Did you know that it is "Griswold"?

Okay, so in my Christmas festivities I watched Chevy Chase's National Lampoon's Christmas vacation. All this time I thought they were the Griswalds. That is what we have always called them. SO now I am the idiot who claims they are the Griswalds when I actually meant that we are the Griswolds. Oh well. You get the idea. Our family is just as problematic as theirs.





On a different note. I am compiling Luke stories. Unfortunately I have blocked some of the more painful ones from my memory. So if you have a favorite, please share. As I write them down I will put them on the blog. Then I might finally have something to write about.

Ode to my kitchen

Okay, don't everyone drop dead at once! I know it has been a full month since I have blogged. I am working on the once a month plan, what do you think? So I am starting off with the kitchen. This hideous beast is my kitchen (or was). Notice first, the size. Yes this is the entire kitchen. I have no counter space since to the right of the sink was my microwave and to the left is where my dish drying rack was, since the dishwasher has been broken for several months. The sad part is that the dishwasher is only a couple of years old. I couldn't wait for the new kitchen and took a saws all to the cabinets to add this beauty. These brown cabinets (which are really just shelves nailed to the wall with doors on the front) are the original. They were built and installed in 1947, perhaps I should give them to a museum. Too bad they are now in shards. The linoleum however was an update. The original linoleum was even uglier and in worse condition than this, imagine. The electrical is another reason why I loved this kitchen. Wires were hanging out of cupboards and under cupboards and all over in side of them. We also had just one outlet, which the microwave was plugged into. If you tried to use any other appliance in addition to this the breaker would flip. My neighbor was just telling me about how her daughter is dying to update her kitchen as it is 30 years old. Okay, my kitchen turned 60 this year! And it is time for an update. Thank the lord. Andy and I just delve into it on Monday. In a couple of hours we managed to devalue our house about $30,000. My kids were terrified. "how will we eat now?" I am sure they just thought I was in another one of my bad moods. :)

So, serious dust. I was dying! I got to go at it with the sledge hammer a while though, that was fun, but a little bit scarey. So anyway, Andy broke a pipe, flooded the basement when the dishwasher was unhooked, broke the panel for the alarm system (with a falling cupboard) and put a few holes in the wall (including the dining room, which made me sad). But Andy is quite the worker, he got it all ripped out in no time.

Including 4 inches of flooring!Last picture. This one is for Kristen who thinks my house is a filthy pit anyway. What do you think now? Sorry for the most boring blog ever. I'll update you in a few days so you can see our progress. I am sure you are waiting with baited breath. Try to control your anticipation......

"What's up? Chicken Butt - that's what!"

Ah-ha! Aren't I funny? These beauties are my sweet little chickens (the white one is self conscious about her tail feathers). So last night as I was checking on the chickens in their new coop I was feeling their underbellies by their bums. They are so soft! They are the best pets, they eat your bugs, fertilize your lawn and garden, they are quiet and rarely run away. They never bite and always let the kids hold them and chase them around. You should all be jealous.

Today was the best part of having a chicken. I went out to feed my chickens this morning and lo and behold guess what I found in their coop? You will never guess! The cutest, tiniest brown egg. The first ever. A mama couldn't be prouder of her babies. Evie was estatic and so was Luke, I even went out to check for more eggs 4 times today. I told April that I feel like my food storage was now complete. I have my own supply of fresh meat (not the chickens, just the eggs). So if the flu epidemic the commericals are talking about actually happens, you can come to my house for an omelet...

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Entering the Monastary

This blog is dedicated to my cute brother Colton who just entered the MTC. We are so proud of him for taking this leap of faith. The top picture is of Colton and his girlfriend Amanda (and Luke and Evie ofcourse). Amanda was bawling on the night Colton was set apart, it was so cute. I leaned over to Colton and said "That's gotta make you feel good!" We all want some one to miss us when we leave. Colton asked a friend of my parents "Do they have more hillbillies or rednecks in West Virigina?" She said that he would come home loving hillbillies. It was so fun to walk back through the MTC. I spent 3 1/2 months there 10 years ago and it hasn't changed much. In some ways I was so jealous of the missionaries entering, they are off on such a fun adventure. The world awaits them. In other ways I was thanking my lucky stars I was not entering the MTC. We called it the nunnery. I felt like I was being untrue to myself trying to act all preachy and spiritual instead of the quirky girl with a lot of conviction. And I was just so tired!! Every time I think of Colton I want to take a nap. This is the boy that could never get up before noon and thinks he'll be able to get up at 6am no problem. He is stubborn enough though that he would never tell us if it was hard.

We had a lot of fun getting my mom's house ready for the farewell. She has been in desperate need of an update and some cleaning out and since she was so overwhelmed with everything else she just let me do it. It was so fun! I was worried that I should have had my decorating team (April, Kristen and Brooke) with me, but it turned out alright. She let me buy her a new couch, end table and I spent $400 at TJ Maxx buying pillows and decor and such. I put half of her living room out on the porch for the DI and cleaned out a few of her kitchen cabinets. It was so fun to spend someone elses money for a change! Then my brothers girlfriends and I spent the day cooking and bonding, it was a great time and I can't wait until my little family gets some sister-in-laws ( I believe that will be a ways off though). So in short, I am so proud of my brother and miss him terribly. I think about him all the time and what he must be doing at this time of day, etc. So until you get back Colton! (Then you can challenge me in a game of settlers!)

I love you! Teb

p.s. this is what happens when you lose a lot of sleep and spend too much time together.

(me and my sister kate)

I have been so boring

Okay I know you are all dissappointed in me for my lack of blogging. I just haven't felt very creative as of late. It is almost as if my life revolves around dissaster and if there is nothing to report, then what would I blog? Here is an explanation on the blog below. My husband put it on. He thought he was on his blog and come to find out it was mine instead. I did explain to him that a "diuretic" was in fact something to make you pee and that the video he put on was of Luke and not Isaac. So the stories behind the blog are this.
Isaac had the most painful BM on the planet. He was screaming and I felt so bad but there was nothing I could do. The next day I told Andy that we needed to start giving him Miralax again. Come to find out Andy and I were both adding Miralax to his drinks and he got WAY to much laxative for one little boy. The next morning the crap in his crib was unbelievable. I mean REALLY outstanding.
This video of Luke was taken after he had redecorated his room in feces. He was two years old and angry that Evie had been born. I felt so bad leaving him dirty while I filmed but I just had to record the moment for posterity's sake. The sad part of the experience is that this was the first of many poop spreading incidences. He got into his poop every time he pooped for the next year and almost a half. I would find it on the TV, in his rug, on his face and everywhere else. It was a traumatic time of my life and I am glad it is over.

Isaac's Poopoo experience

Lesson Learned,

Make sure you communicate with your wife on giving your children diaretic medication. We doubled up and this was the outcome!

It's a big world out there!

I didn't realize how sheltered I am until tonight. I came to the shocking realization that life is going on all around me. Exciting and new things, a wealth of knowledge and culture. I started a class tonight. It runs for 11 weeks every Tuesday and Thursday night from 6-9. It is a breath of fresh air to experience the world. Did you know that other people do other things than raise children? People are busy working and joining groups and being engaged. They don't all stay home and cook and do dishes and clean up diarrhea. The class I am taking is on tax preparation. I have always enjoyed this, I think because I like getting money from the government. My text books look exciting (not really) and consist of about 2,000 pages, which I will be tested on at the end of the course. I also have homework, scary, it has been a long time. Okay so one of the men in my class is a refugee from Sierra Leone. This is so exciting because I just finished reading this fabulous book "A long way gone" and watched Blood Diamond (I know it is R but I just couldn't help myself after reading this book). I spent every spare second tonight peppering this man with questions about things he probably wanted to forget. His wife, sister, brother and a parent I believe were all killed in the conflict. He escaped to Guinea and then came to the states 4 years ago. Absolutely incredible that things like this are going on in the world and I know nothing about it, until now. My life is shallow and small and I want to change that. I was asking him all about the organization they have in Utah for refugee's of Sierra Leone. I am hoping I will be able to find a way to contribute in some small way to these people. I was thinking of you Doug as I spoke with him. I know you are teaching this book this semester and thought his insights on the war (probably not the sentence structure) might be of some use. I think we should all get out of our comfort zone more, don't you?

p.s. who won the election?