First Day of School...

......was not horrible. The night before school....was like a really scary horror movie that was never ending. The boys were hyped up. They were excited and nervous and antsy and sleepless and any other word you could use that would equal super duper hyper-ness. In other words, they drove me crazy. We attempted shower/bedtimes around 8:00 and lovely enough that didn't get done until closer to 9ish. Then bed. Lets just say that they were tucked in around 9:00. They actually went to sleep around 11:30 and not for lack of me trying to get them to calm down...by any means necessary. Eventually though they finally went to sleep after threatening to take their toys away, possible spankings and hollers until I may or may not have mentioned I was running away until they decided to behave a little convincing.
But this morning they were up before me and ready to roll with hair done and new clothes on. I woke up to them watching TV and eating Poptarts. And apparently they had a great day at school, so that is even better. I hope the rest of the year goes as well.

This is after school....they were a little more polished before school but you get the point :)

Happy Birthday Tyler!

7 years ago today a beautiful baby boy came into our lives. He was tiny and adorable. We have been through alot in that 7 years. Tyler is one tough little cookie. He is loveable and VERY helpful, especially at dinner time when he doesn't want to eat. He loves his brothers and likes to help them out when they aren't fighting. He has conquered 5 surgeries (he has a cleft lip and palate for anyone reading that doesn't know that already) which is more than most people have in a lifetime and came out stronger each time. I love my little guy more than anything and I hope he had a great birthday today.

The cake. We have a birthday tradition in our house. The birthday boy gets to go choose his own cake from the store and choose decorations for the top and they get to decorate however they want.



From what I hear, cousin Jack decorated this beaut with the help of his Momma. Job well done I say!

We had a BBQ...Ty was his helpful little self and helped me BBQ the hot dogs and hamburgers

The birthday cake photo op

Getting ready to blow the candles out

Our family and friends

Opening presents.

You have been a joy in our life, we love you very much Tyler man. I can't even imagine what life would be like without you making me smile every single day. Happy Birthday love bug...I love you to the moon and back!

Friday-ness

Today is Friday wooooo! I like Fridays. Except maybe this Friday because work was stressful and I really needed tomorrow to be a work day not a weekend....but it will hopefully all work out in the end with our problem file. Anyway, not much to report so here are a few pictures from the last little bit. I've been slacking at pictures huh! Here goes.

We played at the boy's school the other day with LJ. It was fun...this is them racing down the hill

Ty racing down the hill

Nate racing down the hill

The boys lookin all tough sprinting down the "stairs"

Ry hates the tub/shower, so I was surprised to see him and LJ tubbing the other day. LJ was showin Ry how to blow bubbles. It was sooo cute.

Nate got stung by a bee/wasp/hornet/something. It was huge. Threw some lavender oil on it and it was gone within a few hours. Always amazes me when that stuff works.

Remember my stress over work pictures not too long ago? This is the one that will officially be on our webpage under my name. I really wish my hair hadn't looked so sweaty/greasy from the 139583 degree weather that day but otherwise not shabby I think. Check out Joie Madison she definitely made me look way better than I really lookd that day.

So there it is. Have a great weekend ya'll!

I Give Up

Its been a crazy busy week and it's only Tuesday! The days have been filled crazy issues at work and they generally spill over to the night time so I can get things prepped for the next day. And I'm not complaining because I love every minute. I do have definite feelings of inadequacy on several occasions but get reassured I'm doing okay. So In the end I love my job. Love it. So much that I am willing to move for it. But not yet.
After a very long and stressful search for housing, I found one that was wonderful and affordable. Almost too good to be true. Well after waiting 3 long days past the day I was told I would find out... I heard on Monday that I was approved. BUT.
There is always a but isn't there?
All of a sudden the deposit was going to be more than double what he qouted me AND he kept asking me how many bedrooms I wanted and when I was going to move in AFTER I put down $200 to hold the ground level three bedroom that I wanted to move into this weekend. Something about the whole transaction just feels wonky, and its too late to start looking again so...I'm throwing in the towel. I give up. Cedar is where I am meant to stay, at least for the next few months.
So, the next matter of business will be paying off the car, buying a new/better car and paying off the bad debt on my credit. If I can get all that taken care of, there is a high chance I will be able to buy a house in December instead of having to figure out a rental. Fingers crossed this plan goes...well...as planned. All I know is I feel more at peace now than I have in a long time so that reassures me I am making the right decision. Onwards and upwards!

Interesting filled day

Today as been an interesting day....full of random acts. So here is the fun facts...

Our office space was finally approved so we are moving offices. A whole lot of the Loan Officers in the dungeon starting moving their stuff today. I even got my office key. I am not entirely sure when I'm being moved over, but it will be nice to have an actual desk and file cabinet again. And two monitors. I wondered when I first started why everyone had two or more. Now I know...makes life easier. At least I don't have 10. There are some who do. However, I think I am going to kind of miss being around my little dungeon family. I've learned a lot down there and have made some good friends.

I was checked stats on my blog for fun today. This will be my 540th post. I've had a grand total of 12,090 page views since the birth of this blog! It's interesting because I first started this to keep my family not living near me updated on our family happenings. It's also served as a venting area to get things out of my mind and as a journal of sorts. And now...there are lots of people reading! The post with the most views of all time has been Stop Eating With Your Mouth Open topping the charts at 118 views. The runners up are posts about my lack of love life and Mormon Messages. I think that is soo interesting. My top viewers are in the United States obviously, second runner up is Russia followed by Malaysia, Canada and Germany. I've had quite a few hits from India, the UK, Brazil, Australia, and China. Hi Internationals! Granted given the fact that a few of the traffic sources are websites, my guess would be some of those are spammers. Some of the keywords that have been searched and brought up my blog are also pretty humorous. Such as "Boy Painted Toes" and "Soooo Tractor" although I'm not sure how either of those got my blog, but whatever. Funny all the same. So hooray for fun stats...I always find it intriquing to see whos checking me out and where ya'll are from. Thanks for reading the blog!

Back at the beginning of July I got entered into a drawing to get free Birchbox every month. I didn't win but decided I wanted to give it a try anyway and see what I came up with. The Birchbox is $10 a month (free shipping) and has samples of high end products and fun things just for gals. After many shipping issues (UGH) I finally got mine today for July. I can tell you that the samples they give you are not as big as pictured on the website, but they aren't too shabby. I got a new set of Skull (?) earbuds and some music downloads, samples of Larabar Uber bananas foster bars, Jouer lip treatment, Stainiac tinted lip balm, Ada Cosmetics Peach Bronzer, and Harvey Prince Hello fragrance (smells like lemon, maderine and grapefruit mmmm). Each box has a theme to it too which is kind of neat, so the boxes have different things in them each month. So really...it wasn't exactly what I was expecting but I would say it was worth the $10. And it's kind of fun to have a little surprise waiting for me in the mail. :)

The great debate of when to move may have been resolved today. On a whim, I used my lunch period to go look at a little apartment community I noticed when the fam went to Grandma M's house a couple weekends ago (the entrance to them is right across from the entrance to her community!). I didn't think they would have any openings but alas they did. The owner was extremely nice and seemed excited to get me in there. I just need to fill out an application and put down half the deposit to hold the unit for me if I choose to rent there. The apartment is a little bit smaller than the one I'm in currently but they are nicer. The grounds are kept up very well, have some great amenities and it's right behind the elementary school so the kids could walk to and from school every day. If you want to check it out...look here. And one of the daycares that I was looking into is right down the street as well, so my morning commute wouldn't be too bad. So tonight I make the decision....move in a week and a half or stay here until Decemberish. We shall see.

I also got my first approvals this week at work which means I'm going to have loans closing soon woohoo! That means the big paydays will be rolling in soon which makes me feel better about moving as well. The only hardish time I would have is the month of August. That might be workable.

Lots of happenings today thats for sure.

Mormon Messages Monday

I have fervently fasted, prayed and asked many people for advice on this whole moving situation. I appreciate the comments. Most people have the opinion that I need to trust my feelings and my gut... that I wouldn't be having them for no reason and I have to agree....but I don't know quite how to decipher them. I still wonder what is best to do and don't have a concrete answer yet. So the Mormon Message for today was extremely helpful to me. Not only in this decision, but in my life.\
More than once I have felt like that poor family. Right when I get going on a journey... my engine blows up so to speak and then I have to backtrack. And then I start fresh again and bam my engine blows up again. So I wonder if these feelings are a warning that my engine is about to blow up and I just need to have patience, the good times will come, as long as I just keep trying my best. I have to have faith that I will be steered into the right direction for my kids, our finances, our well-being...and I still haven't felt that concretely. But I think I'm getting closer.
Anyway, I hope this touches ya'll like it did me today....Good Things to Come.

Having some debates.... I don't like debates

The closer it gets to August the more unsettled I'm feeling about moving. It don't know if its stress because I haven't found a place, worry over my finances, concern for the kids and how they will adjust, stress over finding a daycare that doesn't have 403482872 bad tags on it from the state.....
Or if it is the fact that I worry about the change and how I'm going to manage everything. I know I'm meant to be down there.....my stress is coming from deciding when.
Mom suggested that I possibly commute until Christmas break when I know better what my finances look like and could start the kids in school after Christmas break down there. The only downfall is the gas and wear on my car. Its expensive and I'm starting to worry about my little Nissan. I don't think it's handling the commuting too well. Granted, I'm looking at getting a pretty good paycheck for the next couple months so it might be worth it to pay off my car and buy a new one with cash (I hate making car payments....would be nice not to have to do that anymore)...a Hybrid that gets amazing gas mileage maybe?
Or do I move down there in 2-3 weeks, have a REALLY rough month or two financially until I get adjusted...have more stress over moving records in time for school and finding daycare last minute....
Could someone just give me an answer? I don't like making this decision on my own. I know I need to, but I really don't want to. But I can't shake the unsettling feeling that I'm not meant to move yet.
Being a grown up sucks.

My New Love!

.............is a song!
I know I know I'm sorry, I got your hopes up for an awesome prince charming story right? Ha yeah probably not. But I thought I was pretty sneaky right there! :)
On the commute to/from work I listen to the alternative-indy-rock-whatever station. I love it...they play Mumford & Sons who I love, Naked and Famous who I also love, and similiar offbeat types of bands. Well I have been hearing this song FOREVER and never caught the name or the group. And of course the songs that drive me crazy play 20 times a ride but the ones that I love rocking out to (song below) don't play NEAR enough. And when they do, I never catch the band or song name. So tonight I Googled and Youtubed every phrase from the song until I finally found the right song. And.... I did! This song makes me want to get up and start dancing. And of course blare the words out at the top of my lungs. So I have to share. Enjoy!!

Some Nights - Fueled by Ramen (FUN)

How adorable is the lead guy....I have a tiny celeb crush on him. How could you not? :)

Disappointment

So....I didn't get the house. I really thought I was going to, but I do realize that what's meant to be will be. I'm not so much disappointed that I didn't get that particular house, I liked it but wasn't in love. I'm more disappointed in the fact that I have to keep looking and time is starting to dwindle down at a rather rapid speed (gotta be out on Aug 10-11, get school records transferred, find a daycare...actually get moved....). I'm also feeling a bit frustrated because you basically have to qualify to buy a house in order to rent down there. There is a reason I'm not buying yet rental companies....believe me if I could I would. It would be cheaper. And my own investment. But no (I got denied for the house because I haven't been at my job for as long as they felt comfortable with). It is soo frustrating. So here is crossing fingers that the right place comes along. Or a miracle happens. Or both. I just need someone to throw me a bone and I wouldn't disappoint. Ugh. I'm crossing fingers and praying that I will find a place sooner rather than later.
On another note, I got my work pictures back and boy can that girl work some magic. She improved them tenfold and they really look fantastic. I don't know if I have the rights to post them yet, so I will have to do that later. I think they are still in edit phase right now. But you should check her stuff out.... www.joiemadison.com. She really is awesome.

Well, thats about all for now. More to come I'm sure. Have a good evening ya'll.

Mormon Messages Monday

There has been much debate about whether or not Mormons are Christians. Well in my head...the name of the church is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints....which would mean we believe in Christ. Thus Christians. However...this Mormon Messages explains it far better and more lovingly than I. Enjoy.......Are Mormons Christians?