Recovery

The 1st step to recovery is admittance:
~ Hello my name is Cammie and I am powerless over the creepy critters I have I HAD living in my home ~
Whew... that was a difficult one for me! I have always accepted the lingering spiders and other random eery creatures confined to the areas of the house we normally don't venture in to (more so the basement- and a few random corners of the house) but, only because the alternative meant I would have to kill them! And with my fear of them jumping onto my hand as it clutches the murder weapon of a shoe in which I would be whacking in their direction... the alternative of just not glancing in their direction is a much better option! Killing a bug means I have gotten way too close to them! We have come up with a mutual agreement of leaving each other alone and everyone is much happier! 
Therefore, knowing my loathing of creepy crawlers... when I start seeing a few more bugs than the usual popping up in my house... something must be done! So much for the mutual agreement!  

When anything with more than two legs starts calling me mommy, and asking for snacks I figure its time for some drastic measures.  OK- so maybe those are just the voices in my head which is exactly why step number 2 is so important on my road to bug recovery.

The 2nd step to recovery is believing God can restore my sanity (this one will be a very long process I'm sure!)

The girls were taking a bath, I was keeping an eye on them while vacuuming in the closet, and Ryan was downstairs with my mom that had just stopped by. 
The rest of the night was a bit of a blur...
I sat down on the floor in my closet, with the vacuum in my hand, just staring- for who knows how long...

my mom came up and that's when I lost it! I had a major meltdown on the floor in my closet.  I broke down and realized I could not live with any living thing smaller than a baby - luckily for Gary, he is 20 pounds... so he barely makes it!)

Ryan knelt down on the floor and said, "Babe, it's OK.  If you really think we have  bugs- we'll get rid of them".
My mom gave me a much needed hug and said, "Cammie, it'll be OK, but for now... we need to watch the girls in the tub..." 

OK, so at least they both already knew my sanity had been lost over these couple tiny creatures I spotted... and along with Mom, my brother in law (JJ) and mother in law (Gigi) stopped by and quickly realized it as well... The good Lord obviously knew I needed some help!!

...and so starts: OPERATION SANITY!

1- I called Jimmy from endopest (and now he has become my new best friend evicting all my unwanted intruders)
2- took off work and did a major declutter and debugger

3- and cleaned everything and anything in site and out of site...

I've donated items, tossed other things, and organized and cleaned what's left.
I've gone from the extreme of not even remembering when I last vacuumed to randomly purchasing new dusting cloths...

 and cleaners...

(I've realized I love these cloths and cleaner!! A definite must have!!!)

and even buying another vacuum so I'll have one on both floors!

Here is the rest of my splurge... (Notice the dust mite covers and bed bug covers I also splurged on... I figure I may as well be protected from everything bug related!)

I know... I know... I've completely lost it!

~ the last couple weeks have been a whirlwind of events of which I have not even been able to focus my attention on because I have been cleaning everything from the vents in the ceiling, behind the pictures on the walls, the couches and cushions, chairs, under the furniture, and all the way down to the inside of the vents in the floors...
It's crazy how long it has taken me to finally be in this comfortable state I have finally reached! All of my extra time has been devoted to my house, with the girlies fluttering around me here and there!
I wish I could say I've been away these past couple weeks on vacation, or enjoying some much deserved one on one time with my family... but no, I have no pictures of my family these last couple weeks, because like I said... my time and energy have been placed elsewhere.
Unfortunately because of these unwanted house guests pests, I was unable to focus on the regular ins and outs of our lives... 
For instance:

1- My brother's birthday (Chase)- he would have been 27! I think of him as always staying 21- and now thinking of him skipping 6 years to 27- It's crazy!  Happy Birthday Tayor Bugs! I love you and miss you!

(the picture is a little blurry, and my eyes are in the midst of closing... but I still LOVE this picture!)

2- Veterans day - Thank you to all of the amazing men and women who have served and still are serving our country! You are appreciated so very much! (Thank you so much for your amazing sacrifice Chase - and sooooo many others!!!)

3- Chase being remembered and honored on the Headline News show, "Nancy Grace" - Thank you Nancy Grace for doing a wonderful tribute to him!

~ this was amazing by the way! And it just so happened to be on veterans day of all days too! (and the day after his birthday! I wish I could figure out a way to find a section of it from her show on the Internet or something, but so far, I have not come across any of her shows on the Internet...? I was able to record it somewhat by holding my camera up to it... but the sound, quality, etc... is terrible!

(his picture also appeared again at the end, but I can not figure out how to make my video long enough to show the entire clip!??) - I'm a little technologically challenged! So the rest is in this little section...

awesome tribute right!? (if you could hear and/or see it on here...)

But, moving along on a lighter note, here are the other events...
4- Sloan had to go the dr. for an infection- now taking an antibiotic
5- different day Chayse had to go the dr. for an ear infection (of which was in both ears)! Poor thing! - also taking an antibiotic
6- different day taking Chayse back to the dr. for the worsening of her symptoms... a virus, which she is finally over!
7- and of course, I had to vacuum, vacuum, vacuum, dust, vacuum...!

Obviously I had a breakdown since my priorities are way out of order! Normally I would have put cleaning on the back burner since every single one of the items listed above is much more important than a clean home... but clearly not now, after I have been infected with a cleaning disease and obsession!

After taking an entire week to clean everything, stay up until 3:30 am, organize, and get my sanity back to normal... (which is still debatable!) There are some things I still want to do to help me with this new obsession, which will take time and money. Somehow, I have drastically managed, (with callouses on my hands now) to take our house from unlivable (in my mind at least) to spotless, all within weeks time... In order to maintain this new obsession of mine... these are the steps I have instilled to control my once infested home:

- baskets are placed by all outside doorways to take off shoes when entering the house...

(I'm definitely not discreet! Once my door opens, you can't enter with out seeing the basket that screams, "take off your shoes before entering!!) 

and this one is by the garage door...

- no food outside of the kitchen

- quilts on top of my newly vacuumed and laundered couch to prevent any cat hair and food lingering on the couch... the quilts can easily be removed and thrown in the wash!

(I don't care how pathetic it looks - I can always remove them when company comes? depending on if my obsession has subsided by then...)

- keeping everything organized and off the floor so I can easily run the vacuum (now that I have one for both floors!) hopefully this will be easier to accomplish!

- follow my cleaning schedule I created... (I adapted one I found off the Internet about a year ago, -which never went into effect- and clung to my fridge door without any check marks on it... I eventually took it down- after it looked so helpless...!) - note the color coordination for who's responsible for those duties...! (I thought if I made it pretty, it would help me complete the items!... obviously it didn't work the first time)

This one is a list of daily items needed to be done...

and this one is for longer timelines...

I'm sure like before, this one will probably be the first of the rules to be broken... again!

Now on to the rest of the events that need to be planned and prepared.
1- Thanksgiving dinner... I hope people like chocolate covered ants!!! Haha! This is my way of going green! Reusing my bugs of course!!  I have humor now, since they are long gone!!!
2- I need to figure out Christmas gifts before it's too late and I'm hurrying around, like always
3- I'm working on trying to get my nice newly clean home decorated the way I want it... finding paint colors, pictures, fabric and all that fun stuff... This I will definitely keep you up to date on!

4- and last but not least, deal with all the stress the holidays stir up with me on so many different levels!

Do do you think I could have added any more bullet points and lists in this post!? Don't worry though, before this post is over, I found a way to add some more!

OK- so much to do... (and especially now that I have added cleaning to the list...) we'll see how long that lasts though... it could just be one of my famous stages I go through! amongst so many others!
Seriously though, I'm am very open to suggestions!!!??? Please help and give me ideas!!! If anyone knows a good way to do EVERYTHING- please let me know!
Work, kids, cook, spend time with the family, and now clean... how in the world!? Please let me know if anyone has a good (manageable) schedule!? - other than dosing up on meds to stay sane and awake all hours of the night!

HOPE EVERYONE HAS A WONDERFUL THANKSGIVING!

With Thanksgiving being tomorrow... before I go, I wanted to express a couple of blessings I am thankful for:

1- my family and the wonderful times we do get to spend together

(this was taken on our way to our friends 80's themed birthday party!  Which was a blast! I had to throw this picture in there, since we had so much fun!!)

2- our health

3- the love we receive and give to others

4- and not to mention being bug free!! (and I am extremely thankful my bugs were not termites, roaches, bed bugs or anything of the like!!!)

Eat up good tomorrow!!

I hope everyone enjoys a nice break from their hectic lives and can sit back and make wonderful memories with your family!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

The cat's meow

I'm a sucker for Halloween! I love everything about it! Halloween has always been one of my favorite Holidays... but then again, I think I say that with every holiday that is being celebrated at that point in time! But Halloween is not like the rest.  Witches, Goblins, Ghosts, Haunted Houses and dressing up! What could be better!? And to top it off, you get to walk around your neighborhood and talk to all your friends and neighbors while passing out and receiving candy! It takes a lot to top this one! And I love to see all the different ideas for costumes and decorations. It's so much fun! 

It's such a great holiday too because it's the first holiday to really start off the holiday season! (I mean could I say the word 'holiday' one more time in one sentence?...)  I know everyone here knows their holidays, but really, after Easter, there's a drought. And then... Halloween comes around! Then Thanksgiving and Christmas quickly following, with New Years and Valentines day and Easter ending the celebrating frenzy! I mean it starts off the season of having a holiday once a month until Easter! So, its a great holiday just for that reason!
Anyway-  We have tons of dress up costumes in the basement, and so we just picked from the endless supply. I tried to save some money this year... while I still can at least, since they don't have any requests yet!  So, we went with the two cats that were in the stash.  (Of course, I had to be a little more persuasive so they would want the cats over the random and unknown princess dresses.) I really tried to sell the nemo outfit to one of them, while the other wore a cat- but if one has something, the other has to also... so we went for the two cats!

However, I was not as successful in getting a great picture of those little kittens...

Although I must admit... this one turned out to be rather cute! 

 But then they ran away as fast as possible to ride their cars... if I was going to get any more pictures, it was gonna have to be on these. 

Oh well - better luck bribing them with candy!

It worked for one of them! At least, long enough to capture a couple cute shots!

Here's the loot before I (as dad always said), 'go through it and make sure it's all ok to eat!'  

Thanks dad for teaching me such a great line! I can't believe I'm just now figuring out why you would always say it!

Ok- gotta go... those Skittles are completely calling me name! (If they are even still in there...)

So many Birthdays

October is the month of birthday's in and around our household... We have Laine, Chayse, Ryan and Myself, not to mention the cousins and niece we have with October birthdays! As much as I love to have big shindigs for my gals, the same is not said for myself.  Although, I do like to do something fun, to set the day aside from all others, but in the long run- I want nothing more than just a little relaxing evening with my family, and perhaps a nice dinner with my man! Good thing Ryan wants the samefor his birthday... Perhaps it has something to do with having the same birthday!? 

Yes, its true, and quite strange I must admit...  Ryan and I have the exact same birhtday, except 6 years apart.  We would have also had our Wedding day on this same day as well... had I not been so adamant against it! We can't throw everything into the same day! One day to celebrate, one present... no thanks! (Not like we ever exchange them anyway...) But- nonetheless, where's the fun in that!?

So, just reminiscing... here are a few pictures of our birthdays we have celebrated in the recent years...

My most favorite one is a given... I keep it framed at all times, as it is very near and dear to my heart.  One of the few pictures I have of me being sandwich between two amazing (and attractive) men! Hey this is Kentucky! I can get away with saying that about my brother!

This was taken on our birthday in 2002? And WOW- HOW THINGS HAVE CHANGED SINCE THIS PICTURE... (good and bad...)

But... we'll only stick with the good!

This picture was taken in 2006, when we celebrated our birthday- and announced we were pregnant (with sloanie!)

The next year...

We were celebrating with this little one...

And then, once again... so quickly throwing another in the mix...

And then in 2008- our birthday fell between a one year old's birthday party...

and Halloween...

So, there was no birthday for us! We don't even have a picture of us on our birthday (and I just realized it while I was trying to dig one up!) Pathetic!

So, fortunately... I have a beautiful picture to show for this years day of birthday festivities!

Great pic huh~!? 
Obviously our birthday is not at the top of our priority list anymore... For example, here is the exact detail of how this years birthday unfolded... (don't get too excited!!)

1- We woke up to Sloan tapping me on the head, saying, "mommy... mommy... get up... mommy..."  Ryan said Happy birthday, and I said the same, as then he blew his runny, congested nose.

2-We got up, got the girls ready, took Sloan to school, Chayse for her 2 year check up and flu mist, and then dropped her off at School too.

3- Went to HomeGoods to find a present for myself. This is what I found!!...

and...

* I HAD to have the mirrors!! The bench, was a little steep for what I wanted to spend- especially since I didn't know where to put it... but I could always make room...

4- I checked my account, to see how much I could spend- and realized my mortgage had just gone through... not good for a spur of the moment shopping spree! Bummer...

5- So... I left empty handed, and headed into work earlier than planned before my 1:00 meeting.

6- I spent the rest of the afternoon in my meeting while checking all the wonderful birthday wishes on Facebook, and responding back to the wishful texts! (This is one of the few days I love Facebook!) - If I could just remember to turn off my email notifications when I get on FB! I'm sure I would have a much better relationship with it, if it did not alert me on every...single...thing!

7- Tried to text Ryan, but realized his meeting was much more important than mine, since he could not be distracted and text.  Was he was actually listening to his!?

8- Picked up the girls from school, stopped in the grocery for some Day Quil for Ryan- came up with a bright idea to fix steaks, asparagus and potatoes for dinner...

9- Pulled in the drive to some balloons and candy on the front porch! Thank you Pammy B for the surprisingly random unexpected gift from you!! Love the babies!

10- Fixed dinner, baked cookies, sat down all together and ate a delicious... ok, so it was more like a decent meal, then watched the girls chow down the cookies and leave a chocolate chip/crumb trail following them throughout the house...great.

11- Put the girls in the bath after an explosive diaper ending up on my arm, and all over Chayse's back.

12- Decided to snag a photo since we had not gotten one all day on our birthday...

13- Did the whole bed time routine, put the girls to bed... and that's when it hit me....

14- I collapsed on the bed, blew my nose a dozen times, mustered up some strength to go downstairs with Ryan; He cleaned up and I slowly and sniffily got everything ready for the next day (school outfits, lunches, backpacks, and my coffee of course)

15- We headed upstairs and....  blew our nose yet again, Ryan took NyQuil and then... was... out...! October 27th, 9:33 he was snoring through his congestion, and I was figuring out ways to lay where I could breath through my nose... 10:54, 1:39, 5:47... uuuhhhhhh.... 6:05-ALARM...

*So... there you have it! That's all she wrote! that was it... that was our birthday!

Quite depressing. Not really the uplifting wonderful day you were hoping to hear about... But, all in all, in reality- that is our life! Why would it be any different on our birthday!?

Fortunately, we felt better this weekend and Clemmie had a birthday dinner for us!
After all the wonderful food, cake and ice cream we ate- this is what we looked like!

AAAAAHHHHHH!!

(good thing it's Halloween today!)

HAHAH! We had the best time cracking up with the hilarious and scary truth of the 'FatBooth' App!! That made the party! 
My mom also gave me some money... so, now, I am a proud owner of my mirrors I was stalking at Home Goods! Thanks Mama!!
I think they look much better here than in the store!

(The other is on the other side of the entrance door... and looks just as amazing!)

Now if someone wants to volunteer to watch the girlies so Ryan and I can actually celebrate a nice date night dinner...? (And get us a little closer to looking like the pictures above)... anyone...? anyone...? Bueller...? Bueller...?

Well, I'm off to clean the Haunted House we always live in! After today, we can't use the excuse that the spider webs are Halloween decorations!!
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!! HOPE YOU HAVE A FUN AND SAFE TRICK-OR-TREATING!!

Pass the Sugar Please

OK, so what's the best way to approach my 2 week long hiatus... I'll just avoid that white elephant in the room, and act like I've been updating regularly... So here goes... I'll just jump right in!

Two wonderful years ago, we were celebrating the birth of baby Chayse. 

 She was born October 19, and became the most adorable, precious, lovable, beautiful little baby girl.  She's always been sooo easy sleeping through the night, never crying, and taking her sister's abuse like a champ. 

As the months passed, she has pretty much stayed the same ol' sweet, innocent, little girl.  She's super easy, almost constantly smiling and laughs at almost anything and everything! To put it simply... She's just absolutely ADORABLE! She bobbles around and makes everyone fall in love with her within a second.  She does what she's asked, and if not, she is extremely easily persuaded with a little food, which she has grown to have an enormous affection for.  

I always told myself, if I knew another one would be as easy as her, I would definitely try for a third...  OK- fast forward until now and my how things change! 

How in the world have the 'terrible two's' crept up on us so quickly?!!  I never thought this would happen to my little angel! Its like a disease that has completely taken over and entirely transformed her! There has to be a fix- an old ancient remedy or something!? But, until I find it- I'll stick with what seem to work best. Give her some lipstick and let her go to town!

She reminds me a little more like an old cat.  99% of the time, she's loving and enjoyable, but if you push her to her limit... oh brother! watch out! Hold on to your hair, put on some shin guards and run away! She hits, smacks, pulls hair, yanks things away, throws things, and pushes and will not- I repeat... WILL NOT stop her tantrum until she is absolutely sure she is going to get her way! And even then, she is so mad she doesn't even realize we have given in, and she has gotten her way...again... Or perhaps she's on to something?...hhmmm....?
But then again... I can't get too upset with her because she is just standing up for herself! I mean she has taken quite a beating from that sis of hers! Chayse has been bit, pinched, hit, smacked... you name it! Poor thing! So... now what do I do? Any ideas?

* not really the best picture I could have dug up... but it does show the torture she endured... you can count all of Sloan's 12 teeth on poor little Chaysie's leg!

So, basically- here are my options:

1~ let her be a Diva for my own sanity until this phase passes (and possibly make matters worse)

2~ own up to the duties of being a mom and discipline her (over at our house that's just a good beat-down to show them who's boss  only a time-out...) - ok, please don't send CPS... I'm only wishful thinking! kidding!

3~ let them duke it out, and show Sloan a taste of her own medicine!

Or perhaps there are some better ideas? anyone?

Ok, so on a much lighter note... her little birthday shin-dig went over smoothly! Her 'terrible two-itis' was very well managed! And fortunately the cute little baby Chayse we all know and love was in full affect! 

We also had an amazing day on her actual birthday when I took the day off and concentrated only on Chayse and my family! The best day I've had in a very long time! I told myself I was not going to do anything other than play and concentrate on them! Nothing too out of the ordinary, since I obviously don't focus on my house, dinner, or to-do list! So, from now on, I'm not going to act like I'm any kind of home-maker... I'll just keep hanging out with them, instead of trying (and being unsuccessful) to balance everything! How does everyone else do it? Please let me in on the secret.

Anyway, aside from my tangent... back to our amazing day...

*I mean, the picture is so much more important than getting burned!*

After breakfast, (and luckily preventing a burned finger), we took sloan to Pre-school, and headed off to Target for her pick of a present, and then to the Library.  I was greatly reminded of my love for the library! I have not been there in years, and I don't know why I have let the joy of searching for books slip away.

We then went to pick up the three other members of our family: Sloan, Daddy, and of course Chick-fil-A.

We headed off to Keenland for a picnic under the direct line of departure airplanes - (a favorite of Chayse's).

LOVED IT!!

It's not a great birthday unless you can get away with a good nose pickin!

Is it obvious I was threatening Sloan for a good picture?

Since she put in some effort, I followed through and we were able to swing by the stalls and see the horses.  I don't know if we were suppose to be there- so I left the camera in the car to avoid any curious onlookers!

After nap time we finished the day with one last hurrah!

Before...

 During...

And after...

Definitely a lesson I learned the hard way- so, if you take anything away from all this rambling... please just take away this... USE WASHABLE PAINT... no, no, don't worry... the rain won't wash it off! Once they see how gorgeous their work is, THEY DON'T WANT IT OUTSIDE!!!!??? WHY DID THEY WAIT TO TELL ME THIS AFTER WE STAINED EVERYTHING IN SIGHT!!?? Now, if anyone knows a way to get acrylic paint off clothes (especially a particular favorite orange polka dot Halloween kitty shirt)- I'm all ears!

OK- so it's not a birthday without a little more sugar right before bed time! I mean, what's the harm?... as long as their teeth get brushed!

Please notice, Sloan can blow out Chayse's candles... but no way can Chayse blow out Sloan's... even though it's not even her birthday?

OK, so after looking at these pictures again I have been greatly reminded how adorable Chaysie is (and Sloanie too of course), and how I'm fortunate her 'two-itis' only comes out every now and then... And, in reality, deep down, I can't help but crack up at the Jekyll and Hyde I am so in love with and hold tight and kiss every chance I get!

I love you Chaysie! I hope you had a wonderful birthday!