The broken arm that is no more...

So,
as many of you know,
Jenna broke her arm while we were camping
the week before we moved into
this new house of ours...

In the rush of packing, moving, and unpacking
I never posted pictures
or told the wonderful story
of how the broken arm came to be.
So here goes...

Rewind to July 7, 2010.

It was the second day of our trip
and Jenna was greatly enjoying time with
her cousins Jocelyn and Felicity.
They were playing and running and acting silly
and apparently Jenna thought it was a great idea
to put her jacket over her face while she ran
Why this was a good idea, I am not sure,
but apparently it was, because that is what she did.
This caused her to trip over a scooter
and land directly on her arm, just above the elbow.
She cried of course, and in my heart I knew immediately
That it was broken...
BUT,
I immediately began to rationalize things...
she wasn't crying as much as I thought a person
with a broken bone should cry...
she couldn't possilbly have fallen hard enough to break her arm-
RIGHT-
I mean she didn't hit it on a rock or anything...just the ground.
And the 3 nurses and 1 doctor that were there
(as well as the husband woh has no medical training at all)
kept saying things like:
"It might just be sprained"
and
"give it a day and see if the swelling goes down.

So we stayed and camped
and took her to the emergency room as soon as we got home.
And of course--it was broken.

The ER doctor was a jerk.
And did a good job of scaring us to death
by informing us that she needed surgery and a pin in her arm
and a cast for 8-12 weeks.

The specialist she was sent to was awesome.
He said no surgery, just a cast.
And the best news:
the cast only had to be on for 3 weeks.
So Jenna got a lovely purple cast:

And I got the joy of wrapping the lovely purple cast up
several times for baths and for the occasional dip in the pool.
Jenna was happy to get her cast off
on the after noon of the first day of school
And we were so happy that it was gone
that we celebrated by jumping in the pool
as soon as we got home from the Doctor's.

3 things

funny...
I never thought I would miss a thing about the old house.
In fact,
I feel like a very spoiled person indeed
that I could find anything that I would add to our fabulous new home.

But I have actually found 3 things that I miss:
cabinets in the laundry room,
the custom shoe rack built by Loren in my former closet
and
the fact that the AC blew a ton of cold air into my former bedroom.

In this new house I am getting used to
a lack of storage in the laundry room
(how can I survive with that one LITTLE shelf above the washer and dryer?),
shoes scattered all over my closet floor,
and a bedroom that is a little to warm most of the time.

Admittedly,
two of these things are temporary
and will be added when the funds are available.
I can be patient until that time comes.
Unfortunately,
I am not sure much can be done
to make the AC blow more cold air into my new bedroom.
SIGH...it is hard for me to sleep in a room that is too warm.

All that aside,
we are loving it here.
We are getting settled
and actually hung some things on the walls.
It looks more like home when things start to get hung on the walls.
It is surely a work in progress...
and we are making progress, but when
there are so many thing still to do it is easy
to get frustrated with it all.
We are trying no to do that.

I know I need to take some pictures.
and since I recently found my missing camera,
I will now be able to do that.

First day of school 2010

Wow...I have a 6th grader, a 3rd grader, and a 1st grader.

This year the first day of school was like none other that we have experienced so far. There were no complaints of nervousness, no tears (although there were no tears last year either), no one holding tight to my hand wishing that I would stay with them for a few more minutes. It was the easiest drop off ever. It was nice. I am proud of my confident girls. Jenna and Taylor each have teachers that they have had before, so I think that helped, and Melia found a friend just as I was leaving her at her class room door. I have been thinking of them all day and hoping that they are doing as well as I think they are...they all have great teachers, great friends, and a good knowledge of what is expected of them. This is going to be another good year for all three of them.

It has been a quiet morning. Devin and I made a quick trip to Walmart to get a few things that I needed to finish my homework and then he watched a cartoon while I finished up part of my assignment. It is quite in the house now since he is sleeping. For the first time in two months, I will be able to get my homework done with no interruptions and no blaring TV in the background. How nice for me...that part of my life has been stressful this summer and I look forward to being able to focus on the last month of this class is a more stress free environment.

Pictures will be coming later. I have been unable to locate my camera since the move, so I used Tayl0r's this morning and don't have time to download all of the pictures right now.

Here's to the first day of school and what looks to be another wonderful school year!

Rewind to May 2010: Flipfest, Kindergarten graduation, and Jenna's 6th birthday

With all of the craziness that has been going on this summer, I neglected to post some of the things that went on Just before summer started and just after school got out.



Just before school ended for the summer, Melia and Taylor performed in the flip fest at their gymnastics gym. It was fun as usual and the girls did a good job. None of the pictures I took during the performance turned out (they were just moving too fast) but here are a few from before and after.

streching out
Melia getting her medal from her coach
Taylor getting her medal from her coach
Melia and Taylor with their medals

On May 19, Jenna graduated from kindergarten!

What a great accomplishment for her. We were very proud of her for working so hard and learning so much in her first year of school.

Jenna getting ready to leave for her big day

Walking in with her friend

Getting her diploma from Mrs. Gardner

Jenna with her kindergarten class

Jenna with her kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Gardner

Jenna with her diploma

On May 27, Jenna celebrated her 6th birthday. We had a small party with her 2 of her cousins that day with another small party with a few friends over the weekend. We are so grateful for Jenna and the fun she brings into our home. I can't believe that she is so big...it seems like the time continues to fly by so fast. Jenna is a wonderful daughter who tries to do what is right, loves her family, and enjoys playing with her brother and sisters. She does tend to get a little carried away at times, but we love her free spirit and just try to teach her when it is ok to be crazy and when it is not.

A new scooter (with two wheels!)from mom and dad

Wow!!Jenna is 6!

Grandma got her blendy pens (she was so excited!)

Painting sun catchers

getting to stay up late for a birthday movie

Party with her friends

We played pin the lips on the frog and whacked a pinata.

A letter

To the previous owner of our new house...

Thank you for painting your bathroom such a horrible shade...
we have spent hours trying to cover up your creativity and I spent most of them cursing you...
I am grateful that you didn't get the great idea to paint your bedroom the same color. It was much easier to cover up the white.

I am sure I will spend more time thinking nice thoughts of you when I have to paint the loft, stairs, and upstairs hall ways...The yellow is just not working for us, and thankfully it has already been covered up down stairs.

Today we get to begin the process of fixing the mistake that you made when you picked the tile downstairs. Really, what were you thinking...Gold...who picks out shimmery gold tile? I have questioned your thinking many times and I know I will some more as we spend this day trying to right your wrong. I will try once again to think nice thoughts, but know that I will probably fail miserably.

Thank you as well for taking the surround sound speakers. I have enjoyed having 6 large holes in the ceiling of my living room.

Those things aside, I do appreciate the fact that you didn't take the refrigerator with you when you left. That saved me lots of money. I also appreciate the fact that it appears that you cleaned you house before you left. Honestly, the floor boards in you bathroom are much cleaner that mine are currently. I am also glad that your taste in carpet is better that your taste in tile. A good cleaning should make it good as new...another big expense saved. We do wish that you would have sprung for the jetted tub in the master bath. I would have liked that, but we can't win them all I guess...

Sincerely,
Monica

P.S. Check back soon for pictures of the progress we have made so far!

Finally...

So, I tried to think of a really great title for this post,
But nothing great came to mind.
So I stuck to the lame and unimaginative
to describe something that has
FINALLY
happened...

We bought this on Monday:



It's about time!
We had been waiting
and then looking
for a long time...
I guess our patience finally paid off.
Here are a few more pics:

It was a foreclosure so it had a few minor problems

like a really grungy pool

overgrown plants

and some funky paint...
However, due to my workaholic husband,
the plants have been trimmed
the pool has been scrubbed, refilled, and now sparkles
and the funky paint is currently in the process
of being toned down.

All this and its only been in our possession for 4 days!

Here's how it went down...
We bought our new home at the foreclosure auction...
great deal on a great house!

Upon hearing that we won the bid,
Loren came home from work and
We let the kids explore a little.

Then we came home to have dinner.
As we're eating Loren says
Lets go clean up the front yard."

OK

We also had the rekey the lock to the front door that night.


Tuesday evening was clean out the pool night.
(That was a long night.)


Wednesday was clean up the back yard
while the kids play in the half full pool night.


Thursday was paint till you drop night.
(another long night.)


Today Loren took half the day off so that we can
paint the trim that will be put up tomorrow.
We will also be spending our date night tonight
PAINTING.

Still on the list:

*tear out the tile
*replace the tile
*scrub out the scary something that got spilled in the bottom of the fridge
*figure out the sprinklers so that the half dead plants won't become all the way dead
*paint, paint, paint
*put up crown moulding, along with new base board and window trim
*ceiling fans
*washer and dryer
*patch the 6 holes in the ceiling since the previous owners took their speakers with them
*figure out how to cover up the doggy door
*new blinds

As you can see the list is long
and on top of all of this,
I am taking a class this summer.
But I am not going to complain...
We have been dreaming of a bigger home
for a long time.
We need more space
So this is a huge blessing for us.

I am just glad it finally happened...
FINALLY.

Summer....

I remember how it felt
when I was a kid
and it was the last few days of school
before summer vacation.

I wonder if my mother felt
the same feeling of dread
that I feel right now
when it was just a few days
until summer began
and she lost
the peace and sanity
that comes into a house
when most of the kids are
at school.

I like to think that she didn't
because when I was a kid
I always believed that my
mom loved nothing more
than to have us home with her.
I thought her days must be so
BORING
when we were gone.

Now that I am a mother,
I know that she did enjoy
having us home with her...
but she didn't enjoy
the fighting
the poking,
the hitting,
the statement "I'm bored"
repeated probably a million times
in the summer months.

So,
to who ever is reading this,
please know that I love my children.
And there will be things about
this summer that I will enjoy.
such as:
NO HOMEWORK (that would be for the kids...
not me. Because I will have homework this summer.)
NO SCHEDULE
NO BORING SCHOOL UNIFORMS IN MY LAUNDRY
SWIMMING LESSONS
GOING TO THE LIBRARY
and a general relaxing of our
overly busy schedules.

I know there will be challenges,
but I am going to try to
take it all in stride
and not let myself get
stressed out
when the day dissolves
into a very messy house
and no dinner yet
even though it is 7:00 pm.

On a brighter note...
I FINISHED MY
ANATOMY CLASS
TODAY!!!!!
Took the final this morning
and did better
than I ever imagined I would.
It has been a loonngg two semesters
and that was the hardest
class I have ever taken.
I am proud of myself
for sticking it out
when I wanted nothing more
that to quit,
and for not giving up
when everthing about it seemed
hopeless.

I'm also thankful for Loren
who supported me,
the kids
who put up with me.
And especially Jenna
who remembered that
I was taking my big test
this morning
and was thoughtful enough
to pray for me.

This week...

it has been a long one.



Things seem out of sync for some reason
that I haven't figured out yet.



Homeowrk has kept me busy
and I am starting to feel the
stress that always builds up as
big tests approach.
One more week and then it is
study time.
I won't be unhappy to see the end of this one.



The kids have lots going on
and we have a lot of other
commitments in the coming weeks
that leave me feeling as if I don't
have any time to just stop and take a breath.

This weekend is my neice's baptism.
We are happy we will get to be there for it.
Next weekend we will be going to the
temple open house in the Gila Valley.
Loren grew up there and I moved there
when I was 14.
Most of Loren's family is still there.
It is an exciting thing for all of us.
The weekend after that
Melia and Taylor will be in their school
talent show and
be in the Flip Fest held at their
gymnastics gym.
Oh yeah, throw my final in there somewhere...
I can't forget to take that!

After that
school will be out
(for the girls, not for me)
and I will get to spend a couple
of months entertaining
the kids.
Fun times!!!


Yesterday Devin stayed
in his pajamas all day...
I didn't get him dressed before
we took the girls to school
and after that there just didn't seem
to be much point in it.
We were just staying home anyway.



Jenna got to go to the zoo
with her class yesterday.
She had a lot of fun there.
Her teacher also sent home a
$20 bill in an envelope with a note
explaining that Jenna had brought
the money to school and tired to give it
to another little girl in her class.
Jenna told her teacher that she had gotten
it from her piggy bank and wanted to
give it to the other girl so she could go
on the field trip....
I didn't matter that the other girl had
already paid to go on the trip.
I of course had no idea that she had
robbed her piggy bank of birthday money.
she got a little lecture on not giving away
her money.
I guess I should be grateful that she is
so generous.
She truely is always willing to share whatever
she has: candy, toys, and apparently birthday money
with whoever she thinks needs it.



Today I will attempt
to get my house presentable
for the people who will be staying here
so we can go to Logan's baptism in the morning.
I must also finish this week's
homework.
there won't be time to finish after today.
Everything else will have to take
a back seat.

ARE YOU SERIOUS???

That's what I asked Loren yesterday after noon and asked if I wanted to go here:

That's right. Us at game 5 of the Suns/Trailblazers playoff game.

Loren called while I was on my way to pick up the kids from school and said he had tickets to the game. "Can you find a sitter he asked?" Not likely I thought...but after a few calls to the wonderful young women in our ward I actually managed to find someone who could be at our house about a hour an a half later! We had a great time. How do you pass up FREE tickets to a playoff game?? YOU DON'T!

What's goin' on around here...

Just a little update on the goings on around our house...

Homework, homework, homework for me. 3 more weeks till I am done with this most hated Anatomy class!!! Can't wait. I think I might burn the book when I finish the final.

Got the news from my advisor that I am on track to get my application in this September. Only one more class to take and one to test out off!

The girls have been enjoying spirit week this week at school...we have had crazy socks, crazy hair, and twin day. No pictures.

Devin is getting more and more stubborn. Today he insisted on taking a frisbee, plastic AZ Wildcats lisence plate, blanket, and stuffed puppy in the car with him when we picked up the girls from school. I politely suggested he leave a few of the things at home, he emphatically disagreed.

Loren is busy busy busy with work.

In the past few months we have gotten in to the business of flipping houses with a few partners. It is going remarkably well. We have sold two homes and have a contract on a third...if we could just get the people who are living there to leave it would be smooth sailing.

I have been exercising everyday and watching what I eat in an effort to actually fit into my summer clothes from last year. It is surprisingly easy to not eat junk food if you know you are ging to have to write it down in a "food journal". I am down one pound this week!!! Yeah me. Now if we can just keep this up for 9 more weeks all be at my pre Devin weight. Just keep thinking "I'm not hungry and I don't need any chocolate and I don't need a Coke"... soon I'll be able to convince myself that that is true.

We have definately outgrown this house. It is annoying to try to clean the house because so many things don't have a place. Loren has taken over at least half of my kitchen for use as his office. ANNOYING. My kitchen is small to begin with and now he is taken over most of the usable counter space. I hate trying to cook in there. One way or another we are moving...and soon. Planning on staying in the area.

Date night tonight. Thank goodness--need a break after this very long week. We are going to see Clash of the Titans. Thank you to Fry's for the free movie tickets!

Easter (better late than never!)

As always the kids insist that we dye eggs. I always wonder why I give in because we don't use them (plastic eggs are my friends!). But they love doing it just as I did when I was a kid. Why should they miss out on the Easter egg dying fun?? I planned on putting Devin to bed and then letting the girls stay up late to do this activity, but in the end I was tired from our picnic earlier in the day and didn't want to deal with a later bed time. So they all joined in on the fun. Devin thought it was great!

WAnna share my cupcake with me??

Sunday my sister Mandy came over with her family. We had dinner together and the kids played and had another egg hunt.

Taylor was a successful egg hunter.

Melia with her loot

jenna was moving so fast all of her pictures were blurry!

The only picture I managed to get that included all of the hunters.

Devin found one!

everyone looking for the last egg hidden in the tree

Eden had a slight melt down and hid among the backyard junk

I found it!

What I found is a little bit of the sanity I lost
a couple of weeks ago.
It was hidden at the end of my
Communications class
and I found it as I clicked
"submit"
when I finished the essay portion of
my Final.

Yea!!!

One more down....
we won't discuss how far I still have to go
because that would be depressing
and I feel like celebrating!


I also found another little piece of my
lost sanity
in a whole glorious weekend
where my husband had no where
to be
except with me
and the kids.

Saturday, we had an Easter picnic
with Jeff, Becca, and their kids.
Our kids had a great time with their cousins!

We ate

rode 4 wheelers/buggies

Devin and Braden aka "the bobblehead twins"

Melia and Jenna rode with Uncle Jeff in his buggy

Taylor with Aunt Becca and Favorite cousin Logan

the creek where the kids played in the water

played in the water

Just after this picture was taken Jenna fell all the way under the water in a little pool that was just up the creek...she was soaked! she was a good sport though and didn't cry. She was however very cold!

Jenna after her fall in the creek.

The boys (and by boys I mean the dads) made this very interesting sand sculpture...

Then we hunted easter eggs

and had a great time!

Unfortunately, no pictures if the Egg hunt...

On a sidenote, I must mention that

in the middle of our hunt a truck full of people

arrived at the creek and their children proceeded

to strip down to their undies so that they could

play in the creek!

I'm sorry to say that my girls got an eye full

of a 8 or 9 year old boy

splashing around in his tighty whities.

What kind of people do that?????

check back tomorrow for Pics from

Easter morning...

they still need to be downloaded.

See ya next time!