The "Look'

 

 

I have laughed and laughed over this picture. 

 

We went hiking at Rattlesnake and at the end we went and saw the lake.  We stopped here at this tree and took pictures and let the boys throw rocks in the water.

We also took pictures and so I wanted our picture taken.  So I believe my boys took this picture.

 

Could the look on our faces scream we are moms any louder?

 

Have a good night and a good start to your week! 



Hummingbird

I have lived at my house for almost 8 years this year and last year I finally started seeing Hummingbirds.  In years past I have put feeders out with no luck, it's very sad I know.  I put my new hanging basket up and I get a Hummingbird! 

So exciting!

I am trying to plant lots of plants and flowers that are butterfly and hummingbird friendly, I'm just amazing when I see one because the boys are so loud sometimes.  I will say though that when they see a Hummingbird they have the same awe and will immediately get quiet and watch them for awhile.

 

So here are my shots, nothing spectacular but definitely fun and pretty cool!

 

 

 

Water-logged

 

Ok, so I will try and explain this as best I can in my limited knowledge and memory. 

 

Back in late February and March if ya'll remember we had record rain in the PNW.  Let me show you where all 10+ record falling rain went!

Folks it went right under my house...kid you not!  I can't remember the gallons that were under there or pumped out, but it was a lot.  Basically 3+ feet of water (if I remember correctly).

 

Anyway, this all started  in February, our heat quit working and that was weird, we've never had that happen.  Well lucky for us we had a scheduled maintenance on our heat pump  coming  and of course before that appointment  the heat started working again.  Out of nowhere. *Like taking your car into see the mechanic because of a noise, then of course they never hear it* So the maintenance guy comes and we tell him what we experienced and he said he would look at everything.  And look he did, to the tune of several hundred dollars. 

Flash forward to end of February and our heat quit working again.  So I call our heat place and tell them what's going on and what happened last time. So a manager from the place  said he'd stop by and take a look see. 

 

He comes to the house and we get to talking and he asks to go under the house. So I take him around back .  I know the picture below doesn't show it but we normally have a board that blocks getting under the house.  So just remember that. 

So we get back there and there is some water in there in front of the board that blocks the crawl space.  Every so politely the guy asks me, "is there normally this much water under there?".  To which my reply is a very uneducated, "Uh...I don't know?"

 

So I take the board away and low and behold this what we found all under the house.  The fella was so impressed that he asked if he could take a picture.  Because you know you just don't see stuff like this EVERYday (infuse Bill Engval here)! I can't tell you how happy I was to be that person...thrilled!  He then informs me he won't be going under the house.  To which I respond with the fact that I just don't understand why! 

Honestly! Some people are just no fun at all!

 

It also crossed my mind several times that I was done being a home owner...I didn't want to be responsible anymore and I was good with that.  Now call the Landlord!

 

                        

BUT we did find out why our heat quit working...water was getting into the heat vents or hindering it by being soaking wet.  Those black things are the heat vents...yeah they quit working and for awhile we used our emergency heat, which is the equivalent to baseboard heaters.  Woohoo!  (I was thankful we still had a way to keep warm, don't get me wrong), but can we say Ka-CHING?

 

$$$$

                          

 The picture below is the middle of my house. That's a whole lot of water under my house.  Flash forward to May-ish.  I have been in contact with the city and such trying to figure stuff out.  I get a piece of paper showing me where the city drains are and where the drains are on my property.  Very interesting.

 If you look closely on the beam, I think it shows just how high the water got under the house, we were shocked! 

As it turns out, what we learned from that nice paper was that on our property is a really long drain, underground.  That drain not only takes on water from our property, but also the 4 other properties BEHIND us. 

So, to recap, the month of March had record rainfall to the tune of 10+ extra inches of rain that fell pretty much the first week or so of March.  Everything was water-logged and what wasn't being soaked up and drained down our drain was going underneath our house. 

Clearly we are unimpressed.

Back to when we first had to deal with this, we had two sump pumps going and draining into the city drain in a parking next to us.  We managed that for a day or two until the business said we couldn't use the city drain in their parking lot.  Uhhh ok, eye rolling, we then moved the hoses.  Moved them so the water drained down our driveway and down the road to another city drain. 

 Note to self, don't use city drain in a parking lot.It bothers so many people.

 

 Water has gone down as you can tell from this picture.

 Things are starting to emerge from the water.  One day while I was down there cleaning and getting a ton, and I do mean a ton of insulation out from under there.  I came across a knife, a spoon, and a wrench. I almost had a whole set of silverware! Goodness sakes.

 

It is now June and for the last month I would say it looks pretty dry down there, finally.  I think since March that might be the driest I have seen it.  I haven't actually gone down under to look...yet! 

 

I do know we have some trench digging to do and laying of drainage stuff to do and quickly.  Otherwise it could be a long summer (outside of the boys).  I am leery of using our AC during the summer if they strongly advised us to not use our heat pump during the winter/spring time while we were dealing with the water. 

 

 

Here's to digging up my yard! And putting up a side gate/fence ASAP!

*we are ok with putting this March behind us and never seeing it again!*

Pug-zilla

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Need I say more?

Slacking

I have to say this year has been the worst year yet in my picture taking, meaning I am normally very good about taking my camera everywhere but dog-gone these camera phones!! (and my laziness). 

So tonight I finally got around to uploading my pictures from my phone to the computer...seriously I forgot I took so many pictures...I haven't been that bad per say, but definitely not my norm.  I came across things I had totally forgotten about...treasures!

So here are a few of them that I came across:

 

A morning sunrise

 One of my new favorite pictures

 Kindergarten round-up for Eli

:/

 Yes momma?

 Hands down my favorite pictures so far of Dru and I desperately want him to grow his hair out again!!

 I don't see enough of this, need to see more of it!

 Mighty and our baseball player

 In my 2 years of hiking Mt. Peak I have come across snakes, bunnies, squirrels, woodpeckers and birds, and chipmunks.  One random day I came across this humdinger! Tried to catch it but I was out of practice.

 Looks best on me, now there is not fighting from the boys on who this DAWG belongs to!  Paulson house mascot! WOOF!

 There is a reason these dogs belong to us!

 Saying good morning to daddy

 Silly picture to made daddy smile...smile daddy!

 

I'm so glad I finally got around to getting these pictures up...I came across many more!

 

It's the last stretch of the school year, summer-itis has set in...well realistically Memorial weekend it set in.  Either way...I'm excited but I'm also approaching it with a slight case of trepidation.  It has been a rough road of late with them.  This parenting thing is something else, but I'm sure I don't need to tell people that.  (sometimes it's nice to say it out loud though)

 

Till the next time my friends!



Oh No

I'm sure you all have had a time where you've had to tell your kids to clean and do their chores...and if you haven't yet, well you haven't lived then.  It's the joy in my life to tell my kids every day to do their chores and to do this dance we do every day.  They say their bit and then I say my line...you know...the lines that sound like, "Because I said so"...

Sigh...well so goes my life every day, sometimes I switch it up and whine at them and scream and yell at the top of my lungs and go in my room and slam the door an scream and yell from behind the door  I even threaten to no longer make meals for them,  It phases some of the boy and others not so much.  The ones who are peckish it doesn't phase then so much.  I will say they do try...not whole-heartily though.

So in an effort to show the boys WHY we clean...because trust me I don't do it for fun.  They think I do but little do they know I could find SO many more ways to enjoy my time.  I clean because we have to and it needs to be done. Anyway, we were all sitting and watching TV when the show Hoarders comes on. Frank just flew by it and I told him to turn it back so I could show them.  It's sorta going well and I keep pointing and saying "See, THAT'S why we clean...that's why!".  We continue to watch the show and there is a part when someone pulls out a random chair and says why do you have this.  I point out again , why we clean because we don't need more chairs than we have a need for.  God bless my kids, Dru pipes up and says well if we had that chair we'd use it!  What if we need the chair mom?  I could have cried!  I looked at Dru and said SON!  No we can't keep the chair we don't !

After they were sent to bed I looked at Frank and said I'm a little scared about Dru and our kids, lol.  When in 25 years we have to have a conversation with Dru , we'll have already been warned by this moment.  "But what if we need this??".  Man oh Man!  Frank and I have been warned, just so you all know...a precursor, LOL!  I have chuckled over this a few times. 

As it was I don't think my experiment of showing the kids why or a reason why we clean worked.  Rather I think I showed them how to be hoarders...because they might need something so don't throw it away.

My life I tell you! 

I Have Needs

Good evening!  Just a quick post tonight because I've ran out of time and I seriously need to start getting to bed at a better hour.  Don't ask me why since school is out in less than 14 days...sorry if you heard that panic scream just now.  On top of all that the load of laundry I've been waiting on to get done just whistled it's little jaunty tune to tell me it's done.  Even thought it's a jaunty, happy tune I still hate doing laundry.  I think LG should come up with a new tone OR better yet let me upload wash tones or my own music...based off my moods relating to laundry.  I bet there would be a lot of Metallica and hard rock music on it.

 

Anyway, today has been crazy in a way.  Charlie decided to impersonate Houdini and run from our yard.  Shot out of the gate like a rocket...which he never does!  He has escaped before but from the backyard.  This time however he squeezed himself through a tiny hole when I opened our gate.  Thirty minutes later from jogging up and down a few streets just trying to keep eyes on him (and because we have the dumb dog) he runs up and down the middle of the street and I was afraid he would run right into the main road we are a block from.  Not a conversation I want to have with my kids when they got home from school.  Finally got him cornered down by where I work...lovely Charlie!  Ugh!  We have GOT to do something about keeping/kenneling him in the back yard at ALL times.  This is nuts and he's turning into such a cranky old dog!  Sheesh!

 

So chased after him, still managed to get a morning hike in, thankfully!  Tried to mow the lawn but got frustrated with that and stopped.  Not quite ready to be mowed again...maybe in a few days it will be that much drier and easier to mow...not any of this thick, wet clumping and stopping my mower business!

 

Sigh...after Charlie's jaunt and before mowing the lawn got a phone call about the Greats and that was/is a tad scary for all involved.  They are doing fine at the moment and that is good news!  Whew!

 

So what a day right? 

Or not

Anyway, I have a need to share with you my needed Awwww moment.  Today Eli had a Tball game and Lee jumped right in and wanted to help the coach out and Eli. So Lee was first base coach or helper for the majority of game.  He LOVED it!!  These moments or rare glimpses are what I wish everyone could see!  It is really hard sometimes for me to see past all his obnoxiousness and see who he truly is and I think a lot of people don't even get to see it and that makes me really sad.  This is who he really is, he loves little kids, always has.  He took such joy in helping and being there for Eli, being the big brother, and was bummed when I needed to pull him out, he wasn't impressed.   I need more of these moments with this kid!  I love him! At the same time I want to hug the stuffing outta him! BOYS!

 

 

 

I'm sure if you are FB and are friends with me, that you've seen this picture before.  It still cracks me up and makes me laugh.  I have some really weird dogs...starting with Charlie!  That dog has OCD I'm certain of it and is a squirrel chaser at heart and they are all around and taunt the poor dog.  Running along the fence line, hanging out in the trees that hang over our property...just out of his reach.  I'm convinced they do this on purpose and I'm convinced when they get cocky and bold he's on it and kills them.  We've stumbled on a dead squirrel or 2 since we've had him.  Guess he showed them.

Anyway, off to bed.  The load of laundry I've been waiting for to get done is finally done.  I can now switch them and head to bed!  Clean underwear for ALL!