One of those days where you want nothing more than to curl back up in bed and pull the covers over your head? Yep, that kind of morning here! I know I've been pretty negative in my posts lately. I'm not doing it for a pity party, I'm more doing it to get it off my chest, and to move past it. Sorry if I offend you with my negativeness.
Today started off ok. I got up, made the kids eggs, and was heading to get ready for a shower when Dallas came flying down the hall with that look of "uh oh, there's big trouble" in his eyes. He lead me back to the kitchen, and in passing the kitchen, I noticed Kaleb in the living room with rather sticky, wet hands. I rounded the corner into the kitchen and I saw it. Kaleb and Kendyl had gotten into the eggs. Kendyl was hiding in her room, knowing what they did was wrong, so I didn't see her hands right off the bat. But the site I saw in the kitchen told it all. There were 1 dozen eggs thrown about the kitchen floor, some in their shells, some not, and the sticky messy aftermath spread from one end of the floor to the other. I didn't need to doubt Kendyls participation in the "kitchen egg party" because right smack dab in the middle of all the mess, left for perfect evidence was her Dora breakfast plate. They were sent to their room, and I started to clean up the mess. All I can say is YUCK. If I NEVER have to clean up that kind of a mess again, I'll be very happy. And another thing to add, is that thank goodness that raw eggs aren't bad for dogs (I checked after seeing them get into them!) and they actually help make their coats shiny! Because ALL THREE DOGS were helping me clean up egg yolk. I guess we'll have the shiniest dogs in town for a while.
If I didn't ask my cousin in from an hour away to go swimming today, we wouldn't be going as promised. I'm rather nervous about taking these little monsters out in public today. Who knows what kind of hell they can raise!!!
On a side note, house update and answering your questions:
No, sadly the boys' room still isn't painted. The bigger boys will be sharing one room, 20x22, and half will be yellow, half will be blue (their respective favorite colors!) and then we'll do squares around the middle to mix the two together a little. We were supposed to get that done on Monday, but we weren't able to because of the water fiasco, and the mini flood! That took us till almost 10 pm, and neither of us had the energy to start painting at 10 pm.
Yesterday the city came our and replaced the water meter that was leaking rather heavily. So hopefully we shouldn't have any more issues with that. Hopefully!!!!
Yesterday Todd also went to the Building Materials Outlet, and got ALL the windows for the house! ALL OF THEM!!!! I'm so excited! They wound up getting 18 windows in all. Many of the large windows are being replaced with multiple smaller windows. It will give the same look, but there was just NO way they could get that large of windows. So, as soon as the building permit is approved, we're good to get going on those!!! YAY!! I'm so excited!!! And the even more exciting part? All those HUGE things towards fixing the house, and he only spent 1,600!!!! HOORAY!!!!
While he was there, he spotted the corner Jacuzzi tub that we'd fallen in love with. Its an Eljer corner whirlpool tub. Normal retail is almost 5,000. Know how much he got it for???? 800.00!!!! WOOOOO HOOOOO! We'll finally be able to soak in a TUB again!
We should get word this week on the permits, and we'll go from there on when work can begin!!!
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
I'm alive.
I'm here, for the moment. Things here are on the verge of getting REALLY REALLY hectic. I'll update on that in a second though!!!
First of all, the reunion. We went. We got there, and it was really really weird. There was almost no one there at first. Then people slowly started to trickle in. We'd talked to a few friends of ours from high school, and we knew they were going, and we were really really excited that they were going to be there. Because let me tell ya. . .if they hadn't shown up, we would have felt really really stupid. There wasn't anyone else that we actually WANTED to see there. It was mostly the "in crowd" from high school. The ones that all still hang out together, and haven't changed a bit. So I'm very very thankful that we were able to have people we enjoyed there to visit with. We had a great time catching up with them, and it turns out they only live about 20 blocks from us, so I think we'll be getting together again, hopefully in the near future!!! I'm looking forward to that!
The house. . . and the reason we're about to embark on a crazy adventure. We set aside last night to go over and to start to paint Dallas and Gabe's room. Theirs in the only room that doesn't have a TON of stuff to do to it, so we figured we'd start it while we were waiting for the building permits to come back. So, I picked up some pizza's (gotta love little Cesar's 5 dollar pizza!) and headed over there with the kids. We brought a TV, and an end table to put it on, so that the kids could hang out in the living room while we painted, and they could watch the Olympics. I asked Todd if the water could get turned on so that we didn't have to rely on running next door to Matt and Sara's if we had to use the bathroom. That way if we wanted to stay a bit later to work, we could. Since Todd has Tuesdays and Thursday's available to take off if he chooses. Anyway, while I was getting the kids set up with food he was messing around with water. The water hasn't been turned on there in over 2 years, and it was NASTY. So he had several faucets running while he was eating. He went down to the basement to check on how the progress was, and we had an INCH of water in a good portion of the basement. Joy. He got on the phone with his buddy quickly and asked him to come for an extraction. While we waited for that we got all things turned off, and started to take things apart in the kitchen.
When all was said and done last night, we were out 40 bucks to pay the guy for his extraction, and learned that there was about 75 gallons of water that had spilled on the basement floor. And, we're now officially back to having no toilet to use while we're there working. On top of all that, when I did one last walk through last night I heard dripping. Upon searching for the source, I found that the water meter itself is leaking. I'm heading to the house at 1:00 pm to meet the city guy there to see what needs to be done. The good news is that we don't have to PAY for that.
In other news, Todd and our friend that's helping do the remodel are going down to the building materials outlet that I mentioned before so that they can pick up windows. That way once the building permit comes back this week they can get going on things in a quick hurry!!!
And speaking of building permits. Come to find out that because the house isn't currently homesteaded we have to have a licensed contractor pull the permits for the work on the plumbing. Which SUCKS! Todd KNOWS how to do it all, and he could save us a TON of money by doing it himself. But they won't allow it, even though we will be the ones living there. Darn city, and darn rules. I wonder how many hundreds of dollars this will put us out now.
I should be back with pictures later, but no grauntees. All depends on what happens at the house, and how things go down.
First of all, the reunion. We went. We got there, and it was really really weird. There was almost no one there at first. Then people slowly started to trickle in. We'd talked to a few friends of ours from high school, and we knew they were going, and we were really really excited that they were going to be there. Because let me tell ya. . .if they hadn't shown up, we would have felt really really stupid. There wasn't anyone else that we actually WANTED to see there. It was mostly the "in crowd" from high school. The ones that all still hang out together, and haven't changed a bit. So I'm very very thankful that we were able to have people we enjoyed there to visit with. We had a great time catching up with them, and it turns out they only live about 20 blocks from us, so I think we'll be getting together again, hopefully in the near future!!! I'm looking forward to that!
The house. . . and the reason we're about to embark on a crazy adventure. We set aside last night to go over and to start to paint Dallas and Gabe's room. Theirs in the only room that doesn't have a TON of stuff to do to it, so we figured we'd start it while we were waiting for the building permits to come back. So, I picked up some pizza's (gotta love little Cesar's 5 dollar pizza!) and headed over there with the kids. We brought a TV, and an end table to put it on, so that the kids could hang out in the living room while we painted, and they could watch the Olympics. I asked Todd if the water could get turned on so that we didn't have to rely on running next door to Matt and Sara's if we had to use the bathroom. That way if we wanted to stay a bit later to work, we could. Since Todd has Tuesdays and Thursday's available to take off if he chooses. Anyway, while I was getting the kids set up with food he was messing around with water. The water hasn't been turned on there in over 2 years, and it was NASTY. So he had several faucets running while he was eating. He went down to the basement to check on how the progress was, and we had an INCH of water in a good portion of the basement. Joy. He got on the phone with his buddy quickly and asked him to come for an extraction. While we waited for that we got all things turned off, and started to take things apart in the kitchen.
When all was said and done last night, we were out 40 bucks to pay the guy for his extraction, and learned that there was about 75 gallons of water that had spilled on the basement floor. And, we're now officially back to having no toilet to use while we're there working. On top of all that, when I did one last walk through last night I heard dripping. Upon searching for the source, I found that the water meter itself is leaking. I'm heading to the house at 1:00 pm to meet the city guy there to see what needs to be done. The good news is that we don't have to PAY for that.
In other news, Todd and our friend that's helping do the remodel are going down to the building materials outlet that I mentioned before so that they can pick up windows. That way once the building permit comes back this week they can get going on things in a quick hurry!!!
And speaking of building permits. Come to find out that because the house isn't currently homesteaded we have to have a licensed contractor pull the permits for the work on the plumbing. Which SUCKS! Todd KNOWS how to do it all, and he could save us a TON of money by doing it himself. But they won't allow it, even though we will be the ones living there. Darn city, and darn rules. I wonder how many hundreds of dollars this will put us out now.
I should be back with pictures later, but no grauntees. All depends on what happens at the house, and how things go down.
Friday, August 8, 2008
6 unspectacular things. . .
About yours truly!!! You guessed it, I was tagged!!! Brianne over at The Gibson Twins tagged me with this one, and I can't resist, so I'm playing along!!!
As with everything in life there are rules:
1. Link the person who tagged you
2. Mention the rules on your blog
3. Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours
4. Tag 6 following bloggers by linking them
5. Leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger’s blogs letting them know they’ve been tagged
The 6 UN-spectacular things about me...
1. I've come to realize I have a fear of the dentist. I don't know why.
2. I'm about to embark on being my own boss. After we move I'll be opening a day care.
3. I used to be a band geek. I played clarinet. And if asked, I can still squeek out a few notes!!
4. I'm really shy. And I get embarassed REALLY easy in person! In type though, not so much!
5. I secretly hope to be one of those people who the tubal fails on. I'd love just one more baby!
6. My most favorite color is purple!
TAG! You're It!
1 Julie at Julie's Ramblings
2 Heather at Outnumbered by the brood
3. Amy at Georumination
4. Terri at The O'laughlin clan
5. Crystal at Oh-Frog-it
6. Christi at Blah blah blog
As with everything in life there are rules:
1. Link the person who tagged you
2. Mention the rules on your blog
3. Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours
4. Tag 6 following bloggers by linking them
5. Leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger’s blogs letting them know they’ve been tagged
The 6 UN-spectacular things about me...
1. I've come to realize I have a fear of the dentist. I don't know why.
2. I'm about to embark on being my own boss. After we move I'll be opening a day care.
3. I used to be a band geek. I played clarinet. And if asked, I can still squeek out a few notes!!
4. I'm really shy. And I get embarassed REALLY easy in person! In type though, not so much!
5. I secretly hope to be one of those people who the tubal fails on. I'd love just one more baby!
6. My most favorite color is purple!
TAG! You're It!
1 Julie at Julie's Ramblings
2 Heather at Outnumbered by the brood
3. Amy at Georumination
4. Terri at The O'laughlin clan
5. Crystal at Oh-Frog-it
6. Christi at Blah blah blog
What to wear, what to wear?
Tonight is going to be a rather interesting night. Tonight (and yes, I realize I'm giving away our age here, that many of you may not have realized before!) is Todd's 10 year class reunion. Todd was very insistent on going, so we're going. I'm actually rather nervous about the whole thing. MANY of these people we haven't seen in 10 years, since he graduated from high school. There are a few we've kept in touch with via myspace, and email, but not actually seen. And we're supposed to show up, and just have a good time? Oh this is SOOOOOO out of my comfort zone. I guess times like this are when I should be thankful that I have a very outgoing, very social husband. I can sail through on his coat tails I guess. I don't know what's happened to me. This kind of thing never used to worry me. The only thing I can think is that since I've become a stay at home mom I've slipped farther and farther from the adult world, and unless you're talking Elmo, potty training, or Nintendo DS, I'm lost!!! No, all kidding aside, I have developed a slight social phobia since I've been home. And I know that tonight, no doubt, will test it some!!!!
The plans for tonight are to have Matt and Sara watch the kids while we go. They're doing a social hour from 6-7, a sit down dinner at 7, and then they have a DJ, with dinner, dancing, and drinks till midnight. Neither Todd or I are dancers, let alone in a crowd like that, so we won't be partaking in that end of things. But we are hoping to catch back up with a few people, and visit. I don't think it'll be too late of a night, since Matt and Sara don't usually take the kids, and its a lot to go from 2 to 6, vs us going from 4 to 6. So I hope to come back and rescue her early. Todd says we'll see!!!
But that brings me to my question of all questions. . . WHAT ON EARTH DO I WEAR???? Its a reunion with people we haven't seen, which means many haven't seen me in my new. . .ummm. . .fuller size. I don't have anything that I think I look spectacular in, let alone to "re debut" in. I think my bed will be FULL of clothes later in search of the perfect thing to wear. Oh, and Todd told me today when I asked if there was something specific he wanted to wear (in case it was in the wash!) "you just pick something out for me that you think I look good in!" Double the pressure man! Gotta dress me AND him? Yikes!!!
Oh, and on top of all that I have to pack today to go to my parents camper tomorrow. We're going for just one night for a family get together up there. I'm really excited, but it'll be A LOT of work to set everything up for just one night!!!
Wish us luck! I have a feeling its going to be an adventure!
(Oh, and if you're doing the math: Todd is 28, and I'm just 2 1/2 weeks shy of 27. And again, if you're doing the math, we were married at 19 and 20, and had Dallas at 19 and 21. Had Gabe at 22 and almost 21, and the twins at 24 and almost 23! )
The plans for tonight are to have Matt and Sara watch the kids while we go. They're doing a social hour from 6-7, a sit down dinner at 7, and then they have a DJ, with dinner, dancing, and drinks till midnight. Neither Todd or I are dancers, let alone in a crowd like that, so we won't be partaking in that end of things. But we are hoping to catch back up with a few people, and visit. I don't think it'll be too late of a night, since Matt and Sara don't usually take the kids, and its a lot to go from 2 to 6, vs us going from 4 to 6. So I hope to come back and rescue her early. Todd says we'll see!!!
But that brings me to my question of all questions. . . WHAT ON EARTH DO I WEAR???? Its a reunion with people we haven't seen, which means many haven't seen me in my new. . .ummm. . .fuller size. I don't have anything that I think I look spectacular in, let alone to "re debut" in. I think my bed will be FULL of clothes later in search of the perfect thing to wear. Oh, and Todd told me today when I asked if there was something specific he wanted to wear (in case it was in the wash!) "you just pick something out for me that you think I look good in!" Double the pressure man! Gotta dress me AND him? Yikes!!!
Oh, and on top of all that I have to pack today to go to my parents camper tomorrow. We're going for just one night for a family get together up there. I'm really excited, but it'll be A LOT of work to set everything up for just one night!!!
Wish us luck! I have a feeling its going to be an adventure!
(Oh, and if you're doing the math: Todd is 28, and I'm just 2 1/2 weeks shy of 27. And again, if you're doing the math, we were married at 19 and 20, and had Dallas at 19 and 21. Had Gabe at 22 and almost 21, and the twins at 24 and almost 23! )
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
When you have a sudden realization about yourself.
Hmm. I guess that title can be a bit misleading. I haven't had any Earth shattering discoveries about myself, I haven't had any new break throughs of any kind, I've just had a few realizations about myself that have kind of caught me a touch off guard. And of course, I just had to share my new insight with all the wonderful people of the internet world!!!! :-)
1. My name:
I bet you're wondering what realization I could have had about my name right? This is one that actually really caught me off guard. In the last couple of weeks, I've been around more adults than I normally am. Mostly due to the fact that we've been on vacation, we've had people here helping, we've been out and about, etc. And what's one thing about being around adults more than usual that would catch me off guard? They use my name. And after hearing it a lot last weekend, it kind of weirded me out. I'm not used to being called Jamie I guess. I've been just plain old "mommy" for the last 7 years that over use of my name just kinda weirds me out. I realize that this is something that I'll have to get past before I ever dare to venture back into any form of the working world, but just hearing it makes me do a double take. And its mostly when there are people who address you very specifically when they're talking. You know the ones I mean. It can be just you and your closest friend talking, so need for formalities, and they use your name to start off each sentence. For example. Jamie, I don't know what to do about this. And the next sentence is the same. Is this a bad sign? Maybe that I'm losing a lot of me in my mommy-hood-ness? I'm falling farther and farther from the land of adult, and farther and farther into the abyss of the stay at home mom? I used to be such a social person. And now just the mention of my name, my given name, weirds me out. Todd and I don't usually bother with formal names either. He usually calls me Jame, or honey, or something along those lines. And I've noticed it in emails too. Something about my name, and being used a certain way, and in a certain tone just seems odd to me. I don't feel like Jamie. I feel like Mommy. Its also a very strange thing to admit. I never thought I'd be one to completely lose me in the task of raising my children. I thought I'd be able to juggle it all, and make it though on the other side knowing what I like and what I dislike, knowing what I wanted to do, and what I wanted to veer away from, and I certainly expected to be able to be called Jamie without shuddering.
2. Celebrity twins popping up all over kind of bothers me:
As I was catching a "breaking news" on my home page the other day about Lisa Marie Presley having twins I caught myself thinking negative thoughts. Not towards her, or her children. Or to any other celebs who have multiples. I was just more frustrated that it seems that having twins is becoming a "fad". Its becoming the latest trend in Hollywood. Before you know it everyone is going to be trying their darndest to have twins because its what's cool, and because its what their favorite celeb had. I realize that that thinking is a bit harsh. I know everyone isn't going to rush right out to their local doctor and request IVF with 6 embryo's implanted just to hope for twins. But I feel more that more people WILL try to do what they can to have multiples. And I think the reason this one bothers me so much is that for the first time since my twins were born I'm realizing what a special thing it is to have twins. I never really considered myself a "twin mommy" until I stumbled into the world of blogger and began reading the life and stories of so many other multiples mommies. I always just considered myself a mommy of four. Part of that is how close in age Dallas and Gabe are. I'm pretty sure they desensitized me to the thought of twins. Since raising them was very much like raising two different sized twins. I don't know. I read on a different website today about the Brangelina twins. And how it harbored some hard feelings at first, because they have everything, and now they have twins. Its kinda true. Here I was, just hoping upon hope to beat the secondary infertility and get pregnant with ONE baby, and I was blessed with two. And it was a HUGE blessing for us, because I COULDN'T do another pregnancy without major risk, and I KNEW I wanted four kids. For me it was a huge gift from God. That's not to say that their children aren't a gift from God, or that they weren't wanted. I know that's not the case. But here I am, a simple stay at home mommy with something super special. These twins that not everyone can say they have. I feel like they're kind of taking the "special" out of it. Because if a celebrity can do it, than anyone can right?
3. I've been skimming by for quite some time now:
This one is probably one of the hardest ones for me to talk about. Because it deals with money, and my ability to provide the kind of life I want to provide for my children. We're barely making ends meet. And this is a super scary thing for me. I've never wanted to have my children go without, or lack anything in their childhood that I'd love for them to experience, simply because I couldn't afford it. I know I'm not the first person to be in this spot, and I know I won't be the last, but the last 8 years of this presidency have hit us hard. We did really well before Mr. Bush became president. And ever since then it just seems that around us the rich keep getting richer, and the poor keep getting poorer. I'm very much looking forward to some change, and a chance to provide a better life for my children. I know we're doing what we can, and that my children aren't needing for anything of the necessities. And for that I'm very thankful. But its still hard to know that there are some things that I always told myself I'd do for my children, that I can't, because I can't afford it. Like sports, and extra curriculars. We just don't have the spare. A fun vacation in the summer where we could make memories and share some of our wonderful country's sites with them. We just can't, its too expensive. Its my goal though. Someday I want to be able to provide them with the extras that every kid should get the opportunity to try.
1. My name:
I bet you're wondering what realization I could have had about my name right? This is one that actually really caught me off guard. In the last couple of weeks, I've been around more adults than I normally am. Mostly due to the fact that we've been on vacation, we've had people here helping, we've been out and about, etc. And what's one thing about being around adults more than usual that would catch me off guard? They use my name. And after hearing it a lot last weekend, it kind of weirded me out. I'm not used to being called Jamie I guess. I've been just plain old "mommy" for the last 7 years that over use of my name just kinda weirds me out. I realize that this is something that I'll have to get past before I ever dare to venture back into any form of the working world, but just hearing it makes me do a double take. And its mostly when there are people who address you very specifically when they're talking. You know the ones I mean. It can be just you and your closest friend talking, so need for formalities, and they use your name to start off each sentence. For example. Jamie, I don't know what to do about this. And the next sentence is the same. Is this a bad sign? Maybe that I'm losing a lot of me in my mommy-hood-ness? I'm falling farther and farther from the land of adult, and farther and farther into the abyss of the stay at home mom? I used to be such a social person. And now just the mention of my name, my given name, weirds me out. Todd and I don't usually bother with formal names either. He usually calls me Jame, or honey, or something along those lines. And I've noticed it in emails too. Something about my name, and being used a certain way, and in a certain tone just seems odd to me. I don't feel like Jamie. I feel like Mommy. Its also a very strange thing to admit. I never thought I'd be one to completely lose me in the task of raising my children. I thought I'd be able to juggle it all, and make it though on the other side knowing what I like and what I dislike, knowing what I wanted to do, and what I wanted to veer away from, and I certainly expected to be able to be called Jamie without shuddering.
2. Celebrity twins popping up all over kind of bothers me:
As I was catching a "breaking news" on my home page the other day about Lisa Marie Presley having twins I caught myself thinking negative thoughts. Not towards her, or her children. Or to any other celebs who have multiples. I was just more frustrated that it seems that having twins is becoming a "fad". Its becoming the latest trend in Hollywood. Before you know it everyone is going to be trying their darndest to have twins because its what's cool, and because its what their favorite celeb had. I realize that that thinking is a bit harsh. I know everyone isn't going to rush right out to their local doctor and request IVF with 6 embryo's implanted just to hope for twins. But I feel more that more people WILL try to do what they can to have multiples. And I think the reason this one bothers me so much is that for the first time since my twins were born I'm realizing what a special thing it is to have twins. I never really considered myself a "twin mommy" until I stumbled into the world of blogger and began reading the life and stories of so many other multiples mommies. I always just considered myself a mommy of four. Part of that is how close in age Dallas and Gabe are. I'm pretty sure they desensitized me to the thought of twins. Since raising them was very much like raising two different sized twins. I don't know. I read on a different website today about the Brangelina twins. And how it harbored some hard feelings at first, because they have everything, and now they have twins. Its kinda true. Here I was, just hoping upon hope to beat the secondary infertility and get pregnant with ONE baby, and I was blessed with two. And it was a HUGE blessing for us, because I COULDN'T do another pregnancy without major risk, and I KNEW I wanted four kids. For me it was a huge gift from God. That's not to say that their children aren't a gift from God, or that they weren't wanted. I know that's not the case. But here I am, a simple stay at home mommy with something super special. These twins that not everyone can say they have. I feel like they're kind of taking the "special" out of it. Because if a celebrity can do it, than anyone can right?
3. I've been skimming by for quite some time now:
This one is probably one of the hardest ones for me to talk about. Because it deals with money, and my ability to provide the kind of life I want to provide for my children. We're barely making ends meet. And this is a super scary thing for me. I've never wanted to have my children go without, or lack anything in their childhood that I'd love for them to experience, simply because I couldn't afford it. I know I'm not the first person to be in this spot, and I know I won't be the last, but the last 8 years of this presidency have hit us hard. We did really well before Mr. Bush became president. And ever since then it just seems that around us the rich keep getting richer, and the poor keep getting poorer. I'm very much looking forward to some change, and a chance to provide a better life for my children. I know we're doing what we can, and that my children aren't needing for anything of the necessities. And for that I'm very thankful. But its still hard to know that there are some things that I always told myself I'd do for my children, that I can't, because I can't afford it. Like sports, and extra curriculars. We just don't have the spare. A fun vacation in the summer where we could make memories and share some of our wonderful country's sites with them. We just can't, its too expensive. Its my goal though. Someday I want to be able to provide them with the extras that every kid should get the opportunity to try.
Monday, August 4, 2008
My children amaze me.
All of my kids have become fish this year. All of them. Kendyl decided just today while we're at the pool that she was going to jump in. And so she did. Over, and over and over again! She looked like the teenyest little thing EVER jumping in the pool. She had this itty bitty little splash, and bloop! In she went!!!
Here is the video of her doing that!
I have videos of the other kids too, but I have to post them all seperate apparently. I'll get to it I guess!
Here is the video of her doing that!
I have videos of the other kids too, but I have to post them all seperate apparently. I'll get to it I guess!
My weekend. . . sigh. Will things EVER let up?
I'm just really starting to wonder if I'll get to the point where things aren't full of drama all the time. This last weekend was hectic to say the least. Friday Sara and I took the kids to the local swimming pond. It was a BEAUTIFUL day to go, the kids had a blast, and as usual, it was wonderful to hang out with Sara. I forgot my camera, so you'll have to make due with a few cell phone quality pictures of that:
This is the pond. Its maximum depth is 6 feet, and only on a very small part. The rest averages 4 feet depth. Its filtered water and is vertually as clean as a swimming pool minus the chlorine. You can buy a family season pass for 20.00, and and once you've done that, up to 6 people can swim for free. They have gigantic umbrealla's all around it, and you have to get out of the water every hour on the hour for mandatory safety breaks. The kids usually don't mind, because they swim so hard that they snack each break. One of their favorites is watermelon. A nice snack to have once you get out of the water!!!
Here's my monkey Kaleb. This is one of the towels I got a few weeks back that I told you all about, for 2.98. They're AWESOME for sand beaches because they're short enough to not drag in the sand!!!
And my monkey Princess Kendyl!!! She LOVES swimming!!!
Then, Saturday was scheduled to take down a couple of dead Ash trees in our yard so that we wouldn't get a fine from the city. We were sent a notice, told we had 10 days to get it taken care of, or be subject to a 1,000 dollar fine, 90 days in jail, and a misdemeanor. Yeah, a bit extreme? LOTS of people got this notice I guess as a threat to get people to take the trees down in a hurry. My dad, brother, and grandpa came over, as did Todds dad, and brother. Everything was going well, and as planned. . .as you can see here:
Thats my brother up the ladder, and Todd on the roof below him.
Contemplating, and pulling so that the branch will go down as planned. That is from left to right: My father in law, My grandfather, and my dad. I think my brother in law is in there somewhere too? I don't know.
And then after some work, and me going in to take care of a few things in the house, etc. There was this gigantic earth saking boom on the house. I went FLYING to see what was wrong and was met by my husband at the door asking if I was ok. Aparently everyone wanted to leave one particular branch on the tree, except my father in law. And he's a stubborn pig headed ass when it comes to things like this, so they did it. . .and wouldn't you know, the f-ing thing landed ON. MY. HOUSE!?!?!?!?! It hit on the kitchen, popped the cover off o my kitchen light and shattered that, and shook seasonings out of my cupboard above my stove. It could have been worse on the inside, but thankfully it wasn't.
Here is the picture from the side of the house
Getting the chain saws to cook down a bit. It was so hot that the gas was BOILING people. It was that bad!!!
My grandpa "helping"! He was a great help at keeping that chain in that spot all afternoon!!!
My dad, my brother, and my hubby!!
This is the portion they cut down after the part landed on my roof. The cut off section there closest to this side is where the branch SHOULD have been attatched if they did it everyone else's way. it wouldn't have hit anything, and would have been FINE!!!
The damage to the roof. I guess its mostly superficial fixes, and something that can be done in an hour or so. But still. They dropped a TREE on my roof.
Contemplating the other tree, before just saying forget it, we'll get it another day, we're too tired!!
Then Sunday was a family reunion. I have pictures, but won't post them cause other peoples kids are in them, and I won't do that!!!
That was my weekend in a nutshell. . fun huh?
This is the pond. Its maximum depth is 6 feet, and only on a very small part. The rest averages 4 feet depth. Its filtered water and is vertually as clean as a swimming pool minus the chlorine. You can buy a family season pass for 20.00, and and once you've done that, up to 6 people can swim for free. They have gigantic umbrealla's all around it, and you have to get out of the water every hour on the hour for mandatory safety breaks. The kids usually don't mind, because they swim so hard that they snack each break. One of their favorites is watermelon. A nice snack to have once you get out of the water!!!
Here's my monkey Kaleb. This is one of the towels I got a few weeks back that I told you all about, for 2.98. They're AWESOME for sand beaches because they're short enough to not drag in the sand!!!
And my monkey Princess Kendyl!!! She LOVES swimming!!!
Then, Saturday was scheduled to take down a couple of dead Ash trees in our yard so that we wouldn't get a fine from the city. We were sent a notice, told we had 10 days to get it taken care of, or be subject to a 1,000 dollar fine, 90 days in jail, and a misdemeanor. Yeah, a bit extreme? LOTS of people got this notice I guess as a threat to get people to take the trees down in a hurry. My dad, brother, and grandpa came over, as did Todds dad, and brother. Everything was going well, and as planned. . .as you can see here:
Thats my brother up the ladder, and Todd on the roof below him.
Contemplating, and pulling so that the branch will go down as planned. That is from left to right: My father in law, My grandfather, and my dad. I think my brother in law is in there somewhere too? I don't know.
And then after some work, and me going in to take care of a few things in the house, etc. There was this gigantic earth saking boom on the house. I went FLYING to see what was wrong and was met by my husband at the door asking if I was ok. Aparently everyone wanted to leave one particular branch on the tree, except my father in law. And he's a stubborn pig headed ass when it comes to things like this, so they did it. . .and wouldn't you know, the f-ing thing landed ON. MY. HOUSE!?!?!?!?! It hit on the kitchen, popped the cover off o my kitchen light and shattered that, and shook seasonings out of my cupboard above my stove. It could have been worse on the inside, but thankfully it wasn't. Here is the picture from the side of the house
Getting the chain saws to cook down a bit. It was so hot that the gas was BOILING people. It was that bad!!!
My grandpa "helping"! He was a great help at keeping that chain in that spot all afternoon!!!
My dad, my brother, and my hubby!!
This is the portion they cut down after the part landed on my roof. The cut off section there closest to this side is where the branch SHOULD have been attatched if they did it everyone else's way. it wouldn't have hit anything, and would have been FINE!!!
The damage to the roof. I guess its mostly superficial fixes, and something that can be done in an hour or so. But still. They dropped a TREE on my roof.
Contemplating the other tree, before just saying forget it, we'll get it another day, we're too tired!!
Then Sunday was a family reunion. I have pictures, but won't post them cause other peoples kids are in them, and I won't do that!!!
That was my weekend in a nutshell. . fun huh?
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