Wish me luck...

Last Wed. Angie and I gathered our in-laws & parents truck & drove out to Fruitland to the Coca Cola plant to buy some 55 gallon barrels. They were $ 5.00 each so I grabbed 12 & Ang bought 11. Luckily the sweetest man was there to help us load the bad boys onto the trucks & then strap them down. We were there close to a hour and we couldn't have done it without his help. We drove back home VERY slowly and had to stop to secure Angie's load a little better. There we were, on top of the truck, laughing because we had no clue what we were doing! I told her, "We can have babies, but we sure have a hard time figuring out these straps!" We both made it to our homes safely with another fun memory tucked inside our hearts.
Now... to cleaning these little beauties. All I can say is: WISH. ME. LUCK!
(They contain the residue from the syrup used in Coca Cola products & have a 3 inch opening!)

If you are interested in getting some yourself, here's what you need to know:
*CALL FIRST TO CHECK IF THEY HAVE ANY! Call first thing in the morning ( I called at 8:30 AM and they were open.) and get there ASAP. These sell fast! You do not want to waste gas money to find out they are out.
*Plan a few hours for the super fun event!
*Take a friend to help strap them down.
*They had blue & white barrels. (We've heard conflicting stories on what color to get- you decide.)
*They had 55 gallon, 50 gallon & 12 gallon. Will differ each time, and are all $ 5.00 each.

Swire Coca Cola
605 NW 4th St
Fruitland, ID

# 208- 452-5300
Directions:
Hop on the freeway heading to Caldwell.
Drive forever until you see the Fruitland/Payette Exit.
Take Exit # 3 and turn Right.
Continue for approx a mile.
Turn Right on NW 4th St. (There is a Maverick Station)
The factory is down a little on your Left.

**You will need to check in at the enterance & get a badge.
You go into the office and let them know you are there, load what you want and then pay for it! they only take cash or check- no debit.

If you drive a truck- bring lots of straps, ropes and nets. If you are getting a lot, it is best to load them on their side and stack them like a pyramid. SECURE SIDES AND MIDDLE VERY WELL!!!

The leaves are raked!!!

If you have seen our back yard, you know that is it HUGE! That was one of the many things we LOVED about our house when we bought it. The other thing you might not have noticed are all the GIGANTIC trees we have too- which means- TONS of leaves in the Fall. I mean tons.
Something happens every where and it goes a little like this.
Em: "Hey babe, can you help me rake the leaves today?"
Trav: "Sure."
***Which he does, for about a hour.***
Next week-
Em: "Hey sweety, I could use your help with the leaves again today."
Trav: Silence.

Repeate over & over until I do almost all the raking until I have so many blisters I can't rake anymore & then it starts snowing and I haven't finished and then it bugs me all Winter because it was the 1 thing I DIDN't finish!!!

But guess what? In between our 5 minutes of sunshine here & there, I raked them all! The poor garbage men have about 10 more bags today- but I'm done!
(We are talking about A LOT of leaves people- so this is a little victory for me!)

Feeling Very Blessed...

Before everything happened in Japan- I was noticing how blessed my life was. (Now I know it about a zillion times more!)
I was having those moments were I would just stop and pause, look around my house, or at our cars, our food storage, ginormous amount of clothing,craft supplies, huge back yard, boxes of extra diapers etc...- and think: Oh, my word- we are SO BLESSED!!! Look at all we have! Although money is surly lacking, I had an overwhelming sence of gratitude in my heart. It almost brought me to tears several times and I was so thankful to my Heavenly Father for the incredible life we have.
Although we all face big trials & little ones each and every day- we are all so blessed...

The Park...

At the park...

This is the closest thing to a family picture as we get these days! We took the kids to the park after the party on saturday & you would have thought it was there first time getting out of the house in 20 years! They had a blast and the sunshine felt wonderful!

Party time...

On saturday we took the kids to the Immunization Party at the Civic Center, and I have to admit, they did a WONDERFUL job at putting it on. There were tons of games, different booths, face painting,tons of FREE stuff (stuffed animals, tee shirts & more), prizes (Which we won 1 of!) cake, drinks, cookies, string cheese & a bouncy house. It was 2 hours of fun and I'm really glad we went!

Jammies & panties...

Willow was so cute the other night trying to put panties on. She finally got them on and then wore them around her chest the rest of the night!

Disturbing Dreams...

Like every Mother I know, I have an INTENSE fear of something horrible happening to my kids. I am that crazy obsessive Mom who won't let the kids play in the front yard because the "Scary strangers" will get them. I almost had a heart attack debating whether or not Tristin should ride his bike to school (4 blocks away)twice a week,and deciding if it was ok to let them walk to school 2-3 times a week together (Other kids walk the same route). I am always worring, I am always praying they arrive to/from safely and I keep my phone near me so I can hear if the school is calling to tell me they didn't make it. I pay extra attention to what they are wearing incase I have to tell the police incase they are kidnapped, we talk to them about strangers and "scary people"- but I can't stop freaking out about it!! I seriously have issues and lately, my dreams HAVE NOT BEEN HELPING! They have been terrible, disturbing and frightening! I want my children to have "normal" childhoods, but there is so much evil out there and I'm scared out of my mind!!! I have definatly been praying A LOT to help with some of the anxiety, & I know a lot is SUPER normal as a parent, but the other part that I can't seem to control is driving me nuts!
Lord, please protect our beautiful babies...

(I used to take them to school, but lately Trav has taken the van because the bug is acting up again and he's been stranded a few times on his way to work- so i have the bug!)