ORGANIZED TANK HOUSE- I'M SO TANK-FUL!

Today was CLEAN UP AND REPAIR day on the property. My oldest Rugrat is cleaning out our Tank House. He is putting together and installing shelves so we can have all the crud up off of the floor and the outside. We drive right past the Tank House on the way to our home and it was starting to look like an old collector of junk type person had moved in to the Tank House. I was so excited that they were working on this project so I came down to snap some photos.

This is an inside BEFORE photo........ I think we need more stuff..... =)

I shouldn't run out of water but man I never noticed just how dusty that water tank is! I don't think "Good Housekeeping" will be calling me anytime soon to feature me in one of their articles. Please wait while I dry my tears...

This photo is of our Pump House. My teenage Rugrats keep their weight sets in there. It's hard to see but my Hunk cut up a dead tree on the property and built a "hitchin' post". I just love it. We are purchasing a statue of a horse and we are placing an old saddle on it and going to tie it up to the hitchin' post. It is next to our driveway so we thought it would be fun to see as we drive in.

Ahhhhhhhh the generators. YES we do run soley on generators. Well, the "well" is on solar and we hope to get the rest of our things on solar soon but for now we are powered via the generator. We have a big propane generator and a big diesel generator. We live on the backside of a lake and we are the only ones who live on this side of the lake so there has not been any power brought back in here. We were quoted over $200k to bring it back in to where we built on the property. That price is with above ground poles and wiring and my Hunk can't stand to look at that. He will trench and put it all underground. When you add the cost of that up we decided to go with Solar Power and generator back up. For now it is Generator Power with a Generator back up. We have so much we want to do to the property that we haven't the funds for Solar yet.

I wonder what they see in there? They are looking at it like it is VERY INTERESTING. Hmmm, I doubt it's anything exciting like a rattle snake, a squirel, a possum, a bobcat (though I did have a nice EMBARSING encounter with a bobcat before....lets just say I haven't always been a country girl, but I always was a girl who dreamed of owning a BIG cat, and when my dogs had a Bob Cat tree'd I thought it was my lucky day, I tried to coax it down, yelled at the dogs to leave it alone and I tried to feed it. I brought my other cats over, who by the way were not happy with me in the least, to show this BIG cat how nice I was to other kittys and that it should come down and let me hold it. I didn't realize it would want to eat my kittys or claw at me I was just so in AWE of the beauty. I called my hunk and told him I needed to him to put his gloves on when he got home, just in case he tried to claw at him, and get this BIG cat down for me. I told him the coloring was so beautiful that it almost looked like it was half wild.....I went on to tell him how I've always wanted a big cat like this. When my Hunk came home and looked at this BIG cat of mine, he bust out laughing. He said he could see himself walking into our livingroom while I'm in the rocker holding this BIG CAT and he stops in his tracks and says to me "SLOWLY PUT DOWN THE BOB CAT". What BOB cat? It's not a BIG beautiful cat who was going to be forever mine? Sighhhh I was bummed, my dream burst, I already had a name picked out for him. I already imagined my friends coming over to meet my new cat. Oh how they would comment on his coloring and yes his size......but this was not to be....However, I do recognize a Bob Cat now and I've never tempted one with a snack (my kitty's) again.).....

CRUD! I've been spotted! I thought I was being so sly!

Daddy watchin' as his son does what he just explained to him..... Proud Daddy moment.

I love watching moments like this. Moments when a father is teaching a son. When a son is drinking in all the wisdom his father has to give him. I love watching them work together. I love watching them play together. I just love watching them! (yes, I was trying to be invisible while taking this picture! I wanted to capture the moment...... and when they see me they start up with the dorky faces, the toungues sticking out, the eyes buldging for what they think is a hysterical photo.... GOOFBALLS!)

I think my Hunk is trying to tease me by bending over like that...... sighhhhh

This is our old dump truck. We have hauled (why yes, honey you do have a mouse in your pocket)...OK, My HUNK has hauled many loads of sand down to our beach are with this truck. She ain't perty to look at but she will getter' done!

I was on my way back down to the house and I spoted this birds all gathered on a couple rocks out in our cove.

Here birdie, birdie birdie.........

There were four boxes of shelves in my Rugrats truck and now there is one. There must be progress going on inside! yahoo!

There he is with my nephew (who just came out from a visit from South Dakota. He is in the military and recently returned from Iraq, thank you dear sweet nephew, and he is out to visit with us here in Cali for a couple of weeks) putting shelves together......

Give me an "O".......give me an "R"........give me a "G" ......give me an "A"...give me an "N".....give me a "I"...........ok this is taking too long..... If I finished this chant, what would that spell?? ORGANIZED........ YEAH! We are on our way!!

Man these shelves are filling up fast. Sighhhh there goes the dreams of having so much extra room that all my Holiday decorations could be stored out here...........

It's looking so much better, so organized, so..so...clean, so amazing, sighhhhhhhhh I'm just so TANK-ful!!

So you know you want to hear a story about the Tank House. My youngest son (16) had friends over for the night. It was the first time a couple of them had stayed over so they decided to go out in the middle of the night (because they are boys!) and walk around the property. My son takes them up to the tank house. He tells them an old man lives there (since it is a log cabin look, they had no idea a water tank was inside).... he tells them that the old man is grouchy, yada yada yada..... Then he tells them he has this great idea and he goes up to the tank house doors and he starts banging on them and yellin'. Well, these friends of his just about die, they are expecting this grumpy old man to wake up and get mad, they can't believe my son would be so BRAVE..... My son took off running back to them (as if the old man had started to open the door to get him) and his friends ran like the wind back down to the house. They were scared half outta their minds.... These brave 16 year olds.....My son laughed so hard that I thought he would pee himself! YES, another prime example of how much they are like their father!.....

There is never a dull moment around here. And most days I don't complain about that. ;)

This is why we have children right? They are put here for one reason and one reason alone. To work for their parents, to do the things we don't want to do. I know this isn't true, but isn't this what our parents said when we didn't want to do a chore? When they wanted to give us a bad time?? When they wanted to irritate us?? Basically when they wanted us to realize that we were going to do what they needed/wanted done so we might as well stop complaining and get to work..... But lucky or is it UNlucky? Hmmmm, might have to ask this question of him.... my oldest Rugrat does work for us..... I'm proud to say he is a very hardworker. He is such a good boy. And isn't he just adorable?!? He is a carbon copy of my Hunk of Burnin' Love at that age. Well, he is taller than my Hunk but otherwise carbon copy. I don't even know why I had to be at the birth. I was just a Host for this little guy. Is it possible to only have one parents dna? I don't know why anyone would want to deny this Rugrat as their own but my Hunk couldn't do it if he tried. He looks like him, talks like him, stands like him and his sense of humor?....well, lets just say if there is someone around to pull one over on he will jump at the chance, just like his father. And when you tell him "you are just like your father!" (Now we all know when we say this to our children it isn't always a positive thing! ) Well, my rugrats take great pride in this statement. There chests swell up and a grin spreads from ear to ear and then the little chuckle comes out. They are so proud. And of course I start laughing and my Hunk just swells up right along with them. It makes him feel so good that his children enjoy being compared to his goofball self. What I'm so thankful for is the strong work ethic and integrity that they have. Nothing could make me more proud.

Momma bragin' on her family? You betcha!!! Don't we all from time to time?

Have a B-E-A-utiful day!

Ciao Bella~

HAVING A SWINGING TIME AT THE LAKE

I was having problems with my flash on my camera last night... I need to have my little sista' look at it for me when she comes to visit......but I took photo's of the kids playing outside.

This one is of our youngest Rugrat. She was so excited for me to take pictures of her on the swing her Daddy made for them.

You can really see how the flash wasn't working well in this photo. My daughter is doing what she loves to do more than probably most anything......she is loving on her cat. This is our Daddy Kitty....

She just got home from soccer practice and was laughing at herself because she had worn her UGG's to school that day, so after soccer when she took her cleats off that left her with UGG's and her soccer clothes.

My little Rugrat had to show her love to the Momma Kitty.

The barn house with the animals runnin' around.

Can you say Goofballs?? And bad exposure, DANG FLASH. My little one has half a head and arm! Maybe that's why she only seems to hear about half of what I say, she is missing an ear! I feel so much better now. All this time I thought she was just ignoring me. I feel so silly now! sighhhh.......

They just LOVE getting in the jacuzzi. When they asked last night if they could and I answered yes you would have thought a big Candy Company just called and told them they won a truck load a day of their favorite candy and the truck was pulling up. All the YEAH! WOOO HOOO's! They were so excited. They ran in the house, grabbed their swim suits and ran back out and tried to jump in. They decided that it was a bit hot and they needed to ease in to the water instead.

I just love watching my Rugrats act silly!! It is such a reminder of how wonderful childhood is or should be. Not a care in the world. The biggest concern they have (or should have) is if their homework is done and which friend will be able to come over.

I should have some great posts after this weekend. We will have a bunch of teenagers camping out in our Meadow. Our son is inviting friends over for a "Pow Wow". They crack me up. They handle everything, all I have to do is make sure I have enough food to feed all these hungry teenagers!

Ahhhhhhhh to be young again.....I miss those day! Don't you?


Ciao Bella~

Silly dress up School days.......I just love all of my Rugrats!

So it was dress up day at the high school yesterday. The Juniors dressed up like the 1980's. They had a dance and played all the old 80's music. My son decided to keep his little costume on while we went into the store after school to get a few things. There were LOTS OF PEOPLE LOOKING AT US! I was getting the "Oh my gosh what kind of mother are you" look and he was getting the "WOW, REALLY?!?" look. My oldest was laughing his butt off the whole time. Sometimes you have to say, WHY NOT? He got such a kick out of it that I couldn't dare ask him to remove his wig!

My oldest Rugrat had to join in on the fun. After seeing his brother dressed up like the 80's he wanted to take the wig and dress up like a "redneck" This isn't to say that he isn't already one. If you listen to Jeff Foxworthy I guess our whole family is! The directions to our house does include "turn off of the paved road".... So I guess we "just might be a redneck"

He did go with my to take my youngest to soccer practice. She begged him to wait in the car, to which he OF COURSE did NOT do. I have a feeling there maybe less friends coming over after his appearance. LOL

You have to love his Chevy Pride. He is such a goofball. I have no idea where he gets this sense of humor from! LOL Best part is when he saw the photo of himself and said "I LOOK JUST LIKE DAD!" Oh my Hunk of Burning Love is going to feel so honored that after his son was trying to "dress up" he felt he looked like his father. LOL LOL........ I will have to say his hair does resemble a few of our past high school friends!

I still have my girls.........Ahhhhhhhhhhhh. This shirt is very true for her! I bought this for her when I was visiting my sister in Colorado. As soon as I saw "Candy Makes Me Happy" I grabbed it, knowing if there was one person who should be wearing this statement it was my daughter! The rail, the toothpick, the girl who looks like she needs to eat candy. But too much and she is zippin' around like something that just plain isn't good for her..... So we'll stick with the shirt and a small slice of sugar for this sweetie pie!

Can you say hot pink? The leggings with skirts are very in style, at least here in Cali ,but the hot pink just about blows me over.... I'm soooooo not a fashion queen and have learned to be a bit more relaxed as I get older and let them express themselves a bit more.... within reason of course.

Now my youngest rugrat is all dressed and ready to head to school. I picked this outfit up for her when I was in Colorado also. In fact, as I've mentioned about not being a fashion queen, I copied the manikin. I went around the store collecting the items until she would look just like the cute little plastic girl in the window! (except she has a head OF COURSE)

Enjoy your day! Hope my goofball children at least put half the smile on your face as they always do on mine!

Ciao Bella~

Let the stress be-GONE.

I enjoyed a walk on our property this morning before starting my day. I took my camera with me to remind me of the beauty we all have to look at. It's easy to take it for granted when we are so busy with our day. Today I wanted to stop......de-stress.....and take the time to smell the roses (or California Poppies) ........well, lets be honest it's not all "roses" that I smell, but sounds better than a few other smells I could post...

A few birds flying around and I'm enjoying the cooler weather those clouds are providing this morning.

This is where we plan to put the water trampoline. I found one that is green and brown instead of blue and yellow. Of course it must have the "BLOB" on it. My "hunk of burnin love" will surely be the biggest kid off all. I better make sure my medical insurance is paid up before I snap shots of my rugrats flying thru the air while my 'hunk of burnin love' lies there laughing after being so proud of the height to which he has made his children fly.

This is the path that goes down to the tip of one of our coves. I'd love to put a little bungalow down there someday.

I can feel the stress melting away... Water is so calming to me. I love the outdoors, the peace and the beauty. I feel so blessed to be able to sit and have this view to calm me each day.

The grass is still dry from summer...... I can't wait for it all to turn green again...

This is part of our driveway just before you make the turn to the house,

miss the turn and your car will be launched..... you will be swimin' with the fish.

The tree between the two rocks that looks like it has fallen over is actually growing that way. It stretches straight out like that to the lake. It's like it has leaned over to get a drink of water and didn't have the strength to stand back upright. I feel it's pain.... I've leaned over to do something before and I thought I need a crane to help me stand back up-right. Grabin' my back and cursing the days of my youth slippin away...... one ache, one pain and one gray hair at a time.

The below photos actually from the other night as the sun was setting. I stepped out on the patio and was so impressed with the color of the sunset that I had to go grab my camera. I love a beautiful sunset.

Can't think of a much better ending to my day........

The tension from running around like a wild woman trying to get the kids ready for school is now becoming nothing but a memory.. (until tomorrow when it starts all over again)... Ya know, you hear, "YOU ARE GOING TO MISS THESE DAYS"..... And with having a son who is 19 years old I know there is truth in those words of wisdom. What I'm not sure about is if I will ever miss the mornin CHAOS. I will and already do miss when they were very small and always had the cutest things come out of there mouths....... Like when my rugrat daughter was trying to say that she wasn't thinking clearly and instead of saying "I wasn't making any sense" she said "It was like I didn't have any money in my head for a minute!"........

But will I really miss the rugrats fighting amongst themselves? I'm not sold on that one yet.

Enjoy your morning!

Ciao Bella~