The Fence

Greg has been home this week and has been working on staining the fence, since in the five years we've lived here, has never been done. He had to clean it first by spraying the boards down with some chemical and rinsing it off, wait for it to dry, then stain it. Easy, right?

Riiiiiight (said in a unbelieving sarcastic way). The cleaning took two days and my arms and his are both sore. The drying took a day, and today he started staining, but won't be able to finish. Maybe tomorrow!

I have figured out (because I'm a smarty pants) that a home improvement project never is as quick and easy as the Do-It-Yourself Network on TV makes it seem. I always double the amount of time I think it's going to take, then times that number by 3,000 hours and then I'm usually close in my estimation.

This is the before...notice the crusty white hard water stains from the sprinkler

This is during...notice the red tones of the cleaned wood on the right hand side. Can anyone say "sore hamstrings?"

Ahhhh, father- son bonding

Happy Birthday, Tyler

Tyler turns seven today! We are celebrating by having a pancake breakfast before school, then, while b-day boy is occupied learning stuff, I will rush to the store and buy treats to surprise him with in class.

Tonight, we have back-to-school night, so we'll go out to dinner at the restaurant of his choice (which is always an adventure) & won't do much else, but tomorrow the fun starts. Sleep over, pizza, movies, presents, cake, brownies, ice cream....PARTY at the POULSEN"S!!

The waiting game is over

The last few weeks have been a waiting game for us. Greg found out a couple of weeks ago that his job was in jeopardy due to the failing economy. He has been job hunting elsewhere and has been hired by a company named Corbins Electric in Phoenix, AZ!! We are relocating our family within the next few weeks and are looking forward to a fresh start in a place where I just might melt in the parking lot on my way to the grocery store. On the bright side, maybe I'll sweat these last 10 pounds I'm trying to lose...

This is a pic of Greg getting the "You're Hired!" call. He is in his grubby clothes because he's staining our fence (more on that in the next post) and he's sitting in the back of the car because he doesn't get cell reception in our house so the garage becomes his office!


Some interesting tidbits about Phoenix:

1. People living there are called Phoenicians...this sounds like an alien life form.


2. It is the 5th largest city in the US
   
3. The street systems are laid out in a traditional grid (oh no, I need to learn my easts and wests.)


4. The highest temperature ever recorded was only 122 degrees.


5. The highest low temperature in a 24 hour period was 92 degrees.

6. They don't have daylight savings time....

I do want to publicly thank all of those who toiled on their knees and asked the Lord to bless us...it worked! We have felt closer to the spirit and have felt the windows of Heaven opened up to our family.

Just eating bon bons...

Okay, I hate caulking. Removing the old stuff is the hardest thing in the world next to childbirth. It doesn't matter if you have a fancy tool that promises to remove it all in a blink of an eye. It takes good old fashioned elbow grease, and let me tell you, my forearms are totally sore! On a good note, I have finished the toilets and they look mighty clean. No more PPD (post-penile drip...courtesy of boys using the throne) stains around the base. And I'm working on my shower...which might just take me a year to finish.

First Day of School!!!

Yeah!! That's right, this morning I sent Scottie and Tyler off to school with tears in my eyes...of gratitude! Just Kidding! I actually have mixed feelings about the school year. The end of summer means I have to turn into the taskmaster in order for everything to get done. Summer is so lax that I will miss that, but I know the kiddos are ready to go back. They woke up early this morning and were dressed and ready to go by 7:15...school starts at 8:20. Joelle, of course had to get dressed and Greg, Joelle, and I all took the boys. We walked them to the playground, hung out for a while and when it was time to kiss and say goodbye, a certain little female was quite miffed that she didn't get to stay. She is so ready for school!

My life is backwards

First of all, I have had major issues with my camera and the ability to download/upload pictures. That being said, I am browsing all these photos that I have never shared with my family (sorry G'ma Poulsen!!) and will be posting them in random order which goes against every perfectionist inclination that I have. Here goes...

Summer Vacation

School starts tomorrow, so today is officially the last day of summer vacation. Out of the 8 weeks of break, we (the kids and I) have been out of town for 5 1/2 weeks of them. Saturday night we returned from Phoenix where we were visiting Greg's siblings. It was so fun to see everyone in their own element and of course, to spend time with them. I thought the weather would melt me, but was pleasantly surprised at the fact that the heat didn't bother me. I guess Stockton weather at 3 pm is about the same as Phoenix, or at least feels the same. Here, in my world, I don't go out of the house at that time of day and it's the same in AZ.

After we unpacked the car we loaded the kids back in and went back-to-school shopping. Let me say this: I now understand why my mom would take us one at a time, the week before school started. Scottie and Tyler are not a problem to have together in a store. The problem comes in a smaller package...namely, Joelle. She thinks that she is entitled to everything the boys get even though she's not starting Kindergarten until next year. YIKES! Suffice it to say, she weaseled some paint into the shopping cart. Well, that's not entirely accurate, she bugged so much that I finally agreed to get her whatever she was waving in front of my face, since it was about the 30th thing she had asked me to buy!!

Before our AZ trip, the kiddos and I went down to visit my parents in Moreno Valley. The kids loved being there and playing with their cousins, Roman and Mateo. Grandma Grove convinced Joelle that she should call her "Norma" so now that's what Joelle calls her. Shameful. Grandpa had a lot of fun with his grandkids as he acts just like them!