We're in!

We're in! We're in!  We finally got to move into our beautiful new home and I'm so excited.  We got the go ahead to move in from the builder and the finance guy a week ago (even though we haven't actually signed the papers yet.  I find that odd, but hey I'm not complaining.  They were just waiting on some paperwork that was slow going).  I can't describe how awesome it feels to move into a new home, especially after living in a tiny, nasty apartment for 6 months. Three words for you though: NEW HOUSE SMELL.  Nothing better.   I feel so blessed.  Saturday I kept tearing up watching people help us move and was just so grateful for everything/one around me.  I'm not sure I deserve it.  

I just got done unpacking the last box.  Last box baby.  Except the stuff that is piled in the unfinished basement.  I did go through those so I count that as being unpacked.  I just have nowhere to put any of it until Nate gets things finished down there.  I even got the large pile of boxes unpacked that were in the garage.  Nate had a bit of a freak out because they were taking up his precious garage space. He wanted them taken directly downstairs.  I wanted to go through everything first so I didn't have to move things a second time if they didn't belong down there.  Most of it did but don't tell him that.  I told him I would have it taken care of in 2 weeks.  Did it in 5 days.  I'm a rock star.  

I would post new pics but 

1- I feel like I'm bragging and being worldly when I do that.

2- Our builder posted them on Facebook so anyone who reads this (all 5 of you) probably already saw them on there.

3- I haven't had time to take any new pictures anyway.

I'm going to go enjoy my new shower, enjoy the new house smell, look at my perfect walls (minus a couple dings from the move which was to be expected and surprisingly didn't really get to me), and know my house will NEVER be this clean again.  

Life is good!

1st graders these days

I've decided that first graders and their actions are very questionable.  

Everyday when I pick up the boys from school we have the normal "how was your day, what did you do, did you make your momma proud?" conversation. 

The other day Dax told me about a girl who can stick her finger under her eyelid.  Anyone just cringe like I did when he told me?

But wait, that's not all.  The next day I heard all about a kid who licked dry bird poop.  

When did kids become so nasty?  Was it this way when I was young and have just forgotten?  Or blocked it from my memory because like I said, it's nasty.

I am keeping my fingers crossed really hard right now that it was actually other kids doing this and not my first grader doing it and blaming it on someone else just to see what my reaction would be.

Counting my blessings #1

This heart of mine is busting at the seams right now with gratitude. I started writing a post on some things that are really hitting me hard and how much I have in my life. Then it started to get out of control with how long it was becoming so I figured I better break it down into a couple of posts. 

** I know I post a lot about it lately but I'm so grateful for this new home we are building.  It still feels like it's not real.  Some days I worry that we are being too worldly.  But mostly I'm just grateful for these amazing opportunities that come into our life.  Nate works his tail off to make things happen for us as a family and I am forever grateful for that.  I knew when we built a house it would mean I would be going back to work.  No biggie.  I always planned to work when Bay was in school.  I've been praying like crazy that I would know if I needed to go back earlier than that.  Out of the blue one day I get a phone call from my old Taco Time boss asking what it would take to get me back there.  I took that as a sign and I am now rolling burritos again.  It wasn't particularly the answer I was wanting. I didn't necessarily want to go make tacos again but I am so grateful that things just worked out.  I didn't have to search or ask for a job, it just fell into my lap.  Any job is all about the attitude anyway right?  Back to the house....we got our carpet in. We are only days away from moving! 

**We had a little get away as a family for state wrestling for Dilon (minus Grif who gets bored stiff sitting at wrestling every weekend, so Steph was kind enough to adopt him for a couple days. Really he's pretty entertaining so I'm sure they enjoyed every second with him).  

I've watched Nate these last couple of years help coach Dilon and his friends in football and wrestling.  There have been times I've completely had it because he's never home.  Times I've been completely embarrassed because he's screaming like a crazy man on the sideline. Times I've seen him come home and crash because he's so exhausted from having his plate too full. But mostly I've seen how amazing he is with these young men.  I've seen him celebrate their success and wins. Wrap them in bear hugs and congratulate them as if they were his own.  I've also seen the hurt he feels when he sees a kid walk off the mat after a tough loss.  He wraps his arm around their shoulder offers some encouraging words and helps them realize that tough times don't last but tough kids do. I am so grateful for someone who gives everything good he has to those around him.

Counting my blessings #2

continuing my previous post on how stinking blessed I am. 

** Then there's my Dilon.  He's got more heart than most kids I know.  If you know him he's a bit on the small side. He loves sports but has to work extra hard to make up for his lack of size.  This is his second year wrestling and his goal was to come home from state with a medal.  Last year he came home empty handed and broken hearted and didn't want that to happen again.  He pumped himself up all week for this meet.  And guess what?  He came home with a sixth place medal.  Funny story though, he didn't win any matches.  He wrestled his little heart out, I was proud of how hard he wrestled. Since he is such a lightweight his bracket only had 7 kids in it.  He was ranked higher than a couple other kids so he automatically got to go for 5/6th place even though he hadn't won any matches. One kid he really did have the kid pinned twice and the ref wouldn't call it.  Don't know what that was about but that was another one of those moments when nate was screaming on the side line.  The great thing is Dilon can laugh about the whole situation.  Plus his attitude with all of it is still awesome.  We told him he had to win a match at state to go to super state because it's much harder competition.  He is begging us to let him go.  He told Nate "I can't be the best if I don't wrestle the best".  Man, I really hope that attitude sticks with him in life.  How do you say no to a kid who knows he is probably going to get his trash kicked by the best wrestlers out there and still wants to compete. 

**My grif, what's not to love about him.  Someone asked him the other day if his shoes were DC's.  He replied very matter of fact with a "nope, they're Utah's".  Where does he come up with this stuff?  A couple weeks ago at school they had a market day.  The kids have been earning fake money at school then they all bring stuff to sale.  He got himself a couple things then spent some of his hard earned money on a painted sign that said "LOVE" and gave it to me.  Two things about that really struck me.  1- he was trying to help his friend out who handmade that sign to bring. 2- he thought of me!  He could have bought whatever he wanted but he spent his hard earned money on his mom.  He rocks!

Counting my belssings #3

continuing my previous posts on how stinking blessed I am.

**So I'm the paranoid mom now who worries (probably a little too much) about another one of my kids getting diabetes.  Nate gets annoyed because whenever they are sick or peeing too much I poke their finger to check their blood sugar.  I'm sorry but I would rather them be mad at me for poking them than have something unimaginable happen.  In my defense I have probably only checked each of my other kids twice in the three years that Dilon has had it.  So my Dax has been sick this last week.  Both his ear drums ruptured and he's having a heck of a time rebounding.  He is my kid that is so full of hell energy and he has been just laying around lately.  Then when we were at Dilon's wrestling tournament he kept using the bathroom like crazy.  My mind automatically goes to diabetes.  This morning he woke up and had peed the bed.  One of my biggest blessings in life is that I have never really had issues with kids wetting the bed.  The only time was right before Dilon was diagnosed, he was doing it almost every night. When Dax came to me and said he had an accident my heart sunk.  It would break this mom heart to see another kid of mine get this terrible disease.  So I made Dax get a finger poke.  I can't tell you what a blessing it was to see an 83.

**and my Baylor.  I have been so, so blessed to be able to stay home and raise this spunky little four year old.  He is funny and witty and totally completes our family.  He came to me all excited today that he made himself his own account on Netflix with his name on it

 So close Baylor!
One of the biggest reasons I have been putting off going to work is because I don't want to send him to a babysitter.  Nothing breaks my heart more than the thought of doing that.  I know many moms send their kids to daycare to go to work, I just have to say you are all so much stronger than I am.  After I got the call to go back to Taco Time I tried several people I know who babysat and none of them could because they were too full already.  I even called my boss back and said it wouldn't work because I couldn't find a sitter. He didn't really like that so he went on a babysitter hunt for me. Needless to say we found someone.  Baylor will fit right in there.

This is what I mean, my life is so blessed.  Things just fall into place and work out how they are supposed to. I don't know why I ever doubt they will. 
I could write a book on the blessings that are in my life.  I just need to remember every day to focus on that instead of the negative that is trying to weasel its way in.

Another house update

Sorry if you're getting annoyed with the house updates but 

1) we are super excited

and 2) I want to be able to look back at this in a few years and see the progression.

 But mostly I'm doing it because we're super excited!

 I really like how the brick and siding turned out. The mess in front of the house is another story but now is not the time to complain.

 Our walls and trim have paint

 

And my kitchen cabinets are in!  I think we may be the only people building right now who didn't go with white cabinets.  They seem to be the in thing at the moment.  I love the look of them, I just don't know how well my ocd could handle white cabinets. Kids fingerprints would be everywhere. White trim alone will probably be the death of me.   I like the look of the darker cabinet though so I'm happy.  Plus I was brave and got a big white farmhouse sink.  I wasn't so sure at first if I wanted that bold of a look but I'm glad we did it.  I like it a lot.  It will look better once counter tops are on but one thing at a time here. Also I still have no idea why the tile shows up so dark in pictures.

 The builder told Nate today that we would most likely be closing next week. I think that sounds like a bit of a stretch though because there are still so many little things to do.  He knows more than I do though so I'm going to take his word for it.  I am so ready.

we're getting closer

Another house update:  

I might be doing this a lot the next few weeks.

We have siding!  I had a picture then deleted it.  Go figure.  So pics to come of the outside.  Maybe I should wait until the brick gets put on then take a picture.  I'm super nervous about it matching.  Who knew picking colors would be so stressful.  It is though.  

We picked our tile a few weeks ago and I've decided we have chameleon tile.  It is constantly changing color.  I'm hoping it blends well with the carpet.  Here are some pics and it looks super dark. In fact I almost didn't put them on here because this isn't really how it looks.  It looks much better in person.  

 Also, did you notice the bathtub?! The one and only tub in our house.  It's normal.  No more high jumping to get in and out of it.  The kids can climb in on their own.  Most people are building houses now with big beautiful tubs.  That was the one thing I insisted was not needed in our home.  Don't waste my precious space on a beast of a tub again.

 The walls are ready to paint and the doors are on.  

The closets have shelves. 

We are getting close and I'm so ready.

tomorrow's a new day

You know it's the start of a new year.  Now is a great time to make improvements in life.  Baylor told me (again) the other day that my belly was getting squishy fat so I figured I should focus on getting healthier.  And teaching that boy some manners.  I was getting ready to make dinner (tacos, yay for a pretty healthy choice) when the 12 year old discovered my ice cream stash.  Little snoop.  I figured I would take one bite, you know to cleanse my palate, when this happened

That was a pretty big bite.

I guess I'll start working on that getting healthy thing tomorrow.

Christmas 2015

It's nuts to me that another Christmas has come and gone.  The years keep going faster and faster.  The last few months have gone much faster than I thought they would.  Living in this little two bedroom apartment has been rough but I've gotten used to it so that's a plus.  However, the water heater went out on Christmas Eve.  That was fun.  Took them 5 days to come fix it.  I showered once in ice cold water and thought I was going to die.  It was one of those colds where you physically cannot breathe.  I kept gasping and gasping.  I'm pretty sure that was the fastest shower I have ever taken in my life.  Nate gave it a go too and he squealed like a little school girl the entire time.  Good times around here.  Just an FYI, we did all shower more than once in those 5 days.  Luckily we were in Heber for part of it. Then we invaded my sisters house.  I'm sure they loved that.

We still don't have a date on when our house will be done.  Looks like it will be going into February.  Bummer.  

I got a bit sidetracked there.  This was supposed to be a Christmas post.  So Christmas was good.  We didn't go too overboard which I'm grateful for.  I really really dislike how worldly Christmas has become.  I hate feeling like everything has to be a competition.  The boys seemed to be happy with what they got so that was a plus.  There was a bit of a tantrum thrown by grif because he thought his new bike was too big.  Sorry buddy but your old bike was just way too small.  Then he decided to throw anther fit when I asked him why he wasn't wearing his slippers.  That was one thing he really wanted.  Well Santa made the mistake of getting Spiderman slippers and he hates Spiderman slippers.  We had a little talk after that about being grateful for what you have. I also had to be the bad guy and tell him the real deal about Santa so he could grasp the concept of how expensive Christmas can be for moms and dads.  He's 10, it's fine.  Now he thinks it's awesome he's part of the "Santa secret club".   I then told him he could give me back all of his presents for being so ungrateful.  That's when he realized how much he loves his new slippers.  

This kiddo almost got to sing all I want for Christmas is my 2 front teeth.  But one tooth was stubborn and didn't want to come out in time.

 We played a little Christmas Eve Bingo.  Who doesn't love Bingo?

Getting ready to go see the goods Christmas morning.  Dad is such a party pooper and makes them wait forever.  I was pretty mean too and threatened to take away all their toys if they woke me up before 7.  I'm working on that nurturing thing.

and Christmas wouldn't be complete without a picture of all the grandsons in their pj's from Grandma and Grandpa Squeaker.

The dreaded day came

Dilon has been wrestling for a couple years now (shocker! another post about wrestling.  Tis the season.)  and the dreaded day finally came.  He had to wrestle a giiiirrrrrrrrllllll.

Nate has said from the get-go if he ends up going against a girl to wrestle her like he would a boy.  She's the one choosing to wrestle boys.  I have to say I agree. 

I have waited for a moment like this. I'm sorry to say I missed it.  So did Nate.  Such a bummer.  Dilon had to hitch a ride with a friend because it was a couple hours away in Idaho, I had to take Dax to Ogden and Nate had to play Santa.  I hate the fact that there can't be two of me so I can be in two places at once.  I'm betting Nate is pretty thankful for just one of me.  

I don't like it when I have to miss some of their stuff.  

Anyway, Dilon had to go up against this girl for first place and got the job done. It was nice to have a good week because he's been struggling this year.  But he's getting better and stronger and that's all you can ask for. 

The winning streak also continues with mr. dax.  He wrestled his end of season city tournament today and won 1st. 

 I wish this next picture was more clear because it cracks me up.  Dax is full on wrestling right there but not really being challenged so when that happens he just looks out into the crowd and watches the people.  Usually he has a cheeser smile.  I think he was mostly just bored here.

 I would like to consider myself a winner right now too.  Look at this freezer full of meat.  We bought half a cow and I don't know who's more excited, me or Nate.  Merry Christmas to us. And Happy Birthday, Happy Anniversary, Happy Valentines Day--here's some beef.