Northern Idaho fashion

Let me preface this with a statement.North Idaho is an amazing place to live. It's gorgeous, there's not a lot of traffic and it's one of those places that's not to big(not to much traffic) but still has the of a larger city. Spokane is only a few minutes away with decent shopping etc.. That being said...Have you ever been out in public and seen someone "interesting" (I'm being nice) and thought to yourself, "Really? You looked in the mirror and thought that was good idea?" and then you thought, "Seriously, where do these people come from?". I can answer that. They came from North Idaho.
You know you live in a redneck town when you go to the fair and the attendants are scarier than the "carnies". For example, I met my friend Amber at McDonald's the other day to let our kids play etc.. There were several "interesting" people there but the most questionable was a girl/woman who was probably about 19 and weighed in at an estimated 300-325lbs. I've got no problem with that, my issue was that she wasn't wearing any pants! I'm not exaggerating, she wasn't wearing short shorts or something else a little too revealing for a woman of her size. She was quite literally wearing an over sized sweatshirt, slippers and NO PANTS! I guess I missed the lesson on fashion when they talked about how sexy that is... or not so much.

Things you take for granted before you have a toddler

1. Garbage cans without lids

2. Cupboards and drawers without safety locks

3. Any aerosol can with a spray nozzle intact (shaving cream and hair moose cans also fall into this category)

4. Putting something away with the knowledge it will be where you put it when you come to find it later

5. DVD's that stay on the shelf

6. A clean car or one that has real music playing in it

7. Folding the laundry without someone climbing in the basket and pulling everything back out

8. Going anywhere without "wipes"

9. Storing anything under the bed

10. Eating a meal when it is ready!!! Instead after the baby is done, he and his tray are cleaned up and the floor is cleaned so he doesn't eat the remnants off of it. Of course at this point everyone else is done too so you might as well do those dishes while you're doing the babies. The older kids (or your husband) broke a glass bowl full of salsa, so you should probably just clean the whole floor while your at it. It's now almost an hour after your food was ready, but you are to tired to rewarm it so you just eat cold!

But really who can resist this?!

And so it begins!

We have officially started our house! I say we, but that actually means Brandon. :) Brandon and Kelly (his Dad) went out today and cleared the lot. We should have a foundation in this next week! Meanwhile I spent the day looking at "Parade" homes, and unfortunately was not all that impressed. Although there were a few things I liked and am hoping I can talk B into implementing in this house. We'll see! Wish me luck, I'll probably need it!

Note to self; Learn to say NO

Am I the only one who has let myself become a "pee-on"? I've discovered today that when it comes to people "needing help" I can't say no! It doesn't seem to matter if whatever it is they are asking from me, is something I can actually do, I say yes anyway! Whether it's dinner for this person or dessert for some other function, I just can't seem to help myself! I swear I must wear an invisible sign that says "Ask me because I will say yes".
Okay, so I know I should have a better attitude about this as it falls into that "serving others" category. But seriously, where is the line? When is it ok to say "no, I just can't", and when is saying that just being self-centered?
So I just needed to vent a bit and i'm good now! :)

Lately

So, to update you all on our lives! We are still in Coeur d'Alene and we still love it. (It's easy to love in the summer.... winter? Not so much! :)) We are actually just starting a new home which we are VERY excited about! Although Brandon tells me not to get to excited as we are putting it on the market next week and we would never get to move in. To tell you the truth i'm rather conflicted about it! On one hand, if it sells we get the proffit and put into something else. But I've invested alot of time into designing this one and would be sad never to see it come to fruition. Only time will tell.
The boys are doing GREAT! Soccer starts in 2 weeks as does school. We are finally done with all the camps and lessons for the summer and have a few weeks to get ready, although things are crazy so it doesn't really feel like "time off"! They are sooo excited for school and have been nagging me for weeks to go buy school supplies.
Chase will be in 3rd grade this year. He is very bright and gets good grades. Not to mention he's a heartbreaker! He's also in Scouts. He has his Wolf and is almost done with his Duty to God. He is Mr. Responsibility. (Something about being the oldest?)
Davin will be in 1st grade and is excited about eating lunch at school. We of course, had to get him a really cool lunchbox. He's a great soccer player! (Something about practicing with Chase and other big kids makes playing with kids his own age easy!) He's EXTREMELY compettive and in all honesty is a pretty sore loser.
Bridger is my angel. He follows me everywhere these days and wants to "help" with everything. Even when I don't want his "help"! He is a very cheerful little fellow these days and I'm excited about having some time this Fall for just the 2 of us. My older boys each had some of that and I appreciate that time. I love watching him discover everything around him.
Brandon is super busy these days! He is still doing quite a bit of Framing contracting as well as Generaling. The combination adds up to ALOT of work!! He loves it though. Framing pays the bills for now and generaling gives him the freedom to do some creative things he REALLY loves. He is talking about taking some design classes in the future, since that is his true passion. (Besides me of course!) He is also the Wolf Den Leader for the Scouts (which he really likes) and is an Elders Quorum Teacher(which he really doesn't like).
I am just trying to keep up with everyone!!!! Between selling our house, building a new one, helping B with all the business stuff and keeping up a family it seems I never slow down. I'm also thinking of taking some classes in the near future. My problem is deciding which ones! I have it narrowed down to 3 choices, photography, music and nursing. i'll probably take a few of each and decide what I like best!
I suppose that is a fair update on our lives to start with!
Allie

Hi all!

Okay so my cousin Denise inspired me to start a blog. Apparently that's the way to keep up with everyone these days and I've fallen behind on even emailing. So here goes!