Busy aka filling every second of the day so I stay sane

Monday Chris told me that he would be spiking out on the fire and I might not hear from him for awhile. At the time I thought no big deal. When he was on the engine he would say that but the longest I ever went without hearing from him was 3 days. I'm now going on 5 days and yes that isn't much longer than 3 but it feels like forever. So to keep from going crazy we did a lot today.

We started off by going to CAL Ranch to pick up some canning supplies. Instead we got side tracked by the huge clearance sale they were having were I picked up a pair of $70 jeans for $17. I look smoking in them and now I just need a husband to take me on a date in them. Afterwards we met up with Aubrey and her boys so the kids could play and she could teach me how to make tissue paper pom pom ball things to hang in the girls room. After I attempted to be crafty I picked green beans at my moms. Yes I'm being quite the domestic diva these days. This was followed up by a trip to the grocery store, Dippidee where we got a free cupcake, and McDonalds with Keli and her boys were we paid in three different transactions and used several coupons in order to feed the seven of us for $3.21. Now I've been snipping green beans and watching Once Upon a Time while I wait for complete exhaustion to take over so I can crash in bed without having to think.

8 more weeks to go!!!

Daily Life

One of the best parts of where we live is our neighborhood. I call it the glorified trailer park because it is a little on the white trashy side but coming from experience you will never meet nicer people than those who live in a trailer park. Two of my favorite neighbors also have husbands who are away from home a lot so we have our own little support system going on. Tonight my one neighbor and I just weren't feeling the regular routine so we packed up the kids and headed up the canyon. It was refreshing. Literally. We played in the freezing cold water and drove through a rain storm on the way home. Plus having kids who immediately crashed in their beds when we got home was a nice bonus.

Plumb-Mater

Today we spent the day canning tomatoes. It went much smoother than my peaches experience. Probably due to the fact it was my mom and I together, Paisley napped, and Huntley was super helpful. Hunt's favorite part was peeling the skin off of the tomatoes. She was very concerned about my moms instructions on leaving the skin in the water and kept asking if it was okay. My mom kept assuring her that it was okay because she had a special sink you could just wash the skins down.

The sink was special alright. Special in the fact it ended up getting clogged and my mom had to then take it apart and we made a rather large mess. Although there is good in all bad and we found out Pais was fascinated with the whole thing. I may have a future little plumber on my hands. Too bad she doesn't share her sisters inability to keep pants on her bottom.

First Day of School

Huntley started her first day of preschool today. I swear she grew up overnight. She looked so big sitting on her carpet or maybe it was the fact her clothes matched and her hair was done. Either way she looked all grown up.

Paisley on the other hand really enjoyed the one on one attention. I didn't know she was so affectionate but the whole time we were playing she would crawl into my lap and give me a hug and then go back to playing. I think I'm going to really enjoy this whole school thing.

Solace....

....comes in the form of Grandpa and cupcakes.

Chris left for Idaho today and after having him home for so long and then on local fires after he went back I started getting anxious tonight. It takes me a few days to get into the swing of single parenting and not getting to look forward to 5:00 and having another adult to talk too. Luckily I have awesome parents who let us chill at their house and provide treats too.

I'm a Robot

Our computer bit the dust. This has actually been three years in the making but this time we decided it wasn't worth it to put any more money into it and to start saving for a new one. It's a little annoying not having a computer but for the most part I'm able to do the majority of things I need a computer for on my phone. Quite handy, except when it comes to blogging. I can blog just fine but the problem is other blogs. When I try and comment on other blogs the dang letters they make you type in "to prove you're not a robot" always get autocorrected right after I press continue. I then have to try again and again and again. If I'm lucky I actually get it to go through but for the most part I get frustrated and move on. I've finally decided to stop testing fate and accept that I must be a robot.

And since I can't do a post without a picture here was our adventure fishing at Cleveland Reservoir where we got skunked but Hunt got to experience her first time "watering a tree.". I'm sure she will thank me someday for keeping such great records of all her milestones.

Shot Shape

The past week with Chris was nice but there was always that little voice in the back of my head reminding me that we still had 9 weeks left to go of the season. It was even louder for Chris reminding him that not only did he have nine weeks left but nine weeks left as a hot shot. Definitely a little more hard core than an engine. The majority of our time was spent hiking but since we all love the mountains it was a small sacrifice to make.

The majority of our hikes were finding random trails up AF Canyon and discovering were they went. Or at least how far we could go before Hunt started complaining that her butt hurt. She is way to big for the backpack but I figured if Chris could handle packing her around then his fire gear would be like a walk in the park. We found a lot of great meadows to have picnics in and it made me want to spend more time discovering everything I haven't seen in my own backyard.

Since we were out seeing things we'd never seen before Chris and I went on a really long and much needed date to hike Timp. I'm not a big fan of the top but the flowers, animals, and views on the way up were awesome. I'm hooked and plan on making it a yearly tradition.

Last but not least we finally hiked the Grotto in Payson Canyon. We actually got lost and went on two hikes up Payson Canyon, hence one of the pictures below of Chris trying to get enough Internet service on his phone to get directions. When we finally did find the right trail all the hype I'd heard about this hike was 100% true and it was the best hike for kids. Huntley loved walking across all the log bridges and the destination itself was gorgeous. It was a little crowded though and I'd love to go back when we could have it all to ourselves. The only negative side of this hike is it is too far of a drive or I'd probably take the girls there on a weekly basis.

Now that Chris is back on call hopefully all of our hard work paid off and he is able to keep up. As for the girls and I we will be taking a few days off!