One week til 'B' day

That is 'b' as in blasting day!

As in kidney stone blasting day!

One WEEK! Crazy!

That means I only have 7 days to:

* clean my house

* do all the laundry

* plan meals

* go grocery shopping

* make and freeze meals

* do lesson plans for next week

* get a stack of books to read

* get a stack of movies to watch

* pay bills

* plus whatever else needs to be done before I am down for a week, or 2, or 3

all while working, homeschooling and life.

Should be a piece of cake!

The Spa Ghost

So usually when things are free, they are free for a reason.

Kurt and I were totally aware of that fact and so it wasn't a matter of "if" something was wrong with the spa but "what".

Once we got the electrical all run and hooked up, the only thing we could figure out that was wrong was that when you turn the jets to "high", only one side works. Not a biggie. Our super smart friend diagnosed the problem as a black boxy thing (solenoid, I think) isn't sending the signal for the one pump to kick into high and you can't just by the black box, you have to buy a whole new panel - no thanks - so the rule is: if you want to be blasted by the "high" jets, you sit on the right and if you don't, you sit on the left. A simple, easy fix!

What we didn't realize was that spa also came with a ghost. A sneaky little ghost who likes to push the buttons. You will be sitting with the light on and the jets on low, then the air jets will come on, then the light will go off, then the jets kick into high, etc. It makes hot tubbin' a lot of fun!

Actually, we think it is a program that is set into the control panel and it only seems to do it if you are pushing the buttons a lot or maybe a certain button triggers it. We aren't exactly sure yet, so we just blame the ghost. It's more fun.

Hello FREE Spa!

That's right - we got a FREE spa!

I am so excited!

A client that Kurt is working with had it and didn't want it any more so he gave it to us - - for FREE! Have I mentioned that I am SO EXCITED?!

And, of course, having a landscaper as a husband, the spa can't just be dropped in any old place in the yard so our yard is going through a slight modification. I told Kurt that we would do the work ourselves because we can't (nor can the business) afford to pay our crews to do the work. So last Friday I went to town on the sod with a pick.

Are you aware of how heavy sod is? It is extremely heavy! After the first few blows with the pick I was warn out. But I wouldn't give up. I started after dinner so thankfully it got dark quickly and I could stop for the night. I decided to let Kurt do the rest of the work with one of our tractors so that it would be easier. Saturday morning Kurt and 2 buddies left to get the spa. Did I mention it was in Stockton? (approx. 1 - 1 1/2 hours away). I kept looking at that sod thinking "I gotta get that out". So after mowing the grass (yes, I mowed the grass - front and back!), I attacked the sod again. Apparently I was in a very physical mood.

My goal was to get all the sod out by myself and, if possible, before Kurt and the guys came home. They called at 10:30 to let me know they were on their way back. Looking at what was left of the sod, I knew it was going to be close so I just kept picking. I ignored my screaming muscles and my exhausted body.

We have been watching inspirational movies with the kids lately and one of them talks about not giving up on reaching your goals. So that was my inspiration - I was not going to give up on getting that sod out. I picked my little heart out. I was so exhausted! The kids were cheering me on, bringing me water with love notes and singing to me out the upstairs window. Hailey even folded some laundry and Kayla swept the kitchen floor.

By the time the guys got here I only had a little section left (like a 2' x 2') and I had that out pretty quick. I accomplished my goal - I removed all the sod all by myself! I was so happy to achieve that!

We have the greatest friends ever! They decided to spend their Saturday helping Kurt dig out the area. Unfortunately the tractor threw a track and delayed progress for a few hours. I, of course, had to point out that I had thus far completed more work than 3 guys with a tractor! Ha ha! They thought I was so funny!

By the end of the day Kurt and I decided that it would definitely be worth having our crew finish it off. The rate we were going it would be a few months before we had the area ready. So that is what is happening today.

Hopefully by tomorrow night we will be hot tubbin'!

What goes in . . .

. . . is what comes out!

This was one of the main reasons we got rid of all tv/satellite services over 7 months ago. That's right - we have NO TV! AHHHH! Most people ask us: how do you survive?

As the kids got older they started wanting to watch shows that we just didn't feel were appropriate or that were not the examples that we wanted out kids to follow so we x-nayed the t-v-ay.

The best part is that we haven't even missed it. Okay, maybe once or twice we have thought it would be nice but for the most part it has been GREAT!

Kurt and I have really gotten into inspriational movies - you know, movies that you walk away from thinking "I want to be a better person." Here are the ones that we have watched so far:

Fireproof
Forever Strong
Facing the Giants
The Blind Side

Have you seen any really good, uplifting, inspriational movies? If so, let us know! We would love to know about some more!

They have been warned!

Yesterday I went on a cleaning frenzy! It wasn't really planned but I have been wanting to do it for a REALLY long time. I have this issue in my house: apparently I can only keep one level of my house clean at a time. If upstairs is clean, then downstairs is destroyed. If downstairs is clean, then upstairs is destroyed. This is usually how my house is: downstairs clean (that's what people see when they come over) and upstairs is like a bomb went off, and then another bomb and then another.

Only a very selected few friends have seen the destruction of our upstairs. It really has gotten out of hand lately. Between working in the mornings and doing school in the afternoons til 5 pm then dinner, etc. there has not been time for cleaning - only stashing and shoving and piling.

Well, HELLO SPRING BREAK!

I went home from work yesterday and just completely got sucked into a cleaning frenzy. I started upstairs and went crazy. Every drawer was cleaned and rearranged, every closet was rearranged and vaccuumed, everything was dusted.

IT FEELS GREAT!!!

Today I plan on attacking the toy room. I should take a picture and show you how destroyed it is. As I was cleaning yesterday, every toy I found I just threw it in the toy room knowing I would clean it today. It is pretty bad.

So I have warned the kids that I am coming after the toy room. I should mention that when I am in a cleaning mode, I show no mercy and throw a lot of things away. The kids know this and usually panic when I come after the toy room. I told the kids that anything they want to keep should be cleaned up and put away.

What do you think the chances are of the toy room being clean when I get home?