Pumpkin Carvin'

Today was pumpkin carving day. We had planned to carve them on Saturday, but life happens and we ran out of time. While Ty and the kids were at church (I stayed home sick), my mom was kind enough to clean the pumpkins out. So, when they got home from church, the pumpkins were all ready to be carved.
Zachary kept his nice and traditional. The small tools made it very easy for Zachary's small hands.
Samantha's was like a carved Picasso. Very abstract.
Tristan went artistic with his pumpkin. It took him the longest to carve his. I think he did awesome.
The pumpkins turned out great and the kids had so much fun carving them. I don't think they even bickered once! Now that's really saying something.

Wii're Fit

My mom was looking for a was to get in shape and have fun doing it. She decided that Wii Fit was the way to do that. It was funny to watch her waiting to get it after she ordered it online. She was checking her tracking number every day. Sometimes, a few times a day.It's so much fun to do. The kids even like to get involved. Zachary even has favorite Yoga poses. His favorite is Warrior Pose.


I think this pose is Sun Salutation. Now the kids and I are asking for a Wii for Christmas and I want Wii Fit! It's like having your own personal trainer, without the embarrassment of weigh ins! Actually, the Wii Fit board "character" has quite a devilish sense of humor. The worst is when it tells me to step on and then actually says, "Oh!" when I do. I wonder if it will still be so sarcastic when I've lost some of my weight?

The Snowman

Back on the 13th, I posted about the first snow. Well, the kids (mostly Tristan) went out on that Sunday morning and built the first snowman of the year. Ty took these pictures while I was sleeping. (Hey, it was Sunday, I had to sleep in.) I didn't even know the pictures had been taken until we carved pumpkins, so that's why it took so long to get them posted here.

Mayzee helped a little.

The kids named him Goofy.


Tristan found another use for all those plums! That's what made up the snowman's face. It warmed right up the next day, so Goofy only lived for one day. Oh well, I'm sure he'll be back soon.

Easing Up

Things are looking up a bit. A friend of ours in Las Vegas was kind enough to stick a note on our renter's door and we got a phone call on Saturday afternoon. Yeah!! (Thanks Amanda.) He says that his payroll checks have been bouncing. That is problematic. His boss owns several companies and due to the economy, he has to close down one. a few people will be losing their jobs, but our renter is not. This is good. Ty was understanding, but firm. "Yes, I know times are hard, but we have bills as well." He supposedly sent a money order to us today. I hope to see that cash in a day or so. At any rate, I actually slept for the past two nights!!! That's all I ask for. I was not looking forward to the whole eviction thing. Hopefully we've nipped this problem in the bud.

Stressin'

I am not coping well at the moment. Our renter's rent check bounced. Again! It was late on the 5th, now it's just ridiculous. The late fees accrued are through the roof. You'd think that they would want to remedy the situation, wouldn't you? Nope. They won't answer their phone. In all fairness, they only have one phone. A cell phone. One they let their teenage daughter carry all the time. That's something else I don't understand, but that's just me. Ty left a message with her on the 6th that the check had bounced and please have your mom call me, but that hasn't borne any fruit. We call several times a day, every day, but nobody answers, the mailbox is full, and it is frequently turned off. This is so hard to deal with from so many miles away. It sucks. We sent a letter earlier this week letting them know that if we don't hear from them, we will begin eviction proceedings. That presents it's own set of problems.
1. First of all, how do we even know that they are in Las Vegas? The woman's mother has been very sick and they could be visiting her on the Reservation in Arizona. So, how do we even know that they received the letter?
2. How do we evict people from over 900 miles away? How do we make sure they get out? How do we keep them from trashing the house? (Not that I think they would, the woman is a neat-freak and making a mess just isn't in her nature.) Is Ty going to have to take time off from work to make sure everything happens?
3. We have our own bills to pay and we count on the money from their rent. We would like to be able to move out of my parents' home some time in the near future, how on earth can we afford 2 mortgages!?
I am so stressed out that I can hardly stand it. I am not sleeping at night. I take Ambien, and even with that, it takes an hour of two to fall asleep. Then, when I do, I toss and turn and often, my dreams are about the mortgage and finding another place to live. My skin is a mess. I am short and irritable. I cry at everything! You know, I understand that her mom is sick and that is very sad. I feel for them. But that doesn't mean all of her obligations cease to exist! I am still glad that we are here. I think we made the right decision. But when we started this adventure, I was very relaxed because we had a two year, signed lease. I just didn't think we would have this kind of trouble. The couple and their kids seemed so put together and nice.
How do people not pay their rent? That's a set bill. It's there every month. It never goes away. How do people forget to pay their rent or mortgage? Don't they notice that, for some reason, there is a lot of extra money in their account? And okay, these guys did pay their rent, technically, but the check bounced. How do they not know that?
My back aches. My tummy is upset. I am a mess. Why can't things just work the way they are supposed to? Why can't people take care of their responsibilities? AAAACCCKKKK!!!!!!
Thanks for letting me vent.

The First Snow

On Saturday, we had our first snow. It was so beautiful. The boys had so much fun out playing in the new snow. I'm not sure how "War" fits in with the snow, but that's what they were inspired to play.

Looking at Mayzee, you can see how big the fluffy flakes were. That night, as I was waiting outside for Mayzee to do her business, I was reminded of how much I love snow. It was so peaceful and silent. I turned my face up to the sky and let the snow gently fall on my face. I'm sure that in February, I will need to be reminded that I missed snow for the past few years in Vegas, but for now, I LOVE the snow!

Plum Freezer Jam

Ty's parents have a small plum tree in their back yard. This year, however, it has decided it's a BIG plum tree. It is putting on so many plums that Pam and Richard don't know what to do with them all! That turned out to be a good thing for us. Last Friday, we went out to Lewisville to make use of some of them.

First, the boys, Ty, and I went out and picked a paper bag full of little, round plums.

The tree was so full of plums that we didn't even have to use a ladder to get to the top of the tree. When we had all the plums we could use, the tree didn't even look like it had been touched! That's how many plums were on the tree!
Zachary and his grandma bent over the sink, washing and pitting plums. It was messy business.
Tristan stirred the sugar and pectin.Finally, after the plums had been munched up in the blender, Zachary and I mixed the plums, sugar, and pectin together. Ty then poured the plum jam into containers for us to put in the freezer when we got home.


We made 10 containers of freezer jam and we didn't use half the plums we picked. Richard sent us home with a 5 gallon bucket full of plums to do with what we would. We've made fruit leather and we're looking for other recipes so we can find ways to use all the plums.

Punkin' Pickin'

On the 6th of October, Daddy decided it was time to pick the pumpkins in the garden. There were quite a few to pick. I decided that it was the perfect time to take some pictures of my beautiful kids.

As you can see, we got quite a haul. We had a very good time. It's always fun to do things like this as a family. (I have no idea why it's underlining. Sorry about that!)

How Can You Say "No" to That?

Last night, after the kids had gotten into jammies, brushed their teeth, and been hugged soundly, we sent them all down to bed. Ty, Mom, and I settled in to watch a rousing episode of Criminal Minds. Soon, however, a little blond head poked around the bar in the dining room and then sheepishly crept into the room. My sweetest Zachary walked up to Ty, looking up through his long, blond eyelashes and said, "Daddy, when I tuck myself in, it just doesn't feel good, but when you do it, it feels good, so will you please do it for me?" Mom and I nudged each other and hid our smiles as Ty looked at his beautiful son in shock. Then, Ty looked at us with a wry smile on his face. How could anybody say "no" to logic like that. I felt such a rush of love as I watched my husband, with our small son's hand tucked into his, walking to the stairs to take Zachary back to bed.
It's the little things that help to remind us how wonderful it is to be a parent! I love all my babies so much and hope that none of them ever grow too old to want to be tucked in every once in a while.

It Ends

Well, we finished up the season last night. It was the first game of the playoffs and, to be honest, I don't think our boys even showed up. It was sad, really. Sandcreek kicked our butts 21-6. Ouch! The coaches were awesome though, they made sure everybody played in this, their final game. Then, at our post-game meeting, as a few of the boys (including mine) shed disappointed tears, they pointed out that 25 other teams didn't even make it to the playoffs. The coaches told the boys how proud they are and that they were already looking forward to next season. I felt really bad for the boys. They were so down-hearted about the loss and that the season is over. I even found out that I am sad to see it end. I thought I would be happy to be done with practices every day of the week, and I guess I am, a little bit, but I really am gonna miss watching Tristan's face when he was very proud of himself and his teammates. I'm gonna miss standing on the sidelines cheering our boys on.
I'm also gonna miss telling my son things like, "Go out there and hit somebody!", or "I wanna see you make someone cry!" Yes, I actually said that. Turns out that I'm a nasty woman. But, I'm okay with that. I've come to the conclusion that football is a violent sport and pain is part of the game. The boys expect to be hurt and plan to just suck it up, use it to fire them up. So, it turns out, I am a different person that the one that started at the beginning of the season. I have gone from the mom who was worried about rushing out to the field to comfort her embarrassed son who just got tackled to the Mom on the sidelines screaming for him to rub some dirt on it and get back up and hit them back!
Plus, I have learned a lot about the game that I didn't know before and that ought to make Thanksgiving, and New Year's Days much more enjoyable!

Camping... Sorta

Last weekend, we went down to a friend of the family's farm in Preston. They have a ton of room and they let us come take up some of it. Mom and Dad took their 5th wheel and we set up a tent in the huge yard. It was very relaxing and a lot of fun. It was also a great chance for me to play around with my new camera. Oh, and Ty took some pictures, too.

There was this great, old barn out back of the house. The kind that makes you wanna explore. You know, if it weren't for the mice and bats and rusty nails. Nope, come to think of it, I'd still love to explore!

Isn't this a great picture of the sunset with the mist coming up off the lake? Okay, actually, upon further inspection, that wasn't mist, it was dust being kicked up by some guys on four-wheelers. And, oh yeah, it's a reservoir and it's empty right now. Still, it made for a great picture!
Jeremy came up from Hill AFB and brought my adorable nephews. Quite possibly the cutest in the whole land! Declan sure loves his grandma!
Andrew's angel face is impossible to not love. (Uh-oh, notify the Grammar Police!)
If fun can be measured by filth, He earned a 10!
Tristan is a country boy at heart.


I can't believe the detail this camera is capable of!
Ty took the older kids on a hike up the mountain. It was so pretty there with all the trees beginning to put on their fall regalia. So many reds and yellows and browns.
This last picture really should be put in front of the one with Tristan and Samantha in the trees, but it just makes such a great closing shot.

Playoff Bound

The boys had their last game of the regular season last Wednesday. It was up in Driggs (an hour and 15 minute drive) and boy was it cold! However, we were a bit spoiled there. It was held at Teton High School, so we had bleachers, bright lights, and a score board! We didn't have to yell "Time!" at the refs every so often. What a luxury.
The boys all had this look of joy on their faces. It made me even happier, just to see the huge smiles.

I love these pictures. I apologize for the messy layout, I can't figure out how to fix it. Oh well. The one on the bottom left makes me laugh, cuz you can totally see the way Tristan is trying to contain himself. And the bottom right just screams, "VICTORY!"
So, now we prepare for the first playoff game this Wednesday.