Sunday, July 26, 2009

And then there were 10....

chickens, that is. Yes, one of our chickens died last night. It was a complete shock to all of us. None of them had been sick or anything, at least not that we had noticed. I'm not much of an animal person but this was very sad. A lifeless chicken being toted around in a garbage bag by my 6 year old. He was very concerned for her. There was no way we were going to be able to dump her in the trash can like we had the baby chick. Charlie wouldn't hear of it. He went to the back of our huge acre yard and dug her grave. I guess that's one less chicken we have to give us eggs:(

Charles and I were out on our bike ride yesterday when we saw a Ferrari. Can you believe that in a tiny, miniscule town like Sierra Vista, someone would be bopping around town in a car like that? Charles couldn't believe his eyes and I couldn't have cared less. Cars don't impress me at all. As a matter of fact, nothing that gives away someone's status impresses me. Now if it had been some beater car that someone had gotten for a deep discount and then rebuilt with their bare hands and made it beautiful, that would have been impressive! But the Ferrari was clearly purchased as is and had not been built by the owner's bare hands. It was his status symbol. He probably had a small penis or something like that! Who knows?

So you know how people do this facebook thing? It is addicting at times but mostly I only check it out if I get something in my email. Charles was looking through his the other day and noticed that one of his sisters had a guy that used to bully him in her friend list. Now, my sweet husband is the easiest person in the world to get along with and his feathers rarely get ruffled. As a matter of fact, it takes so much to get his undies in a wad that it irritates me at times. Well this guy clearly got his feathers ruffled and was appalled at the fact he was sitting right there in his sister's list of facebook friends! Andy Swafford is the guy's name and he made life HELL for Charles during his middle school years. A constant bully he was, but as we all know, a bully is really just a coward. I shouldn't fail to mention that the good fairy got a hold of him because he got ugly as hell the older he got. So naturally, my defensive claws come out as I ponder my sweet husband being bullied as a kid. I hate bullies. I wanted to write something on my sister-in-law's page but Charles woudn't hear of it. Dang it! Anyway, I as we were discussing this a-hole, I recalled a story my brother had told me of this Andy character. Apparently, he got what was coming to him by a guy that I have failed to remember his name. Andy was getting threatened and hid behind his mother. Well, the failed memory prompted me to get out my old yearbooks in an effort to find the guy who had offered sweet revenge on Andy! So of course the kids were interested in going through our past lives. Man, what a trip down memory lane. You couldn't pay me enough money to relive my teenage years. I would only go back if I could be equipped with the knowledge I have now. Even then, I would never want to have to live with my mother again, so all of that is out of the question. I don't care what the $$ amount would be. Anyway, the kids got a huge kick out of seeing the yearbooks and I received realizations that have never occurred to me before. I don't have a lot of good memories of my teenage years until AFTER I met Charles. I'm glad we met as young as we did and he is a part of all of my GOOD memories. Plus, he's aged so darn well! YUMMY!

Other than the 60 mosquito bites I have on the lower part of my calves, there is nothing else to report. I have a few bites on my ankle bones and I would rather stick needles in my eyes than to deal with the itch of those little friggers. It is absolutely torturous. Oh yeah, and we finally got a second car. It's nothing fancy like a Ferrari. It's a little rice burner. We've been holding out for something newer with fewer miles and a good deal. We found a Kia from a guy in our ward that gets cars through the wholesale auction. We're pretty excited to give up our second go 'round of having only one car! We've been born again!

Monday, July 20, 2009

We're not perfect.....we know this

I will give you a glimpse of just how not perfect we are. I have NEVER tried to look perfect for those of you that may not know me well.

Sundays are long days for Charles, and for me too, for that matter. He leaves at 10:30 for meetings and usually doesn't get home until 5:30 or 6. Well yesterday was no different. I arrive home with the kids around 4:15 and promptly start making dinner. I am good at making sure Charles has something hot to eat after his long Sundays. Well, we notice the dang dog has something hanging out her backend. Ryan gets a gander at what it is and tells me it's a turd. Oh for heaven's sake! Well, get her out of the house, I tell him! Didn't want dog turds smeared somewhere in my house. I figured I would let Charles take care of it when he arrived home. I know this isn't very nice of me, but I am not digging in a dog's butt to loosen up a turd. This has happened to Dixie before, when Charles was in Iraq. I paid $70 to the vet so I wouldn't have to deal with it. I told Charles what the vet had done last time so he could render the same service to Dixie this time. He was quite the sport about it! Hey, I made dinner! We compromise in this house. He shaved her butt and got to work. He fixed her right up and saved us at least 70 bucks. I sure love him. I know Dixie appreciates him too! Oh and the miracle medicine that helped her stop yelping when she had to go to the bathroom....Carmex! So if your dog ever has a raw butt...now you know what to use! Way to go Charles! He's my jack of all trades!

Saturday, July 18, 2009

Well....

I have taken notice, lately, of the people who are rude to bikers. I have noticed that most of the ones that are rude are obese. Now I'm chubby, I admit it. I am still a polite person though. When I'm out riding and come to a crosswalk most people let me through without trying to shoot out in front of me. Whenever someone doesn't want to let me through first they always seem to be a fat person. Just a little something I've noticed. No big deal.

We're less than 3 weeks until school starts! I am beside myself waiting for this. I am looking forward to spending lunch time with Charles again. We've been riding bikes together lately. It's a fun, free thing to do. You would think with all this riding I would be thin by now, but no such luck. It's about the ONLY exercise I enjoy doing.

Not a lot has been going on around here. Our friends, the Budge's, come in a week and we are ecstatic! We have some fun things planned for their visit. Well, as fun as you can get around here. And speaking of fun, today was fun filled. I had to sit at a hot, 8 year old birthday party for 2 hours today. Outside the entire time, no less. The kids had a blast though. Charles fixed the hole in our ceiling in the laundry room. It had leaked from the swamp cooler about 2 months ago. When he cut out the sheet rock, after the leak, rat turds fell out of it so I have been chomping at the bit for him to get it fixed ever since. I mean the laundry room isn't exactly a room I can avoid. Now I don't have to worry about a rat falling from the ceiling while I'm in there. I can finally use my toilet again too. He fixed that today as well. He's such a man. I love him. So now we'll have 2 working toilets when our friends come. :) Trisha, you can't be jealous of my tan when you see me! Well, Charles is gonna post some pictures with this post for me. Everybody can see what we've been up to or at least what some of us have been up to.

Scout Camp on Mt. Lemmon

He seems so grown up now...


Fun at the optometrist's office. I love the reflections of the lights across the lenses.


Boothill Cemetery, Tombstone, AZ

Fishing at Parker Canyon Lake (that's definitely a keeper)

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

New day....

Just so you know I have been working on being positive. On that note, you can take this post how you want! Friday night, or Saturday morning, around midnight, Charles and Charlie returned from scout camp. I was grateful for this! It had been a long week of kids making me nuts. I had also started a true crime book the night they left and it had me sleepless all week. But nothing beats the events of Friday night. I put the kids to bed early so I didn't have to deal with them any longer than necessary. I sat on the couch to read the rest of the 3rd Twilight book. I let the dog out one last time and nestled in. I heard some racket going on outside and assumed it was Dixie ready to come back in. I went to the door to let her in and realized she was clear across our acre yard. I was little nervous about this. She came running and I locked the house up. I sat on the couch to read again and heard more noise. I turned all the outside lights on and the inside ones off so nobody would be able to look in. I head to my room when Dixie is barking like a mad dog. I was pretty nervous by this time because I have 3 kids in the house and really, no way to protect me or the kids. Dixie calmed down and I continued to read. If I was gonna die that night I had to know how the 3rd book ended! So then Charles calls my phone and since I was already on edge, his "Pour Some Sugar on Me" ring tone scared the hell out of me! I answer and was super excited to hear from him. We had been talking a bit when Dixie starts barking again and I hear the side door shaking. By this time my panties are in a wad and I scared to death. Charles was sure everything was ok but he wasn't there and didn't hear the commotion. I then heard something dangling outside my bedroom window. It sounded like dog tags shaking because for a minute I thought that Dixie had somehow gotten out and was standing outside my window. I hung up the phone with Charles and dialed 911. Now, I lived alone with the kids for over 2 years. I am not a paranoid person. Someone was clearly outside my house. Police come and scope it all out. Nobody was found, nothing seemed out of place, but I know someone was there. I could feel the presence. Of course by this time there was no way I was going to bed and closing my eyes. The cops left and I called Charles, his signal was dropping in and out and I discovered this was frustrating. I called my sister at the ER. Somehow it felt like I wasn't going to have my throat slashed as long as I was on the phone with her. Plus, she a lot like me and understands me well. They finally arrived home and we were all safe throughout the night. But fate wasn't done with me yet! I went into the kids' bathroom, since ours has a leak right now, and wouldn't you know there was a big scorpion sitting right beside the toilet. I just went on to bed and started over the next day! It's been well since then.

We finally got renters in our Tennessee house. We were in the 11th hour when the good Lord stepped in and helped us out. We've been paying more than our fair share of mortgages and next month will be the first month since April that we don't have to pay 3 full mortgages. Nice, eh! Well for us it is. I'm gonna feel like we hit the lottery. I'm just glad that we've stayed out of debt so that we had the money to pay what needed to be paid.

For all the peanut butter lovers out there I must tell you about my new creation...Peanut Butter Granola. I've been wanting to adapt my original granola recipe somehow to make it taste and clump better. What better way to make it taste better than peanut butter? Let me tell you....it was a masterpiece. I'm quite the baker ya know! That's one area I can toot my own horn, so I'm tootin'!

Well I must go and ride my bike, not to feel amazing but to work off all the PB granola! :

Friday, July 10, 2009

So....

does anyone else ever feel like they are seriously going to go crazy? Cuz I feel that way right now. I can literally feel the crazy juice flowing through my veins. I hear my kids fighting in the background and I haven't seen my husband for a week. Yes, I know, there are spouses separated around the globe for much longer than that. But I've done that too. Twice. This week is different. When they're gone for a year it seems as though you are given "gifts" to get you through that hard time. When they're just gone for a week to scout camp you just have to suffer through the irritation. There's no gifts for that separation. All I got this week was one less kid, the one that helps the most, and 3 kids left at home to drive me nuts all week. And believe me they have taken every opportunity to do so.



So we were all in the kitchen the other day and the kids were pulled up to the counter eating breakfast. Cody tells me in a concerned voice "MOM! Josh has a bleach spot on his shoulder!" We have been to the pool quite a bit this summer and Josh's shoulders were peeling a little. The lighter skin was coming in underneath the peeling skin and apparently Cody thought he had gotten bleach on his skin! It was pretty cute.

I made it to book 3 in the Twilight series. They're good. I can't really put my finger on why I like them so much. I have read over and over of how wonderful Edward's breath smells and how luscious his scent is. For this very reason I am surprised at how much I am enjoying these books. I just need to know what happens! Does Bella become a vampire or not? Who does she end up with, Jacob or Edward? I must have these answers and therefore I am reading the books.

I left a little later than usual this morning for my bike ride. I couldn't seem to get the mattress off my back this morning. I finally got out the door at about 10:30. It was a late night. So there I was in the middle of my 10 miles panting like a dog going up the hills and thinking of how badly I want to talk to Charles. He's up on some mountain with no reception whatsoever and I have missed him dearly this week. I have even called his phone several times just to see if maybe he'll answer. No luck at all. So I return home from my bike trip to Ryan telling me how he just used his phone to call his dad and got to talk to Charlie and his dad. He was elated since he has actually missed his big brother this week. Of course I was no where around when this occured. A little bit frustrating to say the least. I guess that's what I get for not getting the ride over with sooner. I'm not much of a morning person. He'll be back tomorrow night!

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

PLEASE.....

enough with Michael Jackson! Don't we have better people to memorialize? Sweet mother of pearl!

Monday, July 6, 2009

Dang it....

I really should start being nice, huh? I don't need an answer. I know the answer. I shouldn't let people who want perfect lives bug me. Maybe I'm at the point in my life where I know perfection is unattainable and I'm ok with that. It just bugs me for some reason. I promise to do better. maybe it's all the sugar in my system that makes me so irritable. Who knows? It'll take a while before the blogs don't irritate me, so be patient :)

Charles and Charlie left this morning at 5 a.m. I was so grateful it wasn't me. I am not a morning person and the thought of having to leave that early for a week long scout camp is a bit much. Ryan went to a friend's house most of the day and I have to say I rather enjoyed having only 2 kids around. I had forgotten how easy life is with 2 big kids not around being mean to their little brothers. I remember when Charlie and Ryan were little and they NEVER fought. Looking back my life seemed so easy then. Maybe I did have more fun when there weren't so many of them. Maybe it was more fun to make cookies and do frills with them when I didn't have to worry about 4 kids wanting to lick beaters and make messes. I think I did use to be a good mom. But 4 kids is double the amount of my better half and me. Well there's no looking back now! Besides I want lots of grandkids so they can irritate their parents. I want my kids to know, one day, just how much I love them and just how much crap I put up with because I do love them.

I rode 10 miles on my bike today. I had more energy today than usual. I have been bushed ever since though. I keep waiting for the "amazing" to hit me. I'll keep you posted.

Sunday, July 5, 2009

Have you ever wondered....

why people write blogs? They really do remind of those chain Christmas letters. You know, the ones where each member of the family has their own dedicated paragraph to how wonderful their life is? I've said it once and I'll say it again, there are some blogs out there that seriously make me want to vomit when I read them. I have no problem admitting that raising 4 kids takes up a lot of time. My kids are messy, I feel like I'm constantly cooking and cleaning up after everyone and it makes me nuts some Sundays that Charles doesn't get to come home after church with us, homework with kids makes me insane and if I have to listen to anymore kindergartners read I may slice my wrists. I have absloutely no problem admitting to any of this. So someone please tell me why I must read about some people who want to portray their life as perfection. We read about the wonderful trips and all the baby showers and the cards these people make with their kids and how much fun they have in the process. Ok...now....I have 4 boys and making anything with kids has never been fun for me. Now, we, as mothers, do it because it's our job. But fun? Please girls, don't tell me it's fun to drag out scrapbooking supplies with a 2 year old when you have a certain task at hand. Maybe I'm Debbie Downer. Or maybe, just maybe, I'm brutally honest. These blogs always have and always will drive me frigging NUTS. It's just who I am! Not a fake, what you see is what you get and I have no problem admitting to any of it. So why do I write a blog? Maybe I need it as a sounding board or a journal of sorts. I mean I can't just go around and tell just anyone how I feel about things. So for anyone interested in my take on life they can come to me. Anyone wanting to hear about card making, fluff and perfection need not stop and browse.

Our 4th celebration was fun! We had a crap load of people in our swamp cooled house and a ton of food to gorge on. And gorge I did. I have an obsession with sugar. It ended last night though. I have made a promise to myself that it will be given up. I'm like an alcoholic when it comes to sugar. Once I start I can't stop. My most favorite thing of all time is anything chocolate slathered in peanut butter. Whoever invented the Reeses' PB Cup is an absolute freakin' genious. But...I must give it up. (sniff, sniff) Food has been my companion for a while. It's always there, it doesn't talk back and it so dang good. Anyway, at least I live in a free country!

Charles and Charlie leave for scout camp tomorrow. It's been a while now that I have gone so long without seeing my husband. It almost seems weird he won't be around all week. He's been home for almost 8 months now and there is no fear of him having to leave anywhere in the near future. It's a nice feeling too. I can't think of anything, in my life, that is worse than dropping a loved off at the airport when their R&R is over. There are body parts I would rather remove than to do that again. I can handle a week though!