Brecka

So this was my project for the weekend. I've never had so much trouble with color, but I've also never felt more unorganized for any event we've ever planned. Make way for AWANA kickoff... I know it's going to be even worse for me. Everything is in storage, most of my files are in MS Works, which I have lost due to reformatting and all my codes being in storage! So anyway, my life is in shambles, but it must go on. It was a pretty little shower for Brecka, and really assembled a nice group of ladies. Brecka's not a current member of our church; she's from a while back, so we had many ladies from many points in her life. It's always so fun getting together. We also had 2 ladies show up from a distant church that found they both knew Brecka, but didn't know the other knew Brecka! Even when highly unplanned, showers are just the greatest things! Mallory had a really good time, and it's so fun seeing her mature. She can be so helpful and lady like at events like this, but then wait a few minutes and she'll pull a handful of mints out of her pocket and remind you that she's still that little girl inside!!

After fishing, Michael's project was to blow insulation in the attic of the blue house. He was shocked to discover I had plans (!), so he started calling people I know he'd rather work with anyway!!! So he found one of Mallory's best friends, Elisa, and her whole family came out to help, not knowing that Mallory and I wouldn't be there. So Elisa sat in the van and read her book, and they gave Gay (mom) the on/off switch, and the guys took turns blowing insulation and loading the hopper. It sounded like the boys were relatively non-existent all afternoon. Later they appeared, with most of the crick firmly attached and Morgan was once again bloody. They had been playing in the pit (where we dump the really bad stuff to be burned/buried), and Morgan stepped on ANOTHER nail. Oh, boy. Gay's a good mom and got him all bandaged up, but without Mom, I guess everything just started going south. When I finally did show up, he was sitting in the back of the truck crying to go home. It took a while, but we got him home. After Elisa's huge disappointment, she wanted to take Mallory home, but it was really Eythan's turn to have someone over, so they were going to take both of them while I took my patient home for care. As we started the process of protecting Claude's van from Matthew and Eythan, Michael suggested we just take the boys and they have the girls. I'm not sure how I lost my precious little girl for another one of these strange boy-creatures, but we did have a good time.

Well, it's really time to get these events moving, so I'd best move!!!

Fisher Foxes

I have been asked to post these photos, as they represent what the men in my family enjoy most. There was also a photo taken down the fish's throat, so I suppose I should be grateful that I wasn't required to post that one. Normally, the guys go out at oh-dark-thirty, but yesterday they didn't leave until 7:30. Poor Michael. Pa Rose isn't doing so well at the extremely early, and the boys kinda sleep walk, which is not such a good thing in a small boat on the Missouri River. Anyway, it sounds like the boys are to sit in the middle of the boat and sit STILL... which is hard enough. But they had a lot of trouble getting this one in the boat. I guess the dip net caught more hook than fish, and eventually Pa Rose just did the fist down the throat and flung it in the boat. Sounds like Mississippi Catfishing. Another story for later.... Anyway, I hear Michael tried to do the same, but caught more of that nasty hook that tangled the net. Slippery little sucker. So last night and this morning Michael's been working on his masterpiece to add to the church potluck today. He's only bringing half, which is going to be difficult enough to transport and handle and such, but I'm afraid it's only going to cover the first 10 people in line, too!!
Ok, vital stats:
Flathead, 35 pounds, 45 inches, Caught near Pa Rose's cabin on the Missouri River.

Shattered Dreams

Well, life as we know it is over. The universe has shrunk and everything we ever knew about it is wrong. Pluto is no longer a planet, and what's more--they have found a similar planet that's an even larger ice chunk than Pluto, but it only got a number. I guess they gave it a nickname... Xena or something. So after I just teach my kids "My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizza-pies," now I'm going to have to figure out a new one. Noodles? Doesn't take much education for that one. Going to have to be a good one. Might have to get chefboy in on this one. That's all for now. I'm just so distraught.
Actually, I'm having neck problems and sitting here really hurts. But anyway, the other way sounded more glamourous. And I had to post something... I guess...

Coming back

It's been a while and I have no new pictures to post, but the drywall is going up so fast!! The kid says it always does, it's the mudding and sanding that takes time. I may not get my smooth ceilings, but he's going to give it a go. The rafters are so uneven that it may not be as attractive as I'm hoping. But then again, when you have a couple ceiling fans and a smoke detector (now required by codes) cutting up the line, it just may work. Joe said to wait until the first couple muddings before we make any decisions. Then picture where the fans and such will go, and it might work. I'm still counting on it! Mom wants me to get down there and finish painting the basement before it's my turn to paint everywhere and I get overwhelmed with it all. I think we all know that's going to happen no matter what! We picked out all the paint colors Monday. The boys were going to have a blue room, but Grandma wants to make them some "Cars" bedspreads and such, and the blues just don't match. So their room changed to red. They were both pretty happy with that. Lots of decisions were made that day. There is a lineoleum-type bathroom wall covering that matches my tile nearly perfectly. I am so excited about that. It will be different for me not to be able to accent with wallpaper borders, but the neutrality of the colors will also be new to me. It will leave me open to change. We also picked up the countertops, but found that they were all wrong, so we unloaded them. Jeff will be back today, so I'll call him in a little bit.

The retreat went pretty well this weekend. It was an all E-Free conference and there were a few more women than I was expecting, but I think my dramas went ok. There were plenty of lines I forgot, but slid through like they were never there. They made me do the funny one again for skit night because the Kansas City gals didn't make it there in time to see it Friday night. I messed that one up that time, but we were all laughing so hard anyway that it just didn't seem to matter!! I also won a 15 minute massage there, and even though it was short, it was soooo nice! What a good time for a relaxer!! There was lots of free time to do manicures and workshops and such, but it was in the town where my grandma lives, so we took most of the free time to spend with her and my aunt. My aunt has that same cat problem that I have, so it's nice every once in a while to see where one's quirks originate. She has a hole in her wall and a fenced in run with outdoor carpet and a log for them to sharpen their paws. I think I've already mentioned the look the drywaller gave me when I pointed out the little cat crawl through to the basement. Hey, I don't want the door hanging open, but I want the cat's private places down there. Anyway, crazy birds of a feather need to get together.

So during the retreat, there's always this need to call home. Go figure. You'd think one of these times we'd decide it's best not to know. The guys took the kids to the river for the afternoon. At the retreat, everyone's reaction was, "Oh, no, what's the house look like??" Well, at least Michael's pretty good at covering about half of his tracks. It's nice not to get the whole story!! Anyway, they brought the little mudballs home and stuck them in the shower. Michael went to check on them and found that Morgan didn't even have wet hair, so he stuck him back in to try again. Later, Morgan told Grandpa, "I don't know why it's that important. I've gone to bed with dirty hands before and when I wake up, they're clean." So anyway, I'm sure they had a good time, but all table manners and such were lost notions. I've decided that next time, either my little girl will be going with me or going to a house that still contains some female role model!! I know, it's probably good for her, but she really just had this dazed look in her face everytime anyone mentioned what they did over the weekend. Maybe I just need to show her how to keep them in line. Like that's possible!

Drywalling!!

The drywalling started on Tuesday! It's been nice to have some time off, though I obviously didn't use it for blogging. Michael had a cake order for the nursing home, and other than that I've just been enjoying some time with my kids and studying my lines for this weekend. This one's going to be tough. I've got 4 dramas. The great part is that I've done them all before. I've found all my props and even purchased some new ones. I'm excited but nervous. I usually just do these for my local church... about 20 or 30 women. I'm afraid this one might be much larger.

But anyway, the gutters went up on the house yesterday and last night we took the kids to a little fair going on at the nursing home. The residents had a nice time, although we had to go inside to see them. It was just too hot and sticky outside. It was nice to forget my anxieties for a while!! We stopped back by the house on the way home. I hadn't seen the gutters. My battery had died at the fair or I would post a pic of the new gutters. I'll have to do that when I get back.

Well, I still have to fix the pool, shower, pack (grrrrr.... I HATE packing), and get out of here in the next 2 hours, but I wanted to get an update here before I left. Pray for me!!

Crazy week

I've had so much to tell this week, but no time to do it that I wasn't just plopping into bed!! The party went well Sunday and Morgan really enjoyed his Thomas cake. The whole family went out to tour the blue house and see the progress. We were really excited to have Pa Rose finally see it. We hadn't decided if he was depressed that we were messing with his designed house, or if he was just plain too tired to venture that way. We think he's ok with it. It's just hard to remember that he's over 80 years old and just might be more tired than we think!

The shingles and basement windows came in on Monday, so I was hoping to get the shingles cut into crowns before anyone needed them. I wanted Michael to do the flat part that was left because it was a small triangle and needed lots of cutting. I can't do that well, so I told him that I'd finish all the crowning if he'd do that. First, I had to finish getting in all the air vents. They just staple to the roof on the inside to let the air move between the attic and soffets. Meanwhile, the kids were with my mom, and apparently driving her absolutely crazy, so Michael and I decided that if they can't be good for Grandma, they'll have to go work at the blue house for the rest of the week.

I've also been working on a bridesmaid dress for my little sister, Jenny. It's been hard to make contact with her to fit it, but her mom (Yes, we have different moms. Well, we have different dads, too, but we still think we're sisters!) was planning to run me up to quickly fit her on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, it was raining pretty heavily, which was a good thing for the crops. Many crops around here are completely burned up, so it was fantastic to see some rain to possibly save some of them. The kids and I got to the blue house just to find Michael frantically moving the new cabinets around. Water was gushing in all around them in the garage. Without gutters on the house, the water was just pouring straight into the garage toward them. He got a lot of them moved and others put up on boards out of the water, but then we had to tear off all the wet cardboard before the particle board started soaking that up. There's a huge drainage crack that runs through the garage, but it was packed with dirt and sawdust, so Mallory and I started sweeping all that stuff out so it could drain right. We're still concerned that we may have lost some of the new cabinets. Randy stopped by to see what was going on, but he and Michael soon left. The kids and I just decided to start cleaning and getting ready for anything else that might happen. I got them sweeping and vacuuming while I got ready to cut some shingles into crowns when Mallory and Matthew ran to tell me that Morgan had stepped on a nail. I could hear nothing from Morgan, which always makes my heart stop. Sure enough, blood was gushing from his foot and he was crying so hard he wasn't breathing. Mallory ran to get some shop towels and the first aid kit. We got him patched up and ready to go home while Matthew and I loaded some tools and shingles that I could cut when we got home. I couldn't get a hold of the doctor, but found that he'd had a tetanus shot 2 years ago. I had found the nail he stepped on and it was a clean one, but there was a good 3/4" of blood on it. We got him soaking in Epsom salt while we waited for a call and we started cutting shingles. I was also thinking that since the day at the house was over, maybe we could run up to see Jenny that night. Well, that all worked out and the doctor said we could skip the shot if we kept an eye on it, so that was good. We waited for Daddy to get home to sit with the patient. It was a good thing this wasn't Matthew. Dr. Dad doesn't work for him. It's Mom, on the couch, paying attention to nothing but him!! But everything worked out, the dress fit great, and Morgan's ok so far.

On Wednesday, we got to the house to find a new guy on the roof finishing up the shingles. He was Greg, and Randy had told him to just do that diagonal that's hard for me. We unloaded all the shingles we had cut and got those up the ladder. The kids took turns sitting with Morgan and coming up to help me. We got the whole roof done!! Then Randy had a project for Matthew. Where we had turned garage into bedrooms, there was nothing at the floor to eventually nail baseboards to, so Randy had cut 2x4's into chunks and we were to nail those between the studs. Scott stopped by and saw that we needed nails and he brought back more nails than you might need for 8 houses, but that gave us plenty of choices!! So Mallory vacuumed out all the sawdust, I fitted the chunks to the right spots and Matthew nailed them down. By that time, Michael was getting off work and came down to see the action. We were pretty much exhausted, but he decided we should do some insulating. Ok, go ahead, but I was too sweaty. Well, he was that sweaty in about 5 minutes, so then I had no excuse. We really got far with the outside walls. He did most of the pushing it in and Matthew and I were doing the cutting and fitting. His new pocketknife from the rodeo was really proving itself worthy!!

Yesterday morning, Mom was going to mow, so I just took Matthew to work so Mallory could sit with Morgan. We were really going well getting things cut and ready for Michael. We were also cutting the tiny stuff to pack around windows and such. I only had about an hour left before I had to go clean up to go to the bakery when Matthew lost his knife down a very deep hole in the basement wall. We could see it, but it was beyond reach. We worked on that for a while, then took off for some of Grandpa's tools. We met Grandma on the road. She had a message from Cindy that I didn't have to go in today. Well, so much for my time off!! Working at the bakery is about my only time to rest!! But then we had time to go back for Matthew's knife and get some more of the insulating done and/or ready before Michael got there. It took a while and some deep scratches to get his knife, but we got it. Back to work. When Michael got there, my bay window showed up!! We found that not only did it cost 3 times more than any other window, it takes 3 times more people and time to install it!! It's really pretty except for the oak sills on the inside! Who knew that a company that only does vinyl windows would scrape up oak for a bay window?!? Matt asked if I wanted to send it back. He's really cute. We've been waiting for this thing for 13 weeks and he thinks I might send it back. I'm just going to order more formica and have Randy cover it!!

Michael and I got the rest of the outside walls done and got the mud room ready for the floor and the drywall. We're hoping that starts on Tuesday. Depends on whether Randy can get the floor in, Buckalew can get the returns in, and Chris can get the fan in!! Come on guys!! I want my house!!!

Well, today I think Mallory and I will try to put up plastic on the outside walls that are done. Matthew just got up and is planning to help with insulation again, so maybe we'll try to tackle the inside walls. Either way, I gotta get busy, because I have got to get to the bakery today for a little time off!!

Just Forgot

Mom and I got a shot of the house from the road to see the siding, but what we liked when we got it home was the view of the land. Most of the yard in the front of the photo had been an alfalfa field, so that has taken some time to kill off. The shredder did a number on it, too. But we just liked how it showed the big trees in back, the orchard, and the freshly shredded lawn! Our friend, Gary brought his shredder over (just in the neighborhood, ya know!) and really took care of things, then the boys and I really cleaned up the orchard and the hill in the back so Grandma could do some serious mowing. She really enjoys that, and this is the fun stuff to her--when it really makes a huge difference!!

The other photo is Thomas. I have made 3 Thomas cakes since Morgan asked for one, and this one's finally his! He hasn't seen it yet as I just finished it at 11:30 last night, but I'm hoping it will pass. I couldn't get a good picture of it in the dark, and by now I need to be moving on to get ready for church, but the blues do match a little better than they look in this photo, but not by much!! Michael's pretty sure Morgan won't be color matching!! Sure hope he knows what he's talking about!

Cheeezball

So the chubby one turned 6 yesterday. It was easy to say that it's hard to imagine he's any more than 3... especially when the fits start in the middle of Home Depot, but such is life. It would be a lot easier to spank him more if he didn't make you laugh all the time. But he's really fun. He's still not getting the birthday/birthday party thing. He can't understand how he could turn 6 yesterday if his party isn't until tomorrow. Matthew had the same thing when he turned 5. We had won a vacation to Las Vegas that would land on the weekend of his birthday. So we had a little party for him before we left, then on his birthday, Grandma Rose took him to McDonald's and celebrated his birthday with a cake. Then we came back and held the party with the whole family, and by then we discovered that he was 7. Three parties, three years older. Hmmm... who knew? Glad I stopped counting!!!

Life was fun at the bakery today. Once again, I was reminded that Malarie is truly a teenager. When we get busy working and deep in conversation, I sometimes overlook her eyebrow, tongue and nose rings and we slip into conversation that seems to put us in the same generation. She is rather mature for her years. Then a new Diet Coke man starts setting up a display right in front of the bakery. She about slipped on something. Apparently, he was rather cute. I was surprised that a normally chatty gal could suddenly become so quiet. Charlie was ready to slip away for a moment and Malarie asked her to see if he was married. So Charlie told him that Malarie wanted to know if he was married. Charlie said he may as well be. He has a pretty serious girlfriend. So then the conversation turned to how to off this poor girl that we haven't even met yet. Mind you, she might be a perfectly fine and deserving young woman, but you know, she's in the way. So as thoughts turned to what color of car and whose car to use, Malarie suddenly wondered if Charlie actually said that she wanted to know. Well, yes, that's what she asked. Suddenly, Malarie was gone and returned in a few minutes with Megan's nametag from the deli. Now that poor girl is in the mix and has no more clue what's going on than the gal that just got thought off a cliff. Anyway, life is good at the bakery. We'll see if the grocery store ever gets any Diet Coke again.

Rodeo Time

So it's Rodeo time again. My (least) favorite time of the summer. And my dad even got us my (least) favorite seats--the cowboy bleachers!! That's where you actually see the guys cowboy up right under your feet. The bleachers shake and slide everytime a gate is thrown open and the bulls stare at you as they're led back to their pens. I actually used to have nightmares the night after rodeo because I could feel my bed shake and I was just sure there was a bull under there. I can only imagine what Mallory's going to be dreaming as her little brothers shake and slide on the bunk below her. Well, we're downstairs and can't hear a thing, so I suppose Dad will once again have to figure out what to tell a little girl whose conscious thought patterns are so far lost to a wild bronco that's after her. Ok, so maybe my daughter is more well adjusted than me... we'll just have to see. The fun part is the shopping beforehand. I took the hat Michael got me last year, but I guess since I hadn't worn it since last year he must have decided I didn't need a new one. The nerve! Mallory got a cute pink hat, but not with any of the flowers, feathers or girly frills. Just a good little cowgirl hat. Morgan got a new cap gun and some bullets, but had them confiscated after the first round. Matthew chose a blue pocket knife. It's really not the knife of most 7 year olds, but he does use them responsibly and has been doing a little research on the purchase of one. I think the lady selling them was even a bit nervous, but he's been good so far. I'll count his fingers in the morning. And Morgan's. I was sitting by one of my high school teachers, whose son was my age and was steer wrestling tonight. He showed up in the opening flag ceremony with his daughter, probably about two years old. My teacher didn't really start breathing until the little gal was back on the ground. I think maybe he didn't tell her he was going to do that. She was having a hard enough time with the seats. (See comments above.)

Well, very little to update on the house. Randy was having problems with his truck and Matt was having problems with poison oak, so we mowed and cleared out some of the ditch this morning, and I think the electrician tinkered around a little more tonight. Drywall may be going up soon. It's really hard to keep up on the days I have to go to the bakery. Darn job really gets in my way sometimes! Michael says he really does know how I feel. Yeah, ok.

Anyway... Morgan turns 6 tomorrow. That means no one in my family is required to be in a car seat. Oh, the freedom, but oh, how big my babies are!! But it's nearing midnight and I can't think of anything else that can't be posted tomorrow, so I'm off to bed! Goodnight!!

New Face

Mallory and I got weatherproof tape around all the windows (just the job for a couple of croppers!!) and Matt and Randy got the rest of the siding on the front of the house. Randy and Russ got the patio door switched around and decided that the deck would be 16 feet. I guess that's how the materials come and it's where we want to stop for the electrical box to still be accessible.

We checked on Emily and she's doing fine. She didn't catch the spider, so it had to go. Not enough room for the both of us, ya know. While we were messing around in the well room, I saw a little grey nose pop out from under the pressure tank. I scooched Mallory out and hollered for Matthew and Bonnie. Bonnie proved pretty worthless, but Matthew and I had some fun scaring the jeepers out of that mouse. We set up a pretty neat trapline for it along its favorite path. One of these days, boy... POW!

Anyway, all for now... have to get back to work!

Hauling Corn

Last night as Michael was fixing dinner, he gets the water boiling and then hollers to Matthew to get his wagon and go out to the shop and get a load of sweet corn. Well, the water nearly boiled away before these two got back with the corn. The wagon was out front by the driveway and had to be hitched up to the tractor. And, well, the tractor is pretty hard to pedal, so someone else must pull it with a 20 foot leash. That, of course, is where Morgan came in. Although dinner could have been on the table were it not for this little corn brigade, I refused to let Michael yell at them. After a whole summer of dragging them to the blue house and working every day of their vacation, this was the first time I had seen them working together by their own ingenuity, with smiles on their faces!! And really, once you get past the point of how hungry you are and how far the corn still has to go before it's table ready, it was kinda cute!

We took Emily home yesterday and let her go at noon when everyone was leaving after getting all the windows in. She had been doing so well in her hospital bucket. Her foot fell off, but the redness went away and looked like it was healing nicely. Her color was coming back, too, but she wasn't eating, so we thought she might do better at home. We turned off the fans in case that's how she got in trouble last time. Matthew and I went down a couple more times last night to check on her, and she was resting on her little drainage tube where we usually found her before the accident. We'll see how she's doing this morning, but we're all really excited for her! I hope she appreciates that I left her a spider in her well. This is very much against my nature. I firmly believe that thou shalt not suffer a spider to live. So anyway, she has about 24 hours to get this spider before I do something about it!!

We're thinking we might just have the amphibian refuge, too. Our little toad, Claudia Jean (CJ), is also missing a foot. She's got a long, exposed shin bone, but it doesn't seem recent. She showed up with a pudgy friend last night on our second visit, so he got named Josh. I figure if all of Morgan's friends can be named after his trains, all mine can be after my West Wing friends!

Windows are in!!!

Windows were delivered mid morning and Matt and Randy had them all in by noon!! We are still waiting on the bay window, which was the big holdup; not the 4th of July as we'd been told for about a month!!

Anyway, we got them all in and hope that the siding can get finished up this week. The patio door opens the wrong way, but Randy poked around in the directions and found that it's the only way they are made and they have to be switched by the contractor. Randy intends to have Russ from UBC come over and switch it!!