the house story

ok .. so i've brought it up a few times .. and have gotten a few questions ... so here are the whats ... whys ... wheres ... whens ...and hows :)

although we built our current house only 8 years ago - we have continued to watch new housing for the past few years. we are just fine in the house we are in. but from a long term perspective, we want to get into something that is more permanant. something that was more "what we really wanted".

SO ... a few of our neighbors moved into a new development that is being built up here. it is beautiful. it is full of families. and it seems like a great fit. so we started looking around more seriously.

we looked through TONS of floor plans. AND ... we have FINALLY created one that we like and have found a builder willing to build it for a really good price. the added bonus was that this builder has a lot that we really like. (4 houses down from one old neighbor. and the backyard touches corners with another)

that brings us to where we are now. we hired a stager and are in the process of getting our house ready to sell. it should be staged and ready by the end of next week.

the builder will start our house about a month after our house is on the market. and from there it will probably take about 4 months. should we sell before our house is done (which we are REALLY hoping for) ... the builder has a temporary townhouse that we can move into and live for free! (so the sooner we sell ... the more we can save!!)

as we get closer to making this reality i am finding myself excited - but yet hesitant.

although only 5-7 minutes away - the new house is in a new school district. so i'm left with the dilemma of pulling the boys and enrolling them in the new school(option A), or keeping them where they are (option B). a big part of me wants to leave them because i know so many of the teachers (and love them) and have also gotten to know so many parents. however, it makes sense to pull them now. ben is just starting kindergarten in the fall and drew will only be in 2nd grade. BUT ... the new school (A) is only K-3. at that point they move to an intermediate school for 4 and 5. PLUS ... this school (A) runs half day kindergarten which i REALLY dislike! i've considered switching drew (to A), but leaving ben here (at B) for kindergarten simply to have the "ideal" kindergarten schedule for both of us. (full day every other day)

basically ... i know they will be fine no matter what i do. i don't really think there is a WRONG choice. BUT .. it is a VERY emotional one for me because i want what is best for my kids - always. so i'm left wanting to fast foward 10 years and see which has the best outcome. and that's something i obviously can't do :)

in the long run i know that we will be SO happy that we did it now - before we, or the boys, get any more attached. but ... change is hard. we are leaving a great neighborhood. and we are leaving a house that holds a lot of memories. and neither one of those is easy for me ;)

so ... that's the story. that's where we are at. and that's why without question i need to start each day out with at least a grande starbucks :)

** as a side note - if anyone is great at decorating - or loves looking at floorplans and is full of ideas ... let me know .. i'll forward you ours and you can give me some ideas ;) **

the race is on ...

drew and ben may be fast on their scooters ...

BUT ...

alex has FINALLY mastered a way of keeping up :)

neighbors and disclaimers

today we were SO lucky!
we got to have our old neighbors, katelyn and brady, over ALL day!

ben and katelyn had a blast!
ben says he wants katelyn to be his girlfriend and i think that's a great idea!
at least then i might get to see them more often!

now ... you may notice that there are no pictures of brady.
WELL ... brady decided to fall on his scooter just 2 hours into the day.
from that point on he refused to put any pressure on his leg.
i even took them to mcdonalds playland - thinking what 3 year old can't resist that?!
didn't work. he sat on my lap (or tried) the whole time!
BUMMER.
SO ... we don't have the official word yet ... but the urgent care clinic sent him home in a soft cast temporarily
and it's not looking too good :(

pray for brady
AND
let that be your warning -
if you ask me to watch your kids ... i make no guarantees.

perspective

last night a terrible storm blew through the cities. a 2 yr old little boy from our church was killed by one of the tornados.
please pray for this family. their 4 yr old little girl is still in the hospital - in stable condition.
although our church is very large - and i didn't know this family - i've had them on my heart.

it's truly amazing how quickly life can change.
and ... how quickly i can be reminded that as crabby as our almost 2 yr old has been for the past few days ... it could be much worse :(

designed to sell

this weekend we have been working at getting our house ready to sell

apparently ... alex has been feeling left out when it comes to making decorating decisions.

SO ... today i am thankful for washable markers.



(and no ... i didn't plan the curious george shirt)

a scooter built for two

drew and ben have discovered that
when you only have one scooter along -
but want to get home quickly -
you need to get creative.

run drew run

today was a busy day!
it was track and field day at drew's school, so we spent all day cheering on the 1st grade boys!

i wasn't sure what to expect going in to it.
BUT ... the events today were simple and the goals were attainable (nothing like doing pull ups!!) so i was pleasantly surprised :)

drew ... you did a GREAT job!
you were a great runner ...
you were super duper fast on the obstacle course ...
and you ROCKED at the tug of war.

HOWEVER ... i have to say that each of those "talents" takes a back seat to your ability to balance a water bottle on your head.

if they just would have made that an event!!

and he was a curious little monkey ...

although they may look quite similar ...

my first and second born are two VERY different individuals.

ben does things that drew would never even consider.


for example:

*picking up a dirty baseball and licking it (seriously ... who does that?!)

*dumping his cup of lemonade into the cup holder in the car

*jumping down our entire 1/2 flight of stairs (just for fun.)

*dumping a TON of fish food into the guppy bowl (just to see what would happen)

*while helping put the swing set together - jumping from the spot where the slide will go - and laughing when landing (yes this was 2 years ago!)

*dumping the BOTTLE of bubble bath into the bath tub (just to see how many bubbles he could make)

*grabbing a handful of flowers out of deby's pot and offering them back to her as a gift, roots and all (sorry deby!)

*drinking from random containers in the car - before figuring out how long they have been in there

the list goes on and on ...

and i'm sure that some of this may sound just plain naughty.
and ... some of it may make you question my parenting skills (or lack thereof)

but ... when it comes down to it ... i'm not sure it's either
i think what ben came and told me today sums it up best

"mom ... do you wanna know why i make bad decisions? because i think i am just a lot like curious george."

ben, you are right on. you are just like curious george.
and i am like the man with the yellow hat.
i am absolutely dumbfounded as to why you choose to do about 90% of what you do.
but i still love you just the same.

too little too late

when alex and aiden get together they are inseparable.



it is 100% a game of monkey see, monkey do.

one laughs - the other laughs.

one screams - the other screams.

one jumps - the other jumps.

over and over and over again!



it is fun to watch because you never know what to expect next.

SO ... on sunday ... i walked into something i REALLY wasn't expecting!



since day one i have tried and tried to get alex to take a nuk.
i went and bought every brand there was - just HOPING that he was picky and preferred one certain brand.
no luck.
no matter how often i tried or how sad he was - i lost the battle.
finally ... i gave up.

oh alex, if only i would've thought to have aiden be the one to give it to you !!

special wishes

today is a special day for someone who is very special to me ...

... someone who loves my kids almost as much as i do

... someone who gives of herself every single day of the week to make sure that one certain little blonde haired trouble maker is well cared for. (that would be my favorite little blonde haired trouble maker, aiden)

...someone who has put endless hours into creating and maintaining a program where parents can feel secure placing their kids each day

...someone who has a love for dogs that i will never have :)

...someone who would give anything she had if it meant someone else would be happier

... someone who has played with me, taught me, loved me, and just plain put up with me for 30 years ...

that someone is my mom. and today is her birthday.

SO ...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!

i hope that your day was as special as you are! we are so glad we got to spend it with you!

we love you!!

our newest additions

well ... our family has grown!!!

HOWEVER ...

i am not pregnant.

AND ...

we did not get a dog :)

WE GOT GUPPIES!

drew's class has been raising guppies for the past month or so. yesterday, he was able to bring four of them home!

although drew is the one taking care of them - they have kept me very busy!

... in the past 24 hours i have ....

*discovered what guppies eat
*researched what kind of environment guppies like (my goal was for them to make it 24 hours .. and thankfully that goal has been met!)
AND ...
*i have confirmed with myself that i am still not wanting a dog :)

sorry boys!

talkin nuts and bolts

it is well known that drew talks a lot and asks a TON of questions. he thinks deeply about EVERYTHING!

today was no different. simple questions ... simple answers ...

OR NOT!!!

i started my day answering the questions --

"what are nuts for?" and "how do you get it out of there?"

i ended my day wondering how many 1st graders now know a little bit more about their bodies than they used to - compliments of drew :)

could this be why foreclosures are up?

ok ... before reading any further there are 2 things that need to be known ...

1. the house next to us is in foreclosure. the people that used to live there have 2 kids (we'll call them jack & jill)
2. we are looking at selling our house and building a new one.

so, tonight drew and i were talking. we were talking about the possibilities ... schools ... friends ... basically, what it would all look like. the entire time we were talking i kept reminding him that it wasn't a for sure thing, yet. i told him there was always the possibility that our house wouldn't sell.

his response to that was:
"well that's ok. if it doesn't sell we can just move and leave a note on the door like "jack and jill" did."

um .... ok .... if it was only that easy!

that's what i like about you ...

after 4 fun years ... the boys' preschool teacher is moving to texas after this year. in addition the director is retiring!!

as part of a special 'thank you' - i put together a bunch of clips of the kids saying what they like about these special ladies. then tonight we showed it at the end of "family fun night".

i figured i'd share ben's. i don't know what's funnier ... his response ... or his mannerisms :)

thanks for the laugh ben!

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!

i thought i would share a few deep thoughts on being a mom - compliments of one of my favorite little guys - ENJOY :)

(if you click on these - you can see them larger)

happy mothers day!! i hope that everyone has a FABULOUS mothers day!

when i grow up ....

tonight in the car drew asked me if i knew what he was going to be when he grew up.

it changes often ... so my response was "no."

he proceeded to tell me ...

FIRST ... he is going to be a fireman.

THEN ... when he is done doing that ... he is going to drive an ambulance.

AND THEN ... when he is done doing that ... he will be a police officer.

"it is important to take care of each person in this world. because each person is special and each living thing makes up this world. so i want to have all of these different jobs so that i can help the people that make up the world. and you know what mom? ... i'd even help hannah."

(hannah is the little girl in his class who TOTALLY bugs him. there is not a day that goes by that i don't hear about how she ruined his day in some way or another! so to hear him say that he would save EVEN her made me smile inside. maybe "love your enemies" is actually starting to mean something !!)

awww nuts!

why is it that when little boys wear a protective cup for the first time they become preoccupied with hitting themselves "down there"?

it's as if i bought them a new toy :)

say it with me ...

CHEEEEEEEESSSSSE!

a sunday smile for you

today at church we got yet another good parenting message :)

the focus was on toddlers - mostly the 18 months and above group - those in the "terrible twos" stage.

of course the effectiveness of logical consequences came up and he showed this video.

seriously i don't think it gets any better! if you're going to put your finger in someone's mouth ... be prepared for the consequence :)

such is love

drew and ben decided that today was a good day to teach alex a new .. and very useful trick.

well... useful for them anyway :)

TRANSLATION --

drew and ben say: "HE DID IT!"

alex smiles and says "I DID IT!"

loving, aren't they.