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.