Surviving

OK, so I'm surviving. Living without the Internet, I suppose. I'm getting a lot of house work done. It seems like I'm living in my car too, because Albion is just too far to drive to go home and wait for Braiden to finish up school. Ugh I'm glad it's spring break this next week. I can take a break from all of this shuttling around.

Right now I am posting from my mom and dads house ( I must be desperate because they have DIAL-UP) I tried on Mon and Wed to go to Nate's office and get on the Internet while Brody was at preschool but Hudson was super naughty and cried the whole time both times, so that is not going to work, on to plan B.

On the 2nd we celebrated Braiden's 7th Birthday. There was no school that day (teachers inservice) lucky kid. Grandpa called his name into the radio station and they said happy birthday to him on the air, then they drew a birthday name out of a hat and Braiden won the birthday cake!! He was so excited. It was an ice cream cake from dairy queen so when we went to pick it up he was very disappointed that he couldn't eat it. So I took him to McDonald's for lunch and he had fun playing on the toys. Later after Nate got home from work we went bowling and had a little party with family at the bowling alley, he had a fun day.

The house is coming along quite nicely the Sheetrock is hung and they are texturing the walls today. It is a whole different house now, Sheetrock changes everything! Yesterday I went with my "interior designer" (wink wink) Auntie Karla, and picked out paint colors. Now we are getting to the fun stuff!!

Hudson is walking everywhere, crawling is now the secondary mode of transportation. I knew it wouldn't take long.

We have all been sick I had to take Braiden to Urgent Care ON moving day and sit there in the waiting room for 2 hours to take care of an ear infection. That was the last thing I had time for, but it all worked out in the end. And today I am still coughing my head off. It's like our bodies just gave in to sickness after the stressful week of moving.

I felt the need for some pampering so on Wed I got my nails done and yesterday I got my hair done. It was SO blonde I had to make her go back and put more dark in and I never say anything, so can you just think how blonde it was??? It is still more blonde than I am used to but I guess I am getting used to it.

I don't think I will be able to post any pictures for a while with the current computer situation so I will have a lot of catching up to do when we finally get settled. How sad is this, I didn't get to take ANY pictures on Braiden's birthday with all of the chaos of moving, the batteries in my camera were dead grrr. We did get a picture of him with his ice cream cake that he couldn't eat.

Well I better go, I am tying up the phone line (ha ha) and H is throwing a fit.

Worn Page Edges: My New Love

I've found a new favorite element for my scrapbook pages, the worn page edge from Designer Digitals. I think I might have to use these on every page now, it makes a big difference. I like the worn look, what do you think?

With out the worn edge...


With the worn edge...



LOVE it!!!

I love designer digitals, they have TONS of stuff, you could sit for hours looking through all of their kits and elements, lots of freebies and they add new stuff very regularly. They just had an awesome sale that they do every quarter, where everything is 30% off, so I'll be saving up for their next sale. :)

I took a break from all of this packing, and did a scrapbook page out of shabby princesses newest download. I love shabby princess too by the way, most of the kits I have are either from shabby princess or designer digitals. Shabby princess takes the cake for the best freebies though.



The boys have been great help with the packing and I'm not being sarcastic either. They bring me the tape, the marker, and more boxes. Braiden writes on the boxes for me and helps me decide what else I can squeeze into the box, love my boys!! I feel like I got alot done today, We only unpacked about half of our stuff so it's not too bad. And I must say, moving across town is a whole lot better than moving cross country, Nate took about three (pickup) truck loads of stuff to the storage unit tonight. What a guy!!

Mountain Air

When we started building our house we hoped that it would be done by March (because that is when we have to start paying on it.) Our landlord wanted us to sign a year contract. But we told her that we were building a house and that we wouldn't quite be here a year, and we would probably move out in March. She agreed (10 months wasn't too bad.) So a week ago they put a "for rent" sign up on the gate. I didn't really think about it, since no one had called to look at the place. So yesterday I called the landlord and told her that we weren't going to be moving out becasue our house wasn't done yet (she would have gotten her year contract like she wanted.) She informed me that they already had the place rented!!!!!!!!! So we're basically getting kicked out! Tell me this, when did someone come and look at this place? No one ever called me to see if it was OK, it makes me wonder which mess they saw on which day. RUDE!!! So on March 1 we are homeless. HOMELESS!!!!!!! So what is a family to do? You guessed it, move in with the parents. UGH! We've weighed out our options and decided to stay with Nate's parents, there is PLENTY of room for us and they are gone 90% of the day. OH I hope I can survive this. The major big downer about living with them is that they live in ALBION!!!! Albion is a tiny, tiny town (Population approx 300) in the MOUNTAINS!!! So Nate's "commute" just doubled and we're going to have to drive Braiden to and from school every day, and I will have alot further to go to take Brody to preschool. Oh, and there is no internet at their house!!! Oh man, I'm really not going to survive. I'm going to try to be strong and get through this, the only bad part will be all the extra driving. So I guess we will be breathing the fresh mountain air of Albion for the next 2 months. Braiden and Brody will be excited about having the Disney channel again, I know that for sure.

Well I have scrapped Brody's first year now. Yipee!!! Here are some of the latest pages...





Like my taste in wrapping paper on page 3? A Target bag, can we say lazy? :)

He's a Walkin' Boy!!!

Night before last, Hudson officially walked. Officially = more than 2 steps, it was four to be exact. :) Crawling is still the preferred mode of transportation, but I'm sure before long he will be running around with the best of them!!

Cute story: The other night we were telling the two older boys good night (Hudson was in the other room) We turned out the lights and shut the door, just to see Hudson crawling down the hall as fast as he could. He pushed the boys' door open, crawled in their room, sat down and started waving to them, then we all started laughing, it was so cute. He did not want to miss out on the good nights. He loves giving the brothers good night hugs, blowing kisses, and waving to them. He is definitely at a very fun age right now.

I made a typo in my last post and I read right over it about 4 times. It wasn't until BRAIDEN was reading the post that I realized my error!! Smart boy!

Hudson's Favorite Word

This is Hudson's new favorite word, so cute! He also started saying hhhha hhhhha for HOT. When I was cooking dinner last night I was holding him and he kept wanting to touch the pan, so I kept saying HOT and eventually he started saying it too. He also says gaw-gaw which is dog-dog (his name for Ivy)
He cut his top two teeth a couple of weeks ago so now he has four!! Big Boy!
He is not walking yet but he is getting braver, letting go of things and balancing on his own.
He loves to brush his teeth when the big brothers do. OH and speaking of teeth Braiden lost ANOTHER tooth, it seems like Hudson is just getting his and Braiden is loosing his :)


I love his cute little toothless smile!! He was very brave, HE pulled it out on his own this time. He shut his eyes tight, we counted 1-2-3, he yanked on the floss and it went flying across the room! Yes, the tooth fairy visited THAT night she didn't space this time ;) But guess who FORGOT to look under his pillow???? I had to remind him when he got home from school. If only we would have forgotten on the same day!



Yesterday was a fun school day all around. Brody's preschool had a Pirate-Princess Pajama Party for "P" day. Along with wearing their pajamas to school they were able to bring a favorite blanket or stuffed animal. Brody put his blanket in his backpack and wore it around all morning until it was time to go. Putting Brody in this preschool was one of the smartest decisions I've ever made, he loves it!! He asks me every day if it is preschool and if it is his turn to take snacks.



For Braiden, it was the 100th day of school, so he is now officially 100 days smarter ;)


Ivy is getting bigger, you see this is the thing. It is a sad thing when our babies grow into toddlers, but when puppies grow into dogs it is NOT a sad thing, not at ALL. I understand that Ivy has a while until she is fully out of the "puppy stage" but she is growing and getting better every day. I look back at those pictures when we first brought her home and think, how could something so cute be so naughty!!!


I have been busy scrapbooking in my free time, I love it! I even tried my hand at making my own blog backgrounds, I was very excited about that accomplishment!
Here are a few of my most recent scrapbook pages...




The pictures are a few years old but I'm playing catch up.

When Nate is not busy being a dentist he is busy being an electrician, heating guy, plumber, framer and rock layer. The house, the house, the house. It's coming along SLOWLY but SURELY. I have an awesome husband who is working SO hard to give us a nice place to live, I'm so lucky! I've been really bad about posting the pictures of the house, but the stucco is on, (the day after Thanksgiving) the rock was delivered last week so they can start on that now. I think we will be ready for insulation in about a week (knock on wood) I am starting to see the faintest little glimmer of light at the end of this long tunnel. :)

The Dog Ate My Homework

"The dog ate my homework" and you thought it was just an excuse... no these things REALLY happen people!!!!


On another note- just a reminder that kids don't miss a thing. I picked up Brody from preschool yesterday, he climbed in the car and said, "mom we have a new President, he lives in the White House. That White House has a hundred rooms, even a bowling alley and a movie theater!!! Me- "Oh man!! Maybe we should live in the White House!! Brody- "No, only the President"

When we got home I opened his backpack and pulled out the Weekly Reader, the things he tells me are true. Kids are smart!

Scrapbooking- I've gone digital

Picture this...Braiden looking through his scrapbook, Brody sitting by his side. Then Brody says, "Mom where's MY book?" ahhhh! "UM Brody, I still have to make yours."

When Brody was born we bought a digital camera and since then I can count on two hands the number of pictures I have printed off. Well for the past year I have been wanting to get into digital scrapbooking but I was hesitant to tackle photoshop, the very words "photoshop" scare me. Well in about October-ish LeeLou blogs did a spotlight on Memory Mixer ( digital scrapbooking software ) and I started looking into it. Well I looked into it and I liked what I saw. I told Nate that was the one and only thing I really wanted for Christmas, and being the sweet hubby that he is...

Last Friday I installed it on my computer. Let me just tell you that I am LOVING it!!!! So I have been spending all of my computer time on the scrapbook and not on the blog. :) Oh and the first item on the agenda... "Brody's Book" I have done about 15 pages, I am amazed at how easy the program is to use. The pages are still just as time consuming, but it is WAY less messy and WAY less expensive than traditional scrapbooking.

Here are a few that I have done...

Baby's First Birthday

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

What is it with dogs and shoes??

This is Ivy's favorite past time. She loves to run into our closet and drag out a shoe, but her favorite for some reason are my furry slippers. She has grown so much since Christmas, she has gained three pounds already!! She is now able to get out of the little barracade that we made, usually she stays put, but if she wants out bad enough...
I wonder if I am teaching her anything because she is so hyper, I don't know if anything is getting through. She did bring the ball back to Nate 3 times last night but then after that she just wanted to wrestle. I think she knows that if she goes near the baby she will get in trouble, but if I'm not around...
Who knows it a work in progress.

It's a GIRL!!!

Looky what Santa left at our house:


We would like you to meet Ivy our cute little yellow lab




The kids had no idea they would be getting a puppy for Christmas so it was quite a surprise! Nate was sitting in the chair with Ivy on his lap, when the kids came out to see what Santa had brought them they walked right by and didn't even see the puppy. Nate had to say, "hey you guys look what Santa left at our house." Then came the jumping up and down. They were pretty excited!

I think I got about 2 hours of sleep on Christmas Eve. It was a combination of, trying to keep a whiny puppy quiet so the kids won't hear, Hudson, and my own excitement for the kids to see what Santa brought.




Christmas morning fun.





Hudson gets a kick out of his Tickle me Elmo, and The Shake and Go Crash-ups Speedway is tons of fun.

We went out to my mom's for Christmas dinner and it was one to remember. What can happen on a windy, snowy day in the country. A power outage. Power outage =no heat, no water, no lights. Luckily the power went out after the potatoes and ham were cooked, but before the rolls were cooked. Luckily we are neighbors with the Poteets who let us come over and borrow their oven (and their power) Dinner was delicious and the fire was warm. What a wonderful day!!

So I guess my days and weeks will now be filled with keeping one eye on the dog at all times, and saving the baby from the dog and the dog from the baby. She is a really good puppy though, as far as puppies go. She has settled right in to our family and she loves Braiden, and Braiden loves her. After the kids have gone to bed I have found her curled up in Braidens coat, Brody's coat, in Braiden's coat that is in the car seat, silly puppy! She must like us.