The Lot

After a bunch of unforeseen delays, it looks like we are finally going to break ground on our new house.  It should happen next week, or the week after next at the very latest.

I want to document the build as well as I can, for my own family's memories and records, but I also thought that some of my friends and family that live far away would be interested in the progress.  So - - I am planning to post regular updates on the blog.  Starting with a rather boring picture today of the lot that will soon become the site of our home.

The horses will be fenced out, of course, so you probably won't see them again.

We are soooooo looking forward to finally getting started.  Now, we are just praying that something else doesn't come up to delay us again.  Our fingers (and toes) are crossed!!

A Completely Random Post

Just putting up a couple of pictures of some of the snow we received a few weeks ago.

The view from the backyard

Thomas playing out front.

See - just because I live in Arizona, I do not get to enjoy year round warmth.  (I probably shouldn't mention that all this snow is now gone and our temperatures have been in the 70's all week.)

I finally took the pictures off my phone and found one that I thought I should post.

Dallin was a finalist in his school's spelling bee and got to go to the District competition.  That is pretty good for a kid that did not even study one word.  In fact, he didn't even tell me that he had made it to the school spelling bee.  I wouldn't have known except they had to postpone it for a day since we had a snow delay.  The school called to let us know that it had been moved to the next day.  Dallin is pretty low-key, and just doesn't need to toot his own horn.  I love that about him.  He is good at almost everything, but you would never know it to talk to him.  He is one of those lucky few that just has a quiet confidence.

I also found a couple of videos on my phone (really poor quality) from our trip to Disneyland several months ago.  As I watched them, they actually made me tear up a little.  They are a couple little snippets from the parade and of Drake waving at all the Disney characters.  These parades are really well done and Drake loved them.  While I was there obviously I thought it was so cute that Drake was waving at all the characters, that is why I filmed it.  But something about watching it after the fact when all the stress about money and crowds and keeping track of five kids in Disneyland is gone, I was just so glad that we provided him that experience.  Disneyland was just magic for him.  I think that five is the perfect age for kids to experience Disneyland for the first time.  So, I am including the video so you can see what I mean - just try to ignore my poor little phone's really bad video capabilities.

I have had several random posts on this blog through the years, but I think this one just may take the cake!

Thomas is Nine!!

Thomas had his ninth birthday a few days ago.  This kid is growing up way too fast.  Sometimes I can't believe that my sweet little Thomas is no longer so little.

Thomas is my reader.  When I was young, my mom would often come into my room when everyone else was asleep and find me reading a book.  She would get after me and tell me to put the book away and go to sleep.  Now, I often find Thomas doing the same thing.  It warms my heart that he loves books and reading like I do.

Thomas is a good student and he is dedicated to school.  I don't think I have ever had to push him out the door to go to school.  In fact, one day he was sick and throwing up.  I told him he had to stay home and he was mad at me.  The kid loves to go to school.

Thomas has a lot of friends, and they are good boys.  I am so grateful that he has made such good choices in his friends.

Thomas loves to laugh and can always be counted on for a joke or a funny story.  (At least they are funny to him and his brothers - I am not always a fan of the boy humor.)

I love my Thomas and I am so grateful that our family was blessed with him.  Happy Birthday Tom!!

Jack is Seven!!

Jack recently had his seventh birthday.  He has pretty much had a full birthday week.  He had all of the normal birthday festivities on his birthday (cake, presents, his choice of dinner), plus Grandma Teichert sent him an Amazon gift card, so he got to go online and look for just what he wanted.  We ordered a Lego set and a game for his new 2DS.  Yesterday, the UPS man dropped those presents off, so it was like his birthday all over again.

 This morning Jeremy and I took him out to breakfast.  We do this with all of our boys on their birthdays, but we weren't able to do it on Jack's actual birthday this year, so we did it today (a little late). This afternoon, we had a Minecraft birthday party for him and a bunch of his friends at the park.  I don't really get the Minecraft craze, but I learned some new things about it while planning this party.  Jack had to share this party with Thomas this year, since Thomas has a birthday coming up in a few days.  So, we had over twenty kids at the park with us.  It was crazy to say the least!!

Jack is a great kid.  He is so fun to talk with.  He sees life through completely different eyes than my other boys, and I love all of his observations and insights. I could go on and on about this kid, but I will just sum it up by saying that he makes all of our lives better and we are so grateful that he is part of our family.  Happy Birthday Jack!!

Christmas Time

As usual the month of December has kept us pretty busy.  Since we are in such a little place this year, we didn't get out any Christmas decorations except for the tree (which I actually considered not putting up this year - how grinchy of me), and the favorite advent calendar quilt.  I felt bad that last year we didn't really do many of the activities on the quilt because I was so sick, so I decided that this year we would do a little better, even if our living quarters aren't really conducive to it right now.

Here are a few of those activities and a few other things that we have done this Christmas season. . .

Visiting Salt Lake City while we were in Utah.

Decorating sugar cone Christmas trees.  The boys love this annual tradition.

We made these easy, minimal mess angel ornaments.

Decorating gingerbread men.  I did not want to do another activity that involved decorating something sugary with frosting and candy, but Jack begged and begged, so I finally gave in.  My boys also decorated gingerbread houses at the ward party and I just found out that they will be decorating gingerbread houses tomorrow night at my mother-in-laws house.  If they didn't actually eat all of the candy that they decorated with, it wouldn't bother me, but I am seriously starting to worry about their health and teeth. ;)

Christmas gifts for Jeremy's faculty and staff.

Slow cooker hot chocolate.  I make this once a year and it is delicious.  I tried the recipe with the sweetened condensed milk, but it was way too rich and sweet for us, so I made up a new one.  We love it.  It is still rich, sweet, and super creamy, but you can actually get through the entire cup.  Still - - it is a once a year indulgence - - definitely super calorie laden.

Finally, Thomas singing in the Elementary school Christmas program.

And Jack singing and playing the drum in the program.  They both did a great job!!

I didn't get a picture of Dallin singing in his program, but he did a great job too.  His was held first thing in the morning, so by the time I got myself and the little boys out the door, I was worried about being late and ran off without my camera.  I don't have a reserved seat by the principal at his school the way I do at the elementary school :).

We are grateful for this time of year and all the fun that it provides.  I am also super grateful that this year I was healthy and could enjoy the season with my family.  Most of all, at this time of year, we are grateful for our Savior.  We are grateful for His birth, for His life and example, and for His sacrifice for us.  Merry Christmas everyone!!

Favorite Things 2014

I am a little late getting my favorite things post for this year up.  I like to post about a few things in my house that I love each year during the week of Thanksgiving, but this year we went to Utah to spend Thanksgiving with my family for the first time in ten years, so I didn't get around to it.  When I got back I put it off, thinking that maybe I would just skip this year, since we are living in our little rental property and I am having a hard time thinking of very many things that make me happy in this house.  Upon further reflection, I thought of a few things that I definitely love and am so happy that they are part of my life this year, so I decided to put up a favorite things post after all.

First up, Burt's Bees tinted lip balm.  I have several tubes of this.  I keep one in my purse, one in my church bag, and one with my make-up.  It is a little pricier than regular lip balm, but I love that the ingredients are all natural and I feel like it does a much better job of moisturizing my dry lips.  I also love the tint.  It has just enough to add some subtle color, but it still looks natural.  My favorite color is the red dahlia, but they have several different shades to choose from.  I would not be without this stuff.

Second, my Speed Queen washer.  A few years ago my trusty old Maytag died and I replaced it with one of those fancy front loaders that everyone has.  It looked great and for the first few months I was fairly happy with it, but it didn't take long for me to notice that our clothes just didn't look or smell as clean.  I was also completely irritated that it took an hour or more to wash one load of clothes.  I do laundry for seven people.  I do not have an hour per load, and I need them to be clean after the first wash.  So I started to look for top loaders again. During my search, I found that almost all top loaders have gone high efficiency too. - meaning that you cannot wash with truly hot water, and that you only use about a gallon per load.  I'm sorry, but I wash for six boys.  Hot water and plenty of it are a must.  Finally I ran onto the Speed Queen - (cue angels singing).  The reviews on it were terrific.  It turns out that I was not the only person that is unhappy with their spiffy looking high efficiency washer.  There are lots of people out there who want to use hot water and to actually have their clothes come out of the washer clean and thoroughly rinsed in twenty minutes.

It took me forever to actually pull the trigger and buy this washer.  It was expensive and my other washer still worked - kind of. ;) Last summer I finally decided that enough was enough and broke down and bought the washer.  When the washer was delivered the delivery man said to me "You have a front-loader don't you?"  I told him yes and then he said "You would not believe how many of these washers I have delivered to people that hate their front-loaders."

I have not regretted this purchase for even one millisecond.  My clothes are clean and fresh-smelling and I can actually get through a lot of laundry in just a few hours now.

Well that turned into quite an epistle, but I wanted you to know why this truly is one of my most favorite things in my house (and life) right now.

Third, our house plans for our new house.  Every once in awhile I just have to get them out and look at them and remind myself that living in this little place will be worth it in the end. They give me hope that by this time next year we will be living in a place that is three times the size of where we are living now.

We are still in the planning/bidding/financing stages for this house, but hope to break ground in the next month or so.  I plan to document the progress of the build on the blog - so stay tuned for that.  I am so excited!!!

(sorry about the blurry picture)

Finally, my favorite things in the world are the six people in this picture with me.  They keep me busy, but they also make life worthwhile.  I love you guys!!!

Soccer

My boys just finished their soccer season.  Here are just a couple of pictures to sum it up.

This is how Jack wanted to spend most of his season.  If he wasn't playing goalie he just wasn't interested.  He was actually a pretty good goalkeeper, but he said that he thinks that fishing is going to be his fall sport from now on.  : )  Jeremy coached Jack's team and they had a good season.

Tad spend most of his season like this.  He loved going to the soccer fields and watching his big brothers play.

Thomas had a good season.  He was an asset to his team, kicking some goals and providing some key passes that resulted in goals for his team.   He played all positions during the season, but was mostly a midfielder and forward.  It was nice for him to have a good season, since last year his team really struggled.  This year his team only lost one game and they were the team with the best record when the season ended.

Dallin had another great season.  He has been really fortunate the last couple of years to be drafted by coaches who put together great teams and provided really fantastic coaching.  Dallin was a key player on his team.  He scored goals in the double digits and provided great assists and defense when needed.  He also proved himself a real clutch player, pulling off key penalty kicks during tournament games.  He spent the year playing forward and sometimes midfield.

At Dallin's level they have a tournament at the end of the season.  His team was the top seed going into the tournament.  It was double elimination, but they never lost a game and won the championship.  Way to go guys!!

It was a good season and we will miss watching our boys play.