For all Moms and anyone who influences the lives of our children!

Why Oh Why Oh Why?!?!?!?!?!?

WHY is this what I see at the foot of my bed at one in the morning?!?!?!?!

(please refrain from answering that question as I am quite sure it will link back to my stunning parenting skills! HA!)

 

And THIS my friends . . . is the glory of summer!

LOVE THEM!!!!!!!  (the crazy nuts!)  :o)

Update

We LOVE our new home. It is beautiful and so quiet! The neighborhood is normal and small and gated. The town house is beautiful and easy to keep clean. It's big enough for all of us and it just feels so nice.

Yesterday the kids did their chores - the laundry was clean - and the house was all tidy. Bob and I looked at each other in amazement. There was nothing to fix - no house projects to work on - no never-ending list of broken things. LOVE IT!!!! We actually have time to do other things. We will save money too by not having to fix so much!

Anyway - we're happy! Everything just fell into place for us. It's nice to be free of the old house and all the heavy weight that came with it.

Yea! What an amazing answer to prayer! So many times we'd try to move and it just never ever fell into place. Finally we stopped trying to force it to happen. We knew when the Lord was ready and everything was right it would just happen and there would be no doubt it was time. And it did. It was one of those things that was so complicated and every single piece of the puzzle lined up all by itself that there was no way to deny that the Lord's hand was in every step. Sometimes our plan and our timing - for whatever reason - is not what is supposed to happen. Down the road maybe we'll be able to look back and see all the reasons why - but for now we are just so incredibly grateful to be where we are. It is such a comfort to Bob when he travels to know we are here and happy. It's truly one of those massive blessings we couldn't have even imagined 6 months ago.

We're moving

So yep! We are! With a massive amount of travel coming for Bob - it just made sense. We'll be at the new place for a year or so. The list of reasons why it is perfect was enormous. The list of reasons to leave the house was just as long. We're hoping to quickly sell the house as is - or find an investor/ugly house place to buy it. It just is in need of things bigger than we are able to manage right now. So it will put us in a different ward - but not too far. We'll still see everyone often I'm sure. It will be a relief to all of us to open this new chapter. Hooray!

I'm so glad it's the weekend! I got an extra day added to mine since I stayed home with Travis yesterday. He's really sick. So it's not like it was for fun. But I'm so glad I did. He needed his momma! Our weekend was packed with various activities but we've cancelled everything. It's turned into a nice slow day for our family and I'm actually really grateful for that and for our time at home together instead of all the scheduled activities. I'm sure at this point I am covered in his germs after sitting with him and holding him all day and night - and I totally don't want to get anyone else sick so it's ok that we just stay in.

The whole week I had a mighty fierce cold of my own. I felt so incredibly lousy I ended up going to the dr. mid-week. He declared it one of my usual colds and gave me some yummy happy cough syrup w codeine for bedtime. Luckily the worst part was over when Travis got sick.

At school one of my classes was down to one student (because one kept coming w the flu and got all the others sick).

Speaking of school, my student teacher starts Monday! I'm excited about that. I also have a conference in San Marcos coming up. I hate to have to leave home for it - but the topic will be really helpful and it's just a short trip.

Could anything be grosser?

Ok - so I should have said 'more gross' instead of grosser. Anyhoo! Perhaps due to the recent heavy moisture and obvious leaks we had a few visitors last night. I'm just glad my feet didn't find them before my eyes. The ones above were not the actual slugs found during our incident and yet they looked identical in size, shape and color. Eeeewwwww!!!! Icky icky ick! The funniest part is that one of them left a lovely trail all over Katie's shoe that she'd left out! hahaha! We laughed. She didn't! I mean it's one thing for a snail to be sliming around . . . but a slug? Ewww just ugly without a cute little shell. Bleech!

Rain Rain Go Away!

Actually, I like the rain a lot! The part I don't like is this:

heh heh heh! Funny picture huh! Apparently our roof has a couple of leaks. The one in our family room completely filled the bucket last night. Ahhhh! Life is just full of unexpected surprises.

Hey! In a shout out to the B-52's . . .

"Shingled Roof! . . . Leaky!" ;o)

Cowboy T!

My little man isn't so little anymore!

Maggie Girl!

She's such a great dog. So loyal and protective. I'm so grateful for her!

I Killed Dinner

These were boiled hotdogs.  Except the water is gone.  Because I forgot about them.  It takes a special kind of talent to ruin hotdogs.  Apparently it appears it was a slow and painful death.

Don't worry.  Nobody starved.  We had nachos instead.

Clearly a cooking show is no longer an option.

;o)

What my husband does for fun . . .

He is such a man!  Hubba hubba!

Single handedly loading that huge stump.  Utterly amazing!

Guess what my guys did yesterday?

It started out as a great day to do yard work.  As pretty as the tree in our front yard was - it was beginning to rot from the inside and was slowly dying.  Because it hung over the cars and house we needed to take it down before it came down by itself.  Don't worry - we'll plant another one.
This is us after church - looking over the aftermath.  You may ask - why didn't we finish the job?  Well - let me tell you - the silly little matter of a severe thunderstorm, threat of golf ball size hail and tornado watch.  Being in a tree at that point is not a good idea.  It was kind of funny.  Bob had cut the trunk quite a bit and then had the chain wrapped around the tree.  He hitched it to the truck and I drove it.  Right as we started that the storm hit and it started pouring buckets.  It was actually kind of fun.  We couldn't just leave that last part like that - unfinished.  After a bit of back and forth - and some sliding around in the truck - Bob hopped in and took it a different angle - and bam! - it came crashing down! (Along with the thunder and lightning!)  Then he unhitched it and drove me all the way up to the garage so I wouldn't get wet!  Such a gentleman!  :o)  We had fun!
This is just a fraction of the mess.  I couldn't even capture it.  People driving past were slowing down gawking.  They thought the storm had torn our tree apart.  Our neighbor came home and was really worried about us.  I don't know - maybe it was the branch that hit the roof - or maybe the twisted ladder below.  Thank goodness no one was on it when this happened:
Here you can see the trunk where it was starting to rot in the middle.  It was a great tree.  The kids had a great tire swing on it that we'll have to relocate.  All in all it was a fun day - and I can't wait for clean up day!  :o)

Oh my heavens!!!!

There is so much to write about - but it seems like that's always on the bottom of my to do's!  Why is it that the funnest things are always last?!?!?!  ARGH!!!  Ok - actually that's not very true!  I always manage to get sidetracked on the fun things - when I'm pretending like I'm doing the urgent things!  heh heh heh!  Not much has changed - as my sisters will attest to!  (As kids I recall frequent bathroom breaks while weeding in the garden - which would often find me reading in the house rather then returning outside!)  What can I say?!?!?  My children have learned this trick too - however I'm no help to them.  I understand that thirst for reading and often sit reading by my reading children while we should ALL being doing something different.  (How many times could I use reading in that sentence?!?!?!)

Ok.  Focus Mary!  (That wasn't even what I was going to talk about.)

I got a new calling today!  1st counselor in Primary!  Woohoo!  I'm so excited about the sisters I get to work with.  It seems like a good place to be at now that I've got a little more under my belt at school.  Not too much - but still contributing some.  I'm good with that.  I've done it before - so I have a good idea of what's involved.  I just love those kids!

Bob returned very early this morning (about 1am) from Bogota!  Yipee!  I love having him home again.  It was a relatively quiet week thank goodness.  (Unlike last time! hahaha!)  We did have one minor incident which I'll have to blog about later - but it's all good.  Bogota sounds beautiful!  I think I made need to get my passport so I can go with him on some of these trips.  Ireland, Greece, Mauritius (click on that link!!!), Taiwan, Thailand, Belgium, Venezuela, Panama, Mexico and many others are on the list.  A total of 54 countries!!!!  His passport is going to be so cool with all those stamps!  It's just kind of fun!  Seriously . . . Mauritius?!?!?  It's 500 miles east of Madagascar - off the coast of Africa!!!!  And it looks like heaven!  Who knew?!?!?!

The kids are doing great!  Kbugs big play is coming up in a week!  They have worked so long and hard on it!  She's had practices every night after school until 6pm since November - and every Saturday for the past month.  We love hearing her sing all the songs from Annie around the house.  In fact - we're all singing them now!  We've heard them so much!!!!  My Buddy is playing the cello and guitar like a pro.  He's amazing!  He's found all kinds of tutoring videos online that he watches until he gets the hang of it.  I love hearing him play!  He is also the master of the player piano!  He cracks me up when he plays it.  He starts moving his fingers like he's really playing and I really start to believe it!  :o)  I don't know how many times at the end of a song I barely catch myself from saying - Hey!  Good job!  That sounded great!  hahaha!  Cowboy T rocks!  He's always busy creating things and you can just see his wheels turning.  Next week his class is going to the Ballpark on a field trip.  He can't wait!!!!  He decorated his room with a cool cowboy theme and tonight at dinner he pinned us down on the specifics on how he should go about being a cowboy!  I think I may have to send him up to my cousin to work a summer on his cattle ranch someday!  ;o)

One last thing - this week I got a message from the parents of one of my closest friends in high school.  She passed away way too soon - just a week after we graduated together from high school.  She was on the way to a church camp when a cement truck broadsided their van.  Things like that just aren't supposed to happen.  She was so gifted and talented and bright.  The world would have surely been a better place with her here.  I kept in close touch with her family for a long time and then they moved and we did too - and we lost track of each other.  A few weeks ago I found her brother and I also got a sweet email from her mother.  It was so wonderful to find them again.  I still think of her often and miss the times we might have had together - but I know there is also a plan far bigger than what I see.  Remembering that keeps that layer of comfort close enough to bear the reality of what happened.  

Ok - didn't mean to end on such a serious note.  I guess it just ended up being a rambling kind of night.  I really do have actual things to post about.  I keep adding them to the list on the right so I won't forget.  In fact - one of the posts is about forgetting!  I hope I remember to write it!  hahahaha!  (I crack myself up!)  :o)

Laundry Happiness!!!

Usually 'Laundry Happiness' would be considered an oxymoron . . . however my wonderful, amazing, genius husband has made such an unlikely pairing a reality.

Due to circumstances - too mundane to mention here - we ended up with two dryers.  So Bob conveniently installed whatever it was that was needed - and I now have 2 working dryers!!!  Do you have any idea how quickly I can get a mountain of laundry to disappear now?  Wooohoooo!  I had about a weeks worth - and managed to get it all done in a leisurely day's time.  It's so fun to hear all three machines humming away!  

Ok - and here's the laundry tip of the day (per my Mom's request):  

Do you ever have a load of towels or dish cloths that sit in the washer too long and get stinky?  It happens to me - especially in the summer.  Well - here's a way to get the stink out.  Go ahead and dry the load.  When they're dry - throw them back in the washer and load like normal and then pour in about 1/2 c - 1 cup of vinegar in the load.  Wash like normal and when the load finishes the stink will be gone.  For some reason the load needs to dry first - it doesn't seem to work as well if you just rewash them from being wet.  Hopefully that is a helpful tip for someone out there too!  :o)  Happy Laundering!

I Won!!! I Won!!!

Woohooo!!!!  I've been on a classical kick lately and was looking up something on the local classical station the other day.  My buddy was sitting next to me and noticed a drawing for some tickets and said I should enter it - so I did . . . and I won!!!  It's for Mozart's Requiem at Bass Hall on Saturday!  The odds of us going are slim - given that a million things seem to get scheduled on the same Saturday at least once a month - and this month - this Saturday is that Saturday.  (well that was wordy!)  :o)  But either way - I won!!!  And it's so exciting!!!  Woohooo!!!

Oil - Black Gold - Texas Tea!!!

The Pipeline.  This is right off the side of our house.  It's huge - it runs at least a 1/4 of a mile.  They are currently welding it together and it blocks every u-turn that I normally use!  ARGH!!!  At first I was feeling very Texan and patriotic that our state pipeline is running down our street.  A while back I read an article that told where it ran to.  Something like Tyler, Austin, Mexico . . . I can't remember.  (just kidding on the Mexico part).  Anyhow - I tried looking it up for this post - but when I googled it - all I came up with was our city's disaster plan.  Ummmm . . . bad sign!!!!

Here's what it said:  "The two most significant pipeline incidents were the 1984 petroleum leak in R.L. Park and the natural gas pipeline fire in 1993 that burned through TU Electric power lines causing 17 towers to collapse."

Okee dokee then!  So if you hear a big boom - and don't see anymore posts . . . just know I was a proud Texan!  heh heh heh!

YEE-HAW!!!!!

The Clean Fresh Scent of Laundry

Image Source: http://www.gainscent.com/images/product_lineup/gain_packaging_shot.jpg\

Ok - speaking of the great laundry catch up which occurred yesterday - my husband (being the amazing creative genius that he is) - when he finds us in these scenarios . . . uses solar powered energy to catch us up on our laundry! My my my! Aren't we environmentally conscientious!?!?!? Actually . . . no! It's just that our dryer takes to long compared to the washer. So if we line dry our clothes we can get it all done in a day rather then waiting forever for the dryer. But I'll go ahead and take the extra credit points for our environmental contribution. Thanks!

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Whenever my sister visits - she always comments on how good our laundry smells - which just makes me feels very happy and domestic (which clearly isn't a natural trait for me) so I'm always pleased to hear that! It's due to no effort of mine - merely the combination of Gain detergent and Bounce dryer sheets. Mmmmm! (This is not a paid advertisement . . . )

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So - stick with me . . . this all comes together right about now . . .

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On nearly every brand of laundry detergent they have the "Clean Fresh Breeze" scent - with a picture of a sheet on a clothesline - blowing in the wind - with sunshine and puffy white clouds - just assuring you that a piece of heaven and old-fashioned comfort is inside that box and the world will be ok and the Yankees will win the World Series and a fresh baked apple pie will magically appear on my windowsill. (sorry) (I got carried away.)

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I am hear to tell you that clothes hung on a clothesline in the middle of a congested suburban neighborhood in the middle of a densely populated metroplex of over 5.1 million people DOES NOT smell clean and fresh. Nor anything close unto it! Don't get me wrong! I'm so glad the laundry is done. Grateful doesn't even cover it!!! I really don't care what it smells like . . . but I'm thinking that I've found a deceptive advertising practice worthy of a minor rant. My bubble is burst. I will never look at a box of clean fresh breeze scented detergent the same way again. I'll have to wonder - if I open that box will I get a slight hint of carbon monoxide and car emissions with a subtle waft of pollution? Cause that's the picture I'm paintin' here in my neck of the woods!

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For now I'll stick to my secret combination (hahaha!) of Gain and Bounce - and maybe make an effort to keep up with the mountain of laundry that frequently becomes larger than the entire size of our home. (Then we have to tunnel out!) But all in all - I'm so thankful the laundry is done. And if you happen to catch a faint trace of an odd smell near me . . . it's the newest - latest and greatest - environmentally friendly perfume! ;o)

School Starts Tomorrow!

Image Source: http://www.leapinlizardsdesigns.com/_wizardimages/SchoolHouse.jpg

Hooray! I think I'm pretty close to ready . . . knock on wood! :o) It's so much nicer starting the school year with a clue! hahaha Our principal opened the building for us yesterday and I'm SO GLAD she did! I had no idea how behind I was. I worked up at the school all morning and then came home and worked the rest of the day at home until I felt prepared! Yea! Of course - there's always more to do - but I'm starting in good shape at least.

Bob and the kids got the lawn looking nice and the house sparkling - and all the laundry done too. They are a great crew! It's great to know we're starting out prepared. Hopefully it will give us a good kickoff to the week. It's Jr. High for K-bugs and a new school for the boys. They are all excited and confident. So cheers to tomorrow! :o)

Things Broken . . .

Image source: http://cache.virtualtourist.com/1/1121697-Ben_Jerrys_Factory_Tour-Stowe.jpg

. . . in the past month . . .

washer (dead after 13 faithful years)
microwave (zapped its last meal after 20+ years)
back window of the truck (shattered and gone)
air conditioner (heh heh heh - it's a good story for later - luckily it was fixable)
dryer (I guess it couldn't live without it's companion. It died a week after the washer)
D key on the piano (um . . . kind of a crucial note)
garage door (oh well)
front driver's side tire on the truck (after that we decided we decided maybe we should take the car on our trip instead)


Can you really plan for so much all at once? (although honestly - we are all healthy and happy . . . really - I can't complain)

It may just be time for some Ben and Jerry's.

I am Directionally Challenged.

Image Source: http://www.mcwdn.org/MAPS&GLOBES/RoadMap.GIF

Hi. My name is Mary. And I am directionally challenged.


My earliest recollection of said problem dates back to high school. My sister and I had been hired to take a truck load of construction material to the dump. When we were given directions we were told to turn north at a certain light. We both shook our heads like we knew exactly what that meant - when in reality - in the middle of this flat prairie land that we live in - neither of us had a clue! Saying 'turn right or left' was the only direction language I knew - and if I'd just asked . . . if only I'd just asked.
..............................................................................

But I didn't and I don't know what we thought would magically happen as we drove towards our destination. Maybe our fairy godmother would show up at that intersection and use her magic wand to point us in the correct direction?!?!?! I honestly don't know. We confidently decided to just turn left and so we proceeded for quite a ways - until we decided there could not be a dump anywhere along the route we were headed. So . . . we turned around - retracing our route until we crossed back through where we had originally turned. We sailed through that intersection and went for miles and miles until we were more uncertain then ever. Lucky for us . . . there was an accident ahead where the lanes narrowed into one and an officer was directing traffic - so as we passed - I rolled down my window and casually asked the officer, "Which way is north?" A more baffled look I have never seen as the officer pointed behind us and muttered, "That way." We were so disappointed that we'd been so horribly wrong. Around again we turned passing back all the things we'd already passed and traveled even further - until at last!!! - we found the dump! Hooray! And so - that lengthy trip remained our little secret for a long long time! :o)


Scenario #2:

A road trip from Texas to Utah. We LOVE road trips!!!! This particular route has been made a kazillion times. It's pretty straightforward. A few odd turns here and there - with lots of great landmarks along the way. It was night - my turn to drive - everyone else was asleep. I was listening to an audiobook. Air Force One. Oooooh! It was getting intense - bad guys vs good guys. I knew I had an important turn coming up in our route. We were in the depths of New Mexico and the exit I needed to take would send us on the path for Colorado. I saw the sign for our exit coming up - and then the audiobook got very intense. Clearly the characters needed my full undivided attention to help defeat the evil villains. Except - about 40 minutes later I noticed a sign that said "Welcome to Navajo Reservation" I thought . . . well that's odd. We go through a lot of reservations on the way to Utah but I never remembered Navajoooooohhhh noooo!!!!!!!!! Whoops! I instantly realized I had missed that crucial exit and had sailed on wherever the road was taking me. I kept looking for a place to turn around but I was locked in for miles because of construction. I just kept praying Bob wouldn't wake up and notice we had crossed state lines into Arizona. :o) But alas - the construction lasted for so long I finally decided to wake up Bob and ask for advice. I braced for his response but luckily my sweet husband adores me and thought it was mildly comical and really no big deal at all. We found a spot to turn around - and enjoyed some fresh new scenery to our usual trip.


Scenario #3

You'd have thought he'd have my number after that . . . A few years later we were headed to Illinois for my Grandmother's funeral. It was a last minute trip and we literally rushed out of town with only our US interstate map to guide us. Shouldn't be hard right?!?!? heh heh heh As we drove out of town Bob confidently handed me the map and said, "You navigate. Stick to the red lines - they are the interstates - we'll stay on the major roads and they'll take us there." So hey - in my defense I did EXACTLY what he said. We made our way across the country and had a lovely time. Bob would ask from time to time what road to take - and I would consult our map and give him the next step towards our destination.

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It wasn't until my Mom called that I realized something was amiss. She was already in Illinois gathered with a house full of relatives. She asked how our trip was going and where we were. Things were great - and I told her we'd just passed through Nashville and would be there before long. She was relaying the information back and forth to the family there - when I heard someone in the background say . . . "Nashville!!!! Why in the world are they in Nashville?!?!?!" My Mom did not relay that particular message back to me - but I had heard it. My mind began to turn and as I hung up - I (being the bright person I am) began to think - why should I not be in Nashville? I pulled out the map and began tracing our route and my heart began to sink. I'd been so involved in tracing the details of the red roads we should stay on - that I'd neglected to pull back enough to notice that by staying on only the red roads we were curving waaaaay out of our way to get to Illinois. It so easily could have been a straight shot there. (Please pause to draw a deep-meaning life-altering analogy here.) I cleared my throat and began . . . "ummm . . . hahaha . . . funny thing about this map here . . . " And again, my sweet patient husband smiled, chuckled and said - "Hey! We've had a really fun trip and seen a lot of fun stuff!" How can I not love him?!?!? Plus, all the relatives got a good laugh - and it makes a great story . . . right?!?!?!?


Scenario #4

Can you believe there's more? No - never mind - don't answer that! ;o)


We were in Minnesota for a family reunion and just traveling along. We'd driven all over the state from one house to another. I don't recall the particular leg of the trip we were on - but I do know I was driving - my Mom was with me - and the van was full of kids. Not only that - but there was another van following us with my sister and her kids and a few cousins too I'm sure. I knew the way to go - but again missed an exit or something. The good news was I still knew how to get to where we were headed - but I also knew we were suddenly taking the loooong scenic route. I kept thinking if i remained confident maybe no one would notice. Nobody ever said anything on the walkie talkie from the other car (phewph!) - and I just kept talking to my mom hoping she wouldn't notice the signs that indicated we were in North Dakota (!!!!) But I forgot the children! Leave it to the children! "Mooooooooommmmm!!! Why are we in North Dakota!?!?!?!?!!!!!! You're lost aren't you!?!?!" Ugh!!! The jig was up! I'd been exposed! Everyone had a good laugh again. Particularly since they were already aware of my previous jaunt through Nashville.


And so my driving adventures go . . .


There was also the time I called Bob in the Philippines to google me home from being terribly lost in the farmland around Denton after my teaching exam . . . and so many other countless such times he's saved me by phone.


And yet - he still lets me drive. He smiles and laughs when we recount the stories - but never makes me feel bad. I really really love him. And he still loves me - even despite my directionally challenged mind!