Busy month...

I know I've been a bad blogger. Here's the deal, its been a busy month. Jonas' class went on a field trip to the Botanical Gardens. The flowers and weather were both beautiful. Jonas enjoyed the ride on the little shuttle bus the most, and the fountain. (he didn't care much about the whole nature part)

Speaking of the weather it has been great weather so we've managed to go to the park several times. It's nice that Eliza is older now, she loves to swing, and will even go down the slides too! (on her tummy feet first of course!) She's so brave!

We have had some bad luck lately with our car. We drove up to Maryland one Saturday and on our way home our front left tire went flat, but it wasn't a big deal we changed the tire and went home. We decided to wait until the following week to buy a new tire, in the meantime, I took a weekend with some of my girlfriends to Raleigh, North Carolina to go to the Time out for Women! It was a fabulous time. The talks were great, the music was great. Overall, it's exactly the spiritual boost that I needed. We made it almost all the way home before my front right side tire went flat. This time I had no spare, so I had to get a tow truck. Thankfully some friends were in a nearby vehicle, so they took some of my passengers home and my friend Jenn stayed with me to wait for the tow truck. We waited 2 hours for the tow truck, but the time went fast with all our gibber-jabbing! Still no word yet on what our future plans are, right now we're on pause in Norfolk, and maybe we'll stay here. When we know, I will share that information on here! Here are some pictures! Enjoy!

Catching up...

This month has just flown by! It was spring break last week, but it felt more like the middle of winter for us! The kids and I took a road trip, which led us to my sisters house in Maryland, then we went to my parents house in Ft.Wayne, Indiana. On our way there it snowed, most of the time we were there it rained, it snowed and was really really cold. (see the snow on our car!) We did get two sunny days while we were there, and then managed to get a rain free trip most of the way home. While at my parents we had a pre-birthday party for Maddie. (her birthday isn't until the end of May) My Mom made her a pink birthday cake (with "help" from Jonas and Maddie who mostly licked the frosting!) and Maddie had presents too. It was a fun little party. Then we decorated easter eggs, and of course the easter bunny visited Grandma's house! It was a lot of fun. Eliza especially loved to play Grandma's piano, she played it every chance she got! We had fun seeing old friends, and then it was time to go home.

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!

Pictures from the trip

Okay... hopefully this will work
Here are some pictures from our trip, the dinner, the winging, my picture with Sheri Dew, pictures of the kids... any questions, just ask! Oh and you can click on the pictures to make them bigger. (just an FYI for anyone out there!) Enjoy!

Is it really the end of February already!?

Wow! This month is sailing by! Jonas turned 5 on February 15th! I can't believe he's 5! It's amazing how fast 5 years have gone by! I can't imagine my life without him! He's so sweet, funny, and handful at times, but I love him all the same! It has been an amazing experience to raise a boy. We celebrated by going out to dinner and he got presents and cake at home. We also had cupcakes at school so it was a sugar coated day!
We left on February 16th and headed to Florida to visit Josh's parents in Milton, FL. We had a fun time while we were there. We celebrated Jonas' birthday with the family, and he got more presents! We got to see Josh's Dad's Corvette
which he and Grandpa Hensley (our kids Great Grandpa, or Josh's grandpa) painted and put the blue flames on. (don't know if you can tell from the pictures) Josh stayed busy helping add on to the front of the house. They always seem to have some building or car project in the works! lol! Josh hasn't been down to his parents house in over 2 years because they've been up to see us more lately. So it was nice to go down there for a change. We also got the kids pictures taken, because we tried to take pictures of them ourselves by the lake near their house, and it wasn't happening.
Maddie and her cousin Jessalyn, had a great time playing and so did Jonas with his cousin Jeffery Jr. We also got to meet Jackson, the kids newest cousin, and he's such a cutie pie!
We then headed up to Enterprise, Alabama, to Ft. Rucker, to see Jon and Jenny. Jon is in the Army and had his winging. We had a nice dinner on Wednesday evening, and then Thursday was his winging, and he asked Josh to pin his wings on. It was really neat. Josh and Jon both fly the Blackhawk, but for different branches of the military. Jon and Jenny will be moving up to Kentucky where they will be at Ft.Campbell.
Then I got to go with Josh's sister Jenna and his Mom (Nori) to the Timeout for women in Orlando, Fl. I even got my picture taken with Sheri Dew! lol! I know she thought I was a little strange, but oh well! I really enjoyed the time out for women and am so glad I went. The speakers were wonderful, and it was so awesome! I also got to see my niece and nephew, Nick and Cami Wilson! And I realized I didn't get their picture! We were too busy talking! I'm so glad I got to see them, and just catch up. It's so fun to see them living their lives and Nick is in college now and working! I'm so excited for them, they are in one of the most exciting times of their lives! It was fun just listening to them talk.
We then drove back north and met Josh and the kids at a McDonalds. Then switched cars, bags, car seats. Josh gave back Jeffy and Jessalyn for me. It was a great trip, and now we are getting back into the swing of things. We only have a month until we know if Josh got into the Olmstead program! I will post more pictures when blogger isn't giving me problems loading the rest of my photos!

Being a stay at home Mom.....

Its been a busy time here in the Hensley household. Last week we took a quick trip up Wednesday evening to Washington D.C.. Josh had his interview with the Olmstead people. It went well, and so now we wait for March, and I'm calling it the magic month because a lot of our friends as well as us will be finding out where we will be in March, and our lives will be changed as soon as we know... like magic. So, Saturday night Josh and I attended a Change of Command Dinner. It was held at the Nauticus in Downtown Norfolk. It was a bit strange they set up tables in the museum, and served us dinner. So not really a dining hall, but we were at tables. It was way too tight, and they always do a video and they couldn't turn the lights off, so that stunk too, the dinner was $55 dollars (per person, so for us $110) and it wasn't that great honestly. We did have a good time... BUT, I was sitting at a table with several other Moms. One of the Ladies had two kids, and to her she said it was very overwhelming, which I agree it is to be a Mom. So for her, the choice was easy, she went back to work. Which made me go, WHAT?!?? I really don't understand how working and having kids is easier? I would love an explanation! Basically to me she said, I am willing to pay someone else to raise my kids. She does not have to work, trust me, we are just fine (our husbands make around the same pay, and we have more kids!).
She chooses to work. I really don't understand if you have the option to stay home, you choose to work? I think about all the things that I get to do with my kids that if I worked I would miss out on. Yes there is a lot of stuff I'd love to miss, all the poopy diapers, and occasional disagreements between siblings. I have never missed seeing my kids first steps, heard them say their first real word, I watched Eliza climb up (and scared me to death) the stairs! There are so many great Moms I know who would give anything to be able to stay home with their kids, and can't financially, and it just kills me that someone who has kids would give up all the great moments she could be having with her kids to work a job that really isn't as important as being a mom. I have a college degree, I could be working, but I think the most important place for me to be is at home. My kids need me. Honestly I think the world would be a better place if all Mothers were able to be at home with their kids every day, be there to take them to school, be there when they got home, and just be there. I know it's not easy to be a Mom, trust me, I get it. Jonas is turning 5 on Thursday, and it seems like just yesterday he was this brand new tiny little baby, and I was trying to figure out how to find time to get myself showered, dressed and fed around him. Five years has flown by and pretty soon he'll be 10 before I know it! So I guess my message tonight is, IF you can BE home, be home. Enjoy your children, I know I complain sometimes, but really I do Love them. I have learned so much for them, and never knew I could love people the way that I love them. It's amazing. Whew! I'm done venting about that I feel better now.

THE COLTS WIN, THE COLTS WIN!!!!!

We are the Champions. Colts beat the Bears 29-17. It wasn't a pretty game at all, but it was a typical Colts game. Wow! After all the years of watching the Colts, and knowing they were the best, and not seeing them get to the big game, they got there and they WON! It was a wonderful victory, and it's so nice to know that dreams (mine in particular!) can come true!

Getting ready for the Superbowl....

Okay, if you don't know this about us I will let you in on something. We're HUGE Indianpolis Colts fans. I used to watch before Josh and I were married, but back then they weren't so good. We kind of made it our tradition after we got married to watch football together. I love football, and know few women my age that love it as much as I do. So for 8 years now, we have watched Peyton Manning (the quarterback for the Colts in case you didn't know) through all the good times and the bad. We know all of those disappointed looks he has, and trust me he has them, and we don't like it when he shows those. But, we have over the years hoped that someday that they would go to the Superbowl, and now they are there. We have some Colts flags on the windows of our car, and I have received lots of comments about being a Colt fan. Most aren't supportive, but it's funny to me. The funniest one by far was going through the McDonald's drive through and the Lady at the window said, "Have a nice day, even though you are a COLTS fan." She was a Saints fan, but too bad they got beat. Then going through the gate on base, the guy at security was giving me grief, but this time I said, well the Colts are going to win. I've even had dreams of being surrounded by Bears fans and shouting that the Colts are going to win and then they will see who's the better team. It's funny I'm becoming almost obsessed with this game! Tomorrow the Colts play in the Superbowl, we will all get decked out in our Colts stuff as we do every Sunday the Colts play (our tradition, you have to wear your Colts shirt when they play or it's bad luck), and win or lose (we hope they win of course!) they are still our team, and we will still be their biggest fans. (although we do think the BEARS Stink!)
GO COLTS!!!!