Moms watching you is not the same as Dads "watching" you...

The boys had a much needed day trip planned today with Dad. They were going to the lake to fish, swim and what not.. This was the first time I let my littlest boy go without me. But he begged and did such a great job at that I decided, reluctantly, to let my 6y/o little man go.

First off, Daddy is a good Daddy. But Dads aren't always "aware" like us Moms are. We know somethings gonna happen before it happens. We're always 3 steps in the future. We can see a potential hazards and do something before anything bad happens. Right...

Well, you would think my voice would be in his head saying "hmm, honey not such a good idea." But, you put 4 guys together and no matter the age, dumb shit happens.... Like sliding off the rock mountains into the lake. There's a big sign saying "DANGER" .... But boys will be boys, and dumb.

It also has a sign saying to wear shoes because of hooks..... but boys will be boys, and lazy.

But 2 near drownings and one hook in the foot later, all are safe at home sleeping and burnt....because Daddy also forgot the sunscreen.

Finding Balance

There's something that's easily said rather than done. Especially when your day is consumed by teaching a first grader, while helping a 4th grader, encouraging your 6th grader and entertaining a very active preschooler who loves to hide, get into things she is never suppose to, make loud and sudden noises when its study time....Oh how that list could go on.

From the moment I wake up (sometimes even before my coffee) I'm going. Till the wee morning hours. Oh yea, I also took on product reviewing as a hobby....The thought of it was awesome, free stuff for my opinion and getting the word out about their company. I just didn't think about the testing out, organizing, coordinating, blog hopping, socializing aspect. So most my writing and info gathering and tweaking is done at 12am on til it's completed.

But I love writing and trying out new things, especially sharing it with everyone I know. So I won't be giving that up anytime soon. Just need to find a way to fit my marriage back in LOL. It seems my day is taken with the kids, my nites are taken by blogging and Hubs comes home at 3 or 4am(works graveyard) and he gets about half an hour of quality me and the rest is me desperately trying to stay conscious, knowing I have to be up in a few hours to do it all over again.

So his days off are such an enjoyment. Sure wish I had one! LOL We try and make the most of our time... But sweet Lord, these kids have to be right behind you every second of the day...Every!  Getting creative is one thing were going to have to turn into friggin magicians! 

I feel maybe when I do find that prefect balance and everything is as it should be, and I get up with the sun and go down with it, I'll be too old.

Meet Our New Class Pet

This is Floppy! Hubby picked him up today at the feed store. I gotta stop letting him get the feed for the animals! Everytime he goes he comes home with another mouth to feed! *lol*Floppy is a 4 month old Albino*ish* Rabbit.  He's so cool!  He has these killer red eyes, and just the softest fur you ever felt!!


When we we're little Hubby and I both had bunnies.  So we were very excited to have one for the kids.  His was litter box trained, mine was kept outside and I think mean.  But it was so long  ago I can't remember.  I wasn't an outside kinda gal when I was younger.  But Floppy is so sweet, so far. 

Hubby and the boys whipped up this kick a$$ cage for it in no time flat. It was an old entertainment center.  He put fencing down on the bottom to let the what nots go through...


 But man oh my is Zena looking hungry.  Tonight will be very interesting to see what happens between the dogs, cats and new bunny!!

Happy 2010!!

Wow is it really 2010!! Well I sure hope you all had great holidays and made some more amazing memories with your loved ones.

2010, I can remember thinking we'd have flying cars by now. Living like the Jetsons high in the sky or something from one of those sci-fi movies with robots. But I woke up and it was just another regular day.

Get this, I had 2 weeks off straight no work, no home school ahhh it was so nice. We were able to do so many projects and get so much done. We had a lot of good, quality family time together. But this week we got back into things. I went back to work and the kids went back to school. I must say this was the break we all needed so bad. Hubby's vacation time won't come til next month or so. He was the only one that had responsibilities, lol. The kids and I slept in and went to bed late. But, we'll all be jealous of him when its his turn I'm sure.

Christmas was great the kids gifts were a hit! Nana loved her tree and everyone loved their decorations! We went a little overboard with the sweets of course but yummy! We had but one glitch in our plans. I had spent so much time on baking and making gifts I left myself very little time for making tamales. We went grocery shopping for everything a couple of days before Christmas. I started the meat the 23rd. On Christmas Eve I started the masa....... and the darn masa was bad! Yuck! So we didn't get to make the tamales we ended up having just burritos and beans. Luckily my Mom sent us home with a dozen of hers. They were tasty as always. We fought over the last couple, lol.

Our New Year has begun and my resolution to my kids was to be more patient and creative with home school. To Hubby it was to set aside more time for just us. For myself it was to become a more healthy me and tackle this anxiety, when I feel burdened and overwhelmed, give it to God and find relief. For my family it's to have more fun as a family. ♥♥♥

Peace and Love in Your New Year!

No Honey I Haven't Forgotten....

As we know it's coming up... Father's Day! Woo Hoo! Hubbys been dropping hints on those dang Dad's Day commercials like I'd forget! I'm not a man! Of course we remember, right?

Yes, I've been sick. Yes, I've been unconscious mostly. But I'm not in a dang coma. Actually I've been feeling a lot better. I found a couple of great sites on anxiety and understanding why I'm getting panic attacks daily. So, I'm trying to do the breathing techniques and busy work and knowing this too shall pass helps. Today was day two of not taking a single pill.

But this post is not about my craziness, it's about that guy. The greatest guy. Our Dads, and Hubby's and any Father figure you have in your life. My Dad is an awesome man. As Dads should be. I was never a "Daddy's girl" or anything, but my Dad showed us what to look for in a man. He's my Mom's high school sweetheart, always worked hard for everything, very proud and never asked for a hand out, and loves us kids very much! I don't think there's ever been a time he wasn't there for me.

Growing up with such a great role model it made it very easy to know who was a good guy and who to just walk away from. Although, my Hubby on the outside may have not been my Fathers idea of a suitable husband for me. He's was tattooed and this rocker looking guy. But he's proven to be a very perfect fit for me. Scarily perfect.

Hubby is a great father. He's always thinking of the kids, and what their needs are. Example, he sold his Harley for them, remember! I'm grateful that the Lord knew exactly who to send me. I couldn't picture life with anyone else as my kids father. Best of all, Caitie, is a "Daddy's girl" and will settle for nothing less than to be treated as well from her Husband as Daddy treats her. And the boys have a great example of what a man is to become.

I love the men in my life, our providers and our protectors.

Shingle Me Timbers!

We had wanted to hurry up and paper and shingle the kids playhouse before the first rain hit.......














But we were played at the lake instead last week........

So this week we heard it may rain.........

So Hubby tried to hurry........











But it came too quickly. Yes, that is Hubby on a metal ladder...... This is at about 2pm.... It looks like dusk.

What Men Do For Their Family

If you can't tell by now, we are a family of campers! We love to go to the lake, fish, be out in nature and hike. No distractions from Tv or anything. The longest we've ever camped out is 7 days!! And not in a fancy RV. Just us and our tents. Playing games, swimming, talking, just good family fun! But being a girl and all you kinda just have to say screw it to lost amenities and enjoy!

I grew up as a camper. We didn't go to fancy vacation spots. We went to the mountains! It was great. Mom would pack neat little treats and theres always something to do. My older siblings would go hiking up mountains with Dad. While my Mom, sister and me would do nature walks.

I always wanted a "guy" guy to do these things with. But I had for some reason liked prissy sissy boys that couldn't change a tire let alone keep me safe in the mountains. Hubby is awesome. He knows everything *swoon* there is to know about anything.

We love to fish. Scratch that he loves to fish I love riding on the boat and tanning. But the peacfulness is amazing. Last year at the lake (we try to go every year atleast once), our boat let us down. I ended up renting the Party Barge they have there. I didn't want Hubby to lose out. He works so hard and asks for little. But it spoiled us! We caught so much catfish we were in heaven! We were impulsive and went to check out brand new boats that weekend. Our was an oldie but goodie. We were looking at all the shiny newbies!

This was all before our "simple life" really started. We chickened out hours before they cashed our check. So we thought we had "Cheaper to Keep Her" til death do us part. Well, Hubby surprised us this week. Instead of spending all that money fixing her, he traded his Harley for a new-to-us boat! Yes I said his Harley! Now its not brand new or shiny, but it's newer than our oldie and it has six seats. Our old one had four. Theres drink holders, the pass through works, and we won't get stranded and have to use our trolling motor to get back!

Hubby loved his bike. But he says this is time to spend with the kids. He has years to be selfish when their gone. So true baby! I love this man! What a sacrifice.

Those 4 Words Men Never Want To Hear...

"I Told You So!"

Why is it that men (the biggest kids in house), are the instigators, they encourage recklessness and rough housing...BUT.... when a child actually does get hurt, they're the first ones to call for your help and freak out???

Let me paint this for you all... Hubby is a 6ft 250lbs man who has done A LOT of crazy things in his days (too many to list, just know he's probably done it or talked someone into doing it).. The typical macho, fast driving, do-it-yourself, Harley riding, redneck of a man. OK, so this big tough guy encourages our boys to wrestle each others and do things I call "crazy" (he once talked a kid into eating a cricket we bought at Pet Smart for $5 and the kid did it!).

So, yesterday while we were shopping for my beautiful freezer at Lowe's the kids as usual were running around the store climbing on the freezers and jumping off. Hiding between things and just plain not listening... I'm furious! Yelling "politely" to 'get the hell off the damn appliances!' 'Stop running!' etc.. and Dear Hubby is telling me 'leave 'em, we're the only ones back here.' He wanted to get this shopping done with. Aren't all guys like that? In and out as fast as possible.

Well, I pick it out and we wait for the salesman. Meanwhile, I go off and track down my older boys who are somewhere in kitchen design. Then, I hear a wail unlike I've ever heard. I run to the back and I see Hubby's face bright red, big eyed, just holding our 4yr old to his chest. He couldn't even look at him. I pull Wyatt close to me and look at his face and there's blood just everywhere! He was running (in socks), slipped and face planted it on the cement floor. I had never seen a man turn to goo so fast. We rushed Wyatt to the first aid station and cleaned him up. He had a pretty good bump on the fore head, but no broken nose or teeth. I just give Hubby that evil eye like I told you something would happen! But he felt so bad. I did the little "follow Mommy's finger" and asked him who he was..etc. He was fine. But Hubby wanted to rush him to the ER. I thought do you know how many scary moments you missed while you were on the road? This one doesn't even come in the Top 5! Wonder what he would of done, if it was him here when Anthony fell on the side of his handlebar and sliced his eye brow almost off??? Hmmm.... Or the time nah, I'm not gonna gross you out.

Maybe now he'll understand bringing it down a notch with them. Maybe??

All I gotta say about Wyatt's incident is thank goodness we build em 'Ford Tough', cause if that was me, I wouldn't be here typing.... I'd be sipping my food thru a straw, high on some happy meds, and probably needing a chiropractor for the rest of my life!

And This Is Why Hes A Runnin

Yesterday I wrote how busy we've been and how I just can't wait for spring...


I thought I would show why Hubbys needing some time out.









Should have her 2nd litter around the beginning of March.
With her first litter she had 8!!





Ain't he cute! He was one of Daddy crew.





Nice and comfy. Ready to welcome new piglets...





Our newbies home. Its not really slanted, I just can't take pictures.
Walls went up yesterday. It will have two rows for nests
along the back and both ends will have fans.






This project was started when he was on the road.
So this is actually taking the longest.
Roof needs to be completed and inside still needs
insulation and dry wall.
The kids think their moving into it :)




I agree after all this Hubby deserves a lil r&r.

Anyone Else Have To Take The Morning After Pill???

No, I'm not referring to that one! I mean a "chill pill"? As you all know yesterday was *sniffle* Valentines Day, and I was robbed! Well no one came into my house and took anything, just my day was robbed! The most romantic day of the year.

Hubby came home yesterday morning at 5am from work then slept til about 1pm. He left for work around 3pm. Then worked til this morning so I was robbed. Not that I didn't have a great day with the kids, it was fun. But, I was just hoping that I would of gotten some sort of Valentinesy thing from Hubby. But noooo.

So needless to say I woke up a little irritated with him, and he knew it! I tried my best to be whatever about it but I just couldn't I guess. I needed to let him know, so this is what I did.

First no nice wake up call, he woke up to vacuuming and loud music blaring. Then, no breakfast. I just made enough for the kids and me. Still he didn't get it yet. So I purposely started loads of clothes and the dish washer so he wouldn't have hot water for his shower. Then, I hid all his socks and acted like I was too busy to find them. OK now he's a little irritated. When it came time for him to head off to work I hadn't packed his lunch yet. So I took my time making it, he hates to be late. Don't laugh, I'm a housewife, these are my resources!

Right before he left he asks, "is something wrong?" I'm thinking yea there's something wrong! I wanted to tell him, "yea man what the heck happened? You could of stopped and got flowers. You could of got a card. You could of done a number of things!" But before I could get any anger out he says "see if you can get us a babysitter for Tuesday." I said, "Why whats Tuesday?" All pissy. "Our Valentine date. I want to take you to somewhere special, it's a surprise. Sorry about yesterday, I didn't want to just pick something up for you that would have no meaning."
I said, "ooh well you know honey we don't need to do anything, we show each other love everyday." "I don't need to go out." But inside I was like yipee!

I know when you've been married for a while especially with kids, other things come first. I'm not really sure why it bothered me so much today. We spent 5 years worth of holidays and anniversaries apart when he was on the road. I guess it being our first Valentines Day with him home had something to do with it. But now I'm better. And all his socks are back in his drawers.

Goodbye To An Old Friend

Today Hubby and I had a very eventful and sad day. To say the least. Needed to go into town for lumber for our new Piggie Palace and I needed to pick up some things at the grocery store. So, we took our big old van. For months now Hubby has been trying to get me stop driving it, its like 20 years old. But I love it! It's one of those RV vans that have tables with cup holders and like tons of leg room. Big tinted windows, thick plush carpeting. It also makes to where if one of the kids is having a bad day it's not right in my ear.

So we loaded it up at Home Depot with 32 2x4, 10 sheets of plywood everything. Then went to Fry's to get about a weeks worth of groceries. Off we went to home. We're driving down the Hwy out of town listening to the radio. We're all singing, no ones fussing, it's a great drive. We're going about 70mph and just singing along. Then just when we're just about half way between town and our area boom! I get a flat tire.

I successfully maneuver it to the side of the road and Hubby gets out to check on the tire. Ironically that was our spare, I had just gotten a flat tire and hadn't fixed the old one yet. Living out here flat tires are common. So what does Hubby do, he drove on it! "They do it on "Cops" and they last a good while!" So on we went about 2mph on the shoulder. Then we hear bang bang bang. The tread is coming off and is banging up the side of my door. Pieces are just flying in the window, I'm not in a good mood at this point. But on he goes. Then he says "OK now we lost the brakes" I'm just looking at this man like are you kidding me? My beautiful van! Turns out he broke the brake line. Finally he gives up and parks it. Thank God!

Just as we get out a neighbor pulls over and gives Hubby a lift to pick up his truck. Awesome right and he said "pay it forward" as Hubby tried to give him a couple bucks for the ride. Love that. So I take out the kids and we walk down the bank away from the hwy to wait. I was looking at my van thinking that was it. No more rides in her. Now I do have a brand new 07 Magnum Hubby bought me a year and half ago. It's red with white racing stripes. But its not the same! That car is mine, not for the kids to trash. Cause they do trash a lot of vehicles. So the van was the "aah who cares" vehicle.

So we emptied it out and left her there on the side of the road til a tow could come out. And here she will sit, I just know, waiting to be fixed by Hubby. But like most things in the yard she'll have a long wait. She'll probably be the kids fort!