Our House...In The Middle of Our Circle

My house.  My home.  Doesn't it have great curb appeal?  I think it does, and I'm not at all biased.  I love the green shutters and the green, matching door.  I love the brick and the cream siding.  I love my hanging plants Brett got me for mother's day.

 My driveway.  My garage.  My parking strip.  Sigh.

Oh dear *fist to teeth* it's almost too hard to look.

Our patio.  Many a fab BBQ's had here.  

Our trampoline in the ground.  Best ever.

Our hammock.  A few weeks ago in the evening, after the kids were all gone to bed, Brett and I lounged out here under the Russian Olive tree.  It was so peaceful and wonderful.  Then it got better when Cohen sneaked out and laid with us.

Our garden.  I won't get to harvest the corn, beans, melons or weeds.  

All those rocks came from our back yard when we dug it up.  It makes for a great rock wall.  The best.

I love our house.

This kitchen took three months and all of the Harry Potter series on CD to finish.  I sanded and stained those cabinets myself.

I love our little baker's counter.  Normally covered in crap that I have NO IDEA where to put.  Today, covered in a KitchenAid and bananas.  Our kitchen is so empty right now, it echos.  I hate it.

Our living room and cozy fireplace.  I love it in the winter when I put garland covered in twinkle lights all over it, and hang out stockings with care.  Oh man, this hurts.

Our soon-to-be-Farrs' piano.  And you see that green door?  I brought 3 brand new babies through that door.

I love our bedroom.  I love the chair rail, I love the colors we chose to paint.  I love my Ikea bed spread and my ginormous $60 mirror.  I love the orange flowers that Cheyenne gave me; one for each week left of my pregnancy with Chloe.

It really comes in handy having a step-dad who owns his own tiling business.  Our bathroom was the first remodel of the house and I love LOVE it.  

I love my bathtub.  It's made for soaking.  It has arm rails to rest your arms and it slopes in the back for optimum soaking pleasure.

That's travertine tile there on the floor.  It's gorgeous.  And you don't have to worry about 6 gallons of water spilling on it when the kids play in the tub.  

I just love the backsplash Brett picked out for our kitchen.

This is an amazing house.  The trees outside cast the most beautiful colors throughout the house when the sun is setting.  I can send the kids out into the circle and neglect them for hours knowing they're safe.  We have the most amazing neighbors that have become best friends, and the best ward ever.  And when it snows, everything outside glows.  

I hope I  remember everything about this house and our neighborhood...and just everything.

Goodbye, sweet home.

I wanted to make this post to help sell our house, but I just can't stop crying.  It doesn't help that Brett just flew away, the photographer came and took pictures and our house is officially listed, and that Aunt Flo is visiting (uninvited, yet again.)  I just love our home.  I wanted to have Kembry's wedding reception in the back yard.  I couldn't wait for the basement to be finished and have a giant play room for the kids.  I couldn't wait to host a Thanksgiving dinner here when our kids were all grown and I had grandbabies.  I have to stop now.

Man, it's going to be so freaking hard to say goodbye to this home.

Also Something Randomly Hilarious and Embarrassing

So you all probably read my previous previous post about Kembry's break of dawn vomit/diarrheathon.

Well, as I was brushing my teeth this morning, I looked down on the bathroom rug and noticed some dark splatter.  I asked Cohen, "Did you have a bloody nose last night?"  (A common occurance.)

"Yeah, I did."

So I continue brushing my teeth.

Kembry walks by and says, "EUW!  Mom, you're standing in my poo!"

Hahahahahahahahaha!!!  I'm sorry, even though it was my foot, I still think that's hilarious!!

(BTW, afterwards Cohen said, "Oh yeah, I didn't have a bloody nose last night."  Oh man, gotta love kids.)

Stinky Onion

So my dad turned me on to a website called TheOnion.com.

It was hilarious.

I went to it the other day and read a headline something along the lines of "Prince and Kate divorce after 5 months of marriage."

I was so upset!  And I don't even really care for most thing British aside from their literature and sometimes attractive accents.  And Big Ben.  And Westminster.  And how they make my smile look a lot prettier than fellow Americans.  Okay, so basically I'm just not big into the royalty part.  I don't even understand why they still have royalty.

Totally off subject.

Anyway, obviously it's a farce.  I can't believe I fell for it.  I really need to go back to school.  I'm dumbening.

Wait...is that a word?

Night One

Brett left yesterday for another two week stint in Arizona.  I'm getting used to it.  Well, as "used to it" as a woman can get being left alone with three adorable terrors.

Normally my biggest problem when Brett is gone: sleeping.  I just can't sleep without his sharp elbows stabbing into my spine.  Awww, sweet stabbing pains, where would I be without you?

Awake, that's where.  But luckily I had a horrible migraine-imitating-meningitis on Friday, so I have a bottle of valium, and I have to say, it really helps my sleep situation.  I wish I could say the same for the headache.

10:00 rolled around last night and I was O-U-T. 

Unfortunately, 3:00 A.M. rolled around and a blood curdling scream ripped through my sweet subconscious (I was dreaming I was Samwise and I was helping Frodo climb the Rocky Mountains...it was actually a nice dream).  Kembry comes running into my bedroom with a horrible stomach ache.

Now while this little girl has a knack for the drama, I could tell something was horribly wrong.  So after a trip to the bathroom (bad diarrhea, you're welcome) she came to lay and moan in bed with me.  I kept my hand on her belly because she said it felt good.  Then I felt some bubbles, so I decided to massage them the way you do to a babies belly to help move them alone.

I pushed down and massaged them, let go, and whoa she screamed like a Banshee.

Only one thing could cause that much referred pain.  The Appendix.

Sure enough, she had a fever.  Instead of calling 911 like I really wanted to do, I just laid with her.  She fell asleep in my arms.  I watched her sleep for two hours until 5 o'clock, she woke up and puked all over my bed.

"I feel much better mom!"  she said, and hopped off to bed.

YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!

So now I had to wash my sheets, and I got stuck out on the couch, too tired to remake the bed.

This was followed by horrible dreams of my house burning down with Chloe inside and Brett telling me he was having an affair with several different women.

Yay for Brett being in Arizona!

Kill me now.

It's definitely a Big Gulp kind of morning.

Count Your Blessings...

...name them one by one.

Brett works from home two days a week.  I love that he can do this.  Even if I don't see him the whole time, just knowing he's home, getting to eat lunch with him, and lying in late makes it ultra special.

Count your blessings....

Chloe's world revolves around me (and bottles).

See what God has done...

Cohen asked me the other day what "about" meant.  I explained to him the different things about can mean as were driving past a construction site.
"Oh, so it's like those people building a building.  It's the same word, but it's different."
I love my smart boy.

Count your many blessings...

I had been super stressed about moving and so on fast Sunday Brett and I fasted for the same thing: help organizing our pitiful thoughts.  I woke up Monday morning and everything came into place.  The power of fasting and praying is an untapped source of constant guidance and blessings.

Name them one by one...

Our little neighbor and Cohen's side kick in terror has been coming over a lot lately.  It's been awesome for him to have someone to totally "boy out" with.  Even Kembry loves having him over.  But even greater: sometimes they go to HIS house.  Woot!

Count your many blessings see what God has done...

I'm grateful we prayed as a family about our big move.  I know it is because of this reason that none of us have had a major break down as we've been packing and planning.  I pray this blessing will continue...because if they don't, there isn't enough Xanax laced in Prozac dipped in chocolate that could calm me down.

Presidential Confusion

I think trying to vote for a President is a lot like coming back from a relationship where you were cheated on.

You know, you hear the girls saying things like, "I just really have trust issues right now.  My ex boyfriend, I mean, he really loved me, he told me all the time.  But he was addicted to sex with his secretary.  So, I feel really vulnerable right now."

Meanwhile the dude she's on a date with has those little cartoon money signs in his eyes.

I think we've been a bit cheated on by President Bush, and a little bit by President Obama.  We're all struggling with trust issues right now.

So President Bush got us into a pile of doody the likes of which I don't know any sane person who would want to swim out of.  But apparently Obama did.  Good for him, I guess...

But it takes a long time to swim out of tall piles of doody.  I have three children, I know.  However, it's for these exact reasons I don't think presidential candidates should give promises like, Ï'm going to stop this war in Iraq!  I'm going to FIX OUR ECONOMY!  I'M GOING TO GET THIS COUNTRY OUT OF DEBT!  And a space shuttle for every family!"

I like President Obama.  I think he was left with quite the after-party mess to clean up.  I think it's going to take more than one term.  I think I would like to see him stay in office.  I'd like to give him a second chance.  I think he could really make me happy.  And perhaps he'll propose on a romantic walk on the beach...

NOW, what about this Mitt Romney fellow?  I'm a fellow Mormon, and so I feel some small obligation to be all "GO MITT!", but something about him reminds me of that rebound dude.  Remember, the one with money signs in his eyes?

I feel a little burned by broken promises from President Obama.  Even though I knew realistically some of his promises were far fetched, he really made me burn inside for change.  I haven't really felt much change.  I still think the war in Iraq is an incredibly frivolous thing for a country in so much debt to be participating in.  But I also feel like some headway has been made with our economy.  I see that he has a fervor for change.  I think it's dangerous to flip the coin because things aren't happening fast enough.  And on the other side of the coin we have Ol' Mitt.

I dunno...on paper, he's pretty great.  He has a knack for saving failing companies from bankruptcy.  He did well as a Governor, keeping the budget safe from falling into a deficit (this really excites me, because I think that's what we, as a nation, ought to focus on.)    He doesn't dye his gray hair.  He looks the part of a President, doesn't he? 

Plus, he doesn't down play his religion like some other disappointing people (Ehem, John Huntsman, I'm insulting you, here.).  I think this shows character.  It would be very easy for him to downplay his religion.  It's not like the majority of US voters are LDS.  Quite the contrary.

So, what to do what to do?  Many of you are probably wondering why I'm worrying about this now.  But for those of you who really know me, you know it takes a long time for me to make a decision.  Plus, I really should have been born a Libra.

Anyway, what are your thoughts?  Who are you leaning towards?

Poltergeist

I think we have a Peeves in our midst.

Someone is knocking over the piles I make as I attempt to clean.

They're hiding the wipeys.

They're pinching Chloe seconds after she falls asleep.

They're hiding my car keys and debit cards and shoes and bra.

And I'm pretty certain they're stealing kid socks.

Stupid poltergeist.  Just eat one of the children through the closet and get it over with already!  I'm losing my mind!!

They Say It's His Birthday

Ba dun nuh nuh nuh nuh.

It's my birthday, too.

Ok, not really, but I've been singing that song all day.

My little whipper snapper turned 6 around 2:30 a.m.  Six.  SIX.


Pick up stix.

I love this boy.  He's...he's...well, he's my anchor in the storm of Kembry.  He is  my helper.  He is my spiritual little light.  He is an example of patience.  And he's punctual.  No, really, he was born on his due date.  I love when things work out on time.

Cohen is such a smart boy.  I'm so proud of him and all he's accomplished in his six years.  Like being born with a 0 APGAR score and going on to become this beefy, hunky boy.

This is the only picture I could get of him without Kembry being naked in the background.  Siblings.

He chose a delicious breakfast and then we opened presents and now he's off to school.  One of his last few days of Kindergarten.  *Bites knuckles*  My little boy!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, WEIRDO!  I LOVE YOU!

SIX!