It's Official...Christmas Has Begun

Cabbage and Beef Stew is simmering on the stove.  Cornbread is going in the oven after I finish this post.  I spent the morning in bed watching movies with my man.  The kids are busy creating things and playing rock band.  Such a lazy day (well in between I am preparing my lesson for church tomorrow).  We did get something accomplished though...we cut down our Christmas tree.  After having a fake tree for 7 years, we decided on a real one last year.  Someone gave us a real tree for free last year and we scoured our Christmas boxes and found lights.  This year, we had to search close to our home.  I didn't want to drive all the way out to Newberg/Sherwood to find a tree and I definitely wasn't going to pay 6.95 a foot at Lee's Farms (What a rip off!!) 

 So we drove through the little town of Willamette and conjured up a beautiful noble for $25.  It's a gorgeous color with a tad bit of blue to it, and it was a mere 15 minutes from our home.  My husband and Christian cut the beauty down with the help of the reciprocating saw.  Now, our family room smells like Christmas.
   



Tomorrow, while we snack on ham and left-over stuffing, we will be decorating our tree.

What Husbands Do

10. He calls the landlord and tells them not to come and fix the lights, winterize, check the roof, so his wife cannot freak out the day before when she is obviously on her death bed and can't even THINK about cleaning the house.

9. The house smells. He is like a blood hound. He determines that it is coming from one of the children's rooms. He goes to inspect and an hour later, the room is clean. Bless that man!

8. He took the garbage out...at midnight...after Madeline texted him to remind him that it was coming at 5am. (She is my internal calendar that kid) Not only was it raining and cold, but the dog took off. He spent a half an hour in his pajamas chasing after the dog. When he forgets to put the garbage out, he stealthily pulls our garbage out of our can and runs to the other streets to deposit them in less than full cans that the garbage man hasn't picked up yet. This one makes me laugh out LOUD!

7. The dishes are done almost nightly. The most attractive quality in a man is dishpan hands.

6. He loves to maul me. I mean, like a teenage boy! Evidently the 70+ women/girls he's kissed wasn't enough cause he is still going strong.

5. He is letting me buy my own Christmas presents this year. He always wants to surprise me, but I really hate surprises. Besides, I get stuff I want at cheaper prices than his wild dash 2 days before Christmas. This year, no clothes. I've been shrinking and I really don't want to buy any clothes until I get down a couple more sizes. He buys me clothes. He has good taste. I just don't need any right now.

4. He gets no sleep in order to spend more time with me. Any man that will get up at 4am just so he can spend time at night with his wife is a ROCKSTAR! I cherish that 2 hours at night when all the kids are asleep and it's just him and me. No work.

3. He has learned to tame the beast in one of our children. I can't handle this certain child's whine and he is able to redirect it. God Bless You. I would have killed her by now....(she is just as stubborn as me...)

2. He tolerates my cold feet on his legs. He shares his covers on occasion. And he puts up with my upgraded "boyfriend" that is a full body pillow now.

1. He doesn't yell anymore. Yeah!!! I am not kidding. I can literally see himself catch it before it comes out of his mouth. So he might not be completely perfect yet, but it's been over 2 months and not a peep. I think he must really love me. What do you think?

The Sexiest Man Alive Is....

Remember this guy?  Well I used to watch him on some crazy sitcom...Two Guys A Girl And A Pizza Place.  I fell in love.  He has seriously got the best comedic timing.  And, well, if you have seen the latest in the X-Men movie series, he is ripped!  I mean....well....ok.  He's been voted the sexiest man alive this year by People Magazine.  Now, he is just plain cute with facial hair or without...and I completely agree with People.  But honestly....


The sexiest man alive is the man who brought home dinner, dropped off Madeline at Mutual tonight and just made me popcorn....  :)

ToysRus Is Not A Fun Date!

Evidently taking your husband to do the Christmas shopping is not his idea of a fun date....he's all tuckered out.  Too bad I was all out of quarters so he could take a ride.  :)

November 1st: Airing Dirty Laundry....

Writer's block on the first day of NaBloPoMo?  Really?  Like I don't normally have 30 things going on in my head at once, but I have to narrow it down to just one?  The first one?  That's a ton of pressure for a little measly blog post...

I could go on and on about Michelle Duggar, (which I plan to do sometime this month) or I could show you my children's dedication to Halloween and authentic costume attire.  But those posts are not fit for a first post when I plan on posting everyday for a month.

So I am going to talk about a dirty little secret that has reared it's ugly head this year.  I'm going to let it all hang out and just tell the whole world that marriage isn't perfect.  There.  I said it.  My marriage isn't perfect.  And I know your marriage isn't perfect either.  You might paint a idyllic picture with your facebook posts about how in love you are with your spouse, or you might sing his praises in public.  But down in the trenches and the underbelly, is the cold hard truth.  Most of us are struggling at one time or another with our marriage.  

I know this for a fact because once I aired my dirty laundry so to speak, people came out of the woodwork to share their own marital woes.  And one thing that really struck me hard was the fact that we all keep it hidden.  Why is that?  Why is it so important to put up a fake facade that implies that your marriage is perfect?  What does it accomplish?  

And I've come to the conclusion that it's nothing to be ashamed of or hide from because everyone goes through it at some time or another.  I am of the opinion that adjustment of newlyweds is difficult because we never talk about the bad times and how to get through it.  We are afraid that if we commiserate with others that somehow some of there problems might rub off on us.  Well I am here to out myself and say, guess what, sometimes my marriage sucks.  Sometimes I want to run. Sometimes I ask myself what in the hell did I sign up for this for?  Really? 

 It's the hardest thing I have ever done is be married to someone that doesn't think like me, doesn't like the same stuff I do, doesn't have the same motivation or personality.   I mean it annoys the crap out of me that my husband takes a book everywhere he goes and would rather read than get engaged in a conversation with others.  He falls asleep when he sits still...  He can't make it through a church meeting without me having to elbow him sharply to at least look like he's alert.   

And yet, I think he is the best thing that ever happened to me.  Yes I just said that.  Why you may ask?  Well, I was a wimp before I got married.  I was like Tina saying "Hit me again Ike...and this time put some stank on it!"  Not in the literal sense mind you, but emotionally I was a puppy just looking for love.    I mean I didn't really grow a spine until my first husband died.  I just pined away at men who completely took advantage of that love struck look in my eyes.  "Man, she worships the ground I walk on...I could get away with anything!  And she'll still love me."  Yep.  That was me.  I was a sucka!  

Well one thing is for sure, I am not that needy little girl anymore.  And being married has made me stronger.  I don't have a man that agrees with everything I do.  And I definitely don't agree with everything he does, but we are learning how to love each other despite our obvious differences.  Sometimes I believe that we are paired with people just to learn how to love a person that is exactly not like yourself.  What a better way to learn how to love everyone that to be married to a person that is nothing like you?  I mean, my husband is straight up OCD and I am straight up CHILL!  I like long intimate conversations about politics and social causes.  He's completely indifferent about anything political.  I spend all my vacation building schools in Africa and be totally fulfilled.  My husband wants to travel Europe or go on a cruise.  We are very, VERY, different.   

I firmly believe that if you don't get it the first time, God gives you the same thing until you get it.  Well God gave me two husbands that are have quite a few similarities.  And me thinks.....I must need to learn something from these traits that bug me so.  Well I am here today to say that I get it.  I get that I need to learn how to love a man that is so completely opposite of me.  And I need to thank him for giving me the opportunity to learn something from him about how to be more like my Saviour.  

And for all of you out there pulling your hair out because you just don't like your spouse....just admit it....your out there...I've heard it from your own mouth....it's ok.  You don't have to like them.  You just have to love them enough to get through the downs and pray for the ups.  Because I will tell you that EVERY marriage has it's ups and downs.  Your husband or wife is not your knight in shining armor and your wife is not your Cinderella.  It's not the way the Lord intended.  You learn from marriage.  And I think that is why it's a commandment.  It's not only to have babies, but it's the very thing that will perfect us and get us back home. 

Marriage Builders  has hundreds of articles that might change your perspective and to get started, I'd search the basic concepts tab.  But of course nothing is wrong in your marriage right?!?!

My Rock on my hand with my low maintenance fingernails...

Honoring Patrick

I love my husband. He is not perfect. He works too much. He’s got a short temper. We are both very different people. But who would I be without all his little quirks?
I’ve learned so much being married to this man. He’s driven and engaging. He has no fear to speak his mind and stands up fearlessly for the little guy. He has an amazing power to motivate. He can convince people to move mountains. He’s a great missionary and holds his religion sacred. He will give you the shirt off his back. He delights in spending money on his family. He sees the positive even in a fiery furnace. He’s a powerhouse. He constantly tries to perfect himself. He will give me anything I want. He survives on very little sleep. His pride is his family. He loves to give the kids experiences. He supports me in all that I want to accomplish. He gets out of my way because you all know, nothing can stop this woman. He is learning to listen to me. He respects my unique gifts and doesn’t shrug them off. He carries me when I’m not strong enough to carry on alone. He’s a father to all his children, not just the biological ones. He is fiercely protective of me. He honors his priesthood. He’s really good at making me feel beautiful. He’s not inhibited at all. He helps me let loose and not follow all the rules. He excels at his job not just for himself, but for me. I know he’d rather be self employed but is sacrificing his dreams for his children and his wife. He does the dishes. He folds his own laundry. He works alongside his kids and tries his hardest to solve problems even if he has no clue how. (I mean its kinda cute that he tried to drain the pool with a sawsall...) He’s ok with my independent nature. He wont quit. He never gives up. He cries at movies. He has a sophisticated palate.

He does this all and does not have the firm assurance that I will be his for all of eternity, and yet still he gives his all. What more could a woman ask for?

Happy fathers day Patrick!
Love you...

When The Kids Are Home...

I'm going to Goodwill (thrift store) to scout for treasures to make things with, finish my Christmas shopping and hopefully find a few bike seats ( our puppy chewed all of them up last year.)  After looking at the budget, and paying for an unexpected $850 expense, things are tight.  Instead of new bikes, we are refurbishing the old ones.   They are still getting a good Christmas, but instead of new bikes, we are giving them cheaper things...Actually, I am giving a patch kit and some new seats to Christian and he can fix them all and it will be his gift to his brothers and sisters.  I know ingenius right?  My children will stay home and clean their rooms, and play on the wii for untold hours of pleasure.  Tonight,  after I have finished making my aprons, I will prepare a ham the old fashioned way and figure out what we are doing for Thanksgiving.  It's a small affair this year, just our family.  So I am not going all out.  Friday, we are having friends over for Pie Night and games.  Happy Holidays everyone!  (This is the apron that I made out of pillowcases I found at Value Village.  My husband is modeling it!)

Halloween Ends....Let The Games Begin

I was a sexy Goth girl for Halloween and my husband was the biker guy tatted up beyond belief. He picked out his own costume this year and was pretty proud of him. Secretly, I must have a little bad girl inside of me because I thoroughly enjoyed wearing knee high black boots and fishnet stockings with long leather gloves and freaky hair. Something must be wrong with me, or something just woke up?! LOL!
My children have become more creative when it comes to costumes due to the lack of television personalities that are aloud to enter our home, so Mummy, Rocker Girl, Zorro, and a Special were conjured up tonight. They all looked great. Christian had to skip out of Halloween tonight to play his last regular game of football. Yes, it sucked for him, but all the parents of the team chipped in and they still made a good candy haul. Somehow, I think he'll survive.
Now on for the games...NANOWRIMO games that is. Tomorrow the novel writing begins and normal life ends. Not only do I have to write 1667 words a day for the next month, but I have to still have a normal life and teach a Super Saturday craft in two weeks, and make 60 gifts for Relief Society and make ornaments for my Christmas tree. I've hatched a seemingly impossible plan! Not only will my laptop follow me everywhere, but I have to bake "cookies" for my tree, paint and glue baubles, embroider mangers and paint frames, but I also have to care for my 5 children, keep the house in order and make all the Christmas gifts. Yes you heard me right. I am making everything this year. The only stuff that isn't homemade is the gifts coming from Santa and the stocking stuffers. Am I nuts? Yes...Nuts@!! But mark my words, I will do it if it kills me. Because not only is it cheaper, but I think I'm pretty good at it too. Who needs another Obama Chia Pet anyway right? I can't really list my gifts for fear that those who will be receiving them will find out but lets just say that all my "talents" will get used. So on your mark...get set...GOOOO!

I Fancy Facial Hair

Wandering through my local Deseret Book ( an LDS bookstore) on friday while killing time before picking up my husband from work, I happened upon my favorite picture of Christ. Ok, it's really the only picture of Christ that I even like. It seems to me that they either make him out to be a football player or he looks too fake. Even in this one, they make his shoulders unusually large, and I just tell myself it's a metaphor for the weight of the world on his shoulders.... I'm hard to please. See, we have no picture of Christ in our house. This one framed, a small one, would set me back $250. But I digress, this post is about my fetish...
So after scouring the framed and unframed art, I came the the realization that I think Jesus is HOT! That sounds so incredibly horrible, but why do I? And it all became perfectly clear to me, an Ah Ha moment if you will. I have a thing for facial hair. It's true, I confess, I love men with hair on their face. Did it start with George Michael? Or maybe it's because I don't ever remember having my father with a clean shaven face. Both my brothers sport a goatee. After purchasing this amazing shot of Christ walking along the shore, the small 29.95 one, I started to think about all the men that I found attractive. Every celebrity that, to me, is eye candy looks 10 times better with facial hair.




So why is it so unacceptabe? I don't get it. Jesus had a beard. Depictions of God, show him with a beard. Prophets of old had a beard. Gosh darnit...what is the big deal?! I think it looks amazing! In a devious sort of way, I asked my husband what he thought of men with a beard...or facial hair. His first response was Hitler! His next, the Unibomber! I don't get it...why didn't he say Jesus, or Brad Pitt? Or my dad? What is it about our culture that frowns upon facial hair as some hippie act of defiance and unkempt or unclean. On more than one occasion, I have begged my husband to sport a goatee. He goes for months and looks fabulous only to shave it off because he has some meeting and doesn't want to appear sleazy or like he's hiding something????

So you decide...which picture of these extremely famous men looks more masculine? I know, I have a problem. Is there a class I can take or a 12 step program, because I don't think I can get rid of this problem alone.....:(

Wives Widowed By Work

There is such a thing as a Workaholic. Men and women both are guilty of this addiction. If you are a housewife, it just presents itself a little differently. Trust me, I am not a workaholic. My desire is to think more than I work. My fingers are dirty and my my butt is not spreading from sitting for too long, but I know how to relax really well. My problem is more along the lines of Procrastination. My good friends can attest to this. My point, men are much better at manifesting this disorder in my opinion. My husband has a job. Gratitude does not begin to describe the feeling I have. Life, dental, and health insurance are again part of the Laing household. Again, I am grateful that I am not having to forage in the forest for edibles...LOL!...BUT...
7:00am to midnight is just not healthy. Not six days a week. (and half of Sunday if you want to know the truth) I think I was supposed to be born a little earlier, back when cell phones and laptops were only a twinkle in their inventors eyes. Husbands might come home, but the phone is still attached to their ears. As soon as the kids go to sleep, the laptop pops open. You might get 15 minutes of one on one attention. Count your lucky stars. They say their coming to bed, but they don't. They say they'll be home for dinner, but they aren't. They say it will only be for a few more weeks until the next project is over, but then a new one starts. They are optimistic to a fault.
I'm forming a club. WWW is what it's called. I know a few of you who read my blog are already members of this exclusive club. You laugh when ladies shut down when their husband is gone for a few days or are mystified when you eat dinner alone. Getting kids ready for church alone, going to Museums, parks, sporting events, recitals without a spouse. They profusely apologize, read books on how not to take work home, justify their addiction by spouting things like "At least I have a job" or "I've got to work this hard or else I'll lose my job"....I'm not believing it for a second. It's not that I am mad. I've come to the point where if my husband isn't attached to an electrical device, I think he is asleep. Whenever we go somewhere, I drive....Why? Because my husband is on his LAPTOP! We are planning a trip across the country and I will be driving so he can still work. When we go on dates...not like that happens very often anymore...he can barely go five minutes without being on the phone or texting some client. Everything is always pressing. Everything always has to be done 2 minutes ago. You know what I've learned from being a real widow?....nothing is THAT important. Time is precious and you wont really worry about what isn't getting done when you only have a finite period of time...we all have a finite period of time. So please, all you addicts out there, take a little time to talk to people, laugh, just sit and contemplate your life, play a game with your kids, cut the grass, read a book, walk instead of run, listen instead of fix....just sayin.

I have been a real live Widow! I can say for a surety that this is worse. You want to fight me on it? I dare you....


"After saying all these, take a look at the signs below and check the ones you consider for yourself. If you check more the 50% of them than you should definitely analyze your life.

1. In the free time spent with your friends and family you are talking about work and what you will have to do.

2. You promise your spouse you will be home for dinner in half of hour but there are passing another couple of hours until you arrive.

3. You forget to call your family or to take your child from swimming classes because you are working too much.

4. When it comes about lunch, you skip it constantly or rather eat some junk food.

5. Even if you get home early you are taking work to finish it home.

6. Week-ends are not the moment to spend with your family. You must work at the project for the next week.

7. At the end of the day the cleaning woman have to wheel you and your chair aside to be able to clean the place.

8. You enjoy extreme competitiveness but you also need to be in control.

9. Multi - tasking is not an option for you, it’s the only option.

10.You are living with nothing else in mind but work."

Does this sound like anyone you know?....If it's you, rethink your priorities...switch housework or kids in there if your job is Homemaker. For the love of your family....reevaluate.

Apple Pickin' Time

Hi everybody. Greetings from Helvetia, Oregon!


So ... yesterday was Saturday the 23rd of August and me and the kids (this is Patrick speaking) spent most of the morning picking apples off one of our apple trees here on the farm. Maddy was there too, for most of the time, though she isn't in the pictures (she didn't like her picture and just made me delete it; oh, joy ... the pre-teen years march on!). ;0] Lucky for us she's the "responsible, reserved one" of our kidlets. We're hoping the others will follow her example in the next 17 teenage years to come. Yikes!



As I was saying ... APPLES! A week or so ago Em and her friend Stacey canned a whole bunch of applesauce from one of our other trees and it is so delicious the kids have almost finished it off in just the last week, or so it seems. So, our first chore on yesterday's "Cinderella Saturday" list was Tree # 2. You can see in the pictures that they're good apples for sauce versus apple slices and such. They have lots of brown spots and bug bites and so forth. They're yummy, though, and we came away with another 70 or 80 pounds this time around. We're looking forward to more of Emmy's wares ... maybe even an apple pie or cobbler or something like that.



Em seems to be in heaven ... gourmet chefing, growing green stuff, chasing chickens and living off the grid as much as we possible can. We both are! We're not there, yet, but give us another year...!? I'm sure we'll be hooking up solar panels and installing a generator and making our own fuel out of potatoes or something like that. We shall see. ;0)

Personally, I'm happy too; I love our life and I cherish our "not-so-little" family (at last count we are up to 19 'family members' .. me and Em, 5 kids, 2 dogs, 11 chickens and 2 goats ... and that's if you don't add in all the snakes, mice, squirrels and lizards, many of which the kids bring home at night). We used to have 11 chickens but the rooster named "Dinner" turned into chicken noodle soup.

Most of all, I love my Em.

Enjoy the pictures! They usually tell the story better than I ever can.

Patrick

Howdy, from Old McPatrick ... EIEIO! :0)

So ... like my dear, sweet, jam covered, dirt-plastered, hand-blistered, compost heap building, garden growing, fresh-bread baking, domestic goddess of a wife explained, I'm really NOT much of a handyman (or, at least, I really haven't been in the past.... I've been a firm believer in hiring professionals to do what professionals do; after all, time is money, right?). That being said, however, living on a farm brings out the best in folks, I guess, and I'm finding all kinds of interests (and talents) I never knew I had, or even knew that I wanted.

WHEW. That was a mouthful. I do have to admit, though, I'm actually really ENJOYING building stuff here on this farm we are so happy to call home. We built a fence around Em's garden (me and Christian, with a little forced help from my family while they were here for the Fourth). We built a kennel for Wilson (our dog, aka Aslan, the Lion) and his escape-artist side-kick, Roman the Lab. And NOW--the masterpiece, to date at least--our 5 x 6' chicken coop, for the other seven "memberini" of our family (that's 'little family members,' in Italiano, in case you're curious).

(The view from the back side)

I mean it, though: I'm finding a great deal of satisfaction in building things from scratch and making lots of sawdust and wood shavings fly. Yours truly ... who didn't put in his own yard in Utah, didn't finish his own basement (yea, right) in South Jordan as well, doesn't even change his own oil or fix broken sprinkler heads, etc...! Now I'm telling Em that, "as soon as we can afford it, I want to buy a whole wood shop full of equipment" so I can get serious and build her tables and chairs and things like that.

In reality, I think my favorite part is just working with our kids, talking, laughing and sharing stories, etc., while we measure, saw and hammer on stuff. Christian absolutely LOVES creating stuff, and I really enjoy seeing him so excited. Anderson, Brighty, Madeline ... even Evan: they all pitch in. They all enjoy helping, and it's really satisfying seeing them all so happy and so excited about where we are living and what we are building of our lives.

(The Big Siblings: our 4 largest)

Heck, we stood outside last night for almost an hour after the coop was done, just admiring it, joking about the chickens "enjoying their new 'mansion' versus the tiny condo they were in before" ... not wanting to say good night and go in; it really was a lot of fun. The kids are learning how to work harder. We are spending more time as a family. We're, little by little, creating more independence and greater self-sufficiency, which is our ultimate goal. It's wonderful. Like Em said, as we were building the fence early this month, "We're not building a fence, we're building a family." I echo her thought: "We're not growing crops or livestock, we are growing kids." So they have a few extra slivers, grass stains, mosquito bites and bee stings." They also find snakes and lizards and chase squirrels each day. They're eating fresh veggies, will soon have fresh eggs and we're looking at getting a dairy cow as soon as we can. Yummmm! I can't help but believe that it will all be worth it one day when they look back on these early years and--we hope--say they never would have wanted to grow up any other way.

(Daddy's little helpers...!)

So far they are THRILLED ... and we are too! Our own little brood--Maddy, aka Intellibella, Christian, aka The Big Brain, Brighten, aka Doctor "B" (our future veterinarian), Anderson, aka "Speedygonzawesome," and Evan, aka Budda--WE LOVE YOU. I LOVE YOU...!!! And, Emmy, aka Wonder Woman ... you know how much I adore you, babe.

Thank you for sharing your lives with me. I love each of you with all my heart.

Daddy-Patrick

Greetings from Daddy-Laing

Hi ya'll....

Em just informed me that I could actually add to this blog. I've enjoyed reading it but it didn't even occur to me that I could actually WRITE something (go figure, I'm on a computer for 10 hours a day it seems, but--alas--am still about as technical as a turnip, I'll admit).

Isn't Em a great writer! (I just had to mention that before I forget....) :0)

My technical expertise, or lack thereof, is the stuff of legend around the Laing and Armstrong homes. We used to look forward to her dad's bi-annual visits to Utah because I could save up all the semi-major and major honey-do's for him to accomplish while in town. Now that he lives across town we (1) never see him and (2) have a growing list of broken items and house projects that have yet to be done.

Personally, I am a firm believer in hiring professionals to do what professionals do every day. That's why I (we) didn't put in our own sprinkling system or finish our own basement in Utah. Time is money and it typically--in my mind--will cost me more to first figure out how to do something, second try to do it, third go get Em to help me figure out how to do it right, call up her dad to help us when we both get stuck, and--what are we at--fifth, take it to the repair shop after all and pay to have them undo what I've done. (One good example was the roto tiller we recently borrowed that I took a part and couldn't put back together; I think Em may have mentioned this to you).

Fixing things--or trying to--is also hard on the bod. You all heard about my 4 broken ribs and dislocated shoulder, I assume. I wasn't even trying to actually FIX anything. I was just up on the ladder, looking at the chimney, trying to figure out what it would take (for someone else) to come fix it. Our 100 lb. horse named Wilson knocked down the ladder ... and I ended up in a neck brace in the E.R.

Anyway. Just let me say thanks to each of you ... for being there for Em while we figure out where to land ... for buoying her up while I get our fledgling company off the ground ... for cheering her on while she and I rent for the first time in 15 years ... for being her friends as she goes through all the ups and downs of life, family and marriage to me. It's not always the easiest thing, I know. But I love her for it and I'm so glad we're a team.

We're almost there--I keep telling her to hang on. Our farm house, our acreage, our chickens and our cow ... they are just around the corner. Eggs and milk anyone? I'm sure we'll have plenty to share.

Ciao, Bionic WomEn

Patrick

Again!?!

No go on the house...glad I didn't post pics. It just wasn't coming together. Nailing down jello is just hard to do. We were planning on moving this weekend, and now it is a no go. Life is like a box of chocolates....somebody ate all the good ones and you are left with the crappy soft centers that will do in a pinch, but not the dark chocolate carmels you were so hoping for. So for now, not moving, not packing, and things have only got to get better. Patrick has a huge smile on his face and just as optimistic as they come. Glad we didn't settle though....we are meant to have land....all I can say girls, is follow the spirit. Yes, it is true, sometimes he tells you to chop off some evil doers head, or say hi to your annoying neighbor, but you gotta do it even if it hurts. Here's to doing the tuff stuff...may we all get stronger by doing so.

Stuck in Switzerland

And now it has stretched to Saturday.....

Daddy's Home....for 4 Days....Back to SwissLand!

Patrick was home for a wonderful 4 days. I felt like a pioneer who sent her husband off on a mission. The baby wouldn't leave his side. We all had a great time relishing all the attention and love we were getting. The real swiss chocolate and the fresh baguette really said love to me. Didn't share a piece with anyone. With Patrick home we tried to stuff as much into 4 days as possible, if you get my drift. Mommy is tired. He tried to replace belts on a rototiller...and bless his heart....he couldn't figure out how to put the thing back together again. I will be delivering it to the mechanic today to get reassembled. Patrick really tries, it is just not one of his talents...Today, he left for Zurich and will be back on Thursday. Let's hope it doesn't stretch into 16 days again.

My dear daughter with the gorgeous long hair brought me a special present on Saturday. You know, the Saturday that was 75 degrees? Well, the gift was head lice! After checking all the kids and discovering that just one had them (said a prayer of thanks), I proceeded to pick through waist long hair for two hours. We found one live one and about twenty eggs....by the way, oil works...RID doesn't....metal nit combs better than plastic. It's official, I am now a mother. My children have had chicken pox, croup, ear infections, pneumonia, and now lice. Bed wetting, teething, diaper rash, colic, plantar warts, hand foot mouth disease, stitches....anything else I missed? Oh yeah..severed finger and husband falling off roof...good one honey!

Brighten had a great birthday. My seven year old now has the glamourous job of unloading the dishwasher. Madeline, having to give up her job to her younger sister, has now graduated to cleaning the family room and vacuuming everyday....that's right, everyday. Our carpet is teal green...shows everything. Having had green carpet before, I knew what a hassle this would be, but this house is big and suits our family despite the 90's carpet. Poor kids! They have to vacuum up their mess....wah! As my wonderful father used to say to me on almost a daily basis, it builds character. Again, poor kids!

Italy....Patrick's other home. He loves Italy. He speaks italian every chance he gets. One of the perks of owning your company is traveling to where the clients are. I have been home with the kids during spring break without him for over a week with no end in sight. Don't worry...he wanted me to come, but I knew that it would be all business and when I go to Italy for the first time, it will be for pleasure. This picture is of San Marino in central Italy. I have no idea what this castle is. So if any of you want to school me on how to download and then import photos to my computer then I could share all that is going on in my family. Half of my disk loaded but I can't get them into a program to edit them....I am too old to figure this crap out!
For those of you who knew be before Evan was born, I made bread alot. Well I don't think I have attempted it since he was born...no longer. I am the bread queen now! If you ever need a good recipe, I have plenty. Funny thing is that since I started making it, I am not hungry anymore. One slice and I am good to go...this is going to be a great diet! Whole milk, butter, and bread! Sweeet!

Waterfall Family Photos