Playdates...

Yesterday Maddie had her friend Erin over from preschool for a playdate. Maddie had fun showing Erin all of her toys that we still have in the house. (the rest is in storage) They played Dora Candyland, colored. Then we had an early lunch, and then it was time for Erin to go home.

Jonas then went over to his friends house in the afternoon. It was our day of playdates. Here are some pictures of Maddie with her friend Erin.

uncertain...

Last night Josh got the call. He didn't get into the Olmstead Program. Now you might ask what our plan is now. Honestly, we do not know. Hopefully we'll get something secured soon. I thought if Josh didn't get in that I would be more upset, but I'm not actually. I'm disappointed, and now wish he would've tried to do something else back in December when we originally thought he hadn't even had a chance. Hindsight is DEFINATELY 20/20 right.
We hope that Josh will be able to do something in the Navy here that he will enjoy, a lot of the different positions he could hav So that's the news. We have no idea if we're leaving, if we're staying here. Of course I will let everyone know. It's nice that the waiting is over, but wish we had something more concrete to call our future plans. Of course, with everything with this Navy career of Josh's, it hasn't ever gone the way we planned, but in the end it always works out, and we're always glad we ended up where we did.

Waiting...

Today is the day the Olmstead Board Officially meets. It's a little nerve racking to know that. We could possibly find out today, but I'm not counting on finding out until tomorrow since that is what they told us. So now we wait...

Yesterday we met with our Realator, Jane. We are planning to put the house for sale on April 6th. This week we will get our carpets cleaned, then next week we have a guy coming to put a fresh coat of paint on the living room, stairways, and hall upstairs. We're also having them paint the kids room. It's both exciting and scary to list the house. I love our house, but will someone else love it enough too, enough to buy it? I hope so, but I also hope that person comes along sooner rather than later.

I decided to go home over Spring Break with the kids to Ft.Wayne. And I'm glad because my friend Megan is getting induced on April 6th. It's her 3rd Baby and her first girl! (Chloe Ann) I'm so excited for her! Well I'm off to get ready for the day and take Jonas to school. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers!! Picture taken Aug.2006

1st rides.... 6 more days...

I'm a little late in posting this, because of being busy cleaning the house, doing laundry, and getting sick. Last weekend we spent the weekend up in Williamsburg, well not really at Williamsburg, but we stayed at a hotel near Williamsburg by Busch Gardens. Saturday they opened Busch Gardens for Season Pass holders, and so we went. It was SOOO cold, but we had fun and stayed most of the day, then returned to our hotel and swam in the really warm indoor pool. (the pool was 82 degrees!) Eliza is now old enough to ride some of the kid rides so she took her first ride on the balloons! She seemed to really like it. She also rode the swings, and the airplanes! At the end of the day she was worn out! We met up with my friend Jenn and her 3 girls Shelby, Savannah, and Emily while we were there. Maddie, Savannah and Shelby all got their faces painted it was cute!

While we were gone our dining room floor got sanded and a few clear coats of the stuff they put on the wood floors! (sorry I'm not going to try and spell it!)

We are now down to less than a week until we find out if Josh get into the Olmstead program.

On Monday we are meeting with a realtor to talk about getting our house put up for sale. It's now getting real! Yikes!

More home imporvement projects...

We have lived in our home for 3 years. Now we are trying to get it ready to sell. So we are getting our dining room floors refinished once and for all. It has needed it badly, but we had other projects that needed our attention until now. So we are finally going to get our wood floor looking gorgeous (I hope at least!) again. We also decided to get our living room a fresh coat of paint and Jonas and Maddie's room a new color. Josh said there was no way he wanted to paint it, so we have been getting estimates from people. It hasn't been fun at all picking names out of the phone book of people we do not know at all. I ended up missing the meeting with the first guy I was supposed to get an estimate from (he says it was 11a.m. Josh told me 11:30a.m. and I wasn't home) I tried to reschedule with him. After being called "honey" about 10 times in the conversation, and then him giving me a quote over the phone without even being inside our house, then being told to call him after I met with others, I told him I wanted him to come give me an estimate. Today he sent someone else, I think he really didn't want to deal with me. It annoyed me because the guy didn't seem to really be the one in charge, or know what he was doing. Regardless the price was more than we can afford so their loss. Then the next guy came an hour earlier than we said... don't these guys know how to tell time??? Luckily I was home and I was glad he came earlier. His price was high too. Tomorrow we meet with someone who was recommended to us, and hopefully it will be in our budget because he was polite, and keeps his word as he said he'd call and he did!
This weekend we're going up to Busch Gardens for season pass holders for St.Patricks day, it's the first time this year they've been open, so it should be fun, and we're staying the night in a hotel tomorrow and Saturday, so it will be a fun mini trip! I can't wait! So Happy St. Patricks Day a few days early!

16 more days...

16 more days until we find out if Josh got into the Olmstead Program. (www.olmsteadfoundation.org) 16 more days of keeping myself busy, trying not to realize that we still have 16 more days. Thankfully only 16 more days, and not many more. Its actually been nice to have to work on getting the house ready to sell, it is helping my days go by quicker. We haven't talked to a real estate agent yet, but we have a number, we just need to make the call. Then I'm sure we'll have even more to do.
It's amazing how much STUFF you can collect in 3 years time. I'm trying my hardest to not move with stuff that we do not use. It's tough.
I've been reading a book I picked up at Time Out for Women in Orlando a few weeks ago. The book is called "Peculiar, in a good way" by Mary Ellen Edmunds. It's really good. I'm sure if anyone out there is interested you can probably find it at (www.desseretbook.com) Desseret Book.
At least the day is done, and I can put another "X" in my calendar for another day gone.
In 16 days we will know more about our future... it's a bit nerve racking!
I'm off to bed! Night!

Ward Pinewood Derby Champs!

Friday night we had a ward Pinewood Derby race. So anyone that wanted to could make a car, and race it. To our surprise the cars Josh made for Jonas and Maddie won 1st and 2nd place! Their cars ended up having to race against each other, and Jonas won 2 out of 3. It was fun. They really didn't care about the race, they just liked racing their cars!

(Maddie's is the purple car with flowers, named the Maddie Mobile, and Jonas' is the Colt's car)

After the race there was a dessert auction to help the Scouts and Young Women go to camp. We purchased some very YUMMY pumpkin bars made by my good friend Nicole Valle. They were worth every penny, and pound! ha ha!

Yesterday was a busy day! We spent the morning cleaning up the attic and the living room. Put more stuff in storage. We still have a lot more to do, but feel we can get the house ready to be put on the market soon. In the afternoon Jonas and I went to his friend Jacob's house for a birthday party. There were 6 boys total, and only one is 4, and the rest are 5. Jonas seemed to have a good time, and even better his friend Connor came home with us. I offered to babysitt for my friend Marie www.marieshecticlife.blogspot.com for her and her hubby to go to their Seabee Ball for the Navy. She brought her other two boys over to our house for a sleepover, and took her daughter to another friends house. The kids had a good time and wore each other out, and we had them all in bed by 8:30p.m.

We then went to bed at 10p.m. which we know we're getting old when we go to bed at 10p.m. on a SATURDAY night!

Cleaning house....

Last week Josh and I decided that since we will be putting our home up for sale soon (probably by the end of this month, yikes!) we would need to get as much as possible out of the house to make it easier when people stop by to look at it that they will be able to visualize themselves living here, without having to step over a bunch of kids stuff to do it! So we rented a 10x10 storage unit to put our stuff in temporarily until we get our home sold.

So, today was spent packing up most (not all, they will need some entertainment for the next few months!) of the kids toys to be put into storage, and while doing this I found I have a ton of stuff to get rid of! Yesterday we got a little plastic bag put on our doorknob saying that there will be a pick up of anything left in the bag or anything else we would like to donate to this charity here in town, all I have to do is leave it in visible site from the street and they will pick it up! It feels so nice to declutter. I even got rid of some more of my clothes. I have this terrible tendency to hold on to things for too long, even when I don't really need them/use them. Ever do that?

I read this book a while back called Sink Reflections- by Marla Cilly, she's the Fly Lady, and if you aren't familiar you can go to

www.flylady.com and check her out! She's got some great tips on how to declutter your life basically. Now I've fallen off the flying wagon, but I do intend to return to it again! It really helped me to stay on track with my home and get rid of stuff. With three kids it's easy for me to want to hold on to things more. I also like Peter Walsh www.peterwalshdesigns.com

He is/was (not sure since I haven't watched in awhile) on Clean Sweep. I love that show, not that I have ever been anywhere near the clutter I've seen on that show, but I do know I have things I can get rid of. So anyway, I feel so proud of myself that I have all of this stuff to get rid of and let someone else enjoy it.
I was suprised that Jonas didn't even seem bothered that I had put all of his trains in a box, and his whole train table was empty too. He acted like he could care less. Funny thing happens when you only have a few toys out, they played with these toys they haven't played with in months! ha! I really am going to start rotating their toys at our next home!
Now you are probably wondering why I'm posting a picture of shoes, but I have to post this because this is one of my favorite new things and I think I'm obsessed! They are Mary Jane Crocs... I absolutely LOVE them! I have a pair of black ones, and then a pair of beach style ones in brown and hot pink! They are also SO COMFORTABLE! www.crocs.com
Really I am not getting paid to advertise, but I love them so much I had to share.
Then my other new obsession is this color of Vera Bradley bag! Love it! I have a purse, a big bag, and a large duffel bag in it! I don't know what it is with me and these Vera Bradley bags, I've recently purchased another one, that's this cute little pink flower bag. I'll take a picture and show it later, it's ADORABLE! It's also my "unpractical purse" as I call it because it's definately not big enough to fit a diaper, or snacks, which is why I bought it because it's for me only!
I'm headed to snooze land! Night!

It's just another Manic Monday......

Well not really. It was actually fairly boring. Dropped the kids off at preschool. Went to the grocery store, came home, did some laundry, Eliza took a nap. Went and picked the kids up from school. Folded laundry and put away, vaccumed the living room, swept the dining room. Yes it wasn't that exciting. I do have a picture I haven't posted it is of Josh and I at the Change of Command Dinner that was a few weeks ago. Some of the guys thought it would be funny to buy a nasty suit to wear to the dinner. (they don't have to wear uniforms at this since it's just a squadron function) So that's why Josh is in this fabulous baby blue suit, but I think he looks pretty cute it in, don't you?

While doing laundry today Maddie and Eliza kept crawling in the laundry basket, so of course I had to pull out my camera and got some cute pictures of them!

Then of course we then started really playing around with the camera, and got a picture of Jonas. This Sponge Bob shirt is his favorite now!

Then I got this funny picture of Eliza and I. I love that she's giggling so hard when we took the picture. She really enjoyed me showing her the picture after we took it!

I can't passs up opportunities to photograph my kids, especially when they want me to take their picture! Maddie kept saying, "take my picture Mommy!"

She's such a ham sometimes! (when she wants to be!!)

And then we got a picture of us "girls". So this is our "girls" picture! Hope you all had a good, un Manic Monday!