jinx

like I said, change is ineveitable. for me, it's one of those bittersweet things.

originally we moved to Divide to get out of suburbia; it was a compromise before we got REALLY out, or "off the grid" as Matthew likes to call it. we both wanted out so bad. there is something about the cookie-cutter maze which makes up suburbia, that just really gets under our skin. back in September we were down to 2 places; 1 being in the historical downtown area & also close to Samuel's school, but then there was this other house (the one we're in now) that offered a bit more space than we needed, but really spectacular and literally in the forest. since the cost was the same, we opted for beauty than convenience. it's so gorgeous here, but I think we're discovering that we made a mistake.

this house is in an HOA ... which basically means you are not free to do whatever. granted we're not going to have our front yard filled with cars that don't run, but they seriously have some crazy rules. for instance, you cannot collect storm water (like to water your plants or whatever), you cannot have chickens (most people wouldn't care, but I could've had up to 10 in the in city. you'd think in the mountains it would be more flexible!), you cannot water your landscape, which also means you can't have gardens (which would be difficult anyway due to all the deer, but that's not the point) ... and that's all I can think of right now.

the other downer to living here is the distance from what our priorities are becoming. we knew Samuel's school was 40 minutes away, that's not really the problem. our fellowship with other believers have increased; before we just didn't know people to really connect with. we are more or less done with superficial, surface-y relationships, and honestly, we as a couple (ok it's really my husband!) is a difficult person to take. you either love him or hate him ... and I mean that in the best way possible. by not having friends, makes it real easy to think of just ourselves, but since we do, we have a need to be near these people. we are entering a season of serving, and not just because there is a conviction, it's a whole new level for us.

While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak with him. Someone told him, "your mother and brother are standing outside, wanting to speak to you." he replied to him, "who is my mother, and who are my brothers?" pointing to his disciples, he said "here are my mother and my brothers. for whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother." Matthew 12:46-50

so basically, the grass was greener on the other side. I think most things would've appeared greener, considering we were living in his parents' basement!

I forsee another move in our future ... but we all knew that was coming, didn't we?

it's laundry day!

I regret purchasing a white winter jacket living here. anywhere else it would probably be ok, but we're in the woods and I guess I didn't think I'd be getting so down and dirty with the kids. oh well. I have a Columbia jacket; I think technically it's a ski jacket. I do love it. keeps me toasty.

so I thought I'd try and wash it (brilliant, right?) but the tag is in 5 different languages and there are no washing instructions ... well there are instructions but they are in pictures. I guess they didn't want 5 more tags to explain it in all those languages. understandable.

pictographs, right? like the Egyptians?

anyway, I thought I'd post the pictures. I love google ... not only can you look anything and everything up, you can look it all up in pictures!

here's what I found -

I don't know much about laundry. wash whites on warm, darks on cool, spray stain remover if it has a stain ... that's about the extent of my laundry wisdom! it works, my clothes come out just fine ... of course it helps to have a neptune washer and dryer that is just AWESOME!

anyway, study the chart above to REALLY know what you're doing. happy laundry day!

Divide

I have lived here just a couple of weeks, but it feels like longer. I mean that in a good way. I love it here. this house feels like home already, and usually for me, that takes awhile to get. I pray God will keep us here for a long time ... I have learned to never say never, but also, never say forever. only God is forever; can I get an amen?!

since my camera is broken, I thought I'd google Divide, CO. here is what I got -

yep, this is exactly what it looks like. in fact, this looks identical to the road you have to take to get to my house. the clouds aren't usually so dark, maybe this winter as the storms are coming. but here in CO the clouds are always beautiful. if you are a cloud person, you would love it. I have discovered that about myself; I am always noticing the clouds. leaves me speechless most of the time.

that is Pikes Peak in the background, which is at 14,000 feet. our house is at 9,200 feet, so you want snow, come visit us! we are planning on lots of snowmen, ice skating (there is a pond behind our house!), shoveling, and sledding. of course if you come, you might get snowed in for a few days!

in and out of these woods are lots of elk. I've seen the females up close and they are huge. I'd say 3x the size of a doe. I've seen a buck from afar, and you can definitely tell, he's even bigger. it's truly amazing. I actually found an elk watching trip, it's 2 1/2 hours walking all around the picture above. I expect it to be pretty awesome!

feels good turning into a mountain girl. I promise to shower daily and still shave my legs!!

hurry up Tuesday

it's good to be back in Colorado! California is a great place to visit, but God willing, I don't ever want to live there again. I am thankful for the relationships I've gained, (especially my husband) but the hype of CA is not for me. my parents live out there, so I will be back ... someday.

it's almost fall in CO. the weather is so perfect right now. when fall really hits, wow. and especially from our new place, whew! I can't wait to see it myself. we will be surrounded by pines and aspens, with a view of a little lake and Pikes Peak. I will definitely post pictures. it will be a postcard.

our move date is by the 15th. the owners had it staged for showings, so they still have stuff to get out. I'm so anxious! each day closer to the 15th goes slower and slower. oh my goodness, will it ever get here?!

moving means -

the kids will finally stop fighting and getting into serious trouble. it's been a major headache!

we will be out of suburbia ... mostly. whoo hoo!

we can stop living out of suitcases

finally set-up our homeschooling stuff the right way

I have a major need to get organized - like nesting only I'm not pregnant

most of you know, we've moved around a lot. let's see we've been married 9 years; with all the ups and downs of our relationship, and whatever the other reasons are for moving, we done it a good 10 times now. I've got to say, this next place I believe we'll be at for awhile, God willing. hubby is setting up this business and he'll be starting his office literally out of the lower level of our home; he's already got staff and technicians, so he needs to stay put for all that. plus, this is as close to our desire as possible right now. one day we'd like to get a piece of land that has spring or well water, build a house, use solar power, grow food, etc "off the grid" as he like to say. with this house the one thing we have is the location, and that's good enough for now.

like I said, God willing!

today's word

my life is difficult lately.  definitely being tested.  it's a bittersweet season.

Sam's school is literally on the clear other side of town, the side of town I'd love to move to.  it takes a good 1/2 hour to get there from where we are now.

as I was driving home I start daydreaming about living in that neighborhood, thinking of all the positives to moving ... what if this, and what if that.  going over the argument that hasn't even happened yet with Matthew, working it all up in my head - yea that's bad, I know.

I've always said that I want to move somewhere, anywhere, and just stay there.  we've moved so much, and I REALLY HATE IT!!!  it's something I don't want my kids to have to get used to.  all the unstability is truly maddening!

so I ask myself "why do you want to move and stay somewhere SO badly?"  getting settled will give me the ability to connect, grow, and get involved with the community; the stuff I like to do. like all the farming parables in the bible, I want to get planted, grow strong roots, and blossom.

and then I thought, where are your roots?  in whatever house you want to live in?

then God says to me, where are your roots suppose to be?  of course, I cried.

and that's been Matthew's argument all along.  it shouldn't matter where you live, or how many times you move.  where is your focus?

I was given a kingdom perspective today.  wow.

I still HATE the idea of moving, but now my spirit knows better.  I also know that where ever my roots are, chances are my kids will follow ... no matter how many times we move.

a Grimm death

the mouse is dead ...

after I had gone to bed last night, hubby hears some squeaking. he goes to investigate and finds the mouse on the trap. this gooey, sticky stuff sucks the limbs in more as the animal fights to get away. when he was found, there was no getting out.
hubby has a soft side and really tried to get him loose, but his fate was inevietable. so hubby either had to let it freeze to death stuck in this thing outside or put it out of it's misery.
what do you think he did? well for those of you who actually know him, this will probably come to no surprise ...
he took the mouse into the garage and got out his pellet gun. the mouse didn't see it coming, and obviously didn't feel a thing.

thought you might like to know - we're rodent free!!

goodbye mickey mouse

today's adventure

what could be cute and gross at the same time? a mouse running around my house!

the other morning was as normal as ever, I was feeding the boys breakfast and Papa was headed out the door for work. it had snowed the night before, so he was outside scraping the windshield and warming up his truck before leaving.
I headed for the pantry to put something away and out of the corner of my eye, I saw something. all I saw was a dark blur running away. OMG!
I didn't freak out too much since the boys were there. and knowing Sam, he'd want to search for "it" so he could have a new friend.
so I call Papa back inside and tell him "now I'm not crazy, but I swear I saw something scurry that way!" of course he doesn't believe me and does think I'm crazy, but to calm my imagination he lifts up the sofa and does a quick search before leaving for work. of course, we found nothing.
later that day as I'm making lunch, I see nibbles in the bread bag and a chunk missing from a piece of bread. when Papa gets home I show him this - "see? I'm not crazy!"
we got a few traps, but the mouse managed to maneuver around them and so he was free for another night.
so this morning as we're coming downstairs, I remind Papa about the trap. it's the kind that is super sticky, so if/when the mouse steps on it, it can't move. eeewww! I did not want to find the catch; if the mouse was squirming, it could have ripped off its own skin to try and get away. eeewww!

the mouse wasn't on the trap this morning. we did see him on another shelf in the pantry, so Matt grabbed some tupperware (the closest thing) to catch him. he made a break for it and tried to go under the fridge. he was small, but luckily his belly was too big and couldn't get underneath it fast enough. too many carbs from our bread I guess! so Matt pulled him out by his tail and we got him.



so he's a cutie after all. I told Matt I was envisioning the rat from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (can't remember his name now) even though he was a good guy in the movie, he was so gross! he was big and hairy, with huge unbrushed teeth ... not that a rat would brush his teeth, but you know what I mean. big and yellow with bad, no rank, breath. eeewww!

so we talked about what to do with him. if we put him outside in the cold, he'd die for sure. he's not going to be our pet, so what do we do? before kids I wouldn't care so much, but since Sam has been old enough, I try to do catch and release with him like with spiders and whatever else. if I expect him to value life, I can't be killing those creepy spiders, right? they are all God's creation, right?!
so I told Matt to put him in the field near the high school (we're like a block away). I figured he'd have the best chance there. as he's getting the mouse ready for the move, he's feeling sorry for it and decided to put some of the bread he's been persistently hunting each night in there, you know for comfort. ha! what do you think happened next?
yep, the mouse jumps out and into the sink. Matt was so afraid he'd go down the garbage disposal. as he's trying to re-catch the mouse, the mouse is obviously freaking out and trying to jump out of the sink. he can't jump quite high enough, so Matt says "wow he's got some ups for a little mouse!" and then of course as soon as that is said, he got just enough to get out of the sink. so now, he's running up and down the counter. eeewww! we just can't get him, he jumps on the floor again, but this time cornered. as Matt gets the tupperware ready, Matt hits his head on the corner of the countertop, falls to his knees in pain, and that pesky mouse got away. he went in the crack to get behind the dishwasher ... and as of now, that's where he stays.
since Matt hit his head, that made him mad and so he put the trap at his only exit. we'll see if he can get around it again.
if he does get out unscathed, I guess we'll find him in the pantry again tomorrow.

'tis the season

we went to the downtown lights parade this weekend. sorry, no pictures of the floats. they were all kind of corny anyway. but as a parent, you do the majority of things for your kids - this night included. but let me tell you, it was fun being in the cold, sitting on frozen sidewalks, and fighting the crowds to save our awesome seats! we did get a free balloon, cocoa, and cookies from those hosting the event that night. that makes it all worth it, right?!
here is Papa and Elliott. I should've gotten another angle; when you look at Elliott, think Christmas Story. he had on one of those one-piece snowsuit things. it was too big for him, but it still looked like the kid in the movie who just couldn't move for anything. he was so warm and cozy in there; he ended up falling asleep during the parade.


Papa did Christmas lights this year. bad picture, I know. I couldn't find the night-time setting. anyway -
lights are so fun. if you squint, you can see our 10' snowman in our front yard. those blow-up things aren't too popular around here, so we get a lot of people slowing down for a look.
we just got our tree, so I'll have to add a picture of that another time.

I love poinsettia's. bright and bold red, yellow, and green. so Christmas-y. do yours ever live after the holidays? I water it and love it like my other plants, but it seems to have some internal clock and dies no later than the New Year. maybe I give it too much love. I have been known to kill plants doing that!

we're suppose to get lots of snow tonight and tomorrow. "it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, everywhere you go ..."

I hope the spirit of Christmas finds you all!

sleep tight

... don't let the bed bugs bite!

my hubby insists that making your bed will allow the bed bugs to have nicer living quarters. he says they like it "cozy" and all covered up. so his answer to not getting bed bugs is ... any guesses? ... to not make the bed of course.

now keep in mind, I do change our bed sheets. my mom has ingrained in me that sheets ought to be changed once weekly, but I'm more like once every two weeks ... or so. sorry mom.
and I absolutely LOVE the feeling of new sheets on a bed - fresh, clean, smells good, feels good, and I always sleep so good too.

I don't think we've ever had bed bugs. seems like something you'd remember if you had, right? Sam has gotten some itchy bites from an unknown source before. bed bugs? not sure.

having a California king bed is nice. we're not snugglers, so we both get our own space to spread out on the bed. and too, there is room for Sam get in there in the wee-wee hours of the morning ... nothing to do with pee-pee!

here's my excuse now - having this huge bed, is definitely a chore to make. if there were two people doing it, it would be a piece of cake and done in 10 seconds. but with one person you have to pull one side of the sheet, walk around to the other side and pull that up. and you can't just do the reach-over; it's too big! I've tried it!
then you have to get the blanket, one side then the other. then the comforter, one side then the other. then the pillows, one side then the other. then the decorative pillows, one side then the other.
whew! I'm tired just thinking about it ...

and I know we've all heard the stories about spiders crawling in and out of our mouths, noses, and ears throughout the night. SO GROSS!

so I'm now trying to find something, anything for my hubby's argument on bedbugs. yes they do like cozy places, but I can't find any proof that not making your bed eliminates your chances of getting them. if you find something on this, please let me know.

now go change your sheets!

good intentions

this is the most snow I've seen in 5 years! we used to live in the sticks of NorCal, Portola to be exact, and we got plenty of snow there.
living in Chico and then in Corona, snow is more like make believe so it was easy to forget about it.
this year in Colorado we've gotten some snow, but it always melted the next day. yesterday was not one of those days.
I took this photo at 815am, shortly after I woke up. I should've taken more later in the day, because there was more to shovel. there was probably a good foot of snow.

this is from my bedroom window looking out onto the neighbors yards. pretty neat to wake up to this. I really do hope we have a white Christmas this year.
probably won't be able to see a thing in the spring; those trees will be covered with new green leaves.
not that I spy on my neighbors or anything!

so Sam and I go out to play and shovel the driveway. I thought I was being a great multi-tasker; I started a load of laundry, I fed Elliott and put him down for his morning nap, and I was entertaining/working with Sam outside.
we were outside for 1/2 hour or so and I thought to check on Elliott. I hear nothing so I continue shoveling. here's what I find coming in another 1/2 hour later -

poor baby! I don't normally put him down for a nap on his bouncy seat, but I wanted to keep him downstairs while we were outside. his swing is out of batteries and if he's in that while it's not moving, he'd wake up within 10 minutes. very furstrating for me. D batteries are expensive!
anyway, I thought I would be able to hear his shrieks, if there were any. apparently, I did not.

I run the risk of looking like a bad mother, I know. I sure felt like it when I found him this way ... although I thought it was funny too, which is why I got the camera!
originally he was swaddled with 1/2 the seatbelt on - only 1/2 because I couldn't get the thingy between his legs. with all his squirming and wiggling, and probably screaming too, he managed to get out of his swaddle and scoot down.

he's been concentrating on freedom these last couple of weeks. I also found him on his tummy this morning in his crib.
he'll be crawling soon it seems, which will be weird because his brother never crawled ... I take that back, Sam crawled for only 2 days, then started walking.

lesson learned. sorry Elliott.

thrity

I have a new love ... thrift stores!!
I haven't been in awhile, mostly because I have kids. you need patience and time to dig. having one child with me is very doable, and seeing how Elliott and I are still attached at the hip (actually the breast!) we go together, and then Sam gets to hang out with Papa for big boy stuff.

I'm somewhat of a cheapskate, but not stingy.
think about this - getting a something you want &/or need on sale, it always makes you feel good. and when you get something you love on clearance, it makes you feel even better, right? so for me, going to a thrift store and finding steal after steal is just AWESOME!

many times it's better than your average garage sale. when people are trying to sell their own stuff, it's suddenly worth a bit more than it should. at Goodwill or Salvation Army someone has already "thrown it away," so instead of it piling up our landfills even more, it's sold for dirt cheap.

today at Goodwill I got -
2 4t shirts .99 each
"newer" Evenflo high chair $15 ... not a steal, but definitely a good deal because it's still in great condition
3 Xmas tins .79 each
2 new & in the box scented drawer liners .79 each
2 hand towels for my bathroom .79 each
10 new aluminum pie pans for .89
2 games for Sam - Green Eggs and Ham (I had no idea that was a board game!) and Boggle for preschoolers 2.99 each

keep in mind that there are still items new in their original box there. more than you think. early Christmas shopping maybe? go check out your local thrift store, because you never know what you'll find!

want pictures? maybe next time I'll show you my treasures, as I will be heading back again soon!

silliness

don'tcha love Mac's?!

bbbrrrrrr!

so we're officially moved in ... now comes the unpacking part.  as much as I hate moving, it is good to get organized, or reorganized rather.  I'm not a messy person.  I very much like order, so I'm not much of a pack-rat.

if you know me, or have taken a second to read my little bio, you'll know I've married a man that is my exact opposite.  that said, we have plenty of things to move and unpack!  we even had a huge yard sale before we left, but we still managed to fill a 26' truck.  ridiculous.  I can't help but think of the movie Fight Club - your stuff ends up owning you!  if you haven't seen it, I recommend it.

tonight is our first night in the new house.  it's cold tonight and I can't seem to figure out the thermostat, it's some crazy digital set-up, and I don't know how to light the pilot for the fireplace.  this is the first and last night I don't know that!!

as soon as I find my camera and computer cords, I'll post pictures.  stay tuned.

Mexico part II

for those wondering ... Mexico is officially out.  it's hard to say no to a house on the beach - literally, steps in your backyard will take you to the sand!

there is just too much that is unpredictable.  if it was just hubby and I, I'd be much more ready for the adventure, but I'm a protective mother of two little ones and just don't want to take chances with them.  plus Sam is about to begin school, we're still in the adjustment phase of a new baby, and if I think I have no friends now, I really don't want to add a language barrier to that.

we're still going to visit soon, get more contacts, and maybe God will bring us there later.  but for now, the timing is off.

we're looking around Escondido.  anyone know anything about that area?  we've taken a trip down there already to look at a few places, but nothing yet.

I'm so anxious to have our own place (no offense to my roommies!) and finally be settled.  we will be down-sizing, so we're having a big garage sale soon.

what do you need?  we may have it for you!

Mexico

so I might need to learn spanish ...

we're talking out the all the possibilities of living in Mexico.  sounds crazy, right?

the plan is to move south, somewhere much closer to San Diego.  this will make hubby's commute for work a lot less than it is now.  and since we are trying to find a cheaper place, we thought, why not Mexico?!

for what we're paying now for JUST rent alone ($2500) we could have a very very nice house practically on the beach, all necessary utilities, a regular maid, landscaper/gardener, food in the fridge + eating out a few times/week all for the same price.  seems too good to be true, right?

other benefits:

our children will be bilingual

we have a church connection

the people and the culture

no strict rules/laws

the unpredictable:

no strict rules/laws

crime

still unknown and researching:

houses/neighborhoods

schools ... although I may still home school

immigration policies

hubby also was given a word about missionary work in Mexico some time ago.  he thinks there may be some connection to what's happening to him/us spiritually.  hhhhmmmmm ....

I took spanish in high school and do remember some of it.  I was never good at it though.  since we'd be just past the border a bit, most people will speak english I'm sure.  but I would have to learn it anyway, I can't be a hypocrite - I always thought all immigrants coming to the USA ought to learn the language here, it's the responsible and respectful thing to do.

I'll keep you bloggers posted ... adios!

love craigslilst?

look what I've found - kijiji.com

I check craigslist.com often.  I've gotten some great deals from there and some free stuff too.  if you're into bargain shopping like I am, you ought to check it out.  enjoy!

off with her head!

every morning before breakfast, Sam goes out in the backyard to make sure our tomato plant has no caterpillars on it.  it's his newest chore ... we had found 1 on grandma's last week, it was huge!  we had named him tomato jack, TJ for short.  the very next morning we found 4 of TJ's long lost relative on ours!  their called tomato hornworms; they're green with white stripes and a little horn for a "tail," and if you leave them alone, they WILL eat your whole tomato plant!

so anyway -

Sam says: "mama, there's a bird in our backyard"

me: "that's nice.  come eat your breakfast"

Sam: "he's laying on the ground"

me: "that's nice. come eat your breakfast"

Sam: "mama, you've got to see him"

we go back and forth for a bit.  you see, there are always birds in our backyard.  that's normal, right?  I try to tell him that, but he's insists I go.  so, I go ... and this is what I saw.

OMG!  where is his head?!  poof go the feathers ... but no head.

pigeons like to fly around on all the rooftops around here.  it's very annoying!  hubby gets upset and always says he's going to get out his pellet gun and snipe them all.  so I call him up, thinking he's guilty since he openly admits his willingness to murder them one day, I thought maybe today was the day.  he says "uh Katie, a pellet gun couldn't take it's head off!"  :)

I have no idea why only his head was missing.  the rest of it's body is in tact, no bloody mess or anything.  any theories?

the final phase

... it's called nesting, and I got it bad.  I've begun a cleaning/organizing spree that just isn't stopping.  it's partly because I'd like everything to be perfect for when baby Elliot comes home, but the other part is just because I KNOW nothing will get touched for ... who knows how long!

a couple things I discovered today cleaning my bathroom, maybe you can relate -

1. why are dust bunnies so difficult to catch?!

I was sweeping my bathroom for what seemed like an hour.  I can't bend over very easily anymore and so I'm trying to get them all together with the broom - near to impossible because they "run" everywhere!  which by the way, bending over is one of those things you don't know what you've got until it's gone; be thankful you have a waist and can bend!  I think I began to take this sweeping thing personally, it was very frustrating at the time.  stupid, I know.

2. why haven't women/wives protested years ago to make the men sit down and pee?  it AMAZES me all the little spots of pee I find on the walls surrounding the toilet.  it's gross!!  more than gross!!  all that pee is splattered everywhere.  if men sat down like us women, all the splattering would be in the toilet where it's suppose to be.  "the goods" are not THAT huge that they really need to stand up; it's total laziness.  it is apparently too much effort to pull down your pants every potty visit ... but could men do anything like a women, even for just 1 day?  probably not.  men are from mars and women are from venus, right?