We wish you a Merry Christmas

Jesus has a jet plane

Little Man once told me a story about Jesus. It's been a while and it was told while we were traveling. The basics - Jesus has a jet plane.

This week I found proof:

Snow, Snow, Snow, Snow

Something to Make you Smile

I thought I might make up for the lack of posting by giving you an early Christmas present. I know it's not very Christmasy, but I promise it will make you smile.

Watch this one first (sorry it's kinda pixely):



Now this:

Dear Santa

Little Man has been asking for a dog for the last year and we've been putting him off. Mostly by increasing his collection of stuffed animals. Now he's telling people that Santa is bringing him a REAL dog for Christmas. For CHRISTMAS!!!!! I don't know what to do. Do I hope that he doesn't remember? Do we risk his disappointment on Christmas morning? Should Santa start looking at a dog that will fit well with our family, just in case?

Help!

If you can't say something nice...

I have been working incredibly hard the last month to organize a successful fundraiser for Calvert Hospice. It's been stressful on the whole family and I've had my moments when I've wondered if it was truly worth it.

Friday was the big day and as with any big event, things went wrong and I didn't think we would get it all done. But thanks to my family and wonderful Hospice volunteers, it all came together. The Hall was beautifully decorated, the food was amazing, the silent auction went well and I got great feedback from my boss and from those attending. Of course, there was room for improvement (the perfectionist in me always finds something) but I was really happy with how things went.

Until yesterday....

A older gentleman came into the office yesterday. He seemed very nice when I first sat down to talk to him about his "concerns about the Gala". Then he just got mean. Once he started there was no way to stop it. I sat there quietly, trying to smile as he single handedly torn apart small details of the event which, in his mind, were less than acceptable. It felt as if it would never end, but eventually it did and I was able to escape to my office before the tears came. In a matter of minutes, the day went from feelings of happy relief to feeling as if I had failed. All of the little things that I knew weren't perfect, were now confirmed. All of my mistakes and certainties were pointed out in detail. I was wrong and I had failed. Now, I realize that some of this came from days (weeks) of sleep deprivation, 12 hour days and still trying to be a good mommy. But I spent the rest of the day nursing those wounds, trying to figure out what I should have done differently and wondering what brings us to be so mean to others.

I know there are times when registering a complaint is necessary. I wonder though how often we take it too far, straying from constructive criticism to just being mean. Do we truly understand the circumstances? Is it really going to improve the situation? When did it become ok to be so mean under the guise of being "concerned"?

I hope that next time I'm in a situation where I might feel "concerned" or think that someone just HAS to know every detail of what might be wrong, I can remember.... "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all". Maybe it will keep someone's day from being as yucky as mine was yesterday.

Give Thanks

We have finally come to the end of Festival. The Gala was a success and we are hoping to head home on Saturday. I'm looking forward to life going back to "normal" and being able to settle in somewhere. So before November is over, I wanted to make sure I made my list... not the one that goes to Santa, but this one:

Things I'm Thankful for in 2009

people who are nice * our new house * my boys * trouser jeans * Wil * my job * a kind employer * family * Herbie * Kitty * having kids who are appeased by stuff animals, even when they want a real pet * thomas the tank engine* toys that don't make noise* little boys who do * Susie Q *yummy food * new recipes * my own kitchen * good friends* purple shoes * scarves * new make-up * chocolate * technology * shopping with my mom & sissie * cute blogs that come up with fun ideas so I don't have to * a sister who will finish my projects when I get in over my head * the gospel of Jesus Christ * Christmas music * my sewing machine * crafts * homemade gifts

What are you thankful for?

Bug & a Brownie

I rarely insert myself into my wife's blog and leave comments etc, but this was just to good.



w.

I'm picky about my hair... REALLY picky. It's fine but thick. It wants to be both straight and curly. It's difficult. And although there are times when it irritates me, I really do love my hair. Maybe this is why I have a LOVE/HATE relationship with getting it cut.


Years ago, when I had both the time and the money, I had a fabulous stylist named Sonya. She had a cute british accent, kept up on all the styles and knew my hair almost as well as I did. I sat in her chair every 6-8 weeks and trusted her implicitly with whatever she wanted to try. It's been 6 years and I still miss her. A few weeks ago I read Amy's post about leaving her favorite stylist, then came cjane's post about her hair and wished I lived in Provo, if only to call Ashlee for an appointment. (She would know what to do about all this gray. And the post partum hair growth that STILL hasn't caught up to the rest of my hair, not to mention that it grew back a different texture than the rest of my hair.) I realized that it was time for a haircut.


But who do I call? Why is finding a stylist more difficult than finding a doctor? Or am I about to find out that they are equally as difficult?

So this morning I got my haircut and now I'm wishing I had waited just a couple more weeks (or at least until after family pictures on Wednesday morning). I'm sure that a shower and styling it myself will help (it usually does), but seeing 3 inches of hair on the floor was not a good thing.

The lesson in all of this... I will spend the time and money it will take in 2010 to find a new stylist. One who will love my hair as much as I do. May it be a long and happy relationship.

and then I cried

We had a great "holiday" weekend. The boys looked super cute in their costumes, thanks to my fabulous sister. Without whom they would have been a monkey (third year in a row) and a dog (hand-me-down costume), because those costumes required absolutely no forethought or planning. Instead they went as the cutest Harry Potter you have ever seen and a little black cat. We spent time with family, ate lots of candy, got very little sleep and enjoyed seeing old friends again. This morning Wil and Zee packed up the car and the boys and went back to WV. They won't be back until next Tuesday. The following Monday starts my temporary single parenthood as Wil and I are living over two hours away from each other, I'm working full-time and he's tackling a 2 hour commute. I should be looking forward to my week of relief from most of the stress, only dealing with work and trying desperately to get caught up. Instead, I'm struggling to not feel like I'm getting a huge FAIL. I miss my boys already. I'm behind at work. I don't feel like I can be a good mom and be a good employee.

So I ask that you think of us in your prayers this month and I promise we will return to blogging as soon as the dust settles.

I hope I didn't snore

Ya know the times in life where you have to have a mantra in order to survive, something you can repeat over and over to yourself throughout the day in order to keep your sanity. Lately, mine has been:

"And now it came to pass that the burdens which were laid upon Alma and his brethen were made light; yea, the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord." (Mosiah 24:15)

With all of the changes happening in our lives, some of which we have chosen - some of which are being forced upon us, I've had a hard time being able to accept it all... and accept what it means to our day to day lives. I've had an ever harder time doing this all with patience and/or a good attitude. So I read my mantra everyday and tell myself that whatever happens I can handle it, and handle it with a good attitude. What I didn't expect to see from this is the blessings that have come this week... being able to recognize the little (and BIG) things that have helped me to bear my burdens with ease.

1. Zee and Wil have the boys. I know this isn't easy for them! It's allowed me to work long days and still recover from this nasty sinus infection.
2. Dad picking up dinner so I don't have to worry about it.
3. My boss... who gives me the freedom I need for my family.
4. Medicine. Especially the kind that knocks me out so I'm getting the sleep I need.
5. A Starbucks gift card.
6. Kind and generous people. A local massage thereapist called our office yesterday and offered free massages to all of the Hospice employees. You know I was first in line! I went over to his office expecting a 15 minute hand massage... an HOUR later he woke me up and sent me back to work.

Now I'm hoping that I've been able to regroup and rest enough that I can conquer the next 6 weeks.

Wil, Zee and the boys left grandma's house yesterday evening to head back to West Virginia for the week. I'm still in Maryland, trying to get caught up at work, without the stress of temporary single parenting. It is really strange (and super quiet) without my 3 boys.

Just to make sure I wouldn't miss them too much, they left me a present... the sinus infection I've been avoiding for the last 3 weeks. Dodging that bullet was too good to be true. But thankfully, I have the time this week to rest and get better.

So, "meet our animals" will be postponed til next week. Medicine is waiting at the pharmacy. And fingers are crossed that my boys will be good for their Zizi.

Five years and counting...

It's been five years since this day:

and I don't even know how to express how grateful I am for my wonderful husband.

So, in honor of our fifth anniversary, I'm going to give you my top 5 reasons why I love Wil.
1. When a mouse runs across the kitchen floor at 9:30 at night, he tries to catch it. Even though he's dog tired from being up since four and spending 14 hours at work.
2. When said mouse chase causes our living room to look like this:
He puts it all back AND does the dishes.
3. Our boys4. He works hard to be a better man, husband and daddy.
5. He loves me... even when I'm a big hot mess and forget it's our anniversary.

First there was Mrs. Mantis. Then the stink bugs came in droves. Now my husband is trying to catch the mouse in our living room. West Virginia hates me.

Meet Our Animals Monday

Today we took a trip to visit the boys' great grandmas in Pennsylvania, which means we also got to visit Trooper. Here's a video of Little Man and Trooper becoming fast friends during the summer of 2008. You might need a translation, he's very worried about the stuffed bee Trooper is playing with...

Here's Little Man and Trooper today


(this is the best I could do to get them both sitting still at the same time)

When you don't have to share

I stopped at Starbucks this morning on my way to work. I had left the house without breakfast and dreams of a Pumkin Spice Creme frappacino were dancing in my head. So I ordered a large... it's 3 hours later and I'm trying to figure out why I can't seem to finish it. Then it dawned on me that I don't have 2 little boys snitching my "smoothie". Next time, I'm by myself can safely order a small.

I'm the guest blogger at "On How to be Lovely"! I think my sister just knew that I needed to be reminded of this with everything that has happened this week.You should check it out.

I had to fire a vendor yesterday. It was awkward and made me want to throw up. You see, I avoid confrontation as much as possible. I really don't like having to "discipline" an adult (although I have no problem telling my children "no"). As a reward for being courageous and not crying in the midst of the meeting, I bought myself a birch beer... then I had a lot of  some chocolate.

Wil says I need to not be so hard on myself, that it's understandable with the stress of work, sick babies and being far from home, I'm going to need some chocolate. The problem is, I feel out of control. I can't walk past the dang candy dish in the office without something finding it's way into my hand. And let's not even talk about the cookie jar at my parent's house. When one part of my life feels that out of control, so does everything else. I have a hard time focusing and decision making is near impossible.

Which brings me to the big question... how in the world do I get it back under some sort of "control"? Recognizing of course, that I can't "control" everything. There is always the element of faith in the mix... maybe "find the balance" is a better way of putting it.

In the midst of the chaos, how do I find the balance?

A well planned week has turned into chaos... We are at my parents house. Little Man has croup. My sil (who watches the boys while I'm working) ended up with a nasty flu. Two days at work have turned into a full week.

It's getting late. I miss my husband. I'm stressed about work & the boys. I'm exhausted.
I don't know what I would do without a supportive husband and a wonderful sissie, who's coming back down here to watch the boys so I can take care of the problems with my event without feeling like a horrible mother.
I have to keep reminding myself that this is temporary and will all be over in December. We just have to make it through until then, living apart and working full- time. Wish us luck...and me a lot of patience.

Meet our Animals Monday

Lemonade Kitty


Bird

A work in progress

Our empty living room

I don't have a picture of our room when we only had the two chairs. But here's our work in progress:

The big chair and ottoman are being moved back to my parents house. We still have to hide cords, hang pictures and I'd like to get a smaller Karlstad chair from Ikea to replace the big one. Eventually we're going to replace the tv and entertainment center with something that coordinates. Wil picked out our fun lamps, which took me completely by surprise. I love them! And that space on top of the entertainment center bothered me in the apartment too. I just haven't been able to find something that works up there. Last of all, my dad is going to build me boxes to put on the tops of the windows and then I'm going to cover them with some kind of fun fabric... no curtains in this room. I love the light, but want to be able to hide the mini-blinds. I'm so excited to see it all come together.

It's my mother's fault

I do this every time. Every single time. I don't know why I haven't learned yet, but knowing both my mother and grandmother, I know that the cards are stacked against me.

Tomorrow evening is book club. AT MY HOUSE.

This may not seem like a big deal, but we haven't even lived here for two months. There are still boxes in my dining room and this weekend we bought a couch. The new purchases inspired a room makeover and more unpacking. All of these things are very welcome and important things. (We have to have someplace for the Book Club ladies to sit. Two chairs just wasn't going to cut it.)

So it's almost 10pm. I'm trying to find the desk under the pile of junk that has yet to find a home and I'm feeling overwhelmed. I'm trying hard to be a little different in our new house. Not the frantic lady, who's rushing to clean her house 30 minutes before people get here... I'd like to be the lady whose house looks nice enough that people could just drop by and I wouldn't be worried. Also, I would like it even more if my son wouldn't ask, "Who's coming to our house?" whenever I mention cleaning. That can't be a good sign.

I better go finish the book...

CAKE!

"Meet the Animals" Monday

Little Man would like to introduce you to his animals! We are hoping this will be a weekly installment, but he's 3 and has no concept of time. As you are enjoying a little peek into his world, pay attention to Bug sitting next to him (and I apologize for the shaking camera, I was laughing too hard).

Snowball

Bug also wanted to contribute...

Penny Kitty

A few things...

We all have some sort of sinus infection and it's not pleasant. Please excuse us while we recover from all of the nasties. In the meantime, something to keep you entertained....

A new blog!

A yummy recipe - that's really easy.
*note... sear your pork chops in olive oil for about 6 minutes each side before baking, a little less if you have thin cut chops.

Fun kids music.

And an adorable picture of my Buggy Boo eating cupcakes....

Breakfast of Champions

Wil had to leave for work early this morning and while I was trying to finish getting ready for the day, the boys were off on their own. It was kinda quiet, so I was a little worried about what I would find if I headed downstairs. Before I could find out, they came up to see me. This was the end result:

Breakfast in the bathroom... at least it was yogurt, right? And they're sharing?

Cause she's super cool

Zee has a friend named Annie. I've never met her, but I love her blog. It's fun, she has great taste, a lot of talent and is a fabulous mom to a super cute baby. You should check her out... and the cool desk she made. I also love that she posts this kind of stuff, it makes me feel more normal.

A few of my favorite things?

This weekend Wil finally convinced me to get rid of our old phones (and bad service) and upgrade to his dream... an iPhone. We've been arguing for months about our "need" for new phones, but that's a post for another day. So we don't have a couch, but we have shiny new toys and now I'm faced with all kinds of new features and options... most of which are putting my brain on overload. You see, unlike my sister and husband too, I'm having a hard time finding what I really like. I'm rarely the one who discovers a new artist, sites like facebook that ask for your favorite music/movies/books leave me stumped. I look through iTunes wondering if I'll suffer buyers remorse for downloading a whole album. I see my playlists of 80's music, Backyardigans, Yo Gabba Gabba and Joshua Radin, then I feel stuck. Maybe in the 80's... maybe in a search for kids music that doesn't make my brain feel like it's melting away. Where do I go from here? Usually, it's my sister's music library... today it's up to you. I'm asking for your help... give me some ideas, thoughts, suggestions. What do you listen to? What helps you keep your sanity in the midst of the chaos?

coo-coo-pot

Little Man has hit that age where he's making up his own words. Some are fun and silly. A lot of them are a variation on the word "poop", but our favorite by far is "coo-coo-pot".


Tonight we used this word to refer to one of the designers on Project Runway... she was definitely a little coo coo.


Little Man has been asking for a pet for over a year now. Randomly he will start crying because he doesn't have a pet. Last week he just had to have a lamb, a few weeks ago it was a pig, at some point he wanted a giraffe... today he saw pictures of puppies online and we're toast. At some point he's not going to accept stuffed animals as a substitute for real ones, but until that day I'm willing to break the bank on webkins, beanie babies or any other puppy dog substitute.


I'm thinking about starting a weekly post... meet our stuffed animals. I could go for months without posting the same one twice. It's kinda scary.


Bug bumped his head today on the wall behind the sofa. The bump was followed by the following conversation:
Me: Did you bonk your head?
Bug: yeah
Me: Do I need to kiss it?
Bug: yeah
He pats his head, leans over and I give kisses to his head. He would then lean over until his head touched the wall, look at me and say "bonk" (or something that sounded pretty close) then he would wait until I kissed it and repeat the whole thing all over again. If he's acting a little coo-coo-pot tomorrow, we'll all know why.


In the midst of our move, we met my grandparents for lunch and talked about Little Man's desire for a pet. A couple weeks later, my parents met up with my grandparents to have lunch with them and check in. During the conversation, my grandmother told my mom, "If I had know that Lauren wanted a dog, I could have gotten her a cocker spaniel when Pepper Duke passed away." Um, Pepper Duke died before I was born. But thanks for the thought Gram.


This past weekend I took the boys down to my parents house, upon on return home on Wednesday, I found a mantis INSIDE the house. There are some bugs I can handle (and by handle, I mean put a bowl or bin over top of them until Wil comes home and can take care of it) and others just freaked me out. Like the jumpy spider things we used to get in our townhouse in Annandale - Yuck! The mantis falls into that category. I'm staying as far away as possible... finding one in the house freaked me out. And since I was trying not to freak out the boys as I keep one eye on them and one on the mantis napping between the blinds and the window, pick up the phone and call my husband. Honestly, if he worked more than a mile away, I wouldn't have... I would have been a nervous wreck all afternoon, but I would have done it. Thank goodness, Wil's boss took pity on me. Within 15 minutes, he came home, rescued me from the mantis and was back at work. He's a good man.


This was a different mantis from the one that was living on the light outside the door. How can I tell? Smaller and no ginormous belly fully of baby manti (would that be the correct plural of mantis?). She's been gone for over a week now and I'm hoping she went far away to have those babies.

Sometimes I feel like a nut

Tonight, we went to our first Book Club meeting. Since Zee and I are forcing our need to be social onto others, we felt it was important to attend. Next month, we'll be hosting... so we'll see how that goes. So after the discussion of how we wanted to set up our book club and some minor guidelines as to how this would work, we started to chat. We talked about jobs and job searches, kids and wacky eating habits, likes and dislikes and at some point I started to wonder.... do these ladies think I'm crazy? a bad mom? a total nerd? Am I that obnoxious kid that always says, "where I used to live, we did this...."?

My parents have lived in the same house for 32 years, I didn't have to be the new kid until I was in college and I wasn't very good at it. It took me 4 years to find really good friends, before that there was just a lot of awkwardness.

So now my fingers are crossed and there are a lot of prayers being said that we can make new friends in our new place.

We're Expecting!

But not in the way you might think... oh no, I'm not pregnant, Mrs. Mantis is.

Eviction Notice

Dear Mrs. Mantis,

Although I love that you eat our bugs, please find a new home. I have no problem with you living on the light or somewhere else on the front of our house. Unfortunately, it is NOT acceptable for you to live on our front door, where I must physically move you in order to bring in the groceries. This is a highly stressful situation for all of us, I assure you. For this reason I cannot give you 30-days notice, you must leave asap or we will need to take action to have you removed to a happier and safer home.

Sincerely,
Me

iLove my Little Man

Right now I'm listening to Little Man throw a HUGE fit because he doesn't want to go to bed. I'm torn between wanting to let him cry it out and going up there to cuddle him to sleep because it breaks my heart to hear him like this and the screaming is like nails on a chalkboard to my nerves.

Tonight he went downstairs to play and came upstairs a while later with wet pants. (not ever a good thing) He told me that he had gone potty, which is a bit of a problem since there's not a bathroom downstairs. Unfortunately, I knew right away what had happened. Little Man discovered the utility closet and insists that it's a bathroom because there's a drain in the floor. So when I opened the doors, I was faced with an amazing spray of pee... all over the plastic hose cover, the ladder and the unfinished wall board (btw, is there a way to clean pee that has already soaked into the unfinished wall board or do i need to suck it up and paint it with KILZ?). I made Little Man clean it up himself (as much as I could for a 3 yr old.) and now I need to get a lock for the door. What is it with boys and pee? I don't get it.

On an up side...
- When I came down for breakfast this morning he was sitting at the table with Wil and said, "mommy, would you like to join us?" It was super sweet.
- He likes to tell me secrets, whispered into my ear and almost always it's "I love you".
- He sings. A lot. And makes up his own songs, like "the wise man built his choo choo upon the rock". But he also picks up what he hears Zee and I listening to. Today it was Backyardigans and the iCarly theme song (and yes I'm admitting to watching that show enough that my child knows the theme song).
- He picked out a bird feeder today and is eagerly waiting for the "burds" to come and visit. He does this by pounding on the sliding glass door by the feeder.
- He calls the mantis, Mrs. Mantis, and talks to her every time we go in or out. She's still creepy.
- At the farm market today, he saw their cows and happily announced to the store..."Look, Mommy, it's STEAK ON LEGS!"


And now he's asleep....

An uninvited guest

This is mantis. He's creepy. He's also decided to take up permanent residence on the outlet box just outside of our front door. The boys are completely enthralled with Mantis and stop as they go in and out to examine him. Little Man is very careful to not get too close - he's curious but not so brave. Bug, on the other hand, is not so cautious. As we came home from our errands today, Mantis was enjoying lunch (a green cricket). Little Man stops to look and Bug decides he wants to touch (!) the mantis. I've got my hands full and have no idea what a mantis will do to a baby when his lunch is interrupted, so my gut reactions is, "No! Bug, NO! Don't Touch". Bug just looks at me and goes for the mantis again. Now Little Man is FREAKING OUT, crying and upset "Don't touch it! NO!". I'm trying to get them all in the door without dropping a peck of apples, a quart of peaches and all the library books. Thank goodness Zee heard us and came to my rescue... but come to think of it I'm sure the neighbors probably heard us too. I think Wil might need to relocate Mr. Mantis to a nice new home away from our front door.

This is Greg, our new house.

That's how we roll

Today was our first official Sunday in our new ward. Between my parents visiting and Stake meetings it was the first time we really got to introduce ourselves and since I've been REALLY missing my old ward and our friends there, I was anxious to make a good first impression.

Wil asked Little Man to take our tithing to the Bishop. Just as Little Man walked away, envelope in hand, the Bishop stands up to conduct. While the Bishop is talking, Little Man makes it to the pulpit and turns around... not to come back to his seat, but because he has realized that there's a long ramp on the other side of the chapel. He quietly walks up the ramp to the Bishop, hands him the envelope, heads back to the ramp and decides to be a race car. I'm pretty sure you can imagine what that entails. A very nice sister grabbed him and pointed him back in the right direction. I may have been hiding under the pew and/or using my "whisper voice" to tell my husband to "please go get your son!"

In Sunday School, I got the giggles. It's Zee's fault.

In Relief Society, I was given the task of introducing Zee and I to the ladies (most of whom were MUCH older). I did the usual thing... this is where we're from, this is where our new house is, our kids, they often match so I can find them both, yeah... I think I ended the whole thing with "cause that's how we roll". I'm not sure where it came from. Zee said it was charming. I'm trying to believe her.

After Relief Society I was asked if Zee was my daughter. Now I realize that I've gotten that question before in my life, but it was when I was 11 and she was 1... it was a stretch then and now... seriously? I don't think I look that old.

Last of all, Zee had to remind me to pick up my kids from nursery. Little Man attached himself to one of the young women in our last ward. Each Sunday after sacrament meeting, she would come and get him, take him to the bathroom, drop him off in the nursery and then go to her class. After church she would go straight from her class to the nursery and would then come and find me. It was awesome. At some point I would have realized that it's now my job again.

I did sign up to bring cupcakes to Enrichment, that will make it all better... Right?

When I should be unpacking...

Instead I redesign my blog. Talk about procrastination. Or maybe it's having a project that I can finish in a short period of time. Unfortunately, I can't find the cord to get all the pictures off of our camera... and the memory card is full.

A lot of my projects are like that right now. I want to get z done, but first I have to do x & y but in order to do that I need just one more trip to the stuff-mart. Here's where you're thinking, "welcome to home ownership. the fun is just beginning." I get it. At the very least I get the need for a couch. Ours won't fit up the stairs.

And now I'm just getting whiny and complaining... which is part of the reason why this space has been neglected.

I'm not good with change and this one has been a doozy! So in an effort to fight off the "I don't like change or chaos and would like to hide in my bed" feeling, my background is now purple. And here are my top 10 things I'm grateful for today (in random order):

1. leftovers from one of my favorite dinners
2. finding things on sale (less than half price!)
3. knowing that a trip to the stuff-mart won't take me all day
4. seeing the kitchen counter tops
5. date night!
6. Netflix instant queue
7. a playroom
8. random you tube videos that make me laugh until I think I might wet my pants
9. hanging out with my sister
10. seeing a project get finished

Movin' On Up

October 2004: Maryland to Texas. The day after we were married, Wil and I packed everything we could into the Corolla and drove back to Texas.

SuperBowl Sunday 2005: Texas to Maryland. Wil graduated earlier than planned and I hadn't been able to find a job in San Angelo, which prompted us to move back East and into my parents house. In retrospect, I could have stayed back here for 4 months and saved a ton of money. BUT I think in a lot of ways, that 4 months together in our own place solidified our relationship in ways that we couldn't have anticipated.

February/March 2007: The BIG Apartment. My parents started renovations to our house. There were 5 adults and a baby sharing one small bathroom. A friend in our ward offered us a temporary place to stay while the renovations were "finished".

May 2007: The Ghetto Apartment. Once it became painfully obvious that the renovations were far from being finished, we decided to find a small place to rent. We found a basement apartment with industrial flooring and a really tiny bathroom. Most of our stuff stayed in storage, but it was nice to have our own space.

November 2007: Back with the 'Rents. Six months pregnant, no longer able to fit in the shower at the ghetto apartment, and with the assurance that the apartment at my parents was only "weeks" away from being done, we decided to move back into my parents' house. Our bed was in the living room and there were again 5 adults sharing a bathroom.

February 2008: The "penthouse" apartment. During the renovations to their house, my parents added a two bedroom apartment above their garage. We moved in two weeks before Bug was born. It's beautiful - with hard wood floors, granite tile counter tops and a bathroom that felt like my very own day spa (especially being HUGE and having the super tiny ghetto bathroom so fresh in my memory).

August 2009: A place of our very own. We are no longer renting. If something goes wrong it's our problem to fix. We've painted and personalized, picked up a few less expensive things at Ikea. We have plans and ideas for things we want to do. We're also moving 5 people this time. Most of our moves up to this point have been local, with the bulk of our stuff staying in storage. We've grown our little family and with that comes STUFF. Holy cow... the stuff. It's amazing and overwhelming all at once. I can't wait to have a little time (am I really that delusional?) to unpack and get rid of some of the junk that has accumulated. Until then, I might just lay on the CARPETED floor of my very own house and stare at the boxes and pretty walls.

(ps. there are a few pictures of painted walls on Zee's blog. You can see them here. Also, adorable pics of the boys can be found here too.)

The House is Ours!

Well, today was a bit stressful we had an 11AM settlement time that changed to 3PM, then 1PM, and then 2PM! I was really stressed out about the changing times and then we didn't know what our closing costs would be. We were provided with a good faith estimate and then our costs ended up being 1/2 of what we expected!!

We then unloaded the trailer, got dinner, picked up some things from Wal-Mart (like a 6' ladder), and headed back to OUR house for dinner and preparation for my trip to the apartment with the boys. Yes, I have the boys for 2 days . . . okay, sit down please, I don't want youse to hurt yourself. I am nervous because I have a short temper and sometimes the Monkey is able to get that match close to the powder.

Needless to say that our only excitement on the way home was finding a bank to make a deposit. It took longer than I expected, but we found it & hit the road. The boys got a double feature tonight on the trip back to our old apartment. I am excited. a 1.5 hour commute [1 way] will turn into a 5 to 10 minute commute!!! I am looking forward to this happening. I think that Lauren is even more excited about it than I am, she has a house & it will have a fenced in back yard [by Spring] and a deck [later on].

So, we open another chapter in our lives and move forward again with vigor and anticipation for the future.

w.

p.s. I will post new pics on in the usual places when the painting is done.

Mortgage companies are of the devil. That is all.

Oh Boy, Those Boys!

Well, if you haven't talked with Lauren or myself you wouldn't know that they are both stressing about the move to WV. If you know our two Young Princes then you know that they are generally really good kids and that they are pretty amicable most of the time. The last 2 weeks have been driving me crazy and I only see the boys on evenings and weekends.

I have to admit that I don't know how my wife does it. She is amazing!!! I know every will agree with me on that statement, it is a fact. Still, I can only marvel at her ability to manage 3 cranky men at the end of a long day. I am grateful for her patience and finesse.

They did go to bed tonight pretty easily, considering they usually give Lauren h3ll when she is here. I wonder if Mommy goes to 'work' in the evenings if that will help them settle down and go to bed easier? Hmmm . . . well, it's just an idea wifey.

Big changes are coming to our little household, speaking of house pictures can be seen here.

w.

Because this is the best way to avoid (insert activity here)

Right now, I'm avoiding the huge and tedious job of updating the database for a mailing list that's supposed to go out the Monday after we move. I really (REALLY) dislike doing list work. My MMA girls will understand. List work is of the devil.... as is the outfit that I'm wearing right now. It's a little Tiffany combined with a bit of Debbie Gibson. You see, we're doing a yearbook style picture at the office today and everyone was supposed to wear the company t-shirt, a BIG boxy white t-shirt. Not at all flattering. So in an effort to make it look nice, I added a knee length denim pencil skirt, flats and hoop earrings. It didn't work. I need some slouchy socks, keds, bangle bracelets and big bangs - I'll be instantly transformed back to the 80's that I loved so much.

Oh well, I should get back to work.....

Kitchen/Dining Room

These bowls and dish towels from Crate and Barrel make me feel a little better about my direction for the kitchen and dining room, but I'm not sure I'm there yet. There are things that we would like to replace eventually, but eventually could still be years away. The stuff we have now is still functional and in pretty good condition (minus our dining room chairs, which kinda scare me).

Our table is a yard sale purchase made by my parents a few years ago. It's an Ethan Allen piece and is really well built. Zee and I have been talking about sanding the top and painting it black. Our dishes look like this:

I've been thinking about painting at least one of the walls in that area a terra cotta color. (This is why I'm worried I'm going overboard on the orange.) Also, I have a HUGE print of the play "Merchant of Venice" framed that I could hang in the dining room. BUT I'm having a hard time seeing this room pull together - mostly because I'm afraid it's turning too country/tuscan for the rest of the house.

I'm not sure how this one is going to turn out... any thoughts, ideas, suggestions?

The boys' bedroom

Little Man wants a red bedroom. I want the boys to sleep at night. The compromise is going to be 3 khaki walls and one dark brick red. And since we'll have a play room, I want their bedroom to be something more relaxing, that will also grow with them.

I love this print! But it's a numbered print and too much. They do, however, have 4x6 stickers on sale, 2 for $5. I think I might buy 4 and put them in a big frame.

madras plaid bedding that the boys can grow up with:

Zee and I saw this on another blog and totally want to make our own version:

And to make the room a little more "BOY", I love prints like these vintage advertisements:

(prints found on posters.com)

Even though I should be working...

I find myself day dreaming of a few things. All of which surround our new house. My thoughts sound something like this:

"I really liked the bathroom in the model. Could I pull it off? Should I try it? There's no way i'm going to wallpaper. Paint the walls orange. Really? Orange. Is my husband going to kill me? But how would I get that cool wallpaper effect? Is it going to coordinate with my bedroom? I can't afford new bathroom stuff. What about the kitchen? Am I looking at too much vinyl lettering? What do I want to do first......"

My brain is on overload. Mostly, I need a central place to keep my ideas, so as the stars align and we can pick up things here and there, I'll remember where I wanted them to go.

The master bath:

This is a picture of how they've done the model. I love this wallpaper, but think it would be a nightmare. Zee suggested painting the room and adding something like this:

or this...

or this...

The two tone poppies and the big dandelion are my favorites right now.

A short update

Little Man went in last Thursday for a routine tonsillectomy, adnoidectomy (sp?) and a second set of ear tubes. What was supposed to take us 3-5 hours, had us at the hospital for 10 hours. There weren't any serious complications, thank goodness, mostly little things that made the day drag on forever.

Since then it's been a rough ride. I started this post 2 days ago and got sidetracked by a sick little boy. When I started writing things were still pretty bad. The medicine they gave us for pain is strong and tastes NASTY. Screaming temper tantrums from a boy who never complains about medicine nasty. Trying to do that every 4 hours was hard on all of us, especially knowing that the tantrum was making it hurt worse. We tried making jello shots with the meds and that helped for a couple days, but yesterday I hit the end of my rope. We weren't getting more than 3 hours of sleep at a time and we were all losing patience. Last night we tried another medication that helped to calm Little Man down enough to sleep, a much needed rest for all of us. Hopefully this means things are improving and we can keep him "resting" until his appointment next Tuesday.

Bug was not to be outdone during all of this. He's very confused about what's going on and trying to figure out why Little Man won't leave the couch and play with him. He's also working on cutting another tooth, which meant he was running a fever all weekend. We spent a lot of time (all day) Saturday and Sunday on the couch with a boy on each side watching movies and eating popsicles.

This morning it finally feels like we've turned a corner. I'm back at work and the boys seem to be doing better. Lets hope I didn't just jinx it by saying that.

Drumroll Please!

We're moving.

To West Virginia! (insert joke here)

Sunday we'll be driving up to Martinsburg to look at this townhouse (the Tyler with the rear kitchen). A lot of the details are still up in the air, but the move will be a good thing and we are really excited. Things are moving REALLY fast. We just found out on Thursday that Wil is being transferred up there for work and now we're contemplating our first home. My head is spinning!

PB&H

After watching Winnie the Pooh on Tuesday, Little Man wanted to try some honey. Thinking of the mess that he would make with plain honey I offered to make him a Pooh Bear Sandwich (peanut butter and honey on wheat bread). He ATE THE WHOLE THING. My child who doesn't like peanut butter and won't eat sandwiches. I cannot tell you how excited I was or how this expands our lunchtime options. Quick, easy and relatively healthy. It still makes me happy.

to keep you in suspense

I just realized that it's been a week since I blogged. I'm a big slacker. But there are some crazy fun things going on here that I can't really talk about yet. So stay tuned and as soon as I know more, I'll fill you in.

Please, shoot me in the head

I'm in charge of an event for this weekend. I have to be at a wedding at the same time. The event is outside at a construction site. The driveway hasn't been paved and when dry the DIRT is bright RED. It's been raining for a month and this is the forcast for this weekend. It's supposed to rain for 12 hours straight before the event starts.

I want to cry.

Halloween in June?

Zee and I have started thinking about Halloween costumes.... I know it's a bit early, but we've had some BIG ideas that would have required some sewing and crafting. But we've come up with an idea that will involve the WHOLE family and I'm so excited. Now we just have to collect the right clothes.

My birthday wish list

• The cool clock from Target that they don't carry online so I can't show you a picture of it's awesomeness. Sorry.

• SHOES!
• New make-up
• This book
• a couple days with Wil and NO kids
• Yummy dinner at someplace like this or this
• a 4th of July weekend without stress!!! (i know this is a pipedream)
• a sunny day spent at the pool
• Land's End tote
• This cool list pad:

What's Up Doc?

A few months ago Little Man decided that he DOES NOT like carrots. There are few foods he won't eat (especially if they've been dipped in ranch) so I didn't really push it. Then 2 new things entered his life.... Bugs Bunny and the farm. If we aren't careful he will watch Bugs for hours. And with our recent road trips, he has. Then the farm sent us carrots. Little ones with long green leaves.

Little Man pulled one out of the fridge last week and said "Look, Mom, I'm Bugs Bunny!" Took a big bite, smiled, and said, "What's up doc?". Then ate ALL of the carrots. I think I love Bugs too.

The farm

I don't have a green thumb. Could be because my dad is a landscaper and wouldn't let us touch, much less try to plant, anything in our yard growing up. Plus apartment living, even in a residential neighbor, makes gardening more difficult. So in an effort to eat healthier this summer, we bought a share in a farm. This is "our" farm:

Isn't it pretty? We sure do like it... especially because every other Tuesday we stop and pick up our "share". And each week it's a complete surprise. This is the hard part. We have NO input on what gets planted and now that we've spent the money I don't want food to go to waste in my fridge. This means that every other Tuesday I have to come up with meals that work with the veggies we've gotten. For the next few weeks it's gonna be KALE. So here's my request for any recipe you might have (and LIKE) that calls for kale. Please! Pretty please help me put the 2 lbs of kale in my fridge to good use.

Nasty. Seriously Gross.

We bought this highchair when Little Man needed one, thinking of saving space, the ease of something smaller, etc. I did not look at in terms of cleaning. BIG mistake. HUGE. It's now on baby #2. And Bug is learning to feed himself. Not only is the highchair gross, but the wooden chair underneath it is even worse. Taking the whole thing off of the chair to clean doesn't happen as often as it should. This morning I tackled this feat and it was nasty. So gross in fact that I'm ready to pack the kids in the van, drive the hour to IKEA and purchase this:

Doesn't it look so nice and CLEAN! I think $20 is worth it.

Just because...

Little Man rarely stands still long enough for me to catch him on film.

He's being "cool" with his sunglasses on.