find joy in the journey

sign here, here, and here

and initial here, here, here and date here . . . .

We sold our house!!!!

and . . . .

we bought a new house!!!!

Whew!  About 4 weeks start to finish.  Absolutely crazy!  Here's a little time-line of our life for the past month. 

November

3 -- Meet with our realtor for the first time, discuss plans to put our house up for sale, and look at a few houses we're interested in.

4 -- Our house is officially "on the market".  A snapshot of our house and the listing is up on our realtor's website.

5 -- Our realtor and her assistant come over to take a bunch of pictures of the house and put the "For Sale" sign in the front yard.

6 -- Tour Day.  Basically a bunch of real estate agents go around to houses in the area to spot out things for their clients.  And our online listing is complete with 13 photos, a virtual tour, and multi-media slide show.

10 -- Prospective Buyer #1 (PB1) visits our house.

14 -- Our house listing appears in the local paper.

15 -- PB1 visits for the second time.  Also a visit from PB2.

16 -- PB1 makes an offer.  We submit a counter-offer.

17 -- PB1 rejects our counter-offer

21 -- PB3 visits our house.

23 -- PB3 makes an offer.

24 -- We submit a counter offer and they accept!

26 -- Go look at a house that we're interested in for the 2nd time.  Make an offer.

27 -- The sellers make a counter offer and we accept!

more:

I posted real quick this morning and wanted to add a few more things.  Yes, we feel like we have been so blessed!  And continue to be blessed everyday.  Like I mentioned in my post several weeks ago we went into this hopeful, excited, realistic, calm, and willing to put it in the Lord's hands and see what happens.  And he has taken care of us.  Why? - I'm not exactly sure.  But we'll take it! 

When we walked through the new house a second time we had the kids with us and they were very excited about it.  Yesterday when we received the counter-offer asking for a little more money (which we were willing to do) Scott decided to present it to the kids and have a little fun with it.  He asked them where & how do you think we can get that extra money.  They thought for a minute and then enthusiastically suggested that we need to set up a juice stand and sell juice for $15 a cup.  lol.  What sweet kids.  We ran through the whole logic of it -- is someone really going to be willing to pay $15 for a cup of juice; can we sell enough to get the money we need; etc.  But they remained unphased.  This morning before Conner left for school he reminded me that I needed to buy some juice at the store.  And I did.

I'm sure I'll have lots of adventures to share over the next month or so, . . . so stay tuned!

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, seven

1.  Number of times he has sung a solo in front of his class at school.  At least that we know about.

2.  Number of times (in hundreds) that he thinks about Star Wars, Transformers, or "The Crackers" on any given day.

3.  Number of McDonalds or Burgerville hamburgers he'd eat at one sitting if we let him.

4.  Number of Transformers he received for his birthday:  Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Megatron, and Barricade.

5.  AM. The time that he began coming into our room on his birthday morning, wearing the birthday hat he received at school.

6.  Number of months since he lost his 2 front teeth.  And the new ones still haven't come through.

7.  Number of years that this sweet, goofy, amazing, smart, acrobatic, imaginative boy has been in our lives!

Happy Birthday Conner!

November 24th

--------------------------------------------

And while I'm talking about Conner, thought I'd share this little magna-doodle note that I found in the car after dropping the kids off at school today:

"I hate my big jacket"

I guess that's what I get for making him trade in his little zip-up hoodie for the big ski jacket on our way out the door to face temps in the 30s (expecting a high of 45 today). 

forehead, meet Rubik's cube

Someone asked what happened to Anna's head.  Combine the occasional clumsiness of a 2-year-old and her new favorite toy, the Rubik's cube and you get this:

And what's crazy is that a half hour after this incident, she came running into the kitchen and fell face first just inches away from the corner of the open dishwasher door.  I just about freaked.  Since then we have been telling her to slow down.  But is that really much use with a 2-year-old?

Also, did you notice the safety pin in picture number one?  That is a trick we've relied on nightly for the past month of two.  Without it she will unzip herself, remove her diaper, and go right back to sleep.  We've had a few nasty surprises come morning time.

She's definitely got some "spice" in her.

We've had a lot of fun the last few days watching more of her vocabulary unfold; watching her come up with more and more 2 and 3 word phrases.  Today I wanted to trim her bangs -- a few strands I missed the last time.  I pulled the scissors out of the cupboard and she says, "cut, cut, cut . . . why?" with her arms outstretched, questioning.  It was so surprising and fun -- she's never asked a question like that before.  And that whole "why" stage I've heard about from other moms -- we've never experienced that.  Our boys always accepted the first answer/reason, or never cared or slowed down long enough to ask a "why" question.  Makes me wonder if Anna will be our first. 

She's also counting to 10 (with a little help) which is pretty fun.  Still can't quite figure out how to hold up two fingers, though.  She plays trains with Payton almost everyday, sings along to "Little Wonders", loves to color, takes a turn saying the prayer, gives triple kisses (lips, cheek, cheek), freaks out if she can't go outside with the boys, looooves pumpkin pie (the first words out of her mouth friday morning were "pie, pie"), and is always more than willing to be the prisoner in the boys' forts.

Happy Thanksgiving

good food.  fabulous sunny day.  family togetherness.  a little Wii.  all around a great day.

Payton and Anna were the only ones to partake of the post-Thanksgiving nap.  The glorious effects of tryptophan. 

Funny though, because Payton didn't eat a lick of turkey.  But egg nog . . . . this is a boy who definitely enjoys his nog (3 whole glasses).

Anna's favorite - pumpkin pie

Conner's favorite - mashed potatoes

Scott's favorite - anything that you can slather in gravy or butter.

My favorite - watching {enjoying} the laughter at the dinner table.

{see the two posts below for details on our Thanksgiving meal}

welcome to dinner

Setting the table

Appetizer

Shrimp Cocktail

Combine 1 lbs. cocktail shrimp, 1/2 cup chopped celery, 1/2 cup chopped iceberg lettuce, 1 jar Heinz cocktail syrup.  Serve with Club crackers.

This Thanksgiving appetizer originated from Scott's grandparents, we believe.  I remember spending my first thanksgiving with Scott's family (we were newlyweds) and thinking that this was sooo odd.  Over the years, I've resisted adding it to our own Thanksgiving fare.  But this year I conceded; it's just one of those quirky traditions I guess.  And we (Scott & I) very much enjoyed munching on this while the turkey was cooking.

Beverages

Sparkling Cider & Eggnog

As I was pulling the Martinelli's out of the fridge Payton asked me, "why are we going to drink coffee?"  I think he got his beverage names mixed up.  But good on him for recognizing that kind of bottle typically does not belong in our house.  He did very much enjoy his "apple juice that tastes like pop."

Main Meal

Turkey

Follow package directions.  Nothing fancy here.

Mashed Potatoes

Scott always makes the mashed potatoes.  I know there's butter & milk involved, but that's about it.

Thanksgiving Turkey Gravy

1. Take out turkey.  Cut open between thigh & leg for more juice.
2. Heat to boiling:  Quart of drippings, 1 Tbsp. salt, cap full of Kitchen Bouquet
3. Shake together in a Tupperware shake & mix thing: 3/4 cup flour and cold water (fill to 1inch from top)
4. Pour mixture.  Cook and stir until done

Stuffing

For this, I consult the professionals.

Asparagus

Crescent Rolls

1. Dissolve:  1 Tbsp. yeast, 1 1/4 cup very warm water
2. Add:  1/4 cup sugar, 1 tsp salt
3. Add & beat until smooth:  3 eggs, 4 cups flour, 3/4 cup butter (melted)
4. Cover tightly and refrigerate 4 hours
5. Divide dough in 3 parts (will be pretty sticky).  Roll in circle.  Cut in 8 wedges, roll up.
6. Bake on greased cookie sheet 10-15 minutes @ 400 degrees.
7. Brush with melted butter.

Dessert

Pumpkin Pie

5.99 at Costco

Apple Pie

This is my "Perfect Apple Pie" recipe that I have been using for the last 3-4 years.  It comes from bits & pieces of other recipes I've tried in the past, just taking my favorite parts and coming up with this.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

For Crust

1. Add 1/3 cup flour to 1/2 cup water.  Make a paste.  Set aside.
2. Cut 3/4 cup shortening into 1 2/3 cup flour.
3. Stir the two flour mixtures together with a fork.  If pastry is too dry, add water a few drops at a time.
4. Divide dough in half; shape each half into a 1/2 inch thick round.  Wrap each dough round in plastic wrap; refrigerate 10-15 minutes.

For filling

1. Prepare 6 cups of thinly sliced peeled tart apples.  (I like to use a combination of 2-3 different kinds of apples:  Granny Smith and whatever else strikes me at the grocery store)
2. Toss apples with 3/4 cup sugar, 1 Tbsp. cornstarch, 1/2 tsp. cinnamon, and 1/4 tsp. nutmeg in a large bowl.  Set aside.

Putting it together

1. Place 1 dough round between 2 large sheets of plastic wrap; roll out dough with rolling pin, turning over; roll until dough round is about 2 inches larger than diameter of inverted 9-in. pie plate.
2. Peel off top piece of plastic wrap; invert dough into pie plate.  Peel off remaining piece of plastic wrap; press dough evenly onto bottom and up side of pie plate, being careful not to stretch the dough.  Tim any excess dough hanging over edge of the pie plate.
3. Fill with apple mixture.
4. Roll out remaining dough; place over filling.
5. Trim top crust about 1/2 inch beyond edge of pie plate.  Fold edge of top crust under edge of bottom crust; pinch edges together to form a ridge.  Flute edge.
6. Use small cookie cutters to cut out decorative shapes from the top crust to allow steam to escape.  And to look cute.
7. Brush top with lightly beaten egg white and sprinkle with 1 Tbsp. granulated sugar for a shiny & sparkling top.
8. Bake 45 - 50 minutes.

homemade butter

A few years ago we started the tradition of making our own butter on Thanksgiving Day.  I pulled the idea from a Family Fun magazine and thought it would be a great way to include the kids in the cooking and to have some fun.  Here goes.

You will need: 

• whipping cream
• a clean plastic jar with tight-fitting lid -- we use an empty peanut butter jar that has been cleaned out
• 2 marbles

Fill the jar half-way with whipping cream.  I should note that the PB jar we use is the small kind.  I don't think you want to use anything too big -- your arms are going to get really tired if you do. 

Start shaking!  This is where the kids & their endless supply of energy comes in.  But their limited attention spans and puny arms usually leads to this . . .

So you're going to shake and shake and shake and eventually you'll stop hearing the marbles clink against the side of the jar, it will feel heavy and thick and you'll think you're done.  Not so.  If you open it up and it looks like this

. . . you've reached what we like to call "the wall".  And you know what to do when you reach the wall?  Keep on going.  Soon you'll feel a more solid, heavy mass and might even hear the marbles clinking again.  When it looks like this

You're done!  Doesn't it look yummy?  Now you need to drain the liquid from the butter.

I like to use my handy dandy little tuna fish can press/strainer.  It helps to use a spatula and really squeeze the excess liquid out.  Oh, and make sure you fish out the marbles.  Put it in a dish and wha-la

Amazing, delicious, homemade butter for your Thanksgiving dinner table!

note: We usually go through this process 3 times to get all the butter we want for dinner.

for twilight fans

The part of Bella has just been announced!  Kristen Stewart.  Read all about it here, including some comments from Stephenie Meyer. 

I think she looks great for the part!  Bella is just an average teen age girl, she likes to keep things simple, low-maintenance, forgoes the girly look at all costs, and she's smart (for the most part).  And this girl seems to give out that vibe.  It would be hugely disappointing to see some model-esque blonde chick cast into the part!

Also, there are some rumors running around about Edward.  Go here to see what they are saying. 

So, what do you think of Bella?

daily gratitude seven

1. Getting to spend a morning at the temple and enjoy the quiet and spirit found there.  And also to share this little getaway from reality with some girlfriends from my ward.

2. Having my husband be sooo excited at my idea to go out on a date.  Dinner & a movie -- it's just the best.

3. And for baby-sitters.    

and he's only 4

the doorbell rings this afternoon and Payton sprints to the door:

"oooo!!  I hope it's my girlfriend!"

to answer your questions:  we do not know who the "girlfriend" is and it was actually the UPS man at the door.

daily gratitude six

1.  Unexpected goodies to ease the stress of house selling & just because.  I totally appreciate others' thoughtfulness.

2.  So grateful to see more interest in our house (2 visits today) during a seemingly "bad market" and "hard time to sell."

3.  I'm grateful to be able to enjoy the thoughts and musings of a 4-year-old on a daily basis.  Today while out at lunch I told Payton that there were people who were looking at our house because they might want to buy it.  His first reaction was excitement, "We get to move to a new house?!" (he's been "shopping" for homes in the real estate magazines for a few days now.)  Then came panic, "Well, what about our games?!!"  This sweet boy thought that someone was buying our house today, and all the stuff in it.  I guess we now know what Payton would grab first if there was a fire.

the soundtrack of our lives

at home, in the car, and basically wherever Conner & Payton's voices can reach.  Even Anna has started in on it.

and because "The Kids of the Future" was only a short sample, here's more courtesy of our resident rocker, Conner Brown.  {push pause on the player above before you start the video clip}

Check out more videos

{all songs are from the Meet the Robinsons soundtrack}

daily gratitude five

1.  Mr. Clean Magic Erasers.  These things are amazing and make so many of my "hard" clean-up jobs a cinch.  I love 'em.

2.  For Relief Society and getting to spend most of my Saturday in the company of my Relief Society sisters.  I'm thankful for the Enrichment ladies for all their time and effort and hard work (I know, I've been there before!)  To be able to enjoy a casual morning, good food, and escape from the chaos for a few hours was just what I needed.

3.  I'm thankful to Scott for being more than accomodating for my escape and encouraging me to stay as long as I wanted to.

4.  That in the last 24 hours we've started to see some interest in our house.  =)  However serious it might be, I don't know.  Just happy & thankful that people want to see it.

5.  To have my husband home.  Scott is home and done with out of town trips for a long time. 

6.  Meet The Robinsons DVD.  This has saved me many times in the last week-in-half while I've been in "let's get this house clean & show-ready" mode.

daily gratitude four

1.  play days @ the church.  The kids get to run & play and I get to enjoy good conversation & laughter.

2.  big smiles and suffocating hugs at school pick-up.  Conner always yells "mommy!" and comes running towards me at full force.  One of these days he is going to knock the both of us over (or some poor kid).  It's good to feel loved.

3.  hot chocolate.  Hot chocolate season has begun in a big way -- a mug at night, sometimes a mug in the morning.  Top with a heavy dousing of whipped cream and call it good.

chaos

One of my favorite parts of the day is hearing Conner's report of the day at school.  Particularly when he shares with me what they learned in art, science, or social studies that day.  It's just so cool to see him learning new things about the world -- to see him learning about things that exist outside of the bubble of our home and little town.  We've gone through maps & globes, learning the names of all the continents and oceans, and he gave me a lesson about latitude & longitude, the equator, and the earth's rotation.

When they were learning about Vincent Van Gogh and other artists Conner informed us at the dinner table:  "You don't become famous until you are dead."

He was very excited during their "Ice Age" discussion, telling us about Cro-Magnon man, and made us replicas of the cave drawings he had to leave at school.

This week he came home all excited about social studies once again.  The topic was "Chaos".  Okay.  Isn't this kid in first grade?  At first it seemed to me that this concept might be a bit above a 6-7 year old.  But he seemed pretty confident with the material and went on to tell me all about it. 

First, he tried to tell me that they learned about "chaos and ____" but he couldn't remember the other word.  I tried to help him with a few suggestions -- "order", maybe -- but I was very wrong.  Much, much later in the day when Conner was taking a shower (his new favorite thing) I popped into the bathroom.  Out of the silence of the shower stall he said (obviously, to himself), "oh!  that's it! {giggle}  I've got it.  It's civilization!"

Now, let's back up and think about this for a minute.  Good on the kid for finally remembering the other word.  But, isn't it a little strange that during his shower, this six-year-old's mind would linger for any amount of time on . . . chaos and civilization?

Back to the story.  Once he got the terminology straight he went on to tell me:  "The Cro-Magnon man lived in chaos.  They were looking everywhere for food and couldn't find it.  Then when they found where to get food they formed a civilization."  Pretty straight-forward, I guess.

Today on the way home from school he told me all about a boy in his class that was being bad.  "That boy lives in chaos.  I don't want to live in chaos.  I want to live in civilization.  Choosing the right and civilization is a thumbs up.  Satan's teachings are a thumbs down.  We want a thumbs up." 

Well, we can give a thumbs up to his teacher for an effective lesson plan that has obviously stuck in this boy's mind.  And we'll also give a thumbs up to the Primary Presidency for their "thumbs up / thumbs down" sharing time a few weeks ago.

more from the dinner table:  "Today we were coloring in the fertile crescent on our papers.  It's by the Tigres River and the Euphrates River.  It's a place that's great for plants to grow.  Cro-Magnon man discovered the fertile crescent and stopped hunting for food.  They stopped going to chaos and now they're in civilization.  6,000 years ago there was chaos in all the earth."

As this conversation continued I started to wonder just how far back the teacher was planning to go -- the beginning of the world, the first man, etc.  So I asked Conner, "Does your teacher say that Cro-Magnon man was the first man on the earth?"  He replied, "No.  Adam was the first man."  {like, hello mom}. I was glad that he came back with that answer so quick. We then had a little talk about how sometimes your teacher might teach you things in school that we don't think are true and that the scriptures and Heavenly Father will let us know what is true.  Then he said, "I don't think that Cro-Magnon man was real.  I think it's just a fun thing to teach." 

wanna buy our house?

it's pretty cute.  And amazingly clean.  Seriously, this house has never been so clean -- not even for parties, or baby showers, or Bunco.  You really should come over and see it.  But please call first so I can do a quick wipe down of the toilets (I am the mother to two boys).

Ahh, it's bittersweet.  Putting our house up for sale.  We have loved this place for the last 5 1/2 years -- the floor plan is so open and we have so many windows to bring in natural light, there are no neighbors behind us, it's a quiet culdesac, our backyard is just wonderful . . . Yet, we need more space.  Or rather, we want more space.  But it's also a need-thing as we are planning for our future  1652 square feet with 3 bedrooms has been great for a long time.  But I can already start to feel the space shrinking around me as those kids keep getting bigger. I don't think I gave them permission to do that.

It has been a stressful few days -- trying to accomplish everything on our realtor's to-do list, de-cluttering in a big way, major cleaning, and removing myself from the house today for 4 hours (not to mention I was without a vehicle for half of that time).  But that stuff is over now, and I can relax again in my very clean house. 

In this cleaning out process Scott and I have each had to make sacrifices in order to prepare the house for showing.  Scott's beloved love-sac is sitting in the garage, all wrapped up in plastic.  His sad, puppy dog face will tell you exactly how he feels about that.  And I . . . . well, I had to pack up my scrapbook desk. {sob}  It was a strange feeling packing everything into boxes, knowing that I may not see it for a few months.  It really felt like I was saying good-bye to a good friend.  Luckily the creative juices hit me the night before (not knowing I would have to pack it up the next day) and I created a layout after a 2 month drought.  AND for some unknown reason I even took a picture of the process.

The weirdest moment of the last few days was when I saw the for-sale sign staked in our yard for the first time.  I have to admit that it pulled on my heart a bit -- and I was kind of surprised by it.  But really, this is all happy good stuff.  We toured several homes in the area and spotted a few that would fit out needs very well.  As for the kids, they think moving is a great idea.  For the longest time Conner has been asking if we could move or buy a new house.  I'm not quite sure what's wrong with this one.  Payton is full of questions right now.  He wants to know when we're moving, what stuff we're taking with us, what things are staying, and on and on.

Bottom-line . . . .

We're excited for this new adventure; realistic in the sense that it might take some time; hopeful that we will find some place new we love just as much; calmed by the fact we're not in a huge hurry -- we don't have to move this minute.; and willing to put it in the Lord's hands.  Let's see what he has in store for us.

***********************

daily gratitude three

1. a friend who is willing to accept my random request for shelter.

2. the toddler girls 60% off clearance rack at Fred Meyer. 

3. remembering to slow down today & just watch/observe the kids play happily in the backyard.