Around the House and Another Impulse Purchase

My little buddy and I do a lot of hanging out together with the other three kids in school all day.

I could not love him more.

I couldn't resist this photo.

This is how he fell asleep one night.

He would not let go of his beloved pinwheel that Josh made for him.

These d@*% beads are taking over my life.

But the kids sure love doing them.

(And I admit, even I have joined in the addicting fun)

But, oh my madness!!!!

I have to pull out the vacuum every other half hour!

On a completed unrelated subject, 

Have I ever mentioned that I am THE WORST impulse buyer in the world?

No?

I am.

The. worst.

You can read another impulse buying experience here.

In the last 3 months I have bought 5 (FIVE!!!!) rugs and no fewer than 3 of those were for under my kitchen table.

First I bought a gray one with black and yellow dots that I liked better in the entry.

Then I bought a cream and gray one. 

I loved it, but then I was out shopping and I spotted an area rug that was 6 X 9 feet.

I have looked EVERYWHERE for a rug larger than 5 X 7' (it just doesn't quite fit my table and the chair legs are always hanging off the edge)

As soon as I saw this, I HAD to have it.

I felt so self-loathing as I was buying it, bringing it home, and putting it under the table.  
What is wrong with me?  I have absolutely no control.
But then it looked so perfect that I forgot all about that nonsense.

It fits perfectly and I love the colors.

What was I thinking with a cream colored rug under the table where we actually eat anyway???

So, anyway, does anybody want to buy a practically new 5 X 7 (it's actually 5 1/2 X 7 1/2) for a very discounted price?

Or any of the other entire room-full of home decor stuff I have in my basement?

I need to have a garage sale.

Halloween Decor

Fall is my favorite time of year.

Except for Disneyland time. :)

This is the time of year where my house is transformed.  I put away a lot of my regular home decor for 4 months and bring out the fall/Halloween or Christmas decorations.

Wahoo!   

Side table in the kitchen area

Entertainment center

Kitchen island centerpiece

I replaced the lemons with pumpkins and acorns.

Entry way

Another part of the entry

All lit up at night

(My camera has a nighttime setting, but I didn't realize that until just now as I was loading pictures on the computer.)

 I put a garland, orange lights, some pumpkins, etc. on my mantel

 My favorite part:

The front porch

This skeleton head is seriously scary for the little kids in the neighborhood.

It has sound effects (lightning, thunder, and an evil laugh) and flashing red lights in the eyes.

*Funny story:  My cute 6-year-old niece came over to my house a couple weeks ago.  She walked in and said, "Amy, how come you, um, always like decorate and change your decorations and it's, um, like only September?"

"Because I'm crazy, Katermelons!"  (That's my nickname for her.)

Then she laughed and nodded because it's true.

Happy Halloween!!!

This Could Be Long...

I've been thinking about doing this for awhile, but I've been afraid of sharing/exposing a little too much about myself.

But the title of my blog is NOT an exaggeration.  

Am I right, Jeff?

(Poor guy has to live with me.)

And I think my blog title deserves at least one post.

While listing ALL my fears would take the entire rest of September, I've decided to just list my top 70 or 80.

Just kidding!

How about the top 10?  (Maybe more--I may not be able to stop once I start.)

1.  Drowning

I have a recurring nightmare where I accidentally drive my car into a lake/river with all 4 kids and I'm paralyzed by the decision of which kid I should save first.  

I don't love taking my kids swimming.

I'm a nervous wreck when we go to the beach.

2. Flying

We drive whenever possible.

I have to take really, REALLY strong anti-anxiety meds when I do fly.

3. Cancer (or any other terminal illness)

Did you know that EVERYTHING causes cancer?

EVERYTHING!!!!

Canned tomatoes, microwave popcorn, cell phones, plastic (especially when microwaved), non-organic food, organic food, soda, aspartame, white bread, food, water, air, candy (NOOOOOOO!!!)

You get the idea.

And I'm terrified of one of my kids getting a long-term illness

4.  Throwing up

Weird, I know.

Trust me.  NO ONE hates to throw up more than me.

I have a very long list of things I will and won't eat for fear of getting food poisoning.

I live in daily terror of contracting gastroenteritis (stomach flu).

If I get even the slightest bit nauseous, I start in on a real panic attack.

I probably wake up once or twice a week in the middle of the night in a sweat that I'm about to throw up.

Yeah, this fear is bad.

*Short story:  I contracted Pertussis last summer.  Worst cough I've ever had and it lasted 4 full months!  In the middle of that, I got the stomach flu.  Both ends.  Simultaneously.  I passed out in the bathroom.  I lost 7 pounds in 10 hours.

I would RATHER go through the 4 months of incessant coughing again, than do the 10 hours of barfing.

True.

5.  Fire

We have a fire drill  and/or review in our house about once a month

6.  My kids choking

I make all of them practice doing the Heimlich Maneuver.

They DO know the universal sign for choking

7.  Dying

Me or a loved one

In any of the aforementioned ways.

Mortality is fatal.

We are all going to die.

Don't get me started on this line of thinking or my day will be ruined.

8. Public Humiliation

I'm mostly afraid of having an anxiety attack/fainting/vomiting in public. 

I make sure to sit where I can exit quickly.

This is why I hate planes.  THERE IS NO ESCAPE!!!!!

9.  Panic attacks

If you've never had one don't judge.

If you have, I feel your pain.

They are right up there with throwing up/dying/drowning/choking.

I feel like I really am dying but at the same time, I want to die to end to agony.

They are nightmarish. 

10.  Something happening to Jeff

I definitely could not cope by myself.

Hell, I can't do half the things on the computer without his help.

If he died, I would die shortly thereafter from pure incompetence.

Not to mention, there is not another soul in the world that understands me better than he does.

AND, I think he still likes me.

I think.

11. Car accidents

12.  Germs

13.  My kids getting hit by a car

14.  My kids getting kidnapped

15.  Confrontation

16.  Depression

17.  Enclosed spaces

18.  Terrorist attacks

19.  Crowds

20.  Sharing too much information  :)

Whoops.  Just did.

Oh well.

Who knows?  Maybe these are all typical fears and I'm just pretty normal.

Probably not...

Peach Days

I did not know what-in-the-world Peach Days was until I married Jeff.

It's a big deal in Brigham City.

I wish I had more pictures but I forgot my camera (we had to wake up EARLY to be in Brigham City by 10:00 a.m. for the parade.  I was running late, as usual.)

So, all these pictures were taken with my phone.

Here we are at the parade.

 J's face is priceless.

My kids loooove their cousins.

Lucy and Meg playing in the hallway at Grandma & Grandpa D's house.

Maddy, Sadie, Sam, and Adin in the corner.

I love this picture.

Jeff's parents and all 6 siblings.

L to R standing:  Wendell, Brian, Chris, Greg, Kimberlee

L to R sitting:  Kathy, Jeff, Mike

I made my usual trip to the fruit stands for fresh peaches

and

to Idle Isle for the world-famous chocolate-nut-covered-penuche-ball-things

(Dang!  I can't remember what they are called, but they are gooood!  And they really are world-famous!)

Candy Addiction

I have a problem....

In addition to my usual candy jars, and while looking for yet another spot in my kitchen to store my Nummy Cubby Bears that I purchased at Peach Days in Brigham City (the ONLY place you can find them, btw), I realized that I am running out of spots to store/hide my candy.  

This is all CURRENTLY in my kitchen as I write this.

Not shown:  Bowl full of taffy in the cupboard to the left of the sink.

1 lb. box of assorted See's Chocolates that I finished off a couple days ago.

Intervention anyone?

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!

That IS how you spell it.

I checked. 

And I REALLY want to learn the moves they did to that song.  It was so cool.

We had a super fun girls' night out.

The Cheesecake Factory and the show did not disappoint.

But I'm sick today.  Too much cheesecake.  

A Week of Randoms

Here are just a few random photos from this last week.

We are back in a good school schedule.

Football season has started (about the only sport I like to watch).

The weather is fantastic.  No more heat waves.

Life is good.

Dinner in Nana's backyard.

 Jake is playing flag football this year.

He absolutely loves it!

I told him to try flag football this year, and if he really likes it, he can try tackle football next year.

Sam and Yale

Sneak peek at fall decorations.

Right now I just have "fall" decor out, not Halloween decor.

I'll post pictures when I get the Halloween decorations out.

I just think the neighbors will think I'm crazy for putting my giant talking skeleton head and my lighted Halloween tree out on my porch when it's the beginning of September and we are still swimming in the pool.  :)