We're Homeless!!

Not out on the streets homeless, more like temporarily living with a good friend homeless. We packed away all of our worldly possessions, filled this moving truck (twice!), and put it all away in storage on Saturday. It's going to be a little crazy for a little while but we are crazy kind of people and we ain't scared.

Sadly I won't be able to blog regularly until we get into our new home. We've only been at Ryan's house for two days and I've already had to have talks like "It's not okay to go into people's bedrooms whenever you want." and " Please no running at full speed from one end of the house to the other." I'm going to miss ranting over my family's daily wrestling matches, and gushing over the cuteness of my children. But it's only temporary. I'll be back soon, and I'm sure I'll have lots of great stories to tell!

My Golden Shower

In case you didn't know, my dad is a sheriff. Yesterday he received an award for saving a man's life who was lost in the desert. He was an illegal and had been walking in the desert for days with his brother. His brother did not survive the walk and this man was close to death himself. He called the police to find him and based on the description of his surroundings my dad was able to find him and save him.

I am so proud of him and what he does. I really really am. He saves people and keeps them safe. It takes a brave person to do his job and he does it well.

Okay back to my shower though.

I took the boys to the award ceremony. We got there a little early so we sat down and waited with my dad. James was good the entire time! Well... The entire time before the ceremony started. As soon as the whole thing started he was not happy anymore. He didn't want to be held and he didn't want to be quiet either. All he really wanted to do was squirm in my lap and sing.

Then twenty minutes into the ceremony my lap got really warm. Uh oh. His diaper leaked. Were aren't talking a little leak either. I am talking a dinner plate size leak all over the front of my pants. Can't ignore that one. So I got up and hiked James back to the van (we parked far far away) to change him. I tried to ignore all the annoying people I passed who were saying (Uh oh, looks like someone had an accident." Thank you for stating the obvious people. I make it to the van and changed him and what do ya know, there is no extra clothes in the diaper bag. Now I had a dilemma. Do I take him in there with just a diaper on? Do I wait outside and miss the whole thing? Do I put his soaking wet shorts back on him? What to do...

I really didn't want to miss my dad's award so I dried his shorts the best I could and let them bake in the sun for a few minutes and put the pee shorts back on him. Gross I know. Then we hiked back to the ceremony just in time to have missed my dad's award. That's right I missed the whole thing! That completely sucked.

We still had to sit through the remaining 100 or so other people getting their award before we could leave. By the time it was over (over an hour later), James was completely fed up with the whole thing.

We went over to my dad's house after and had some good food. Carne asada, rice, beans, potato salad. Yum, it was sooo good. My dad is da bomb when it comes to cooking carne asada.

So that is the story of my golden shower.

Our Life in HGTV Shows

(We watch way too much tv)


At first we were Property Virgins

Then we were House Hunters

Now we are trying to buy My First Place

We will become Weekend Warriors

Then we will be doing some Design on a Dime or maybe even some Freestyle, but hopefully no Decorating Cents

We will add a Color Splash

Hopefully we won't need any Hammer Heads

And definitely don't want to get in Way Over Our Heads

Pretty soon we will be showing off our Divine Design!

Chicken

That was all I had to say to convince my sister to make the long journey to our house for a visit. She loves my chicken. For good reason, it's delicious. It's one of the few things I can make that all three boys enjoy. It has been crazy around here for the past week with all the packing and cleaning and packing. So it was nice to chill out and hang out with my sis and niece and nephew for a bit. They are so funny around the boys. Ryan loves it. He gets to be rough and tough and play cool boy games for a change. Angel was frustrated because Marcus didn't want to play Mom and Dad with her. Boys just aren't into that sort of thing

They were all into riding around out front. I love it when they get to play together. I wished we lived closer so the kids could grow up playing together everyday.

Angel with her pretty long hair. She is starting school this year and is Lil Miss Diva now.

Ryan entertained James during dinner. He showed me how he can count to five. One, two, pee, pour, pive.

See how much work we have got accomplished? Two full pallets wrapped and ready to load. Plus there is one more that you can't see in the picture. We are expert movers.


Sarah and her pretty new haircut.

James was NOT interested in being held by her at first. He definitely shows some preference to mom and dad now, but after a while he snuggled right up to her too.

Five more days until moving day. We will be doing some temporary housing until we can close on the house. We are still trying to find a pet sitter for our poor cat. Ughh, temporary housing is not going to be fun.

Memories

Some of my favorite memories from my childhood are of my mom and my sister and I playing name that tune on our old faithful record player. My mom was usually the DJ and me and Sarah were the song guessers. Because of my mom, even at the age of 8 I was intensely into singers such as Don Maclean, Steve Miller Band, Pink Floyd, and Billy Joel. The days we played name that tune were magical to me. My mom was happier then than she ever was in my childhood, she could spend time with us and just be herself. We would dance and sing and laugh and life was perfect.

Twenty years later, I still listen to those old songs. Every time I play them it takes me right back to those happy childhood memories. The boys know them and like them too. When Mike is off at work we often play them and dance around the house. I can let loose around the kids and not be self conscious about my lack of dancing skills. I grew up knowing how to do the butterfly, the tootsie roll, and that casual dance that Will Smith taught Kevin James in Hitch, and that's about it. Actually I dance a lot like Kevin James did in that movie too.

It's such great fun to dance with them. I forget all my daily stresses and worries and just enjoy my beautiful children.

Maybe some day they will remember it as fondly as I do too.

He Says Ca Ca

Yep I taught him that. I taught him to say ca ca. And to shake his head no. I don't know where her learned that weird hand wave thing from. It makes us laugh whenever he does it though because I have never seen a baby do that before.

We practice saying ca ca every time I am changing his diaper. He is freaking strong too! It is practically impossible to get this boy to stay still long enough for a diaper change. He thinks it's funny to try to flip over in the middle of the ordeal. I don't.

He is covered in his favorite food in the video. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Oh and all that background noise, that isn't the tv. That is what my house sounds like the entire time the boys are awake during spring break. That's why I send them outside. Too much noise!

Stubborn

Stubborn: Firmly resolved or determined; resolute.

No he is not trying to get a sun tan. This was the protest demonstration in the backyard when I made the boys turn off the video games and sent them outside to play. I think he sprinkled the dirt on his arms and legs to make himself look more pitiful. I just ignored him and snuck a picture of him through the back window.

What a mean mom I am.

Need a Cheering Section?

Need someone to cheer you on to victory while playing Wrestlemania? Short on available friends who are willing to watch?

We got you covered.

It's time to come out of the closet

This is my office.

It is tucked away in our bedroom closet.

Yes that is right, I said my closet. My desk sits right next to our dirty clothes basket and my wedding dress. And every time I go on break that dang cat steals my chair! It has worked out great for me since it is the quietest room in the house, but Mike can't lay James down for a nap when he is fussy because he cries too loud. I do need a quiet room because I work from home taking calls from crazy people all day who want a credit card and a crying baby probably wouldn't be very professional background music. As you can see I have tried to spruce the closet up with pictures taped to cardboard (I try to minimize the tacks since we live in a rental) and some pictures the boys have drawn me, but it is still a closet. I can't wait to move into our new house and I have a 10 x10 room with a window. I dream of putting in a mini fridge stocked with nothing but my beloved Diet Dr Pepper, or maybe even have a tv in there too to sneak a peak at in between calls, on mute of course. Now that would be cool!

I am counting down the days until I can come out of the closet.

He

Is very soft spoken

Is painfully shy

Loves to play any card game

Still likes to talk like a baby

Is the messy one

Is as stubborn as they come

Likes to skateboard

Still sucks his thumb

Is ambidextrous

Likes to comb my hair (I like it too)

Is the one who gets straight As

Thinks soft blankets are the best thing in the world

Is terrified of bugs

Loves to watch I Carly

Has a mature sense of humor

Is very artistic

Is a great big brother

Makes his mom proud

Some Michiganders Blew in

Finally we got some surprise visitors that we were actually happy to see! Tom and Mena came into town and stopped by to visit for a few hours. We got to sneak in and show them the new house which we love to do. If anyone is interested in touring our future digs just let us know and we will be happy to. The only requirement is that you have to tell us how awesome it is at least twice.

They even brought potato salad! I have a huge weakness for good potato salad and oh was it good. I finished off what was left of it for dinner. I think I could eat it every day.

James was a little leary of the new faces. He is getting to that age where if he doesn't recognize you he starts looking for mom or dad. Preferably dad. After they left he did spend the next hour gnawing on all the books they gave to him for his birthday. Mmm cardboard.

I loved visiting and didn't want them to leave. With Mike working afternoons and me working from home I don't get to enjoy a whole lot of adult conversation so when I get the opportunity I jump on it.

Picture Perfect Minus the Excursion

Mike gave me a get out of jail free card today. I had sentenced myself to yet another day of laundry and packing and cleaning but he suggested a day of relaxation and fun instead.

He didn't have to twist my arm very hard.

Instead we pulled out a deck of very worn out playing cards and partook in a bit of gambling with our very underage children. Hey, if they are going to play sometime then they might as well be good at it right? Plus we do have a lot of poker knowledge to bestow onto them and that may take a few years. We played in between, five card draw, and seven card stud. We mostly played in between since the boys understood that one the best. Marcus loves to bet pot and usually calls the first ace high. Nathan is very cautious and doesn't bet very many hands unless he has a decent chance. Jason was having bad luck and couldn't catch a break.

After James woke up we went down to the park.

We fed the ducks and tried to not throw the bread to the nasty coot birds. Marcus LOVES to feed the ducks and made his bread last close to a half an hour.

James liked to see the ducks but he just kept eating the bread. He's a chunk for a reason.


See, he's got cankles.


Mike and Nathan played some basketball, and Jason found a couple of kids from his class and played football with them. It was the perfect day for the park. The boys rolled down the grassy hills, skate boarded, and played on the jungle gym while I lazed in the grass.

When James started getting fussy we grudgingly decided it was time to head on home.

Mike headed out on a mission to get fourteen sets of door knobs that we found on Craig's list for an amazing $5! It was such an amazing deal it was worth the three hour drive.

So now we don't have any clean clothes and there is a funny smell coming from the kitchen, but it was worth it. We had played and had fun instead.

Sunday Morning

Gripes

I am trying to keep my cool right now. Lots of stuff has been going on lately and none of them are things that I was hoping for. I am trying to look at the silver lining but GAH! today was the icing on the cake. I need to vent.

First, our rental property management company has listed our house as available and we have been getting random visitors stopping by to tour our house. Our first visitors came right in the middle of James' birthday party! I wouldn't mind it so much if we were given a bit of notice but it is usually a ten minute heads up or just a knock at the door. Not cool. I don't really like people perusing around in my untidy house unannounced. I think I have reaching my threshold of tolerance on this and can't wait until we can get out of this house.

Next, James has been really really unhappy and clingy ever since a couple of days before his birthday. He was sick for a while but is better now, but he won't stop crying! The only time he is not crying is when I am holding him and walking around. I can't even sit because he will cry. I know he just wants his mama but as much as I want to I can't carry him around all day long. He starts screaming if I try to get him to play with a toy or even attempt to put him down. I don't know what to do!! If this keeps up much longer a visit to the doctor will be on next week's priority list.

Third, Mike's scooter has been sadly sitting in the garage for over a month now needing a repair that is unknown to us. Mike has done his best trying to fix it. It's not like there is a manual or a local chinese scooter part store so he has been ordering parts online and trying his best to do it himself. Today he finally threw in the towel and called a repair shop to get it fixed. I'm happy my husband knows his limits. They even offered towing service!

Lastly, our closing date is going to have to be pushed back. The bank is experiencing an extensive wait time for underwriting due to an influx of purchases and our currently working on loans that were submitted on Feb 18th! We are trying to get an extension on the closing date approved with the seller. This is very bad news for us since we still have to be out of here come the 1st. It's getting a little stressful right about now as far as having to stay with friends for an unknown amount of time and also figuring out my job situation. Since I work from home I have to find a place to set up my home office. I'm sure it will all come together in the end, it's just that getting there is a little unnerving at times.

In the mean time, the three amigos have been helping me out by entertaining James while I make dinner and helping with the turbo cleaning when unexpected guests call last minute. They are precious. When James goes to bed for the night at 8ish I read to them a chapter from the book Dragon Rider. They pile onto the floor with their pillows and blankets, and occasionally a snack. I love reading to them just as much as they love it. It's beautiful moments like these that I treasure the most.

I am lucky to have such a beautiful family, inside and out.

See look where I ended up. I started off complaining about all my issues and finish with what is really important. I feel better now.

And so it Begins

Without an exact date nailed down as to when we are moving, I begin our packing rituals. We have moved so many times in the past ten years that we actually have a moving routine. I sort, and pack, and purge. Mike gets it all into the truck, out of the truck, and into the right room. He is also the official moving truck driver. I think I would have a severe panic attack if I ever had to drive that beast of a truck. After everything is in the right spot I begin the unpacking. We have gotten so good that at the end of moving day our new house is usually completely unpacked. No dilly dallying on that day.

As far as when we will move, we aren't sure. We are hoping to close early so that we would only have to move from point A to point B. If that doesn't happen then we would have to move out of this house and be out of here by the first. Then store our stuff, and bunk up with some poor sucker (Ryan) who will take us in for a week until we close. We are really hoping we can close early so we don't have to move everything twice.

One thing I have to admit that I like about moving is we (I) go through pretty much everything we own and get rid of all the unused/unnecessary stuff that we have collected. I am a purger. So far I have packed five boxes and tossed out four trash bags of junk. Throwing stuff out makes me feel a little less stressed for some reason.


As I was packing today, Nathan was pretty much under my feet the entire time. I must have almost stepped on him four or five times in the span of an hour until I took a break and made dinner. I am going to have to find more creative ways to keep him busy while I pack.


And this boy who shall remain nameless had a brilliant idea today. While I was packing he decided to wash out his popcorn tin he got from Christmas. Too bad he didn't think to poor out the popcorn first. He had filled the tin up with water and was mixing it when I walked into the kitchen. Maybe he was just trying to make popcorn soup. Who knows with our boys, they have some of the strangest ideas. One time Jason got toothpaste on his blanket that was in his bed. Instead of taking his blanket off of his bed to clean it, he decided to carry some water from his bathroom in his cupped hands up to his top bunk to wash off his blanket. The mind of a child is very entertaining.

I am very much looking forward to this move. To know that we won't have to move again for a long long time is such an amazing thing. I am excited to make the house our own, to meet our new neighbors, to have a real office, and to be a home owner. I'm so proud of Mike. If it weren't for his persistence we never would be doing this. I was convinced we couldn't buy a house yet, and he patiently persuaded me to try. I love that man of mine.

Boxing Gloves

My dad is the one in the family who gives those gifts that normally require permission before giving. Not that he asks. Boxing gloves are a prime example.

These are real deal boxing gloves too! I cringe every time these come out of their rooms. Seriously, they fight/wrestle so much already I didn't think gloves were really necessary, but my dad thought it was the perfect gift. Jason likes to play with them the most. His favorite opponent is Marcus and he refuses to fight with me. I don't know why.

I think there was a lot of crying after this picture. Some other great gifts my dad has given the boys are sling shots, BB guns (and that was because I refused to let him give them real guns, I'm not joking! The BB guns also have to stay at my dad's house.), and real tools (such as power drills and wood saws). Thanks dad!

Party like it's March 7, 2009

Yesterday was James' official birthday party. All the family came over to our house to celebrate and eat our lasagna and cupcakes in exchange for a birthday present for James.


The boys made really cute and festive signs for the party on poster board. This one is Nathan's sign. Marcus' sign reminded everyone to use their manners and to cover their mouth when they cough.


We hung out, played the wii, everyone took turns playing with the birthday boy, hovered around the food, and had a great time. The older kids went on a long bike ride around the lake and chased the ducks. The adults split off in their usual groups. Men in one room, ladies in the other, that way we could talk about each other safely.


Then it was present time. I was the one helping James open his presents and my husband is not a shutterbug kind of guy so sadly we didn't get any pictures. I took this one after all the presents were open. It's not very good since no one is smiling or looking at the camera but hey, it's all I got. James seemed to like the presents in gift bags. He knew how to get to the gift in those ones. I ended up opening the ones that were wrapped. After they were out of their packaging he loved them all.


Especially this. He is really good at going backwards in it. It also works as a walker since the back of it is tall for him to hold on to and walk. I made the mistake of letting him try to walk with it today. He is not interested in learning to walk and is very careful not to fall whenever he scoots along the furniture. When I let him try to walk with it and the wheels started going, he didn't have a chance. Toppled over is a good description of what happened. He bumped his bean and was very mad at me. Sorry little man, no more bright ideas from mom I promise.

It was so funny when we sang happy birthday to him. He didn't have a clue what was going on and stared at us like we are all crazy! Afterwords he was real excited to see another cupcake waiting for him.

Om nom nom nom


He is turning into a professional cupcake eater. After his cupcake of course it was bath time again. He did so good all day. He still isn't feeling well and had been so good all day. He sort of fell apart though after his bath and really needed a nap so we laid him down.


Nathan really loves cupcakes too. Everyone tried to get him in trouble by making him look like he ate 10 or so cupcakes. I think he was worried but I know Nathan and he wouldn't do that. Right Nathan?

While James was taking a nap and the guys were playing Nintendo, I got to take my mom and my Aunt Sharon to go see our new house. I was really excited to show them and also sort of nervous because I really wanted them to like it. My mom drooled over the size of my closet and Sharon loved our little backyard. I was glad they both liked the house.

It was a great day. I love hanging out with my family. I wish we could do it every weekend. I wish we all lived within a mile radius of each other, that would make it all a lot easier. I still can't believe James is one year old already. He has grown so fast and so much already.

We have Talent

This is the kind of stuff we do when we are bored on a Friday night.

Win, Lose, or Draw

Marcus got an easel for Christmas and it has definitely gotten a lot of use already. We play a lot of guess the drawing games win, lose or draw style. The artist gets to pick whatever they like to draw and everyone else has to guess what it is. Sometimes we do movie titles but mostly we stick to things.


Tonight I played it with Marcus and Nathan. Jason was off being anti social somewhere. They both drew pictures and I was supposed to guess what they were.


James likes to get all the chalk out of the chalk holders and eat them which really makes Marcus mad. I am always surprised and horrified when he tries to eat the chalk. It can't possibly taste good and the thought of eating it makes me shiver.


This is what Marcus drew. Okay now get your head out of the gutter. It's a whale! You knew that right? So did I.


This is a Nathan face. He does this face when you tell him something that is sort of funny but not funny enough to laugh at. He loves to draw, and spends hours on a single picture sometimes. His typical drawing involves a battle scene of some sort with weapons. I have had to explain to him that it is okay to draw these pictures but not at school and definitely not on the back of homework.


This was the picture he drew me. Did you guess warrior? I didn't. My first thought was- Am I raising a womanizing republican?. My second thought was- Oh good, it has five fingers and no thumbs on it's hands. It can't be a self portrait, it must be someone else. Whew, I was worried there for a second!