Boo-Grr Blogger

SOLD!

2012-02-15T19:21:00.000-08:00

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.

Keep Your Fingers Crossed

2011-12-11T06:57:00.000-08:00

The kids are growing up fast. It's amazing how quickly babies grow and develop. But, I guess when you think about how fast they become babies during pregnancy, it's not that big of a surprise.

Lincoln is now 6 1/2 months old. He is sleeping through the night now, thank goodness. And as you can see, he is sitting up all on his own now. He loves to play with toys on the floor, as long as someone is nearby. I think he is going through a little separation anxiety.

Since it's been a few months since I last posted, I thought I would just post some pictures from those lost months.

This one is of Lincoln hanging out in the mother's room at church. I think I had just changed his diaper or something, but he's seems to be happy.

John gets to come home about every six weeks to see us. Lincoln is not too sure about daddy when he comes home, but I think it gets better every time. This was over Thanksgiving, but we do get to see John again for Christmas.

Before Lincoln could sit on his own, we discovered that he really didn't like to lay down to play on his back too much. One day, I was over at my brother's house, and they put their little one in a bumbo. (Their little one is just six weeks younger than Lincoln). I thought that was the greatest thing, so I asked Karie where she got hers, and I went out immediately to get my own. Thank you Kid to Kid.

Elise has been a great help to me over these crazy months. She helped me take the kids to the ward Christmas party. Please note Kaylee in her "Princesses" nightgown. She refused to put on a costume because she is obsessed with wearing her "Princesses".

Elise also gets along with Lincoln quite well. I have quite a few pictures of her and Lincoln looking at each other.

This is just a random picture.

This is something the kids did during the summer to keep busy. It was so hot, they couldn't go out to play. Luckily they found this big box to make a concessions stand. It provided many hours of entertainment.

Our lives are crazy and turned upside down, but we are making it through. We hope to have the house sold soon so we don't have to be separated for much longer. In the meantime, we are having fun with my family here, especially now that James just got home from his mission. We are having a little more work done to try to get more interest on the house, and we will be up and running again in MLS in a couple of days. Keep your fingers crossed.

So Many Changes

2011-07-16T21:07:00.001-07:00

I guess I should start with the new baby. How is it that I have forgotten to post pictures of him in the last eight weeks?! He is totally adorable. He was 6 lbs. 4.5 oz. and 19 3/4 in long. Now he's 10 lbs. Here he is--

Lincoln Willem Van Horn

Newborn

2 Weeks

2 weeks

1 month

6 weeks

Now he's smiling and content for longer periods of time. His siblings adore him.

The other crazy stuff going on in our lives started the day Lincoln was born. That same afternoon, John got a phone call about a job that we have been waiting for since February. He applied for the job in January, and went through the whole interviewing process over about three weeks time, only to find that they needed to wait three months before they could hire him. We weren't sure they would actually stick to that, and so our hopes had diminished quite a bit by this time. But, the offer became official three weeks after Lincoln was born and we immediately started preparing for our move to Iowa.

Those preparations meant working on the house to get it ready to sell. We knew we had to do something with our kitchen since we destroyed it and never built it back up. It's more like we started a bunch of projects that never got finished. With the help of my mom and her mad painting skills, my dad and his wood working (plus so much more) skills, and of course the help of several professionals (for texturing, countertops, and tile floors), we got the house and kitchen looking beautiful in just three weeks.

Floors all torn up

New tile

New granite counter tops, tile, and bead board

Dinette area

John has already moved to Iowa to start his job. He has been gone for one week now. We already miss him lots, but we are doing all we can to sell our house so that we can move up there with him and save him from his cracker box living situation.

photo update

2011-05-08T08:59:00.000-07:00

Here is the latest photo update on me--don't mind my face, I was feeling quite sick that day.

Only two weeks left!!!

Upon Request

2011-03-29T09:58:00.001-07:00

My brother has requested that I share photos of me now that I am about eight months pregnant. But not only do I have a picture of me now, I also have pictures of me with all my previous pregnancies at about the same time. It is quite amazing how huge I can get. I think this time around, I have been a little smaller and been able to keep the extra weight off everything but the midsection. Let's take a look...

Here I am at nine months with Breanna

Here I am at eight months with Brett

Here I am at nine months with Kaylee

Here I am today at eight months with Lincoln

Do you see a difference? I sure do. Yikes for the first three. I should post all sorts of comparison pictures, but I thought this would be good enough. So Sean, there you go. Request granted.

Dining Re-paint

2011-03-05T15:58:00.000-08:00

I must be going crazy. I need to keep busy, and one of the things that is fairly easy and cheap to do in our house is paint. So, the past two weeks I had my mom help me attack our dining room. It never was fully finished, so we took a total of 5 days to get the job done. Here is what our dining room has gone through in the last almost 3 years.

This is what our dining room was when we first moved in. We used it as a living room for short time.

Then we thought we would go bold by actually using it as a dining room, and painting it red.

Notice at the very top of the ceiling, the molding is still yellow. We never painted the floor boards either.

Almost 2 1/2 years later, I got out white painted and slopped it all over that red paint.

Plus I finally painted the top crown molding.

We decided to make the room a little more sophisticated.

And we're finished. Well, I still have to re-caulk the windows, and put up the curtains, but that's nothing compared to all the scraping, priming, and painting we did. Thank you mom for all the help!

I'm very proud of this dining room. It needs new carpet, but that will have to come later. Now on to Brett's room!

Really? Do I have to come up with a title?!

2011-02-03T13:22:00.002-08:00

You know it's been way too long since your last post when you can't even remember the website to your own blog. Yikes!

I feel like a slacker. I have friends and family that keep their blogs updated all the time, and I just don't. I don't have a whole lot to say I guess. I try to wait until something exciting happens worth sharing, but you can see how often that happens. Some of my friends post all the fun things they have done with their kids, but I am not one of those moms that plans fun activities for the kids--I let others do that for me. When the opportunities arise for them to participate in something fun, I jump on it for them. But, then I usually forget my camera, so there isn't too much to share there. I know I'm not a horrible mother, but you would think I would be more put together after having almost four kids. And maybe the sad thing is I know I will never change. Oh well, I love them and they love me and we are a happy family!

So, for anyone that was not informed, child number four is on his way. Yes, I said his. We are having another boy in May. This pregnancy has been a walk in the park compared to my other pregnancies. I had my appendix removed at 4 1/2 months pregnant with Breanna, I had gestational diabetes with Brett, and I had the unwanted growth with Kaylee (plus I was really really sick with her). I haven't been tested for the gestational diabetes yet, but I feel so much better than I did with Brett. I think it was because I got into shape before this one. I was very out of shape before Breanna, and I just never got back until after Kaylee. I am hoping that it's a sign of good things to come with this baby though. Maybe he'll be nice and mellow like Brett was/is.

I've decided I don't like the beginning of any year. Last year we were all sick for about a month starting mid January. Now, here we are in the first week of February one year later and the family is very sick again. We lucked out a little this year, because school has been cancelled for most of this week. We had an ice storm come in Monday night, and temperatures have stayed below freezing since then, so the schools are closed until travelling conditions improve. Therefore, I haven't had to call Breanna in sick. But I think everyone is improving as the week goes by. Kaylee seems to be out of the funk, and Breanna is on her heals. Brett should be feeling better in the next day or two, and John hopefully sooner. I was sick last week, but I'm not sure it was the same thing, so I am just holding my breath.

Well, I guess I should try to remember to keep my camera in my purse or something, because I just have nothing interesting for you to look at. Sorry about that. I'm sure I will soon though. I just have a feeling.

No Pictures Please!

2010-07-30T09:10:00.000-07:00

The past two weeks have been a little hard on me. I had a large fibroid removed three Thursdays ago. It was kind of like having a C-section.

Luckily, my mom was ready to jump in and help. She took the kids all day that Thursday, and kept them until Friday night. John was home over the weekend to take care of them, but then she took them again for me every day that next week. I really needed that peace and quiet for the first half of the week. I was stuck laying on my left side, because, for some reason, if I tried to turn over to my back, or even sit up for too long, my right lung felt like it was being crushed.

By Wednesday, I was feeling so so much better. I even went to my mom's house with the kids so I could be around people. Friday, I almost felt like a normal person. Saturday was a bit of a relapse though. I was really sore and tired. I decided to stay home from church Sunday to have one more day of relaxation and recovery before I had to jump back into life Monday. Then my ten days of driving restriction were up, and I had to take care of things myself.

I have been able to slowly get back to all my normal chores, and now I can even pick up Brett just fine--no pain. In the evenings, I feel a little bruised, but for the most part I feel like myself again.

For anyone who cares, the fibroid was measured to be 10 cm and a little over 1/2 a lb. I know I will be feeling better now that that is gone. Sayonara sucker!

One Crazy week

2010-06-20T14:06:00.000-07:00

Here is the letter I wrote to my youngest brother for this week. (He is in Canada on an LDS mission)

Dear James,

John and I think we were punished last weekend. (Not really, but I guess we shouldn't have messed with the Sabbath). We got home from church last week and realized that we had no meetings or appointments, and we had a vision of moving our furniture in our bedroom and then relaxing with the kids for the rest of the Sabbath. You see, Sister Howell was getting rid of TONS of stuff so she would have an easy move. One of the items that we got out of this was a large entertainment center to go in our bedroom. I have had my eye out for one for a long time. We had no good furniture in our room, other than our bed and nightstands. Anyway, we had just left it backwards against a wall, and we were running into it every time we turned the corner. So we thought we would go ahead and arrange our room to get that all set up and out of the way.

As we were moving things around and cleaning up the mess that was under the bed, it started to get really hot. I left the room to catch a break from the vent in the living room, where it is always the coldest. I then realized that it wasn't really any cooler, just very muggy. So I went to check the thermometer in the hallway, which read 82, and should have read 78. So I turned the A/C up a notch and went back to work. When all was said and done, it was hotter than before. The A/C was out. I couldn't believe it. (I guess we shouldn't have moved furniture :)

We called one of our friends in the ward and asked if he could come over and assess the problem. (He works with this kind of stuff). We thought he might have the magic touch and would know the right thing to hit to make it work again. He very willingly came over at about 7, and half an hour later we received the bad news that the compressor was shot and we needed a whole new unit. (That's really expensive BTW). So we called Mom and Dad, who invited us to stay the night.

We had no idea when Chris, our friend, would call us the next day, but he said he would call and let us know what kind of unit we needed and what the best deals were for us. He didn't call until lunch time, and he couldn't get the unit until the next day. So I had John go home after work and get us all one more set of clothes for the next day.

Tuesday, we waited for Chris to tell us when he could get the unit over to the house, but he didn't call until 6 PM. He was still waiting for one part to come in, but he would get things started the next day. Luckily, I had already been to the house and picked up more clothes just in case. Another night at Mom and Dad's.

Wednesday, John came home from work and waited for Chris to show up. I stayed with Mom and Dad, but John waited in the hot hot house. Chris finally showed up at 8, and they worked on the unit until 11. John just stayed at the house and slept. But the coil Chris had was the wrong size, so the house was still hot, and that also meant another day at the Crawford's.

Thursday, John did the same thing--went over to the house at about 7 and waited for Chris. Again, he showed up at about 8 and they worked until 1 AM. Everything was finally fixed. So Friday morning, I cleaned up the space that the kids and I had destroyed (like the kitchen and bathroom), and cleaned towels and sheets, and then we headed back to our nicely cooled off house.

I'm not complaining. I got to enjoy some time out and about with Mom and some time with Dad. It was almost like vacation. But it was so unexpected, and Mom was busy with life, and I think that maybe they got a little too much of us that week. The kids certainly were not in the best mood. Kaylee was a pain and a half to get to bed every night. But it all worked out.

Now, to add to all the craziness, I had planned a surprise UN-birthday party for Mom that Thursday night. But I had it planned several months before. It was supposed to be at our house, and Karie was going to have the whole afternoon to decorate our dining room while I was taking care of baking a cake and getting food prepped. Then Dad was going to come up with an excuse to get her over to our house. First of all, she told me that she was leaving for Utah on the 18th. That was fine. But then she changed her mind and decided she wanted to leave on the 17th (that Thursday). I wasn't sure what to do about that. She was going up with Granddad, so he could be there with Aunt Kristen when Murphy came home from his mission. So I called Granddad. Funny thing was, Dad had the same idea I did. When I called Granddad's house, Dad was there with him talking to him about the situation. So Granddad called Mom and said, "We can't leave Thursday, I have something I forgot about," and that was that. But now we had the problem of being stuck with no A/C, and I had to figure out how to get their house ready, and Mom out of the house. Dad and I ended up going to Costco to buy a cake, since I would have to time to bake one at their house. We had to hide that from her. Then, after much craziness, I got Mom out of the house for about 45 minutes--in which time we had to decorate and get food out and ready. Karie arrived to decorate five minutes or so after she left, and I was running a marathon to make sure I had all the food out and ready to go. Mat ran to the store for me for last minute stuff, and John and the kids were on the look-out for her arrival. (Dad was out with her as well). Mom was completely surprised when she walked in. It was great! We all said Surprise! and then we all had fun talking, opening presents, and eating to our hearts desire. Granddad showed up after the surprise part, but we were all there. Mom got a Michael Buble CD, two large pinwheels, reflexology certificates, and a Josh Hamilton shirt (which we all laughed at hysterically). The theme was summer and pinwheels. It was just plain fun.

So we had a crazy week, but after much waiting, secret purchases, food hiding in coolers in office closets, and re-planning, it was fun. I hope we weren't a burden on anyone, but everything worked out in the end.

Vacation...and then some

2010-06-09T11:57:00.000-07:00

Who knows if anyone actually even looks at my blog anymore. I just can't seem to find enough to say more than once every three or so months. But for those of you who do check it out every once in a while, here are some pictures.

Breanna and her friends Sarah, Shelby, Lauren, and Natalie, graduated from Joyshcool this past Saturday.

For anyone that doesn't know what Joyschool is, it is a program developed for preschoolers to teach them the joys of life, about manners, how to verbally communicate well with others, help them be creative, and help them see their self-worth. We, the mothers, took turns teaching.
As much fun as it was to have Breanna a part of the program, I am glad it is over.

We decided to take a short trip to East Texas over the Memorial Day weekend. We visited historical cities, saw an airplane show, went to a lake for a picnic, and did lots and lots of swimming. (We swam 5 times over three days).

The General Store in downtown Jefferson, TX

We bought ice-cream at the general store. It was very messy.

Historical Jefferson, TX

Caddo Lake

Here we visited the rose gardens in Tyler, TX. I think the season for the roses had just passed, but there were some beautiful plants and scenery.

The annual airplane show in Jefferson

And on a different note:

These pictures I just thought were cute. The first is Kaylee, and I took that about a month ago (age 13 months). The one below is Breanna, taken about 4 yrs. and 1 month ago (age 18 months).

Birthdays and Easter

2010-04-11T14:15:00.000-07:00

This is the beautiful cake I made for Brett's birthday. About a week before his birthday, Breanna asked him what kind of cake he was going to have, and he told her a train cake. I was shocked. I was planning on a plain round cake, but I did some research and found a way to make this.
Now that Brett is 3, he is very excited that he can go on the slides in the kids club at the gym. In fact, he wanted to go first thing the next morning just so he could play with the big kids.
Easter was very fun this year. We enjoyed that it landed on conference weekend. We had lots of opportunity to teach the kids about the meaning of Easter, and still have lots of fun with an egg hunt and egg decorating. They are getting old enough to be able to do these things. That's what is fun for me. I don't like decorating eggs necessarily, but I love that they love it.
It was also Kaylee's birthday Easter weekend. We had the family come over in between conference sessions Saturday for cupcakes. Kaylee was asleep the whole time. So John, the kids and I ate another cupcake when Kaylee woke up, and we sang her Happy Birthday. As you can see, she enjoyed her first taste of cake.
Our family has been sick for most of the year so far. I can't figure it out, but maybe we won't be sick for the rest of the year if we get it all out of the way now. We have only had about a week of wellness between each sickness, and each time it hits, it lasts anywhere from one to two weeks. Most of the time we are just sick with colds, but this time we are going through some kind of stomach thing. Brett is the only one so far that hasn't gotten it, but I'm sure that will change tonight. Why is it that kids always get sick in the middle of the night?

When we are healthy, we are very happy.

My Quarterly Report

2010-01-16T11:09:00.000-08:00

I feel like so much has happened since Halloween. That's what the holidays will do to you. In fact, I am still trying to get back to something normal, but my routine just isn't kicking in yet.

Thanksgiving was a blast! My mom had asked John and I to pick up my brother,Sean, from the airport to surprise my youngest brother, James. We were excited to see him too, but when we got to my parents' house, my sister answered the door! My parents had arranged for her to come home from her mission two weeks early! I was sooooooooo excited! We had so much fun catching up, not only on Thanksgiving day, but the whole next month. We got to hang out a lot, and it was just so much fun to have her home. Oh ya, and Sean surprised James pretty good too. It was the first time in ten years that we had all been together for Thanksgiving. It was a blast!

James left for his mission the 1st of December. He is in Vancouver, Canada. I think it took him a little time to really accept that call, but he got excited about it pretty quick.

Christmas was fun this year too. It was in the 70s on December 22nd, and then we had a cold front come through the 23rd in the evening and it was freezing with snow all day Christmas Eve. John took the kids outside and they made a snowman. The next morning, we woke up to snow on the ground, and then the sun came out and melted it away throughout the day. It was perfect weather for Christmas.

New Year's Eve, we just sat around and watched the ball drop. Nothing exciting there. But that was fine with us. The kids went to bed at their normal time, and we stayed up to watch a movie. I can't even remember what we watched. We had to keep our eyes peeled open just to stay awake.

Now we are back into Joyschool, which has been a little slow getting moving again. Someone is always sick, and now we are down to just three girls. Kaylee was sick for a long time. She started with just some congestion and a cough, but that turned into a fever, and then into a worse cough with a fever that wouldn't end. So we took her in to the doctor after about a week of that, and he sent us to get chest x-rays. No pneumonia, but she was really not a happy girl. Luckily the fever is gone today, and she seems much much happier.

I have also discovered something new. Okay, so it's not new at all, but it's new to me--facebook. I always made fun of everyone that had a facebook account, but then I got to reading my journals from high school and college and thought it would be nice to contact some of my old friends. So I had John set a facebook account up for me. I have found so many of my friends and I just love it. It's fun to see what everyone is up to now. I'm not very good at making the best comments or keeping up on posting my own thoughts, but I'm not very good at that with blogging either. At least I try.

Halloween Pics

2009-11-02T20:54:00.000-08:00

This Halloween I wanted Brett to be a lion, but it's very hard to find a lion costume. So I got brave, and under instruction from my Mom, I made his costume.

Kaylee was too small for any costumes I have, so we just stuck with the jack'o latern onsie.

Breanna was able to wear her costume from last year. We went all out this year and made her hair pink too.

The kids got to go to our ward Trunk-or-Treat Friday night, and then out again through the neighborhood Saturday night. They got quite the loot.

Somehow, our Saturday afternoon got so busy that we didn't have time to feed the kids dinner before trick-or-treating. I figured they would be out for half an hour and then we could eat our pizza. An hour and a half later, they got back and they kids were tired and grumpy and wanted nothing but to get out of their costumes and eat.
Brett fell asleep while eating his pizza, and Breanna kept asking when it was time for bed. After struggling with dinner, baths, and pajamas, John rocked Kaylee in our room while I rocked the other two in the family room, and we got all three down at the same time. Then it felt like we could breath again. Holidays. :)

Renovations P.S.

2009-09-09T10:47:00.000-07:00

I finally got my shelf two weekends ago.

Quick Trip

2009-09-09T08:40:00.001-07:00

John had some business to take care of in Austin yesterday, so we decided to make it a fun family trip. Austin is only three hours from here, so we packed up the kids with an overnight bag and snacks, and headed out Monday morning.

The kids were so excited to take a trip in the car, they were up at 5:30 A.M. That didn't make me too happy, but kids will be kids. Brett kept telling us he was ready to leave, and he had his backpack on ready to go before I had even taken a shower. A little later, I found him on the floor in Breanna's room crying. He was just so excited to go he was going crazy. I was glad at that point that I hadn't fed them breakfast yet, because I was sure he would have lost it by then. John and I laughed and laughed at all the excitement.

We got into Austin at about noon. We decided to first see the state Capital. It is a very beautiful building.

Kids watching a movie on the way there.

Texas State Capital Taken from several floors up, looking down

Top of the dome

The kids were tired and hungry at this point

Found on the State Capital Grounds

Lunch time!!!

After we ate lunch, we headed over to our hotel. We stayed at an Embassy Suites. I highly recommend them to anyone. It was great. We swam (but forgot the camera in the car), and got cleaned up and hung out in our room for a while.

The kids were tired from the day, but we ate dinner and then drove around Austin to see Uncle Scott's house, and to see all the different areas around Austin. It is really quite beautiful.

That night, everyone seemed to sleep well, except Kaylee and me. Kaylee didn't want to sleep for more than half an hour at a time. Then, Brett decided to wake up at 4:30. I tried to put him back into bed, but he would have nothing of it. So then, that of course woke of Breanna. The kids were awake by 5:30...again. John took them down to breakfast at 6 while I tried to get Kaylee to go back to sleep. I was unsuccessful.

A couple hours later, John and Breanna went swimming again, while I was cleaning up Brett, who had the runs. NOT fun. Then, after we all got cleaned up and ready for the day, John went to do his business while I took the kids to eat lunch and hang out at some stores for three hours. When I got to McDonalds, I turned around to get the kids out and they were all sound asleep. I didn't know what to do, so we just sat in the car, while it was running, in the parking lot and I let them sleep. I rested too, but I also got to talk to my brother for a while to catch up.
Twenty minutes later, the kids woke up and we did our thing.

When John was done, we decided it was time to head home. About an hour and a half out, Brett threw up. Ah yes, the fun of car trips and too much junk food. He got it all over himself, his blanket, and the car seat. We had to pull over, strip him down, wipe down the car seat buckles, grab grocery sacks to put his clothes, car seat cover, and blanket in, put a new shirt on him, and put him back in the car. About five minutes later down the road, he did it again. So we pulled over and did it all over again. Then again about half an our later. Then again a half hour after that, and finally we made it home. The poor kid was sick two more times, but he got it all out of his system, got a quick bath, and then got a really good night sleep. Thank goodness that's over.

This morning we are doing lots of laundry.

Overall, it was very fun to get out with our family and do something fun and different.

Have a hoppin' great day!

Renovations

2009-08-29T07:03:00.000-07:00

I asked John to build a shelf to replace the bottom of the cabinet under the kitchen sink. When the day was done, we ended up with this...

I couldn't find any before pictures with the wall there. That used to be a big wall that separated the eating area from the cooking area.
There was dry wall dust all over the kitchen and living room. It took me a long time to clean it all up.
This is also just a temporary remodel. We will eventually cut the wall down to the countertop level and pull the countertop around to make more counter space. That will be when we can afford new countertops.
Oh ya...I never did get my shelf.

For you CHOCOLATE LOVERS

2009-08-13T07:45:00.000-07:00

I heard about this two months ago, and it is wonderful. Who doesn't love chocolate, especially FREE CHOCOLATE!!! Just go to http://realchocolate.com this Friday and you can get a candy bar for free. It's called the MARS Real Chocolate Relief Act. They are giving away free chocolate August 14th, and every Friday in September. Enjoy!

Playing Catch-Up

2009-07-13T21:01:00.000-07:00

We have now had our kitchen treated for those nasty roaches four times. They are persistent little buggers. I wouldn't see them for a day or two, and then I would see one on the floor, or in my dishwasher or sink. YUCK!!! They make my skin crawl just thinking about them. But they seem to be gone now. I haven't seen one for three weeks and no more follow-up appointments. I am very slowly putting my kitchen back together. VERY slowly. I have to vacuum out the cabinet, wipe it down with lysol water, and then I can put things back in the cabinet. May you never be infested with german roaches.

Now to play catch up:

We had John's parents and Grandpa stay with us over the Fourth of July weekend. It was so much fun for the kids. They got to go on walks with their grandpa, play hide and seek, stay up late, eat junk, and be spoiled rotten.
Ann, Bruce, and Sam had to all stay in Breanna's room on air mattresses, while Breanna slept in Brett's room. It worked out all right...I think. That was the only way to keep them cool and out of traffic's way.
We also had Kaylee's baby blessing that Sunday. But amongst all the fun and family, Brett was sick. He had horrible intestinal issues and had to go on the BRATT diet. He was not a happy camper. But we finally got him over it and haven't had a problem since.

During the past month or so, we have experienced:

-my birthday
-Sean leaving for Utah
-James coming home
-my dad going thru surgery
-our kitchen being emptied
-our kitchen going through small renovations
-"Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince" (which Kaylee kept me from half of)
-many other advetures

July felt like the longest month ever, and yet I can't figure out where August has already gone.

Keepin' it Busy

2009-07-03T14:51:00.001-07:00

We have had so much going on lately, we just won't know what to do with ourselves if we have a moment to breath.

I think it all started several weeks ago when we had severe thunderstorms and tornadoes come through the area. I still remember sitting in the hallway, nursing a baby and trying to keep myself calm enough as to not scare the kids. We had our emergency radio going and a mattress to cover us, just in case . John wasn't home.
Later that night, the sever storms rolled in with amazing winds and we lost our power for eight hours. It came back on the next day for a short time, and then went out again until the next morning. We spent the night at my parents because you don't want to sleep through a night without air-conditioning here.
After that night, everything was fine, but we just seemed to constantly be busy.

This week, my niece had to go to the hospital and stay there for a few days, so we had her older sister here with us so she wouldn't be bored. That was fun for Breanna and Brett. We also had John's parents and grandpa come stay the night Monday night, and they are going to be back tonight to spend the holiday weekend with us. We are going to a ward party in the morning, and then are having a family party in the evening.
Amongst all this, we found out we have german roaches in our kitchen, so today we have spent most of the day washing all our dishes, pots, pans, and anything else that's washable, and clearing out the kitchen completely. Tomorrow, between parties, we are having our kitchen sprayed down and treated to get rid of all the little buggers. YUCK!!! First termites, and now this. AHH!!

Potty Potential

2009-06-23T11:48:00.000-07:00

Brett has been doing this thing where the moment he gets wet, he takes his diaper off. It doesn't matter if it's just a tiny bit wet or super wet either. When we first had Kaylee, I would forget to change Brett's diaper. He would go a very long time with a saggy wet diaper. Then all of the sudden he starting doing this, and we were going through 12 diapers a day. AHH!! Too expensive for my blood. So I decided he needs to potty train.

He took to the potty very quickly, but hasn't taken to using it on his own cues yet. It's been three weeks now, I think. He will wear training underwear during the day, but I end up washing six pairs of underwear by the end of the day. He realizes that he's going, but not that he has to go. Anyway, it's very similar to Breanna's potty training. It took her about a year of off and on training to catch on. I wish Brett would just pick up no problem so I didn't have to keep buying diapers for two kids, but oh well. He really likes his froggy potty though. That helps.

Kaylee is finally taking naps. Hooray! I was starting to think she was going to be just like Breanna was and not take naps until who knows how old. Breanna was 7-9 months before she started to let me put her down for naps. So thank goodness Kaylee has been taking a solid afternoon nap for the past five days (minus Sunday, cause who keeps a kid on schedule on Sunday).

The kids had there check-up's this month.
Kaylee weighs 9lbs 11oz and is 21 in
Bretton weighs 24 lbs and is 32.5 in
Breanna weighs 30 lbs and is 38.5 in

I have small children.

Just an excuse

2009-06-01T13:05:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to post some cute pictures of the kids.

Transition

2009-04-28T09:27:00.000-07:00

I wasn't sure how having three kids would be, but I think it's really great. I admit it's much harder to get out with three kids, but I think it' more that it's harder to get out with a new baby than the fact that there's another kid.

Breanna thinks Kaylee is really great. She was not happy at first. She cried and cried when she came to see us at the hospital. It took a day or two for her to accept her new sister. Brett has really seemed to remain oblivious to the change most of the time. He has gotten more aggressive, but not towards the baby. I think it's just that he's two years old now.

The first two weeks of recovery were very hard. I had to sleep in the recliner, because it was too painful to get in and out of bed, and I was on pain meds that made me very dizzy and drowsy. That, on top of being exhausted from a new baby, made taking care of the kids very difficult.

Luckily, my mom was very very helpful. She took the kids for several afternoons, including taking them to the zoo, along with Sean and James. James was in town for about 10 ten days, and he was a big help too. He drove me around, and babysat the kids when I had baby appointments. It was great.

Now I'm off the pain meds, and life is getting back to normal...somewhat. I still have three weeks of recovery time to go, but at least I can take care of my family now. Plus, it helps that Kaylee pretty much sleeps through the night, so I get a lot of rest. (She goes to bed between 9&10, and sleeps until 3 or 4, then sleeps until 7 or 8). I am enjoying having all three little ones.

Home and All is Well

2009-04-07T05:51:00.000-07:00

Kaylee Brielle Van Horn was born at 12:52 PM Friday. She weighed in at 6lbs 9oz, and was 19.25 inches long. She is healthy and happy--at least when she's eating. She likes to eat a lot. She also likes to be held a lot. My girls are very needy. Brett was happy all the time. He really liked to sit in his swing, but Kaylee thinks I've abandoned her as soon as I put her down anywhere.

I got to come home a little early from the hospital. Everyone kept asking me if I wanted to stay one more day, but I really missed my family and I wanted to be home. It's hard to not pick up the kids, but they are pretty used to that by now. I was so huge by the end of the pregnancy that is was just impossible to carry anyone, or anything. But I'm glad to be home and able to sleep in my own recliner. Yes, recliner. I can't sleep in bed. It's just too difficult to get out of bed. I'm keeping up on my pain meds, but there are still a few things that just are impossible to do without pain.

Well, let's get on with the pictures:

Decision made

2009-04-02T07:01:00.000-07:00

Well, the decision has been made for me. The baby is not where she should be, which means there is no way she is getting past that fibroid. Plus, I have high blood pressure, so I am scheduled for a C-Section tomorrow afternoon--NOT what I wanted at all. Even if I went into labor today, I would still have to have an emergency C-Section to get her out.

So, the thought of having to stay in the hospital for four days, and having a six weeks recovery from surgery, is not pleasant, but the baby is healthy and that's all that counts.

One week and counting

2009-03-31T10:46:00.000-07:00

I must say, I am truly jealous of one of my friends who is planning to have her baby in just a couple days. I really thought I would have had this one by now, but things aren't going as I planned. I have had absolutely no progress and only one week left until my due date. The doctor is a little concerned that I won't be able to start labor on my own, due to the "massive fibroid", as she puts it. It is right in the way of where the baby's head should be in order to get things moving. But she is also sure that I have always had this fibroid, which didn't cause any problems with Brett at all. Now, no one knows what the deal was with Breanna. I still think she was just showing her stubbornness from the beginning to be over a week late. So now I just have my fingers crossed that labor with start on it's own sometime in the next week so I don't have to be induced.

If I do have to be induced, I have to decide when. I can have it done next week, but my parents are going out of town starting Wednesday through the weekend. So I could wait one more week to see if she comes on her own, and then proceed to induction if necessary. What to do, what to do.

I think Brett is starting to realize something is about to change. I don't think he can fully understand what is about to happen, but he is having fun helping me put Kaylee's room together, and he knows there are things he is not allowed to touch, such as the baby toys, bassinet, and pacifiers. He knows that we point to my belly and say Kaylee is in there, but he can't understand what that really means. It will be very interesting to see how he reacts to a new baby. (Breanna, on the other hand, is very excited.)

So now I just sit back and wait to "pop", as Elise so graciously put it.

False Alarm

2009-03-17T08:02:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was quite an adventure. Saturday was Brett's birthday. We spent the whole day cooking a family dinner and getting ready for his party. We had my mom and dad, Sean, Mat and his family all over for dinner and then we opened presents and had cake and ice cream. I don't think Brett even knew what was going on that day. We kept singing "Happy Birthday" to him, and he thought that was fun, so he'd sing it back to us. He got a couple of fun new toys, but his eyes got really big when he saw the candles on his cupcake. He new just what to do with those. I think it was a successful birthday.

John had a little too much fun the with balloons.

Sunday was a little unusual for us. I wasn't feeling all that well, but John had to attend the Euless ward in the morning so he could go to some training for work in the afternoon. Therefore, I had to take the kids to church in the afternoon all by myself. My mind was on other things and I ended up staying in nursery with Brett the whole time. That worked out well, because there was only one nursery leader that day.
When we got home, I started to have contractions. That, along with a few other signs of labor, scared me right into packing my hospital bag, doing laundry, and getting the kids rooms cleaned. But then the contractions died off and nothing came of it.
I called the doctor's office the next morning just to make sure there was nothing to worry about. They took just about all day to call me back, and then sent me to Labor and Delivery for tests. I wasn't too happy about that because I was pretty sure everything was fine. The baby was still moving and I was feeling fine (other than anxious about the tests). But I went in anyway, and it took them 2 1/2 hours to tell me that nothing had changed and the baby was very healthy. I find that very annoying. But with everything else going on, it looks like labor isn't too much farther away. We'll see. Needless to say this weekend has been a bore compared to the last.

Just a little tid-bit

2009-02-12T19:50:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day! (Two days early)

It's funny how this holiday changes over time for me. For so long it was all about what guy would do something for me on Valentine's Day, and then it was just what surprise John had in store, and now it is all about my kids. I get John something too, but I'm lucky to get anything from anyone...and that just doesn't bother me at all. So never call it Singles Awareness Day...I HATE THAT!

Anyway, my life is getting harder and harder as time passes. Every night now, I have to put my feet up and make John do stuff for me because I always have swollen ankles and feet, and sometimes if I've worked too hard that day, I have contractions. I am trying my best to keep that baby cooking as long as she needs. I don't want any early surprises. At least not too early.
Brett is always asking me to pick up him up. He is not as heavy as Breanna, but he is more compact, and it wears on my back. I have to pray every morning for patience with the kids because they just don't understand what's going on and throw fits if they don't get their way. (Breanna is a little more understanding).

We are trying to get Brett used to sleeping in a toddler bed. He sleeps in it just fine for his naps, but he doesn't want to have anything to do with it at night. We are going to have to buckle down on this soon and take the crib down so he has no other option. I'm just worried about my sleep. If he's going to be up all night fighting me, I am going to be even more tired than I am now. Anyone who knows me knows I do not function well when I am tired.

For anyone who watches Survivor, I went to school with Joe. The moment I saw him on TV I knew him. He hasn't changed at all. Well, maybe a little older, and not quite so scrawny, but pretty much the same. I went online after I watched to make sure I was right, and I was. It makes me want to get out my year books for fun. I laughed because I still remember in 9th grade I had written on the bottom of my shoe, "Joe Dowdle is FINE". I had forgotten about it, and crossed my ankle over my knee and he saw it. He and his friends just laughed about it. He was always a nice guy.

Well, I'm sure it will be a couple more months before I write again, but at least I write here and there. Most of the time I forget I even have a blog.

It's a girl!

2008-12-01T14:19:00.000-08:00

We found out we're having a girl. I'm not sure I'm ready for this, but I must say, I wasn't ready for either of the first two. At least I have experience handling two different kinds of personalities and am ready for almost anything. I hope she is mellow and sweet like Brett, but I'll be armed and ready if she's anything like Breanna.

I thought as soon as I found out the gender, I would want to rearrange things in my house immediately to make room for her, but I haven't found that to be true yet. I was ready to give Brett his own space the moment I found out he was a boy. I am running ideas through my head about where to put this one, and how to decorate, etc., but I am not anxious. I want to get through the holidays first, and then maybe tackle those things.

Unfortunately it's more than just clearing out a room and painting it for her. I have also discovered that I need to buy a new car seat because our infant seat is very old and probably does not meet safety standards anymore. Plus, this discovery has led me to research car seat safety in general, and I fear I need to buy another forward facing car seat for Breanna to sit in because she is just too short and small. My biggest problem with these, besides the cost factor, is finding seats that fit our car. There is always something.

We are excited the baby is healthy and doing well. We've finally come up with a due date of April 6th--whatever that means.

Merry Christmas!!

Pictures and birthdays

2008-11-10T10:05:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was Breanna's birthday. We had a nice little party for her with party hats, pizza, watermelon, and cake. That was what she wanted. So I put in all the pictures we took of our cute little four-year-old.

She got a toy trumpet that she loves to play all the time. We had to put it in the music closet last night so she wouldn't start playing it as soon as she woke up in the morning.

Her cousin in the background.

Breanna's cousins

We bought the pizzas Saturday night, and cooked them when everyone got there Sunday.

Their grandparents came to visit us for Halloween. They have all the pictures from the zoo, so I'll have to get those later.

This is the kids bathroom after it was all textured, painted, and put back together.

This is the dining room that used to be a small living room.

The bathroom before the wallpaper came down.

The living room that is now a dining room.

Progress

2008-10-20T13:22:00.001-07:00

I am finally starting to come out of the fog. I don't feel sick nearly as often as I was. Things are still going well too. I'm huge for being only 16 weeks though. I just noticed today that my feet swell a little if I'm on them too much. It's too early for this, right?

We are slowly moving forward on our house updates again. My nose isn't quite as sensitive as it was, and I have more energy now. So we stared work on our front yard. We had a small dead tree removed, and we have taken out three of the large bushes that were hiding the front of our house. We still have to remove the roots of all those, but along with all the weeding I've done, the outside of the house is looking a lot more tidy and big.

We've also hired someone to come out and texture all three rooms that weren't finished. John's parents are coming down for Halloween and we needed to get the second bathroom finished, so we decided to just get it all done. That will be nice. My in-laws will actually have a mirror in the bathroom. (It's been sitting in our dining room for months now.)

So I am back on my feet and the house gets cleaner every week.

BLAH!

2008-09-08T14:52:00.000-07:00

I've been really sick since the last time I wrote. I don't remember being this sick with either of the first two, but then again, it has been a long time since I was pregnant with Breanna.
So all my house projects have been put on hold. The smell of just about everything makes me sick. I had to go on acid reflux medication about a week ago. That has now made me feel better. I do have my good days.
I had a doctors appointment today and another ultrasound. The doctor found a possible fibroid and wants me to do my best to stay on bed rest until the end of the week. Then I have to go back to meet with an ultrasound specialist who will check on things and make sure everything is okay. Hopefully I won't have to be down for too long. Other than all that, the baby is doing fine.

It's Official

2008-08-14T10:34:00.000-07:00

I had my first doctor's appointment today, and it's official...we are expecting another baby the first week of April. Not that I didn't think it was official before the appointment, but it still makes everything seem more real when you can see the baby and the heart beat. I am a little sad to know that I am a week under what I thought, but only because that means I have an extra week of being sick ahead of me.
I really like my new doctor. She is really great and personable. I was worried, since I didn't have a referral or anything. She is very upbeat and she just loves the kids.
Breanna was very excited to see a picture of the baby. She asked to have one, and she carries it around with her. She really wants it to be a girl. I figure as long as it eats and sleeps well, I don't care if it's a boy or girl. John really wants another boy though.
So there you have it. Life gets interesting all over again.

Bored

2008-08-02T11:26:00.000-07:00

I was bored for the first time in a long time yesterday, so Breanna and I built a little something out the mess of blocks she has scattered all over the floor. She wanted a house to put her princesses in, but as soon as she tried to put them in, it tumbled over. She wasn't very happy about that.I haven't been bored lately because I have been working so hard on the house. I have taken down all the wallpaper in the house, except the kitchen. It took me three weeks to do the kids bathroom, one week to do the laundry room, one day to do the front entry, and one hour to do the living room. I wish they had all been like the living room. I did the kid's bathroom last, so needless to say I am tired of messing with wallpaper and I will probably take quite a break before I attempt the kitchen.
John learned how to texture our walls as well. He has only done the entry from the garage, but we plan on tackling one room a week from here on out...I hope. It's all a matter of me nagging John to do it. He would rather do all sorts of smaller projects to wear himself out than one big project. I would texture, but I'm tired and now it's his turn. Besides, I am going to be the one to paint everything when he's done texturing.
We also put in all new black appliances. They look very nice. Especially compared to what was in here when we moved in. We put a french door in between the kitchen and living room to let more light in. It really makes a huge difference in the way both rooms feel. Now we just have to knock down one wall in the kitchen to really let the light flow through. I'm excited about that.

Well, here are some more fun pictures just to tag on from my birthday and other stuff:

Birthday

2008-07-06T11:07:00.000-07:00

Another year come and gone, and so much has happened. Mostly, our family has grown up some...including the adults. I don't feel taller, but I'm certainly wiser. At least about home ownership, getting driver's licenses renewed (in a different state), and purchasing cars.

I realized, Wednesday afternoon, that time had flown by and due to much distraction, I had forgotten to renew my license. Well, my license expired today, and the holiday was Friday, so I had one day to get it done. I had to find out where the DPS was located, and the criteria for getting a new license in a different state. I tried to call, but the only information I was getting was the address. For everything else they told me to leave a message and they'd get back to me within 24 hours. Boo on them. So I went down there Friday morning.
I pulled up, got the kids out of the car, and then saw the sign on the door that said "check or cash only." So I put the kids back in the car and drove away from my front row parking space to find an ATM. When I got back to the DPS, I had to park at the back of the building, get the kids out of the car, walk all the way around the building, and stand in line only to see a sign that said "must have social security card available." So I decided to wait in line to ask the nice lady at the desk exactly what else I would need to get this done. She told me that if I had a vehicle with my name on it, it must be registered in Texas, with Texas insurance, or other wise I would need three forms of identification and to fill out a Texas driver's license request form. I about flipped out because our truck had not been registered in Texas, and I was informed that if I didn't take care of all of this that day, I would have to retake the written and driving test to get my license. AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So I took the kids back out to the car and drove home so I could figure all this out. It was now lunch time and time for Brett's nap. I called my parents to see if they could watch the kids while I did everything else. Luckily I found out that my name is not on the truck, so I had no need to worry about all the registration stuff. PHEW! So I grabbed all my forms of ID and headed back to the DPS, where there was a front row spot, and no line to the first desk. I got up there and it dawned on my to tell her that I had a Texas D.L. before my Utah license, and it turned out that they still had me in the system, so I didn't have to go through any of what I did. All I had to have was my recent D.L. It was frustrating, but at least it all worked out. I did have to wait for about an hour to get everything renewed and that, but that part was a piece of cake.

The Fourth of July was fun. We had a ward breakfast at 7:30 that morning at a park in Colleyville. We got to meet more people in the ward and the kids had fun playing. Then we did some grocery shopping and headed over to my Grandad's house to help my parents put his furniture back. My mom is painting his house and they needed some help puting things back. After that, we all went home to relax and then my parents came over for some BBQ, a movie, games, and fireworks. We didn't even have to leave to see the fireworks. We just sat in chairs across the street and we could see the Bedford fireworks really well. The park they set them off from is real close by.

Yesterday, we bought a minivan. We had been borrowing my parents car that we had sold to them recently, but decided we really needed a vehicle that would suit our needs long term. It isn't the best car there was, but it runs well, and has all the features we need. It is a 2002 Toyota Sienna.

Today we are just enjoying our Fast Sunday. John is going to make me dinner and bake me a cake. The car and house were my birthday presents. So HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!

Pictures of the house

2008-06-26T08:52:00.000-07:00

We are moved in and almost everything is put in place. I still have a couple of days to get things cleaned up. I have pictures of every room to post. I am going to pull down wallpaper and start to paint soon, so consider these the "before" pictures. We also ordered all new appliances, which will help with the look and the smell.

This would be our bathroom

My side of the bathroom (with my own walk-in closet)

John's side of the bathroom (with his own walk-in closet)

View of our bedroom to the bathroom from the doorway

Bedroom

Laundry room

Kitchen

Other side of kitchen

Eating area

Family room

A dark view of the family room from the front entry. (There was a thunder storm going on)

Living room. Actually, this is a dining room that we wanted to use as a formal living room.

More of the living room

Hallway to kid's rooms

Breanna's room

Brett's room

Kid's bathroom

Third bedroom that is being used as exercise room/office

Front entry

So there you have it. Once I get all the painting done and new appliances, I'll post those new pictures. We're having too much fun with all this. It's a lot of work, but worth it.

Moving part II

2008-06-21T12:24:00.001-07:00

We are now moved in to the house. We can't actually live in it until Monday though. We have no electricity or water until then. But everything is off the truck and in the house. Members from the ward came to help us. We were concerned that no one would show up because it was a Stake Temple morning AND the men had an assignment at the Bishop's store house. But we had about ten guys come out to help. It was done in no time. I will take pictures to post of everything as soon as I have the furniture arranged.

We weren't even sure we were going to be able to move stuff in this weekend. I waited until the last moment to call the storage place. They were completely booked for the weekend. We were going to have to wait until Monday, and we wouldn't have had any help. But, I ended up talking to a very nice lady at the storage place who was very sympathetic to my situation. I begged and then she begged the dispatcher to squeeze in one more drop off. After some begging and and bribing (the lady offered to buy the driver a candy bar), they finally agreed to get our truck to us the same day. Lucky lucky.

Not only is our stuff moved in, but the first councilor in the Bishopric came over and mowed our lawn for us too. This is a great ward.

Well, I forgot to call my brother yesterday on his birthday. So HAPPY BIRTHDAY Mathew!!! You're now caught up with Karie...no more jokes about that one! But of course your birthday is just a reminder that mine is only two weeks away. He He.

Moving

2008-06-18T19:47:00.000-07:00

Well, it's finally done...we closed on our house today. We were so excited about it that we packed up the back of John's truck and took some stuff over to the house. We can't actually move in until this weekend. We need help getting our stuff unloaded and that won't happen until Saturday morning.

We went to our new ward last weekend. It's a very small ward. I love it. Everyone knew that we were new and we met so many people. We feel important. It's going to be a good ward. They say they are small enough to be a branch. We are looking forward to serving in the ward.

I was going to say that we just got over sickness that ran through the family, but John is sitting behind me with a sore throat and headache. Sickness has just run rampant through the whole family for the past four weeks. We'll be over it soon...I hope.

My youngest brother is heading out to BYU tomorrow. He is going up there for their summer program and get a few credits under his belt. He is very excited to get out of here for a while. I don't blame him. I remember being very excited to leave for college. Anywhere but here was how I felt.

There really hasn't been anything else exciting going on lately.

Anniversary

2008-06-11T07:09:00.000-07:00

We are almost there! Just one week until we close on our house!

John and I just celebrated our six-year anniversary. We went crazy this last Saturday and went to Six Flags. We were only able to go on six rides in five hours, but that's actually not too bad. We hit the Titan, Runaway Mountain, Mr. Freeze, Judge Roy Scream, Tony Hawk ride, and Shockwave. James, my youngest brother, works for Six Flag's Hurricane Harbor and was able to get us in free. We went in the evening when it wasn't too hot and really enjoyed ourselves. We then continued to wear ourselves out by going to the 11:00 showing of Kung Fu Panda. We got home around 2 in the morning and had what we called a "Six Flags hangover" on Sunday. Neither one of us could move.

All Right, All Right...

2008-06-04T08:18:00.000-07:00

All right, all right--I have finally jumped on the blogging band wagon. I don't know how good I'll be at keeping it up, but at least I can try.

I have to explain that Boo-Grr is what I call our cat. Her name is Boo, but I like to call her Boo-Grr. I rescued her my Junior year at BYU. She was ferral and we took her in as part of the Veterinary Technology program. She was only a few weeks old, and very adorable, so I adopted her. Little did I know that she is really the devil. I quickly had her declawed...twice. I sent her to the senior class to be declawed in the front. I then realized that was not enough and declawed her back paws myself in my surgery class. Unfortunately she still has teeth. I've threatened. She is a great looking cat with a great quality of life though. She is very happy and pretty good with the kids, so I can't justify getting rid of her. She has become part of the family.

Right now we are just hanging out at my parents house. We have two weeks left before closing on our new house in Bedford. The owner needed extra time to get packed up and out of the house. She is a school teacher and needed the school year to be over. But we are being patient. It's a very nice house in a very nice neighborhood. I have also learned that it's in one of the best school districts in North Texas.

We've had one bad experience since we got here. Okay, maybe just bad for Breanna. For those of you who know Breanna and her Bear, you will definitely understand this. We were out looking at furniture Saturday night when I noticed that Breanna did not have Bear. John assured me that Breanna did not bring Bear with her. I accepted that and we moved on.
Later that night, we could not find Bear anywhere. Sure enough, Breanna lost Bear at the furniture store. We called them, but no one had turned him in. They took my name and number, but no one called me all weekend. Breanna prayed that someone would find Bear. (It was really cute.) We finally had to go back to the furniture store Monday morning. We looked and looked, but found nothing. We checked at the front desk...nothing. I told Breanna that another kid probably picked Bear up and took him home. I had picked Breanna up to comfort her, and was walking back the way we came when as I explained all this to her, when she yelled "There he is!" I didn't see him anywhere. I was looking all over the floor and on the beds and chairs and I had to finally ask her where she saw him. She pointed to a shelf. Sure enough, someone had picked Bear up and put him on a high shelf of a bookcase. I would never had found him if I hadn't picked Breanna up. We were all happy she found Bear. We are all sleeping better too.