Do you like ketchup?

I sure do and I am going to be playing a lot of it in the next little while. So, hang on, and enjoy the ride.

Douglas and his good friend Jimbo at the Cider Mill

Jackson on the tractor.

Paige and their friend Cy riding the tractor in the rain.

One of the girls in Paige's dance class brought cupcakes that she made all by herself so Paige begged me to let her make some all by herself too. She did let me crack the eggs and do the oven though. Here she is enjoying the fruits of her labors.

Tasting the best part of the cake...the batter!

Jackson and Paige playing Firechief.

Most firechiefs I know wear buckets on their heads and rain boots. You?

I took the kids to a Children's Expo. They had bounce houses, slides and a circus company that let the kids try their hand at circus acts.



a little juggling...

some stilt walking...I don't think my children are natural circus performers. Darn.

They had a bird station at the expo. J held the bird for a milli-second, but my fearless daughter let them climb all over her.


This is the huge bubble maker at the Hands on Museum. So much fun!


water table
My brother Drew came and stayed with us for a week. It was nice to have company! We wore our Michigan garb to root on the team who is on a winning streak!


Roasting dogs and making smores! Yum Yum!

HAppy Smore eaters.





The kids playing with Drew...


We went raspberry picking. Paige found a flower.


Drew picked only the most perfect raspberries...

Paige would pick and eat. Her raspberries were more juice than anything by the time we finished. I think that little hand frequented the jug.






The fruits of our labors!

Well. It is the end of another week. Douglas is at priesthood and some evil villain possessed my body for a short period of time and I cleaned like a crazy woman. I would, never in my right mind, do that. It isn’t that I don’t love a clean home, because I certainly do, but more so because I work so hard and it is torn apart so quickly. Cleaning tonight involved finding homes for a few of the things that have sat on the floor for a month now, wiping down cupboards, cleaning the stove top, vacuuming, mopping, full kitchen overhaul. Now, I am sipping on a soda and enjoying the quiet of my home.

Douglas and I have been watching a show called CHUCK in the evening. We try to carve (by “we” I mean Douglas some time out before bed to do that together. We have always enjoyed watching TV series and this is a good one. We will watch another when he gets home. It is so strange to have priesthood at 8pm…so late with the time difference! We are really looking forward to sleeping in the morning though. The first session isn’t until noon!

I tried to watch conference on my lap top today. It is so hard to get anything out of it with kids around. I get interrupted so often. It is so hard for them to wait to say the really unimportant important thing they need to say. Sometimes I feel like I shush them too often. Life is always busy and sometimes it is hard to always have a ready ear to listen to such silly things. I know it is important to them though, so I try to always be available.

It was a cold, rainy day today. We had arranged with some friends (Douglas’ friend Jimmy and his wife Sham and their boys—D was roommates with Jimmy his first year at BYU) to go apple picking and to the cider mill to get cider and doughnuts. We went out despite the rain, but only got the doughnuts and cider…no apple picking. I will have to take the kids to do that this week. There are lots of places around when you can pick apples. It is fun. We go through so many apples too. I bet between all of us we eat around 20 apples a week. Yikes. Douglas takes two to school every day. My favorite are the honey crisps. YUM!

They have delicious cider at these places. It reminds me of a place my parents would take us when we were kids…Apple Hill. Of the few things I remember from my childhood, that is one of them. I have a very vivid memory of the place.

The doughnuts were delicious. They were cake doughnuts and they had an apple spice flavor and a pumpkin. Yum Yum. Of course, I can’t think of a doughnut I have had that I didn’t enjoy! I wish they were good for you because I love them. As a kid my grandpa would always take us to get Winchell’s doughnuts on the way home from church when we were in Studio City visiting. Not exactly the best Sabbath day activity, but as a kid is was a special time. I remember it fondly. That and the $100 bill game we would play with my grandpa. He would have us hold out our thumb and pincher fingers and he would drop a bill through it. If we caught it we could keep it. It is much harder than it seems. I think in the end he would always let us catch it.

The kids had a blast, despite the rain. There was a cute place to ride trikes, a big tractor they could climb on, animals, and other fun things. When we finally left Jackson was so wet he stripped down to his undies and rode home that way. What a life.

We had a busy week. Let’s be honest, life is always busy, it seems! J is slowly adjusting to school. He loves it, but has some issues with obeying the teacher and being good in class. Shucks, I never thought it would be my kid that caused disturbances in class! I hope it is just an adjustment phase and will pass. I made a little chart for his teacher to mark if he is good in class. He got one star, one no star and two half stars. He gets to earn computer time for getting stars.

Tonight at dinner he told us that his music teacher doesn’t know, “I am a Child of God”. I asked him if he had asked her that which he had and she had said it sounds like a nice song. Such innocence. I love it!

I have started really making the kids do chores. Age appropriate, of course, but I am using myjobchart.com to let them earn points for the different jobs they do and earn rewards. They have been really great about getting their things done. J has to empty the dishwasher every day, P the silverware, straighten books, garbage, clean out the car, set the table, clear the table, help clean bathrooms, pick up toys, dust etc. I really want my kids to be hard workers and I figured now is the time to instill that in them!

J started soccer this week as well. Being the space cadet I am, I thought I signed him up for the Wednesday class when in actuality he is in the Monday class. I am glad because the Wednesday class had older kids in it and one of the kids just bugged everyone. The coach was a dufus (seriously) and I had to stand on the sideline and keep this annoying boy from touching all the other kids. J was lazy about the whole thing and just wanted to play on the playground and not have to do soccer (though he was the one who told me he wanted to.) I hope getting into a class with more kids his age will be better for him.

There is a really fun museum here in town called the “Hands on Museum”. I am trying to take P every week and she is loving it. There are all sorts of science projects that can try, play houses, building toys, huge bubble makers, water tables, beehives. It is really cool. It will be a great winter time activity!

Jackson’s school had a fundraising night at Chuck E. Cheese. Douglas was actually able to come (which was nice on many levels.) We really enjoyed sitting and talking while the kids ran around playing. It was nice because they stamped everyone with one of those invisible stamps that can only be seen with a certain light. Each family was a different number and when you left they would check to make sure the adults were the same number as the kids. That way, no one could walk off with your children. I thought that was really well thought out. Jackson would give away so many of his tokens to other kids (so Jackson to share like that). Paige was very conservative with using her tokens. She liked the rides and would wander around for some time before deciding on exactly what she wanted to do. I think she only used about 8 tokens the entire night. Douglas and I will definitely take the kids back there.

Douglas has been so busy in the evenings meeting with recruiters. Different companies come to the school and put on presentations so you can get to know the company. He has been excited about meeting all this different companies he is interested in. He even got to go to a free happy hour J put on by one of the companies!!

So, I am one step closer to hanging pics in my living room. I have made the goal to do it for the last three weeks or so and this week I finally made progress. I want to do a big gallery on the long wall so I cut paper out in the size of all the frames and arranged those on the wall. I think I like how it looks so now I just need to hang the actual frames. I have to put hangers on the back of most of them. That seems like so much work. But, I will get it done. I am hoping I love it when all is said and done.

Did I mention that I am refinishing my kitchen table. I sanded down the top and then painted the legs white and stained the top a dark brown. I spent the past week doing things slowly so everything had time to dry. Well, Friday night I had it sitting out on the driveway with the intention of bringing it in the house before we went to bed. Douglas and I watched our TV show and when we came upstairs to move it in, we were too late. Everything was soaking, including the table. We quickly dried it off, but it was too late. I will need to resand and stain it again. Rrrr….all that work down the drain. The legs, luckily are still fine.

I read a new parenting book called 123 Magic. I have really liked it. It has made a big difference with getting the kids to stop doing things they shouldn’t. It seems that I read these things and am really good about doing them for a while and then slowly I get out of the habit and everything goes back to how it was. I guess I should call it the discipline cycle. Jackson has really been difficult at home too, so I am looking for some more positive, consistent ways to get cooperation.

Well, it is Sunday and I have spent the day in the kitchen. I watched conference on my computer and made Doty Beans, white bread and pumpkin waffles (YUM!). Doty Beans are a total comfort food. It is a recipe passed down from my Great Grandma Doty. I ate it growing up and even now, when I make them, it makes me feel home. Not physically home, of course, but close to my family. You eat the beans on top of white bread (usually Wonder brand). They are a simple concoction of white beans, onion, bacon, tomato soup, baking soda, salt and pepper. Sounds strange, but trust me, there is a delicious hominess to them.

It is definitely fall here. I have my electric blanket on the bed and will possibly be getting one for the kids. Paige woke up cold a few times last night. We still haven’t turned the heat on, though I think the day is close for that! The leaves are changing colors. It is great to enjoy a real fall…such a gorgeous time of year.

I finally found the kids coats for the winter. I have been stressing about that. I found them at the Lands End Overstock. I still need to get them pants, boots, hats and gloves. What??? This is going to be quite the experience. I bought myself a coat to. I tried to find the warmest one I could!!

Well, there you go…life in the Shaw house. It is finally feeling like home.

What we are doing....

We had a busy and productive day today. Douglas didn’t have anything at the school so he was home with us all day and that was nice. I love having him here. It is nice to have the companionship and help with the kids. He usually lets me sleep in too, which is SO nice. I don’t know what it is though, when he is home, I feel like the house goes to shambles. I think it sort of throws my routine off so I don’t keep up on things like I normally do. Oh well, I would rather have him here and a messy house than away.

He spent a little time in the yard trimming some vines and edging. I don’t know how to use the edger yet so I asked him to do it. I think he is thrilled that I have been mowing the lawn so is willing to do anything to motivate me to continue with it ! He also put up some cupboards in my office. I think I will finally have enough room for all of my work, office stuff which is so exciting! My office is finally in order and it makes me excited to sit down and work again. I enjoy working, though the stress of fitting it into my life is hard. I don’t like to sit at the computer and leave the kids to fend for themselves too long, nor do I want them to remember me always being on my computer, so I really try to limit my daytime work. Unfortunately though, there is never enough time in the evening after they go to bed to get it all done. It has been a constant stress and worry for me, since I have had my photography business, to figure out where it fits into things. It will be even more challenging now that I am going to be the “bread winner” while Douglas is in school and instead of just using my earnings as “play money”, I will actually have to be responsible with it and use it for living.

That spells STRESS and ANXIETY for me. So, in an attempt to forget about it (haha) we will move on!

I have this really great pink, oversized, stuffed chair that I use as a photo prop. It is my favorite prop, I would say. I have hauled that thing all over the place. I love it. Sadly, though, it got pretty beat up on the trip out here. Something must have rubbed and rubbed it because when we got here there was a rather large hole in the back and one on the arm. I was very sad about it. I may have even shed a few tears over it. It seems so silly, but finding chairs and things for pictures is actually quite hard. You want it to be unique, yet not have to pay a ton for it. This chair fit the bill. Now, it is damaged to the point that it is really unusable. We went out to a shop to see what they would charge to recover it…$500-800. YIKES!!! I think I only paid around $150 for it in the first place! So, I have a dilemma as to what to do. I know there are many people out there who recover things themselves and claim it isn’t hard, but I don’t know. I guess at this point, what do I have to lose (except some of my sanity). Who knows, I may brave it. We will see.

The kids still love playing outside. We have a power line that runs between our the yards and every morning you will see squirrels walking across them. Without fail one of the kids will yell out “high wiring squirrel”. It is yet to get old to them. You see squirrels everywhere here. It is kind of fun. The weather has been awesome. There is little wind though so even with the windows open, the house won’t cool off. It is so strange. Last night I was so uncomfortable that I finally closed the windows back up and turned the AC on. It seems a shame to run the AC when it is only 75 or 80 degrees outside. Douglas says that all the trees kind of stop the wind, whereas in Santa Clara there is little to stop it so it just comes howling through. The kids found a bunch of ropes outside and occupy themselves for long period tying them up to things and making boobie traps. They will tie it to the porch swing and one of them will sit on it while the other goes half way across the yard and pull it back and forth to swing them.

I decided to make a recipe for Eggplant Parmesan for dinner. It is a Weight Watcher recipe that a friend posted online. It looked good and Douglas and I need to start eating healthy again. We had been out in the afternoon, but I figured I would just get home and whip it up…little did I realize that I had to salt the eggplant first, then precook it, than assemble the pan and then cook that. At 6:30pm I finally decided to just clean out the fridge and eat leftovers. The kids were starving and I was feeling ready to get them into bed. I went ahead and finished assembling it and put it in the fridge for tomorrow. I have to say that it doesn’t look very good, but I will stay open minded! It reminds me of a dinner I made for Douglas shortly after we were married. I found it in my Everyday Food magazine and who knows what possessed me to try it out. It was fairly simple…bowtie pasta, peas and ham. Not deli ham, large cubes of ham. Not knowing what type of ham to buy I bought some boiled ham at the deli counter. I went home and made this dinner for Douglas to have when he got home from work. It had kind of a cream sauce on top of it. Well, by the time I finished making it, it smelled so repugnant that I couldn’t will myself to try it. Douglas got home from work that night and, you know Douglas, he is good about eating anything. Well, he opened the Tupperware with the Bowties and peas and he couldn’t bring himself to try it either. It was that bad. I think it was the ham. We still laugh about how gross it was. I think that was my biggest cooking flop since we got married.

It wasn’t as messy as the time he made me a birthday cake and after changing his mind on the pan to cook it in, ended up cooking the entire thing in one 9” round cake pan. When I got home from school there was cake batter all over the counter and baked into the oven. It was such a mess. Since then I have kindly offered to make my own birthday cake. Haha!!

My neighbor Mary has brought us SO MANY tomatoes. And, before she brought them over I had bought some at Costco. So, tomorrow I will be making some black bean salsa and anything else I can think of. I may dehydrate some. We also picked a quart of raspberries off the bushes out back. Paige comes in with a handful of raspberries almost every time she comes in! There are also places you can go where you pay to pick raspberries. I promised the kids I will take them out there.

Tomorrow we go to the zoo (most likely) with a friend of my friend Staci Barlow. She connected us before we moved out here and we were in contact this week and she invited us to the zoo with her and some girls from her ward. It should be fun and I am sure the kids will love being with some other kids. So far we haven’t seen too many kids in the neighborhood and we are looking forward to meeting some.

That’s it I guess! I am feeling happier today, but feeling like I am coming down with a cold. I haven’t been sleeping well which is the pits. There is nothing worse than waking up a million times at night. Hope tonight is a better night.

I am posting some pictures I took of Jackson before we left St. George. I can’t believe how grown up he looks. I don’t know whether to be sad or happy about it. I love to watch him grow and learn, but it seems to pass so quickly!

So, I am feeling a little more love tonight. Little did I know, that when I turned “comment moderation” on, I actually had to moderate the comments. It was really only on to get emails to go private, but I forgot to change it after. I have to say I was feeling really sad for myself to come onto my blog and see that no one had commented. I just figured that I had already been forgotten.


Well, I have figured out how to get Paige to go to sleep at night. I have been reading Harry Potter to the kids each night and within minutes she is zonked. I guess it is lost on her, but really, it seems genius to me…read a good book and get my daughter to sleep at the same time? Win, win, if you ask me. There is nothing quite as nice as the quiet in the house after the kids go to sleep. So peaceful. Today was a day of little of that. The kids have been fighting non stop the last few days. We had “quiet time” a few times today just so I could separate them. Paige is a totally different girl when J isn’t around. Don’t get me wrong, there are times when they are the best of friends, but she is at her worst when he is around as well. When she is alone she will play and pretend forever. If I take just her out on errands she is pleasant and chatty and happy. I really think having J at school will be a good for her and their relationship. They will have time together when he gets home, but not so much that they are cut throat with each other.

(one of the moments where the actually are getting along.)

Well, the high today was 69*. This is how a summer should be J. I know come winter, I will be singing a different tune, but for now, I will enjoy each beautiful day!

Today was the first day at church that someone made an effort to talk to me. That being said, there was a new girl today and I made a big effort to talk to her and get to know her. It is so hard to be the new person (and since I am three weeks into it, I am the old timer??). This girl was nice, she came up to me after and we chatted for a good five minutes. It is just nice to know that someone may want to get to know me. I, of course, am not the type to just sit around and wait for it all to happen, I will make it happen (I have to much of a social need to not), but it takes a little while for me to feel the desire to do it. It really lifted my spirits, I must say. Isn’t that silly, one person talking to me making such a difference?

We taught our Sunday school class for the first time today. We teach the same lessons as the Gospel Doctrine class (a little more simplified, of course). Today was on Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. It was a nice class…16-18 year olds. It is nice because they know how to use their scriptures and are thoughtful. I had to pull quite a few of the answers out of them, but hopefully that will get easier with time. I once had someone tell me (not in a kind way) that I don’t know how to relate to teenagers, but I actually really enjoy working with teenagers and feel like I do relate well to them. Gosh, I still feel like one some days. We made some scotcheroos for after the lesson, so the truth is, it didn’t matter what I taught them…they would remember it as a good lesson because of the treat, right??

I got another calling as well as the Relief Society Meetings Leader (aka Enrichment Leader). Not quite sure why they had to rename it something so plain. I feel a little Anne Shirley-ish saying that, but really “Relief Society Meetings”. Can we not be any more boring in the naming process? I am really excited for this calling. I have always wanted to work in Enrichment (much quicker to type Enrichment too!!). I am not the type to stamp napkins and make everything completely cute and perfect, but I sort of feel like a party planner. Maybe that is the wrong take on it, but I get to plan get togethers for a bunch of women. I think the prospect is fun. We will see, I suppose.

So Douglas was gone most of the week. It was a little depressing to be here alone, especially in the evening. We get the network stations on the TV without having to pay for cable, but do you know what was on EVERY night after the kids went to bed?? Murder shows, crime shows, etc. Not exactly what I want to watch in the evenings, alone, in a new house. Why can’t their be good, light hearted shows on anymore.

Which reminds me, in relief society today we talked about the things we do in our lives that aren’t great…I think the term was “marginal (can’t remember the second word)”. You know, the things that aren’t bad, per se, but also don’t invite the Spirit into our lives. TV and movies were talked about as some good examples…the ones that have a scene or two that are less than stellar. It made me think a bit about what I watch. There are so few things that don’t have a questionable scene or things in it that are against what we stand for. Sometimes I think it is so hard to know where to draw the line. Do we just turn the TV off all together? Do we allow one negative thing? I really don’t know. I know there are some shows that I like that are entertaining, but really show worldly things. The reality is that I probably shouldn’t watch them. Am I that good that I can just commit not to? Just fodder for thought, I guess. I need to decide where I stand on some of these things.

Douglas will unofficially start school tomorrow. His official class work doesn’t start until the 7th of September, but he has a math type of course that he will take tomorrow and Tuesday to get him up to speed on some things and then orientation, get to know you, leadership meetings until the official day. Am I ready to have him gone? Not at all. I think it will be a hard transition. Luckily, the house is really starting to some together. My office and studio are still in shambles, but I think I can get the office done if I just set my mind to it. The studio will be easy too, once Douglas cleans his stuff up. We bought some simple pine chairs to go around the kitchen table that came in the house and I spent Friday painting those. I did each a different color…red, green, blue and yellow. Not primary colors…more muted, but they look really cute. I found some fabric at Joann’s and will make some chair covers and I think they will add a lot of personality to the kitchen. I am excited. What really overwhelms me in the house is decorating! I have so many things I love, but I don’t know where to begin. I have about a hundred great pictures to put up, but it is so hard to decide where. Ahhh…Once they are up, it will really start feeling like my home.

I finally did my big grocery store run yesterday. It is nice to finally feel like I have a stocked house. They have a great farmers market where you can buy all sorts of good produce. We went on Wednesday and bought an eggplant. I have never cooked with it, but I was interested in trying a “light” eggplant parmesan recipe a friend posted on Facebook. We will see if it is worth it!

(only a portion of the loot...I made another run later to get meat, produce and dairy! Nice to have a stocked fridge again!)

Paige just woke crying. I hurried in to take her potty since that is usually why she starts crying at night. I got her as far as the bathroom door and she started peed all over me. Yuck. She did this same thing the other night except she just got up and peed all over her new rug. Sometimes I just scratch my head with my kids. Who knows why they do what they do. This is very unlike Miss P! So, a load of wash with the bathroom rugs is running. Good thing they needed to be cleaned anyway. I am actually perplexed because I have unpacked all the boxes and I am missing my bathroom rugs. I guess I must have decided to get rid of them when I was packing. Who knows what I was thinking!!

The realtor who manages the house finally sent out an electrician to fix the plugs and lights that didn’t work in the house. I was using a flashlight to navigate around the portion of the storage room that I turned into a “pantry”. It was kind of tricky to say the least. The washer also gave me problems while Douglas was gone. It worked great until the “cold” rinse came on and then only a small trickle of water would come into the wash. It would take two hours to fill enough for the cycle to finish! I didn’t feel like waiting until Douglas got back in town, so I just got a pair of pliers out of his tool box, turned the water off, unscrewed the water tube, cleaned it out, reattached it and it worked like a charm again. I was pretty proud of myself! I also mowed the lawn this week…first time ever in my life. Don’t tell Douglas, but I kind of enjoyed it! All his complaining about mowing, and it really is no big deal!! I think I will mow it again tomorrow. It makes such a difference in how the yard looks.

Douglas had a great trip and interview in St. Louis. He won’t hear anything for a few weeks, but he felt really good about things. He said all the people there interviewing were really sharp though, so we will see. I have learned through life experience that things happen as they should do I won’t hold my breath. If it is right for our family, it will happen.

I made a yummy dinner tonight…shrimp and grits…a recipe Douglas’ sister shared with me. It was delicious. We had it with fresh, local corn and a local watermelon variety which has yellow meat inside. Douglas’ school friend Hassan came for dinner. It was fun to have company. Cooking for people is so much more fun than just my family. Douglas is always very appreciative, but it is definitely lost on the kids!! They usually just complain.

(Paige wanted a picture taken...I got this first until I told her not to make a scary face...then I got this...I think she got the pose from her friend Ally.)


cute little girl!

It was a melancholy sort of day. Douglas has been gone a lot more for school things the last few days and I have been left in a disorganized house with two whirlwind of children. They are fighting plenty, but also enjoying each other. They like to tie a rope to the swing or their bikes and pull each other around.
They will be laughing and having a great time and the next second they are beating on each other. They are little stinkers. We cleaned up the basement which is nice now. I vacuumed, but the carpet is pretty junky (as is my vacuum...I think) and I had to empty lint out of it about 4 times...YUCK!! It is nice to have it cleaned up. I am not sure how to organize it all yet, but that will come.

Douglas got the desk in my office put together.

It will work out perfectly. It gives me a lot of space to work. Now, I need to empty all the boxes. Douglas leaves tomorrow for St. Louis. I am not ready to be home alone. I will have to make a sweet treat and eat away my loneliness ;).

We have a great neighbor who brings us things throughout the day. She brought me an enormous basket of basil yesterday:

so today I made 5 batches of pesto and froze it. I was so sick of pulling leaves off basil stems! I made a yummy dinner of chicken, peppers, pasta and pesto with some of it. She also brought over corn, huge jalapeno peppers (that I think I will stuff...never tried, but sounds interesting), a HUGE cantaloupe, watermelon and another variety of melon. Oh yes, and seeds. When she comes over she just chats away. Sometimes you have things to get done and she will go on and on. Good thing she is such a kind person! She is very thoughtful and aware of us. She even sent Jackson home yesterday when he decided to run away.

That is that folks...nothing else of interest to tell. We are surviving and I am enjoying the cooler summer days. I have the windows open to let in the cool breeze as we speak! Be jealous west coasters!

So, after a long, but fairly uneventful flight from Vegas to Detroit, Douglas picked me up and brought me home to this:


kitchen looking into the dining/living room

one half of basement

other half

kitchen

master bedroom

and a little more of this:

entry way

living room

kitchen looking to the backyard

To say that I was a little overwhelmed would be the understatement of the century. I didn't even know where to begin. But, slowly we have unpacked and found homes for everything. It has required a boatload in shelving, but we are getting things organized and sort of enjoying the process. Douglas made us a bed platform last week that allows him to store his clothes under the bed (the closet is TINY in the spare room). His hanging clothing is in the closet downstairs (how is that for a nice hubby?). The platform puts our bed about 4.5 feet off the floor, but who doesn't love having to climb a ladder to get into bed? (Pictures are forthcoming...once I unpack the camera charger).

Luckily, we have this in the backyard...

They LOVE it...and having a yard to play in and a place to ride bikes and swings.

The only bad part is the it is SO humid here. I never thought it made that much of a difference, but it does. It is only in the high 80's but go outside and you are soaked. I went running Saturday and though the temperature didn't bother me, I was sweatier than I think I have ever been in my life.

We got creative though and created a table out of a box and some seats out of #10 cans. Water bottles worked great as cups too...it took us a while to find those.

We have come a long way since Saturday. It is pricey to move!! But, we have almost all the boxes emptied minus my office. Not everything has a home yet, or is completely organized, but it is definitely coming along. We will put my office furniture (thank you IKEA) together tomorrow and when Douglas leaves town on Wednesday (interview in St. Louis) I will tackle that beast.

We are enjoying the area though. It is green and lush. We went to one of the many parks today that consists of bridges crossing the Huron River (rivers are a much different thing out here...they are huge). There were huge patches of lilly pads, geese, swans, ducks, and arbors of trees. The kids loved running across the bridges and looking for turtles and fish in the water. It was a lot of fun. We want to rent a canoe soon. We are going to try and enjoy the area.

Well, there is a little update on our lives...we have been doing a lot of unpacking, insurance, etc.

Good times.

Missing home, but trying to embrace this area. Sundays are the hardest day of the week...that is when I really am aware that something isn't quite right. I go to church and the building is filled with a bunch of strange people. We got callings today...we teach one of the youth sunday school classes and Douglas is a cub scout leader. It will be nice to have a purpose and especially to get out of Gospel Doctine.

I will attach a letter that I wrote to my Grandma last week...read it if you really want to, but no hard feelings if you don't ;). Until next time...I will read my People magazine and unpack some more.

Well, we made it. Phew. It is crazy traveling alone with two kids. We got to the airport in just enough time to walk right on the place. We waited in line to go through security FOREVER. I had wanted to stop and get the kids some breakfast and drinks, but there was no time. I was glad I had made peanut butter sandwiches before I left! We had lots of snacks and candy too, so they didn't complain. This was the first time I had flown on "Spirit Air" and is was kind of lame. You have to pay for everything, including drinks on the plane...nothing is complimentary. So, I got each of the kids an apple juice and they drank that through the trip. They kept themselves pretty busy watching movies and playing on their "Leapsters" which are little educational, handheld video game machines. Really, they were really good for having to sit in a seat for three and a half hours and being my kids! Douglas and George met us at baggage claim and helped us out with all the gear we had. By the way, I was SO glad my mom took us out there. I don't know how I would have gotten everything in on my own!! We took George straight to his flight after we got loaded up. It was nice to see him for a minute before he went back to GA. The drive from the Detroit airport to Ann Arbor is only about 20 minutes. I was STARVING when we got to Ann Arbor. The kind of hungry where you don't want to eat or make a decision as to what to eat because you are so hungy. And I was thirsty because I was too cheap to buy another drink on the plane. Actually, it was principle...I think it is ridiculous to get charged $3.00 for a drink on a plane. I wasn't going to make the kids suffer for my "principles" though so they were okay. We came to the house which is PACKED with boxes and stuff. Yikes!! We went to the back patio to eat because there was no where in the house. The kids had no interest in eating though...they just wanted to run around and play on the jungle jim.We met our neighbors as well. The fence between the yards is low so you can see into each others yards. The woman is a little older and very thoughtful and nice. Her name is Mary and she has brought us veges, newspapers, bug spray, etc. She is the kind of neighbor you see in movies...always knows what is going on. Okay, I will call it what it is...she is a busybody...but a nice one, so I think she will be great to live by. There are some kids we heard playing in the yard behind us (can't see over that fence) and I am hopeful to find some friends for the kiddos. Our first goal was to get the kids a place to feel comfortable and at home. We unpacked their room fairly quickly. It was tricky trying to find the sheets and necessary stuff, but we did! We need to go buy P a simple bedframe. Here we got her a bunk bed and we won't even use it at this house. There is a built in loft bed that J is sleeping on and Paige will be on a bed underneath coming out in an L shape. I have most of their clothing hung up and put away and we filled the built in shelves with books. The kids have been happy and having fun which makes me happy. I try really hard to stay upbeat and positive for them. We need to add another hanging rod in their closet tomorrow (the closets are TINY) and I want to put a few rugs down so they can comfortable sit and play in their room. The whole main floor is hardwood so it needs a little warming up to make it feel homey. We are going to go to a carpet store and see about buying a remnant and having the edge bound to put in the family room. A lot of our things got banged up along the way. That was kind of discouraging. We thought we had packed everything really well, but I guess it needed more. Live and learn. I will just make the best of it. I went with Paige to Target last night to get some essentials that we needed...cleaning supplies, shampoo for the kids, some food. It is about a mile away which I will love!! Paige looked like a little orphan girl...I forgot her shoes and she was dirty from playing outside. I at least wiped her face before we went in :)! We have been unpacking a ton. We work so hard and it seems to take forever to see progress!! I worked hard on the kitchen and it is starting to take shape. The stairs to the basement are right of the kitchen and then the door to the storage room is right off the stairs so we got some shelve to make a pantry down there. The kitchen is too small to even attempt to keep the food in there. I think it will work out nicely. I got all the food I brought (yes, I was crazy enough to haul food across the country...but glad to have it and not have to buy it!) organized on the shelves. We also got a shelf to put my extra cooking supplies...pans I don't use all the time, china, etc. We have to get creative to make it all fit!! Once again, not an ideal set up, but I think it will work great for the two years we are here! There are also some cut out shelves in the kitchen that are meant for decor, I think, but I am going to make some cute curtains to cover them and put more kitchen stuff in them. I have a lot of kitchen stuff! I use all of it though so, we brought it. Good thing I love to cook! I can't wait to put the kitchen to use! I have eaten out so much in the last month and am ready to have a healthier diet!! I miss cooking too. Our ward meets at 9am. I am happy and sad about this...no more sleeping in on Sunday morning! It came early today though! I am still on Utah time so 7am is 5am to me...and considering that I slept only four hours the night before, I was tired.

Packing Woes

Does it ever end...I feel like I have endless amounts of "stuff". Do others feel this way. Is there any possible way this will all fit in the moving van.

Wish me luck. I can feel my anxiety level spiking.

coping...

As I start to disassemble my home, I am finally hit with the sadness of leaving this place. I have sort of dealt with the move, by not dealing with it. I have ignored the fact that we are leaving and that I am leaving family, good friends, St. George...home. I was driving the stake conference today and Jackson asked if we could come and say goodbye to the house once all of our things were taken out and I couldn't hold in the tears. My tender little boy wants to say goodbye to his home...the place that has always been his home. It is going to be really hard. I know excitement awaits us, but it won't make this move any easier. It will be hard.

So lets go on without talking about it. I have two weeks left here and I want to make the most of it. I will always leave a piece of my heart here. It is the home I brought my babies home to and really, the only home I have ever known.

and I really need to get packing. Yikes. I have taken things off the walls, and the upstairs won't take long. I think the kitchen will be the hardest.

We found an awesome house to rent in Ann Arbor. I am very excited. It has a finished basement and a place to put a studio, tons of storage, a two car garage, a HUGE, fenced backyard with playground equipment and a raised garden. The school is only two blocks away and the bus stop that takes D directly to school is just down the street. And the shopping...too bad we will be on such a tight budget, because the shopping is awesome. Short of a Nordstrom, the mall there has every store I could hope for.

So, start planning to come visit. We will have plenty of space and there are lots of fun things to do and see!!

And, we sold our house, which is a major blessing.

this kid is a crack up.

crisis averted

after a full day of frantically searching the house from top to bottom (a few time), after many sleepy tears shed, and one crazy momma, I am happy to report that we found P's snuggler. Where, you ask. Why in the shower, of course. Why didn't I think of that first thing?

So, guess what? Our house sold. Ahhh. Crazy. We feel beyond blessed to have this happen in such a short time. I went between feeling of elation and utter sadness today and I recongnized what moving out of this house will mean.

Let's not talk about that though. Today was event filled. I spent two VERY long hours thinking my husband was stuck somewhere on the Narrows (a VERY big river in Zion). He went out to Kayak it with some friends and sent me a message with his SPOT messenger telling me "I am okay, but please send help." After much time on the phone with the Park service I got a call from D. He couldn't understand why I was so upset until I told him about the message which he thought said, "I am okay, but we are running late." Be assurred he will be checking that next time before he leaves on one of his great adventures.

We had Douglas' sister and her husband in town this past weekend. It was such a great time. I love having company, especially family. We are blessed with awesome families that we both enjoy. I think that is unusual. We ate well, talked a lot and just had a fun time.

D turned the 3-2 yesterday. We celebrated with his free dinner at Red Robin and Calypso Pie. S has been doing Weight Watchers and has lost almost 25 pounds so this was really splurging for him. I am really proud of him. He is developing such great habits and looking pretty darn good!

I am going to make frosting for P's cupcakes for her princess tea party birthday tomorrow. Only three girls will be there, but it has been fun to plan. I never execute as many things as I plan though!!

Here are a few cute pictures of P from my photo blog. She is such a sweetie. We went out when D and J went to Father and Sons and went to Cafe Rio, frozen yogurt, and per her request, to take pictures. She is such a fun age and I just adore my momma's girl. Seriously, can you even get over how cute she is. We make dang cute kids.

Thursday

Sometimes I look at my kids and am overwhelmed with how cute they are and how much I love them. They are so little, yet so big. J's little lisp is so endearing and P's clear, grown up way of talking makes me laugh and want to squeeze the little thing.

Miss Dotty, my sitter, is here today. That means I am supposed to be working. I am dragging my feet. I have checked blogs, facebook, forums. I have so much to do and I don't want to. I really want to go to the quilt store and look at fabric. It is a sickness I got from my mom. I have been lying awake at night thinking about projects. Unfortunately I am in clean zone and the projects will remain undone most likely until we move.

I bought a box of strawberries on the side of the road in Cali on the way home. I think D thought I was crazy when I urgently ordered him to pull over. There are no strawberries quite the same as the fresh, side of the road variety. It makes me miss my parents living in Santa Barbara. I would go out there and we would stop on the way back from the airport and by flats of them. I would eat them until I was sick. Good times.

I just bought D's bday gift...the Lord of the Rings unabridged on CD. He wants to listen to it on the way to Michigan. 46 disks and something like 52 hours of audio. Yikes. He will be a happy camper. I'm not going to listen with him. I don't have that kind of attention span. He is hoping J will enjoy it since he spent the last few months telling him the story at bedtime.

Well, back to work. Wish me luck.

Thoughts

Well, I am happy to say I haven't been grouchy the entire time since my last post. We had a rough week or so, but life is back to normal, somewhat. I guess the new normal which equals crazy. Keeping the house "show worthy" all the time is hard, though it is making me better about putting things away after using them, scanning mail as it comes and shredding it and sometimes folding laundry.

We made the 12 hour drive each way to Greg's wedding in the San Fran area. It was a good, busy weekend. They were a beautiful couple and seem so happy. The kids were pleasantly well behaved, even with the late evenings, lack of naps and weird eating schedule. I think I was the worst in the car. It was such a LONG drive!!

Today I enjoyed a coconut shrimp taco at Cafe Rio. I will miss that place. I am getting a little nervous, scared, sad about the impending move. It will be here too soon and I will be leaving my life and so many people I love behind. Not to mention the tacos :). It is going to be tough. Don't worry though, I am stockpiling fabric so I will never be without a sewing project.

I looked at P today and was hit by the fact that she is no longer a toddler. She is a full fledged little girl. I can't believe she will be three soon. It seems like she has been with us forever, yet I remember her birth like it was yesterday. I am beginning to think about what it will be like if we decide to add a third to the crew. I remember with P thinking it would upset the rhythm and then she came and fit in so naturally. This is not an announcement, by any means. We have a few too many crazy things in our life right now to go and do something crazy like have another child. Someday though.

I am enjoying Dancing with the Stars this season. My favorites are Erin and Nicole. I think Derek is an amazing choreographer. I love watching his dances. I think I hope they win in the end.

I am going to try not to spend so much money this month. Last month was a doozey and it hurt. So many things going on and they are all expensive. Life is like that sometimes. I need to learn to be a poor college student again though so I better start practicing.

I have been busy taking pictures. Not too busy, but busy enough. I really enjoy having a client a week. It gives me a creative outlet. I feel a bit nervous about taking my biz to Michigan. I am going to be the breadwinner which is truly scary. I hope I can find clients quickly and be successful. I haven't had to support the family since we were first married and it was so stressful to me. I guess I am only made to work for play money :).

I am wearing a fleece today. WHAT?? It is almost the middle of May. Don't you fret though, it should be in the 90s by the end of the week. I didn't want a spring anyways. What fun are beautiful spring days?

Slowly...

I am turning into witchy mom. You see, I have never been good with sleep deprivation and Paige being sick = very little sleep. That sweet thing is mega hyprocondriac. I told her she needed some tylenol today and you would have thought I told her we were heading to Disneyland. It is strange. She asks to go to doctors, take medicine, use the humidifier. Anywho, she is also a sweet little thing that has a very, I mean VERY strong preference for....ME. and only ME. It should be endearing, but not at 2am when I send Douglas in to deal with her and I hear her flip out because she wants me.

I gave up and she has slept in my bed all week. Much better than getting up and going to her room 20 times a night. Douglas has slept in her room so that I don't freak in the middle of the night when I am cocooned in by him and my horizontally sleeping daughter. (and D has the gall to whine about being tired today...love him, but come on, have some sympathy.)

Now, J has croup as well. My sleepless nights are doubtless coming to an end any time soon. Is there any chance I will get off scott free from this whole coughing extravaganza? Not a chance. I have two little love bugs who have hacked in my face so many times today that I can't even count.

I just wish I could stay nice when I get tired. I can't. I have been trying for almost 32 years now. No sleep = Watch out.

Then, add having to keep my house clean. The word of choice is similar to witch, but a little more profane. I made J sit on the floor to watch a movie today because I had fixed the pillows on the couch and didn't want him to mess them up. Please pray that this house will sell soon so I can go back to my messy ways again. We are much happier that way.

Whine whine, right? I feel a little whiney this week. And I am not even going to try to think of five happy things to lift my spirits. I am tired and I think I will go to bed (for the hour or two I get before playing mom again) instead.

bedtime woes

I don't get it. Why can't they understand that once the kiss and hug have been administered, I am off duty until morning. No, Paige continues to yell to me from her locked door (yes, I am that mother...I lock my children in when they won't stay put...it is for their good) that she has to go potty. Nevermind that the last time she went was, well, 5 minutes ago. I am telling ya, that girl can pee on demand (though I am HAPPY to announce that she is finally potty trained through the night...unless I put her in my bed, and then she will pee). I digress. I just wish they could understand that I am OFF DUTY. Mean mom has arrived. I promise chitlens, you don't want to mess with me once I am off the clock.

Speaking of pee. Why is it that the life of a young mother involves so much bathroom related stuff? I am trying to get J to keep his pants dry at night or at least not pee so much that I am washing his sheets EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. I made a deal that every day he gets right up and goes potty (yes, he will lay in bed and relieve himself first thing in the morning--don't even get me talking about that...) and his bed is dry he can play the Wii. Did I mention that I love that machine. No, I didn't. I should have bought it YEARS ago. It is the first thing that provides any real motivation for that child. So, I told J I would get him up in the night before I retire and help him go potty. Last night I went in, helped him stumble to the bathroom, helped him get his pants down and WATCH OUT that thing was already a sprayin. I jumped and hollered. That stopped him up pretty quickly. There is nothing better than wiping down my bathroom at midnight.

I wish I would stay on top of this thing. My kids say some of the darndest things and by the time I sit down, I can't remember any of them.

And why is it that celebrity gossip affects my life. I have been feeling so sad for Sandra Bullock. I won't even say what I think of her husband. Now with that new baby...she must be a strong person. I just don't understand why people can't be faithful.

We are trying to get all the loose ends tied up and what not before we move. I decided to take the car in to get checked out. Ouch. That hurt. Sometimes it is better not to know (until of course you have a major problem because you didn't take care of the smaller ones).

Well, there you go, a bunch of rambling. Not even a picture to go along with it. You can't have it all, right?

Dieting Woes

So, I have a love hate relationship with dieting. Let's be honest friends, I love treats. I can say no to candy (though I also enjoy that) but when it comes to cookies, cakes, breads, muffins, brownies etc. I just don't have what it takes to say no.

I also love when I feel good about my body and am sans muffin top. My midsection likes a little extra padding so the second the weight comes on, it goes straight to the middle. There really is nothing better, though, than feeling like your bod looks hot. My grandma has a quote that says, "nothing tastes as good as thin feels." It is true.

None the less, in that moment of eating, I can continually forget this and that cookie wins out. It is the same with getting up early. I may know that it needs to be done, but when that alarm goes off, there is little that makes me actually commit to getting out of bed. I have the amazing ability to turn the alarm off and go right back to sleep even when I know it will throw my whole day off and I will regret it later.

Same with staying up late. I am seeing a trend...self discipline is just not my thing, I guess.

So, as you can imagine, trying to lose weight is no fun. I mean, of course it isn't. Having self discipline isn't a strength and eating is, well, just really enjoyable.

When Douglas decided that he needed to loose some poundage I decided to get on board too. I mean, I can do anything for 11 weeks and when it is really important I can muster up enough will power to do it. We are two weeks into Weight Watchers. I have done it before and let me tell you, it is much easier when someone is suffering with you. I eat a lot of Golden Spoon and spend my points foolishly, oft times, but I have already lost a few.

And I have been running. Never thought I would say that, but I am actually sort of enjoying it. Go figure.

But, all this being said, I have been at my brothers for the last week and dieting while on vacation is tough. I have a lot of repenting to do when I get home, but until then, I think I will enjoy another chocolate chip cookie (have I ever mentioned they are my fav??). Shhh...don't tell Douglas.

Childhood

My kids are outside in the pouring rain, soaking, jumping on the tramp and having the time of their lives. Isn't that what being a kid is all about??

BTW...I think spring stopped for a day on her way through, winter convinced her to leave and has no plans to return anytime soon. Dang global warming.

Wowzers...a new week already??

Am I ready for it. Sundays are LONG days with those two crazy children of mine, but it sure is nice not having to do anything really...no laundry, no packing, no yard work, no errand running and usually a BIG FAT NAP. Not to mention that my hubby lets me sleep in until I feel like pulling my lazy bones out of bed sometime around 10am. It was pretty spectacular.

Life is crazy and hectic here. You see, I am supposed to have my house ready to list to sell on Thursday. I did tell the realtor to give me until Monday and now that I have made plans to go out to my brothers that week I have added motivation. I am getting there, but it is a lot of work. I have packed up most of the kids toys. They don't really play with them anyway. I think they just enjoy getting them all out and letting me clean them up. The downstairs has been repainted, furniture moved out, counters cleaned off. We are getting there, but I still have my office (shudder), bedroom and the junk room. I call it the junk room though it is actually the guest room, because it has been my catch all the last two months. It is a disaster. Oh, and my studio. Sad, but my living room is going to be that again while we try to sell this blessed place. I truly saved the worst for last. If anyone wants to volunteer to help, I will gladly accept.

I purchased a Scansnap. My life is overtaken by papers and I have finally decided to pay the money and get a good, fast, reliable printer that will do more than cause headaches and swear words. I will head out to Costco for a shredder tomorrow and we are going totally paperless. I can already sense the relief this will bring.

So, Monday threw us for a loop when Douglas got a letter in the mail telling him that he had been chosen to recieve a fellowship that will cover all of his tuition and fees at the University of Michigan. Awesome, yes, but considering we had chosen to go to Virginia and have spent the last three months planning for that, it caught us totally off guard. It has sunk in and I can't tell you how awesome it will be to get out of graduate school with only a fraction of the student loans. To say we feel blessed is a complete understatement. I feel undeserving as well, but blessed.

So, Michigan. Yeah.

I have really been going crazy with the kiddos lately. I have a lot of stress right now with everything going on and it takes its toll. I definitely struggle to find patience when I am just anxious about everything going on. J is so difficult for me to parent. He fights me about EVERYTHING. It is exhausting. And he fibs a lot which drives me insane. I am teaching him that you get in a lot more trouble when you lie about something you did wrong, but it is a difficult concept. He can be such a sweet, affectionate boy, but I tell you, the times in between about do me in. I am trying to be consistent and refer back to the books I have read, but it drains my energy, that is for sure. I think school will be such a positive thing for him next year. I think it will give his brain something to do, allow him to socialize which he loves and hopefully our time together will be more positive.

And Miss P...holy tornado. I can't keep up with that girl. Seriously. She is into EVERYTHING all.the.time. I put her to bed only to come upstairs and find her in her bathroom with every hair product known to mankind in her hair, a sink full of wet toliet paper and soap and she has changed clothes because she decided to wet her pants first. Ahhhhhh. I can't turn my back on her.

And Jackson started a fire in my kitchen yesterday. I was gone and D was mowing the lawn and J was inside with a lighter lighting a Target bag and consequently all the rubbermaid containers I had purchased for packing, on fire. I am glad he was smart enough to run and find Douglas (after trying to use a cup to pour water on it). I think it freaked the living tar out of him and I am so grateful our house didn't go up in flames. I guess it would have made packing a little easier...just kidding.

D and I started Weight Watchers this week. He really wants to lose weight and be healthier and I have about five to drop as well. It is really unfair though because he gets about twice the points I do :). I miss baking, but I know it will be just for three months, so I can handle it (and even shorter if I lose the weight before then).

Well, that about sums up the week. Wish me luck this week...it is going to be a crazy one!

hello again!!

I was cleaning out the pantry this past week as part of the whole getting ready to sell the house thing and came across some salsa that had oviously been bottled by me last October. I have absolutely NO recollection of botteling salsa a mere 5 months ago. That tells you a bit of how things have been around here. I am happy to say that we have finally decided on a business school...UVA (University of Virginia) Darden School of Business in Charlottesville, VA. We are very excited and nervous about the adventure, but really feel like it is the right thing for our family and are feel really blessed that Douglas got into such a great business school. I won't get started on all the things that will make this move very hard...we will save that for another post someday.

We are hoping to list our house in the next couple of weeks. The market stinks, but we would still really like to be able to leave without the responsibility of a house on top of everything else. It is SO much work to get rid of things and organize. I feel like my house has turned into a complete wreck while I have tried to get it ready.

I am toying with the idea of making my blog private. I have for some time, but the thought of adding in all the emails is a little overwhelming presently. I know it is a pain, but I often wonder about the safety factor of having my life open for the whole wide world to read about.

J has said some funny things lately. He learned how to do a flip on the trampoline while my inlaws were here and when D asked him how he learned he replied, "it all began with a somersault."

Also, when D's parents were here we went to Red Robin where both of my kids frequented the bathroom. I have a dislike for public toliets and yet get the honor of visiting them at almost every establishment we go to. After our dinner I ran over to the craft store with J, P and my MIL. I went with P to look for something and J was with my MIL. She told me later that he had to go to the bathroom really bad (again) and when they left the b-room he could hear me coming and told Grandma to hurry because he and P had already used the b-room 4 times at Wred Wrobin and if I found out that he went again I would "FWEEK OUT" (Imagine dramatic hand gentures). That kid.

Then, today at church after some thinking J told me that if someone prayed to satan they would say "dear heavenly satan". Where does he come up with these things?

He constantly makes us laugh. We are trying to teach he and Paige how to be more respectful and one of the things Douglas wanted to do (especially since we are moving to the south) is to teach them to say no and yes maam and sir. J has picked it up well, but if you ever remind P to say yes maam she will say, "no maam". She is such a feisty little stinker.

I am making a goal to update this blog more. I feel like I have missed the last 9 months. It really has been crazy around here with GMAT and applications and classes. I always feel like I am missing out on documenting the kids lives though.

Here is one picture for now. I made bird feeders with the kids but P was really only concerned with eating the rest of the pb.