a few kinds neat things

Well to me anyway :)

My favorite time of day now is after the sun sets and the day starts to cool.  But then the bugs come in, yuck.  But tonight I found that with the living room light off, they aren’t nearly as bad, I’d say there are only about 25% as many as normal, so the night is even more enjoyable :)

The other thing I found out was that you can post date a blog entry from windows live, which is awesome.  I do not like posting blogs in blogger, it is a pain, but with windows live, it’s SO much easier.  That’s about all, off to do day two of the Consecration.

Wow, late night thoughts can be so awakening!

The other day in the post 'rough' I mentioned having a hard time with things I didn't really want to mention. This deals with that.

The other day Chip was saying that it seems something has been up with me, and I thought it was just the recent stuff, but tonight I realized when that change started to occur. It was about a year ago. I don't really have a lot of local friends, I think I have like three, at best. The rest live far away, and some are only people who I know online, but consider friends, I won't get into how pathetic that makes me! :). Most of these people are people who have some characteristic that draws me to them, or that I seek to find in myself. Whether it is regarding faith, child raising, or just life in general. The most positive thing that I NEED is the gentle discipline, and AP parenting people. I do pretty okay in regards to faith by myself, and even politics, but my nature is not gentle, and that is why it is helpful to have gentle people to help calm my very temper prone, loud, brisk, standoffish self.

Anyhow. So a year ago we had to shut our internet off. Which also shut me off from those people. I had no one to balance me out, no people to talk to daily about parenting struggles, no role models of gentle, peaceful being. So that is my wow moment that got me out of my nice cozy bed with my little ones to come here and type. Realizing that there WAS something that changed in me, and also what was behind it. Sadly I don't talk to most of them anymore (not by choice, it just is how it is), but I have found a local friend who also parents like us, so hopefully that'll help. I just do so well when I have people to be accountable too, even if it's only in my head that I'm accountable to them. I thrive having role models!

I love pinpointing something in me that has been bugging me, so freeing. So tomorrow is a new day. Hopefully I can reclaim the gentleness that I used to have and find patience, all on my own! That is a rather large statement for me.

Now for some positive

Now to focus on some positive things.

Chip was able to get the van running.  It should be good for him to get to work and us to run the errands and such we need to do. 

I am really enjoying the cool night air.  My favorite time of day is when the sun sets and the air starts to cool.  It’s always very welcome in the summer.  It’s peaceful and calming.  In the winter I love when the sun comes up and begins to warm the house.  It’s not as calm a feeling, but it’s comforting and just so simple.  God really did design things well.  The day is hot, but the sun sets and things cool down.  In the winter, the sun comes up to warm the day, and ease the frigid. 

I started my consecration to Mary today.  I’m pretty excited for this and also happy that I actually started it.  I so often plan these things and don’t start.  Starting is a big deal.

Tomorrow I get to go to Warrensburg in the first time in almost 2 weeks.  I’m pretty excited, which is kind of sad too, meaning I haven’t left this tiny place in that long. 

rough

Things are really rough right now.  The cars are both unusable, Chip actually had to sleep in the van at work last night because it wouldn’t stay started long enough for him to get out of the lot.  He said he’s going to try to get home tonight, I just hope it starts for him.  I can’t go get him because I only have one car seat, and yeah, the Volvo isn’t much better than the van at the moment.  Which is sad.   I love that car!  It doesn’t help that we have NO idea what is wrong so it’s just ‘lets try this, lets try that’ and we simply can not keep doing that, it costs WAY too much money and time.  We need a vehicle NOW, something that at least Chip can get to work in and maybe bring back the groceries and other things we need on a weekly basis.  Yeah, I will go stir crazy (I am already there), but he HAS got to be able to get to work.  Never has 13 miles seemed so huge as right now.  It’s to far to walk.  I wonder how long it would take on a horse?  and no I’m not kidding!

There are other things too that I won’t get into.  Something just needs to give soon, or start working soon.  I hate this completely trapped feeling.  At least once the weekend is over I’ll be able to walk into town, but crossing the highway is out of the question on the holiday’s and weekends of summer (live on a road that is a main route to the Lake (lake of the Ozarks), it’s crazy busy on the weekends, can take over 10 minutes to cross just one side of the highway, not really safe in my opinion).

Anyway, I’m pretty blah right now and trying hard to not fall into a funk because those are never good!  Trying to find the humor in this, though not doing so hot at that!

I'm a wimp

So I turned the a/c on in the bedroom (normally wait until like the end of June or beginning of July!), and asked for a/c in the livingroom/kitchen. I just can't do it this year. It's too hot already, it wasn't this warm until the end of June last year. Plus add to it Dolores is very prone to heat rash and she sweats a LOT, I just think it might be safer for her. Plus add in three dogs panting all day, (and not to mention the cats! of course they won't have a/c, but I'm sure it'll keep it cooler back there since it's connected by a hall to the livingroom/kitchen). So I feel like a huge wuss.

Trying out email posting

I just want to see if this works from the phone, some of my best thoughts are while nursing Dolores to sleep, then I forget them the next day.

e we'll be able to get the net through them so won't have to get a phone brought in at the land, big bonus!. Going to try texting some pictures. :)

So we caved and now have cell phones, they are pretty neat. I have to say I feel a little like a sell out, but they are needed right now, plus looks lik

Paul’s mind at work

We have been talking a lot about the land and what we’ll do there, kind of to prepare Paul and also because it’s exciting.  We both worry Paul will be a little freaked out that our house moves.

Right now he is feeding his little farm animals ‘hay’ that one of his tractors brought to feed them.  The hay is little chucks of styrofoam and he’s using a little toy saw to cut off more because they are ‘hungry’.  It’s incredibly cute, I would try to get a picture, but I think if I get up it’ll distract him.

Okay, now the animals are telling him thanks.  How I wish I had a way to record this with sound.

Okay, I just figured out the most awesome thing, I can take recordings with the webcam on this computer.  So here are a couple I just took.  Paul was totally fascinated that he could see himself on the computer.

 

Wow, that took a LONG time, think I’ll have to find a different way to share video!

Both Paul and I are published!

Okay, kind of :)  First, Paul’s picture made the front page of the local paper.   http://www.dailystarjournal.com/  It should be the first thing you see when you go to the site, and should be up all weekend.  We are pretty excited!

Second, my birth story for Dolores was published on ICAN’s blog.   http://blog.ican-online.org/2010/05/12/rebirthing-the-birth-of-dolores-philomena/ I love that I got to share something so life changing with others, it was such an important journey for me. 

oddities found in my cabinets

I was cleaning cabinets today, as part of a larger reorganization of the kitchen.  I got to the baking cabinet and found some incredibly interesting things mixed in the the jumbled mess that was the baking/spice shelf.  I’ll preface this saying that all our cabinets are child locked, so there was no danger of Paul getting to them.

Three bottles of unopened Olive oil, one being a larger bottle, Christmas lights, about a dozen .22 bullets, a can of olives, a Baptism candle, batteries, and flea powder (unopened).  It was kind of like a treasure, just didn’t know what I would find next!

So now all of the cabinets are organizes and the food is sorted and not just thrown in, which is nice.  I would take pictures, but I haven’t yet, I might later just because it’s fun to show of your hard work! :)

New Carpet!

When we brought this place it came with carpet that was about 2 shades darker than white. Not a good combo when you live in a mud pit, have two dogs and kids. Every time we cleaned it, new stains came up that we didn’t put there. We have been looking for some kind of way to either hide the stains or get some kind of different flooring until we actually redo the floor after we move. The other day at Lowe’s we happened upon a remnant piece of commercial carpet that was half off, and just about the perfect size for our room. New carpet for $58, you can beat that! We thought it wouldn’t be pretty, but at least it would hide a stain and get rid of that other horrible carpet. Here are the before pictures and the after. I start with the ones from when I moved the furniture, showing the stains and also all the stuff shoved into the kitchen. There are many blurry Paul’s in there :).

The new carpet is awesome, I highly recommend commercial carpet for those with pets and kids. We really like it. A LOT!

First ~ looking into the kitchen, second looking into the living room from kitchen, Paul is standing in the same place for both pictures, and yes we do still have Christmas lights up, they are so cheery they are a permanent fixture.

Most of those stains are not ours, yucky! Also, getting the new carpet we got rid of the cut outs for the heating vents (we don’t use that heater, so have them covered up).

More of the yuckiness, and Pepper hiding, well, she was hiding, since normally there are chairs there and she hates storms and it was storming. Also a good look at the cutout things, and half of Paul :).

Dolores woke up, and she was playing with a pink flyswatter we had just gotten the night before, that is the blurry pink thing. She’s in daddy’s chair.

Laying out the new carpet to see how it’ll fit (it was just a tad to short in each direction, with some clever cutting we made it fit :) ).

Paul trying out the new carpet, and Pepper still hiding, she is actually STILL there, it’s been like 12 hours. We did manage to get her to eat and go out ONCE today.

More fitting the carpet, that is the other cutout for the vent, it’s hidden normally by the desk and one of Paul’s toy keepers.

Final mess in the kitchen, including Buddy in his crate.

*******After pictures

Blurry Paul!

Pictures!

 

These are the pictures, or highlights of the pictures, from the last 3 or so weeks (start on April 15, until a few days ago).

    

Dolores is a little past 5 months and sitting.

 

 

Same day, smiling for me.

 

 

Paul had a blast destroying some Styrofoam with a hammer.

 

     

Covered in foam pieces, he had such a fun time with this, a couple hours!

 

 

 

  

What happens to Daddy when he takes a nap in his chair, Paul covers him in food, toys and books. :)

 

   

The cutest table topper :)

 

   

Paul has cool parents!  Chip built this ramp and we made a jump at the end and a tub of water for the cars to jump in, he loves it!  Dolores enjoyed watching the cars go down the ramp.  I’m not sure who had more fun Paul or Daddy :).

 

 

 

 

Notice Paul’s beans, he loves those, he’s really into digging right now and will dig beans inside, will do this for hours a day.  Lets say I have found which beans are swept up best and which not to use (split peas stick to shoes and track everywhere, navy beans work best, if you use larger ones they won’t get sucked in the vacuum! I try to sweep most up so he can reuse them for days, but there are always a few that get left behind).

 

A rare afternoon nap with his cup and Puppa

 

Dolores that same day, with one of Paul’s favorite books, “I Howl, I Growl” his Aunt got it for him in Arizona, he’ll go around the house reading to himself from memory, even without looking at the book.

******

These next few pictures of our my favorite clump of trees by us.  It is behind us and there used to be another trailer next to it, but not it’s just a place Paul likes to dig and play with his ‘pipes’ (random pieces of random pipe that Paul puts together rather well to make ‘water’).  There is a remaining covered porch that I sit with Dolores and watch him. 

 

This is taken from the corner of  our house

 

Standing where the other trailer used to be, so looking due west, it was about 7pm, so the sun was getting ready to be setting.

 

Paul digging.

 

Dolores almost 6 months old, sitting, by herself, well holding my finger.  I took several pictures and I kept getting her falling backward, she was NOT in the mood, she wanted to nurse and go to sleep, but Mommy wanted a picture!

 

 

Life lately

So my farmville/countrylife (games on facebook) addiction has kept me from blogging much lately.  I am weaning myself off of that! :)

I have a lot of pictures to share, but the camera is in the car, I’ll try to get them posted in a few days.

Dolores is 6 months old, which simply doesn’t seem possible!  She’s working on sitting, does pretty good, besides the random flinging herself backward, then having this look on her face like ‘what the heck just happened?’  She’s also getting onto her knees, she doesn’t stay up for to long, but I see crawling in our very near future, which is awesome and scary at the same time.   I think it’ll be so neat to watch her keep up with Paul, she LOVES watching him go.

Paul is starting to interact with Dolores a lot more.  He loves to make her laugh.  He’s is also getting to be a thoughtful little guy.  He spends most of his day digging, he is enjoying the warmer weather. He also is totally out of diapers, he won’t go in public restrooms, but waits until we get home.

I think that is all the new stuff, I’ll have more to share when I get the camera in here.

Paul is kind of famous :)

Okay, not really.  Last week we met with a friend and her daughter.  We went to a playground/park and the kids found this rain water drain thing that had water in it.  A photographer from the local paper came and took a ton of pictures.  Paul didn’t make the paper (my friend’s daughter did :) ), but this is the link to the pictures that where taken, well some of them, he took a LOT more, but I guess these are the ones that came out okay.  Had to share.

http://www.instantimagegallery.com/iig/a/646/177336?state:cat/Photo=BrO0ABXcgAAAAAgEAByRCb3JkZXIAEG9yaWdpbmFsQ2xpZW50SWRzcgARamF2YS5sYW5nLkludGVnZXIS4qCk94GHOAIAAUkABXZhbHVleHIAEGphdmEubGFuZy5OdW1iZXKGrJUdC5TgiwIAAHhwAAAChncKAAAHcGhvdG9JZHNxAH4AAABJ%2F7w%3D