Utah for Christmas!

I just realized today that I never published this post (started it on my phone).  So, a little late, but better that than never!


We were lucky that schedules changed and Lewis got Christmas off so we were able to head out to Utah. It is always fun to be with our cousins and play in the snow. Then come back to warmer weather. :) Since I am blogging from my phone tonight while I watch Lance Armstrong and Oprah, I will just do a photo dump next. But real quick, do you think he expects us to believe him now? Oh, Lance.

This girl is on fire!!

If I'm being honest, I am usually overwhelmed with my life. Trying to keep my kids clothed (in clean, appropriate, well fitting clothes), and fed (constantly), driving them to school, appointments, and other various activities, taking care of church callings: meetings, picking up yw, weekly activities, temple trips, youth conferences, and more meetings, add trying to keep up with groceries and other shopping all while trying to maintain order and cleanliness in my house and, well, you get the picture. Listen, I'm not complaining. I enjoy being busy and I really love a clean house. I know my problems are good problems to have. But our lives are just very full.
Now add trying to get this house ready to put on the market. And the emotions associated with moving after living somewhere for 6 years. And the stress of not knowing where you will be going after fellowship, and it just adds to the chaos around here. I realized on Sunday that I have been focusing so much on the physical "to do" list because it takes up my time and energy. That way I don't have time or energy to be so very sad about having to move. Here are a few pictures of the projects I have been working on over the last couple if weeks. I am happy to say I only have one major thing left on my list: power wash the deck and house and waterproof the deck. Oh, and clear out the house/ move lots of junk into a storage into to make our no so big house seem bigger!

Washing blinds, walls, doors, windows, and window sills.

Making pillows with my friend Colette and her awesome fabric stash.  Also, moving the bookshelves.

More trips to Lowe's than I want to count.  I bought pine straw, paint, caulk, etc. but they didn't have sod. So I googled "sod farm", drove to it and got as much as I could fit in my car.

Then I laid it. I hope I did it right!

Sand and paint.

Sand and paint

New stove and microwave.  Lewis and I installed the micro.

Map wallpaper down in laundry slash mud room.

Lots of filling holes, cracks, etc. and touching up paint on trim and walls and windows.  The colormatch computer didn't get it right so I ended up painting the whole laundry room again.  Lewis helped finish it off.

Recarpeted the stairs.

Caulk and kilz in the basement garage and storage area.  This was a massive project and Lewis helped so much with this one. We also have made huge piles for the trash on Monday, I'm sure the garbage dudes love us!

Lots of sorting and purging.  Toys, clothes, junk.

If I ever see a caulk gun again it will be too soon!

My baby girl is 10!

Our sweet Aiden girl is 10! I can hardly believe it. I know she loves to look at our blog, especially to look back and enjoy our old photos and stories, so I thought it was time to write a little bit about her. Through the miracle if modem technology I am writing this while sitting in a war listing room!
Even though her birthday was last week, we are having her party this Friday evening. I'm not sure how she talked us into having a party because she opted to have a special fancy dinner at Oceans with Lewis instead of a party. I think she got me because I feel bad that we are moving and this will be her last birthday here. And if you know Aiden then you know that this is the LAST birthday here and certain of her friends have NEVER been to one of her parties. So if we didn't have a party they would NEVER get to. So, I think the dramatic flair kind of got me.
Aiden is a smart, kind, constantly thinking and analyzing, helpful, sweet 10 year old. I really enjoy watching her discover new things and learn more and more about the world around her. She is constantly reading. She loves The Penderwicks and the Percy Jackson books. She is always telling me about the stories she reads and wants to share what she has learned.
There couldn't be a better big sister. I know that she watches out for her younger siblings at school and Iove to watch them walk into school together, plotting and planning and sometimes arguing. Whenever I need her to help with the baby, read to Cate, unload the dishwasher, etc. she is always ready and willing to help.
Aiden is also a kind and thoughtful friend. She has made some really great friends that she is so sad to be leaving this summer. She has friends for school, church, and soccer that I know she adores.
This year she is playing the piano, doing very well of course, and also soccer. This spring her team will be playing up an age group and will be traveling quite a bit around the state. Our Saturdays should be interesting with soccer soccer and baseball. Yikes.
Looks like I not only am writing more run on sentences than usual, but I have also wandered into another topic altogether. Mostly, I just want to make the point that Aiden Elizabeth is 10! A whole decade! And she loves to remind me that she is already more than halfway done with living with me. I haven't told her that I won't ever let her leave. I'll break that to her slowly. Or just manipulate her and make her want to stay. Or maybe try hypnosis..... Hmmmm. Some things to think about.
Happy birthday Aiden!!!!

The circus

I got to go with Cate and her preschool friends to the circus today. I loved what she said right before the human cannonball and wanted to share.

She fell asleep right before the grand finale.  Perfect timing.

Pre Christmas fun

Just wanted to share a few pictures from my phone of things that we did before Christmas.

It's always fun for everyone

Grandma Dee and Grandpa came for a visit before Christmas. It is always so fun to have them here and the kids are always devastated when they leave.

Snow in the 'Ham!

We had snow today and it was so fun! The roads were a huge mess, mostly because no one knows how to drive in the snow here! It actually took me a long time to get out of our cul de sac because of the slush. It took almost an hour to get home after school because of the traffic. It was insane, but we made it home safe and had lots of fun playing with our friends.