finally no humidity!

This post has nothing to do with humidity, however the last 2 days have been so beautiful I figured I had to mention it somewhere!

Here's my problem, please people give me advice! Lately I've gotten about zilch comments, am I boring people? I know life isn't exciting right now but has it been that bad?! If yes, then don't answer! ;-)

Problem:

I am a stay at home mom during the summer.

I live less than 3 blocks from my sister's house.

She is a stay at home mom during the summer.

She has a weekend job.

She has opted to start working 2 days during the week.

She assumes I don't mind keeping her 3 daughters during those days.

Her work hours are from 10-2.

She never shows up to get her kids until after 3 because she goes to run or whatever.

Her kids are not angels.

I like a quiet house.

Her kids are not quiet.

They eat as if they are teenage boys.

I am having a hard time affording to keep up with their appetites.

One child in particular has severe ADHD, constantly lies, and tends to be mean.

So what do I do? Some may say, just tell your sister that you'd rather not keep her kids so frequently. I must say that my sister can hold a grudge like none other. For example: about 3 years ago I had a pair of shoes that she wanted. They were new. They did not fit me right so I was willing to sell them to her for less than I paid. She got mad that I would charge her, she didn't speak to me for 3 months. Literally.not.one.word.

To be honest there is no reason that I can't keep her kids except for selfishly I just don't want to! On the other hand if I have a dr's appointment she does keep my kids for me to get to that. So that is nice and I'd be bummed to lose that, however I could always find a sitter.

Something irritating though, they show up loud, hungry (at 10am), and still in their pajamas. Sometimes no shoes.

I have a car that fits 5 but with 2 carseats in the back seat getting that 3rd body is nearly impossible. Plus none of the kids are old enough to sit in the front seat, and 2 of her 3 kids still by law should be in booster seats. Obviously this leaves a problem. I can't leave my house! What if there is an emergency?

I guess what is most frustrating is that she never offers money to help pay for all of this extra food that I go through when they're here. She waits until 10:30 the night before to ask me to keep her kids. And she always shows up more than an hour late in a different outfit (casual) than what she went to work in. Am I being played here? Used?

Advice P.L.E.A.S.E, what is a person to do?

Am I just being selfish? or worse, bitchy?

miscellaneous

I'm just posting some pics from over the last week or so, nothing too exciting has been going on in our lives so this is what you get instead! ☺

This is one of the budding apples from one of our apple trees. It's been fun for us to watch this tree bloom and educational as well watching the apples! I'm amazed at how many apples grow on just one tree! Also interesting to me, this apple is green... last year the tree had red apples! Is this normal? Will it turn red?

my sweet little boy & I. Sometimes he's so sweet, others he's so ornery... like right now as I type and he's stealing the remotes & hitting his big brother with them...

Due to lack of space in our new house this is the best pool we can fit (at least that's what I tell the kids!) I don't know about you all but I'm awful at taking care of a pool. This one fits in our "garden" space so I don't have to worry about killing the grass, works perfect!

*please ignore the chewed on trim... it appears one of our dogs can't help but chew on the side of the house... yes, my husband is thrilled about that

Look close and you can see Logan way up there in one of the apple trees! These trees are huge, I want to cut them down but I'm catching a lot of grief for those thoughts. I can see a big trimming coming up in these trees future!

and that's it people! We're busy this week with t-ball games, the horse, working on our patio, and I'm giving some riding lessons. Nice and busy but just how we like it!

women are evil

Many of my followers or people that I follow are either mothers or soon to be mom's. For those who already have their babies you'll relate with this post more personally.

Do you remember the days pre-baby?

The toned stomach, tight thighs, perky girls, you know the "pre sleep deprived" days.

Once you've had a baby (let alone two or three!) it is so hard to get that body back. Not only does it require a lot of effort it's time away from your new precious family!

So, here's what has me all riled up today....

(photo courtesy of People.com)

Kendra Wilkinson

This pic my friends is her post baby body, little Hank is only like 6 or 7 months old I think....

My personal opinion: Damn girl you looking FINE!

You guys want to see my photo like that nearly 2 years after my second baby was born? Yeah, I wouldn't want to see it either!

The part that makes me so angry is that one of the first few people to comment on her photo says: "She is still fat and has to stop looking into a funhouse mirror to think she is thin"

Are you freaking kidding me?! She looks absolutely amazing!

Most irritating is that this is what the every day woman deals with. People are so damn critical of us and if we gain a few pounds we're immediately judged. I am quite thankful that I'm not a celebrity. Someone is a bit bloated from a night of drinking or PMS'ing and the next day it's all over the tabloids that she is pregnant!

So there's the problem, we are all judged for what we wear, how we do our hair, and if we gain a few pounds. Why do we keep doing this to each other?

ideas?

I would love to have some sort of hobby.... I follow so many blogs and you ladies are amazingly creative! I envy you!

Anyone have any ideas on what a fairly easy hobby is to get started on? Can I make something and sell it on etsy or whatever that site is? (I'll be honest I've never even visited that site!)

Last night I told my son I was going for a jog, he got all upset because he thought I said I was going to go get a JOB! Poor kid! According to him he loves having me home all the time with him and his brother and he doesn't want me to go get a job. How sweet! Of course now I feel guilty because I can't be a stay at home mom forever and I'm currently applying for jobs! At least it's nice to know that my kids enjoy having me around!

So once again I ask, what is a fun hobby? Preferably something that a person with little talents can do! lol

hello Monday

Ok my friends it's a new week, I'm feeling less moody and much more happy, and I'm ready to take on the week! We had a great weekend! Saturday morning we got up early and went to mini #1's t-ball game then we came home and packed our cooler & beach bag and headed to the Schlitterbaum! For those who don't know it's a HUGE water park! Well let me correct that, it is HUGE in other places just not ours. Ours is only 30% completed but it's still a lot of fun! We spent hours floating around the lazy river and the tourent river (a river that keeps waves going through it!) and mini #1 and the hubs went down the water slides time after time. There's was lots of fun had and lots of sun received! Then Sunday we picked up a grill for my dad, had a family nap, made some cookies, then headed over for a cook out at my parents house. There was delicious food (probably because I made the burgers! ha!) and great company. We also combined 2 family birthdays into our fathers day celebration so it was even more the merrier! I hope everyone had a great weekend and is ready to bring on the week! :-)

p.s. sorry there's no pics, I slacked on the camera action the entire weekend!

a tad bit moody

sometimes my friends I feel just a little bit moody, how about you guys? Lately I don't know what it is but I'm grumpy! I'm almost starting to believe that it's this new birth control, Yaz, does anyone use it? Anyone have moodiness issues from it? So I'll warn everyone, this post could be considered whiney, bitchy, moody, sob story, pathetic, yada yada yada.... but that's just what I'm feeling and I feel like sharing with everyone! :-)

#1: my husband is an electrician, he works for a union. Work is S.L.O.W. Every Friday people get laid off, talk about stress every week just waiting until 2pm to hear if he will be one of the un-lucky. Today we got the good news that he should be safe at his job for at least the next month. Hallelujah!

#2: last night I get a phone call around 7:30 from our tenant. She proceeds to tell me that the fridge has died. She noticed it the night before, yet it took her almost 24 hrs to tell me, and of course she expected a replacement ASAP. I worked miracles and had a replacement (brand new) fridge to her in less than 3 hours. How about that service!? She then calls me this morning to tell me that the fridge still doesn't work that the issue is the outlet itself. Thankfully since the hubs is an electrician I sent him over there this evening. Turns out they lost power a few days ago, all that needed done was to reset the damn GFI! Are you serious? Pushing one button could have saved us $400!!!! I will not dwell, I will not dwell....

#3: I have had a migraine for almost 48 hrs... it's finally feeling decent enough that I can sit here and complain about it. So not only have I felt like poo my almost 2 yr old has been quite ornery this week and I've had a few extra kids in the afternoons too... makes for a joyous time! (please note sarcasm)

#4: do any of you have family members that drive you insane? I do... actually I find myself disgusted sometimes that someone is related to me. That her behavior is what it is, what her actions have done to hurt other people. And that's about as far as I need to go with this topic

#5: my husband and I spent about 4 hours at a horse sale this past Monday night with hopes of buying a saddle. Since no one that I knew could come with me I didn't feel comfortable with picking a used saddle on my own, so I opted to spend a little more and buy a new saddle. Guess how that turned out? You guessed it, shitty. Saddle doesn't fit my horse right, and to be honest I don't think it was built right. So here I am stuck with this saddle and just praying that craigslist pulls through for me and I can sell the damn thing and try again

#6: awhile ago I told you guys about my lab work, tests for RA and Lupus etc. Results came back normal (hooray) only issue is the ultrasound on my thyroid shows that my nodule has grown. So I'm off to the surgeon this Tuesday to talk about biopsy-ing it

Okay, I could continue to go with this but I think I've shown my not-so-pretty side and am slightly embarrassed by myself now! Hope everyone has fabulous Friday and has great plans for the weekend!

Before you guys tell me what a fabulous idea this is, I must confess that I got the idea from Leslie, she is absolutely brilliant! Check out her dad's day gift here.

Mine is slightly different as I'm not smart enough to put all the pics together to actually spell the word perfectly.... so I went and bought frames that have 3 separate spots for pics and I'll spell the word that way.... Here are a few of my shots. So far Logan has done perfect! And Riley, well all he wanted to do was throw the 'D' at me and pout. So off to nap Riley went and I'll try and get a good shot later, I just need ONE!

p.s. if you're confused by the pics at all, Logan has 2 dads, his biological dad & his step dad, so he got to do one on his own for his dad and one combined with Riley for my husband....

Here is the beginning of Riley deciding not to cooperate

this was the best I could get out of him, I think we'll try for a better A shot later

This guy on the other hand did a fabulous job!

pretties

I did it!!!!

I DID IT!!!!!

I completed my 2nd 5k run this weekend!

Who's a rockstar? That's right - ME!

Not only did I finish my run but I knocked 5 minutes off of my time from my 1st 5k.

I ran this one in a little over 37 minutes!

I am sooo proud of myself and can't wait to continue doing more of these, they make me feel so good about myself!

at it again

remember this?

I'm sure you're all saying "girl how could I forget that apple red face!"

This is what Jen & I looked like before that race, see how happy we were!

This is why we are doing it again.

This Saturday bright and early we are running in another 5k!!!!!!

damn we look GOOD!!!!!

wedding bells were ringing

We had such a busy week/weekend around here!

Wednesday extended family started piling into Kansas

Thursday was the rehearsal/dinner for the wedding

Friday we got up and all the ladies got our toes done, then that afternoon we got our hair done, and the wedding was at 6:30pm

This picture is after our hair appointments, we "snuck" into the reception hall to see the final decorations

Here's my sister, Emily

Here is the new couple's table, beautiful isn't it?

the alter at the church

my husband & Riley, this picture just melts my heart

what a beautiful bride!

More pictures to come as soon as people send them to me!

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Personally I'm looking forward to life getting back to normal!

DOGS ARE FOUND!!!!! So thankful for good ~ honest people that returned them!

See these precious babies? They're my daughters... probably the only daughters that I'll ever have.

And they're missing....

They found a loose board on the neighbors side of our fence and who knows where they're at now. I can't even express how upset I am. This is my sister's wedding weekend so I have to hold it together and just pray that someone found them and is decent enough to return them....

guest room remodel

I am so happy with how this room turned out! I tell my husband that if I wasn't married this is the room I would have done for myself....

Before:

After:

I finally got to bring out some of my horse stuff that I've collected over the years. I'm so glad to have it out of storage and out where people can see it!

Isn't this room fabulous for a little girl? It even has 2 closets!

"Lady" no more

So I told everyone that I named the horse Kacey, well I changed it to Lady shortly after.

These are hard decisions to make!

Monday morning I woke up early and headed out to the ranch. This weekend I was responsible for feeding the horses, all 30 of them.

I LOVE this chore! Listening to the horses whinny at me when I pull up and start the grain, then hearing them chomping away... such a beautiful sound! Especially when I'm the only person out there, just me and the critters, oh how I love it!

So after feeding all the horses I pulled Lady out of her stall and tacked her up. I intended to take full advantage of that big arena that I had all to myself!

Lady rode really well, listened well, and was even giving her head easier than normal.

Let me just say this first about this horse. She has NEVER offered to buck, rear, bolt, or anything. When she gets nervous she walks really light footed but that's the extent of it. Whether she's on a lunge line or I'm on her back. This has been one of my most favorite things about this mare!

Back to my story. After about 30 minutes of a great work out I pushed Lady into a lope. She did great, picked up her leads and kept her head down nicely. After a few minutes of that I turned her to start in the other direction. She got into the lope well, got her lead right, and then the next thing I know she's bucking like a fool then straight up in a rear which I would have bet my life that she was coming all the way over. My best judgement was to bail, which I did. In the process of that I managed to jam the SH*T out of my finger!

At that moment I decided that "Lady" was no lady and she is again, name-less.

Sorry to my readers that aren't horse savvy, in the jist of things I got thrown off!