Where did you go...where did you go, now?

I've had a hard time getting back into the swing of things.  School started for the teachers this week and the kiddos start back next week.  Meeting after meeting plus tons of things I need to get done in my classroom leave NO/Zero/Zilch free time.  I'm exhausted in the evenings.

The boys have been staying with a new baby sitter for the week because my other baby sitter (Mom) is living it up in Alaska right now.  She will get the boys back next week.  To say that I am super jealous is a complete understatement!  It has been nice having the boys here in town instead of having to drive to and from the ranch every day.

I'll leave you with one of my favorite photos from our Keva Dawn photo session.  I'll show you more here in a few days when things have calmed down.  I love Keva Dawn Photography!

When Life Hands You Lemons...

I just recently read a Face Book post in which a woman (I don't know the person) was complaining about reading blogs because people tried to portray their lives as perfect on their blogs when she knew very clearly that this was not the case.

For the sake of assuring all of my faithful blog readers (both of them) that I do not have a perfect life, I'm going to give you a small glimpse into the catastrophes of my summer.

1. My washing machine broke.
2. My sweet children turned off my outside freezer without my knowledge just as we were leaving for vacation.  We returned 8 days later to a terrible stench and 8 ft trail of blood and rotty meat juices running out of my freezer into my garage.  All of our stock pile of meat was ruined.
3. My steam mop broke. (If someone is looking for a Christmas/Birthday/Back to School Gift this would be Great!)
4. My dishwasher broke.
5. The toilet in the master bathroom broke.
6. Today was the last official day of my summer vacation.  I have to go back to school on Monday.

So why are you just now hearing about all of this?  Because I'm a happy person.  I choose to be happy and I don't like to dwell on the negatives in my life.  I don't want people to come to my blog and feel depressed and go away and post on Face Book about how blogs are such a "Debbie Downer".  Instead, this is what my list looks like:

1. My husband is smart enough to do some research on the Internet and figure out what was wrong with my washing machine and it only cost us $30 to replace the part needed instead of having to hire someone to come look at it, or worse, buy a new washer.
2. Because my children turned off my freezer, I now have a new appreciation for deer and elk meat and my husbands hunting habits.  I have come to realize how expensive beef is, and that I would rather eat deer or elk anyway.  I have also realized how sweet some of our friends are for giving us some of their elk so we don't have to buy as much beef.
3. Since my fabulous steam mop broke, my family and friends now have a great idea of what they can get me for Christmas/Birthday/Back to School Gift.  :) (OK, so this one is a stretch)
4. I didn't like my old dishwasher anyway, and my new one has 2 really handy little filters that I can clean out and they make me feel better about washing dishes in it.
5. My hubby is smart enough to fix the valve in the master bathroom toilet, and he doesn't get grossed out by lifting the lid off the back of the toilet like I do.
6. Along with a new school year starting, comes football season, followed by pumpkin season.  My two favorite seasons of the year.  There are only 185 more days of school left until next summer vacation.

So there you have it. My home is far from perfect, but whose isn't.  The only perfect home I know of is Heaven.  I love reading other people's blogs.  When they hurt, I hurt.  When they cry, I cry.  When they need prayers, I pray. I know that you would do the same for me.  I'm not always "Susie Sunshine" but I try to be happy.  I'll try to be better about posting the not-so-perfect parts of my life, but I still choose to be a positive person.  Life is too short to dwell on negatives.

Pretending

To any normal person, this picture would look like two little boys playing on top of the table.  When I walked into the room, that is exactly what I thought and I was about to tell them to get down when I heard what they were pretending was happening.

Heath is concentrating very hard on making a humming sound.  I later realized that this was the motor boat sound.  He is in the back of the boat driving while they are checking their lines.  Hunter has a play rifle in his hands that is acting as a boat paddle and he is alternating between pushing off of the rocks and trees and grabbing the drop lines.  The socks are the fish they have caught.

  True, they are acting a lot like their daddy and I know he is so proud that they are "practicing" for their future fishing trips.  It may be a little redneck, but in today's world, fishing is alright with me.  I love how innocent and creative they are.  I pray this never changes.  I want to preserve this innocence for as long as possible. 

My Helper

This morning I was walking through the kitchen with my hands full of laundry. Being the time saving/ lazy person I am I stopped in the kitchen to shake out the towels and dish rags from the sheets so I could continue on to the bedroom and quickly make the bed. As I walked out of the kitchen, I randomly told Hunter to fold those towels while I made the bed. Never in a million years did I really think he would do it. I really thought he would return to the living room and find a toy and pretend he never heard me. To my surprise, that sweet 3 year old boy almost had them all folded when I finished putting the sheets back on the bed. Such a good little helper!

Varmints

We've been doing a little pest control around here.

Photos of 3 and 30 year olds

Have I even mentioned how awesome my photographer is?  Well, she's at it again.  She just finished our 3 year old photo shoot and it was So. Much. Fun!  Head over to her website and check it out.  Caution...You might get a little muddy!

http://www.kevadawn.com/

Boys + Mud Puddle = Fun

I don't know what it is about little boys and mud puddles but they were in Heaven! They spent hours sitting, ridding, driving their trucks in this water puddle at the end of our drive way. Pure bliss for a 3 year old little boy.