Wasting No Time

That's right. I have wasted no time in planning what furniture will go where in the new house. It is too consuming! Always in the back of my mind. Along with when will I pack, where will I start, how will I move THAT???, lists of things to be done, at this house, and that, and crunching numbers, numbers, numbers, to stay on budget. Not to mention that normal life has not stopped even one little bit. If anything, things are busier. We have also had at least one sick kid every day since Christmas.  And to think some people move all the time! Over and over! How do they do it?

I have not, by the way, even begun to pack. What a mess. We use every square inch of our current home every day. So if I get too vigorous in my packing too early, we will end up needing to dig through the boxes I have ready to go. We are also going out of town two weeks before we move, so I don't want our babysitters to have to move around a storage unit while watching our kids. We also live so close to the new house, that most of the decorative things that I would pack early, I will just put in my car and drive over to ensure they arrive safely. So... as of now, it looks like a lot of planning, and only a little action.

That is okay, because at this point we have not even attempted to find a renter, so we can take our time getting out.

I made the first purchase for the new house, and learned a hard lesson. Always measure!! Twice! I ordered a mirror from an online furniture retailer, and when I opened the door for the delivery guy and saw him staying there with this beast, I had a little heart attack!!

Much bigger than I had anticipated! We can barley fit our family and what we already own into our current home, let a lone a mirror and it's packaging that practically need their own room! Oh, and not only is it big, but it weighs about twice what I do! Holy cow!

When Del came home I greeted him with, "Ummm, I got myself into a bit of a mess." And then led him into the front room where with new mirror resides. He thinks we will be able to hang it. Finding a spot on a really big wall is probably better than paying to ship it back. Me and my big ideas! Literally! It is pretty though.

I have loved the look of this velvet chair I found on Pintrest. I love dark velvet, and the feel of this room.

Then, I walked into Home Goods, and look what greeted me at the front door! It is prettier in person than this picture. I texted Del and asked, "How interested would you be in a black velvet wingback chair for your office?"

He responded with " What the heck is that??"
I think he would be more into the deer head hanging on the wall.

I got the chair, so he can test it out in person. I love the idea, but I will let you know if it is a keeper. I also found a swivel arm Ralph Lauren lamp at Home Goods, and four gold frames for $3 at the thrift store!

Fun, fun!! We are excited, and so are the kids! Very excited. And when we are at the kid's activities we often have someone come up and tell us they will be our neighbors. So they see us coming!  Will especially loves that he will live really close to some kids in his class.

Well, I am off to do some laundry, and vacuum around my new mirror! Sheesh!

On The Move

Yes,
Indeed. The secret is, we are moving. Aaaaa!!!

I can hardly believe I am saying it myself, but we purchased, and are moving into this home at the beginning of March. It is located about... one and a half miles from our current home. And this is why I have decided I like dental molding. The front and dining rooms have it.

The sequence of events leading up to this are hard to believe for me.

And if you would like to hear a long, probably not very interesting story about how this house found us, read on!

(I had hoped for a better picture, but the snow, and a tired and hungry Walker were not working in my favor.)

I went to Will's basketball practice about three weeks ago, and a man that I know from the community came in and sat down next to me. Our kids are in the same school classes, so we started chatting about that, and then our conversation made it's way around to real estate. After we had talked for a minute about where we both live, us in our current home, and him over in the neighborhood built on the golf course, we realized that we both know a lady in town that is a real estate agent. Then he said to me,

"You know... if you are looking for a nice home around here, and you want it for a great price, my business partner is building a new home and his old one is not even on the market yet, but I know he would want you to buy it."

I laughed and told him that right now we are not house hunting. We had decided that we had tried our best, but nothing we had attempted to purchase ever worked out, so we would sit tight until we hopefully could move our kids closer to family.

He went out and talked to the home owner in the hall on his cell.

By the time I left basketball practice he was telling me the owner REALLY wanted us to come look at the house. They are building on the two lots combined next door to this existing home, and want people with kids to be their neighbors.
He kept telling me I had to go look at it. I came home and told Del that I had two car salesmen (they actually own car dealerships) trying to get me to buy a house. We laughed it off. Then, the next thing I knew, the real estate agent that we knew mutually, (who also lives in the golf club neighborhood) emailed me and Del. She said she had been contacted by the seller and the guy I talked to at basketball. She thought it would be a REALLY good idea to at least take a look, even though she knew our ultimate goal of living closer to family. She wanted us to have a shot at an amazing deal.

So, we agreed to take a look at it. It had a huge kitchen and an alarm system that tells you what door or window just opened! We liked it, loved the neighborhood, but we did have some concerns.
I shared the concerns with our realtor, and she emailed the sellers. And within five minutes they had offered a solution to almost every hesitation we had, and then some! We could not believe the perks they were willing to throw into the sale. One being continuing the fencing of their new yard next door to our home so that we would have a barrier between us and the golf course pond the home backs up to.

So, after much analyzing, we made an offer. And they countered.

We decided to think about it.

Then, the next day, the seller came back and told us they would accept our original offer, and BAM! We have a new house!  We were in shock.

                           (I want to wait to share too many photos of the home, until after I feel like
                           it is mine. But one thing I am pretty excited about is the workout room in
                           the basement. And the beautiful view of the First Green on the golf course!)

We felt like we were led to this decision by Heavenly Father. He knows what is right for us. Much more than we know. We are nervous. We have lived in our home for almost eight years.We did not imagine that our next home would be one that we did not build. We certainly did not think it would be in the same town we live in now. Getting to know a new neighborhood is intimidating, to say the least. But from what I have seen and heard, the people that will be living around us are pretty amazing. Not to mention the sellers, who are right next door. (You should see the new house they are building. Spectacular!!)

 Our kids will not have to change one thing about their lives and routine except where they sleep, and the bus number they take. We will be in the same ward for church, and go to all the same schools.
We are going to rent out our current home, and it will be nice to be so close in case anything comes up.

We don't quit know where this life is going to take us. We just hope that we will be happy in our new home, and pray for the continued guidance of our Heavenly Father. I know he answers prayers. And I know that he is a loving forgiving Father, when at times that I am angry, or frustrated with my lack of understanding in his will. I have faith that living in this home with be a blessing to our family, and that the doors to the future desires of our hearts will open wide one day, and I will look back on my life with gratitude that I was able to experience what I did. I feel blessed to live in such a well cared for and beautiful home and neighborhood. And I am grateful for Del. Sometimes when I am being led down a path in life that I don't understand, I can be emotional and difficult. And I am glad that we can become closer and more understanding of each other through these thresholds of life.

So there you have it! That is how a house that was not even listed found a family that was not even planning to move. This will be our new home base! If you want to come and visit our doors are open to all! We can't have a home at this point and time that is near our family, so all our loved ones, including friends, will have to come and see us!

A Long Weekend

We had a nice long weekend to take in many basketball games and a little dinner at Portillos. The kids BEG us to be able to get a shake when we go there. This time we obliged. They were very happy.

It got COLD here! How about where you are? We were so spoiled with our 50 degree weather. It definitely weakened my Chicago Winter Resolve. So now I have to rebuild my stamina for a long Winter. Groundhog Day is right around the corner, and that is a big deal around here. The movie was filmed in our picturesque little town square, so we really whoop it up. Let's hope that little bugger decides the cold will leave early this year.

The basketball boys. So cute! Del and I have to tag team it to get to games because they overlap at different locations.

Will in action. Or... not. We are still grasping the concept a bit.

Basketball shorts and snow boots. Good combo!

Will was our photographer for most of lunch.

Sharing.

Don't you love Portillos? When I first moved to the Chicago area (almost 9 years ago! Yikes!) I did not get the appeal. Boy do we love it now! Oh, and notice how many napkins it takes for us to get through a meal. Save a tree anyone? Oops.

Runnin', Runnin', and Runnin', Runnin', And...!!

Did the title of this post get that Black Eyed Peas song stuck in your head? Sorry. Super annoying, I know.

I have been meaning to blog lately. But then I find myself in the car headed to basketball practices, or games, or gymnastics, or dance, or swimming lessons, or cub scouts, or pre-school, and then I realize that because this is all that I do, there are not a lot of interesting events to blog about.  I guess I could post of couple of philosophies on life, according to me. But that is not going to be a draw for any reader that may be out there. So I will pull it together, and get something up soon. Maybe after I sit down and figure out how to simplify in the kid activities schedule! Sheesh! How did this craziness happen!??

In the meantime, I will leave you with an image I am loving lately. Because nothing makes me happier than looking at beautiful interior images. I think I may be a little too emotionally effected by a well designed room.

Pretty right? I am loving the mix of more modern lines in the furniture, mixed with the much more formal and traditional dental crown molding. I might tell ya more specifically WHY I like that in a few days. But for now, it is a secret!
We will talk soon.

Christmas-ness 2011

Our Christmas Eve dinner table.

We had a nice Christmas at home this year.
Georgia and I were sick on Christmas Day. That was kind of sad for Georgie Girl. But kids manage to have a nice time, sick or not, when they are opening presents. Del took the boys to church and Georgia and I laid low. It was kind of nice not to have any obligations because we did not feel so hot. We ended up just eating left overs from our Christmas Eve get together, and we were all content to play with toys, watch new church movies from our families, and Skype our parents and siblings back in Utah.

In the weeks leading up to Christmas, Del and I attended a party thrown by a company that uses him for chairs. It was fun to get dressed up and hit the town with my date!

Our Christmas card door. Or as our babysitter put it. "Holy Christmas cards!" We LOVE it! Thank you for sending them!

I took the kids to the mall to see Santa. The mall is a drive for us. We got there, and the wait to see Santa was over two hours long. So... we took pictures with Santa in the back ground from the balcony as we walked back to the car. My kids officially laid eyes on Santa this season. So sad. They were very good sports about it. Georgia is holding up the list to give to Santa that she had Will help her write out.

We had our good friends, the Laws family over on Christmas Eve. We read through the Nativity program that we do every year with Del's family when we go home. His dad wrote it a few decades ago, so it has staying power! It goes through the Bible story, and includes Christmas Carols, so I played the piano, with the occasional help from Walker. Not so helpful really.

The theme from for our very simple table decor was inspired by the paper projects made by Buddy the Elf in the movie "Elf."

Opening a few presents with friends on Christmas Eve.

Ellie wearing the earmuffs Georgia picked out for her.

Yearly gift of pajamas from Grandma! We always love them!

Gifts under the tree after Santa visited. Our little front room can barley hold presents for four kids!

Oh yeah! Easy Bake Oven. (biggest waste of money on Earth.)

Playing with the light saber before it is even out of the box.

Some of my resolutions for the year are to be more on top of the assignments my kids need to do so that we are not rushed last minute. That includes school, church, cub scouts and on and on. I also want to get at least a few of the years of my blog made into hardback books, and get the annoying little home maintenance stuff around the house taken care of so that when we are ready to rent it out we are not doing quit as much paint touch up and such. I want to complete my more in-depth study of the Book of Mormon that I started in 2011, and then start over with a new study guide to add to what I have learned, and then add a detailed study of the Bible.

I told Del I should add a big health goal, like run a marathon.

But I don't want to.  Ha!

Church on New Year's Day. Will was not happy, hence the splochy sad face.

Del and I went out on New Year's Eve, so we had a little ice cream party with the kids on Monday to celebrate the new year.

Pretty exciting.

And that is what we have been up to this December! Tomorrow is back to school for everyone, and that is a good thing. We are all ready to get on with the new year! Happy 2012!

2011 Review

I thought I would do a post on some of the moments that stood out in 2011. We had a blessed and happy year, with lots of growth and learning.

And now... our year at a glance!

I included some pictures, but you can click on the links for the full posts with details about our year.

-Walker and I were co-stars in a tiny local commercial production.

-We had the snow storm of the century hit our house, and spent days digging out.

-Del decided that he was off carbonation! For the month of February. The shortest month. It didn't last! Ha!

-Walker was released from physical therapy for his Torticollis with a clean bill of health!

-Wally turned eight and was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, by Del. Both sets of grandparents were able to travel to Chicago to be here for the big event.

-Del took our good friend Jared to the Bulls vs. Jazz game, thanks to the generous Christmas gift of excellent seats  from his employees

-Del and I went on a trip of a lifetime to Costa Rica with seven of his employees and their guests for the first company rewards trip! It was beyond amazing! I am ready to go back any time now! My very patient sister Lauren, and her husband Christopher came to our house to watch our kids.

-The local farmer's market became my best friend. Our city market was voted the best in the state by the way! Del laughs at me because I come home with small gifts from the vendors at Holiday times. He says they must know me pretty well. I would say yes, considering the lady I buy eggs, chicken and pork from is now making personal deliveries to my street for the Winter! Loooove it!! Oh, and I gave up carbonation. Nine months and counting!

-Walker started going to the Nursery at church for kids 18 months to age three. That means Mom and Dad are kid free for the last two hours of church! No more chasing a little terror around the church!

-Well I was kids free for a few months, until I got called to lead the music in the children's primary. Now I am with 30 plus kids for two hours. Just as exhausting, but still a lot of fun!

-We attended the Clark Family Reunion, here and here with my Mom's side of the family right here in good ol' Illinois! It was completely surreal to have so much of my family on our local stomping grounds. We toured both Chicago and Illinois, and it was a treasured experience!

-Our power went out after a thunder storm. For AN ENTIRE WEEK! Now we are not unaccustomed to the power outages in the area. Over the past seven years we have been dealing with their annoying frequency on a regular basis. But this was beyond anything I expected! It was SO stinkin hot!!! Taking humidity and heat into consideration, Chicago was reading the same temperatures as the Amazon Rainforest! Our house was boiling, we had electrical cords running all over the main level of our house from the generator to whatever appliance we were using at the moment. We made toast on the kitchen floor, ate mostly fruit for a week, slept in the guest room/Del's office in the basement, and listened to the hum of generators up and down our street day in and day out. Del had to shut down his office for a few days because they did not have power there either.The power went out on laundry day, so we finally had to make the big trip to the laundry mat, because we were leaving for Utah the next week. I ran into several friends while there, doing the same thing, and we all stood around and talked about the misery that was a Chicago Summer with no power, while we folded clothes and our kids ran around the laundry mat like wild things. I got more than a few stares and several comments about the amount of laundry I was cramming into my car while I loaded the clean clothes up in the parking lot. Several of the people we go to church with can't flush their toilets without power because they are on a well system, so it was getting pretty desperate! I am a baby, I know many are out of power for weeks after hurricanes and such.We left town grateful for the relief and returned only to have the power go off again for two days when we returned! I guess I can take that as a sign that I have not yet perfected my patience with the power situation. So I better make sure the generator is ready to go in 2012, while I repent of my bitter ways.

-We made our Summer trek West to Utah, here, here, and here, for a visit with family. We always have fun with cousins and Grandparents! Our kids live for this trip!

-We stopped in Denver to visit our friends Bryce and Christy, and to give Del time to do some work.

-We learned the hard way that I ave a major fear of mice.

-Del went to Texas to work. While he was there he went to the BYU vs. Texas game at Texas Stadium. Oh, and he met Ty Detmer.

-Del ran in his first Warrior Dash with one of his reps in Missouri. They had a lot of fun, and got VERY

 muddy!

-We spent the year chasing Walker, cleaning up mess after mess that Walker made, listening to Walker scream, laughing at Walker's silly antics, flushing our pet fish we had for two years after Walker dumped the entire bottle of fish food in the bowel and killed the fish, and just plain being worn out, entertained, and falling even more in love with our crazy, wild, mischievous and sweet two year old.

-Our friend Jared took Del and the kids out on Lake Michigan for some fishing. The trip did not disappoint! They came away with a massive king salmon. Georgia and Ella were not fans.

-We went on a family vacation to Disney World where we stayed at the beautiful Grand Floridian Hotel, and wore ourselves, and our kids out, visiting the parks for five days of fun.

-The kids looked positively Medieval for Halloween

-2012 birthdays brought new ages for our kids that can be recited with a cheer..."2, 4, 6, 8, what do we appreciate? Sleep, sleep, SLEEP!!" Hopefully we will see more of it in 2012!

-We kept busy with the kid's activities. Georgia started gymnastics at a new gym, and took a ballet class, all three older kids started swimming lessons, and the boys both started in a basketball league. In addition to the therapy Wally and Walker were receiving at the beginning of the year it has been a feat of master scheduling to keep it all straight! I think this is a common story for most families like ours!

-We spent the Holiday season close to home this year. We enjoyed time with friends, and enjoyed reflecting on the life of the Savior Jesus Christ. Christmas events post coming soon!

We are excited about the prospects of 2012! Happy New Year!