Bloddy Hell

A few long weeks ago, hubby shared a photo on my fb page on these fun looking- creepy looking- cupcakes. I KNEW I had to try them. I love love love to bake stuff but it always seems to go to waste here at the house. I am the snack natzi so my kids are not really allowed to just eat and eat baked yummies all day- because trust me- they totally would. In fact... my last baked yummy was zucchini bread and I believe I was the only one that ate that whole damn pan. I had a package of those break and bake cookies... found the WRAPPERS under my boys bed- without the cookies even been cooked!

But tonight we started the prep and made step 1 in our bloody hell cupcakes :) I cant wait to document our baking adventure tomorrow and share it with you. I am sure too if you were to hurry down, we would give you one!

But our plan as of right now (before tasting them) is to take them to the Johnstown firehouse. Today they put on a community event for us which was wonderful and such a great learning experience.

So... dust off your aprons and get your dancing shoes on because tomorrow we BAKE!

Pot Head

It's not what you think exactly but considering it's not even 10am- I thought it was a great title for today!

We have 5 days till we leave for Colorado and I really can't tell you how happy I am. Well, excited till I realize how long my list is- personal and business. But today... oh today is the winner winner chicken dinner... ohhh yumm that actually sounds good. How sweet it would be to crawl into the corner of my living room, hide inside a box and chow down on a bucket of KFC chicken and cole slaw. Num num....

ok where was I??

Oh yes.. so today my lovely hubby calls to tell me he loves me and at the end of our conversation he tells me to have a productive day. {not in a bad way just praying I have a good day}. Oh how I wish I can take those words and beat them over the head of someone!
I started my morning with a bowl of oatmeal and editing- so far so good. Then I start on that "list".

I try my handy dandy hands on tying to take apart bunk beds. I get one side off successfully. Feeling very proud and roar like a prod lioness. I attack the other side with a smile that quickly turns into a mad woman foaming at the mouth and eye twitching. I am pretty sure I developed another personality at this point. I decide to leave that side alone knowing that hubby would rescue me. Great ok... so I vacuumed one side, found a spider, tried to kill it with a stick that was so nice and handy under bed 1. Sadly when I went to squish that nasty spider, I lost it and have no idea where that sucker went, but I vacuumed the heck out of that carpet hoping I killed him with my mad vacuuming skills. Starting to feel proud of myself again, I went to to bed 2. Damn, same thing. So I pumped up my muscles and dragged that sucker across the room so I could at least clean under the bed. Besides the misc paper, pencils, bottle caps, blocks, crayons and things that I do not even want to know or touch, I noticed some kind of harden green goo on the carpet. Ohhh here comes the split personality.

I am pretty sure by now I blacked out from gross frustration and wondered to the laundry room. And what do my wondering eyes see?! A big pile of clothes that includes a great mixture of clean and dirty. Like they were having their own American Ninja Battle. I slowly walked out. That was the only great solution i could think of, of that moment.

Upstairs I start to clean the kitchen breakfast mess- you know that pile of cereal and milk goop that is left on the table that NO one sees as they are leaving for school. I gracefully walked into a pile of that lovely stuff on the floor so I had to hobble my ass over to the sink to clean off whatever I could from the towels and now my sock. Suddenly I heard this crash from the other room. I paused for a moment to hear if a child is hurt or they just decided to remodel wherever they were. When I heard the screaming I took off running.... where I find my dresser has fallen on Jack, scentsy warmer with wax all over the floor, wall and when I looked.. all over jack. He was fine- scared mostly. But he was talented enough to get the wax to fall on his head.. in his hair. IN HIS HAIR. How the heck am I going to get that out?!



At that moment I have decided to say "screw you list" and first google how to get wax out of carpet and then google how to get wax out of hair- I can't be the only one this happened to, right? please let there be another mom out there! So as I come to sit on my couch to google and blog my lovely day, my butts gets cold really fast. UGH- someone peed on the couch. DAMN IT!

Where's my chicken and box fort when I need it!??


Awww but when I least expect it and need it the most, here comes Jack to gives me hugs and kisses.  MMmmmm and his head smells so good.

Spicy Little Sucker

I usually LOVE Monday's. It seems like the only day of the week that I feel really put together, but not this Monday. We all woke up late, made the kids rush to get themselves ready and then made them walk to school. Got a phone call from hubby to check our acct- not good so I had to play accountant without any coffee yet. So far- not a peachy morning.

I tried to go down to our bank to make a deposit and their internet was down- which means they could not make any depsoits. Ok- totally not good for the home team, but then I remembered that I have that cool little phone app that I can take a picture of a check to deposit. SWEET!!

So I get home and try to do more accounting role play, clean the house, do more laundry, clean the bathroom (yuck), pick up left over breakfast messes. I try to sit down and do some important family research only to get bambarded with 2 boys that want to use my head as a hat and my body as a trampoline.

Where's that damn cup of coffee??

So finally I say screw it and gather the boys to take them to the gym for them to run off some of this energy. I hop my squishy butt on a bike - thingy machine, plug in some pandora, try not to sing out loud and do some candy crushing.

.. Super fast forward... get home, feed the animals, put one into quiet time and the other down for a nap- at least praying for a nap so I don't start foaming at the mouth from parental stress. I grab my bag of super hot Jalapeno chips- so dang hot but so dang good and I sit my squishy butt on the couch to enjoy some well deserved quiet time.

And that only took a total of 5.5 seconds for it to end. A cute little bouncy toddler came running towards me- I like to believe he heard the bag open. He decided to take a seat next to me and flash his big blues at me- you know... butter me up so I would give him a chip.
I said over and over again "no, HOT!" But after the 20th time I let the little hungry Jack dig his hands into the bag for a little taste. Now, Jack doesn't do small when it comes to food. This sweet boy believes he must take as much as he can into his mouth to enjoy whatever he can shovel in there.

Now here comes the part where my parenting might look a little gray.

I sat back and watched him. Chew by chew. Waiting for the reaction.

At first he just sat there- eating chips like it was some yummy ruffle. Then it came...

That look like something was just not right. I couldn't hold back my little giggles. He blinked a few times and gave a half giggle like it was actually funny, which only made me laugh out loud.
His eyes started to tear up a little more and he decided that sitting next to me was the issue. SO he got up and walked across the couch to the other side. By that time he was making wimpering sounds.

*inset mommy laughing harder*

I told him to go throw it away but that little turkey just looked me straight in the face and spit it all out on my couch and then began to lick the couch as to if that taste would make the chip taste and burn go away.

I quickly stopped laughing at that point.

Growing Pains

The life of ups and downs can be a real rollercoaster. Some days can be a real jerk but others can be a beautiful ray of sunshine!!

Last night I made a list of things I wanted to accomplish which was taking a shower and putting on makeup to get the day started. I kept talking myself in and out of just the simple task of showering, but I did finally do it which made the task of making coffee even more enjoyable :)

I got the kids off to school, saw hubby off to work, met a friend for coffee and folded socks. Ok, first now.. I HATE folding socks. HATE it.. I am glad we have socks- especially in this house with sticky floors, but matching everyones but hubby's in a real pain in the ass. It was even more enjoyable after I noticed and had to do sniff test, that someone mixed dirty socks with the clean ones. Boys are gross!

To add to the grossness of the day, I scrubbed our bathroom- which felt so wonderful after it was all done. I kept walking back and forth to look at how clean it was. Now all I needed to do was vacuum and not let anyone step on the carpet.

I even made dinner.

Over all a very successful day. I really hope tomorrow I have the same energy. Now, if I could find some quiet time to edit- that would be great.. ohhhh and even better if I was snacking on movie theater popcorn and chocolate... num num

but... the day can't be it's usual self without the choas of kids. Lilly had taken Jack in her room and she fell asleep... well Jack decided that his body was the perfect canvas for a black sharpie. The little turkey has learned that the first thing he does when he wakes up, comes home, plays- if takes off all his clothing - down to naked little butt. Well that sharpie found his artistic self all over his legs, butts, arms, hands and.... to his whoooha.  So while that child was coloring himself another one was outside playing. Only I learned he wasn't playing... he was mad at his friend (neighbor) and decided that he needed to throw rocks and a large piece of glass over the fence. Seriously- WHO does THAT?!

I immediately called our neighbor and apologized and offered to help clean up. Good gravy- they can go crazy. But it is always a successful day when no one has to take a trip to the doctors!


As everyone was cleaning up dinner my daughter started to freak out a little and scream that I needed to get away from the window. SHe was freaking out because the boy she liked was at our house. This boy has been "interested" in daughter since last year. But our daughter has a very protective dad- who will make a person go through hell and back to just be able to say hello. Not to mention 2 other protective males in the house that a boy also has to go through. Basically- this kid has no luck.

A few weeks ago this kid showed up to the house wanting to talk to Lilly. thankfully one of the guys were here to send him away. A message was then sent back to this kid that if he wanted to talk to his daughter he was going to have to call the man of the house first.
For a while we didn't hear or see the kid, until one day, we did try to call and text big daddy! Well daddy's response was for this kid to write him an essay answering 2 questions.

1. Why do you want to date my 13 yr daughter
2. Why would she want to date you?

Charley thought for sure that would make the kid run for a while.. I mean for a 13/ 14 yr old boy- this was more than a hassle for him.

So we thought.

Well this determined kid showed up tonight to talk to hubby! Of course I had to go outside and hear the details- hense the dramatic episode of daughter shrieking at the window.

There was a little chit chat about family and a little talk about being old school and how we want the best for Lilly and most of all someone to respect her.

After the kid left, I felt a little tug in my heart for him. He seemed to have been respectful and trying his best to follow what Charley wanted. I got a little broken hearted when I realized that my little lil bug wasn't 2 anymore. She is VERY 13, but I vow to keep her "old school" as long as I can. I mean she is lucky enough to be able to wear makeup out of the house and shave her legs right now!

Some reason I don't think I was that young to do all that!

Watching your kids grow up is hard. In ways it is happy and fun but most times I want to hang on so tight and not let them go anywhere. I miss rocking a snuggling baby in the crook of my neck or the smell of a freshly cleaned baby. Now all I seem to smell is pee and dirty feet.

But the love is still as strong!

When Hairy Met The Emotional Crazy Mother

I knew this day was going.. I just hope it would have waited... a little bit longer.

All my "babies" are growing up and there is no way to slow it down. But as September was sneaking up on us the lingering thought that the little one was going to be 2. I couldn't believe it. He is going to be TWO... and I am not pregnant! Oh how jealous spurs from my pores at times when I see a pregnant woman or two. There was little left of "baby" in Jack. His feet not longer smell sweet- they actually smell like.. boy- eww yuck. He doesn't have the chunk anymore between his thighs, no more breast feeding, bottles, sleeping in my arms, or sitting still. Now it's a game of how fast he can rip his diaper off, telling me no, biting anyone that walks by, jumping off things (the higher the better for him), bumps,bruises and did I mention the "no" part. His teething necklace he had has been broken for a while but the LAST thing I had left of him as a "baby" was his beautiful soft curls. But... Septmeber was creeping up and I knew we eventually had to cut it- poor thing was having troubles seeing!

Then it happened.. that  time when hubby looks at you and tells you it's time. For a moment I got giddy then the panic attack swooped over me. This was my "baby" and I was just giving hubby permission to cut if off. I freaked a little and I believe my voice went up 2 octive levels as I said over and over again to make sure he saves some curls. I know it's kind of silly. I mean out of the 5 kids I have never once gone back to that envelop of hair from my kids first haircut. It's not like you can run it through your fingers anymore.

This time though.. I am a photographer, so I documented the crap out of his first haircut. What a sad sad day!

Silly me thought hubby was just going to give him a shaggy boy haircut. I mean I saw him grab the clippers- I just didn't expect DRAMA.

He plugged it in, sat my little dude down and turned on the clippers. Jack sat very still as hubby took that first pass of a buzz cut. I think at that moment I vomited in my mouth, tears came to my eyes and I wanted him to stop. Yes, he would have had a run-way hair do, but at least I would still have {some} curls. But it was too late. I sat and watched how lovely blonde pieces fell to the ground. Oh- how those will never come back. Oh, how I will never be able to hold my very own baby again and watch beautiful curls grow. Damn it- why did I get my tubes tied. Oh yea... 5 kids- that's why!

Little Jack sat perfectly the whole time and after he was finished- it was hard to see the little Jack we knew. He now looked.. .older. *gulp* older... that was hard to swallow. Where was my little baby??

The past few days I still sit and look at him.. trying to remember that long haired hippy kid of mine. In between his moments of jumping off furniture and telling me no, he will surprise me with big hugs and sweet boogery kisses. This little boy he has grown up to be has been a sweet adventure.

Now- grow back your curls!

Loco in the Bakken

Back where I come from- the mountains, trees, streams, lakes and people that believe in Christ! We come from a place where no matter who you were, you were given blessings for the best. No matter who you were, people helped you out. You treated your friends like family and your family even closer.

When we moved here- I was filled with excitement. I was so happy to be all backed together as a family. My hubby was out here for a few months without us, but we decided to take a loss on our life and home back in Idaho to just be all together here in Dickinson. After all- it was just a house... A home my hubby built with his own hands and belongs that we had gathered over years- but just stuff.

We had blessings with company housing and later a better job that has opened up an opportunity for hubby to start his own business out here. My business has grown beautifully and I have been able to meet some amazing friends and clients in the year we have been here.

We had to move out of our company housing due to the job change and we were blessed to have found a house that would fit our whole family. The landlord was great (in the beginning) and had come to the agreement that since he had evicted his last tenants, that we would take care of all the cleaning and repairs in exchange for the deposit. After thanksgiving, a LONG time friend of hubby's, Trent, had joined us for dinner. He was sharing with us how his work was going and that he was waiting for his apartment to be finished and waiting for more work to start up again for him. So here was a friend of our- a friend that was family to us- a friend that has been a part of our lives- and we did what we do for our friends and extend our home to him. We never asked for money from him nor did we ever accept money- it was just not something we would do.

The landlord had met Trent- welcomed him, was nice to him and asked if there was anything we needed, to let him know.

a while later....

the dude went coo-coo!! Showing up at our door yelling and screaming- yelling obscene words with the kids sitting right there. We refused to answer the door and asked him to leave. When he decided to get louder, we called the cops. We later received a hand typed eviction letter on our door.
Since we have Legal Shield, we called up our lawyer, explained the situation and got legal advice. We followed all the legal steps we needed.

After our lawyer sent a letter to the landlord that in fact the hand typed letter was not in fact a legal eviction letter and we had legal representation, we would still be legally able to reside at that address. Well as you have guessed we soon after that did receive a court order eviction letter. Still not the correct letter, but good enough for good 'ol North Dakota. We had a court date set and off to court we went.




















I was proud of hubby. For standing his ground. For doing the right thing and not letting this guy bully us into paying an extra $1000 a month for us to continue to live there. Remember we have been paying $3000 a month and had only 2 months left in our lease. We did all the research we were advised to do and had copies of the lease.

We get to the court room and I instinctively wanted to yell " OBJECTION" and " YOU CANT HANDLE THE TRUTH" but the looks hubby was giving me was telling me I better not utter a word. What a kill joy huh lol
 Long story short- the landlord oozed lies out of his mouth- making me want to just cry. I couldn't believe he was sitting there in front of the judge and just bleeding bullshit lies. If I had a dart gun- I would have tranquilized him for sure.
In the end the judge ruled on his opinion on what "subletting" means. We were just flabbergasted that a judge would rule on his opinion. Whatever happened to the ... i dunno.. the LAW. He then hit his little hammer thingy and ruled that we had 5 days to vacate the home.

I walked out flustered but feeling such peace about it. I wanted to squeeze lemon juice in the landlord eyes, but I had such a great calmly feeling from God. I know he has a plan and I felt safe. Hubby looked so sad and just angry- and for good reason. He was doing the right thing and we just got suckered punched.

We went home and tried to make a game plan. I called the only person I knew that could possibly direct me in the right direction. Housing here in ND is so ridiculous. Sweet Ms Amber was able to spread the word and this amazing man had answered us with such grace. We were in need of a home with 4 or more rooms, someone that would hear our story, listen and acknowledge that we were not trying to take advantage of anyone, but really just living in what we believe in Gods giving way.


Mr D was the one that was the one that had answered our prayers- heard our story and listened to our hearts... and offered a home that he had available to rent. I wish I was able to fully express my gratitude and the love that I have for such an amazing person who accepted us. On friday, Mr D called us for the walk thru and he graciously handed us over the keys. I could have seriously cried at that moment :)

This house is so cute and comfortable. I am so happy to call it home :) From the outside I was a little worried that it would not quite fit us good but inside its more than perfect.

God, thank you so much for the many blessings- this was a hard journey but we knew you had a plan
and its perfect- just like always!

Amber- thank you for being a friend and listening to me. Thank you for reaching out to your friends and co-workers.

Mr D- Thank you SO very much. We will be forever grateful for your blessing and gracious heart!

Charley- I am so proud of you! Thank you for sticking up for our family and never letting the evil get into your heart. You are a great man, husband, provider and father! I love  you!

To my friends - thank you for your support and prayers!

now.. who wants to come over for some coffee :)

Piggy In A Blanket

so depressing. so frustrating. so easy to fix.. at least it would seem.

This morning I woke up and I swear I felt like my thighs were 3x bigger than yesterday. With everything going on- kid after kid sick, I have been eating anything that seems comforting- which sadly has not been healthy choices. I complain all day long and run myself into the ground with nasty comments about how I look, but still I sit here- still trying to get motivated to just make it to the gym.

Depressing. 

I know the outcome will be good if I  JUST. DO. IT.

I have tried to bribe myself with new clothes, money, gifts... but nothing seems to pull me out of this lazy funk.

I feel like it would change if I had someone to drag me along with them. Someone to keep me excited and motivated and made it a weekly "date". I feel like I could do it if I didn't feel so run down in the evening and then so beat up in the morning.

 How do I get out of my nasty- fatty-oh-so-ugly funk and get EXCITED to go to the gym. Excited to be like "hey, I am gonna sweat today and love that burning feeling!"

I am heading into my mid thirties and this body is for sure not getting younger, tighter or less lumpy.