Munchkins!

So I quit my job at the spa after getting an $8 pay check! Yes that's right you read correctly $8! It ended up to not be as fun as I had envisioned and definitely not worth my time (or gas money to get there!). One of my, clients who I have been working on for 3 years now, her nanny had a baby at the beginning of the summer. Her niece has been helping out since then but she just started school again so she asked if I'd be interested. This is the same family that Brent and I have been babysitting for a lot lately so I'm pretty familiar with the kids, that and being at there house ever week! It's just very part time so I can still do massage before or after work. Tues-Fri 11:30-4:30. The kids are great! They are so fun and so cute! (I'm sure plenty of pictures will follow!) They are Gavin 4, McKinnley 2 1/2, Marlee & Gage 10 mo. almost! They are too cute and have been so much fun! I also love there parents! They are wonderful people! I love being in there home! After I had agreed I had momentary flash backs to the bad moments of being a nanny in CT and got a little worried. But then I remembered that the majority of the bad things were difficulties or struggles with the parents and the fact that I lived with them....I LIVED at my job! So this will be and has been much better! The first day I came home and said to Brent "I forgot how fun pre-schoolers can be" We teach that age in church but it is a totally different setting. You don't get to just have fun with them. You are trying to get them to learn something, anything! You are trying to get them to be quite, and still! But nannying, so much fun! I had forgotten! So yea for a new fun part time job!!!!

Funny Moments

A real quick a funny little story from our primary class. Brent got a hair cut and it was way too short, barber got too excited about the fact Brent if FROM here and started chatting away about how few AZ natives there are now a days. While he was chatting he got a little carried away with the clippers. His hair is WAY short now! Any way because it was so much shorter then usual the kids in our class noticed right away! They were all making comments about his hair and then one of our little guys says "maybe now you need a chin hair cut!" refering to Brent's goat. It was too funny! I thought this was a good pic of Brent's "chin hair"

The Memory Game!

I got this off a friends blog and though it sounded like fun!
Here are the rules:
1. As a comment on my blog, leave one or more memories that you and I had together, or just some memory of me. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot. Anything you remember!
2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. :)
If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments or send you an email. (You know, you non-bloggers can still post comments. Just click "comments" below this post...)
Okay, it's that simple. I hope everyone will play! I know a lot of you remember some fun, silly, or touching moments. Go on, give 'em up! Refresh my memory!

Escaping The Heat

Friday afternoon Brent and I and our two dogs headed up to Brent's parents property. They have plans of building a cabin up there some day but for the time being it's a great place to pitch a tent and camp out. It's up north so it's a lot cooler there! On the way up there we drove right though a huge rain storm. It was pretty cool because you could see the storm up ahead. It was a small area but down pouring where it was!

This is a shot of the storm a little closer.

Here you can see the storm in the distance.

Just about to hit the storm.

We also saw some clouds that looked pretty cool.

It's like they were just sitting there.

Bentley fell asleep with his chin resting on the gear shift.

It was dark by time we got there. It had been a while since anyone had been up there and when we got to the fence to get in this is what we found! It had been over taken by sunflowers!

Bentley looked like a wild dog! He was covered in dirt and gunk! It was pretty funny. At one point he was sleeping and looked dead because there were flies all over him!
This is the cuties picture of Erica and Connor! Clicked at just the right moment!

Max and Kierstie hanging out in the trailer.

The road that backs up the the National Forrest.

Bosco chillin in the shade, he did a lot of that.

You see how his face is planted in the dirt. Well by time we left he had dirt crusted on his jowls. It was pretty gross.

While we were up there we did some work. Put in fence posts along the property line. It was pretty nice because it had rained so the ground was soft.

My sexy husband driving posts! Work it baby!

Brent and Tim! They did a lot of work. Jim (Brent's Dad) did a lot of work too! They all worked so hard!

While we were there we also did some quad riding! Love it! It's so fun! Here is Brent having some fun.

Brent and I

I went for a ride with Max and Kierstie. They love it! They kept yelling faster! faster!

Max chillin in the mobile mini storage unit.

Jim roasting a marshmellow for smores, YUM!


We had hot dogs for lunch, this is Tim, Max, Brent, Corinne, and Carrie.



Max loved the fire! And the hot dogs!

More hot dog fun.


Tim and Erica, with Bosco and Bentley waiting for anyone to drop ANYTHING!

It had rained so we took cover in the trailer. But the rain came at the perfect time! It was just starting to get hot so the rain cooled it down a bit and came at a good time to give the guys a break!

Here is Kierstie, Carrie, Corinne, Erica and Connor.

The 3 cousins playing, Kiersite, Connor, Max.

Me right before we packed up, I'm deflating the air mattress, which by the way was remarkably comfortable!

This really made me laugh, apparently my domesticated dog still has some wild instincts. He dug up the dirt and made a little bed for himself. If you look close at the ground under him you can see what he did.

If you look close you can see Max and Bosco investigating something they found.

Bentley exploring.

Max, Bosco, Bentley exploring in the muck.

There were a ton of beautiful wild sunflowers. Which are my favorite flower so I espically loved it!
The back ground there is the National Forrest. It was such a beautiful site! So green, a rare site for us Phoenicians. Bosco and Bentley created a movie perfect moment! They went romping through the field. Seriously it was like something out of Homeward Bound or something. They were trotting through the grass side by side. The grass was so tall Bentley would disappear then pop back up! It put a big smile on my face to see them roaming around so free!



When we got Bentley they gave us his coat. I though that is silly who puts there dog in clothes!!! Ok I know a lot of people do but I'm not one of those people! Any way when we were packing I remembered it and thought maybe I'll bring his coat just in case it gets too cold for him, he does have a short hair cut for the summer. Turns out it came in pretty handy! It kept him warm all night long. Unlike Bosco who half way through the night woke us up shivering! So he climbed into bed between us. No that does not work well. Yes I got punched in the face while tring to sleep!


Bentley the next morning in his coat. Kind of funny!
While we were there we had 20' leashes for the dogs. But they kept getting tangled up in every little twig, root, rock, and each other, not to mention US! So we decided to see how they would do leash free! Remember we were up the to put in fence posts, so there is not a fence up yet (at least not one to contain dogs) so there was no fence to keep the contained. I was SO nervous, since Bentley has run away before and they are both super fast! So I kept a close eye on them and to my amazment they did remarkably well! They stayed close if we called them they came right back! It was wonderful and they really enjoied it! Well we were working on posts and had gotten to the front of the property they had been roaming free for a while and I was not being as diligent as I should have been in watching where they were. I realized I had no idea where they were, and asked and no one else did either. This was especially nerve racking since the front of the property is right by the road! So we called and called and called. And I started to get nervous! Then right as a car drove by Bosco come trotting from the other side of the road! And Bentley was not with him (they had done a good job of sticking together) At this point I'm freaked out about Bentley. I start running down the road. Calling him over and over and did not see him! I prayed and prayed. I was so sure I was going to find him just around the corner flat in the middle of the road. But thankfully he came trotting up to me! I was so relieved! But the kicker to this story is Max all day had been trying to put there regular leashes on them. Which wasn't good because they would get tangled on things and the rope would trip people. So ALL day I had been getting after him to NOT put there leashes on them. Well when I come walking back with Bentley Max says "See Terina I told you I should have put there leash on"!!! He is 5 where does he come up with this? Well determined not to let him think he was right in not listening all day I said, "No Max you were not right to try and put there leashes on because I had asked you not to!" Put him in his place. ha ha I mostly just though it was funny. Max was making us laugh the whole day! And Kierstie was a joy to have there! It was also fun to see Connor taking in nature! It was such a great weekend. We had a blast and it was so fun to get out of the heat. Once we finally headed home the dogs were asleep before we even left the property! And they slept the WHOLE way home! They only got up to pee when we hit Payson. Then they were back out the rest of the 2 1/2 hr trip home! I guess we wore them out.

Bentley passed out on the way home.

Bosco out for the trip home.

We love getting out doors and getting a little dirty! But I don't love the dirty coming into our home. So when we got home I took the dogs straight to the back yard and gave them a bath in there little swimming pool! Only then were they allowed into the house! Poor long haired Bentley had mud crusted in between his toes! And Bosco's feet looked a little raw. I think maybe we should get him some doggie shoes for next time. Yes they make shoes for dogs! Crazy but I guess there is a need for it!

My New Job As A Dishwasher!!

Saturday night Brent and I decided to go out to eat. There is this little Italian place just down the street from our house that we both had really enjoyed. So we decided to go there, close, good, perfect. We drive up and it looks to be closed????? At 7:30 on a Sat. night? That doesn't make sense. I go up to the door to investigate, there is a sign on the door that I read. Then head back to the car and tell Brent "well the place is closed but if we want to open a restaurant here we should call Mike" Why would you want to put a restaurant where one just failed? Not sure. Anyway we were not detoured in our plan to go out to eat (mostly because we were both tired and we had NO food in our house, at least nothing to make a decent meal with) So we headed to Val Vista and Baseline. Lots of restaurants in that area. We decided to go to Buca De Beppo. We get there go in and there is a 30 min wait! At this point I'm way too hungry to wait 30 min to even be seated so we decided to go to Saute. A good restaurant we had been to before in the same shopping center. We get there, no cars in the parking lot! The place is dark and closed up, apparently it had closed down too! Two strikes with places being closed down and another strike with a too long wait. We then headed to the Macaroni Grill. Thankfully they have not gone out of business and they got us seated right away. I enjoy the Macaroni Grill because they have paper table clothes and you can write/color while you wait for you food! We finally after much journeying we had found a place to eat and enjoyed our delicious food! Then the check came. Brent reached into his pocket and looks at me. "Oh crap" I ask what? Then I see him fiddling with his pockets like there is no wallet there. Now Brent likes to play tricks on me so I didn't believe him when he said "I forgot to grab my wallet" He smiled and pulled his hands out, but there was no wallet like I was expecting! He really had forgotten his wallet! And since we were just going out to grab a quick bite and Brent was driving I had left my purse at home! We had a little cash but not enough to pay for dinner. I looked at Brent and he looked as frantic as I felt! What were we going to do??? We didn't have a way to pay for our dinner! I felt awful! Then with a stroke of genius (or inspiration from Heavenly sources) I remembered I had a debit card on my keys!!! Yes thank you Bank of America! They have these little debit cards the size of a grocery store discount card. They work just like a regular debit card, just miniature sized. So our waitress comes up and I say, " So.......you see.........well........we both.......ok so this story has a happy ending so don't freak out! He forgot his wallet, and I left my purse at home because he was driving. (the look on her face! Not so confidant in my promise of a happy ending) But I have this!!" I held up my keys, which for some reason has WAY too many keys and key chains on it! I asked can you use this? She looked a little relived but also a little confused as she looked at what I'm sure she though was my Bashas Thank You card! I could see her confusion and rushed to say, it's a debit card it's just small and on my keys! She then looked very relieved and said oh yeah of course! If it's a debit card no problem! I was relived! She then left with my obnoxious keys to pay for our dinner! It was a little embarrassing but OH SO FUNNY! Brent and I were just sitting there laughing the whole time she was taking care of our bill! I'd had images of me in the back next to a big dirty guy washing dishes, or maybe mopping floors, or going around filling people's cups with fresh water! When in actuality what would have had to happen was one of us drive home and get something to pay with while the other staid there. I'm glad we didn't have to do that since it was a ways from our house! Lesion, never assume your better half has there wallet! They may not! Check before you leave the house! Or else you might wish you banked with Bank of America!

Another funny story to share from the kids in our primary class. We were about 5 min away from church being over when one of our little guys says, I need to go to the bathroom. We hear that A LOT. We try and have the kids wait, especially that close to the end of class. So Brent asked him if he could hold it and he said yes. A minute later he's dancing back and forth from one foot to the other and making I have to go pee noises, You know the noises, I'm sure you've made them before, a little moaning, and whimpering. So Brent says do you HAVE to go right now? He just looked up and said, umm yeah! So Brent quickly too him and headed to the restroom. (this is second hand info, I did not follow them to the bathroom, I had 6 other kids to keep alive!) Once they get in there and up to the urinal the I have to go pee noises intensify and he declares, Oh I can't get it! I can't get it!! He's doing the pee pee dance hoping around!!! Poor little guy couldn't get his pants unbuttoned! So Brent helped him unbutton it real quick and the very thankfully was able to hold it just long enough! They really are funny little kids! Speaking of funny kids I was at a friends house today, when her grandson came into the room. He has white on his earlobes! I thought that's odd. Then she says to me, "do you see what he did to his ears?'' I said "yeah what did he do?" "He found the white out this morning and thought it was a Q-tip" Then she motions like she was cleaning out her ears! I looked a little closer and sure enough it wasn't just his earlobe that was white but the entire inside of his ear too! And it was stuck on there! Water wasn't getting it off! Too funny! You had to see it but it really made me laugh so hard!!

New Flooring!!!

I am so excited writing this! So last week I was looking at the carpet in our dining area. It is DISGUSTING!!! Two dogs have ruined it! Bentley is STILL peeing on the floor. Bosco STILL gets in the trash, drags it over to the carpet, then tears it apart and makes a mess and eats it. So between the food stains, and the pee stains it was just awful! I realized if we ever move (which we will definitely do some day) there is no way we could sell the house with that carpet in it! At least with out dropping the price of the house to compensate for the cost of replacing the carpet. So I thought......Why wait till right before we move to replace the carpet and never enjoy the new flooring??? That makes no sense! If we are going to have to replace it some day why not do it now so we can enjoy it the rest of the time we have in our house?!?! Well that is exactly what we decided to do!!! So We did some price comparison and found the right place, with the right quality product, and the best warranty and now we have new flooring!! But before I show you the final results you really should see how bad it was before!

Before Pictures

The most common garbage eating spot!

Bentley's secret peeing place.

This is where the piano was, also a fav. peeing place

From the kitchen to the dining area.

Kitchen from dining area.....ugly linoleum!!!


More of the ugly linoleum

How the dining area looked before

We had to move all the books off the book shelf so they could move the book shelf to install the wood flooring. So these were the piles and piles of books. Maybe I have too many books? Is that possible? Bosco decided to jump in the pic.

After Pictures

From the living room

From the dining area to the kitchen

The kitchen

From the laundry room looking into the kitchen.

We also recently got some new lighting fixtures for our house. My sister in law Heather's store was having a huge sale so we got a great deal!!

The sconce in the hall way (from all angels)

The upstairs guest bath.

The down stairs powder room.

We feel so blessed to have been able to do a few small home improvement projects! It really helps the feel of our home to be more us.