Highlights of the Last Week

Let me just say that sometimes highlights are not always fond memories.  LOL...this last week has been CRAZY!!!!...and the song..."They're Coming to Take Me Away" comes to mind quite frequently!

As most of you know, we spent the week with my mom so we could be close to Michael and celebrate little Zaira's birthday (Yeah...I know...I need to update that post!).  It was mostly a quiet week with her...swimming and looking at the lay of the land as we prepare to make the move to a new home (but not until we sell the old home!)

However, as I love to say...truth being more exciting than fiction...you just cannot make this stuff up!

Top Ten Highlights

10.  Found several options available to us when we make the move...beautiful canyon view vs. country home vs. urban vs. energy efficient....so glad that choice does not need to be made yet.  We also enjoyed looking at the various churches in the area.  Henry especially enjoyed this one in the photo dedicated to St Louis (his middle name)...it was built almost 150 years ago...WOW!  Love the history!

9.  Children began to drop like flies...a virus took over the house...from the oldest to the youngest...throwing up their guts!  So glad Michael made it back from his training just in time to help take care of that fun!

8.  Realtor convinced me to finally break down and hire a landscaper...he did a great job...except for the broken window from a misguided rock!  We are getting it fixed and the yard really looks so much better minus the bare spots that come from the massive heat wave that is now making its way through the area...not much I can do about that so will hope it greens up in the fall or people understand.

7.  Missing keys...I never knew we did not have a key to fit the exterior doors until the realtor asked for the keys.  OOPS!  I guess I should not be saying that I do not lock my doors...but after a trip to the lock smith...we now have them locked at all times...we just had to play a game of hide and seek with the keys to get them to the realtor.  All is good now and house is secure...as long as I remember to lock the right door and the realtors that show the house do not lock the wrong door.  LOL!

6.  Did I mention that my mom VOLUNTEERED to watch half my children?   Yep...I am in a house with only three children...although one seems to go missing in action, so I really am only keeping up with two...Sean and Zaira.  Sean is trying to help...bless his heart...I am sure he wishes h had stayed at Gramma's (but he had events that brought him back home instead of staying...read about that on my 4H blog if I ever get to write that post).  Zaira is so confused but she wants to help as well.  They are both troupers!

Look close...yes Hank does have his water tank stuck on his head!

5.  Puppies...God love them...after spending way too much on lawn care...I cannot allow the puppies to roam the yard digging up the flower beds so I am sure they wish they had the option to stay at Gramma's house also.  LOL!  But, it is hard to keep a puppy contained...we have a fenced area that is meant for a dog run, but Beulah has already learned to jump the fence.  Hank would love to join her but either he cannot jump or he is obedient...not sure which I believe...so he spends his waking hours barking at her...I am not sure if it is to tell her to get back in with him or to convince her to help him out!  One of Sean's jobs is taking them out and observing them so they stay out of trouble.  Unfortunately, the puppies have fleas...being outside dogs it was bound to happen...and long ago I vowed to never let a dog into our house because of a terrible flea problem we had before....but that thought never came to my mind when we were transporting the dogs in my van last week...so now poor Sean has been eaten up by fleas and even Zaira and I have a few bites around our lower legs.  Just one more exciting turn of events that is keeping me busy this week.  If anyone has any solutions, please email me!

4.  Just before leaving to come home...I was convinced to join the 21st century and obtain a smart phone...I am not sure why these things are called 'smart'...they make me feel stupid.  Michael got one also...but he works with computers daily and already had a smart phone with his last job so it was not a big change for him.  To make things worse...I ended up with a dud...a lemon as I like to call it.  I was so ignorant about how these things worked it took me a couple of days to realize I did not have a working phone!  I mean it made calls out and received calls in...isn't that what a phone is supposed to do?  SO...today was spent talking to my phone provider and then the Apple company (who were very patient with my ignorance!).  After a full day of trying to get the phone to work properly...we did indeed come to an agreement that it was in fact the phone and not the user...so I am patiently awaiting the arrival of my new phone.  Of course, I cannot help but wonder why my flip phone was not a perfectly good functioning alternative, but such is life!

3.  Not sure if I have ever talked about our other pet on this blog...but we happen to have a boa...it is Amanda's and it stays in her room nicely secure...no problem.  However, we made the decision to leave sweet Juliet at home (recently fed and made comfortable) when we went to my mom's last week.  Amanda had made the trek to my mom's in her own car along with her friends so they could have a fun frolic in the big city...so she arrived home yesterday and quickly went upstairs to check on her scaly friend.  Soon after she was running down to tell me that I had let someone steal her snake!  WHAT!?!?  Yep...the snake was missing even though the top was still secure...and Amanda was convinced someone had stolen her pet!  After convincing her that this was highly unlikely and she should begin the search...I quietly sat down and prayed that it could be found as I got chills up and down my arms at the thought that it was missing IN MY HOUSE!!!!  By the grace of God, it was found...but it was wedged in between two drawers and swollen from the experience...it did not look good!  Thankfully, we got it back out and Amanda got it past the worst of the trauma.  I think it will be OK...what an experience!

2.  Preparing to lose one from the nest...Christina is planning a move herself soon...she is heading out of state to start the next phase of her life.  We have been so blessed by her presence in our home.  I will miss her terribly.  We have managed to help her get her high school diploma...and just this last week...thanks to some serious parallel parking instruction from my big brother Adrian...her driver's licence!  I am so proud of her perseverance!  I pray that her choices will be the will of God...I have given her all the sound advice I could and now she must follow her path.  Amanda, Christina and Katy are trying to enjoy these last few days together before she leaves.  It is good that she has the support of good friends.

1.  Throughout all of these adventures...the house is being shown by realtors.  I am not sure how but I have been able to keep the house intact and have left at a moments notice several times in the last week, so a realtor can come with a potential buyer.  No real leads yet but not from lack of trying on my realtor's part.  I do hope that if this is God's will for us to move...that it happens quickly...I am not sure how much longer I can deal with this chaos, but God does have the plan so I pray for patience.

SO...there you have it!  It does not sound near as bad now that I have blogged about it.  Just another walk in the park...our style!  This week is over now and we will continue to make the most of what is served us....I think we will make it through this move just as we have the last 18...one step at a time!  God has the plan and I think I am finely learning that what I cannot change I place in God's hands.  I still have moments when I stress and wonder "Why me?" but it is all good.  It will all work out in the end and the best part is that we can laugh about it when it is all over!