So, where do you live?

Ever noticed how kids live in Fairyland?

We constantly remind Taite to pay attention.

Bray's profession (he thinks) is going to be a professional football player.

Today Taite told me I would win the Mother of the Year Award.

Yep, we all live in Fairyland at our house!

So tonight hubs is searching frantically (I'm sure) for my birthday present.  Never mind that I've been hinting for the last month or so ;~) he will still be searching.  Apparently he and the boys had been discussing this, but it will still take all evening.  That's okay.  My latest request is not to be (too late) but if anyone is looking for ideas . . . I really want a DSLR camera!  Ha, I'm sure you are all running out to get me one!!  hehe

The boys and I went for a walk and we still have an hour before they need to start getting ready for bed, so lucky you!  I'm going to give you an update (while listening to Def Leppard on America's Got Talent ~ isn't that an English nightmare? ~ been a long time since I've heard DL ~ no, I don't have ADD, why do you ask????)

I decided to snap a few photos of the basement.  It's not perfect yet, but it's getting there.  I can honestly say it's perfect just the way it is. . . well, not exactly, but the boys love it!  Haha!

Here is the theater room.  It seems like that was a "must" when we were house hunting, but when we talk to others and say we put one in, they are in awe!  I, too, believe it is awesome!  Don't believe me?  Just join us for a movie some night!!!  It was my dream to have 8 seats in the room.  Chris assured me that we couldn't fit them in there ~ have you searched for any kind of furniture lately?  It's all made for XXL people!  The goodies we found at Kmart was not, however, so we were lucky enough to fit 8 seats in this room.  The seats all look the same, but it's funny (very funny) how we all have our "place".  I tried sitting in a different seat the other night and it was not "right"!  Haha!!  Here it is in it's messy glory.  The paint on the trim needs to be touched up and it could be picked up a little, but we LOVE this room.  I even have plenty of the plastic cups with screw on lids to go in the cup holders!

 The screen in here is 155" (I think that is correct) ~ it spans almost the whole wall in the front of the room, minus the speakers.  As the sound guy said "It's the perfect size room"!

 This is what we lovingly describe as the "boy cave".  It has the gaming systems and couches and a chair.  The rest of the room is still bare and frequently turns into a make-shift football field.  To me it needs more "stuff" but the boys love this room.

 Here is the spare bedroom.  Yes, it's huge.  It's the same size as our master bedroom directly above it.  We have a queen size bed and a chair/ottoman in it so far.  We are working on the night stands, but have you priced furniture lately???  And the prices are for laminate crap!

 This is our utility/exercise room.  It's supposedly going to be used on the "off" days.  You see Chris has gone to the basketball open gym a couple of times in the last week.  Some guys play at the school (I'm not even sure which one LOL) on MWF and it's intense!  Chris sprained his ankle on Friday of last week, recouped on the weekend and skipped Monday but played today.  He said it's such a good workout his whole body hurt today!  haha!  His plan is to lift weights in this room on T & Th ~ I'm not sure why the ladder is on the treadmill. . .

 This is the room that isn't done.  My Mom Cove is a work in progress.  I like my fabric holders on either side of the window (courtesy of the entertainment center), but that's about the only furniture I have so far. . .

 I still need an L-shaped desk, a regular desk, a shelving unit for the printers and something with storage for my cutting table.  Not too much!  Hehe!

 Labor Day weekend, we had no plans.  We had no projects.  The only thing we wanted to accomplish was to find furniture for the living room upstairs!  We started at the Hom Furniture Clearance center, again.  They are closing the building so a good deal was to be had!  We were originally looking for some leather (at least a couch and love seat with fabric chairs to accent), but what we ended up with was microfiber couch & love seat and fabric accent chairs.  The best part?  The chairs were damaged ~ pretty much useless . . . to some! But not us!  You see, when you sit in the chair, the right side was "off", as in it wasn't attached to anything.  We bought a matching set for $50 each and figured we'd need to hurry to see if we could fix them because the Dunes has dumpsters out behind our house for the community to use and they would be perfect if we needed to get rid of these chairs.  Well, they turned out to be our favorite pieces of furniture in the house!  Chris asked if we have people over, can he put his name on his??  They are sooooo comfy!  All it took was some screws, nails, wood and staples to re-attach the fabric and they are BETTER than new!  That's our kind of deal!

 We are still on the lookout for a decent area rug.  I was all ready to buy one at Pier 1 and they don't carry hardly any here!  It's not been an inconvenience living here until we have been looking for furniture (remember my Mom Cove?) and area rugs!  There is not much to choose from!

 The nice thing about these chairs is that they don't look like recliners, but they are!  Did I mention how comfortable they are???

So, that's about all I have.  We've started football season here and the boys had their first games on Saturday.  Please check out Facebook to see pictures.  I forgot my camera and my SIL took pics that are wayyyyy better than I could've taken anyhow!  Take care & Happy Hump Day!!!

So it's been 10 years. . .

I do remember what I was doing, as I would expect most adults do too.

It was a beautiful fall day with the crisp air and bright sunshine.  I was working in Kasson at the daycare and was driving to my very first doctors appointment for Taite's little brother.  Of course I didn't know at the time I was having a boy, but I knew our lives were going to be very different because of our little addition (well, he wasn't so little, but that's not the point here).  My heart was happy and slowly got much heavier and started beating faster as I listened to the radio announce the news about the first plane hitting one of the Twin Towers.  I even remember I was on the street that goes past the swimming pool in Kasson and as I sat at the stop sign on Mantorville Ave, I called my friend, who was the director at the daycare, to turn the radio on ~ there was terrible news!  I was not one to sit in front of the TV and watch others in pain.  I didn't watch the buildings fall knowing their were hundreds or thousands of people in them.  I couldn't.  I don't like to see people suffer.  I don't like being reminded of the horrible people in this world.  Sorry, that's how I am so you can take it or leave it.  I do know, though, that if it's someone I love who is doing the suffering, I'll be there by their side helping them through it.

You know when you are asked sometimes "where do you see yourself in 10 years"?
In college, my answer was "I want a job with flexible hours and I don't have to dress up".
When I got married, it was "happily still married and with a child or two in a nice house".
Now, I don't know.  You see, I've achieved all my "wants" so do I just expand on them?  Or do I not have any goals, just enjoy what I have.  I think I'll just enjoy and love.

What is it I have?
Two wonderful boys who've been amazing!  I couldn't ask for better kids, brothers, friends.  I love their sense of humor (we can all laugh with and at them ~ hey, it keeps them humble!), their ability to get along with almost everyone despite their age (I can't expect them to like the "mean kids"), their caring nature despite being vastly different with it (Bray is more reserved with his caring, Taite wears his heart on his sleeve) and there are too many other characteristics that I can't even list them all.  I had no idea how much I would love being a mom!  Even as my kids get older I think, this can't get any better and yet they continuously surprise me.  I love talking to them.  Weird, huh?  I like their insight, thoughts and comments on things.  They are funny and sometimes surprise me with voicing what I was thinking.  Despite neither one looking like me, they are still a part of me and the best part?  They aren't too old to tell me they love me and give me hugs.

I also have a loving, wonderful husband.  I know I could write something more poetic about him, but I'm not that good at flowery words.  We've had our moments in the last 10 years, but we've pushed through the trying times and have changed, worked through and loved our way over the hurdles and mountains.  I'm not sure if it's normal, but we've had the discussion about divorce, more than once (heck probably more than 10 times), but we've never given up and again, our humor helps us through a lot of things.  Heck, we work together so something is going right!!

One thing that has probably been most important in the success of these previously mentioned things ~ the support of family and friends.  Even if we didn't call on it, we know it's there (and don't get me wrong, we've called on them for help many, many times).  I can't imagine some families who turn their backs on one another and don't speak for years.  I cannot even envision anything that my boys could do that would cause that sort of reaction from me.  I just can't.  So, I thank you for being there for us.  All of you because even if it was just silent from our side, just knowing you were there was help enough!  We are truly blessed!!!