Who dat?

I'm not quite sure what has happened to me. I sometimes don't even recognize myself in the mirror. I used to be a happy and optimistic person with bright eyes and a great outlook on the future. I can't find that person anymore. She has vanished. In her place is a woman with a few gray hairs and wrinkles around the eyes and a crabby disposition. I think it's motherhood. I am, by nature, a peacemaker. I can't STAND to fight with Andy and if we do have a little fight, it is resolved very quickly. So why am I constantly yelling and fighting with my children? Why do they get on my nerves SO very quickly? Where did they learn what buttons to push with me?? Because they are the only two people on this earth who can really push me over the edge. I despise yelling at them. I despise disciplining them. Yet most of my days are filled with reprimands and punishings and a very unhappy momma.

How hard is it to get shoes on and get buckled in the car? Why must I ask 10 times?
Am I your cruise director or your mom? Why do you expect me to tap dance for you 24/7?
You make the mess - you clean it up!

Is it just me? Is it just my house that sounds like this? Will I ever get my sanity and sunny disposition back? Will Andy let me get Botox around my eyes?

I will admit though, the one shining star I have in my life is my marriage. THANKFULLY, I married a dreamboat who adores me and takes such good care of me. He understands when I need a break and is ready and willing to step in to allow me that break. When the house seems to crumble in on me I can look forward to him coming through the door and hugging me and, in that moment, all is right.

Except right now......he is in New York on business. I need a hug.

Wherein I spew much information nobody cares about.

House update:
We have 2 offers into the bank on 2 great homes. If the bank could just hurry it up then we could get working on the papers and get into a home....but that just isn't how short sales work these days!! One home is in American Fork just 1 block south of the Mt. Timpanogos Temple. It is huge and lovely! It is located in a cul-de-sac and the kitchen is RIDICULOUSLY large--which is great for us! It only has 3 bedrooms and 2.5 bath (in 5000 sq ft!), but that is enough for us for now and someday we could finish the basement. We are really hoping for this house. Overall, it is our favorite.
The other home is in Orem just off of 1600 North. It is in a great Ivory Homes subdivision. The kitchen is really weak, but the basement isn't finished and we could possibly build another kitchen downstairs for me and my cookies. We love the upstairs of this home which includes a HUGE loft, 3 bedrooms and a bathroom. It is perfect for the kids area. The master bedroom is on the main floor so the upstairs could be dedicated just to the kids!

There is good and bad to both homes and both areas, but right now I think we'd be happy with anything!! We are going through them both again tomorrow with the expert eyes of my mom and dad to help us envision things and/or point out issues etc. I am looking forward to seeing both homes again.

Kid update:
Kids are here. They are growing. They throw tantrums. They make me laugh. They make me cry. They are excited for Christmas. They talk A LOT! And they sure are learning a bunch at school. They are smart little munchkins!

Kristi update:
The cookie business is going fairly well--considering I don't advertise and haven't updated the website like I want. I just don't have the time to do any of that and I really don't want to do too much until we get into our own home and I can really set up the business. Plus, I'm wicked busy right now trying to finish up my BYU course. I really SHOULD NOT have signed up for this class. Lesson learned, now let's just get it over with!!!

Andy update:
Andy is a enjoying his shorter commute. Not that it was horrible before, but now that he lives and works in Orem it can sometimes only take him 6 minutes to get to work! I LOVE it because if I have an issue like, say, oh, a screaming tantrum little girl, I can call him and he can help me deal with it. AND he brings me lunch! What a champion! I am certain he is still enjoying his freedom from school and sits down to play video games to celebrate. He has a couple of business trips coming up and a possible trip to Israel to visit a new client in January. I wish the kids and I could come along! I love Israel!

Pet update:
I flushed Merrie the fish last week. He was looking uber sick and I didn't want him to suffer any longer. And I got sick of taking care of him. The kids waved good-bye as he swirled down the toilet. If you can't tell, we weren't too broken up about it. Phil--the free carnival fish--is alive and kicking and creates a lot of dirty water for me to clean. Chewy still keeps me happy! I love that little bird. He cracks me up and is a good little pet for me. No one else really likes him too much, but that's because he bites everyone but me. Little stink!

Life is good. We are grateful to have a nice home to live in while we house hunt. We are looking forward to Christmas and spending time with family. Andy's family won't be coming out this year but we did get to see them at Thanksgiving.
I just got a new gym membership and now I plan on working out twice a week when both kids are in school and I am very excited! I worked out for 2 hours today and it felt really good. I probably won't feel so good tonight.....but oh well!

I LOVE MY FAMILY!
(and I love this hideous picture of us on a Sunday drive!)

A few things I'm thankful for.....

I'm thankful for my family.....
and for the free country I live in.

More Video Silliness

The Muppets take on Bohemian Rhapsody, apparently in preparation for the new Queen album that is about to come out. Not quite sure what to make of that....

Disney Princesses on Ice

Samantha and I went with Richele, Greg, Nicole and Grampy to Disney Barf Me on Ice. Oh....I mean, Disney Princess on Ice.
Samantha had a lovely time and was so excited about all of it. Nicole, on the other hand, was so confused by all of it! She had never been to anything like this before and she had no idea what to make of it. She had this look of, "What the hell is going on here??" the whole time. In fact, that was the same look Grampy and Greg had too!!!
Samantha and I had a great time together and Alex and Andy went to a movie and to lunch together, so it was a grand day overall!!

National Geographic

Totally not what you expect.

October in review - not in order....cuz I'm lazy

My 2 kids at a corn maze for a field trip....accompanied by 2 random children who wouldn't move.

Not sure which is more frightening...the kids faces or the pumpkins?

Proud Alex.

Weenie roast at the Cook pumpkin patch.

The crew at the pumpkin patch.

Checkin' out the buffalo that belong to the crazy, old, rich dude.

The last picture of us as a family in our old house!! I love this photo!

Another random update

So, let's see....where to begin....Ahhhhh, yes, sickness! Samantha and Alex have been sick for like 2 weeks and we have all just about had it!! Samantha still has the annoying, lingering cough, but is feeling much better overall. Alex still had a fever this morning (his 3rd day of fever) but is napping right now and I'm fairly confident that he'll wake up feeling better. If he still has a fever tomorrow morning I am going to take him into the doctor. They are sweet little troopers though!

The house hunting is still in full swing. We have offers out on 5 homes, all of which are short sales. Of course, we haven't heard back on any of them yet, but it is comforting just to know we have some options out there trying to do something!! We are going to see 3 more homes today and the kids are dreading it!! I think they will be super excited when we finally get locked on a home. For now though we are doing well at Grandma and Grandpa's. The kids are enjoying the space and it really feels like home for now.

I just discovered that I need to take my midterm for my Independent Study course in a testing center and that angers me! It means the test is closed book and I will really have to study! What's up with that??? I am also really wanting to expand my cookie business and really go for it, but honestly, I don't have the time right now! I'm not sure why I think it's a good idea, but the "project" part of it sounds like a lot of fun! I will probably do a little here and there but not fully go for it until we are settled in the new house. Whenever that may be!!!

I'm pretty sure Andy is still basking in the wonderfulness of being out of school!! I sure love it! He is keeping busy finding homes for us to look at and playing video games when he can. And dreaming of a family vacation next year. Good luck to that!!!

That's about all I can think of right now. I am looking forward to the next week when we find out if Kami is having a boy or a girl. We keep calling the baby "she" in the hopes that if it is a boy, the penis will drop off. Not that we don't love boys, because we do, but another girl would rock! Kami needs to share in the joy of the female hormones just like me and Richele!!

I love this picture of all of the kiddos at the pumpkin patch. Plus one extra - Corbin who is Nicole's 2nd cousin. (is that right, second cousin??)

Halloween - Mario Brothers Style!

Samantha as Luigi, Nicole as Snow White

Mario and Wario - making peace for just one night of candy

Mario and Luigi from behind.

Mario, Luigi, Wario and Waluigi

I actually have quite a few older pictures that I need to post, but I'm still in the Halloween mood and thought I'd post these pictures now.

Helping those who help us!

I just wanted to give a quick shout out to a couple of people and their businesses who have helped us lately.......

Our realtor Chad Holmes has been fantastic so far!! He even offered to sell his body to get us into a house we wanted!! Okay, maybe I told him to do that, but he'll go just about that far! He is quick to respond, helpful, kind, knowledgeable, and easy-going! We are quite confident that he will help us find a great home at a great price! Here is a link to his site.

Also, we had the carpets cleaned in our townhome before we moved out and they looked great! The owner, Kyle Quist, even worked extra hard to get out a couple of stains FOR FREE!! One stain involving a certain sleeping husband and 2 children and a tub of vaseline! You can reach Kyle at Roswell Carpet Cleaning at 801-362-1653.

The new temporary home

Well, I just got the kids settled into their new beds for the next few months!!  Neither was too happy about it and both have claimed so far to be scared.  I know it is tough to get used to sleeping in a new bed and a new house, but I am sure after a couple of nights they will be just fine.  It has been a rough and tumble couple of days of moving and packing and packing and moving and a fun night at Grammy and Grampys, but hopefully we can get back in the groove soon!!  Samantha sounded quite pleased that she is going to school tomorrow. I think the norm will feel good to her.  The kids really are doing as well as can be expected.  And I am too I think!  We are still on a mad hunt to find a new house and have a few homes lined up to see this week and offers in on 3 homes.  We hope something sticks soon!!  And I'm sure my in-laws do as well!!!  And a big THANK YOU to the best in-laws in the world for letting us use their house!  Love you guys!

Last Night!

Tonight is our last night in this house!! I have mixed emotions......I'm sad because this was our first REAL family home and my kids were still very little when we moved here......but I'm also excited to see what the future holds for us! It feels right to move now, it feels like it's time. We don't have a new home yet (we are searching like crazy!!) so we will be staying at Andy's parents Orem home for now. Thank you to them for letting us stay there! Andy will be closer to work but I will be driving back and forth A LOT from Orem to Pleasant Grove in order to keep the kids in their same schools. Which, I think, is worth it. Samantha and Alex love their teachers and schools and Alex has a couple of great speech teachers that we want to keep going to.
I am trying to bribe the kids into taking a nap today so we can stay up late, eat ice cream and watch a movie for the last night in our home! We'll see if they do it or not!!!
My family is coming over tomorrow to help move the big stuff to the storage unit then we will be staying at my parents Saturday night (which the kids are over the moon about!). Sunday afternoon we'll be getting settled in the Orem home and life will resume as normal as possible on Monday!! We've been married 7 years and moved 4 times! I hope this next move will be the last for a while. Though I'm not really counting on it!! ;-)

I WANT THIS PUPPY!!!!!

Ridiculous Engineering Skills

I'm sure most of you will be shocked when I confess to being a total geek. Go ahead - take a minute to recover.

Back now? Ok. You have to watch this, at least the first minute or so. Even if you never played with Legos as a kid, you'll have to admit this is amazing.

N to the J

View off my balcony in Jersey City......that's the Statue of Liberty way in the back.

Random picture of me on the roof of the Metropolitan Museum.

I can't believe I've been back in Utah for 3 years!! I am missing New Jersey tonight. I miss it quite often actually. Living there was a pain!! Nothing was easy....not the driving, the roads, the stores, getting to work, NOTHING!! But it sure did have a lot of character. And I miss some friends and neighbors from both Jersey City and Woodbridge. I miss my view of NYC. When I got on the airplane at midnight with my 2 kids and my parents to fly to Utah - I sobbed and sobbed. I don't miss flying in and out of JFK (what a rotten airport). I miss flying in and out of Newark (what a ghetto fabulous airport!). I am grateful to be back living near family. I especially love being near my niece and nephews. They are my favorite part of Utah! And I can't wait for another one to join us in 2010!! Abby? TB? We'll have to wait and see!

Monsters vs. Prophets

I wanted to jot this down before I forgot it, because it was funny!!!
The other night before bed Alex was praying and he blessed President Monster. Not President Monson, but Monster. There seems to never be a night where the kids pray that Andy and I don't end up cracking up and having to keep the laughing under control! I love it!

We have seen a lot of houses lately!! In fact, today is the only day in the past maybe 2 weeks that we don't have an appointment to go in a house or a plan to drive by some houses. The kids are excited!! Instead, we get to pack! Lucky us. The kids have been really good and patient with all of it though and whenever we meet a realtor at a house they don't even hesitate to say, "Hi, I'm Alex, I'm 4 years-old. Hi, I'm Samantha, I'm 5 years-old.". You can tell which questions they get asked every time!! Right now, as far as the house hunt goes, we are leaning towards having a home built for us in Lehi. We like the homes and the area and we feel good about it. We are going to their design center tomorrow to see if we can actually afford the house we want with the upgrades we'll want. I'm crossing my fingers! We'll keep you updated and I need to post pictures from our pumpkin picking as well. Sigh....too much to do!!

Some amusement for your day

From the "Way Too Much Time On Their Hands" file.

Stress comin' at ya!

Wow, I'm stressed these days! We sold the house and are in full packing mode. The house is a wreck with boxes stacked everywhere which, because I'm a bit OCD, causes me major stress. The kids are starting to show signs of stress as well as their lives are being rearranged and THAT causes ME a ton of stress. I still have my bloody Independent Study course to finish by January that is a thorn in my side. We are trying so hard to find a new home and it just isn't coming quite as easily as I had hoped. We are so lucky to have a great home to move into while we look for a new place, but it is always difficult to live in a home that isn't your own. I am going to be so paranoid about the kids ruining things and sleeping in the same room. I doubt they'll get a whole lot of sleep at first which is going to make life SO fun. I will be taking the kids to their current schools so I don't have to uproot them from that part of their life which is going to mean A LOT of back and forth travel for me!! It will be worth it to have them in their same schools, but wow, we're going to go through a lot of gas!!

My body has a terrific way of handling stress that I just love. Of course the zits pop out in generous numbers, but I can handle that. The worst part is that I get cankers in my mouth by the dozens!!! A couple of weeks before my wedding I had a canker in my mouth that was so enormous I couldn't eat or talk. It was excruciating. I ended up going to the doctor for it and he gave me some anti-viral pills and some cream. I still use the cream every time I get a canker and, thankfully, it works wonders. If only it could stop the cankers from forming....

I'm not really trying to complain or get any sympathy (we did do this to ourselves, by the way), but I just want to have the memories of the stress so I can look back when we are settled into our new, beautiful home and say, "We did it! We made it, and it wasn't as bad as I remember! And best of all....it was worth it!!". Oh boy I hope I say those words!!!

Why I really don't like to shop at Walmart

'Nuff said

www.peopleofwalmart.com

Just your random update

I know that I've mentioned it on my Facebook page, but I don't think I mentioned it on the blog yet......we sold our house!! We were able to do it without the help of our realtor so he released us from our contract and now we don't have to pay commission! Yeah for us! We got a pretty decent price out of it and are still left with a good amount of equity to put towards our new home. We think we are probably going to close the end of October and move out shortly thereafter. Andy's parents have been kind enough to offer their house for us to live in while we search for a new home. Which, by the way, there are a TON of great homes out there for a great price! We have a huge list to drive by, check out the neighborhood and decide if we want to see the inside. There is one in particular right now that we fancy in Orem. It is so close to Andy's work he could WALK to work everyday!!! It's a big older (built in 1991) but the landscaping is beautiful, the neighborhood is great and the kitchen is all remodeled and lovely. We should be going to see the inside hopefully on Saturday.

Kids are doing great in school. Samantha's writing is improving and so are her pictures. She loves her teacher and has made some good friends. Alex is such a boy and just sort of shrugs his shoulders about school. He could take it or leave it. But as far as I know, he is doing well.

Andy works. And flies on airplanes.

My cookie business has decided to suddenly take off!!! Which is so terrific and great, but horrible timing! I am supposed to start packing but instead I'm always baking! (Don't let that fact deter you from making an order though, my friends!!) I really appreciate everyone who has helped support me and placed an order. It's the best way for me to perfect my recipes and get a process in place. I have so many cookies to make on Monday that I have recruited my mom to come and entertain Alex so I can spend the whole morning baking!! Bless your heart mom! I'll pay ya!

I got to spend some time with my sweet nephew Caleb today. He made my day beautiful!
And here are the crazy kids after their last soccer game when they received their medals. So adorable!