we moved

We moved into our house, YAY! Its big. And even though I should be unpacking boxes, we got our internet back today so I have to write. So much has gone on this weekend, I don't even know where to start. So I guess I'll just keep it simple and say that we moved, I helped cater a wedding and bought a washer and dryer in the past three days. The wedding was beautiful, the house is a mess (boxes everywhere) and the washer and dryer are coming tomorrow. We got the whirlpool duet system. 15 years ago if I thought I would be THIS excited about home appliances I would slap myself silly. But I am. I can't wait. I may actually do laundry, happily, instead of letting all of our clothes run out and having to throw something in at midnight so there is something to wear the next day. And the best part is, the dryer dries in 30 minutes. Maybe it won't take all week to get the laundry done, just to have 15 more loads waiting to be washed.

So far the house has met our expectations. There is actually less fighting when the boys have some space to breathe away from each other. Of course we have only been here for two days. But I am hopeful. My only complaint about the house is that the dining area is on carpet. With the amount of spills that happen in our house, that carpet will be thrashed in 2.4 days, tops. But, who cares? They are kids. They spill. We will take that carpet out someday anyway. (And when I say "someday" I mean when pigs fly because that will be about the time we will be able to afford it.)

So, life is good. We are in a home that better suits the needs of our family. Our old home is currently in escrow and everything seems to be going well on that front. And we are healthy and so are the boys. Next week I take the boys on our annual summer trip to the cabin in Cedar City UT thanks to the generosity of a dear friend (thanks Shannon) and we can spend a week getting dirty and swinging on the tire swing, and playing in the river cave. I can't wait.

Photos coming soon (I can't remember where I packed the camera).

toddler wishes and tantrum dreams

What is reasonable behavior for a four-year-old? If you give him a piece of toast, with butter that has melted into the bread, because its toast, and its hot; is it normal that he immediately starts screaming that he needs MORE butter? He apparently needs to be able to SEE the butter, unmelted and thick and disgusting in order for it to be appetizing. I tell him over and over that there is, in fact, butter on his toast but he is unconvinced. The next 7 minutes of my life are filled with so much drama you would think he had suffered a severed toe. Is this normal? How can a four-year-old get just as upset over butter as he might get over suffering a major injury. Then I wonder, is it just manipulation? Have I taught my kid that if he cries loud and long enough he will eventually get what he wants? I guess the obvious answer is yes because as soon as I let him add a tiny bit of butter to his toast, he was miraculously cured. How do they do it? I am supposed to be the older and wiser of the two of us. Yet, he is the one that is able to get what he wants almost all of the time. Sometimes I wish that if I cried loud and long enough, I could manipulate my kids into doing what I want. Will screaming and throwing a tantrum get them to unload the dishwasher for me, or get them to make their beds? I doubt it. But I guess that is parenting. As much as I want to throw myself on the floor and act like a toddler out of control, I can't. I have to "model" appropriate behavior; stinkin' parenting classes, ugh.

moving day

I'm moving on Saturday. It's a bit surreal. According to Google maps, we are moving our family a whopping 0.3 miles, if you drive. As the crow flies, we're talking about 400 feet. After living in our condo for close to seven years, and always anxious to get out of this neighborhood and into something bigger, we are moving; 400 feet. We are getting into something bigger, much bigger in fact. As far as getting out of the neighborhood . . . not so much. But, apparently the thing we thought we always wanted, a giant yard, turned out to be not all that important in the end. We still won't have a yard, which we were sure was the only way to teach our kids how to work. For some reason, in our minds, mowing the lawn was the only way our kids were going to develop any kind of work ethic. But when we found our new place, horticulture kind of flew out the window. The house is full of oak built ins, which are in desperate need of polishing; often. And, with 3000 square feet of living space comes, lots of walls, that will need to be painted; often. Wax on, wax off, jacob/elijah/spencer-san. I have no idea how many times I am going to change my mind about what color I will want my walls. They will be pro painters by the time we are done decorating the house. I guess I have come to terms with the fact that, as much as I hate to admit it, SoCal is becoming more and more urban, which means homes are built bigger on smaller lots, without yards. So I embrace it. In our giant garage, our boys will build and fix stuff. They will lift weights. They will play basketball in the driveway. When we need grass, we will go to one of the many beautiful parks within a 3 mile radius. They will grow and thrive, and they will do it in their own space and not under my feet 24 hours a day. I can't wait.