New rocking chairs

So I am terrible at projects that take longer than an hour to make. I bought these wood rocking chairs from Michaels and bought 2 cans of spray paint. I thought I would just spray them and be done. My sweet Mother-in-law informed me that I need to spray, dry, sand, wipe, and repeat about 8 times. We went through 2 cans of spray paint and a couple of season changes. And that's where she lost me. I think she got tired of these just sitting in her garage because she finished them for me!! Yay! The kids love them. Yesterday we read books in them and sorry for the picture overload but I just think their facial expressions are the greatest.

Thankful

Written on May 5th...

I just got done watching a video from a friend's blog and bawled my eyes out. I am literally sitting here with tears and snot running down my face. I also got really teary eyed reading Amberly's blog. I feel like such a fool. The people that made an offer on our house backed out due to not being able to get financing. I have been up and down with my emotions on not moving, and I have been a little sad about it. After watching this video I just thought how petty and stupid I have been. One of the biggest reasons why I am upset is because I am embarrassed that I told everyone we are moving and now we are not. I feel like I lied although I didn't. This woman was burned all over in a plane crash and is not embarrassed about that! So why am I? I am not very patient person and this has been a learning lesson for me. I kind of feel like it's humbled me a bit too. I am just so thankful to have such a wonderful family. I have the most handsome, supportive husband that a girl could ask for. I have two wonderful children who have vibrant, spunky personalities and they love me to death. (On a side note, Katelyn was having a hard time going to Primary on Sunday and lovingly told me, "I freaking hate Primary." Nice.) Preston runs up to me all the time and hugs me, and now when I ask him if he wants to go to bed he replies NO and shakes his head. I love them both so very much and am so thankful that Heavenly Father entrusted me in their care and that he sent them to me and not to someone else. I just recently reconnected with an old friend on facebook who is now in the Peace Corp and is living in the Philippines. I was a little embarrassed to tell her that I don't have a college degree and I am "just a stay at home mom". That is ridiculous. I love being a mom!! I wouldn't change my life for anything, so why am I embarrassed to say that? I am so thankful that I already own a beautiful house. We were able to buy it when I was 20 and Stephen was 21, and it hasn't foreclosed! That is a blessing that we can afford it and we can save. I am thankful that we can continue to save even more in anticipation for moving sometime in the future. I am so thankful for my new found friends in the Kuna 8th Ward. I feel so close to these women and their friendship came just at the right time, so I am glad that I get to still be in their group. I am thankful for my Savior and the love that he has for me. I know that he is aware of me. I may not have the strongest testimony in all aspects of the church, but I have a very strong testimony of God and Jesus Christ, and for that I am thankful.

New Adventure

This last week and a half has just been crazy!! We found out probably 3 weeks ago that our friends put their house up for sale and it sold quickly and that got us inspired to see if anything would happen with ours. So I called a real estate agent and she said there is no way we could get what we owe for it and we would have to pay too much money to get out. So I was pretty bummed because word on the street is things are only going to get worse before they get better. Then I was talking to my good friend Miss Kami and her husband Steve does real estate on the side. He suggested that we just put the market on the house for 10 days and see if anything happens. Due to the tax credit ending he thought people waiting on short sales would be interested in making a deal in time. So we put it on the market for exactly what we owe (114,900) and expected the worse. It got shown 3 times, and Monday morning (4 days later) we had a full offer and the people are willing to pay their own closing costs! This is seriously a miracle! Houses with our square footage because of short sales and foreclosures are going for $109,000. Actually the highest closing price was 111. We have to be out by June 20th. Until then we will be frantically looking for a place to live and counting our blessings that we get to upgrade. Right now in this area you can get a really nice house for pretty cheap. We will be staying within 5-10 miles of Stephen's work so will live in Meridian/Kuna area still. We are so excited and a little nervous. I told Stephen that when we get ready to sell our new home we are going to be in for it. It reminds me of giving birth. With Katelyn my water broke so I just went to the hospital and they admitted me. With Preston I had 2 false alarms because I had no idea what it felt like to actually be in labor. This was just too easy. We are going to miss our cute little house. Katelyn goes back and forth on wanting to move, I think once she sees the new house she will be thrilled. So the above pictures are our of our first home on Escondido street, she will be missed, but I am freaking excited to get our new home!!

My Birthday

I got so spoiled for my birthday this year. I was able to go to lunch with my Dad and step-Mom Rochelle at Applebees. I went to lunch with my Mom at a little Mexican restaurant here in Kuna. I got to go spend the day at Wahooz with Stephen playing laser tag, miniature golf, and go cart racing. He even let me win 3x playing the basketball game and he bought me some cotton candy. My cute little neighbor boys share my birthday and they chose to go there too, so we had a lot of fun together. They turned 9 by the way and I turned 25, and we chose the same place, yikes. I wanted a Princess and the Frog birthday cake because I am immature so Stephen picked up this beauty for me, it was delicious. I got some super cool jeans, some perfume, and a bike trailer/jogging stroller. Tonight I am going to a girls night out and we are going to dinner and a movie. I planned it on my birthday week but didn't really tell people it's for my birthday, but in my head it's totally for my birthday. And next week I am going ice skating with my favorite cousin, I am super excited for that. Thanks for all the cards and wishes on facebook. I have really felt the love. You guys are all the best.

Out of the mouth of babes

Katelyn has been quite the back seat driver. She tells me when we are going too fast, too slow, points out stop signs and anything else she can think of to help. When being prodded to go faster I explained to her that if I go too fast the police officer will pull us over and give me a ticket, which means I will have to pay him money. I know this is a lot of information to give a 3 year old but when she constantly asks why after every statement you make, she gets a lot of information.
So she was saying how if the police officer pulls us over and is mean to me that she will kill him. Yikes. I said, "No, we don't kill people. If he pulls us over we will say, thank you for giving us a ticket and we will not speed anymore." Katelyn starts grinning and says, "Okay, let's do that tomorrow!" Yesterday she was being very good at noticing when I only had one hand on the wheel and would frantically say, "Two hands mom! We're going to crash!!"

Yesterday she was noticing how beautiful the clouds were and she said, "Oh look at the sun shinning over there! Is Jesus coming down? I really want to see him!" I replied that he probably wouldn't come down until she was an old lady. "Oh like you mom?" I always tell people that I feel like I am 40 (even though tomorrow I will be 25!!) Now do you get it?

On another note we have been having some contention in our home with our little sassy molassy not minding or listening. It appears as though she likes it when we yell. We don't. We've been trying a little experiment to bring peace into our home. We are reading scriptures. It's been promised that it will bring peace and even though we've only been doing it less than a week...it's working and it's wonderful! Who would have thought?! :)

Easter Dresses and having an older sister...

Since Conference was during Easter weekend, we got dressed up the week before. Katelyn had her hair curled like mine and wore her hat that Grandma Mary bought for her last year and a sweater from Grandpa Mike and Grandma Rochelle.

She really wanted her bear to be in the picture. Ha ha.Okay I am sorry, maybe I am a bad mom but this just cracks me up. Preston walked out of Katelyn's room wearing this today. I was going to originally just post this but then found the cute Easter pictures too. It's just a coincidence that it is the same hat.Just for kicks I had him pose next to a baby stroller. Watch in 20 years Oprah is going to say that I either made him gay or encouraged it. Whatever! He's just expressing his femine side. I have no doubt that he will turn out normal, it's because of that reason I can laugh about it. Come on, it's funny! We have a video of him playing basketball that I promise will be coming soon. It's funny too!

Easter Weekend

On Friday I went to the mall with my good friend Tara from high school. I had no idea the Easter Bunny comes to visit, the kids really enjoyed themselves and I had a good time too. This picture cracks me up because in reality the bunny is waiving, but it looks like he is shooing Preston away.

Katelyn was with me when I purchased everything that went in her Easter basket. But she still thinks it came from the Easter bunny which is fantastic, I know this won't last. The kids got a few pieces of candy, new tooth brushes, and Katelyn received "Princess and the Frog" I love that movie!!

We have had 2 FHE's about the real meaning of Easter. The first one had pictures and stories from the Gospel picture kit and a booklet to color. Then the next one, the night before Easter we had her watch a clip of the resurrection. She was so distraught that people would do that to Jesus. She was almost in tears with sympathy for him. That made me feel like we are doing something right. Then later I heard her tell her cousin Jayla, "Did you know a long time ago Jesus died on the cross. But he's alive now!!" Kids are the greatest.

I did watch Conference on Sunday morning and I did enjoy the talks. I have felt a lot of pressure (put on myself) about being the foundation for my children's' testimonies. I feel like I didn't really have a strong base, got married when I was 19, and now I am the base. It is intimidating at times. I hope that I can raise my children in love and righteousness and with a love for mankind. I also hope that they appreciate me when they get older. I want them to remember the good times. I am trying so hard to be a good mother.

We went to my Dad's house for a wonderful Easter dinner and Easter egg hunt. We had a fabulous time. I forgot my camera, sorry. On the way home Katelyn started complaining that her stomach hurt. Fast forward 30 minutes, Katelyn is in bed and I am reading her book. She sits up and starts puking everywhere. We changed her bedding, gave her a bath, and then an hour later we did all of it again. Yesterday all my laundry was done, then suddenly I had 4 loads to do. Well I got them all folded and put away! I also vacuumed, swept and mopped all my floors, cleaned the bathrooms, and did the dishes. I keep up on my chores so to do all of these things, it doesn't take long. I also gave the kids a bath. All of this before 10:30 am, I am exhausted now. I am grateful that Katelyn feels better now, she is in good spirits. Preston is napping and I think I might join him on the couch for 20 minutes. Take care.