Flashback Friday

On Saturday while my husband Geoff and my brother-in-law Jeff - I know... this makes family get togethers fascinating! We actually have resorted to calling them G-Geoff and J-Jeff to differentiate! Anyway.... while the boys were breaking their backs loading up the rest of the stuff that we had left in Old City and bringing it to New City my sister Terra and I thought it would be a great idea to take 6 kids to the Balloon Fest in my dad's home town (which is only 30 minutes from us now... woo hoo!!)! I know... we're stupid. You'd think after all these years of practice we might have learned that only 2 parents and 6 little ones at a carnival equals devastation! I won't even go into the details but I will just say... it was a less than spectacular time!

Which brings me to this week's Flashback Friday....

In June of 2004 our town had a very similar event and we went and had a great time!! I thought that I would post pictures of this great memory instead of the crummy one (which, by the way, I did not take pictures of)!

Geoff and the girls sit and wait for the light of the hotair balloons and I captured a single decsent shot of them lighting a balloon. I'm officially replacing the old memories for the newer ones!

Mission: Kill Mouse {The Finale}

I was starting to think I was imagining this whole thing. I would go out to the van and there would be a few wisps of insulation on the floorboard under the steering wheel and would know that it wasn't there before but I would begin to think maybe I was just imagining it. Maybe it was there before and I just hadn't noticed it. Or there would be a few more bristles out of my snow brush and lying on the floor... surely I just over looked that when I vacuumed last time. And then I would find what looked like a mouse dropping on the floor mat but it had to just be small pebbles!

And then it happened. Real proof. My worst fear was realized. I found out that one of the men at church is a mechanic and I asked him on a Wednesday night to take my car for a test drive because we are having some problems with shaking in the back end. I stayed at the church for a meeting and he drove it around. Later when I was discussing the problems with him he informs me that as he was driving down one of the dark neighborhood streets he noticed that something was crawling toward him along the dashboard! It freaked him out so bad that he had to stop the car and get out! He said that it ran across the dashboard and down the side of the dash to the floorboard and then under my seat! The whole time he's telling me this I'm shouting at him, "SHUT-UP!!!!" I couldn't believe it! I asked him, "did you know that I have a mouse in my car?!!!" I really thought that he was yanking my chain! He said that it was only an inch or two long (GREAT! BABIES!) and he thought it was a big bug or water roach. But, it was dark and he couldn't be sure.

I was really going to have to get proactive at this point! The next morning I went out to the van with Geoff's beater stick in hand and opened all of the doors. My plan was to just beat the heck out of the inside until I scared it out. But then I saw this:

One of the resident cats!! Plan B!! I picked him up and stuck him in the van! I thought surely he would smell the mouse and then get after him!!! Uh. Not so much. He tooled around for about 30 seconds and then moseyed right out to take a nap in the parking lot! Stupid cat.

So, back to Plan A. I actually set up my camera to take video of Plan A. Thing is, I captured some good footage but I forgot it was on and I went back in the house to check on the kids and left it running for like 15 minutes!! So, this is an edited version to protect you all from boredom! You should turn up the volume on your speakers a little bit so you can make out my mutterings!

HA HA HA HE HE HE HO HO HO! I just couldn't help myself!

Did plan A work? Uh. Not so much.

Enter: A New Mouse Trap

My new sweet friend, Chrissy, brought one of these contraptions over to my house because she claimed that it worked really well for them in Ohio when they were capturing chipmunks or something.

At this point I was willing to try anything. I couldn't even drive the van at night I was so afraid!

We (Chrissy and I) baited it with a small amount of peanut butter (per instructions), lifted the 'doors' on either side, and placed it in the van.

Did it work? Uh. Not so much.

The little bugger ate the peanut butter and didn't get trapped! Here's the proof:

Clean as a whistle!

My absolute last resort was poison. As afraid of this guy as I was, I REALLY didn't want his decomposing body stinking up my van and us having to slash all of the seats to find it!

So, I decided to try this first:

Those of you who really know me, know that I can be a total cheapskate! This beast was $4.12! I DID NOT want to buy it! But, I had to do something. Plus, I liked the idea of not really seeing the death and destruction. I bought it, baited it, set it and placed it in the van and THIS is what I found the next morning:

DEADER THAN A DOORNAIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Gloria Hallelujah! Worth every penny of that $4.12!!!!!!

I captured this great moment on video, just for you....

I sound a little bit like Gollum-from Lord of the Rings!

I'm so freaking glad this mess is over!!

Rate My Space {updated}

Oops! I forgot this picture:

I can't really tell if he liked it or not... can you?

Rate My Space

While Miss Amber was visiting a couple of weeks ago, we redecorated Geoff's office. Actually, that is the whole reason she came down. I thoroughly trust her decorating sense though she probably wanted to kill me a couple of times when I tried to argue with her about something... I think she wanted to scream: "JUST TRUST ME!!!" It all worked out and here are the results:

Before:

Before:

Before:

Before:

During: We used the elevator in his building to take everything up to his office. (notice that my awesome sister came to help!)

After:

It turned out so good!!! So pretty and soothing but still manly.

Notice the nice furniture? That was from my living room. The deal was that we would load it in so we would see how it would be laid out and then we would take it BACK to my living room and he could have it when we could afford to buy ourselves some nice furniture. Stinky Geoff wouldn't give it up! I had to go order some furniture cuz he wouldn't give it back!!! Oh well, I LOVE my new furniture so I guess it was a win-win.

Here's a video of Geoff seeing it for the first time:

Experiencing Technical Difficulty

We're having issues with the internet... AGAIN! It's driving me crazy. I promise to have some posts up this week... if the internet will cooperate!

Apparently I'm Going to Get Old

For the last couple of weeks at breakfast Asher has recounted to me his dreams that he has had the previous night. Usually, it is the same dream. Later, I kick myself because I didn't write it down. So, today despite the mounds of laundry that need to be done - I'm blogging about Asher's dreams.

Asher: Mom, I had a dream last night that you got really old.

Me: Really. How did that happen?

Asher: You only had two medicines - Benadryl and Water Wasp. If you took the Water Wasp you would die but you only took the Benadryl so you just got really old.

Me: So, was it a scary dream or an OK dream?

Asher: It was scary. Scary dreams are called nightmares. It was a nightmare.

Me: Really?

Asher: Is was just me and you. No Daddy, Aspen, Ainsley, or Andyn.

Notice, I didn't seem overly concerned that he was having a scary nightmare. Thing is he has told me about me getting old in his dreams several times. He never cries or seems upset so I haven't made a big deal of it! This was the first time that he mentioned the Benadryl and Water Wasp, though. Super funny!

Flashback Friday

In light of my recent visit from my dear friend Amber, I thought that I would dedicate this 'Flashback Friday' to her!

To get you up to speed you need a little background information. We used to live in Lansing, MI. So did Amber and her family as well as Shelley and her family. We moved to Oklahoma in 2003, Amber and Craig moved to St. Louis in 2004, and Shelley and Dave moved to Oklahoma in 2005. We were all really good friends in Lansing so there was a lot of excitement about the fact that we all lived relatively close to each other now!!! Shelley and Dave were kind of in the middle. We lived 2.5 hours South of them and The Dahles lived about 6 hours East of them. So we decided to get together in 2005 for Memorial Day at the Capeners. And thus commenced our Annual Get Together at The Capeners! (It was short lived... we only did it for 2005 and 2006)

Here's a rundown of how the families are set up:

Amber & Craig Dahle: children are - Syd, Libby, and Lincoln

Shelley & Dave Capener: children are - Sam, Caleb, and Peter

Geoff & Steph Gibson: children are - Aspen, Ainsley, and Asher

(I only do this so that you can follow the pictures and realize that some of the kids that are bathing together or kissing aren't always siblings!!)

We had some real fun times there! Here are some pictures to prove it:

L to R: Peter mackin' on Libby, Da Girls - Syd, Ainsley, Libby, & Aspen, Asher taking a bath with Lincoln, Lincoln taking a bath with Asher, Caleb - Syd - Aspen - Sam (in the tire), Peter and Libby in the bath, once again Peter mackin' on Libby, the whole crew hanging out at The Center of the Universe in Tulsa, OK, and last of all - me being very cruel to my 9 month-old baby Asher!

Amber in all her glory!

Geoff holding Asher and Craig holding Lincoln. They are feeding the boys and doing a little entertaining. Here's the video:

Of course, there's always the friendly game of Trampoline Dodge Ball! Take a look:

Man, those were good times!! I remember how us women would lock Shelley's bedroom door and lay on her bed laughing our heads off and taking naps while the men were stuck watching all 9 kiddos!! We're hoping for another reunion of sorts to take place in New Jersey where the Capeners now live but that's a freaking long drive!! I think it's their turn to travel... don't you think, Amber!

Mission: Kill Mouse {an update}

Unfortunately, the little bugger has not been caught yet. It's actually starting to cause me some major anxiety. Sometimes, when I'm driving, I imagine him coming out and running across my toes or (even worse) up my pant leg! You laugh... but this is real stuff, folks! I picture having a major accident while trying to frantically get away from him! What am I going to do?! I can't live like this! Geoff agreed to help me pull out the seats and give the van a DEEP clean so maybe we can find it! Wish us luck!

Last installment here:

Mission: Kill Mouse {The Finale}

First Day of School... At Last!

My kids started school on August 18th. AUGUST 18TH!!!! I'm just now MAKING the time to post about it! Of course, now I don't remember as much about it but I guess something is better than nothing!

Most of you know that my kids started a new school this year. Both of my girls have gone to the same school since Pre-K. I was a very active part of the school's PSO group and made dear friends with most teachers and staff so I spent A LOT of time there (and was able to drag both Asher and Andyn along because everybody loved them). Needless to say, the girls have had a WONDERFUL school experience thus far. So, you can imagine that moving to a new school has been a little scary for them... and for me.

This was Ainsley on the first day:

On the first day they had all of the kids line up on the basketball court according to what class they were put in. So, the pictures aren't very glamorous. Ainsley was actually pretty excited to go and meet new kids.

This was Aspen:

She wouldn't let me take a photo of her sitting with the other kids on the court. So, I snapped one of her as she was leaving for her class. She was a little more reserved about meeting new kids.

It's been an interesting experience for all of us. The girls seem to have acclimated well. Just this week we went the skating rink for the school's monthly skating party fundraiser and Ainsley immediately had 2-3 girls approaching her with excitement. I didn't notice Aspen hanging out with anyone though I did hear a couple of girls say hi to her. I think the change has been a little harder for her. However, they are both fortunate to have kids from church at their school. Which was not the case in Old City.

I have been to one PTA meeting and one Home Room Mom meeting. It just isn't the same. I keep telling myself that I didn't know anybody when I became active in the old school and that with time things will be great. Change is just hard sometimes.

Then there's this little guy:

I enrolled Asher in the Head Start program but after about 3 weeks I became very dissatisfied with the program and pulled him out. I guess I was just spoiled with the Pre-K program from Old City and this one didn't measure up. I thought that I would go crazy with him home but, truthfully, I'm enjoying his company. Next year when he HAS to go to school I might actually miss having him around!

So, I guess I'm a decent mom after all. At least I posted SOMETHING!

Mission: Kill Mouse

My friend Amber has been here for the last week and things have gotten a little wild!! What I'm about to share with you are some of the antics that we participated in!! We've got it all... go carts, Malibu's Most Wanted, some elevator action, some crack action, and some mouse action!!!
About a week or two ago I noticed that some of the insulation from under the steering column was falling to the floorboard of my van. Strange. Honestly, I thought it was my neighbors trying to hot wire my car! Then a few days ago I noticed some little black things in the back seat. No. It couldn't be. Really, in my VAN? There's no way. Upon closer inspection my fears were realized. Poop! Mouse poop! IN MY VAN!! Suddenly the insulation in the floorboard made sense. And, there was this:
The little bugger chewed the bristles off of my snow brush!! It/they must be hiding out in there!! I must admit, the van has been a little trashed lately. Andyn likes to eat the peanut butter out of the center of the peanut butter crackers that I give the kids for a snack. When she's done eating the middle she throws the crackers on the floor between the two captain chairs and of course the kids stomp all over them when they get into the van. I've been kind of lazy lately and haven't really cleaned it up so basically it was a "veritable smorgasbord" (name that movie)! So mention it to Amber and suddenly we're posing for Mission: Kill Mouse!! Photo. Video. The whole 9 yards!! That girl is Dangerous!!!
We dressed in black, armed ourselves with flashlights, beater baton (everyone knows that is the best way to kill a mouse), glue traps and a camera. Here are the results:


Honestly, if I were a mouse, I would be terrified of us. Seriously. Here's our little 'Blair Witch' style documentary!!

Here's a link to what Amber had to say about our little escapade and if you are new to reading my blog here is a link to a previous post I wrote about some other encounters we've had with these dirty little creatures!!
Stay tuned for more antics from Amber and Steph! (and sometimes Geoff)

Update: Click here and here for the next two installments!

Not For the Weak of Stomach

For Girls' Night Out this month our Relief Society Group went to ride go-carts! It just so happened that this took place while Amber was visiting and she came along for the ride... of her life. And mine, for that matter. As you can plainly see from the following photos!

Here are a few more snapshots:

So, the lady in the very bottom left corner is in our ward but I hadn't met her before this night. Her name is Angie and she's from Amber's hometown! I'm pretty sure that her and Amber had never met either. Then in the bottom right corner we have Sister Burhnam and Sister Holder (our Relief Society President). I really think they deserve a medal for bravery! It was treacherous out there on that track with us!!!

This next photo is of my new found friends - Chrissy and Liz. Chrissy doesn't really look like that in real life!! I hope she doesn't shoot me for posting this!

This was some serious fun!!!! We laughed and screamed the whole stinkin' time!!

{Just a little background information - they pour baby powder on the track so you slide around A LOT!}

Next up are some videos. !!WARNING!! If you get motion sickness at all you should consider the cost/benefit ratio of watching these.

My camera has a really cool 'Silent Movie' mode on it so I tried to get lots of video with that and then I created this VERY amateur movie on some basic video editing software:

I LOVE IT!! So funny!

So before you go any further, it REALLY might make you sick! AND we're a tinsy-weensy bit loud. I WOULD refrain from posting them but this is for posterity, folks! I just dare you NOT to watch them!!!

The whole gang (L to R): Angie, Amber, Moi, Chrissy, Liz, Jane (super cutie!), her mom Bree, and Sister Burhnam (I think her first name is Doriana).