neglected to take a picture of sweet Lily, she is adorable! Madi is six month older Quinn, but I think he could marry an older woman!
Quinn is such a Hardy. He uses his tongue to concentrate. I didn't get a good picture of it, but he kept moving it all over while he was playing. It was so funny.
We had a great time hanging out with our long lost friends. I hope we can get together again sooner then later. When's the next party guys?