It Dies a Slow and Painful Death

Johnny and I have been married 12 years next month and never purchased a TV...except for a $25 box for the travel trailer from Goodwill (does that even count as a TV purchase?). Friends and family have always had an old one to hand down. We had a big TV armoire with doors so the kids couldn't reach the TV easily and there has never been a desire for cable so the TV is really only for movies. Our most recent TV was given to us from a family across the street. It is huge. Our boys were so excited for a big TV and we were glad it was FREE! Garrett loved the TV so much he ran it through.

The screen cracked. He wouldn't leave it alone until the crack split the screen clear in two. Then Garrett shoved toys in the crack slicing his fingers multiple times. After that he started spiting water in the crack. I thought it was dead, but after it dried out it found new life. This last time Wesley was shoved into the screen by one of his loving brothers during a wrestling match. Now the screen is caved in, pieces and chunks are missing. It is oh so sad!

We finally broke down and ordered a TV. Going to look at our options was overwhelming. What I wanted and what Johnny wanted were two very different things. I am cheap but Johnny is die hard stingy. We found one at great price that can be put up high away from sticky fingers. I am taking bets as to how long it will last. I hope we won't need to buy another one for 12 years but I just don't think I'll get that lucky!  

What makes a husband amazing?

Earlier this week I received a call from a good friend who is having a hard time. She asked me to pick up her handicapped son from school. She couldn't leave work, her husband hung up on her when she tried to get him to go get their son. It was not a problem at all for me to help, I picked him up, he was wonderful, my boys all really enjoy being with him, we made lots and lots of piggy noises, then his mom was here to get him. As she left she made a comment out of frustration. She felt like her husband was just a paycheck, and she could get that from him if they were married or not. It was so sad I couldn't stop thinking about it the rest of the afternoon.

We get Johnny one day a week now. He is working in Rosamond, CA and comes home Saturday night only to leave again at 4am Monday. When Johnny called that night I emotionally unloaded. I wanted him to know that he is much more than just a paycheck to me. Our oldest son Daniel was outside with me when my friend made her comment and in the car when I was talking to Johnny. Daniel asks questions typical 7 year olds don't ask and boy did he start asking questions. He wanted to know why some husbands are just a paycheck. He wanted to know why I told Johnny he was not a paycheck. We talked for a long time about the necessity of money and the importance of family. I decided to ask Daniel what he observed about the way Johnny treats me and here are a few treasures from my 7 year old!

1. Daddy prays with us every night.
2. Daddy never sits while we are working, we work together. Dinner, cleaning, baths, etc.
3. Daddy holds Mommy's hand.
4. Daddy kisses Mommy longer (meaning longer than he kisses our boys).

Here are a few of my own observations that make Johnny so amazing...

1. He tells me I am beautiful every day, usually multiple times a day. Even when he is away and can't see me. He also asks for pictures of me all the time so he can see me while he is gone. He shows those pictures to his friends at work and tells them I am beautiful. He makes me feel like he is proud of me and proud that I am his wife.
2. He kisses me every chance he gets. He kisses me in the kitchen, we hide in the laundry room, etc. He makes ordinary places extraordinary! We have been married almost 12 years!
3. When we ride in his truck he wants me sitting in the middle of the front bench so he can put his arm around me. He likes playing with my hair and having me close.
4. Johnny tells our boys all the time that I am beautiful or the dinner I made was amazing, or that he is so lucky to have such a wonderful wife. Some of the stuff is ridiculous but I know he believes what he is saying even if I think he is being way over the top.
5. Johnny never yells at me. Ever. He won't even argue with me when I am being a brat and try to pick a fight.

I guess my whole point is that our boys see how their dad treats their mom. We talk with them about why he has to be gone, but make sure they know he would much rather be home with us. My boys have no doubt that their dad loves their mom. We have a house full of future husbands and fathers. Johnny is teaching them by his example. I will be one proud Mamma if our boys turn out exactly like their dad! And just let me add that the young ladies who get to marry one of my boys will be lucky indeed!

Hulse Family Happenings

A few people have told me recently that I am letting my blog slip and they want more frequent posts. I sometimes think my life is really boring so I hesitate to post the mundane. But, here it goes.

My older boys are in 1st and 2nd grade. Daniel loves to read and write, Jaxon is the complete opposite. We spend what feels like hours every afternoon trying to get through what should be 20 minutes of homework. Wesley has just turned 4 so I started giving him the same reading lessons (Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons By Engelmann, Haddox & Bruner). We work on these while Garrett naps and so far he is doing very well.

In the last 3 months I think I have seen Johnny 4-5 times. It has been over 5 weeks since he was home last. While he has been gone I have made some changes! After school one day Daniel (7.5) and Wesley (4) decided to kick Jaxon (6) out of the room Danny and Jaxon shared. I thought it was a brilliant idea but didn't want Jaxon to feel thrown out. I bought a used bunk bed Army truck and Jaxon was more than willing to move to Garrett's room.

I felt like superwoman taking beds apart, moving dressers, and building a bunk bed with no instructions. The Army truck/fort looks rather ridiculous from a home decor standpoint but my boys LOVE it and that is what matters! My little baby Garrett is not so little sleeping on the bottom bunk. It makes me sad he is in such a big bed. The fighting has not stopped between my boys of course but this arrangement helps.

Johnny should have a few weeks off after this job is over before they move on to a job in El Centro, CA. I plan to potty train Garrett and possibly go on a vacation. I took all my boys to AZ last month for a friend's son's baptism and we will go for another baptism again this month. I love and miss AZ!

Here are a few other things we have been up to...

We have gone Visiting Teaching quite a bit. My boys rode around in the car out back while we visited and then they never wanted to leave. My companion has two boys, so to one appointment we had 6 boys with us. Not exactly a spiritual experience, but we made the effort. I was called to be the 2nd Counselor in Relief Society at church. The Lord does have a sense of humor!

 We play...

We get all dressed up for church. I love making them match when I can and I LOVE sweater vests even if it is still too hot.

 Every once in a while I will catch them with an arm around each other...and a weapon in the other hand. Garrett is obsessed with Mater (Disney's Cars 2) and Rocket (Little Einsteins). He has figured out how to change the DVDs by climbing on a table he pushes over to the TV. He also knows how to get in the freezer of our new refrigerator and get himself GoGurts and Otterpops. He certainly keeps me on my toes!

 Wesley had immunizations recently and wanted to hold Garrett's hand for comfort. Wesley has become super clingy. He cries and screams about going to preschool and only wants me, not even my mom or dad. He told my friend the other day that his dad is living in NV and never coming home. I had a good talk with him about Daddy coming home but I'm not sure he believes me or understands.

 We went Halloween costume shopping. My boys wear their costumes everywhere! They like to build forts in the living room and have wars.

 We ride bikes to the park, in costume of course! This is my army man at the park.

 Ninja at the eye doctor. Jaxon will start wearing his new glasses in two weeks. He kept telling me I was blurry, or the clock was blurry, etc. I made sure to get the extra protection plan. He is very accident prone!

Johnny asked me for a picture of myself on the bed (hahahaha, can you tell he has been away for a while!). I asked him what exactly he wanted and who he wanted me to have take the picture. This is what he got. 

Me on the bed with another man (not that he asked for me to have another man in the pic!!). Daniel took the picture for us! Every night I wake up with a different little man next to me. Sometimes I don't even notice when one of them comes in. The other morning I woke up between two of them with a third wanting in as well. I never liked them sleeping in my bed before, but now I don't mind too much. I'm sure they will all feel displaced once Johnny claims his spot back next week. 

I started playing my French Horn in a community orchestra one night a week and playing soccer and basketball in the mornings with a group of ladies from church. I am feeling more well rounded these days.  

Soap Box Derby

At the end of summer I took my boys to the Valley Wide Recreation Center for a treasure hunt. Daniel won the grand prize, a $150 Soap Box Derby car kit and the $50 entry fee. We of course were so excited and I immediately called my Dad to see if he could step in for Johnny (since he is working in Nevada right now) and build the car. I figured it was no big deal to put the kit together. Boy was I naive! The kit included many building materials, but not nearly everything we needed. We had to get tires, seat, all parts for the outer body, etc. on our own.

My Dad worked with Daniel almost every evening and went to building clinics with him every Saturday for over a month. Once the body, breaks, steering mechanisms and roll bar were all installed we paper mached it over Labor Day weekend when Johnny was home.

Once the paper mache dried it was sealed with a few coats of fiberglass resin and wallpaper mud to make it smooth. Lots of love and patience plus a little heartbreak went into this baby!

 On Friday there was a car inspection and Saturday my Dad picked Daniel up at 5:20am. I loaded up the other kids, grabbed my mom, and headed to the races.

 All the different cars were awesome. Every one was different. Some were made with tin or cardboard, others with wheel barrels, one was made from an elderly person's walker! Some were professionally finished with custom paint jobs, yikes! The nicest were not necessarily the fastest.

 
Daniel was in the second race, went tearing down the hill, lost control, flew across the track and hit a hay bale! It was thrilling and terrifying at the same time. I have a video but for some reason it won't load. Bummer! I knew he would be safe because the car was well built, had a roll bar, and a solid frame. He had done a break test on a smaller hill but this hill was large and fast. His helmet was not tight enough and went over his eyes. After his crash he was perfectly fine but very scared. After two hours waiting in the blazing heat and convincing him to try again we loaded his car on the starting block and he had a complete melt down. He was too scared to try again.

At first I was completely frustrated. I couldn't get past all the time and effort (and $$$) we put into this for him. I didn't want him to quit. It was one of those times when I wanted him to have courage, be brave, and rise above his fear. He was not inspired and was in no mood to be brave.

I was so disappointed in him until my parents reminded me of my ski accident. They paid for me to have a snow ski lesson when I was a little older than Daniel, I was maybe 9 or 10. They rented all the gear and paid for my lesson with my sisters. I went down the slop once, completely panicked, crashed into a tree, and have never been on snow skis again my entire life. I talked to Daniel about my experience and how I could relate to the way he must have felt. He didn't have any other practice runs besides his break test. I understand now and hope that he and I can both grow from this experience. He now wants to practice and try again next year.

Master Makeover

Since Johnny has been gone for the last MONTH I developed a bad habit of putting off bedtime. I feel no desire to crawl into a cold empty bed. Despite being absolutely exhausted and knowing I need to sleep I still put if off. I decided that if I liked being in my bedroom I would be more prone to go to bed earlier.

  My bedroom makeover started with an old twin bedroom set my brother-in-law used when he was a kid.

My sister wanted the furniture out of her garage and I wanted free stuff. I started by stealing a chalk paint recipe from Pintrest (of course) and painted the dresser, desk, mirror, and headboard/footboard. The dresser is my favorite. I figured since the furniture was free and the paint was $10 per quart I would splurge on the knobs.

They were a total of $50. My little stinker Wesley took a hammer to the front of one of my desk drawers before I even put the knob on.

The headboard/footboard are being repurposed into a bench which is still being worked on in my garage. Boy its a good thing Johnny is on his way home this weekend, I need his hammer drill!

This bench at the end of the bed cost me $3 at a yard sale. The chevron fabric was on clearance for $2.50. 
A few staples and some batting remnants from other projects and I am in love with my bench! My boys like to lounge on it naked after their bath. Garrett thinks it is just the right size.

My king headboard is an old closet door that was on the way to the dump. My friend's husband let me pull it out of his trash trailer.

A little primer to cover the graffiti plus a clearance paint sample for the white and chrome spray paint for the chevron pattern. I did it for a total of $6! The deal is what makes it look so nice! I even used Johnny's circular saw to hack an old 2X6 in half to mount it to the bed frame. My dad stopped by when I was trying to level it and thought I was pretty entertaining.

 The bed skirt is a no sew idea I found on Pintrest. I used an old fitted sheet on the box springs, cut the material in strips and pulled it through slits I made in the sheet. The material was all in a bag given to me from an elderly woman at church. Can you tell I love stuff that is FREE. I think it turned out to be fun but I was concerned it was too feminine until I added the comforter. Now I love it.

The monogram lettering is on an old organization board. I picked it up for FREE at a church shop and swap.

Since I had scored a load of FREE burlap type fabric helping an elderly woman clean out her sewing supplies it only cost me .59 cents for the paint. I used carbon paper to transfer letters I printed off the computer, then I painted them while I watched Pitch Perfect (my goodness that movie was VULGAR but the singing was great).

Then I saw some awesome burlap covered storage boxes at Hobby Lobby for $25 each. I made my own out of empty pear boxes and my free fabric for (can you guess how much?) FREE! Now I have no piles in the corners of my room!


The only thing that stumped me was the color for the comforter. What would look good with teal and coral? What would make the room more masculine so Johnny wouldn't come home and think I had moved him out completely? My friend Ashley's amazing Christmas card inspired me when I saw it on the refrigerator. Navy and coral go so well together!


She has impeccable taste! I found this comforter at Marshall's for $29 along with the owl curtains for $20.
 I should have ironed the curtains before hanging them! I still plan on making throw pillows. I wish I could paint the walls a light silver color but this is a rental house. As of right now my total is about $140 including paint brushes and miscellaneous supplies. I raid my father's garage when I can't find what I need at home. As a last resort I run to Home Depot. I figure under $150 for a master bedroom makeover is a pretty sweet deal. I have had fun using Pintrest for ideas. Now the real question...have I started going to bed earlier? Um, no! I have all these projects to complete! Even when I do get to bed on time I usually turn the light on and off a few times. I like to just look at everything and think about how much money I didn't spend.

Eventually I will get to the other window coverings, some wall art, a chair for the desk, a rug, pictures in the frames, etc.

Full Circle

Now that school has started and we are back to a more normal routine I have felt a sense of relief wash over me. I have a ton of pictures from the end of summer I would love to post, but I loaned out my Kindle and along with it the cord I use to connect my phone to the computer...so no pictures for a bit.

As some already know my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer in June. Her's was an invasive ductile carcinoma on the outside of her right side; almost under her arm pit. She had a radical bilateral mastectomy on the 5th due to many factors such as her age and the fact that the cancer was "triple negative" (meaning it was not treatable with hormone therapy). The past few weeks have been an emotional roller coaster. My mother is very matter-of-fact about health issues. At times I would feel numb and other times I would become extremely emotional. It had never occurred to me before that my mom was vulnerable. If you have met my mother you know why. She is Superwoman. She is the Supervisor of the County Health Department, the Relief Society President, runs my Dad's business, etc. She does it all. Even through knee surgeries and hip replacements she has never seemed to even slow down. This time is different.

Today I was in the back yard washing my mother's hair before helping her get dressed for an appointment to remove her drains, pain bags, and bandages. Wesley really liked when I gave his Mumzie (Grandma) a mohawk with the soap. I was taken by surprise as I overwhelmed by feeling the Spirit. All of a sudden washing my mom's hair became a very significant spiritual experience for me. As mothers we care for our children, they are our responsibility. We do everything for them and most of the time it is a thankless job. Today my life came full circle as I was able to do something so seemingly insignificant for my mother. All of a sudden the service that I give my children every day meant more to me as I was able to serve my mother after her lifetime of service to me. All of a sudden I can see clearly how the sacrifices my parents have made for me and the sacrifices I make in turn for my children are all part of my Savior's perfect plan.

My mother is doing well recovering and I am so thankful for the time I had with her today. What a great example she is to me! She will start chemotherapy in a few weeks. My boys are beyond excited that their grandparents will have matching bald heads. I am excited to see my mom after her implants. After losing so much weight I secretly want some too! (Gasp!)      

Hulse Update

Johnny is in Ely, NV. He tried to take our travel trailer up there to live in, but it blew a tire on the way out of town. The tire hit under the coach and ripped out the electrical, insulation, drain, and some of the siding. It also bent an axle. In 4-6 weeks and $4K later (thank goodness for insurance) Johnny will try to tow it out again. Until then he gets to stay in a hotel. Every once in a while he thinks its a good idea to sleep in his truck and shower at a gym. He gets frustrated paying for hotels and I have never met anyone as frugal (cheap) as Johnny. I keep telling him that sleeping in his truck is completely unnecessary but I think he secretly enjoys doing things that no one else his age would do willingly. While Johnny is working over 8 hours from home I am on my own with the kids during the LONG summer days. My parents try to help me when they can. Right now I actually have 5 under the age of 8 because my sister is traveling for work. Johnny came home this past weekend but he won't come home again until mid August. Each time he comes home it costs us $300+ in gas and almost 17 hours of drive time round trip. He gets to stay for about 33 hours.

Jaxon had an appointment with a GI from Rady Children's hospital (yes I did have all 5 kids in the room with me, ugh!). He will have an endoscopy in August to make sure his random vomiting is not being caused by one of the foods we added in so long ago. This will be endoscopy #6 if I remember correctly. The last 5 have been clean of any eosinophils and I have high hopes for this one as well.

Garrett was tongue tied when he was born, actually Daniel is the only one of my boys who was not. I think their little lizard tip tongues are so cute! Wesley and Jaxon just never had it to the extent of Garrett. At 18 months Wesley was talking in full sentences and could hold up a conversation, just as my nephew Toby can. Comparing Toby and Garrett who are almost the exact same age makes Garrett's lack of speech glaringly apparent.  Garrett is two and doesn't say his own name or I love you. He will say, down, up, Jack-Jack, nack (snack), wetwe (Wesley), and the normal Mom and Dad. He is becoming so frustrated when I don't understand what he is trying to say, even more than was typical for my other boys at age 2. He is so smart he will sing himself to sleep at night and will mimic any song after only hearing it once or twice. I love to listen as he sings the tune to twinkle-twinkle or the theme from the Lorax. When Garrett had his frenum clipped at 2 weeks old I was told he is actually tongue tethered. He has a thick band of muscle that goes horizontally around under his tongue. We have an appointment with an ENT coming soon to see if he will require further intervention or if he will just need speech therapy.
  
Life can be so overwhelming sometimes. I try to count my blessings every day. I know my life is so easy when compared to so many people. I look at the women around me and see how amazing they are with their husbands coming home every night from work and their well behaved children who never do anything remotely like mine do. I need to stop all the comparing!