FRIDAY FAVES

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Here are some home edition friday faves.. how bout' that rug?? and one day I dream of having a white couch (I can't foresee that anytime in my near future - especially with Ames (walking mess) Wallace roaming free)

Deep Thoughts - by Jack Handy... err, I mean, Julie

I read this last week and something about it really struck a chord with me. I feel like sure, I have parts of my life that werent glamourous and I did some really stupid things. I havent always been proud of how I lived or acted, and looking in hindsight there are probably a lot of things I would choose to do differently knowing what I know now. But the thing is - I didn't know those things then, and I think thats part of the reason that I DO know those things now. (Am I the only person that cringes thinking back to certain parts of my life?) Moral of the story - I used to be that person, I used to make those stupid choices - but I was still me. And every decision I made then has shaped me (slowly, and painfully) into the person that I am now, and will shape me eventually into the person I am trying to be. So I think there should be some sort of nod of appreciation or thanks given to that oh so silly girl who didn't know what the heck she was doing.. lets be honest - I still don't really know what the heck I'm doing. 

Well, basically I am just blogging to avoid changing one wicked rank stinky diaper (awesome mom award, here, please!)

Its been a really busy week thus far! We may have potential renters (fingers crossed) that want to move into our basement by the 28th!! YESS! But also super stress crunch time. If you've seen our basement recently you'll understand the panic. Luckily, Sterling booked off some days at work and we have been working on it like MAD. We've got the drywall finished, painting done, bathroom grouted, kitchen cabinets painted and in, floors installed, and carpet coming monday. There are still a million and one things to be done but I think if we work hard at it we can get it finished in time. I don't have any recent pictures of it - but you are in for a special treat - I have a few pre-reno pictures!

^going down the stairs *warning, its a mess*^

^the before living room.. when we bought the house there were chairs lining the whole room and that bed was in the middle of the room.. suuuper weird, and there was a label sticker on the bed frame that said "eddy baby" sooo yeah....^

^the kitchen. If you look closely the hole in the wall above the sink - that hole was stuffed with kleenex...^

^this is what we lovingly called "Auschwitz". The shower was soooo creepy - and yes, thats outdoor corrugated roofing for the divider.^

^I dont have a picture of the bedroom, but this was the bedrooms closet - closet. Just really awkward.^

Its fun to look back at these pictures and see how much progress we have made! Things really have changed lots and are looking good. I will do an updated basement post when we've got things together. *SPOILER ALERT* The walls aren't all pink anymore - and the shower door has sadly been updated! Stay tuned!!

hard days

Today was a hard day.
Nothing about the day went smoothly and the kids were just awnry, and screamy and clingy. I didn't get anything done that I needed to and the house was just a mess. I hate these kind of days. Ames has been cutting teeth so when he wasn't sleeping or drinking his "baabaa" he was SCREAMING his little lungs out (He is the WORST teether). And Ruby was just sassy and grumpy (Not like herself). By 3 o'clock I was just trying to hold tears back because I was soooo spent. Then, right when I thought I had hit my breaking point I look over at Ruby and see her throw up ALL OVER the couch. My poor little girl. I hate it when my kids are sick. So I grabbed her, put her in the shower, in the meantime Ames is screaming extra loud at me because I left the room without him (heaven forbid). I was trying so hard to not run in my room, lock the door and have a good cry. I called Sterling at work to see if there was a chance that he could get off work early and come help me (wishful thinking, right?) Nope. Another two hours. So I fixed Ruby up, made her a special sick bed and turned on Netflix hoping that would give me a little break. While Ruby was vegging out, I was trying to clean the couch. Ames really stepped up his spaz game. I tried all of the usual things and nothing was working. (I even gave the kid an Oreo - A birthday cake Oreo!! and he refused it and kept screaming) My last resort was a baabaa. So I made one, and he threw it and it hit my toe juuust right (you know, the worst pain ever?) I lost it. I put him in his crib and went and cried my eyes out. The rest of the day was the same - nothing miraculously made Ruby better, or Ames stop screaming, or the house to be clean. But thats okay. Some days are just tough, especially when you are trying so hard. If I wasn't trying I'm sure the day would have been a lot more relaxed and less stressful. But the point is that I was trying and that I do care. I think thats something to be proud of, even if nothing else in the day turned out.

a haircut never to be forgotten

Soooo, this one time I went away for a few days. 

In said few days - the Mr. decided he absolutely could not stand his hair the length it was any longer (for the record, he had luscious mid length curl/waves)

(just the way I like it)

So, in his moment of desperation he grabbed his trusty Nose Hair Trimmer, 

(yes, I DID actually say Nose Hair Trimmer)

and he went to town. Like TO TOWN. 

Now bless his little heart - but you can see the results.

I think the best description I heard of it was,

"it looks like a cat mauled his head."

^you know, in his defence he really did do a pretty good job with a nose hair trimmer and no mirror^

But seriously - bless his heart.

I fixed it up as best I could.
I mean, I didn't have much to work with - but at least it was an improvement. 

But the best thing about this guy of mine..

Doesn't matter if he has a whack hair cut, or a rat tail for that matter. I love him to pieces just the way he is, and am so glad to have such a great man by my side. 

(especially one that can make me laugh)

But babe, please don't cut your own hair anymore, k?

caught in the rain

Yesterday, my uncle organized a little hike in Waterton with a little weenie roast after. Sterling was working for the day so I decided that I may as well go and pack in as much adventure into the end of summer that I can. I wasn't sure that I was actually going to hike - because well,

A) I'm lazy and don't do very well at hiking 

(seriously complain the whoooole way - kinda deal) and 

B) I had hurt my knee skiing earlier in the week and was fully planning on using that as an excuse to get out of it. 

But once we got to the hiking path I decided I should go. Partly because I've never seen Crandell Lake, and partly because Ames was driving me craycray and someone had volunteered to stay with him while we hiked (hallelujah!) So off we went. It was great. I wasn't even breathing hard - mind you its like one of the all time easiest hikes ever known to man. But seriously, it was beautiful. And it was a fun group to hike with. Ruby tagged along with us and actually hiked almost the entire hike by herself! It was raining lightly as we were going up, but it was nice and refreshing and you could hardly even notice it.. and it was making everything smell amazing... Mmm! Once we got up to the lake Ruby conveniently had to go to the bathroom - twice. So that turned out to be an adventure in itself. But we had fun playing around and relaxing by the lake. By now the rain was picking up, but it would come and go, so we thought it would be fine.  We enjoyed the rest of our time up there and then it reeeallly started raining. HARD.. with crazy lighting and thunder and even hail. There was a little shelter up there so we just hung out hoping for the rain to pass after a few minutes. But it didn't. So we stayed and visited with a nice German couple, then after about 25 minutes we just decided to make a run for it. The path had turned into a little river, and me being the smarty pants that I am wore flip-flops. Yep.. Flip-flops hiking (just another get-out-of-hiking excuse I had come up with) But regardless.. we ran down the trail and got soaking wet, but it was SO MUCH FUN. We laughed the whole way down. I'm so glad I stepped out of my little comfort-zone box and tried something I normally wouldn't have. We ended up having a blast! After we ate some dinner we went and got some ice cream and headed home. I was so looking forward to a silent car ride, and thought for sure the kids would just zonk right out - I mean Ruby did an entire hike essentially by herself and both babes missed their naps for the day. Amesy babe conked out right away, but Ruby stayed awake the entire ride home. And not only did she just stay awake - she TALKED non-stop the entire ride home. I juuuust about went crazy. But thats my little Ruby and I love her for it! Thankfully I got a little bit of a sleep in the next morning, so all is well.

lake life

Aaaand I'm back.

I decided I needed to unplug, so I took the kids down to the cabin this week. All of Ster's siblings were there with their families and we had a great time.. (Minus Ames who was a bear the whole week) But between the times he was whining for me to pick him up and hold him, and the times when he was screaming his head off just for kicks and giggles, or to see how annoyed he could make me - he still managed to be cute and have a little bit of fun.

There is no greater place than the lake.
Seriously.

^^This is for real.. and it was a familiar sight since my kids would wake up at 6AM!
They obviously didn't get the whole sleep in on vacation memo..^^

^ahhh^

We ate lots, laughed lots, and played hard. Ames is a little water baby and loved to be dunked and splash around. (He had soooo many 10 pound diapers that almost exploded this week) He'd also love to try and touch the water from the dock, which made me little nervous on more than a few occasions.. (dare devil already). Ruby was the opposite. She wanted nothing to do with the water - except on the rare occasion she loved to watch the little minnows and float on the tube tied to the dock. She definitely preferred to play on the slide and the swings with her cousins. Me being the mean mom that I am, forced her to ride the ski-trainer one day (she rode it when she was 1 and was fine - but this year put up more of a fight - we are trying to make our kids into child prodigies..) She ended up being fine but definitely did NOT want to try again.. I was able to slalom every morning which was SO nice! I've been working hard at it the last couple of years (and by working hard I mean skied once a summer...) but I am getting pretty good at it and my confidence is growing. I wish so bad I could live at the lake and ski everyday for an entire summer... I would be in such great shape! Ruby and I also enjoyed sneaking away a couple of times and having a kayak date, or as Ruby liked to call it "kayaked dayyyyyte"
There is just something about unplugging from life and going to the middle of nowhere and just breathing fresh air and not having your normal day-to-day worries. Its good for the soul.
Moral of the story - we had a fantastic time and are counting down the days until we can go back (maybe next time we will bring daddy though.. :))

Friday Faves

this weeks edition of friday faves. I am loooving that swimsuit.. 

(*cough* STERLING *cough*)

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