House Hunting Trip

Brad and I flew to Kansas City last weekend to find a new place to live. We are planning on renting until we sell our home in Michigan. The trip actually went really well and everything fell into place for us. We had looked on line at rental homes several times before the trip and narrowed down an A and B list of homes we wanted to look at. Although, of all of those, there was one that stood out to me, which I was really banking on. I really just wanted to see it first, fall in love with it, sign a lease, forget the other homes, and spend the rest of the weekend getting to know the area, relaxing, etc.

That's pretty much what happened (except for the relaxing part). Sunday, we went to church and felt very welcomed by the ward members. The rest of the weekend, we spent a lot of time driving around, running random errands, exercising, and eating out. Here are some things we learned:

1. House hunting trips are always stressful for me. Even when everything falls into place, my mind won't stop thinking about tons of details. As much as I wanted to just relax, I couldn't. I had a hard time sleeping, never felt hungry (even though, I was really looking forward to eating out and we did go to some really great restaurants), felt completely exhausted, and just had an underlying feeling of anxiety (something I'm still learning to manage).
   
2. Brad walks faster than me in the airport. I walk faster than him in the mall and when we're exercising.


3. Kansas City seems like a very easy city to get around. We were happy to see some trees around, but will dearly miss the trees in Michigan.


4. We found a few biking paths and a beach to take the kids to.
   
5. We enjoyed a perfect filet mignon, found a good Mexican restaurant, and loved the chocolate fondue at the Melting Pot.


6. We drove around the neighborhood where Brad grew up. We saw his old house and school. Thirty years later, the trees in that area are gorgeous.
   
7. One morning, we left the hotel and walked to a local highschool to use the track and run stairs. It felt good to move around after sitting on the plane, and spending so much time in the car. We enjoyed our breakfast much better after the exercise.


8. We had fun using the portable GPS system in the rental car. Those things can be so handy. I don't know how we would have done the house hunting trip without it.
   
9. We went to Lifetime Fitness at 11:30 pm one night to check it out
   
10. We toured the library and got new library cards.
    
11. The people we are renting from are architects and designed the home. They were really great to work with and even printed us a floorplan, so we can get a heads up on where to place furniture, etc. I also measured closets and figured out which ones I need to add shelving to.


12. I love the home. It will be perfect for us. We're on a quiet street at the end of a culdesac, with permanent green space next to us. Lots of kids are around and a member of our church even lives within walking distance who has a boy Sawyer's age.
    
13. Brad has a great sense of direction. He can figure out a map much quicker than I can and did a great job of getting us around.
    
14. Brad and I make a good team. We enjoy the same things and both have strengths that complement each other.


15. I'm going to miss the trees and terrain of Michigan, but know I'll love Kansas City.
    
16. We both like things that look new. And, even though neither of us are huge shoppers, we like having retail nearby.

A Turn of Events

Summer vacation wasn’t inviting enough chaos into our lives, so we decided to put our home on the market and move to another state as well. Really, Brad was approached by a head-hunter in mid June about a job in Kansas City. After a few interviews and weighing the pros and cons, we accepted. So, off to Kansas we go. I can't wait to meet Dorothy...

Now, I feel like I have three full time jobs: mom, house seller, and mover. My children have been totally neglected, much to their delight. That basically means our summer schedule has been thrown out the window, we have no structure, they spend lots of time with friends, and have overdosed on screen time. They couldn’t be happier. So, I figure I’ll let them enjoy my “non-parenting” for a few more weeks, while I focus on my other two full time jobs. School starts on August 18th, so we’ll start structuring our lives then. I hope.

Great Smoky Mountains- TN

We just returned from a great week in the Great Smoky Mtns. One of my sisters has a friend who offered us their cabin, so we jumped at the chance to go. Then, at the last minute, another sister was able to come, and with my mom already being there, we had an inpromptu partial family reunion. It was really nice to spend some time together. Brad and I have only made it to Utah as a family once in the past four years, so we were overdue for a get together. (Although, we missed my other three sisters and their families).

Our days were filled with tubing down the river, white water rafting, canoing, hiking, cliff jumping, swimming in a warm lake, mountain biking (Brad and Brett), and playing games at night. Except for a hike where our boys pushed the bad attitude-o-meter to my limit , we couldn't have had a better vacation.

Tubing:

Hiking:

Cabin pictures:

White water rafting:
The Lake:

Saying goodbye:

Other things I want to remember about the trip are:

1. Charlie got three bee stings at once and Sawyer got one. We couldn't figure out why they were running around flapping their hands and screaming until I saw the bee clinging onto Sawyer's back.

2. Lucy went number two in the woods while we were having a picnic. It was pretty gross, but I was really proud of her that she didn't go in her underwear.

3. Lucy and Maya played really well most of the time, but sometimes Lucy was mean. A couple of our kids can be mean spirited. I wish they weren't. Thankfully, Jenny and Brett still like us, despite our daughter's multiple personality.

4. Our boys love playing in the river. They don't like hikes. At least not this trip.

5. Mealtime wasn't stressful. We planned menus ahead, then Jenny and I did one big shopping trip when we got to the cabin.

6. My sisters and mom are intuitively helpful in the kitchen. I really appreciate that about them.

7. We all have very thoughtful and helpful husbands.

8. Sawyer had an allergic reaction to Amoxicillin and broke out in a massive rash which lasted several days.

9. Two of my kids are allergic to Amoxicillin. Lucy had the same reaction a week earlier.

10. The car ride went by really quickly when I crocheted baby blankets.

11. I finished reading Snow Flower and the secret fan on the beach and had tears streaming down my cheeks during the last few pages.

12. Our boys fearlessly jumped off a 35-40 ft. cliff into the water, with 20 teenagers as bystanders.

13. We swam in a perfect temperature lake near Jenny and Brett's house. You know how you usually have a cold twinge when you first jump in? Not here. It was my kind of lake.

14. Our boys love canoing- even though they don't know how to navigate very well. When I was with them, we just kept going in circles.

15. Lucy didn't have any potty accidents on the trip.

16. The kids slept on cots in the basement of the cabin. They looked really cute all lined up next to each other.

17. The cabin was perfect for a group our size. Each family had their own room and bathroom.

18. Maya brought her doll named John and bear named Charlie. The girls had a ball throwing John and his clothes off the balcony.

19. Spencer's shoes gave him huge blisters.

20. We found a swarm of butterflies who were dying after completing their migration.

21. Shelly was fighting nausea the entire time, but was a good sport about it.

22. Uncle Pat spoiled all the kids with yummy treats and icecream.

23. Mom loved walking around in her MBT sandals.

24. I love mountain and water trips with kids.

25. My mom made honey candy like she did when we were young. (In those days she'd set up tables in the garage and we'd go out there and stretch it). The kids liked it.

Know before you go

We picked my mom up in Tennessee and we get to keep her for the next month. (There have to be some benefits to having divorced parents- that's about the only one- but, we'll take it). One of the things I look so forward to when my mom comes is her reading with Charlie. She's a reading specialist by training and so she loads me up with reading helps for his grade level. The whole reason I brought this up is because of what happened to me today at Kinko's.

I had forty 8 1/2 x 11 pages of sight words to laminate. I never go to Kinko's and it's been years since I've gotten things laminated, so I'm rather out of touch with todays prices. I was expecting to spend 6 or 7 dollars- 10 at the most. And, I have no idea why I didn't ask the manager what it would cost beforehand, but I didn't. He was really helpful and showed me how to use all the machines and then did the laminating while I cut things out. He even offered me a 15 % discount when he saw my project and learned my mom was an educator. I was thinking, "oh, that's thoughtful of him. That will save me $1.50 or so...." So, you can imagine the look of shock on my face and total speechlessness when he told me the total would be $51.00! It sort of knocked the wind out of me.

I must have looked pretty pitiful, because after I told him I was flabberghasted at the price and there's no way I could pay that much , and what I had imagined the cost would be, he said, "well, since this is going towards a good cause, I'll do it today for $10.71." I couldn't believe his generosity, but thanked him and paid the bill. Next time, I'll know before I go. Laminating and color copying aren't cheap. Gone are the days of me laminating my kids "Go Fish and Memory " cards and other things I did for Spencer and Sawyer when they were little. But, I'm sure glad I did, because I still have them for Charlie and Lucy.

My Sunshine

Lately, Lucy has been saying, "Mommy, I love you. You're my sunshine." (That is, when I'm not mean, dumb, or stupid). She asks me regularly to sing the "you are my sunshine" song to her and merrily sings it back. Strep throat has been our uninvited guest recently. Charlie was the first to get it last week, and Lucy and I went in for throat cultures today. Coming home from the doctors office, Lucy declared from the back seat, "Mommy, I love you." I said, "I love you too! Where's my sunshine?" She gave me her biggest smile and affirmed with complete confidence, "I'm right here!" Sometimes that's all I need to keep cleaning up the barf, stopping the fist fights, and steadily moving forward. Thanks Sunshine.

turning the corner

It looks like little Lucy Anne has decided to potty train. Until now, she's been completely opposed to even sitting on the toilet without a lot of crying and leg kicking. So, we totally dropped the subject and got rid of the potty chair. One night last week, Brad called and said, "Lucy has something to tell you." She was as delighted as could be when he handed her the phone, and said, "Mommy, I went potty on the toilet! I get icecream!" We made a HUGE deal of it and told her how proud we were etc. Each day since, she goes on the toilet when she feels like it and we continue to make a big fuss. Last night was the first for #2 and she acted like it was no big deal. (I was a little concerned, because when Spencer potty trained it was an issue.) So, as with everything else in Lucy's life, things have to be on her time frame, and then she does great. She's been dry several nights as well, so hopefully she'll be the second of our four children who didn't inherit bed wetting genes. If not, we'll just keep forking out the dough for Pull-ups. I'm just grateful she's finally turned the corner. Hopefully, there will be no looking back.

A first

Friday night I did something I've never done before- stayed up the entire night! A friend and I volunteered to do night duty at Youth Conference. Our shift was from 10pm (I'm usually in bed by then)- 7 am. The kids were staying in the dorms at the local university and so we were in charge of guarding the stairwells and elevator through the night. Melanie and I actually had a great time talking and crocheting the edges of flannel baby blankets. I've been wanting to learn how to do it for years and thought this the perfect opportunity. It was. We were going strong until 5:00am, when I made the mistake of lying down to stretch. Then my eyes were like lead balls, but we endured. Driving home though, I felt like it must feel to be on drugs or drunk- seeing double, moving slowly, very slow reaction time, etc. I crawled in bed just after 7 a.m. Lucy wandered in around 8 a.m. informing me it was time to get up. But I was dead tired and ended up sleeping til noon.

Saturday, Brad got the house all cleaned up, mopped the floor, went grocery shopping, and then made a delicious dinner. What a guy! I'm so grateful for his helpfulness. He's the best.