The Fish Tank

This fish tank has become enough of a big deal to me that yes, I'm titling the post after THE Fish Tank, and we don't even HAVE the fish tank yet.  My husband has always been fascinated with large salt water aquariums.  He's mentioned in passing a few times that he'd some day like one.  I had NO IDEA that some day would be 6 months into our marriage!

Hubby's brother currently has a 125 sal water fish tank full of live rock and soft coral stuff.  (You'll pick up that I'm not overly excited about this whole fist tank business!)  He's purchasing an even BIGGER fish tank, which we assisted move this past weekend.  500 lbs. of glass...nervous much!?  Anyway, he's getting rid of the smaller tank, and selling it to us for what I'm told is mere pennies on the dollar.  Of course hubby asked me, but not in such a way I really had a choice of saying no!  He thinks it's going to be good brotherly bonding.  (I give MUCHO credit to his wifey for putting up with his fish tank madness!)

In order to fit this 6ft. long and probably about 5 ft. tall.  We may have only moved into our house 10 months ago, but filled it up with crap quickly!  I have no clue how, we moved from a TINY two bedroom apartment to a spacious 4 bedroom ranch!  No we have to quickly decide where the heck we're going to put this thing!

Ultimately we've deicded we have two options.
Option 1:  We can put it in our smaller toy/play/living room in the back half of the house.  If we do this, we have to get rid of a couch, probably paint the wood paneling in there, and revamp the room to turn it into a den of sorts with a desk and books gallore.  (I have always wanted a library in my house!)  However, we have to do this carefully, becuase at 125 gallons, with water weighting 8 lbs. a gallon, plus the weight of the tank and the cherry wood base, it HAS to sit the right way to distribute the weight across multiple floor joists.  (This makes me nervous all together.  What if it falls though our floor into the basement!?  YIKES!)

Option 2:  We can put it in the basement.  We have a room in our basement that is sectioned off with MORE wood paneling, and a drop ceiling in place, but it's a painted concrete floor.  There is a fireplace in the room and a loveseat and coffee table there now, but we NEVER use it!  The cold concrete floor is a deal breaker for me, and for the kiddos sometimes! 

I have an issue withing sinking all this money into a the fish tank, to see it sit in a room in the basement we NEVER use!  Which means we have to sink more $$ into our house to make it work LONG term, because once that thing goes in, it ain't going anywhere for a LONG time!  So now, I'm stressing about where to put it, how to prepare for it, and how to pay for it all!  AND we have to have it ready in about a month. 

Husband's solution:  "We'll just put it in now.  Then later, we'll just carpet/paint around it when we're ready."  SERIOUSLY!?  SERIOUSLY!?  Does anyone else hear dueling banjos in the background and Jeff Foxworthy yelling "You might be a redneck if..."

I'm leaning toward the basement option and stressing about the monetary invests since we just bought a new car, have tons of med. bills, and are getting the boys they very first swingset for their upcoming birthday!  So many decisions, so much work, and so little time!

2010 Ohio Spring Dairy Expo

Wednesday I spent my day at work preparing for the expo with excitement.  I love cow shows!  Thursday morning I headed to Columbus in decent weather with a forecast of rain!  I spent the day with a producer from one of our independent agency partners.  With some difficulties get our table set up, we had extra time to browse through the barn to view the show animals, the sale barn for the sale animals, and even some time to watch the Holstein Dairy Judging contest! 

Amongst our walks through the aisle, I stopped to visit some VERY good friends of mine (and the source of all my cow showing fun!).  I took a look at the cows for the show this year, and it turns out Krystal was 7 days overdue to calve!  At one point during the afternoon we thought she was going to begin labor, and our agency partner and I were excited!  We hoped we were going to be there for the the birth!  Even after things hung wound down on the commercial show front, I hung around to visit with my friends and hope for a calf!  By 6-ish I decided I needed to head out for the evening in the rain and hope the calf was born before the next time so my boys could see a baby!  How AWESOME would that be!?

Friday night came, and hubbster and I put the kiddos in the car for the drive back to the show!  I was hoping the calf would be born will we were there so not only I could be there, but my boys could see it too!  That didn't pan out though...!  Friday night was the Ayrshire show (my breed of choice).  We arrive just in time for the start of the show, and I started my poop duty!  (Yes, my job is to stand around in the aisle with the cows and scoop & wipe all poop as it arrives & I actually enjoy it!)  The show went very quickly and the boys LOVED it!  While toting around the pitchfork, hay, brushes and more they had a great time!  This makes mommy a very happy girl!  If my boys love what I love, we've got a family affair for fun family entertainment!

As of 10 Friday night when headed back home, there was still no calf born!  Nearly 9 days overdue!  Hopefully we'll have a call soon and go to the farm for a visit to see the baby!  

"The Police Man told Daddy to Slow Down"

I'm driving my boys to school this morning through my small village and admiring what's hopefully the last snow of the season, when Tater Tot starts talking from the back seat.  The coversation went something like this:

TaterTot: "The police man talked to Daddy."
Mommy: "Oh reaaaaly!?"
TaterTot:  "The policy man told Daddy not to drive fast in our van anymore."
Mommy:  (Knowing nothing of police man interactions.)  "Reaally!?"  Of course as I grab my phone to call my Daddy.
TaterTot:  "But the police man when bye bye then."
Next thing you know I'm calling my husband.  Um, your son told me this on the way to school this morning...  Hubby says "What?  No!  I wasn't pulled over." 
Mommy: "Well I don't think a three year old just makes these things up!"
Daddy:  "Ohhh!"

As it turns out, on their way to day care yesterday there was a water main break in town.  Hubby stopped where the road was closed and talked to the police man about an alternate route to get the boys to day care.  Apparently what TaterTot MEANT to say was Daddy couldn't drive fast through the water in the road! 

You can't do anything in front of those boys with a story being told!

I'm still laughing about it throughout the day when I think about it!

Thankful for Spring After a Rough Winter

I don't think there has been a year in my life that I have appreciated and been as thankful for Spring as I am this year.  After a rough second half of winter for my family, and a busy holiday season.  (We had 10 Christmas celebrations in 3 days!)  I was exhausted physically and emotionally.  Loosing our pregnancy gave me a LOT of down time.  It was healing emotionally from a loss and healing physically from TWO D&Cs.  I relied very heavily on my awesome hubby to do the brunt of the housework and kid watching while I slept a LOT. 

After what seemed like forever, I finally started feeling better physically and as the weather got warmer and the rain started coming my mood improved drastically!  I feel like a completely different person than how I felt a few months ago.  I still feel sadness over our loss, but moving on couldn't have come at a better time of the year!

Spring is all about new beginnings, happiness, and in the agriculture world planting season!  I noticed this year that I am just happier now that spring is here.  I notice flowers, the smell, and things I took for granted before.  Beer tasted better, motivation has increased, and I'm looking forward to doing some real work!  I miss a day of physical labor making something great for a purpose.  For me that could be planting flowers in our flowerbeds, weeding, or the most recent event in my house painting!

Over the weekend, my hubby and I painted TWO bedrooms in our house!  The kiddos rooms is now a burnt orange/copper color and our room is a sage green like color!  The kids went to spend the night with my mom, and hubby and I made a darn good painting team!  It just felt good.  And I'm continuing it as I started training for a 5K on Monday!

What I've Accomplished Since College

I graduated from college in May of 2008.  It's nearly two years since that day that propelled me into adulthood.  In that time, I've had MANY life changing events that have made me who I am today.  And I can say with confidence that I am proud to be who I am today, but that I am still and always will be a work in progress.  Perhaps I have accomplished a lot in the last two years, but there are so many more accomplishments yet to come!

Things I've Accomplished Since College:

• A "well-budgeted" vacation with a great friend.
• Started my job as an insurance trainee & feel in love with insurance.  (I know NERD!)
• Received the worst phone call of my life to date.
• Became an instant mommy to twin two year old boys over night & 5 year old boy.
• Moved in with my boyfriend to be a better Mommy Beth.
• Got engaged.
• Went through months of anxiousness and waiting for court hearings and the legal system process.
• Bought a mini-van!  Lame, but I love it and wouldn't go back!
• Bought our first house.
• Sent our 5 year old back to live with his mom.  
• Got my "dream" job working in agriculture industry!  :)
• Got married.
• Got pregnant.
• Lost first pregnancy.
• Bought a new car.

And here I am.  Nearly two years in the making a COMPLETELY different person.  In that time I've had friends come and go.  I learned that it is hard to identify with friends who don't understand your ever changing life situation or the struggles we've been through in the last two years.  I may not be a biological mother to any of my children, but I love them as if they've been my own.  It's been a challenge for us, but it's creating a better relationship for my hubby and I, and I love him.  :) 

Bust a Move

Bust a Move: "

My mother wasn't a touchy-feely kinda mom -- at all. I mean, she gave a kiss or two here and there if you were saying goodnight or heading off to a sleepover or something, but all that hugging and smooching and laying in the lap and stuff? Yeah, not so much. She loved me, no doubt. But she wasn't loving.

read more

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I think this is a great blog post! I was never a touchy-feely kind of person. I've always liked my space, or bubble if you choose! But being a mom has changed that, and I hope I can be this kind of fun and loving mom for my kiddos!

The First Trip to the Dentist!

This morning I took the boys to their first real dentist appointment for cleaning!  They were quite excited to go, although that started to wear off, after I took a wrong turn and the 25 minute drive took nearly an hour!  (Opps!) 

Tater Tot was such a big boy!  He did a great job, and his teeth are fine for now!  In the future we may have to have some orthodontist work done from him becuase of a cross bite. 

Muffin did an excellent job too!  Although, I do have to say he was not a fan of the big bright light overhead.  He tried to use his hands a few times to shield his face and coincidentally cover his mouth!  He got to wear fancy striped sunglasses, but apparently that wasn't enough for him!  He's got lovely teeth!

The best news for BOTH of them: NO CAVITIES!  :) 

Next step:  We need to start flossing their teeth too!