Out of the mouth of babes

I am almost a week slow doing this! As we were pulling into the church parking lot last week (late), Kjerstin asked if we were late.  Daven responded, "We are ALWAYS late."  Out of the mouths of babes.  Speaking of out of the mouths of babes, it is a good thing I don't get my self esteem from my kids.  Sometimes it can be tempting like when Daven tells me I look beautiful or that he loves me.  He can be so sweet.  Daven has school Monday through Thursday and LOVES it.  He comes home and puppets the rules his teacher tells him and sings me the songs he learns.  He is really loving being big enough to go to school.  Last Friday he didn't have school.  I tried to make it exciting we went to run some errands and went to the library and to the park.  I was still told that it was the worst day of his life.  He asked how many more days until he could go back to school.  I AM NOT EXCITING!  Gideon wanders around from room to room while Daven is at school saying in a very sad voice, "Daven's gone."  I try to be exciting.  But is it also nap time while Daven is gone.  That makes me even more of an enemy.  He doesn't want to take a nap and I want him to take one.  He is not too fond of me during the day.  I don't get the lovey "Mom is the best" feeling.  It is a good thing I don't get my self esteem from my kids! It is once again Friday.  We are going to the library again then off to Costco.  They boys like the samples from Costco so hopefully it won't be a strike out day for me.  There is some mopping I need to do though.  Maybe if I tap dance while I mop that will be entertaining? 

Back to School Downpour

Tuesday night I put Gideon and Daven to bed.  I knew they were super tired.  I went down to talk to Bridger because I really had not seen him all day.  I heard water running.  I told Bridger I better go check on it.  Daven and Gideon had gotten out of bed. Gideon went into the bathroom and turned on the water and put his feet in the sink which closed the drain.  The bathroom flooded.  I heard Daven yelling for me but it didn't sound urgent and he always yells to ask me additional questions that are usually silly and I usually tell him I will answer him in the morning.  I figured it was the same.  The bathroom was flooded the drawers were full of water there was water in the cabinet under the sink and in the entire hall out side the bathroom.  It was dripping out the ceiling in the family room on the next level on the floor.  We had water pouring, not just dripping, out of our ceiling for 2 hours.  It was a mess and we are still recouping.  I think I will get a new ceiling.  THEN, Saturday after dinner he did it again.  I was doing dishes and (I thought) all the kids had gone down to the basement.  I turned off the water and still heard water running.  Water was pouring out of the ceiling again.  I think the damage has been minimalized other than that.  I got a lock for their door now and the bathroom door.  In addition to that the next day, the toilet on the main level overflowed 2 times.  It was running and not filling the tank and over the bowl.  I think we have got that under control, too.  When it rains, it seems to pour here!
The kids started school last week. I think they are all doing well and enjoying it.  Daven started today. Poor Gideon cried when we left Daven at school. I think he missed his big brother. I had to take him to the park to show him being with Mom can be cool. 
Bridger is starting to work the kind of hours I anticipated that he would work.  He came home after midnight one last night and went into work at 4am next day.  It is not fun but at least it was anticipated. 
We are postponing swimming to deal with other water issues :) 

Dog Days of Summer Done and Dog sitting,

The pools are closed.  Isn't Labor Day the end of summer?  Isn't that when the pools are supposed to close?  August 13 and the pools are closed.  I am not into this Omaha start school in August thing.  My mindset is still summer and I am having a hard time transistioning.  I will be grateful for the cooler temperatures.  My power bill was $350 for the month of July!  I thought June was a new high.  Little did I know how much it could go up.  I have asked around and it appears my power bill is on average with others in the area so it is not just me.  I didn't even turn on the a/c yesterday.  It remained a balmy 80 degrees.  Who thought 80 would be balmy?  In the morning when it was 70 degrees my kids had jackets and hats on to take the dog we were dog sitting for a walk.  In Idaho they would have had shorts on at 70 degrees and asking if they could go swimming. 

We did dog sit.  Brynna's birthday is coming up.  She dearly misses her aunt's dog.  Our neighbors just moved who had a dog.  They often let us "borrow" their dog.  It was very nice.  She thinks she wants a pet for her birthday.  We do not have a good dog history.  I thought, "Maybe a small dog will be different."  She was a very good dog.  But she still got in the garbage, barked, and "did her numbers" in inappropriate places.  I didn't enjoy being tied down to a dog.  I don't think a dog is going to happen.  We need another pet idea.  My kids loved having the dog here and it was fine.  But I am glad it was short term.  She woke up barking at 2am 2 out of the 5 days.  The other days she was still up early barking to be let out.  Any suggestions would be welcomed. 

The Unwanted Gift

I didn't get a post up last week.  I was still tired and it was so busy!  You know those gifts you receive and you are not sure if you need that gift or even want it?  Then somehow you learn to use it and you love it? I feel like moving has been that way.  We have 12 days until school starts.  We have shopping still to do and we have a list of things we still WANT to do this summer.  Starting school in the middle of August feels early to me.  We went to a church musical called "Welcome to Kanesville" yesterday.  I had seen advertisements to participate when we first got here. I tried to get the kids interested but they were a no-go.  I am kind of glad we didn't.  It was neat, but it was a 30 mile drive to get there.  After daily for 3 weeks of that drive, it would not have been so much fun.  We also tried a new water park here.  We had heard lots about it.  Also, they dropped their rates so it was only a quarter per child to get it!  It reminded me of Ross Park.  We also went to a sprinkler park.  We have been trying to redeem as many of the library rewards as we can.  We have been to Pizza Hut and out for ice cream.  It has been fun and I am not sure I want to fun to end just yet! I think it will be good for the kids to get in school and make more friends.  It felt foreign and my kids were driving each other crazy because they had no friends. But it has been so nice to see them form better friendships with each other.  It has been a fun summer and I am starting to feel settled in.  I guess that is why it is time for school to start.  Settling in is never part of the plan.  It is growth and change and development.  I am not sure I love it here yet.  It was hard to have a nephew return from a 2 year mission in Africa and not be able to go and see him.  I am not sure when we will see him again!  As I was laying in bed this morning and everyone was still asleep and quiet, I looked around my room and asked myself, "Does it feel like home?"  I think it is starting to.  That is a good feeling. 

Guests

Well, our guests survived and so did we!  It is a win win situation!  We had a wonderful time!  I think everyone stayed up late every night just trying to enjoy as much of the time together that we had.  We went swimming, did water balloons in the yard, board games, went to the zoo, went to an indoor trampoline facility called Defy Gravity, watched movies, did a puzzle, and ate and ate and ate.  My kids will tell you it is the best part of their whole summer.  As I came in my basement this morning, I was in the habit of not turning the lights on so as not to disturb all the little bodies lying all over the floor.  I was sad to see the floor empty and kept the light off anyway just because.  I am trying to catch up on cleaning and laundry and exercising but am oh, so tired.  I told Bridger someone needs to come up with a sleep-cation which is required after any vacation or holiday.  It was sad seeing everyone leave.  Little Gideon collapsed on the ground and just started crying when his Grandpa Critchfield pulled out of the driveway.  He walked around the house the next day, saying, "Gamma Becky?"  I am still eating leftovers. At least it will help me cope with how empty the house feels :)

We have furniture!

Our new furniture was delivered this week!  It is starting to feel like this house is coming together.  It is like a puzzle that the picture is slowly coming to life.  I found this article about puzzles and faith.  http://segullah.org/daily-special/faith-reason-creativity-and-missing-pieces/%22   
It is a great read if you have time.  It reminds me the scripture in the Doctrine and Covenants,
"Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing, and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God;"
It makes me feel not so guilty about taking so long to get this house in order.  I am doing this for a greater reason than appearances which I hope family who is about to descend on us will understand.
Isn't it interesting that we grow up with these people and can go months without talking to them but they are the people who we always come back to.  Family is always there.  We originally had my parents and Bridger's parents coming. Then one by one, the rest of his family decided to come (omiting one cousin and brother in law).  It will be a houseful.  I wanted to get this post up before I get swept away.
Corban had his official birthday yesterday but we'll celebrate all over again this weekend.  It's time to put this furniture to use!

4th of Wow!

Holy cow! There is nothing like celebrating the 4th of July in America's heartland! On the 3rd we had a branch activity and I watched fireworks going off over a giant field of corn. On Wednedsday the fun really began. The illegal fireworks in Idaho are legal here so everyone gets them. We sat in our front yard and had fireworks 360 degrees around us. It was awesome! My kids commented, "People here really take the 4th of July seriously!" It was a fun day and we spent the next few days trying to catch up on sleep.