Please do not tell me that "You told me so" when it came to Tilli.

Do not tell me that no one will want Tilli.

Do not tell me that we'd be better off just putting her to sleep.

We are making a decision that we're not happy with.

Its a traumatic decision for us.

We are not rejoicing that Tilli will be leaving our lives.

Its been a failure on our part, and if anything, we are ashamed that we did not fufill our responsiblities to our pet.

So please don't say anything mean or condesending about our dog because we love her and its breaking our hearts to give her up. If you do say something, be prepared to either have me start crying or to yell at you. I'm not kidding.

This was both a good and a very bad day.

Good because we ended up on a 2 1/2 mile grueling hike that was originally supposed to be a 1/2 mile stroll. In flip-flops, with diaper bags and purses and two kids to boot. We went to Meadowdale Beach park and Mom misunderstood how long the walk was to the beach. We thought it was 1/4 mile, but nope, it was 1 1/4 mile, all downhill. Well, you know what that means... its all uphill on the way back! Jenni toted Gwennie in her sling, Ethan was a real trooper and walked most the way and my Mom and I hauled the accoutrements. Were we ever pooped! But the kids loved the beach and had a good time. They even have little farmer tans now.

Its been very bad because we've decided to give Tilli to a Weimeraner rescue group. We just can't handle her anymore. I had to leave her at home today. Jason came home and found that she'd locked herself into the upstairs bathroom and proceeded to tear it up. Literally. Mouldings off the wall, deep scratches in the sheetrock, chewed up windowsill. It was just the straw that broke the back, you know?

I can't even talk about it anymore. I've been crying my eyes out since I told my Mom and I need to just not think about it anymore tonight. Its just real sad for me.

I really should blog.

Lots of pictures, lots to say.

But I just don't want to yet.

Instead, I shall direct your attention to something I added on the sidebar. Directly to your right, you should see a list of some short videos I've had on our DropShots account. The top three are new, from this weekend. I apologize for their resolution... Settings had been changed on the camera and I didn't know till after these were done that it was so low. Oops.

Oh heavens. What have we done to deserve such temperatures?

We sweltered today. From about 8am on, I had fans going in all windows, but it didn't seem to cool down the house much. The sun doesn't directly shine in any of the windows, so I simply do not know how it could get that hot in here. The kids and I went out for about 10 min and all came back with minor sunburns. They have my curse!

I took lots of pics today, but I'm far too hot and sweaty and sticky to post them all up here now. Perhaps in the cool of tomorrow morning.

Off to eat some ice cream and melt into the couch.

What do you do when your heart is blue? Shop, shop, shop!

Thats what I did yesterday at least :)

I have some pics and stuff of a freaky looking moth that I'll put up later. Was going to write more, but I hear the kids so more later.

Today was very long.

Jason stayed home from work again. DirectTv was to come out again to upgrade our receivers to HD (high definition) between 8-12. Well guess what? Again, for the 3rd time now, they didn't show. Eventually he showed up like an hour late and then there was a big problem because they had put in the wrong order so after many calls to DirectTv and the local distributor and threats and pleas and headaches things were finally straightened out. Hint: If you have DirectTv, you can get pretty much whatever you want if you threaten to leave. The sales people may say it can't be done, but the cancellation department always works it out.

Our original plan had been to go to the Everett Childrens Museum after the kids got up from nap. Due to the stupid DirectTv people, we didn't get out of here till almost 2:30 (the place closes at 4). We got there and had a really good time. We were able to go up to their Rooftop Adventure which was abso-freaking-lutely awesome. Like, that alone would be worth the price of membership. So cool. Here are some pics.





(yeah, we know!)







After we got home and corralled Tilli (she escaped by busting out a screen while we were gone), I went to Target to return some things and pick up a new hair dryer. Then off to G.I. Joes to return something else, then over to Ace to see if they had fence boards (nope). While I was there, I was inspired by their garden area and I picked up 3 rosemary plants (for a rosemary hedge), 2 thyme creeping plants (for ground cover around my lavender), a dahlia for my porch pot and a purty bush with purple leaves for my backyard.

After dinner the kids and I and Jason planted everything and got the (very cranky and tired) kids to bed.

Tomorrow? Lots and lots of cleaning. It never ends. Sigh.

Finally, July 4th pics!

Whoever did this, I'm still waiting for you to come clean :)


I'm pretty


Don't you love taking my picture?


Feed. Me.


So sweet!


Shelly and Peter sitting in a tree ;)


Jason and Ethan having fun



My pretty sis Becki


Don't we look like we're doing something bad? Kristi, Michelle and Ben. Triple trouble!



This was what we were doing. Taking a Starbucks cup, filling it with paper, then handfuls of those snakes you light and they grow. Pretty flames.


The aftermath. Note that the burned vase (we could not find any bottles) was used as a rocket launcher, hence its burned appearance.


Gwen showing off her "sniff"



Enjoying the munchies.



When a Pitroff and Miller meet, usually hilarity ensues.

Beth was trying to retrieve something out of the stump in the front yard using a worn plastic chair set on gravel. We heard a snap. Beth was fine, but the chair was not :)



Beth up to more hijinx, though this was actually my idea. She raced down the driveway in a rickety old wagon. Good times :)

The kids were so cranky after their second nap... we put them to bed early to save all of our sanity.

Today Jason stayed home from work and I did tons of stuff. Cleaned the kitchen, swept and mopped and vacuumed. Unpacked all but like 2 boxes, finally got all the kids clothes put away, did laundry, made brownies and various other things. Very busy. I did find the absolute best song to listen to while working... Raindrops by Stunt. That song had me dancing and cleaning at the same time (burning double the calories perhaps?).

My Dad stopped by tonight to pick up our old TV. The kids of course, were thrilled to see and play with him.

My Mom just called to say that my cousin Lindy, over in Eastern Washington, just had her baby! A little boy (they chose not to know the sex ahead of time) named Cedric Leroy. Its hard to believe that my cousins are having babies, but they are. The spacing is coming out so good... Kadin, Ethan, Gwen and now Cedric are spaced very similarly to how we all were. Hopefully they'll grow up to be as familiar and friendly with each other as we did. Congratulations to you Lindy and Tim and to all the family over there. And yay to you Lindy for going natural all the way. I'm so proud of you girl :)

My new hair...














Can't wait to wash it and style it myself. I prefer a more softer wave than what the lady did. I'm going back in this week for another trim as my layers are still too long.

p.s. please excuse the just rolled out of bed look :D

So much has been going on.

Thursday I went to get my hair done and only ended up with a haircut. They didn't realize that my hair was so long and it would have taken well over the alloted time to perm it. So I just got a cut and an appointment for today :) Well, its different. Its not bad... I think I just need time to get used to it. And of course its hard to tell on the first day. Its more wavy than curly. I'm going to go back in later this upcoming week for another trim so that it lays right. Right now, my layers are still too long so it pull the curl out some.

When I was out on Thursday, I stopped by Fred Meyer and picked up some stools for our counter. At first they seemed to be great, until a screw fell out. Then a few hours later, another one fell out. So back they went. We ordered some online today that are much better quality. These will be used a lot so they have to be sturdy.

Friday, after Jason got home, I decided to do some yardwork in the back. I worked my tush off pulling weeds, clearing out plants and making some order of the mess. The former homeowners liked plants, but obviously they did not like pruning or upkeep because all the plants were waaaaay overgrown. I uprooted some and moved them to another location. I pulled up a small tree-bush thing that had dangerous looking berries on it and found a rock sculpture beneath it. I planted some lavender. I hacked and clipped and trimmed like mad. Its still rough, but its much better than it was.

Saturday J and I did some work in the front. We found a couple rose bushes that had been completely engulfed by other plants and we were able to free them. I trimmed back part of an enormous plant that was impeding my front porch and actually had to use a handsaw to remove some limbs. Still quite a bit to do out front, but progress was made.

Today, before I went in for my hair appointment, Jason went and bought a new TV. Its an HDTV, 52 inch. He says that he got it to go with his new XBox 360 :) Mom and Dad will be getting our old TV.

Anyway, we've been continuing to adjust and get used to the house. The kids and I haven't really left our little yard since we moved in... I think this next week we'll get out a bit more. There are tons of people around here during the day and the kids need playmates.

Jason met our other neighbor today. He's a single guy living with his dog, though we think his girlfriend stays with him often because there are extra cars at the house sometimes. Its kinda cool that we met both our neighbors on good terms... we're not used to that :)

Mentally, I'm feeling better. Honestly, I think that the outside work helped... something about hard physical labor has always been therapeutic for me. I'm still battling excessive exhaustion and I'm going to ask my doctor about possibly switching anti-depressants to something like Prozac, which I've heard has an energizing quality.

Tomorrow I'm going to focus on cleaning the house. Because of our outdoor work and being gone, the house was mostly ignored this weekend and it shows.

Oh, Ethan is doing just grand with his potty training! He doesn't wear diapers during the day, except for naps and then bedtime. He rarely has an accident... just tells us he needs to go and we go do it! His vocabulary is astounding... he's always talking, asking and thinking. His new favorite thing is Bob The Builder... he is positively nuts about the show... knows all the characters and will even sing the theme song :)

Gwen is walking and running to her hearts content. She's nursing a lot, which I think is part of the stress of the move. She is also talking a great deal and tagging along behind Ethan wherever he goes. She also likes Bob and will walk around saying "Bob, Bob, Bob" if she hears his name.

Ok, this is long enough for now. I really should force myself to blog every day instead of these epic posts :)

I'm sad that my blogging has become so intermittent. I like doing it, but find myself far too tired at the end of the day lately.

Things are settling in... Kids are sleeping well. Toby went to go live with my parents for a bit until we can figure out the invisible fence thing (more difficult than first imagined). The house is a mess and nothing is babyproofed, so my day consists of chasing kids around saying "No" and getting very frustrated :)

Monday our dryer got fixed. Funny story. Jason got up early for work and asked me to get up to help him walk the dogs (we had both at this point). I did, then went back to bed, thinking that surely the kids would not let me sleep long. Well, cut to me waking up to a doorbell. I freak out, throw on a robe and dash down to find the Sears repair man at my door. At 8:04! Wow, talk about punctual. Usually when they give a timeframe, they are never there right at the beginning. Anyway, the dogs are still kenneled up in front of the door, I'm tousled and in a robe and don't even say "Hi". I stutter out, "Oh gosh, I can't believe I overslept". The guy says, "well, can I come in?". Heh. He has to squeeze past the dogs, pick his way through the toys, then makes it into the laundry room, only to find out that my lovely husband burnt out the light that morning and did not fix it. So this poor chap has to fix the thing in semi-darkness. You can imagine my humiliation.

Well, it took him 10 min to find that a wire had worked loose during transport and its now working fine. Yay.

Later in the day, Becki and Mom came over. Becki suffered a dangerous and painful fall on Mt. Rainier on Saturday. She literally started falling down the side of a mountain and caught herself on a tree not too far before the cliff edge. She was covered in scrapes, deep bruises and sprained a wrist, but it could have been much much worse.

Tomorrow Mom is coming over to babysit and I'm going to get my hair trimmed and then some curl put in. I'm not really sure what I'm going to do, but it won't be anything super curly. I'd like body over curls.... Just something to make my stick straight hair look more exciting. Can't wait.

Please pray for me. I am so weary. Despite sleeping very well at night, I just can't shake this exhaustion. There is so much to do, but it isn't getting done. Even sitting on the couch during the day I tend to drift off to sleep. The desire to be productive is there, but can't seem to force its way up through this tiredness.

Oh, Ethan started potty training. While at my Mom's, he was going to the bathroom quite regularly on the toilet. Yesterday, I decided that he'd only wear a diaper at naps and bedtime, and so far we've had good results. A few accidents, but nothing too serious. Today, its been even better, with only one tiny puddle so far (of course it WOULD have to be on my dining room chair though. Thank goodness for slipcovers). He's so proud of himself! I'm proud too.

Well, this is it. We are here. We are actually living here now.

The 2 or so hours we've spent here as a family so far went well. The kids and dogs, as expected, were quite overcome with the newness of it all. The kids went down with minor fussing and the dogs are currently kenneled up, somewhat unhappily, by the front door while I am standing at my counter typing. Must get some stools!

Most of the unpacking is done, though there are still boxes of toys that I doubt we will ever find room for. Our spankin' new dryer doesn't dry, so a repairman from Sears will be here Monday morning to take a look. Our DirectTv install has been a joke from beginning to end and they will be here for the 3rd time tomorrow morning to hopefully get it done right. We've been credited $250 already for their incompetence and if it doesn't happen this time, we are switching!

I've been a complete mess for the last couple days. Not sure what else to say about it. Its just been really really bad. Hopefully now that we're back at home and life can resume to some normalcy, things will calm and my head will be clear again.

This will be quite quick as I'm exhausted and ready to head back to Mom's for a much needed shower.

• Moving went well, considering the last minute antics of our sellers. Didn't all go according to plan, but it did happen and everything survived and that's all that matters
• Floors look AWESOME. Took longer for them to install than we thought, but we are thrilled with the result
• 4th (or rather 3rd) of July was fun. Ethan seems to have inherited the pyro gene from me and is completely obsessed with fireworks :)
• My brother almost drowned (seriously, like leg cramps and lifeguards were involved) in Lake Washington on Saturday and didn't tell anyone until during church service on Sunday. That guy....
  
• I'm quite depressed/worn out/stressed right now. It hit me yesterday. I'd been thinking everything had gone quite smoothly. No headaches, no internal freakouts. But a freakout has happened and I can barely muster enthusiasm for the myriad of tasks that remain in this new house. I can barely muster enthusiasm for anything other than sleeping, reading and playing the DS.
  
• We will most likely be moved in here completely on Friday. That's when our dryer will be arriving and DirectTv will be installed.

If you need my new address/phone number, email me and I'll send them to you.