moving

What a whirlwind April has been - I can't believe it's almost May!  There have been many, many hours spent working on the house to get it ready for the house movers.  We moved out one week ago, and I was more than ready when the time came.  The last several days of living there were getting pretty challenging due to all the digging that was done around the house.  The day I packed the camper was cold and rainy, and I had the privilege of making several trips through the dirt as my only way in and out of the house was through the garage, and that concrete had been torn out a few days before.  :)  We've been in my parent's house for this past week, and will be moving to a campground probably this coming weekend - Friday is the soonest we can get in there, and we'll just see what the weather forecast is before we make the transition.  :)  It's been a little rough with the kids as Mike has been spending any extra time he has over at the house, but hopefully that will lighten up soon.  There will still be some things for him to do, but it's been such a big push the last few weeks to get things ready for the house movers (who came today).

In between all that we did manage to celebrate my birthday.  My boys gave me a beautiful new watch, and a cool plaque with a verse on it.  We celebrated that weekend before thinking we were going to be moving the day of my birthday, but then that got pushed back.  So, instead of having to get moved that day, the boys and I just had FUN.  Went out to donuts with a friend in the morning, and then of course brought some to Mike at work, lunch with my parents at Pizza Ranch, and it was a gorgeous day so I just sat out and enjoyed the sun for the afternoon.  The next couple days after that I helped out at a garage sale that some girls at church were doing, that was interesting and a lot of fun.  The boys had fun playing with friends, and really did pretty well.  Between what I sold and what I bought (found some great clothes for the boys!), I broke even.  :)  Oh yeah, earlier in the week Caleb and Logan went to Kindergarten Round-up at their school and had a lot of fun.  They were able to meet some of the other kids that will be in their class and spend some time with their teacher.  I enjoyed meeting some of the other parents, and we had a little time with the teacher as well to ask questions and such.  Cannot believe I will have two Kindergartner's in the fall!!

It's been nice and peaceful in the house here as the boys have been playing outside since lunchtime...Ahhhhhh......  :)

gone!

The tooth is finally gone!  We were on our way home from the gym/groceries (in the driveway, in fact) when Logan said something about chipping his tooth or something.  I looked back and there was a hole in his mouth!  We were very excited, so I quickly parked the van, and then we had to search a minute for the tooth.  Thankfully we found it.  :)

K

Last week Caleb and Logan had Kindergarten screening with their teacher (now that we've decided where they'll go to school).  Caleb got himself in a funk right beforehand, and I pretty much had to shove him in the door, but apparently they've decided they'll still take him! :) Talked to the teacher yesterday, and a couple interesting things she said was that they both counted the highest of any of the kids - they both made it to 43 (she met with them separately, by the way).  Also, between the two of them they know when their birthday is - one knew November, and the other knew 29.  :)  Not a big surprise, we should work a little on lower-case letters.  I've noticed for a while that they don't know those like they should.

Logan STILL hasn't lost that tooth yet.  It's getting all pushed to the side and skeehawed from the tooth coming in, but it's not coming out.

Levi has not yet gotten back to where he was in the underwear wearing area.  Can't believe he was doing good for like a month, and now he's been back in pull-ups for a while!  And lately he's been crying wolf alot lately about having to pee.  Sometimes he insists he has to go, gets all set at the toilet, and then says, "Actually, I don't."  And most of the other time he just doesn't care and goes in his pull-up.  Doesn't make sense!  (What DOES make sense with an almost three-year-old??)  Thankfully, he's still good with #2.

cultured

The boys are watching The Sound of Music for the first time, and for the most part are enjoying it.  :)  They get a little antsy during some of the slower parts, but otherwise they are halfway through the movie and are still into it!

Mike and I are going to see The Phantom of the Opera on Saturday, and I cannot wait!  I just told the boys about it the other day and they're a little bummed that they aren't going, as they're huge Phantom fans, but I promised when they're older we'll take them.  :)

wrap up

Now that I've procrastinated a couple weeks, let's see if I can summarize the last several days of our trip!

On the 15th we drove from Albuquerque, NM to Amarillo, TX.  We had just a little time to spend driving through Palo Duro Canyon.  We had hoped to spend the night there and have a little more time to explore, but it was full.  :(  The boys had been looking forward to sleeping where Indians used to sleep, and they don't handle a change in plans real well!

On the 16th we drove from Amarillo, TX, to Wichita, KS.  I can't remember if it was this day or the day before that we got pulled over for speeding.  Oops!  Surprisingly, the officer let us go with just a warning.  The boys were watching a movie the whole time and didn't even realize what was going on.  Levi came up and asked why we were stopped, we told him to look out the back window, and then he tried to tell Caleb and Logan there was a police car back there, but they were too focused on the tv.  Oh brother.  When we got to Wichita it was windy and hot!  That evening we went out for burgers and ice cream to celebrate my dad's birthday.

The 17th we spent the whole day at the Sedgwick County Zoo in Wichita.  Not the greatest weather (it cooled down SIGNIFICANTLY from the day before and was still windy), but we had fun seeing all the animals.

The 18th we drove ALL DAY from just outside Wichita and arrived home at 9:30pm.  We had thought about breaking it down into two shorter days, but once we got going we were really anxious to get home!  Props to my hubby for the stamina to keep going.  :)  We had a GREAT vacation, but it was so nice to get home and sleep in our own beds, cook in my own kitchen, do laundry in my own laundry room....

Saturday, March 14, 2015

Thursday morning we all loaded up in my parent's Yukon and headed out to Zion National Park.  I had considered nixing that part of the trip, but I'm so glad we didn't!  The scenery was breathtaking, the boys loved the long tunnel with a few cut-out windows, we enjoyed a nice lunch at the restaurant in the lodge there, and then Mike, my dad, Caleb, Logan, Levi, and I went on a nice long hike.  The hike was pretty cool - started out easy then got more challenging.  The boys did great!  And, it was really neat at the end to see the waterfall and pool.

Friday morning we hit the road for Albuquerque.  It was a bit of a drive, but as usual, the changing scenery makes it enjoyable.  For the most part the boys are still doing well in the motor home.  Certainly, there are "moments, but a lot of the time they play pretty nice, and of course it's helpful to be able to put a movie on for a while (we usually do that in the afternoon after lunch).  In Albuquerque we're at a nice campground, and our site is right near the playground - the boys are LOVING it.  There are lots of other kids around, and they've spent a lot of time playing there. 

This morning, after breakfast (a continental breakfast in the campground office!), and some playtime at the playground, we loaded into the Yukon and drove to Madrid.  It's an old ghost town that now has a bunch of fun little shops and restaurants.  Maybe not the most fun for the male contingent (especially since the minding museum was closed), but my mom and I enjoyed browsing through the shops.  We had a delicious lunch at an outdoor restaurant, and after the men and women split up, my mom and I ended up buying my first pair of cowboy boots!!  Talk about an impulse purchase...  She mentioned wanting to shop for my birthday present, I saw these boots and couldn't resist trying them on, and she convinced me to get them.  :)  This afternoon we actually sat and enjoyed the sunshine for awhile, while the boys played on the playground.  After supper and some pie (to celebrate "Pi Day), we're going to start winding down soon.

Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Yesterday morning we took off from Sedona for the Grand Canyon.  What a beautiful drive!  We stopped in Flagstaff for gas, groceries, and coffee (just the important things! :) ) We arrived at the Grand Canyon right after lunch, got a campsite, and then headed out to do some sightseeing.  We were able to catch the shuttle bus right from our campground and take it to different points around the canyon.  The boys weren't as impressed as I'd hoped, but it was still neat to see.  :)  I think they enjoyed riding the bus more!

This morning we did some more sightseeing at different points around the canyon.  The anxiety level was a little high as some areas don't have good fencing...three little boys, plus the Grand Canyon...yikes!  After lunch in the motorhome in the parking lot, we hit the road and made it to Page, AZ, early this evening.  Supper at a local burger joint, Slackers, and now we're winding down for the evening.