What do you want to be when you grow up...

Logan:  "Mom, what did you want to be when you were a little kid?"
Me: "I wanted to be a nurse."
Logan:  "Are you a nurse?"
Me: "No, I'm not."

I was just about to tell him that things change when you grow up.  That you change what you want to do, etc...

Logan:  "So you're just a Mom?"

Ouch.

Me:  "Yes Logan.  I'm just a Mom."

First Day of School

So here are the pics...

The kids did awesome!  They have really enjoyed their first two day at school, and so have I! :0)  The first day we walked there in the wagon, and it was very HOT!  I think it ended up being 113 degrees that day!  We were smart and drove for pick up and the second day.  But we look forward to cooler weather so we can bike, scooter, or take the wagon!

Love this Blog!

So I was recently told about this blog from a coworker and I have read all her posts in 2 days!  She is hilarious and paints (or draws!) the perfect picture of parenthood.  Here is one of my favorites!

http://crappypictures.com/2011/08/appreciation-or-how-not-to-get-more-ice-cream.html

Did you read it?  Hilarious!  I do this! Well, not the finger part but I will stratigically eat ice cream after bedtime so I don't have to share (don't tell the kids!).  If you aren't an ice cream lover and couldn't relate, try this one...

http://crappypictures.com/2011/11/public-toilets-vs-girls-and-boys.html

or this one...

http://crappypictures.com/2012/04/cleaning-with-a-toddler-in-the-room.html

I could go on for a while, so check it out!

Before and After

I realized I never posted before and after pictures of the house!  There are still little things here and there that I'd like to do (isn't there always!), but here they are!

Here is what will become the toy room...

 Transformed into a fun place to play! 

 The art wall!  I saw this on Pinterest and love it!  They are held on by clips and strung on picture wire.  That way we can change out the pictures as new art is made! I will be painting the word "Masterpieces" above it.  One of those projects I was talking about!

 Stairway...The entire house was painted a beige color...I mean everything! Ceiling, railing, walls, doors, and even a few outlets!

 We painted the main areas a grey hue.

 The dining area

 Love our new light fixture!  I can't count the number of time we ran into the other one!

 Kitchen

 Other than paint and buy a fridge, we didn't do anything to the kitchen.  That was a little beyond our budget :0)  Another project for another time...

 Living area from the stairs

 Moose's room.  We have three bedrooms upstairs and the boys share a room.

 So Moose hung some of his favorite pictures in here and so far it is a work in progress.  But I absolutely LOVE our laminate wood floors!

 Master bedroom

 Master bath

 Special thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Robello for removing the wallpaper border and painting our room!

 Love the bay windows!

 And double sinks!

 And walk in closet!

 Boy's room

 The bunkbed finally arrived!  They fit in the room perfectly and I love that they have a staircase instead of a ladder.

 Moose's infamous wall mural with an added cork board for picture and bookcase for bedtime stories!

Well, I guess that's all folks.  The boy's bathroom pictures are missing.  Someone "ah hem" who will remain ananomous missed the toilet and hit the shower curtain, so it was in the wash.  You'll just have to come over and see it in person :0)

Thank you Shorty for being my painting buddy!  And thanks to Pops, Jin-gee, Kelly and Robert, my mom and dad, Grandma and Grandpa Longfield and Robello for helping us make our house a home.  Love you guys!

Vacation Pictures

Huntington Beach, CA

The Frame's girls helped us with the kids a lot (thank you!).  Kali is in the pictures below with Jackson.  He called her Cat Woman, since you know, he is Batman.  Just ask him!

 Here is Moose and Gage, another one of the Frame's kids.  They were swimming out to see the dolphins!

 Logan did not want his picture taken, as seen in the next two pictures :0)

 Just getting to Seaworld!

 Shamu was first...

 Toucing the sting rays...Jackson pretended he wanted to touch them but freaked out when they came close!

 Petting the dolphins!

 Close ups!

 You can't see very well, but there are sharks in the tank behind them.  Boys are being goofy!

 The new, beautiful Sea Turtle exhibit.  We miss the Manatees though :0(

 The boys LOVED the rides!

 The Beluga Whales

 Isn't he cute!

We're back!

Sorry it's been a while...We just returned from California, a much needed vacation.  They boys loved the beach and hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa Longfield and the Frames, who are friends of my parents.  And they LOVED Seaworld!  I will download pictures soon.  Payton broke his arm the second day we were camping, although he never complained.  We thought it was just a sprain and wrapped it up until it started to swell above the wrist.  When we returned to Phoenix, an xray confirmed he broke his radius, the large bone in the lower arm.  Luckily it wasn't bad enought to require a cast, so he is in a rigid brace that pretty much acts as a cast.  We take it off only for bathing.  He was a trooper!  So other than that, we've just been catching up on work, housework, homework...that sounds like too much work!  I promise to post pictures soon...farewell for now!

We keep on truckin'...

Well, to update from the last time I posted, we have officially started getting the house prepared to move into.  We've painted, cleaned and are waiting for the flooring to go in.  This should be done by Monday!  Yea!  Hopefully, if all goes to plan, we will move in Tuesday or Wednesday of next week.  Unfortunately, the white car has been "diagnosed with cancer".  We can nurse the engine/cooling systems until it one day won't "wake up".  The head gasket/engine needs to be replased and being that it is a 1990, it's not worth the cost of repair.  So for a while at least, we will be a one car family.  I've got some pictures but I need to upload them and I have no idea where my cords got packed!  So that will have to wait. 

We've got the Keys!

We got the keys to our house on Friday!  We spent some time there yesterday ripping up carpet and taking nails and curtains off the walls.  There is a lot of work ahead but we are excited to make this house a home!  I'll post some before and after pictures as we start completing work.  That's all for now...

Is it over yet?

Well, we've had a very interersting, busy, tiring few days!  The bug guy came, confirmed we have bed bugs, and gave us a gazillion instructions on how to prep the house for treatment.  Here's a look at the list...

1. All clutter picked up and put away. 
2. All food put in oven, microwave, or dishwasher.
3. Wash everything that is washable (which included 9 hours, 20 loads, and $77 in quarters)
4. All upholstered items that aren't washable needed to be vacuumed.
5. Vacuum carpet.
6. All furniture pulled away from the walls and baseboards vacuumed.
7. Everything off the walls and boxed.
8. Cover boxes and loose items with plastic.

And do all that in 36 hours.  Are you exhausted yet?  Then there was the post treatment list...

1. Do not enter apartment until 3 hours after treatment.  Open window and turn on A/C to ventilate.
2. Change air filter.
3. Vacuum all carpet and baseboards within 24 hours of treatment and everyday for the next two weeks.
4. Clean all surfaces where pesticide could have settled.
5. Steam clean carpets 12 days after treatment.

Ugg!  I've had to miss two shifts at work to be able to get all this done with help!  Because we are so close to moving into our new house, we packed everything we won't need in the next 2 weeks and took it to my sister's or my in-law's house.  Bed bugs are killed most effectively with high heat, so all our furniture will be taken to a storage unit in the next few days here to bake in the AZ heat.  We are currently living with my in-laws who were nice enough to have us!  I couldn't have gotten all this done without the help of our families!  They've helped box, pack, move, clean, vacuum, transport, and store our belongings and watch the kids so I could attempt to handle this mess!  Thank you guys!

Our closing date for the house was extended to next wednesday although we are hoping the paperwork will be finished by monday...

And if you were wondering about the car...it doesn't look good.  The $100 fix was done but now it won't start.  The mechanic is still working on it, so I haven't lost hope yet.  But if you have some extra prayers, send them our way!

Been a while...

Well, here is a run down of the last couple weeks.

• I started back at school, an easy computer class to satisfy a degree requirement
• Moose is still working both jobs, staying busy!
• Kids got sick, the up and out disease, if you know what I mean :0(
• We got bed bugs, double :0(  We think Logan brought them home from school.  We caught it early so we think it is confined to the kids' room.  Know more tomorrow after the bug guy comes.
• The white car died...again.  Should know by the end of the day if a $100 fix will get it going again or if it is gone for good.

But all of that is okay because...

• We close on our house on Friday!  Pray for no hang ups!  All the paperwork is at the underwriters for funding.
• And God is in control and everything good is a gift from HIM!

Thanks for visiting!

Easter in Prescott

We were able to spend some quality time with Stephen, Kelley, Mason, Mylie, Jennifer and Carter Easter weekend at Stephen and Kelley's home in Prescott. Bert and Stephanie were able to join us on Friday night for dinner but unfortunately had to go home that night.

The kids relaxed watching a movie after playing hard outside.

Hanging with the cousins!

Saturday morning openning their Easter baskets from Grandma Shorty and Grandpa Burp (aka Bert and Stephanie!)

Jen and Carter

Jackson and Mylie

Easter Basket chaos!

Mason hunting for eggs

Moose and Jackson. You can see the fort down below where the kids spent a lot of their time.

Payton and Mylie

Jen, Kelley, Payton, Logan, and Jackson (behind Logan)

I think we found them all! Thank you to the Moose and Stephen for getting up at 6am to hide the eggs so the animals wouldn't run off with them!

Ready, set, GO!