BUSY BUSY BUSY!!

Ok, so I know I haven't posted in quite awhile, but I've been super busy. As a matter of fact, my update today is going to consist of the reasons I haven't had time to update.

1. I have three two children and a husband. Nuf said.
   
2. I'm reading two books and yes, I'm reading them at the same time. I'm reading Scream-Free Parenting which is actually a really good book so far. And I'm reading Storitelling. It's a guilty pleasure so get over it. AND I'm reading my dad's second book and editing it. However, I haven't picked up any of these books in several weeks.
   
3. See number 1 above.
   
4. I'm working on a baby blanket for my sisters baby. Well, I intend to make a baby blanket. I haven't actually started it yet.
   
5. Have you met my family?
   
6. I'm working on a how-to/procedures manual type thing for work to make my life easier. This is a much bigger task than it sounds.
   
7. Thank goodness for BC. You figure it out.
   
8. I am planning my sisters baby shower for this Saturday. Yes I know. It's crazy to have it during a holiday week, but that's the day that worked.
   

In addition to these ongoing projects, I have stuff I have to do everyday. I get up at 5:30 a.m. every morning. I get Ereka up at 6 am and feed her breakfast. I pick out clothes for both kids and lay them out for Eric. If Ereka happens to be done with breakfast by 6:20, I help her get dressed. If she's dilly-dallying around, it's Eric's problem. I try to be out the door by 6:30. I am at work from 7 am to 5 pm. I'm home by about 5:45 pm and before I can even put my keys down, I get "What's for dinner?" If I'm lucky, I have dinner on the table by 6:45. Then I get to clean up after EVERYONE. Then I start getting the kids ready for bed. Ethan is usually in bed by 7:30. Yes this seems early, but remember, we rise early. Ereka is in bed by 8. By this time I'm too dang exhausted and have absolutely no interest in doing anything listed above. And I'm pretty sure somewhere in there I'm supposed to clean the house, do laundry and spend quality time with my family.

All of this being said, I finally started on a baby hat for Kandyce's baby and will hopefully finish it tonight. I am prioritizing and I figure I will get everything done I want to get done some time in the next 10 years.

I'm thinking I need to reorganize.

What's that smell?

Ok, so Eric made it through his procedure ok. He's still alive. Barely. I'm kidding. But he did tell me that he was in so much pain, he thought he was dying. He was a whole new respect for women who have given birth now. Anyway, it's done and not something he ever wants to experience again.

Now, onto the topic at hand. I received a catalog yesterday from Yankee Candle. I really love the smell of most of their candles. But sometimes I wonder where in the world they come up with some of those scents. They have just released their new summer scents and there were even some scratch and sniff's in the catalog. The first one I came to was "Ocean Water". Ok, not bad. I don't know anyone who really wants to have a candle that smells like ocean water because honestly, I think the ocean stinks. Then I came to the next one. "Dune Grass" Are you kidding me?! Dune Grass? Who in their right mind wants to have their house smelling like dune grass? Well let's scratch and sniff anyway. EWWWWWW. Excuse me while I go puke. I didn't think anything could smell worse than that. I thought wrong. "Fresh Cut Herbs" was next. The name sounded alright. Scratch and sniff. Double EWWWWWWW. It smelled like rotten grass. It was twice as bad as the dune grass. And I'm sitting here thinking, people want their house smelling like this? I'll stick with the Fudge Ripple scent. That one didn't even have a scratch and sniff. I assume that's because it probably smells great and people would buy that one instead of one of the nasty smelling ones such as "Beach Walk" which smells like moldy wood to me. Where do they come up with this stuff? You can click on this link if you're really interested in having your house smell like rotten grass or moldy wood.

Finished Packing FINALLY!!

And it only took about 10 months. I've spent the past couple of weeks rearranging, organizing, and cleaning the house. There are absolutely no more boxes in our house! I put everything I wanted to keep (i.e. old school awards, mine and Eric's diplomas, etc.) went into Rubbermaid containers (I could buy stock in Rubbermaid) and anything that neither of us wanted anymore either went into the trash or into the garage sale pile. I got our master bathroom completely organized so now you can actually see the countertop. I rearranged our bedroom and you can actually walk through it (so long as a certain someone keeps their clothes picked up!). All of this was a really big task and I feel so relieved that I have finally finished it. I'll try to take pictures later today and post them. I'm really proud of this accomplishment and anyone that has ever moved knows exactly how I feel right now.

On another note, Eric is having laser Lithotripsy done Thursday morning for a kidney stone. It's a non-invasive procedure where they use shock waves to break up kidney stones that are too big to pass. He has one right now that is 7mm. He's not in any pain right so that's good, but the doctor wants to get it out ASAP before it gets any bigger. So we'll be checking into the Kansas Medical Center at the butt-crack of dawn 5:00 a.m. on Thursday morning. Unfortunately, Eric will have to miss 2 days of work. Let me rephrase. Eric gets to miss 2 days of work for this. He has to be on an all liquid diet all day Wednesday along with drinking two bottles of magnesium citrate. But at least he doesn't have to have surgery to have it removed. Thank goodness for technology.

Both kids are doing great. Ereka's favorite phrase right now is "I don't want to live with you no more". Four year olds are so much fun!