Christmas is coming

I can't believe how fast time is flying. Halloween came and went, my sisters wedding is a blur, and now Thanksgiving has already come and gone. How can time go by so quickly? I feel myself aging everyday and I feel like time is going by so quickly that I can't get anything done.

This years Christmas is going to be smaller, for two reasons. First of all, we just don't have the money this year, but more importantly we want to teach the kids that it's ok to get a few things for Christmas, but the real reason of the season is to celebrate Jesus' birthday. They are very excited to start their Advent calendars this year. I'm having a hard time thinking of some good toy ideas for them, but am super excited to try and make Tess some bows for her hair to put in her stocking. She desperately needs some and I have all the supplies to make them, and found plenty of instructions online on how to make them. I am getting a sewing machine from my mom and dad for my gift this year (yes I already know because I ordered it online on Black Friday from Wal-Mart), and SOOOO excited to learn how to sew on it and make kids gifts for birthday's and Christmas' from now on.

Next weekend we will go cut down our tree from the tree farm, and it's predicted to be the coldest day of the year again so far...like it is every year on the day we choose. We will also decorate the house and tree next weekend. We always like to wait to do it the first weekend of December. I don't like to do it in Nov.

Anyways. We have a few gifts bought and a few more to go, but we will have a nice smaller Christmas this year. I am going to look into some volunteer opportunities that I can do with at least the two older boys.

I hope you are all enjoying this time of Christmas prepartion. Don't forget Jesus this season, he's the only reason we have this holiday to begin with! :)

Wedding Bells are Ringing!

So I know it has been F-O-R-E-V-E-R (say it like Sandlot) since I have posted on here. To be honest, I almost forgot that I even had a blog, I've been so preoccupied and busy. Many things have happened, including lost teeth, Raymond's birthday, my birthday, Halloween, and more. But those things I am going to put on the back burner for now because the thing that has been happening for months that has led up to this final major event  this past weekend, is my sisters wedding. Since it is still fresh, I have decided to post on this for now.

My oldest sister Kimberly just got married to Todd Kittel. They have been together for over two years now and Saturday they finally sealed their love in marriage. Kimberly has been planning this for a long time now and my mom has been working on it too. In fact we've all been working on it little bits here and there and my mind has been on the wedding for so long that it has taken precedence to many daily things in my life that I have not gotten done. Now that the wedding is over, I feel almost like a weight has been lifted in many ways. I am now free to concentrate on other things.

There were SO many details to her wedding that in the end were beautiful, but they were time consuming and I seriously thought that we all might die of a heart attack brought on by stress over the course of the weekend while we broke our necks trying to get it all done. We even ended up starting the wedding a few minutes late cause we were rushing, ha ha. But in the end it all came together, and was majorly the doing of 4 or 5 of her best friends from DC. They were awesome. But without going into too much detail the wedding was beautiful, so was my sister and I wish her and Todd the best. Below are a few pictures I took and most of them are ones that I stole from my cousins daughter, Amber Todd. So thanks Amber. We still have not seen the ones that her photographer took, but for now I hope you enjoy!! We were all a part of the wedding. The boys were SOOOO handsome in their white shirt, black pants, belts, dress shoes and gold ties. Each of them got a boutonniere from their Uncle Todd and they were technically junior ushers. Tess was a junior Bridesmaid, I was a bridesmaid and Tony was a groomsman.

Water Water Everywhere and my litter box drama.

So the last few days we have had some much needed rain for the area. We've spent most of the summer wishing for rain because our poor grass is just dying away and brown from the heat the last couple of months. What I didn't want, however, was a summer's worth of rain in two days time...or rather a combined total of 2 hours in two days time!

Sunday we received 6 inches of rain in our neighborhood, plus hail in less than two hours. Of course, if any of you have been to my house we have a driveway that slopes down towards the garage and basement at a 45 degree angle. Because of the slope, we actually have a grated drain in front of the whole expanse of the front of the house that is connected to an underground drain that runs under the garage and to a sump pump in the garage to help prevent any flooding to our garage and basement. But, the problem arises when you get too much rain in too short amount of time that the poor little sump pump can't keep up with it and we end up having 6 inches of water standing in front of our garage and basement front door that it has no other choice but to start pouring under the doors and into the garage and basement living room.

We have lived in our house now for 6 years and we've had a bit of garage flooding in that time, so we've learned to keep things off the floor that can't get wet, etc. Who cares, it's a garage, right? Well we've also experienced mild flooding in the past where it comes through the garage into a linoleumd hallway and then drains in the floor drain in the concrete laundry room, or has come in the front basement walk out door and onto the entryway and an inch or so onto the carpet.

At 4am Monday morning, after laying awake for hours while 3 huge rain storms ripped through our area, I finally got up to see how bad the basement was. I almost broke down in tears, when I got to the steps to find that the entire basement (carpeting, couches, furniture, dogs, etc.) was under an inch or more of water...wall to wall. By far the worst flooding we've EVER had down there, and it was still pouring under the garage door that comes into the house and into the walk out door. In fact there was a stream of water flowing across the floor. Despite my wanting to rush around and fix it, all that Tony and I could do was move things off the floor onto the couches and coffee table and go back to bed. There was no way to fix it at that point in time. Needless to say I did not fall back asleep.

Next morning the carpet was a full sponge of water. It sloshed over your feet when we'd walk on it. Luckily my friend loaned me her carpet cleaner, so I got started sucking water out of the carpet. Later that night Tony's mom and husband came over and helped Tony move furniture out of the room and we sucked up more water. Then yesterday I sucked up more water, and we've had fans going on it since it first happened. It still is not dry. The carpet is damp, but I sliced a piece of carpet away from the wall and the padding is still soggy. I am not a carpet expert, and I don't know how to dry that before it molds or whatever, and that stresses me out.

Here is the other HORRIBLE dilemma. The previous owners of our house owned 3 cats which must have spent most of their time peeing on the floors all over the house. So every time we get the carpets cleaned, or they get wet at all, the whole house smells terrible like cat pee. You see where I'm going with this? I about vomit when I breathe in, my entire house smells like a saturated, pee filled litter box! It's so disgusting. I still have to work, so the kids and I have to be in this rank smelling house, but there is really nothing I can do - until the carpets dry completely. I tried shampooing them already, but it doesn't help, since the carpet pads are still so wet. I also called Stanley Steemer to get some prices, but they won't even come if the carpet is wet in any way. So we are stuck for the moment with the cat smell. I'd rather have wet carpet smell, but the cat smell is overwhelming. I have an automatic air freshener in our main floor living room that is set to go off every 9 minutes now, but it really makes no difference.

So I am currently at the bottom of the barrel of ideas. Ideally getting new carpet  is the solution, but realistically we cannot afford that at all. Not even a penny of it, so we are stuck for the time being living in a litter box.

Cowboys

During our recent family trip we stopped in Cheyenne for the Frontier Days Rodeo as I have previously stated in an earlier post. The boys were lucky enough to go behind the chutes with their Aunt Kimmy that works during the rodeo taking the Press around and all that jazz. So she decided to take them behind the chutes during the Bull riding event. She said that a couple guys made room for them at the fence and even put them up on the fence so they could get an up close view of the cowboy being thrown from the bull.

She took the cutest pictures of them and it makes me wish all the more that I lived in Wyoming and that we somehow owned a ranch and lived the Cowboy life. Ahhhh, dreams. Enjoy my future Rodeo stars....

It's that teary season...

I dawned on me today, while I organized my kids' closets that in two weeks Owen will be starting 2nd grade, but more importantly Raymond will be starting Kindergarten and even more importantly Judd will be starting his first year of school ever, preschool. I am not stable when there are major events in my kids' lives. My eyes swell up with tears at the mere thought of it. So crap, I now have it stuck in my head and I've already started tearing up today. What a huge change in my life. Two of my kids gone full time to school, and #3 gone two mornings a week. They are leaving the nest, growing up, and leaving me. Boo-hoo. Of course it's mixed emotions because of course I am happy for their new experiences, but man two weeks from tomorrow I am going to be a mess. I better invest in some kleenex and water proof mascara today. Then on the 29th I'm going to be a mess all over again when Judd starts his first day.

It's my favorite season coming up, Fall, but it is also a time for tears, every year. I will keep you posted, cause as of now we still don't know for sure where Raymond will be starting Kindergarten, hopefully Owen's school. But I will also update you with first day of school pictures. Keep me in your prayers while I suffer through my rough first days of school, ha ha.

On the Road - Day 8 Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo

 The Daddy of them All! Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo! The dust, the horses, the smell of manure, the hot determination of those cowboys and cowgirls all packed into an arena full of anticipation. Oooh, it gives me chills. The rodeo. A place where men can show everyone how manly they are and where cowboys gets real meaning. I wanted to share this experience with my kids, who had never been to a rodeo before. I wanted them to get a taste of Wyoming and the wild west and one of the many reasons that I love this state. They LOVED it! After all the adventures we have had along this vacation, they were still excited to see this main event. Their Aunt Kimmie was there working and she bought them cowboy hats and took the boys behind the chutes during the bull riding event, which they were speechless about. They got to stand on the wooden fence watching the dust fly while the cowboys hang on for dear life on the back of the untamed bull, along side other cowboys. Ahhh, to be home in Wyoming and a part of history once again. These are our Rodeo pictures, the last leg of our journey, the end of this vacation chapter. Sad to leave Wyoming, my heart ached after the Rodeo when we loaded up in the car and drove across the border back to Nebraska. I felt like I was leaving my family, friends, and home all over again. But oh what a time we had! I hope you enjoy our pictures once again!

Future Bull rider?? Quiet meditative, watching his herd of cattle and horses through the fence.

Future bronc rider??

Future barrel racer?? Or Frontier Days Rodeo Queen??

Seriously?? Could you get any cuter?? What a cute cowboy!

Future Steer Wrestler I think.

Tess looks like she is sitting with the Rodeo Queen herself, but actually it's just one of my beautiful older sisters, Aunt Kimmy.

Tess' cowgirl boots. Pretty in pink.

A long day of being a cowboy. It's a tough life.