Merry Christmas

Christmas came and went so fast. However, there were many highlights and fun times to be had.
We started the season with our annual tree trip with the Paulson family. We met with Santa and had fun on the hey ride. Tanya and Trav + kids came over for some chili and wine after. It was awesome and a great way to kick things off.
We had a holiday party at Chris's work. That was fun.
Christmas Eve, we spent with Claire, Mark and the girls. We did a little last minute shopping, along with Carousel ride and pizza. We tried to go to church but there was no room in the inn.

Christmas morning we woke up to darn early, opened presents and then walked to church. Trev came by for a bit. We just spent the rest of the day hangin out as a fam. We played Life and ate way too much food.

Thankfully, I didn't bake too much this year. However, my mother in law did and sent me many cookies that I ate...Still can't breathe.
We went to the tri-cities for a weekend with the Duvall clan. It was nice. All the kids were home. Kim moved into a new house which is so beautiful. Christian cried when he left his grandma and cousins. The boys had such a great time.

Now I am switching gears to New Years. Christian turns 12 in just 3 short days and I am not ready. How fast time flies. I am thankful for all the blessings in my life and looking forward to a great 2010!

27 Things

As most people know, I work at the library. Recently, I have been asked to do some extra training. One of the things I have to do is create a blog. WELL ALL BE! I am smarter than I thought I was and already have a blog.

The purpose of this assignment is to communicate thoughts and ideas in a clear organized fashion. Lots of librarians use blogs for books, ideas, information, book clubs, etc. etc. I blog to tell the story of my sweet family. Hey, its important to me.

Calming Down?

I finally feel like things are slowing down for us just a little. Of course we are still busy with the day to day but the absence of sports in our lives makes a huge difference. We are coming up on Winter and I am looking forward to hitting the slopes with my family. It is one of my favorite things we do.

The rain is falling all the time and I can't help but panic a little inside. I know Chris and I feel the stress of the next phase of remodel that is coming up ahead. However, we did find a little time to go on a date this week. We went to dinner and a movie. It was fun. Not my movie choice but still nice to spend some time together. Tanya is taking the kids this weekend so we can head to the SU Gala for a night of dancing. Chris and I are taking dance lessons again so I hope it pays off.

I haven't had much time to write but I am getting there and with each task completed I feel like I may just get to a point where I can make some real progress..
Thanksgiving is coming soon and I can't wait for apple and pumpkin pie. I love it!

Finding Time

It has been so difficult since the flood to find time for much of anything. I realize that I need to take time for the little things. When I look back at my blog, I read it like a diary and I realize that I am glad for taking those few moments to document my favorite memories. This year has been very difficult. The boys have been so busy with their activities and Chris and I do our best to keep up with them and make sure we still have our family moments.

The boys have grown and changed so much. So to restart my blog, I thought I would write a bit about my favorite things for eac boy.

Max....My Macaroni Man. He is more and more like his faher everyday. He is still my baby but everyday he needs me just a little less. He loves to make his own lunch but he is so slow. Peanut butter goes everywhere and there are always messes after...Iwouldn't change a thing. He loves to cook and I love that he responsible for his own lunch. He loves to listen to Mozart before bed. He climbs in his bed, reads andjust listens to his music. He is soo sweet to his mommy and is always available for a good cuddle or a mommy smooch. He sings to himself and loves art, science and math. Mostly, I just love those few moments where he has a ton to say..It cracks me up. He is so quiet and then bam...you can't get him to stop talking. He and Jonah will get to telling eachother jokes and Max will laugh and laugh. You have never heard anything so sweet as my little Mackey's laugh.

Jonah...Or should I say the next Michael Jackson (80's version). Jonah is such a free spirit. He is so sweet and sensitive. His imaagination is unparralelled. Where ever we go there are kids shouting Hey Jonah, Hey Jonah. He knows everyone. One of my favorite things about Jonah is his ability to entertain. He goes to the football games and shakes his groove thing by the band and they all cheer for him. He loves it. That being said he is sweet and humble. He tries hard and plays all his sports with enthusiasm and joy. He is soo cute with his piano teacher. He loves to listen to people and their stories and he is always coming hometelling me about other peoples lives. He cares about other people and wants to help them.

Christian....What can I say about my first born. He is smart, funny, driven and just a cool kid. The two thing people say most about Christian is "His eyes are gorgeous" and "he has the best manners." Things a mother loves to hear. All the boys love music but Chirstian is developing a passion. Today foot ball was canceled and he spent three hours playing piano. He loves it. He loves learning and loves to work hard. Christian strives to be the best he can be without wishing someone to be "worse" than him. He is the kind of kid who is good at a lot of things.
He is a fantastic big brother and loves to take time to teach the boys what he had learned. I think Christina going to middle school was hardest on Max because Christian always take such good care of him. When he doesn't have practice he wants to be on the field with his brothers.

Oh boy, the trouble I am going to have when they start liking girls...Yikes.

There is no doubt that I have been blessed beyond my greatest imagination and I will continue to watch these boys grow and change into men. I pray that weare doing the best we can for them and I look forward to their future.

Hello Blot Where Have You Been

Well, it has been a few days since I blogged. Since then baseball season has finished...well almost one more tournament weekend to go plus one today and tomorrow. Jonah turned 10 years old. Holy Cow. I will write an omage to the Jo Man soon. The house has come together and we are living again which is lovely. Just in time for the Grant money to come through so we can tear it apart again. No time like the present. Life has been hectic and busy but good. Summer has been fun and I am getting excited to get thing together for a vacation to Maui. I can't wait. Oh yeah, I turned 33 which was fun. Now I have to write my 33 favorite things too. Ahhh, all of that will have to wait til work on Monday. I have only a few moments left on this shift and then off to watch the skip play ball. He is soo cute. Will post back soon but glad to have found my blog again.

Happy Birthday Chris.

Chris and I had a fantastic weekend. The boys had four games between them and they won all of them. Yeah. A friend of ours had all three boys over for a sleepover. Chris and I went to the movies, woke up, made breakfast and played a little Tiger Woods golf before picking up the boys. Chris worked on the permit set of the house while the boys played baseball. All in all it was a nice weekend.

When its my bday, I always write my favorite things. I thought I could do the same for Chris.

1. He is a the best kind of Man.
2. He is honest and stubborn.
3. He is an amazing father of three boys. When I say amazing, I mean he truly gives 150% to them all the time.
4. He supports me in everything I do.
5. He is not only there for me and the boys but he put equal amount of time in volunteering for our church, the summit, little league etc. etc.
6. He will wear just about anything, I made him dress up as the male SNL cheerleader one time, and Jonah made him dress up as Aragon and a king.
7. He is super freakin smart.
8. When he is angry he does not yell or swear at me. He listens to what I have to say....I wish I could learn to do that.
9. He is nice to my friends.
10. The other day we were talking about something and he said he wanted me to take care of myself so we could sit next to eachother in our rockers.
11. He laughs at my jokes. Even the dumb ones.
12. He works super hard to bring home the bacon.
13. He would rather pay for piano, gymnastics, baseball, football, fishing gear, ski passes, etc etc than go sit at a bar for a guys night.
14. He builds things with Max, does Math with Christian and plays legos with Jonah. Always, meets them on their terms.
15. He is driven.
16. One of our first conversations was about raising our kids to love God.
17. Somehow he always seems to be right and he will admit to me when he is not.
18. He rubs my back when it hurts.
19. He always gets me a glass of wine when he thinks I need one and he is usually right.
20. He trusts me.
21. OH yeah, he buys me clothes and usually gets the right size.
22. He pretends like he won't watch girl movies with me but let me watch Pride and Prejudice on his birthday and didn't complain one time.
23. He loves music
24. He doesn't get mad when I throw a glass of cold water on him in the shower!!! All is fair in love and war.
25. He gets worried if we haven't talked every morning by 9am.
26. He actually wants me to get pedicures.
27. He is handsome
28. He is a thinker
29. He is a fantastic cleaner.
30. Sometime when he laughs really hard he cries.
31. He is the only coach I have never heard not yell at the kids.
32. He is my best friend
33. He doesn't care if I order lobster
34. He new what forever was and he meant it.
35. He is my prince charming. The best man I have ever known.

Furniture

Oh, what a day we had yesteday. We woke up early to get out of the way of the contractor. We took the boys for pancakes and then begin one heck of a day of shopping. We ordered our tables/chairs and our bedroom furniture. We then went and picked out a couch and chairs. Chris's "chair is on order as is our table, chairs and bedroom furniture. They should arrive in 6-8 weeks. (well some of it will be longer). I am excited about what we have now. I still need end tables and a few odds and ends here and there. After furniture shopping, Jonah had a practice, then we desperately needed groceries. We came home piled on the couch and watched a movie. Chris and I fell asleep almost immediately.
I am not sure what is on the agenda today, I don't think I can handle two shopping days in a row. However, I do need to start replacing blenders, toasters, waffle iron etc. etc. I think I will wait til next week. Afterall, if I have a waffle iron, the boys will make me make them waffles. I am just too tired. Hope you enjoy the pics.

The move home went well. Several people from the library came over to help. They were Fantastic. After church we had another three families stop by to carry things from one house to the other. Chris's parents came up for the weekend. They went shopping and ran errands with Chris while I worked. We had a lovely dinner out and then they helped us move on Sunday. My goodness we got a lot done and a tone of friends to help. It was great.

The piano was delivered today. Chris and Christian went right to playing some tunes together. After about 20 min or so, I recorded this. The piano is beautiful and the boys are so thrilled to have it back. Once it came, it felt like we were home again. Max's room is super cool. Its like a little bachelor pad, it cracks me up. Christian and Jonah are happy in their new Husky bedroom. I was unsure about the colors but they are growing on me.

I am thrilled to be home and looking forward to a couple days off from work. Chris took the week off to spend with the boys over spring break. I have to work most of it but it is nice having him home. Things are definately getting back to normal and I love it.

Max practicing his piano

Hangin with my boys

Today we woke up and took the boys up to Alpental for some skiing. The pass was awful and on the way home they had checkpoints to make sure people had chains before heading up.

We came home, had showers, ate grilled cheese sandwiches and just hung out as a family. The boys wanted to play the wii so I let them beat me at dance dance revolution and mario cart. I could've won but I didn't want them to feel bad.

Chris is helping Jonah with his Homework, Christian is doing his piano and Max is reading. It is just a nice quiet night. I will add some photos of the house later.

Home repair

Here are the long awaited photos. Things are changing so fast. Chris keeps asking me if I am taking pictures and I am but only about once a week. These pictures actually showed up in reverse order. The pics on top are actually from today. They show the new drywall and subfloor. The pics below are various stages of construction from insulating walls to complete distruction. This is not at all fun but we are dealing. The kids are getting excited to see some change. It looks as though we will be moving back home the first week of April. I am anxious.

I have WALLS

After not blogging for a long time, here I am blogging two days in a row. I have had several updates today from my contractor. The drywall crew came in hung all the drywall, taped and have now added two coats of mud. I can not believe it. This morning when I walked in and saw the walls a weight was immediately lifted. I still haven't had time to post pics but I will definately try to this weekend. In the mean time, I think we are right on schedule for getting back in very close to the end of the month. Yippee!!!

Flood update

Well, I know I have not been great at communicating what has been going on. I have daily requests to post pictures and update what has been going on. Sorry. I will post pics when I get home this afternoon.

Things are finally getting put back together which is nice. The furnace, duct work, hot water tank, electricity, insulation and some plumbing have all been replaced. The drywall is being delivered to day and hopefully they will start hanging it today as well. The flooring has been ordered. They tell me it won't be finished for a month still. Which is freaking me out.

We had our first baseball practice last night and all three teams will be in full swing come Saturday. It looks like we may be moving back in on Opening Day Weekend. GREAT! Maybe a couple days after.

I am getting anxious to go back home. I wish this was all behind me yesterday. We are still dealing with Fema, Insurance and the SBA which irritates the heck out of me. We are hoping to raise the house this spring so we NEVER have to deal with this again. Pray that all that lines up as we hope it will.

The kids are doing so much better. They are good boys. They are handling sharing one room between the three of them quite well. Chris is busy with work, which is a blessing in this economy. I am forever learning how to juggle more effectively. Work is good for me and I am pleased with my new schedule. I am trying hard to keep up with laundry, housework, the other house, the boys and my job. I do better on some days than I do on others but heck, I am doing the best I can.

My friends have been so patient with me and helped me a ton. They haven't gotten completely ticked that I am not returning calls in a reasonable amount of time. My friend Jerean spent 6 hours running house errands with me (anyone who has ever shopped with me knows she is a saint). In my defense, I ate before I left the house. Maria loaned me a microwave (holy cow that has changed our lives). Our friend John solved our flooring dispute. Sal single handidly destroyed our Mold problem. My girls have helped keep me sane, I adore my friends. Big props to them all. Other than that, things are normal. Thanks to everyone who has pitched in to make things happen. I will try to update this again soon.

Update

It has been a long time since I blogged. It is not really my fault a lot of things have been happening and I haven't really been communicating well. First we finally moved out of the house. We had thought a long time about staying in our trailed but the short story is it is simply way to small and too old to be of any use to us in this weather. We had a few offers to stay with people but God stepped in. Mrs. Tubbs (our fantastic neighbor) offered to let us stay they in her home when her renters moved out. We move about two weeks ago. It has been great. Jonah is already much happier. He had a hard time being cold and was not happy. Not to mention, our house had no furniture, heat, I couldn't cook etc. etc. I am thankful for the generousity of our friends and family. So many people put our family first time and time again. It was just huge to see.

Dealing with Insurance, Contractors, Fema etc. Has not been my favorite thing. The red tape is something I will never understand. However, things are starting to come together and work is actually began two days ago. The house is already completely gutted. Just the second layer of walls (long story) and the floors have to go still. It is truly bizarre walking into a gutted house.

In the mean time, things are getting back to normal. The kids are loving basketball, skiing and we have been trying to do unique family things to keep everyone feeling good. The boys are having their ups and downs but all in all life is getting back to normal.

Chris is working hard and doing all he can to juggle the work load, kids, the house and an emotional wife.

We had a chance to go on a date last night which was fantastic. The last two nights have been good for me and I have been able to sleep without waking. Neither one of us has slept much but I am feeling a change in that...Yeah. I love sleep.

So that is where we are at. I will keep you all posted and try to post pictures of the house process. Lots of love and so much thanks to all of you who have gone above and beyond for us. The meals were fantastic, the stuff was great and most of all the outpouring of love is something I will never forget. If I asked for anything, someone jumped in response and I will never be able to repay that. Thank you!!!

Asta la vista Meli

So Melissa is going to Iraq, which I guess is cool but mostly it sucks, but then its kinda cool. I don't know. Anyway, my perfect cousin Tanya threw her a good bye party to which I was unforgivably late to. Which is proof of how much I suck. Also, Chris had his work party to go to after so we left early. My perfect cousin Tanya, took the kids and watched them all night for us. I stole the pics I am posting of Tanya's blog which is more proof of how much I suck but oh well. I love Meli and will miss her. I am sorry I missed most of the party but I was glad I was able to participate. The boys love their aunts and cousins so it was great they got some time with them.

Flood

I know I haven't blogged in a long time. Things have been a little hectic with the flood. I am sure when things settle down a little I will be back and bloggin with the best of them. Here are a few pics for now and I will write more when I can. Today we are packing and getting ready to move out of the while everything will be fixed.

Happy Birthday Christian

Christian had a New Years sleep over for his birthday. Several of his friends came over and the boys had a blast.

Christian has turned out to be such an amazing young man. He is smart,funny, athletic and charming. He has had a great year at school and is excited that he will be in Middle School next year. (a topic that came up a bunch last night) I can't believe how big and mature he is. It seems like just yesterday he was a little boy. Somehow over night he has turned into a big boy with big boy dreams. He wants to play football but is good at baseball, basketball, skiing and golf. He was asked to be on a golf team this year but we just did not have the time. Christian would do just about anything if we let him. He enjoys his piano and wants to pass clarinet so he can move on to the saxaphone. He is such a good boy and he gets great grades, the teachers seem to like him ok. For now he is still just interested in sports not girls and I am really happy about that.

Last night was a fun filled evening packed with Dance Dance Revolution, Mario Kart, Great Outdoors, Rocky, apple pie, and ringing in the New Year. I am glad Christian has such awesome friends. He said it was the best birthday ever and I am glad. He wanted Uncle Don to make pancakes for his friends but had to settle for me making them but I think he was happy anyway.