So judging from the title of this post, ya'all probably thought I'd go into some rant about not having any friends or something. Ha. Shows what you know.

This post shall be about something I've kept pretty quiet about on here. Back a few months ago this summer, I was texted a flyer by a few different people about a photo contest the hospital was having. I decided to give it a go, though I am not a landscape photographer and know full well I'm no good at it.

The rules were that I could submit up to 20 photos and really, that was it. No other rules.

I decided that if I was going to have a chance, well then I better get busy because it was probably going to take 19 tries to get one good one.

So I took my camera everywhere and tried, and didn't do so well, to take good photos. And then the deadline came and I submitted 20 ho-hum photos. And then came the waiting... and waiting... and waiting.

Finally, an email stating first, second and third place... it wasn't me. I was crushed. It tore me open and made me want to quit. Honestly, along with other photo related problems, it was a cross-road... and I wanted off the train.

But I had no time for self-pity and loathing because busy season started with a roar and I was off again.

Fast forward to two weeks ago. I sat down at my computer and opened up an email:

"Hi Alyson,

This year I had the last minute idea to have my kids draw names out of a hat and whoever ' s name they draw,  they get to serve that person anonymously until Christmas. This just started today, but I could see this going hand in hand with the regular Twelve Days of Christmas service that we regularly do every year.

I'm a genious!

Okay, I know it wasn't me that came up with that. Thank you, Heavenly Father.

My Christmas shopping is all done!!! YAY!

I have one home-made gift to finish! YAY!

The twelve days of Christmas started today and we got it all taken care of!

I don't think we have ever been so on top of Christmas!

Bring it on!

It's been three years since we started our journey here in our little town.

Three years.

Three years!!!

We've lived in a LOT of different places, and let me tell you that after two years I had already made best friends for life.

So what the heck?

I know I say it a lot on here, but you have no idea what it's like!

Also, I had a few run-ins this week with people from my ward, and they were not good ones.

I feel just as new today as I did when we moved here.

and I'm lonely for a friend.

This week the checker at the store tried to talk to Will and got a sad frowny face from him. She started laughing and said "He has a grumpy face just like his mom!!" and then she said it over and over LOUDLY, telling the other checkers and shoppers. Sounds dumb, but I've always tried to be super happy and upbeat when I go in there. Definitely not grumpy. It's dumb, but yeah, it wasn't the right time to say it to me because I'm already feeling uber sensitive about having no friends. It hurt my feelings.

Then there was the facebook incident which shall remain detail-less.

Then there was the cleaning the church fiasco in which Trevor and I were supposed to head the Saturday cleaning, except no one told us and we got a text at 9:30 Friday night asking what time we were meeting the next morning. The problem was that we had already booked ourselves to go to Logan's robotic competition all day Saturday!!! So Trevor called the Bishop who told us "it's been in the bulletin". Gee thanks. Then Trevor called and left a message with the guy in charge, since he didn't answer, and I texted the person back who had texted us in the first place. This is a lady in the ward who I think might possibly be nice and a person to get close to. So I thought I'd be honest and real with her because I've always thought that being real helps to endear people to you. I said something about how we've already promised to go to this thing in the morning, and I feel like a loser because I didn't know we were in charge and how we've been late for church and missed the bulletin, so we had no idea, and how I was sorry to leave her in the lurch, but we called the guy in charge to let him know. And here's the response I got back: "Can I get his number?" (referring to the guy in charge). Nothing else. No joke. a one line response, completely ignoring anything else I said.

I know it doesn't sound like much, but can you understand just a little bit what it's like to live in the emotionless, friendless world that I live in here?

And then there was today's incident which was really just me being sensitive, but I asked a girl if she would be willing to trade babysitting with me while I went to a photo shoot next week. I told her that I could trade her pictures, or cards or anything photo related. She messaged me back telling me she didn't want anything I had to trade, but I could donate money to the school. But you guys, THAT WAS THE WHOLE POINT OF THE TRADE!!!! I DON'T HAVE ANY MONEY!!! And her not wanting anything I have to offer is exactly what is wrong with the people here. No one wants anything I have to offer. Not my friendship, not my service, not my photos... nothing!

It's like I don't exist.

I can't remember if I ever told you all about Logan's other doctor appointment. I took him to our family doc to have his ears assessed. This was two days after the ear pain incident.

If I already told this story, just skip this post. I honestly can't remember and my brain has left the building for the month. It's on vacation.

So the doc looked in both his ears and scraped and cleaned all the wax out that she could.  Logan said his ears have never felt cleaner. Gross. The right ear had a ton of wax, while the left ear had just a bit, but not much. The left ear is the one with hearing loss.

The right ear was swollen and red, while the left ear was not swollen, but maybe just a hint of red. The left ear drum had a white spot on it, the right ear had no spot.

The spot could be a number of things,  but more than likely an old scar from an old illness, which scars cause hearing loss.

I know someone out there is reading this and laughing because I am butchering the explanation of this. Sorry. Lol. This visit was like two weeks ago, and remember that my brain went on vacation, so.....

We received a referral to an ENT and a round of antibiotics. Meanwhile Logan is using an Audio Trainer at school. This is basically a personal microphone system that his teacher wears while she is teaching, and he wears ear buds set up to receive the signal from her mic. It is helping so much already! It's so much easier to concentrate when you can hear what's going on.

This story is just beginning, I'm sure. More on this later.

Sooooo, are you still waiting for that post on Logan? Oh yeah, okay. Sorry.

Last week we had parent teacher conferences. Sami got all A's. Phoebe got two B's and the rest A's. Both of their teachers were awesome and spoke highly of them. It was great.

Logan's conference went as expected.  It was good. We went in and had a talk about his missing homework and blah blah about how he scores so high on the placement tests and she doesn't see what we see about dyslexia . And then Trevor went on and on about what dyslexia is. How it affects him; how having dyslexia does not mean you are stupid. Blah blah. It was great. She was dumbfounded in a good way. I really wanted Trevor to explain better than I could to her about what we see and what it means.

And we had gone to the eye doctor earlier in the day for dyslexia screening. The funny thing is that when I made the appointment, I had asked for dyslexia screening, but when we got there and were in the room with the doctor, he told me they didn't do dyslexia screening. Lol. Okay then. Why am I here, right? But in the end we ordered a pair of glasses for Logan.

So funny thing on this journey to find out if Logan is dyslexic, we have so far found out that he is deaf and blind, but still have no idea about the dyslexia.  Haha!

I noticed it has been a while, and I don't have time right now. So until I do, enjoy this post from the end of November that I forgot to publish.

When I have so much to do that it starts to get tangled in a knot in my head, I make a list. This morning's list was long:

Paint stucco: today!
Paint table and chairs for craft show
Find a desk or build a desk for craft show
Finish set for craft show
Photos for craft show
Build a child size bench: stain rustic
Batting and stars
Order card samples
Print and bind card catalog
Laundry
Change sheets
Christmas gifts
Finish photo shoots #1-4
Clean the house

Normally the list is like this: finish photo shoot and clean the house.

This time of the year is not my favorite. We over book ourselves and turn into a frenzied mess. If you noticed above, I'm doing a craft show this year. The circumstances of how it came about make me want to kick and scream, but it's truly not relevant for you to know the details. As I have said before, I wish people would think about how their actions or words affect others.

I've been thinking a lot about the concept of being generous in thought and mind with everyone who enters my life. It's important to me that everyone is given as much as I can give. A lot of the time this backfires. This is the part I've been thinking on. If my intentions are good, and I've sacrificed more than I should have, then why does it belly flop?

I think I have expectations to be appreciated, given that I have sacrificed so much to help people out. I know I'm talking around the issue here, but I just can't be specific... just try to follow....

Anyway, I really do feel sad after I serve someone. I don't think it's normal, and I don't know how to change my thinking. I don't know what I'm doing wrong, but I end up making the recipient feel angry or upset with me because I didn't meet their expectations fully or quickly. But the truth is that the recipient had completely unrealistic expectations of me, given that I was the one choosing to serve them, even though they felt that they "deserved" my service.

Did you follow all of that? Meh. It was probably not followable. Sorry.

So yeah. My problem. It seems stupid, but I cry a lot about it.

And hey you! Yeah, you! You probably think I'm talking about you, right? Well you are probably wrong. Or maybe you are right. This does happen over and over and over. Lol

Anyway, as I said before, it's something I feel very emotional about and yes cry about. I love helping and serving. Love it. But not when it's expected and complained about.

The end.

We worked at the house on Saturday. We worked on the front windows; getting them trimmed out and replacing the siding.

I cut crazy angled trim boards for the front of the house to line the stone between the stone and siding.

We took the siding all the way back to the side of the front step, getting rid of the mailbox slot. Yeehaw!

We did not take it far enough back to get rid of the cat door. Ugh. We will have to just patch that part in.

We worked until about 9 pm trying to finish, but we just didn't have enough time. There is still a lot of siding to put up, and we will get it done on Friday.

Meanwhile, I'm-a-gonna get the stucco patched and primed this week. It's a warm one, so it will be perfect.

AND.... lots of doc visits scheduled this week. It's gonna be a killer.

AND.... parent-teacher conferences! I know you all can't wait to hear about those!

And now, one more thing before I go. It's a question: Would you be uncomfortable or upset if your child who was struggling ' s teacher got a second job after school? Seriously, I don't know how to feel about it. On one hand, it's none of my business and I could care less. On the other hand, does this mean she won't be prepared the next day for lessons and stuff at school? Will she care less? How would you feel?

I'm so confused. On Friday, I picked logan up from robotics club and he said he wasn't feeling well. I felt his forehead and he felt warm.

On the way home, he told me that he was having a really hard time hearing all day and that his left ear was hurting.

We got home and I took his temperature. 100°. I tried to talk to him many times and he couldn't hear me. So, I don't know. This whole thing is weird.

So since no one commented on my last post, I can only assume it was because you were waiting for more information. We have three options for how to proceed with Logan.

#1 preferential seating in the classroom. This is where Logan would be seated by the teacher as she teaches. If she moves around the room, he would need to move with her.

#2 Use an auditory trainer. This is basically an amplification system. Like a mic that the teacher always wears, and then a speaker is placed on Logan's desk or he would wear headphones in order to hear the teacher better.

#3 a hearing aid. Obviously this option is the most expensive for us, and the most extreme, though not really extreme. It's just an EXTREME investment. So for this option, we would go to our family doctor for a prescription for a hearing aid, and then back to the Idaho School for the Deaf and Blind to fill the prescription. They would then loan us the hearing aid in order to test it out to see if it would be a viable option, before proceeding with purchasing our own expensive hearing aid.

I met with Logan's teacher yesterday to go over these things with her. I left very frustrated and upset. I feel as if she thinks I am making this into a bigger deal than it is. As if she thinks I'm making this up. Like it's nothing and he is fine. I'm not talking about the hearing problem, either, I'm talking about the dyslexia.

I just feel really tired of the school system right now. I want to yank Logan out. I'm screaming it from every pore in my body, but Trevor is not behind it, so he stays for now.

Meanwhile I am pursuing dyslexia testing in Twin. I don't know if it's a possibility yet, but I want to have it done by parent-teacher conferences next week. I want to punch that stupid teacher in the teeth, so to speak, with his test results. 

I'm so very tired of these people who know nothing about dyslexia acting as if they have a PhD in the subject. Having dyslexia does not mean you are stupid. Having dyslexia does not always mean you don't like to read. Logan already has failed a dyslexia screening for an online therapy program, and this company used a well known test to screen him. This company was also recommended by Logan's school. So I don't know what it will take to convince his teacher, but either way I am bringing my secret weapon (Trevor) to put her in her place next week at conferences. I can't wait. I hope he's extra mean.

Ok, I know I'm not being nice, but I didn't explain what happened in my meeting with her. After explaining that I was still pursuing the dyslexia testing, she asked me what I see in him that makes me think he has it, because she doesn't see anything, and he is really smart. So I had written a list the day before of all the symptoms he has, and I had it in my purse. So I grabbed the list and started reading it to her. And she laughed. She smiled and laughed through the whole thing. And when I got to the end she said "I could say those things about all of my students." !!!!!!!

Ya know, maybe logan isn't dyslexic. Maybe it was just the hearing loss that was throwing him off. I don't know. But that was just plain wrong of her. I think any parent who sees their child struggling, especially when no one else sees it, would fight for them. It's just what you do as a parent. At least I care about my kid. Shame on her.

Anyway, I'm tired now, so siyanarah.

I am speechless.

yeah.

umm....

huh....

Logan has hearing loss in his left ear.

He can still hear, but not well.

Weird, right?

hmmmm....

It hit me like a giant pillow to the face.

There is something different about me.

Well, let's be honest, there are lots of special things about me, but this one is extra different than normal. 

It has always bothered me, but it's one of those things you couldn't quite put your finger on.

This morning I realized what exactly is so different and frustrating to me about me, and this one is pretty cool.

Guys, I have a super power.

No really, a bonnefied (I totally made that spelling up) super power.

I HAVE THE POWER OF INVISIBILITY!!!!

I am not making this up!

Isn't that super cool?

But I'm not sure why it took me this long in life to figure it out. I am absolutely embracing this though.

So instead of feeling frustrated about not being heard and seen, there is and always has been a reason! Invisibility is so cool.

I haven't figured out how to turn it on and off yet, so I'm focusing my energies on that.

I will keep you all updated on how the fine tuning goes over the next few months.

And ssshhhhh! I'd like to keep this quiet if possible.

Hey. It's 12:39 am and I can barely keep my eyes open. My schedule has shifted to waking up so much earlier with Trevor's job change. Ugh.

But here's the reason I'm not in bed: Trevor needs to bring some food with him in the morning for a potluck at work. We both remembered tonight at 10, and then he didn't want just any old food. Yes, that's right. He was being picky!!!

So at 10:40 I ran to the store, which closes at 11. I made it as they were turning off lights. I got what I needed and ran home. But this dumb recipe requires that you freeze a specific ingredient solid before you bake it. So here I am waiting and trying not to fall asleep.

Come on freezer! I'm so tired!!

5 hours until wake up time.

So, wow. It's been a bit.

I have been busy.

We have been working at the house.

The stucco is finished and I think turned out pretty dang nice.

This app for blogger on my phone makes it hard to post. I can't remember what photos I uploaded.

Umm, oh yeah, so this is typically what my kids look like while we are working all day on Saturdays.

Saturday this week we worked on finishing up some framing projects.

The bathroom is all finished. The entry is all finished.

Guys, it's getting real!

I ordered siding for the front of the house today.

That's a good sign.

The siding can go up after the framing inspection is over!!

So close!

Oh yeah, and the last picture is from the mothers lounge at church yesterday. The lighting in there is fabulous! I wish that light could just follow me around all day every day.

What a difference a year makes! Carter is now three!!! He wanted a birthday like everyone else, and I so so badly wanted him to have it. This boy has my heart for so many tender reasons. I did my best to give him a normal birthday meal of hamburgers. He had a gluten free bun, patty and pickles. He ate the bun and pickles, but was so happy! I made him a gluten free cake and chocolate coconut cream frosting. He blew out the candles at least six different times, and loved it. He got rainbow sherbet ice cream to go with his cake, but in the end ate only the frosting.

So why am I tearing up right now? There were so many worry-filled days, weeks, moments... I feel like it was 10 years, not just one. This will sound dramatic, but I feel like his life is just so fragile. Much more fragile than normal. I can't explain my feelings about it, but a year ago, I really was just soo sooo worried. Carter was withering away to nothing, and no one would listen to my concerns. He would just lay down all the time, rarely playing standing up. Or if he was standing up, he would be leaning on something as if he had no strength. Not to mention the constant stream of diarrhea that smelled horribly of vomit and burned on contact.

I'm so glad for the day I took him back to the doctor and wouldn't take no for an answer. I just don't know how they could have thought that a kid could have a stomach bug for 6 months. No no no.

Today, he is thriving. He is our light. He is crazy and funny and sings all day long and has a memory like a computer, like Trevor, but for music. He remembers everything. I'm so grateful for the blessing of being referred to the specialist who has helped us figure out how to help him.

He doesn't get to eat many things, but Carter never ever ever complains. I still worry about him many times a day. I have to watch him for signs constantly. It has only happened a few times, but his face turns white, his lips have absolutely no color, as well as his eyes, and even though his eyes may be open, no one is home. His head gets all bobbily too. Like, he can't keep it up. Like he is about to pass out. When this happens, I grab whatever sugary food I can find and shove it down his throat. Normally ice cream or chocolate almond milk. It's scary, but he comes back and is fine.

I love my Carter. He has a special place in my heart, even though he has trimmed at least 20 years off my life, I'd gladly give him more just to get to experience life with him.

Every time I drive past the court house in town,  I get a lump in my throat.

I tear up when I think about Trevor working in Twin.

I discovered tonight, while driving to town by myself in the dark to go grocery shopping, that I have some feelings I need to address.

I have to admit, I didn't want Trevor to take the job in Twin. I feel ungrateful saying it. I don't have the right to have that feeling, because I told him that I would support him, no matter what he decided. But he chose wrong!!!

And I'm torn knowing that for now, this was right for him, because I don't want it to be. It means more sacrifice for me and also for our kids. It means less time to work on the house, and less time to spend with him. It means he will be more tired; leaving earlier and getting home late. I get to parent by myself and help with homework and just do things by myself.

It's just hitting me this week what I'm in for, and I'm really trying to be okay. I think I will be, but it doesn't feel fair. I feel like we were robbed of something that should have been ours.

And again, there is that torn feeling. I know it wasn't ever ours to begin with, and if it was supposed to happen, it would have. I'm trying not to look back at what might have been, and instead look forward for what is coming.

Heavenly Father must have something absolutely amazing in store for us, for all of this crazy, rocky and winding road he has guided us through.

Some day, I hope to be done with this road though.  I feel tired and worn out. Haven't I been polished enough? I don't think there could possibly be many more rough spots left on me.

Well, I have a lot of things I need to work on, so I've decided. I'm a big, ungrateful, stupid, jerk.

And that's that.

We blocked the basement. It included Jacks and other items, but now the upstairs floor is level. Yay. And the gas furnace is no more. Double yay.

And vents and ducting are a huge, crazy stupid gigantic pain in the rear end to take out.

And old water in pipes stinks.

But I've become a master stucco-er because all the plastic came down over the weekend,  and the new stucco is sooooo nice and seamless!

Sorry for the cryptic blog tonight. I'm tired, and coming down with a cold. Also, my camera may or may not be broken. This is still to be determined. It's frustrating being shy and wanting people to like me and be my friend, but know that I don't deserve it because I'm not friendly enough and say really stupid put-my-foot-in-my-mouth comments.

There ya go. The rambling thoughts of Alyson at 1:30 am.

Good night.

Well fetch. I just deleted this post and now I have to rewrite it. That was dumb.

I was at a thrift store in town and saw these amazing mirrors with the coolest frames ever made. I'm not a fan of the gold, and I'd redo that, but I need your opinions.

What do you think about me putting them side by side in my master bathroom? Nah? Maybe just put one on its side? Maybe put one in my living room? Forget it all together?

I have also compiled a list of photos that illustrate what I am talking about. Just scroll down and then leave a comment telling me what you think!

And one more thing, I know they don't look that big in the photo, but they are huge. Really.

Guys, I finished the stucco for the year!

I will stand while you clap

*bowing*

*and more bowing*

I am so tired. I am physically and emotionally exhausted right now. It's photo season, scouts just started back up, Trevor just started a new job working a lot more hours- making him much less available to help, and I feel like the weight of everything is on me.

And trust me Mom, I am giving it all over to the Lord.

Now, because I know you are asking yourself "Self, I wonder how she put up stucco with those two little boys?", let me tell you how this goes down.

So I normally put up a camping chair for Carter to sit in, and we have an old fashioned crib/bassinet that I sit Will in next to him. This is out in the dirt of the backyard where I'm working. Will normally cries and tries to get out, and sometimes faceplants into the dirt, but I just put him back in. It takes about 5 hours for me to apply one batch of stucco by myself. This is with me regularly rewetting and mixing the stucco so it will not set up before I can get it on the house.

Yesterday Will went three hours past when he should have eaten because I was on such a tight schedule, I couldn't stop. I had stucco, scouts, and a photo shoot. I almost had a nervous breakdown. It was too much.

Anyway, there is some insight into my life for you.

I've said it before and I'll say it again

Life never turns out like you expect, and you would be shortchanging yourself to fight against your life plan.

My advice: sit back and enjoy the ride

Also, be open to life's challenges. They are happening to you for a reason, and you will most likely not feel grateful for a very long time, but you WILL eventually see the reason behind it, and you will be grateful.

And now some news: we've had an unexpected and unplanned job change. It's so crazy and I'm still trying to make sense of what this means for us. We are still living here in Gooding,  and still plugging along on the house. I still cannot wait to move into the house, and it may be sooner rather than later. We just are not sure if Gooding is where we will grow our roots deep.  Only time will tell.

Is it normal to feel like every time I drop my kids off at their first day of school, I left half of my heart there with them? Does the feeling ever go away? I don't think I want it too. It would be nice if it didn't hurt so much though...

This post is about a week late, but we worked hard last weekend and we were able to get a few things done.

Like,  oh I don't know,  the FRONT WINDOWS!!!!!

YEAH! GET EXCITED !!!

Also, the subfloor in the laundry and kids' room.

But, back to the window, 'cause that's all you want to hear about. It was HEA------VY! I mean, we were going to take it straight out the front down a short ladder and to the grass, but I am so grateful that we didn't. Not kidding, someone would have gotten hurt... me. I could not even lift it!!! I swear! So Trevor lifted his side down, and then ran over and lifted mine down.  Then we drug it over to the dumpster and somehow got it in. I am not kidding about how heavy this window was. It was insane. And then we smashed the glass. That felt nice.

Guys, the roof is FINALLY 100% DONE! After working on the soffits for the last month or so, we are completely and finally finished!

This month I experienced the joys that come from cutting metal. Metal shards exploding in your face never feel great. Metal dust in your eye causes pink eye... who knew? Hot metal, sharp metal, dumb metal... lol

This is a wonderful and exciting experience as well as exhausting, taxing, wearing, frustrating and I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. I love this house!!! (Disclaimer: I am allowed to take back this last statement as soon as the next unexpected catastrophe hits.)

It's 1:45 am. I can't sleep because I'm worried about Will. He's had a bad cold/flu/idontreallyknow for a few days now. He's hardly eating. He's throwing up, but not like a flu throw up, but more like a gagging throw up. Tonight the cough went into his  chest.

2:05 am. Will woke up coughing and gagging and crying in between. Took his temp, and it was 102. Administered tylenol and rubbed his back until he calmed down and fell mostly asleep.

I'm just a worried mom. I have to wake up early to take a friend into Twin, which is convenient because I'm definitely done fighting this sickness all by myself.

Did I mention the other kids are sick too? Yep. It's great.

Now, to remember the name of our doctor.  I wish I was kidding.

This was the weekend from H-E-double-hockey-sticks.

We worked our rear-ends off.

We got the ceiling joists in. We framed our bathroom and closet.

Good thing too.

I was feeling so down about the whole thing.

This whole never-ending project.

We are close now.

We need to 1. Frame the entry.

2. Lay sub-floor in the bedroom and laundry room.

3. Install the front windows and master bath window.

4. Install door frame into pantry.

Three of those projects are large, and one is small. I figure it is about 1 months worth of work.

Then the inspector can come!!!

Woohoo!!!

Also, notice that the ceiling is now gone along with half of the wall in our closet/bathroom. We took that down and bagged all the loose insulation to blow in later. That's not an easy or quick job. We really got a ton done this weekend. Thanks for your prayers!!

Now that the roof is mostly done, it's back to the inside of the house.

The laundry room was one of the last untouched rooms and it had the nastiest gold and yellow linoleum. That was ripped up, exposing the sub-floor. Yay.

We tore out the old 2x4 wall beside the stairs. We replaced it with a wider 2x6 wall, which is where we will run plumbing for the washer and sink. Yes. I get a sink. Yay!

We also raised the ceiling height to above 8 feet, like in the kids' bedroom on the same side of the house. Now the final step is to put the ceiling joists back up across the whole thing, then that side of the house will be done.

That means we will only have one room left to frame: our closet and bathroom!!! Wow!!!

It feels like it's taking an eternity!!! Someone give me some patience!

Let's move on to more exciting things. I'm thinking about the pink stone and mortar on the front of the house. If I were Chip and Joanna Gaines,  I'd paint it white and call it good. Man, I'd love to do that, but Trevor would kill me. Plus, I kinda want to prove there are other ways to fix this horrible kind of problem besides just painting it.

I found this cool company www.dyebrick.com that has a really cool way of literally dyeing the brick or stone in this case. It is not a new company. It's formula is tried and true against the test of time. I'm thinking about ordering a sample and having a go at it. My  hesitation, if I have any, is regarding the color of the mortar. What color do I go? Light? Dark? I'm ordering browns and grey to play with for the stone color. I'm thinking of a variation in the stone color, but I don't know. Having never done this, and seeing that none of their customers have either, I'm on my own.

Luckily, I have a whole pile of pink stone with red mortar attached sitting on the side of the house just waiting for me to play with. The people who put the fireplace in were kind enough to use the exact same stone as what they used on the front of the house. Lucky us. We saved the stone when we tore the fireplace out to reuse on the front of the garage.

Enough of my boring life for today.

More later. Maybe we will do soffits this week.

I feel like the house in town is an accumulation of small little miracles. We've been working on it for so long now, some days I look back on what we've accomplished and feel like we've gotten nowhere. But then again, LOOK AT WHAT WE'VE ACCOMPLISHED! ! It's all a matter of perspective. Looking back at where we started from, we really have come a long way. And just for reference, when I say "we", I'm referring to my dad, Trevor, and me.

We basically have replaced and sealed up all but one window of this house. That's a heckofalotofwindows.

Lol.

We have redone or replaced every wall inside the house on the main floor, with the exception of the laundry room wall which we are in the process of replacing. I'm talking knocking down lathe and plaster, stripping of nails and electrical, and in some cases, reusing old studs and salvaging whatever we can to save money when rebuilding.

The floor plan has been completely reworked and flows so much better. There is only one wall that will be in the exact same place at the end of the project.

Fixing the spongy floor was such a huge thing! It was so much work to carefully pull up each plank in the hopes of salvaging the original hardwood floors. Our subfloor is SOLID now. I can't believe it's the same floor.

And then there is the roof. What. A. Project.

Whenever we've been in a bind, like with the subfloor or with the roof, we've always been blessed by family coming to help. There is no way we'd be able to do these things without them, and I am so so so thankful for my family!!! Thank you thank you THANK YOU!!

The roof is finished. It humbled me and kicked my can and a whole bunch of stuff like that. I learned that being a wus is just being a wus. It's not cute and accomplishes  nothing. At the end of the day, you just have to put your wus away, buckle up, get a backbone, take a breath, say a prayer, and get to work. It's scary being on the roof. It's hot being on the roof. It's not fun. But there is no other way.

We burned up the motor on my beloved saw that belonged to Trevor's grandpa. I used that saw for everything. I could cut with that thing like it was an extension of my body. The new saw is nice, but it's just not the same. I had fine tuned exactly where to line up the saw in order to get the cut I wanted. I could keep that thing steady as heck for a cut you would think came off a table saw. The new saw has all these bells and whistles and almost too much power. It's as quiet as a vacuum. It will take some getting used to for sure. I got yelled at for cutting crooked with it today.  Me. Cutting crooked. I miss the old saw.

I still need to write a post about Samantha and her baptism. I've not forgotten. Stay tuned.

What. A. Mess.

This roof is a beast. It's half way sheeted. We had a ton of people from our family and ward show up this morning. I can't believe how much help we had. We got so much accomplished. The eaves were extended, and even a catastrophe was diverted. Well, kind of. The spine of the addition (that's not a technical term), the board that runs across the length of the house, it split. A really bad, saggy split. And then the roof was just falling down. Oh joy. This dumb, stupid, horrid house. But these guys just came up with a solution and fixed it. Thank heavens.

This afternoon, everyone was dragging and I felt so bad for how tired everyone was, so I stayed at the house and helped. Everyone was leaving, and in the end, for the last few hours we had two guys on the roof, and three on the ground (including me). We got half the roof sheeted and still have the other side to do. So much left to do, but it will be amazing when it's done.

I can't thank everyone enough.  Thank you everyone!!!!!!! You know who you are!!!

The baptism happened yesterday too, but that's a totally different post. Maybe tomorrow. I'm going to limp to bed now. Did I mention my super hurt left ankle that I dropped a pile of 2x4s on today, or my right foot that stepped on a nail? That was just plain dumb of me. Dumb.

Not to whine. I'm in amazing shape compared to my dad or Trevor who can't walk tonight because they hurt so bad and are tired. Trevor couldn't sleep last night because he was in so much pain. Har har. It is a little bit funny. You have to admit. This is why professionals do this. We are a bunch of ninnies.

This is it. THE WEEKEND. Today is the start of the roof. Exciting stuff, eh? I'm not excited, but I am. I mean, Samantha will be baptized!!! I'm so excited for her!!! The roof... meh. I'll be sooooo sooo soooooo happy when it's done. It's a huge project. Our roof is not the same height. The additions are taller than the main house. I'm not sure on the difference, but it's a big deal. They left the cedar shingles on the roof of the main house and built the additions to match the height of the main house with shingles. Wait, following me here? Then they shingled directly over the cedar shingles straight across the roof, using the shingles as the deck. Still following me? It's hard for me to explain, because I'm not fluent in roofing lingo. Sorry.

Anyhoo, this train gets started today, and there is no going back once it starts moving. I sure hope it all goes semi smoothly. We are getting a bathroom!!!! Yep! The porta potty comes tomorrow!!! No more going to McD's!!

And back to Sami's baptism. I threw together a program yesterday after a few people told me my simple one was not enough. I had a very very simple one planned, but apparently baptisms have turned into large productions? I don't know... I missed the memo on that one. I thought the baptism was the point. Silly. I'm thinking this grumpiness I'm feeling about it is just from me hating things like this. Sometimes I wish my family could crawl into a hole and do things without having the whole world (ward) watch. I'm also thinking this is the roof talking. Yeah. Pretty sure.

Well hello again, faithful readers. If you are still hanging around, bless you. I've been taking a lot of pictures for you, but meant to post a while ago. Sorry.

I'll get right into it:

The kids and I have been working out every night but Sunday. This has been going on for a while, and man are we getting strong! Ask Samantha to see her muscles. You will be impressed.

The peacocks are crazy lately. They have been over in our yard at least three times a day. And they stay and yell at each other and prance around with their weird feathers. Those things are weird. Have you ever heard a peacock caw? Isn't that what it's called? Lol. Sorry if it's not. But forsheesh it is like a person yelling! So loud. And they walk so weird. And well, they are just weird animals.

We got a pool pass and have been making good use of it. The kids will learn to swim this year!!! It's going to happen!!

And finally I bring you to the story of how Will almost burned to a crisp. We had a fire outside and we were cooking dinner with friends. An ember popped out of the fire and onto Will's shirt. Trevor was holding him and didn't notice. Will felt the heat and started fussing. Trevor looked down and smelled the smoke and wiped the ember off Will's shirt. The pictures are of the hole, yeah just a thumb sized hole, and the shirt Will was wearing which I find hilarious.