Raw footage

Per AMY's Request-  This one's for you! 

Have you ever had one of those moments that really scared you?  A moment that you realized you were completely UNPREPARED for the situation? A moment that you had to choose between your children or your Husband?  Well, for me- ALL these happened AT THE SAME TIME!

We went down to Quinn's Pond to watch Ben try out his new kayak  that he got for Christmas.  The day was beautiful - I was sitting on an embankment holding Blake, who had just learned how to crawl.  Mason was throwing rocks in the pond, as any 4 yr old should be! :D  Ben was paddling around, when he decided to try a roll....that is after all what we came here to do!  Well .... it didn't go quite as planned!  Start the LONGEST 6 seconds of my life.........

He didn't POP right back up, like I had envisioned him doing.  I was sitting there on the bank watching the underside of kayak twist and turn as if JAWS had a hold of it!  My mind went into overdrive!..... "What if he's in real trouble?"..."We didn't really come up with a Game Plan here!" ..."How long should I wait before I dive in there?"... "WAIT!.. I can't dive in there!  I'm on a 4 foot high enbankment that plunges into deep water with a very curious 1 year old who would follow me right in there!"..... "Remember that story of that woman who was swimming out to save her drowning husband when she felt a strong feeling to stop?...She turned around and saw that her teenage son had started to out to help his dad then he too began to drown...The woman knew she needed to save her child and let go of her Husband!"... "Sorry Ben!  I Love you , But....You're on your own!"...

It's AMAZING how much your brain processes in 6 seconds....But, SERIOUSLY this ALL went through my head.  Luckily, Ben was able to pull to cord and get out ok. We laughed about it right away of course, but I did inform him of my decision of the kids over him...which he actually agreed with!... And here's the lovely video of the whole thing for you all to enjoy! :D 

If you listen closely, you might be able to hear the expletive I let fly in the middle of it all! 

YES!.. I SWEAR when I'm under stress or REALLY MAD!

Peace OUT!



Eat your {heart} Out Pottery Barn!

I'm so proud of my Bedroom Redecorating project!  We recently bought a KING size bed!  ...WOOOHOOO does NOT cover it!  Let's just say that this thing has single handedly SAVED our marriage! HA! HA!  So we didn't need our queen size bed frame... enter Craigslist! :D And THIS is what we were left with!!!!

The BEFORE!... So sad!

Now I'm not trying to complain... but I was surprised at how depressed this made me!  I felt like we were tranpsorted back to the "college" years! Seriously, that is the only Lamp we have used for years- I'm ashamed to admit it! And not to mention, having a new baby- we...meaning I...just needed a sanctuary!  So I threw my whole heart into this knowing that $$$ was tight. Thanks to ROSS, and TJMAX I bought some "Grown Up" lamps ('cause DANG IT we've been married almost EIGHT years!), a new bed spread set and a GIGANTIC Happy painting!  I had a couple of window panes that I've been wanting to use in my home for  FOREVER!...  and the headboard.....IT'S AN OLD DOOR!!!!  That's right!... We bought an old door at our local RE-STORE/recycled home goods for 30 BUCKS!  We sanded it,  filled in the "peep hole", painted it and distressed it!  I'm VERY ELATED with the results-  It BOOSTED my soul AND was easy on my wallet!

TAAAA- DAAAAA!





Yup! .....It's a DOOR!!!



My New {BEST} Friend

Due to the extra laundry load that comes with an extra child, Ben and I decided to add a Laundry Chute! Yeah! It's something that we've been wanting to do for a while, but we couldn't quite figure out where to put it upstairs that would be functional, as well a... cosmetically appealling. Our upstairs isn't exactly screaming, "I HAVE FREE SPACE! Use me!" Our house doesn't even have a linen closet.... I would KILL for an ACTUAL linen closet!!! We knew that Mason's Bathroom was approximately above the laundry room so that made it and easy pick. However, again....not exactly ample in size by ANY means! We thought about putting it in the wall behind the door, but would need and extra 3-4 inches jetting out to minimize blockages and have a healthy flowing chute! Alas, that would mean we couldn't open the door... So that was out!

Then, during a middle of the night feeding, I HAD AN EPIPHANY! "Why not use the cabinet under the sink as our point of entry!!!" It's not like we utilized it any way! I'm sure I'm not the only one here, but I would keep the MOST random stuff under there!.... Half used bottles of lotions and potions from who knows how long ago...Shampoo and Conditioners that maybe had 1/4 of it still in it! WHY I was holding on to this CRAP... I DUNNO! I believe its a deeper psycological issue that MANY women have! HOLLA!! Anyway, I digress!...It was PERFECT! I was soo excited I ran and tackled Ben, waking him up, to share my ingenious new plan of attack! ....Was he as thrilled as I was at that moment?....NO!- but the next morning when he ACTUALLY woke up, I reminded him of how intelectually brilliant his wife is and he jumped on board! We figured we could even wrap up this life altering project in ONE weekend! ....... K- So it ACTUALLY took 3 weekends and our excitement might have fained just a little bit! :D We ran into set back after set back! This turned into a VERY customized job for the space we had available. Ideally, We would have LOVED to have the laundry exit into sometype of cabinet over the washer and dryer; however, floor joyces and the toilet prevented that... maybe the next house! Ben figured out how to work the entry door portion of it, the plumbing portion of it, the exit trap door portion of it and moved and rewired to electrical wires in our way. He cut and nailed all the boards, figured out the best "SLIDE" material, even painted and caulked to seams....I stood by for comic relief and made a MEAN glass of lemonade---BUT! Let's not forget WHO had the idea! Ha! Ha!

Exit box in Laudry room

Looking up at Mason who LOVES to help on laundry Day!

Normal looking Cabinet... Right?!

Open mode!  {heart}

Truly, this would NOT have happened without my Handy Dandy Hubby! I love him soo much and am in awe of his mechanical know how! This is one thing that has made my life a little easier and almost makes me look forward to Laundry day......ALMOST! THANK YOU BEN!!!!

Mascara Maheim!

Why is it SOO hard to find a good Mascara?!?!?!  It frustrates me to no end!!! I've got so many tubes of this stuff that I can't bring myself to use because I HATE them so!... This one's too clumpy... This one doesn't wash off.... This one wears off to quick.... This one drowns my lashes and makes them look like SPIDER LEGS!!!!  UGH! Enough!

I think I've finally  found my FAV!  It's Lash Stiletto by Maybeline***.  I like that it really lengthens without CAKING it on!  It washes off pretty easily too, no residual residue from the day before to mess with.  I'm excited to try their new VOLUMPTOUS Stiletto mascara when this tube runs out!  Try it ... Hope you like it!

Is there any fav you guys have????  DO SHARE!!!

***This is not a paid advertisement for Lash Stiletto Mascara....it just sounds like one! HA! HA! :D

Art in the sky!

Ever since we moved to Boise, we've heard about the incredible hot air balloon Festival.  It's sounded amazing!  Alas, the city canceled it (for whatever reason) that same year we got here!  And they haven't done it since!  ....UNTIL this year!  We FINALLY got to see it and it was MORE THAN COOL!  Really! ...A site to behold!  I couldn't put my camera down!  Everywhere I looked there was bright colors against the sky line.  We grabbed some McD's for Breakfast and a blanket and watched the balloons dance around the sky!  Truly, ONE of the coolest things we've done as a family!  And I can't wait to do it again NEXT year!!

"Look Mom! NO HANDS!"

Mason has learned to ride a two wheeler!!!  YEAH!  I'd like to say that we are awesome parents and felt it was time.... BUT, it's really because we are CHEAP!  His training wheels busted off and we didn't want to go buy new ones.  So we took him over to the park where there's ample grassy hills.... and well, we just pushed him down them!  And it WORKED.  So he now graduated to learning on pavement!  He did great!....Except for that ONE pole! :D 

Am I just an AWFUL Mom for posting this?! ...Actually- I'm thinking I'm awful because I can't stop laughing! EVERY time I see it!

Honestly, I expected to pack up the bike for good and Mason to cry the whole way home, NeVeR wanting to try it again.  But, to my surprise-  He got right back on!!!  THAT'S MY BOY!!!!