Moving Up

In our last ward I spent 4 years doing food storage and 2 years in the nursery. John spent three and a half years as Elders Quorum president and 1 year as ward clerk. I am happy to report that we are moving up.

As of January 1 we will be team teaching the sunbeams (3 year old Sunday School). We are thrilled because we have been requesting team teaching positions for the last 5 years. Sunbeams are so much fun too because they don't ask the hard questions that older kids do. And you know that we will be among the most informed people in the ward. With 3 year olds as our informants you know we will hear everything.

Bless Your Heart

I cleaned my kids bathroom today. It was long overdue. Of course the kids bathroom is long overdue for a cleaning 24 hours after I clean it but it had been much longer than that. Due to sensitive stomachs I will refrain from telling you just how long it had been.

As I was cleaning it reminded me of another time that I cleaned a very dirty bathroom. In college just before Christmas break it was time for the cleaning check. One of my roommates was assigned one of the bathrooms but was running late and didn't have time to clean it before her flight back home. I volunteered to clean it during the break because I wasn't leaving town. During the break however, before I had a chance to clean it I got the stomach flu. I obviously didn't clean the bathroom and called our landlords who were doing the cleaning check to warn them. The thought of entering our disease ridden apartment was enough for them to decide to skip the cleaning check all together. Well I completely forgot about cleaning the bathroom because John was also in town for the break, and well, he's a really good kisser.

The break ended and the roommates started coming back in town. We started classes and got busy. The bathroom was bad. It had been far to long since the bathroom was cleaned so one afternoon I finally did it.

We didn't have any rubber gloves so I got plastic sandwich bags to cover my hands and spent almost 2 hours scrubbing that bathroom until nary a germ could be found. That afternoon two of my roommates were having a conversation. My one roommate informed the other that I had spent 2 hours cleaning the bathroom.

"Bless her heart!" My other roommate exclaimed. Silence ensued for a moment when my roommate said "You know, 'bless her heart' is just code for 'she's an idiot."

It's true. Try it next time you hear someone say "bless his heart", fill in "he's an idiot". It works ever time. And if you're like me you will then have to try and hide your smile if front of the person who said it.

Finally

When we moved into the ward we were so busy with unpacking and getting our old house ready that I was afraid that we would get calling quickly. I kept thinking. "Please give me two weeks to adjust before a calling." Well we made it two weeks and even a third week after that. Every Sunday John and I would wonder if we were getting callings. Well the weeks stretched into months and we eventually gave up wondering about a calling.

Finally after five months in the ward we got the call into the Bishops office. And they managed to find a calling for each of us. Can you guess what it is? Leave a guess in the comments section for each of us and the winner gets . . . . uhh . . . . a delivery of some really fantastic Christmas goodies. What the package will entail will depend on how close you are and how sturdy the treats need to be. Unless you happen to be one of my siblings and already are making the same goodies as me. In that case I'll have to think of something else to give you.

I'll announce a winner for each of us (or whoever is closest if no one gets it) on Wednesday, or Thursday if I feel like it.

Gratitude List

Every year during the week of Thanksgiving we always have a Family Home Evening where we make a list of things we are Thankful for. It's always been a neat activity to reflect on all our blessings. Really our list could be a lot longer but we have to cut it off because of bedtime. Here is our list this year in no particular order.

Good Family
Dogs
My Eternal Family
John’s good job
Buddy
Good Books
Dental/medical insurance
Beautiful Wife :)
Jesus Christ
Heavenly Father
Our new house
Grandmas and Grandpas
Good songs
Nephi
Alan’s teacher
BYU
Toys
Scriptures
San Francisco Sourdough
Good Friends
Chocolate
Cakes
Computers
Cars
Trampoline
TV
Good shoes
Latter Day Prophets
Our pond with fish (On the kids list-NOT mine)
Jump Ropes
New recipes
Enthusiastic kids
Blankets
Paper
Mom get’s to stay home with Alan and Hyrum
A good boss
Pillows
Alan is good at math
Mom can do preschool with Hyrum
Temples
Beds
Churches
Nice Clothes
Indoor plumbing
Learn new tricks (OK I’m not sure how this one got on the list because I’m not sure what it means either)
Crayons
Done painting the kitchen
Laptops
Prayer
Bikes
Making friends in our new ward
Our quiet neighborhood
Beautiful mommy :)
Ideas
A new Temple being built close by
Electricity
Jokes
Good classes
Relief Society
Dads
Movies
Backpacks
Our old ward
The Earth
National Parks

Family Pictures

Recently I got in touch with a friend who I grew up with who coincidentally also moved to the Valley of the Sun. The news got even better when I found out that he's a great photographer. He recently took our family pictures and I think they turned out great. Here are a few of my favorites.

I sure do love that goofy kid.

Look at us! We could be engaged!

I took the liberty of titling this one

"Look out!"

I Can't Find My Video Camera Charger

Really, do you think this was the best way to pack this stuff?

My Latest Project

I really like our house but it definitely has a really old feel to it. I'm trying to modernize it a little bit, but that can be difficult to do when you just spent all your savings on a down payment. So we are going for a more economical approach. I found the tutorial HERE.

There is a lot of gold in my house. Ugly gold too. Here's the before.

OK that's not actually the before because I forgot to take a before picture and this is another light in my kitchen that looks similar. Just imagine two of these to make it even wackier. Got it? OK here's the after.

I did this one too. I almost forgot to take a before picture.

And . . . . . The after

I'm still trying to figure out what to do to replace the beaded lampshades. At least it is less ugly.

Have you been ghosted?

Have you been ghosted, or perhaps Booed? Do you have any idea what I'm talking about? Our last ward did this and we discovered that our new neighborhood does it too. Basically someone ding dong ditches some goodies at your house and you are left with a sign to hang on your door to show that you have already been "Ghosted", and instructions to do the same to two other houses. Let me tell you, you either want to be one of the first people to get this, or the very last.

We were ghosted a few days ago and when we went out to do our ghosting we saw no less than three cars driving around our little neighborhood trying to ghost someone too. It can be a little awkward when your neighbor comes out of his house to get his treats and and sees you across the street ghosting someone else. No really neighbor it wasn't me. It was one of the other 3 families out driving around. And this neighborhood doesn't do a measly plate of cookies. No, you give a whole bucket full of goodies and toys. When we went out two nights ago we had a difficult time finding a house that hadn't been done. Especially trying to find a house with kids as one of our buckets had stickers pencils and erasers in it. Not one that we thought our empty nester neighbors would appreciate. But we finally had to pick some random houses and were glad to be done.

I guess then that I can' t blame the neighbors who saw fit to ghost us last night despite the ghost sign already on our door. At least I got my wish this time and we were done on the last night so that I feel guilty about not doing it again.

By The Way . . . .

Alan moved his backpack back how it was. I think he got tired of the straps falling off his shoulders.

What I Remember

As I was at the grocery store the other day I took time to peruse the Halloween candy. I'm torn between offering good candy to the kids and not going broke buying candy for the hundreds of trick or treaters. It was tempting to buy the candy right then but that would have been pure foolishness. Neither John or I have any self control when it comes to candy so there would have been little hope of the candy actually making it to Halloween. Seeing the Halloween candy made me think of a past Halloween.

In my house growing up the kids made it difficult for the candy to last until Halloween so the candy was kept under lock and key (literally, my mom had it padlocked in a metal box). I do remember one year however where my mom brought out the Halloween candy early. It was twenty years ago tonight. It was the the night of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. If your are not from the Bay Area you probably think of it as the San Francisco earthquake but the epicenter wasn't really close to San Francisco. But that is besides the point.

I remember that afternoon complaining to my mom in our backyard. What was I complaining about? Well I was nine, so of course I was complaining that I was bored. Moments later the earthquake struck. I was a Californian and this wasn't my first earthquake, but I knew that it was a big one. It only lasted 15 seconds, really a short quake, but it was a 6.9, and large enough to wreck havoc. My family was really blessed. Plenty of broken dishes and other small material things, and minimal damage to the house, but we were all safe.

My Dad and older sister were at work and of course the phone lines were wiped out so we couldn't get a hold of them. I was worried about them but my Mom was calm (or at least she pretended to be), so that eased my fears. Since the entire Bay Area was headed home at the same time their normal 30 minute commute stretched to hours but they arrived home safely. Out of the whole day though, one thing stands out, and that is what we did that evening.

We did what my family does best. We sat around and talked. My Mom got out the bag of candy she had bought for Halloween and we sat around the kitchen table talking and eating candy. I actually enjoyed the evening. I remember ward members who lived nearby coming to our house to check on us. As scary as the situation could have been, sitting around with my family listening to stories and eating candy, it was a great night. I really got to appreciate my family and what really matters that night.

It's funny how out of everything that went on that night, what is most clear is eating Halloween candy and talking with my family. I can still remember what the bag of candy looked like,and the bubble gum that was in it. I know my kids are going to go through scary situations in their life but I hope what they remember most is the time we spent together.

The Costume Box

Almost as exciting as Halloween night was the night we pulled out the costume box. Being the youngest of seven my mom had accumulated quite the collection of Halloween costumes. You could taste the excitement as we pulled out each costume remembering what we had done in years past and trying to figure out what to do in the future.

This last weekend the kids got to pull out our costume box and experience the same thing. It was so fun watching their excitement as the went through each of the costumes. I love how with no suggestions from us the each gravitate towards their own costume.

"I'm a Boy Witch"

I think someone is not sure what he wants to be.

The Motivator

Have you ever watched the show Wipe Out? Our kids love it. We love watching it with them. You know the "Motivator" that comes down to get people to attempt the big balls? I have found that using the "Motivator" at home has increased the speed at which our kids get moving and doing their chores or other tasks. It still means I'm going to spank you if you don't get moving but they start laughing and calling out to bring on the "Motivator". We don't "spank" our kids, we "Motivate" them.

All Expenses Paid* Vacation

We moved in two and a half months ago. We unpacked like crazy for a weekend so that we could survive in our house then we concentrate all our time on getting our old house ready to rent. By the time we were done with that we had lost our motivation and started to just live in a halfway unpacked house. That lasted a few weeks until we invited people over and then realized that we no longer had the excuse that we had just moved in to explain the boxes in the kitchen. We got to work and got everything unpacked. Things aren't perfect, there are still cosmetic changes we want to make, but we are all moved in. Except for well, er, um, this.

This is our, ahem, "guest room". Also known as the room we shove everything into when we don't know what to do with it. To be perfectly honest I am completely unmotivated to do any work in there. I think it's going to stay that way until I am forced to clean it.

So how about it? The weather's great! 80 degrees! I'll even cook you breakfast.

*By all expenses paid I mean you get a roof over your head and you can eat my food. Travel expenses are not included. Two little boys running wild in the house are.

Throwing Caution to the Wind

A few weeks ago, the local drive in theater was having a special deal. Free movies! They were showing UP, Night at the Museum, and Star Trek. Well we don't go to the movies all that often and we take the kids even less often so even though it was a school night we decided to throw caution to the wind and take the kids to the drive in. Yeah I'm a bad parent, whatever. Really I bet his teacher appreciated the lack of energy Alan had the next day. And no, we didn't take them to Star Trek. We kept to the kids movies.

Only, I think kids movies are getting to be too adult. I didn't even realize until later that UP was PG and not G. Oh, it's not like it has swearing, or blood and guts, but why can't kids movies be innocent anymore. In UP you deal with infertility, loss of a loved one, absentee parents as well as the bad guy trying to kill the main characters. I liked the movie. But really, it wasn't a great kids movie. Alan, our sensitive kid, halfway through didn't want to watch the movie anymore. It was too much for him. As it should be. These things should be foreign to kids. I know that reality is a lot harsher than the movie, but why should kids be exposed to these things before they have to? Can't childhood be innocent? Or should I be more worried that I'm taking my kids out on a school night?

My Ladies

So I told John that I have a book club. We meet together monthly to have deep intellectual discussions on quality literature. Really it is an academic group, not a girls night out. Never mind that we all bring enough goodies and treats to feed an army. Or that the discussion might lead away from literature and towards telling pregnancy stories or discussing our color palate (I found out I'm a winter. I've always liked the Autumn colors best but I'm ready to move on and stick to my best colors).

Really these girls are my lifeline. In a house of boys I really need my girl time. The books are fun but even if we can't read the book (or just plain aren't interested), we still come to enjoy our time out. I love that even after moving, when I don't get to see some of these girls as often, I still have a chance to get together with them. They are a wonderful group of women to be with. Let's hear it for the ladies!

It's Starting Already

I love when kids are little and free from outside influences. When the music you listen to is cool and Santa Clause is real. It's scary when they start school and you realize that for a good chunk of the day they are not where you can keep an eye on them. Alan finished kindergarten relatively unscathed but first grade just started and he's starting to notice trends.

Alan left for school with his backpack on just how it should be. And this is how he came home, with his backpack hanging around his bum (yeah, I did that trend for a few years while growing up too). Oh it makes me so sad that I am not his main influence any more. I know it's just a backpack but what's next? Drugs, skipping school . . . OK maybe not in first grade. But still, why can't he be my little boy forever?

Neighbors

We were looking for houses and I found the one. Huge kitchen, granite counter tops, the split floor plan we had dreamed off. Hyrum and I walked around the neighborhood trying to get an idea of the place. It was nice and quiet. In fact we didn't see a soul as we walked down every street. That evening I was ready to put an offer on the house. We decided to go take another look before we made an offer. On the way we stopped at another house that we didn't get a chance to see that afternoon. It was really just to assure me that the house we were going to was the house for us. I almost didn't go to it because there wasn't a scrap of grass in the backyard and it really just wasn't set up for kids.

I found out later that the house was built in the mid ninety's but by looking at the interior I thought it was built in the 80's. Lots of gold trimming, pink counter tops and blue toilet seats. I was really disappointed, not in the house but I was disappointed that I felt really good about the place. I wanted my granite counter tops! Our realtor really liked the place (and he was picky) and thought that both houses were a great deal. I was so conflicted! I was so certain that we were ready to submit an offer and then we saw this house that was fine but certainly not what we had dreamed off, and I was just so confused.

The next day we took a walk around the neighborhood. I think I was secretly hoping to find drug dealers hanging out on the corner to make my decision easy, but there were none. Instead there were lots of people out jogging and taking dogs on walks. We enjoyed the playground nearby and met someone from the neighborhood. She said that she hadn't recognized me and wondered if we were new to the neighborhood. I was impressed that she knew the faces of people in the neighborhood that well. When I told her we were thinking of buying in the neighborhood she raved about how wonderful a place it was to live. When I pointed out which house we were looking at she said "We call that 'the fun' cul-de-sac" She told us all about the barbeque's that were held in the cul-de-sac for the neighborhood and about how wonderful the people there were. I was sold. Truthfully the reason we were moving was not for the house but for a neighborhood that would be a good place to raise a family.

We bought the house and are busy replacing toilet seats and trying to take our house forward a few decades. But so far, the neighborhood is just as wonderful as was described to us. The neighbors have brought brownies to welcome us, took the time to get to know us. Already we know almost as many people in our neighborhood as we did in our last house. Just yesterday someone in the neighborhood stopped by to invite Alan (and the rest of us) to a swim party at his house for the neighborhood kids. He hadn't met us us but had heard from another neighbor that there were new people in the house with kids. There are wonderful people and we had a great time getting to know their family (and for their recommendations on great babysitters in the neighborhood).

So for those of you who asked, no it isn't my dream house, but the neighborhood, it just might be a dream come true. By the way the house next door is going up for sale soon. Now THAT house would be a dream house. Come take a look and be part of the neighborhood!

School Lunch 101

School starts tomorrow. We are excited and nervous. Gone will be the unstructured days of summer but that can be a good thing for me because if I don't have a deadline I don't get as much done.

I remember sack lunches as a kid as boring. I think half the time my sandwich ended up in the garbage (sorry Mom). Before Alan started kindergarten I made a big list of alternatives to sandwiches for his lunch to make it special. As it turns out, Alan likes sandwiches. When Alan gets to buy lunch from the school cafeteria (a rare treat when I was a kid), what does he choose? Not the corn dog or chicken patty sandwich. No he chooses a sandwich. All right I'm not spending money on hot lunch for this kid. So now with out further delay I present to you . . .

School Lunch 101

First grab a loaf of homemade bread. Then search high and low all over your kitchen to find where on earth you unpacked the bread slicing guide. Find it sandwiched in between your cookbooks.

What? Apparently, I was in a little bit of a hurry when unpacking and was not thinking about what I was doing.
Slice the whole thing (and try not to be jealous of my pretty pink countertops).

Then set out all your bread to make a million sandwiches. My mom used to do this when we were kids, but that's because there were seven of us. When you only have two this will last you a week.

Stick them in the freezer, and in the morning you just need to pull one out and stick it in the lunch box. This works great with lunch meat and cheese too, though I wouldn't recommend mayonnaise on the sandwich (and that's not just because I don't like mayonnaise). Freezing the lunch meat is also perfect because the lunch meat stays cold until and you don't have to bother packing a icepack.

While you're at it bag up snacks like pretzels and raisins so you just need to grab a bag or two to stick in the lunchbox with the sandwich.

Done!

Fishing

We had a fabulous trip to Utah in July that included 2 family reunions. One of the days we went to Wasatch Mountain Park to do some hiking and fishing for the kids. Hyrum was the first to catch a fish. Apparently he was not planning on the fish suddenly jumping around when it was out of the water.

I love this picture

After that he was a little hesitant to go near the fish.

Alan caught one too! And thank goodness for that because we all know it just doesn't do for one kid to succeed at something and the other one not to.

Unfortunately the kids casting didn't bode well for John's eye.

The Best Entertainment Around

Not long after we moved into our last home my Mom was helping me put in a garden. Of course Alan wanted to help. In all the wrong places. Grandma took Alan to a part of the yard that we didn't care about and showed him where he could dig. It worked and from then on when we saw the kids digging where they weren't supposed to we redirected it to the digging spot. It soon became the favorite play spot.

When it rained it was even more fun.

They kept digging.

Once we were doing some landscaping in the front yard and had some extra dirt we needed to get rid of. We filled in the dirt pit. I was a little afraid that they would stop playing there. But not to worry, they got to work and had it two feet deep again in no time at all.

No toy can compare to the allure of a dirt pit.

A Little Piece of Mother Heaven

It's 5:30. I'm sitting at the computer browsing recipes trying to find something to make for dinner (a little late I know), and Hyrum climbs on to my lap whining that he is SOOO hungry. It gets pretty pitiful as he burys his head on my arm. Next thing I know he's out on my mouse arm.

It's a little difficult to maneuver.

Oh good he changed positions.

Now there is a little piece of mother heaven.

(If you're thinking that my kids are going to starve to death don't worry, I'm pretty sure there are enough leftovers in the fridge. In the meantime though, I'm just going to sit here and enjoy).

Never Ending

I love the part in the Incredibles when she calls her husband and says "We are officially moved in." And he is wondering what the heck she is talking about because they moved in 3 years ago. But she had finally unpacked the last box. Now we have a ways to go before we unpack our last box but I am wondering if I will feel all the way moved in even when that happens.

The thing is, there is always so much to do. We lived in our last house for four years and never did all of the things to the house that I wanted to. I have so many lists (yes that is lists not just items on a list) of things that I want and need to get done I hardly even know where to start. We have unpacked enough to survive and then stopped unpacking. There are too many things that need to be done. Cleaning, painting, and repairs on our old house (it would have been nice to have all that done while we were living there). At our new house there is re-keying the locks of course (would have been helpful had the previous owner left us ALL of the keys), putting our bed together so that when my husband scoots close to me we don't drop through the bed frame to the floor. And then there is the plumber and electrician we need to call out. Those things are easy to do but not so easy on the pocket book. That's about a tenth of the things on our list that need to be done here, and then there all the cosmetic things that I want to do.

Then there is our backyard. Have you seen it? It's beautiful. Complete with gazebo's, a koi pond and spa. It has cute little lamp posts and a nice area for patio furniture that we can entertain with. You can tell the previous owner put a lot of work into it. Unfortunately a beautiful yard is not what we need with two little boys. We need a play area, and we are going to have to tear something out to get that. I feel bad tearing any of it out because it's all so nice. Can you PLEASE come by and tell me what I should tear out to get a play area? I really am clueless. Just stop by and give me advice. While you are at it tell me how to arrange the furniture in my living room. Of course we won't actually do any of the work until it cools down but at the rate I'm going I won't have anything figured out by then.

It's not bad here. In fact it's really nice. I'm just trying to realize that the house will probably never be the way I want it. That's OK though, I don' t know what I would do in a perfect house.

Exhaustion

We got home from vacation 2 days ago and we are moving in another 2 days.I am just starting to get over being sick and my kids still have coughs from when they were sick. In the midst of packing, painting, arranging utilities, moving trucks and just plain doing the stuff that needs to be done everyday (laundry, dishes) I have become exhausted, and there is so much more to do.

I don't really have time to be blogging and that's why I haven't posted anything about the 2 fantastic reunions that we were able to go to, but this is something I really want to remember. I was just getting to that point where I wanted to just crawl in bed and give up when they boys asked me to read a book. I sat down and read a short story and by the end Hyrum had fallen asleep on me. After the book was over I just sat there holding my baby.

It was wonderful.

And rejuvenating.

After spending a little time holding my child I am ready to go again. I put him to bed and got the laundry going, and now I am ready to tackle all those boxes.

Thank Heaven for little boys.

It's Official

We have two mortgages.

Shopping

Since we are both moving and going on vacation soon I have been trying to buy less at the grocery store, however that found me today without any bread. I decided to make a trip down to the discount bread store and pick up a loaf.

I grabbed a loaf and then spied the english muffins We love english muffins and decided that we could eat them pretty quick so they made it into the cart. Time to go!

But look! Entenmanns doughnuts are really cheap. They would be good breakfast for when we are on the road. But the kids want the cinnamon rolls, they don't look all that yummy to me, I'd rather have the doughnuts. Ohh . . . what's that? Entenmanns is having a buy 2 get one free sale? OK we can have doughnuts and cinnamon rolls and I'll throw in some pound cake for good measure.

Alright, I'm walking to the check out. Oh look! Pretzels are only $1.29 a bag! They are at least $2 at the store and my kids eat pretzels like they are going out of style, better grab a bag of those. What was that you said Mrs. Check out lady? The prices on pretzels have just dropped to 99 cents! Oh I better grab a couple more. Good. Now we are done. What? More good new from Mrs. Checkout Lady? I spent over five dollars so I get an item off of their free item shelf. Well I don't mind if I do.

At last I make it home. Who's ready for a sandwich? Let me find that bread. What? You want milk with your sandwich? Oh. . . we're all out. I guess we better go to the store.

Dad

I have a friend who on Fathers/Mothers day writes a memory of her parents. I thought that was a fabulous idea so I'm stealing it.

I don't know if having bad dreams are genetic but if so Alan has inherited it from me. Alan is frequently crawling into our bed at night after a bad dream. I did the exact same thing with my parents ALL the time. But I always crawled in on my Dad's side. My Dad didn't get frustrated at the frequency that I would be climbing in bed (or at least he didn't show it). I could always count on being able to fall asleep in his bed and when I was sound asleep he would carry me back to my own bed. Dealing with a lack of sleep from having kids in my bed makes me appreciate even more my Dad's patience. Happy Fathers Day Dad! Thanks for being the man you are.

Summer Fun

We have been keeping busy this summer. Here is a little bit of what we've been doing.


Alan got to be in his first play this summer. Some friends of his wrote their own play and invited Alan to play a part in it. Truthfully every good play needs a villain and when it's all girls doing the play no one wants to be Captain Deadfly when they could be a butterfly fairy. Alan was happy to fill the role.

We also signed the kids up for swim lessons. The kids are making lots of improvement and as you can see Hyrum is no longer afraid of the diving board.

Last Saturday we went with my brother and his family to a WNBA game. The kids had a lot of fun. They caught on pretty quick to what was going on and loved cheering their team on once they figured out who they were rooting for (Mom are we voting for the white one's or the purple ones?).

It's been a fun summer and there is sure to be more fun to come!

Wordle

Have you ever used wordle? It's kind of fun. This is what I blog about.

Dinner for Two

Last night was date night. A friend took the kids, and I made a nice little dinner for two. OK so this is our popcorn bowl filled with the salad I made. Even though it is just the two of us I wouldn't want John to go hungry.

Um. . . . yeah. He definitely didn't go hungry, because that was the smaller of the two bowls of salad I made. It was a fantastic salad, recipe courtesy of Pioneer Woman. And we almost finished off the first bowl. Who am I kidding, I almost finished off the first bowl. Even though John liked it, it was a salad therefore John couldn't take seconds.

In case you have been living under a cyber rock and haven't heard of Pioneer Woman's blog you should check it out. But be careful because there is a lot on there and you can easily get sucked in. I posted a direct link to her recipe under my favorite recipes on the side bar.

Is Anyone Missing Some Elmo Underpants?

Last night before I went to bed I went in to check on the kids. Hyrum was wearing warm flannel pajamas and looked a little warm. I decided to take his pants of for him so he wouldn't burn up. I took the pants off only to discover that he was wearing some underwear that I have NEVER seen before.

They're not his. They are not Alan's. They didn't even come from the hand me down box.

Seriously. . .

How does this happen?

All Packed Up and Nowhere to Go

Today is moving day. The day we have been planning for the last month and a half. The day we were supposed to move in to our new home.

Unfortunately we are still here.

The bank had issues.

So now it will probably be another two weeks until we close. I wish I was unpacking. But instead my house is half-way packed and everything I want is in a box (hmmm. . . except for that ice cream. Hmmm . . .)

So we are sitting here in limbo . . . waiting.

For probably another two weeks.

Apparently no one explained summer break to my kids

Today was the last day of school. How do my children celebrate?

By spending all afternoon doing this:

After struggling all year to get Alan to do homework he decides he wants to do it for fun. Seriously. I didn't even suggest the activity. In fact I finally had to tell them to stop doing homework so that we could have dinner. Alan also decided to read 4 books today for the library's summer reading program. It used to be killer to get him to read one a day.

I guess it's only work if someone makes you do it.

The Wall

When we moved into our current home from our last apartment there was a picture I didn't take, but I wish I did. It would been a picture of a pile of sticks next to our front door. Alan was two at the time, and whenever we would take walks he would look for sticks. He would find one early on and then soon he would be carrying one in each hand. When he found a third he would drop one and pick up the next. He always had sticks with him when we got home, but I had made the rule of no sticks in the house, hence the pile by the door. Every day it grew larger. When we left our apartment for the last time, I looked longingly at the pile. Each stick was a special to me. It represented his two year old self. I knew he would grow out of it and the pile would never really return.

I think I skip many of those moments; piles of sticks that look like junk but are in fact part of my children growing up. This time I managed to get a picture of Alan on the wall. It started a couple years ago when I was scared that Alan would fall down and break an arm. But Alan persisted to climb up and sit on the wall. He's gotten to know our neighbors better than we have. And our wonderful neighbors don't mind Alan at all. He always calls out "Hey neighbor!" and they respond in kind. Alan is the social one in our family and is frequently wanting to go see if the neighbors are out. Even when the neighbors aren't home Alan likes his place on the wall. When Alan has a problem with his temper and needs to calm down he knows this is where to go. He climbs up angry and climbs down content. I know there will be walls at our new house but I also know that things won't be the same. I just wanted to remember how things were.

Seven Homes in Eight Years

This summer John and I will celebrate our eighth anniversary and we will move into our seventh home. Considering we've been in our current home for 4 years you can guess we moved a lot in the first few years of marriage. I think every couple is supposed to have stories to tell about their first home. We are certainly no exception. I think our first home is the epitome of starving student housing.

It was affectionately named the Cheese House. I think it was a decent sized house when it was built but to make it more profitable to rent it was turned into 7 apartments. Truthfully we had one of the larger apartments in the house. Anywhere they could squeeze in another apartment they did. Our bedroom used to be the upstairs balcony. How could we tell? Well, the living room window that looked out onto our bedroom was the first clue. No joke. Look.

We also had a patio door with a window that led into our bedroom and lovely shower that you couldn't stand up straight in. But our pride and joy was our refrigerator. The Kelvinator. It helped keep us on budget and on a diet. That blue thing was our freezer. No, we never bought ice cream. There just wasn't room.

OK, truth be told we didn't love the kelvinator. If fact we noticed that one of the other apartments had a normal refrigerator and it was empty and unlocked. We decided that we would switch out the refrigerators in the morning when a friend could come over to help move it. I had some chicken that I had just bought that I put in the empty freezer because there was more room. Of course the next morning when we went to get the fridge we discovered that someone had moved in during the night. Well I couldn't let the chicken go to waste! I knocked on the door met the new neighbors and asked for our chicken back. What would you know, we became great friends. It was even more fun when we ran into them at Stake Conference a few years ago. It turns out we both moved to Arizona.

You can tell from the pictures that the decor was lovely as well. The first time our home teachers ever came over one of them remarked how he could see five different wallpaper patterns from where he sat. I think my brother put it best when he first saw the apartment. John was explaining how he was trying to discretely drill a hole in the bottom of the wall so that he could get the phone line into our bedroom. My brother just looked at him and said "Why don't you just string it through the window? I don't think it will really detract from the decor." We did. And it didn't. By the way, if you ever wanted to see our first home, you can't. It was demolished shortly after we moved out. Big surprise.

Really, it was a great place to start. After this, everyplace was better. Our third apartment we thought was really nice. It had two bedrooms! And it was the first place that could fit more than a loveseat in our living room! It was a little old but really well kept up. We really appreciated the place. I always got really annoyed by the newlyweds who would complain about what a dump the place was. I won't chronicle all of our homes as this post is getting really long, but I'm glad for all of our homes. Really the houses were just wood and brick, but the friendships and memories we've made are really what makes a house a home.

The Best Mothers Day Gift

I got a "love kit" that Alan made at school. Inside were various things he had made with a cute note attached. My favorite was the teapot card he had made. It was shaped like a teapot and inside was this cute poem.

Here's a gift for Mother's Day:

"I'll try my best in every way."

But when you get upset

with ME.

Relax and have a pot of Tea.

Inside was attached, not a tea bag, but a packet of hot cocoa mix. Alan told me "It was going to be tea but I reminded Mrs. E that we don't drink tea in our house." What a fantastic gift to have Alan remember these things and to not be afraid to share them!

Grrrr. . .

If you know us well you know that John and I are a little slow to enter the technological age. We got our first cell phone just a little over a year ago, and we have one of the worlds ugliest and oldest TV's in our living room (but that's another rant). We don't have cable and we don't have Direct TV or any of that stuff. So needless to say we are having to get a digital converter box.

Problem is, we have tried FOUR converter boxes and none of them will work right. Actually the first one worked for two months and the broke. We tried three more, and all of them have a LOUD buzzing sound in the background. You have to turn the volume up really high to hear what's going on over the buzzing. Grrrr. . .

We even considered buying a new TV instead. We thought we could spend $100 for a cheap new TV. Nope. If you haven't gone TV shopping in a while (OK I realize that we are probably the only people in the U.S. that haven't), the best $100 can get you is a 4 inch screen. Sorry I just don't' want to spend $400 on a new TV (seeing as we only spent $25 for our current one).

While I am complaining about digital TV. . . . Two years ago John got me a nice under cabinet TV for me. It was a stretch of our budget for John to get it for me, and now two years later it is obsolete. Oh I could get a digital converter box but come on, I got an under cabinet TV because I didn't want anything on my counter. Come on! I just want to be able to watch Lost! At least the digital switch happens during the summer. Maybe we will take our next step into the modern age before the next season starts.

Saleing

When John and I were engaged we were at my parents house one day. My sister who had stopped by said to me,
"We're going saleing on Saturday. Do you want to come?"

"Sure" I replied. "What time?"

"Eight o'clock" my sister informed me. "I'll pick you up"

"Sailing?" John asked surprised (and excited). "I didn't know you guys had a boat."

"No John, SALEing. Not SAILing." I explained to him. "As in, garage saleing."

I think John was a little dissapointed but he has since learned to appreciate my genetic love for garage sales. Growing up it was just what we did on Saturdays. Alan is starting to appreciate garage sales too. I don't think I could go saleing by myself anymore if I wanted to. If Alan sees me gettting my shoes on Saturday morning he run's to his room to get dressed quickly so he can come too.

It's become a special time for us. He happily holds my hand as we look for treasures, and he talks to me about school, his friends, scooby doo; all the important things. He tells me things that don't simply come to mind when I ask him "how was school today?". I dry his tears as he realized that the giant oversized stuffed animal costs more the the one penny he has left, and I see his excitement when the man at the garage sale gives him a compass for free.

It takes a little bit longer to get through a garage sale as he spends 10 minutes in decision as to which action figure to buy. But Alan and I, we make a good team .

My Husband Rocks

So yesterday as we were in the middle of finishing up tiling our bathroom (yes the six week project is almost done!), I was surprised by my sweet friend Becca P. showing up. John handed me some cash and told me to that he was sending Becca and I out to lunch and out shopping for my Birthday. How fun!

Check out the darling apron Becca made for me. Isn't she so talented! And now my favorite 3 boys are making me chocolate peanut butter fudge cake while the pot roast that John made is cooking. Is this a good birthday or what?

Not too old

I always seem to be surrounded by people older than me. Obviously being the youngest in my family does that. My freshman year of college all of my roommates were juniors and seniors. Most people assumed I was older because, why would a bunch of seniors room with a freshman (answer: my sister was one of those seniors).

One day I was talking to John (who then was merely a friend) and his roommate Spencer. They were discussing how they really wanted to move out of the apartment complex we were in. Spencer lamented the fact that "It seems like all the girls here are 19 year old UVSC students." At first, I laughed at the joke, because I was a 19 year old UVSC student. Then I realized that it wasn't a joke. He didn't realize that I was only 19. So instead of him teasing me about being young I got to tease him about being a jerk (Spencer and his wife are still dear friends of John and I. I wasn't really offended but it's great that I can still tease him about it 10 years later).

Now my friends are still for the most part all older than me. Every birthday I still feel like I am the young one (it helps to have my husband 4 years older than me).

My birthday is on Sunday. I was feeling great about being so young. Then this morning, I found my first grey hair. Maybe it's time I stop deluding myself.

April Fooling

I considered writing a post yesterday to tell everyone that John had quit his job and we were moving to Brazil to teach English, but I just didn't feel up to creative writing. So the best of my April fools was the dinner I made for the kids. I told them we were having cupcakes for dinner with berry soda.

Hyrum was positively thrilled.

He was a little less than thrilled when he discovered that the cupcakes were actually shepherds pie covered with mashed potatoes died pink.

This kids did like their jello drink even though they eventually discovered that the straws were a little bit useless.

Of course we had pizza for dessert.

Brothers

It was dinner time and the kids were getting cranky waiting for dinner. One was sent to the corner, the other one nursing an injury. I gave them the play nice lecture and left the room hoping that they could make it another 10 minutes without hurting each other.

Instead of crying I heard something that can be even more terrifying to a mother. Quiet. Generally that means that they are up to no good. I went in to see what they were up to and this is what I saw.

It melted my heart. Alan was reading to Hyrum. This is especially significant because this is the first time Alan has every voluntarily read a book. He is quite intelligent but really doesn't have much interest in reading. Seeing the two of them together was just one of those moments that made me say, It's good to be a mom.

Maybe I need to brush up on my smooching technique

Portrait by Alan

"Mom Kissing Me"