How long can I put off my paper...

Here I am... putting off my papers once again! :) I work better under pressure, lol.

So with the exception of the boys' room, the house is basically done! For the most part, anyway. I say that because now I am embarking on the remodeling journey. Not like a remodel of the house, more like an overhaul of some stuff. Don't worry, it will all become clear as my next few posts come along with the progress of transforming some of my old things into brand new things. I have tons of projects planned, so it is just a matter of staying on track with one project at a time! I am suuuuuper excited for some of them, including the make over of my coffee table, a microwave cabinet, corner hutch, outdoor furniture and more. I am hoping to redo these on a low budget as well, so I will be sure to keep track of what I spend along with each overhaul.

So much has been going on around here, I have been having a hard time slowing down to enjoy the beautiful weather and time with my kiddos. I have managed to restart my running and Harley has been loving that! I take him with me, and I always smile when he see the constant whiplash turn arounds from people seeing how big he is. He isnt even 9 months old yet, and I'm willing to bet he is over 120 at this point. I have finally gotten to a point of trusting him enough to sleep in the bedroom with us. He slept in a kennel until he own grew it, and then in a corral to keep him confined to one area while I could not have eyes on him, such as sleeping time. But the last few nights I have allowed him and Kadence to sleep in the room with us. They have both done so well! I didn't worry about Kadence... but Harley is still a baby. Other than sitting on my side of the bed with his head over my neck until I pretend like I am asleep before he will go settle at the foot of the bed on the floor, he does great! I feel much better being able to allow him to roam.

I got an email about him this morning actually. The breeder I got him from has another litter and one of the prospective new families wanted to ask the owners of the previous litter about our experience with the pups. Of course I wrote a novel... how could I not? Harley has been one of the best things to happen to our family in a long time! Many times I have cried into those floppy ears of his and he just let me hold his great big head in my chest. I talk to him all the time when I am lacking adult conversation. I could literally fall backwards and he would catch me... he is always there. The one constant in my life. It is weird to think about a dog having that role in a persons life, but anyone who actually knows us knows that I am not making it up! He has just been this amazing light for me.

Everyday gets better. Boats and I have been making a conscious effort to remind each other everyday how much we appreciate what we do for each other. Does that mean we never have a dispute? Uh... no. He still ticks me off and I still nag him for it, but we deal with it differently now. The rough roads, the painful words, the seemingly impossible situations have all lead us here. To this place of truly unconditional love. Many people say that they love their spouse unconditionally, but that's just not true. There are usually conditions. All I know is that this works for us. It wouldn't work for most people, but most people are as awesome as we are, LOL :)) No, but really... things are getting better and better and everyday I regain a little more confidence in myself and my abilities to be the kind of wife God wants me to be. Although I would not want to relive most of what we have been through, I wouldn't change anything either.

This also brings me to another change in our house. It has become clear to me that our kids have a hard time listening to us. We say something, and a lot of times they just straight up ignore us. This has lead us to resort to yelling.

A lot.

Too much.

No more.

Clearly the yelling is doing nothing anyway. Do they hear us, yes. Do they listen, no.

Sometimes there is a need to yell... like in an urget situation or if we are in another room and just need their attention. But once we have their attention, the volume needs to be taken down. I had yelled at Bubba the other day because once again he was refusing to eat lunch. After I was done, Bug looked at me and said 'Im good, Mommy?I got no screams because I ate my lunch and I'm good. But not him. Him got screams because he's bad.' Yea... they have a name for it. Awesome.

So thanks to my beautiful little eye opener, Screams will be making an exit. Boats and I discussed it the other night so that if we see the other reaching that point, we can have a signal to defuse the situation. Our kids are smart, and they deserve better. They have lifted me up from my lowest points, they very least I can do is not crush their little spirits by screaming at them over something as ridiculous as spilling water or not eating every last bite of a meal. Is it worth the possibility of ruining my relationship with them? Hell no.

With that, I'm off to workout, then wash my car and return my gray dog back to his white form, lol. Then after lunch its time to get cracking on one of my papers due on Friday :) Perhaps I'll get around to posting more pictures soon!

Me