Thursday, March 30, 2006
Monday, March 27, 2006
Stick a fork in me.. cause I am D-U-N !!!!
... pitch fork that is....
So stage 3 of my journey to a much more pleasant back yard is complete.....
It all started about 4 years ago when we bought our house. There was a beautiful tree smack dab in the center of our back yard.
She was a bute, but she wouldn't let sunshine in at all.... the good thing was that it was always cool... the bad thing was that the ground was always mud. At first we thought we were going to put landscaping stones everywhere, but that was way out of our budget. We tried sodding it, but becuase there was no light, we had no luck. Then Mike was going to make a tire mulch play ground, but way too extensive with drainage systems, blah, blah, blah. So we kept it hidden behind a 6 ft fence and pretended that it didn't exist.
We then noticed that thousands of tiny guests had decided to eat our tree from the inside out, so the tree had to go... I was so sad to see her go. She really was beautiful. But like the old saying goes, when God closes a door, He opens a window... and when this window opened Mike and I finally decided it was time to put some real time, money, and elbow grease to work and create a back yard our childen could enjoy....
First... we killed eveything that was left... tilled...
then tilled some more... tore down the fence.... (sledge hammers and lots of built up frustration and energy... so much fun!!)
We then had 4 yards of dirt, 3 yards of mulch and 2 pallets of grass delivered....
Everybody helped....
....and right at at the end when I thought I was going to die from exhaustion, the calvary showed up in the form of my mother and my sister with her kids. The kids kept my kids occupied and mom and Karen helped Mike and I level the ground and lay the sod (truly angels that I will never be able to thank enough)... and now we have this......
I am pretty sure that I have never worked so hard for so long in my life. I am always the big dreamer, never the big finisher. I am so proud of me and my husband for making a realistic plan, sticking to it and accomplishing the goal. We still have a lot of waiting for the grass to take and the bulbs to bloom, but I am looking forward to seeing he results of our labor.
Thanks for hanging in there with me, Ta Ta !
....next we do the garage!
So stage 3 of my journey to a much more pleasant back yard is complete.....
It all started about 4 years ago when we bought our house. There was a beautiful tree smack dab in the center of our back yard.
She was a bute, but she wouldn't let sunshine in at all.... the good thing was that it was always cool... the bad thing was that the ground was always mud. At first we thought we were going to put landscaping stones everywhere, but that was way out of our budget. We tried sodding it, but becuase there was no light, we had no luck. Then Mike was going to make a tire mulch play ground, but way too extensive with drainage systems, blah, blah, blah. So we kept it hidden behind a 6 ft fence and pretended that it didn't exist.
We then noticed that thousands of tiny guests had decided to eat our tree from the inside out, so the tree had to go... I was so sad to see her go. She really was beautiful. But like the old saying goes, when God closes a door, He opens a window... and when this window opened Mike and I finally decided it was time to put some real time, money, and elbow grease to work and create a back yard our childen could enjoy....
First... we killed eveything that was left... tilled...
then tilled some more... tore down the fence.... (sledge hammers and lots of built up frustration and energy... so much fun!!)
We then had 4 yards of dirt, 3 yards of mulch and 2 pallets of grass delivered....
Everybody helped....
....and right at at the end when I thought I was going to die from exhaustion, the calvary showed up in the form of my mother and my sister with her kids. The kids kept my kids occupied and mom and Karen helped Mike and I level the ground and lay the sod (truly angels that I will never be able to thank enough)... and now we have this......
I am pretty sure that I have never worked so hard for so long in my life. I am always the big dreamer, never the big finisher. I am so proud of me and my husband for making a realistic plan, sticking to it and accomplishing the goal. We still have a lot of waiting for the grass to take and the bulbs to bloom, but I am looking forward to seeing he results of our labor.
Thanks for hanging in there with me, Ta Ta !
....next we do the garage!
Friday, March 24, 2006
A funny thing happened on the way to the Walgreen's....
Let me start this post with a very clear warning that this is one of those "TOO MUCH INFORMTION" posts.... so if ya can't take the heat... get out of my kitchen now before your eyes burst into flames reading the following story....
Now... momma decided last night that she needed some luvin....it had been a while because we have been out of our chosen form of controlling the amount of clones I create of my husband.... this has always been my husband's job.... it is his responsibility to make sure we are not out and to replace them when we are, but it has slipped both of our minds (and desire) lately....
He was already getting ready for bed, so he told me that if I wanted it, I had to go to Walgreen's to get it.....(big huge smile on his face)....so after some whiny delay, I finally psyche myself up enough to go....
"Is there anything else that we need so it isn't so obvious?"
(Again... big smile from him because he knows how much this is killing me....)
I get in the car and try to convince myself what a dork I am being about this... I am clearly an adult, married and performing an action accepted event by even the most strict religions....I even have proof that this event has occured at least twice in the form of big red and little red....but no one knows an estimated time and date these events occurred like the total strangers at Walgreen's could assume....
So I walk into the store and pick up a basket. I start to walk up and down the aisles looking very casual and picking up anything that we might possibly need in the next 3 months or in the eent that a natural disaster should sneek up on us. I get to the aisle that has the main item on my mental shopping list and realize how very little I know about this household item that has kept me out of a double wide trailer with 16 kids. I have no clue which one to get, my pleasure, his pleasure, spermicidal or heated lubricant, blah blah blah blah.... I just grab one and continue my stroll through the store stocking up on our bomb shelter necessities. I am satisfied with the amount of shampoo, pediacare, orange juice, and diet coke to hide my teenage embarrassment, so I head to the check out... manned by 2 MALE teenage checkers....Oh God help me.... I know you are laughing your ass off right now up there, but give me a break. I walk up to one of them, drop the basket on the counter and immediately turn my entire focus to swiping my debit card and reading every instruction very intently as if I had never read whether or not I wanted cash back before and what denominations I had to chose from. I then hear him say,
"I think these are on sale"
Referring to the Diet cokes I answer "Yeah, but they are 3 for 9.99 and I only want one"
Choking and stuttering he starts to chuckle and say say, " No I mean... uhm... well the other thing...."
I HAD TO PICK THE ONE ON SALE!!!
So here he is trying to keep himself from laughing and thumbing through the Walgreen's ad to make sure that the one I have chosen are in fact on sale....
"Yep, right here....."
He then takes $5.99 of the main price and tries not to make eye contact with me as I am literally on the verge if crying from laughter at how this trip to Walgreen's has turned out.
.... I walk into the door at home to Michael saying, "You should have taken your phone with you... squirt is up!"
I walk into our bed to find our 1 yr old wimpering with a 102 temp.....
... at least we used the Pediacare I bought .....
Now... momma decided last night that she needed some luvin....it had been a while because we have been out of our chosen form of controlling the amount of clones I create of my husband.... this has always been my husband's job.... it is his responsibility to make sure we are not out and to replace them when we are, but it has slipped both of our minds (and desire) lately....
He was already getting ready for bed, so he told me that if I wanted it, I had to go to Walgreen's to get it.....(big huge smile on his face)....so after some whiny delay, I finally psyche myself up enough to go....
"Is there anything else that we need so it isn't so obvious?"
(Again... big smile from him because he knows how much this is killing me....)
I get in the car and try to convince myself what a dork I am being about this... I am clearly an adult, married and performing an action accepted event by even the most strict religions....I even have proof that this event has occured at least twice in the form of big red and little red....but no one knows an estimated time and date these events occurred like the total strangers at Walgreen's could assume....
So I walk into the store and pick up a basket. I start to walk up and down the aisles looking very casual and picking up anything that we might possibly need in the next 3 months or in the eent that a natural disaster should sneek up on us. I get to the aisle that has the main item on my mental shopping list and realize how very little I know about this household item that has kept me out of a double wide trailer with 16 kids. I have no clue which one to get, my pleasure, his pleasure, spermicidal or heated lubricant, blah blah blah blah.... I just grab one and continue my stroll through the store stocking up on our bomb shelter necessities. I am satisfied with the amount of shampoo, pediacare, orange juice, and diet coke to hide my teenage embarrassment, so I head to the check out... manned by 2 MALE teenage checkers....Oh God help me.... I know you are laughing your ass off right now up there, but give me a break. I walk up to one of them, drop the basket on the counter and immediately turn my entire focus to swiping my debit card and reading every instruction very intently as if I had never read whether or not I wanted cash back before and what denominations I had to chose from. I then hear him say,
"I think these are on sale"
Referring to the Diet cokes I answer "Yeah, but they are 3 for 9.99 and I only want one"
Choking and stuttering he starts to chuckle and say say, " No I mean... uhm... well the other thing...."
I HAD TO PICK THE ONE ON SALE!!!
So here he is trying to keep himself from laughing and thumbing through the Walgreen's ad to make sure that the one I have chosen are in fact on sale....
"Yep, right here....."
He then takes $5.99 of the main price and tries not to make eye contact with me as I am literally on the verge if crying from laughter at how this trip to Walgreen's has turned out.
.... I walk into the door at home to Michael saying, "You should have taken your phone with you... squirt is up!"
I walk into our bed to find our 1 yr old wimpering with a 102 temp.....
... at least we used the Pediacare I bought .....
Good news.... Bad news....
Good news: Weekend started early for me
Bad news: Up all night with a baby with 102 temp
Good news: Soil, mulch and sod being delivered today
Bad news: WE are putting it all down
Good news: It is her, last day at a job that has under appreciated her for too long
Bad news: I will not be there for our daily email conversations
Bad news: Up all night with a baby with 102 temp
Good news: Soil, mulch and sod being delivered today
Bad news: WE are putting it all down
Good news: It is her, last day at a job that has under appreciated her for too long
Bad news: I will not be there for our daily email conversations
Thursday, March 23, 2006
Update
So my plan is to try and update every Wednesday or Thursday my weight success.... I am also trying to not step on the scale but once a week. This is very hard as I am not the most patient person and I want to see results instantly.
What makes me laugh as I am writing this, is that in our 3 step process to a bigger and better outside, I planted bulbs. And even though I know from my 4th grade science class this is going to take a long time for those babies to sprout, I secretly peek through my blinds every morning to see if anything has come up.....
I keep telling myself this is a life change, not a diet. I am going to live my days they way I want to live them for the rest of my life. I am not going to deny myself a piece of the office birthday cake we are celebrating, because I am not going to go through my life denying myself birthday parties and celebrations.... It's not the extra's that are my problem. It's the day to day...
Part of this is also processing the habits and where they came from and choices I have made and the consequences those choices have created. I am not ready to put it on paper (or electronic file). It is still spinning in my head and conversations between me and God. I also have not made time for it as I am choosing to spend all my extra time and energy (and even some I do not have) working on the house. It is amazing how hard work releases so much....
What makes me laugh as I am writing this, is that in our 3 step process to a bigger and better outside, I planted bulbs. And even though I know from my 4th grade science class this is going to take a long time for those babies to sprout, I secretly peek through my blinds every morning to see if anything has come up.....
I keep telling myself this is a life change, not a diet. I am going to live my days they way I want to live them for the rest of my life. I am not going to deny myself a piece of the office birthday cake we are celebrating, because I am not going to go through my life denying myself birthday parties and celebrations.... It's not the extra's that are my problem. It's the day to day...
Part of this is also processing the habits and where they came from and choices I have made and the consequences those choices have created. I am not ready to put it on paper (or electronic file). It is still spinning in my head and conversations between me and God. I also have not made time for it as I am choosing to spend all my extra time and energy (and even some I do not have) working on the house. It is amazing how hard work releases so much....
Sunday, March 19, 2006
Change is inevitable... patience is a virtue
So I am lightening up... figuratively, physically, emotionally and spiritually....
I thought I might reflect these changes here by tring to go way from my normal "black". Of course this now means I have screwed up everything with a single touch and I am now trying to figure out how to put it all back....
...patience.....
I thought I might reflect these changes here by tring to go way from my normal "black". Of course this now means I have screwed up everything with a single touch and I am now trying to figure out how to put it all back....
...patience.....
Every cell is throbbing.....
So this weekend we worked on stage 2 of the 3 stage process concerning the outside of our house. As you saw in the earlier post, we have already re-potted a bunch of plants to go on our patio. This weekend Mike and I rented a tiller and worked our flower beds in the front and tilled the entire back yard to prepare it for sod. We stared at 8:00 am...(okay, so Mike stared at 6:30 when he left to get the tiller...first come first serve and all) We finally stopped at 8:00 pm last night (planting plants in the front flower bed while Max held a flashlight for me). Now before everyone jumps on me for late night planting, we were supposed to get a nasty storm today (nothing yet) and it was window of opportunity before all of the freshly ground dirt turned into mud soup. Ben was breaking my heart because as I was on my hands and knees putting plants in the ground, he would come right in front of me, sit down, lay his head on my chest and start hugging me.
Then today we worked a little more prepping the back yard. We were hopping the tilling was going to cover up some holes in the back, but it looks like we are going to have to get some soil to lay out before we sod.
Every cell in my body hurts... it is even killing me to type this blog, but I have been absent recently and I hate it when there are big gaps in my journal. When I go back and read them, I always think.... what the hell was going on during that time?
Then today we worked a little more prepping the back yard. We were hopping the tilling was going to cover up some holes in the back, but it looks like we are going to have to get some soil to lay out before we sod.
Every cell in my body hurts... it is even killing me to type this blog, but I have been absent recently and I hate it when there are big gaps in my journal. When I go back and read them, I always think.... what the hell was going on during that time?
Thursday, March 16, 2006
Watch out, Florida!
Disney World ...HERE WE COME!!!
And by WE... I mean the whole troop.... 4 adults, 5 children....
I just booked our flights and rented the full size van....
I am not sure that I am going to be able to handle the excitement. I made the mistake of telling Max about it too early and so every morning he tells me, "No school today, mommy... we go to Disney World!"
He has no idea how much I wish that his statement was true!
I AM SO FREAKIN EXCITED!!!!!!
And by WE... I mean the whole troop.... 4 adults, 5 children....
I just booked our flights and rented the full size van....
I am not sure that I am going to be able to handle the excitement. I made the mistake of telling Max about it too early and so every morning he tells me, "No school today, mommy... we go to Disney World!"
He has no idea how much I wish that his statement was true!
I AM SO FREAKIN EXCITED!!!!!!
Monday, March 06, 2006
Wake up!
Max woke up VERY early the other day when I was getting ready to go walking. He was perplexed because it was dark outside and still "sleepy night-night time". I told him I was going to go and get the sun and tell it to "WAKE UP". Once I got back he ran to the window and presented it to me "look mommy, the sun is up... YOU DID IT!"
The joy of mud
So Ben discovered the joy of mud yesterday. My mother and I were re-potting all of our plants and Max and Ben and my niece, Kaitlyn and nephews Kameron and Konner were "helping".
Ben has always loved to splash. He has always been the type of baby who loves the crash of his hands on water and the joy of the water hitting everything within it's reach. Bath time is always quite an experience, thanks to this love of his.
I didn't think he could love an exercise more... until he found the perfect medium.... Mud .... it's cool, slimey, squishy and when you hit it, it SPLATTERS...e-v-e-r-y-w-h-e-r-e...... Mom and I had no idea how much fun he was having until we looked over and saw this.....
Upon closer inspection, we could see the full detail of this little toddler in his first outdoor experiment with mud.....
Why do I have the feeling that I should invest in stock with Tide?
Ben has always loved to splash. He has always been the type of baby who loves the crash of his hands on water and the joy of the water hitting everything within it's reach. Bath time is always quite an experience, thanks to this love of his.
I didn't think he could love an exercise more... until he found the perfect medium.... Mud .... it's cool, slimey, squishy and when you hit it, it SPLATTERS...e-v-e-r-y-w-h-e-r-e...... Mom and I had no idea how much fun he was having until we looked over and saw this.....
Upon closer inspection, we could see the full detail of this little toddler in his first outdoor experiment with mud.....
Why do I have the feeling that I should invest in stock with Tide?
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