Splish splash I'm Takin a Bath

The last few days we have been having problems with our septic tank, so we have not been able to let any water drain from our house, which eliminates, showers, baths, laundry, dish washing, flushing the toilet, washing hands, etc. Well, our boys get really dirty because they play outside in the dirt every day. Not to mention, it has been raining a lot, so they get muddy too. So we can get water from our sink, as long as we don't let it drain. Paul had the ingenius idea to bathe them in the cooler out back. We could have just bathed them at Paul's parents house the next day when we were going to shower and get ready for church, but Gus and Max had so much fun with it, I think we may bathe like this from now on (not really). As you can tell, they were a little squished.

1st day of school

Today is Paul's first day of school for his very last semester of college. He has got a crazy schedule, but he handles being busy very well. He never seems to get too stressed unless there is something really wrong. I decided a couple of weeks ago that I was going to go back to school, and thus today was also my first day of school. I have had really mixed emotions about going back. I am so excited, but for some reason, being out of school for 4 years makes me really nervous to go back. I will have to develop good study habits again, and I won't just be able to take off with my kids and do whatever I want. I am going to nursing school. Luckily, because of my previous degree, I have a lot of the prerequisites done, and I don't have to take any Bull crap humanities classes. I think it will be hard to work it in between my kids, but now is as good a time as any. I'm only going to have more kids, and life is only going to get more crazy. One thing that my Mary Kay business taught me is that I will be able to make the time for anything I want to do, as long as it is important to me. My family will always come first, but that doesn't mean I can't do anything for myself. Well, I just wanted to get some of those feelings off my chest. Like I said, I am a bit nervous.

Pet detective

This week, the most amazing thing happened. Our dog turned up missing (that's not the amazing thing), and He was gone for a couple of days. I went to the Humane Society and made sure he wasn't there. We drove all around Mountainaire looking for him, and I was getting ready to make signs. It was really strange, because I thought he must have gotten run over because, if he was just wandering, he would have found his way home. He is not a runaway-type dog. He always stays close by. Well, after a couple of days, I figured that we would probably never find him, and I was feeling a bit melancholy. As I was laying in bed that night, I was listening, through our open window, to the dogs barking and howling around the neighborhood, and I could faintly hear a dog whining. It was about 10:00 PM. I thought to myself, if someone had Boo, and they weren't letting him sleep in their house, he would be outside whining. I listened a bit more, and decided I had to know if it was him. I got out of bed, and pulled Paul with me of course, and we trecked up and down the streets of town trying to single out the house where the whine was coming from. Paul thought I was totally crazy, and that we were on a wild goose chase for sure. Finally, I said, "the whine is coming from that back yard." So I snuck along the side of their house and looked over their fence, and I could barely make out Boo's black and white spots in the moonlight. It was him! I could see that the people were still awake, so I knocked on their door, and told them they had our dog in their backyard. They said they found him, and didn't just want to let him go without knowing he got home safely. I couldn't believe it. To be honest, I didn't really think I was going to find him. I just couldn't sleep until I found out if that was him whining. It could have been any dog whining, I just felt like it was Boo. I am now officially a pet detective. So if any of you need some work done, I charge $50 per hour to help you find your beloved pets!

blackberries...yum

Last week, my friend April took me to a spot on Oak Creek to pick wild blackberries. It was a blast. The kids just played in the water while we picked. They also helped eat a lot of them! In just an hour, we got 2 ice cream buckets full. They were so good. We made cobbler that night, and jam the next day. The cobbler was so delicious. I am really gaining weight fast with this pregnancy. Probably because I eat dessert almost every day now that I am not sick anymore. I swear, during the first 3 months, I thought I would never like dessert again, and now I can't get enough of it. Anyway, we had a great time picking blackberries with April and her kids Ryker and Ivy. Here are some pics.

Dun da da da! And now the moment you have all been waiting for (well at least the one I've been waiting for): OUR FINISHED HOUSE! I did them in a sequence of before and after pictures, so you can all see the transformation.

Before...

and after! (Just keep going, I'm not going to keep typing before... and after)

I'm back in business

Guess what! Our computer is finally fixed. I really didn't mind not having it except it was very inconvenient for Paul because he had a couple of internet classes this summer. Turns out, we finally got our computer fixed a few days after he was done with them. Let's just say he spent a lot of time at school and at his parents' house. Things are fabulous for us. Our house is done. I mean really done. Last Saturday, we just woke up and sat around, ran some errands and did whatever we wanted. It was great! I did get some ants in my pants though. It is kind of hard to just sit when you are so used to moving all the time. Last night, since we didn't have anything to work on at our house, we went and helped Paul's brother Aaron at his house for family home evening. So many of Paul's family have helped us so much. I was beginning to feel selfish. It felt good to try to do something the help them back.

There has been a lot of family stuff going on lately. First, Paul's sister Andrea got home from her mission about a month ago, so we're having a great time with her. Then, Paul's brother Jeff and his wife Jocelyn came down from Canada with their beautiful baby girl Holly. Then, Paul and I took our kids and went up to Utah for a week for my Grandma's 90th birthday. She is the most feisty 90 year old I know. It was so fun to see all my cousins. All of my brothers and sisters, with their husbands, wives, and kids, crammed into my sister Kary's new house. It was a blast. I stayed up late every night just to take in as much as I could. I really miss my family. I still see them a lot, but I miss being so close to them. When we got home, more family stuff with Paul's family because his sister Carrie is leaving on her mission to go to Philadelphia this Wednesday. She is going to be awesome. It is pretty neat to look at the missionary legacy in Paul's family. Carrie is the 7th missionary to go out. All of the children in his family have served missions except for Kevin and Jana because they are only 16. They are all good kids!

I discovered a few new things that I love. First of all, the game rock band on the WI is a blast to play with your family or friends. I can finally realize my dreams of jamming out with a rock band. Second of all, I am just about to finish the last book in the Twilight series, and I find it very surprising and satisfying so far. I swear, I am trying to put it off because I am going to be so depressed when it is over. I don't mean that I don't think I am going to like the ending, I just will be sad that I can't ever read the books again for the first time. Well toodaloo!