The Happyish Homestead

Monday, April 24, 2017

I Was Way More on Top of My Life

when I wasn’t so busy documenting it.

Weird right?

The task of importing and posting my pictures {which have increased in number significantly} is almost impossible these days.

{Which means most of these are un-edited.}

I mean, I guess I could give up my daily 10 minute nap…

Priorities.

The weather is still as rainy as all get out.

With brief reprieves every couple of days.

This basically translates to my patio being covered in metal furniture in need of a good sanding and spray paint job.

And my new patio set just sitting outside getting soggy.

I can’t think about it too much, it’s depressing.

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Other things I can’t think about: how often these two boys had to be told not to lick their fingers after handling raw egg and chicken for our fried chicken dinner.

No one died.

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I never have to remember where my phone is, she does it for me.

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Bennett killing me at the matching game.

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How we do lunch.

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Meg reading to Bennett.

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Bathtime.

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She is not getting potty trained.

No.

Here she is doing what’s called mimicking.

Which is what happens when your mom is in the bathroom,

you yell at her,

bang on the door,

figure out how to open it,

see what she’s doing,

and then insist on doing the same.

Well, almost the same.

I would NEVER use this much t.p. My grandma taught me to use a few squares carefully folded.

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We’re trying to come up with some roller derby names for her.

The one Bryce came up for me is Mother of Madness.

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Egg dyeing.

This picture is a lie of contentment.

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Peekaboo.

Librarian: are these books up here yours?

Me: No {Under my breath, just the ones I let her pull out while I was busy taking pictures and then couldn’t remember where they came from.}

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Meg and Spencer every afternoon the sun is out and the t.v. has been taken away don on their sister’s soccer stuff and ‘practice’ in the backyard.

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Easter, the holiday where the pretty spring dresses are covered with jackets and paired with boots.

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I don’t know anymore.

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The older four started swim lessons.

Basically Bennett cries the entire time.

That’s not even an exaggeration.

I wish it was.

So do all the other parents.

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Hope the sun is shining where ever you are.

And if you have any fun roller derby names…you know what to do.

Katie

Monday, April 10, 2017

Spring Break 2017…

Plus all the other pictures I’ve neglected to post!

So….fun!

Right?!

Right.

Guys, my life is kicking my bum.

That’s ok, I kinda need the exercise.

I asked Bryce the other day if he thought I was a tidy person…

and he diplomatically responded that I do not have enough time, but if I DID, I would totally be tidy.

That sums up what’s happening here, most things are getting done most of the time to some sort of acceptable degree.

So….yeah.

In other news….pictures!

Pictures are great…mainly because I have this lense that is magical and somehow makes the clutter and chaos around the subject sort of disappear…

so I come across as…

tidy!

And it totally makes it look like I’m accomplishing something to some sort of degree…like taking a picture once a day.

I reallly take anywhere between fifty and a hundred pictures a day, but like one turns out.

Talk about a full confession.

I mean can you think of anything else you do in life that you’re like, if one percent is awesome it was worth it?

Kids?

Bread?

Craft project?

Making friends?

Road trips?

Yeah, me neither.

But, the practice is helpful and I can tell I’m improving…ish.

Libby waking up from her nap.

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Spencer putting together some gear for fighting the bad guys.

Anyone who can identify something that should’ve been cropped out of this picture that I missed until it was too late gets a gold star.

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And SPRING BREAK!

We drove down to L.A. where we stayed with my friend from our days in Colorado.

So, I went by myself.

With the six darlings.

And I decided to leave at 5 am, thinking that would help the day along.

Which was a fine plan until I hit two mountain passes

with howling wind and blinding snow while it was still dark

and I was yelling at Elizabeth

to find a bag for Meg to deposit what was formerly known as her breakfast into.

Then it rained consistently for the next eight hours.

We hit L.A., and I was like 18 more miles till we get there….

an hour and forty-five minutes later…

Rush hour traffic coming off a 12 hour drive in a huge rig was certainly something.

Naturally we rewarded ourselves with some local donut fare the next day.

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And hit up a museum.

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And then the beach!

I think we’re pretty awesome at the beach.

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The next day we walked down to the pier and watched:

pigeons, surfers, and, guys, some dolphins!

Seriously, guys, dolphins.

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And a free touch pool.

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Monday we did the Tar Pits.

This was so fascinating.

There are these tar pits in the middle of L.A. that are active and they’re recovering fossils and bones from.

It was soooo cool.

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We walked over the the art museum where they have these light posts as an art piece.

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I’m not exaggerating when I say I NEED five hundred lamp posts.

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And to the beach again, because, it’s the beach.

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Tuesday we drove to Las Vegas to stay with my aunt and uncle.

We tried to keep in touch with Dad.

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Thursday we did Hoover Dam.

I LOVE Hoover Dam.

It’s so fascinating.

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Alright, the bathrooms are amazaing.

So I took some pictures.

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And then we found some rocks that were kinda tricky to carry if you’re stubborn and refuse the help of a pocket.

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Spencer turned six while we were out and about so we had a mini date.

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Apparently we know how to welcome the sun.

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On Friday we drove over to an abandoned gold mine where there’s basically a ton of junk and old buildings and cars to look at in the middle of nowhere Nevada.

Basically I want to be buried there.

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Just a few more miles is the Colorado River.

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That afternoon we went to the Pinball Hall of Fame.

Which is one of the funnest things we did.

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And Saturday we pulled a 14 hour drive and made it back home.

To find spring had sprung.

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That one time the couch tried to eat Libby alive.

I saved her.

Let the record show.

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And I turned 34!

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We bottled some orange soda and it was ready to drink when we got back from our west coast travels.

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Spencer thought it’d be fun to vacuum his lips.

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Libby’s wardrobe malfunction.

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And one of Spencer’s new presents.

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Weeding the garden.

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And then it hailed later that day.

So. Spring.

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Hope it is springing in your neck of the woods!

Katie