Attitude and gratitude

My last post was all in jest but since I have been trying to count my blessings more I had a hard time keeping myself from talking about how much I love living here at the end of that post because I wanted to keep it light and silly. Do I wish I had a dishwasher...UMM, YEAH!!!  Do I miss having a garbage disposal...absolutely! Do I cringe every time I have to vacuum because I know that there will be less of the green carpet by the time I'm finished because no matter how careful I am a string of it ALWAYS gets sucked up in my vacuum and stuck on the roller thingy...DUH!  Could I go on and on about the little things that bug me about this house...FOR HOURS!!!

BUT I LoVe...

Having our own place to live.

             Our ward for about a gazillion reasons.

                          Our yard.

                                      That our kids are in the same school as they were last year.

That the bus picks them up at our house.

            The cute little bunnies that hop through our yard all the time.

                       That our kids see beauty in the things we find fault in. See previous post-orange carpet comment :)   

    That there were already holes in the walls and carpets and scribbles on the walls when we moved in so I am not SO worried that the kids will cause damage to the place.      

         That the atrocious green carpet makes me think of my Grandma Hazel every time I see it. She had ugly green carpet too. It was in perfect condition and very clean, unlike our green carpet but still, it makes me think of her so I still kind of like it.  

                     That sometimes when I walk into the back part of the house near the bathroom it smells like my Grandma Irvine's house did and makes me think of her. I LOVE that!!!

            That I am grateful every day to have a roof over our heads so that our family is protected from the elements and from harm. 

     That I have realized that it doesn't take a lot of fluff to make a person happy. You can be happy or miserable anywhere you live. It is all in your attitude. We are choosing to be happy and boy are we ever happy! We have our fair share of trials that's for sure but ultimately we are happy. We love each other. We love our greatest gifts..our children. As long as we are together we don't care where we are. I feel such a lovely peaceful spirit in this house. I KNOW we are supposed to be living here right now. I think that the reason that we couldn't find a place to live, even though we were desperately praying, driving up and down every street in several towns all the time, diligently, desperately searching for our own place to live, that Heavenly Father knew that we needed to live HERE. The people that lived here had bought this house as a fixer upper only about a year and a half before we rented it. The husband lost his job and they ended up having to move to Montana. They didn't have any money to fix it up and so it's in the same condition it was when they bought it. Heavenly Father has a plan. He is in charge. We appreciate all He gives us every day. We are truly  blessed people!!! We might not have as much as others. We have more than some. We have sufficient for our needs. We NEED the gospel, our family, food, shelter, clothing. We have those bases covered so IT'S ALL GOOD!!! It seems the
less we have the more we feel blessed. The more we appreciate what we DO have. The more we are able to have our priorities where they need to be. 

One last thought...think of all the crazy celebrities you see in the news. Fame and fortune do not make you happy! You can live in a mansion and be a MISERABLE person or you can live in the gutter and be the happiest person on earth! It is all in your attitude and your gratitude! It's a very conscious choice. "Men are that they might have joy". Our bishop reminded us of that Sunday in his talk in church. This man who is fighting for his life in a battle against the stage 4 cancer that is in his body stood at the pulpit and urged us all to find the joy in life. To look at our lives and if we are not happy, then we need to live the gospel more fully and find the joy in life and be HAPPY!!! What an amazing man! What an amazing message! One thing that has been on my mind for the past few months is that we need to see ourselves as Heavenly Father and Jesus see us. It's not always easy but blesses our lives so much when we make an effort to see our eternal potential. 

WE...ARE...BLESSED!!!! 

Things that make you go hmmmmm...

When my mom (I use her as an example because I have never personally purchased carpet, or chosen paint for any place we have ever lived in seeing as how we have always rented) buys carpet, paints a wall, or buys new furniture she goes through this big process. She might find a picture in a magazine or see an idea at someone else's house. She ponders. She plans. She looks at lots of furniture stores and many, many swatches of carpet. Many, many paint sample cards. She brings them home and ponders and plans some more until she finds JUST.the.right.one! My mom would NEVER just walk into a store and buy the first carpet she came across. So you might understand why the "unique" interior of the house we are in might cause me to wonder WHAT was going on in the mind of the dear, sweet woman that lived here. Were these conscious decisions? Or did she swing by the carpet and wall store on her way home from having cataract surgery and make her choices with her eyes covered in bandages, clearly obstructing her vision. Or did her colorblind husband decide to "surprise" her with these decorating wonders? It truly makes you go hmmmm...

They thought this formica counter top was so fantastic that they decided to use the same material on parts of 3 of their walls in the kitchen.

They liked these paneling front cabinets so much that they decided to...

Put the same paneling on one of the sections of one of the walls...

And, while the paneling and formica are lovely wall options, it's true, I might like this fancy sparkly, pink and gold snowflake patterned wallpaper better. It's a toss up really!

I think the floor is the best feature in the kitchen, really. I mean, what mother of 4 wouldn't dream of having carpet in their kitchen. And not just ANY carpet. But this carpet. The carpet that SOMEONE presumably put a lot of time and contemplation into before actually purchasing it. It's obviously very "special" carpet! I know you're jealous!!

I know that this green carpet didn't have holes in it when it was purchased, I just thought I'd throw that in so you can see the super fun carpet we have here, but seriously, this may be the ugliest green carpet ever! Even the parts that are still in one piece. 

This carpet is Matty's dream carpet! He was so mad at us when we didn't let him have the room with the orange carpet. He says it's lava and he likes to play with his dinosaurs on the lava floor. That room is smaller and we wanted him and Max to share a room and Zack to have his own room and Gracie has the room closest to us so we can hear her at night and that left poor Matty without the lava room. Poor guy! He still complains every couple weeks that he wishes HE had the room with the orange carpet instead of Zack. Zack doesn't know how lucky he is! It is pretty SaWeeT!!!

The paneling in Gracie's bedroom is especially nice since it has a nice scallop border. FAAncy!

Her carpet is just beautiful. If you are blind or colorblind or your taste is all in your mouth then it.is.bEaUtiFUL!!!

The bathroom HAS to be our favorite part of the entire house! It is just lovely. And everything is very conveniently placed within arms length of each other. It is really nice! Not sure if you can see the baby blue tiles on the wall. So super pretty! Occasionally you do bruise your knees on the gargantuan cabinet when sitting on or standing from the toilet but that is just all part of the 'charm' of living in an old house.

This is the beautiful floor in the laundry room that is right next to the kitchen. I would rather have this ugly floor in the kitchen than the ugly carpet in there. At least it can be swept and mopped! UGH!!!

I'm sorry ladies but I don't think they make this front door anymore. It is a beaut but I think they bought the last one. Shucks!!!

On a cute note, I finally found Gracie's little purse I made for her. And I found my camera so I thought I'd post it, too. It's straps are skeewompus but I learned my lesson and the next one I made had perfectly placed straps. She didn't notice.  :) 

My new favorite thing...

I used to just add a bit of taco seasoning to ranch when I would  use it for taco salad but I noticed this packet of Spicy Ranch dressing mix a couple weeks ago and decided to give it a try. It is DELICIOUS!!! The other day I decided I was sick of sandwiches, mac n cheese, and frozen burritos for lunches and I wanted something different. I threw together a taco salad using lettuce, tomato, chunks of cheddar cheese, canned, drained black beans, crumbled tortilla chips, and lots of this delicious ranch. It was SOOO yummy!!! We have TONS of canned beans and we seem to always have the other ingredients around so we have ha d this salad for lunch several times now. Brian, Gracie, and I LoVe it!!! It tastes as good as any salad you might spend a fortune on at a restaurant. It's a fun, easy, cheap treat for those of us who can't afford eating out all the time but want to awfully badly!!! Just thought I'd share in case you were wanting to try something different, too...

phones...

K, so, we were in Utah County on Friday and we went to Walmart and signed up for their new cell phone service that somehow runs through T-Mobile but isn't T-Mobile. We were with T-Mobile already and didn't have a contract with them. So, through Walmart's service we pay $45 for our first phone to have unlimited talk and text and $25 for our additional phone to have unlimited talk and text. We thought it was a super smokin deal that was much cheaper than having one phone and a home phone or 2 cells with any other company so we did it. I didn't have my T-Mobile account # with me so I had to get a new number. I was so excited for Brian to have a phone again and I just kept my old phone and changed sim cards on it. They worked wonderfully when we were up there.  We drove back in time for Zack's 10:30am game Saturday morning. Our phones didn't work here. Clearly it has something to do with T-Mobile towers since it has happened with 3 different sim cards and 2 different phones.  We contacted them online Saturday and they said we should know what's wrong by Tuesday. UGH!! It sucks not having a phone!!! So we're back to square one. Well, maybe square 2 since Brian can at least text now.  :) 

Matthew had a birthday Friday but I can't find my camera so I don't have actual evidence of it but it did indeed exist. I even made him a Wii controller cake that I found on parenting.com   Of all the ADORABLE, FANCY cakes to choose from he chose the easiest one so that was nice!!  He had a great day and it was a lot of fun celebrating our sweet boys day! He was BEYOND thrilled!!! He has counted down for at least 2 months! So cute and fun!!!

I'm good. It's all good!

So my phone has been on the fritz for 3 days now. I can text, receive texts, and I can receive phone calls and make phone calls. The problem is that I can hear people but they can't hear me. We never changed our phone number or service when we moved from Salem so we still have T-mobile. There aren't any T-mobile stores here so we have to wait until Friday when we go to Spanish Fork, to get my new sim card. Apparently mine malfunctioned. Yesterday's craziness (read last nights post for more info) was even crazier without my phone. I had to run to Brian's office for a few minutes to call the rec center, the coach, and to make an appointment with Dr. Bailey since my tooth was killing me. Then, when the secretary from the high school called me to tell me she knew where it was she had to just tell me but I couldn't thank her. Thankfully she understood since I had explained my situation to her. Well....this morning gave me a heart attack!!! Matty is going on his first field trip of the school year with his new teacher this morning. We discussed his peanut allergy and epipen needs the week before school started but I don't think we talked about field trips. I start panicking! Especially since they are sending all the students with peanut butter munch-ables from the lunchroom for their lunches except Matty and the other boy in his class this year who is also allergic to peanut butter or if you just planned on sending them their own lunch. I can't call the office to ask the secretary to PLEASE remind the teacher to take his epipen. We shut Brian's phone off a couple weeks ago since we couldn't afford it so I couldn't text him to call. We don't have a home phone because our local phone service is ridiculously expensive to hook up and have!! Thank goodness for instant messaging on the computer! I messaged him and thankfully he got the message and called the school right away.  She was very helpful and promised she would tell the teacher right away. I was so relieved!!!  PHONES ARE NECESSITIES!! I've gotta have one! How did we ever survive before cell phones?! Really! I can go without a lot of things in life but contact with the outside world is not one of them. Phones and internet are NECESSITIES!!! I can live without cable. I can  live without eating out (it's difficult but I do it!!!). I can actually live without a lot of things but phones and internet are just too important in my life, I've realized! Not for frivolity but for NECESSITY!!!

Umm ExCUSE me light lady, we're not finished here thank you very much!!!

K, so last night Zack had a football game at the high school football field. This was only his second night game most of them are on Saturday morning. Well, he had to be there at 6:50 and his game started at 7:30.  It ended at 9:00. His team won so that was awesome! We had all 4 of our kids with us and it was an hour past their bedtime and we..were..DONE!!! We immediately stood up when the game was over and collected all our crap and shoved it in Gracie's stroller. Not sure what I'll do with all our crap when we outgrow the stroller. Anyhoo, not 3 minutes after the game ended the MORONIC light lady turned the lights off. Yeah! She just turned the lights off. Apparently once you turn hallogen lights off they won't come back on for like 30 minutes or so. LOVELY! My 4 year old son had gone down to the field to congratulate his big brother.  The coaches were conversing with their teams. Most of the little kids were playing on the track and their parents were in the stands. There were really old people there to watch their grandkids and great grandkids play. People were there with tiny babies and all their crap to carry. And all of a sudden it's mostly dark with just a tiny bit of light from a far away light in the parking lot. Of course we're on the grass bleachers way south. There were no openings to the stairs. Just a constant railing that you have to go over or under to get to the stairs by our car. So I hurried all the way over to where I thought I might be able to find my boys. Zack was on the stairs getting ready to head down our row and Max was still down at the bottom of the stairs TERRIFIED crying out for Zack so I yelled for him to follow my voice. Poor baby!!! It scared him to death! Then Zack says, oh I forgot my inhaler. NICE! So we stumble down the stairs, Zack fell at one point. We start trying to see a dark blue inhaler on dark grass in the dark and some how we can't find it. Go figure! I hear the head coach yelling that he can't even see if any of his kids are still on the field or if they had hooked up with their parents. An assistant coach saw us looking and tried to help but there was no way to see anything. He said that he saw a coach from the team that played before us pick up an inhaler. Great! Well, we gave up the pointless search and headed to the van. Meanwhile poor Brian had to put the stroller full of crap, Matthew, and Gracie over the railing, up the stairs, and in the car, in the dark. I was LIVID!!!  .Can you imagine all the things that could have happened with that many people scrambling to get out of dark stadium. So CRAZY!!! So, today I called the rec center and asked for the coach from the other team's name and number so I could ask about Zacky's inhaler. Then....I issued my complaint. The guy was so nice and concerned and apologetic. Apparently not only was she supposed to leave the light on but she was supposed to clean up the trash after everyone left too. The coach dude said one of his kids DID get an inhaler and he'd call the mom just to be sure it was his. He calls back and says that the kid realized it wasn't his and dropped it on the grass on the field. Seriously?! So, the kids and I head to the field to look for the inhaler (which by the way the bleachers and field were covered in garbage) and can't find it anywhere. We talked to the secretary at the school and she said the coach dude had just been there looking. How nice was that! She paged about it and said she'd repeat the page in the morning and took my name and number and email address. When I was almost home she called me and told me that a student told her that it had been turned in to the rec center. WHEW!!! So relieved!!! Inhalers are expensive!!! I just had to share this super fun experience with you all. I'm glad we live in a small town and all the running around wasn't as bad as it could have been! Isn't it amazing the affect that ONE crazy light lady can have on so many people. I wonder what other stories there were to tell from the situation. Crazy light lady!!!

I posted some really cute pictures of Miss Gracie and our boys on Word From the Zoo

A calling and show and tell...

A Calling



I have served in Nursery and Sunbeams and other Primary callings for the better part of the past 15 years. I LOVE Primary! It is awesome! Exhausting! But awesome!!! However, this part of my life has become much like most other parts of my life. Rather monotonous and repetitive. The Relief Society president in our ward asked me a few weeks ago if I had received my new calling yet. I said, no. She said she wanted me in Relief Society but someone else had already requested me. I have been SO nervous ever since then wondering what my new calling would be. Honestly, just the mere thought of serving in Nursery or Sunbeams again brought tears to my eyes. Brian and I taught Max in Nursery and in Sunbeams and he is still in Sunbeams. Max is the child that causes me the most stress and frustration these days for many reasons, one main reason being the fact that he almost NEVER listens to me. You might imagine how much fun it is for me to be his Primary teacher. When the member of the Bishopric called me in FINALLY on Wednesday I could hardly stand the suspense. I was dieing to know what my calling was. I was THRILLED when he said they wanted me to be the 2nd counselor in the Young Women's presidency!!! This is EXACTLY what I need right now in so many ways. I am so grateful for Heavenly Father's guidance and direction in my life. I have been thrilled ever since Wednesday and look forward to all the fun activities and getting to know the wonderful young women in our ward. I am more than just a little bit scared. As I mentioned it has been 15 years since I served in Young Women and my life has revolved around little boys for the last 10 years so I'm scared but also thrilled. If you have seen Groundhog Day the movie, the day he finally wakes up and realizes that something is different he is like ANYTHING different is good. That is how I am feeling. It is like FINALLY... SOMETHING in my life is different!!! I am really, really excited for this change and just really, really happy. I haven't been this excited about a calling since I was in the Primary presidency in Cedar. Once again it was different than teaching nursery or Sunbeams but so much fun and I LOVED that, too! The Young Women's president is AMAZING so I am beyond thrilled to be working with her too!!! I was so anxious to be set apart after church today. I have such a strong testimony of being set apart for your callings. What a wonderful gift the priesthood is in so many aspects of our lives!!! Anyway, I think it will be great fun!

Show and Tell

Sewing usually really hates my guts! I have tried to like it many, many times and always come to the same conclusion...I HATE IT!!! Well, I've been really wanting some sort of hobby lately. Some sort of creative outlet for me. Scrap booking doesn't really work for me at this time in my life. I just don't have the space for it. I decided to try sewing again. I bought the fabric to make Gracie a quilt last year around the time she was born. I started to sew it together but we moved and I never finished it. Well, my first project was to finish sewing that together. I only finished the top. I need to get more fabric to make it a bit bigger and I need to buy fabric for the back. She won't be in a big girl bed for quite some time so that project will be on hold for a while. The top's cute though. :)  I made a quilt for my sister, Stephanie's baby, Emily. Yes, she's 6 months old but better late than never, right?  :)  I totally loved it! It's very bright and a bit crazy but I like it. I finished another baby quilt yesterday. I fell in love with the fabrics Tara B. used in her quilt she recently posted about. I HAD to use a couple of them. It is the CUTEST fabric!!! I'm not very good at sewing so there are tons of mistakes but oh well. Practice makes perfect. I'll just have to keep practicing!!! I had been promising Brian I would make him a denim quilt for about 15 years or so. I had saved the old jeans and we have lugged them around every time we have moved. I bought 2 bolts of flannel about 10 years ago for $1 a yard. I decided to finally break down and make his quilt. It turned out great and I was pleasantly surprised that my sewing machine had such an easy time sewing denim. I tried to avoid using the parts of the jeans that had big seams just in case so it made it easy. I wanted to buy Gracie a purse for her birthday in May but couldn't find one. I started thinking about some of the bags I've owned in the past and decided to just try to make up a pattern and go for it using the scraps from Emily's quilt. It turned out really cute and it was so easy to make. I can't find it right now to post a picture of it so I'll post a picture later.  Matthew's teacher sent home canvas bags for the parents to decorate with whatever subject the kids wanted us to and then we send them back and he uses them to put things in that pertain to that subject. I made up a dinosaur themed bag. He'll put puzzles, books, games, stuff like that and then the kids get to bring them home sometimes for a couple days. Well, I decided it turned out cute enough that I would make one for Steph's son, Josh's bday in October. He LoVeS dinosaurs!!! I had decided to make Matthew and Max each a little bag for church. They had chosen some fabric from my scrap box. After I made the ones for the school and Josh, Max wants one like theirs now but Matty still wanted the one out of scrap material and canvas letters. I haven't made Max's yet. I have been having so much fun sewing stuff and haven't had to spend money because luckily I am a HUGE procrastinator and have enough unfinished projects laying around to keep me pretty busy.

Gracie's quilt top...

Baby Emily's quilt...

The other quilt I made...

Brian's queen size denim quilt FINALLY...

Matty's class bag

Josh's bag. I forgot to put something inside the bag to keep the paint from leaking through so I had to add a tree to the other side to cover up the paint. I'm a spaz sometimes haha...

Matty's bag...



I'm in love...

with this time of year!!!

I never thought I would be one of "those" mom's. You know the ones that just couldn't wait to have her kids go back to school after the summer. I always thought I would be super sad when they went to school. I am always a bit nostalgic, especially when my kids go to kindergarten, of course, but this year I felt PURE JOY when they went to school and it just gets better every day.  The kids were so restless by the end of the summer. I had started a schedule with them because they really thrive on knowing what to expect and having stuff to do. They made lots of science projects, played outside lots, played in our little swimming pool, had very little t.v. time, read books, made crafts, I taught them to sew pillow cases, they drew lots of fun pictures. They loved it! They were very excited for school to start. Matthew is our sleeping-in child and he is usually a bear every morning when he's getting ready for school.  He cries and begs not to go to school many mornings.  So I was getting nervous about the first day of school with him.

Usually I take them to school the first day. Take a picture of them in their new classroom. Sometimes I take a picture of them with their new teacher. Zack's getting older and this ritual embarrasses him. Matthew and I met his new teacher the week before school started in his classroom. He was very nice. Matthew found where his backpack would hang. Took a little tour of the classroom. It was great. So when they wanted to ride the bus (which picks them up in front of our house  HOORAY!!!) instead of having me take them to school that first day I went with it. I felt sad I wouldn't be taking their picture at school and stuff but I figured it would be better for Matthew to not have me there.  They LoVeD their first day of school!!! It was only half a day for the first 2 days. Matthew started begging to stay home the 3rd day of school.  He's such a little home body. He loves being home!! But he loves school while he's there. He just doesn't like the going part I guess. Probably hates the waking up early part most. Max started preschool last Tuesday.  He is a bit timid about it this year because he only knows one of the kids in his class. She was on his t-ball team this summer. It's a pretty big class too.  Once he makes some more friends I'm sure he'll love it even more. I am really enjoying the 2 hours, 3 days a week thing. Who knew that 6 hours a week with only one very quiet child could be so rejuvenating.  I all but did a happy dance the other day in the kitchen when I was telling Brian how great it had been having the kids in school again. It's wonderful!!!  I thrive on having my own schedule back again. It helps me be a better mom to have a bit of a break once in a while. They love interacting with friends and learning new things and the whole school thing.   

And don't you just love everything about this time of year.  The weather is PERFECT!!! It's not too hot, not too cold.  It smells like fall. The food gets so super yummy and comforting.  I love it when I can start making soups, stews, and casseroles again.  And...apple pie!! So delicious!!!  No air conditioner. No heater.  I get to wear my light jackets or long sleeves.  I just thoroughly enjoy each of the seasons.  I love that we live somewhere that has all of the seasons.  There are places that don't really have much of a fall.  Who doesn't love the beautiful colors as the leaves change?!  I so enjoy the decorations and holidays of fall.  And the smell in the air and in the house.  It's just a wonderful time of year!!!  I feel so happy and so grateful for all of our blessings and to be living on such an amazing planet that our Savior created for us.  What marvelous gifts he gives to us.  How blessed we are to have fall.  To have seasons.  To have apples.  And pumpkins.  And the smell of cinnamon.  And such a gorgeous state to live in.  To have such great family.  To have the gospel in our lives.  To live in a free country.  To have shelter and transportation and food and clothing and shoes.  We are truly blessed!!!!!  I just LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this time of year!!!!

(A More Real) Love Story

Super blessed...

So, we have been going through some pretty tough stuff the past few months. One of the problems on their own would be a challenge but going through both trials has been really hard. We have been constantly amazed at the love of our Savior!!! We are so grateful for the many blessings He showers us with. It is sometimes hard to recognize the blessings when there are difficult times but we have been reminded of our blessings over and over these past months and we are grateful. It seems like when we have reached the end of our rope He throws us another line and we feel so blessed again to see His hand in our lives. It's been hard not to murmur and complain and feel discouraged and totally not blessed but we have tried so hard to remain positive throughout the hard times. We have good days and bad. The bad days are especially bad and thank goodness we have loving, supportive family members and friends to help us get through the really low times and then we can pick ourselves back up, dust ourselves off, and face the next day with a smile on our faces and a determination to be happy, even in our trials. I am so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father. I am grateful to know that He knows me and loves me and hears and answers our prayers. Not usually in our time frame but always in the time frame that is best for us. I know He lives and loves each of us. I know that He wants us to be happy. I know that He wants us to talk to Him. To pour out our hearts to Him and ask for His help, love, guidance, peace, and comfort. I am so grateful for the gospel in my life and for my precious little family! I feel blessed each time I hear them laugh, see them smile, get loves and kisses from them. They are the greatest gifts and blessings in my life! I am happy to be Brian's wife and to be parents of such amazingly wonderful children!!! I also feel so very blessed to live in our country. So grateful to all of the people who have fought for our freedom and for the freedom of others. So happy to know that all of my blessings come from my Heavenly Father!!!!

A great quote...

In Relief Society today there was a quote on the board that is by Elder Samuelson that was WONDERFUL!!! Just thought I'd share.

"Worthiness and perfection are NOT synonyms."   

The lesson was about how we are just too hard on ourselves. Our teacher was talking about how we often tend to look at ourselves as satan and the world want us to look at ourselves. Like we aren't good enough, we aren't skinny enough, we aren't good enough mothers, we aren't good at this or that. Like we aren't worthy. She was saying that we should, instead, look at ourselves as the Savior looks at us. We don't have to be perfect at everything and in every way but we just need to do our best to be good and faithful and not let the negativity of the world come through.

So I say, pat yourselves on the back...feel like a beautiful daughter of God...smile...and find joy in the ride.

Skunkville

Living on the outskirts of town is kind of nice in some ways and really annoying in others. The kids love catching lizards, trying to catch the cute little bunnies that hop through our yard daily, watching the horse in the neighbors yard, the openness of our back yard area, and I love the beautiful view of sunrises and sunsets.
                            HOWEVER......
waking up from a dead sleep every couple of weeks by the unbelievably strong stench of skunkiness is NOT my idea of a good time!!!  It smells like the stinkin thing is right in our bedroom. It doesn't just spray and go on it's merry way. Oh, no! It sprays...and sprays...and sprays...for AT LEAST an hour. Sometimes HOURS!!!  It will start to subside, just a bit, to where you can breathe through the stench and then it sprays again. Sometimes it happens at around midnight. Other times around 2 a.m.. This morning he waited until about 5:30. Seriously NOT cool!!!  Anyone up for some target practice???

So exciting.

clean
wash laundry
wash dishes
change diapers
Coca Cola
cook
back to school
sleep-ish
read
vacuum
Gilmore Girls
feed fish
clean
baths 
cook
football practice
cut kid's hair
scouts
vacuum
sew
Coca Cola
cook
put laundry away
clean
change diapers
sleep-ish
wash laundry
football games
baths
Coca Cola
wash dishes
wash dishes
wash dishes