this mess is a place

Ahhhhh, home sweet home! Thank you Jaimee for tagging me! Here are the rules: No cleaning, no straightening, no wiping kids noses....go take pictures right now!

My closet

Couldn't get the entire closet in the picture, there's some boxes on the floor in front of it. It's a MESS!!! Sorry for the dark picture, it's in a very dark corner of the house.

Laundry Closet (calling it a room is a stretch!)

See the washer? Just squeeze past it and you'll find the dryer. No kidding, when I was pregnant, I had to CLIMB over the washer! It definitely was a moment.

Self-portrait

Please forgive the bangs-in-face phase I'm going through...I am trying to train them. They're not being obedient. And sorry for not getting all of my head, it's hard to turn the camera around and get a snapshot!

Fridge See above photo. It's a fiasco of pictures, magnets and notes.

Favorite Room

I love my fireplace and mantle. I put our college diplomas over it and then have a bunch of stuff proudly displayed: my Kim Anderson figurines, a wedding picture, Stephenie Meyer books, Harrop's family photo, and a couple candle holders. I'm standing in our hallway, the front door is just to the right of the picture. My piano is in the lower right hand corner. It's small, but ample.

Kitchen sink

Since I don't have a dishwasher, this is typically what it looks like. But the rest of the counter is clean! I get pretty creative with the stacking glass dishes in grativity-defying ways!

The Bathroom

Here are blurry pictures of the kids, I was in a hurry to get them taken and then posted.

Ryanna

Dawson

Carter

Of course, they're all eating....again.

I'm tagging YOU! Yes, Y-O-U, my lovely blog-reader. Get to it! I want to see some posts of your houses!

discombobulated

This is what I'm doing...scratching my head. I was outside getting the mail when this dog started "doing its business" in my yard. Here in Moscow, there are a lot of animals. They often times go IN MY YARD where my children play. I can't count the numerous times I've had to clean up after someone else's animal. Sometimes the owners are polite and clean up after, which I can't express my appreciation enough!


I enjoy animals, just not when they're in my yard making more messes for me to clean up! I have three kids already!

As this gentleman was walking by, here's the funny conversation that took place, making me stand back scratching my head:

Me- "Hi, is that yours?" (I'm being as polite as I can)
Him- "Hmmm? The dog?"
Me- "Uh, yeah." (there's no one else around)
Him- "Why yes it is."
Me- "Did he just poop in my yard?"
Him- "Nope. SHE just peed in your yard."
Me- "Ummm, okay."

AND THAT MAKES IT OKAY?! It was right around my kid's toys and yard play things. Would he like it if one of THEM went and urinated on something of HIS? I think not!

it's only prose

The rose is a rose,
And was always a rose.
But the theory now goes
That the apple's a rose,
And the pear is, and so's
The plum, I suppose.
The dear only knows
What will next prove a rose.
You, of course, are a rose -
But were always a rose.

~Robert Frost

Dead. Our rose bushes are D-E-A-D. They didn't get watered for 2 1/2 weeks and it certainly didn't rain while I was away.
Ohhhhhh, poor little things. They are dead. I guess that's it for this season.
But....what in the world is that?! A beaufitul rose on our poor pathetic rose bush? It's goregous! I instantly thought of how I can liken it to my life, maybe when all hope is gone, I can rely on my testimony and my faith to get me through the hard times. Or something eloquent and profound like that.

a discovery

Carter has found a new favorite food: Ranch Dressing! He loves it and will eat it at any meal. It's messy, but a darling scene.



Look at those cheeks!! It's no wonder I kiss them 100 times a day!

ice cream and the tooth fairy

Can you say lack of routine? The kids got ice cream for breakfast! (okay, it's a snack before breakfast) It was just something fun to kinda celebrate Ryan's Homecoming. Don't mind the green ice cream cone stuck in her teeth!

Ryanna lost her second tooth last night and the Tooth Fairy gave her a gold dollar coin! She was so excited!

ryan? who's ryan?

en·dur·ance

Pronunciation:
\in-ˈdu̇r-ən(t)s, -ˈdyu̇r-, en-\
Function: noun
Date: 15th century
1: permanence, duration

2: the ability to withstand hardship or adversity; especially : the ability to sustain a prolonged stressful effort or activity

3: the act or an instance of

enduring or suffering

---------------------------------------------
Speaking of enduring...this is the final lap in my summer alone!

Hooray, hooray, he's on his way!

Ryan's coming home TODAY!It actually wasn't as hard and bad as I thought! He's only been in Boise, but that's plenty far away from here. His absence was still felt by my heart and the emptiness in my children's lives. Eleven weeks! That's 77 days. That's just a couple weeks short of a TRIMESTER of a pregnancy. That's approx 1/5 of a year! Eleven weeks of being with my children night and day. Eleven weeks of no breaks, except when my gracious friends would relieve me for a couple hours so I could shower or grocery-shop in peace. (thank you!) I have talked with some people that have said to me, "Well at least your husband's not in Iraq or somewhere like that!" While this is true, it didn't make me feel ANY better. Absence is absence!

Some things we've done this summer:

-I actually read a book! I neglected the kids, but hey! I finished a BOOK!

-I got a terrific bread recipe and I can now make homemade bread

-I got ALL THREE of the baby books current
-I got ALL THREE of the kids' scrapbooks current

-I got new furniture for the living room (oops, Ryan doesn't know yet, I totally forgot to tell him! My grandparents gave me a brand new couch, a loveseat, two end tables and matching lamps)

-I turned 27, Carter turned one, Ryan turned 29 -Ryanna lost her first tooth (and the Tooth Fairy slept in and forgot and barely was able to sneak her 'payment' under Ryanna's pillow in time!)

-Carter started to walk (actually, run is more appropriate)

-Dawson discovered Transformers

-Carter said his first word which was "LOOK!" (huh? Where did he learn that? Or am I more impressed and enthused by my daily life than I thought, therefore repeating it often enough to make it my son's very first word??)

-We went to the waterpark a whole bunch!

-I've made several things on my Janome machine

-I've been released from Nursery and I'm now the Primary Pianist (hooray! Easy calling) -Saw Mamma Mia in the theater a couple times, but not enough as I wanted -Taught Ryanna and Dawson the words to a few ABBA songs (by accident! But, I'm so proud) I'll hear this around the house, "Don't go changing your emoooooooshun....lay all your love on meeeeeee!"

-Had family at my house to visit, went down to Boise and visited more family, went around Idaho, Utah, Montana and Wyoming to visit more. (whew)

-Watched more movies and episodes of "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" and "Family Matters" than I care to admit (yes, they play between midnight and 2 am daily)-As the children and I went through the FORCED togetherness time, I have learned more about them and I love them so much more. They are truly the most wonderful and precious spirits and I believe they have been chosen to be put on this earth at this time. They are simply amazing.

On the other hand, I have started to lose it, I think. I couldn't find the remote control to the t.v. and after I gave up looking for it, I finally found it. IN THE FREEZER.Ryan, I cherish every day together and am so proud of you for the sacrifices you have made for the investment in our future. You are my love, my ballast and my dearest friend. Welcome home.

(Wait, before you take your shoes off, would you mind taking out the trash?)

To my dear family and friends, thank you for your calls, your notes and your prayers/fasting on our account. Your support and love was (and IS) felt by our family. Every effort in our behalf is sincerely appreciated. Love to you all!

you did what?

Ryanna wanted to play miniclip.com this morning, and so she turned on the computer, got onto the internet, and then proceeded to 'GOOGLE' miniclip! She found it, but the point is that my six-year-old can figure out how to use a search engine?! Yikes! I was both amazed and concerned. She isn't ever on the computer when I'm not looking, and I've 'beefed up' the security. But still, where did she learn that?!

Speaking of google, one of my old piano students told me about 'elgoog' being the google mirror. (oh, I miss Jordan!) Type it in and see what comes up! Everything's backwards. What clever google people!

What a smart cookie!

angela and the horrible, terrible, no good, very bad day

Oh my goodness....this is what my day looked like yesterday. It's a bit dramatic and quite out the of the ordinary. It was a very hot day and while it was blazing OUTSIDE, it was just as heated INSIDE.

My children were driving me nuts! I absolutely ADORE them and they're wonderful little spirits...most of the time. Whining, crying, hitting, yelling, and more hitting DOES get on my nerves after about 11 STRAIGHT WEEKS of being with them night and day!

I wanted to watch the new BBC version of Sense and Sensibility...I started it at 1:30 pm. That was after I watched Persuasion while I folded laundry and was interrupted a thousand times. I love to watch Dominic Cooper, ahhhh!




I yelled out to Dawson in the front room to STOP jumping off the couch!

I used my brand-spakin' new KitchenAid Santoku knife that I got for my birthday and not paying as much attention as I should have, I missed the green onion I was chopping and clipped my thumb and sliced it right open, making it bleed EVERYWHERE.

I started freaking out since I didn't know how bad the gash was and I had to think clearly enought to turn off two burners that dinner was cooking on so I could attend to my poor thumb.

I ran and grabbed my Melrose and drenched my thumb. I only bled through one washcloth, so I knew that I'd survive. I only left the kithen for a couple minutes, long enough for me to get it bandaged up. I held it together until I walked into the kitchen to clean up my bloody mess...

AND I SPY CARTER ON THE TABLE, TOMATO SOUP ALL OVER HIM AND THE WALL AND THE CEILING! This was a fantastic, terrible, horrible, very bad mess! It was awful!! He was covered in tomato soup goop from head to toe, and it's on the table, wall, ceiling and anything else in a two-foot radius. I was BAWLING by this point. Just then, he looked up at me, laughed and then dumped a cup-full of Goldfish crackers onto the floor, adding to the mess.

By this point, I'm laughing so hard, crying just as hard and seeing stars.

I was furious at my throbbing thumb, hysterical at my newly cleaned kitchen as it was now splattered with blood and tomato soup, annoyed at my darling son, I was wanting to get back to my movie, I had clothes strewn about the house and Dawson kept wetting his pants on the bathroom floor!!

After it was all said and done, and after the 2-hour process of getting the kids to bed, I was FINALLY able to sit down and watch my movie! Thank you to my two sweet friends that brought me chocolate and ice cream! You both are wonderful, thanks for letting me drown my sorrows in calories. I felt much better then!




I ended up just super gluing my cut shut, because it was so deep and wouldn't close by itself. Krazy Glue to the resue!

I finished Sense and Sensibility at 11:30pm. TEN HOURS after I started it.

All because I yelled at my son to stop jumping off the couch.