Sometimes it does feel like a war on two fronts, with half my kids here, and half my kids there. Just getting the older boys to answer texts, or phone calls is a big part of the battle. I get to hope I taught them the right things and they will be true to themselves, when I am so far away. And that they won't kill each other... I'm sure they'll be fine, but man, it's lonely around here without them. I hadn't realized how much they keep me company. I enjoy conversations with them, they have interesting insight and unique perspectives. They are also a ton of help with the little ones.
Next Battle: I am struggling with eating. ok, truthfully, I'm struggling with not eating. You would think it would be simple... don't eat as much, and exercise more... but I'm weak and I enjoy food. It doesn't even have to be good food... I find a piece of good bread with butter and real strawberry jelly on it as irresistible as anything. I'm using music to battle the exercise thing. If there's music playing I wiggle and jiggle and sometimes break down and dance. Every little bit helps right? I love Pandora for this very reason. I hate buying a cd and finding out I only like 3 songs on it. So, my personal channel is Glee/Mamma mia. which ends up with all kinds of fun music.
Battling on: Housing... yeah... gonna leave it at that. sigh. hopefully soon I will have real answers and options. The house we are currently looking at is http://shannanlaudet.reidrealestate.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=detail&startrow=1&cfid=527256&cftoken=57668586 We are going out there with our agent saturday. It has plenty of room and the kitchen/family room match my china.. creepy weird. There were two deer in the yard when we drove by. the parking situation would require a little bit of work. It's a closer commute for Tom, but means the boys have to change schools, and we would change wards and stakes. I hate change.... I want so badly to make things simple for the boys. I wish I could find the perfect house that meant we didn't have to change wards or schools, but so far it's not happening and I am getting tired of not being unpacked.
I am letting myself down on so many fronts. There are things I want to do better. I want to be more than I am. I was reminded this afternoon of a book I have found very helpful. http://deseretbook.com/item/2701037/Willpower_Is_Not_Enough_Why_We_Don_t_Succeed_at_Change
Of course, it was more helpful when I was actively reading it... so back to page one I got. That and scripture study, journaling, and just being the woman I want to be!!! I can do so much more. I believe in me. :) Positive energy is the key.
Another cool thing http://scriptures4kids.com/index.php?option=com_phocadownload&view=category&id=6&Itemid=73 yup, lots to do to keep busy.
Suffering from social phobia the last few days. It sucks. I'm hoping to make it to church on sunday. I have a dare on with the older boys.. If I go to church with the littles they will go to church too. lol. so I have major incentive. I'm hoping maybe Tom will come with to help with the littles. They are a handful.
Friday, June 25, 2010
Monday, June 14, 2010
One big happy family...
well, for a grand total of 13 days, everyone will be here. Tom got home on the 9th. yay! And the boys are off to New Mexico on the 22nd.. We will miss them. The will have fun.
I put an offer in on a house, they countered, we countered, they countered, we walked away. :) Our agent is out of town until the 25th and I don't have the heart to replace him, so we look online and wait till he get's back. We have a few we are going to go look at when he does get back. I'm grateful to have Tom home so he can offer opinions as well. But at this rate, the older boys will hopefully come home to a new house that they didn't get to see. :( Wish we could have everyone's input on this, but you do what you have to do. And maybe we'll buy one they've already seen, who knows.
Taylor and Tanner are growing like weeds... They are both officially taller than me now. Tanner is 5' 6-3/4" tall. Taylor is 5' 6" I'm just shy of 5'6". I'm very very proud of them. The other 4 are also growing well, but not taller than their mother yet.
There are 4 days of school left. Taylor will be 15 this weekend. I find it amazing that my son is that old. wow huh? He has NO suggestions for a birthday present... What kind of teenager doesn't want ANYTHING???? a spoiled one, that's what. Cause no, I'm not buying him a PS3 for his birthday. lol. I suppose I should say, he doesn't want anything he would be willing to actually ask for. Cause he'd love Driver's ed, or a PS3. lol.
The older boys are going to get to go to scout camp down in new mexico this year. I'm very excited for them. It should be a lot of fun.
I put an offer in on a house, they countered, we countered, they countered, we walked away. :) Our agent is out of town until the 25th and I don't have the heart to replace him, so we look online and wait till he get's back. We have a few we are going to go look at when he does get back. I'm grateful to have Tom home so he can offer opinions as well. But at this rate, the older boys will hopefully come home to a new house that they didn't get to see. :( Wish we could have everyone's input on this, but you do what you have to do. And maybe we'll buy one they've already seen, who knows.
Taylor and Tanner are growing like weeds... They are both officially taller than me now. Tanner is 5' 6-3/4" tall. Taylor is 5' 6" I'm just shy of 5'6". I'm very very proud of them. The other 4 are also growing well, but not taller than their mother yet.
There are 4 days of school left. Taylor will be 15 this weekend. I find it amazing that my son is that old. wow huh? He has NO suggestions for a birthday present... What kind of teenager doesn't want ANYTHING???? a spoiled one, that's what. Cause no, I'm not buying him a PS3 for his birthday. lol. I suppose I should say, he doesn't want anything he would be willing to actually ask for. Cause he'd love Driver's ed, or a PS3. lol.
The older boys are going to get to go to scout camp down in new mexico this year. I'm very excited for them. It should be a lot of fun.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Oh give me a home...
Well, I'd rather NOT have buffalo roaming my home... but I would like to have a home. I guess I just want more home than I can afford. The latest one I found that I want needs work, and I'm told i can't buy a home that needs work on a VA loan. It doesn't need more than cosmetics... gutters, carpet, a window replaced and trash cleaned up. I would also bulldoze a circular driveway if I bought it, but that's between me and the trees. My real estate agent says since it's a short sale there is no way the VA will lend on this house. It's a good deal, 2300 sf, 2 acres.... He won't even put an offer in for me. I'm a little frustrated. It's within spitting distance of wildcat lake. The floor plan is good for my family, there's a separate shop for Tom.
I haven't heard from Tom in 2 weeks, so I don't have anything to go on from him. Here's the complete list of houses I've been eyeballing....
Shady hollow.. needs carpet, 1 window, gutters and driveway modification. listed at $255k. pros, closer to bangor, close to wildcat lake, close to trails, 2.5 acres, good curb appeal, detached shop, detached barn, craft room for me, klahowya high school, seperate living/family room. cons master bath small, all bedrooms close to each other, all bedrooms upstairs, laundry room in garage. needs fridge.
Alpenwald 260k (taylor's current favorite) has parking, nice private deck, covered area for kids to play in, small yard, adequate parking, although is visible from street, near jackson and lund. split entry, kitchen painted grey, dining room big enough. living room upstairs, rec room dnstrs, additional large bedroom dnstrs, his and hers baths off of master bedroom.
Olsen, 265k near costco, corian counters, real hardwood floors. 4 bedrooms upstairs, my plot is to turn rec room dnstrs with bath off of it into master suite, current master bedroom has no bath off of it, one of 4 bedrooms is tiny. turn shop area dnstrs into rec room. has additional attached 2 car garage, and detached 1 car shop with electric and heat. good size covered back deck. .4 acre, 1/2 in front was once nicely landscaped has fallen into disrepair, back yard fenced lawn.
Phillips, Ollalla, 2.5 acres, property looks ideal. house is 2500 sf, but two kitchens.. I haven't been inside yet. Additional 4 car detached shop. just off of mullenix, not quite olalla. 350k... finding out how low they could go... they owe 260k
Conifer $250k .5 acres, yard is awesome. front looks like normal subdivision blah, but back yard is brush cleared woods. quad trails throughout, garden area in, fruit trees. paved parking for boat, trlrs etc. car gates on both sides of house. house is similar to lilly's, 1.5 baths, think shower could be put back in... looks like it was removed some time ago. 3 bedrooms upstairs, 1 down. corian counters, bamboo flooring. bedrooms painted manly colors. closets small. large deck.
North $220 .5 acres, backs onto banner forest, standard split level home, has parking. Owner willing to negotiate on price if we take over some of the cosmetic repairs. Just off of mullenix.
meanwhile, my head attempts to explode from trying to make this decision on my own. How do I weight commute, price, yard size, house space, floorplan, parking, etc. etc. too many options and nothing perfect. very very frustrating.
I haven't heard from Tom in 2 weeks, so I don't have anything to go on from him. Here's the complete list of houses I've been eyeballing....
Shady hollow.. needs carpet, 1 window, gutters and driveway modification. listed at $255k. pros, closer to bangor, close to wildcat lake, close to trails, 2.5 acres, good curb appeal, detached shop, detached barn, craft room for me, klahowya high school, seperate living/family room. cons master bath small, all bedrooms close to each other, all bedrooms upstairs, laundry room in garage. needs fridge.
Alpenwald 260k (taylor's current favorite) has parking, nice private deck, covered area for kids to play in, small yard, adequate parking, although is visible from street, near jackson and lund. split entry, kitchen painted grey, dining room big enough. living room upstairs, rec room dnstrs, additional large bedroom dnstrs, his and hers baths off of master bedroom.
Olsen, 265k near costco, corian counters, real hardwood floors. 4 bedrooms upstairs, my plot is to turn rec room dnstrs with bath off of it into master suite, current master bedroom has no bath off of it, one of 4 bedrooms is tiny. turn shop area dnstrs into rec room. has additional attached 2 car garage, and detached 1 car shop with electric and heat. good size covered back deck. .4 acre, 1/2 in front was once nicely landscaped has fallen into disrepair, back yard fenced lawn.
Phillips, Ollalla, 2.5 acres, property looks ideal. house is 2500 sf, but two kitchens.. I haven't been inside yet. Additional 4 car detached shop. just off of mullenix, not quite olalla. 350k... finding out how low they could go... they owe 260k
Conifer $250k .5 acres, yard is awesome. front looks like normal subdivision blah, but back yard is brush cleared woods. quad trails throughout, garden area in, fruit trees. paved parking for boat, trlrs etc. car gates on both sides of house. house is similar to lilly's, 1.5 baths, think shower could be put back in... looks like it was removed some time ago. 3 bedrooms upstairs, 1 down. corian counters, bamboo flooring. bedrooms painted manly colors. closets small. large deck.
North $220 .5 acres, backs onto banner forest, standard split level home, has parking. Owner willing to negotiate on price if we take over some of the cosmetic repairs. Just off of mullenix.
meanwhile, my head attempts to explode from trying to make this decision on my own. How do I weight commute, price, yard size, house space, floorplan, parking, etc. etc. too many options and nothing perfect. very very frustrating.
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