Got Plans?

Hey All you Arizonians...I know Monday is FHE (Family Home Evening), but it is also the day we are moving. We have been enjoying the California Sun, and in the meantime our house FINALLY closed! (Great timing right!?...not really but what can you do)

Anyhoo, We are getting a moving truck at noon and will be carting stuff in until we are done. If any of you would like to help...it would be really appreciated. Let me know if you are available so I can plan on how much of this I am going to have to do by myself :)

Pics

Since some of you have asked to see pictures...here they are

Front View

Entry/Stairs up to Loft

Living Room

Dining RoomI LOVE this Kitchen! View of Family Room from KitchenFamily Room Something I can't wait to use!
I am soooo excited!

Lately

As you can imagine things over here have been crazy...yet in the middle of it we still have been having fun. Here is a taste of what has been going on lately...

Thomas is the proud owner of his very own first tooth. (His second one just cut through today--I just hope the top teeth are far away...nursing and teeth...not a fun thing to have together.)

It has been 3 years since my baby girl was born. 3 years I have loved the fact that she has had so much hair. I finally took the plunge and went and got it cut! We cut off about 4 inches, but it is still below her shoulders.

On Friday we 'surprised' one of my best friends Robbie or 'Rob' for his 30th birthday! Today is his actual birthday, but Julie tricked him by having the party early. Robbie is such a great example to me. I am so thankful that he and Julie got married. I have always admired him, and I am so thankful that I am blessed to have met him. I hope that he has had a wonderful birthday because if anyone deserves it...it is him.

Saturday started early... I went and did this...

I am really happy with it....so much for growing it out. I needed a change. I just wish I could style it as well as she did...instead I get this.

Not bad, just not the same as she styled it on Saturday. Maybe one day I will be rich, and someone else can style my hair daily. :)

Caden had his last soccor game that afternoon. He was so proud of his trophy that he snuck it in his church bag today to show to people.

I don't have any pictures of my evening (I had my camera, but forgot to take it out for a pic)...but I was able to meet up with friends for a matinee showing of Twilight, and dinner! I was excited to see the film. I have to say I liked it, but don't know if I loved it. Books are almost ALWAYS better than movies. I thought parts were a bit cheesy. I never pictured Edward being so awkward. But overall I liked it, and hope that they make the subsquent movies. If you have seen it what did you think?

The Details

For those of you that know me well, you know that when we bought our current home our plan was to never have to move again. Honestly, I really like our house. The layout is different, and we have plenty of room. The only thing that I would like to change is our kitchen. I don't like the cabinets, and the layout of the room is not ideal. It is fine when it is just my little family, but when we have gatherings...it gets small real fast.

The desire to change our kitchen, along with Shawn's desire to acquire a pool sent us on a search. Back in April or May we began toying with the idea of moving. The market, as we all know, is great for buyers. The thing is, we had a very specific search for what we were looking for, so our options were very limited. I just figured that because we were so specific, we would never really find something we liked and it be for the right price. Over time we found a few that we were willing to put an offer in on, but nothing ever came of it.

Then in September a house came on the market, and it was directly across the street from my sister Nancy! The realtor had listed it so high above market, so we lowballed them with an offer. Counter offers ensued for months. I had practically written the thing off, and figured that the bank would never come down to our price. Two months, 14 counter offers, (and a lot of drama) the bank FINALLY accepted our offer.

The house is beautiful. It is still in a cul-de-sac, has a pool, and is perfect for entertaining. It has a beautiful kitchen and cabinets that I like (ie. no remodeling). All it needs is some paint in some of the bedrooms, and a good carpet cleaning! It is much further south, but I love the fact that it is close to lots of shopping and entertainment! (And I can't lie...I am so excited to live so close to my sister...and so are my kids...they think it is soooo cool that we won't have to get in the car, and drive a "LONG" way to see their cousins)

We are now in a speed race to get everything done. We will be renting out our current home, but have to have everything ready before we leave on our vacation! Because this whole process has taken so long our vacation is right smack dab in the middle. Talk about bad timing! In the end, everything should work out okay. I plan on having everything done and ready to go before we leave, and we will move right when we get back in the beginning of December! Just in time for Christmas! Yay!

What I have been up to...

Details soon to come

Before it's Christmas...

I thought I would post some pics of our Halloween Festivities. We went to my parent's Trunk - or - Treat on Tuesday, Shawn's work party on Wednesday. Then on Friday Caden's school had a "carnival" during class, we went to a neighborhood carnival, and then hit the doors in the neighborhood. The kids had a blast, and ate more candy than I thought seriously possible. I have been super busy with some stuff that I will soon tell you about soon... but until then enjoy the pics. (This picture was actually taken at the beginning of the month. We went to an event downtown where the kids got to get dressed in their costumes, and trick or treat store to store.) I hadn't gotten Thomas' costume yet so he was the traditional Pumpkin.Thomas the Firefighter! I wanted to get him a Flounder Costume to match Sydney (who was Ariel, but opted fore the FREE costume borrowed from my sister Cathy.) Caden and Thomas...Caden was Bumblebee the Transformer. He hardly ever wore the actual mask though. This was Sydney at Shawn's work party. I had bought red hairspray to use for Halloween, but didn't want to use it all before the actual day. So I just did her hair up for this day. I actually think I liked it better this way, and it didn't get RED stuff everywhere! (note to self...don't buy that stuff again!) A view of our little Ariel. As much as I hated this stuff...Syd LOVED it. She loved the fact that her hair was RED just like Ariel's. Our Mermaid... a funny little story about when we got this costume. When she first put it on she looked down at the shells and said with a grin on her face, "I have boobies." We of course laughed, and I said "Yes, I guess you do have little boobies." Then she said "Nooo Mommy...they are BIG boobies!" Caden's YLK class on Halloween. He had to be a fireman at school because he needed something that he could go to the bathroom by himself. They had a carnival where they got to play games, and jump in a bouncer. The kids had alot of fun. I also found out that Caden has a little "friend". Apparently these two ALWAYS want to be next to eachother. Her mom was telling me about how her daughter comes home everyday talking about Caden. It is amazing at how young they start!

This was Thomas about 10 minutes into the Neighborhood Carnival. He ended up sleeping through the whole thing! I took him home, and put him in bed...he didn't even go to one house!

I know you all had fun filled Halloween's because I think that everyone and their dog has posted about them except me. I haven't had time to comment on many blogs, but I thought the costumes I saw were adorable! Halloween is so much fun...can't wait until next year!