my little bro's visit

Ryan, Tiffany and Cadence came for a visit last week and we already miss them dearly! These are some photos of the fun time we had together. The kids were cute and loved playing with one another. Grant and Lauren even got a little taste of Christmas! The Lauxes brought their gifts for the kids so they could see them open them. Lauren loves her shoes and likes to wear them around the house. She's wear them everywhere else too if I didn't stop her. As you can see from the picture of her in the pink dress, she's wearing pink dress up shoes (and she kept falling). Hopefully we'll see the Lauxes again soon, but right now they're busy building their new house. Check out their blog here.

Finally...a new home

We did it. We got a contract accepted on a home. Yay!! We are moving around the beginning of December, assuming everything goes well while it's in escrow. It's kind of a big house, so I guess I'll be teaching the kids how to clean sooner rather than later. They are really excited and have picked out their rooms and already want to go swimming, although it's too cold now.

We're putting in new carpet and a pool fence before we move in. Can't have the kids drowning! That wouldn't be good.

A Return to Greenville

Last weekend Sean and I flew to St. Louis for my 10-year college reunion at Greenville College. It was a lot of fun and I'm glad we decided to go. Above is my good friend Jennie. We went to a bar/restaurant on the Landing and were hit on by a couple of young drunk men. When they found out our age one of them told the other that they were a "generation off." So, is one supposed to feel flattered or put down about that? Well, at least we still look good!

Homecoming/Reunion weekend was fun. We saw some friends and were able to reminisce about old times. The campus looks different because Hogue is gone. Although it looks nice, I loved Hogue Hall and the presence it had on campus. It was COLD though, especially for this Arizona girl. I think Sean had a harder time with the cold. Since I'm pregnant, I tend to be warmer anyway! 45 as a high is not very high, especially when we left 90 degrees!

Pumpkin Day!

My kids are super excited about "pumpkin day" every year. We're not big into celebrating halloween, so it's what I started calling the "holiday." This year we actually made a special pumpkin day though. We did everything pumpkin. We had a pumpkin breakfast (I cheated and went to Starbucks though....), we went to a pumpkin farm, painted pumpkin crafts, ate pumpkin chili, carved pumpkins, and made toasted pumpkin seeds. It was a fun day! Here are some pics to highlight the moments.

Eating pumpkin chili! It was yummy! Sean ate two bowls.

Lauren is proud of her pumpkin.Grant's finished pumpkin.


We started off with breakfast....Grant was very excited about the corn maze.

Grant practiced for the corn maze by doing the kiddie maze first.

yep, milking water from a plastic cow.

Ugh.....Potty Training

I can't do it. Or rather, she can't do it. Pee on the toilet that is. She sits on the toilet for about 15 minutes, whining the whole time, then after she's off the toilet, she pees her pants. Ugh - it's so frustrating! Yesterday I had to clean up 3 "accidents." What am I supposed to do? Any advice out there? She's 2 1/2 and should be ready for this - all the indicators are there, except for her willingness. She's been offered rewards, punishments, cajoling, etc......

I have a blog?

Wait a second. I have a blog? Apparently I completely forgot about it because it's been over 2 months! I think that is just because I have been so busy that there just isn't time for this little release o' mine.

Much has happened. May was great - we were busy with friends, we went to Disneyland over Mother's Day. I just remember being busy busy busy. I turned 32 about a week ago. Yep, 32. Wow. I wouldn't say that's mid-30s yet, but I suppose I'm getting there. That does mean my brother only has 4 1/2 years until he's 40. That will be a big one to rub in.

We're going through a few changes around here. One I can't say yet, the other is that we are moving. Where to? Um, I don't really know! The date is June 29 and it looks pretty solid, so we'll be moving over the 4th of July weekend. We have a couple offers on homes. So while the banks twiddle their thumbs, we need to find some sort of temporary housing. It's interesting to pack when you're not really sure what's going on or what type of house you'll be living. I'm hoping for the house we have an offer on with a basement and pool.

I'm headed to Missouri with the kids in July. Sean and I are also going to Greenville for my 10-year reunion in October, sans kids this time. It should be fun - October's the best month in the Midwest and I'm excited to see my friends!

This is a blog all about nothing. Exciting, I know.

the pillowcase race!

butterflies

Lauren had a fun little party - pillowcase race, bubbles, pinatas - I think the kids had a great time! I made her a butterfly cake and Aileen helped me decorate it - thanks Aileen! Here's a pic of it.

We also did bubbles at night and the flash reflected off the bubbles, so it looks pretty cool! The pillowcase race was fun and there is a video of Lauren blowing out her candles (a bit prematurely).

Lauren girl turns 2!

My baby girl turned 2 on Tuesday! Wow! I can't believe my youngest is 2 already. We had a fun birthday, but her party will actually be tomorrow evening. We're just going to have family and her cousins Katelyn and Emily come over. It will be fun to watch her open presents and get excited about her butterfly cake I'm going to make. Yep, I'm gonna make her a butterfly-shaped cake - it's really cupcakes and cakes, but the pattern looks pretty simple. I'll have to post a picture if it looks good enough!

She also went to BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) for the first time today. She liked it and learned about manna. Grant was excited for her to go. It's exciting for her to be learning about God and the life of Moses, of all things!

a renter's quandry

We rent our home. Today, I'm happy to type something like that. It's not such a good time to own a home in the Phoenix area right now. We sold our beautiful home 2 years ago because of the direction we thought/think the housing market is taking. We were right, BUT we weren't prepared for the owner of our rental home to foreclose on US. Apparently this is happening more and more from the stories I am hearing. It happened to my parents a couple of years ago. They were renting and the owners couldn't make payments and foreclosed on them too. But here, the landlord didn't bother to tell us. I found out on my own. I'm sneaky that way. I also found that 5 of his other properties are also in foreclosure. Excellent. He tells me he's trying to modify the loan, etc, but with so many other properties in foreclosure, I'm guessing that's just not gonna happen.

April 20 is the magic date and we're looking for a place to live now. I'd love to buy and have it over with, but we also don't think it's time yet. We think there's another year to this housing madness in Phoenix. What if the landlord forecloses again? I suppose there's never a sure thing, but it will be frustrating to have to look the house up in the tax records every month to make sure you're not missing anything and have enough time to recup the deposits.

My husband also wants to stay here for as long as possible. It does make sense, no rent, delay moving, harvest the fruits, which are vegetables, of the garden my dad just planted, etc. So, I guess we're waiting for an eviction notice, which terrifies me. We've done nothing wrong and yet we'll get an eviction notice. They give you 2 weeks after that (so I've heard) to move out. Sean wants to see if the bank will rent it to us while they try to sell it. Never heard of that happening, but I suppose it's worth a try.

they moved away.....again

So, my parents officially have no belongings here in Arizona, except us of course. I haven't blogged in awhile, lots of stuff going on. We've had friends visit from Alaska, I was in Denver for a BSF retreat (amazing!!!), and then my brother and 2 of his kids were here for awhile and then helped my parents drive the rest of their belongings to Missouri. They arrived there late last night (early this am, I guess).

I'll just post some pics to fill you in. Some pictures Grant took, so beware.....

Sorry little one

Today was the day. You were due to be born today. I wish I could see your eyes, your smile, your face, hear you cry. God called you to Himself before I had a chance for all of that, but I look forward to the day I will know you better. I don't know what it will be like, but I am ready for it. I am ready to look upon you and see you how God sees you. We were excited for you, little one, and you would've loved to hang out with your brother and sister, and mommy and daddy too. I'm sorry this happened and you were taken away. There is always a place in my heart for you.

I am thinking of you today.

Playing Catch-Up

It's been a looooooong time folks! I've been reading some of your blogs though, just not taking the time to write on my own - to like the 2 or 3 of you who read this! Ha!

It's been an interesting past month. I decided to stop the Masters degree for now. Given the state of the economy (or lack thereof really), we decided it's not really the time to be getting into debt. We've been faithful to stay out of it, so we really don't want to step back into it - especially during a depression. Yes, depression, I said it. Soon they will announce we're in a depression - just like they announced we are in a recession and had been for a year. Yeah, like we didn't all know that.

Anyway, so I've decided to take up canning! We'll see how I do. I joined an organics fruit/veggie club where I get a big basketful of food every other Saturday. I'm going to try to can most of it with a pressure canner. I'm borrowing my dad's to see how it goes and then I'll buy my own. There are a few reasons to start canning. If I told you the main one though, you'd think I'm crazy, so I'll just keep it to myself for now....

We're also entering the world of macs. We ordered our first iMac today and we get it next week. I'm excited, and also a bit nervous of course since I've never used one and don't know how it all operates. Yikes - I think Apple tutors you though, so I may need to do that if I feel completely clueless.

So how's that for a little update? Not too exciting. We're having some friends come visit from Alaska for the week. We're going to show them things they haven't seen in awhile. Things like dirt, the sun, light, just the basics. It's dark where they live most of the day, but they get a little bit of dusk during the day. Then in the summer it's mostly light all day and some dusk at night. Weird, huh? I think that'd be hard to get used to.

Has it been that long?

Wow, it's January already! I'm so sad December is over. It's absolutely my favorite month ever. I just love everything associated with it - the traditions, decorating, food, family, shopping, adopting families/people, telling others the Reason for the season, and so on. Thank you Father for sending your Son! The countdown is on - 11 more months until Christmas time.... :(

Sean and I also started P90X on January 1. It's a good workout, but I really like the food program that goes along with it. It's kind of like having your own personal chef telling you what to eat (except I get to cook it!). Not all of the food is the best, but I'm surprised by the versatility of it. We've been doing it a week now and I'm already starting to feel some progress! We took some "before" pictures. yikes...... A word of advice, don't take a picture of yourself in a bikini in the middle of winter, right before bed. But, we printed them out and they're gonna hang on the mirror as a little motivation. I think I'll put mine down in the corner so I don't have to see it as much!

The kids had a great Christmas - less presents, which was good and less stressful for them. Grant's birthday is next Tuesday. We're celebrating it on Sunday with his friends at Makutu's Island. He's super excited about that. It's a huge indoor play place with trees to climb in and slides and ladders and tunnels, etc. He can't stop talking about it. It's hard to believe he's going to be 4 though, and then Lauren's 2 just a couple of months later. Weird.

Here are a few pics of Christmas...