Life right now...

is totally and utterly crazy. In trying to prepare myself for all the work that was going to ensue after we bought our new home I fell sort. BIG. TIME. My feet ache like never before and all the muscles in my body are sore. Since closing on this home we have ripped out carpet (J), put in hardwood (J and his dad), painted the girls room and boys room (J and I). Put together our new table (J, Red and I), vacuumed the 4 bedrooms, stairs, living room, dining room, kitchen and family room (me), mopped all the above rooms except dining room and living room (me), wiped down all the kitchen cabinets etc. (me). We hope to get a truck on Friday night at get all the stuff out of storage and into the house. We have our bed coming on Saturday so we will be sleeping on the air mattress one final night. Throw in the mix that my cousin (20yrs old) passed away and going to the funeral for that this week life has just been BUSY. Even through all this busy-ness I still feel so blessed. There have been times where J has said to me, "This house will either make us stronger or brake us."

This just keeps getting better!

We had our closing this morning. The sellers were there which is unusual. We had some small talk before everything began and then all the signing began. Once the signing was done we were waiting for the bank wire to go through. During that time (about 25 minutes) we talked to the couple who are in their 80's. They have been married for 57 years and have 3 kids but no grandkids. They were just the sweetest, nicest people. Red was wearing one of our church shirts and the wife asked about it so we told her about our church. Since they have moved they haven't been able to find a church. We invited them to come to our church since it is only about 15 minutes from their new home. I think it would be really cool to have them attend our church. The husband gave J his business card, yes he is still working at 80, and told him to give him a call and he would come over and show him everything about the house. I am hoping that when he does come his wife will come too and she can tell me about the flowers in more detail. We did talk plant/flower/trees but it would be nice for her to point them out. Anyways, the reason it was taking so long was that the money wire got messed up and they sent the money to the right bank but wrong account. They told us it could take up to 6 hours to straighten it out. Which meant we wouldn't own the house for 6 more hours. Also during that 25 minute period they handed over the keys and garage door things. Their attorney told them that they didn't have to hand over the keys because it wasn't ours yet but they said we could have the keys anyway. It wasn't like they didn't know where we lived :) About 2 hours later we got the call that everything went through and it was officially our house!!! After the closing we didn't waste any time, we went and got stuff out of the storage, dropped Red off at school, and went to the house. I cleaned the entire upstairs. I wiped down the windows, vacuumed the floors and then mopped them. J went to get the hardwood floors we had ordered. When he got back a man pulled into the driveway. It was the son of the sellers. He welcomed us home and talked to J for quite awhile. He was a really nice man and he was so happy that we were moving in with our 4 kiddos. We didn't end up getting as much stuff as we wanted to get done but we made a pretty good dent in the things that have to get done before we move in. J ripped up the carpet in the living room and I helped get the staples out. We picked the kids up from school and got more stuff from storage, came home, kids did homework, we had dinner, cleaned up the kitchen and out the door we went. J had a surprise for us. We went to see a women's basketball game. It was pretty cool. We didn't stay until the end because it was getting late but we watched 3 quarters. Now the kids are sleeping and J is taking another load of stuff over to the house. I need to go make lunches then I am going to back another long day tomorrow. We are painting the white walls. I need color in my life!

Holy Hot-ness Batman!!!

It isn't even June yet and we have had to turn the a/c on. This is going to be a hot summer and I am so glad that I decided to go ahead and buy the pool passes for this year. We are actually putting them to good use today. The kids and I are meeting some friends at the pool after school. It is going to feel so good to be in that cool water. This morning we went to some other friends house and the two littlest played on their slip and slide. Anyways J and I decided that we were going to drive together today and J doesn't get off of work until 7:30 tonight so we are swimming to kill time.

Tomorrow is the BIG day. You know the one where you sign on the dotted line that you are going to pay X amount of money for a house which you end up spending double that amount when all is said and done. Don't let that above sentence fool you. I am so excited. It is almost like it is too good to be true. The kids are really excited about it too. They have been such great troopers through this whole thing. They have been sleeping on air mattresses for almost a year now, 8 months to be exact. They are really looking forward to having a real bed again just like J and I are. Over the last few days it is cool to hear them talk about the new house and the things they are looking forward to about it and the things they like about it. Now I just have to wait an hour for school to be over so I can get in the pool :)

On the wire...

I have had about a dozen thoughts I have wanted to blog about when I sit to write I either have forgotten them or they don't come out right so I have stayed away from even posting them. I do want to write about two things that happened yesterday. I'll go in order of when they happened. I got a call from our mortgage broker. We are doing an 80 10 10 loan which means that we put 10% down and take out two loans one for 80% and the other for 10%. The two loans are from two different banks. Our first loan which is the higher percentage has cleared for closing this Thursday. The other small loan has not yet. Well the interest rate dropped for the 1st loan from 5.125 to 4.875 and she was calling to see if we wanted to try and change our rate on the first loan. Here is the catch it might not get approved by Thursday and do we want to take that risk? The second loan hasn't clear yet so there is a chance we still might not be closing on Thursday due to that situation. Add to the fact that J's work schedule once June hits is jammed packed with stuff because it is the end of the school year. In the end we decided to stick with the rate we first got and if for some reason there is a major issue with the second loan and we aren't going to close Thursday then she is going to put the lower interest rate through. We just really want to move on from all the craziness and stress of this last year. But I am just so happy and feel so blessed to have had this house we are staying in to be able to heal and get better. What a major year this has been for our family.

The second thing that I feel is blog worthy is we had our final walk through yesterday and the kids came with us. It was AMAZING to show them their new bedrooms and see them run around the house and be so excited about moving in. It was like a little glimpse of what living there is going to be like and I just can't wait to make it our home. This house has a lot of storage space and closets and what not...so they were playing hide and seek. While we were there 3 of the kids had to use the bathroom and none of them had to wait for a toilet!!! J and I were talking on the way home about how this house has all the criteria we were looking for in a home. We feel so extremely blessed. God is so good! Now we just have to wait out the kinks in the above situation and we are good to go :)

Busy Busy...

I feel like my world is spinning around but I’m not getting sick! We have so much going on right now that I am so glad that I am able to keep it all straight. The craziness really started last weekend. My hubby left town for a training camp Friday night and got back Saturday at dinner time. Monday was Red's birthday so we celebrated with a dinner. Wednesday was a field trip for Red's class that I went on, his teacher was hospitalized on Monday afternoon she we had a sub, but everything went smoothly. Today was the day we were suppose to have our financing squared away for the new house which we have been working on getting all the stuff the bank has wanted so hopefully everything is a go. I also got all the supplies for tomorrows party. Friday is the three oldest kids birthday party. It is a combined one so there will be lots of kiddos running around. Should be fun. I also have my last Bible study but I don't think I am going to make it with all the craziness that the day will bring. Though I think I got everything I need for the party taken care of. Saturday J and I are going out to look at mattresses for our beds and then out to dinner. Sunday is a Ladies Tea at church. Monday is our final walk through. Tuesday we need to make some calls to get utilities set up in our name. Thursday we close. Then it just gets crazier from there with house improvements and moving!!! See we have been BUSY and we are going to stay that way for a few more weeks. Then school will be out and we can have some pool/park/summer/friend fun!!!! Do you feel as tired as I do by reading that?!?

Menu May 17th - 23rd

Monday: We celebrated Red's birthday at Photo's (his choice)
Tuesday: Baked Chicken with mashed potatoes and strawberries and blackberries
Wednesday: Chili Rubbed Beef with salad and apples with dipping sauce
Thursday: Spinach Patties, brown rice and mashed potatoes
Friday: kids big ole party (Pizza)
Saturday: The kids and sitters are going to have the leftover Pizza and J and I are going on a date!!!
Sunday: breakfast foods

My Sweet Red

Today is Red's 5th birthday. It is just so crazy how fast these 5 years have flown by. He has certainly been a great addition to our family. He challenges J and I in ways we NEVER imagined possible! But even through the hard times with him I couldn't imagine life without him. He came into this world our smallest baby 6lb 2oz at 35 weeks, considered a preemie. Now he has broken another record in our family as the biggest 5 year old we have had so far. I highly doubt that his baby sister will be bigger. He is a pro at tying his shoes and he is learning to ride a bike without training wheels...that scares him a bit. Once he gets a few successful runs under his belt he will excel, I have no doubt! My prayer for Red is that he grows to be a strong, caring, loving, and compassionate man we lives for Christ and puts others first. We love you Red! I wish I had a baby picture of Red but they are on the other computer that is packed up. I just checked back and I can't find his birth story or any baby pictures from 5 years ago :( I am going to go through some more archives and see if I can find something to link too either picture or birth story. I found his birth story! HERE

Popularity

The other night I was talking to a mom whose son is in Monkey's grade. One of the subjects that came up was popularity. I never given much thought of this since my kids are only in 3rd and 2nd grade but I guess that notion starts that early. One of the things I realized in thinking about this was that this subject to me seems so high schoolish. I feel like the kids don't really care about their popularity as much as their parents. For example, there is a kid at school who is pretty hard to get along with, he kind of has a temper issue along with some other social issues. The mom knows this to be the case with her son so she sets up tons of play dates with kids in the school trying to get people to like him, at least that is the goal I think she has! Monkey has never been in class with him so he has escaped the whole aspect of "let's have our boys play together so he can have friends" issue but I have seen it/heard about it. I actually just met and started talking to the mom this school year through a mutual friend. That is a bit awkward for me, especially since her son kick Monkey in the face the first week of school out on the playground. I just try not to think who her kids are...is that bad? Anyways, I would be lying if I didn't admit I would like my kids to be well liked (popular). But it really got me thinking about what I want my kids to really be...and the main goal isn't popularity. It maybe a by-product of their personalities but I don't want it to be their goal. I want them to put others needs above their own and to be kind to the unlikable. Pretty much I want Christ to shine through their words and actions. They really are good kids and as far as I can tell they have good solid friends at school and at church. All I can do is teach them at home how to care for others and befriend people the rest is up to them.

Menu May 10 - 16

Monday: Pizza (this was a treat)
Tuesday: Rutabagas and Mixed Veggies
Wednesday: Pancakes with homemade apple butter and strawberry/blueberry blend (Jeff's special sauce as he calls it!)
Thursday: going out (the kids have a concert at school)
Friday: Boneless Garlic Chicken with a salad
Saturday: Herbed-seasoned Turkey Patties
Sunday: Chili Rubbed Grilled Beef with fruit

Tuesday, Saturday, and Sunday are new recipes!

Mother's Day!

On Friday night I told my kids it was Mother's Day weekend and they all told me I wasn't allowed to stretch it out for a whole weekend. Haha silly kids! Well today is even more special then normal mother's days. TODAY is my mom's birthday on top of being mother's day. The sad part of it all is that I won't even get to see her. I need to plan a day to celebrate both of these with her.

In our house Mother's Day is like having a birthday for me. My hubby's love language is gifts so he always gives me the best. Mother's Day is no exception, he rocked the gift department! About 4 years ago he got me a really nice point and shot camera while over the last month it has been acting up. I think the motor is dying on it. He went out and bought me a nice canon power shot with amazing zoom capabilities. I LOVE it. It is much bigger than any of the other cameras we have owned but the picture quality is FANTASTIC. Another thing you have to know about my hubby is when he buys gifts he gives them right away! He is the one who kicked the weekend off with giving me my gift...so the kids can blame him for the weekend long celebration ;) This morning the kids brought me breakfast in bed...yogurt with granola and all their handmade gifts from school.
From GG I got some paper flowers in a bouquet, a real spider plant that she put in the pot we made together at the retreat the other day, a fan, a card and a poem.
Here is the poem:
My Mother is the Best
Out of all the Rest
She lovingly cares for Me
She is extraordinary
So what do I say to her Today?
Happy Happy Mother's Day!

From Monkey:
A Book about me and a real plant.
The book asks questions and he answers them. The first is to describe me. He says, "My mom is special because she can do a lot of things. She's also special because she's my mom. Happy Mother's Day!
Each of the questions has a drawing of the answer. I love his drawings they are so good!

Red gave me a hanging picture with paper flowers. Too cute.

Peanut had to wait until after Sunday School to give me the necklace she made for me. But she was so proud to give it to me since she watched the other three give me gifts from school before church.

We went to Jason's Deli for lunch and then headed over to my in laws for naps and dessert. I got some new recipes from Sue's cookbooks really excited about that!!! Also just wanted to mention that this is my 1500 post! That is a lot of posts :)

3 weeks and counting...

Three weeks today we close on our new house. I am getting very excited about it but also very nervous and scared at the same time. I have been feeling pretty good since moving into this house but we don't have a lot of our belongings here. (I will say that if I go off of the diet I start to feel junky so maybe it doesn't have much to do with our belongings?) Once we close we are going to move the rest of the things we kept into the new house. We are going to wipe them down again and vacuum with a hepa vacuum and buy a few more air purifiers but I still get nervous. I really feel that I will be ok with this move it is just the unknown of it all.

Things I am looking forward too...starting the adventure of growing my own veggies and some fruit. The kids want to do strawberries and blueberries, we'll see. My main focus is on growing the staple vegetables we use a lot like onions, zucchini, tomatoes, and peppers. I hope to have a garden that has a huge variety of foods to eat from. The best part being that they will be organic! Along with the must haves I want to grow asparagus, cucumbers, romaine lettuce, and garlic. I also am looking forward to having a garage again but added bonus of it being attached. I have only been able to park in an attached garage for 10 months of my life and I LOVED it. So excited. The kids will be able to ride their bikes outside again. So many fun things to look forward too.

One more thing about the house. We just got the appraisal for the property and it appraised 16,000 more than we are buying it for. Our mortgage broker (who we go to church with) said she thinks that it is probably worth even more because they tend to go on the lower end of things. What a blessing.

Mother Daughter Retreat and Chaos

I feel like the last few days have been total and complete chaos. Friday GlamorGirl and I headed to a mother daughter retreat with another mom and daughter from church. Once we got there we unpacked and made our beds. Then it was time to start with the first session. The lady who spoke at the retreat is a friend of mine from H.S.'s mother in law and I went to college with her two oldest kids. I hope that makes sense. Anyways, my friend ended up being there which was a nice surprise but I felt torn because the weekend was about GG and I getting to spend time together but I wanted to catch up with my friend too. In the end I think I balanced it all pretty good. That night we stayed up talking until about 11:30pm when we finally rounded up the girls and headed to our rooms. Each mother daughter had a room with two beds and a toilet. There were community showers but so nice to have our own toilet :) By the time I got GG settled and into bed it was after midnight. The next morning came fast. The first noise I heard was at 7am! The day started with this HUGE breakfast totally not apart of our diet but we needed to eat something. We had our second session after that and then what they called "girl power" which is what we did after all 3 of the sessions. I took GG and we went to a place outside and talked over the sheets we were given. Then we came back and played a game. The game was really cute it was played like the newlywed game but made into a mother daughter version. Then it was lunch time. The afternoon was "free time" we could canoe, bike ride, paint, go into town or do whatever. We decided it was too windy to canoe or bike ride. We painted the flower pots they had for us. GG and her friend made sand castles at the beach for awhile until we went to the snack shop and got ice cream! We had about an hour left before it was time for dinner so we started packing up our room and getting dressed up for the fancy dinner. We had our last session after that then we left. It went by way too fast. All the moms and daughters said they wished it was another night and day. We always have next year! We got home Saturday night a little before 10pm. Since being back it has been chaos! Sunday it was up for church, home eat lunch, go grocery shopping, unpack, make dinner, go back to church, home, get kids to bed, make lunches and go to sleep. Then today we all got up and ready and left together. J called to say we had to go home without him because he was going to be working late. Love the overtime hate him being gone it's what I call a double edge sword. I got home did homework, made dinner, cleaned up, bathed everyone (more like supervised), did bedtime, did dishes, made lunches, and now I'm blogging. J got home a few minutes ago so I'm going to go talk to him.

Menu May 3 - 9

Monday: Red Pepper and Broccoli Saute and Creamed Spinach with fruit
Tuesday: Turkey and Spinach Patties with salad
Wednesday: Roasted Chicken with Rosemary and mashed potatoes
Thursday: Fish and brown rice
Friday: Italian Roast and Vegetables with mashed potatoes
Saturday: Chicken Stir Fry with fruit
Sunday: Mother's Day (We're going out!)