How’s this for a Day on the Farm…

It was bedtime (10:20ish) and I let Lady (Micah’s dog) out for one last trip before bed and Kurt and I went into the bathroom to brush our teeth. Lady came busting back inside, which she does occasionally. Didn’t really think much about it. While I’m brushing my teeth, she went running down the hallway and then back and that’s when I smelled IT! Holy cow was it something! I came out of the bathroom yelling at Kurt over my shoulder that Lady got sprayed by a skunk and when I came to the edge of the living room - there she was - ROLLING ON THE COUCH!!! AARRRGGGHHHHH!!!
Yes folks I said On The Couch. I yelled while toothpaste came spewing out of my mouth (first mistake - she’s very sensitive), so she ran upstairs. She got up on our bed - yes, On Our Bed!!
Then I got her to come downstairs - after that is a little blurry for me - the fumes were getting to me by this point. I think she went outside, but then Kurt let her back in after he was convinced it wasn’t skunk but some bizarre, alien smell - possibly burning rubber (yes, that mixed with skunk and oh, I don’t know - maybe pooh) Are you feeling this yet? If anyone has ever smelled fresh skunk spray you know what I'm talking about here.
So now she’s back inside - but where? I find her on Micah’s bottom bunk - I can’t yell at her because then she’ll piddle, so somehow she ends up somewhere else. My eyes are tearing and my sinuses are burning by this point and I’m not sure where the dog is quite frankly.
I go looking for her - speaking oh so kindly, but she knows she’s in trouble so she’s not coming out from wherever she is. I finally find her under Kailey’s bed and let Kurt know so he can pull her out. Then Kailey wakes up wondering what we’re doing on her floor in the middle of the night. We explained what had happened and she said she wondered what smelled like skunk as she drifts back to sleep!?! Children just don't get caught up in the troubles of this world do they?
Then into the tub goes Lady while my wonderful husband bathes the stinky creature. I stood by, ever so supportive!
So, now I have an industrial size bottle of extra strength Febreeze that I walk around with all day spraying anything and everything. So far the skunk smell is winning on the couch. The smell is less, but as we all know, that stuff is potent and long-lasting. Kurt says “At least we weren’t planning on having company over this weekend.” Yup, that’s Kurt - the glass is always half full in his world!
Then to add insult to injury, this morning while I’m drying my hair Micah comes running to the bathroom and yells for me. He says Maggie (Kailey’s cat) has pooh on her bottom that didn’t come out the whole way and she’s dragging it around the kitchen floor. I came running out and tell him to get Lady out of the kitchen ( I don’t want to go into detail as to what she was doing) and take her outside. Maggie is nowhere to be seen but I can see where she’s been!! Well, now I have a sanitized kitchen floor and am becoming addicted to Febreeze!!
One last note: Later today Kailey asked if she could bring one of the chickens in the house. I said emphatically “NO!” and asked her if there was any doubt about my feelings on the subject!?! She and Micah both said there was no doubt whatsoever and they would never ask me that again!!

So, how was your day??

Alaska Trip

I couldn't possibly do justice to our Alaska trip in one post so I will probably do a few posts over the next couple days to hit the hightlights and put some pictures out there.
The slide show I did today was our first day in Denali National Park. We spent the day roaming around and getting familiar with our little corner of the park. We stayed at Riley Creek campground in the park and these pictures are from the campground and Riley Creek. It's not like our 'creeks' around these parts that are like little babbling brooks - in parts it's more like a raging river - and COLD!!! But of course as you will see from the pictures - Kailey had to get in!! Kurt was going to go with her, but he quickly decided against such foolishness! The rocks were too sharp for his feet - but not Kailey - she has little country girl feet - rocks don't bother her. The water was 34 degrees and her legs were bright pink by the time she got back out. By the way - she's the only one who didn't get a cold while on this trip - maybe she knows something we don't...??
Enjoy the show...

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

Last night I stayed up late to watch the men's 4X100m relay. I was not dissapointed!! That was the most amazing race I have ever seen. Maybe it was the hype that led up to it - France's team doing all that trash talking, Michael Phelps being a member of the team - whatever the case may be - THAT was a GREAT race!! I don't know how to spell the swimmer's name that was the anchor of the team, but man was he in the zone. He started his turn in the water behind the french team, and in the last 25 meters, he pulled up and then by the length of his fingertips - he pulled out a victory and a gold medal win for the American team!!! The commentators were naysaying the entire race "The team from France are highly favored, America can't win this one, I just don't think they can win this one, They'll probably get the silver medal, blah, blah, blah" - In the end it was all talk - and the actions of those athletes spoke louder than any words!!

I could only find the final leg of the race to post but it is worth watching. Hope you enjoy it


As I was typing this it got me thinking about the press and how they talk, and what they talk about. We can't believe what they say folks - they have an agenda that we as Christians can't be a part of. We have to make decisions based on truth and act on those decisions. Don't let the press get you down and have you believe that this country is done/finished. We must be diligent in our prayers. We must stand strong in our convictions. Remember, God is in control and it is Him that we serve.

Summer stuff

Hey out there - I’m still alive and kickin’ in case anyone is wondering!

I was actually checking out the blogs today and saw my site as the next to the bottom on everyone’s activity lists because it has been over 2 months since I last posted. That is a crime and I had to take action!!

Our computer was on the fritz last week, so we had to re-do everything, excuse me, I mean EVERYTHING!! My e-mail address book - gone, my favorites - gone, my picture software stuff - gone! It’s like starting over. I was going to do a post with pictures or a slide show - nope - not gonna happen anytime soon - gotta redo all that too. If any of you would be so kind as to send me your email address so I can get my book back in order - that would be great!

As to what we’ve been up to…

We finished swim season - Go Barracudas!!
The week after practices were over, I was so optimistic about my schedule. Since we didn’t have to get up early and go to the pool every day, I had such grand plans - still get up early every day and then fill the day with cleaning, organizing, exercising…. Well, not much of anything happened last week on any of those fronts. But this is another week and I am bound and determined to make up for last weeks lazy-ness!!

I would be remiss if I failed to mention how proud I am of my children and their swimming abilities! Kailey would’ve gone to State as the #1 seed in her age group in the 25 yd backstroke!! Unfortunately, we had other commitments and couldn‘t go to state. Micah had extra lessons (in addition to daily practice with the team) from Rachel G. and he became an amazing swimmer for his age!! He tried to teach me breaststroke the other day and let’s just say I need some more lessons. I highly recommend Rachel for swim instruction! She is a great teacher and a great coach.

We are gearing up for our trip to the Last Frontier - Alaska! We will be going on the 16th of August. I’m getting so excited. If anyone has any suggestions for road trip/ plane trip ideas for the children - please send them my way. These have to be pretty small/pack able ideas - we are only allowed one suitcase and one carry on. We have a 7 ½ hour plane trip to fill up (both ways) and then lots of time on the road when we get there. I’m not a very creative person and would appreciate any helpful ideas you can pass on. If I were a techno-savvy person, I would love to post from our vacation and fill everyone in - I love reading posts from people on their trips - it’s like we are all there together. Any tips on doing posts from exotic locales??