Sunshine!!!!....And A Naughty Girl!

I know that I shouldn't have allowed this, but this was the first time that we really had her outside to run and play for an extended period of time.  The weather has been so nasty, and this was our first REAL day!  The boys and I were digging worms in my garden (for the chickens) when we discovered that we had a helper!!  I have found the flaw... this is going to be interesting!  Good thing that we are going to be making raised garden beds this year!!

And this is what a boy will do in his sand box after the crazy winds blow the top into the neighbors yard and the crazy rain fills it up with water... I think that he thought that he was at the beach... he got wet and dirty enough, that's for sure!!  Just glad he didn't try to swim in it!!

Blake was still in his PJ'S... Couldn't get him out of them, and I decided not to fight that battle today.  At least he was dressed :)

Recovered Memories

We are in the prepping stages for my grandpa's funeral, and one of those things are putting together a slide show.  We have gone through all the picture books and picked them out, but I remembered that there are some that I had on an external hard drive from back in 2006 when we took a family trip to Vegas and The Grand Canyon.  I went to plug it in, and my heart sank.  It wouldn't work.  Nothing would get it to turn on.  I was frantically wiggling cords and blowing out connections all in a tizzy, but nothing....UGH...there are memories on there from 2003 until right after Blake was born....all gone.

I decided that I would take it to best buy to see what they could do.  I talked to the guy at the Geek Squad and he told me that he would need a 250.00 deposit and that they would send it out and that if they could recover anything then it would be an additional 250.00 on top of that and it would take anything from 1-2 months.  I was floored!  I asked him if there was a way that he could just check and see if there is anything wrong with the hard drive... if he could plug it in to a different one somehow, and he said "No, we send everything out.  That's just the risk you run"  I asked him for my hard drive back and just left.  I was devastated!  $500.00 to recover something that I didn't even know if it was actually broken??

I was leaving Best Buy completely disappointed and upset when I saw this computer repair shop just a block down.  I thought...what the heck, and I went in. It was a little retail space full of shelves of miscellaneous computer parts that I had NO idea what any of them were.  Luke and I walked in and I told the girl at the counter what I was trying to accomplish...they were so nice to me.  They checked the heard drive and found out that it was just the connection on the case that was messed up, and they put my hard drive in a new case, and just like that, it was fixed.  I was in shock.  something that I thought was impossible just appeared right before my eyes.  My eyes welled up in tears and I hugged the guy...I feel bad because I didnt even ask him his name.  All I had to do was buy the new case for a whopping 27.56, and he even switched it out for me.  He was my Superhero... and gave me back some memories I didnt even know that I was missing.

As for Best Buy and their Geek Squad.... what a bunch of CRAP!!  They are nothing but a middle man that ships out their problems to have a different company to fix them.  They are ignorant and rude, but most of all... they tried to get me to pay for services that weren't needed and they provided absolutely no customer service other than to tell me that they need to ship it out.  Thank you for nothing Best Buy, and maybe this was a lesson for me.  This little mom and pop store that I went to on South Hill, Computer Connections, took better care of me then any big corporation would have... maybe its time that I do a little more business with them instead of the big cash-cows!

Some of my recovered memories..

I don't even remember taking this picture but it was sometime in 2006

Our New Years engagement!!  LOVE this picture!!

Falling off the Grand Canyon!

With Grandpa and Grandma Howard at the Grand Canyon

Toby Keith Concert!

Lucy-Loo

Rattle Snake Ridge

Holding my baby for the first time... 2 days after he was born.

Otto checking Blake out when we brought him home... another FAVORITE picture!

All smiles... even after all that he went through

Taking a bath in a bucket at the ocean

Otto always pressed his face on the window... we would laugh so hard that we cried!

Leavenworth

Puppy Love

Introducing....Kona, or Sadie, or Shade... We haven't decided yet, but those are the 3 that we have narrowed it down too!!  We are so excited to have our new baby girl.  She brings such joy and love to all of us, but Blake has really taking a liking to her.  Luke gets mad at her for taking his toys and trying to take food out of his hands (we are working on that), but so far so good!  No complaints!  She needs a little help with potty training, attacking my broom, and stealing toys, but other then that, she is a JEM!!  Sleeps in her crate without so much as a peep, shes a very good eater, and she does her business outside for the most part.  There has been a couple of times where she was standing by the door and we just didnt make it in
time, but all in all... we are so happy that shes here... I am happy that shes here.

I have always said that there is something so special about the relationship between a boy and his dog... well, it has already happened again.  He loves her so much, and I think that Luke will be more engaged with her after he gets over being sick... hes a little bit of a crabby patty right now!

Please forgive the black and white.  I need to figure out how to take pictures of her.  It was really hard to see her in the color ones... she just looked like a black blob!  

We Love her so much and cant wait for her to meet everyone!  We are looking forward to camping with her this summer and having her be part of our family!  Right now, she is sleeping under the desk on top of my feet... ahhhh I have missed the love of a dog!!

One Lucky Girl

I have had a rough couple of months with some things on my side of the family.  My grandpa is still very sick and in the ICU, along with some other situations on my side of the family that I probably shouldn't discuss, but lets just say that there has been a lot going on.  Add on the fact that my children have been sick for the past 2...going on 3 months with bronchitis, ear infections and just nastiness coming out of them, and that might have tipped me past the overload mark, but everything is okay...why?...because I have an amazing family.

When everything started to roll downhill and I realized that when it rains, it pours, I had something amazing happen.  I have always known how much love we have from our two families.  From Aunts and uncles, to grandparents, siblings and even extended family, but I never thought that their kindness and generosity would be so strong, and that it would pick me up when I didn't even realize that I needed it.

I can pretend that I have it all together, and that I have a plan, but the fact of the matter is that I pretty much fly by the seat of my pants sometimes because things happen so quickly that you kind of have to.  I have people offering to watch my sick children so that I can go to the hospital, I have my husband staying home from work and rearranging his schedule to help me in as many ways as he can, and I have people calling and asking how I am doing and if there is anything that they can do, and offers to help me take the kids to their many doctors appointments.  We are family.  As long as I am as willing to give when they are in need (which I am) I should have no problem taking them up on their offers because family is there to help...whenever needed.

I am the strong one... the one that can do anything...the one that never falls...........YEAH RIGHT.  That might be the case in this fairy-tale land that I sometimes live in, and when I behave that way, that's usually when I need help the most.  It was hard for me to accept it...for me to actually say "can you help me" but I did, and in a time when everything feels so heavy and overwhelming, I have a family that has made my days a little more manageable.  They have held me when I have cried, gave me the pep-talks that I needed and have helped me problem solve my way through.

I know that there is light at the end of the tunnel, and I am counting on March being WAY better then February, but I have been taught a lesson in all of this.  I have seen the depth of love that we have in our family.  I have seen the sacrifice and care that we must all have for each other and I have learned that I am not alone.  Sometimes having so many people try to help can, in itself, be overwhelming too, but it is far better then the alternative :)

I am blessed... beyond words.

Kyle's Grandparents, Ray and Kay, knew just what we needed today.  We are so lucky!!  I will call and tell them thank you just as soon as I find my phone!

Winter Fun

We have had a lot going on in our household the past couple of weeks...sick kids over and over again, kyle is working some overtime and my Grandpa Howard is in the hospital.

*UPDATE*  He has ever so slightly improved, but not nearly enough to be out of the woods at all.  He has been on the ventilator for a week now and completely sedated.  I don't know how long he can be left on there... that's my next question for the Dr.'s!  Continued prayers are greatly appreciated!

We took a day off yesterday, though.  I liquored the kids up with some Hyland's Cold Medicine (all natural) and sent them outside to play.  Every time that we have gotten snow this year, they have been sick.  Just wanted to give them a little fun!!  We played, and then came in for some hot cocoa and a movie.  Nice and easy day full of rest.. and a little play ;)

This would have been really cute if I hadn't cut Luke's face off!

Run Blake!!!!!

WOW...SNOW!

He is hiding from the snowballs!!

Eating snow is so funny!!!

Tacoma Children's Museum

Last week, Tammy and I took the kids to the Tacoma Children's Museum and they had a blast!  Its dirt cheap to go... you give a donation, but you do have to pay for parking ***note to self- Never drive a F350 Pickup into Tacoma*** Makes it a little difficult to park, but we found some street parking :)

The kids had a lot of fun playing at the water tables and also the painting area... I also noticed that some parents sit there and stare at their phones instead of watching their children.  I had to step in and the Mama bear had to come out a bit when this older-little girl was pushing Blake around like little miss sassy pants and being a little snot.  Engage with your children people!  You are missing out!!

The kids were COVERED in paint, but it was all super easy to wash off, and nothing stained their clothes.  They had a lot of fun, so I anticipate many more trips to the Tacoma Children's Museum!