Living in Limbo

...and I'm not talking about "how low can you go" (although I've had some pretty low days the last few months!).
Since we got the news that the sale of our house fell through, I've had a hard time finding where I fit in. One of the first things Sam and I decided was to start attending our new ward. Today was our fourth Sunday there. We all are enjoying the new relationships we are making. The boys have attended Cub Scouts and are going to start school there on the 26th! Even though we are doing all these things in our new neighborhood, and people are so nice and sympathetic towards our situation, I still don't feel like I completely belong since I don't physically live there. It is a hard place to be in because I don't feel like I belong in the old neighborhood, either!

We have not had very much traffic through our house. We have been doing Open Houses every Saturday and have had very little success with them. Tomorrow we drop the price another $15,000! We have been fasting, praying, begging, pleading for it to sell. Hopefully the price drop will do the trick!

In the meantime, we have been trying to have a little summer fun. Since the boys go to year-round school, summer break is much shorter this year and I feel like we wasted so much time those first few weeks! We have been swimming, boating, playing at the park, spending fun days with friends and grandparents, went to This is the Place for a fun (hot!) free day, went to a Peter Pan play, and other adventures. We are looking forward to this last week when our Pett family will all gather for a retirement Luau for my mom! Then we are heading to Park City for the weekend. School starts and then camp-out with the Preslar family that weekend.

I'm grateful my kids are pretty easy-going and don't mind all the car time as we go back and forth to the new neighborhood. It's just going to get worse when school starts!

So, there's our update. It is a crazy life and I don't like crazy. But, I am trying to look through the craziness to find joy in the every day moments! It's easy to find those moments with my 3 cute kids!

Last Week of Summer Vacation

Two Fridays ago, the kids and I went up to Sam's brother and sis-in-law's in Heber City and went swimming and played all day. We had a great time as their son, Emmett is only 26 days younger than Curtis and we don't ever just hang out with them. I had a really nice time visiting with Doug and Laie and we ended up staying 8 hours! Even after 8 hours the kids did not want to leave. On the way home Noah told me we hadn't done anything fun all summer. So, I of course listed off all the fun things we have done. He realized we did do a lot but I decided we should end the summer with a bang!

So, this is what we did last week:
We toured the Sweets Candy Factory with some friends and had a blast. It was really interesting to see how they make the different candy...I thought it was fascinating, the kids thought it was cool but weren't quite as fascinated. My favorite part was in the chocolate room (shocker, I know) where they coat all the candy with chocolate. Our tour guide told us to look up...there were several big pipes on the ceiling marked "chocolate" "sugar" "corn syrup". Pipes with chocolate flowing through them! I felt like we were in the Willy Wonka movie. We also got free samples along the way, my favorite perhaps was the candy corn taffy that was right off the line. It was so fresh, it was still warm. Yummmm.

We also went to Fat Cats for bowling and pizza. There were 3 moms and 7 kids. It was a little chaotic but everyone had a blast. On the bowling monitors, it shows the speed of your ball which was hilarious with the little kids. My friend's little girl at one point rolled the ball so slow that it only went 1.2 mph! I wasn't sure the ball was going to make it to the end but it eventually did!

My dad called Thursday and said he was going to come get the boys to spend the day at his house...thanks Dad! They had fun playing with the neighbor kids and I was able to get some things done for the weekend.

Friday morning, we loaded the car and headed up to Bear Lake with Emily and Adam and crew. Adam's dad has a "cabin" right on the lake and they invited us to stay there with them. Adam's parents kind of have an open door policy with the kids meaning anyone can come up whenever so there ended up being 12 adults and I think 22 kids there! Even with all the craziness, our kids were really happy and obedient. I think the boys really only had one or two moments each where I needed to tell them to stop doing whatever they were doing.
The weather was so beautiful on Friday and the water was warm. The beach we were on is really sandy and the water is shallow (up to my knees) for about 50 yards out at least so the kids had a lot of territory to play in. There were kayaks and catamarans that we went for rides in and they have a water trampoline and raft that the kids had a great time with. Lucy loved splashing in the water and eating the sand. She was pretty content the whole time. Emily and I had lawn chairs and an umbrella set up with treats, drinks and sandwiches. It was really relaxing and enjoyable.
Saturday morning was cold and windy but that didn't stop us from getting to the beach around 10. By afternoon it was warmer but still a little windy. But we still had a great time! We packed up after dinner and headed home. We finally pulled into our driveway after 11pm and went to sleep immediately. Sam forgot to set his alarm for high council meeting and we all slept in! We did make it to Sacrament mtg but just barely! Thanks Tollhousens, for a fabulous weekend! We can't wait to go again!

We enjoyed the rest of the Olympics on Sunday at my parent's house but the kids were exhausted by 8:00 from our fun weekend. Monday we did a little school shopping and I took the kids to McDonalds for lunch. That evening we went to a Back to School Night BBQ and met the kids teachers. They were both so excited to find out that even though not all of their friends were in their same class again, they each were in the same class as their best friend!

Tuesday morning we were up at 7:00, Sam made the kids breakfast, I packed their lunches then Sam was able to give the boys each a Father's blessing to help them with this school year. This is something I looked forward to each year before I started school from my own dad. It always seemed to calm the first day of school jitters and give me some perspective for the school year. It also conveyed the love my dad and my Heavenly Father had for me (and still do!). I'm so grateful Sam has the desire to give these blessings to our children! After that, we all walked the boys to school and sent them on their way!

After school, we went to Thanksgiving Point for their last $2 Tuesday. We had never been to the dinosaur museum there so we took advantage of the discount and braved the crowds. The museum is really great and huge! Sam wants to go back without the kids so he can actually read everything. We also went over to the gardens there that are absolutely amazing. We walked and walked but had a great time. We were gone for over 5 hours! It was a fun way to celebrate the kids' first day of school!

Thanks to my Mom for saving the day and letting me borrow her camera since mine is still broken. As soon as I get the pics downloaded, I'll post some!

July in Bullet Points

July has been a busy, crazy, fun month. Here is what we've been up to:
*Making pioneer skirts and bonnets for Pioneer Trek
*Dinner with girlfriends
*4th of July viewing of Wall-E with family and my parents, dinner, cards, sparklers with both sets of parents, walking up 21st with boys to watch Sugarhouse fireworks
*Flag football for Noah
*Sam's Club shopping with YW for Girls' Camp
*2 days of Girls' Camp with Lucy (she's such a little trooper!)
*Boys sleepover at Nana and Grandpa's house
*Date to see Indiana Jones...stupid, stupid movie
*Flag football for Curtis
*Final Pioneer Trek meetings, sewing and shopping
*Sent all Trekkers off and had a huge sigh of relief (with a little regret mixed in for not being able to go!)
*Flag football for boys
*10-hour scrapbook crop with Em, Nat and Kathi. WITHOUT kids! Sam brought Lucy to me half-way through so I could feed her but other than that half hour, no kids!
*Quick visit to my parents ward to see sis Suzanne for the 2 hours she was in town
*Lucy starting to crawl
*Did I mention flag football?
*Scrap days with Emily
*24th of July dutch oven cookout with Sam's fam
*Raging Waters with all of us plus my dad and my bro Mat who was in town for a wedding
*Resulting sunburns
*BBQ at my parents house with sibs Mat and Amy (delicious bleu cheeseburgers made by chef Mat)
*BBQ in West Pointe with Sam's extended fam
*Trip to the dentist for all of us with NO CAVITIES! Woohoo! I did have to get a mouth guard made though, what am I, 13?

And that's about it, in a nutshell. We have had fun, we are tired!
Two more flag football games...sweet!
Pictures to follow in coming days...

The first month of summer vacay

So far, the summer break has gone fairly quickly with minimal sibling fights and even fewer mom freak-outs. I came up with a schedule for the kids and myself so we would know what we are doing everyday and I could plan accordingly. Here is the rundown:

Monday: Family Outing Day (since it is like Sam's Saturday)
Tuesday: Scrapbook Day with Emily & kids
Wednesday: Fun at home/Free Day (I need to "re-group" and prepare for Mutual Day)
Thursday: Library and Park (or other outing) Day
Friday: Project/Craft Day

Sure, I am flexible and if we decide to go to the Library Wednesday, that's fine. These are the bones of the schedule and we can change our minds if we want! We have had a lot of fun so far and made some cool projects and had fun outings. We went to Ensign Peak one morning with Sam and this past Monday spent a few hours at Liberty Park, riding the sketchy rides and going to the Aviary. (we nixed the boat idea after checking out the conditions of the boats and the filthy, stink of the pond) We have more fun in store for July and should prove to be hectic. I signed up the boys for flag football and they have games every evening except Thursdays. We'll see if we survive!

Lucy is now 7 months old! She is such a good baby and a joy in our lives. She is now sitting up unassisted (although she does have the occasional "timber"), She rolls and scoots everywhere, she is trying to pull herself up in the crib (oh no!) she sleeps through the night most nights, she is loving sweet potatoes, apples, and anything I am eating, still has 2 sharp little teeth with the threat of more at any moment. She babbles lots but her favorite "words" are "nananana" and "dadada". We love our little Luce Goose!

It's a first day of Summer vacation MIRACLE!

Everyone slept in until 8:00 this morning! That might not seem like a miracle to you but take this into consideration: every morning this week, one of my boys has been up BEFORE the alarm clock even went off at 7:00. AND...Lucy slept from midnight until 8! So, really, it is a first day of summer vacation miracle!!!

I'm in Love

It's official, I am crazy in love with this little girl! Just the fact that she had a bad night (she's teething) and I had intermittent sleep, but I still just want to eat her up proves that I am whooped! And can you blame me? Look at that face!

Last Monday Lucy turned 6 months...6 months!!! I honestly am freaking out a little that she has been with us for that long! It saddens me that the newborn phase is over but at the same time, she is so cute and interactive and learning so much that I can't wish for time to stand still.

Here are her 6 month stats: 17 lbs. 11 oz. , 24.9 inches. That translates to 79th% for weight and 20th% for height. Oh my! Two little sharp baby teeth poked through last week and her top gums are swollen. She is on the fast track for teeth! She is sleeping pretty well (except for last night) and is such a delight! She loves her brothers as they make her giggle; Curtis can actually make her belly laugh which is an almost unbearable sound. She is starting to get a little hesitant about other people, always has to make sure mom is close by. She really is such a happy baby and our whole family is smitten!

Both of the boys have had a stomach bug the last week. Sam and I have both had to clean up barf on more than one occassion. But, I think they are both doing better. Last Friday was Noah's Kindergarten Share. His class sang about 4 or 5 songs for us and then showed us their "portfolio". The songs were hilarious and oh, so cute. I laughed to the point of tears. Here is the video of one of the songs from the Kindergarten Share. Unfortunately, I shake when I laugh so the picture is pretty shaky! I love how they all start to giggle before the "bums out" part. I think Noah was most excited about the portfolio, though. In there was a certificate from the Mileage Club showing that he had run 79 miles this year! He is an amazing little guy! Yesterday I took him to the Dr. and she was checking his lung capacity and said it was well above other kids his age/size and that he is really in shape. I've got to find some good sports programs for him!

Curtis had a busy week with a field trip to the park one day and swimming the next. He also went bowling for Cub Scouts. Noah, Lucy and I were able to go bowling too which was fun. Curtis didn't care about form or style, he just wanted to see how much energy he could get behind that ball! He would practically run up to the line and sling the ball down the lane. It was quite a sight to see.
I took him to the Dr. last month and he has grown 3 inches in 6 months! He is gaining on me quickly! He has been working hard at home trying to earn money so he can buy Legos. He will ask me what chores he can do so he can make the most money! Legos are the hot item in our home. Sam got a Lego catalog in the mail a few weeks ago and at any given time during the day I can find one of the kids just poring over the catalog deciding which Lego set to buy first. Curtis actually slept with it last night! He told me that if he won $1000 he would buy the $499 Millennium Falcon set for Sam. Such a thoughtful kid!

Thursday is the last day of school which brings mixed emotions for me. I'm planning on doing fun activities every week with the kids and making sure they aren't bored at home all the time. The part I'm not looking forward to is the fighting. Those boys have a love/hate relationship. My sis told me about someone she works with that when he was growing up and fighting with his siblings, his mom would send them to the front porch until they resolved their differences. They hated it so they very quickly learned not to fight! I have been using this tactic and it is actually working...hopefully the summer will be fight-free! Am I dreaming thinking this?