What I put up with

• wake up to find the fan at the foot of my bed completely disassembled (we're talking in more pieces than they come in when you buy them)
• get yanked out of bed because "there are ants in the bed"
• wake up to find myself being stared at, then told to stay still, a spider is walking across my face
• get up around 5 am for a potty break only to find a man sleeping in my 5 year olds bed
• get woken up because there is a man with a very strong grip on my arm
• get woken up because someone is pulling my hair
• had a man running from room to room in the middle of the night
• seen a man getting dressed in the middle of the night because he was going to work, only to find him sleeping on the couch
• had someone searching frantically for my 5 year old all over the house, including under the beds (he was at his biological dad's house for the weekend)

Yes my friends, this lunatic of a man I'm proud to say is my husband! Through out the last 4 years I have witnessed some very crazy actions from this man. To say that he is a sleep walker is pretty much an understatement. Sometimes (last night for instance) I feel that these events are grounds for divorce! just kidding! There's more....

• sitting and watching t.v. and suddenly hearing a scratching noise from the other side of my son's bedroom door
• hearing banging coming from my son's bedroom door

Yes it's true, my son is also a sleep walker! One night I was sitting in the living room watching a movie when I heard this scratching noise coming from his door. I went and opened the door only to find my son standing right on the other side running his finger nails down the door. Another night he woke up and stood there banging on the door. Other times he has curled up on his floor on the other side of his door and cried. More often than not he comes walking out of his room, climbs on the couch, then turns around and goes back to bed.

So this is my life, surrounded my sleep walking and sleep talking men. My baby is only 10 months old, so far he's just a lousy sleeper! Thankfully there is no talking or walking so I'm "free" for another year or so. Wish me luck that he doesn't follow in his father's footsteps!

On a completely different note, we are sitting here tonight watching a movie and one of the characters says a line out of a poem. Suddenly my husband goes on and repeats the entire poem,

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

Invictus by William Ernest Henley

Would you believe that he remembered this poem word for word from the 5TH GRADE!!! I can barely remember the name of my 5th grade teacher let alone a poem that I had to memorize!

So, there's my life.... at least my night life lol If I'm not being woken up by a baby I'm being woken up by my husband or my 5 year old!

still not much...

not too much going on here just enjoying the last few weeks of summer. I'm excited that this is the first year that I won't have to pay for my son's school however, I'm also a little sad that he's actually going into Kindergarten. It's sad to think that the last 5 years have gone by so fast. My little guy turned 10 months old this past Sunday, he is so stinking cute! He has pretty much mastered walking so we're definitely in high mode to finish baby proofing the house.

We have spent many days/nights discussing what type of house that we want to move into. I dream of moving into a home with land so that I can fulfill my desire to have a horse again. The market is great for buying this type of property, however, once we find the property we have to be ready to immediately make an offer. Sadly our house still hasn't sold.... if it still hasn't sold by late fall then we will pull it off the market and turn it into a rental in the spring. It's a little scary to think of having 2 rental houses but then when I think about it in the long run it will be nice once the houses are paid off, that's just some additional income.

All in all, life is wonderful. My kids are healthy and beautiful. My husband is absolutely my other half. I couldn't ask for more!

just some pics

Caught Mr Man trying to take a nap on Sasha.... how sweet!

he just loves that dog

there's a bunch of beggars in this house! Notice at the bottom of the picture that even the baby is begging! lol

Cosmo & Bella, learning to be friends.... it's a slow progression but it's happening!

meet Bella

well I promised a surprise, and here she is! Today the kids and I spent 7 hours in the car to get this little lady. She was rescued from a kill shelter so we decided to adopt her. Yes this does mean that we have 3 dogs now... 2 Boston terriers and a lab. Why did we do this? Well because we can! We have the room for a 3rd dog and can afford to feed another small dog like this. So far she is fitting in wonderfully, she loves the kids and our other dogs could care less that they have a new roomie!

Hope everyone had a great hump day!

Weekend re-cap

Friday night: I felt crabby as could be so opted to send the boys to Best Buy with dad while I stayed home and mowed. We had a showing of our house scheduled for Saturday so I was rushing to make things look wonderful!

Saturday: husband had to work (again) and the house was being shown between 11:30 - 1pm. I decided to load the kids up and take them out to the ranch where I grew up riding horses. We had so much fun! Petting horses, throwing rocks in the pond, playing on the swings, feeding horses.... it made me realize how much I miss that life. Lucky for me if we can sell our house we'll be moving to the country and I'll finally be able to have a horse again! So following our barn afternoon we came home to meet daddy, everyone took a 3 HOUR nap! Can you believe that? Between me, the husband, the 5 yr old, and a 9 mo old, we all slept for that long.... sooo relaxing! Then it was time to load up and head off to Atchison, KS for the Amelia Earhart festival for one of the best firework displays ever! The show has a music that goes along with it and this year it was all Disney music - some of my fave!!!! Late night for us, didn't get the kids into bed until midnight... yikes!

Sunday: my BIL came over in the morning to patch up the hole in my son's room. Then we were off to the Missouri side of the river for some hiking... what a beautiful day it was! My husband and Logan (5yr old) took their bikes and Mr Man (9 mo old) and I used the stroller.... 4 1/2 miles later we were done! Loved it! The scenery was amazing, the trail was so well kept, it was great! After hiking we headed to our new Super Walmart to do our grocery shopping. I have to tell you that I wasn't overly impressed with the store. Mainly the produce.... I wanted a tomato, they had no red tomatoes only orange... is that normal? Then it took me forever to find a good head of lettuce and lets not get me started on the bagged lettuce. Oh ok you convinced me, I could barely find a bag of salad and there was no hope for a bag of shredded lettuce.... the 2 bags that they had were brown! So.... not sure if I'll ditch Price Chopper any time soon or not. Back home for pork chops, scalloped tators, and green beans... yummy! Kids are in bed and I just finished watching Lindsey Lohan's new movie 'Labor Pains'.... it was ok.

Here are some pictures from our hiking today.... enjoy!

life and it's craziness...

To start this post off my little town opened the doors to it's brand spanking new Super Wal-mart! Now to most people this wouldn't be a huge deal however, to this town (and apparently all the surrounding counties) this is a must see, but be at event! I guess part of the excitement comes from the fact that this particular Walmart is the 3rd largest in the country.... all at once now "ooooohhhh....aaaaaahhhhh" yup, something to be proud of I guess! lol So my husband and I took the kids there at 9:30 pm on opening day (my hubbys idea, not mine!) and the store was absolutely packed! We waited in line for at least 25 minutes to check out, ridiculous! Granted they do have a much bigger selection than our plain jane Walmart. I'm pretty excited to see how much (if any) money I can save by doing my grocery shopping there.

About 3 weeks ago I started keeping a "spare" kiddo a few days a week. I thought that having another boy close to my son's age would be good for him, help make things less boring. The main thing I'm noticing is that I need to work harder on being tough. I get on the boys for jumping around everywhere, rough housing, yelling, etc and it seems like I talk to a brick wall! Lol Now I clearly remember those days where my mom would lecture me and I just kept on going.... is this my payback? Today my son was playing rough with our new friend and his cousin, well he "body-slammed" his cousin into a wall in his room. 1st problem, pushing a girl. 2nd problem, I had just finished saying "no more rough housing inside!". and the 3rd problem, he shoved her so hard there is now a hole in the wall the size of my 10 year old niece! So here we are trying to sell our house and now we need to replace the sheetrock and repaint... oh joy! Oh and for those concerned, the niece wasn't hurt. I think this just happened to be a freak accident. When I told my husband about the incident his comment was "why are the boys even inside? It's summer, the only reason they need to come in is to pee and eat lunch!". Personally it's too hot for me to want to be outside so I'm not about to force the kids to be out there.... mainly because I don't want to go out and watch them! Lazy much? Maybe so but the air conditioning is so much more comfortable!

Look at these boys.... I know you're all jealous that I'm hanging out with 3 handsome boys!

Along with my blog I also have a facebook account. I have over 160 friends. Seriously? I talk to like 3 people on there who the hell are these 160 +/- friends? My curiosity got to me so yesterday I made "lists" of the people. Something like 96 of these people are "friends" from high school. What a crock! I'm sure I wasn't friends with the majority of these people while in school so how come we're suddenly friends now? Not to worry I know the truth, just these nosy ass people wanting to see my pictures. And of course I don't want to appear to be a bitch so I go ahead and accept the friend requests. My request to these curious people, once I accept your request at least stop in and say hello! Half of the people I've never even talked to on there! So anyway, back to where my facebook topic was originally supposed to take me. Today I received a friend request from my biological dad. I haven't really talked to him for awhile, and I can count on both hands the number of times I've seen him my ENTIRE life.... obviously I can't decline his request, but now I feel like my life is out there for him to see and maybe I should be guarded about what I post. (not to worry, no dirty pics or anything like that!) On the other hand, I browsed his page today and had this overwhelming lonely feeling. This desire to know him better. I see so many features that I got from him, we seem to have a lot of similar interests. At times I wish that I could just reach out to him and try to know him better. Then the fear of rejection kicks in and I opt out of making that connection. Oh the confusions of life....

My final topic is referring to this blog. I sometimes look at my small number of followers and think how sad and lonely my blog is. But then I remember that I have not told my friends or family about my blog. On one hand I love that I haven't because I can write whatever I like and not worry about biting my tongue. On the other hand, sometimes I wouldn't mind people that I know reading what I write. Anyone got any thoughts they'd like to share about this?

So.... there was my LONG entry for the day, lots of rambling but overall good topics right? Now if only I can convince my body to go to sleep... night everyone!

oh and before I go! There is no longer any hint of blonde in my hair, it's officially brunette and part of it would probably qualify as black! Very different but I love it! :)

And.... look at this adorable baby boy, how did I get so lucky?

the official review

Harry Potter was amazing!!! Possibly my favorite so far! I do not read the books, I'm purely a movie follower so I have no idea how this series ends.... however I was devastated by the ending of this movie! I was completely unprepared for the tragedy! And feel very let down by Snape.... not the direction I was hoping he would go. Acting was wonderful, they really showed the teenage hormones well! lol I laughed and laughed, ah what a wonderful movie. I'll definitely see it at least once more while it's in theater. My entire family (sisters, brother & parents) have the tradition of always going to the midnight showing. This year my 10 year old niece was invited to come too. It was a little much for her. On the way to the theater she let us know she was tired and then about 30 minutes into the movie she was curled up in her chair asleep! Anyway, I don't want to reveal too much about the movie incase my fellow readers are like me and don't read the books.... enjoy the movie, it's definitely a must see!

getting some sleep now

yes.... I will be there tonight for the midnight showing!!!! I can't wait!!!

Mommy what's this????

I swear that's what Riley is saying to me every time he's taking a bath. He has found his "man-hood"! Anyway, Mr Man is 9 months old already, I cannot believe he's so big! I had to take him into the doctor last week to check his ears out. I guess the car seat companies are suggesting new state laws which according to my pediatrician means we'll probably see the laws being passed soon. According to statistics, it is safer for kids to remain in rear-facing car seats until they're older. Apparently more kids are injured in accidents if they are facing forward vs facing rear. You will never believe the age that is being recommended...... it is highly recommended that children remain rear-facing until they area 4 YEARS OLD!!!!! Fellow moms out there, can you even imagine your child facing the rear for 4 years?! I can't! My son is 9 months old so he is still rear-facing, however he is already cramped up! I'm definitely hoping that the law isn't passed. If it's safer for our children then I understand it, however here is my question. How have they been testing/studying these accidents? Does anyone out there really keep their kids facing the rear until they're 4 years old?

Moving on, last week I posted pictures from our Colorado vacation. My dad was nice enough to pay for the entire vacation so in return my siblings and I cooked him an amazing dinner on Sunday night. My parents have a beautiful Weimereiner (sp?), she's not the smartest dog but absolutely gorgeous and we love her in spite of her flaws! My parents live in the country but they are right off of a fairly busy black top road. Josie (the dog) absolutely loves being a country dog and is constantly running near the road, chasing cars, going visiting with the other country dogs. Sadly Sunday was the last time we got to love on her. She got a little too close to a passing car (a car that was driving way too fast). At least for her sake she was killed instantly. So our very fun family gathering turned into a very sad evening. My sister and I had our kids there who absolutely loved Josie, there were a lot of tears shed! So RIP Josie, we love you and miss you!

And on a more positive note, my house was shown 5 times last week! We're keeping our fingers crossed that one of these lookers will turn into a buyer. There is one very interested person but she's concerned with having to carry groceries up the stairs..... hopefully she'll understand how motivated we are to sell and that will put her worries aside!!!!!

here's 101!!!

I'm still here... though I'm different today than I was yesterday. I got my 5th tattoo!!! That's right, just call me Mrs. Rebel! My 2 sisters and I went and got the symbol for infinity tatted on us (it's a figure eight). Here's a pic of mine...

My next tattoo is going to be a little more daring... I want a 1/4-sleeve so badly! Here's what I'm thinking about doing

I don't know how many of my readers are tattoo fans, but I personally am addicted to ink!

On a completely different note, my family got some sad news today. My brother is 17 years old, this is the summer before his senior year. Last summer his best friend was killed in an auto accident. He had gotten his car stuck and tried to get out and push it himself, the car rolled backwards and trapped him between his car and a tree. He suffered through the night and wasn't found until the next morning, he'd already passed away. Jake's death was really hard on my brother. Today one of his closest friends went in for a biopsy on a swollen lymph node, he was diagnosed with lymphoma. 17 years old. This is supposed to be one of the best years of their lives. Leaves me questioning how paths are chosen for people, the world doesn't seem fair.

100th....

well here it is... my 100th post. Not very exciting... I only have 12 followers and I'm not giving anything away! So.... here's my 100th and possibly my final post... Hope everyone is doing ok. Here are a few pictures from our Colorado vacation - ENJOY!

Royal Gorge

We rode the tram down to the bottom

in the middle of the bridge

Garden of the Gods

Dinner at Denver's Downtown Aquarium

Logan climbing a coconut tree

Dinner at the family reunion... having a little "toast"

finally home... again!

we spent our 4th at a family reunion in Denver, CO!!!! What a drive that was! I'm so glad to be home! Maybe tomorrow I'll get some pics posted!

alcohol + my neighbor don't mix!!!!

So about 2 weeks ago my husband and I watched a "live" episode of Cops right across from our house! Our neighbor was laying face down on his side walk with 2 cops standing over him pointing their rifles to his head.... talk about crazy! It seems that he got so drunk and mixed it with the heat that he couldn't control his temper, which led to his family calling the cops on him. I thought that was pretty exciting stuff! Tonight I went to bed around 1 am and was having difficulties falling asleep because I kept hearing someone's vehicle revving up and then these strange flashing lights. So the investigator that I am (aka the nosey person that I am), I got up to check it out. Same neighbor has driven his truck into the front of his house!!!! Cops out the ass surrounding this guys place and once again he's down on the ground with a gun to his head! Crazy part is that the truck is stuck!!!! I'm thinking this guy has a serious problem! So here it is 1:30 am and I'm wide awake being that nosey neighbor! lol

frustrated...

I own a rental house. Last month my tenants told me they would be moving out and would be out by the end of June. No problem, I put a sign up in the yard, posted an ad on craigslist, and have patiently waited. We've had a few calls and emails and I've shown the house twice. Yesterday I met some potential tenants at the house and let them have a look around. To my surprise the house is an absolute disaster, shit everywhere! Also, when these tenants moved in I allowed them to paint as long as they painted again before they left. So, their crap is everywhere and 3 walls in the living room are still a deep red. Let me remind everyone that yesterday was June 30th, the last day of the month. Technically I should be able to rent the house out to new tenants today. There is no way that is happening, I'll bet that the house isn't even empty yet! I am so irritated. And of course the chance to get any money from them for an extra week is not likely! I have learned my lesson, I will never mix business with friends again.