Reagan's Best Friend

Reagan doesn’t have many friends. She enjoys playing with kids and has fun with them, but she’ll tell you they’re not her friends (I know, that sounds mean... we're working on her still). If you ask her, her friends are: Hattie, Carson, and Carter. All of whom have moved away. Carter was the last to move, 2 weeks ago, and Reagan can’t stop talking about him.

These 2 were friends from day one....

Okay, maybe they were too little to know anything on day one.

But from the moment we became neighbors with the Reed family, Reagan and Carter spent almost EVERY SINGLE DAY together. In their little mini 3 year old lives, they were best friends. I think I’m missing him as much as she is, because now there is no one to entertain Reagan for hours at a time. They played unbelievably well together.

I asked Reagan about Carter... she told me

I love Carter SO MUCH! He plays with me a long time. I like to play "Mom and Dad" with Carter, and he is the baby. But I don't like when he don't let me hold his hand. 

She's really missing him too. She won't play with anyone... and I'm not exaggerating! We were at the park for hours today with friends and she spent the entire time whining to go home. It's sortof depressing. She desperately needs a new friend... but not a replacement of course!

Aren't these two adorable?

The Beach

I just can’t stand it… internet access or not, I have to blog! The truth is, my picture files are getting bigger and bigger, and the thought of not staying updated is making me anxious.

We’ve only been home for 5 weeks of the summer, but we’ve already gone to the beach 3 times. I only brought my camera once (which is so unlike me). I just get a little paranoid about getting sand in it.

These pictures are from a couple weeks ago.

Before my dear friend Jen up and left me (yes, I am taking her move all too personal), we took our kids to Oswald State Park.
I think we can fit a few more bodies in the car, don’t you? Reagan made Carter laugh the whole way. Jefferson and Grant got into a fist fight… (I know, you’re stunned). Actually, the drive was better than I had hoped.

 Oswald State park is unbelievably beautiful!You have to walk about ¼ mile down a gorgeous trail until you see this view. I’m going to have serious withdrawals when we move from Oregon. Everywhere you look is beauty.

Jen and I loaded our stuff into a wagon and pulled it down the trail. We thought we were genious…. It turned out to be a real pain in the neck. But a good memory of trying to lug the darn thing up and down hills with all the kids piled on top.

We were there for 6 hours!

The older kids explored, hiking up the stream and climbing through logs. The little ones played in the sand and ate snacks all day.
There were a lot of crab shells spewn all over the beach. The kids spent a lot of time by this pile. It was pretty disgusting, but they loved it.

Jemma, Carter, Reagan, Jefferson, and Grant

  Reagan showing me her crab... Just Lovely!

Adorable Gavin eating sand, and Jemma. I tried jumping into the picture to squeeze them both, but sadly I’m not Mary Poppins.

We buried a few bodies, made sand castles, flew kites, and did all the usual beach stuff.

We probably won’t be heading out to the coast for a while. The weather is already starting to cool and I fear that fall is coming.
It was nice to share the beach with some dear friends while we had the chance.

Update

I'm still alive.

It came to my attention that this blog is the only link I have to all of you in the outside world.
That's my own fault for not having texting, or Facebook, or not being a "phone talker".
The fact is, I haven't had internet access for 2 weeks. I feel like I'm living in the dark ages.
I don't even know when I'll get it again. Probably in another 2 weeks, when we move.
Yes, we're moving
It's a long, agonizing, and sortof boring story. It was a tough decision. Now that I think about it, it's probably better that I don't have internet access, otherwise you all would have heard an earful of my stress.

Anyway, my time is up on this computer. Yes... they time you at the public library.
Someday I may have something exciting to share with you.
until then, I will be packing boxes

Kristina

Remembering 9 years ago

Happy Anniversary, Shawn

Oh my goodness, look what 9 years has done to us.....

I can hardly believe it's been that long.

Remember how a lot of our friends couldn’t believe we were engaged? They didn’t understand how we could be ‘just good friends’ one day, then getting married the next. After she got her announcement in the mail, a friend of ours called me and said, “Um, I just got something in the mail…. Is this a joke?”

Remember how I locked my wedding dress in the car 30 minutes before our sealing? That was stressful. I ran out to the car to get some bobby pins and dropped the keys, then locked the door. I didn’t have time to wait for AAA, so I had my Dad bash the back window open with a car jack. That sure got the job done…. Problem solved, and we were married on time. I remember being scared to tell you I had destroyed the car. You didn't flinch.

Here we are on our wedding day. (These are pictures of pictures because we have no digital prints, and my scanner is broken).

Remember how this was the last time I kissed you in public?

Remember how we went on our Honeymoon the next day and were unable to check into our hotel? Supposedly we were too young to check in ourselves. But, after negotiating with the manager, he allowed us to stay in the hotel if our parents faxed Permission Slips. That was the most awkward request I’ve had to make of our parents. Here’s the letter my mom wrote… 

Remember the following week when we opened the door to our first home? We both cried because 1: everyone was right, we were too young to be doing this…. And 2: we had just walked into the dumpiest apartment in all of Rexburg, ID…. Possibly the USA. It was the size of a sardine can, everything was stained of nastiness, the bathroom was in the kitchen, and my favorite part…. The only natural light came from windows overlooking a pigeon sanctuary. We heard pigeons squawking all day, and there was poop all over our window sills. It was RIDICULOUS!

Why am I smiling??? I hate it there....

 Remember this lovely view outside our windows?

I knew, if we could get through all of that in the first week of our marriage, still smiling.... we could get through a lifetime of surprises. We have had our share. And you have kept me laughing and smiling through it all!

In 9 years we've gone from this....

To this....

Thank you for sharing this journey with me. I feel truly blessed. I love you! And even though we're apart on our Anniversary, I'll be thinking of you all day!

Kristina

A beast of a project!

For 5 YEARS I have wanted to paint my tv stand, or entertainment center, or armoire,.... whatever you want to call it. I found it at a thrift store for a killer price. I hated the way it looked, but I couldn't pass it by. And I thought, hey, I can just paint it. Well, Shawn never wanted me to paint it. I have no idea why. He just wasn't excited about the idea. Please Shawn, enlighten us... why didn't you want me to paint it?

Well, guess who hasn't been home to stop me?

And you can bet I was gonna get this done before he returned.

I forgot to take a before picture of the Beast. I honestly though, 'we have a ton of pictures of it'. Um, no, we don't. But I did find a couple. The wood wasn't so bad, I'll admit, but that blue on the doors... YUCK! I couldn't stand to look at it a day more.

So, I gutted the whole thing, took the doors off, and started to work on Thursday. Why on earth I am painting in cute clothes is beyond me, but none were harmed in the making. I painted and painted and painted and painted ALL DAY Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

It took FOREVER......................

If someone paid me for the amount of hours I logged in on this thing, I'm sure I could have bought a brand new one.... like this one from Pottery Barn.

But hey, look, I'm still smiling. And, with 2 coats of primer and 3 coats of paint, phew, I was painted out! Reagan was my little buddy and spent most of the time painting with me.

Okay... the finished product already.....

Here it is, all freshened up!

I am in LOVE! I even kissed it when I was finished.... honest.
oh, Shawn doesn't even know I did this.... well, until now...
Honey, what do think? Admit it, you're glad I painted it and you wish I would have done it sooner!

It makes the whole room cheerier (is that a word?) Now, if only I had painted walls it would be even better... someday. I can't stop looking at it. Seriously, it makes me a happier person! Why did it take me 5 years to do this? My life could have been so much better. Way to put happiness on material things, Kristina. But it's the truth.

Oh, and that quilt on the couch is Reagan's new quilt. It's a twin size, for when she upgrades to a big bed. The lighting is bad, but here it is. It was my most difficult quilt so far, with all the piecing and exactness, I almost went insane, but it was worth it. She would not get off the quilt for me to take a picture. She's stubborn like that.

See what I mean?

So, I officially need a new project. It's only been 2 days since I finished this one, and I'm already getting antsy. I know, I need therapy.

Operation Chick Drop

There is a bird's nest right outside Reagan's window. Did I ever mention that Reagan is in LOVE with birds? And she thinks the birds outside her window are hers. Every season there are new hatchlings "tweet tweeting" in the mornings... it's adorable.

Anyways, yesterday I was outside in my... what should I call it?.... patio area? I was cleaning up when I heard a thump. I turned and saw that a nestling had landed in a bucket. (I had to get the terminology right, so I googled it. In case anyone else is fact obsessed like me: A hatchling is a recently hatched baby bird, a nestling is a bird that hasn't left the nest yet, and a fledgling is a bird that has already left the nest, but isn't weaned yet. But a chick is the name for any sort of baby bird.)

Anyhoo... I know, I'm losing you all.....

Reagan wanted to pick him up. Grant started crying. And I put him safely in a bowl of tissue paper.

Now what?

 We just had to put him back into the nest. So, while I'm being attacked by all of the neighbor kids who want to see the bird, I go knock on my neighbor's door. She's a genious. Together I was sure we could think of something.

It didn't take long. We fashioned an ice cream scooper into a pvc pipe. Here is Jen doing a trial run. We had to practice this for a while to make sure it was do-able. You can't even see the nest in this picture, but it's right there under the gutter.

 

Here's the little guy in the ice cream scooper ready to go home. Aw, we never named him. I think I'll call him Peep... because that's what he did the whole time. I think he was scared TO DEATH.

 And he wasn't the only scared one. His mom sat perched on the opposite roofline watching the entire time. She flew into her nest a couple times, then back to watch. She had a worm in her mouth for little Peep.

It was all so heartbreaking!

 Now we were ready for the real thing. I ran outside and held a pillow in case he fell again.

Don't judge the hair, or jammies. I've got no one to impress, remember, I'm alone.

 Oh my goodness... looking at this picture makes me nervous. I am deathly afraid of heights, so brave Jen had to tackle this one, alone! Here she is leaning out the window.

She got the scooper into the slot, but little Peep got stuck! He was peeping like crazy. And I'm sure his mom almost dropped her worm. But Jen's mothering instincts kicked in and she was determined to save him. So, Tracy took the pillow from me so I could go hold Jen with a death grip by her pants, while she reached out to the nest. Yes, she reached all the way out and put the Peep into his nest. I couldn't even stand in front of the screen-less window. (I really need some heights therapy).

So, it was successful... thankfully, considering we had an audience of neighborhood kids. And thankfully we never had to use the pillow.

It may sound overly dramatic... but that's only because it was.

Trust me, I do wish I could blog about more exciting things, but this is truly about as exciting as it gets around this neck of the woods.

Hanging in there

This is day 5 of being alone. Yes, I'm alone with 3 stinkers. There are some mighty-super-moms out there who have done this for much longer than me, and much more often than me (you know who you are!) I'm not so mighty, and I don't think I'm cut out to be alone.

Maybe it's not so wise to state that I'm alone on the internet. But, if some psycho happens to be reading this.... just so you know, I have mace. It's expired, but I'm sure it would still sting a little. And, my neighbors live so close we can hear eachother's toilets flush. So, any strange noise (or knock, right Jen?) and they'll be over here in a flash!

With that said.

I haven't complained at all. What, not complain?... it's so unlike me. Okay, I should clarify. I have commented on how difficult it is being alone, but I haven't whined and moaned about it. I just state the facts. I HATE being without Shawn. And it's a fact, I HATE cooking meals for kids who could care less. So, we've been having my favorite meal to prepare.... Cereal. Thank you Lindsay for giving us 2 HUGE boxes of Frosted Flakes. Now my kids ask for the "candy cereal" when they're hungry. We have cereal...

For Breakfast:

Lunch: 

 Dinner:

 Oh, and snack time too:

 This is my dishwasher today. Bowl bowl bowl bowl bowl. I'm sure we could rinse and re-use these, and we should. But remember, I am alone, and it makes me lazier. I won't even dare show you a photo of the inside of my house.

I guess this post is pointless. Sorry, nothing exciting to share. I guess I just wanted to check in with anyone wondering whether I was insane yet, or had tied my kids up in the closet. We're all alive and well.

And while Shawn has been enjoying his bachelor life.... eating out, watching movies, going golfing, sleeping in (no, I'm not at all bitter). I've been washing my kitchen counter, which smells like poo for some reason and no one can tell me why... climbing through my front window not 1, not 2, but 3 times because the back door is "locking itself"..... picking playdough out of the carpet.... staying up with a screaming child who refuses to go to sleep each night....plucking splinters out of dirty feet ALL DAY LONG (I started carrying the tweezers around with me)..... and washing Reagan's mouth out after she ate something nasty (and unrecognizable) out of the garbage because she "loves eating garbage." nice!

Does this count as complaining? I better stop talking so it doesn't. I want to go a recorded 2 weeks without complaining so I can use it against Shawn for all eternity. You know... "remember the time I watched the kids alone for 2 weeks and never complained once?"