Balancing Bliss

six months home....and he's gone again

   brian left a few minutes ago.






   not before being goofy.





   and he managed to get a few tickles in so they don't forget how much he loves them.

almost forgot...

   we got to spend time with brians other sister carmen who is wacky, wild and we adore her. the kids love her and we look forward to living close.

   didn't forget ya carm

confirmed....

   we love spokane as much if not more than before. it is definitely where we want to raise our family. julie and cory were so welcoming. julie was a great hostess and we made ourselves at home. the cousins played and made bonds. love to see that. cousins are always a fond memory when we grow up you know? jules and i stayed up late chatting and cory and brian bonded over video games.  typical boys.





   it snowed a everyday we were there. sometimes a few inches and sometimes just enough to watch and feel the peace that snow brings. i am sure by next winter i will be singing a different tune!





  and what would a trip to spokane be without the visit to krispy kreme. this was my first krispy kreme experience like 5 or so years ago and a tradition. maybe even a 20% reason of moving there. love love love my glazed doughnuts. ate 6 before we left the store and a couple of more when we got back to the house. that will have to slow down when we move there! i make a total ass of myself every visit by being all touristy and taking pictures of the adventure.





   we spent most of our time looking at housing. the plan was to check out duplexes and rentals for when we first move over but i of course am in love with the idea of buying our first home. it's amazing what you can get over there. 4 bedroom 3 bath plus an office for $200k and don't forget that there is a full basement the size of your house that may have more rooms downstairs for guests or just a huge family/rec room. the houses also have huge lots like 1/4-1/2 acre lot. aahhhh in love. can't wait for the next year for us.

   until then.......i will make the most of having the ocean near by and my dear friends close.

hopefully on the mend....

so.....been a tad bit sick over here. i did make it in to urgent care after days and days of chills and body aches. they said they couldn't hear anything in my chest but decided to give me a chest x-ray because i was obviously really sick. well come to find out i had what is referred to as "white out" in my lungs, meaning that my lungs were so covered with "stuff" (even though i had not even had a runny nose) that they couldn't hear my breathing. when they showed me the x-ray, they pointed to a dime size black spot in my lung and all i could think is "nice for the two damn years i smoked when i turned 20 i got cancer!" but actually i guess it was all supposed to show up black in the x-ray and it was all white. okay enough said.......i have been ill like no one should.

beyond that.... the kids are taking advantage of my sickness by running around in their pjs playing video games and eating on their easter candy. it was a nice quiet easter here. we didn't even dye eggs or hide any plastic ones. however the easter bunny went a tad bit overboard with the candy. if i was not without any energy i would have stopped him. wow.  they also got webkinz which is a pet you take care of online. something for them to bond with their daddy i am guessing.

we are leaving for spokane tomorrow to stay at my sister in laws julie and her family. the kids are looking forward to it. i had been but considering i am still not even 75% myself.....mmm not looking forward to the 9 hour drive. we will be looking for housing for the kids and i to go ahead and move over this summer. that makes me happy.

pneumonia

enough said...........sure hope i spelled that right

out of the mouthes of babes...

   brian woke up yesterday early enough to be first in line @ target (6am) to get a wii. he just finished 5years of college and is totally deserving. not a negative word out of me. not even about the $$$$$$ he poured into it. i swear not a word. hehehehe

   i have been very sick over the past few days. so while the boys were at school i thought luci and i could try a game of wii bowling.

   luci girl got spare after spare and strike after strike. she rocks.

   i said "luci you are good at this"

   and she replied " and you are not mom"

   she went on to say "here let me show you how it's done" and she got a strike. our scores were 138 to 88. i am no bowler but i think that means i just got my ass kicked by my baby girl.

   i am sure there will be many of wii pictures in the near future.

good news

   brian finished his very last day of school at OSU! one final next week and he is an official computer nerd. computer science engineer actually. i am so proud of him. he never had the desire to go to college. he worked at home depot for 13yrs but when it came to raising a family he stepped up and got a degree. he is that man and i love him for it.

   the other good news is the flu has not yet killed me, although it has tried. it's not the stomach flu but the real deal. the one where your body aches, your skin hurts, fever, chills, stiff neck, and just miserable really. i decided to take a shower and warm my bones. it hurt to wash my hair. every second made me want to cry. then i realized that i was going to have to dry it and brush it. so i decided to do the ol' "rip it off like a bandaid and it won't hurt" move. i am sure it would be hillarious to watch.

   the other good news would be for my husband....i have no voice. my kids are getting away with murder because i can't yell up the stairs. i think they will take full advantage by evening. luckily they are slow learners. jk. they caught on when i tried to say good morning and not much came out.

   the bad news is for all the people i emailed because i am known as kati chats alot and i can only follow through by typing!

   have a good weekend everyone.

avoid the sade home today.... the flu lives here

  we are having a sick day. the kids always seem to get sick the week that they already have a three day weekend coming. by monday i will be ready for some quiet in the house but for now we are in pjs watching endless cartoons.

  eli blu turned six on monday which is breaking my heart a tad bit. we took him to the toy store in corvallis to pick out a toy and then to papas pizza. if that place isn't crazy enough on a regular day...add a girl scout troop, a brownie troop, another birthday party, and wait for it....special olympics! like 50 participants and their families. they fed off the energy in the place and my anxiety went sky high when a 6ft 4in man started circling the open fire pit over and over and over yelling. i used to work in a group home so i've seen much but that was just tooooo much in one place. eli blu didn't seem to even notice and we didn't have to have a birthday party so i guess it was a win win situation.    

and

here are some of the pics i got of gav that i promised.

   and            

  there are more to the left in my albums. i also added captions to those albums if you want to know why there is a photo of a light bulb on a hospital bed per say.

  OFF TO MORE CARTOONS AND BLAND FOOD

have you seen my mojo? it's missing

    so i am trying, which i don't like to begin with because creating should flow, and i just can't find it in me. i haven't been in my "studio" "scraproom" for about two weeks. i go in....get my shoes....look around.......and walk out. my fav blogs, two peas in a bucket gallery, old layouts, magazines......nothing is doing it for me. any suggestions?

    the coast retreat is coming up in a couple of weeks and i am getting nervous that i'm not going to get anything going. when i get on a roll, there is no stopping me. just can't find that roll lately.

    i had a little photo shoot with gav this weekend because i find i take more pics of eli blu and luci than him. for one he is gone at school all day and two he is a very difficult child who has been going through some anger issues which makes it awkward to get pics of him scowling. we had fun and he is such a ham until he got angry and scowled. i will post the pics later.

    oh and i am closing my uppercase living party for those who wanted to order anything (vinyl lettering for your walls and such)

    looking forward to some suggestions.......damnt someone comment    hehehe i mean please

what happens when you have sex with a computer nerd?

you





breed             





three               





MORE!

    how did this happen? last year when brian left for the first 6mo. internship I let nintendo into our home to keep me sane. the sane part is still questionable but the boys love for video games began. my dad gave them game boys for christmas. that is what they boys are doing under the blankets. our world might just open up to a wii this internship. hey at least you get off your bum and move for that!

    brian had hopes of taking me over to the tech. dark side with him since i started blogging but umm ya that isn't going to happen. i still prefer to hand write letters and i keep at least 4 journals going at all times. then again never say never because i wasn't going to go digital ever either. i loved my film that is until he left for graveyard one night, leaving the new digital camera and i alone together. i totally had an affair on my old camera. there must be 50 pics of luci sleeping that night. i chased the old cat around our house taking pics in different modes. poor thing 14 years old and i'm flashing her in the eyes 100 different ways. anyways.........i think i will stay an old fashioned girl and just "play" with technology when i feel the need.

    if you ask my husband what you get when you have three kids with me it might be this......

  oh how true. (thats a fruit salad from last nights dinner) i am actually blogging the conversation we had yesterday. hehe

i have had two different therapist (doesn't that say it all?) who have described me as "colorful". telling me that i add much color to my family and bring that into my friendships. i can only hope that is true and took it as a total compliment.