That is the question. When are we moving? We were moving on March 30th. Then we were moving on March 19. March 19th has been the day for awhile now, but it is in 2 days and there is no word. Everyone keeps telling me to have hope, but chances are slim that we are moving in 2 days.
I am so excited to move on. I have all of my plumbing supplies in my trunk ready to go. I have school enrollment forms gathered and ready. I was overjoyed to go to Costco and buy a garbage disposer today. I am so excited to buy my new house, move in and start the rest of my life. More importantly, I am excited for my kids to start the rest of their lives. There is nothing particularly amazing about this house. The amazing thing is what it represents: stability, permanence, space to grow in. We have learned over the last 9 months that personal space leads to happy family relationships, and lack of it makes everything harder. We are pretty convinced that we found the right house in the right neighborhood with the right school and right neighbors. This one is it!
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Friday, February 19, 2010
Chore Day
Today is Friday which happens to be a day that I really like. It is the start of the weekend so the kids come home and hang up their backpacks and coats with a sigh of relief. It is also chore day and pizza & movie night. When we first started Friday chore day a few months ago the kids would drag their feet and whine and take an hour to do a 5 minute chore because of how "unfair" it was. Josh is still downstairs "working" on cleaning out the playroom. It could have easily been a 20 minute job, but he is 2 hours into it now. He is just sitting in there and whenever I walk by he tells me it is too hard. Common sense would teach him that if he just put the things away in the right place when he finished with them he wouldn't be there right now, but he has been doing this chore for 7 months and that message has never connected in his brain. I expect that common sense will take many more years to properly develop. Jackson, however, made a startling revelation a couple weeks ago. He realized that if he worked hard and fast the jobs would be over with quickly and he could go on to playing. Today he asked for his chores as soon as he walked in the door and got started immediately. He was done with everything in 30 minutes and has spent the rest of the afternoon playing his favorite computer game. Pretty smart guy!
We will go make salad and pizza in a few minutes. We started this tradition by trying Papa Murphy's take-n-bake and various other frozen and delivery pizzas. It turns out that the pizza we enjoy the most is homemade, and saving the money is nice too. After that we will have popcorn and a movie. The kids are at a fun age for watching movies because we don't have to watch cartoons anymore and we can find movies that we all like. Last week we watched Wizard of Oz. This week I rented ET and Herbie. There are so many fun 80's movies that I want to watch with the kids. I have the next several weekends lined up: Goonies, Honey I Shrunk the Kids, Who Framed Rodger Rabbit, Gremlins, Parent Trap. It will be so fun to watch these movies again, and to see the kids watch them for the first time.
We will go make salad and pizza in a few minutes. We started this tradition by trying Papa Murphy's take-n-bake and various other frozen and delivery pizzas. It turns out that the pizza we enjoy the most is homemade, and saving the money is nice too. After that we will have popcorn and a movie. The kids are at a fun age for watching movies because we don't have to watch cartoons anymore and we can find movies that we all like. Last week we watched Wizard of Oz. This week I rented ET and Herbie. There are so many fun 80's movies that I want to watch with the kids. I have the next several weekends lined up: Goonies, Honey I Shrunk the Kids, Who Framed Rodger Rabbit, Gremlins, Parent Trap. It will be so fun to watch these movies again, and to see the kids watch them for the first time.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Another Day
Another day has come and gone. Jackson was a little nervous about his CSAP test today and had been instructed by his teacher to get plenty of sleep, eat a healthy breakfast and wear comfortable clothes. He came in and woke me up at 6:20 this morning to ask me to make him some oatmeal. He was dressed in fleece sweats and ready for school. I told him it was too early for oatmeal and to get me at 7:00. I woke up again at 7:30. That gave me 10 minutes to run downstairs and get the boys fed, make their lunches and snacks, de-ice the car and drive them to school. I thought there was no way I would make it, but luckily for me they were both already dressed and the frost wasn't as thick as usual. I actually got them to school 2 minutes before the bell rang. The day began with a mini-miracle! It seems like having a crazy late morning negates any positive effect that should come from sleeping in. Oh well....
Lexi and I went to the Aurora mall for the first time today. I wanted to go to Sears because they are having a 25% off sale on fridges and I need one for the new house. I found out that even at 25% off they cost twice as much as I have budgeted. Looks like craigslist will continue to be my friend. I liked the idea of having an Energy Star fridge because they are always running, but learned at Sears that that extra $1000 only saves me about $5 a month on electricity. So, it's really about as cost effective as buying a hybrid car (which means not cost effective at all). Then we went to the food court for lunch and walked around the mall. It is really interesting to go from shopping at Park Meadows to a mall in the heart of Aurora. I saw stores I haven't seen in a long time such as Hot Dog on a Stick, Spencers, 5-7-9, Deb, etc. And, I realized I could probably yell out any weird thing that came to my head if I wanted because I think I was the only one who spoke English in the place. That definitely didn't stop Lexi from having a blast playing with all the kids at the center-court playground!
Some interesting tidbits I learned tonight: Jackson loves Sloppy Joes, Lexi has a self-proclaimed allergy to Sloppy Joes, Josh can eat an ice-cream sandwich twice as fast as Jackson, and the kids used 16 cups from 3:00-7:00. I'm glad we don't have disposable cups or my family alone would fill a landfill every year. I just got notice from the school that President Obama is flying into Buckley AFB tomorrow at an undisclosed time, so the only road leading in/out of my neighborhood will be closed for the motorcade at some point tomorrow. I just hope it's not at 8:15. It would be a bummer if I couldn't get Lexi to preschool.
Lexi and I went to the Aurora mall for the first time today. I wanted to go to Sears because they are having a 25% off sale on fridges and I need one for the new house. I found out that even at 25% off they cost twice as much as I have budgeted. Looks like craigslist will continue to be my friend. I liked the idea of having an Energy Star fridge because they are always running, but learned at Sears that that extra $1000 only saves me about $5 a month on electricity. So, it's really about as cost effective as buying a hybrid car (which means not cost effective at all). Then we went to the food court for lunch and walked around the mall. It is really interesting to go from shopping at Park Meadows to a mall in the heart of Aurora. I saw stores I haven't seen in a long time such as Hot Dog on a Stick, Spencers, 5-7-9, Deb, etc. And, I realized I could probably yell out any weird thing that came to my head if I wanted because I think I was the only one who spoke English in the place. That definitely didn't stop Lexi from having a blast playing with all the kids at the center-court playground!
Some interesting tidbits I learned tonight: Jackson loves Sloppy Joes, Lexi has a self-proclaimed allergy to Sloppy Joes, Josh can eat an ice-cream sandwich twice as fast as Jackson, and the kids used 16 cups from 3:00-7:00. I'm glad we don't have disposable cups or my family alone would fill a landfill every year. I just got notice from the school that President Obama is flying into Buckley AFB tomorrow at an undisclosed time, so the only road leading in/out of my neighborhood will be closed for the motorcade at some point tomorrow. I just hope it's not at 8:15. It would be a bummer if I couldn't get Lexi to preschool.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
The Beginning
I've decided that too many funny things happen each day not to write them down. I have the best job in the world- raising my family- and I am luck to have it. The days feel like they go by in a matter of minutes. They are busy from the moment I wake up until the kids are asleep. I remember 6 years ago having a baby and a toddler and thinking to myself that life was so busy and that I just needed to stick it out until the kids were in school and I had time for myself again. Well, life is 100% busier now than it was then.
Tyler is out of town this week, as he often is lately. I have had to work hard to try and keep up a normal schedule while he is gone. I am getting better at planning and preparing normal dinners while he is traveling. Tonight we had whole-wheat pancakes, turkey sausage and fruit salad. A healthy but fun dinner for the kids and me. I washed 4 loads of laundry and cleaned the house several times. I volunteered in Josh's classroom and bought a bed for Jackson's room at the new house. It took me 40 minutes to get all the kids to bed, but they are all still awake and continue to call me every so often to tell me various things that have nothing to do with going to sleep. I think I will head downstairs to do some more laundry and clean the kitchen again.
Life is great. We are homeless and in the midst of a short-term turned long-term transition, but every day my kids are growing up right before my eyes. It is so amazing to watch them turn from little babies into such big, independent people. I have been at this for 9 years now, but it feels more like 9 minutes. I have to be careful to never stop paying attention or I will miss so much!
Tyler is out of town this week, as he often is lately. I have had to work hard to try and keep up a normal schedule while he is gone. I am getting better at planning and preparing normal dinners while he is traveling. Tonight we had whole-wheat pancakes, turkey sausage and fruit salad. A healthy but fun dinner for the kids and me. I washed 4 loads of laundry and cleaned the house several times. I volunteered in Josh's classroom and bought a bed for Jackson's room at the new house. It took me 40 minutes to get all the kids to bed, but they are all still awake and continue to call me every so often to tell me various things that have nothing to do with going to sleep. I think I will head downstairs to do some more laundry and clean the kitchen again.
Life is great. We are homeless and in the midst of a short-term turned long-term transition, but every day my kids are growing up right before my eyes. It is so amazing to watch them turn from little babies into such big, independent people. I have been at this for 9 years now, but it feels more like 9 minutes. I have to be careful to never stop paying attention or I will miss so much!
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