cattle rolls in while i get ready to roll out...

our next door neighbors are finally back...i love cow pictures
so my jam i made for my family to take as a gift is done with my hand written labels because being out in the middle of nowhere when your printer goes out of ink the only place you can buy ink is online, and well i just don't have time right now... i'm packed and the house just needs a little here and there cleaning up...i'm planning on spending ridiculous amounts of time hanging out by the pool and the beach and when i'm not needed by my children i'm going to be reading. no projects will be taken on this trip...i am relaxing and not doing anything productive...with that being said...

i am sad to say i don't have super cute luggage...i've had that adidas bag i think since before we were married and well the army bag was free. note to self: buy really cute luggage so when i blog about going on a trip again i will have a cuter picture to post. i love blogging.

we'll be gone for two weeks, and you know where i'm going there's no computer for the first part of the trip, and no diet dr pepper, (oh my gosh and with no projects either...what am i going to do? relax, you need to learn to relax.) so i guess this is good-bye for a while...i'll blog when i get home! so until then do what you do and i'll do what i do and i'll try to catch up with what you did while i was gone when i come back. see you in two weeks!

apple blossems crazy kids and getting ready to head out to san diego.

beautiful isn't it? my apple trees are all blooming! i'm so excited i can hardly stand it!!! last year we got a couple of apples that made for some good sling shots...nothing else...but i hear that around here (and everywhere else?) apple trees produce every other year, and if that's the case this is the year that i will be making some yummy stuff with apples!!! i really want to make apple butter, and can some of them for apple pie fillings, i don't even know what kind of apples they are but i don't care!!! i'm going to try!!!
julie's "it's my final baby" quilt is done...yeah i was dumb enough to stay up till 2 am watching arrested development episode after episode after episode, laughing hysterically and binding the quilt. but it's done!
now i have to get ready for my trip out of here! i'm trying to be all efficient by making sure i clean and pack today. i have a baby shower to go to tomorrow and i really want to just relax tomorrow so that i can be ready for the 10+ hours it's going to take me to drive to my mom's. but i've got my ipod all ready with new songs, and i finally got my favorite band All American Rejects albums put on there as well, so all is well.

i'll just leave you with a little "nateism" i heard the kids laughing hysterically and nate yelling "mom! QUICK!!! i don't know how much longer i can hold on! ----GET THE CAMERA!!!" i snapped the picture and then the next question was "are you going to blog it?" now there's a phrase i NEVER said to my mom...yup buddy you made the blog!!! woohooo!

conversation with the husband...

because i have nothing to write i thought i would share with you a conversation i had with my husband (the marriage and family therapist who does wilderness therapy for troubled teens turned JI Joe) a few weeks ago

i'll set the scene: jake took the liberty of writing something on the blog about just how darn cool he really is, and during our conversation the next night he was giddy like a school girl about your guys' comments...it went a little like this:

jake: hey did you see how many comments i got?!

me: thinking to myself:pioneer woman got 14,000+ comments once and some blogs i check on a regular basis get like 20-50 comments everyday...

me: yeah..wow! 11 comments

jake: haha, yeah you like only got 5!

me: mmhmmm...

jake: yeah so about those comments...who exactly are these people?

me: oh mainly people i've known throughout the years and some that i've just "met"

jake: so you know them?

me: uh....hmmm...well i read their blogs and i see what they are up to on a regular basis but i've never met them face to face...yeah i know them.

jake: have you ever met them?

me: shoot... uh no.

jake: wait...you've never met them? and they comment on your blog?

me: yup

jake: why?

me: thinking hard...i have no idea, some of them like my super wittiness, while others like my decorating and second hand finds...i think...oh i don't know probably same reason why i check out some other blogs on a regular basis.

jake: and why is that? i mean check out blogs on a regular basis?

me: mainly i love to see what people are doing, i get inspired or i see what they've made, see how their kids are growing up...see that other women out there are going through the same headaches and blissful moments in mothering, and so forth. i mean the list goes on and on, but when i write about this in the blog i don't want to have it be too lengthy...okay just kidding on saying that on the last little bit

jake: that's weird...

me: not really actually EVERYONE is doing it and it links me to the outside world, i mean hello you left me and the kids in a town in the middle of nowhere with 500 people!!! i need the blogging thing!

jake:whatever floats your boat...uh...you aren't going to write like personal stuff are you?

me: thinking, uh i already have written about meltdowns, pity parties, and IUD's...uh what do you mean "personal"

jake: you know like if i do something that makes you mad or something

me: hahaha...no i'll make sure to portray you as the hunkiest most adorable, sweetest, rubs my feet when i don't even ask, JI Joe meets wilderness man slash jason bourne, tim the tool guy taylor (with out the screw ups) kind of guy that you are...does that sound good?

jake: yeah right...you're going to write about me making you mad aren't you?

me: yeah probably, but you hardly ever do, so you don't have to worry...

jake: hmm i don't think i like you blogging.

me: just don't make me mad and you'll be just fine...

jake: yeah i don't like you blogging...

me: just don't make me mad...

did anyone else notice?

um...i'm like less than 10 days away of 100 days crossed off this deployment...i think i'm going to cry...too late. (no, it's a good thing i know...i think i just need a good cry some chocolate and a new book or a great chick flick...)

bread, martha, and summer programs...

no hell isn't freezing over...what is the world coming to? *sigh* i don't know if i really want the answer to that...but yes, those would be my hands making bread...I KNOW!
yesterday sarah and i made bread...well let me clarify...she made bread, i helped...i wanted to learn. what a process...loooong process. i'm like a gnat! if it doesn't get done in like a nano second, and there aren't like a million things to do while i'm doing it...it's a huge deal for me to do. but i have to say OH HOW FUN AND REWARDING! while we waited, ( i didn't have a project to finish in my hands) we laughed, talked, and looked through all of her martha kids mags...um WHY isn't martha doing that mag as often as she used to? sadness...i got some great ideas of what i want to make when i come back from california...
while we were at her house my kids get so comfortable there that it's a process to get them to leave (they have chicks, horses, cows, calves, etc. etc. etc.) so i had to bribe them with that we were going to the library to go sign up for the summer reading program ( i know somebody had to twist my arm to say that (um yeah that would be sarcasm)) so we went and the boys had a grand ol' time, minus the running and talking in very loud voices, i think we did pretty great.
i don't know i think i can actually FEEL summer lurking closer and closer into my world....

long gone goats and baby sulivan's quilt

well i did it, i got rid of the demons that are other wise known as goats. yesterday was the last straw that broke the camel's back, or in my case the last straw that made it really easy for me to call the one family i KNEW would take the goats. billy got out again, and then to show him who was boss i put him on the chain for a while. yeah i was feeling pretty good till daisy decided that she was going to try out her new jackie chan moves and got out too (i mean i really have to hand it to that goat, she can back up, jump, and in mid air switch directions just ever so slightly so that she angles herself in the right position to hit the trunk of the tree just right so that she would land in the tree branch and then just hop down the other side...it was amazing, i should of charged people to come see it. oh well hind sight is 20/20) so when i got daisy right as she was about to maim the rest of my garden (to finish the job she started last time) in the front yard, i went to put her on the chain too, and that's when it happened. i don't know if he was trying to defend his woman or he was just upset that i had put him on the chain earlier, or that he was upset that he looked like satan's spawn...i DON'T KNOW...but the demon reared and horned me in the butt and hip area...i looked at him and said "oh no you did not!" turned on my heel let go of daisy and went to make the call. i'll show them...stupid goats...and as the goats were being taken away i was not sad to see billy go, but i was a little torn on seeing daisy go. i was fine with it, the middle boys were fine with it, J.I. Joe husband was VERY fine with it when i told him, but nate now wont talk to me...well he didn't till he got a little light bulb flash on top of his head and then said "ooooh now we can get a horse!!!" uh...no... when the kids went down to bed, i started on my neighbor julie's baby quilt. let me tell you how she told me the news that she was expecting her 6th child:
i knock on her door to drop off a book i thought she might like, she answers the door and says:
i have some really bad news to tell you.
me: oh no julie what!!! are the kids okay? is aaron?
julie: yeah they're fine, but i'm not.
me: what is it?!
julie: well i'm done crying about it, so now i guess i should tell you...i'm pregnant.
me: (hahahaha) oh you're serious...uh...i thought you were done...
julie: yes i WAS done! i gave all my baby clothes away! i gave away the bottles, spoons, toys, you name it i gave it away! i was done having kids!!! and now we have to get one of those gi-normous white vans just to fit all of us in to go somewhere together as a family ! I WAS DONE HAVING KIDS!!!
me: well, apparently not so much...
julie: yeah apparently not, anyways, aaron has an appointment to get snipped in the next few months...if i have to go through this again, he's going to make sure it doesn't happen AGAIN!
me: sigh...uh well here's a book i thought you might like to read, can i do anything for you?
julie: no...nothing you can do...i just thought i was done...

so i'm making her a quilt for her FINAL baby. which just so happens to be a boy, and they are naming him sulivan. she's come to grips with the pregnancy, aaron has been taken care of, he even went to work the next day with frozen peas in tow. but i thought i would make a really cute and cheery quilt for the FINAL baby.

tables, armiores, and chairs oh my!

new updated pics of the slc trip:
me being a dork...as usual...

i stole these pics from my friend rachel...she wasn't a ninny...she remembered her camera! this is me and some of my new bloggy friends (apron girls) at Gardener's village...

as i roamed the isles of the D.I.'s up north this weekend, i was hit with a really sad realization. there are sooo many wonderful pieces of furniture out there that just need a little bit of paint and love and they would be the next favorite piece of furniture for me....BUT, and this is a big butt...oops BUT, i don't have room and i'm not willing to give away anything in exchange for something else. this whole fiasco of rummaging for furniture and second hand finds started when i was in high school. remember when it was cool to be just like kurt cobain in grungy clothes and holey jeans. and the whole furniture thing started in college when i was into decorating my first own little space. it was simple: didn't have the money to waste, and i wanted to make it homey so off to goodwill i went. then those first years of marriage, the ones that you are trying so hard to be all grown up and start a budget start your nest egg and such things...finding second hand stuff was a necessity back then. who knew that after so many years and years of collecting second hand finds that when given the chance to have something brand spanking new, i would pass it up just to save my lovely free discarded by someone else coffee table instead? so yes this weekend i had to really look and say to myself "where would i put that? what would i give away to put that in it's place?" i just couldn't do it! it would be like replacing part of me. so i walked away a little sad at finding such great pieces of furniture, unable to say goodbye to anything i had already found. i had only a few things i'm really looking for these days. a little school desk that i can paint red for katie's room (i've been coveting my friend kelly's for quite a few years now, and no matter how hard i try to come up with a plan on how to steal...i mean relieve her from having it...i can't make myself do it) so yes a school desk, enamelware, cute linens that can be made into something, books, and cute clothes...that was on the agenda. the boys each walked away with some new treasure that they bought with their tokens . i didn't find any "little women" hardbound books or anything like that (sad) BUT i did find these great books that we actually had 2 out of the whole series. they have helped nate and me out a lot. instead of giving me blank looks of "what?" i just would get the book about "disobeying" and we would read it. it sort of clicked better if you know what i mean. anyways you would of laughed at me if you saw me doing the little "i'm soooo excited i found you!!" dance in the middle of the store, i actually yelped out "OH MY!!! NOOOO WAAYY!!!" it wasn't but two nights before that i was on the phone with my husband who is playing J.I. joe right now, that i was going to get online and buy the books. so you can only imagine how elated i was when i found the WHOLE series for 50 cents a piece!
what a wonderful weekend (seeing two group of friends that mean so much to me, but sad that i wasn't able to make more hours in the day to call the other groups of friends...next time!) my in laws took the kids to the planetarium and i was given the opportunity to read during the sunlit day, uninterrupted (stephanie meyer you are an artist with words) i'm almost done reading the host...ugh i'm a prisoner to the book, it's killing me that i'm not finishing it right now!
as i drove into our sleepy little town, i smiled "home" i missed the slowness, the quietness, the... wow it really is a gost town after dark around here! anyways, i round the corner only to be greeted by my pesky goats, still in the pasture, safe, not run over by anything. well i guess it's good to be home again. now i have to get a ton of things done before i head out to california to see some more friends and family!
ps i wish i had more pictures of the weekend, but i was a ninny and i forgot it everywhere i went!

up to slc i go...

for much r&r, fabric hunting, DI rummaging, (i don't think i'll be able to hit any garage sales though) and warmer weather i go. there are so many of you i would love to come by and sit and chat with...but i have to do visits in intervals. (so i don't just show up on your doorstep give you a hug while the car is idling and then have to take off!) have a great weekend! hopefully i'll have lots of pics and finds to share when i come back!

before and after: katie's room

this was my first picture a few months ago, i knew i liked some things in her room, but it was all over the place and i knew i needed to make some changes.
this is a step closer to what i want...it's still eclectic, country, vintage...all over the place but i'm really starting to looooove it.

yesterday turned out to be a "i'm going to finish my projects" day. i was knocking them left and right. you could say I WAS ON FIRE! well not really. it just so happens that i was acting like i had ADD for the past i don't know how many months and i had quite a few projects that i would work on here and there like the rag rug and the quilt top you see in the picture...i decided that yesterday was the day to end it. and i finished them! look how cute the rag rug turned out!!! i think that's my favorite! katie's quilt top is done, but i still need to buy fabric for the back (i want it to match the fabrics on the front) the binding fabric will be a red so i need to figure out what color for the back so that i can give it to my friend the quilter. any suggestions on what color for the back? i personally love the green (oh what is it with the green?! i looove green!!!) anyways, that's all for now, got a date with the hair dresser to get my locks taken care of, but that's all i have planned. it's a yucky day outside, so the kids and i will probably do a picnic on my bed while we watch a movie. okay reality check: i'll be under my quilt reading "the host" and dozing off while they jump on my bed and the movie will be on the background.

painting sweats and pj's

i didn't get to get dressed yesterday. after my walk i went straight into my sweatpants that i use to paint in... i painted the boy's bookshelves but ran out of paint before i could finish it completely...lets be honest...it'll probably be another year before i finish it but at least it looks 100% better than what it was for this last year. a friend who is totally handy with power tools and makes all her furniture helped me dress up the boys' bookshelf by putting crown molding on the top of it (a year ago). with the black paint over it, i love it!!! the bookshelves in the boys room...almost done...
then i decided i was going to try to start prepping the boys' room for the milk chocolate brown color paint i have in mind for their room...i didn't get very far...but at least i started the process.
as the morning hours turned into afternoon hours kids started to come home and so did some of the neighborhood kids, a pair of twins and a little girl to be exact, they preoccupied my kids so i got to sew a little, worked a little on katie's quilt, put on another border, just one more border left before it goes to my fabulous friend who just happens to be a professional quilter. i decided to read a few neglected blogs...you guys are amazing! soo good to see what you guys are up to. that's when i got the itch...i read a comment on a friends blog about how she made all these dresses for her little girl...and then i thought about my second hand find sheet...i mean it's $2 what's $2 if i mess up soooo bad i have to throw it away? so i made katie her skirt. i love it i almost thought about putting her to bed in it...that's silly (but i really did think it) anyways, i still have the whole sheet left still to make me a skirt (if i get over being scared of making it) and some even left to make some really cute pillows i'm going to try to sell on etsy.
by the time kids left and i was left with my four little ones, i realized i hadn't seen anyone for more than a few minutes (thanks F for letting us run to your house to use the bathroom while on our walk! i don't think he would of made it!!) i really hadn't gone anywhere or really finished anything huge...and i was still in my sweats that i use to paint, i must of looked pretty hot. so i decided to get in my pj's... i bet my husband is totally missing me right now.

okay permission to totally brag...

okay first off i took that picture (everyone with real talent in taking good pictures are rolling their eyes right now), second i made that skirt (everyone with some talent in sewing are rolling their eyes right now) and third i made the little girl inside that skirt and in the picture (okay that one you have to admit she's pretty cute)! i did soooo much today i'll post about it tomorrow, right now i have four little kids to give baths and get ready for bed time!

12:08 a.m. to 7:06 a.m.

that's how long i slept....uninterrupted mind you. i can't even tell you when the last time was that that happened. it seems like every night i'm woken up by one of the kids needing me, or kyle crawling in bed with me, or just me waking up and doing a once over at the other side of the bed just to find jake really isn't there. but not last night, last night the last thing i saw was the red numbers on my clock saying it was 12:08 a.m. i hit the pillow and out cold i went. only to be woken by the static sound with a little bit of country music in the background (only thing that comes in) and those red numbers saying it was 7:06 in the morning. that seemed like a very short night. but i feel like i can accomplish anything today... what should it be? i mean seriously...there's A LOT that needs to be done...but really i feel like a warrior ready for battle, chomping at the bit, and all those cliches...what should i accomplish today? i mean i can't leave behind the regular duties that happen on tuesday (my ocd tendencies wont let me...i DON'T have ocd i just have TENDENCIES thank you very MUCH!) so the bathrooms have to be cleaned the laundry has to be folded (because i get cranky and who wants cranky) i'm going walking...but the rest of the time when kids are in school and when babies are sleeping...what should i do? tell me! what should i do?!

once again...i'm reminded i live in a super small town

our kind of traffic jam...coincidently...your dog will chase after these sheep when they cross your front lawn, and when that happens sheep move REALLY fast and go jumping and flying everywhere...which then coincidently makes for a REALLY mad farmer who is transporting his sheep from the winter location to the summer location...sorry dude next time i'll try to keep the dog contained.
we had a great weekend. it was spent outdoors, outdoors, and outdoors. we played with friends and we weeded, cleaned up the backyard, and really just soaked up the sun... i did nothing remotely crafty other than work in the garden and sit and enjoy the kids enjoying the sun and getting pink cheeks from playing hard...it makes for a happy weekend. just one more week of school left for us, i can't wait! that means summer library reading days, all day outside play, shorts and tank tops, and the awaited california trip!

some great second hand finds and weekend plans

this green little cupboard used to be a plain jane wood bookshelf. i asked jake if he could build me some doors, he gave me the "look" because back then when i asked we didn't have hardly any power tools...but he did it anyways. and now it's been with us through 3 moves and 6 years, and i love it still so much...
i actually found this yesterday when i just so happened to go to the second hand store in the 45 minutes away town...i usually don't even go in there cause it's not very good, not like the slc area ones, but i thought what the heck why not and i found this! it's in my laundry room and it makes for a very cheery place to be now! okay and the reason why i went into the second hand store is because i needed more white sheets for my rag rug, i found it along with like 5 more but just bought the one, and then i saw the green one too, and instantly thought, "what a cute skirt that would make" ...i've never made a skirt before but i thought i would try. it only cost me $2 so why not?!
the boys went camping last night, with our neighbors and their kids...don't worry fam i know these people really well. my husband and julie's husband (the one that took the kids) went to BYU for PhD's together, and we both find ourselves living in this small town. ANYWAYS, aaron was kind enough to take my two older boys to the father, son camp out the church did. they had a blast and they brought home a little friend...hmmm.
today our plans are to work in the yard all day, pick up sticks and such things, and of course play a whole bunch because the weather seems to of taken a turn for the good, so we're going to be outdoors!

oh dear i have to cut this short because i was just summoned back to the boys' room so that they could show me the lizard's new home...to my surprise they emptied out a drawer in their night stand and poured in dirt and rocks. (i swear it was seconds that they accomplished this) i am happy to say that the lizard looks very happy, unlike the mother of the 3 boys. off to find a "better home" i go.

i threw a pity party...

i threw a pity party yesterday, no one was invited but me...after 2 phone calls from the school, cold weather, and everything going poo-poo on me in my world, i decided to go ahead and welcome the gloomy cloud over my head. i went to bed early after watching t.v. (something i really haven't done in a few weeks) and started to read another shannon hale book (pride and prejudice was a little too much for me last night) but my pity party is over, (i now remember why i try to be delusional and not ever throw those kind of parties it can be addicting)...my grass is mowed, my quick (ha) trip to the box store was actually the most pleasant experience i've had in a long time there, there were no lines, and the checker was EXCELLENT in customer service...
i also received some homemade goodies, fresh jam and bread. i had a good talk with nate this morning, how there's only one more week of (hell) school...i feel so bad for him, i want to just pick him up and rescue him every time. but i can't, i know he's not the first kid to go through this, and i know he's not the last one either. all i can do is pray that i can be a better parent for him and not to take things personally.

what i did and didn't do

*i DID make and finish AND package my felt sugar cookies.

*i DID simplify kate's room to some basic colors that i will build on.

*i DID work on my quilt gosh i mean kate's quilt, and i am in love with it (and almost done with it)

*i DID start eating my weight in ice cream last night (again)

*i DID get to spend some time with friends last night while we sewed.

*i DID finish more table runners to put in my etsy shop

things i didn't do:

* i DIDN'T talk to jake (but i got to this morning WOOHOO!)

*i DIDN'T go to bed early (well it was early, in the morning...why can't i put it in my head that i'm not 19 anymore and i can't pull all nighters)

*i DIDN'T finish the rag rug, but as you can tell it's pretty darn close

*i DIDN'T find handles for kate's dresser (it's hard to find matching ones in different sizes that vary only by 1/2 an inch)

*i DIDN'T fold all my laundry (*sigh*)

what i'm going to do today: 5:45 pm i find myself changing my to do list:

*finish my quilt (i mean kaite's quilt) i'm going to try if i'm not too tired

*mow the lawn not going to happen it's too windy and cold

*finish my rag rug worked on it but ran out of sheets and i have to wait till i can get some more

*tidy up and fold my laundry did i mention i'm tired, so no i don't think i will...

*throw away (or eat) the ice cream most defitnitly going to EAT the ice cream, we have a date for tonight while i watch the office and grey's

*go to bed early

*not start any new projects or finish any projects

*be depressed because i don't know if i'll talk to jake for a while...

*vow off ice cream after this gallon is gone

um i posted something too people...

obviously i see that the minute my husband shows up i'm chopped liver... nice. i see how it is...whatevah.

What happens when you don't guard you password...

...your husband hijacks you blog. Really though I thought I would surprise Vanessa and show her that I too can work the blog. Today we were supposed to go onto our FOB but ended up staying at Baghram for a little while longer. So while we were waiting to go we snapped some pictures. Make no mistake, I am not, nor have I ever been the tail gunner on a Chinook helicopter. But the guys who are were nice enough to let me sit behind the gun and pretend that I was cooler than I really am. Shortly after we took pictures, we flew away in the bird, only to come back after about 30 minutes. However, since they woke us up at 2am to leave I had fallen asleep and was confused to find the place I thought we were going looked a lot like where we had just been. Of course given army efficiency we then unloaded the bird and moved to another one, which also promptly malfunctioned before we got off the ground. Consequently, I find myself still at Baghram wondering if I'll ever move on. Though this type of day may seem like a minor inconvenience to most, let me point out some particulars. First there were about 20 people on the flight, each with about 200 pounds of equipment. Therefore, each time we changed plans we had to load/unload the accompanying 4000 pounds of equipment. In all I counted moving the equipment nine times. All in all I'd say it was a very hooah army day! Incidentally, honey sorry I didn't get a chance to call...love you and talk to you soon. Jake

these hands and phantoms

these are the hands of my father in law. he can do a better job than any professional i know. currently he is working on my sprinkler system, picking up where my husband left off before he had to leave. these hands can do just about anything handyman-ish, they could build you a house they can fix leaky faucets, they can build you a fence, they can put up walls, take down walls, finish basements, built you frames, and make your back yard into a garden...i am so grateful for these hands because they have taught my husband everything he knows, and even more so right now so i don't have to keep moving my hose attached to a sprinkler every 30minutes after these sprinklers are all set up. he's one of the hardest workers i know, and i'm so grateful that my husband and my boys have him as an example of what a hard worker really does. last night i stayed up till (oh i don't know really) 1? 1:30? in the morning...watching phantom of the opera. i needed to have something in the background so that i could hand bind these table runners. can i just tell you, that phantom dude is one hot tamale!!! i mean get past the fact that he's killed a few people (2 that we know of) is a little creepy with the whole stalking and having a shrine of christine, and lives in the basement of the opera house with half a face, he is one hot dude...well whatever it got me to do my runners and now you can see them in my shop so go check it out!

my little cook

she likes to pretend cook, i'm crossing my fingers that she will eventually like to do "real" cooking, so then i can just pass that off to her. and i can just sew and clean, and not have to worry about the cooking...

it has begun...

my work in progress... i'm really loving this quilt, and at the end of her all white bed (someday) i think it will be perfect!!!

3 women and their projects, 9 boys under the age of 8, 3 girls under the age of 4, a lot of pizza, milk, some diet Dr. Pepper, a little bit of chocolate...okay a lot of chocolate, cackling like old women over whatever we thought was hilarious at the moment (high off of chocolate and caffine), and a ton of sewing. my house is trashed, but my, i mean katies quilt top is in it's final stages.

from our crew to yours...

happy mothers day! mom i hope you got to see this before you went home to s.d. love you!

a little bit of army stuff...

i don't write much about him cause his work in the army is case sensitive, and he's adamant about me keeping that promise that i would not divulge any info that might in someway hurt the company while overseas, so even though i don't write about him, we are updated from time to time that all is well and he misses us, i try not to fall apart on the phone, and i try to just update the highlights and mainly the positive ones, but one thing is for sure, we are pretty damn proud of him and the guys he is serving with...

my soldier of a husband does "something" for the army in a "company" with some great guys. some of which are from cali when we were all together (with wives). while our husbands were in training we would go to the beach, walk the canyons, cried with and then tried to look at the bright side of things when one of our husbands re-uped, got our hair done by the same girl (miss you girl!), tried to be crafty together, ate at restaurants, went to playgroups weekly and sometimes daily when we needed it, those were good times. these ladies were fast friends, i met my best friend there and even though we have so many miles inbetween us right now we still talk about living in the same nighborhood one day. all of us had so many things in common being on a military base together and going through the daily grinds of military life, i was new to the whole scene but many of them were vets and had been doing this their whole marriage, i met some amazing women all due to the military, i met women who know my pains without me even mentioning anything to them, they are spunky, fun, optimistic, and down right tough. a year ago i was having harsh thoughts about the military, and why, why, why did we do this, but now i sing a different tune i am honored to be grouped in with these ladies, and especially with these families, we maybe swimming against a lot of criticism of the public, but i assure you what they do over there is a necessity, and no matter what i am proud to be part of the support to keep America safe.

these are my new plates

well not yet...but if anyone wants to buy them for me they are EXACTLY what i've been wanting for years and years and years. you can find them at potterybarn.

big changes...

it all started with this picture ( i don't even know where i found it, so if anyone knows who's blog it was i just randomly checking out when i fell in love and got dizzy with excitement, will you let me know?) her room was going to be all white with a splash here and there of light pink and green, and a little bit of red, but then i started obsessing over this quilt and i find myself removing things from her room that aren't going to "fit" with this quilt. so yeah big changes. well not really, but big to me.
here's a sneak peak to my rag rug i've been working, and i'm slowly falling in lust with crocheting...now if i didn't need someone to hold my hand during the whole process, i think i could do some real damage, but for some reason i can't remember just off hand double crochet, single crochet, you've already done 8 of those so now you have to do 4 of these, by myself, something to do with you can't teach an old dog new tricks or something like that. anyways, i'm not done, but i think today may be the day!

and it's not like i havn't made her quilts...and blankies...but she has decided that this $9 walmart blanket is the best thing ever since sliced bread...so i decided to add a little color, AND have decided that these are the colors of the pinwheel quilt i'm starting this weekend for her room. most of which you can already find in her room...but the pink has got to go i think. so off to going to a quilt store over an hour away i go, and my friend and i are spending all day sewing our pinwheel quilts together while our kids play, destroy, run around like mad mans (she has 3 boys of her own) and katie stays close organizing, carrying things in her purse, and lugging around that blanket of hers.

your new body by summer...

in the city there are many workout options. there are Pilate centers, yoga centers, gyms almost on ever other block, boot camps for all sorts of different things, liposuction centers...you name you got it. out here we have to do things a little differently. first off you have to deal with land, the mowing alone is upper and lower body strengthening, add a 20 pound kid on your back and viola! added calorie burner. second, see that pipe? it's an irrigation pipe, yup that's my pipe, and that pipe doesnt move itself. once again you guys do squats, i move pipe. third, yes those goats, here's your cardio, (and incidentally anger management put into action). most likely those...goats (demons if you will) will get out at least once A DAY, the chasing and cornering and then dancing around back and forth to capture the...goat, will totally give you an all over workout and cardio, you couldn't pay any instructor to replicate. and lastly, ( i didn't have time to go out and take a picture of the town) if you don't buy everything you need at the store by 7pm you will be out of luck till the next morning. (i would say that about 7:02 the main street in town looks like a ghost town, no cars on the road, and no one to be seen. (everyone dealing with household duties and maybe moving some pipe for the last time of the day) so i've learned i don't buy any snacks that are super tantalizing to my taste buds (usually anything with a hint of chocolate in it) and when oh say 8:30 rolls around you are out of luck for any temptations that will add pounds to the thighs...i admit a little aggravating, but soo worth it if you want to get your beach or pool body ready by summer.
here's a recipe for the best salsa ever!!!
20 roma tomatoes
1 bunch of each: green onions, and cilantro
2 green peppers (seeded out)
1 jalapeno (or 2 depending on the size)
2 salsa mixes (1 hot, one mild) you can find these packets in the veggi section usually
1 sweet vidalia onion
garlic salt and lemon pepper to taste
4 avocados (with lemon juice over them so they don't brown)
cut everything in the food processor, but make sure you do the cilantro by itself or it wont cut up small enough.
happy work out and salsa eating!
oh yeah and i forgot to mention, this recipe makes a ton of salsa, so if you make some just call me and i'll bring the tortilla chips! (and the diet dr pepper)

what i'm doing today...

first off thank you for your comments yesterday, the sites, and the encouraging words alone made me have a great day. i know we will be alright. he's a great kid, and we're doing better already, even from when we first got the diagnosis.
today is filled with things i need to do...

kind of wish i could just sit under a quilt and read all day long, but no, things need to be done. but in really great news (well to me at least) i get to finish my rag rug that i've been working on with my friend. i'll definitely be posting pics of that, and i'm so happy to be able to put a DONE next to it on my to do list. happy cleaning, baking (yes that's my kind of baking because i suck at it) and creating.
ps: have i mentioned how much i'm sooo loving my photoshop? i just wish i knew how to use it to it's full potential!

i don't think i'm THAT cool...

but if for some wierd strange reason you want to be notified when i update my blog, you can subscribe to do so on the left hand side where it says "get my blog emailed each time i update it..." i mean really why would you want to? i'm a dork with dumb things to say, but if that floats your boat than who am i to tell you "no dont do it"? so go ahead and sign on up!

no wamies, no wamies....please nooo wamies

every morning i wake up and think "why can't it be saturday?" every monday i wake up and sigh, and say to my self "just so-n-so more days till school is out" every day i send out my 8 year old out my front door, i wonder "how's today going to be like?" every time the phone rings i cringe, and when i see that it's not the public schools # i instantly relax. even if it's a telemarketer, that's better than a phone call from school. bacause a phone call from school usually means bad things, and it means i'm going to drag my butt over two streets with the three kids remaining at home, carry katie, have kyle hang on my leg, and have ryan look at me like "what did he do now?" you know we all worry, it's a natural thing to worry, its actually a good thing to worry. if we didn't worry, we would be walking in front of cars not caring, or we would stand too close to cliffs and might fall down. but when worry turns to constant, and it starts damaging your personal life, the lives of those around you, and basically becomes a problem, it is then called anxiety. now dont get me wrong some kind of anxiety is good, just like worrying about some things, having anxiety over certain incidents is a good thing too. but when it starts impeding your life, and you are not allowed to do day to day tasks, it becomes a problem. same thing with sadness, happiness, imaginations, anything that the mind does is there for a reason, to morn, to bring joy, to create, to learn, bring caution, to help you function day to day...but when any one of these basic functions become "extreme" they start to impede daily life, and it becomes a problem. nate's always been a high strung full of life little boy, always ready for the next thing to happen. there were no markers a long the way for what we are dealing with now. which is why i have had a hard time giving what he's going through a NAME. the things that he's going through right now seem to correlate with a spectrum disorder, called pdd or as most people know it aspergers. it's in the same family as autism. and while nate is doing some of the things that are on the list for diagnosis for aspergers, he doesn't do some of the others. life goes on, but i cannot sit here and pretend that there isn't something different going on with my oldest. so for the time being we're calling it this, a spectrum disorder. and after the same diagnosis from two different specialists, nurology tests, and constant wondering of what am i doing wrong. i've done the denial, done the mourning, done the anger, and now i'm trying to make sure that i can be the best parent for this child who is having some major difficulties fitting in. and like i said havn't we all had times when we don't fit in, do something we weren't suppose to cause we didn't think it through? yes, we are human, but when these issues become a greater issue, and start impeding your life, and the lives of those around you, you must address it. and this my friends is what i'm doing. reading up on ways to help him, fighting the school to see him differently because of the diagnosis, trying to teach those that interact with him on a daily basis (including myself) that he not "wrong" he's just sees things in different ways or sometimes DOESN'T see things the same way. is it easy? no way. is it going to get easier? i don't know, i can only hope with my coaching i can help him. am i going to be able to make a differnce? i sure hope so. will this be forever? as time goes on and with coaching he will get closer and closer to knowing. am i sad? yeah, who wants to see their kid suffer? what does this mean for his future? nothing really, i mean it's not going to stop him from being a doctor, garbage man, computer programer, artist, lawyer, or whatever he decides he loves to do. can't wait to see what life throws at me next. like a pregnant goat, that would be hilarious....