I'll get that wabbit if it's the wast thing I do!

I spent hours this weekend in the humidity and heat cleaning and making everything perfect.  All it takes a few minutes, a shovel and a child to make it alllllll go away!

I had just washed off the last of the patio today and put everything in it's place and then left Delaney to play outside while I made lunch.  I went out to call her in to eat and all over the patio, chairs and picnic table was dirt.  Lots and lots of DIRT!  Shovels, sand buckets and LOTS OF DIRT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am not positive but I think I was somewhere close to a mental breakdown!  I am not 100% sure cause I think I lost time somewhere between the ringing in my ears and when the shaking started!

I asked her why did she do that and she tells me she didn't. 

"So who did then?", I asked.

"I dunno" was her innocent reply.  Now I am getting a bit mad to say the least and asked her again "WHO did it Delaney?" and she looked up at me with all seriousness and said.....

"The bunny in the yard did it!!!!!!"

What did we do Memorial Day weekend?

We weeded and mulched and planted and did errands and scrubbed and cleaned and hosed things off and dug things out and put things away.  We de-winterized and prepped for summer!  Away went the snow shovels and out came the flowers and lawn chairs!  AND we opened the pool!  And for our efforts we got to jump into cold water and eat hamburgers on our nice new patio! 

I wish I had a ton of lovely and exciting pictures to show you but I was so busy myself that this is all we got!

And when all was said and done.............we passed out!

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY!

14 more days and then.....what?

End of the school is officially on the count down.  We have exactly 14 more days left.  I guess this means Delaney too since I seriously doubt I am going to get much work done with her when her siblings and friends are here.  14 more days of peace.  14 more days to get everything done I had hoped to accomplish before this.  14 more days of quiet nap time.  14 more days of Delaney homeschooling together with me. 

And so the summer begins!

I am just not sure if I am happy because all activities will come to a halt and the most important thing will be how long we can stay in the pool.  OR if I am not happy because I will have two teenagers around whining and complaining about how bored they are while the 6 year old begs them to take her for walks and bike rides and swimming, etc etc etc.  (they should just follow the 6 year old instead of her following them. I doubt they will complain they are bored after a couple hours with her!)

And what does a 6 year old do on a lovely warm morning?? Why catch frogs of course!  Nothing like running around screaming and laughing while chasing down 8 little poor frogs who are intended to be her closest friends for the next few days!

One day....just one day and they will NEVER complain they're bored!

Ok let me clarify.......

It has come to my attention that I might just be sitting on my tush watching Todd and Delaney put floors down in my house!  As much as that sounds rather lovely watching my husband work and child labor, maybe even a secret dream come true, I just want to correct that thought.

(1st let me stop laughing and wipe my funny tears away cause you just crack me up Doreen!)

So, just in case someone else happens to be thinking the same thoughts, let's talk about how a typical floor laying weekend goes...........

I work till 5:30pm.  But Delaney and Todd have soccer that starts at 6pm.  So,while I am still working, I help Todd move everything out of a room.  Which is REALLY a fun job having to climb over things like a king sized mattress to answer a door for pick up time in the daycare.  I do many headcounts to make sure no little person gets lost under a pile of clothes or stuck behind a dresser! 

They go out to soccer and I (usually Michele too cause she made the mistake to stopping by the house at the wrong time) pull the carpet and padding up.  If I am lucky Todd might get the carpet cut and pulled up before he leaves for soccer.  Then Michele and I spend the soccer time pulling thousands of little stables up out of the floor and sweeping up piles of sawdust that a bunch of carpenters decided to leave under the rugs before they layed it down!  Oh yes, then there is the fun task of prying up the carpet tacks along the walls!  Todd usually returns in the middle of this task.  Which is good cause I am beginning to hate carpet tacks at the moment!  Esp when the contractors place the wall 1/2 way on top of the strip and you have to figure out how to dig it out!  Always a fun job!  I believe that this part is the WORSE part of the whole job and completely dread it!!!

Then we place down the floor covering.  I help do this too!  This doesn't take too long....unless you don't calculate it right or assume you have enough and then have to run to the store at 9pm to grab another roll! Then it means a midnight completion!

We roll into bed and don't move positions till the next morning!

Saturday is a soccer game and back home to finish the job!  Todd doesn't have much patience and likes to do things to the floor like call it names and throw a hammer at it so, after a hard lesson learned, we have a system going.  I lay the floor and hook the pieces together and Todd cuts the ends and works the hard spots like doorways and closets.  If we are lucky we have the floor done by dinner.  If we aren't, due to kids, activities, trips to the store or painting....we might get done by 11pm!

We roll into bed and don't move positions till the next morning!

Sunday we head to church (if we are working on time)  or skip church (if we are running completely on Europe time!!)  Todd finishes the trim while I sweep and clean behind him.  We paint as needed.  Then we roll everything back into place.

And so completes a typical weekend.  Everything in between soccer, dinner, trips the store, running so and so to a friends house, etc etc etc.   If I did not do this beside Todd, he would still be sitting on the sofa wishing the flooring in and nothing would be completed OR there would be holes in the floor from the hammer and cuss words written in marker along the wall!  There is no sitting my tush taking cute pics of the them doing the work for me while I sip iced tea and post on my blog!  I AM the one with the camera and it makes it a little hard to take a pic of myself doing things but....for you Doreen I shall try it next time!

Let it be officially known Kim does not, in any way, get to sit and observe at any point during this fun and exciting time!  Although, it might be a nice idea and I could try it.  I shall just tell Todd, " BUT DOREEN TOLD ME TO!"

Well dang it!

I survived the Rapture!

Now that can mean one of two things....
1. I was totally left behind!  OR...
2. Jesus had other plans and decided he didn't feel like visiting on Saturday.

Either way, here I sit at the start of another new week!
Clean underwear and all!

BUT I did go to the soccer game.  (We kicked some major butt!)  And I did lay another floor.
Here is my best helper!  Sad to say that the 6 year old did more than the 18 and 13 year old!  But she did an awesome job!
She was the water girl.....

 She picked staples out of the floor!

 And had a TON of fun pulling up everything!

This helper I had to just throw in cause...well....need I say much more?  How could I pass up this shot?

And, wa-laaaaa, the finished product! 

Just in time for the world to end!

Oh the Rapture!

Yeah. I have to bring it up.  I cannot pass it by.  More so after the conversations yesterday.  It was just too good to pass up!

My afternoon was spent with my BIL who brought up the topic 1st.  Lonnie said he was keeping his family home tomorrow (aka today) . I asked why and he seemed to look at me like I had three heads.  Didn't I know the end of the world was TOMORROW!?   I had to tell him he has his calendar marked wrong.  It was Saturday.  He looked disappointed but said he was still not taking any chances and would keep them home anyway.  I asked him why again and he said that he didnt' want to have to drive to two schools to pick up his kids and his wifes work to get her if the world was going to split in 1/2!  This brought to mind two huge things.....#1 if the world was going to split in 1/2, did it make a difference if he were driving to a school or sitting at home watching tv? #2 I believe he had the idea wrong on the end of the world. It wasn't about the earth splitting. It was about the coming of Christ.  And if you believe, then it would make little difference on if you are driving to pick up your kids or at home watching tv cause.....well....HELLO .....CHRIST!  Rapture! Tribulations!  Need I say more?  It really doesn't make a difference!

Then my girl friend and I were talking about it last night.  She wanted to know why her neighbor had a sign in front that said "May 21, 2011. Beg for Mercy!" (Lonnie must not have passed that sign!) And yet this neighbor was putting new stucco on the side of his house all day yesterday!  Did he think that it would impress Jesus?  Cause, if you believed the end of the world was coming, why would you go through all that effort to repair the house!?  She wanted to know if he thought this would bring Jesus to his door and he would say "What a great job!  Can you come up and work on my Pearly Gates?"  Good question!

She went home and talked about this with her father and he told her about the end of the world.  Her comment......
"I just got a new job damn it!!!!"
Her dads comment....
"Well you won't have to worry about missing it if you keep saying Damn it!"


I rather liked this quote in a pamplet I have:
"The May 21st End of the World prediction only applies to those who will be saved on Judgment Day 2011 in the Rapture.  Those who aren’t saved in the May 21 Rapture will suffer a different fate, and an End of the World date 5 months after May 21st."
October 21st?  My comment?  Well that can be good news!  I can at least enjoy summer, my vacation AND I don't have to try and figure out what to get Todd for his birthday on the 30th!

So there we are laughing and talking about it all.  I said that I had known about it for a year and my feeling is that I wasn't going to stop living.  If Jesus shows tomorrow, I shall fall on the ground and praise Him.  And if not....well, let's just say that I am not packing my bags and sending out farewell emails today.  Her comment back to me was "Now why would you have to pack a bag?  You think you will be needing a change of underwear??"

Ok....we got a good laugh out of it.  Not that I am putting down anyones belief.  The bible clearly says we will not know the day or the time so why stress over it?!  Why a bunch of people feel they can peg not only the date but the exact time too is beyond me.  The bible says,
"But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only." Matthew 24

So...I am not going to worry about it.  If Jesus comes I will rejoice.  Till then, I have a soccer game to go to and a new floor in my house to lay down!

Now in regard to packing the underwear Michele....ya just never know.  Ya just never, never know!

Where did my rock go?

I have not been having a good spring.  Normally it is my most fav time of the year.  A time full of flowers and trees and sun after a very long and depressing winter.  New life is everywhere and you can smell it in the air!

Well, you can smell it if you don't have allergies!

All the things I love the most, almost kills me.  Yes, I might be a little dramatic there but it does very closely explain how I feel.  And THIS year?  It has had to be the worst spring I have had in a good 8 years!

Eight years ago I lived in the next town over.  And the property, more so a lot, was filled mainly with two gorgeous and huge maple trees.  One in the front and one in the back.  They were so big they filled up most of the yard.  They bloomed beautiful in the spring, gave shade in the summer and was full of the most beautiful colors you have ever seen in the fall.  I loved those trees.  They just didn't love me.  Each spring I would almost die (yeah, there is that drama again).  My life was filled with tissues and allergy meds for the next three months.  Eight years ago we moved to here and it was so grande I could almost breathe!  My allergies didn't completely go away.  But they got better.  Life was good.

Till spring of 2011.

 I am pretty sure I might be keeping the tissue companies afloat so much they are currently planning huge, expensive vacations on my tissue money alone! And..............I could just about die!
It is really that bad. 

I have been taking Allergra-D around the clock.  I am so dry I could probably spit cotton.  Forget about cotton! I could probably spit out the finest sweater at this moment!  But it doesn't take away the allergies.  Just makes life somewhat livable for about 8 hours out of a day.  That is if you believe sitting with your mouth hanging open, brain dead, drugged up, with tissues stuffed in every pocket and shirt sleeve you have on you....living!

Here is an example of my morning:
May 19, 2011.  5:25am.  My alarm goes off, I stretch,  roll over and......sneeze. And sneeze. And sneeze. And by the time I made it to the shower, I was one huge snot bag with a sinus headache. On a plus side,  I only have three kids today for work and two of them are sleeping. Good thing considering that I am currently brain dead, highly medicated and not functioning much beyond 20%.

If I could grab a tissue box, stuff some cotton balls up each nostril and hide under a rock, I probably would attempt it.  Everything on my body aches and itches.  And this time I cannot blame some poor, innocent maple tree cause there is none really here.  I think their friends might be ganging up on me though.  And to think, grass hasn't even kicked in fully yet according to the pollen guide on the morning news.  Joy of joys! Cause when the grass does, you will have to come look for me under that rock!

It takes so very little!

All it takes is a 30 second commercial to get me rolling!  I LOVE these.......
(turn off music)

And this one I could soooooooooo see me doing!! Has me rolling every time!

A little bit of this and a little bit of that!

1. The other day my BIL was here working and came in to ask me if he could use my bathroom.  I told him "Sure, just leave a quarter when you are done!" And this is what I found later in the day on the sink!
Funny Lonnie!

2. We are almost done the patio cover!  Yippie!

3. I was getting ready in the morning and looked out the window and noticed that my bush that came from my Grandparents house is full of flowers.  They gave us three bushes before they passed and this is the only one to survive.  It bearly held two bunches of flowers each year since we planted it.  But this year it is in full bloom!  I am taking that as a good sign!

4. I have a TON of these to plant!  The rain is on its way and I am not sure when I will be doing this planting but......

5. And we have a ton of these too that have to go back up on the wall.  Right now it is looking kinda naked!

6. Megan went on a school camping trip this year for three days.  I was looking at her pictures and two things come to mind when I viewed them.......

WHAT is the deal with her and all her friends making this face in about 3/4 of the pics?

And who the heck is this dude who had his arm around my daughter and is in the other 1/3 of the pics?

What makes it worse......he is really cute! She could have picked some wall flower or something to make Mommy's heart feel better. You know.  The one who is AFRAID to put his arm around my really pretty 13 year old daughter! This guy?  Well, I envision me locking her in her room under key and bolt when he comes over!

And finally..........

7. Hope each and everyone of you have a wonderful weekend!  Mine will be spent getting ready for the church's bell choir concert this weekend.  So while you are basking in the sun or taking your kids to the park, think of me in some dark school ringing my bells! 

All for the Lord!  All for the Lord!

HAPPY FRIDAY!!!!!!!!!

Yeah! Now we're talkin!

Delaney started soccer for another season! 

Now I know you have heard me talk about the 'new rules' for playing soccer but just in case you missed my exciting point of view.........  They aren't anything like they were when Ryan and Megan began.  Both pretty much started around 5 years old.  But they both played GAMES.  As in goalies and scores and parents cheering on each ball shot in the net!   Oh no.  Not today.  Today it is all about 'everyone wins' and 'it isn't about the score, it is about the fun!'. 

Blah, blah, blah.

To me this was set up by some physco therapist who felt that a child under the age of 8, who lost, just might have some mental issue later on in life that could involve major issues in adulthood.  OR...it could be done by some parent who got tired of seeing their childs team whooped.  Myself, I rather favor the last opinion cause....well.....it is more likely the truth!

I believe that competition is a good thing.  One cannot learn to improve if they think they should always win and be perfect and wonderful.  In the real world, there are winners and there are losers.  Your boss doesn't come and pat you on the back and say 'nice try Timmy!' and give you a gatorade and granola bar after you lost an important client!  If you want, better you have to fail sometimes.  That is what gives us the drive to improve and prefect and make ourselves greater.  To push the limit and suceed.

BUT.....that is not the outlook for Delaneys age group.  They put four kids on one side and four kids on the other.  The team coaches pat the kids on the back as they run past, while the coach holds a cup of coffee and yawns the morning sleep away.  "Nice try Timmy!"

My pep talks with Delaney are not geared to that thinking.  I want her to win.  I want her to improve. I want her to score.  I want her to be the best she can be.  And if that means she is whooping some childs butt while they stand and pick dandilions, then so be it!

And that pretty much is what happened last Saturday.  For some reason, the soccer board put the team ages together from 4-6 year olds.  Delaney is the size of an 8 year old!!  Our team is mainly 6 year olds.  The team we played was mainly 4 and 5 yr olds.  Needless to say, Delaney was a good head and shoulders above most of the other team.  I would like to say I told my daughter to pull back but....well.....I didn't.  What I said was something along the lines of "don't let their size fool you.  You go for it and take that ball!"  And I am proud to say she did exactly that!

Now don't get all teary eyed on me and shake your head thinking I am 'one of those moms' cause, even though their team was younger and smaller, they held their own!  And then some!  Quite a lot of their balls made it into the net!  So I didn't feel too bad when Delaney raced across the entire field, overtook the short little dude, stole his ball and ran it home!  Several times!  Or that she ran ahead and blocked the goal.  Or that she learned how to guide the opposing team member to the side line using her body and cause them to not score. Or that she learned how to pass and help make a score with her team.

Now, who knows what the score was cause they didn't keep one.  But I know Delaney did awesome and I am rather proud of her.  She is going to be one great player........once they can say they are actually PLAYING a game!  And when they do.....watch out little dudes! 

#7 is gonna get cha!

He cracks me up so much... I could just slap him!

Yesterday Todd went to pick up my rental while my van was being checked out.  He called me from the rental place and asked me what I wanted.  I told him anything that sat a lot of people and wouldn't cost me over $100 to fill each week!  Todd arrives home and tells me to come out and check out the car so he can show me where everything is.

As I walk out I see....

A Ford Explorer!

We used to have one (of course much older than this!) and I know it can cost me a 1/2 a tank just going from my house to the next town over's Walmart!  So I ask him what possessed him to get an Explorer??

He tells me that it was for a very good reason and that I should sit in the car and he will show me everything.  It is one of those no key starts with electronic everything and it looks all new to me.  Takes me a while to play with things and figure out how to even start it!  Then he tells me to put it in reverse and up pops this where my radio was......

Note guide lines and the writing in the window too! ( "Please check surroundings for safety")

He figured it might come in handy with ME driving!

Ha ha Todd!

Ha ha!



Monkey Business!

One of our projects in the making.......

Happy Mothers Day to me......

In my perfect world, I would have slept in this morning and been woken up to the hugs and laughter of my children as they brought in my breakfast of homemade waffles, butter and fresh fruit.  Then I would receive my handmade cards and we would sit on the bed together and talk and tickle each other and laugh the world away.

But in reality, Mothers Day this year was so completely the opposite that it was almost on another planet! 

We are still doing home repairs.  My BIL came to help put a patio cover in and we attacked yet another room with flooring.  The family room got done and........another one bites the dust!  And, yes, (just in case you were sitting on the edge of your seat and wondering) it went far faster this time cause we were prepared for it! 

You know how you start a project that seems simple and as you go along, hour by hour, it grows and grows and grows into this HUGE and MAJOR project that far exceeds your greatest expectations?!   Yep...that is our flooring project.  We went to the store and picked up flooring and matting and said "No big deal!".  Till we began.  Then what should have been an easy project turned into our worse nightmare!  We tore up the carpet only to find vinyl flooring under the carpet and about enough staples to make it look like the contractors were in some WWIII scene with air supported staple guns!  Then we get the flooring down and find that the trim was cut to the contractors mistakes.  As we put the 1st rows up, we notice that they were NOT going to work and had to run and get new trim.  And the trim work around the doors did not meet the floor.  And the new trim work we got for the doors did not match the old trim work.  And when you put the new trim work on it was lower than the old trim work which meant having to paint again and.....................

Oh yeah.  It is soooooooooooooooooooooo fun!  Ya just never know what exciting puzzle you are going to run into when you start a new room!  Oh the challenge and excitement of it all (are you picking up on the total sarcasm here yet?)!!

Anyway.............to get back on track.........

We decided that we had way too much on our plates this year to worry about going out for our traditional Mothers Day brunch.  Now I would like to think that just meant no eating out.  Ok.  I was fine with that. I understood and , in the end, I was getting new floors. But I guess Todd also took that to mean no need for cards, flowers, cake, gift......or breakfast in bed too!  Not even a poptart thrown in my direction as he headed out to work on the patio cover! I guess I shouldn't have expected it!

Then to add hurt to injury (oh yes there is a pun here), I rammed my van tail end into my BILs truck!
The tail end of THIS............

Had a blind date with THIS..........

And the result was THIS.........

In my defense, I couldn't see the truck it was parked in my blind spot!  And that bully of a truck didn't even get a scratch!

My window is gone as if it never was.  My tail light is history.  My trunk door opens no more.   

Tomorrow I have to call my insurance company.  I feel like a little girl having to go to the principals office and tell him what bad, bad thing I did!  I suspect it is not going to be a pat on the back or a finger wag!

I am, however, proud to say that this is my 1st accident in some 25 years.  And if I had to hit something, I am glad it was that bully of a truck and not something else.

I have a feeling my insurance agent is so not going to be giving me any Mothers Day card tomorrow either!