Kayla's Room

OK, so here it is....  Kayla's new pink room (well, just a partial view).  When we first brought up the idea of moving to the kids, they weren't thrilled about leaving the only home they've ever known.  So, to sweeten the deal, we told the kids they would have a new room, they could choose whatever color they wanted, and there would even be a few room "surprises."  The first "surprise" was a castle mural on one of her walls (not shown).  And the second "surprise" is the crown canopy above the bed (see previous post).

Kayla loves her new room.

Any guesses?

What is it, you ask?  Well, it's something I designed and made, and it's a surprise for Kayla.   So, this is a bit of a teaser, but I'll give you a hint...it goes in her room.  We're planning on finally finishing up the kids' rooms this weekend with the last of their room "surprises"  I'll show you a picture of the rooms tomorrow (or the next day) so you can see what the heck this is.

We're Back!

Wow, it's been a while since my last post!  One problem has been that we've had no internet service for 3 weeks, and so, I haven't been able to blog from home.  Long story short - AT&T messed up our order 3 times and so we switched providers, and now we're back online.  It made me realize just how much I rely on the internet for little stuff here and there.  It was a bummer not having it!

So here's a quick summary, which I will follow up with more info and pictures later on tonight and this week.

Got back last week from 10 glorious days at a condo at the Waipouli Beach Resort on Kauai (see pics below).  I can't begin to explain how fantastic it was to have ten totally lazy days of vacation after the crazy year we've had.  Vacation to me is when you sit around and do nothing you don't feel like doing, and just live in the moment:  No rushing to take kids to school and get to work, no scrambling to make lunches in the morning...fantastic.  "Travel" is what I call it when you go somewhere to see the sites and be a tourist.  That can be fun too, but it isn't always relaxing.  This trip to Kauai was a vacation.  We lived in the lazy river pool (complete with waterfalls, caves, and waterslides) at this place.  The 2 bedroom condo was new and beautiful (granite countertops, love it), and I highly recommend this resort to anyone thinking of going to Hawaii.

   

Matthew's swimming really improved on the trip, and he lost his second tooth (on the top, which the tooth fairy almost forgot about).  We also celebrated Kayla's 4th birthday on Fourth of July, and watched some amazing fireworks up close.  So much fun!!! 

Now I'm back to work and completely swamped!  Ugggghhhh!

I've got so much more to tell - but it will have to wait until another post. 

Quick Update

We've been working so hard for the last week getting the new house ready to move in.  We work all day, than put kids to bed, and then return to the house at night to do more work.  It's nuts. 

We discovered a few items that needed attention at the house, so we've had lots of service people coming to the house to fix or improve things.  Andrew and I have finally finished painting the family room, and both kids bedrooms.  The rooms are all finally ready to move in furniture and we're getting really close.  We're on track to move in and actually start living there sometime mid-week.

I'll post pictures soon of the kids rooms.  Kayla's is pink and girly, and Matthew's is bright blue and orange.  I must admit I was a little nervous about bright blue and bright orange, but I was eager to give him a room that would be just the way he wnated it.  It actually turned out great!

Kayla also had a dance recital this weekend, and I have some pics / video to post for that.  Stay tuned.  We are so crazy busy right now, but I promise I will get to it as soon as I can.

Taking a cue from the dog...

We're about to go to a BBQ at my sister's house yesterday afternoon.  Kayla is dressed in her bathing suit and ready to go, but I tell her she needs to go into the back yard and clean up the baseball stuff she had left out on the grass.  Matthew and I look out the window a minute later, and we see her stripping out of her bathing suit and getting naked in the back yard.  Intrigued by this odd turn of events, I continue to watch, and my mouth drops open when I see her squat down and take a pee right there on the grass. 

Matthew and I bust out laughing, and I open the door to the backyard and ask Kayla why she is peeing on Grammy and Grandpa's grass (she has finished at this point).  She tells me that she just couldn't hold it.  Well, OK, I guess it's better to pee on the grass than have an accident, but the inside bathroom is only a few steps away.  Now, I know Kayla, and I know the real reason she did it...she just wanted to try it and see what it was like.  Apollo pees out there, so why shouldn't she? 

Kayla does random stuff like this all the time.  I tell you, she is so entertaining to have as a child.  Infuriating sometimes, but certainly entertaining.

Kids

I just love it when...you get your daughter all bathed and smelling good, and have just washed her sheets that same day, and then she decides (without telling anyone) not to wear her overnight diaper (which she still needs), and then pees all over herself and the clean sheets.

I just love it when...your kid won't open up his mouth to let you pull out his loose tooth (because the adult tooth is already half way up, and the baby tooth is hanging by a thread), but then opens up wide for the dentist the next day without hesitation and let's him yank it out, and then you have to pay him $100.

I just love it when... you bend over to pick up your car keys, and your six year old son smacks your butt (hard) in the target parking lot, and says, "nice booty." 
I just love it when...your daughter pokes herself in the eye with her fork at breakfast.  How does one even do that by accident?

Having kids can be so frustrating and yet so entertaining at the same time!  Gotta love 'em.

It's ours, all ours!

Well, it's official!  We are homeowners once again.  We won't move in for a couple more weeks, but it is such a relief to know that it has all worked out as we hoped. 

It was a hard decision to make, but from the moment we actually decided to make all this happen, it just felt right.  And the pieces have fallen into place ever since, in a manner that makes you wonder if some things are just meant to be. 

I really feel like we are on the verge of starting a new phase of our lives.  One that will be extremely busy, but one that will be filled with great friends and good times.  We'll be poor as heck, but hey, it's just money.  Our yearly property taxes are now going to be about the same as what we were paying for our yearly mortgage.  Yikes!

7 More Days...

Only 7 more days until we own our new house!  Both parties have signed all the documents, and tomorrow I will go and get a cashier's check for the largest amount we've ever written a check for.  We're almost there!

Random Stuff

Appraisal came through for our new house today, and the house appraised for more than we paid.  Hooray!  Loan is all secured, although it would make you sick if you knew how much.  We close escrow on May 25th, and move in mid-June.

Starting to pick out paint colors for the kids rooms.  Matthew wants orange and blue, and Kayla wants pink and yellow.  So, I'm trying to think of creative ways to make that all work.  I decided on a craft project for Kayla's room, and I announced to Andrew that I had an idea for a project for Kayla's room.  I laughed when I saw the expression on his face:  it was, "oh God what has she gotten us into now?"  Thankfully he puts up with me, because I'm constantly coming up with "ideas" or "projects" and they often involve his help in some way.  Poor Andrew, he just never knows what's coming when I say "I have a great idea..."

Matthew is doing great at his new school.  However, he announced today that he isn't going to make any more friends than the ones he already has from his baseball team (they also go to his new school).  I tried to explain to him that all the kids at his new school are the kids he's going to be with for the rest of his school years, so he can go ahead and make lots of new friends.  He wasn't buying it - he doesn't seem to believe that we're not going to move again.  I'm quite sure we've traumatized him with this whole moving business - jury is still out on how much.  If only we could explain how much better it will be.

We're singlehandedly killing trees...

trust documents
loan documents
house contract documents (selling and buying)
inspection reports
summer camp registration forms
new school registration forms
school transfer forms
address change forms
before school care program registration forms
tax documents
new insurance documents
dependent care savings account claims
health care spending account claims

Help me - I've been overrun with paperwork!!!!  And why can't all these companies just go electronic so we don't have to kill quite so many trees?  It's 2010 already!