Appel Happel

This weekend we went to a "pick your own" apple orchard/farm. There was a little festival celebrating apples-which I love. They had tons of delicious apple foods and drinks and even though we sampled some, our main goal was to pick fresh from the trees so we can make some treats of our own!

About "Being All You Can Be"

I think just about everyone has heard that slogan before. Parents and teachers have preached it since the wee days of kindergarten. They may not always phrase it the same, but it works out to being the best version of you that you can be. As I've recently shared, this fall I've taken on quite a bit of 'extracurricular' tasks all at once. Right now, I'm trying to find a nice balance between them all, and I feel a bit like a tight-rope walker, wearing a blindfold and carrying a stack of fine China on my head!

I know that I have to let go of the idea of perfection, but it's hard to convince yourself of that when you feel like you have so much to prove (even if it's only to yourself). I want to be the best mother and wife I can be. That means volunteering in the schools and baking cookies for work. It means the house doesn't stay dirty, the laundry doesn't pile, and there's always a plan for dinner (which always includes a leafy green). I want to be the best rookie coach I can be. That means I'm always fun, but I teach them so much. I never have to raise my voice or give them "the look". They never leave upset with me and they feel comfortable enough to tell me about the little boys in class. I want to be the best student I can be. That means I never skip a reading assignment. I never roll my eyes at the basic things we're learning. I always finish well before the weekly deadline, and I always get 'A's'. I want to be the best blogger I can be. That means I always have witty things to say, my pictures are flawless, and I never use a comma splice. I want to be the best friend I can be. That means I'm always helpful and I never say no. I'll always be up for coffee anytime--I'll never be too busy. I want to be the best tenant I can be. I will not complain about the smell of mold. Or how long it's taking to get it fixed. Or that I cannot stand the current construction zone called our house. I want to be the best landlord I can be. That means I won't bang my head against the table when changing a light switch is considered "emergency maintenance" and costs $130.

I will always try to be the best me that I can be. But I am all of these things, and I need to learn that I will not be the BEST at them all. Only some of these things are vitally important to me. I will be the best mother and wife I can be. I will try to always be a great friend. The rest, I'll settle for being mildly awesome at.

Now that you know I'm certifiably crazy, please reassure my nutty side that I'm not the only one (right? RIGHT?!) Do ever feel like you're trying to 'prove something' to yourself or the world? About being a parent or a spouse or just a person in general?

Life Uncensored

A lot of times when I write, I sort of plan out what I'm going to say. I think to myself, "This is all the exciting stuff I want to talk about, but I won't mention the boring life stuff." I'm not the only one guilty of leaving out the 'filler', but it paints a much nicer picture than is actually being taken. That being said, this post will be allllll filler. If you like the pretty packages presented in a travel post, save yourself now!

Still here?! Well, I certainly appreciate you! Let's dish about the latest happenings at Schloss Stinson , shall we? 

Summer is officially over. Like over over. The kids are back in school, fall weather has descended, the attack of pumpkin spice everything is inevitable, and all of our new schedules are in full swing. The kids actually went back to school the last week in August, which is a change for all of us, since we are so used to not starting until the day after Labor Day. Honestly though, I think the summer was long enough for all of us. I was tired of feeling like a cruise ship event planner-always trying to entertain the masses, and they were tired of listening to me 'sing' all day and helping with their brother. Back to school was a welcome event for us all! The one major downside this year is that Josh wasn't home to get back into the swing of things with us. He was off playing in the desert somewhere, so it made the first week's schedule a little different than what it will be normally. So with him returning, naturally I thought things would finally be getting to the new normal. Wrong, wrong, wrong. 

Our house is set up a little different than a traditional home. You walk in to the main living level, and the girls' bedrooms are downstairs versus upstairs. (The staircase that leads to their rooms is pretty open though, so we haven't completely locked them in the dungeon!) A few weeks ago, K brought a tent that had been in her room upstairs for PJ to play with. When they opened it up, the smell that came from it was horrendous. Immediately, we knew it was mold. We just didn't know why or where it came from. Upon further inspection of her room-moving furniture and a good old fashioned sniff test-we found the moldy source. Just about every inch of wall space that had furniture up against it, had a moldy imprint of the furniture still remaining when we moved it. It was beyond gross. I know at this point you maybe wondering how it could've gotten to that point without my noticing. To answer that I'll say, my kids are 10 and 11. Gone are the days of me cleaning their rooms or putting their clothes away for them. Those duties are left up to them. 

Back to the issue at hand-the mold takeover. We ended up moving K from her room, since that was the majorly affected area. We let her bunk with her sister (which they secretly love, don't let them fool ya) for a few nights until the property manager could come take a look. Of course he came while Josh was gone, so I was having to relay messages to him whenever he had service. Well after a plumber came out and finally found the source of the water, he informed me that not only was there some water in the walls, but also running just about the whole length of our basement under the heated tile floors. So they found the source..but then what? Then they had to bring a huge pump over to pump all the water from the rainwater tank that was backing up into the house. Luckily for us, our property manager is a fireman by day, so he just borrowed a pump and hose from his fire house and came and pumped the water to the street. The kids actually really enjoyed that! He even let them try on his fire gear for fun. Needless to say, PJ was super excited because he's a boy, and boys just seem to love firemen.

The water pumped at full force for a good 25-30 minutes!

Well, now we've had a few plumbers come out and check the damage. The verdict seems to be that we are moving the girls out of the house. Luckily we have an apartment attached to our house that doesn't get too much use, but I hadn't planned on moving them to their own apartment until they were at least 35! Currently, they are bunked up there with their clothes and a few toys to keep them entertained, but this may be the situation for the next month or so. Just what we don't need at the moment. Between the kid's school, my school, PTO responsibilites, cheerleading and you know--sleeping and eating, there aren't many hours left in the day! And certainly not enough to wash every item of the girl's clothing, bleach all of their furniture and toys, and then wipe down walls. And forgive me if I don't see the point in bleaching down walls that are going to end up being ripped out in two weeks! Meanwhile, I feel like the mold issue is taking a toll on not just my mental health, but everyone's physical well being. Sickness-also something there is NO time for.

Doesn't that look appealing?! 

So there it is. If you seem me and it seems like I want to pull my hair out, or my eyes have gone cross, at least you'll know why! Does anyone have experience with mold. Do you know of a quick(ish) or somewhat easy way to to remedy the situation?!