October in Pictures

Since I've been quite bad about posting updated pictures lately, you get to see my whole month of October in one post! Lucky you!

This is Titus showing that he's in no danger of growing out of his 12-18 month clothes. I was going to post this with my post regarding his clothes, but hey, better late than never right?
Cheap Labor! They had fun singing while 'mopping' my floor, and kept begging to do more. I didn't stand in their ways!
Titus likes to show that he can touch the ceiling by climbing on the bottom of the rail right up where the stairs meet the first floor ceiling. He gets so proud of himself when he does that!
He's also at the stage where he licks EVERYTHING. It's disgusting. He didn't really start putting things in his mouth and licking things until he turned 2 and now he has to put everything in his mouth. It's a seriously gross habit!
Leeann and Titus shared a pear. He got on bite, she got one bite. This went on and on until the pear was gone. I don't think either of them ever let go of the pear to ensure other one didn't sneak extra bites.
This is the only picture I could sneak off of Titus holding Landon before Landon started screaming. I think it probably had something to do with Titus squeezing his neck too tight?

After dinner the other night the kids made pudding. Weston chose red... his favorite color.
Logan shows off his creation.

2 tbsp. of vanilla pudding, 1/4 cup of milk and food coloring just in case your wondering.
Titus chose blue.
Leeann's showing off her purple. It was fun. Messy, but fun!
Titus wanted me to take a picture of Doc's ear... so here ya go. It does illustrate how much he plays with his Cars cars... they're all dented and scratched and most of them have teeth marks too (see earlier description for the explanation of the teeth marks!)

My friend and college roomie, Ruthi came to visit on Saturday. It was fun to spend the day with her as it'd been 2.5 years since we last saw her. Much too long!
This... this is pee. On my bedroom floor.

Right after Titus spent THIRTY minutes on the toilet trying his very hardest to earn his ice cream cone for going potty in the big boy potty. He's almost 3 and has yet to make one successful deposit of any sort despite a great deal of exposure to the potty seat and bribery with various incentives.

He left my sight for 30 seconds while I went to get a diaper. Arg!

This is Titus giving me his sad face because I made him sit back on the toilet while I cleaned up the mess. His frown quickly turned upside down once I showed him pictures of himself!
Today Leeann offered to make dinner for everyone. She made Rob a grilled peanut butter sandwich (I helped with the grilling) and then she made Titus and herself each a jelly sandwich and made me a bowl of cereal. It was soooo cute and I was so proud of her desire to make us dinner. She pretty much did the whole thing herself except the grilling and the milk. She's such an amazing helper!
Titus waiting patiently for dinner. He got to sit on a stool at the counter tonight and he thought that was pretty stinking cool!

I admit... I'm overwhelmed!

I try not to let myself get overwhelmed too often, and I admit when I am overwhelmed even less... but let's be honest... I'm overwhelmed!

I currently feel like my whole world is out of control. I'll find out one week from today whether our lives will forever be changed by an additional child... uh, teenager. I have no control over this! I can't do anything to make us any more likely to become her parents. I simply have to trust that the state of Idaho will make the best decision for her placement and that God will do his will. It's comforting to know that God has a plan for her and for our family... but honestly it's also difficult having no idea what that plan is!

Meanwhile we're still surrounded by unfinished projects in our current home, including a broken toilet in our main bathroom that hasn't been working for about a month now (are any of you plumbers?), a ceiling that needs to be drywalled and textured (uh, we don't exactly know how to do this), a door that needs to be cut to the right size so it can open fully, cabinets that need to be painted, a few walls that still need to be finished (anyone have one of those ladders that you can use to paint stairwells?)... you get the hint? Lot's of stuff, lots of money, little time...

We're also highly considering putting both of our homes on the market in well, a bad market. We know we'll be in need of an additional bedroom here very soon because Leeann and Titus can't share a bedroom forever and we found a house that is everything (well almost) we could want in a great neighborhood at an incredible price (incredible price for the house but still stretching for our budget). In order for us to be able to afford it though God needs to do some huge things. Like, sell both of our houses quickly, by owner, in a bad market for a specific price.

On top of that there are several other crazy thing going on in our world that are all coming together to make me feel like my world is just plain out of control!

So, there you have it: my confession. I'm overwhelmed! Small group got cancelled tonight so Rob and I have plans to sit down and write down all that we need to do so we can start plucking through some of our tasks and make some attempts at feeling like we're making progress in the midst of craziness. Yeah, we'll see if that helps, or adds to my frenzy!

An Old Picture

I just thought I'd post an old picture of Rob and Leeann. This was the week we had her 'on trial' before we learned that we would become her parents. She was just tiny! Rob looks less than thrilled to be getting his picture taken, but these two obviously look snuggly together... that's why this will probably always be one of my favorites!

Are you up for the challenge?

I've been blogging for over 3 years now, and I was wondering how long it would take to read my blog if you started at the beginning and read straight through.

I don't have time to do that, however! I used to go back and read it often but I haven't done that in a long time... something about kids and being really busy and such... anyway, if any of you find yourselves ridiculously bored and want to time yourselves while you read through all my great commentary--let me know how it goes for you!

Date Change

Our committee date will now be held on Tuesday, October 28th... less than two weeks from now. I just thought I'd keep you filled in on the details!

Don't take the ambulance!

We found out today that our 4th of July excursion cost us... well, a lot of money. Did you know that an ambulance ride just a few blocks costs more money than 231 grande double-chocolate chip blended cremes from Starbucks... and they aren't cheap drinks!

Here's the letter we got today:

"Dear Mr. Buhl,

We have now completed our investigation into your claim against the city of Albany.

Our investigation reveals that the slide was in good condition with no defects. It does not appear that your injury was the result of any negligence on the part of the City. Additionally, the City does not carry any no fault medical insurance coverage. We must therefore respectfully deny any claims you may present in this matter.

We trust you will understand that our obligation is to pay only those claims for which our Members are legally responsible."

I was assuming that since we as home owners are responsible for anything that happens on our property that perhaps it would be the same with the city... especially at a place like a water park that has a lot of potential dangers. Well, uh, I was wrong!

So, yeah, I still haven't quite processed that yet. God is soooo good, yet like I've said before anytime we feel like we have breathing room in our pocket book some thing crazy happens, like my husband getting a freak head injury going down a water slide resulting in him being transported via a really expensive ambulance ride. My first car was 1/3 the price of that short ride! Never mind the fact it was an '88 Ford Festiva...

The worst part is before I was going to take him myself but I couldn't find the keys since they were locked in the locker room and my confused husband couldn't remember the combination. Then I started to get a little freaked out and tried to figure out in my head what I would do if I were driving him to the hospital and he started convulsing or tried to take the wheel from me since he was acting quite freaky. Knowing then what I know now... I would have made him walk!

So, yeah, that's where we are. If I hadn't seen God provide in amazing ways so many times before I just might cry over this one. It's the second time we've been hit out of no-where with a nearly $1,000 unexpected medical bill. Since we've lived in this home (April) we've replaced the washer, bought Leeann a bed and purchased a set of bunk beds. We've replaced the tires on the van and had a few other car repairs. So, just as God seems to like to do, any money we've saved from moving into this place has faithfully gone out the back door. Isn't it ironic?

So, the moral of my story is this: If your emergency doesn't appear to be life-threatening, don't take the ambulance. Unless of course you are independently wealthy and enjoy spending your money on luxurious rides across town! And, be careful going down slides at water parks too!

Tuesday, November 4th

That is the official committee date. So while the world will be on the edge of their seats waiting to learn the fate of our country, we will be on the edge of our seats waiting learn the fate of our future restaurant status: Party of Four or Party of Five?

Party of Five

Rob was gone last night so I sat down with a big bowl of ice cream and watched the first 5 episodes of Party of Five thanks to this beautiful thing I call Netflix!

I remember loving the show as a teenager. The first episode said something about 1994 so I must have been 12 or 13 when it started. I also really liked Beverly Hills 90210 and Melrose Place. I watched a lot of t.v. growing up. I didn't realize at the time how smutty the stuff that I was watching was though! Not that Party of Five is smutty per se, but the subject matter is quite intense for a 12 year-old in my opinion. You have to wonder how I survived my teen years with these kinds of shows as my only role-models!

You see, I grew up... unsupervised. I know part of it was because it was just a 'different day' back then. Part of it was because my parents where quite young themselves (I was their 3rd child by the time mom was 20 and dad was 21) and they grew up in the 70's if you catch my drift. They divorced when I was 8 and I mostly lived with my dad and 2 older brothers, though they were both in and out of the house for various reasons that take a whole other blog post to sift through. So, sometimes it was just my dad and me and sometimes one or both of my brothers were around. In my late-teens I lived with my grandparents for a year, then my aunt Pam and uncle Steve... then I went to college and got married.

My dad always worked rotating shift work so there were lots of times that I was home by myself for 12-14 hours at a time, even over night. With those kind of family dynamics there wasn't much in the way of supervising going on to say the least. I did what I wanted, watched what I wanted, ate what I wanted and went anywhere I wanted anytime I wanted without thinking twice and rarely asking for permission. It was just my life... I didn't realize 'normal' people didn't live that way because most of my friends were in a similar boat.

It shocks me now, as a parent though. I used to get myself ready for school and walk more than a mile to a get there by myself... in 1st grade! In Kindergarten I would walk to the corner store which was 6 blocks away on a fairly busy road. My brothers and I would be outside playing for hours and hours and never check in. I thought my friend's parents were super-strict and psycho because she had to be home before the street lights turned on! I forged my dad's signature (with his permission... he even taught me how) on all my school work, and even on his checks to buy pizza on Saturdays if he was at work. Nobody told me to do homework, or even asked me about it. Nobody helped me get ready for school (I'm sure on most days I was that ratty child who's clothes didn't match and hair was never combed and was always late to school). Ah, the good ole' days!

Granted, there were times where life was somewhat 'normal' but there were far more times where I was 'on my own'. I remember one time when I was in high school that I went away on a peer mediation retreat for the weekend, and when I came home my mom's car was in the driveway. She lived 8 hours away and I knew we weren't expecting her so I got freaked out. When I walked in the door I learned that my brother, Greg had been a tree-falling accident and had been crushed by a tree at work. His jaw was wired shut and all of his teeth were shattered and for a while they weren't sure how he was going to pull out of it. Nobody knew where I was, so they couldn't get a hold of me!

I have lots of great childhood stories, but I don't know if I want to blog them. They're always good for a laugh though, so feel free to ask if you're ever interested in a little story-telling time. Just ask about my family tree. It's got some crazy twists and turns!

Just in case you're wondering, I became the super responsible hyper-sensitive one. Though I was encouraged to "get high... and loosen up" I never drank, smoked or did drugs. Instead, I poured myself into school work and extra curricular activities and nominated myself the safety officer, taking keys and sharp objects from intoxicated people. I graduated high school and college both with honors and I was determined more than anything never to be driven by substance abuse. I saw what it did to my immediate and extended families and to my friends and wanted no part of it!

Ultimately, my childhood (crazy as it might have been) has made me who I am. And, honestly, I'm happy with who I am so I'm not sure I would change it if I had the chance. I wouldn't wish my childhood on anyone else, and it was quite painful at times... but it was my cacoon... and I had to spend my time there and fight my way out in order to fly away as a butterfly.

It's soooo strange to me that I ended up marrying the most wonderful, amazing godly man who is an incredibly active and devoted husband and daddy! My life is soooo much different that I ever could have dreamed it would be growing up. The life I'm living is stuff fairy-tales were made of... and I get to live it everyday!

So there you have it, Party of Five took me on a little trip down memory lane. I lived vicariously through characters like those! I don't think I'll keep watching them, one evening's worth of a trip down memory lane is enough for me to remember how grateful I am to be living the life I'm living. I think it's always good to look back and remember where you've been, but I'll certainly live my life looking forward. There's nothing I can do to change the past but I can learn from it, and change my future and that of my children.

Some of the Wedding Pictures

I ended up taking some pictures for Greg and Mia and here are a few of my favorites. I wasn't planning on taking pictures, and I'm still learning the art for sure but it was fun. They didn't have a professional photographer, so a little sister with a camera may not have captured the day as well as other's may have... but it captured some great memories for sure!

This one is my very favorite!
Lounging around at the end of the day.
My sister-in-law Mia!
Me, Greg and Jason.
Honestly, it's still hard to believe Greg has kids... and now a wife!
My big brother's precious family!
You couldn't stage it better!
As soon as Trinity would drop the rose petals, Payton stopped to pick them up. He didn't leave one petal on the ground, it was so cute! Every wedding needs comic relief!

Letting you in on the conversation

For about the last 10 minutes Titus has been having a conversation among his cars as is typical for him. He just talks to himself with one car in each hand pretending to take on their personality. I'll let you in on a piece of the latest conversation!

Dark Green Car: "You want to go to Applebees and have some ice cream?"

John Deere Tractor Car: "And mac-roneeee and cheese too?"

DGC: "Yeah, let's go to Applebees."

JDTC: "I going to play with mommy, daddy."
Titus to me: "We're going to Applebees."

Flitters upstairs to grab fireman truck...

"Hey fireman truck, do you have chicken in there?"

Fireman truck: "I have chicken in there. It's yummy."

Me: "What are the cars doing over there Titus?"

Titus: "Uh, eating dinner. Have macandcheese, um, just the cars are eat-ing. They're having chicken!"

"Hey, John Tractor car, I'm going with daddy!"

"I'm going with daddy FIRST. Watch this!" as he races his cars around the living room floor. I wonder who got there first?

Hmmm... it makes me want to have Applebees for dinner. A little asian chicken wrap and a blondie for dessert... hmmm...

I want breakfast!

I'm not really sure how this morning's events transpired, but I do distinctly remember what I (usually) think of as the cutest little guy in the world who can never do anything annoying because he's so darn cute... climbing into my bed pulling on my eye-lids, tugging on my fingers with all of his might, tugging the covers off of every inch of my body repeatedly proclaiming, "I want breakfast!"

"Mommy, get out of bed, I want breakfast!"

"Can I have Life mommy?"

"I like Life."

"Can I have breakfast?"

"WAKE-UP MOMMY!"

"Mommy, mommy MOMMY, get out of bed, I want breakfast!"

Suddenly I was saddened to realize that the super cute 2 year-old stage won't last forever. Okay, looking back this morning's events were still cute, but they didn't feel cute at the time! It wasn't even 8:00 yet, and I kept trying to assure him that I will get him breakfast after I get out of bed, just like I do every morning. He wasn't taking the bait though. He'd have none of my rationalizing... he just wanted his Life!

What's even worse is about 10 minutes before that Rob tried to yank my covers off of me too in attempts to get me out of bed. I was just about off to la-la land again when Titus came pouncing in! I just wanted to sleep a little bit longer!

Have I ever mentioned that I don't really like to get up in the morning? I could sleep in until 9:30 if my dear sweet children would let me! Oh well, I guess I'll get to sleep in some other time. And, just in case you are wondering, Titus enjoyed his Life cereal very much! Hmm, do you think they'd let me go back to bed?!?!?

Missouri Day 2

I know I'm late on these, but better late than never, right? On the 2nd day in Missouri we went jet-skiing. It was my first time and I had a lot of fun!

This is me and my neice, Trinity. She's a crazy jet-ski driver. She went out with my brother Greg and was doing cookies going full speed! When she went with me I told her there was no way on Earth she was driving!
Greg wanted a picture of him doing a cookie, so about 73 pictures later... I got a good one!
This is my other brother, Jason, posing for the camera!

Two of the main reasons I went to Missouri, Trinity (5) and Payton (2)!

Greg jumping over the kids. Trinity and Payton are little water bugs. They jumped right in and had a blast... with absolutely no fear!


Greg decided to toss Mia in the Lake. It was really cute!

A little family picture on the jet-ski!

He's a live-wire! It was sooo good to meet him and play with him while we were there!

Missouri Pictures... From Day 1

Bret Michaels... lead singer of Poison! Yes, I shook his hand, the closest I've ever come to meeting someone famous I do believe!
Greg and Mia posing in front of his tour bus.
Jason under the arch.
Greg and Mia under the arch.
Me... under the arch... are you sensing a theme?
The arch.
Greg and Mia kissing under the arch. I love this one!

Starbucks in Minnesota!
A sign that says Minnesota to prove I was there!
One of the 173 cloud pictures.
Another one of the 173 cloud pictures!
My brothers and I. Notice that I'm officially the runt of the family. They are both 6'2"... I'm 4'11". This picture was taken at a museum beneath the arch.

To store or not to store... that is the question!

I'm trying to get all the kiddos clothes cleaned so we can do the bi-annual changing of the clothes, storing the ones that might fit next Spring, and giving away those that won't. Then, we drag out the ones we stored from last Spring and see if they still fit.

Well, here's my dilemma. Do I store, or give away Titus's 12-18 month Summer clothes? He's quite comfortably still smack-dab in the middle of that range. His 12-18 month clothes are neither too big, nor too small. They fit perfectly, and they have for, uh, a looooong time now! I honestly don't remember how long he's been in this size, but it seems like forever now. I'm hopeful that he'll move up to at least 24 month clothes by next Summer since he'll be 3.5... but given the current trend I'm thinking he might be 6 before he moves up a size!

Leeann, on the other hand has gone from all of her summer clothes fitting well at the beginning of the Summer, to looking a little, ummm, immodest in most of her shorts and skirts. She must have grown 1'5" this Summer! Okay, so I'm exaggerating a little, but seriously, she just keeps getting bigger and bigger and prettier and prettier every day!

Adoption and Trip Updates

I heard from the case worker today and we're still at least 2-3 weeks out. They are waiting for the home study of another family to come through and it's taking longer than originally expected. So, we wait. I promise though, I'll blog when I get an actual date. I've thought it would be 2-3 weeks for nearly a couple of months now. Oh well, patience is a virtue right?



In other news, I made it back to the West Coast without any difficulties or problems. It was sooo good to see my family! I'll try to update my blog with pictures and such soon, but I'm still trying to catch up from vacation. Until then, enjoy a short post for once!

The Wedding!

I can only sneak off one picture while we're cleaning up. But meet my new sister-in-law Mia!

Missouri Day 1

*I'll post more pictures later... we're heading off to go jet-skiing and I can't finish adding pictures to this post!*

We woke up before the dawn cracked and headed out the door just after 6:00 in the morning to head up to PDX. Rob, Leeann and Titus came into the airport to see me off (or, to see me to the security check-point at least). It was hard to say good-bye, but I had met my big brother Jason so at least I wasn’t flying off on my own.

We flew into Minnesota and had just enough time to grab a drink and head off to our next flight. I had to be able to say I’ve gotten to drink a Starbucks in Minnesota! Today, I hope to be able to say I’ve also gotten to drink Starbucks in Missouri :0)

I got the window seat on the way to Missouri and we flew through some awesome clouds. It’s not every day I get to fly through clouds so I took a bunch of pictures. Jason made fun of me, but its okay because I got some great ones!

As soon as my brother Greg and his fiancé Mia picked us up at the airport in St. Louis they whisked us away to the Gateway to the West, which is a 650 foot arch. It was really cool!

As we were down by the arch we saw the Rock of Love bus (I’ve never seen the show, but both my brothers have). Since I’m the one with the camera I got to take pictures of Bret Michaels who is the star of the show and the lead singer of Poison. He came over and shook our hands, which was pretty cool.

We ended the day with a 3 hour drive back to my brother’s house where I got to meet my little nephew Payton. He’s 2. I’ll have to post pictures once I get some.

I’ll get to see my 5 year-old niece Trinity, today as soon as she gets off the school bus. I haven’t seen my brother or Trinity for 3 years and I’d never met Mia or Payton. It’s good to be here, though it’s hard to be away from my babies. I won’t bother telling you how many times I’ve called them in the last day and a half!

48 Pages Later...

Suzy came over after church and helped me with the last (well, almost last) of my scrapbook. It's 48 pages of sheer craziness. It's mostly pictures that you've seen on my blog over the last year and a half. Not all of the pictures, of course... but enough to get a good sense of who we are as a family.

I prefer blogging, as it doesn't take nearly as much time or energy. Though, it certainly isn't as cute either!

I'm not sure if I've said this before, but the scrapbook will be shown to those who make the choice for where she's placed, and will be shown to her to introduce her to her new family. The state of Oregon mandates that each family does a book, and usually 3 families go to committee.

Idaho is different though, as they don't require a set number of families and they don't require a book. We decided that we would do our book anyway, because we thought it would be a great way for her to get to know us, and far more informative to her than one simple picture and a brief introduction by a case worker. This is especially important as it may be a couple of weeks between when we're chosen (if we're chosen) and when we actually get to meet face-to-face.

I can't believe how many hours it has taken to complete it, but it feels soooo good to have it done. Now I can reclaim my counter space and know that other than reading more about adoption and adoption issues, there's nothing else I can do to prepare for the arrival our daughter... whoever, and whenever that might be!

Scrapbooking Fun

Today is my crazy scrapbook marathon day. I'm hoping to put the finishing touches on our adoption scrapbook and get it sent out by Tuesday!

We gave the word yesterday that we want to move forward and go to committee. There is another family too, so our chances aren't as likely as we were thinking they might be, but last I checked God doesn't care about statistics and he has a perfect plan for our family and for this young lady. So, regardless if it's just 1 family or a 100 families I know that God will work it out precisely the way He intends!

I'll let you know when committee is, please continue to pray for our family and most importantly for this young lady and a good fit and transition for her as she joins her 'forever family'. Thank you for your prayers!

Another Lazy Day

Today I'm recovering from a still sore neck, though I have more range of motion today than I did the last two days. Weird I tell ya! I had a message yesterday at my chiropractors and that seemed to have helped a little.

The kids and I are just hanging out being lazy today. We launched Kidstruction last night which is our Wednesday night kid's program. It went well, but I'm pooped! I was feeling less than par yesterday (obviously) which made it tough, but that's okay. I'm surrounded by super leaders!

I have a fair amount of cleaning up to do after being barely able to move for a few days, so I'm sure I'll spend my day doing some of that. Does anyone want to come mop my floors? I have light floors throughout my downstairs so it doesn't matter how much you sweep or mop, they always look dirty. It's probably the most frustrating thing about this whole house to me. I don't like dirty floors, but for the life of me I can't keep them clean! It seriously takes a good hour to take care of the floors, if I can manage to keep the kiddos off.

If you're wondering where we're at on adoption stuff, we're still waiting to talk to one more person. We've been trying to get ahold of her for more than a week now, and I'm trying to be patient, but it's hard! Once we talk to her we'll likely give the go ahead to set a committee date which takes 2-3 weeks. I left her another message this morning so hopefully we'll hear from her today.

I've likened this process to a marriage. The 'dating' step is getting to know more about her and allowing her worker to get to know more about us.

The proposal step is where we ask to go to committee. We're saying, for better or for worse we're planning on spending our lives together, but we need time to make the plans.

The acceptance of the engagement is where we meet and she decides that she does want to be placed with us (she has to consent to her own adoption since she's over 12).

The wedding is adoption day (6-12 months after the placement). This is where she's legally a part of our family as if she were born to us.

Right now, I like to say we're shopping for rings. It's not quite engagement time yet, but we're fully proceeding ahead as if proposal day is imminent.

Where this analogy falls short is that she has to live with us for 6-12 months prior to the legally binding 'wedding' if you will. I'll be sure to let you know when we take the next step!

Why you should never make a bed...

Today I was making Leeann's bed and all the sudden I got a kink in my neck and it hurt every time I looked to the right. I gimped around most of the day awkwardly turning my whole body to see things, but it wasn't so bad. Then I went to the Chiropractor and he did a number on me. I was really hoping I'd feel better after that but now virtually any movement is enough to make me shriek in pain.

So, Rob made dinner and played with the kids and is putting them down for bed now. I'm laying on the couch like a complete lazy bum wondering if this terrible pain is going to go away. I'm sitting here typing with my head leaned all the way against a pillow on my left shoulder.

I'm surprisingly quite bored. I read some articles on adoption, helped Leeann with some worksheets and now I'm writing you because... well, because I'm bored! Oh, and I talked to a guy conducting a survey about politics. Nothing like a cold call to help you realize how uninformed you are regarding political issues eh?

Anyway, it sounds like the kids are down so it seems as though a movie with my husband is in order. I love Netflix!

Big Sister's Bedroom

So, after months of hunting and gathering, we've finally put the finishing touches on Big Sister's Bedroom! Well, at least the big stuff!


We got her bunk beds, though she'll have her own room. We'd like all of our kids to have bunk beds so they'll feel more comfortable having friends over. I imagine these will become Titus's by the time he's ready for a bunk bed. Minus the pink comforters of course!

Titus helped Rob put them together!

It's not a great picture, but it shows you the other side of the room. Just a desk with a computer.
I didn't put a picture of the closet because, well, that part isn't exactly ready yet!

This is my $10 Craigslist find. I'm proud of this one!

50 mm lens and some old/new friends!

I helped Eroica at a wedding a few weeks ago and my payment was a new 50 mm lens for my camera. I've wanted one every since I knew what it did! It focuses on the foreground and blurs the background... which I think makes for super-dee duper pictures!

I got a chance to try it out for the first time tonight when Suzy, Weston, Logan and Landon went on a walk with us around the track.

In case you don't keep up with Suzy's blog, they now live 10 minutes away from us!
I'm SO excited to have Suzy in town. I've missed her terribly in this last year! It's hard to live with someone for 8 months and then be in a different state. Now we have them back! Even better though, they have their own place! Of course she's stayed the night twice, the kids and I stayed at her place once and we've had 6 dinners together since the August 31st. We've been to the park, the track, McDonalds, the church and have partied at each other's houses. We've watched a movie, helped her unpack and unload, scrapbooked together until wee hours of the night... but at least we have our own space too!

These kids ran and ran and ran around the track. Weston must have clocked at least a mile and half. He jogged 3/4 to a mile of it. This kid has speed and endurance! The other kids ran lots too. They're speedy little buggers! They got some comments from some high school kids about being out-paced by all these little kids, it was quite funny!
My princess posed for a few pictures for me so I could test out my lens.
My cute, snuggly, cuddly baby Landon. We've enjoyed bonding!
The gang! My kids have been beyond over-joyed to have the cousins around. Friends are fun too, but there's just something extra special about family. Have I mentioned it's been really nice to have them around?
Leeann dressed herself today. Can you tell? She's going to be my independent fashion queen for sure! As long as she's wearing a skirt she's pretty sure she's a certified princess!
Titus and Logan have buddied up quite a bit and especially enjoyed each other's company. Titus makes Logan nervous though when he does things like climb up the stairs on the wrong side of the banister. I can't imagine why!
Titus is showing off his sweet new Lightning McQueen shoes!

I miss Benjamin Franklin...

... and Benjamin Franklin, and Benjamin Franklin... and Thomas Jefferson too...

Because I like to rant about bad customer service, let me tell you about my day trying to book a flight with Delta.

I dropped Titus off with Deborah and took Leeann to a travel agency then for a little shopping for a Back to School Breakfast at church on Sunday. The stop at the travel agency didn't last long because they told me they would charge me $50 per ticket to book our flights for us.

I'm tech savvy, so I decided I'd go home and do it myself. I did have questions though (which is why I went to the agency in the first place), so I had to call Delta SkyMiles to get my questions answered before I could accurately proceed with booking the tickets. Well, for 3 hours straight they were having 'technical difficulties and couldn't seem to connect me to a representative.

Fine, I'll see how far I can make it on-line on my own then. I proceed to find the flight I want for me and my brother Jason, but I couldn't figure out how to use my sky miles to purchase my ticket. After a repeat run-around with a lady I could hardly understand in one department we finally tracked down the proper account number and I was able to change the pin via the web without hassle, which was something I appreciated greatly after my last run-in regarding this.

I still couldn't get ahold of anyone to answer my questions though so I got on-line to 'chat' with a representative. The first one sent me on a wild goose chase. The second one couldn't figure out how to answer my question, and the third one lost connectivity on me so our case closed. My blood pressure rose.

I was finally able to get through to someone on the phone (that I could barely understand) only to hear them tell me that I didn't have enough sky miles to get to Missouri and back. Even though it says I can get tickets from 25,000-90,000, it was only showing me tickets worth 50,000 miles. I asked if I could trade them in for part of the ticket price. No such luck!

So all this time I've been assuming that I can fly to Missouri for my brothers wedding by cashing in my air miles. I've told Greg I would be there (my brother Jason and I are the only family members able to make it that I'm aware of), and now I'm staring face-to-face with the reality that I can't go. I felt so bad because I really want to be there for the wedding and I've already said I would go. Furthermore, I was booking both mine and Jason's tickets and I wasn't sure he'd go if I didn't go (the tickets were already creeping up in price beyond what he'd planned to pay) which means none of Greg's family would be at his wedding.

So I did what any sane, rational woman would do when bawling her eyes out and frustrated to no end. I called Rob. I sobbed about how stupid I felt for thinking I could get there for free, and that I had enough miles. I cried that I felt terrible for making a promise I wasn't going to be able to keep. I said I was mad at myself for waiting to book the tickets because they were $70 cheaper just a few weeks ago. After I calmed down enough to have a rational conversation he encouraged me to buy the ticket anyway. He said it was important that I be there. "Where's the money going to come from?" I sobbed. My wonderful husband assured me that we'd figure something out and told me to book the tickets.

Shortly after I hung up the phone Leeann came downstairs crying. She sat next to me in the rocking chair with tears streaming down her face and said, "Mommy, I heard you saying that you were stupid and that made me sad and made me want to cry!" Isn't she so sweet and sympathetic? I love my little girl!

So, four hours, lots of tears and several hundred dollars later I have my ticket to Missouri! It's the same days Rob has school so I still need child care for 3 full days (and nights)... but after booking the tickets that ought to be easy right?

One of Those Days

Today was one of those days... ya know, that nothing goes terrible, but nothing goes right either.

I had to take the kids to work with me today and what I hoped would take no more than 30 minutes took 2.5 hours. I had fought with the printer settings on Friday trying to print out a newsletter, to no avail. I came back in today to finish it and it took me hours to figure out what my problem was.

Meanwhile, my kiddos were having a particularly difficult time today. They had quite a long weekend, and we were all short on sleep. That meant we were all short on patience too! Leeann and Titus both threw a number of raging, non-sensical fits today. I felt like throwing one of my own too!

Rob took the kiddos to the park after dinner, and they aren't back yet. It's beautiful to have the house to myself for a short while. I have a great husband, have I ever mentioned that? Of course it probably wouldn't have taken a rocket scientist to figure out that I could benefit from some time alone this evening :0)

Our house is continuing to take shape, but I find myself dreaming of being back in our other house more and more often. Even more I dream of a new house, one with 4 or 5 bedrooms! Ah, I hear the sound of little squeals, "Hi mommy! I got a leaf!" Titus says as he proudly shows me his treasure! I best be going... I've got hugs and kisses to give!