Saturday, December 19, 2009

The hustle and bustle...

Why is it that the week before Christmas is always insanely crazy busy?? I guess it wouldn't be Christmas without it. Hopefully this coming week we can sit back and enjoy the Christmas season.
This past week consisted of:

*Ward Christmas party
*Teaching pre-school (we added 2 more kids making a total of 5 4yr. olds!)
*Doing lots of hair
*Updating primary stuff for the new year
*Helping in Brody's class
*Delivering our Christmas salsa gifts
*Mommy luncheon
*Noah finishing up his first semester of Law school and 6 finals (glad to welcome him back in our family)
*Putting up more shelving in the pantry/laundry room
*Won a $50 gift card for 1 of 3 best doors in the Village



And tonight we got to end the night with this....
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SNOW!!!!!


By the time I remembered to take a picture, the kids were too cold to go back outside. So I took one of myself!! Had to ducument our first "White Christmas"!!!


Merry Christmas.

Sunday, December 6, 2009

2009 Wrap Up



I've always wanted to send out "the letter" along with our Christmas cards but Jill would remind me that we see or talk to almost all of our family and friends quite frequently, so why bother with an update? Well, as usual, she was right. But now we are in Virginia and I thought, "Ah ha, this is the year for the letter!" We definitely haven't seen anybody (skype doesn't count) in a good while and rarely talk to our friends and family back home. Unfortunately, we've already sealed the envelopes and I got out voted for quickly writing a letter, opening all the cards and putting them in new envelopes with the letters. So I thought the blog would be the next best thing...


This past year has taught me quite a bit. I can't believe I dragged my family across the country for three years. Pretty wild what we do just going on "a feeling." I remember coming home from work and telling Jill I wanted to go to law school. She thought I was joking. I mean, why wouldn't she, I had never mentioned anything remotely related to it, ever. She said, "Are you serious?" "Yep." She replied, "O.K." After that, she was on board 100% and with that green light, we started preparing. It has been a roller coaster ride (think of the your favorite ride at Magic Mountain x 100) ever since and we've been learning and loving every step of the way. I miss my co-workers at "E-Z" and am grateful for how much I grew while there. This new chapter has also been an eye opener. In just this first semester I've realized how important one's perception is. Most people I talk to say how being married and having kids would put me at a disadvantage here in school because they take up so much time. That couldn't be further from the truth, it's actually the exact opposite. I wouldn't be able to be as effective or efficient if it weren't for them. I love being able to come home for lunch every day, go to the park, do the bus stop thing, or just read books together in the evenings. I wouldn't have it any other way.


Jill is still as awesome as ever. I tease her that she has more friends than I do here. Having said that, who wouldn't want to be her friend? It's a no brainer. She stays busy at home with the kids and makes life exciting for them in our little apartment. They do a lot outside if you know what I mean. Her and some other neighbor gals started a pre-school which has been quite a treat. I've sat in on a few lessons and she does a great job teaching these little tykes. The ward saw what they had in her right away and roped her into the Primary Presidency. She's a seasoned veteran when it comes to the primary thanks to our Cooper Ward back in C-Town. I'm always amazed at how much patience she shows towards the kids. She was able to further develop her organizational skills this year as well. She had the house packed up days before we headed out to Virginia and the move went off with out a hitch. Her packing was so professional and tight fitting that we even had room in the moving truck for the piano! (if this doesn't make sense, I guess you just had to be there) Then, once we unpacked here, we decided to do it all over again a few weeks later. She was so happy about that! At least it was worth it though.


Brody has been impressing us quite a bit as of lately. He turned 6 a few weeks ago and is certainly growing up. You can't get anything by him, believe me, I've tried. He finished up a year of kindersteps and is now in kindergarten. The kid loves learning. A few highlights are: he learned how to tivo his own shows, usernames and passwords for the computer, addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and reading (not completely). He loves primary and singing all the songs. He is a great help to mom and the family at the house and he always lets his little brother tag along. You have to be careful with how you answer any of his questions because he'll tell you when you're not 100% right, for example, "Dad, is everybody getting ready for bed right now? (at like 9:30 pm)." "Yea, I think so." "Well, what about the people on the other side of the world, like China?" He totally gets that from Jill. We love him and his sweetness.


Sadie lady is also growing, and so is her attitude. She is our little pistol, but she's so stinky cute, you can't really get upset at her. This year has been much more calm for her than in years past, I mean, she didn't flood the house, get hit by a car, or have any major surgeries! She has made so many friends here and also just fits right in. She sings to herself all the time, mostly when she should be going to sleep. She's still into dressups and looking fancy with jewelry, painting her nails and having pretty hair. She even gave herself bangs thinking she knew more than her mom (uh hello...mom is a hair stylist...what was she thinking???). I think after this year she has only solidified what we've thought all along; that we're gonna have our hands full for quite some time with this special lady.


Rone is now 18 months and has graduated to the nursery. Well, almost. He's not really into it yet...actually, not at all. He's showing how different he is than his brother and sister. He loves to be around mom and dad, as for other people...not so much. He can drool with the best of them, I'm talking soaked from the collar to the belt. I counted the drool drips on him tonight, he had one from each side of his mouth that were dripping from his chin (2) a second coming out one side making its way southbound(3) and one dangler off his bottom lip (4 total). He earned himself a new name as well, destroyer. He doesn't care about ruining anything. Important stuff, unimportant stuff, furniture, dishes, books, markers, you name it, he can destroy it. It just another day to him. It's impossible to keep him out or away from anything. He's learning new words and tries really hard (really hard, it's hilarious) to say them. He just learned how to crawl out of the crib and roll into mom and dad's room at 2:00 am. After "converting" his crib to a bed, he can now come and go as he pleases and thinks he hit jackpot because we can't keep him in his bed anymore. But we can reverse the doorknob and lock him in!


We recognize how blessed we have been throughout 2009. Being away from family and friends has been a challenge but we've been able to adjust with a new family of friends. There is something about being on "your own" that really forces you to kick it up a notch (as my father-in-law would say). It's been a great ride so far and I'm sure it will keep getting better every year. We miss and love you all. Merry Christmas.

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Need a Christmas gift idea?






My Aunt Karen is the most talented and creative person I know. She has been selling her gems awhile now and every time I see something new I die. You can't go wrong with one of these one of a kind pieces! She does drop in shopping at her home in Mesa every Wed. from 10-5. Or if you are out of town..give her a call and she will send it to you.
Check out her blog here for more fun stuff. Just getting to see her amazing house is worth the stop!

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Until June 30th...

..which is when I get to do it all again but for Eclipse!!

I got to go the the funnest party ever the night New Moon came out. A Law professors wife and daughter invited some of the Law wives over for a little pre party. They went above and beyond! Every nook and cranny had something to do with New Moon. They had different rooms set up for different scenes of the movie..."La Push" room, "Italy" room, "Cullen" room. They had an amazing dinner, red chocolate fountain with everything you can think up to dip in it, games, prizes, quotes, goody bags..you name it they did it. They were so gracious to let us come over and help us all forget about all this craziness of finals going on! I didn't play any of the games because I had read the books so long ago and didn't want to re-read them. So after they gave out all the prizes they had the losers put their names in a bowl for the door prize, guess who one?? Me!! And, it was the best prize of them all (at least that's what I thought). It was a great night.
So after the party, Me and Katrina headed over to meet up with some church friends to see the movie. We had so much fun waiting for it to start. I thought the movie was great! I hated Jacob in the book but now he is starting to grow on me. I was so mad at the end but loved how it just left you hanging...just like the book! Eclipse comes out June 30th and I am already counting down the days!

Thursday, November 12, 2009

This is a first for us...

Ever heard of the term Nor'Easter?? Well, we for sure had not until yesterday. A Nor'Easter is the crazy storm we have been dealing with the past two days. It has been raining cats and dogs for 48 hours!! With wind gusts up to 60 miles/hour! I woke up at 5:30 this morning to my phone ringing with a recording telling me Brody's school had been canceled due to the storm and flooded roads. Then to find out Noah's school was canceled too! Are you kidding me? Living in AZ, we never had school canceled, so this was pretty fun for us. We ventured out to the mall today but other than that we have been cooped up in the house for 2 days straight. We are going to go crazy real soon. Oh ya...and Brody's school is canceled tomorrow too!

Here is a few pics from the past 2 days.


Here in VA Beach, rain boots, rain jacket, and umbrellas are a necessity!

If you can't find Ronan..he is sure to be here. Catchin the rain out of the roof gutter.


Off to pre-school. It was crazy windy right here, so she was a little scared to walk to her teachers house.

We went to a neighbors house tonight and this is what happened to Brody's unbrella! We all almost got blown away...we were no match!

My sweet stud muffin turned 6 today!! He has had a great Birthday so far...and more to come! I'll recap his birthday after his party on Saturday.

Stay dry all you VA friends!!

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Where did October go?

This month has seriously flown by too fast. October is one of my favorite months so I am sad to see it come to an end. We have been staying busy busy which is good so we don't realize how much we miss our family and friends! We are in full FALL here in VA! I love to see all the different colors on the trees and leaves on the ground. It's been a little warm and humid for this time of year but this week is looking to be chilly and perfect. I am so ready to break out the winter clothes!

We started the month off by delivering our"BOO" treats. We actually got caught but they were very excited to see our pumpkin bars. (my fav fall treat)

I just finished my week of teaching pre-school. We had a fun time making Halloween crafts and and decorating pumpkin rice krispes. These three pre-schoolers are getting so smart!!

The bus stop crowd

I volunteered to do Brody's kindergarten Halloween party, which I must do every year. I love Halloween and I love how kindergartners love any thing you do! Brody's teacher was so nice to let Sadie join right in with the rest of the class. She will start kinder next year so she may end up with Brody's teacher..kinda funny. They did a parade around the school and in the office. They all were so proud of their costumes.


Me and Katrina. She was their helping with her daughters party also. Thanks to her for my costume!!



Noah's Mom has a fun pumpkin carving party every year, since we are not there we decided to have our own. Brody did his 100% by his self! He was pretty proud of it. I tried a new approach by shaving the outside of my pumpkin...it turned into a giant apple.

Sorry for the bad lighting..

And Ta Da!!...
The cutest Iron man, Ariel, and cowboy you have ever seen!


Just check out those wrangler buns!


You are not allowed to trick or treat in our Apt. complex so we headed over to the ward Trunk or Treat. It was our first...and possibly our last. Trick or treating in a neighborhood is waaay more fun! The kids were done in about 15 min.! Though it was really fun to see all our church friends dressed up. We are on the look out for a good neighborhood for next year.

Checkin out the LOOT! We let Ronan eat anything and everything...he has never been so happy.


So that is our October festivities. Can't wait for Thanksgiving!
And...a big shout out to Noah for scoring the second highest grade in his class on his mid term. All those long hours at the library are paying off!

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Our visitors!

With pretty much all my family living in AZ my whole life, we never ever had any visitors stay at our house but I always wanted to be able to host a visitor. Now that we are away from family we finally get to play host and hostess! Last week Noah's Mom and sister had a reunion in Mississippi and then drove to stay with their Dad in S.C. The last few days of their trip they drove up to stay with us and we had sooo much fun! The kids were going crazy to having them here! The weather last week was actually really warm and sunny for this time of year (so they tell me) so it was great to be able to get out and enjoy the weather. We headed down to the beach and showed them what V.B. is all about. It was a great beach day! Water was freezing but fabulous weather. We went to Brody's school book fair, pumpkin patch/carnival, colored pumpkins and enjoyed the great company.
Our door is open for the next visitor!!