Bitten

I cross my heart, stick a needle in my eye, promise, this is my last post in where I whine about some physical ailment. At least for this week.  (And if you know me and my hatred for needles, you'll know that that is one serious promise.)

Seems I got bit by some sort of bug.  Mostly likely a mosquito or flea. Nothing exciting like a spider or wolverine.
But, I seem to swell up more than "normal".  A simple bug bite for me, makes my skin react quite severely.  A bee sting is horrible.  When people ask "Are you allergic to bee stings?"  I never know quite how to answer.  Yes, I swell up horribly and itch like a dog with mange. No, I don't have problems breathing or with blurry vision.  I'm just a wuss when it comes to bug bites.

I don't know if you can tell, in this picture (Do you know how hard it is to take a picture of your own arm? Your right arm? It's harder than you think.) but all that red is rock hard and warm.  It itches like crazy.  Right in the middle, there's where the nasty little bug bit me. 
No, it's not blood poisoning, there's nothing extra funky going on.  This is how I react with every. single. bug. bite. 
So annoying.  And, if I'm not careful and scratch it like I want to, it will leave a scar. 

I guess, when you're as sweet as I am, all the bugs just want a taste. ( :

Womanhood

Sometimes, I really, really hate being a woman. 

Yes, I'm thankful I got to bear children.  And breastfeed.  And, I guess I'm glad we act with emotion before logic.  And, I hate the thought of having to scratch myself in places that shouldn't be scratched in public, such as men do.

But, right now, I'm hating womanhood. 

Ya'll know what I'm talking about here. 

We just got back from a wonderful, family camping trip and I have lots of pictures to share and stories to tell. But, I can't gather up enough gumption to say anything witty.

Every month, it drags me deeper and deeper into such an emotional hell, I swear it's the worst it's ever been, every month.
I have no energy, I eat everything in sight, which is seriously detrimental to the weight loss I've accrued so far.  I have no patience left for my family or others that I love.

I basically turn into someone I hate, that I don't recognize. 

Then, the real fun begins.  My emotions start to get back under control, then physically, (TMI alert!!) I bleed so much, I can't leave the house, or literally, move much at all. 

I've talked to my doctor about a surgery, to get things under control but because we don't have an extra 8 grand laying around,(that's AFTER insurance!), we won't be doing that anytime soon. 

So, excuse while I bestow my anger and moodiness onto you. 
It will pass. I hope.

The Post With All The Pictures

A little birdie emailed me today and reminded me, I haven't posted in awhile.  Ok. It wasn't a birdie, it was a kitty. And it was a message on my facebook wall, not an email. But, the cat was right. I haven't posted in some time.  No huge reason why. Just life.  With 4 kids.  And it's summer time ba-by!! 

So, here's a few pictures because I'm too lazy to type all that much.

The shed is coming along nicely!  My hubby has been working on this for quite some time--his time off and our budget have to match up but, I think he's doing awesome!  It will be so nice to be able to put stuff in here--I am thinking of a nice comfy couch, a lamp and some magazines and a padlock on the inside of the door, but I don't think that's what my husband has in mind.

This picture is blurry, I know, but I just couldn't get over this pizza sauce face!!  I thought about selling this paper towel on ebay, claiming it was the face of Jesus but... I don't believe Jesus talks through Little Caesar's 5 dollar specials.

It pays to sit and clip hundreds of coupons and look through ads.  Guess how much. Go on. Guess.  I'll wait.........

In case you can't decipher that, it's .63. As in 63 CENTS!!! 
The picture doesn't show the candy bar I threw in at the last minute, only to make my total not be negative.  MOST grocery stores won't give you money, go figure.  The candy bar did not make it into the picture, we won't even discuss why.


This week, my hubby is on vacation. We are planning on going camping and visiting a nearby wild animal park.   If you're interested, leave me a message and I can tell you how I cut our admission costs down from $62 to $30. 

Hope you all are having a great summer! 

Where ,Oh Where ,Has My Little Child Gone?

It may be time to declutter? 

You know it's time to organize better when your child blends in with the furniture! 
I serioulsy walked by this 4 times before I realized Jeven was on the shelf.

This is our home school bookcase. To the right of it, would be Jayce's dresser.  Why is Jayce's dresser in the dining room?  Well, I moved it out there when I was painting the boys' room.  The room that is half painted as we speak.  The room I started approx. 2 months ago.  Sigh....

I hope to have it finished soon.

In the mean time, we will have fun finding new places to hide!

Too Old For Vacations?

As my fill-in author  wrote, we went on a little mini-vacation last week. 

I, my kids, my mother and grandmother stayed in a condo-unit at the beach.  Next door, my aunt and uncle and their 5 kids and one grandchild.  My uncle is from Alaska, we don't get to see him and his family enough.  To say this was a treat, would be an understatement.

My husband stayed behind to do his husbandly duty (well. one of.) and work.  I really needed him to be off work on Saturday and he only gets one day off a week, besides Sunday. So, staying behind was the only solution.  He doesn't like the beach anyways so...no biggie.  Although, I did miss him.  And his duties. (*wink wink*)

The beach was quite windy but luckily, the pool was quite warm.  And had just enough room that I could let the little boys put on their life jackets and let them swim pretty much on their own.  Of course, I got in the water with them and who doesn't love putting on a swim suit 50 4 times a day and trekking back and forth to and from the pool? 

We stayed for 2 nights, bringing us home Friday afternoon.  Bringing us home to a clean house (turns out, my husband isn't the slob that messes everything up. Who knew!) and my brother, visiting from Wyoming! 

I spent Friday evening picking on spending quality time with my brother, doing laundry and baking cupcakes. 

Saturday, we had my grandmother's 80th birthday party--hence all the out of town family. 
We set up, enjoyed ourselves and came home about 9ish Saturday night.

Sunday, more time with the brother, church and swimming in Grammie/Papa's pool.

Monday, said goodbye to brother.  Very hard this time. He's going through some tough crap right now.  TANGENT ALERT!!  I find it somewhat ironic,growing up, I picked on him horribly.  But, if someone else did the picking, I wanted to beat their butts.  It's pretty much the same way now. He's not perfect, I know that. He knows that.  But, yet, you mess with him?  I want to beat your butt. 
TANGENT OVER. 

Also, on Monday, we took a "family" day and went to a fish hatchery about an hour out of town.  For you city folk, a fish hatchery is just like it sounds.  A place where they hatch fish to be released into the wild.  This particular hatchery has a mini-golf course, several habitats with different birds and a museum with a large fish tank and exhibit of animals native to this area.  All for free.  So, we packed a lunch and headed down the road.

Tuesday, we did nothing*. 

Wednesday, nothing.

Which brings us to Thursday.  Where we have done nothing.

Is it crazy that I am still recovering from my "wild weekend"?  Isn't it a tad pathetic? 

I remember, not so many years ago, staying up until 2-3 in the morning, getting up 3 hours later, going to class, going to work and then out again at night.  Rinse and repeat all week long.
Now, a relaxing couple days at the beach, an old lady's birthday party and hanging out with family wipes me out! 

I hate to think that I'm too old to do vacations. I think, actually, that it is that I don't get enough of them and my body goes into shock.  Therefore, the fatigue that I'm feeling is actually my body saying "What the heck was THAT?  Fun?  I don't know how to handle that!  I'm shutting down now!". 

So, I must train my body to take a vacation every once in awhile.  Hawaii anyone?  I could kill two birds with one stone on that trip.  Some of you know what I'm talking about here (it goes with the beating butts that are picking on my brother).

*As a mom, the term "nothing" really doesn't mean NOTHING, does it?  I did feed the children and attempt to keep up with the house.  We did go to the playground.  We did STUFF, just nothing significant. 

That Snake Better Do His Own Laundry!

Jayce likes to go across the street, to the ditch/creek and collect snakes. He likes to bring them home but he's not allowed to bring them in the house. 
We have lizards and a cat right now.  We've had fish, hamsters, dogs, and various other animals.  But, I draw the line at snakes. And birds. 

But, boys will be boys and part of being a boy is playing with snakes?  So, he's allowed to bring them home, put them in some sort of container and then release them the next day or so.  All this takes place OUTSIDE.

The other night, my husband went to a friend's house and found a large gigantic snake in Wade's back yard.  He, being the ever thoughtful father, brought it home for Jayce. 

Jayce was super excited and would have been perfectly content sticking to our regularly scheduled "snake habitation" plan. But, being the ever thoughtful father, Judd thought we should put it in the empty aquarium in the garage.  Just for a day. Or two. 

Can you see where this is going? 

The next morning, I hear Jayce get up and go out to the garage.  I also hear him say "Daaadddd.  The snake is gone". 

I, being the ever patient and understanding mother, say "What the heck!!  What do you mean the snake is GONE!!  JUDD!!!" 

Judd goes out and sure enough, the snake is gone.  This is the following conversation:  (it was not nearly as calm as it will appear here)
Me:  Find that snake!!
Judd: It probably went out under the garage door.
Me:  PROBABLY?!? 
Judd:  It was only a little garter snake.
Me: I don't care what kind it was, any snake that hides in the garage is a bad snake.
Judd:  Like I said, he probably went out of the garage.
Me:  What makes you think he's not in the house?
Judd:  There's nothing he wants in the house.
Me: How does he KNOW until he gets in the HOUSE!!!? 

That night, I made my husband go out and look for the snake again.  Made him look under the laundry piled up on the floor, in the washer. Basically, anywhere I'd have to be in the garage. 

I was nervous all night. I couldn't sleep with my arm or leg hanging out over the bed, in fear of the vicious snake.  Because we all know how snakes can leap up off the ground and bite your whole leg off.

We have not seen any sign of the snake.  But, as I'm catching up on laundry, I am ever fearful that he will be hiding under a pair of dirty socks. Or in my jeans pocket. 

But, a snake hiding in the garage is as good excuse as any to NOT do laundry, I say!
Not that I've ever need an excuse before but.... this time it's valid.

Filling In

Hello this is Jayce, Jackie's son. She can't type now because she is packing for our 2 day vacation to the beach!!Its going to be a blast,we're going to stay in a hotel that is  big and with a huge swimming pool but my sister is coming too so.........