Goodbye house that never was

It's been an interesting few months! We thought we were buying a house - lovely, large and full of land. But there are different plans for us.

Long story long, but still shorter than the whole story!

We were set to close at the end of August. The day before closing, we were told of a survey/title issue that concerned our financial institution. They allowed us to "rent" during the month of September because the issue would be resolved, quickly (well at least in a 30 day time frame). The kids were in school and I was driving 15 miles one way to get them there so it was nice to go ahead and move in. Nearing the 30 day mark we were informed about a form call "Indemnification with under taking" that they wanted us to sign to proceed with closing. We decided to consult an attorney. He said don't sign it. We would be taking on the risk of the title which currently means ... a land locked house that needs access (aka purchasing land from others) and we would be releasing them from the house. Sounded too risky on such a large purchase.

No tears were shed! We know Heavenly Father has a plan for us. Right now we are sitting in boxes at our old house (which thankfully had not sold!) Fasting and Temple attendance in the works.

My biggest frustrations...

1) Driving the kids to and fro - which will stop at the end of the 9 weeks and I'll have to transfer them to our home school.

2) Living out of boxes b/c I can't find anything!

3) Losing money on a house we don't own!

First Day of School

Eli started 3rd grade on Monday, August 23rd at Hickory Creek Elementary. This is a new school for him because of our new house. He's had a great month getting to know new friends at school and church. His favorite part of school continues to be lunch, playing outside, and resources (ie art, music, pe).

He started scouts at church now that he is eight. He gets to go with Zach. It's great to have a cousin to hang out with.

Dylan started Kindergarten on Wednesday, August 25th at Hickory Creek Elementary. They do staggered start so the Kindergartner's can get use to school in small groups. Friday, August 27th everyone in his class was there. He loves going to school. He has made friends in his class and on the bus. His favorite part of school is playing on the playground and eating lunch (typical boy things to like) I know he also likes art and computer lab. He's already at some hot lava episodes but tried to go to school sick. He lasted for a few hours and then I went to get him. He doesn't want to miss school.

They also joined an after school Lego group. They get to go for 8 weeks and build motorized Lego's. They've built a dragster car and sailboat so far. A definite highlight of their week. First because they LOVE Lego's. Second because they often beg me to let them go to extended day. They think its a party or something. "Mom when are you gonna work so I can go to extended day?" So they think they are part of extended day once a week for an hour.

Morgan and I stay pretty busy. We volunteer in both of the boys classrooms on Tuesday. Plus lots of other times they might need us. We've been unpacking our house. Buying new things for our house. We've been cleaning the other house (still hoping to get it sold!) We are hoping to go to a mommy and me class after Christmas. It's fun to have girl time together.

Eight is Great!

Eli Neal Steinhour

Baptism Day

Eli was so excited to be baptized. We arrived early to help with chair set up and to make sure the water would be in the font.

Eli and dad in their baptism clothes. We a proud moment. Our first child getting baptized.

My sweet Eli. He was especially concerned with his outfit. He wanted to look like dad. Dark pants, red tie, jacket, and belt.

Grandpa Doug and Eli. Grandma Pam and Grandpa Rick and Eli.

We've been spending time during FHE to prepare Eli for baptism. A few weeks before we helped him decide on his program. Austin was the chorister, Amy and Grandma JC prayed, Renea spoke on baptism, Ethan spoke on the Gift of the Holy Ghost, we sang When Jesus Christ was Baptized as a family, Neal baptized and confirmed him, Grandpa Doug and Rick were witnesses, and they along with Granpa JC, Bryan, Matt, and Brother Shannon helped with the confirmation. What a wonderful experience!

Disney Cruise Day 4 Day at Sea & Happy Birthday Morgan!

Day 4 was spent out at sea. We slept in, went swimming, had lunch at Palo's (the adult only restaurant), watched a movie, played in the kids area, and relaxed.

Dinner was at Triton's - PERFECT for our Ariel loving princess and her 3rd birthday!

The boys watching us float in the water.

Morgan loved all her presents. They were all either princess themed or Ariel themed. Pj's, hair glitter (which dad and grandpa happily let her put in their hair), picture frame, mini doll, towel, sunglasses...she made out!

Our sweet girl enjoying her yummy cake. She devoured it.

The sunset on our last night at sea!

We had such a wonderful time on this vacation. A good mix of family fun and adult time and playing and relaxing.

Disney Cruise Day 3 Castaway Cay & Happy Birthday Eli!

Day 3 we spent on Disney's Castaway Cay Island. They have done a fabulous job. This is the actual pirate ship from Pirates in the Caribbean (the ghost ship, but I can't remember the name right now.)

Seriously pretty! This picture is our screen saver right now.

Our own Little Mermaid!

My mom and dad with Morgan on the other side of the beach. Disney owns the whole island which is only like 3 miles long.

We took a bike ride. It was really fun! Morgan rode with Neal and each of the boys had their own bikes. Even my parents enjoyed it. It poured rain on us, but it made it not so hot!

Scuttle Island. A slide and play area you have to swim to. Of course we didn't get to go down the slide. We tried but it rained a lot this day and we kept having to get out of the water.

Eli's 8th Birthday! He opened presents at dinner. He got a Lego game which he wanted to play right then. But I was mean and wouldn't let him open them until he got off the boat. He also got a movie, clothes, spongebob game, and game boy game.

Neal's FAVORITE drink. A virgin mojito. He had it every night.

Eli's yummy birthday cake.

That night was Pirates IN the Caribbean party. They had a dance party that Captain hook and his pirates took over until pirate Mickey saved the day. Then came the fireworks. Disney is the only cruise ship to do fireworks at sea!

Disney Cruise Day 2 Bahamas

We woke up in the Bahamas. Neal and I have been before, but my parents had not. So we got off the boat first thing. The ocean was beautiful. We weren't off the boat very long. Neal and I enjoyed a couples massage while the kids played in the Oceaneers club. Of course there was swimming and relaxing. My parents toured the boat and relaxed. We watched a show after dinner. They put on great shows. The first night was The Golden Mickeys. The second night was Toy Story the Musical.

The port was decorated nicely. I thought the water was such a pretty color!

Dylan at dinner. He had his face painted with Mickey Mouse during his play time.

Eli's face paint was of the Disney Wonder.

Morgan's friend. She met him during lunch when my parents took her until she was ready to play. He was also at our dinner service. He took care of her.

My dad is "the king of the world." We were still in port. You can see another ship behind him. The Disney ship was the largest ship in port. And I believe the nicest!

Disney Cruise Day 1

Disney cruise line was running a Florida residents special and we couldn't resist! My parents joined us on a 4 night cruise to the Bahamas and Castaway Cay (pronounced Key and it's Disney's personal island). The ship was the Disney Wonder with Ariel has the main dining room/entry theme. Disney does a wonderful job at cruises! We had a blast!

My parents in the entry way with the beautiful glass sculpture behind them.

This is the Mickey Pool. It was only 3 feet deep at the deepest part. They had Mickey ear pools and the Mickey Glove slide. This was their favorite of the 3 pools.

In the entrance lobby of the ship. Ariel's statue. Morgan loved that she got to be on Ariel's ship. Everything on the boat was beautiful and clean.

Disney does a rotation dinner. You have the same servers each night, but you eat at 3 different restaurants. Each has a special theme and dinner menu. And for the fourth night they do a Pirates IN the Caribbean dinner menu for everyone on the boat. Animator's Palate was our first meal. A black and white themed dinner that changed colors as the meal went on. Neal said his steak was the best steak he has ever had. Disney has an Oceaneers Club which allows for kids to play and have fun while the parents get to play and have fun. It's almost an entire floor of the boat. They have a play ground, dance parties, crafts, food making, computers, movies, character meet and greets, and tons more. The kids really liked it. (And so did Neal and I!)

Neal and I played Match your Mate on the first night. We were selected because we did a robot dance together. It was a lot harder to play than I thought! We only got 2 points out of 6 points. But we had a fun time playing and won a trip to the ship spa and a bracelet.

New House

We are moving! We'll be in our new home by the end of August (just in time for school). It's on 2.5 acres and has 5 bedrooms and 3.5 baths. Now if we can just get our house sold!

The New Big Girl Hair Cut & Updates

When did my baby turn into a big girl! I'm not ready for this! She got a haircut like a REAL BIG GIRL haircut...not just trimming of the baby hair. She loves visiting my cousin Lindsey who cuts our hair. After her cut, I got mine cut - matching of course. Although I haven't been that blond since college. She walked around singing "You're beautiful, it's true!" and saying "Do you like my new hair?"

We got our house projects done. (I can't find my camera cord that uploads to the computer.) The house looks great and then we promptly decided to put it on the market. Neal is ready to move out of an HOA community and onto land - anything bigger than 1 acre and smaller than 10. We have our eyes on something...let's pray this house sells! I mean it looks fabulous so it should sell pretty quick!

Summer has been great so far. Swimming, swim lessons, movies, spend the nights, farmers market, helping grandma and grandpa, whatever comes up that day is fine with us. It's great to have lazy summer days.

Vacation time is coming soon. We are going on a Disney cruise at the end of July. We will be on the boat for Eli and Morgan's birthday. Everyone is excited about it!

The picture tells the story

This pictures sums up the weekend. But I have to tell you the whole story which started in January!

We decided (you know when I say we - I mean I told Neal what I decided and he went along with it)...so WE decided it was time to update our flooring. Our house is 12 years old and we've lived in it for 6 years. $$$$ Income Tax Money getting spent $$$$

Needless to say the carpet has seen better days. But in order to get new carpet we have to remove the current boring brown tile and put in some fabulous green/gray tile (that we bought 5 years ago). So at the end of February we rented a hammer drill and ripped out the tile from the kitchen and entry way. Then we waited. We are busy people you know! My feet got so dry from the concrete I had to wear slippers. Two Saturdays into March Neal starts laying tile. Of course you have to move the stove and refrigerator out to tile....note big hole in kitchen. The fridge is currently sitting in my dining room.

This weekend we were determined to finish cutting and laying tile so we could grout during the week. (Did I tell you that I went ahead and ordered the carpet so that I could gently push my husband along?) So mid-afternoon he finished cutting all the tile. BUT I wanted to kids bathroom done also and I persuade Neal to get started on that area as well. He and Eli head in there to start tearing out baseboard and the toilet. Next thing I see is Eli running like mad and Neal screaming for me. The baseboard jerked up and hit the pipe which broke off in the wall and was spewing everywhere. Neal tells me to go turn off the water at the road. Apparently I spun around in circles. I have no clue what to do and I'm trying to decide....do I pretend and go away for a minute or do I tell him I have not idea what he is talking about.

The water was pouring out for well over 3 minutes! It was EVERYWHERE. Down the hall and into all the rooms that share a wall with the bathroom. AMAZING! I have never seen a pipe break or water get everywhere. So our attention went from tiling to cutting out carpet, soaking up water, and moving stuff so it wouldn't get wet or ruined. My house is a crazy, CRAZY mess! Bare floors, unglued tile, dirty carpet, and stuff everywhere from rooms and closets that got soaked.

And we broke several things in the process including the lamp at the beginning of the post.

Oh the JOYS of owning a home!

Happy 5th Birthday, Dylan!

Today - cupcakes during lunch at school; pick dinner; open presents; eat a yummy dessert

Saturday - Monster Jam! This is our 3rd year going. The boys absolutely love it and look forward to it every year.

Sunday - dinner at Grandma Pam and Grandpa Rick's house; more presents; more cake & ice cream

We love Dylan! He's happy, fun, and super smart. He loves Lego's, video games, and Monster Jam. Happy Birthday!

OH NO SHE DIDN'T!!!!!

I'm not sure if this is suppose to be the joys of motherhood or the pains of motherhood!

Morgan is, by far, my most mischievous child. Yesterday she was in rare form with her non-stop craziness.

But the piece DE resistance - she decided to drop her paints and do #2 on the back porch. I have no idea why! And to top it off it was right when I had to leave to get Dylan from Pre-K so I had to leave the mess for later. I quickly wiped her down and ran out the door.

I asked her why and she said "boys" - I promise the boys have never done this AND she know to blame them (but both were at school.)

Are you sad that there are no pictures?

Arnold Sandwich Thins PARTY

My couponing and crazy blog hopping is paying off. Not only do I get GREAT deals on groceries and household items, but I get to find out about great offers online.

I signed up for a online party group at www.houseparty.com which invites you to participate in sampling food products or household items for free by hosting a party. There's always something good to sign up for! And I was accepted for the Arnold Sandwich Thins Party. So this coming weekend for Dylan's birthday we will be enjoying these yummy sandwich thins.

I've had them before because they are only 1 weight watchers point. They are delicious!

So if you get to come to the party - your tummy's will be happy and full! If you don't get to come sign up for other parties at house party and go try some Arnold Sandwich Thins -they really are yummy!

Keeping the spirit alive!

It's never to late for Christmas photos! I'm amazed sometimes at how slow and fast life moves. There are certainly days that seem like they will never end. There are days (and sometimes weeks) that go by so fast that it was a blur. Certainly once you look back it always went way to fast!

I am most thankful that my dad's health as improved. The week of Christmas was a touch and go situation. He was at the doctor/hospital everyday. On Christmas Eve he got a plasma donation which saved his life! (I'm not exaggerating here - the doctor's said if he did not get that plasma before Christmas he might not make it through the weekend) Scary stuff! But he sat in the hospital most of Christmas Eve and thankfully came home in enough time to enjoy the festivities!

IF YOU HAVE NOT DONATED BLOOD OR PLASMA BEFORE PLEASE GO AND DO IT. BLOOD IS LIFE AND YOU CAN HELP SAVE LIVES!

Christmas was great this year. The kids are old enough to enjoy finding gifts for each other and appreciate them once they are opened. We did our traditional Christmas Eve breakfast with the Alder's. Christmas Eve night at Grandma & Grandpa J.C. house. Christmas breakfast with the Steinhour's. And Christmas evening at Grandpa Rick and Grandma Pam's house. It's a busy 2 days, but completely enjoyable and filled with love.

Eli was thoughtful and looked forward to the surprise!

Dylan can't keep a secret yet.

Morgan was into opening and playing with her new presents.

During the break we took the kids to ICE in Orlando. It's ice sculptures and slide experience that they keep at 9 degrees. Thankfully they provide parka's because no one in Florida has anything that would keep them warm enough. We thought the kids would really enjoy it, but instead it was too cold. They wanted to leave within the first 5 minutes. We made them stick it out though. I liked it!

I didn't get my Christmas news letter out this year. Sorry for that but you all know where to contact me!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!