Culver

I've been meaning to post about family camp since we went way back in August - but the task seems so overwhelming due to the gazillions of photos that we have.  To make it easier, and to leave it up to YOU whether or not you want to see all the photos, I'm just going to put a link up of all of the pictures.  There are a good 300ish photos - but they're pretty awesome.  A big thanks to my awesome sister in law, Mandy, for putting these together.

Click HERE if you want to immerse yourself in family camp fun.  

Here are a few of my favorites:

The brood

The floating lanterns

Ella with the velcro paddle stuck in her hair.  

Ella getting ready to jump on the bungee tramp

Maddie ready for the talent show

Water skiing

Boat ride

Flight Simulator

No hands

My monkey husband

Tubing - I haven't laughed so hard in years

Thanks again, Dad, for a second-once-in-a-lifetime trip!  

The Mouse

I have been living in fear for about a month now.  We had a little mouse living in a pile of wood by our garage - and with the weather being so warm - our back door has been open almost every day while the kids run in and out.

At some point the mouse found its way in.

This is not your typical mouse that comes out at night, hides in dark places, sneaks around and avoids humans.  Oh, no.  This mouse was RUTHLESS.  He was living somewhere in our kitchen, and would come running at me while I was making dinner or doing the dishes.  Then, every night around 9:00, he would just run amuck in our kitchen - dodging all NINE traps we had set for him.

I was terrified to go in my kitchen, and from time to time he would even come running into the family room when I was watching TV.

About three days ago I hit a breaking point.  I was doing my dishes and cooking while standing on a stool  (that'll really hurt your back), I was spending hours sitting on my kitchen table just WAITING for him to come out - only to have him come out minutes after I had given up, I even set up a video camera so I could figure out where this mouse was coming from, and how he was getting around all of the traps in our home.  Yes, pathetic, but it had become an obsession.  I wanted this mouse DEAD.  I actually wanted it alive, so I could watch it die while feeding it to our neighbor's hawk.  Pathetic AND cold hearted....I know.

Last night all of the mouse drama came to a head.  I headed back to my bedroom to get my video camera and wait for the mouse, but when I came back he was already out.  I watched him dart under the refrigerator - so I called Rob in for backup.

We decided that we needed to scare him into one of the sticky floor traps by getting him out from under the fridge.  It worked.  Rob stuck a fly swatter under one side of the fridge and the mouse came flying out in the right direction.  It saw the trap, tried to stop, but was already going so fast on the tile that he basically slid into the trap.  I was SO EXCITED....for about a second.  Then the mouse was squeaking and crying and totally stuck.

Suddenly my worst enemy looked like this in my mind:

This cold-hearted snake was broken hearted at the thought of anything happening to Gus Gus.  All I needed to do was give him little booties, a hat, and a too-small shirt, and he would probably be my new best friend. 

(Right now my mom is thinking, "Told you so!")

We knew we couldn't just release the mouse without finding him right back inside tomorrow, so we did what had to be done. SO SAD.

Well, apparently we slaughtered the world's purest mouse because today the universe has completely turned on us - seeking to destroy our lives the way we destroyed his.   Rob called this morning letting me know that his car (which we have been expecting to finally die) died on his way to work.  Great.  But that wasn't enough.  The universe also decided to kill my car while it was at it.  Two cars destroyed in one day.  All thanks to you, Gus Gus.  Why on earth did you have to be so darn cute once we caught you?!  

A Very Great Gram (but not my great-gram)

Can you believe this young lady is my grandma?  Okay, that part may be obvious...but would it shock you if I told you that she is about to celebrate her 98th birthday?  No, I'm serious.  Not only is she a knockout - she's also still as sharp as a tack...I'm talking Betty White status! Whenever I talk to her or see her she ends every conversation with, "Love you, dear."  I say I love her too, then she says, "Forever and ever.  Forever and ever."  If she is telling me this in person it's while holding both of my hands and looking me straight in the eyes.  It's just too precious for words. 

Love you Gram...forever and ever!

(PS...is there any question where I got my nose and chin from?!)  

Electronics Fail

My blow dryer is actually melting itself.

I don't know about you...but I consider that a bit of a design flaw.


Then again, maybe I'm just too picky!

Communication Breakdown

Last September when Rob lost his job I wanted to do everything in my power to minimize our bills.  I dropped my really expensive iPhone contract with AT&T, and got on a plan with some family members to cut the cost.  I was eligible for a new phone through Sprint, but at the time they didn't have the iPhone 4.  I thought for a couple of days and decided that spending $30 on a crappy droid was worth the money I could be saving for our no-income family.

Three weeks later, the new iPhone 4s was released, and Sprint had now been given the phone.  I slapped my forehead, and figured I'd wait until the iPhone 5 came out.  Anyone can suffer for a year with a junk phone, right?

Well, turns out anyone doesn't include me - apparently I don't suffer very well.  I have been checking iPhone 5 rumor websites since June and counting down the days until I could run over my already-cracked, charger-input-broken, tells me I don't know how to spell "cake" phone.  Remember the texting post I did way-back-when?

My computer is still on the fritz, and Rob has his iPad, and my phone Blogger is acting nutso...Nutzo? Nutso? My phone doesn't recognize either, but then again my horrendous autofill renames Rob Rib every time I Rupert it. Yes, I'm leaving that. From.now Ih I am going to leave eceeyring I type the way ky phone fills it Ih. Yes. My.phone thinks scary one of thaw words is correct. It's like.my autofill has a.mind of its own. Oh, and I am used to typing on an iPhone, zu every tune I try to press the space bar I end up hurting the period button. Anyone who texts me sees a lot if periods instead of spaces. The space bar is much wider on the iPhone, than on the Droid, so I always seem to miss it and hit the period button. Well that sentence went okay!! 

I won't type an entries post that way....so ill end it now. 

With one quick sentence...

I hate my Droid. 

So yes...back to the dilemma.  I hate my phone - and have been dying to get a new one since the day after I bought the old one.  

This morning I logged into my Sprint account - eager to get a new 5 pre-ordered.  I looked at my "cart" total - and there it was...a whopping $860!

WHAT?!  I pulled up some more info on my account and came to a screen that said, "GOOD NEWS!  You're eligible for an upgrade in only 286 days!" 

Ahhhhh, poop.

Meet....

Yoshi and Bowser!

Arrived August 31, 2012

4 inches, 2 oz

New brother and sisters are adjusting well.

Yoshi and Boswer were originally named Johnny and Greg, but there was constant disputing over who should be who - so Yoshi and Bowser stuck.

No....they don't gross me out, I think they are DARLING - and they require very little attention/care so in my opinion, they are perfect!  I don't even mind feeding them crickets.  I'm so mature. 

Life Unsweetened

I took the month of July as a month off of sweets - it was rough, but totally worth it.  It helped me to see how often I snack on sweet things, and that my sugar addiction really was quite ridiculous.  I didn't go off sugar completely - I still ate TONS of fruit, and there is always sugar in places you're not expecting - I just made sure that I didn't eat cookies, candies, cakes...any kind of treat basically.

One of my FAVORITE things to have to satisfy my sweet cravings was a simple smoothie:

One cup of VERY VANILLA soy milk, which is higher in calcium than regular milk (honestly - I didn't drink soy milk before this - but it is SO good...just make sure it's VERY VANILLA...it tastes like vanilla ice cream)

A handful to two handfuls of fresh blueberries (Hello, antioxidants!)  I'm sure you could use frozen, I've just never tried it.

A handful of ice (this makes for a thinner - cold drink, add more if you want it thicker)

Throw these three ingredients into your handy-dandy Ninja 

and blend to your heart's desire.

I'm sure there are some of you out there STILL gagging at the first ingredient, but I dare you to try it.  Seriously - melted ice cream.  If you try it, and hate it, I will then accept complaint comments - but I don't want to hear a peep from those of you who fear soy.

I'm sure you could also add a million other fruits - even some greens if you're interested, but I drank this same shake for breakfast almost every single day of my sweet-less month. I even whipped it up on a couple of nights where I just HAD to have something sweet.  It always did the trick!

I think I'm going to try this with a green-base once my bananas ripen up - and I'll let you know if how that works out. Because, by golly, I think I'm taking another month (gasp) off of sweets.  Wish me luck!

BDEM:  Yeah, I think I'll start this again...We took our new pets on the trampoline.  It was hilarious.  Guess now I'll have to blog about our new pets!