What a Day!

It's ten minutes past seven and the kids are both in bed sound asleep already. They should be... we were outside enjoying every minute of sunshine we could today. We were pretty much out from noon till bedtime. It was so nice!! It really feels like summer is just around the corner...

Here's what our faux-summer day consisted of:



hanging laundry










planting













planting












and more planting












watering
(yes, she's watering our weeds)






The mama robin who made our house her home...







and her babies









mowing
















getting the
first scrapes of the season







raking







(Sawyer always has to help with everything!!)


















grilling
and of course dining outside



















And of course a nice long soak in the tub... after a full day of running and digging and climbing and fun, these kids were filthy!

Can you get any more summer-like than all that?!

My parents flew home last night. As great as is it to have them here, as well as all the family we've had visiting over the last month and a half... it was really nice to have some family time with just the four of us today. It seems like it's been a long time!
With grandparents or aunts here, the kids are all about them... "Gramma's going to tuck me in tonight Mom; Can I sit by Aunt Becky for lunch; No thanks, Grampa's going to read with me".
To have the kids actually want to play with us and to have them all to ourselves and such great weather to run around in and have so much fun all together today... it was really a great day.
I was pretty sick yesterday, and after being on drugs for 24 hours or so, I was feeling much better but still not totally up to par, so I didn't do as much playing around as I wanted to, but it was nice to sit out in the sun and watch the kids having so much fun being outside in shorts and bare feet!!
We're sure going to miss this great yard!

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Little Miss Traffic Cop

I remember when Savannah was first learning her letters... right before she turned two and around that time, she was just starting to recognize letters and she was soooo into it! Whenever we were in the car she would point out signs all over the place on the road or on buildings, and yell out from the backseat "S, mommy that's S!" "A, mommy I see A!" ALL THE TIME. It *almost* got annoying because you see, she wasn't just calling them out for her own amusement... you had to respond and acknowledge every letter or she would just keep repeating them. And repeating them and repeating them and repeating them. It was fun though, watching her learning these things and marveling at how observant she was... how it seemed she noticed every little sign on the road!

I was reminded of these times because she's doing a similar thing in the car again. Only she's taken it a step further and now she's focusing on what the signs all mean and how cars drive and maneuver on the road. Every time we get in the car she's watching the traffic lights and the signs and she wants to know why we stop and go at stop signs and why we have to wait our turn at red lights. She wants to know why I can't go when the light is green (because I'm waiting to turn left), what those numbers mean (that's the speed limit, how fast we can go), why that car went when the light was red (because he was turning right and there were no cars coming his way), why we turn on the clickers (turning signal to show other cars which way we want to go), and on and on and on. You'd think she was studying for a driver's test!!

Yes, it gets a little old, but once again it is such a slap in the face at how old she is getting and that she is actually "getting" all this stuff. That she's been quietly observing all these cars and signs and things around her and now she's really trying to make sense of it all and understand how it all works together. And it's kind of fun to explain it too her and see the wheels turning in her head.

But it scares me....
only 11 more years till she is learning this stuff for real and getting behind the wheel!!


Want to test your traffic sign/driving knowledge?
I found a little quiz for you.
Don't forget to leave your score in the comments! You won't believe the score I got...

And the answer you've all been waiting for...

So we made an offer on a house.
They accepted, so we're on our way to being Missourians. Or the Morrisons in Missouri I guess. We'll have to change our blog address!! LOL!
We picked house #4 by the way. Thanks for all your input... in the end, we kind of liked that this one was in the middle; still new enough that it's not too much work, but not so perfect that we can't make it "ours". And it is in a great neighborhood. We're excited about it.

Please keep us and the rest of this process in your prayers, as we still have a long way to go in getting out of this house, getting everything to fall in place timing-wise to get down there, and of course moving and settling into yet another new community.
It's strange.... we were in this exact same situation exactly one year ago. I think we actually put our offer on this house we're in on the table on the exact same day a year ago. Weird.
Anyway, we'll be moving the middle/end of June.
So that's the news for now. We'll keep you posted, and really-- thanks so much for all your thoughts, encouragement and help with this whole process. Whether you're praying for us, "helping" us decide on our next home, or just leaving a random comment on our blog... it really helps keep us sane, keep some perspective, and let's us know we have a few cheerleaders out there for us!


p.s. Happy Birthday Callum!! I really cannot believe you're a one year old already! Have a happy day sweet little boy!

Puddle Play

We went out to play in the puddles today.
Apparently I forgot how to post just a picture or two on this here blog.... it's more like a dozen or two lately isn't it? Well, bear with me... it was pretty fun getting out it the wet today and the kids had a blast, so here you go.

Somebody needed a nap...

I was in a yucky mood today.
Not sure where it came from, but it was yucky.


-Maybe it was the weather.... dark and rainy all day.

-Maybe it was not sleeping well.... it took me FOREVER to fall asleep, then I was wide awake for a couple of hours at some point in the middle of the night, then Ryan was up sleepwalking (or should I say sleepsearching**) at some other ungodly hour of the morning, and then I heard Sawyer awake in his room before 6AM.

-Maybe it was having to run outside in the pouring rain to fix a downspout I luckily noticed was knocked out of place outside my bedroom... creating a HUGE pool of rainwater in the rockbed that looked like it was ready to make the break into our basement any minute.

-Maybe it was the fact that I noticed said pool of rainwater a mere 30 minutes before we had a guy come out for a house inspection. The last thing we need right now is a wet basement. Did I mention the pouring rain all morning? Fortunately I think I caught and fixed the downspout in time. Tried to slice my finger off with a bent part of the downspout though.

-Maybe it was the fact that Porter was whining after me all morning, wanting to be in the same room as me at all times, preferably without Sawyer in that room also it seemed.

-Maybe it was the fact that Sawyer was asking to be put in his bed for a nap by 9:30 in the morning. And I made him stay up until after lunch.

-Maybe it was that I had stupidly put off some random housecleaning/miscellaneous quick-fixes for the last minute before the inspector came this morning, and then Porter and Sawyer decided to gang up and test my ability to really do all those things with them around.


I think I would have gone crazy had my mom not been here today. I didn't feel like it made much difference with the moods both Sawyer and Porter were in... they were both pretty inconsolable at times... but at least she tried to keep them distracted, help out and keep an eye on them so I could get a few things done in short bursts.

But then,
+Porter was in a better mood after lunch (as always, after Sawyer went down for a nap... and I'm really starting to think that's not a coincidence).

+And I finally gave in and put Sawyer to bed early after he refused to eat any lunch.

+And the inspector came and went and got that over with.

+And then since the inspection was done, Nic had taken P home, Sawyer was asleep and Savannah was down for her rest time with another 30 minutes to go, I decided I needed a nap. I went and hid in my bed and then woke up almost 2 hours later.
Ahh, that was nice.

+And then Sawyer and I had only been up from napping for maybe 20 minutes when Ryan surprised us by coming home from work early.

+And announced we were going out to dinner this evening.


So my yucky mood and morning are gone... hopefully not to repeat anytime soon. Apparently a little naptime can work wonders!!


**Ryan's SleepSearching episode last night:
I woke up to find him getting out of bed patting down the bed like he was feeling around for something. I asked him what he was doing and he mumbled something I couldn't understand (not that I was wide awake myself, mind you). Then he threw back the sheets and was feeling around in the bed for something. I began to think maybe he had dreamt about bugs or something in the bed. I asked him again what he was doing and what he was looking for. He TOTALLY snapped at me and said, "Nothing, go back to sleep". He then grabbed his cell phone that was next to the bed and opened it up, using it like a flashlight and started looking around for something on the floor. Like I said, I was very tired and not completely awake, so at that point I just rolled over and don't remember anything else. And this morning I had totally forgotten about the whole thing.
So Ryan comes home today and he asks me if I remembered him getting up last night. It all came back to me and I started laughing and asked him what the heck he was doing. He said all he remembers is that he was dreaming about having some important papers and that he had been holding them in his hand and then he woke up and they were gone. So he got up and started searching our room for these papers!! He had to find those papers! He's still not sure if he was even awake searching or if he was still dreaming, but it was hilarious!

Have you been reading the last few days?

Because if so, this is just the same old stuff.

-When and exactly where we're moving is still up in the air.
-Savannah still looks (and acts) 10 years older with her new haircut.
-Sawyer is still every bit as much of a mischievous toddler, while at the same time being so stinkin' cute and amusing I can hardly stand it.
-My parents are still here.
-And of course I still have laundry to do.


I went out tonight with "the moms". We had a little girls night out sans the kids with the playgroup/mom's group we started at the beginning of the year. Had a great time just chattin' it up with the girls. Nine of us there tonight. I think there are like 18 or 19 in the group now from around here. It's so interesting to meet so many different women and learn about their different lives; how similar some things are, how we can truly relate to each other in the common things, and at the same time how the roles we play as moms, wives, girlfriends, etc. can be so different for each of us. Great stuff.



p.s. with all the "excitement" of househunting and haircuts around here I completely spaced wishing a Happy Birthday to Ryan's Dad... so here's a little late Happy Birthday to Dave... Hope you enjoyed your day. We were thinking of you!!

She Did It!

The Before...

Her hair really wasn't that messy... it was extremely windy outside LOL!

and After....

And here's the whole process.
She really wasn't too happy about it...














This is her looking at me holding the rest of her hair!











Still not so sure about it...













Feeling a little better...









We cut off almost 14 inches to donate to help make a wig for a little girl who's body is not able to grow her own hair. That, at least helped Savannah a little with this dramatic change. She's kind of excited to be able to share her hair!

And our little girl looks so much more grown up it's almost scary!
I think she likes it... she keeps shaking her head and swaying her hair back and forth!! It'll take awhile for all of us to get used to!

Pictures, Cousins, and a Daddy who is conveniently always MIA for the good stuff.

Still no house decision. By the way, you people are not very good at this either. I ask you for help... please choose your favorite house, and what do you do? I pick #2, 3, or 4.
Pick A house. Not three. Thanks for your input, but that doesn't help much... LOL!

Here's what we found Savannah had left for us as we drove up to our driveway last night...

(you can click on the pics to see larger)







And here are a few pictures from playing outside this morning...
































Can you tell I missed my kids? Pictures galore.



Sawyer was sick yesterday. I guess he woke up in the morning vomiting and managed that a few more times throughout the day. I felt bad not being there. My poor mom had to deal with it... and we were hurrying home as fast as we could.
We also realized that Ryan has never once had to deal with one of our kids being sick like that. Yeah, he's been around for fevers and colds, but never once for throwing up. Savannah has only been sick like that once for three or four days (when she was almost 2) and Ryan was out of town for two weeks. Missed it. Sawyer got the bug that Taegen, Debbie and Jen had this past January when we (me and the kids) were visiting them in Portland. He threw up every hour for about 8 hours straight. Where was Ryan? Relaxing at home by himself. And yesterday when Sawyer was miserable all morning... we were driving home from our househunting weekend away. I say Ryan's got pretty good timing. He says the kids just miss him so much it makes 'em sick. LOL!
Anyway, Sawyer's better today (See, Ryan totally missed it). He still woke with a fever, but he's acting pretty normal and mischievous.

We got to talk to Taegen and Tasi on the webcam last night. They were so cute, and little Tasi is absolutely adorable. She doesn't look anything like Taegen did; she has lots of dark hair. When Savannah was born we all thought she reminded us of Holly's baby pictures, and from the pictures I've seen, Tasi is the same way. She reminded me of baby Savannah. Nothing like the bald blonde round headed baby Taegen!! So sweet to see them together!

Alright... speaking of Savannah's hair, I'm off to make an appointment for her to get her hair cut. Scary!!

At this rate we'll be homeless in St. Louis...

Alrighty.
We have narrowed our house choices down to four. I know... four is not real narrow.
But we've listed all our pros and cons for each house and we both have different favorites and we both have different least favorites and neither one of us knows what we really would pick if (and when) it comes right down to it.

So.
We need your help.
One of these four houses will be our next home.
We are putting our future in your hands.
Which one would you choose?

House #1
House #2
House #3
House #4

After you make your choice... here is our lowdown.
House #1:
*We like the layout, great playroom for the kids, the big yard, the location and the amenities with lake access
*We don't like tiny master bath, basement is limited space, no real guest bedroom, tons of wallpaper to remove.

House #2:
*We like that the house is practically brand new, HUGE bedrooms, nice open layout, and the freedom to finish the basement the way we want/need it.
*We don't like that it's so new the neighborhood is still developing, the cost of finishing the basement, and a high HOA fee without amenities.

House #3:
*We like that it is newer and we would not have to finish/change a thing, beautiful finished walk-out basement with 5th bedroom and 3rd full bath, and a nice fenced yard.
*We don't love the location (it's pretty convenient, just close to busyness), there is no fireplace, and not much storage or workshop/garage space.

House #4:
*We like the size of the house a lot... all the rooms are huge, big entryway, big bedrooms, potential of finishing our own basement, three car garage, and walking distance to the neighborhood pool, clubhouse, tennis courts, and playground.
*We don't like the size/limited usability of the yard, cost of finishing the basement (but the price of the house itself is lower so it kind of evens out), and it's an awesome neighborhood, but it's questionable as to how close/busy a new highway extention would come.


I really think we would be happy with any of them. We just can't seem to make a decision.
Maybe we'll just draw from a hat....
HELP!!

Whew!

What a day yesterday!!
We looked at 16 houses. Sixteen! Is that some sort of record? We're headed back out today to see a handful more and possibly revisit one or two from yesterday. I actually found a house I think I'd say I want... Ryan doesn't love it. He has a favorite too... and I like the house, I just don't love the street. I'm still hoping we'll walk into one today and just know this is our house. We'd love to have one picked this weekend, so we don't have to take another house hunting trip down here. We'll see.

Mike and Kasey met us at our hotel as soon as we were done with the realtor, and then we all went over to Kasey's parents' house to meet up with Mike and Erin, where we just hung out and visited and had some pizza and beers. Then we all came back to our hotel and spent some time relaxing down at the pool and in the hot tub. It was nice to just hang out and chat and soak in the warm water. Mike and Kasey spent the night with us at the hotel and they might look at some houses with us today. We had dinner plans with another friend tonight, but I'm feeling like we need some time to sit down and think about all this house stuff and go through our choices, etc. We'd love to hang out with her though... we'll see how long our day goes today. Here are a couple pics of us Fab 6.5 (three of us couples and the Malone's little one who we won't officially meet until July)from last night...

Kasey, Erin and me...




Mike, Ryan and Mike...

Yay!!

Ryan surprised me with a little present this morning as we started our trip....





I am so excited! And a little snap-happy today. I guess that's a given with a brand new camera to play around with.

We got down to St. Louis this afternoon and had some time to waste before meeting up with Mike and Erin for the evening, so we headed down to The Landing and The Riverfront since I had never been to the Arch. And we took a million pictures. The weather was gorgeous today and it was so nice to be out in it!! Here are just a few of the hundred pictures we took today... okay, maybe a few more than a few. And they're just boring touristy shots. Like I said, we were just playing around with the camera. I'm just so excited about it, I had to share! Look at how sharp these pictures are!!































click on these to see them full size and gleaming in the sunshine...





p.s. Happy Birthday Cade!!! Hope you had a super fun day!