Furniture

Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah hallelujah!!!! We just got rid of our last Tupperware furniture!!! I found a pair of really nice nightstands. This means no more Tupperware nightstands!!! I really need to say this again, Hallelujah!!!!! When we moved here to Washington, we had ZERO, count it out (it won't take long), zero pieces of furniture!! We luckily had camping chairs and Tupperware coffee tables in our living room. Jonathan and I slept on an air mattress (which if anyone has done that for more than like 2 days, it can make you cranky, okay it can make me cranky) with Tupperware Nightstands and Tupperware TV stand, the boys slept in tents and in sleeping bags in their room and you guessed it, a Tupperware toy box. Caleb slept in his playpen and had a changing table using four Tupperwares, I just put the changing pad on it. The last room, the kitchen started out with a Tupperware table and one boy sat on a little stool and the other on the ice chest. Jonathan and I ate in the fancy living room. We were living high style. Oh and our laundry room, it was down the road a ways at a Laundromat. Lol.
We have slowly, but surely pieced our house together, one item at a time. It has been kinda fun hunting for the perfect couch, kitchen table, bunk beds, crib, etc. We as a family have shopped many weekends til we dropped just knowing if we go to one more store, it might be there.
Oh how far we have come. We still have a few more items of furniture we need to buy, but none that we can't live without for a little while (like a headboard and a dresser in our room, etc).
When you start with nothing, you seem to be thankful for anything. Jonathan and I have vowed to each other (of course to love each other til death do us part) and to never ever sell everything we own. What kinda crazy idea was that? Nuts I say!!!!
At the time, it sounded like a crazy idea, basically because it was. But, it worked out perfectly for what was to come! There is no way we would've had the cash flow to move, and the house Jonathan and I bought when we were both 20 years old (note to self: if I'm ever 20 again, don't buy a house until you turn at least 25, I've heard the logical and reasoning part of your brain isn't developed until then, I heard it on Dr. Phil, which means it has to be true, right?!) the house would've definitely stopped us from having any money to move (houses, especially with a pool can be very expensive, but we were trying to live the American dream instead of living in reality). It was a hard lesson to learn, but life moves on and so did we, literally, we moved.
All that to say, Hallelujah!!! Tupperware free is the way to be!!!
Here's a little before and after picture!!

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Grocery Shopping:)

I'm not a huge fan of grocery shopping, but of course I do it anyway (we gotta eat). I usually go once every two weeks, right after we get paid and by this time we are just scraping for the last "good" things to eat. I will also at one point, go for a mini-shopping trip. At this time I'll get all of the things I, oops, forgot, or ran out of, or expired within that time, and I'll usually get some fresh fruit too!
90% of the time I go, I bring all 3 kiddos.

It's always an adventure. I always enjoy the comments I get. When people see Nathan and Clayton hanging off the side of the cart, one on each side, and then a baby in a car seat and just here recently he's started riding sitting like a big boy. People say things like,
"3 boys huh?",
"I bet your house is crazy",
"Bless your heart",
"You've sure got your hands full",
"I bet there's never a dull moment", and one of my personal favorites is, "They sure are cute".
I love when people comment on how well behaved they are too, especially when they notice how FULL the cart is, which means, we've been here a while! It's very encouraging and nice when people notice. The boys also deserve to be noticed, cause it can be really hard to be good(especially when I'm having an off day and have to go down some of the same aisles over and over again). I'm not trying to brag (too much), but I'm really proud of the way all 3 of them act and listen to me. They make my life super easy that way, so no complaints.
On a side note, I am getting pretty excited about heading to Texas in 30 days from today for Christmas!! The boys get to fly on their very first plane, which is kinda exciting, for all of us! I can't wait to see all of my family (when I say family, that always includes my In-laws) and some friends too.
I do have to admit though, I'm a little sad about going too. Unfortunately, Jonathan doesn't get to come with us. For the most part, we haven't been apart from each other for more than like 2 days. We're kinda like a PB&J, we just belong together. He's like bread and I'm the butter. He's like a washing machine and I'm the dryer. He's like shampoo and I'm the conditioner. He's like a booger and I am the nose. He's like an armpit and I'm the deodorant. Do I really need to continue? I think you get what I'm saying here! lol. It stinks even more because at Christmas, it just feels like you should have everyone you love around you! We should be drinking hot chocolate, eating popcorn, snuggled up on the couch watching all the "Santa Claus" movies. Life will go on, but I can be sad anyways. What stinks even more is not for me, but Jonathan. He will be all alone, at least I'll be surrounded by people, while he chills at home by himself, it's kinda a bummer!
I guess I'll wrap up until we meet again! Happy Trails!

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Jon-Jon

In case you couldn't tell, I got the Blogger on my phone to work and posted a blog that I wrote about 2 weeks ago. I didn' t think it would work, but it did! Hooray!!
Today, Jonathan turned the big 2-8!! Yikes!! So close to 30. When you're twenty, thirty seems WAY far in the future. His Mom sent him a package with his baby book and a binder full of pictures and awards and newspaper clippings. She also sent a couple if his football jerseys. It is so cute to see little Jon-Jon. He looks so much like the boys do. I love all the little birthday party pictures and school pictures.
It has made me think I really need to get in gear and put the boys books together. This digital age is hindering my craft. Used to, you would take 24 pictures, and choose very carefully what you wanted to take a pic of, develop it (hoping no one had eyes closed or red eye) and you would have your 2 prints of each picture in hand. It is so easy to pick from 24 pictures which one (if not all) you want to put in an album,etc. Problem now is, I have too many dadgum pictures and it is so overwhelming!! You can take 10 pictures of the same shot (and they all turn out pretty good). It's just frustrating going to the kiosk and picking from the 1,800 pictures in my phone that I've taken just in the last 7 months. Yes, that is just on my phone, I have many, many, many more on my actual digital camera. MY NAME IS SARAH, AND I HAVE A PROBLEM. Well, here's to hopeful thinking. I gotta just do it, before they have kids of their own (there I have a deadline).
That's all for now, until next time....

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Simplicity

I love the simplicity of my life now!! There's not too much hustle and bustle. I don't get stressed out or crazy over many things. I love how we'll decide to just take a walk, go to a park, go thrift store shopping, or take a hike (in the nice way, of course). Life is too short to not enjoy it.
Now, don't get me wrong, there have been quite a few stressful years since we've been married. Well, hmmmm......thinking about it......maybe all of them!! Jonathan and I have had a lot of crazy experiences and done some wacky things, and we've enjoyed "most" of them.
I'm not sure if it's just growing up and maturing, but lately I have really "stopped to smell the roses". I really want to just enjoy the little moments I have while the boys are young. I don't wanna look back and remember how busy we were (that's kinda how some years have felt).
The future at times, really scares me. I have the absolutely most adorable, sweetest, and cutest little boys that anyone has ever seen (yes, I'm partial, but also factual), and one day they are gonna grow up. Duh!! What I mean is, there will come a day when they are not going to want to hang out with me, cuddle with me, or tell me everything on their mind. There will come a day when I will no longer be able to pick them up. I know that it's life, and it's going to happen, but if I could stall it for a few years, I might.
With all that said, here are some "rose smelling" times
We did a little pumpkin carving (mostly Jonathan and I) but the boys sure did great getting all of the pumpkin seeds out. I actually baked the pumpkin seeds too, for the first time in my life! They turned out really good.

We also made some rice krispie treats. Nathan and Clayton helped measure out all the ingredients and stirred everything together. Clayton, at one point, accidentally flicked a spoon full on me and they enjoyed picking the sticky mess off of my shirt.
We went to the park today, it was quite breezy out. Caleb took a turn in the swing and was giggling a little when Nathan was pushing him. It was really sweet.
That's all for now...

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Hey

I am fully aware that I have not blogged in a while. Due to some technical difficulties regarding our computer and my phone blogger app I haven't been able to blog. I am currently at the library with Caleb on my lap (making it difficult to type). We are doing awesome!!
We just enjoyed a busy October month, full of pumpkin carving, trick-or-treating, camping (in the rain and sun), all 5 of us getting sick (YUCK!!), Jonthan has put in his 6 months at work and is off probation, Clayton went on his first field trip, we made rice crispies, Nathan is beginning to read signs on the road (which is crazy to me), Caleb took his first ride in a swing, and we have taken quite a few walks around the neighborhood. It has been an eventful month! I hope to get some way of communicating on here soon, because the library isn't that great (and you can't post pics). Much love to all of you!

SURPRISE!!!!

I was so excited when my sister told me she was coming to visit me and stay with me. As it started getting closer and closer, I couldn't believe she was flying out already. Jonathan, me, and the 3 kiddos head to the airport on a Thursday to pick her up. She has an 11 pm arrival. We get to the airport and find her baggage claim area and we wait for a little bit. She has to get on a train to get to the claim area. People from her flight are already gathered around and the bags start to fall, but still no Emily. She has called and says, she barely missed the train and she's gonna catch the next one and be on her way. Meanwhile, I see her bag drop, and I grab it. We finally see her, and the boys run to her (like in the movies). We hug and all that jazz. So, I show her that I already have her bag and she says, "I have one more medium sized black one." I was like, "for real, you're only staying 4 days." She replies, "It's from Mom." That totally makes sense, because I can see Mom sending a suitcase of goodies for us. So, we wait. The boys are searching really hard for the suitcase and asking Emily about every black bag they see. We are all chitchatting about her flight and her layover, etc. I am beginning to ask her also, "how big is the bag? Is that it?" The boys are really on the search, and for some reason my sister has her back to the luggage pretty much the whole time. Jonathan, Emily, and I are in a sorta circle, so she's the only one not looking for her bag, and she's the only one that knows exactly what it looks like. I was kinda frustrated, but I knew we would get it eventually. Nathan even turns to Emily after asking her about 50 times, "is it that black one?" and says, " you should probably be looking too." During this, another flights luggage starts coming out of the same claim area, so we wait for quite a while thinking it might have been lost and it'll come soon. We wait for a really.long time, I would say about 20 min. Emily starts showing me pictures she took of clouds and mountains from her plane window. About halfway through her picture showing, the luggage conveyor stops. I stop looking at the pics and I'm like, " for real, where's your bag?"
Emily is like, " finish looking at the pics I took" Jonathan also encourages me to finish looking at the pictures too. There were a lot of clouds and she explained each one in detail.
Why is no one worried about her luggage and the conveyor being stopped? It was kinda frustrating. She's almost done showing me her pictures and these two men with carts start collecting all of the bags no one has claimed yet. Unfortunately, she says none of them are hers. I say, "ask them where we go to get your bag." I was ready to go ask them. They were speaking another language, so Jonathan says, "don't ask them, they're not speaking English." They were bound to know a little, I really wanted to ask them, but also was trying not to take over the situation. I see a sign about Delta luggage and we (very slowly) mosey our way over to this kinda office place. I'm realizing it's getting late and I feel like the only one who has a sense of urgency. I really wanna get home, instead of Just hanging at the airport. Emily looks through some luggage on the ground, right outside the office, not seeing her luggage she goes inside to talk to the lady behind the desk. Usually, I would be right in the middle, putting my two cents in, but not wanting to start the weekend off on a bad start I take my husband's advice and wait outside while just Emily goes in. Jonathan starts acting kinda funny and says, "let's go over here and look at something( I can't remember exactly what he wanted to look at). I just got a feeling that he wanted me away from the door of the office. I then start to think Mom must have sent this HUGE package that must have like the most awesome present ever in it.
Emily comes out and tells us the lady is working on it. I sit down on the edge of a conveyor belt. Less than a minute later, Emily waves at someone kinda behind me with a weird question mark smile on her face. Quickly racing through my mind is, Emily knows zero people here in the Seattle area. I'm thinking she's just being funny and weirdly waving at someone she either doesn't know or the craziest coincidence ever, that someone else she knows just happens to be here too. I stand up and turn around to see who she's waving at. The last person on Earth that I thought would be standing there would be my Mom, but to my surprise, there she stands. OH MY GOODNESS!! The waterworks happened so quickly and I cover my mouth in shock and from what I'm told, I repeat, " I hate you" about 4 times. Not at all what you would think you would say, but I was absolutely taken by surprise and it was said in a "I can't believe y'all surprised me like this" way. It was by far the best present ever.
After I finally got over the shock of it all, I finally realize there was no black suitcase, everything that had happened after Emily got off the plane was a total stall tactic. All of the pieces were finally clicking. Jonathan is usually a "let's get it and go" kinda guy. I couldn't believe he didn't want to get home sooner, find her bag quicker, look at the pictures in the car on our hour and a half drive home. Oh, and the lady behind the desk, my sister just went in there and said, "I don't need anything, just need to pretend that I have a lost bag." The lady types on computer like she's looking something up.
My Mom's flight had been delayed about 30ish minutes (that's right, they came from the same city in Texas on different flights at different times and by some craziness arrived only 30 min after each other on the same day).
Weird.
We finally got my Mom's luggage and headed to the house. They were very sneaky and it was really fun how it all went down. I was blown away and on the way home I kept realizing why certain things were done or said.
All I can say is, "they got me good."

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School Boys!!!

Nathan and Clayton just started school. Well, it is such a huge milestone, a first grader and a kindergartner. Nathan started 3 days before Clayton. He seemed ready but kinda nervous too. He woke up and streched, and said to me "I haven't done that in a long time." I have kinda made the kids not get up til around 10 or 11am, so when 7 am comes along, well, it makes you stretch and yawn! He is slowly making new friends, and really likes his teacher and the school so far.
Clayton was super duper ready for school. I think watching Nathan go last year made him more excited and ready. Clayton and I went for a little "getting to know and what to expect" orientation in his class, given by his teacher. We got to speak and say "Hello" to his teacher afterwards. When we left I asked him, "Do you like your teacher?" Out of the mouths of kids, he says, "she looked good." Not exactly the answer I was going for, but really kinda funny.
When I walked Clayton into his classroom on his first day, we walked in and started looking for his name at a table. We found it, and he sat down looking at the coloring papers in front of him, so eager and ready. I talked to him one more time about me picking him up after school and he said, "I know." I asked him if he wanted me to stay for a little bit, and he says, "no, I'm good, you can go." Wow, no separation anxiety or anything. No crying, no fussing, no whining??? With that said, he gave me and Caleb a hug and a kiss and off we went, just me and Caleb. It was really sweet seeing him sitting there at his table, just waiting. It was kinda tough, but I survived.

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Miss me

Nathan, Clayton, and I were all sitting at the table doing some workbooks that you get at the store to practice letters, sight words, etc. I'm trying to get them into the groove of school. We have less than two weeks now until school starts. Clayton looks up from his book and says "Mommy, I'm really gonna miss you when I go to school." Melt my stinkin' heart. It was so sweet. I told him "I'm gonna miss you too." I'm kinda excited because I'm pretty sure Kindergarten here is only half a day. Sending Nathan away for a whole day in Kindergarten was tough. For some reason, with as small as Clayton is, it is a little tougher. No matter where we go, everyone guesses he is about 3. I hope he has an excellent experience. I have a feeling he will get into more trouble, because he talks too much (no, I have no idea where he gets it).
Nathan is ready for 1st grade and is getting kinda excited. He says he's ready to do all the fun things, but he doesn't wanna have to write all the letters. Gotta get used to it.
A huge relief was lifted off of me today. I went up to the school to find out about registering the boys for school. I was scared because Nathan only finished 4 and 1/2 of the 6 six weeks, I thought he might have to take a placement test or something and (not knowing what they expect a to-be1st grader to know) I was really scared. I was so relieved when the secretary at the school told me they place them according to their age at this point. I felt wonderful!!
To wrap this up, I know there will be a day when they won't really miss me, but for now, it is the best feeling in the world.

One more thing, I gave Caleb a jar of peas about 2 weeks ago and he did not like them. I decided to wait and give him some different veggies and then try again. So, today we tried again and he made the cutest yucky face, he kinda looked down and would close his eyes and shake his head back and forth. To me it's not really a big deal because I never buy green peas (I absolutely hate the taste of them too). It did bring back some childhood memories of having to sit at the table until all my peas were gone (such mean parents I had). Nowadays, if a kid doesn't like something, a whole new meal is made. I rock it oldschool, if you don't eat what I made, you get nothing else (I'm such a mean mommy). Luckily I've taught my kids to not be SO picky. There are very few things they won't eat.
That's all for now.

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Six Months

The above pic was taken on Aug 16th, when Caleb was exactly 6 months old!


Time flies!! It is a little hard to believe that Caleb is already 6 months old. It seems like he's been around for a long time, and then again, like he just got here!! Babies learn and grow so much in the first 6 months. He was just a little 7 pound newborn that only did 3 things (slept, ate, and pooped) and has grown into a mobile baby. He began by just learning to lift and control his head and then rolling over from front to back and then back to front, and now he gets on his hands and knees and kind of lunges forward. He has also been eating baby food, and has been doing really well with it. He laughs quite a bit and we laugh with him (and sometimes at him). He makes so many noises and even shrieks from time to time. One of my favorite things that comes out of his mouth is the word "Mamamamama", it is the sweetest thing. Nathan and Clayton both said "Dada" first, so it was a huge treat when he started saying "Mama". His big brothers just love watching him and knowing everything that he does. Nathan asks me, literally everyday, "What's he eating today, is it something different?" It has been really neat to see how much they care about him. It's a totally different dynamic then when Nathan and Clayton were little.

He's a great baby!!

Caleb has experienced so much in his short life. He has been on a lot of adventures, and for some reason he doesn't remember any of them. Weird, I know. Since we take him everywhere we go (of course) he seems to be pretty content in most situations and really just goes with the flow (after we got past the first 3 months of chaos and stress, it was rough on all of us). He has been strapped to the front and back of Mommy and Daddy, he endured a looooong car trip, he's slept on the beach, he's gone bike riding, he's been on many hikes, he's lived in two states, he's been camping, he's been to the park, to the circus, to the ocean, and we're only halfway to a year! What exciting things are to come?

Last thing I must say is how great it has been that Caleb sleeps through the night, and has since he was about 3 and 1/2 months old (same as Nathan and Clayton). To this day they are still the best sleepers, and I hope that Caleb continues to be!

Sidenote 1--The third child always feels neglected and that not a lot of pics were taken, and nothing written down, I guess I've gone a little backwards, because I think #3 already has more written down. Just a funny thought.
Sidenote 2--I tried to post this on the 16th, but we have had a virus on our computer, and unfortunately still have it. Thanks to my mom, we have a laptop, but most of the letters like a, s, l, m, p, e, did not work. Needless to say, I bought a keyboard yesterday that I could plug into it and TaDa! 2 blogs in one day! I continued to write even while we had no computer, so I still have 2 more written that I will type out soon. That's all for now.

March Madness

What could top the excitement and craziness of having a baby?? My answer now, MOVING!!! Far away that is.

Here's a little background--Jonathan was a preacher's kid, much like military kids, he moved around quite a bit. Jonathan was born in Texas and lived there until he was around 2. From there he moved to Wyoming from ages 2-11, then his family moved back to Texas until he was 15. At that time, he always said he would never EVER move back to Texas again. He referred to it as "Hell on Earth". Jonathan hates heat, hates flat land, and hates, well. . . Texas. His family (except for his brother) moved to Washington State, and he absolutely fell in love!! He loved the outdoors, the mountains, the weather, just about everything about it. He always hated school too and could never see himself going to a university or college and sitting in class and taking tests, etc. So, when he was 17, through a simple flip of a coin he decided to go to a Technical Trade School (in Wyoming) to pursue a career in Diesel Technology. Six months later and he had a degree in hand a  great job opportunity lined up. Where you may ask??? TEXAS!!! Hehehehehe!!!! He didn't really want to go, but with his brother still in Texas (they were really close), and then this job, it kind of fell into his lap there wasn't really a question in his mind of what he was going to do. So in April 2001 he started his new job, within a few months he met me. Awwww. . ., we fell in love Awwww. . . and got married Awwww. . . and had a couple of kiddos.

So here's a little background on me--I was born in Texas, raised in Texas, everything I have ever known is in Texas. I lived in the same city through my entire school days. I married Jonathan and we moved to a nearby city. I had my bubble and I kind of liked it that way. I'm not much for getting way out of my comfort zone. That's pretty much it for me!

To combine, Jonathan and I have discussed, literally for years, the possibility of us moving up north and that when or if something came up, we would consider it. Jonathan has always considered Washington his home (for the simple fact that he loved it), even though I tease him that he is a true Texan, he won't claim it. In the back of my mind, I never thought it would become a reality, and if it did I would be like 45 or something. We would never have enough money to move, and how would he really get a job so far away, especially when he only looked for this particular job on rare occasions. Well, one day in October or November 2009, after literally years of looking, he saw a posting online for a job opening and immediately applied. A couple of months passed, I never thought anything would come of it, figured they would hire someone locally. I would play with the thought in my mind and then be like "No, it would be such a long shot". Well, Jonathan got a call on Monday, March 8, 2010, almost 5 months later. They asked him if he could come up for a hands-on test and interview on Friday, the 12th.
What?? No!! Yes!! Maybe!! What does this mean for our family? My parents? My siblings? My In-laws? My church? My life here in Texas? My friends? Money? Holidays? Everything I have ever known? A hundred, thousand questions about everything were running through my brain like crazy!

I cried a lot, more than I ever have in m,y entire life.

Jonathan booked a flight the same day and began studying everything he thought he might need to pass a hands-on and written test. He was nervous; he had a lot riding on this.

I wasn't sure if I wanted him to pass or fail.

I hadn't told any of my family that he had even applied, because it wasn't a reality in my mind. What were the odds?
During all of this madness, my brother and sister-in-law were told that they were going to be induced on March 12th and have their first daughter, Layla. I was finally going to be an Aunt!! I had always wanted to spoil and love on a niece or nephew, and I was finally going to get the chance.
I called my mom and told her the news about the possibility of the job the day we found out (Tuesday); I just had to tell someone and who do we turn to when times get tough? Our moms! I really needed to tell her. She deserved to know. It was a difficult and very very short conversation.
I hated it!!
I felt like I ripped out her heart and stomped on it! After that, I did not want to tell anyone else, I was soooo scared.
So, I arrive at the hospital with my mom (Friday) to wait in the waiting room with my sister, members of my sister-in-laws family, and their friends. Here's my mom, me, and my sister holding Caleb)

Of course my sister asks where Jonathan is and if he going to come see the baby. In my mind I'm thinking, "How can he? He's miles and miles away?" I ask her to come into the bathroom with me to change Caleb, and I tell her.
I feel awful.

She takes it pretty well, but I know she has so many things running through her mind. I then, so excitedly, get to go in to see my brother and sister-in-law before they have the baby arrives. We chit chat about labor and all of the craziness of having a baby and then my brother says, "Where's Jonathan?" Is this the best time? NO! Do I really want to go through this again? NO! With much hesitation, I tell them anyway, always saying there is a slim chance. I had found out that over 100 guys applied for this job. Out of those, 30 came in for the test and they were only hiring 6! The odds are clearly stacked against him. I think I was trying to talk myself out of it too.
We finally get to meet Layla, Mommy and baby were perfect, and they were so happy to have their little girl here, happy and safe. She was a sweet little 6 pound baby and has such a cute little button nose and the cutest curly hair. She is MY niece!! I love her so much!! Here are a few pics, some are small, sorry:(

Is she not the sweetest thing, for real??

My mind has so many things constantly running through it. I didn't want to tell anyone else. I didn't want to cry in front of anyone. I think if I told them it would become real. I would have to admit that it could actually happen. I would have to say goodbye to everything, and everyone I have ever known. we found out Jonathan did pass his test. He had one more interview (over the phone) and they would decide. I knew once he passed the chance of him getting the job was looking better and better. Despite all of these thoughts, we did tell people and it was hard.
I was beginning to come to grips with the thought. My favorite memories were always time spent in Colorado on vacation with my family in the mountains. I have always wanted to move, never imagined it would be quite so far. I never thought I would have the guts to do it. But, I have wanted to do something different and not just the same ole' thing forever. I wanted my boys to experience mountains and trails and hiking, hunting, exploring, and just being boys. Not that they couldn't do it in Texas (it would be different). Life had become so humdrum, doing the same thing day after day, week after week, year after year. Maybe this could be an exciting thing. Jonathan and I have had some rough years, we've made some decisions that got us to a place where we were in desperate need of a jump start of some kind, maybe this was it.
We waited, but not very long, after only 11 days they called and offered him the job! Seriously?!? I have never even stepped foot in Washington, never visited and I am fixing to move there? How long do we have? I'm hoping we can pick a date. Summer would be perfect. I need time to say goodbye, Nathan has weeks left in school, and I need time to pack, sell things, and get my mind wrapped around it all. So. . . how long do we have? 21 days? 3 weeks? It actually became shorter than that, because of the days of travel time and we don't even have a place to live, so we actually only had 15 days to figure it all out. I have had a gallon of milk in the fridge longer than that! That's not enough time to process everything!
Actually it was.
It had to be.
Has anyone actually seen a chicken run around with its head cut off? Well, that was me for the next 2 FULL weeks. Through the emotional basket case that I had become, we were in high gear, full speed, no slowing down to breath at all.
The hardest and most stressful times were trying to convince my family that we had come to this decision TOGETHER, that I really wanted to go. I always feel that every decision, everything that happens badly gets blamed on Jonathan. I hate that for him. Every decision is always a joint one, discussed until we've reached a decision (sometimes through tears, questions, arguing), but we do it together.
Yes it is true, if I had NOT married Jonathan, if he did NOT love Washington, if Texas was NOT so hot and humid, if Texas HAD mountains, we might never have even thought about all of this, but he had. It happened to be the way the cookie crumbled. It happens to really suck that the states have to be a plane ride away or a 2-3 day drive and we can't see each other whenever we want, but we wanted to step out and take a leap of faith and just enjoy life and embrace the opportunity, so we did. My family always has and always will tug on my heartstrings, I love them all, but as hard as it was for them, I was leaving everything comfortable, which I know, is so unlike me, but I really wanted to do it. It felt as if I was saying to them, "I don't want to be around you", "I think where you live stinks", "You're not important to me", but nothing could be further than the truth.
The chaos started with us moving all of our things into my in-laws, most of our things were already there, but that is an even longer story. We were living in their backyard, so it didn't take long to move everything there. For the next two weeks, we would live there, eat there, pack there. Because of Craigslist, we sold our RV (that our family of 5 was living in), our Honda, and many other misc. items in order to have money for the move, hotel, food, gas, U-Haul, deposit on a house we didn't have yet, and furniture (that's right, we have no items of furniture at all, not one piece). We had no couch, bed, chair, mattresses, table, crib, dresser, desk, bookcase (we sold everything a couple of years ago and were living in and RV, which comes completely furnished, so when we sold the RV, we basically had nothing, furniture wise)we were starting from ground zero. Yikes! Now, we did have quite a bit of odds and ends of things in a couple of closets in my in-laws, mostly small items like photos, books, kitchen things, movies, Christmas things, seasonal clothes, computer stuff, etc. We had a lot of our larger items in sheds and the garage. When we started really piecing things together from their garage, sheds, closets, and everything we literally crammed in our RV, we started to realize we had way more than we thought. We packed the largest pull behind U-Haul you can get, and packed the back of our Excursion, every nook had something in it; there were things at everyone's feet, things strapped to the U-Haul, and 2 cartop carriers absolutely full. We were weighed down.
Also, it those two weeks we tried to spend as much time with friends and family as we could, but it was hard. My days consisted of packing, selling things on Craigslist, still having to take care of 3 kids (with the help of my awesome in-laws, thanks for the help), Caleb was of course sill getting up in the middle of the night, and I was visiting with someone almost everyday.
I can wrap it up in three words--Busy, Sleepy, Emotional.
One neat thing that happened was that Jonathan was able to play one last gig with his brother. They both have awesome musical talent and are a great combo. I love seeing them play together, it's like they're both in their element and they mesh together well.
The last thing that we did before heading out on what I like to call our "Adventure" was we spent Easter with family; it was a happy/sad time. We took lots of pictures, it was a very sweet time.

Here's some pics of the adults hunting for eggs.

Nathan and Clayton hunted too (of course)
Mom made this really cool bunny cake, it was really cute!

Here's me and Crystal with our new babies, we're some proud mommies!

And we got the very first ever cousin pic! Aren't they all adorable?

Unfortunately, I was unable to hook my digital camera up to post some of my favorite pics, but thanks for letting me take these Crystal.

We said our goodbyes one last time, it was literally the crazies emotional rollercoaster ever. We were happy to be moving, and sad to say goodbye. We didn't know all the answers to where we would live, what we would do, when we would arrive, what bumps in the road would happen, how would the boys take the long, long drive, how would Mommy and Daddy take the long, long drive, but without further adieu, on April 6th we were on the road headed to our new home. Washington State, here we come!
Here's the first pic of the boys in the car watching a movie.

Side note--The views expressed are totally mine. The conclusions I come to are totally mine. Feelings expressed may not be actual thoughts of other people, just how I feel.
That's all for now, kind of long, I know! Sorry.

Pistachio Pudding

Nathan and Clayton are growing and growing everyday! It's neat to remember when both of them were Caleb's age. I sure miss when they were little and they would just sit in my lap and I would rock them to sleep. They were always such happy babies. Neither one ever really had a "Terrible Two's" stage. They ALWAYS slept through the night (Thank Goodness)! They never got out of their beds. They were just excellent babies and toddlers.
Now, I tell them "it's time to get ready for bed" and they brush their teeth (by themselves), they take showers (by themselves), they go to the bathroom (I'm not really complaining about this one, just thought I'd mention it). They can ride bikes (no more pushing them around in strollers), they buckle up (by themselves), they feed themselves, they talk (a lot), Nathan is beginning to read (a little), Clayton has been learning his letters, getting ready for Kindergarten (I don't wanna talk about that right now). It is sad to think sometimes of all the things that they can do, all by themselves. Yet, it is exciting all at the same time!  I am so proud of the little boys they are becoming. I am so glad to hear people say "Boys always need and love their Mothers". I am so lucky to be able to be their Mom (for some reason Clayton, on occasion will call me Mom instead of Mommy, I don't think I like that yet, but again, I guess it's part of growing up). I am so lucky to be able to see them learn and grow everyday. It's fun to see them explore, get dirty, play, talk to each other, ask questions (TOO MANY), and just seem to enjoy everything they do.
Anyway, on to Pistachio Pudding--The big boys love doing things out of the ordinary, and using things that usually Mommy or Daddy only uses. Today, we got out the mixer and made pudding. Nathan loves eating Pistachios, and peeling the shell too. So, when we went to the store and I told them each to pick a box of Jell-O or Pudding, Nathan picked out Pistachio Pudding. We poured the mix into the bowl, and they each poured a cup of milk into the bowl and then got their hands on the mixer.

Nathan is always concentrating on what he's doing, and wants to do it perfectly.

I love how the mixer becomes really heavy for them. I remember doing this with my Mom and I could not believe her arm did not get tired. (And how did she put her hand in such HOT water?) So, for a little while, I'm really strong!

 Well when we were all finished we each had a little bowl of it and it was really good! Ta Da!

Clayton chose a box of chocolate pudding that we'll make at a later date. Yay for chocolate! Well today this is all that . . .