Finally a Picture

I finally took a picture of the house. I think every single box is unpacked. I'm sure there are 1 or 2 that have slipped into a dark corner somewhere. It's been nice to spread out more and not have everyone on top of eachother. I keep getting so many decorating ideas and it will be fun to get started, especially since the whole upstairs hasn't been painted at all. I'm glad that my furniture works well. It's a cozy house and Olivia told me, "I'm used to living here now."

Things I love about the new house...

a garage that I can drive into

lots of members of our new ward live within walking distance

3 toilets...I love having a choice of which bathroom to use

More kitchen space

we still have a little front porch

the piano is not in the same room as the tv

a whole extra 4th bedroom with NOTHING in it right now

sidewalks

Being able to have the tv at a normal volume after the kids go to bed because they are sleeping "all the way upstairs"

having a closet that both mine and Joey's clothes fit into

I will be able to just paint without having to fix the whole room first

We don't have to redo the bathroom or the kitchen

It is feeling like home....

Moving...

is busy. We moved July 1st then left for 10 days. We were visiting my parents while Joey was out of town. We're home now and starting to settle in thanks to lots of help from my mom and my grandma and grandpa. They all came along for the fun. Moving is so much better with family around. I love the new space, but I'm not used to living on a different side of town yet. We've been running errands and fixing up a few things at the other house getting it ready to rent and showing it to prospective renters. It is getting hard when they all LOVE your house and are excited about it. I will feel bad when we have to pick just one person and then tell the others they didn't get it.
I'm looking forward to things settling down a little and to get some paint on these walls! Then it will feel more like home. No pictures yet....my card reader isn't hooked up to the computer.

Saying Goodbye

6 and a half years ago we went house hunting. I had my new baby in tow and we were looking at older homes because I had dreams of fixing up a little house. I looked in many disgusting places and they just didn't feel right. Then I came across this little house. It was small, needed lots of work and love, but I could just envision my life there...after it was all fixed up of course. It desperately needed new windows, it was dusty, stinky, the bathroom was gross, but somehow it was charming to me and I wanted to live there. Tomorrow we will be officially moved out. We moved the kitchen over today and unpacked that and tomorrow will be all the furniture. This little house has so many memories and it is so hard to leave. Whenever I would leave town, or even leave to run errands, I love to come home. The red door, the shutters and the flowers always bring a smile to my face. I love all the memories I have of playing in the front yard and on the porch. For some reason that is the gathering place. I love the memories we have in the kitchen, watching my kids grow and make messes helping me bake. There is such a happy feeling here. I love the memories of having my mom help me decorate, my grandpa helping us fix up the house, family visiting as our own family grows. I know that we will have many more memories to come. I know that our new home will also be a happy place. Browsing through old photos I felt so content. Through all of our good times and through all of our trials there are so many blessings. Life takes us down many roads and I love this one I'm on.

Olivia was just a baby when we moved in.

Joey put in the sprinklers, layed sod, and tore down that ugly fence and put up a new one. All things he had never done before.

Sammie was born. My little 5 pound baby.

These two always having fun.

My first going off to kindergarten.

Abby was born and we really became a family of girls.

Lots of laughing and goofing off.

Goodbye...we'll miss you. But at least I get to take all these munchkins along.

Cereal and other Thoughts

My mom always bought us non-sugary cereals. I never ate Apple Jacks, or Golden Crisp, or Lucky Charms. I remember that we always had a huge box of bland Cornflakes. It was always the biggest one that seemed to never empty. And for some reason in my family no one wanted to be the one to empty a box of anything. You would grab a box of cereal and there would a tablespoon left on the bottom. Anyway...we would have Wheaties and Raisin Bran. Every once in a while we would get Honey Nut Cheerios and it was like heaven. It was the only sugared cereal we got. We would sneak spoonfuls of sugar from the pantry and put it on our blah cereal and then there was always a whole spoonful left on the bottom of the bowl. Then we'd spoon the sugary milky blob into our mouths. mmmm....

Joey is out of town working on his Master's degree in Ohio. Not a whole lot has been going on. I've been getting so much help and it is a blessing. I wouldn't be able to make it through the week otherwise. The girls have been playing with friends. I've been trying to rest as much as I can. We got the house keys. Yipee! I can't wait to start moving. I watched America's Got Talent last night and there are some weird people out there. I had a CT scan. That was interesting. My favorite part of the day is reading to Olivia and Sammie before bed. I love watching Abby discover new things. I find that my day is filled with many blessings and the greatest blessings come in the smallest ways. And I am grateful.

My Ballerina

Since my girls love to dance and prance around the house, putting Olivia in dance seemed the natural thing to do. And you know what? She LOVES it and she's good at it too. She was so graceful with her long limbs up on stage. I loved watching her perform and I was so proud of her. She was scared about performing at first, but then realized it wasn't so bad after the numerous rehearsals leading up to the recital. And the fact that she got to wear makeup really excited her and she got sprayed with glitter before the show which got her even more excited. She danced the part of a "pixie" in the enchanted forest. Their recital had a theme for all of the ballerinas and it turned out adorable with all of the little twirls and mess ups and waving to parents and gigantic smiles.

Summer days

We won't be doing a whole lot this summer since I am still not fully recovered...long story. blah blah blah. But it is nice to just get out in the backyard. The girls have mostly been coloring and cutting things out and making a glorious mess all over the table. Then they love to play in the little pool in the backyard. It's nice to keep things simple. I think that is one of the MANY things I have learned through all of these months being sick...simple is better and it's more fun too. Just watching my kids have fun together is a blessing and I love them for making me smile when I want to cry. They help me forget about the hard things and focus on the good things because there are so many Good Things. ( :

When I wasn't looking

This is what I found on my camera the other day...Silly Girls.

First Swim of the Year and Sisters

The girls really wanted to go swimming on Memorial Day...so we did. Abby looked adorable in her ruffly blue swimsuit. Abby loved the water and reminded me of Sammie at that age when she was fearless around water. Now Sammie is scared of it. But she will get in a little. Olivia loves to swim and her legs look a mile long in a swimsuit. My little girl is getting even taller. It was fun to watch my girls all together. They are so different from one another but most definitely "sisters." They love eachother and they push eachother's buttons. They make eachother cry and then are hugging and laughing the next minute. When Olivia and Sammie fight I always separate them and say some motherly thing like, "Well, you two just can't play together right now." The thought of that is unbearable to them. They make up quickly with this attitue of, "we might as well get along because it's better than not getting along."