Houses will eat ALL your time

This summer we worked at getting our house painted and replacing the 4x6 posts in the front with columns. The columns which were supposed to be a 1 weekend project, turned into much more, but we finally got them done and I thought I'd post a pic of our house. It will never be a really cute house, but I do think that it looks better than it did before.

Thread...really?

Charity thinks that someone needs to teach my kids how to make Christmas lists.

Here's Israel's exactly how he wrote it:

• Yo-yo
• Soda (Pepsi or coke)
• Water pistol
• 10 stay home from school certificates (signed by you)
• Jump drive
• Bag-o-chocolate pretzels
• Rosin
• Thread
• Sour Spray
• Silly String
• Bamboo

Luckily for me, I think I can get everything on his list for pretty cheap...although he's not getting silly string, Steve has banned it from the house. We still have remnants of it from 5 years ago when I made the mistake of buying it.

He'll definitely be getting the thread. Because, the boy asked for thread.

Tree hunting

We took the kids up to the mountains last night to cut a Christmas tree. The weather couldn't have been better, we needed coats, but it wasn't bitter or anything. The kids quickly discovered that the trees that you get in the forest aren't exactly like trees that you get at Home Depot. "They have feelings, my friend." No, really, trees in the forest usually grow in groves and in pairs. When you see a beautiful tree, most likely it is two trees growing together, so that if you cut down one, you essentially get a half of a tree. (We decided that next year maybe we should get two permits and finding a tree would be a peice of cake.) Finally Israel and Elijah found our perfect tree. We brought it home and decorated it.

I love Christmas!

Turkey Day lessons

So, I learned a few things on Thanksgiving. Very important things about running and racing that I wish to share with you.

1. Registering ahead of time is just asking for trouble. Mother Nature knows you've committed and will do her utmost to make sure that you will never again register in advance. (20 degrees, no joke!)

2. If you think that the 1/2 mile walk to the starting line will warm you up...you are mistaken.

3. They say that there will be water during the race, what they really mean is they will chuck ice cubes in wax paper cups at you.

4. Sister-in-laws will always kick your butt running, but they are nice enough not to do the victory dance in front of you. Granted they probably had enough time to do it about six times before you crossed the finish line.

5. Ellipticalling is exercise, but fails to use certain very important muscles. Running will let you know very quickly which muscles. They are the pick-up-your-leg muscles. Pick-up-your-leg muscles are very important for running. Very.

6. They need a big laundry basket half way through the race where you can throw your hat, gloves, and possibly shirt and pants when you suddenly get so hot you rip off half your clothes. It would be nice if said basket met you at the finish line.

7. You know you're slow when you pass a woman who is running with a stroller only because she stopped to feed her baby a bottle half way through the race.

8. Hills are bad. Baaaaad.

9. It only takes 1 small caramel apple cider to negate any calories burned running a 5k.

The beginning of the end of my life

So...I got married at 20, five kids and two bunnies later, I bring you my boring life.

Now, don't be fooled, I like it boring. All my friends who have exciting lives, have exciting...in a bad way. I, on the other hand, have boring in a good way. In fact, tonight I am going with the family to the cousins' house to have deer nuggets. What could be better than that. Hmmm...deer.