My idea of a night well spent...

First off, thanks to my husband for realizing that I have had a big craphole of a day. He took care of the kids tonight while I holed myself up in the family room to watch some

and create two scrapbooking pages:

It isn't as relaxing as a hot bath with candles, or a massage, or SLEEP, but sometimes feeling like I have accomplished something (uninterrupted) is what makes me happiest. :)

Itchy Update

I am going to pull my hair out. I decided that Hazel was not allowed to go outside today. Somehow she still woke up from her nap with fresh bites (the count is up to 68 just on her legs). This is after I washed her bedding & sprayed her room with repellent! I don't get it. Maybe it's chiggers? And last night I coated her with Caladryl and gave her liquid Benadryl. It helped a little bit...she still woke up itching a couple of times, but fell back to sleep much faster. And now Owen has bites all over his legs!

And in response to everyone's loving advice- we put OFF on them every time they step out the door, plus use OFF candles, plus we have used up a couple of cans now of the OFF fogger spray around the yard. WHAT ELSE AM I SUPPOSED TO DO???!?!?!?

I am calling in a professional.

Itchiness

Lest anyone think I have exaggerated about the mosquitoes in our yard, I tried to take a picture of Hazel's legs this morning. This happened even though she had an OFF candle on either side of her head while she played outside. Can you say infestation?

Seriously- these pictures don't even BEGIN to portray the severity of her condition. Last night her legs were just two red, inflamed, itchy sticks torturing the lower half of her body. I feel so bad for her. I spent the whole night applying medicine repeatedly to her legs and laying with her so that I could hold her arms down to prevent scratching. Needless to say, my eyes were so puffy this morning, I could barely see, and poor Hazel is completely stuffed up from crying all night. It was horrible. Luckily my genius sister told me I should give her Benadryl tonight. Why didn't I think of that?!?! Wish us luck tonight.

On a happy note- this thing bloomed overnight! It really adds a nice touch to our otherwise drab back yard. :)

The park

Nathan and I were talking about how funny it is that we only moved about 5 miles away and everything about our lives changed! In Georgia, if you move five miles, you still shop at all the same places and go to the same ward and probably go to the same schools. Here, we have completely changed all the places we shop, Owen is in a new school district, we are in a new ward...even a new Stake! It's weird, but great. We are LOVING the area and Nathan has already started several sentences with "When we buy this house...." Um- I don't think so! But I have just been letting that go for now. :)


Just another thing to love about the area we moved to. There is this AWESOME park less than 2 miles from our house. It's gorgeous- it has great covered playgrounds, a huge pond, big grassy hills to climb, and lots of trees and grass...and it sits right in the middle of the city. The first couple of pics show the background. It doesn't exactly compete with Central Park (just like Phoenix doesn't compete with NYC), but it has that same contrast. :)

Owen's Chore Chart

We have been talking to the kiddos about their responsibilities in the family. We had a whole FHE about it. Of course, their main reponsibility as the children in the family is to obey, but that one isn't really working out for us on a regular basis. However, Owen has been doing a great job with his two assigned chores. He has to get himself dressed in the morning and make his bed. Sometimes he needs a little reminder, but for the most part, he has been really excited about learning how to make the bed and he has put his own spin on it. Here is what is looks like today. I love how he lined his animals.

WE MOVED!

Our 7th move in less than 8 years of marriage. Doesn't that sound like a dream!?!? :) But I must say that being in an apartment for 2 years makes you really appreciate the small things.

1. I have an undermount sink with a spray nozzle. I use that removable spray nozzle probably 10 times a day and want to giggle with excitement every time. Sad, huh?

2. I have a back yard with a fence where my kids (and apparently everyone else's) can play without me having to watch their every move.

3. This is Owen's new best friend, Zach. He lives across the street, goes to Owen's school and is the same age. Perfect?!?! By the way- don't be fooled by the patch of green on the ground. Those are rough, prickly weeds that I mow down and pretend that they are grass. The kids LOVE the jungle feel (complete with swarms of mosquitoes) of the back yard, and they own this side of the shed and keep all their outdoor toys in it.

4. I have a kitchen big enough to fit a table in (not to mention a whole dining room that just has boxes stacked in it right now).

5. I have a living room and a family room. This means I actually got to take all my Craig's list purchases out of my friend Bekah's house! FYI- I plan to paint and hang pictures and make it actually feel like a home instead of an institution...then maybe I will put some more pics up.

6. My kids have their own rooms. I can't even begin to list all the benefits of that situation.

7. I have a carport to park my car in so that it isn't 115 degrees in the car when I get in.

8. I live RIGHT down the street from Owen's school...can you say bus route (aka lazy stay-at-home mom)?

It's a quirky little house and there are MANY things I would change if I were buying it, but we feel like it is stupendous compared to what we have been dealing with. We have so much room to spread out and when we don't have to listen to anyone else's lives going on above or beside us. If that's not heaven, I don't know what is.