Still Counted Among the Living

Hello all.  I know you are all very very concerned.  I am still alive (although my precious pooch is not).  RIP Shilo.  We love her and know that she will always be a part of our family.  It makes us happy to know that we will see her again.

Things are gonna get crazy here with the holidays.  (I say that like they haven't already.) Well they have.  My life is just chaotic, but I love it.  I know that I am not the only one running around.  I think that now-a-days everyone is busy with all their own shiz.  I am just not good at managing my time to get around to posting very often.  I'll be honest my biggest downfall right now is PINTEREST.  Damn you pinterest.  Why did you have to be so frieking awesome? 

Before that my time was consumed with refinishing furniture.  I still do that, but it is just so hard with 4 kids.  I know it won't be long before they are all in school and I might have a few minutes to do other things.  I am not wishing my time away, just putting it out there.  Okay, well things are good around this house.  Other than mountains of homework each night.  We're squeaking by and loving it.  Hope all is good out there in blogstalker land. 

I know this is not a very exciting post.  I'll put in some pics too.  But I do what I can.

PEACE

Woman's Best Friend

So I really haven't been wanting to write this post.  It it just tearing me apart.  This may be one post that few of you will understand.  Unless you have been in a similar situation- saying goodbye to a good friend. 

My precious pooch of nearly 15 years has been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer.  She has got tumors all over her lungs that is making it hard for her to breath, and bad arthritis in her legs that makes it hard for her to get around.  Her quality of life is quickly going downhill. 

Although I've never wished her dead, I did hope that when the time came, it would happen naturally.  I did not want to have to be responsible for choosing when the time is right.  Alas, it looks like that is what it has come to. 

She has been a good and loyal friend, a carefull babysitter, watchfull guard-dog, a fun playmate, and a better companion than any dog-owner could ask for.  When I got married, part of the deal was that me and the dog didn't part.  I love Shilo so much.  We are thinking that we may put her down sometime this month.  It is a hard decision, but one that needs to be made. 

Shilo loved to eat fresh tomatoes, peas, and strawberries- straight from the garden.  She is so cute- she would not destroy the plant, just carefully plucked off what she needed and took it to the center of the yard while she snacked.  She snored while she slept.  When she was younger, and had more energy, she would never wander too far, but always wait to make sure I was following.  She loved to swim.  She also loved popcorn.  (A little known fact until we married the Man.)  He started throwing it to her every once in a while.  She could do many "tricks". She could give "high-five", roll-over, wait with a treat on her nose until we gave the command, and catch things that were thrown at her.  She also did the normal commands like sit and lay and stay.  She has been with us through all our crazy adventures, and now I know she will be in heaven awaiting our return.  She has enriched my life so much, and I just wanted to write this little tribute for her. 

Shilo- I will miss your sweet companionship.  Thank you for loving me without restraint and being so forgiving and gentle.  I love you!

Sensitivity

So yesterday I was having a pretty crappy day.  For many reasons I will not mention here, because I will be doing another post shortly about that.  My self-confidence had really been shot.  I was so tired from extreme lack of sleep lately.  I was just feeling terrible.  I texted the man at work and told him that I needed his undivided attention when he got home. 

The poor man.  He can never figure out the complexities of the opposite sex.  At any rate, he was fine, but very quiet as I told him about my day/problems.  He remained quiet because the poor bloke didn't know what to say.  Well to remain quiet with me doesn't work out very well.  I had to go run some errands, but before I left, I told the man, "I would have liked you to be a little more sensitive.  Or just sensitive at all would be nice. And I hate asking for that."  He was quiet, but just nodded his head. 

When I got home, I elaborated to him about my day, and even drew him a diagram of my brain and how there are so many things that I have to focus on and think about that I don't feel like I can't concentrate on any one thing.  I am frustrated and can't think straight or concentrate on anything.  I am short-tempered and forgetfull. 

Then this sweet man that I have been married to for more than ten years tried his hand at sensitivity in the only way he knows how: he took the page away from me and drew a pistol, a bazooka, and a tommy-gun "shooting" all my problems/worries away. 

It was not the arm around my shoulder, or the quiet uh-huh-ing, or the big bear-hug that I was looking for, but it was something.  Thank you the man for being everything to me.  I love you and your guns!!!!!

Hey Jealousy

So I think I've decided that I am a jealous person.  This is not a confession of what I want to be, or that I am proud of it, but just an observation that I am finally coming to terms with.  If I see other girls that are beautiful, or if I envy the way they dress, etc... I start acting all funny, and feel like I have to compete with them.  Automatically in my head I decide that I do not like this person, just because they have a better sense of style or have better looks, etc.  I don't like that I do that, because the girls always turn out to be nice and fabulous girls.  This is actually how I have made some of my best friends. 

Well I have recently decided to venture out a little and see if I can't make a few extra $$$ doing something I love.  I have refinished quite a few pieces of furniture for myself and my hubby.  (The first of which was horrible- looking back on it).  I just couldn't stop thinking about this, and I just love older furniture.  It's got so much character, and it was all made so sturdy.  It's a shame to see these great pieces being taken over by cheap "mdf and/or particleboard with staples" counterparts. 

I had seen a few blogs where women had refinished furniture and sold it.  So I guess I got to thinking that that was something maybe I could do too.  But as you know by now, what with my honed procrastination skills, and lack of desire to actually finish projects that I start, I just now got around to making a blog, and actually will be finishing up my first piece this next week to put up for sale.

Anyway, there are like 22 blogs now that I have counted (and keep tabs on) that do the same thing just in northern Utah alone. This is where the jealousy comes in.  Gggrrrrrr.  They are all pretty amazing and awesome looking though! So anyway, I hope the market is not saturated yet, because I'm jumping on the bandwagon.  Here is the site. My new site. 
www.Refurbia.blogspot.com

Put it on the side of your blog, mark it, favorite it and frequent it often so that I might be a successfull business owner (and hopefully fulfill a goal to pay off our house in less than 10 years).  I will definitely need the help of everyone I know to help spread the word.  And even though I am insanely jealous of these other peoples wicked refinishing skills, I will still post them on the sidebar. We all need to stick together and help each other out. I'm hoping some good Karma may flow my way! But serously check some of them out. They are awesome. Thanks in advanced- and let me know if you want anything.  Peace and Love!

Summer Madness

Summer has been crazy busy for me as I'm sure it has and will be for most of you too.  While I wish it was a nice time to sit in the sun and sip lemonade and watch the kids play in the sprinklers that is not the case.  We have started swimming lessons. And while I am ecstatic that my kids enjoy it and that they are learning to swim it seems that when we get home the day is almost over.  Between this and the many projects that I have started (story of my life), and all the other projects we have planned this summer, my new obbsession, and my kids being naughty, my time is extremely limited.  And my time is very valuable to me. 

So if my posts seem few and far between as of late, this is the very reason. 

The boys room is right next to the storage room.  The man recently told me that we need to watch him a little closer.  The man went into his room the other night, and whilst retrieving something from under the bed found an open box of cereal.  Sneaky Sneaky!

And the other day the boy was playing in the kiddie pool with some friends.  The man found them carting sand/mud in to the water.  Well the man told the boy to stop that and keep the dirt out of the water.  About an hour later he looked out and saw 3 buckets sitting in the kiddie pool and when he went out to investigate found they were filled with dirt.  He began to get after the boy, who calmly replied, "but dad, the dirt is in the buckets, not the water!"  I had to chuckle at this one.

See! These are the kind of boy things I can deal with! At any rate... here is the highly anticipated summer plan! I can't take credit for the idea, but I did modify it to fit my needs. My good friend and neighbor from Idaho, whom I miss dearly, first posted her plan here. My kids just turned into little monsters who wouldn't listen to a thing I said. And I don't really feel like they respond well to any discipline. So I decided to try some positive reinforcement. Maybe if I rewarded them when they did the things I wanted them to do, they would do them more often. I bought a roll of raffle tickets from Walmart. Then had each of my kids paint their own jar. Now when they do great things, they may get a ticket. Some things they may earn tickets for are:
making bed in morning
picking up toys without being asked
following instructions the FIRST time
sharing/being kind to siblings
finishing daily chores
doing "homework" I have planned for them
ect.

I also bought a bunch of toys that I knew my kids would want and set up a little store. I put "prices" on the toys of how many tickets it would cost to buy that item. They have really had to work hard, but I can see a difference in their attitudes. I really think they like it. So it's been working out pretty good for us. I really try not to threaten to take tickets away, because I don't want it to be another way to discipline. Also I think I would probably end up taking more tickets away then what they earn. So I decided that was not the way I wanted to go with that. I swear I took pictures of my "store" and what-not but I can't find them anywhere. So here are just a few random pictures from recently. I'll also throw a few in there of my new hobby(obsession) of before and after furniture redo's that I have been busy with.

Anyway, there is a long update for you. Sorry for the long drawn out post. Sorry also for the absence. We have some exciting events coming up so stay tuned, but don't expect it soon.

Happy swimming/sunning/biking/hiking/camping/whatever-you-do-in-the-summer!

Random Cuteness

So the girl is really started to like writing letters.  But she doesn't know all of them that well yet.  So the man and I help her to spell things.  Sometimes we have to write the letter on a separate piece of paper so that she can see what it looks like.  The man had to do this with the letter "d".  As you can imagine, his handwriting is a little different from mine.  So he writes a "d" so she can see what it looks like, and she starts crying and says, "Dad, you wrote that in Spanish.  I am writing in English!"

The boy is really into this cartoon of a superdog (much the same idea as superman just as a dog).  The dog's name is Krypto.  So the boy wakes up one morning and the first question he asks me is this, "Mom, do 4-leaf clovers work if you make them?"
Me- "Uh- what do you mean"
Him- "Like if you make a 4-leaf clover will it still grant you your wish?"
Me- "oh- I don't know, maybe."
Him- "Mom, will you make me a 4-leaf clover?"

So I grabbed a magazine and shuffled through it till I found a page that was green and cut a 4-leaf clover from it, and gave it to him.  He rubbed it with his thumbs with his eyes closed.  When he opened them, he said dejectedly, "Oh, I guess home-made ones don't work."
"How do you know," I said.  "What did you wish for?"
"Not telling"
Me- "Well how do you know the thing you wished for is not in your room,"
His eyes lit up and he ran downstairs to check.  Then he came back up, disappointed again.  I wished for a super-dog like Krypto and I didn't get one.  I told the boy that he needed to talk to his dad to convince him to let us get another dog.  He said, "well it needs to be SUPER- you know like able to fly and stuff"
I think this is one thing I just won't be able to get him. 

Sure love them though.

Stay tuned for the summer plan I have cooked up for the kids...

Boys and Trials

So I am totally in love with the idea of having three boys and a girl.  Don't get me wrong, I love my girl- but there is a lot of drama with girls.  Boys are just usually more laid back and generally easier to get along with.  So I got my estrogen fill with just one girl. 

And I got three boys!

I have been anticipating how life will go when they get a little older.  3 boys to mow lawns.  3 boys to collect anything creepy/slimy/crawly.  3boys to cause trouble.  Now don't get me wrong I am not asking for spiders/frogs/worms/what-not to be unleashed in my home, but I just think it is so darn BOY.  How darling is all the little boy stuff???   Mud, bikes, bugs, sports- I am excited for the whole nine yards with the boys. 

I have also been imagining the trouble they may find themselves in, and (again) while I am not asking for it, I can't help but anticipate all the boyish messes they may get themselves into.  These are the types of scenarios I have been looking forward to:
-tracking mud all over the house
-accidentally unleashing wild creatures in the house (bugs, lizards, toads, whatever)
-breaking a window with a baseball
-chipping the neighbors siding with their BB guns whilst trying to play target practice with a couple of soda cans (my bro's)
-lighting a wheat feild on fire while trying to light fire crackers (my dad)
These are all the darling albeit naughty BOYISH things I have been thinking about. 

I am not prepared, however for my boys doing things like this:
-calling some overweight girls that are twice their age "fatties" and telling little kids to throw rocks at them
-trying to cause a cute little puppy physical harm by kicking or using some other weapon of mass destruction
-hitting girls with sticks
-grabbing a boy half his age round the neck and pushing him down

I can handle the mess and destruction that boys can cause, but I don't know about physical and emotional pain.  I never expected them to be cruel. 
Troublemakers- yes. 
But never cruel. 
And I didn't want to be the one with the bullies.  I have done all I know how to try and teach them values and morals.  I love them and show them love and attention.  I want them to have high self-esteem.  But I don't know what else I can do.  It breaks my heart to know that the boys are just being mean just to be mean.  And that the younger boy want to be just like his big brother. Tell me how to deal with this???  Any good suggestions?  How can I teach my kids to make good choices simply because it is the right thing to do, and not because they will "earn" something. 

Has anyone else struggled with this?  Obviously talking with my children about these things is getting me nowhere.  So as I'm writing this post the boy was falling asleep.  I just went in to check on him and he looks so darling and innocent just clutching his stuffed dinosaur.  P-I-T-A when he is awake, but ANGEL when he sleeps.  (PITA is an acronym -think about it). 


 Here is my BEAUT of a girl!

Anyway sorry it has been so long.  My life is so crazy busy.  It is hard to squeeze in a few minutes, but I still will try.  I'm sure the summer will fly by wicked fast.  So we will enjoy the sunshine and warm weather while it lasts.  You should too.  In fact let's enjoy it together.  Come over anytime!  Peace out.

He is my Sunshine

This kid is great.  He is my one respite.  I started potty-training him (even though I was trying to resist it)the middle part of April.  He has done better than either one of the others.  He rarely has accidents now.  He is doing sooooooo good.  I am so proud and happy that he actually caught on!  Now we'll just work on him so that he does not regress.  So anyway, I just thought that I'd share my ONE success story with you!  Here are some pics for your viewing pleasure.

 

Birthday Boy

This last month my BABY turned one!  I can hardly believe it.  It seems like yesterday he came barreling out- ALL NATURAL and turned my life upside down.  We all just love him.  He is so smiley.  He is almost always in a good mood. 
He can speed crawl, and the man and I have discussed putting him on the diaper racing track, but since it is outlawed in 49 states, we figured it just might not be that safe.  But there is no doubt our money would be on this guy- he is fast. 
He can stand and walk very wobbly, but he prefers to crawl.  He can get into LOTS of mischief.  I have found that apparently the most interesting thing in my house is, by far, the toilet brush!  He certainly is a curious and inquisitive little guy who has to do and have everything the older brothers and sis has.  Happy Birthday to my baby boy! How I love this guy!