That's Gonna Leave A Mark

Blake and I have been going on dates with the kids on Saturdays. 

Not only do they get to skip out on chores....score.

But they also have some rocking company to hang out with....double score.

On mine and Laney's date we went to the mall.

I fear for the day that Laney is 14 and a mall rat. 

It is gonna happen people. I have no doubt.

So...We went into Claires.

It is a tween paradise.

I am sure that when Laney said that she wanted to get her ears pierced she thought I would say no.

I didn't.

She tried to back out at the last minute.

But it was too late. 

I told her it wouldn't hurt that bad....

I may have fibbed.

No matter. 

She is bejeweled now. 

You should see some of the earrings that she points out that she wants to wear.

Heaven help me.

In other news.

Blake and I got into a car accident.

I don't like to point fingers but...it was totally the other guys fault.

(picture me pointing a finger)

Anywhoodle, when the kid hit us it spun our car around. There was a chair in the back seat and Gavin's head hit it...or he hit his head on the chair. 

Either way.

I will tell you this: All is fine and dandy until your kid is bleeding out their head. Then it is not fine or dandy.

It looked like it was a pretty good gash so we ended up taking him to the Urgent care. 

He ended up with 3 stitches. 

He was not concerned about his stitches. 

Mostly he was concerned that it was "gonna mess up his fancy new hair cut."

Crisis averted.

Hair cut was unscathed.

Hananuka Days 4 through 6

I was a little bit of a slacker when it came to getting all of these up this year. 

On day 4 I woke up to a pie plate full of lemons. 

The best part?

When lemon trees are in season I am going to have one that is mine all mine. 

I have wanted a lemon tree for a few years now, so I am very excited!

My mom and Steve were supposed to come into town for Gavin's baptism. My mom was going to stay for longer so she was going to be here on my actual birthday. Unfortunately, my mom got the flu and my step dad Steve got pneumonia, so they didn't come. 

But my mom still got to participate in Hananuka. 

From her I am getting The Blue Book, and a pressure regulator. 

Very cool.

She shipped it out, so it should be here any day.

For the last day, Blake planned for us to go out to dinner. 

We typically like to combine my birthday, his birthday and our anniversary into one meal. 

It's all about practicality folks.

My friend April decided to be a saint that night and volunteered to watch our kids.

Spending a little extra time with Blake all by myself was the perfect way to end the week. 

   

34

Yesterday it happened. 

Just like it does every year.

It was a good day. Spent doing stuff that I normally do. Only it was better.

Blake brought me a 44 oz Diet Dr. Pepper and a pepperoni stick with a side of large smarties. 

That is always a good thing to have at 9 in the morning.

The kids were not especially good but I didn't expect them to be.

If anything I expected pure chaos.

So there was no where to go but up. 

Early in the day we were in the car and Canon was going on and on about how he knew what he was going to get me and that it was going to be the best present ever. 

"You are going to love it so so much!"

Do you know what I really want for my birthday? For you just to be really good and obedient. 

"Yah...I am not giving that to you. I am going to get you a pair of light blue jeans instead."

Blake ended up buying a cake from the store and we had frozen Costco pizza.

I didn't have to do the dishes and the kids didn't complain about what they were eating. Another win!

I was wished a lot of "Happy Birthday."

Truly I felt loved.

And a little bit more wrinkly. 

Thirty four is going to be great! 

Thirty five may be the year I want Botox.

Hananuka Days 1-3

 It started.

I thought that this year it wasn't going to happen. 

Not to be Poo-pooey about it...I just figured that we would skip it.

So, when I woke up on Sunday morning to this...

I will admit, I cried. A lot. There was some good hardy snot crying going on.

It was very sweet of my Dad to join in on the fun since he was here for Gavin's baptism.

He may have been a little afraid of my horrible sobbing...but I think in some odd way he was happy about it too. 

I suppose I should have known better.

Blake is so good at this, it would almost be a travesty if he stopped.

You can't stop perfection.

And truly that is what Hananuka is to me. 

Perfection. 

To have someone that thinks that much about you, and puts so much time into making something great...just for you.

It is very touching.

So I am glad that my Dad got to participate...at least for one day with the...er...touching?

There are not many times I get mushy on this here blog.

I don't talk to often of things that I keep close to my heart.

I think some of those things are lost in translation.

But one thing is for sure.

This was close...crying like a baby close...to my heart. 

So many people came from near and far, and some were there is spirit. 

I couldn't have been more proud of Gavin and more thankful for our friends and family. 

My heart was full that day.

Very very full.

Ch-ch-ch-changes

Sometimes, with life, I start to feel a little stagnant. 

I start to itch for a change.

I am sure I am not the only one.

I am sure, though, that the major difference between us is that, when I start to feel that way I have a tendency to paint. 

It is cheaper than redoing all of the decor in our house and it makes everything feel so clean and fresh.

It is not that I love painting.

(Although you may doubt that statement given my track record)

I just love the way it feels when it is done, so it is worth the effort. 

Our kitchen has been pretty ugly since the day we moved in. 

It is old and out dated but, in the end you work with what you got.

The cupboards. Oh the cupboards.

They were a taupey brown in the center, and who ever painted them before painted all of the hardware. Plus, we don't have a hood vent above our stove so the cupboards all had a greasy, sticky, yellow film over the top that had been on there for many years and refused to come off.

No worries. Paint covers it all up.  

White cupboards seem to warm my soul.

Still old, but I can totally handle that.

The hallway in our house has been painted this color since we moved in.

I actually repainted it right when we moved in, in the same color. 

I never really had a problem with it.

But I decided to paint the baseboards because they were all hacked up, and Blake suggested that I paint the walls a lighter color.

*collective sigh*

Clean walls. White baseboards. Ahhh.

And since I obviously can not get enough of painting I picked up this little desk at the D.I. for Laney and Penny's room. 

It is going to get a nice new lease on life too. Just like the dresser behind it. 

And when it comes to treasures I also found this little chair at Thrift Town that I couldn't resist for the new desk. 

For $1.99 it practically jumped in my cart on its own. 

Mozzy

Mozzy has been with us for about a month.

We have learned a couple of things since:

Grabbing him around his middle when he is trying to run away...seems to work. Somehow when his back feet are off the floor it slows his escape.

Although he likes his, not very frequent, alone time. He also is a busy body.

Canon loves him. Loves him to the point where I fear he might smother the cat. Canon is under the impression that him and Mozzy are buds. The crying meowing doesn't have me convinced.

He is a good sport and lets Penny carry him around a little haphazardly.

The other kids carry him like a baby. 

Side bar--

I was always under the impression that he let the kids carry him on his back because he was mellow and didn't care. At night, he goes into the bathroom to sleep and we close the door. When morning comes, as soon as he hears the kids talking he starts meowing. The other morning I went down and he was meowing but the kids were still sleeping. So I grabbed him and took him upstairs. I was holding him and petting him but he wouldn't stop meowing. I told Blake I didn't get why he was meowing so Blake picked him up and laid him on his back like a baby. As soon as he did that he started purring. 

Dumb cat. Loves being a baby. 

Mozzy has figured out the art of hiding. Which has made it hard at times for the kids to find him. 

In the eyes of our kids, he is the best.
Through the eyes of Gavin, he evidently looks like he is cross-eyed..and maybe not quite right in the head.

The child that is the most scared of animals can get over that fear pretty easily...then in turn instills that fear in the cat instead.

Our house feels just like it did before. 

Although now we have a cat that says night time prayers with us.