hi

So, things have been super-duper busy around here lately.

And my blog has definitely been pushed to the back burner. My kids are never going to forgive me.

The girls and I got home today from Texas. We were able to attend my cousins baby shower while we were there. She is 27 weeks pregnant with TWINS GIRLS. It was a blessing to be there. And I cannot imagine the amount of laundry she is going to have in the next few months.

My baby turns 3 on Friday...sigh. My heart is so full with love for her and she makes me laugh every single day. How is it possible she is going to be THREE?

Our house is still not done...ha. Matthew got things kind of settled in our house while we were gone. Our bedroom was looking like a war zone and now it doesn't look so bad. Our "office" is now our closet for the time being. My sweet husband knows how to woo me...hang my clothes up.

My girls are getting so smart! Nora is trying to write everything. She is constantly asking me "how do you spell....?". She is always drawing and coloring. She started soccer and did pretty well. She is so sweet.

Elyn recited the pledge of allegiance tonight. I posted it on Facebook and if I wasn't so lazy, I would get up and get my cord to download the video from my phone...maybe tomorrow. She is so cute. Elyn is starting to identify letters and is getting pretty good at coloring.

So, our life is currently upside down but we are adjusting and learning how adaptable we are. We are surprising ourselves. We are both working more than we have in the last four and a half years and literally living out of boxes-but we are doing well.

Here are some pictures…but not a whole lot

Hello!  I feel like this is the first time that I have slowed down in a few weeks.  I have a million things to do though, so I better make this quick.

Here are a few things (through pictures) that have been happening:

Elyn sleeping during the day…a rarity.

Moving day.  Matthew’s brother, Aaron, came to help us move.  We found some of these “treasures” while we were going through boxes.

 

Matthew’s sister and brother-in-law also came to help.  They brought Noah with them (obvs).  He really liked this little tent.

And he ended up falling head first into a box of toys.  It was pretty funny.

Last Tuesday we had carpet installed in our bedrooms!

Our first meal in our new house (deli chicken, micro waved baked potatoes and corn on the cob…I didn’t really cook).

 

A view of the living room…not even 1/2 way done but at least there aren’t boxes up to the ceiling.

 

Just a cute picture of Nora….she dressed herself in her favorite things-leggings, a shirt that flares out like a dress, and the brown/blue bow.  (Nice walls behind her, huh?)

I am still driving my mom’s car (the engine had to be replaced for those of you who have been keeping up).  We are listening to a lot of XM radio (because we don’t usually).  Our (and by “our” I mean Nora and Elyn) favorite station is Kid’s Place Live.  (It drives me crazy.)  Anyway, we heard a song on it a few days ago called “Nora’s Room”.  Very cute song that I downloaded immediately.  Nora laughs every time she hears it.

 

I was sitting down at our kitchen table the other day and saw this chaos.  I thought it was memorable.

 

And this is what is a typical day in our house looks like.  Aren’t you jealous?  Don’t be.  As you can tell, Matthew is working on the dishwasher.  FYI, nothing in our house EVER works on the first try (and usually the second try too).  Since I’m not the “fixer” and “doer”, the frustration falls on Matthew.  Good news, the dishwasher now works.

 

What gets me through some days….and I AM NOT KIDDING.

 

We got carpet on the stairs on Tuesday.  It’s crooked.  See, nothing works on the first try.

 

Elyn scrapped her chin at school the other day.  And she insisted on putting a band-aid on it.

This is a face that I see 2.2 million times a day TIMES TWO.  I was only able to capture Nora.  Probably because Elyn was attached to my body while she was throwing a fit.  (I had a mini nervous breakdown a few weeks ago and had to drop the girls off with my sister-in-law…more on that in a different post).

peace.

Look what we got today!  (and internet-obvs)

We also got our countertops!!!!!!!!!!!  No more plywood countertops!  So, here are some views of our partially done kitchen….

And keeping it real…the view of the family room from the kitchen.  chaos.

 

We still don’t have a master bath, our hall bath (the one all four of us are using) is still in a state of disrepair, all doors are hung but need to be painted and trimmed out, there are zero baseboards or moldings anywhere, we still have the entire outside to work on, the utility room is still pretty much a shell.

But, I honestly can say that I still enjoy driving down our street and up to our house and seeing our view and home.  It’s just going to take a few more months to make it peaceful.

Woo Hoo!!!!!

We are "connected" again! It was supposed to happen Tuesday but didn't happen until today.

I'm just glad it happenend!

Now, I have to remember all the shows that I used to DVR....hmmmmmm. Any suggestions?

I'll update with pictures soon!

Since we moved in….

• we have unpacked one box
• the girls prefer to spend their time downstairs playing instead of in their playroom (maybe it’s because their playroom has no toys in it)
• we had carpet installed (except on the stairs…it has to be bound and sent back)
• I used the new oven…although, only one burner works. Sigh. They other four spark but do not ignite. The repairman is coming Tuesday.
• have been using plywood as a countertop (granite is being installed on Tuesday)
• have watched zero t.v. and we are finding it hard to do our jobs with out internet (AT&T is coming to our house on Tuesday)
• experienced our first big rain and didn’t have any of our new windows leak
• found out that our queen sized bed is too big to fit up the stairs (the box springs, I’m sure we could shove the mattress up). Matthew and I have been sleeping in the living room and it looks like we might have to resort to sleeping in twin beds. Kidding….kind of.
• swept our new floor approximately 1 million times and it is still filthy
• done 6 loads of laundry (because I can't find the boxes that my clothes are in...not kidding)
• I took one really cold shower before we discovered the hot water heater was set on the “vacation” setting
• Matthew partially installed the kitchen sink. I am so happy to have it because that means I don’t have to climb stairs to rinse out cups (we only use paper plates/bowls and plastic utensils)
• had our first dinner last night in our new home (rotisserie chicken and microwave potatoes and corn…didn’t have to cook a thing)
• we are learning that we can adapt semi-easily to all the trials of living in a home that is still in the middle of renovations

I hope to post pictures soon….not that I’ve taken many. I really should hire a photographer to capture all the changes our home has gone through. Oh well. Too late now.

I’m at our old house right now, packing up the rest of our stuff (odd and ends) and am taking advantage of the internet service…so, I’m off to finish packing.

Who needs a bathroom?

Last weekend (the original move weekend) we got CRAZY and knocked out our master bathroom.

Because, really, who needs a bathroom?  Apparently, not us.

The reason we didn’t move last weekend is because we still had several things to do before we could move in our furniture-the most important, finish the flooring.

So, since we were just standing around twidling our thumbs (ha ha) Matthew thought, hey, let’s destroy our bath.

Here is our “before”…

• VERY narrow bathroom.  Only one of us could get in and out at a time.
• only one sink.  We do not want to stand over each other to brush our teeth and wash our face.  Although, we did it for a year when we lived in Searcy and it wasn’t the end of the world.  We could have made due.
• Blue toilet with cracked seat.  Um…retro?
• Powder bathtub for a VERY skinny and short person.  I have the short part down.
• Awesome light fixture (sarcasm)

Before closet:

• decent sized…it would have accommodated all of our stuff but we had to knock out the wall to enlarge the bathroom.  And the blue carpet had to go too.

During:

The majority of the destroying was done by Matthew, Michael and Amber.  I was the picture taker (hey, someone has to be the photographer).

 

This last picture is from the corner of the closet (by the breaker box) looking into the bedroom from the open bathroom walls.

I was shocked at how quickly all those walls can come down and cabinets can come out.

We have big plans for this bath…and hopefully those will be realized in the next few weeks!

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We ARE moving into our new house tomorrow, even with the demolished master bath.  As of “typing” time, we have one sink that is functioning, two toilets that work, a shower that we can use, a microwave oven that works, a stove that has been hooked up but not turned on (we are afraid we might blow up the house), all the wood floor has been put down, no carpet in bedrooms, no countertop, and 2/3 of the windows have been installed.

Of course we are moving in.

We are so excited to move in though, even with all of the things that still need to be done.  I am ready for us all to live under one roof again.  We have all been sleeping under one roof, but I am ready for us to LIVE in the same house.

We are getting our carpet on Tuesday and are supposed to get our countertops this next week also.  We’ll probably turn the stove on (fingers crossed we don’t all die!) and get the rest of the windows installed.

We are EXCITED!

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Our original move day was pushed to today but we had to push it back until tomorrow (confused?) because we attended a funeral today.

One of Matthew’s classmates, Kenny Robertson, died early Tuesday evening in a helicopter crash.  Kenny was an Air Evac pilot and on his way to pick up a critical patient when, it seems, a mechanical error happened with the helicopter and crashed into a field.  Kenny and the two other people on board were killed instantly.

Matthew has known Kenny and his family since he moved to Searcy, 32 years ago.

Of the 45 people that Matthew graduated with in 1993, approximately 30 were in attendance at the funeral.  Their class was extremely close.

After Kenny graduated from Harding Academy, he went to Texas A&M, where he was in the Corps.  After graduating from college he went to flight school and spent 10 years as a Marine.

Two years ago, he time of service was over and his family settled back in Searcy where he continued to serve as an Air Evac pilot.

The turnout for the visitation last night and the funeral today was amazing.  He was a very, very, very loved man!

After the visitation last night, Matthew and his classmates met at a house and shared memories of Kenny from elementary through high school.  These were recorded and will be given to his three children as a gift.

Kenny leaves behind a wife, whom he absolutely adored, and three young children.  It was heartbreaking to see his sons and daughters at the funeral.  So young, so much life to live without their daddy.  But they know that he loved them!

Matthew and I were honored to be at his celebration today.  After the funeral, a procession was led out to Camp Tahkodah where he was given a military burial and his ashes were scattered…it was beautiful!

Please keep the Robertson family in your prayers throughout the coming days, weeks and months.

90210

Happy “90210” day!  (9-02-10)

I think that is so funny!

I remember being a freshman in high school, sitting in my first period theater class, listening to the sophomore/junior girls talk about the episode from the night before.  I had see the episode too and contributed to the conversation.

AND FELT SUPER COOL.

My sister and mom have seen every single episode, I think.  When my sister was in high school it was like a weekly date for them.

Who did you like better, Dylan or Brandon?

I’m more of a Brandon girl (shocking).  He was more wholesome and the “good” guy.  I’ve never been a bad guy kind of girl.  Matthew is more like a “Brandon”.

So, for all of you who grew up on Brandon and Brenda, thought it was odd that Dylan got to live alone in high school, remember Kelly’s mom being pregnant or thought Steve was hilarious then “Happy 90210 Day to you”.

And do you choose Dylan or Brandon?