Dear Blog,

I've been neglecting you. No snarky remarks, no pictures of my littles, no randomness. I'm sorry. But when it comes to choosing between you and showering, cleanliness is gonna win every time. I don't really have an excuse. Except for these:

-Those terrible 2's you hear so much about have really happened with Gid-Man. He's always been a little stinker, but I tell you what, it's not so cute when he's throwing stuff at your head.

-Ashelyn got a black eye. She thinks she's big and pulled herself up to play with the DVD's under our entertainment center only to slip and smack her eye on the shelf they were on. It was horrible. I iced it for almost an hour and it still became a horrible black, green, & yellow mass on her face. Not cool.

-Ashe got sick. Jake got sick. Gid got sick. I almost avoided it.... then, I got sick.

-I have to do my Visiting Teaching.

-I have to fold laundry.

-My car didn't pass inspection and now I have to come up with $700 to get crap fixed on my old car that I don't even love. I'd have that $700 if the stupid Home Warranty company would send me the check they should have had out 2 weeks ago to refund us for the furnace, but NO. So I'm without transportation in order to avoid ANOTHER ticket.

-And lastly, I just don't feel like blogging.

I know, I know... some day, maybe next week... I'll feel like blogging again. But until then, I'm gonna go take a bubble bath and read while my kids are napping.

Much love,

Misty

**To all who suddenly hate Thankful Thursdays.. just don't read...**

-First and foremost I am feeling INCREDIBLY thankful for my hubby's job. Even more so than usual. We knew that reviews were coming but had VERY low expectations for a raise due to the current economic mess. Well reviews came this week and brought good news for the Hub. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

-Clorox bleach pens. Oh how I love thee.

-LOST IS BACK ON!!! Ka-Chow! (Jake says I watch too much tv... I think he's right.)

That's all for now!

Was I the only one to notice this giant MESS being pushed in the inauguration parade yesterday?! Seriously? Lawn mower floats for the new Prez???? Dubya. Tee. Eff.

This is Tib:
This is her little boy, Ethan, he has Type 1 Diabetes:
Tib does all kinds of stuff to help raise money for the JDRF, See:
So, help her raise enough money to ride in THIS:
Here's some of her own words to convince you:

"This is what the ride entails: I agree to raise the minimum $4200 and they fly me and my bike to Sonoma, California so that I can cycle 105 miles in ONE DAY. I want to point out a few obvious things (so you don't need to):

1. I don't own a bike. For real.

2. I have never riden a mile on a bike - much less 105 in one day. Sure I do spin class - but that bike doesn't move. As far as real bikes go - haven't riden one since I was a kid.

3. I am aware that economic times are tough and I am trying to scale a pretty big mountain to meet the minimum fund-raising requirement of $4200.

4. Now that I am signed up I am committed. If I can't raise the $4200 I have to pay it myself.

5. I am freaking insane. I have 5 months to raise the money and get my buns in shape.

6. All of these things hit me like a freight train at 3:03 in the morning when I woke up in a cold sweat.

So there you have it. This is where you come in. I need help. BAD."

To donate, GO HERE.
And remember, it's tax deductible. :o)

Like I mentioned previously, I had a house full of boys (NO, grown men AND a few boys) all weekend.

They mostly did this:
And not enough this:
Just give me a minute while I dig myself out of this:
(Don't be jealous of my pink countertops!)
Sweep up this:
Pick up this:
And this:
And killImeankiss this:

Ashelyn,

The past month has been a big one for you. Not only have you mastered crawling, you've also decided that you like to pull up on things. You got 2 teeth and have 2 more working their way through. You have a deep love for bananas and graham crackers. You are REALLY trying to get Me to stop putting giant bows on you, but I'm persistent. Since Mom has been stuck in the dungeon (aka nursery) you have made lots of new friends. New friends that are twice your size that you play right along with. You still don't cry hardly at all. (Except when Gideon sits on you or you take a tumble down the stairs. Not fun) Your smile is hilarious. You smile with you entire face and open your mouth as huge as it will go. It makes us all happy. We love you. Slow down.

Mom

Life has been so hectic and crazy here at our place that it's been a while since I've got to take a break and do one of these. So, here it goes:

- Andy (yesterday), Josh (today), & Al (friday) all coming to visit for the weekend. (I know it's supposed to be a guys weekend, but it's at my house and I'm enjoying being in the background of all their craziness. Talk about bringing back good times.

- My hubby being off work and therefore home all day!

- The fact that he has a good job to go back to on Monday.

- My new rockin' high efficiency furnace for keeping us warm in these -12 wind chills.

- My kids. They remain a constant source of entertainment.

- 24 & American Idol.

- Pop Tarts & home made pizza. Not at the same time.

- Familiy.

Remember how I was feeling all crafty Friday??? Well I think I let it get the best of me... By the time Jake got home I hadn't managed to sand down the kitchen chairs yet because the furnace guys showed up (Yay! New furnace!) and I got sucked in by my Google reader.... But I did however have this GREAT list of stuff I wanted to accomplish over the weekend.

• Paint my chairs.
• Paint the kitchen.
• Paint the living room.
• Make curtains.

(A lot of paint... I know!)

Jake looked at me as if I'd lost my mind. "You're going to do all that this weekend?"

"Ummm... yes." I reply. Doesn't he know I'm wonder woman???!

"You're crazy."

So maybe I didn't accomplish THE WHOLE list... but we did tackle my "Boringly Beige" living room... To say that 'I love it' would be in the running for understatement of the year! So, here you have it....

We spent Friday night taping off the room, laying down plastic and getting the 1st coat of paint on the walls!
On Saturday morning, Gideon stumbled out of his room looking drunk... walked right past Jake & I, picked up a paint brush and 'got to work.'
The finished product! I give you "Armory Grey." Doesn't sound very pretty but I think it turned out GREY-T... haha, sorry, I couldn't help myself.
Along with the new paint, we also rearranged the furniture and re-vamped some decorating.
I even dug out these awesome sconces I bought forever ago that have just been sitting in a box. Now they're up and looking fabulous.
We're happy. Fat and happy. Okay really we're not fat, but this picture just isn't that cute.

Hooray for Room Makeovers! I can't wait to tackle the rest of my list.

Anyways, this is a weekend wrap-up... So on to Sunday....

Sunday was pretty typical. We skipped church because I was having a slight meltdown. (I don't know what my problem was, it was all set off by the fact that every pair of nylons I tried to put on had a run the size of my face. And I mean every one.) We moved a couch into our basement from my parents. We had my cousin Jeni & her boyfriend over for dinner and we watched 24.

I hope you all caught the season premiere of 24 last night. It looks like Season 7 will not disappoint. If you missed it, and don't have Tivo (like me) you can go HERE to watch both full episodes that aired last night.

Jack spends the majority of both episodes running around with this lovely FBI agent. You know how I get when a new girl gets close to my man...
Mostly I'm just looking forward to spending one night a week looking at this:
The premier goodness continues with TWO MORE episodes on TONIGHT! Watch, or we can't be friends anymore. Sorry.

They've had one of these lovelies hanging up at the shop for a while now.

I fell in love...
I was smitten...
I just had to have it!

But seeing as how I didn't want to deprive their adorable little shop of it's awesomeness, I cut and made this one for myself while I was up there yesterday! That's right... I officially did something crafty! It's about time, right?

Now I don't want to stop. Here pretty quick I'm busting out the sander to finally paint my kitchen chairs. Now the only question is, Do I go with my standard black or do I do something CRAZY like paint them red?? I'm thinking red.

Anyway, I've been prancing around in this all morning (okay, more like since 10:30 when I finally got dressed) feeling so cute (if I don't actually look cute, please don't ruin my high) and wanting to shower cuteness on the rest of my house. Thank you Heather Bailey for your amazing fabric cute-ness. And thank you Sarah for loving more than the "old lady prints."

I'm in love!

While I was up at the Quilt Shop yesterday, Sarah pointed out that I had failed to blog the arrival of Miss Bit's first teeth.... Oh the travesty! So here you have it... TWO TEETH!!!!

My Grandma Sandi's birthday was New Year's Day. I can remember as a kid, if we actually managed to stay up to watch the ball drop we'd call her and wish her Happy Birthday first thing. She was always so excited to hear from us. Then at some point that day, we'd always stop by my Grandparents and Grandma would have made a big pot of Black Eyed Peas and Ham. She always said you had to have at least one bite for good luck throughout the new year. Secretly, I always loved eating the Black Eyed Peas. Now that she's gone I wish I knew how to make them just like she did. So for this year, I'm resolving to learn so that I can make it every New Years from now on...

I know it's a week late, but Happy Birthday Grandma.

When Grandma died, one of the things she left me was her Singer Featherweight sewing machine. (hence the pictures.) It was made prior to WWII and in my humble opinion. It's beautiful. All the original pieces are still with it, even the instruction manuals, and it still works like a champ. I hadn't really got it out of it's carrying case since Grandma had died. I don't think I was quite ready for the memories.

But, I finally got it out the other day and cleaned it all up and I have big plans for this little lady. New kitchen curtains and some new skirts for me. I can't wait!

First of all, I apologize that I haven't read any of your blogs and had to take a giant leap and mark all 957 (slight exaggeration.. but not much) posts on my reader as read. It's been insane and this will probably be my only post for a while until some of this craziness sorts out... but it will be a LONG one.

So, here it goes:

Rewind to New Year's Eve...

We wake up to a normal day. Jake was off to work. The kids and I get up, have breakfast, play a bit, and eventually it's nap time for the tots. So I lay them down and as soon as they're asleep I suddenly feel as if I was slapped in the face with a giant case of exhaustion/migraine/itchy eye H-E-double hockey sticks.

A few minutes after I too had dozed off on the couch, I'm awakened by my cell phone. It's the daddy-o... "Hey, come over for lunch." So, I drag myself up, load the kids in the car and head over to the parentals to eat (this was around 1:30.) I immediately start feeling better in every department except the massive headache. Gideon seems to be having a headache to, but I didn't think anything of it... too much junk food, too many late nights... the holidays, ya know?!

The day continues normally until I get a call from Jake around 3:45... He's home, AND.... the Carbon Monoxide detector is going off!! I freak out... "Get out of the house!!!" I say. "Stupid thing doesn't even work, I can't smell anything." He says. "You can't smell it... GET OUT! I'm calling the fire department." Says I. "Tell them not to bring the big trucks, okay." Says the Hub.

So, I call, and they bring the big trucks and the CO levels throughout the house were 43 ppm. Which, 3 to5 ppm is about normal. So we have to leave. The paramedics are all worried about me and the tots since we'd felt like trash all day so they drive ALL THE WAY to my parents to check us out, and then give us permission to drive OURSELVES to the hospital. So I drive to pick up the hub from the safe zone of his skate ramp... only to go about 3 blocks before getting a call from the gas company reminding us that someone has to be AT THE HOUSE to let them in to determine the cause of the leak. So... I take Jake home, and off I go to the hospital by myself with the 2 kids.

There was ZERO wait this time. I told them the paramedics sent us b/c of CO and they rush us in. About 15 people help get us in the system and take all of our vitals. Mom gets there to help me and then we get the news that we all have to have an Arterial Blood Gas. If you haven't had one of those. I would never wish it upon you. Basically, they stick a needle in your arm, bypass your veins and dig around in there til they get an artery... REAL PLEASANT. After this guy misses twice on me, he supposedly calls in the pro to help with the kids. She got Gideon's on the first try but it's a miserable thing holding your two year old while he cries his little eyes out and looks deep into your eyes wondering why you're not making it better. Needless to say I was bawling. Big old giant tears falling on Gid's face the whole time. I couldn't even get it together enough to hold Ashelyn, so Mom helped. That's when I wanted to kill this lady. THREE TRIES ON MY 6 MONTH OLD?!?!?! Really!?!?! Jake finally got there after try #2. I'm pretty sure she might have had a death wish. It was awful. Then she missed one more time on me and then FINALLY got mine.

So while we were awaiting the results. Jake gave us the low-down from the gas company. Old furnace was the minor problem but still needs immediate replacing. (Goody!) but the BIG problem was our stove. (Ya, our brand new... bought it 6 months ago... Stove.)

Luckily, all the results came backs good enough that we were able to go home with the reassurance that the remainder of the CO would naturally work it's way out of our system...
No hyperbaric chamber for us... thank heavens.

So, the rest of the week has been spent on hold with warranty people, yelling at them for making me hold too long, yelling at them for having to re-tell the horrible story over and over, and making it very clear that I wasn't paying a penny for anything. Followed by dealing with idiot repair men and more phone calls to warranty idiots.

Let me tell you, it's been great. The stove has been fixed. (The gas company was even nice enough to come out on Saturday to double check since the idiot repairman didn't remember his CO meter.) So right now, our house is being heated by electric space heaters, which keep it remarkably warm but make me REALLY nervous with the kids, until we figure out how much our home warranty will cover and we can get the new furnace installed.

Fun, fun, fun.. Hope your New Year was a million times better than ours!