For all personal facebook friends.....I'm sorry for the double posting of some stuff. There are times the blog would be woefully forsaken if I couldn't take what was used from there and use it for blogging purposes also.
For the love of the carseat pic. I just laugh everytime we do this.
Happy girl! Her name really does have an E on the end. Gotta love babies that mess up and tear up.
Thanksgiving Day! Sooooooo.......maybe fire drills really do pay off. Thankful to know that when it's the real deal they stick to the plan, stay level headed, and execute it perfectly. Upward and onward to Thanksgiving dinner Plan B. A Christmas Story come to life! All we lack is a Red Ryder BB gun, a Chinese restaurant, an unbeheaded duck, and the right holiday.
Gathered at the "meeting spot" watching the guys work.
The cabinets....yeah. We were cooking. And then suddenly messy got really messy when all crap was quite hastily thrown to other side of the kitchen. I will say that it's an interesting thing to see flames coming from every burner, behind the stove, in the oven, and out from under the control panel. Needless to say, the entire thing was burned up. Cause of fire: electrical due to a breaker that didn't get tripped. To say this house has electrical problems is a bit of an understatement.
The very next day, after this whole little fiasco, the blower motor of the central heating unit located in basement, caught on fire due to yet another electrical malfunction. It completely smoked out our house and filled closed bedrooms with thick smoke. I'm pretty certain it took about two years of life off of our lungs. The oven incident was fairly comical....the heater...not so much. As much as I do love landlord and as called as we feel to loving him, I am very ready to leave this place.
Moving date: Dec 26th-29th. 19 days left. Trying to tackle the move any sooner seems to be a near impossible feat with work still needing to be completed, the packing that still remains and the amount of hours shift husband is currently working.
Oven out and looking for the cause.
5 months old!!
Sweet lunch date with mom and daddy.
Back in business!! And yes, we have cabinet doors!! Believe it or not...the kitchen floor had been mopped 2 hours previous to this. In light of the fires, landlord's currently less than wonderful attitude, my waning motivation to finish this project, and the moral questions that consumed thought processes immediately following both incidents, this filled my mind and stayed with overwhelming peace. Despite all that we continue to face here it is everything we feel led to do, even in our final days and despite landlord's current attitude concerning the fact our time here has come to an end. We have recently learned that house is no longer in danger of foreclosure, thus making our mission here of even more importance. He will definitely be renting it out once we have moved. To finish what we have begun is of paramount importance....to continue to show love and kindness to him and to better the lives of the next tenants.
"People are often unreasonable and self centered.
Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives.
Be kind anyway.
If you are honest, people my cheat you.
Be honest anyway.
If you find happiness, people may be jealous.
Be happy anyway.
The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have and it may never be good enough.
Give your best anyway.
For you see, in the end, it is between you and God.
It was never between you and them anyway."
Mother Teresa
So it is that we replace the stove, continue loving him, and move forward.
Watching them come home in the early morning. This still makes my heart skip a beat.
There are weeks that sometimes seem as if everything conspires against you. Ball meets window. So...a new window it is!
Early morning fog.
The every month, early morning affair of watching the resurfacing of the road. Truck and tractor drivers love this crew and honk every time they make a pass.
How much I love this girl and her parents. She's become just an extension of our family.
Ready to take on the mountains.
Lovin' on the littlest girl.
Forest enchantment.
His independent streak is a mile wide. That would be clothes folding taking place beyond.....and before the bookshelf had been packed up and couches moved.
Helping daddy.
3rd day of orthodontist consults. Fun! It's always better with a buddy tagging along.
Teamwork. Many hands make light work....especially where moving is concerned. Seriously. They play hard...and they work hard.
Hours and hours of upside down play.
More orthodontist!
For all the love of autumn.
My grocery shopping, bald headed, little Lillye-girl.
Their first live burn. Best buds.
I just don't think I could ever possibly love him more. If ever any picture captured our life right now....this would be it. And he's just a little bit sexy in his uniform, with his shift absent earrings, covered up tattoos, holding his sweet girl, talking to the guys.
And the late night rekindle that took it to the ground. This was a vacant house used for training purposes. But, people, I cannot stress enough the importance of having smoke alarms in your home (one in every bedroom and one per living space within home - living area, kitchen, laundry room, office, etc). Train your children and practice fire drills. If you have a multi-level house provide them ways of a window escape and instruct them on how to use it...such as this ladder. When it arrives put it to the test and make sure it actually fits your windowsill. Then teach your children how to set it up themselves. Get your children comfortable with climbing down it. This house went from a spark to fully engulfed in mere minutes. The room that rekindled went from nothing to completely engulfed in less than a minute and a half. Provide your kids a way of escape...and teach them how to use it. Set up a meeting spot. Teach older children to help younger ones exit. Make sure they are comfortable and well versed in this so they can carry it out well even in the haze of sleepiness....or the chaos of smoke alarms. It is the difference between whether your children live or die. And it's just stupid not to have a plan in place for something so very preventable. This hits close to home now that we have actually experienced two live fires, albeit entirely minor, neither of them our fault, within our home.
Because"that would never be me" may just be you oneday.
Because"that would never be me" may just be you oneday.
The aftermath.
How much I love these two.
Cruisin' the parking lot laughing our butts off. Laughter....it's good for the soul. Take life a little lighter and smell the roses...or ride the carts....along the way.
Cross eyed wonder. Sweet crazy girl. "Look, mom! It's you and daddy...cause y'all are ALWAYS hugging." Made me laugh. Life through the eyes of a 5 yr old.
When you frantically search the world over looking for the missing kid......they might be in the dryer. Asleep. Half naked. With a hidden stash of hot dogs.
Undoubtedly the most ghetto play space ever. Who needs proper swingsets? Just turn them loose, let them grow a bit feral, become little barefoot, raggedy, dirt smeared forest nymphs and see what they create working as a team. They usually clean up pretty well...when they're not stained by the red mud. Tarp had been a fort/tent until babies saw fit to come along. And no..there are no rusty nails in the pallets....they've all been hammered down or removed. As for splinters....let's just say we have tweezers.
Small side note...I would just prefer not to play Where's Waldo concerning everything that is hazardous about this pic. Let's all just be at peace that they are amazingly creative and enjoying the fruits of their labor.
"Swings" made from ratchet straps, an exercise back roller, and pool noodle. Dead chair was the "ladder" used to hang the straps. I think he got tired of blowing leaves.
Working hard, packing up and cleaning walls.
Braces! Two of four for now!
Since older two had braces put on a week previously to these guys he knew he was getting a water bottle out of the deal....and that is all he wanted for an entire week. So behold.....the world's most expensive water bottle!
3 of 4. Oldest has them too but he's still adjusting to the reality of a silver smile. #5 to come in 6 months.
And on a parting note.....remember.
This is total truth. Learn it, apply it, and teach your children by example. Every day, all day. No amount of a bad day ever justifies being ugly, rude or mean. You may never know that your bad day pales in comparison to the other person's. And even if it doesn't....if you want to lift yourself up, lift someone else up. Be kind and extend mercy to everyone this holiday season....and every day of the year. So when you are tempted to run some shopper over, exert some road or parking lot rage, gripe at a mom with fussy kids, let the store employee have a piece of your mind...just remember that they are people too. They're probably doing the best that they can, and their day is very possibly worse than your temporary discomfort or your reason for mowing them over, plowing them down, or just plain being a turd. Teach these things to your children by living it out. Actions truly do speak a million times louder than words. And you are, very bluntly, not a nice person if you pick and choose who you're nice to but a turd to everybody else.
Just a thought.
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