A little fresh air

We decided to spend the morning at a park. The kids have been SO good through this whole moving process. It has been hard on them, and I have not been as gentle as I am normally. Lots of, "NO! Don't touch that!"and my voice has been raised a little more than normal. :-) William has been especially confused as we had to go back and forth emptying one house and filling another. He seems to be much better now, we are starting to clear out lots of boxes, but the house is still pretty much a mess. I am excited to get it all put away and on order. :) It is fun to do. We just finished moving out of the other house, and spit-shining it. That was an interesting thing to do with the three kids with me. Scrubbing the kitchen floor, scrubbing the fireplace, scrubbing everything, trying to keep the window spotless -- all very interesting task to do when they would be undone in 2 seconds! Oh well, it is done. I am grateful. We are now in one house, and I can focus my attention on just one. :-) Yeah!

That is all for now . . . off to unpack some more boxes!

Before and After

Here are just a few before and after pictures of what Charles did with the house . . .

Charles is using special floor treatment to make it pretty and shiny. :-) It works really well.
BEFORE: white wall, no trim

AFTER: Tan wall, thick white trim
Just a picture of the kids room . . . (no furniture yet . . . tomorrow)
Kitchen

BEFORE: Dark green wall, no trim. White wall, no trim
AFTER: Lighter green wall, trim. Tan wall, trim

Before: Mint green wall, mint green closet -- not so pretty
AFTER: Tan walls, white closet, trim -- lovely! Yea Charles! :-)
Charles worked so hard, and got it done! Yes! We will move in tomorrow, and then we can start "normal" life again! Hooray! He really did a beautiful job! I love it, and I am so glad he convinced me to let him do it. (I was not sure at first.) I am so grateful now! He cleaned up the whole place so nicely, it really feels like our home now. The other people who lived there had a dog and cat -- so it was kind of animal lived in. Now it is spotless, bright, and beautiful! Love it! Thanks Charles!

Comments . . .

I have not been commenting much (or at all) on the blogs of others. It is not because I am not reading -- I am! I love reading about the things happening in the lives of friends and family. I just want you all to know I DO read, and enjoy it -- even if I do not comment. :-) Please keep writing, so I can keep reading! Love it!

Mari

The Office

Here is a picture of the kids hanging out with daddy in his office. They were eating the most enormous hot dogs! Charles is sitting on a box of appeals. He mentioned that sitting on them is about all they are good for anyway. :-) It was great to meet some of his fellow attorney's -- who were very happy to tell me stories about Charles in the courtroom. :-) Loved the stories. :-)
William is so funny now. He has a really silly laugh -- I will have to catch it on video sometime. :-) He has learned to say, "cracker" and "Jesus". He does his sign language really well, especially when he wants a jelly bean! He does the sign for "more" as if his life depends on it! It is such a great way for babies to communicate. He signs milk, please, thank you, more, and yes. Which sign does he use the most? More, more, more! Of course!
Brother buddies. :-)
Another thing William has been doing lately is laughing hysterically during family prayers. He thinks it is so funny that we all have our eyes closed and arms folded. He just laughs, and laughs! It is so silly! Silly Willy!

Today we got to go and visit daddy at work. Apparently, his boss said he could leave early -- if his family came to the potluck lunch that they were having. So, what is a girl to do? Of course, I woke up, showered all the children (and myself), cut fingernails, rubbed lotion, brushed hair, etc, etc. Then after we were all groomed we got to drive downtown during lunch hour (not so fun). Normally, this would not be such a chore -- but we are living out of boxes, and trying to find clothes, shoes, etc. -- is interesting! But, I love Charles, and I will do anything for him. :-) It was a fun time. The people at his office are all very nice, and down-to-earth, (don't you just love that phrase?) The kids loved it because people were giving them candy. :-)

Anyhow, it was good to meet all of the people at his office. I have been there once before, but I was not able to meet everyone. It is good to know that he has good people around him during the day. He is very lucky right now -- his boss is a member of the church. His family was there too, so it was nice to talk with another wife and mother (she has four children.) :-) The attorney ladies were interesting -- but there is nothing more spectacular than a woman who bears children, and then loves them. I kept thinking while I was there how I once wanted to be an attorney, or some sort of "business woman". I have made certain choices in my life, that have sent me on a very different path. I chose a much more challenging and fulfilling career . . . ;-) I am SO grateful! I truly find just as much fulfillment from the things that Charles has accomplished. Or I should say, "we" have accomplished together. It brings me so much joy.

Charles is doing great work on the home. He goes there right after work, and keeps working! But I can tell -- he loves it! I make sure to gush over what he has done when I pop in. ;-) I keep forgetting to take pictures when I am over there. He never ceases to amaze me. Yesterday, he fixed some of the Pergo(ish) flooring (not sure what it really is.) There was a place in the floor that had risen up, and was very rough, because a dog had an "accident" on it, and they did not find it in time. So, luckily, they left some of the flooring in the garage. Charles thought he would try his hand at floor repair/installation. He did it! It looks great! Now he is putting up the thick trim around the bottom of the living room -- it looks really nice. Tomorrow he will paint and be finished. YES! I am very anxious to see it, and move in. I think this has been a great experience for Charles to "bond" with the new home, and make it truly our own. I am so grateful for him, and that he is a jack of all trades!

Tomorrow we will be having another garage sale. Well, actually, we had ours last week, and did really well. We had other members of our ward come to our house and join in the selling "fun". This week we are going to their home to have one last go at getting rid of our stuff. We do not have much left, mostly kid clothes, toys, and some random shelves. Last week we sold most of our furniture -- with the exception of beds, dining table, couch, a desk, and some shelves. It is always interesting to see who comes to garage sales to scoop up unwanted items. There are real professional garage sale people too! So funny!

I have been so tired lately. At night I wonder why I feel so sleepy, then I look back at the day, and realize why! I have been doing lots of lifting, scrubbing, raking, and things my body is not use to. My favorite is scrubbing out an oven, while using my leg to block William from climbing in. Packing and cleaning is much more interesting with 3 children. The two older children do pretty well, it is mostly William who provides the "fun" moments. :-) We have also been staying up way too late. We normally go to bed around 10:00, and it has been more like 12:00. Also, running is one thing -- manual labor is totally different! I am discovering muscles I have not seen for awhile! I have been putting my running on hold -- on purpose. I do not want to wear myself out during this process. I am trying to be wise. I will pick it right back up, as soon as we are settled. :-) Can't wait!

Well, that is it for now . . .

Mari

Getting my hands dirty . . .

We have been moving into our new home this week. We are not living there yet, we are still in our old home. We have been going in and cleaning out, and now Charles is prepping the living room for some fresh paint. He has been dying to paint, it has been awhile. :-) So, we are sort of in limbo right now, living in boxes, between two places. I am getting anxious to get into our new home and start setting up shop, and giving the kids a little more peace. They have been SO good though. However, William is really confused. :-)

The picture above is of our backyard. Before the sellers moved out we asked them to "remove all the junk" in the backyard. Well, they did remove the huge piles of wood, but they did not clean out the leaves/piles of random gunk and dirt. So, I have lots of dirt under my fingernails now. I have been "playing" in the dirt (working hard, sweating profusely, and getting blisters). It has been toasty too, in the high 90's -- HOT! Anyhow, I am discovering my inner pioneer woman and I have this great desire to till the land, and make it beautiful. So this is the before picture . . . I will post the after in a few days, probably weeks. :-) I will conquer this beast! So far I have 3 heavy duty garbage bags full -- I think I only have about 20 (literally) or so to go! Yikes!

I love how private the backyard is though. Our back neighbors are on a few acres and their house is way far away from our's -- really nice. It is so peaceful at the house in the morning. We have been living on a main road, with a pretty steady flow of traffic -- it is amazing how quiet it is on a side street! I love it!

Well, I am only writing this now because I am waiting for Charles to get home (it is about 11pm). He is still at the house prepping for paint. I should have done before and after pictures, I think I have some before pictures though. I will get some good after photos. It should be nice. :-)

Well, I am pretty sleepy. I was up at the crack of dawn raking my arms off, while the kids played in the house. Then I returned home and got a phone call from the landlord -- who wanted to show the house we are in now to someone (this has happened about 4 times now). Anyhow, my house was a HUGE mess, boxes everywhere, etc. So, I hauled all the boxes (of course they had to be Charles Law books boxes--HEAVY!) into one room, so at least part of the house looked decent. Anyhow, that was interesting, then they came to look through, then back to the new house to do more raking, and I sanded down the entire living room, to prep for Charles. Anyhow, blah, blah, blah . . . manual labor is great -- I love it. :-) I really do. We were in the backyard and Daniel was "helping" me rake. He said, "Mom, this is fun!" You know, he was right! :-) I do love working hard and seeing the results of the effort. However, it definitely makes it more interesting when there are 3 young children around! What fun!

Over and out!

Mari

Our Castle :-)

Our new home . . . :-) HA!
Okay, our real new home. Our castle. :-)

It has been a funny process, the whole "finding the right home" thing. We have been looking for awhile -- since before we even got here. The timing became right, as our lease in our current home was almost up. The funny thing about the home we bought is, we had made an offer, and originally they did not accept our offer. A month went by and we were ready to offer on a different property. However, our realtor sent the offer to the agent for this home, by accident. As a result, the agent contacted our agent, and asked if we were still interested. We decided we may be, if they were willing to work with us this time. So, we made another offer, an offer that was better for us in every way (including them leaving their movie projector and screen). :-) And, well, they agreed! So, timing turned out to be everything for us! Also, I love the accidental offer from our agent. Accident? I think not!

This was the home that we fell in love with when we first walked through. They had our special music playing (Nat King Cole, Sinatra, etc.) They had it smelling like Christmas and everything. :-) It was the only home that we actually "felt". All the others -- there was nothing. Anyhow, so as you can see, our castle may not be what many might imagine to be a "dream home". But, it is our dream home!! We do plan on expanding over the years. Currently, there are two bedrooms. All of the kids will be in one for now, and us in the other. Yes, they have to share -- can you believe it? Sharing a room! For shame!

Eventually, we will need more room. As Sammi grows into "womanhood", and the boys grow, and more come. :-) For now, I make sure they have their privacy when needed, etc. :-) It will be "cozy" for awhile, but this house is three words to us: LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION! It is minutes from their school, minutes from Charles work, and around the corner from church. It is only a few streets down from where we are now, same ward, school, etc. We could have moved out in the suburbs, and gotten a MUCH larger home, but we did not want Charles to drive to and from work for 30 + minutes a day -- no way! I will "sacrifice" space, for time with him -- any day! We have done a lot of research as well, and this area has maintained value, while the suburbs are plummeting because of gas prices etc. Location is key! That is the only thing I learned in one of my business classes. :-)

Another funny thing about this house is that our sellers were moving because they did not have enough room (they have one baby). I think they felt a little sheepish saying that after I told them we were moving in with three kids! :-) Ahhhhhh . . . one man's junk, is another man's treasure! This is our treasure, because it will by our own, a place for our family to be, and grow, and love. We will have to be close -- I love being close. We will have to work together, and I will have to learn the art of Feng-shui. We are selling most of our furniture, and cluttery things, and we will keep it simple, clean, and lovely. The way I like it. Less to clean, less to keep track of, less to distract, and more time to play! Hooray! We are very excited. It has been an interesting process, very educational. We have had some friends (who were going to move into a bigger home) change their minds because they said we helped them realize you don't need "more" to be happy. That is one thing I know for sure!

Now to quote my mother, quoting one of her Samoan girls. "You are so lucky, you have everything you need!" This girl lived in a Fale (a Samoan home with no walls) and the whole family sleeps on the floor. That is all they have. Truly, I feel very lucky, we do have everything we need, even want. I thank God everyday, and pray for those who do not have. :-) I think the one thing that you can never have enough of is gratitude. God sure does love a grateful heart. :-)

Picture of my parents standing in front of a Fale, you can see the family inside. :-)

lots of love,

Mari

Happy Independence Day!