Hi.

I'm stumped, Folks.
Bloggers block, if you will.
There's things to say and stuff to report, but it's just not comin' to me.
Soooo, a ramblin' I'll go.....

• Who says country life is "slower paced"? Not this girl!! It's a myth. A lie. Maybe when the snow flies? I'll get back to you on that one.

• We are OH SO CLOSE to finishing the bathroom down stairs. Can I get a WOO and a HOO?!?!? I am so excited about this on so many levels. Yay for two toilets, two showers, and two getting ready spots! Yay for the absence of the big mess of construction in the family room! Yay for me not asking Mike how much longer he thinks it will take!

• We plan to have a Family Home Evening on 'New Bathroom Rules of Usage'. It will include a come to Jesus talk about how not to ruin our nice new bathroom, Mike will be leading the discussion--- should be fun. (Grant is calling it our "toilet respect talk") Hey, as long as the night ends with a treat...we're all happy, right?

• We have 2 new members of the family.

Am I crazy? Maybe.
Do I know that living on a farm there's a darn good chance that mice will be a problem in the winter?
Uh, der...ya I do.
Do I hate mice?
Do I really, REALLY hate mice??
More than I can say.
It's a lot.
A whole lot.
Are these two little cuties going to help me sleep a little better at night?
Absolutely.
Allow me to introduce our two new best friends,
doing what they do best during the day (napping)...

Black Bart.
Chosen and named by the boys.

And Ginger Ale.
Chosen and named by the girls.
A.L.E.
stands for Audrey, Lucy, Elsie.
Cute name, huh?

• Grant's 5th birthday is tomorrow. Five??? How can that be? It feels weird. Just weird. I don't really know that I am ready to have my youngest be five. Thank goodness he didn't go to kindergarten this year. I would be a disaster.

• I'm breathing a little easier today. I had to speak in church yesterday. AGAIN. I've already spoken once since we moved here. So that's twice since June! I actually don't mind speaking, it's just always nice to be done with. The first time it was with Mike as new move ins and this time was because of my sorta new calling--been there 6 weeks. Oh, did I mention my calling?? Ummm, that would be Young Women's President. I know! What the What!?! Stop laughing. So far so good, I'm actually really liking it (even though I have a deep dark fear that I am somehow doing something horrifically wrong and I may be given the boot at any given moment...someone will wise up and say,"Hey, who put the crazy lady in charge?" and out I'll go).
  

• Because I know you have all been losing sleep over the 'Green Towel Conundrum', I'll give you an update: It was the strangest thing....I posted that little tidbit on the old blog, and viola, problem solved. No more wet towels folded on the shelf. So, what have we learned here Students? Shame and embarrass your children into obedience. Publicly announce all those little things your loved one's do that just about make you crazy--put it out there on the World Wide Web for all to see--and Ta Da, the problem fixes itself. I know, I'm a genius.

• And since I seem to be on a roll with the whole 'post it on the blog and it shall come to pass' thing....let's all send some positive vibes out there to the universe regarding Mike and a job. mmmkay? Thanks. (After nearly three years, dirt poorness has lost some of it's charm. Strange, I know.)
  

Peace out, Amigos. Peace out.
:o)

And their off....

Who loves school time???

Me! Me! Me!
I do! I do! I do!

Oh, and so do these kids here.

In our line up today
(okay, it was really a week ago--I'm a little slow at blogging)
we have the sweet and beautiful third grader, Miss Elsie-Girl.

We have the gorgeous and always entertaining,
fancy pants Junior High going
(sob, how can that be?)
sixth grader Lucy-Goose.

Next up is the breath taking, talented
long legged beauty herself,
Audrey.
She is gracing the 8th grade this year.

And last, but certainly not least, we have the ruggedly
handsome, too big for his britches, guy who started school
on his 16th birthday, sophomore, the amazing Adam.

The bus (or as I like to call it: Mom's Big Yellow Ticket to Solitude)
arrives at 7:15 and returns and 4:25.
Count 'em up my friends...
that's 8 hours and 10 minutes.
Fan-diddly-tastic!

It is an early long day,
by Thursday we are all glad to have Friday off.
That's how they roll up here.
School is just four days a week.
So far, we like it.

Good bye, Big Yellow Ticket to Solitude.

And, in other news...

We finally ran our BIG race.
The Top of Utah Half Marathon.

Couple things:
* This is the only picture, so enjoy.
* It was a hot day.
* I actually really liked the course, running down the canyon was fun.
* Now that I've recovered, I may consider doing it again.

***

Food storage is big here.
This ward is full of the most organized food storage people I have ever seen.
Imagine my joy to know that chocolate chips are considered a food storage item.
These are my kinda people.
How does thirty pounds of chocolate chips sound?

Good? I thought so too.
Am I a happy girl?

Yes. Yes I am.

***

And, finally, I would like to close with a little something I call
THE GREEN TOWEL CONUNDRUM.

First, a little background.
We are currently a one bathroom household.
The downstairs bathroom is in construction.
Now, as you know we are a family of seven.
Besides the obvious issues of one bathroom and seven people
there is the not so obvious issue of wet towels.
There is just only so much towel rack space, ya know?
So, seven towels is about all there is room for.

Last year Santa
(because Santa is a beautiful genius)
gave everyone their own special towel -this way no one needs to wonder if
"SOME ELSE USED MY TOWEL!"

On with the story.
See this green towel?

This green towel is NOT one of the kids Santa towels.
Nor is it a towel that Mike and I use.
This green towel is a guest towel.
Well, why on earth would I have it hanging on the banister
and not put away folded nice and neat on the shelf with the other guest towels?
Why is it not sitting on the shelf looking cute, doing it's job?

See how lonely that other green towel looks?

Here's why.
Because EVERY night this green towel ends up wet, folded (sorta) and put back on the shelf.
While the mother in me cannot over look the slight amount of joy I
feel about some one actually folding something and putting it away, the freak
in me is trying to control the freakness over
DO NOT FOLD WET THINGS UP!
Mildew, people.
Mildew.

And, the really REALLY crazy thing is...
none of my children are doing this.
I know because I asked each of them.

So, I guess until this towel learns
how to stay dry folded neatly on the shelf
and behave the banister is where it will be.

The Green Towel Conundrum.
It's a quandary.