isn't it strange...

We have officially been without a dryer at our house for one month. Its the middle of winter, so hanging the cloths out on the line is out of the question, and I really don't have a place in my house to hang dry them either. For the last month, we have been collecting our weeks worth of laundry in totes and hauling them to Casey's parents to wash them all on the weekend. Convenient? Absolutely not.

Casey's parents have been very kind and patient letting us invade their home for the weekend, usually by the time our laundry piles up for a week, there are a good 3-4 huge totes full. (yeah, 6 people go through a lot of laundry in a week) It takes a good day and a half to finish it all and then we get to lug it all back home. The worst part is yet to come. Yep, putting everything away. YIKES!

Next weekend we are planning on going to purchase our new washer and dryer. Large capacity, front loader, energy star, short time washes. I am so stinkin excited.

Isn't it funny how we all complain and whine when we have to do laundry every day. Its such a pain, and so repetitive. However, take that away for a month, and a new washer and dryer is the most exciting purchase ever! I can not wait to do laundry at home again! I remember thinking the same thing when Casey got me a new vacuume for christmas one year. I was SO excited to get it home and vacuum my house!

My mom always used to say "its the simple things in life..." I guess this would be one of those things. Something as simple as doing laundry or vacuuming after you haven't been able to for a while seems so much more appealing then it does when you have to do it every day.

I wish there was some way to keep that excitement alive after doing laundry everyday, I wish in a month or two I was still going to be happy to come home and be able to start laundry, im sure by then though, it will once again be just a dreaded chore again.

I love getting off work early. Even more than that I love spending time with my great friends and children. The other day I had an opportunity to do both! Lindsey, me, Jaysen, Carter and Kennedi. Monroe, Maggie, Max and Tucker(Lindseys 2 dogs) decided we should go for a walk.

We walk often, usually late at night, without the kids since it is so cold after dark.

We pack the double stroller with water for the kids, a blanket incase fingers get cold, some misc things to occupy the kids if they get bored. We bundle the kids with snowboots, coats, hats and mittens. Jaysen gets his bike out of storage from the winter, and finally we are ready. Mind you, we usually take a leash for the dogs...just incase, today we did not. It really isn't the issue of the dogs running away, but more the issue of a car coming and them not staying out of the way.

Finally, we are ready to walk. We start off, all 3 dogs running in front of the stroller, which Carter and Kennedi are in, Jaysen trying to keep up with the 3 dogs ahead of us, Monroe doesn't run with the rest of the dogs, he is to paranoid that something may happen to me. He does about a 3 foot circle around me, lindsey and the stroller the entire walk.

As we get to the next county road, Casey and all the guys he works with are getting off work, which means about 5 trucks speeding our way...yikes. Lucky for us we are just turning onto the next road out of the way. 4 trucks pass..and here comes a tractor? and just our luck, it turns our direction...GREAT! 4 dogs and 1 boy on a bike to try to yell at to come back to us FAST. It is Casey. He is taking the tractor to clear the ditches in front of our house so they will drain more effeciently, and he just thought he would come see what we were doing.

Kennedi decided she would much rather go with dad in the tractor than walk with us, so after talking to Casey, he is off, with Kennedi and we are back walking one passenger lighter.

After another mile or so, Casey is calling asking where we were...of course, Kennedi is done in the tractor. He drove the car over to us to bring Kennedi back to her place in the stroller.

As we near county road 49 (and my house) we notice yet another tractor, and as we watch, the other (smaller) tractor is attempting to pull Caseys tractor out of the ditch. Without much luck I might add.

We continue on our way, laughing about the fact that Casey got a big huge tractor stuck in the ditch. Turns out, the melting snow and mud was a little muddier and softer than he had thought. It took about 30 minutes of trying, another Tractor and a lot of effort to get the stuck machine out.

As you can see in the pictures, it is well after dark at this point and Casey wasn't just a little stuck, he was a lot stuck. Which he may not have thought was funny at all, however I thought it was hilarious. The kids and I watched out the window and laughed.

What a great night!

Gering Nebraska Wrestling Tournament...

The boys had thier first tournament of the year this weekend. It was in Gering Nebraska. Brock wrestled at the 45 pound weight, he wrestled 3 times and won all of them, winning 1st place. He also was super close to getting a quick pin award, he missed it by 2/10ths of a second...darn!

Jaysen wrestled 55 pound weight, and wrestled 4 times, losing 2 of the matches (to the same kid - dangit! ). He got 4th place. They both had a great time and were very proud of themselves!

Next weekend we go to Newcastle.

Sorry if I am not keeping this quite as up to date as I should be. Wrestling season is hectic, time consuming and just plain tiring. I will update at least once a week after the tournaments and let you know the outcome. Sometimes its just too hard to keep up with everything!

Love it or Hate it, wrestling season is here.....

The kids watch as the Coach demonstrates...

Brock has decided he is the champ at the monkey bars...

Casey also coaches the team, here he is giving a few words of wisdom to Brock.

Every year I whine and complain. Wrestling take up so much time, we never have family time during wrestling season. Its SO expensive, the practices are too long, its too hard on the kids...the reasons to hate it are endless...

Every year Jaysen wins his first match and the smile on his face is priceless. Brock takes home another trophy and his pride in himself grows. Those moments are life long experiences and remind me why we do this every year.

The kids started wrestling when they were 4 years old, this is the 4th year they have competed. We travel to Bayard NE, Casper WY, Sheridan WY and several others that are hours away from home. We get up before dawn to be to the tournaments before weigh-ins, and often dont get home until well after night fall. Other times we stay in a hotel for a night or two to cut down on road time. Wrestling starts in late January and goes on until early May. Four months of the four day a week practices with 2 day tournaments on almost every weekend.

Yes the sport is extreamly demanding. Yes it takes a lot of dedication from the kids and the families. Sometimes I find myself wondering who it is harder on, us or the kids.

Brock is last years State Champion. He fought hard all season and won at the state tournament. That is something he will NEVER forget, He went undefeated the first year he wrestled, he won't forget how that felt either.

Jaysen has always struggled, he has to fight hard for ever win, and occasionally gets a bronze medal. Last year he got 3rd at the Torrington Tournament-he got a trophy and was so proud of himself. He will have that to look at and remind him of how that felt forever.

I am so proud of my boys for dedicating themselves to something so challenging, something so demanding, and something that takes more inner strength than it does actual strength.

It teaches them so many life lessons about sportsmenship, losing and winning, working to get what you want and making life long friendships.

In the end, its hard to say if I really enjoy wrestling season, but I know that my kids do, and I know that what they get from it is worth more than my happiness. I know that there isn't a moment that I am prouder than my kids then when they are out there giving their all at something whether they win OR lose. It makes me so proud to see them win, but honestly even prouder to see them give their opponent a hug or high five and tell them "good job" when they lose.

They are both wrestling Bantam(7-8 year old) and Brock is weighin in at around 45lbs, Jaysen will wrestle probably 60lbs. I look forward to seeing what this season brings and what new memories we can make...there will be many more pictures to follow!

AAAHHHH-CHO

I have 2 sick kids...not awful sick, but the typical stuffy nose, cough and sneeze, watery eyes kind of sick. Kennedi is (as always) worse than Carter. She looks like a big walking snot ball. Poor girl. Carter is just coughing and has a never ending drip at the end of his nose...UGH. I should really buy stock in Kleenex. Anyhow, as any mother with sick kids knows, once they figure out the kleenex routine, its a fight. Carter does pretty good, he at least doesn't run or turn his head away from your attempts to wipe the drip. He does not however like to "blow."

"Carter, blow your nose"
"I can't mom..."
"Carter, just blow all the air out of your nose"
"ok...like this...AHHH CHO"

This is what I get today. Instead of him blowing he thinks the right thing to do is sneeze. and not a real sneeze and fake drawn out AHHH CHO. now EVERY time we get a kleenex close to his nose, he "sneezes" into it, and thinks it is OH SO FUNNY!! (which it really kind of is!)

He really is just at such a funny age, you can't help but just laugh and laugh.

Ah...Monday

No. 1 priority - So our dryer has been going out. I mean, I has slowly been dying, one day it works, the next it has no heat, the next it just wont start...whatever. It DIED. Now it runs but with no heat, and will randomly turn on and not turn off. Ever. It is officially retired and out of comission. We spent the weekend at Casey's parents...doing laundry. Normal families do not have to spend an entire weekend doing laundry, but after 6 people go through a full week without being able to wash any, it takes a while to get cought up...you do the math. No. 1 priority...Save for Washer and Dryer. Don't get me wrong, i don't mind spending the weekend at the Blevins household, but lugging all of the laundry over, making room for 4 totes of laundry, 4 children, 2 adults and the Dogs in one tahoe, makes the trip less than enjoyable.

No.2 Priority - Our fridge keeps blowing the breaker. It happened about a month ago the first time. Continued to blow every 30-45 minutes all day. Casey took it all apart and cleaned inside, worked fine. (its only a few months old...so really there was no way it was that dirty...but aparently it needed vaccumed.) guess what, woke up yesterday to the distinct sound of the breaker clicking off. UGH. Fought and fought all day, it wouldn't even stay on 5 stinkin minutes. turned off the Ice maker...stupid thing has been on since without any problem. Priority #2...call the GE Appliance center and tell them to fix my stupid Refrigerator.

No.3 Priority - TAHOE! It needs new Tires, and the engine light comes on, all of the time. With Wrestling starting, I really do want to have my tahoe in tip top condition considering all the traveling I have to do during wrestling.

all in all everything always happens at once. ALWAYS

we had planned on using our Tax Returns for some fun house stuff (ie...finishing basement, buying the kids new beds for their OWN rooms, starting landscaping on the yard...) guess this year it will go towards repairing and replacing all of our crap! (not fun)

on a Positive note...GO SAINTS!!! We are going to the superbowl! WOO HOO! I think we will have a superbowl party, My team is the saints and my Nephew LOVES the colts. This should be fun, and I love entertaining friends...so anyone interested, bring a snack, and come join the fun!

You are not a Triceratops

This is Carters Dinosaur face. ha ha ha

My friend started my day off by telling me "Chelle, you just have to find the little things that make your day different than every other"

I blew off the statement thinking, my life is so repititious, everyday is the same. I wake up at 6am, start coffee, wake Jaysen to get up for school, 7am he gets on the bus and I make breakfast for Carter and Kennedi, from that point on its housework, pets, work, more housework, and when I am lucky a few hours in the evening with Casey.

But then I thought about it. My kids are young, they do funny, cute, exciting, annoying things every single day, all of the time. Why is it that I have compleatly failed to give that any thought before. My life is far from boring like I always assume it is, I have the best entertainment anyone could ask for, and it is free!

Today Carter didn't want to go to school. He wanted to stay home with me. After having a short arguement with him about how he had to go to school today, he calmly and seriously informed me that Triceratops did NOT go to school. WHAT?!? Talk about random and totally out of the blue.
"Carter what are you talking about?"
"Mom, Triceratops don't go to school"
"you are probably right, I don't think they probabley went to school"
"no mom, They don't. And I dont' want to either"
"you aren't a triceratops and you have to go to school today"
the conversation ended there. Nothing more was said about not going to school or whether or not Triceratops went to school. However when we arrived at his classroom, he told his teacher that he was at school today, and that he was a T-rex today because they are the only dinosaurs that can go to school. He, just as serious as before, told her that Triceratops didn't go to school and that he only could be Triceratops when he was at home, but could be T-rex while he was in class.

Oh the minds of three year old boys. That was my happy memory for today, I am so thankful for my kids and even when they are quirky and goofy and a little bit odd, they are always what make my world turn.