So yesterday my son came home with a flier from school in regards to an elk bugling contest for the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. Trent had expressed that he wanted to give it a try.
Me: Trent do you even know what elk bugling is?
Trent: Well.. no. What is it
Me: Elk do a call that attracts the cows so they can mate.
Now I've had the "talk" with my two older kids. We've not held back anything from them. They know what sex is, and what's to happen in puberty and all that fun stuff.
Trent gave me a dumbfounded look, and I automatically thought " oh crap, I'm gonna have to explain this"
Me: Okay.. The male elk, a bull, will bugle a call to attract the female elk, the cow, they will have sex and make a calf, a baby elk. ( I say this kind of fast in hopes that he doesn't catch all of it and maybe will walk away) (Yea... no)
Trent, with a mortified look on his face: Does that mean I have to pull down my pants and underwear? I don't want to do it then.
That's when I called Eric into the conversation.. I didn't know what else to do... heaven help me!!
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Bug's New Bike
Caitrin has been bugging mom and dad for a bike. She wants to play with her brother and sister. We ventured off to our local friendly Wal-Mart and purchased her one. It's the kind where you petal backwards and it breaks. Yea, well...she's got that part figured out, too well. I was trying to teach her to push forward. It just made her mad. Since we live on a slight hill, I let her roll down. She freaked. "It's too fast mom!" "You're scaring me!" I didn't start her up at the top, just a few feet from the bottom.
If you want, you can label me as a bad parent. We looked at helmets, we even tried them on. Those ticked her off too. She didn't want anything on her head. I don't make the older ones wear their helmets anymore.
About a half hour into her "trying" to ride her bike, she just got off and walked away. I asked her what she thought she was going. She told me she was bored and tired and didn't want to ride her bike anymore. I'm glad that was money well spent.Thursday, February 19, 2009
Conversations:
Setting: In my car trying to go to church, last Sunday.
Caitrin: Mom!! I need Belle. Please go get my Belle. (a 2 inch Beauty and the Beast plastic doll)
I run into the house to appease my child's hysterics.
Caitrin: Oh.. Thank you mama. Now all my friends won't think I'm weird.
Too late, I'm already sold.
Caitrin: Mom!! I need Belle. Please go get my Belle. (a 2 inch Beauty and the Beast plastic doll)
I run into the house to appease my child's hysterics.
Caitrin: Oh.. Thank you mama. Now all my friends won't think I'm weird.
Too late, I'm already sold.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
25 Random things about the Reel family
1. Eric and I were married right after our Junior year in high school. I graduated early and he finished out the remainder of the school year with a 4.0 all while we were on our own in our apartment raising a new born.
2. Caitrin Mae was accidentally on purpose (shhh.. don't tell Eric). I felt like something was missing in our lives and when she came along, it couldn't be more complete.
3. I lived in Cascade, Idaho for 6 years and I never went skiing.
4. Eric is a perfectionist, and it drives me crazy. When he was a kid, if his button on his pants didn't line up with his belly button, he refused to wear the pants. If he sock didn't feel "just right", he'd get a different pair until he got the right feeling.
5. I live in Arizona when I was 8, and I had to attend summer school because my sister and I had missed too much school the previous year.
6. My biological father manufactured and used meth, and I refuse to talk to him for years. He was on the run and in and out of jail. He's now sober, out of jail and we are working on a building a relationship. He is the reason I never did drugs.
7. Eric has never done drugs as well, but he doesn't have a reason other then he didn't feel like doing it.
8. My son was diagnosed with a kidney disease, Nephrotic Syndrome, minimal change disease. He was hospitalized around the age of 2. He relapsed once. Since then, we haven't had a relapse, they think that he might have out grown it.
9. Eric is #5 of 8 kids. His oldest sister is 40 and his baby brother is 15 this year. Eric and I became a Great-Aunt and Great-Uncle at the ripe old age of 26 last year when his niece(who is 21) had her first child.
10. I am working on a Chemistry degree with a minor in forensic science. I keep coming and going with college. I just need to set my hind end down and finish it out. I absolutely love science.
11. I know this sounds really sad, but I wish I would have named my son Calvin instead of Trenton. Eric's dad's name is Calvin, but also he reminds me of the comic strip "Calvin and Hobbes". An adventurous little boy always into trouble. A few years ago, Eric's brother gave Trent a stuffed tiger for his birthday, and he totes it around everywhere, even when we went to Seattle this past weekend.
12. The day that Eric's birth announcement was in the paper, a picture of Yoda from Star Wars was on the front page of the paper. Everyone in the Reel Family thought Eric looked like Yoda with his big ears. Needless to say, his mother saved the picture and it's in his baby book.
13. Because of Eric's mom not liking Eric's big ears, the nurses told her the tape his ears to his head (yes, this is to a new born). But Eric had an allergic reaction to the adhesive and she had stop. She still believes this is why he has big ears.
14. Both my girls are named after my grandmother. Her name is Elizabeth Katherine. Tarren's middle name is Elizabeth, and Caitrin is the Irish version of Katherine. Since the Reel's are Irish it seemed most fitting.
15. The man who raised me, and who I introduced as "dad" had a mid-live crisis about 4 0r 5 years ago. He jumped ship, moved to Mexico and runs a successful restaurant down on the Baja. I've seen him once in that time. He is who I give credit for my up bringing. A wonderful man.
16. Eric has never been on a plane. My first plane ride was to Seattle from Boise at the age of 4 and my sister was 6 with no adult. Yes we flew by ourselves. Times are very different today.
17. In my grandmother's house, she had a beautiful hutch filled with roosters of all sizes and colors. As a child, I'd just sit and stare at them. I now have the hutch and the roosters and the collection continues to grow.
18. I LOVE my job. Not many people can say that. I work in the Retention Department at a local Cellular Communications Business. I call people who have overages and offer to change their plans before the bill closes so they don't have a high bill. It's a thankless job, but it's wonderful to make a difference.
19. I received my first gun on my 12th birthday. It was my grandfather's .22, and he passed it down to me. I had actually asked for a b.b. gun that year. I was nothing for me to step out our back door and make a day of shooting whistle pigs, you people around here call them ground squirrels. Major culture shook when I moved to the "Big City" of Lewiston.
20. Eric and I will be 35 when Tarren graduates, 38 when Trenton graduates, & 43 when Caitrin graduates. We will have our whole lives ahead of us.
21. We, as a family, don't celebrate Santa Clause, Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy's, and any other mythical creature. I believe that as a parent I need to teach my children the true meaning of the Christian holidays. We as a society teach our children not to lie, but we lie to them about these things. The holidays are very commercialized and we try to teach our children that it's not what it's about. I don't push it on anyone else, I just inform people not to bring up Santa or Easter Bunny around my kids if they don't want it ruined for their kids.
22. I am deathly afraid of the dark. Eric hates it when we go camping and he has to take me to the bathroom in the dark. I'm also afraid of water I can't see bottom. When we go up river, Eric also gets annoyed when I don't swim with the kids. I go up to my knees and that's pushing it.
23. Eric talks in his sleep. When he's had a stressful week, you can tell because he'll wake me up screaming or yelling at someone. It's kind of a good thing because if he decides to run around on me, I'd know. He really can't keep a secret, it comes out. Bad part, my kids now talk in their sleep, too.
24. When Tarren was first born, Eric signed up to join the service, I think Army. A few months before he was to ship out, he caught a sinus infections that "triggered" asthma. When the service reviewed his medical charts, they said they didn't want him anymore. Even though we tried to tell them that he doesn't have asthma, even to this day.
25. A lady that I work with is educating me in the finer arts of AC DC. She was appalled when a song came on the radio and I asked who it was. She then proceeded to go on-line and had me listen to different songs that they preform. I now know a handful of them, but not as much as I probably should.
2. Caitrin Mae was accidentally on purpose (shhh.. don't tell Eric). I felt like something was missing in our lives and when she came along, it couldn't be more complete.
3. I lived in Cascade, Idaho for 6 years and I never went skiing.
4. Eric is a perfectionist, and it drives me crazy. When he was a kid, if his button on his pants didn't line up with his belly button, he refused to wear the pants. If he sock didn't feel "just right", he'd get a different pair until he got the right feeling.
5. I live in Arizona when I was 8, and I had to attend summer school because my sister and I had missed too much school the previous year.
6. My biological father manufactured and used meth, and I refuse to talk to him for years. He was on the run and in and out of jail. He's now sober, out of jail and we are working on a building a relationship. He is the reason I never did drugs.
7. Eric has never done drugs as well, but he doesn't have a reason other then he didn't feel like doing it.
8. My son was diagnosed with a kidney disease, Nephrotic Syndrome, minimal change disease. He was hospitalized around the age of 2. He relapsed once. Since then, we haven't had a relapse, they think that he might have out grown it.
9. Eric is #5 of 8 kids. His oldest sister is 40 and his baby brother is 15 this year. Eric and I became a Great-Aunt and Great-Uncle at the ripe old age of 26 last year when his niece(who is 21) had her first child.
10. I am working on a Chemistry degree with a minor in forensic science. I keep coming and going with college. I just need to set my hind end down and finish it out. I absolutely love science.
11. I know this sounds really sad, but I wish I would have named my son Calvin instead of Trenton. Eric's dad's name is Calvin, but also he reminds me of the comic strip "Calvin and Hobbes". An adventurous little boy always into trouble. A few years ago, Eric's brother gave Trent a stuffed tiger for his birthday, and he totes it around everywhere, even when we went to Seattle this past weekend.
12. The day that Eric's birth announcement was in the paper, a picture of Yoda from Star Wars was on the front page of the paper. Everyone in the Reel Family thought Eric looked like Yoda with his big ears. Needless to say, his mother saved the picture and it's in his baby book.
13. Because of Eric's mom not liking Eric's big ears, the nurses told her the tape his ears to his head (yes, this is to a new born). But Eric had an allergic reaction to the adhesive and she had stop. She still believes this is why he has big ears.
14. Both my girls are named after my grandmother. Her name is Elizabeth Katherine. Tarren's middle name is Elizabeth, and Caitrin is the Irish version of Katherine. Since the Reel's are Irish it seemed most fitting.
15. The man who raised me, and who I introduced as "dad" had a mid-live crisis about 4 0r 5 years ago. He jumped ship, moved to Mexico and runs a successful restaurant down on the Baja. I've seen him once in that time. He is who I give credit for my up bringing. A wonderful man.
16. Eric has never been on a plane. My first plane ride was to Seattle from Boise at the age of 4 and my sister was 6 with no adult. Yes we flew by ourselves. Times are very different today.
17. In my grandmother's house, she had a beautiful hutch filled with roosters of all sizes and colors. As a child, I'd just sit and stare at them. I now have the hutch and the roosters and the collection continues to grow.
18. I LOVE my job. Not many people can say that. I work in the Retention Department at a local Cellular Communications Business. I call people who have overages and offer to change their plans before the bill closes so they don't have a high bill. It's a thankless job, but it's wonderful to make a difference.
19. I received my first gun on my 12th birthday. It was my grandfather's .22, and he passed it down to me. I had actually asked for a b.b. gun that year. I was nothing for me to step out our back door and make a day of shooting whistle pigs, you people around here call them ground squirrels. Major culture shook when I moved to the "Big City" of Lewiston.
20. Eric and I will be 35 when Tarren graduates, 38 when Trenton graduates, & 43 when Caitrin graduates. We will have our whole lives ahead of us.
21. We, as a family, don't celebrate Santa Clause, Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy's, and any other mythical creature. I believe that as a parent I need to teach my children the true meaning of the Christian holidays. We as a society teach our children not to lie, but we lie to them about these things. The holidays are very commercialized and we try to teach our children that it's not what it's about. I don't push it on anyone else, I just inform people not to bring up Santa or Easter Bunny around my kids if they don't want it ruined for their kids.
22. I am deathly afraid of the dark. Eric hates it when we go camping and he has to take me to the bathroom in the dark. I'm also afraid of water I can't see bottom. When we go up river, Eric also gets annoyed when I don't swim with the kids. I go up to my knees and that's pushing it.
23. Eric talks in his sleep. When he's had a stressful week, you can tell because he'll wake me up screaming or yelling at someone. It's kind of a good thing because if he decides to run around on me, I'd know. He really can't keep a secret, it comes out. Bad part, my kids now talk in their sleep, too.
24. When Tarren was first born, Eric signed up to join the service, I think Army. A few months before he was to ship out, he caught a sinus infections that "triggered" asthma. When the service reviewed his medical charts, they said they didn't want him anymore. Even though we tried to tell them that he doesn't have asthma, even to this day.
25. A lady that I work with is educating me in the finer arts of AC DC. She was appalled when a song came on the radio and I asked who it was. She then proceeded to go on-line and had me listen to different songs that they preform. I now know a handful of them, but not as much as I probably should.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Windows and Doors
How does the old saying go...? When ever a door closes, somewhere God opens a window. I am true believer in that. With that said, in the past year a few doors have been slammed in our faces, but God willing, windows were always opened for us. Even with 2 lay offs under our belts, God never broke his promise to me, and took care of my family, we have not gone without and we even paid off more bills. With my enduring faith I knew He never left me.
We now, as a family, stand at a very hard cross road. And both roads are going to be hard to travel bringing pain, grief, sorrow and maybe even despair. But when I became a Born Again Christian, I gave a promise to God that He could sail my ship and I would follow, even through the rough waters. With these decisions having to be made, my first reaction is to bail, run the other way and avoid all confrontation. I've done a lot of praying lately, but I don't think I have quieted my heart and mind to hear what He's saying to me. Lately, when ever someone talks to me about the storm in my life, I'm pretty much reduced to tears. We have great friends and family members backing us on what ever decision we make, even if it means pain to them or to us.
I stand firm on the belief that God is going to lead us in the right direction, even if it's not the road I'm willing to take. Some where on down the road (which ever it may be), I know that I will receive my blessing because I was a humble servant to Him. With His promise to take care of me, I still have to have faith even in this storm . So here's to a quiet heart and mind to hear His answers.
We now, as a family, stand at a very hard cross road. And both roads are going to be hard to travel bringing pain, grief, sorrow and maybe even despair. But when I became a Born Again Christian, I gave a promise to God that He could sail my ship and I would follow, even through the rough waters. With these decisions having to be made, my first reaction is to bail, run the other way and avoid all confrontation. I've done a lot of praying lately, but I don't think I have quieted my heart and mind to hear what He's saying to me. Lately, when ever someone talks to me about the storm in my life, I'm pretty much reduced to tears. We have great friends and family members backing us on what ever decision we make, even if it means pain to them or to us.
I stand firm on the belief that God is going to lead us in the right direction, even if it's not the road I'm willing to take. Some where on down the road (which ever it may be), I know that I will receive my blessing because I was a humble servant to Him. With His promise to take care of me, I still have to have faith even in this storm . So here's to a quiet heart and mind to hear His answers.
" I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you." Psalm 32:8
Friday, February 13, 2009
Space Needle 2009
Caitrin wasn't in the pix because she was in my other arm sleeping. This is my favorite picture of the both of them. One, they aren't fighting, and two, they don't have cheesy lawyer grins on.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
This is what I came home to yesterday.....
Yep... That's right... a circus tent all strung out in my living room. Eric was keeping the dust down to a "minimum". That didn't work out so well. Since my house was thrashed, I boycotted dinner and ordered pizza.
You would have never know that I dusted on Saturday. By 7pm I had to go down stairs. I never came back up. I couldn't deal with the mess. I walked around with my hands crammed in my pockets, trying real hard not to mess with things. No sense in trying to clean, Eric wasn't done and I was just gonna end up doing it twice. Eric did PROMISE that it would be done today and he'd have my house some what back to normal. I can live with that.
Isn't he soo cute? I do appreciate all the hard work he's doing. He ended up doing a couple other projects while waiting for the mud to dry. He's very proud of himself, everything came out square and he even fixed a few minor things that weren't right when the house was built.
You would have never know that I dusted on Saturday. By 7pm I had to go down stairs. I never came back up. I couldn't deal with the mess. I walked around with my hands crammed in my pockets, trying real hard not to mess with things. No sense in trying to clean, Eric wasn't done and I was just gonna end up doing it twice. Eric did PROMISE that it would be done today and he'd have my house some what back to normal. I can live with that.
Isn't he soo cute? I do appreciate all the hard work he's doing. He ended up doing a couple other projects while waiting for the mud to dry. He's very proud of himself, everything came out square and he even fixed a few minor things that weren't right when the house was built. A good man is hard to find, I'm just lucky I found mine early. He's a man of many talents, and I'm glad construction and carpentry is one of them, that way we don't have to hire out or beg people for help. Thank you honey... you're truly the best!!!!
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Doing "Green"
Since Eric was still making a mess of my house, I thought I'd get out of the house and make a little money instead of spending it. The other day I noticed a couple of places around my neighborhood where there were lots of cans. We have always collected the cans we use, why not pick up a little around the area and collect on it. 
Trent proud of his findings
A proud moment for a mother: seeing her child be excited about a beer can.
Combing the fields.
Trent proud of his findings
A proud moment for a mother: seeing her child be excited about a beer can.
Combing the fields. We ended getting a bags worth. Not much I guess, but I think of it like finding a couple of dollar bills in the parking lot. It got the kids and me out of the house.
I wouldn't mind making this a habit, but with the weather around here, who knows what next weekend will hold, it's suppose to snow tomorrow.
A Wild Hair
It started out as a really nice day. Eric and I were kinda getting a little cabin fever and wanted something to do outside the house. Maybe run around and do some errands, who knows, just get out. Then the conversation turned to "Maybe we should get a new thermostat (in the first pix below, you'll see how old our original one was, most likely from when the house was built in '73). It would be more economical" Fine let's take a trip to the local Home Wrecker Depot. We had also discussed getting an overhead light to go in to the living room. Oh well, we are off to get out of the house. In our travels we had a good time at Ole Wrecker Depot, I saw some old friends, and co-workers, found some really neat ideas that we could do with our house. But somewhere in the midst a wild hair wiggled up my husband's rear and this is what we spent the rest of the afternoon doing... tearing down a wall....
Caiti Mae yelling at her daddy at what a mess he made. She didn't quite understand as well.
How it goes is that there is a wall between our hall and our living room. We had discussed (a while ago) that we knock an area out of the wall that would leave a walk way directly to the kids' room and straight to the bathroom, instead of walking completely around, not that it was that far to go all the way around, just more convenient
I was yelling at Eric to make sure he wasn't tearing up the laminate that we had just put down 2 years prior. I think he got annoyed with me a time or two because I was running around with my broom and dust pan "TRYING" to keep the mess to a minimum. Finally I had to leave and go to Wal-Mart with two unruly children, just to escape the stresses at what he was doing to my house.
Caitrin was trying to help and be a big girl. Some of those pieces of sheet rock were bigger then her, but she was determined. Bless her heart. Good thing Trent could handle the bigger pieces, because I was still trying to manage to put my house back in some order.
Not the best view, since my house was still in disarray. But I was sitting on my couch in my living room looking in to my hall way and bathroom.
In the end, Caiti got immune to the noise. Didn't care anymore as to what mess daddy was doing, she decided that she needed to do her "homework".
Caiti Mae yelling at her daddy at what a mess he made. She didn't quite understand as well.
How it goes is that there is a wall between our hall and our living room. We had discussed (a while ago) that we knock an area out of the wall that would leave a walk way directly to the kids' room and straight to the bathroom, instead of walking completely around, not that it was that far to go all the way around, just more convenient
I was yelling at Eric to make sure he wasn't tearing up the laminate that we had just put down 2 years prior. I think he got annoyed with me a time or two because I was running around with my broom and dust pan "TRYING" to keep the mess to a minimum. Finally I had to leave and go to Wal-Mart with two unruly children, just to escape the stresses at what he was doing to my house.
Caitrin was trying to help and be a big girl. Some of those pieces of sheet rock were bigger then her, but she was determined. Bless her heart. Good thing Trent could handle the bigger pieces, because I was still trying to manage to put my house back in some order.
Not the best view, since my house was still in disarray. But I was sitting on my couch in my living room looking in to my hall way and bathroom.
In the end, Caiti got immune to the noise. Didn't care anymore as to what mess daddy was doing, she decided that she needed to do her "homework".Thursday, February 5, 2009
Conversations.....
Setting: Caitrin and I laying on the couch. We were kind of ruff housing. She decided to take it a little to far and gets rougher then I would have liked.
Mom: Cait Mae! That hurts! You need to stop.
Caitrin: My daddy said that you weren't the boss. He said he's the boss.
Looking at Eric for some sort of explaination
Mom: WHAT?!
Eric is slumping in his over stuffed recliner, trying to hide his face.
So that's what he does when he's at home and mom is at work bringing home the bacon.
Mom: Cait Mae! That hurts! You need to stop.
Caitrin: My daddy said that you weren't the boss. He said he's the boss.
Looking at Eric for some sort of explaination
Mom: WHAT?!
Eric is slumping in his over stuffed recliner, trying to hide his face.
So that's what he does when he's at home and mom is at work bringing home the bacon.
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