August Catchup

Well it took longer than we expected, due to a loan company that just really wanted to pull our teeth out (they delayed our closing by 3 weeks), but we finally closed and were able to move into our new home.  Alex left the very next day on a week long work trip, so I pretty much got to unpack by myself.  But since that task mostly falls on me anyway, I didn't mind.  It was pretty slow going though with him gone and with a reunion with his side of the family in California though.  

(By the way, that reunion was a total blast and unfortunately I don't have a single picture.  We completely forgot to take a camera with us and haven't gotten around to forcing everyone to send us copies of their photos.)

Here's our last photo in our old home:

Once everything was packed up the girls would play hide and seek in the empty cupboards.  Way cute!

Mom and Dad decided on the spur of the moment to come out and help me with the unpacking at the end of the month.  We had them for a week.  Our girls had a blast having them all to themselves.  And they helped out a ton with unpacking, mounting things on the walls, weeding our old yard (oh, did I mention we were also frantically trying to get our old home ready for renting, with a huge repair/maintenance list as well as our new guest house renovated and ready for our friends to move into?) moving a ton of stuff and trips to the dump, etc.  Oh, and their last day here, while I had to go to work, they painted my front room!  Not just your everyday paint job, either.  They did a beautiful job faux texture painting the room in a soft warm brown, tuscan style.  You can kind of see it here.  But you all will just have to come visit and see it for yourselves.  I still love it every time I sit in there and just look around.  Thank you, Mom & Dad!!!

Now if I could just find the time to paint the rest of the house...

Just an Update

Just for any who might be curious why I haven't been writing lately.  We've been just a little busy with inspections and contracts and negotiations, and such.  I'm a little embarrassed to admit that we are moving once again.  We're up to 4 times now in 2 years.  Yes, I'm really getting tired of this.

But this time, we're actually moving to a home that we are buying, that will actually be big enough for all our stuff and growing children.  It's still not as much space as we had in Colorado Springs, but it is twice as big as what we are living in now (which is bigger than anywhere we've been since leaving the Springs 2 years ago.)

I'm almost giddy thinking about having a bedroom that is JUST a bedroom (not a storage room on full of boxes along one wall.)  And I might actually be able to have a separate craft room as well.  Funny how when all my crafting supplies are in the toy room closet, the kids think they are toys to play with.  And there's a storage room right off the kitchen as well.  I could actually start storing food again.  Maybe we could actually get a full year supply.  Not to mention the kitchen itself that has more than 2 feet of counter space.

Oh, and there's a hot tub in the backyard.  Mmmmmmmm.

Yes, I'm very excited.  I wish I could start moving now.  But the big day is July 3, a week and a half from now.  So this year on the 4th, we'll be celebrating our independence from tiny cramped living quarters!  Hopefully we'll be able to stay put this time for a long, long, time.

(For those of you who might care, we confirmed today that we will definitely be crossing the elusive ward boundary into 4th ward.)

Oh, and one more thing... I probably won't be writing again for a while as the whole craziness of packing and moving sets in.  Wish us luck!

Striking Similarities

The girls were playing Rapunzel the other day and tying blankets together to be their long hair.  But when Banana Girl walked in the room, all I could think of was this other girl from "One Man Band":

We tried our darnedest to get Banana Girl to scowl and hold out her hand for a photo, but she couldn't keep the smile off her face:

Too bad that Pixar girl has no name, it would be a perfect new blog name for Banana Girl (especially since Banana Girl no longer likes bananas very much.)

School's Over!

Princess M finished Kindergarten at the top of her class.  It's been so fun watching her learn how to read and write and do math and discover the world around her.  We're so proud of you Princess M!!!!

Summertime!

There are bonuses to having a grandma, who's house is in an HOA.  

 She gave us a copy of her pool key, so we can go whenever we want.  

We're loving it!

Just some random cute photos of the girls

 14 months already!

 She LOVES these little baby dolls.  She carries them around, makes them cry, gives kisses, and wraps them in napkins for blankets.  It's really cute!

 She's getting sooo big!

Poor Banana Girl had some puffy pink eye at this time.

Another Visit from Grandma

Grandma Lynda came back for another visit in May.

 We played her easter bunny game,

 tried Not to get her sick with our pink eye and stomach bug (she got the latter), 

 went on grandma/granddaughter dates,

 including the swimming pool (a favorite)

 and McDonald's

 and sleepovers at Grandma's,

 and personal ballet shows in the living room,

 and Princess M's Spring Recital for ballet.

Princess M had two dances in the recital.  I did get them on video, but once again, I can't get them to upload into blogger.  Anyone know how to compress a video so it will upload?