Deeee!

Every time we walk down to get Haylie, well lately anyway, there are three big bucks that camp out in the yard of the house right next to the school. She LOVES the “deee!” As we pass them, she turns and looks out of the jogger, not wanting to miss a single moment of seeing them. This day, they appeared after we were already home from getting Haylie from school. The kids spotted them, and they just stood there and let us take pictures. Here, they still had the velvet on their racks and they seemed so much more gentle.

 

I caught these two having a little “tiff” the morning my mom left. See how their antlers don’t have the fuzzy velvet on them anymore? Don’t they look way more intimidating?!

I hear people always complaining about how obnoxious the deer are because they eat their flowers and bushes… but I just can’t help but be in awe of them. I love it when they come in our yard. Just last Monday, we came home from swimming lessons and there were two bucks, maybe these same ones, in our front yard. And the kids and I just sat in the car until they finally moseyed their way down the street. They really are beautiful, majestic animals…

(I secretly love that these ones are hanging out in town because they have less of a chance of getting hunted. ;) 

Poor, poor Maggie…

Don’t you just love the “terrible twos?” Or in this case, the “terrible fifteen months…” Maggie got mad at me because I wouldn’t give her the camera. She threw herself down on the floor and had a nice little tantrum.

And when she realized I wasn’t buyin’ it, she promptly got up and was fine!

1st Grade

So Haylie started 1st grade today. It’s so crazy that it’s that time of year again… If this year goes by as quickly as last year did, then I’m in trouble.

We have the coolest house ever. Well, not EVER, ever. But it’s pretty sweet! Haylie’s school is just 6 houses down the bike path which is right out our back gate. And I can see her coming or going (that’s IF I get brave enough to let her come and/or go alone) the entire way! But not today.

Here she is on the way!

I’m so glad she is young enough to still let me take pictures. I sure do love my kids. :)

This one didn’t quite turn out the way I wanted it to because she has her hand in front of her face, but I’ll take it. She looked back at me a couple of times while she was in line and that made me feel like I am still needed.

Haylie’s teacher is Mrs. Timmons and she is the furthest on the left. WAY nice. We have been very blessed for both kindergarten and 1st grade to have such wonderful teachers!

This was the last shot I got before she walked into the school. It kills me to see her standing so small and meek with all of those kids standing around her… 99% of the time, she is so extremely outgoing that occasionally we have to yank her back into reality. When I dropped her off this morning, she just stood there, not talking to anyone, (I’m sure!) waiting for someone to come over and invite her to play. And it kills me that I can’t/shouldn’t hold her hand the whole day. I’m sure tomorrow will be different…

After school was much different… Connor RAN to Haylie and immediately they started playing. He misses her so much when she’s at school. And then they fight like cats and dogs when she gets home. :)

While I was there, she still didn’t talk to the other kids who were outside playing, except the little girl hanging from that toy “thing” in the background. She asked her what her name was while I was there (Tally) and they both have the same teacher, so maybe tomorrow they’ll remember each other and play together. And just so everyone knows, the earrings she has in her ears are little cupcakes and they are SO cute. Haylie’s Auntie Kelli got them for her for her birthday and she LOVES them. 

And then it was time to go. I think the next two pictures can speak for themselves.

Haylie’s school has playground equipment on 3 different levels since the school was built on a hill, and right before this picture was taken, she was on her way down to the next level (i.e. as far away as possible from me). I may have mentioned the words, “OK, it’s time to go!” EH! Wrong answer.
Anyway, she ran and I said, “K, bye.” And then I took this picture.
She stood in this spot and yelled, “YOU WILL NOT LEAVE ME!” over and over again while I continued walking back towards the house. She finally caught up to us and all was well. :)

The power of ignoring is great.

Ass

Today, as I was making lunch, my little attachment (aka Maggie) was following me around the kitchen, pulling on my shirt and saying, “ASS! ASS! ASS!” I couldn’t for the life of me, figure out what she was talking about. I mean, what kind of parents are we? Do we really swear that much? Not gonna lie… I let the occasional swear word slip. But “ass?” She finally walked over to the table, where I had my glass of water and reaching for it, said, “ASS!”

Ding, ding, ding!

ICE. 

:)

Dreams

I have been noticing lately that I say and think this phrase A LOT: “I wish I was good at _____,” and, “I would love to _____ someday.” There are so many things that I want to do… some of which I know I will never do because of my personality.

Singing- I LOVE to sing. But not in front of people. I think I used to be semi-good at it too, but after I had Haylie, I felt like I couldn’t stay in tune as well as I used to.

Crafts- I’m not really that good at imagining things to do or make; I have to see it to know if I like it or not. I like to look through blogs, and could easily get lost in the computer for hours. My mom introduced me to    ‘Pinterest’ and it’s AWESOME! (If you haven’t checked it out, you should!) It’s so easy to just “pin it” whenever I see something I like or want to do or make. My problem is figuring out how to actually make what I want. It’s like I know what I like but I don’t feel like I’m that crafty. And living in a rental makes it that much harder because I can’t really paint walls or do any major decorating.

Piano- I used to play when I was in elementary school, but after I started going to middle school, we traded piano for sports. Now, I have this piano in my house (my MIL’s) and I am wishing SO HARD that I still knew how to play. In fact, I’d love to be able to play any kind of instrument.

Sewing- I have a sewing machine, but it’s my mom’s old one and it hasn’t been used for years. But still. I have one. My cousin Katie MADE her baby bedding (crib bumper included) all by herself. How awesome is that? To me it sounds really hard! But I’d love to be able to think of something  I want, and sit down at the sewing machine, and just make it.

Photography- I don’t have the ideal camera, but some pictures I’ve taken have turned out really well. It seems like everyone around me is starting a photography business, so in a way I feel like I’d be a follower. But I just really love taking pictures.

Pottery- I would love to take a pottery class and know how to make vases and bowls and different pieces of art.

Painting- When I was younger, I thought I could drawl well. But really… most drawings done by 8 year olds look the same, right? My mom thinks I could still do it… and I would love to. But I feel like I would need some sort of training… I don’t know brush strokes or paint colors or finishes or how to stretch a canvas.

The other night I was making dinner and all of a sudden, this thought occurred to me- ‘Go do it.’ What’s holding me back? Why do I keep wishing I could do these things? Why don’t I just go and do them? I have this one life and who knows when it will be over… even if I live to be 100, I don’t want to die still wishing I’d have done some or all of these things. So from now on, when I see something I want to do or make, I’m going to give it a honest effort and just do it! I may not be good at it… but at least I will have tried, right?

Whirlwind

For once, I’m going to use this thing as a real journal. I mean, I know I add pictures and little stories and everything, but this post I am about to post is solely for the purpose of being able to look back and know what was going through my head on August 23rd, 2011. I know this might sound pretty judgmental, but I have to get it out there. I hope this post doesn’t make any of you think badly or differently of me or Joe or the decisions we have made.

Rewinding to Benton City… Joe was working for White Shield, surveying. Great job (in the beginning). When he was first hired on in 2007, White Shield’s employees were outstanding. And then came (who we will call) Bob. Bob was hired after Joe, and for some reason, he decided that he would run the show. Bob is the kind of person who tells you what you want to hear. He is also a “drama queen.” Those two characteristics do not go well together, let me tell you. Over time, Bob’s children started working for White Shield. Children who are/were, in my opinion, losers (but who am I to judge?). I guess I am sort of biased because I know my husband is amazing and made that company a ton of money. Anywho, all of a sudden, Bob’s sons started having seniority over Joe. They were allowed to drive company vehicles to and from work, when nobody else in the company was. White Shield started losing money after Bob was hired. All of these negative things started happening, and with the economy the way it was, it wasn’t looking good.

Fast forward. After a huge pay cut, life at home was a getting a little difficult. We decided to put our house on the market, and surprisingly enough, got some really good bites. The first people who came and looked really liked it and wanted it, but they wanted to do a rent to own, and Joe and I just weren’t completely comfortable doing that. Joe didn’t necessarily feel the same way, but I felt like, if I was going to move out of my house, I wanted a clean break. I didn’t want it lingering over my head, threatening to take my money if say something broke or needed fixed. So then came the 2nd family. They loved it and made a full price offer. We accepted and everything was hunky-dory. After much praying and thinking and trying to justify what we didn’t want to do, as oppose to what we new we HAD to do, we decided that we needed to move to Wyoming. Rawlins, to be exact. The plan was to live with Joe’s sister and her family while waiting for a job offer from the Rawlins Police Department. Before moving to WY, it was promised to us that there were 5 openings on the department, and Joe would for sure get one. After the interview, we learned that there was not one single job opening. Why would they have interviews if there wasn’t an opening, you ask? Don’t look at me. We were extremely disappointed and at a loss for what we were supposed to do next.

Joe’s sister Rachel and her husband were moving to Green River for  a teaching job, and Joe’s parents already lived there, so we decided to move over too. Rock Springs, just 1.5 hours west of Rawlins, has a community college and with so many denials from Police jobs, we decided to put police work on the back burner; maybe for a little while, maybe for forever. The next big step was to move in with Joe’s parents in Green River (just 15 minutes west of Rock Springs). Not going to lie… wasn’t my favorite decision. Don’t get me wrong, they are great! But who wants to move back in with their parents? Luckily, Joe’s parents bought a house, and the closing date was just a month after we moved in. And BONUS! The house that they were renting, (that we had just moved into) was up for grabs! SWEET! We jumped at the opportunity! Haylie’s school is just out the back gate and 6 houses down - AWESOME! No pet deposit - SCORE! And Green River is amazing. There is so much to do here, and I have been impatiently waiting for a chance to live by Rachel and her kids. I love that my kids get to grow up with their cousins… it’s priceless. And again… not going to lie. There’s quite a bit of drama and the kids butt heads a lot. But I know when they’re older, we will look back and be so grateful for this opportunity.

OK, school. So Joe decided to enroll in college and FINALLY finish up his degree! And because of some  sweet family connections/ his uncle who works as a counselor at the college, we were made aware of a scholarship called the “Dad’s Making a Difference,” program which covers EVERYTHING. AND HE GOT IT!!! :) Talk about stress relief!

The downside to school- it’s from 9 A.M. to 4 P.M., Monday through Thursday. Which means, Joe has to work at nights. SO our new schedule is:

7 AM: Joe gets off work. The kids and I are just waking up. We all get up, get dressed, eat breakfast, etc. etc. (the usual morning routine). Joe changes out of his Maverik clothes (yes, he is working at the Maverik gas station because that is one of the few places that is open 24 hours, allowing him to work graveyard shift).
8:30 AM: Usually Joe would be just hanging out, helping me around the house, but now with school, he will be leaving. The kids and I will try to stay busy so that we don’t miss him as much until 4:00 rolls around.
4:30 PM: Joe should be walking in the door. I will need to have dinner read at our new time- 4:30- so that he can eat and be in bed by 5.
5 PM: Joe goes to bed. The kids and I play outside until 7:30 when it’s their bedtime.
10:30 PM: Joe gets up, gets ready for work and leaves so that he can be to work at 11. I am just climbing into bed. And then we do it all over again the next day.

So tell me. How does a family function, when they only get to see their “key player” for MAYBE an hour in the morning (and we don’t know for sure because he hasn’t started school yet) and a half hour in the afternoon? How is this house going to stay clean? Or happy? OR SANE? I do know one thing… I am a spoiled, spoiled girl. He is doing this so that I don’t have to work. In the beginning we considered me getting a job to help out, but one day when I was looking online for jobs, I completely lost it. I just knew that there was no way I could go off every day or even a few times a week, and leave my kids with someone else. Not even their grandma or aunt, and if I HAD to, I would definitely trust them. But for me- selfishly- I just can’t do it. Connor is a complete momma’s boy. It would kill the both of us. And Maggie is only a year old… I feel like I would be missing out on seeing her grow and do new things. SO- I guess we will live a life without luxuries for the next year. I think I can do it…

My fear is that I am disappointing people.  An even bigger fear is that my mom and dad aren’t proud of me. I guess my wish is that they both are watching my little family struggle, knowing that in the end, we will be better for it. I hate the thought that maybe they think that we are making bad decisions. Because at this point in my life, that’s what I feel like we are doing. I do know that there is a light at the end of this tunnel. And though I can’t see it yet, I know it’s there. It’s beckoning me. It’s making me stronger. One year… and not even a full year. It’s from tomorrow until December 14th. And then from January 18th until May 18th. With a few days off for Thanksgiving and a week off for Spring Break. Only 7 months total… “I think I can, I think I can…”

(P.S. I’m not going to proofread this because if I do, I will erase it all and/or change everything. And I wanted this written down before I forgot.)

The Best Gift Ever

I forgot to mention that Haylie received a whoopie cushion from Joe's sister Rachel and her family. It seriously gave some good laughs while we were on the houseboat... especially from William. Somehow, the male adults got a bigger kick out of it than the kids.... ;)
Thanks Rach, for the gifts for Haylie's birthday. We are most sorry that you guys weren't there. You honestly make it a party. Love ya!