The Wall

as in, I feel like I have hit the wall.

I know that I have no right to whine. My kids are healthy, my marriage is good, we have good jobs, and a house, and food on the table. But literally, this week is giving me a massive sized headache.

My semester starts Monday and I am teaching 12 credits. I'm running the college's first criminal justice internship program, which seems to be falling apart before it started. I am glad I have this teaching job, really, but I honestly thought by the beginning of this semester, THIS would be my only job. I was *this* close to a full time faculty position and then the college lost the @#$*&!#$^% funding (my mom reads this blog). So now, once again, I will be working two jobs this fall.

I got volunteered to be a mentor to faculty teaching online courses for the first time. That turned into a cluster and was way more work than it was worth. The money I'll make from that was definitely NOT worth it (though it did buy a new camera lens). It is exciting that the college is moving forward as fast as it is, but quick growth can be frustrating. I'll leave it at that.

The thought of Youth Court starting again gives me an ulcer. Oy. Not that I don't like it, I really do, but September is a crazy month. I feel like I am always gone and running like a mad woman (I'll avoid the chicken with her head cut off reference). The past years it has been OK to be gone in the evening, it has all worked out, but everything changes this year. . .

MYLIE STARTS KINDERGARTEN IN 11 DAYS!!

Don't get me wrong. I am so excited for her, she is so excited. But it is a whole new phase of life we are starting. Although she is getting excited, she is also apprehensive. Her nervous habit is that she puts her hands on her face or in her mouth. When she does that she gets sores on her mouth and face. And yes, her face is broke out right now. I know once she gets there and probably gets through the first hour, all will be well, but until then I'll worry.

I have never regretted that I am a working mother. That is what works for our family, I have a flexible schedule, and they have a wonderful caregiver while I am at work. But I will admit the thought that someone else will be picking her up at school a few days a week (even though it is you Alicia and I love you madly) breaks little pieces of my heart off.

Mylie is playing in a soccer league in Star this fall instead of in Boise. We thought it would be easier (location wise). We found out this week she will be practicing TWO DAYS A WEEK plus a GAME. Seriously? Oh, and apparently I am the ONLY working mother in Star because practice is at 5-6 and I am the only one it was a problem for.

Did I mention the mole that Jeff had to have biopsied last week came back as cancerous? He has to go in next week and have them cut around it. It isn't a big deal, except that everything seems like a bigger deal when you are on edge (which, did I mention, I am).

I was a mean mom today and every time my kids opened their mouths, my headache got bigger. And we are out of diet coke. We may run out of milk, bread, cheese, but we never run out of diet coke. Poor, poor, planning on my part.

Don't even get me started on Jeff's job, because every day when he comes home from work and tells me about work, I want to throw something westward. I may have yelled at our television during the news tonight when a county official was speaking.

My house is a disaster, I am not exaggerating. I don't even know how I am related to my mom and Grandma because I am not living up. Add that to the fact that we have been gone a good chunk of the weekends of the summer, it is not helping matters.

But I know in the whole grand scheme of things, I don't have anything to whine about. One of my friends is going through a divorce right now. One of my friends has a six year old nephew with cancer. Mostly, I am just grumpy. Mylie and I have been talking about gratitude and when we say our prayers not just asking Heavenly Father for things, but making sure we are thanking Him for our blessings, and specifically naming them. It has been heartwarming (and at times humorous) to listen to the blessings she is grateful for. It helps remind me of all the blessings I am grateful for.

Here's hoping some sleep, a trip with the kids (and my camera) to the park in the morning , a trip to the grocery store to pick up some diet coke (and perhaps pretzel m&ms), a hair cut (badly needed), are just the things the doctor ordered to make tomorrow a better day. Fingers crossed.

Bangs!

Today Mylie got a back to school haircut. I didn't plan on her getting bangs, but when the lady cutting her hair asked, we decided, why not! She hasn't had bangs since she was 1, and she is a little unsure about them. She keeps asking me if they are cute. We also finished up her school clothes shopping tonight. She was modeling her clothes and we decided to make a little video to show off her hair cut. The rest of the moves, well that is ALL her.

Hamma!

Blake is doing SO good with his speech. It is like he is a completely different kid. He has so many new words, but his favorite new word (and my favorite word to listen to him say) is HAMMA (as in hammer). Alicia reminded me that I must get this on video, so I did. Then Blake wanted to watch is 837 times afterwards. Everytime he saw himself he yelled, "Bubba!"

Our last summer hoorah! {An epic post}

We just returned home from our last summer trip, and had a great time! We left Wednesday after work and drove to Idaho Falls and stayed at Gramma and Papa's house. We got up the next morning and headed to Yellowstone. We were going to camp that night at the KOA outside of West Yellowstone. We stopped on the way and set up camp. Blake was very excited to help Daddy with the "hamma!"

Then we headed into Yellowstone. On our way to Old Faithful we saw an elk family (including a baby elk, SO CUTE) and some buffalo. We arrived at Old Faithful right after it went off and headed off an a hike around the boardwalk. It was such a beautiful day.

And the scenery was equally gorgeous.

Mylie and Jeff hiked to the Old Faithful observation point.

This is a picture they took at the top.

We sat to watch Old Faithful from the backside.

{We didn't know we would actually get rained on by the geyser!}

Jeff spotted this huge area of lily pads and stopped so I could take a picture (or 9). So pretty!

Then it was on to the lake. It got a bit more chilly/rainy as we headed to West Thumb. Mylie have us a tour around the geyser area. We called her "Tour Guide Barbie."

After dinner in West (and shopping for a stuffed moose and a toy gun), we headed back to the campground where we made s'mores and got ready for bed. The kids were fabulous campers. After settling down, they slept straight through the night. Hooray!

Friday we headed back into the park. My parents had been through the park on their motorcycles {on their way home from Sturgis} on Wednesday and warned us about major road construction between Madison and Norris. We were going to try to avoid it all together, but knew we would have a better chance of seeing more animals if we went that way, so off we went. Mylie really wanted to see a bear ... so did I!! I imagine I have been through the park more than 30 times and I don't think I have ever seen a bear. Well it was our lucky day. At the top of Dunraven Pass is the rain, we saw THREE bears, a grizzly mom and her cubs, not too far off the road. We were able to get out and see them. It was very exciting!!

Not too far later we saw another grizzly {near Lamar Valley}. We also saw more buffalo and elk. We also saw two coyotes the day before. It was funny because at one point we were held up in traffic because of a buffalo on the road. It walked right past our car so the kids got a really good look at it. I looked back at Blake and he was doing the sign for more and saying "more buffalo, more buffalo!" So funny. Blake also talked about how he wanted to "fight buffalo." Silly boy.

We adventured the rest of the way through the park in a torrential rainstorm and headed to Island Park for the Hammond Reuinion. Once the rain let us, the four wheeler came out. I lost track of how many rides Blake went on.

Blake did not let Papa out of his sight all weekend long.

We had a great reunion and it was fun to catch up with my cousins and aunts. It was so fun to watch all our kids play together (in fact, it was so fun, I didn't get my camera out once - oops!) We stayed Saturday night in Idaho Falls and were able to go visit Grandpa Jack (as well as have dinner at Cafe Rio, yum!) We got back home around 7 last night. We had a great time and though it is nice to be home, we weren't ready for the week to start. Jeff is back at work today after a week off and that is never fun.

Our summer is pretty much over, I start school next week and Mylie starts in two weeks. This summer went very fast and we are glad for all the fun we were able to have during it. Somedays I wait for life to slow down, but I don't really think it ever does! I guess you just have to enjoy every day.

"I can do hard things!"

"I can do hard things" was going to be my mantra for Monday. It changed to "I am so glad I am married to Jeff!" But I digress...

Jeff is on vacation this week and he decided he wanted to do some fun stuff at the beginning of the week. On Monday he had planned to backpack into Loon Lake (above McCall) and camp and then hike out the next day. His birthday is also this week, so we got him a bunch of backpacking/camping gear for his birthday. Then he invited me to go. I wasn't sure, I mean, I am *slightly* out of shape ... but he convinced me I could do it, that I could do anything I put my mind to. It was an 11 mile hike, we could take as long as we needed. I thought about it and then I was in. I got my own backpack and since the didn't have pink, I had to embellish it a little.

We headed out early Monday morning after dropping Bosco off at the kennel and the kiddos off at Alicia's. We had to drive about an hour past McCall to get to the trailhead, and there was some major road construction. By the time we got parked, packs on, and on the trail it was about 1.

Off we went. It was really beautiful.

The Secesh River.

Our gear, it got heavy.
We kept hiking and hiking and hiking. If Mylie would have been there, she would have said, "We've been hiking for 20 hundred miles!" Did I mention that part of the way in it started raining, and thundering, oh, and that we heard a tree fall over. But we pushed on. I started getting tired. My ankles hurt, and well, I was tired. We were about 3.5 miles in when Jeff said he was making the executive decision that we were turning back. I told him I could make it, that we were closer to the lake than the parking lot ... but wise man that he is, said we were going back.

So we turned back and the rain got harder. I got tireder, my ankles hurt even more (I twisted one of them). Jeff told me to take my pack off, I told him he was crazy, but he told me to take it off and he carried his pack and my pack all the rest of the way (3 miles). Our packs were not light, we had intended to camp, so we had a tent and sleeping bags and air mattresses. We had food for that night and the morning and a change of clothes.

But still, he wore his pack, and carried mine. He told me we were a team and he was there to help me. When I told him to go on ahead and I would catch up he told me no, he wasn't leaving me, we were in this together. We are a team.

I am so glad I married this man! I am so glad that I get to be on his team for eternity. He never once got cross with me or frustrated when I needed to stop and rest. He never laughed at me (like when I sat down to take a break and slid onto the trail and just laid there). He encouraged me, stopped when I needed to stop, and had a great attitude the entire way. We were so wet when we got to the car. Of the 6 hours we were hiking, it was raining/thundering for 4 of them. We boycotted all ideas of camping anywhere that night, drove into McCall and had dinner, and then drove back home. We got home around 11 and after a hot shower, I collapsed into bed.

Today I am still sore (OK, really sore!), but you know, I am glad I was adventurous. Hiking almost 7 miles is a pretty big accomplishment for me. And next time, I bet I can do more. Of course, Jeff is biking to the top of Bogus Basin ski hill tomorrow - he invited me to go, but I really had to pass on that one!!!

Exploring!

Today we went to Jeff's parents house for lunch. After lunch, Grandpa wanted to take the kids on a special walk. We drove down to the Snake River at Walter's Ferry. This was the old ferry crossing. Right next to it is a park area. A family owns the land and apparently over the years they have collected hundreds of bronze statues. The area has been turned into a very nice walking path with statues along the way.

One of the first things we saw were two deer who had made their way up from the river. We got quite close to them before they ran off.

Here is the old bridge across the Snake River - dividing Canyon and Owyhee counties.

A few examples of some of the statues we saw. I really liked this one (so did Blake).

Abe Lincoln, Grandpa, and Mylie.

Three generations of Breach boys!

Apparently at Christmas they have the whole area lit up with lights. Can't wait to go back! Thanks Grandpa for showing us a new place. We had a lovely afternoon visiting and catching up. Grandma and Grandpa have been purging the basement - Mike was a school teacher for many years and the kids come home with three big boxes of books. They are in heaven! We were only about 7 minutes from their house when Mylie sadly exclaimed, "Mom, I miss Grandma and Grandpa already!" Any day spent with Grandma and Grandpa is a good one!

I have cute kids.

Finally summer school is over. I had a day off today that was a REAL day off, not a hurry up and get the kids busy doing something so I can go back to grading papers day off. We got the bike, the stroller and the puppy and headed off an a walk this morning. It got toasty early today.

This one has no problem posing.

There is a playground on our walking route so we stopped to play for a bit. Who is this big boy? He looks about 4 years old to me here!

They sure love each other. They really are the best of friends.

Oh, and I can't forget Bosco (or Bob-o, according to Blake) their other best friend.

Later in the day we went with Alicia and the boys to see How to Train a Dragon. Mylie had already seen it, but Blake LOVED it. It held his attention more than any movie he has been to. He kept yelling at the dragons to "STOP" and I had to keep reminding him that they couldn't hear him. So funny! We are looking forward to the weekend and to Jeff taking a week of vacation next week. This summer has gone WAY WAY WAY too fast. Boo.