Well, we're on our way to Maryland. We made it through security and now we wait. And wait. And wait. We were just notified that our flight has been delayed by an hour, yippe! Just what we wanted with five kids. At any rate. I'll be back in a week. See you all then!

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This week we took the family camping. What an adventure that was for the little ones! They were talking about it for a week before we finally went. Frank was away at Scout camp, so he couldn't make it, but we had a great time anyway. Our friends own a campground just outside of Estes Park, CO, and we go once a year for them to see all the kids. It's just beautiful. If you ever come to Colorado, check out Drake Campground on the Eastern side of Estes Park, (shameless plug!) Here's a pic of some of the bunnies that they were letting the kids pet, (Oh great, now they all want a bunny for Christmas...)

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And here's a pic of a tributary to the Big Thompson River. It runs right through their property and into the river which is just a few hundred yards downstream. Just upstream from where this pic was taken is a campsite pretty much right on the river. We stayed in one of their cabins, but when the twins are a little older I hope to camp there. It's one of my favorite spots in the whole place.

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Oh, and as for the title of this post... We were enjoying a nice dinner, watching all the bicyclists entering the park heading West, (Colorado is big for bicyclists. We get some world class riders coming here to train, but I digress...) when suddenly my Honey sighs and says, "They're going the wrong way, France is that way."

And so it goes. :-)

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 Because I was asked...

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  Okay, so she started out pink...

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 And is now purple. Her hair is a little faded in this shot, due to the chlorine in the swimming pool.

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 However, you can see the color pretty well in this one.

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Yeah! Our wonderful computer guru was able to recover all of our data, back it up, and put it on a new hard drive for us. I was beside myself thinking about all those pictures that I had yet to back up to cd.

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Like this one of the twins in their train hats they received on their third birthday.

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Or this one of my daughter at her 8th grade awards ceremony, (looking cool in her purple hair,) where she received some pretty impressive honors.

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 What about the time her class won a $10,000 Best Buy educational grant and split it with the Broomfield's Veteran's Museum?

Well, this is starting to turn into one of those blogs where I post a bunch of pics of my kids, and it's getting late... So I'll get to the point. Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! If anyone in CO needs a tech guy, we'll be happy to recommend ours, ten times over!!

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It's been almost a month now, and I'm still in love with my clothesline. I have no idea how much our electric bill has dropped yet, but I think it may be saving us as much as a dollar a load. With seven people in our family, that's a lot of greenbacks! I think we may save the equivalent of a tank of gas a month!!

I've always wanted a line in my yard, well, since I've been an adult at any rate. I just remember how we would run through the sheets on the line, like it was our own personal maze. The smell of clothes fresh from the line, that was something else I could never forget, and no fabric softener has ever been able to reproduce.

I like to think it has brought my husband and I a little closer together as well. Hanging laundry together, and rushing to pull it down when a squall came in, have been fun experiences we've shared. Gotta love it, now if only I had a composter... 

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So this week has been another adventure! This week my husband's computer was infected with a rather nasty piece of malware. We have no idea where it came from, but it apparently damaged the master boot record. Ugh. After quite a bit of research we seem to have found a solution and we called a tech guy to fix it for us. He's recovered all of the profiles except my husband's, which is f*****g encrypted. This guy seems to know his way around a computer, so hopefully he can crack it. I'm just terrified. I haven't backed up or pictures since February, and I don't want to lose them.

Also this week we had a two day backyard camp-out! We thought we'd give it a try to see how the twins take to sleeping in a tent. Day one was great, day two... Well, I ended up back in the house around five AM to try get some sleep, (ask my husband.) The twins took to it so well that I don't think we'll have any problems next year. Now, we just need to get them some fishing poles! :-)

And finally, to celebrate the fourth, we had a barbecue last night since my Honey had to work tonight. We had my ex-in-laws over as well as on of our neighbors. It was a small affair, but we had a great time. Tonight my husband came home just in time to meet us at the city park near our house for the annual fireworks. It's actually an all day event thatculminate in the fireworks. We enjoyed the band they had there, the kids had cotton candy, you know, all the good stuff! I love watching them there. They launch them over the lake and the reflection combined with the pyrotechnics themselves are just amazing.

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Oh Dilbert,

My faithful friend.

Whatever will I do without you?

I waited so many years for you to be a part of my life.

Your seemingly boundless energy,

your cheery top hat,

the perky green feather you displayed so proudly,

and the way you were always there for me when I just needed to smile.

The joy you brought our family could never be measured,

as my horror at coming in from putting laundry on the line,

only to find your battered and broken body clutched in the fist of a smiling three year old,

with red fluid dribbled all over the floor.

I bid you adieu my friend, may we meet again.

Dilbert 2005-2007

May He Rest in Pieces

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I can't believe how many posts I missed! I just spent an hour reading as many as I could...

Okay, I know the pic is the wrong sex, and the hairdo needs help, but you get the idea!

Let's see, last week I passed my state boards, so I'm now employable. So now I'm in the process of finding a decent job, that pays well, but mostly has longterm potential. I'm not the kinda girl that likes to try out jobs. I feel it a waste of time. The most important thing to me is educational reimbursement. I would love to continue my education at an employer's expense. :-)

We just picked up new luggage for our trip. Boy was that a fiasco! On the front page of a large retailers ad this week was a set that was both economical, and came with bonus goodies, (I love bonus goodies. I married my honey because he came with a food processor...) At any rate, we purchased said luggage, only to find it was missing the aforementioned items once we got home. Errrgghhh. A few phone calls, and three trips later  we got it straightened out, with the help of a fabulous employee that went above and beyond, (Thank you again Jackie Gooden!!!,) we now have our luggage. Yeah! Now I'm going to start shopping the dollar stores for cheap toys I can stuff in our carry-ons for emergency purposes. In case of emergency apply crayons and coloring books...

One thing my daughter and I accomplished this week was a special suprise for my MIL, (Shhh, Stevie.) :-) It's kinda corney, but hey, we only see her once a year, may as well go for the full cheese. Hopefully she'll love it, and if she doesn't? Well, she can always stuff it in a closet somewhere as soon as we leave. :-)

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The rules of the game get posted at the beginning. Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

1) What was I doing 10 years ago? Let's see, I had the three older kids. They were 5, 3, and one. I was still married to my abusive, filandering first husband, and had just gotte the first job he allowed me to get. It was truly the time when I started my emancipation from Jackass, (pronounced 'Jauques' in front of my children so they don't know to whom I refer.)

2) What are 5 things on my to-do list for today? Ugh. Study, study, study, study, oh and study. In between I'll clean house, make dinner, give the babies a bath, etc.

3) Snacks I enjoy: Fresh fruit, ice cream, chocolate covered strawberries, and peanut butter cookies, (w/ice cream is a plus!)

4) Things I would do if I were a billionaire: Pay off our mortgage for starters. I'd also take the kids to Disney World, make sure college was taken care of, and finance my honey's education.

5) Places I have lived: Montana, Colorado, Texas, and several others while I was young. These are just the ones I remember.

6) Jobs I have had: I've worked at Mc Donald's, a landscaping job when I was a teenager, manned a flea market booth for someone, Elitch Gardens Amusement Park, managed a gas station, made assistant manager at a porn store, (hey, they had a great dental plan!) had my own cleaning company, cashier, slot attendant, (at a casino,) surveillance and security, cocktailed, bartended, and even been a telemarketer. 

7) Bloggers I am tagging who I will enjoy getting to know better: Well, Stevie for sure, and FooMan, beyond that we'll see.

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A typical night...

2:05 AM

"MOMMY! MOMMY!"

I've been asleep maybe an hour and a half... I stumble into the twins' room to find them both awake and upset. As I move towards the screamer, Trevor, my husband makes his way to the other, only to be quickly rebuffed. " No, no no, I want Mommy." wails Langdon. This is the way of things. During the daylight hours, Kevin can do no wrong, but once the lights go off he's chopped liver, (That's Mr. Liver to the public at large.)

So it goes...

"Mommy there's a giant crocodile!"

"No honey, there's no crocodile. It's just a bad dream."

"A crocodile!"

"Honey, Daddy's so tough, there's no way a crocodile could get in the house. It's just a nightmare honey, a bad dream."

"Crocodiles are not nice, spiders and worms are nice."

"You're right honey, now let's tuck you back in so I can help Langy too."

Now on to baby #2...

"Bad dreams are not nice."

"No honey, bad dreams are not nice, but they're just a dream. Now let me tuck you in so you can go back to sleep."

2:31 AM

"Mommy? Mommy?"

Trevor again.

"Honey? Are you okay?"

"I want to cuddle for a little bit."

He's woken again, still upset over the dream. So I try just giving him a hug, cradeling him in my arms; not good enough. I ended up crawling into bed with him, legs dangling off the edge of his toddler bed.

2:40 AM

Back in bed, finally.

2:57 AM

More sounds from the baby monitor. They just sound like talking in their sleep, so I ignore them and try get back to sleep.

3:25 AM

My husband starts talking in his sleep....

And so it goes..

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