Myles, oh, Myles

This two year old of mine has been on a roll this past week. And by roll, I mean a tornado roll. It all started last Monday. He flushed something down the toilet. Not really sure what it was, but we are now down to one bathroom. Yup, the main one is shrink wrapped shut because it will not flush properly. I have found that most of the girls' hair ties are gone, and a nice big bar of soap is missing. I believe that is what happened to the "john".

Thursday we were pretending to eat and drink from the play kitchen as I was writing out invoices for storage. Fiona was in the living room watching tv and he was in the playroom. He wasn't even in the house for five minutes and she said, "something happened to the darn tv". Thinking tha Bresnan was having problems again, I tried to turn the channel. Only sound, no picture. I shut it off thinking that it would be okay when we got back from picking the kids up from school. We ran down there and came home. I surveyed the screen, it was okay. Turned it back on, and that is when I realized that he had broken the under part of the screen. So, that les-than-two-years-old LCD went to the trash. I called Grady at work so that he had time to cool off a bit before he got home to see it.

Bye, bye tv. It was so sad watching it fall into the back of the garbage truck. :o(

On Saturday, we went up to Red Lodge to attend the wedding of our Billings neighbors. It was a blast. Grady's cousin came over to stay with the kids until my mother in law could get here to stay the night. Yes, we had a kidless night! THANK YOU TO BOTH OF YOU! We ran into Billings to shop for a replacement tv, and came home with one that did not get taken out of the box until the wall mount was up and ready for it.

We are in the process of completing phrase two of the tile project. That means I am out a stove for awhile. It would be nice if we could go out to eat, but there just isn't anything around here to enjoy. So, I have a BBQ and a crockpot to be creative with for a while.

We take Grady's cruiser into the glass shop tonight for the replacement windshield and drivers window to be put in. Those darn deer need to watch where they are going from now on! If it is going to get cold, I need a car.

Snow is in our forcast. I hope it is gone before I enjoy another 29th birthday. I hit the big 3-0 and am now going backwards. I don't want grey hair and wrinkles!

So, there's our excitement for a while. I hope that he will calm down a bit. I think that I will go crazy if I have anything else to deal with.

Give Away.....

Okay, I found a giveaway thanks to Jasey! If I win, I may just have to give the bag to her. Go over here to check out these bags. You can have up to three chances to win. They are soooo cute! And, this one is fallish, with a bit of summer color still....kinda like we are here now!

calling for Alan. i know you read. get ahold of us. we're going camping this weekend, it would be great if you showed up. we are heading for sitting bull, but i am sure you can find us if we cant get in there. i will ruin my wifes blog every night if i have to until you call. 431 4831.

Some Projects

Here's that beautiful carpet that was in this house when we purchased it. Yes, my kids have already stained it up, and I have shampooed it, hence the reason for the removal...well, not to mention the "cuteness" of it. We pulled it upl and placed the ditra down, here's the "in progress" photo.

....and it's done! Well, everything but the kitchen area above. I have also removed the pretty wallpaper that you can see. The stripes, the dining area wasn't too bad, but came down too, and the entry had some pretty twiggy pattern. Now, I just need to texture it and paint!

BUT, I have other things taking up my time right now. Like, say, FALL DECORATING! My neighbor gave me the corn stalks and I made up tons of pumpkins for the centers. Not sure if the wind is gonna let these stalks stay up, so I may need to tie them more, but I like it!

We're off to an ice cream social at the school tonight, and tomorrow is the big night for the pumpkin patch of crafting. I am nervous, but hope that I have enough of everything to make it through. I had to order orange and brown craft paint off the internet because you can not buy it in this town. I was very dissappointed to say the least...I mean, come on, Walmart carries it for pete's sake!

Macy stayed home with a terrible cough today, but I think it's calmed down some. Everyone else has managed to be well since the flu episode. Crossing my fingers that is it for a long time. I hope you are all as excited as I am for the fall season coming so quickly upon us!

What a Weekend.....again.

Friday night I took Fiona into the ER. She had a fever that I was treating with tylenol and motrin. She had a red eye that really started swelling, and Grady wasn't to be home from Texas until 8:30. I called the neighbor lady and took the older two over to her house and dropped Myles off with her at her grandma's garden and we headed in. All four rooms were full, so we sat in the back room until one opened up. The eye was just a side effect of something worse. She was swabbed three times and had influenza A. The ER doctor wrote out prescriptions for the entire family to take Tamiflu as a prevention med, and Fiona was treated with that and one other medication. I called every person that I knew had been around us for the past two days and warned them to watch out because they were "exposed".

We wanted to head up the mountain for the weekend, but opted to stay home and finish the tile instead. Grady finished laying it Friday night and we grouted it Saturday night. Now all we have to do is finish the smaller kitchen area when we have the time to pull all appliances out. Sunday we kinda lounged a bit and Monday Grady worked on rearranging the garage to make room for both vehicles and I stripped the entry, dining, and kitchen walls of wallpaper. Man does it feel good to have that ancient decor! We need to texture it and get it painted, but I am fine with it being plain until then....just happy to have the wallpaper gone!

The kids went back to school today and Myles and Fiona had a heck of a time. They fought, cried, and whined all day long. It took me 45 minutes to get him down for a nap. I think that we took him out of the crib way too soon.

I hope that you all enjoyed your weekend. I know that we all needed to stay home and rest. AND, the house benefitted greatly from our days of labor.

Ideas HELP

The doorbell rings this morning, and I didn't hear it. Fiona says, "Someone's here, mom!" I ask her how she knows, and she says cause she heard the doorbell ring. I go to answer it, and sure enough, someone was here. It was a lady from the chruch. They asked me to head up a "craft night" once a month. Either I came up with an idea to teach, or I found someone to teach an idea to us.....

So, since it is almost autumn, and I LOVE autumn, we are starting our class in a few weeks making those wooden pumpkins that I have. October may be making (ie: scrapbook decorating) some Halloween frames for the kids' photos to go in, and I think that November will be making an "fall blessings" block set. But, I haven't a clue from there. I was thinking that December could be making some gift tags for Christmas.

I need your help. What do you think that other ladies would like to make. I need to have the idea and a cost set up for them to sign up. So I need to preplan. If you have ANY ideas for a month, any month, please let me know. If it is something that I can not do, I could try to find someone that could do it.

Thank you for your help.............

First Day of School!

Today was a bittersweet day for me. Two of my babies started school. I was excited to only have half of them home...thinking that I could get more done, but have found myself missing the other two....and it has only been almost three hours.

Here's my kindergarten man and first grade gal!

Grandma and Uncle Kaden came over before school for pictures.

Yesterday we went in to meet the teachers and see the classrooms. Stuart was so nervous and told me he was not going and that if I made him go, he would tell them he was sick. The sad part is that I think he really is sick now. He has had an earache since we left the week of swimming, and now we have a head cold thingy going on. After yesterday, he was excited though! Macy was excited until yesterday. She got pretty nervous after meeting her teacher and seeing her classroom!

I'm excited to go pick them up and see what they think. I heard the kids out at recess this morning as I was mowing the lawn, and I know that will be their favorite part. We'll keep you posted!

more Columbia River photos

The lovely Crescent Bar resort area on the Columbia River. After all of the fun, Myles could not resist a little rest on Teddy's shoulder.
Uncle John and two of his girls, Lauren and Lexi!

The cousins, Lauren, Teddy, and Lexi.

Teddy, Macy and Lexi on the tubes!

Loading up onto the boat. I forgot our swimming suits hanging by Grandma's pool, so we compromised and used the undies and our clothes. Macy was lucky enough to borrow a bikini top from another gal there.

Fiona, Teddy and Stuart taking a ride.

Uncle Russ and Myles having a bit of fun that turned into tears quickly.

Macy, Teddy, and Lexi tearing it up!

Stuart and Tanner chasing chicks!

It was a blast. We enjoyed tons of sun and water. Poor Macy's face still proves it. Thanks everyone for the fun times!

We had a vacation, and I didn't tell you...

We went to Washington for a week. Sorry that I have not been good at keeping this up. We came back with lots of canning to do. 34 quarts of pickles are under our belt, now on to the two boxes of peaches and two boxes of pears. Here's a few pictures for you:
Great Uncle Russ with Fiona, Myles and Stuart on the Columbia River. It was a blast!

Grandma Rose gave Myles an awesome birthday! He had tons of people over for a pool party complete with food and ice cream cake!

We enjoyed lots of swimming in her pool!

Myles was a jumper. We had to keep a close eye on that one!

Macy with Olivia and Stuart. They had a ball together!

It's taking forever to upload pics, so this is it for tonight. I am well past my bedtime and need to get into the school habit with the babes. Thursday is our first day!

Cleaning up OLD LADY stuff.....

Since I've come down to not wanting to unpack another box, I have tried to do other things that need done around here. Today I build shelves in the laundry room and was going to take out the nasty shower doors, but decided to take advantage of the cooler weather. Out front I want to plant a few shrubs, so I started clearing out her junk. Yes. Junk. I had to pull out tons of rocks, chicken wire, bricks and carpet. All laying in various places along this now-dirt path.

See, carpet. And there were these silly plastic boarder pieces around three sides of the planters, and one single solar light. Oh yah, and a rubber "welcome" mat laying out there too.
Inside it isn't much better. We have these beautiful yard decorations on the bathroom handles.

And a yarn bow tied to the screen door. And a very colorful turtle glued to the sliding glass door. These are the ones that I haven't removed yet. I have already taken stickers and vinyl clingies off of mirrors.

We've got vinyl shelf liner coming out the yingyang. Under every sink, on every shelf, and in every drawer. Yes, some of it is the contact paper stuff, but other is just laying there.

Carpet scraps and rugs everywhere. I've hauled enough to the dumpster to cover an entire bedroom already, and still have more. In the garage.....

...and by the front door. I am using these right now since we only have plywood floors there. BUT.....the tile is now in my garage thanks to my father-in-law. So, someday we'll have new floors.

There you have my fun times. I am really considering an all concrete house with drains in the floors and hose spickets in every room. It would be such an easier clean with my kids!

Have a wonderful weekend.

Some House Pics..

So, I've had a few requests for pictures. Haven't completely finished any room yet, but thought that I'd share the few that are looking more normal. First, here's the dresser. I sanded it a bit and used two left over glass knobs from Macy's dresser for the top since I managed to strip a screw for the old ones. It's okay, but I wish that I would have went with an off-white color instead.

Fiona's big bed. We had the twin in there and she loved it for a night or two and then wanted her big one back. Lucky for her, her daddy took care of it last weekend. She was happy, but quickly wanted the room painted too. Man-o-man do we have a demanding little 3 year old. Her poor husband (like in 20 years, that is).
We pulled down the dirty, nasty curtains since I took her pink ones from the last house and are very inpatiently awaiting the arrival of the blinds that I ordered last week. Still needs paint and the decor added to the walls, but it works for now.

The boys' room is larger, but Stuart refuses to sleep on the top bunk, so they are not stacked. They still have the nasty curtains, but hopefully only for another week or so. I have some curtains for it too, but will have to unpack them and then have Grady battle taking these down.

I am cruizin through unloading boxes today (yahoo, I may have some motivation back!) and will try to post pictures for you all as I get the rooms looking a bit more normal. You'll just have to excuse the yucky curtains for now. Better get back to it before I lose that motivation. Have a Terrific Tuesday!

We're in...

Well, were moved into the new house now. We have been unpacking like crazy and are still struggling with getting more done everyday. We have had tons of help on both ends of this move, and I am very greatful for that. This move has by far been the worst one yet. It really opens your eyes to how others can be. I hope we chose not to do it again any time soon. I started on a project today to break up the box after box fun. I picked up a small dresser from a repo storage and brought it home today....yup...me and the four kids did! I had to do a bit of glueing to it, hence the tile and flour bag. I washed it up and sprayed it with primer and white paint. The camera batteries are still needing charged, so I used my new phone for the pictures. Some of you have already seen them...but here it is for the others.....BEFORE:

AFTER. I still need to find the sander and distress it a bit since I'm not so happy with it right now. Four cans of paint just wasn't enough for the coverage I was expecting. I sprayed the original handles in a nickel color and will add them after. I think that it is going to fit her room perfectly....just crossing my fingers that it holds her clothes!

I had internet and TV connected immediately so that we'd have some normal around here, but have found that we're not using either much. I can keep up with my online buddies with the new phone and the kids are enjoying the neighborhood too much to care for the cartoons now. We've met tons of neighbors already and the both of the older kids have friends in the neighborhood. They have spent time with Auntie Megan and Cousin Elijah and enjoyed it. They are wanting to move out of here and in with the grandparents since they are more fun. I am officially carless as of tomorrow. We need to get an older commuter car sometime soon.

This house is full of light switches (in the oddest spots I might add) and I was searching for one for a lamp tonight when I set off a fireworks display in the living room. I screamed fire at the top of my lungs and Grady and the older two came running out. The show was over by then since the breaker finally blew, but I had a black thumb and black light switch to prove that I'm not crazy (well in that area anyway). So, now we have to replace it and hope that that was the fault. I'm not wanting to hire an electrician for anything. Tile has been ordered and should be in. Grady will try to start the floor demo this weekend if time allows.

So, there's an update from this tribe. Have a great weekend. We're gonna hit up crazy days here and hopefully get some time to sit...JUST.SIT.

oddest three hours ever

we went up to the heights to have dinner with friends. while we were out cooking, i was stung by two bees...ouch. as dinner was served a huge thunder and lightening storm was brewing above. we were watching the lightening, and noticed that it was striking very close to the house. i ran out to the car to grab my phone since macy stayed with the goode family and i was a bit worried. i smelled melted plastic. came back in and called. grady was going to go pick her up and we noticed smoke coming from a house on the next street over. i called 911 for the first time. all i was able to tell the gal was the address of where i was before she put me on hold. soon all i heard was a ton of beeping noises. soon the fire truck showed up at the house and grady had to direct them to the place. another fire truck arrived soon after. we walked over after the storm had passed. the lightening struck the light above the front door and came out on the side of the house melting the vinyl siding and causing a pine tree to be black on one side. i was happy that i called....was a bit worried since we really did not have any idea about what was really going on. the kids talked to a fireman and he gave them stickers for answering questions. it was an amazing storm and an amazing night.

...and...so it continues....

Well, I tried to upload pictures for you all, but blogger is just being blogger, and it's not happing. Since I really should be doing other things right now....(ugghhh...PACKING), you'll have to do without.

We've been busy this summer....

Water fun...slides, parks, pools, sprinklers, flooding the sandbox (not gonna miss that one), creeks, hot tubs and tubs.

We've had friends....down the street, new friends (playdates with some whose momma I went to school with), old friends (visited the Zent's last week), and neighbors.

Trips....went to Worland for a few days to get away from stress (which didn't really work because chasing wild kids on someone else's turf is WORK..fun, but work), mountain cabin living, driving in awesome lightening storms, pulling over way too many times to stop sibling disagreements which ended up with a screaming boy in the front seat and a momma who was ready to leave the packed car on the side of the road and hitchhike to Never Never Land.

Heat....why can't we just have 65 degrees all of the time with a few thunderstorms in the afternoons for excitement? Yah, I know it couldn't happen that way, but I can dream right now.

Farming.....got the kids started on Farm Town and Farm Ville and we love it!

Phones....calling banks, title companies, friends, family, realtors, and such.

Computer....really had major withdrawls without it last weekend. Had 100 emails to come home to last night.

Planning and Packing....yup....that's my life this week. Wish me luck...or should I say wish Myles luck....he may live in the crib for awhile.

A long & Expensive Date...

Today I was the unlucky beneficiary of a very exhausting and rather stinky date. I met up with the roll of paper towels, the spray cleaner, the clorox wipes, the diaper wipes, the shampooer, the shampoo, the bath tub, the bath soap, the washer and the detergent! Man was I a lucky woman or what. To spare you all the churning tummies, I held myself back on the photographs, but managed to send one to my husband (hoping for a laugh because that was all I could do!).

We took a short tour up to the airport and dropped off Grady's dad. On the way home Myles fell asleep in the car. I picked him up and put him in his bed for a nap. He usually wakes up some, but will fall back asleep with a bottle. Usually. BUT.NOT.TODAY. We listenend to him play around a bit and I kept the other three quiet hoping he'd fall back asleep. After about 20 minutes, I told them that I had a feeling he was in there naked. Macy jumped up and asked if she could check. So she did.

He had painted a beauitful picture on the wall with his fecal matter. Yes, and he was darn proud of it. I tossed him in the tub (not really, but would have loved to) and began the ever tedious scrubbing. I actually washed the paint off of the wall taking care of his art. Cleaned the carpet and am waiting for the sanitary cycle to end on the washer, but that will be a while....1 hour and 50 minutes to be exact.

So, there you have another chaotic happening in my life to laugh about. Anything funny from you all would be appreciated.....just to make sure that I'm not on a oneway trip to the looney bin.

Long Time No Post!

We've been up to total chaos here. I think that school has gotten my children used to keeping busy, and they just don't know what to do with all of this time on their hands now. Macy is constantly wanting to go play with someone, Stuart is plum happy in front of the TV, Fiona is content just snuggling up with a nice Scooby Doo movie one, and Myles has to keep taking off his diapers to keep me running the stairs.

We managed to make it downtown last Saturday for the Strawberry Festival, and enjoyed a bit of excitement while a realtor showed our house. To make a long story short, they liked it and made an offer to which we could not accept due to the closing and high comission. They came back to our open house Sunday and made another offer without the realtor involved, but we later found out that too much was at stake and had to refuse it also.

Check out that strawberry shortcake!

Later we played down the street with a girl that Macy has become quite attached to. She's way older and has a friend that just about lives there, so it has been a tough couple of days for the girls.....oh, the memories of 5th grade are coming back. Ughhhh....I don't want to parent through that yet!

Fiona was afraid of the slide, so Daddy filled the pool for her. She did not want me to take her picture.

It was a blast for them and kept them busy for a long while.

Concert & Sandbox Fun

Today my FIVE children are out in the sandbox making a huge sand pile with a twist. They have flooded it with water and are having a blast! I'm thinking that they will all need a shower tonight just to get the stuff off of them. It's a cooker out and they have found some shade to enjoy.

Friday night was the BIG concert of my lifetime. It was great. REO Speedwagon was my favorite. I wish that I could have taken the camera in to get some good shots to share, but they were not allowed. Luckily for me, my hubby took in his phone and managed to get a few. They are not the greatest, but I stole them off of his facebook to share here.

.38 Special was awesome!

Styx. I didn't know many of their songs, but the show was great and the keyboard player played backwards sometimes! I could have soaked up many more hours of this fun, but my ears took a while to stop ringing when I went to bed, so I am sure that they thanked me for only 4 hours of the loudness. I wish that he would have uploaded some REO for me to share, but you all know how great they are and I know you can only imagine what fun I had.

Have a great week!

ByeBye Curls....

Stuart has his daddy give him the summer haircut. Myles watched the entire time and wanted his cut too. I almost cried.

He sat so still and listened so well.

And, this smile made it all better for me!

He doesn't really look like the same child I sent into the bathroom.
He looks BIG now.