here we go again...

We are under contract on a new house for the second time now.  I'm pretty sure this will also be the last for at least 10 years.  I'm soooooo extremely excited about this house, about ten times more excited than the last house.  

The price is a bit higher, but it won't need nearly as much work. 

 Oh, and did I mention it's super cute on the outside.  

I love a house with curb appeal!!

This house has three bedrooms and one bath.  One bathroom is a negative, but I'm choosing to look on the bright side and think about how it will be only one bathroom I will have to clean.  

We will eventually add a new bathroom.  It will probably be 5-ish years down the road until we can afford it, but it will be a necessity before Abigail becomes a teenager.  

Brent's favorite part of the house is a huge, very nice shop in the back.  It's air conditioned and has electricity and water.  

It's got a nice little fenced in yard that's all ready for a puppy, according to Brent and Abigail!!

It's also in the school zone where my kids will stay in the same school.  They could even ride their bikes or walk to school.  

Oh and my favorite part is that there is a second living area that we will be using as a play room.  I'm totally pumped about being able to put all the kids toys, toy boxes, book shelves, train table, and various other cluttery things in a room separate from their bedrooms.  The bedrooms are not huge, so this will help out a whole lot. 

We are looking at a closing date on or before September 27th, hopefully before.  

adjustments and a robot leg

We've been living with my parents for 5 days now and it's taking some adjustments.  Nothing major and mostly just for Jackson.  The big kids are doing great.  They actually enjoy living with Nana and Papa.  Of course, I can't speak for my parents so I'm sure it's a bit of an inconvenience on them here and there, but they hide it well.  

We've been keeping busy making yogurt pops.  These were actually supposed to come with little sticks you put in them and then freeze, but ours were missing so we improvised the best we could. 

 he he he

Jackson is sleeping in a pack n play in the same room as me and Brent.  That is probably the hardest part of all of this.  We have to be soooooo quiet when we go to bed so not to wake him.  If he wakes up and cries at night we can't just ignore it and let him fall asleep.  He can see us.  When Brent's alarm goes off at 7:00 it wakes up Jack so we are getting up at 7:00 too, which actually helps during nap time with nap time.  

Oh and did I mention he can get out of his bed.  I put him down for a nap about 20 minutes ago and just a few minutes later I heard his door open and out he came, happy as can be.  He wasn't to thrilled when I put him back in his bed, but so far he hasn't made another appearance.  

Nana and Papa went camping this weekend and took the big kids Friday night.  They love camping.  

Saturday afternoon we met them at the campground do eat at their DOG gathering.  

DOG stands for Dutch Oven Gathering.  A group of local people who like to cook with dutch ovens camp style meet up and prepare a bunch of yummy dishes and grub out.  

Yummy!!

Every month they have a theme and this one was hot dogs.  Dad made hotdog, chili, cheese, and tator tot casserole, and hotdog chili pizza.  They were really good. 

There were a lot of yummy dishes.  

You see that guy with the prosthetic leg.  Austin saw him and very loudly announced that that man had a robot leg.  He and the man had a conversation were Austin told him his robot leg was very cool!!

Saturday after the DOG, Abigail and I got our school supply shopping taken care of!  After $120 we got everything that Abigail and Austin needed, minus construction paper (they were out) and back packs.  

So really all in all we've been keeping pretty busy and trying really hard not to wreck Nana and Papa's house too much.  

We are hoping to look at three houses this week and maybe make an offer before the end of the week.  We don't want to rush in to a house that's not right, but we also don't want to drag it on any longer than necessary. 

 I'm ready for some stability and routine back in our lives.  

Goodbye House

I'm coming to you LIVE from my parent's house, our new home for a month or two!

Last night at 10:45 pm we made our last trip to the storage building and stuffed in the last of our belongings.  It's crazy to think that basically all the things that make up the inside of our home can fit into two storage units, barely.

Along with that news comes some more bad/good news.  After the inspection of the house we were set to buy came back with a variety of not so good problems, we decided to back out.  It would have been upwards of 10 grand and countless hours to make all the repairs, which is just not something we wanted to deal with.

I've gotten lots of sad faces and sympathetic sorry's via Facebook, but really I'm feeling very good about our decision.  I liked that house, but I didn't LOVE it!  I've found a few more we'll be looking at here pretty soon and I know we will find the right place for our family.

On a brighter note, my kids will stay in their original school and won't have to experience the "new kid" feeling.  Not that they were even worried about.

Anyway, here is a picture of our old house shortly after we moved in with a 2 year old Austin and 4 year old Abigail.

Many great memories in this house.

Birthday Parties

Bringing Jack home from the hospital.

Playing in back yard and riding bikes up and down the road.

Brent and I would sit on the swing outside at night and have really good talks after the kids went to bed.

Kelsie's bachelorette party!

Getting dressed and ready for Kelsie's wedding!

Playing games late into the night with Kelsie and Grant

and many many more.

I wont give you a list of the things that I didn't like about the house.  

I'm trying to stay positive here. 

Lol

Goodbye house, it's been swell!

Jack rules the roost (he thinks)

I really thought when Jack was born that I was an old pro at this raising kids thing.  I had two already that were very different, how hard could this last one be??  Surely I had seen it all and dealt with it all.

Well, I was very, very wrong.  Let me just tell you, I feel like I am Jack's servant.  He has to have me near him at all times.  He is very, very headstrong and demanding and will fight tooth and nail to have his way.

Lately, his temper and hard headedness has hit an all time high.  For the first time in my child rearing days I had to walk out of a restaurant with my child before we finished eating.  Thank goodness Brent was with us so the other kids could finish.  He wouldn't stay in his seat and was trying to run all over the restaurant and after fussing at him and him starting to scream, I just took him to the car to wait.

Then to top that off, later that same day I had to take him out of a store and sit in the car while Brent finished shopping.  I've never had to do that before either.  He didn't think he needed to sit in the buggy and was screaming bloody murder to get out.

I think the root of the problem is that he has two older sibling that get to do all sorts of cool things, like walk in the store, and he thinks he should be able to do everything they do.  Well he will learn the hard way that we will not bend on the buggy thing.  I'm not allowing my two year old out of the buggy at a store.  I will leave my meal half eaten a hundred times before I allow my two year old to act crazy and run around a restaurant.

It won't take a hundred times (I hope) because kids are pretty smart.  If I have learned one thing from my other two, it's that they will push their boundaries for a while, but if you stand your ground, eventually they will give up and fall in line with the rules.   I just hope it's sooner rather than later.  Jack is pretty smart, so I'm hoping he will quickly figure out that his life will be much happier if he obeys.

Raising kids is hard, but totally worth it!!!

The Final Countdown & Getting Ready for School

4 days and counting until the closing on our house.  This day has been a long time coming.  So ready for things to be calm and normal again, but that's still a long way off.  Starting Thursday we will be officially living with my parents.

Thank God for my wonderful, awesome, patient, kind parents, who have agreed to let us live with them for about a month until we close on the new house.  I honestly don't know what we would do without them.

Is anybody else out there as shocked as I am that July is almost over?  This summer was not quite what I had planned so I'm actually ready for it to be over.  I'm ready to be moved in and settle in our new place and I'm ready for school to start and for us to get into a normal routine.

This is the first time in six years I have been able to say I'm ready for school to start.  I'm no longer teaching, so bring it on!!  With all the craziness of the past few months and all the craziness to come, I've been pretty distracted from even thinking about what it will be like when everybody goes back to school and I don't.

There will be some things that I will miss, but for the most part every time I think about it I have a real peace and assurance that I did the exact right thing.

Speaking of school I've been doing a little bit of school shopping already.  I've got the kids chair backs and new school shoes.  My wonderful, awesome mother-in-law buys the kids some uniforms every year which is such a help.

Could these be any cuter???

Austin loves anything and everything Iron Man!!

Abigail chose converse.  

Actually, these were Abigail's second choice.  She was mostly mad at me the entire time we were shopping because I wouldn't let her get the shoes she really wanted.  See picture below for a similar shoe to the one she wanted.

These aren't the exact design, but similar shape.  I'm sorry, but I just don't like these super high top shoes.  I can't pin point why I don't like them, I just don't.  I think I've maybe had some not so good students in the past wear similar shoes and that might have affected my opinion of them.  I'm just not going to let her wear them.  

As I am typing this Jackson is (I think) actually taking a nap.  I haven't heard anything from is room for the past 30 minutes.  He hasn't taken a nap in almost a week.  He just cries and yells for over an hour.  

Another reason I'm ready for school to start is because I think getting up a little earlier and to bring kids to school will help Jack take a better, more consistent nap.  I think he just needs more routine and consistency in his life again.  

Thank you God for answering my prayers today and helping him sleep.  I sometimes forget to pray about trivial things like nap time, or for Jack to wake up in a happy mood.  I tend to think things like that aren't important enough for God's time, but then I remember his word says to pray without ceasing, and to pray about all things. 

 I'm so glad that my God cares about even the little things in my life, like nap time!!

Five on Friday {Very Random}

It's been a while for me but I'm linking up with some fellow bloggers to share five things on my mind today, aka Friday!!

Number 1

The ever elusive closing on our house seems to finally be coming to fruition.  It's been extended twice now, over a month from our original closing date.  We have been living in a half full house.  We put a lot of our stuff away in storage a month ago thinking we were moving out in a week.  Well that week became three weeks and then two more weeks.  I'm extremely tired of all this stupid house stuff.  

The above house is the house we are currently under contract and trying to buy.  Isn't it a cute little thing?  

It's 61 years old and needs a little TLC, but I think it will be great!!

Number 2

Weight loss is a constant on my mind!!  I've been stuck at the same stupid weight, give or take a couple of pounds either way, for over three months now.  I lost two pounds this week so far, but it's the same two pounds I lose over and over again and gain back over and over again.  Uggggghhhhhh

Number 3

As many of you probably know, one of the pit falls of buying a new house, is wanting all new furniture to go in it.  I want this sectional sooooooo bad.  My sister works at this local home decor and furniture store called Fleur De Lis.  They have the cutest stuff there.  We don't need a new couch right away or anything, but I just want it!!!  We are in the process of buying a new kitchen table from her store, which we absolutely need because we don't currently have one and I'd rather not eat on the kitchen floor. I don't have a picture of our new table, but I really, really love it!!

Number 4
Jackson's napping has been sort of out of whack lately.  He's probably only actually sleeping during nap time 3-4 times a week.  The other times he cries off and on the entire time or just jumps around and talks to himself.  He's not even two years old yet, so I know he still needs a nap.  By 4:00 on days when he doesn't sleep at nap time he is the ultimate grumpy head.  I always, always make him stay in his bed for at least an hour and a half.  I know if I were to get him out immediately when crying he would learn quick to cry every day and never take a nap.  Kids are smart that way!

This is my Jack-Jack eating a popsicle.  He just took it out of the clear plastic.  It was such a mess dripping down his arm.  I kept waiting for him to get a brain freeze, but it didn't happen.

Number 5
I tried this pinterest recipe last night and it was soooo good and easy. They are baked chicken strips. The first picture is mine and below it is the link to the pin.

Click here for the link to the recipe!

Ok, well I guess that is all and I better go get my poor crying  baby out of his bed.  He's been crying off and on for about an hour now. 

Poor guy is gonna have a grumpy evening!!

Tough Decisions {Changing Schools}

It seems like this has been the year for making tough decisions.  

Should I quit my job?

Should we sell our house?

Should we buy a new house/mobile home/ or rent something?

All of the decisions have pretty much been made, but now I've come to my hardest of all.  Some people might thing it's silly, but it's a touchy subject for me.  

Should I move my kids to a new school?

Now, the only reason we are considering it, is because the house we are buying is in a different school zone and literally a three minute walk to the new school.  It's a great school too.  My husband and my sister went there.  

My reservations are purely from my own personal fears.  

When I was in 3rd grade we moved from Oklahoma to Louisiana in the middle of the school year.  The move was extremely hard on me and I can easily jump back in time and feel that crippling fear I felt when starting a new school and not knowing a single soul.  

I cried a lot that first month or so, but I eventually adjusted just fine.  

I guess I just don't want my kids to feel that way.  

The major differences here are that my kids are NOTHING like me.  

I was extremely shy and didn't make friends easily. 

Abigail will make friends anywhere she goes.  She is not scared at all to start a new school.  

Austin is the same way.  He has only been to pre-k so far, so he doesn't have a whole lot of good friends from school yet anyway.  

Another major difference is that the new school is only a few blocks from the old school and Abigail and Austin already have a few friends that go there.  

My other reservation is that I don't know many of the teachers at the new school, while I know every single teacher, minus the one who just took my place, at the kids old school.  I know all the faculty and staff and they know and love my kids.  

Both schools are great. 

Advantages of the new school are the close distance and smaller class sizes.  

I think the distance is what is making my decision for me.  I would rather not have to pack Jack up in the car and go sit in a never ending car line for half an hour to pick my kids up at their old school, when they could just walk to and from school every day.  We even know some kids on our street who they could walk with.

Anyway, I'm pretty sure our decision has been made and my kids will start a new school in August, but I'm still scared about it.  It's definitely something I will continue to pray about and try and release my personal fears and give it to God.  

These pictures have nothing to do with the post, they are just a few more summer fun pictures.

My parents bought this backyard blow up water slide for the kids and they loved it!!

Not our best parenting move letting Jack play in the mud, but hey you live and learn!!

We took the kids to see Despicable Me 2.  It was very good.  I highly recommend it.

We also went to Chucky-E-Cheeze!  

This is the only picture I could take while chasing Jack around.  

Mom got all the girls matching Eskimo Joes t-shirts!

Audrie and Jack eating hot dogs!!

  

summer fun with cousins

As previously mentioned, my nieces are visiting from North Dakota.  We only see them twice a year, so when they come in town we try and spend as much time as possible with them.

Yesterday we hit the local water playground.  It's not big or fancy, but the kids love it.

Jack has developed a fear of all things water ever since his rub rash incident during our camping trip.  He walked around two long with wet diaper and shorts and got a painful little rash between his thighs.  So now every time he sees the swimmer diaper and swim trunks come out, he sort of freaks out.

But once we got them on him, he calmed down and even had a good time at the water playground.

Little Ms. Thang!

white as a ghost

He was a little stand off-ish at first.  He didn't like his face getting wet.

Little Ms. Thang II

Austin hogged the water guns.

Jacks favorite thing to play with was the water drain.  

me and my other half

Found out Jackson can say alligator pretty much perfectly.

Cousins and Friends

Our little 4th of July!

We had a really fun Independence Day yesterday, actually it was a bit better than I expected.  

My parents were out of town and my sister was spending the holiday with her in-laws.  Then my brother and sister-in-law were supposed to come over, but Audrie was sick and it looked like they weren't coming, so it was just going to be my little family of five.  

We weren't going to let that spoil the day.  We headed out that afternoon to buy fireworks.  The kids were in hyperactive over-drive in that fireworks tent!

Then we headed over to my parents house.  They live out of city limits so we spent the evening out there so we could pop fire works.  

Then we got a surprise when my brother showed up with his two girls that weren't sick.  Gabi and Zoe live in North Dakota and come visit every summer.  They just got into town and we were so excited to spend the holiday with them. 

We did some day time fireworks first, but it was very hot.  

 My kids just played and acted like it wasn't weird at all to be at Nana and Papa's house without them there.  

We did miss them though.  Occasionally, Jack would say "Nana bye-bye?" or "Papa work?"

We made the mistake of skipping nap time, so come about 4:00 Jack was a little edgy!

Jack didn't act too scared of the loud popping fireworks.  He made some funny faces though!

 Gabi caught the first parachute!

It's not a holiday if Austin is crying about something!

The night ended with Jack hiding in my lap.  He decided he didn't like the big ones at night.  

We really had a great July 4th.  The kids are getting older and its nice to be able to sit back a little and just watch them enjoying themselves.  Austin was very into the fireworks this year, where as last year and he spent most of the night playing in the house with toys.  

I hope you all had a great 4th as well!!