Ouch, I'm All Stiff!!

I got up and ran with my group today. Saturday is the distance day. I did two loops - that's 13 miles of running!!!

Oh yeah, I'm feelin' it now. I may be feeling this for a while to come too. I haven't done a two looper since before I was pregnant with Clayton. That's the peril of running by yourself: it's way easier to let yourself off of the hook after 6 miles. Ouch my bum, Ouch, my bum!!

Water Park Fun

I took the kids to the water park. Bruce couldn't come (because of his burned arm - it's actually pretty bad - but it's on the mend - slowly - and still rather painfully - I'd put up pictures, but it'd be too gross. The one that's on there now is very mild in comparison to how it got to look. He's going to have quite the conversation piece with his new scar (as if he needed a conversation starter - HAH!) Anyway, he'll be okay folks.)

As I was saying, Bruce couldn't come, so I took my brother Trent (the awesomest) with me to help watch kids. Trent took Lydia, Ross and Mark all around the place and they did all the slides and such. I attached Justice to my hip (Clayton stayed with Grandma - he's a bit young to appreciate a water park) and we played in the kiddie playgrounds all day. It was a very good time! I don't have any pictures because - duh, I'm not bringing my camera to a water park, and plus like I really need a picture of me in a bathing suit for the world to see.

Silly Boys!

The Source of the Mysterious Chirping

The sound of chirping yesterday was driving me CRAZY!!! So I took down the smoke alarm that I had absolutely no doubt was the culprit, took out the old batteries and started looking for new ones, when I heard another "Chirp!"

"What the Heck! I just took out the batteries."

I went to the only other smoke alarm on the main floor, took it down and took out the batteries. I had replaced the batteries in the 6 smoke alarms in the house at the same time (way over 6 months ago, but they still test okay when you push the buttons). Still, it seems like a bit of a stretch that they would all start chirping at the same time. Anyhow, I now have 2 batteryless smoke alarms sitting on my counter-top.

"Chirp!"

"What the freak! Surely that chirp would not sound so loud if it were coming from downstairs or upstairs. It just isn't possible. It sounds like it's right here in the room with me."

"Chirp!"

Then I remembered that I had a spare smoke alarm that I had never put up ... somewhere. Had I put it in a closet or on a shelf somewhere with batteries in it? I start looking in all of the places I might have put that spare. All along I keep hearing this "Chirp" and I can't figure out where it's coming from. That spare isn't hiding on top of my cabinets; it's not in the cabinet above the fridge. It's not in the cabinet above the trashcan. It's not on my bookshelf.

"Chirp!"

"WHERE IS THAT COOKY THING?! I can hear it like it's right stinking there, but I can't see it!" It's not in my bathroom closet.

"Chirp!"

I start tearing apart my hall closet.

"Chirp!"

"That doesn't sound like it's coming from my hall closet. WHERE IS IT?!"

"Chirp!"

I recheck my cabinet tops.

"Chirp!"

I recheck my bookcase.

"Chirp!"

I push aside the coats hanging on the hooks in the hallway, and run my hand along the wall behind them -as if I just might have hung it on such a stupid place as on a wall, behind a bunch of coats, and then forgotten completely about it.

"Chirp!"

"ARGH!" I go back to the hall closet and tear it apart some more.

"Chirp!"

Back to the bookcase.

"Chirp!"

Back to the cabinets.

"Chirp!"

Back to the closet.

"Chirp!"

Back to the bathroom.

"Chirp!"

Back to the bookcase.

"Chirp!"

At last my eye falls on the carbon monoxide detector of insanity. I pick it up.

"Chirp!" as a red light lights up. I'm a crazy moron.

Work, Work, Work!

Bruce took time off from his job to work on getting our basement waterproofed. Bruce's dad came over and dug big trenches in the yard.

which we put drain pipe in and then filled with rocks.

We also dug a few smaller trenches by hand that run into the larger trenches.

The kids all had fun taking turns driving the back-ho:

Ross & Pa

Mark & Pa

Justice & Pa

Lydia & Pa

Noelle (our favorite extra) & Pa

Well, this picture doesn't show the entire first trench, but it's close.

Unfortunately we used all of the 15 tons of rock in the first trench. (This is the 2nd). The quarry was already closed, so we couldn't get any more while we still had the back-ho rented.

So, we had to shovel the other 7 tons of rock into the 2nd trench by hand, in the rain. Thanks to my wonderful family, who showed up to help, we got the job done.

Also unfortunately, Bruce had a mishap with a fire and a gas can, and he was out of commission for the last part of the project.

Also also unfortunately, it's been raining quite a bit since we finished that project, and we did get just a bit of dampness in the basement. BRHAROOM! So we are now thinking that it must be a water table thing and we are planning to jack-hammer a trench around the inside of the entire basement leading to a new sump-pump. It never ends! Anybody want to give me about $15,000 to finish all of the rest of the projects that need done around here?

Brothers!

Lydia is having a sleep over at a friend's house. Ross & Mark set up a surprise for her in her room. Notice the sign "Lydia-->" Silly boys!

It Starts...

Happy 15th Anniversary R&B

Before I get to our weekend, I want to give a quick hello to Holli Sharp, who I noticed found my blog. "Hey! Good to hear from you! I've done a bit of spying back. We'll keep in touch!"

Also, Aunt Jane, and a few of my cousin from Utah came to visit last week, and that was fun. I got to go for a run with my cousins. That's always good. We went to the zoo, and Ross got a lot of funny looks. Just before we left, Ross had been playing some game where he was dressed up in and old Halloween costume. He wasn't ready to take it off and stop playing whatever he had been playing, so he asked if he could wear his get up to the zoo. I didn't mind, so he went to the zoo in a black vampire robe (it looked especially great with his new mo-hawk). He didn't seem to care that people were giving him some weird looks.

So anyway, Bruce and I celebrated our 15th anniversary this weekend. We actually left our kids and went away for three whole days. We've never done that before. The last time we went anywhere without them (besides the hospital to have another baby) was 5 years ago, and we only stayed one night. It was totally awesome! We didn't have any big agenda, we just took it easy and did whatever we wanted. We went to Nauvoo for the weekend. We went running together, went to the temple, went for night time strolls, went to the movies, went to Carthage, stayed up and played cards, played our radio game in the car, and just enjoyed each-other's company. It was great. We get along very well, the two of us. I like that guy. We started counting deer that we saw on the way home, we counted 133 in our approximately 3 hour drive. Here are some random pictures that we took this weekend:

The Lizard Tree

Me with a big ox

Nauvoo Temple from Parley Street

Bruce at lunch

a sign I laughed at

Oh yeah! Clayton learned to walk while we were gone. I kind of figured that it might happen that way; he was pretty close when we left.

All This For Some Curtains

It all started because I wanted some curtains in the boys' room (Ross & Mark). They have a basement room and you could totally see into their room at night. About a year ago, I bought what I thought was some cool tie-dyed material with the intent to make them new stuff for their bedroom. Bruce however said that the circles looked like flowers. Well, I didn't want to spend a bunch of time making something that looked like flowers in their room, so I gave up feeling frustrated.
Anyway, about a month or so ago, I took up the cause again. With my mom's help, I made 2 bedspreads, 2 bed-skirts, 2 pillow shams, and 2 sets of roman shades with this cool flame material. Then I got this cool super-hero poster to pull it together. I got ready to put the stuff up in their room, but decided that it just wouldn't do.
The windows had no wood framing at all, it was just drywall cut out around the window, so you could still see the cement blocks behind the drywall. So, I bullied Bruce into replacing one window (he'd done the other one a couple of years ago), and framing in the window with wood, putting on some trim around the windows, doors, and the light fixtures. In the mean time I patched in some drywall around the windows to meet up with the new wood framing, patched some holes in the walls, sealed up the corners of the room, and put up a new coat of paint.
Also in the mean time, our basement got all wet, so we had to take out their carpet. We decided not to put it back in just yet. Bruce is taking off all of next week in order to do some home repairs, including waterproofing the basement. We decided to put the carpet back in when we are sure that the basement won't get wet again. So, we put the room back together without it.The boys love it, and decided to decorate with one of their super-hero costumes (to go with their Marvel poster). I can't wait to get their carpet back in and see it ALL done.

Next week we open up a whole new can of worms. I have a list about 5 miles long of work to be done around the house. I just need the funding.

An Old Embarrassing Moment

Someone stopped by my mom's house while she was in the shower today. It reminded me of the following embarrassing moment.

Bruce and I were new to our ward, back in our newly wed, pre-kids days. My visiting teachers came over for their first visit (my brother John was over too). I had just gotten home from work and changed into some comfy-lounging-around-the-house-clothes, a tee-shirt and a pair of Bruce's old shorts. My VT's asked for a tour, so I got up and they followed me around our new house. I remember one of them mistakenly calling John my husband and being very embarrassed about her mistake.

We had a pleasant visit. After they left, I reached around to stick my hands in my back pockets, only to find that the shorts that I was wearing had a HUGE hole in the buttocks. HUGE!!!! Literally my entire cheek was hanging out for the world to see. So embarrassed!