Roughly 1,000,000 words, part 1

I'm going to do a quick catch-up on some major events.  Click on collages to see them larger.  If a picture is worth 1,000 words then I've had a lot to say this time!

Apparently Blogger doesn't like so much cuteness in one post and rejected the other uploads, so I'll try to do them in a second post in a second.

Up first: The Southern Family Egg Hunt.

We're ready to MOVE!!!  (taking the seats out of the van and getting the truck).  Also, Kate with her twin cousins in a nook in our new house acting as live statuary.  Very giggly statuary ;)

Our little egg hunt in a new yard.  All the eggs were collected and put together in the most appropriate container: a packing box.  Then we sorted and divided for everyone.

Saying goodbye to the old house.  It sure had its problems, and we were VERY ready for our own place, but there were a lot of great memories made in the 3 1/4 years we lived there.

And hello to our new house!  A few glimpses at our entryway and the peek through between the Great Room and Living Room.  The girls had a half-dead helium balloon.  One would drop it through the opening then someone would catch it below and throw it back up.  A half dead helium balloon is great because it makes for a very slow motion style no-damage game of catch.

more to come in a minute...

Goals, Update 7

I just realized this means today is (*ahem* was) my half birthday!  And a busy and wonderful half a year it has been.  I say "was" because I very nearly forgot to get this posted today!  I'll squeak it in at the last second, though :)

 Any new notes I've added this month are bold.  

Completed goals are red.

1- Sew at least one new item of clothing for me.

2- Make living room curtains (hopefully for our own home) --  I don't know if I'm going to bother with new living room curtains just yet, I like what's there fine.  Especially since we don't yet have much furniture in that room.  I think I'll change this goal to the Great Room.  The draperies in there are lovely... but really not my style.  So I'm looking at valances for french doors, then two very tall, narrow draperies.  Should be doable.  I hope ;)
 
3- Go one mile (run/walk) in 12 minutes or less --  We have a "block" now!  In fact, the girls quite enjoy going for a walk or bike-ride around the block.  Someday I ought to measure it off in the car or something to see how far it really is.  I've done the walk with them a couple of times, but mostly I've been going like crazy lifting, hauling, and shoving things around.  So far my body is actually doing okay.  The huge jetted tub sure doesn't hurt.  I mowed our 1/3 acre lot with a push mower the other day (a lightweight electric one... but still!).  We have to make a final decision on what kind of mower we're going to buy.  Who would have guessed I'd be so stumped on mower purchasing?!

4- Clean out and sort jewelry boxes

5- Catch up one year of scrapbooks -- To be continued...
 
6- Read the entire Book of Mormon -- In the process
 
7- Get a new family picture taken
 
8- Clean out my bedroom closet -- Packing sure helped :)
 
9- Sort my craft type items (including sewing) -- It has been sorted into boxes, but not yet sorted into living places, so I guess I'm partway there. 

10- Make a new temple dress (does not fulfill goal #1) --  To be continued... 
11- Be involved in at least one PTA project at the elementary school -- Even in the midst of the move I attended Kate's track meet.  I wasn't a volunteer, but it was a fun morning.  I am on a list to help with field day, but haven't heard any official word back yet.
 
12- Get last year's blog book printed and bound --  On hold.
 
13- Make some nice hair pretties for MY daughters --  On hold.
 
14- Read some classic literature
   
15- Plant something and keep it alive -- Apparently our new yard has won award in previous years because it's so awesome.  Yeah, that's not intimidating at all, is it? (<-- sarcasm)  The mini rose bushes are on my new kitchen windowsill and still very happy.  I even planted a tomato plant.  Tomorrow morning we'll be putting in our other edibles: another tomato, radishes, cantaloupe, and strawberries. 
 
16- Improve dysphonia to be able to sing again with less pain -- Ugh.  I'm really sick of this one.  I don't know if I'm making any progress at all and it's rather frustrating.
 
17- Learn two new hymns on the piano -- Currently the piano is in the middle of the Family Room.  I got it partway moved to the right wall and can't budge it any further.  I believe it is the heaviest piano known to man.  We'll get there, though!
 
18- Plan and enjoy a family vacation (even if it has to be in Utah County)
 
19- Back up all digital photos on new DVDs (or other storage device) and store safely -- almost done.  I need to double check my storage from one of the computers cause I couldn't find what I needed off the storage device the other day.  Bad news.  I think I just didn't get it all though.
 
20- Participate in fruit and vegetable co-op when possible and learn new ways to enjoy produce --
 
21- Create a 7 generation pedigree chart

22- Finish quilts for the girls' beds

23- Take a class through the community programs
 
24- Follow FlyLady principles to get/keep the house in a happy state.  -- I'm doing pretty well!!!

25- Read a book by a church leader -- I'm afraid the book got packed.  And I seem to be short at least one bookshelf.  So it's still in one of the boxes... somewhere.
 
26- Spend $1,000 to improve financial outlook (pay off debt faster, put in savings, etc.) 
 
27- Look at the stars more -- The girls still love to play with Google Sky Map.  I needed the reminder for this one.  I need to make sure I've got a good spot to relax on the deck. 
 
28- Clean the Sharpie "artwork" off the playroom walls 

29- Update our family's emergency preparedness --  To be continued...

30- Learn to use the lenses and settings on my camera -- At least I didn't lose the camera!  I'm proud of that.
 
31- Return and report progress on my goals -- 50% through the year and only 22% of the way done with my list?  Uh oh.  I'd better start paying better attention!

He Is Risen! And we will be too.

Tomorrow I'll post the pictures of the Easter egg hunts, moving news, etc.

Today, however, as it is Easter I wanted to share something special.

Easter is the celebration of the resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ.  Because of His suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane we can be forgiven for our sins.  Because of His resurrection after His crucifixion we can also be resurrected.  We will once again be united, spirit and body.  We will be reunited in the flesh with loved ones who have died.

Today we remembered two special children.  One of my nephews died the day after he was born severely premature and with a severe infection.  One of my nieces died three days after she was born with severe heart and lung malformation.  Each of their short lives was a miracle.  We remember them often.  We look forward with faith to the day we will get to meet these children and get to know them.  We have felt the influence of their spirits in our lives.

We released two white balloons this morning.  One for each of these special children.  I attached a note to each balloon to spread the faith and love with whomever may find these balloons at the end of their journey.

Benjamin and Emma, we love you.  We know we will see you again!

Love,
Aunt Janelle, Uncle Mike, and your cousins Kate, Lizzie, and Sabrina

This week in review

 It has been such an exciting and busy week -- and it's only Thursday night!  So here is a quick update:

Sunday was the last time Michael and I were helping in our nursery class at church.  We're going to miss these kids like crazy.  See those huge round eyes?  Those are real "Lucy Eyes", as we call them.  And will probably forever call them. 

Kate went to her last Activity Day's activity.  The girls wore dresses to the activity and they washed their faces, cleaned their nails and applied nail polish.  Kate had a blast, of course.

 Kate got to take part in the Hershey Track Meet.  She has been looking forward to this for months!  She did the softball throw (32 feet, 7 inches), the standing long jump (47 inches), and the 100 meter dash (third out of six girls in her heat).  She did an excellent job!  Especially when you consider that her long jump is almost equal to her height!  She looks like a dancer in the top-left picture (softball throw).

Sabrina came with me to the track meet.  She spent her time eating crackers and rolling down a slight incline.  The ground was quite moist and she was soaked and freezing cold by the time we left.

I was a few minutes early picking Sabrina up from preschool yesterday.  They were doing a little Easter egg hunt in a patch of grass.  So of course I had to grab my camera.

Michael and I ran a few errands while Sabrina was at school, and got a text message from our real estate agent that the keys were available for our new house.  We of course ran right over :)  I took Sabrina over as a surprise after I picked her up from school, then we took the other two over later.  Sabrina tried SO hard to keep a secret from her sisters (I hadn't told them where we were going).  They were all riding with grandma.  About 3/4 of the way there she finally burst, telling Grandma where we were headed (not realizing soon enough that of course then her sisters would hear too).  Kate and Lizzie were very excited.

So naturally I've taken a bunch of things over to the new house in the last couple of days.  I can do all sorts of work when I really put my mind to it!  I just have to remember that I have to pay for it eventually.  I've been fighting off some severe pain, but I really want to be part of this.  It's a hard balance.  Last night we went over and ate TV dinners on a blanket in the great room.  Today the girls used large cups to fill up the fountain so it would work.  Yes, we have a hose on a list of things to buy now.

We have had an issue with the house number of our new place.  On the house, and according to USPS it is 713, but according to all tax and government information and Google Maps it's 715.  So the title company made us change it officially.  I have to figure out how to fix two stripped screw heads so I can remove the other two old numbers so we have a nice matched set.  The non-matching numbers look pretty hokey :")

Tonight we had our first non-grandma visitors!  Okay, so it was my brother and his wife and their son... but sitll!  Sabrina always HAS to hold Brek.  That's going to be a problem once he outgrows her.  Lizzie even took a picture of me snuggling with him.  I included it so there is proof I was there and have not been taken over by some cyborg.  He decided he was tired so he was whining a bit.  I was humming back to him and he was 99% asleep when they left.  Then Sabrina needed a turn to take a picture. She ended up with this self-portrait which she calls "Polar Bear".

Tomorrow and the next day are the Big Move days.  Boxes and furniture are on their way!!!

Going Once, Going Twice... SOLD!*

This morning I got a phone call that Suzette's family had been planning to go camping today, but since the weather was yucky they decided to come help me pack and clean up the garage.  What a miracle!  With the 5 of them, my mom, and my girls, we got the garage looking incredible in just a couple very busy hours.  Then Grandma celebrated by getting us lunch which we brought back and ate picnic-style in the garage.  Who can EAT on their garage floor?!  I felt almost guilty parking the car in there later today.

Then this afternoon we attended the closing on our new home.  With all the usual hubbub just prior to closing it felt like another miracle that it went so smoothly.  They served us fresh cookies, cold water / soda, and we sat in a very fancy room to sign our names roughly 1,083,294 times.  Everything was exactly as we expected with no nasty surprises.

 

And ta-da!!!  We came home with a big packet of paperwork.  We don't get the keys to our new home until 48 hours after funding.  There is a possibility that funding will occur tomorrow, but it may not be until Monday.  So at least by Wednesday we should get the keys and get to make our first official Trip Home.

*This title reflects artistic license as no auctions took place in the purchase of the home.  ;)

Sisterly Love

I'd like to point two things out that we can learn from this picture:

1: Lift up those around you.  Help others reach their goals / needs / potential by lifting them above yourself.  By putting ourselves lower we can lift others above us.  And how much does that truly exalt us in the end run?  Worth a moment on the grocery store floor?  Definitely.

2: As others lift you up, make it easy on them.  Notice how Lizzie took off her boots before stepping on Kate's back?  She didn't want to make it any harder on Kate than necessary.  While you can be grateful for the help of others, do what is in your power to ease their burden as well.  Recognize the efforts of someone on your behalf.

(I took this picture this evening using my camera phone at the grocery store.  Lizzie was thirsty and I simply couldn't pick her up to reach the drinking fountain.)

Goals, update 6

 Any new notes I've added this month are bold.  

Completed goals are red.

1- Sew at least one new item of clothing for me.

2- Make living room curtains (hopefully for our own home) -- Moving in 2 weeks!!!  Then we can start thinking about things like curtains.
 
3- Go one mile (run/walk) in 12 minutes or less --  All my energy is going to packing right now.  We'll see how alive I am after I'm done with this.

4- Clean out and sort jewelry boxes

5- Catch up one year of scrapbooks -- I'll get back to this after the move.
 
6- Read the entire Book of Mormon -- In the process
 
7- Get a new family picture taken
 
8- Clean out my bedroom closet -- This is what I'm working on starting tomorrow!  I'll also be packing up whatever I can't/won't be wearing immediately.
 
9- Sort my craft type items (including sewing) -- This is pretty well done!  I guess it's halfway there and the other half will be as I move it into its new place.

10- Make a new temple dress (does not fulfill goal #1) --  I found a mostly made temple dress in my sewing things. And guess what?  I still like it!  It might even still fit okay!  I'll have to just finish it up.
 
11- Be involved in at least one PTA project at the elementary school -- I am getting signed up to help with something, but I've also helped chaperone a field trip for each girl this last month.  They loved it.  And so did I.
 
12- Get last year's blog book printed and bound --  On hold.
 
13- Make some nice hair pretties for MY daughters --  On hold.
 
14- Read some classic literature
   
15- Plant something and keep it alive -- My miniature roses are so pretty!  They're still doing really well and have grown TONS.
 
16- Improve dysphonia to be able to sing again with less pain -- Still in progress.
 
17- Learn two new hymns on the piano --
 
18- Plan and enjoy a family vacation (even if it has to be in Utah County)
 
19- Back up all digital photos on new DVDs (or other storage device) and store safely -- ongoing
 
20- Participate in fruit and vegetable co-op when possible and learn new ways to enjoy produce -- We're working on this.  Done it a few times and hopefully will do better once life gets settled again.
 
21- Create a 7 generation pedigree chart

22- Finish quilts for the girls' beds

23- Take a class through the community programs
 
24- Follow FlyLady principles to get/keep the house in a happy state.  -- FlyLady doesn't have a specific plan for packing up a whole house, but I think I've been doing pretty well actually.
 
25- Read a book by a church leader -- Only about 50 pages left.  Yeah, I've been slow on the finishing part, but I didn't want to forget to pay attention.
 
26- Spend $1,000 to improve financial outlook (pay off debt faster, put in savings, etc.) -- We did it!  Finally buying a home is absolutely wonderful.
 
27- Look at the stars more -- I can't wait for warm summer nights!
 
28- Clean the Sharpie "artwork" off the playroom walls  Ha ha!!!!  DONE!!!

29- Update our family's emergency preparedness -- Oops.  Still need to finish this up.

30- Learn to use the lenses and settings on my camera -- Baby steps here too.
 
31- Return and report progress on my goals