Good Bye 2008, Hello 2009

Well, lets hope that this new year is actually different from last and much much better. Some security prayerfully! Long time since last post, December was a complete blur. I would have already had my Christmas decor down if it wasn't for being sick, again! I blame my husband for bringing it home again. Nothings worse then battling a stupid head cold and then feeling nauseous and getting sick to your stomach. Oh yeah, and add waking up this morning with a weird kink in your neck and you can't turn your head to the left. Good times. Very weird to look outside and see your grass again. What is with a beautiful winter landscape and then in less than 24hrs it's completely gone? Rain, what the heck. I have to say the best gift this year was from my Dad, he fixed our 4 wheel drive in our Tahoe and when we return to Twin Falls next weekend, he'll be fixing the rest of the problems. I can't thank him enough. We have been putting off that stuff due to the no paycheck thing, so this is a huge gift for us. For the first time in over 2 years we were able to use 4 wheel drive and let me tell you, it was awesome. What a huge difference. I have thought long and hard on why we have 2 dogs recently. I questioned it for awhile. It's not like when I was growing up and everyone in your family was a dog lover. Very hard to make it work harmoniously when 1 could care less if they were here or not. Anyway, during the last few days I have been reminded why I do have them. Both of my dogs have been by my side (literally) the whole time I've been sick, especially yesterday battling my nausea. They never left my side and when I laid down, they were right there with me. Even though they have their moments, they are good to me and bring comfort. Well, this whole post is a bunch of randomness, blame it on the head cold. I guess I should call it quits for now and head out for my one errand while I feel decent. Be safe tomorrow everyone and have a wonderful New Year!!

Dog Gone

I wish I meant this literally! Remember a previous post titled "Evilness"? Well, she's back in full force and worse! I love dogs, always have, but boy, I'm wishing I didn't have any right now. In fact yesterday I was thinking that when my two pass some day, I will never get another dog! I can't say this with 100% certainty, but I'm pretty sure Barley is our culprit. Within the past week I noticed a chew mark on my couch cushion, not happy. Yesterday I came back after taking my son to Target and found that my dish rag had been obliterated and thrown away (my husband found it after coming back from volunteering in my daughters class). Today I come back from Kohls (almost went to Target again because I forgot trash bags, but decided against it and I'm glad I did) and find that my couch cushion that had minor chew markings had been destroyed. A huge hole right in the front of it, irrepairable! So, who do I blame? You guessed it, Barley. Now I brought her back inside by herself once I found it and she gave me some tension when getting closer to the damage. Disciplined extremely, probably should have brought her close to life's end, but I couldn't, my weakness. Then I brought Vader in by himself and took him over to the damage, no tension, just excited. So that led me to believe that I was right in my opinion. Vader has never shown any form of destruction, none, ever! Barley has even before we got Vader, so I'm sure she did it. I can't believe this. I'm beginning to think that if she keeps up this destruction, she's not worth having. Chewing my trim around the front door as a pup (still needs repaired, but very easy), chewing toys (that's been handled), chewing towels (don't use them in kennel anymore), chewing a hole in the carpet (never has been attempted again and it was repaired for free in home warrenty by the awesome carpet guys), chewing off the insulator material around the pipe to the ac unit (2x), chewing my dish rag, and now my couch cushion. I'm sure there's a few more things I could list, but the list is pretty extensive as it is. So what am I to do? Why now, why would she all of a sudden resort to this extreme behavior on my furniture? She's never even bothered it once before this ordeal. I need Cesar Milan, the Dog Whisperer! Maybe she needs to get out more and "work" off her anxiety, maybe she needs to know that her life hangs in my hands! Well, I guess I'll be looking for new couches sooner than later. Obviously not too soon, but one of these days when she's done being EVIL.

DONE

This is probably going to be the most real, truthful, bearing all post I've ever done. I have to be honest, the past 2 weeks have been absolute hell. I thought I'd been to hell and back with the last few financial dry spells, but nope, this one has broken the camels back. A combination of things have happened these past few weeks that have added to this feeling of defeat, my feeling right now. I felt as if I was handling it pretty well, until Monday. I've been doing nothing but praying, pleading, claiming God's powerfulness and trying to hold it together so that my children see nothing. Today I find myself still holding onto these last few hours before our time is officially up financially, holding onto hope. I don't know what will happen, all I know is that it will be a true miracle for us, whether God chooses to do that or not, I don't know. So on top of all this I've been dealing with sick children since last Tuesday and now finding myself catching the same thing as of yesterday. We've had cell phone mishaps that resulted in paying for a replacement (talk about really bad timing), my car is now pouring out antifreeze every time I back out of the driveway, my camera has failed me (bad timing, once again, and right when the holidays are coming), and to top it off, I get a phone call last night that I didn't want to get. I knew it was coming at some point, but not right now, not with all of this happening. I get a phone call around 8pm last night that my Grandmother is "shutting down". She has a UTI (urinary tract infection) and won't drink, eat anything, nor is she responding to anyone. I broke last night, I'm done. I can take no more and God has to know that. This morning I'm woken up by a phone call just after 7am, my Grandmother passed last night just before midnight. What hurts the most is I have no idea if she was saved. All I remember as a child is her arguing with my dad (we were the only saved ones on that side of the family) and getting ticked off at him resulting in crying. All I can do is hope and pray that somewhere in her heart, a sliver of what was shared with her on many occasions over the years made it back to her heart in those last few moments. I pray she is with our Maker, but I don't know. So, this is where I am right now. I usually don't open up this much, don't even know why I'm writing this right now. But there you have it. I'm tired.

Fastest Shots in the west

Yesterday I had to take my kiddos to the doctor to get their hep A booster shots. Due to changes in our insurance I had to reschedule them and thought I'd do it at the same time instead of making two trips. My son does pretty well with shots, quick cry when the needle enters and then he's done. My daughter on the other hand is quite different. A few years ago she wigged out so much she bent the needle and they had to start over while I pretty much had her in a bear hug, no free limbs. So needless to say I was a bit worried about taking both of them at the same time. I talked to both of them on the way, gave a really big pep talk and so forth. This is when it gets funny. So we go there and are taken in the back, but first we have to make a pit stop for my daughter. While she's going to the bathroom, all the fire alarms are going off and the lights are flashing. What are the odds? So we hurry up out of the bathroom and they hurry us into a room and give two shots in less than a minute! All the while my kids are holding their ears due to the loud noises. They hardly had to time to react to the shots or even think about them, I think they were more concerned with why the fire alarms were going off. So we were in and out, literally! And then, being kids and being quite inquisitive, the whole ride home was 50 questions on why do we have fire alarms, what happens if there's a real fire and so on and so on and so on. I had to finally stop the questioning and make them move on. So that was my late afternoon yesterday. Quite hilarious, well maybe you had to be there.

Tis the Season

These little decorations have me itching to decorate already! I have to refrain from my excitement for a few more weeks though. Anyhoo, I just bought these cute little things yesterday from Costco! Love them. I have been eyeing these things for weeks now. They are cordless color changing snowflakes you hang in your window, 10 of them! Costco is selling them for $19.99, didn't realize how good of a deal that was until I went to Target and saw them for $4.99 each and unbelievably they were sold out. I can hardly wait to whip out all the decorations and all the new ones I bought last year during Target's 90% off sale after Christmas. I'm going to have to sweet talk my husband into hanging the outdoor lights early this year too. Why wait, the weather will continue to get colder and it's no fun hanging in freezing weather. I know this from experience and he'll tell you the same, especially when your roof is slick. Yeah, that's fun. I should probably stop writing about this because now I'm wanting to go and get my Christmas CD and start playing it. Well, just thought I'd share my favorite find right now.

I've been tagged

Okay, I'm going to really try hard to come up with 6 things you don't know about me. Here goes:
1. I love drag racing, jets, sports cars etc. I grew up being surrounded by that stuff. So pretty much I'm not your typical girl. Probably why I had more boy friends than girl friends. Not only that, I'm handy"woman" of the house. The tools, their mine. I'm sure my husband wouldn't be too embarrassed to admit it either
2. I would love to work with animals, especially Cesar Milan the dog whisperer. Love that show. I keep trying to get Barley to watch with me, but for some reason she won't. I secretly practice my ssh and the backwards kick on the rear with her. I have some work to do. :)
3. I love cooking and baking! Food network has become quite the friend of mine over the years. I would love to try so many recipes, unfortunately with 2 picky eaters in the house, it'd be a waste. I always tend to lean toward Everyday Italian cooking.
4. I'm so technical and need organization and cleanliness, it's almost debilitating at times. When something is so unorganized (say my office that hasn't been touched in over a year) it gets ignored, it's so bad I can't think of where to begin. My husband is proud of me though for not touching it, he hates my technical side @ times and says this a big step for me. I don't think so, the job needs tackled and I just need to do it. I may know what is in each pile, but it needs to be organized!
5. I seem to be decisive on big decisions, but when it comes to little ones, like what shoes to buy for my kids, I can't make a decision. What's up with that?
6. I have a passion for photography, yet I've never really done it. I have a wish for a very nice camera, but it has continually been put on the back burner for other reasons. One of these days I will get to my passion.
I'm not going to tag anyone because I'm sure you've already been tagged. My husband, if you read this, I'll tag you but I'm sure you won't post on this.

What I've been up to

Not much to post. I've been busy. I all of a sudden got a wild hair and have been going crazy painting and putting my house together. Well by together I mean putting the valences up that came with my blinds that I installed almost a year ago. In the midst of all that my cleaning has taken a back seat. Wish the house could clean itself, it never seems to end. 2 kids, 2 dogs, 1 large kid (my husband of course), the house only stays clean for about a day, maybe 2. I have to say though I am very pleased with the colors I've added to my house. I forgot how much painting adds to the feel of your home. This time around I've gone with much bolder colors than I ever have before. Love it! What else is new? Looks like we may be taking another trip to Twin Falls sooner than I thought. Love my brother. He asked me yesterday when we could come down again. He wants to go to this huge haunted house in Albion (an old abandoned school house-freaky). I told him we'd come down but he'd be going with Phil and not me. I've never been in to that stuff, even though it's all fake, can't do it, never will. I'll stay behind with the kids and my sister-in-law. That sounds like more fun to me, oh and hanging out w/ my nephew of course. Can't believe that Thanksgiving is next month. I can't wait to sink my teeth into some good 'ol Thanksgiving dinner. This year my brother, sis-law, nephew, and my parents, and possibly their dog will all be cooking and eating in my house. I can't wait. Oh and you better believe I'll be getting in on the action "Black Friday"! It's crazy, nuts, too early, but you just have to do it, even if it's only once. Quite an experience. I did it in VA, not that Lynchburg was all that exciting, so I need to add Boise to my small list. Well, I'm off to put my switch plates back on and finally get ready for the day today and go grocery shopping with my little man. I have to say I am really enjoying this year with him. I'm soaking up every minute because next year he'll start pre-school. Hope you all have a wonderful day in this awesome fall/almost winter type weather. I know I will, I have a date to look forward to tonight!

Welcome Vader!

That's right, we have a new member of our family. Vador. We adopted him yesterday from the Humane Society. A dog like this should never be in a place like that. He is unbelievable! For some odd reason, he was the only one I was drawn to. He didn't react when we went in like a lot of the other "hyper" dogs, he's beautiful, purebred, and big. He's calm, well mannered, well trained, and absolutely loves my husband. Within minutes of being with Phil out in the yard the Humane Society has to "check" dogs out, he bonded with him. He responds well, is great with the kids and with Barley. He's 4 years old and amazing. Come to find out he was just dropped off at the humane society last Saturday because his owners didn't have time for him. Sad, because he is a great dog. I will say this, they put a lot of training into him and it shows. Barley is happy she has a friend and we're happy to have him join our family. Can't complain, leash trained, car trained, house trained, come, sit, stay, fully vaccinated and neutered. Thanks to Phil, he's sporting a BSU dog collar and it looks good. The two dogs are inseparable, although Vador would like Barley to leave him alone half the time. You can definitely tell who's 1 and who's 4. We had our first emergency trip last night with Vador. Come to find out the Humane Society missed his kennel cough, thanks for that. But thank you to the awesome vets at All Valley Animal Care Center, Vador is on meds and doing a lot better today. Phil said the vets there reminded him of Dr Swanson (our family physician). He wasn't charged for the visit and they didn't prescribe the ridiculously priced respiratory med due to the cost. They gave him something that would do the job and save us some money. We will be using them from now on for vet visits combined w/ the awesome Zamzows pet clinics for shots! Gotta love dogs!

Can I get me some more afterburner?!

The answer is, yes I can!!! So this past weekend, Mtn Home AFB had the Thunderbirds in town for a free, yes, FREE, show! Of course we had to go. Now if I remember correctly I posted on the Blue Angels and how my kids cried the whole "Blue Angel" demonstration. You may ask why after such an experience w/ the kiddos I would attempt to do it again. Well, for one, they re-created the whole show for weeks, two, I love it, three, they said they wanted to go. So there. We all went, even the husband. Minus my husband's moodiness and my daughter crying the whole Thunderbird demonstration, it was awesome! My boy loved it, didn't cry once and actually watched the whole show! The only reason my daughter was crying was because she didn't get something she wanted, go figure. Of course, the highlight was getting buzzed by one of the jets while watching the 4 main ones flying in formation doing a loop up in the sky. I actually jumped, completely took me off guard. Love it! Would I do this again, yes, without question. We now know to go later, then stay later to take time to walk through all the planes. Although you miss all of the other planes flying. So maybe not, the kids just need to be older to really enjoy it. Oh, and once again, the kids are re-creating their experience at the Thunderbirds. Awesome!

Minor injury=huge PAIN!

Yes, today I gave myself a very "minor" injury to my toe/s. Here's a lesson for all of you who probably already know. DO NOT WEAR FLIP FLOPS WHILE RIDING A BIKE! My brother said I could blame this entire accident on my husband because I was riding up to our mail boxes to mail HIS parking ticket so it wouldn't be late. So there. Don't know what happened once out of my driveway. Somehow my left foot slipped out of my flip flop and off of the pedal landing straight down on my big toe. A little toe on the right foot also sustained some injury. It is worse than a normal stubbed toe. Why is it that a minor injury of removing several layers of skin hurts so freakin bad! It aches! For awhile I was wishing I was in child labor instead, at least it's a brief moment of pain and then it's over. Needless to say, not looking forward to showering tomorrow. I hope none of my neighbors heard me while toughing it out in my bathroom pouring alcohol on it and bandaging it. I had to vocalize my toughness so I didn't concentrate on the throbbing. Anyways, I know this is a weird post, but it's what's on my mind at this moment. You see, it's throbbing again and I may actually have to take something for it. My son is so cute. He looked at them (bandages on-and already needing changed) and said "their fine mommy." Of course I went on to say, no they really do hurt. And once again he showed his cuteness. "I know mommy, I know."

Love and/or Hate

So I had to visit the grocery store yesterday. I decided to go to WinCo thinking it is much cheaper than Walmart. I love the front of the store because they shelve all of their deals, cheap deals. Not only that, you can find some really awesome deals on meat. The last deal I got was 2 pork loin roasts for $7, each of which feeds my family of 4 for 2 nights. Pretty good. Without fail though I always get frustrated in that store. Either they don't carry what I'm looking for (i.e. a brand of natural peanut butter that my kids love) or they fluctuate their prices so much on things like cheese, etc. Some of the things I'm used to buying @ walmart are incredibly more expensive at WinCo. So, is it really cheaper than Walmart? Plus, the distance is further for me than Wallyworld. Gas, seems to affect a lot of choices we make these days when it comes to trips, errands, and so forth. Then there's Walmart or as you can see we like to call it Wallyworld. I have my frustrations with that store also. One, I just don't like Walmart. I think most of you know what I'm talking about. Two, they seem to run out of products more than any other store I know. And yes, it usually is one I need off of my shopping list. Since these two stores are the only ones I can realistically afford at this point in my life, I guess I'm left to deal with my love/hate relationship with both and continue switching back and forth.

All aboard the Hectic Train!

Well, once again it has been awhile since my last post. Oh well. Too much going on, BBQ's here and there, swimming, need I say more? Anyway, tomorrow is the first day of school. It didn't actually hit me until today that life really is going to be hectic again. No more lazy days. Tonight I have to prep my daughters backpack with school supplies and her lunch box. Unbelievable. Where did summer go? We go from having most evenings open back to only 3 days available during the week. Crazy crazy. At least one crazy cycle is over for now in our life. Our prayers were answered with my husband's job. Let's just say everyone still has their job and it is about to get crazy! Crazy in a very good way. God is moving in this company, you just wait and see. This is a story to tell in the future of how it came to be. Well, I don't have much to say tonight. I have to prep for the first day of school and bathe 2 kids, since we had our last (pretty sure it was our last) skin cancer treatment at the pool today. Well, I did, I don't burn after 1 major burn, thank you indian skin!!! SPF 50 has barely allowed my children to experience tan lines. Good stuff. Good night and good luck to all those going to school tomorrow.

It's back to school time!

Aaaahhh, I have reached the "true" back to school point in a parents life. My daughter starts 1st grade in 19 days! Full days of school mean breaks for mommy. I'm so excited. I will have to admit, I'm not the only one. My daughter is looking forward to it also. She loves school. Just like her mommy, well at least until I hit college. Kindergarten was only 3 hours, not really the true school experience. Hence my first sentence. I feel like we are entering a brand new stage in life. I am reminded of those old Staple commercials of the parents riding the shopping carts in absolute bliss buying their kids school supplies while the child drags behind, unhappy. I don't know whether to laugh or feel bad that I'm so excited. I guess since she's excited, I can be excited too. Once again, I will have some free time with my son, a whole day in fact. I am going to really gear him up for preschool next year. So I will be working with him a lot to get him ready. The second child is always a bit behind, not enough one on one time. This whole school thing has me quite excited for fall also. "Bouquets of sharpened pencils" (a line from You've Got Mail). Gotta love it!

Survival

Once again we find ourselves in survival mode. We have been down to the wire before, but never like the present. I like to call this week, do or die week. So much lies within the next two days, I don't even know where to begin. I have my bad days where I feel like I can't breathe and worry takes over. Then I have to remind myself, that I am not in charge, nor do I have any control. It's hard, but I have to pound that into my brain. God has always taken care of us, why would He all of a sudden stop now. Why bring us to this very spot, through all that we have been through, for this adventure/opportunity to fail? So many things have happened with all involved, it just doesn't make sense. We are not the only ones in this crunch, just to let you know. The opportunity that we have been given is incredible. When talking about the future of this endeavor, I am left with a feeling of laughter toward our current situation. But then I pull myself back almost to the gasping stage and put myself in the here and now. I guess what I'm trying to say is, I don't want to count the chickens before they hatch. The future with this opportunity will change lives forever. Right now though, I'm just praying for ends to meet and to have a little extra to start paying down the baggage. All prayers are welcomed and much appreciated. Even if you have no idea what you're praying for, God does and that's all that matters.

Visiting Childhood Again

Growing up I was always into race cars, jets, cars in general, and what not. I was only 14 months older than my brother and I guess my dad's influence kept me from the girly stuff. Not that I'm complaining. When I found out that the Blue Angels were going to perform in Twin Falls, I had to go. It had been years since I've seen them, in fact I think it was the Thunderbirds that I saw last. I don't even know when that was. Anyways, I can remember dreaming of being a fighter pilot. And this last weekend most definitely reminded me of that. Don't know why I never went into the Air Force, life, I guess. Maybe it was just a fantasy of mine, but nevertheless, I still love fighter planes. I took the kids down with me to experience it themselves. My son took to it instantly, in fact he wanted to ride every single plane he saw. Try explaining to a 3 year old why he can't take a ride in an F16 or F18! My daughter on the other hand could take it or leave it, meaning, she could really care if she was there or not. Guess she doesn't share the same enthusiasm of jets with me, that's okay! We were there from 10am to about 430pm. It was hot, but it was well worth it. Especially when the F16 took flight. We ran out of the airport air conditioning to see it, then my son started freaking out screaming. He's seen them at a distance, but never this close to where you could physically feel the afterburners shaking you. Guess it was too much for him. He wanted it to land so it would be over. I don't even know how much of the Blue Angels they saw, between them crying (due to being tired and hot-they flew last, of course) and begging to go home. I myself didn't get to fully take in the experience because I was trying to get them to stop crying and then my son fell on his elbows from leaning on the orange plastic fence and was bleeding. When one of the Blue Angels snuck up behind the crowd then hit the afterburners once he was above us and flew over center point, it startled everyone and I missed out on the whole thing. Well, really only the taking in the experience part of it. You can't not miss that. At least I had a bag of skittles in my bag. That stopped the crying long enough to watch them fly, amazing what they do in those things. I loved every minute of it, and I think the kids did too. They have been reenacting the air show since we left Sunday and asking when we can see them again. I am so happy they enjoyed it because as a child I loved it also, and still do to this day. BTW, that is my picture taken from my piddly outdated digital camera. Not bad, huh? My timing was pretty good too. You should see some of them, I got either the nose or the tail. Quite funny.

Oh Yeah!

I have found a new addiction! This past Saturday my husband and I were invited to the Y downtown to join in a class called Body Jam (choreographed dance) by some friends who teach it. Oh yeah! I can't stop thinking about it. What a rush and an incredible workout! I can't wait to go back and do it again. After body jam which is an hour, I was asked to stick around and do Body pump, also an hour (choreographed weightlifting to music for each muscle group-the whole body!). Of course I stayed. It is now Monday and I'm still aching. Typically my workouts have consisted of Tae Bo at home. It does get boring after awhile, hence why I had a block for about 3 months and wanted nothing to do with it. Now I have a new excitement for working out. I can't believe how much of a cardio workout Body Jam is. I have never sweated so bad, not even in an hour workout of Tae Bo, well maybe. But definitely not in the 30 minutes I'm used to doing at home. Now if only I can figure out a way to fit a Y membership into our poor non-existing budget so that our family has a wide array of stuff to do, oh and free swim lessons!

On another note, yesterday was a family reunion with my mom's side of the family. I was able to see cousins I haven't seen in who knows how many years. It was a lot of fun, very hot, too hot in fact. I wish we had all done a better job staying in contact with each other over the years. Anyways, it was great to see them and I hope that we see more of each other over the years. I have a great family on my mom's side and they're all a lot of fun to be around. Sad at how you forget that when so much time passes between visits. Hopefully the coming years we will all be closer.

Hmmph, what to say, what to say

Not much going on here. Typical lazy summer. Kids stay up way too late, sleep in late (that's a good thing), so do I (that's bad). Dog has found new ways to ruin the back yard, can't trust her inside alone and can't trust outside alone. I think she needs a friend. Not yet though, she's going to have to wait for somethings to fall into place. Lets see, have a mini family reunion this weekend. I get to see cousins I haven't seen anywhere from 5 years ago to 10+ years ago. Should be interesting. I finally decided to start working out again (it's been over 3 months). Finally got tired of the downward slope I was seeing in myself and after seeing the lbs melt off of my husband, well, that too was a huge motivator. It's only been the 4Th work out day so I still have to mentally prepare myself and give myself a little pep talk. That wall I hit over 3 months ago w/ my work outs was quite a dandy one! Kids are fine, being kids I guess. Most days they get along. My son I think finally got tired of being beat up on, so now we typically are on him for hitting sissy. My husband has also seen him sit on her to where she couldn't get up. He is 3 years younger and outweighs her. I actually am buying XS sizes in the boys section now. Unbelievable. He's a brute and she's controlling. Nice mix. I had a little talk with her today about not controlling other people and telling them how to play and what to say and telling others they're doing something wrong. I tried to get across the point to let people be who they "are" and to try encouraging them rather than running their lives. She's 6 and I'm having to have these talks. What else is going on in my life? The movie I've been waiting on for 3 years is finally releasing this Friday, that's right, The Dark Knight!!! Can't wait to see it in the movie theatre. Well, hope your days are more eventful than mine! One more thing before I leave. Why the heck is it so difficult to find a good butter dish!!!! I have been searching for a good one for months and have had no luck. I just don't get it. Well, have a good one.

Aaaahhh, Parenthood

Yesterday I came upon a new fear of parenthood, something that was there all the time but never faced, until yesterday of course. We had hung out yesterday afternoon with some new friends in the making in our neighborhood, being exposed to a new culture and new food. They are great people and I can't wait to get to know them better. Anyway, they had also invited us over for the evening. My husband said he was going to take his bike over there (back side of the park in our neighborhood) to see if we were still on for the evening. I was upstairs when he left. I heard the door to the garage open and I came downstairs only to find my daughter. I asked where her brother was and she said he took his bike to find daddy. I looked down the street where my husband went and then toward the street that leads out of the neighborhood to lake hazel. No sign of my boy. My instincts told me to take my bike and head towards the street out of the neighborhood. Mother instincts were correct. There was my boy heading toward Lake Hazel. There is one more street in our neighborhood that crosses the street he was on before leaving the neighborhood. He was in the middle of that little intersection and a car was coming. Thankfully they weren't speeding like some people in this neighborhood, but they had to stop because my son was in the way. Oh I was so mad at him and scared! I marched his little behind home. My husband was just getting home and I had to share what happened. Now here is the funny part, the only funny part. When we got inside, I quickly noticed he had ridden his bike w/o any pants or underwear on! Classic! All he had on was his helmet (at least he put that on) and a t-shirt. Needless to say, we had a long talk w/ him why he is not to ride w/o mommy and daddy and not near any major streets. He has also been grounded from his bike for awhile. At 3 he just doesn't understand that he isn't invincible and that riding a bike has a lot of responsibility w/ it. Oh we have entered a new stage of parenthood and my stress level has just increased all the more. I often wonder how my parents did it because as a kid, danger just doesn't enter your mind.

FAMILY

Today, I just have to give great praise to the family I have in my life. My in-laws who have always been there, thank you. And today, my brother and sister-in-law. Today, I give you two all my love and all my thanks for being my family and really coming through as a family should when it counts. Tomorrow is my 30th birthday. To be quite honest I haven't really been looking forward to this birthday at all. I don't know why this one is so different and why I am struggling with this one. Maybe it is because at 30 I am wondering what exactly have I accomplished in my life. Thanks to my mother-in-law, I was reminded of how far my marriage has come in the last 8 years and the last 6 years I have been blessed with 2 children. Those are great accomplishments. Both my husband and I feel like this is the turning point in our lives. We have made some costly mistakes and what not in the past, and now we feel we have been placed where we are for a reason in a situation with ample opportunity to forever change our lives. That I give all my thanks to God, and for my family of course. Now that I have strayed some-what from my original reason to post this blog, I will get back to that. As I have stated, my brother and sis-in-law really came through for me today. At the beginning of the week they told me they couldn't come the BBQ being held today for my husband and I to celebrate our 30th. Work schedules couldn't be changed. So they would come tomorrow. I was a little bummed, but I know they stick to their word and they would be here for my actual b-day. Well, this morning, I received a call from my mother saying that something last minute with my dad's job came up and they too would not be there. This news I took much harder and more personal. If any of you know my background and the struggles I have had in this area, you would know why this one upset me the most. Although growing up I was always taught that family always comes first, I also came to understand that there was a disclaimer attached (unspoken of course, but never-the-less, it was always there); work came first also. So this morning, in my eyes, once again, work got in the way without any regard to my feelings. I was told they would be here tomorrow, but I soon found out that I wouldn't be home all day because of some plans made for me weeks in advance (of course I don't know the details).

Now to my praise. My sis-in-law got the news right after I called my brother and told him. She got pretty upset (keep in mind she lives around my folks and sees a lot) and said that she wasn't going to let me have this BBQ w/o my side of the family there. So she called in sick for today and they are packing everything up and will be here for the BBQ and my day tomorrow! Right now there are not enough words for me to express my gratitude to them and how much this means to me. I'm tearing up even thinking about it now. And thanks for their quickness of pulling through when it matters, my mom will also be here (she's riding with them). I am sad that my dad won't be here today. I do know that what came up with the job was out of his hands, but if it were me and my children, believe me, I'd move the world. Don't get me wrong, I love my folks, they did an awesome job and I thank them. Everyone has their quirks though and now that I'm getting older, I'm finding what "I" believe in and what really matters to me. Family, and the little intricacies that come with them, no matter what, I will always do my darnedest to be there when it counts.

Like Father Like Son

This last weekend I went to Twin Falls and then on to ID Falls to celebrate my grandmother's 89th Birthday with my family. Driving, even though your sitting, for some reason always zaps your energy. When a few of us girls got back from the store, we walked in the door to my aunts house and found my brother and his son like this, zonked! Little did they know we were snapping pictures of them. My lil' nephew absolutely loves his daddy! Anyone would know it if you were together with them. I can't believe that he'll be 1 in a little over a week. It seems just like yesterday I was in the hospital room w/ my brother and sis-law watching the birth of my lil' nephew. I thank her from the bottom of my heart for allowing me to be there and share in that moment. It is quite different being the observer than the one birthing. It in itself is a whole new experience and now I have that, since when I'm the one birthing, you don't get to see what's happening. While I was gone, my husband had our two kids. He is so good with them and keeping them active and taking them places. He took them hiking Saturday and they absolutely loved it. My son is a mini version of my husband. He loves the rock climbing, climbing what ever he can really, and just being outdoors. My son may have freckles from me, body build of my brother, humor like my brother, but he most definitely is his father's son.

Oh where oh where have you gone...

I think in some previous post, months ago, I stated I was probably suffering from the winter blues or severe summer fever. Call it what you want. So here we are middle of June, my 3oth birthday just 10 days away (yikes), the 1st day of summer, and where in the world is summer? What is with this. I think that this year, I am a firm believer in weather affecting our moods. I know other things contribute, but man oh man, it has been quite depressing around here. I actually ran my heat today. My heat! Clouds, rain, cold weather, oh and don't forget 7 inches of snow off of I-84 in Oregon and snow advisory for McCall!!!!! Need I say more?! There is only one plus to all of this, my lack in working out and summer not here, at least I don't have to get into a swim suit or shorts for that matter. I have more time, or at least a little more time.

The Waiting Game

Well, my "evil one" finally got spayed on Sunday. The past two days have been great with her, she's actually been calm and has left the kids alone. Today she seems like she has fully recovered from the effects of anesthesia. So now it's a waiting game to see if spaying will actually help calm her a bit down the road. It was funny, when I went to pick her up and they give you all the instructions before taking her home, one of their instructions was like giving a bad kid constructive criticism. I felt like she got into trouble. My little Barley in trouble, no way! :) They told me that they "HIGHLY" recommend obedience training for her. The quotes and capitalization is to emphasise how it came across to me. I couldn't help but laugh inside. My poor 3rd child was too rowdy and now I'm getting instructions on how to remedy it. I know she needs obedience training, she's so smart, it will only make her that much better of a dog at home and around others. She may have her moments, but she really is a great dog! I know this is mean, but I wish I would have video taped her the day I brought her home. She kept swaying, her eyes couldn't focus for very long, and to add even more humor, I had them put a cone on her so she wouldn't lick the sutures. She kept running into things and even tripping over it in a sense. It's not as funny now, now she whips her head side to side with a lot of force until it flies off of her head. Gotta love dogs.

Back Breaking Work

Our yard is almost complete. Thanks to a lot of help from family and friends, our fence was completed in 1 day last weekend. Since then, my husband and I have been quite busy w/ our yard (front/back). The front is done (shrubs, rock, fixing grass thanks to the "Evil One" aka Barley) and now we have some rock hauling and french drains to do in the back, and we'll be done! I don't know if any of you have tried shoveling and hauling rock, let me just say it's tough work. It would be nice to just pay someone to do it, but from my experience (I did the front myself!), when the job is complete, there is a bit of pride in it. Anyway, that has been my week. It will be so nice to finally be done and then relax and enjoy the privacy of our new back yard. My next venture, painting! It never ends :) After asking if it was okay to purchase some paint here some time, my husband was quite nice in telling me that he absolutely will NOT be picking up a paint brush. That's okay, the projects are small anyways. Well, my back flower beds are calling my name, they're covered with weed barrier and waiting for rock! One quick side note of good news. I believe that something finally clicked in my son and he is finally fully potty trained! This will be his 3rd day of being dry. He has been doing it all himself, no help from mommy. Today is his first official day in underwear. I am so proud of him! He gets a little hot wheel everyday that he stays dry and once it's consistent (which I believe he pretty much is), he gets to go and pick out a big hot wheel set!

EVILNESS!!!!

Yes, that is my new nickname for our chocolate lab! She's on my black list right now and hasn't quite worked herself off of it. Let me preface this with how things have gone since Friday. My son hasn't quite gotten over some weird cough, the kind that if you get a coughing spell you throw up. Well, Friday after dinner we gave the kids some ice cream in "pink" ice cream cones. They started running around the house w/ daddy and yes, my son threw up all over the carpet in my front room. "PINK" ice cream cone, mind you, stains quickly. So I whipped out the steam cleaner and saved the carpet. Well, Saturday morning rolls around and my daughter is heading out w/ my husband to a teen focus car wash and can't find her sun hat. So I head up stairs to find it and hear something that just doesn't sound right. I came running downstairs and wished I wasn't seeing what I saw. I came closer and my fears were confirmed, Barley had decided to chew 2 holes in my carpet!!!! This house isn't even a year old. She even decided to eat the carpet fibers. It took me a while to realize that she was getting the carpet in the exact same spot that my son got sick on. She is lucky to be alive right now! Thankfully we have plenty of carpet left over from construction, but I haven't found any carpet adhesive yet and haven't mustered up the energy to fix it. PURE EVILNESS! She's seems to be on a streak for some reason. Well, my weekend didn't stop there, but I won't go on a complaining spree. So I'll leave it at that. Let me end with this, Barley, you are lucky you are so cute and have been for the most part a good dog!

Liar Liar Pants on Fire!

I was trying to think of something to write on all day and thanks to my lovely daughter, she provided it for me! So my 2 kids got these huge lolly pops at a birthday party. This is only the second time I've allowed them to take some licks off of them. My daughter chose the blueberry one, as you can clearly see in the picture. I need to add a quick fact here, it has been quite some time that I have stopped my kids from sucking their fingers. Took 1 day! It has just been this last week or so that I have on rare occasions caught my daughter sucking hers again. I am very quick to threaten adding that nasty polish on her fingers again, to which she quickly pulls them from her mouth. Well, back to today. After playing upstairs for a bit, my daughter came down stairs to sit next to me on the couch. She started to ask for some cereal when I quickly noticed "BLUE" fingers. I also noticed that they were the 2 fingers she would suck on. I asked her point blank if she had been sucking on them and of course it was a no. I started laughing and held up her hand. There was no denying it anymore. She gave a me little smirk and then I pulled the camera out, now I have proof! Thanks sweetie for such a great picture!

Much Ado About Nothing

I don't have time to really write anything, but thought I'd drop a quick note on my weekend. There seems to be so much going on that my mind is forgetting simple things. Crazy. Friday we had some new friends over for a BBQ. Really cute couple and a lot of fun. They are recently married and moved here from Lynchburg, VA. Hey what do you know. Anyway, their happy to meet a couple that has something in common and "knows" the Boise area. It will be fun getting to know them. Saturday was a blur. From stopping by a Teen Focus car wash that my husband helped at, to a trip to Barnes and Noble (we messed up the times for the school book fair for my daughter, so to make it up we went to BN and bought her a book, dragons, who would have guessed). Then we had to get home because sod was being laid out back. Sunday, Mothers Day. I'll leave it at that. So here we are again, starting the crazy cycle for the week. Monday. Is it Friday yet? There are some things on the up and up. Yeah! For now I must go back to life as a stay at home mom and clean a few bathrooms, cook some cookies and lemon ricotta muffins and clean a downstairs so that we can host home teams tonight. Adios.

Just call me Mrs. Handywoman!

I don't doubt myself very often when it comes to my abilities, although deep down there does lie a little doubt. There are some things I just don't attempt for fear of messing up, could be costly depending on the job. Although, yesterday I was quite pleased with myself. In fact, I even had to call my folks up and brag about it. I have been putting off a lot of things that needed to be done with my house not for fear of doing it, more than likely because of laziness. I don't know what got into me yesterday, but I am still amazed at myself. Without any help, I assembled and installed 2 ceiling fans! Some may say, that isn't a feat, but have you ever tried to install a ceiling fan? They are a pain in the you know what! I can see why some just pay to have someone else do it. My first attempt at such a job and successful. The kids are still excited over their new fans. Don't tell my husband, but the tools in the garage are truly mine. :) Well, I'm off to start on my next ceiling fan and bathroom fixture.

FREEDOM!

In all my married years, almost 8 to be exact, I have never had a backyard. Yes, I have lived in 2 previous homes that had yards, but let me clarify. Virginia doesn't know how to grow GRASS!! A very missed "luxury" while living there. Our yards were pretty much made up of crabgrass, weeds, rock, and clay. My poor kids! Anyway, with some unexpected funds helping, we are finally putting in our back yard in our new home. Today, they are clearing the field of weeds, leveling with top soil, and who knows what else. I can't wait! Soon there will be sprinklers, grass, a fence, and yes, FREEDOM and SANITY. My children are thrilled and even our dog peers out back with yearning eyes. Maybe when it's finished I'll post a picture of our first true backyard. I can see much BBQing, playing, planting, and a fire pit in our near future.

Color!

Okay, it has been decided that we will not be switching homes anytime soon. Thank the Lord for that on many many levels. My track record of moving is quite impressive, and I'm just thinking of my married years. You should hear about all the moves growing up. Anyway, we are currently undergoing a refinance which is huge for us. Opens up some breathing room. Since there is no move in the near future of a year or so, I am desperately wanting to make my home my own. I need COLOR! Right now it's the cheapest decorating tool and does so much for a room. But, I have a problem. My last endeavour of painting my old house in VA left a bad taste in my mouth. It was the whole idea of finishing a basement, won't go into too much detail. I'll just say it was a time I'd rather not look back on, too stressful. Anyway, now I cringe at the sight of a paint brush and roller. I'm really good at it, that's not the problem. I seem to have a block now, no motivation. Maybe I just need to buck up and do it. Start off small and maybe it won't be a problem. Who knows. Now that we're starting on our yard, yeah!!!!, I would like to add a little something to the inside. Maybe a visit to the good 'ole Home Depot and some color swatches might jump start a decorating job.

"I'm Superman, Mommy!"

Gone are the days of my "baby!" He is a true little boy now and finding his own interests, no longer his sisters. Not leaving behind Hot Wheels by any means, his new adventure, SUPERMAN. He could watch a superman dvd over and over and not get bored with it. But he's graduated from just watching it to "becoming" superman. My couch cushions go flying and he rips off his shirt and starts to fly and flex his little muscles! Apart from getting annoyed by constantly putting my couch back together 5+ times a day, I can't help but laugh. When he's in the moment and I ask him to do something, he always replies with, "I'm not P*****, I'm Superman!" I miss my little baby, but I'm enjoying seeing him grow up and become the boy that he is. Now that he's starting to separate himself from his sister's interests, I am so amazed at how different the two of them are and how their little minds work. They each have "their own" way about them. It keeps my life interesting!

Stained buns?!

Okay, so I haven't blogged in awhile. Not really anything interesting going on lately, but today, stained buns. Yesterday my mother-in-law took my kiddos and I out to lunch and then onto TCBY. It's spring break and she wanted to spend some time with the kids. Anyway, my son decided to pick the most interesting and the brightest colored yogurt there was. Just looking at it disgusted me, but he liked it. Of course, this is the one day I don't have my camera in my purse. His mouth was every shade of the yogurt. He looked like a clown. It was quite cute, especially when I looked in the back seat to see him sleeping (while we waited for my mom to finish w/ a dr's appt). Here he is, sound asleep, stained mouth, and holding a green balloon that he got from Red Robbin. Classic! Anyways, just moments ago he came to me wanting his pants changed because he pooped in them, failing to go to the potty like we've been practicing. I couldn't believe my eyes when I pulled the diaper back to check to see if he was telling me the truth. Greenish/blue!!! Not only was that weird, but his little buns are stained blue. It took me awhile to run through my head what he'd eaten and then it donned on me, TCBY!! It may have taken a full 24hrs to process, but it showed up in all it's glory! They should ban that yogurt. To stain my child's buns, I don't even want to know what kind of dye was used to achieve such a feat!