Fall Is Here

This past week, we were able to go down to Texas for a visit. John was supposed to go out of town, but his plans changed, so he came with us. My youngest brother and sister still live with my parents, so  it was quite a house full of people. But that was what made it fun. A house full of laughter and people all going in different directions, only to come back together in the evenings and enjoy being together, is what I look forward to when we are with my family. It was great! 

While we were there, we had a big family dinner, John went golfing with my dad twice, I got a pedicure with my sister, the kids got to eat out at there favorite place several times, I got to go shopping with my mom, John and I were able to attend the LDS Temple, I got to see my sister's soon to be new apartment, we took the kids to the Fort Worth Zoo, the kids got to play with their cousins several times, and we were all able to go to see "Hotel Transylvania", which I highly recommend. I realized the I took all my zoo pictures on my mom's camera, and only took video on my phone. Oh well, the photos were probably all boring anyway. I am not a photographer, and most of the time I forget to take pictures anyway.

 It was nice and hot last week. It did cool off Saturday though, which was nice. It rained all day and only got up to maybe 70 degrees. But the rest of the week was hot. We came home to fall colors and lots and lots of leaves in our yard. It's going to be a chore, but the leaves seem to be falling pretty fast considering the trees were intact when we left a week ago. Hopefully it won't take weeks to keep up with the raking. We'll see.

We have been dealing with Breanna's baptism date too. She will be eight years old in November, which means she is old enough and has chosen to be baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. We are trying to accommodate family coming in for that weekend, and try to get around Thanksgiving as well. Our house is just so small that we cannot fit a lot of people in comfortably. Even three extra people in our house means that someone has to eat outside. Plus, we could sleep a lot of people in our house if they want to sleep anywhere we put them, it's the bathroom situation that could get crazy with all the extra adults in the house. (We only have two bathrooms, and the extra one is VERY tiny). So unless a few people want to sleep in the kitchen and use the hose out back for cleaning up, it could get VERY cramped. But all are welcome!!!

Back 2 School 2012

Welcome another school year!!! I was so ready for this day. The kids have been back in school for a week and a half now, but I'm still excited they are gone for most of the day. I love them very much, but I couldn't take all the fighting anymore. Brett and Breanna are good friends, but they can't agree on anything. Kaylee and Lincoln get along pretty well. I am enjoying having just the younger two at home.

The two goof balls before leaving for the first day of school

Brett was very excited to be a Kindergartner this year, but he was nervous too. He kept telling me he didn't want me to walk him to his teacher that first morning. He just wanted to tag along with Breanna. Unfortunately for him, there was no way to just drive by and drop them off that morning. The playground had more parents on it than kids. He would have gotten lost in that sea of adults. So, we parked down the street and walked together to the school. He was happy to see some friends, and then it was time to stand in line with his class. We had to stand around and wait for a few extra minutes past the bell for all the Kindergartners to arrive. But once they all got there, the teachers told them to turn around and wave good-bye to their parents. Then they filed into the school for their first day of school. It was too cute. I wasn't worried about Brett at all. I knew he would love being a big kid along with his sister.

Waiting for all the students to show up

They were told they would have a fire drill the second day of school. They even talked about what they would do and practiced a little. The next morning, I could not get Brett to get dressed or eat breakfast--he was very worried about the fire drill. He looked nervous all morning. When I picked him up from school, I asked about the drill and how it went for him. He smiled big and smugly told me "there wasn't even actual fire!" All that time he was worried they would set the school on fire to practice. What a silly boy.

On to another subject:

John and I (but mostly John) have been working on getting all the wood trim on the house repaired, sanded, and painted. This is something that has to be done, according to our purchase agreement. The only problem is that the sellers told us they would take care of everything, and then last minute decided they didn't want to. The deadline was coming up and we found out that they refused to do anything but give us a set amount of money to do the work ourselves. We were not happy about that. But it was something the bank required, so we have been working all this hot summer to get it done. (With some time off here and there.) We are finally almost done. Only a few more days 'til the deadline and it's going to be some crazy work, but it's almost done. We are also going to change the color of our house. I'll have to post those pictures if that ever gets done.

Other than that, we are planning a trip down to Texas at the end of September while John is in China. Always keeping busy here.

What month is it?

Well, this summer is going by very quickly so far, and I don't believe it will slow down. We have had visitor after visitor come to stay with us, and have loved every moment. All but two members of my family have come to visit since we moved here. I don't think it will be too long before the other two come by...at least that's the hope.

I know I missed out on my Blog update for last month, so I think I will just skip ahead to the most recent events.

Lincoln is finally getting teeth! He now has four. They tried to all come in at the same time. He's been kind of a grump over the past month, but at least he has teeth. I was starting to wonder if the poor kid was ever going get them. He is also starting to walk a little. He has been standing independently for a long time now. He would just stand up in the middle of a room with no help, but then sit back down after a few moments. Now, he takes two or three steps before he stops to sit. He thinks it's funny too. I think he likes to walk, but crawling is still the easier thing to do. He has also mastered the stairs, which is a good thing in our house. We have three sets of stairs. For about a week I had to watch him constantly to teach him how to get DOWN the stairs. UP was no problem. I had him in our family room one day, went upstairs to the kitchen to get a drink, and when I turned around he was on the floor right behind me. I knew I was in trouble then. But, he has learned very quickly how to get himself turned around and get down the stairs. I don't have to have the eagle eye out for him anymore.

Kaylee has found a new friend. She has won the hearts of many people in our neighborhood, but she has really been able to cling to Mercedes, who lives just one street over. She is the 14-year-old sister of one of Breanna's friends. She also happens to baby sit. We haven't used her babysitting services yet, but we know that it will be no problem getting her to agree to watch the kids. She loves carrying Kaylee around while the other kids play, and helping her in their pool. Whenever Kaylee hears that Mercedes is outside, she zips out to play with no hesitation.

Brett and Breanna are taking swim lessons right now. Breanna is a fish, but Brett seems to be very afraid of the water. I'm starting to think he might have a phobia. I have to talk up swim lessons about an hour before we go, then I have to bribe him with something just to get him in the pool with his instructor. The lesson usually consists of him clinging to the teacher pretty much the whole time. There are only two kids in his class. Today, the other little boy did not show up, so Brett got both teachers all to himself.

They were able to get him in a life jacket today, but every time they let go, he would start to panic. Something isn't right there. I am hoping by the end of next week, he will at least be comfortable getting into the water by himself. But, I don't think he will be passing level 1

My brother, Sean, came to visit for 4th of July week. He rode his motorcycle all the way from Colorado. I think he really enjoyed being around the kids. They sure do love him. He tagged along with us while we ran errands, and we went out to lunch all together one day. We went to a festival on the 4th in another small town here in Iowa, but it was much too hot to stay outside for too long. So we spent the rest of the day either inside, or out playing in the little pool Sean bought for the kids.

Brett and his friend, Tristan

We went to see fireworks that night, but there was a mishap while setting them off. We saw three fireworks go off before it got dark, and then there were fire trucks and ambulances. Two people that were dealing with the fireworks got injured and taken to the hospital. We weren't sure what was really going on at the time, so at 10, we had had enough of tired kids and started to getting them back in the car. We thought the whole day was going to be a bust. But, just as I finished getting PJs on Lincoln, the fireworks started, and it was a pretty good show.

My birthday was two days later. John decided to take the day off and let me go to the hair salon to have a few things done. I not only got a cut, but also got highlights done. She put a lot in too, so I'm mostly blonde. But, the hair left my natural color looks much redder now. I think it looks good. I can't seem to get a good picture of it though. I've tried.

While Sean was here, we took advantage of the motorcycle. The kids were enamored with it, and John and I got to take a ride each with Sean. Actually, I got to ride on it twice. It was fun. It did not, however, convince me to let John have one. (As I'm sure John was hoping.)

This is just the dinner I ordered on the day of my birthday. John and I were able to go out that evening to a nice restaurant and go to a movie. This was the parmesian pork and fettuccine Alfredo. I think I was able to eat maybe a third of it. It was good though.

Oh, and this is my delicious birthday cake that John made for me. It was a chocolate cake with cherry chips, chocolate chips, and marshmallow cream in it, smothered with crushed heath topping. Brett decorated the top with red cookie icing pictures. I told John it looked like a big meatloaf. It was soooooo good.

(Notice the 27+3 candles. Or maybe you shouldn't notice and just assume I am 27)

All in all, it's been a good summer. We aren't able to make the one last car trip we want to, but we are going camping the last weekend of July with some friends. We are looking forward to that.

Organization

I sort of hate it when web sites change their look or ways. I got on to my blog to write a new post, and couldn't figure out for the life of me how to get a new post started. I think I just stared at it for about 15 minutes. Luckily, I figured it out and it all seems to be a little easier to manage than before. It just takes a genius to figure out how to get started is all.

We had the opportunity about a month ago to attend the open house of the new LDS Temple in Kansas City, MO. It was gorgeous. It only took us about three hours to drive there. We took Breanna out of school early so we could have time to eat lunch together, and then make it to our allotted tour time. We also had to stop at a gas station just down the street from the temple to change our clothes. I didn't want to wear a dress for three or four hours in the car. The temple was absolutely beautiful inside and out. The kids noted how tall it was. We seemed to just keep climbing stairs. All the gold, marble and crystal accents were just amazing. Not to mention the beautiful paintings and murals throughout. What a blessing to have all these temples throughout the world. (All these pictures were taken from my phone. I really need a camera camera)

Not really sure what's going on with me there. I must of thought we were between pictures.

We have done a little more work on the house. I put a few before and after pictures on here. Not sure if you can really see the difference.

Before

After

After (You have to see a previous post for the before. Plus, this is blurry)

These next pictures are the "afters" of the basement. I'm pretty sure I posted the "before"s on an earlier post. My mom and sister came into town two weeks ago, while John was out of town for a show, and helped me organize the basement and a few other things in life. We had so much fun that week playing, shopping, and organizing. Oh ya, and eating. Can't forget that one. 

We have so much space in the basement for food storage, luggage storage, and storage of all kinds, and laundry things. It's wonderful. 

We have had a lot of rain this past month. Not just rain, but thunderstorms. It seems to be that we will have a week of sun and warm weather, and then a week of cooler weather and storms everyday. Or maybe the opposite. It's nice. At least I think it is. Breanna might say otherwise. She is still very afraid of thunder. I guess the tornadoes and severe storms that were happening one weekend didn't help. We didn't get a tornado here, but we did get a severe storm that rattled the house and made us lose power for 24 hours. We are thinking a generator might be in our best interest in the future. It would have been nice in Texas too, but we heard them all over our neighborhood here in Iowa. That usually says something.

Breanna only has two weeks left of school, and John has vacation time starting in July, so maybe another road trip is in order. I guess we'll see...trips also take money...

Happy Easter...a little late

Happy Easter to all! It seemed to be the longest Easter ever. I usually forget when Easter is, but with General Conference the weekend before, I felt like Easter was late this year. It seemed to linger longer when I saw Easter festivities still going on the Monday after Easter. Unfortunately, that meant more time for me to eat candy. I love Easter candy. I am trying my very hardest to not steal it from my kids' baskets.

I asked the kids to stand together after church on Easter Sunday, to get a picture of them in their Easter attire. Breanna was mad at me and informed me that she does not like having pictures of her taken. Brett was tired, and Kaylee was watching for Daddy to come home. It all came down to these pictures. I couldn't come up with a favorite, so you take your pick.

And the Easter bunny did come to visit that morning.

My dad had a chance to come visit us last weekend. He wanted to be around for Kaylee's birthday. I think he really missed the kids and needed to come spend time with them...really never has anything to do with John and I. The kids ran him ragged, as usual. They went on walks and jumped all over him. We showed him the town, and even I got to see a street or two that I had not ventured to. I think he was a little amazed at how far Adel really is from the "Big City". We were happy to have him with us for those three days.

Updates are that Kaylee just turned three last week, and Lincoln seems to think he can stand. Does Lincoln crawl? Not really. He sort of drags his sitting body across the floor with one foot and his two hands on the floor in front of him, but he doesn't crawl. Does he know how to turn from back to front? No. Does he turn from front to back? Only when he falls forward. So he doesn't crawl, he can't get from hands and knees or floor to sitting, and he cries and cries on his back if he falls over until someone picks him up, but he can pull himself up and stand supported by furniture. What is with this backwards kid? I'm a little worried about him. ;)

Kaylee's birthday was full of fun and excitement. Or not. I actually spent the entire morning getting our cars registered in Iowa. I had to go to the DMV at the county building, then back to the house to get additional information, and back to the DMV to pay for everything. The kids were not happy about that. Lucky for them we only live two minutes from the county building. But then, as I promised them we were going straight home to eat yummy pizza rolls for lunch, I saw the store I have been meaning to stop at for the past two weeks. I made them get out of the car so I could check that store out, which led to me falling in love with a piece of furniture that fits what I have been looking for since we got here. Needless to say, the kids were starving when we got home. But, they were happy when I put the picnic blanket out on the porch and they ate and played outside at the same time.

We went to the park later, and I worked on Kaylee's birthday cake for most of the afternoon. Then we took the kids to McDonalds for dinner, because Kaylee's favorite meal is nuggets and fries. Then we got to eat the cake and open presents. She got lots of princesses and princess stuff, which she loved!. She and Breanna are very different that way.

This tent was given to her by her Nana and Grandad. It came with a brightly colored carpet, matching pillow, case for tent poles, and draw bag for her princess figures, all made by Nana. She loves that thing.

I tried to get a picture of Lincoln on St. Patrick's Day. He was eating green mashed potatoes and decided they were much better in his hair. Don't all babies? Anyway, I couldn't get the light right, but he had it all in his hair and all over his face. It was just cute.

We Made It!

We are here!!! We got to Adel three weeks ago. We drove straight to the house, not even stopping to get John's things from the hotel. We were too excited to get in and let the kids run around the house. Well, I take that back. We did not drive straight to the house, we drove straight to the school administrative offices to register Breanna for school. If we didn't get a few papers filled out and signed before 4:30, she wouldn't be able to start until later the next week. We got there at 3 or 3:30...I can't remember now. THEN we drove straight to the house (two minute drive from the school).

Yes, Adel is very small--population around 7,800. There is one very small, very expensive grocery store, one hardware store, one gym, three gas stations, a Subway restaurant, and two pizza places (one if which is in a gas station). There are more businesses, and all the county offices are in Adel, but I don't really want to list them all. Those businesses basically cover two blocks. We are lucky to have a library too!

The grocery store that we have deemed best to shop at is 15 minutes away. The Walmart is 25 minutes away, but it is next to the Lowe's, Costco, and mall with accompanying strip shop stores. So, when we plan to go shop, we make sure we plan to do everything that we need to do at all the major stores. We have done this every weekend so far. I need to learn how to shop for a month, and not just a week at a time.

Breanna loves loves loves living here. She jumped right in to school with no problem. She made friends with no problem. She is very happy. She has three friends that live very near us. One next door, one across the street and two houses down, and one on the corner on the next street over.

Brett has adopted Breanna's friends as well. He just had a birthday last week. The first thing he said that morning was, "Do I get to go to school today?" He was so excited to turn five and be school age. I felt so bad to have to tell him he has to wait until next school year. He got over it, but he is having a hard time being in new situation and not having his big sister around all the time.

Kaylee is still her happy go lucky self. She really likes their new play room. I do as well. The house has four bedrooms, a living room, family room, and a one room finished basement. Oh ya, and it has two bathrooms (no master though) and a tiny kitchen. It's been quite the challenge to fit all our stuff in this house. We put the three older kids together in one room, Lincoln in the smallest room with all his baby furniture, and then made the downstairs bedroom an office/guest room. The good thing is that we put all the toys in the basement and made that a play room. We put a small T.V. on the wall down there, along with a DVD player for their movies. There is also a laundry space in the basement and plenty of space behind the play room for storage. We are going to use that space for food storage and to keep the kitchen things that don't fit in the kitchen.

Our LDS church ward here is great. Our ward boundaries are huge, and yet the ward is only about the same size as our Bedford ward. John is the ward mission leader, and I don't have a calling yet. (I'm sure that will be remedied soon though.) Only one other family in the ward lives in Adel, and they live down the street. They have three kids, all the same ages as our younger three kids. We haven't been able to get together yet, but we are still busy getting settled in here.

We are getting a new roof next week, and plan to get all new carpet very soon thereafter, but after that, we are very happy with this house. We are very happy here.

Brett's birthday cake

Backyard

Laundry

Playroom

Master

Upstairs bathroom

Living room

Family room

Downstairs bathroom

It was hard to get good pictures of anything, but especially the kitchen and bedrooms. If you want to see them, come visit us!!!

SOLD!

We made some more changes to the house (mainly new carpet), and within four days of being re-listed, we had an offer. It was such a great Christmas present. Unfortunately, the lady buying the house got too overwhelmed with what was found at the inspection, and she backed out. We don't know exactly what was said in that inspection, but we think that the inspector thought we had termites...which we did have three years ago. We had them treated and a protection plan in place, but failed to fix the damaged areas in the closets. SO, my dad was good enough to spend two days at my house patching my walls. They look good as new now. Good thing, too...we got another offer the day after the project was finished. This time, the contract stuck. Everything has been gone fairly smooth, and now we are just 12 days from closing!

Before

After

Before

After

During that chaos, we have also been dealing with an offer of our own on a house in Adel, Iowa. The time that John has had in Iowa by himself has allowed (or forced, depending on how you look at it) him to really get to know the area and choose the best place for us to live. I had also researched Adel before he even discovered it. I was up there three weekends ago house hunting with him. We already had an idea of what house we wanted, but we needed to see it together and really get a feel for things together. We went under contract that weekend, and although we have had a lot of stress getting our information all together for the new mortgage, everything has run pretty smoothly with that as well. We are only 12 days from closing on that home as well!

Adel house

Luckily, John's company has really been kind to us and will be paying for full service movers. I theoretically don't have to lift a finger. I will be going through the house over the next week to clean things out, organize, and pack up the things we will be taking with us in the car. We will have to live in a hotel for a few days...the moving truck may not show up for anywhere from 2-5 days after we get there. I'm going to try to take as many things as I can to try to live in the house, even without all our stuff, but we'll see.

The kids are really excited. I know Breanna says she is excited, but I think she either isn't saying she's a little sad, or she doesn't quite understand the dramatic change this will bring. She says she understands that she will be changing schools and getting new friends, but she still talks about playing with her best friend, Wyatt. I am hoping to make this as fun and smooth a transition as possible for all the kids.

Now, we are just spending as much time with my family as possible, and we are looking forward to not having to be separated from John anymore. Eight months is long enough.