A Few Clowns Short of a Circus

Blah it's Monday. I realize I don't have an out of home job, but I hate Monday's just as much as the next person.  Mostly because Sweet Husband has to go to work and I like having him home to help me with the kidlets. He had to go in today at 2 so he was home all morning with us. That was really confusing for the kids when he left. So now I get to spend all evening wondering what time he'll get to come home *sigh*.

Yesterday Sweet Husband, Slaten, and I went to the circus! Special treat from Honey! We had a great time. Slaten had this huge cheesy grin on his face while we waited for the show to start.

Hehe he looks so goofy. I love the circus. Every time I leave I find myself dreaming about being one of the girls that gets to ride the elephants or swings from the ceiling. How cool would that be?!? But one thing I've found about going to the circus is that I get really anxious and panicky feeling. I think it's because now I worry that those oh so tame tigers might snap and eat their leader in front of my 3 year old or that one of those dazzling ceiling spinners might plunge to her death. There are just some things I don't want my child to experience and one being mauled to death in front of him is one of them. So I sat there hands clenched, knuckles white, silently praying that those tigers would be good little kitties. As soon as they were back in their cages I could feel myself finally let out a breath.

Slaten said his favorite part was the horses. I personally like the elephants. I have to say I am thankful I don't have the job as pooper scooper though... that circus job didn't seem as glamorous to me. We had a blast. Slaten picked out a man on a "4 liter" (4 wheeler) as a souvenir. Thankfully he chose the cheapest toy I saw. They make a killing off of merchandise. $22 for a spinney light thing?!? Seriously? They sell those at Walmart for $5. It didn't even say "circus" on them... blew my mind. You could also purchase a big stuffed elephant for $100.... I don't think I saw one child lugging one of those around.

Well I better take advantage of this mommy time and do something productive like shower since Sweet Husband won't be home later to watch them for me *tear*. Hope everyone enjoys the last of these warmer days... cold will be back to greet us day after tomorrow *blech*.

Life is what you make it!

LIFE It's full of hard lessons. Filled with stupid mistakes, tears, and moments of sheer frustration. It seems like lately I'm being schooled on a big lesson called patience and contentment. At first it was a hard battle, but now I feel like I'm coming through triumphant.

Being a stay at home mom is a very rewarding job, but as you know if you're also a stay at home mom it can be plain hard. Endless hours of crying, fighting, and clinginess can take it's toll on you. Throw on top of that all the responsibilities of keeping a clean home and happy husband. Paying the bills.. ugh... paying the bills. Also the lack of adult conversation. Some days running away sounds very appealing. BUT I wouldn't trade my job for any other job in the world. I've realized for me what's important is being at home with my boys. I'm learning to be content with what I have and not dwell on what I don't have. Is it hard? Heck yes. I look around at those around me and think man it'd be nice to have what they have, but then I slap myself and remind myself what's important.

I have a house. Sure it's not brand new. It's not even completely put together yet, but I'm warm when I go to bed at night and my children have a roof over their heads.

I have a car. It's not fancy... no GPS system... shoot the radio doesn't even work, but it gets me from point A to point B.

I have food. Maybe I don't get to go out to fancy restaurants every weekend, but I can honestly say I've never gone hungry.

I have clothes. They're not name brand. One of the dresses I wear that I get the most compliments on came from Walmart for $3. And you know what? I'm proud of that.

I don't need fancy things. I honestly don't see the point in spending a lot of money for anything. Who am I trying to impress? Don't get me wrong if you have the money and want to spend it on nice things by all means! I'm just saying that for me that's not what's important. I'd like to say it comes with maturity, but I really think it comes from Spiritual growth. I thank God that I've been put through the hard times. It's helped me to grow and really appreciate everything I do have. (Which is so much more than a lot of others in the world). I refuse to keep up with the Joneses. That just leads to more frustration and fits of jealousy and let's face it.. Green's not my best color.

I hope to raise my boys with the realization that money isn't the root of happiness. My wish is for them to be appreciative of what they do have and if they have money one day I want them to help those around them who are less fortunate. Because let's face it, you can't take it with you when you die!!!!


So I realize this post is a lot different than most of my other posts, but as I sat rocking my baby it all hit me. I looked around and realized every piece of furniture in this house except our couch and love seat were all given to us. Most of my decorations are hand me downs or thrift store buys and I LOVE it! I realize my style isn't the norm, but I really am happy that I don't need to spend a lot to be comfortable in my home.

Here's a few of my favorite things in my house.

My kitchen light. Bought at a thrift store for $15.

My adorable tea towel from my sister in law and my cute towel rack from my mom.

My cookie jar bought at the thrift store for $3.

These were Matthew's grandmothers.

My keys and locks. Bought 50% off at Hobby Lobby.

Cully's room. The pictures were bought at the thrift store and the little shelf was made by my grandad. His room will be "Pirate" themed when we're done.

Cully's room. Dresser bought from the thrift store by my mom and stripped to match the crib, She also bought the mirror from the thrift store.

Cully's crib and chair. The crib was a gift when Slaten was born and the chair is a hand me down.

Slaten's stars bought from the ABC company for $6

My mirror corner. Two larger mirrors from Matthew's grandmother and the small one from my mom.

My desk in the kitchen. Most of the decorations are from the thrift store or Matthew's grandmother.

I love my lamps! They were Matthew's grandmothers and I think they are shabby chic!

Up close!

You're as Cold as Ice

So this week was full of a lot of poo... figuratively and literally. It all started Sunday with Sweet Husband waking up with a fever and feeling really bad. I took him to the doc in the box because I honestly didn't have the heart to take him behind the barn and put him out of his misery. We sat at the doctor listening to people hacking for too long for my liking. I wanted to retreat as deeply into my jacket as possible. I felt like the germs were just hovering around me Ek. The doctor came in and said he had the flu, bronchitis, and sinusitis. Fanditalitastic..... So he wrote him three prescriptions and sent us on our merry way.

As you all know the snow started that night. It was nice for a couple of days. All white and semi-fluffy/ hard as.. well... ice. Slaten and I went out to play on Monday. Matthew was under strict orders to stay inside. Slaten ended up throwing an ice ball at my face. Between that and his whining about not being able to walk, I ended up throwing his hiney back inside and playing out by myself for 3 hours. Now usually I don't like playing in the snow, but there was something about the calm of being outside that I couldn't resist. I gathered firewood and sticks for burning. Fed the dogs (something I never want to have to do again). I'm going to leave that job to Sweet Husband... I felt like a real mountain woman. My parents said I looked like a homeless person in my sweatpants and Sweet Husband's work boots. Gotta love being compared to a vagabond.

I ended up using our boogie board as a sled and quickly realized I'm getting to old for fun like that. I know what you're saying.. Kate, you're only 24... well after many years of sports my body thinks it's 40. Now I have bruises on my knees and a gnarly one on my thigh and all my joints feel like I was hit by a smart car. I'm not going to say Mack truck because that would be too much of an exaggeration. We ended up playing outside for 2 more days, but now I am so darn sick of snow. I decided on Wednesday I was going to venture to town because I was having an intense Taco Bell craving with a dash of cabin fever. It took me AN HOUR! A drive that should only take like 25 minutes round trip took me a dadgum hour. It was intense and I started singing "Jesus take the wheel" on more than one occasion. Thankfully I made it home okay.

On to Thursday. I called Cully's doctor because he'd been having bad diapers for 17 days straight. We saw the doctor last week and she thought it was a virus, but considering he's still doing it I began to think otherwise. While I was on the phone I realized he felt a little warm. So in to the doctor's office we go... Guess what?!? He has the flu. SIGH. We ended up with Tamiflu and a culture kit for me to go digging around in his diapers to bring back a sample.... Now if that doesn't sound fun I don't know what does?!? Sorry if you were eating, especially if it was chocolate *insert evil blogger laugh here*.  Then once we got home I realized Slaten was sick too. DOUBLE SIGH. Thankfully the tamiflu seems to be working. Cully was back to eating toilet paper and Slaten was back to smacking him in the face this morning. I took the poopy to the doctor and we should know in 3-5 days what's the deal with poor little Cully.

SIDE NOTE: I'm super jealous of all you people in the Pinson/Trussville area. All your snow is pretty much gone! Yesterday is was 36 in Trussville, but when I got up the mountain here it was 23. BLAH. Over it.

Wow so I had a lot to say today... sorry if this blog was a little too graphic for your liking, but hey being a mom can be a little graphic. Great. Now I want a candy bar....

Bats is Back, Alright!

Guess what people???? I'M BACK! I know you all missed me so much during my hiatus from the world wide web. I have to admit the first week without Internet was really hard. I felt so out of touch with the world and the people around me, but by week 2 I can't say that I missed it that bad. It was like a very deserved intervention was preformed between me and crackbook. I've come through feeling much stronger... we'll see how long that lasts.

So much has happened in the last month. I have been a busy little bee trying to get my family situated in our new home. I think most of the boxes are finally unpacked. Now I just need to sneak a few more things out to the trash/thrift store and I'll feel so much better. I'm usually not one to make "New Year's Resolutions" because I break them by February first, but I do come up with things I'd like to work on and this year organization is near the top of my list. I even went out and bought an organizing tray thing for my junk drawer how exciting does that sound?? Okay, to you it may not be, but for me I wanted to squeal with delight when I saw that all my pens and batteries now had a safe little place to live. Even my bills have a happy new home. It's fantastic. Anyway things are just feeling better and fresher.

The boys seem to be adjusting to the Cottage of Funk just fine. Cullen is now sleeping half of the night in his own room.. big step from sleeping all night in ours. He also naps in his own room too!! What a big boy! Slaten keeps saying he loves his new house, but he's not loving his new room. One thing about living on a mountain is there is always wind. He's not too use to the sounds, but I think once we decorate it to his liking he'll feel much better about it. I am loving the fact that their rooms are bigger now and can host all of their toys so that it no longer looks like Toys R Us vommed in my living room. We had to gut the master bath before we moved in and it's not finished yet so we're having to all share a small bathroom right now. That part has been the hardest for me. Mainly because I have an entourage every time I go to the bathroom for any reason. I do look forward to the days when they no longer follow me into the ladies room. That sounds so peeacful.. get it pee..aceful. Haha I crack myself up. *Nerdy snort*

So Christmas was a White Christmas this year. How cool was that?!? The boys loved it, but I think their daddy loved it more. Slaten got a 4 wheeler from his paw paw and they had a blast riding in the snow.. okay I admit it was fun. Other than the snowflakes pelting me in the eyes. Apparently it's suppose to snow a lot this weekend. Which if it's suppose to be 10 inches in normal places, what does that mean for us mountain folks?? I guess I should go buy my bread and milk this evening if there is any left. Really I just need milk because ours is old...

I wish you guys could see how beautiful it is up here. I really should break out the camera. Like right now as I type I'm looking out my kitchen window watching Leroy (one of the horses) walk around the pasture. The sky is full of big fluffy clouds and the trees are blowing in the wind. It's so serene here. Sunsets painted by God's hand to die for. Guess you can tell I'm digging my new place huh?

Well I could go on for hours about every little detail you guys missed while I was gone, but I don't want to cause naps this late in the afternoon. I must go I have to get ready for my hot date with sweet husband tonight. It's our first time out alone since May. Oh I'm so excited. Dinner and Walmart! Aren't you super jealous?? I really am excited that I get to hold his hand without having to tote a baby in the other though :)

Before I go I have to tell y'all something funny Slaten said. We were at Target and this little girl in line behind us was wearing a Tutu and Slaten said, "Why does that little girl have fur on her bum?" Haha I love that kid.

Here's some pictures! Keep in mind the Cottage of Funk is far from finished, but here's some rooms that are semi done.

The boys bathroom/main bathroom

Part of my Sunny Kitchen

Christmas snow

My sweet Cully and me

Sweet Husband and Slaten

My family