Too Much Going On

It seems like forever and a day since I have had the time to blog. There has been so much going on and unfortunately I didn't have my camera on me for the more interesting things so I apologize in advance. One of the things I regret most is that I have no pictures of our trip to visit a couple of Michael's patients in RPV. They have a beautiful estate and wanted to meet the boys. The boys got to see a huge fish pond, a small pumpkin patch and the best part for them were the horses. They were able to feed the horses carrots which Seb loved. Ben wanted to keep his carrot and munched on the tip....he doesn't like carrots and so he would periodically spit out the bits he took off. Then the dog came along and stole the carrot once and for all....that brought on quite a cry. Our hostess fixed that with some animal crackers and juice.....seventh heaven again. We all had a great time.


As every one knows there are like a million fires here in So. Cal. The last couple of days were smoky and the air was icky, but we weren't too close fear wise. My uncle's house in Lake Arrowhead has luckily been spared so far and we continue to pray that the wind doesn't shift. It has been scorching hot here and so we filled up the pool and let the boys run around naked in the backyard to cool off. They love running around with my cooking spoons and banging on everything and splashing violently in the pool. The dogs stay inside as they are afraid of a much needed bath.
Look at that devilish grin. They enjoy the freedom of a naked backyard jaunt. We are also happy because daddy can find his way home to us at night again. The crazy fires being so bad and so spread out had pretty much closed down multiple freeways. Of course, two routes Mike could use to get home were both closed. He had to stay in Victorville. This was horrible because there are a lot of displaced and evacuated people. It took until 9:30 pm to locate a hotel for him after hours of frequent dialing. He had to buy a change of clothes and toiletries for the next day and we finally got him booked at a Ho Jo. Unfortunately, when he got there, they knew all too well the desperation everyone faced. They decided to more than double, okay almost triple for the dramatic, the price from 66 to 150+ dollars. When Mike asked, thinking maybe they just ran out of the cheaper rooms, they smirked and said that it was supply and demand and they could raise the price because they were so busy....most hotels had no vacancies in the area and they new they would be busy regardless. Some people! Of course he took it....didn't want to stay in the car or at the office with no shower. I told him to take a bag to the free breakfast and steal all the bagels.....of course, he had to leave before breakfast to get to the office before 7am. Oh darn. The important thing is that he is safe and got a good nights sleep....but we did miss him.
Here is Sebastian looking perplexed by the mess the twin tornados have created in the house. After we had pretty much resigned ourselves to the fact that our house probably wouldn't sell until next year....we got a call. A message for Michael at work really, when he was with a patient and couldn't answer. We had gotten a very low, horrible offer...but in it there was some hope. Hope that our counter offer, which is 100,000 dollars less than what our house is appraised at, will be accepted so that we can move. Who knows if they were just testing our limits, if they were vultures trying to get a bargain or if they really can't afford more than what was offered, but only time will tell. We hope, hope and pray, pray that this is it. Although, just yesterday 4 of the properties we were closely following for ourselves were sold, maybe bad luck, who knows, there are still plenty of options. There are about 4 in the area which still spark my interest and one with a pool and spa which would be lucky. I guess we will see what is left when our house actually sells. I just hope this isn't false hope. I hope that these people are serious and take the more than generous offer that we are willing to give.
This picture I like to call, "A boy and His Dog and....some French's Spicy Brown Mustard." Ben and Jagr have such the smirks/smiles on their faces. I don't know what is going on there. Now, when Ben is in the kitchen, not only does he empty the pantry, he also has learned to turn on the dishwasher. He points at the garbage and diaper genie and wags his finger no and says, "Ca-ca!" Probably because when there is something I don't want them to touch I say, "No, no. Dirty, Dirty, ca-ca." And, I think for the most part that they get my point.
I had to include this picture because I think it is almost commercial quality. Who wouldn't buy mustard from this kid. I would send it in to the company if only the photographer had gotten a better picture of the label in this view. If all else fails, maybe I have got a multimillion dollar child model. Next stop, My Bologna has a first name, it's OSCAR.......hehe

Take care and God willing, I will have good news next time (pray, pray, pray),
C