The Million Dollar Quartet

Matt and I recently attended the musical The Million Dollar Quartet. It is the story of one night in 1955, when the owner of Sun Records had Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis together at the studio. Sun Records was the label that started the careers for these four men. It was fun, well done and interesting. The actors were incredibly talented musicians. They were not faking the music. They sounded a lot like the famous men they were portraying. I would recommend going to see it if it comes to a city near you. Any way, we had 4 tickets so we invited a young couple in our ward to go with us. After the show, the young man with us said, "was that your generation of music?" What??? Did you miss the whole 1955 thing? How old do you think we are? Matt kind of laughed and said no, we are more of the '80's and 90's generation of music. So, I realize that we were teenagers in the decade that these people were born. We seem really old to them because we have teenage kids and have been married for a long time compared to their 2 years, but really?

Toilet Trouble

Waverly has been totally traumatized by the toilets here. The lids fall down when you put the seat down, smashing fingers. She has had her thumb smashed and cut twice so far and it has been just too much for her. Now she is afraid to go potty, insists that I go with her to hold the seat up. I have to drag her in there crying and place her on the pot. I am glad that she is not new to potty training because I am sure this would be a huge set back. I am hoping it is short lived and maybe those boys will put the seats down! Poor Princess.

Home Sweet Home

The big move finally happened! We were delayed in closing for a week because the bank paper work was not completed in time. We were very frustrated as we had everything set to go and had to rearrange several things for the new date. But, that week did fly by and we did move in! We closed on Wednesday morning, did not get the key until nearly 5:00 so no truck loads were taken to the house. We did decide to sleep in sleeping bags that first night. Matt and I did bring air mattresses, way to old to sleep on the floor! It was fun. The house was so nice and clean and empty! Matt stayed home from work Thursday and Friday so we got right to work. Several ladies came with trucks to help move things from the small house to the big house. We got all the little stuff out before we got the moving truck on Friday morning. We were so worn out! Friday we got the big truck and headed to the storage unit and started there. We made a trip to Lowes for blinds and did some work at the house. We had requested help from the ward around 6:30 that night. I left to go buy dinner and only one man had arrived. I was a little worried because there is no way we could have done this without more help. When I got back to the little house, there were cars and trucks lining the street and the house was empty of furniture and full of people. It was overwhelming to me to see all those people there to help us. They then headed to the storage unit to get the rest of the stuff and then to the house for the unloading. It was all done in about 3 hours. There is minor damage to the walls up the stairways from the sofa bed but nothing we can't easily repair. Now everything we own (which I am sure is way more junk then we need) is safely under one roof. I have been working endlessly to get things organized. I am almost there! I need to work on Declan and Cannon's bedroom and then some of Madsen and Sully's. They should do it on their own but they are not being very cooperative. Making me crazy! And yes, their room already smells like boy. I guess boy smell is stronger than new house smell. Once all of the boxes that are in the house are emptied, I will start on the things in the garage. The chaos is hard on my brain. We also need to decorate for Christmas, the kids are refusing to skip it this year! I love my house. It is lovely and has so much more space then we had before. We are all looking forward to many many years here!

Single Digits

We are down to single digit days until the big move!
I am so excited I can hardly stand it. I love my house. Love it! It has been fun watching it being built. Every new bit of progress was exciting. Today the sod and landscaping was put in. It looks so pretty. We have our walk through on Friday and then we close on Wednesday. We should have the keys that afternoon and we will start moving things over. Declan asked if we can spend the night in it without stuff just once so that will be the night. We even plan to move stuff on Thanksgiving day. We might eat turkey sandwiches on paper plates.  We will probably have a delayed Thanksgiving Dinner. We have the moving truck on Friday and that will be that! I started packing the little house today but then decided it is kind of a waste of time because most of the stuff here we still use so I will wait until mext Tuesday and then I will pack. We will probably just throw stuff in boxes and drive it over to the house! I am not that concerned about packing for the giant 2 mile trip. There is still work to be done on the house. The stone on the front of the house, carpet, door knobs, garage doors and openers, screen on the porch, staining the stair rails and the porch roof, fixing all the holes in the walls, touch up painting, painting the shutters and front door, pillar and railing for the front porch, gutters... I sure hope it is actually finished by Friday! This whole house project has been a year in the making. Just about as soon as Matt got his new job, I was serious about the house. Started prepping the old house for sale, the sale of that house and the adventure of living in the little house. It seems kind of unreal that it is now just days away. Someday is finally here. There are so many things about this house that we are all looking forward to. So, this year for Thanksgiving we will all be thankful to be in the new house. For the added comfort it will be for our family. For Matt's job that made it all possible.
 I can't wait to make this house my home.

A Princess and a Pea

This morning when I woke Waverly up she asked me if beans are pokey to your body. I told her that you can't feel beans after you eat them. She asked if lots of beans would be pokey to your body.  Ok, I was a little confused, but again told her that beans won't poke you unless you eat a whole bunch. Then she said, "will they poke you under lots of mattresses?" Oh, now I get it! I asked if she meant a pea and she said , "yes, will a pea poke under lots of mattresses?"  I said, "only if you are a princess, are you a princess?"  her reply, "yes!" So I asked her if we should put a pea under her mattress to try it. She was quite shocked by that suggestion and told me " No Way! It would hurt me too much!"
She makes me smile.

Cannon's Baptism

 

 

Cannon was baptized on September 1, 2012.

This was a good day! He was so excited to be baptized. He was happy that Grandpa and Grandma Madsen made the trip out here to  join us. He was the only child in the stake being baptized so we got to plan the entire program. I think it turned out just right. Sullivan gave the talk on baptism and Madsen gave the talk on the Holy Ghost. He did cheat a little because he procrastinated and I finally gave in and found a talk I had given at Declan's baptism and let him change it just a little. Declan gave the closing prayer.  We sang I Lived in Heaven , which is Cannon's favorite Primary song.  Matt baptized and confirmed him. Because Madsen is now a Priest, he got to be a witness,  along with my dad. I thought that was pretty neat. Oh how I wish I could have taken a picture of Cannon as he entered the font. His face was beaming. He came down the steps and looked out at us with the biggest smile on his face. It melted my heart. Waverly went right up by the font to watch and as she came back she exclaimed, "that was awesome!" She was right.

Things I am Looking Forward To

Let me start by saying I am very grateful that we get to live in this house while ours is being built. It solved many problems for us and is much more comfortable than an apartment would have been. We are very grateful! However, it is small. We are so squished. There is stuff everywhere and no where to put it. I am so ready for the new house! I have a running list of things I am looking forward to about the new house. Everyday it seems like something happens that makes me think of something I am anxiously waiting for. 1. SPACE! 2. Waverly to have her own room again, she is not doing so well with roommates! 3. SPACE! 4. My screened porch: reading books, naps, relaxing with my husband... 5. Pulls on the cabinets 6. Soft, new carpet and nice hardwood floors. 7. SPACE! 8. Kitchen island 9. 3rd floor for the boys to hang out in 10. Having my books back. I miss my books. 11. A yard to work in and play in 12. A quiet neighborhood 13. A place for everything so everything can be in its place 14. SPACE! 15. 3 garages, at least 2 cars will be parked in them! 16. Most of all, SPACE! There are many things that I am looking forward to. Mostly just having enough space for my family. I think we will like each other a little better. It is hard being in this little house. The house is coming along. They should be painting the exterior any day now. All the electric, plumbing, heating and a/c lines are in. We are waiting on inspections so they can do the insulation and dry wall. Oh, how we hope it will happen soon and they can get to work on all that inside stuff.

Then and Now

July, 2004
This is our family when we  moved to NC.

 

June, 2012, This is us moving out of the house. A lot has changed in 8 years. Good bye, little house.Thank you for the memories.  

How Many Miracles?

There have been many prayers answered in the form of miracles for our family this spring. The builder starting the house before ours sold, the house selling on time anyway, Declan getting into Apex Middle... There is one more mini miracle on my mind right now. But I kind of feel guilty to even ask, kind of like I am pushing my luck or not being grateful for the blessings we received because I keep asking for more. So I have been thinking, is there a finite number of miracles or answered prayers or special blessings for a person or a family? Is that number over a life time or just a little bit of time? I often hear statements like if I can just have such and such happen, I will never ask for anything again. I have decided that that is an impossibility. No matter how many blessings, answered prayers, miracles I receive, there will always be something else I need divine help with. I will never run out of things to ask for. So I hope He will never run out of blessing or miracles for me. Throughout the adventures of the spring, I focused my prayers on the house and Declan getting into the right school. I wanted Cannon to get into a different school too, but figured I could deal with his same old school for one more year, I just really NEEDED the other things to happen. And they did. And we witnessed miracles. And we are so very grateful for the way things have turned out. We are now down to the final days of the school wait list. Final assignments will be posted on Friday. Cannon is #2 to get into Baucom Elementary which is just a couple of miles away from the house, lots of church kids go there, he could just ride a bus home! I want him to get into this school. I also just discovered that the bell schedule for Farmington Woods, where he currently attends, is changing to a start time of 9:15, end time of 3:45. That will make for 3 rounds of getting kids up and out and he won't get home until around 4:30 which will start to be pick up time for high school practices and cross country race time. This new information makes me really really hope he gets in. I just need 2 more open spots. Is that too much to ask?

Things I Wish I Had

Right now we have the majority of our belongings in storage while we live in our little rental house waiting for our house to be built.I brought mostly just necessities with us. One of my friends who is in a similar situation told me that she guesses we will go to storage 20 times looking for things we need. So far we have been here 2 weeks and have not gone at all. I have discovered a few things I wish I had... Bread pans, spare towels, spare pillows, blankets, more board games. I will not go to storage for any of these. When I decide I really need them, I will just go buy new ones. Except maybe the blankets, but I am hoping we will be in the house before it is blanket weather.

Tears Today

I am feeling a bit emotional today while packing up the house. We will move out on Wednesday. I will clean on Thursday. We close on Friday. Very soon I will walk out of this house, lock the door and never go in it again. Weird. I do wish we were moving straight into the new house. That would be exciting. This temporary move is not much fun. Delayed gratification. I keep finding myself on the verge of tears as I see empty cabinets and shelves and rooms. We have been very happy here in this little house. Many good memories of good things happening to our family. I guess that is what I am thinking about. Not about how we have way outgrown the space. Not the no grass in the backyard. Not the tiny kitchen with counters that need replaced. Not the walls that need repainting. Not how it makes me crazy that there is no where to go to escape the noise of 5 kids in less than 2,000 square feet. I am sure glad we are not moving away from my town, my ward, my friends. Then the tears would be legitimate.

We All Have Work...

We are down to just a few more days in this house. It is kind of bitter sweet. I have been wanting out of this house for several years. Praying desperately for this to happen. We were so excited to have the house sell. I kept thinking the excitement over it would erase the hard work. I was wrong. It is hard work packing up a house for a family of seven. We spent all day Saturday cleaning out and packing up the garage. We are storing stuff in the basement of a friends house so we made several trips with the van and their truck loaded up. The garage is all away. Today the boys helped move all the stuff from the attic to the garage and then we made 2 van loaded up trips to the basement. It is pretty impressive how much I can get in the van. My goal for the week is to have everything we plan to store in the basement IN the basement and all the other stuff we will take to the rental boxed up. We can start moving to the rental on the 26 so the 27th will be big moving day and then we will clean the empty house on the 28th with the closing to happen on the 29th. And that is it. Eight years in this house. Way longer than we thought it would be. We have been very happy here. I am so glad we are not moving far away. We brought two babies home to this house. My boys have gone from little boys (Madsen turned 8 here, Sully was 6, Declan 3) to fine young men. We have had a lot of fun in the cul-de-sac and big back yard. We have really great neighbors. There are a lot of memories wrapped up in this little house. We were so excited to buy it. It seemed so big and nice and new. Now it seems so small and old. I hope the new people are as excited as we were. Now we will live in the house of some friends for a few months while the real house is being built. We are so grateful for their kindness. I so look forward to my new house. It is a nice house, more than I ever really thought I would get to have but everything I have hoped for. It will be nice to have a little breathing room. We will get used to no cul-de-sac and neighbors all around. We will have new adventures and new memories in the new house. But NO new babies! We will watch the kids grow up and leave home. I hope it is the last house I ever buy. The boys are being such good helpers. It is not fun. The boxes are heavy. It is hot outside. They do not like to wash walls and baseboards and windows. I like having my own personal cleaning and moving crew. It will take all of us to make this happen. I will be glad when it is finished and we can rest for a little while. Then we get to do it all over again! kind of sorry for the long post. I guess I was just writing all the things in my head down. You did not have to read it all!

We made it

Yesterday was the last day of school. We survived another year of it all, homework, tests, projects, recess, girls, friends... oh the fun! The boys all did really well, again. I am grateful to have good smart kids who try hard and are pleasant students. Each year I am amazed at how quickly the time flies by. In August it seems like FOREVER before the year will end. But in the blink of an eye November is there and we fly through the Holidays. Then the school year is half over and we have spring weather to look forward to! Before we know it, it is June and we look back and think how fast that year happened. This was a successful year for all the boys. Every year that passes with my kids still getting good grades and having friends and being good respectful students and children counts as success in my book. Next year we will have a Junior, a Freshman a sixth grader and a third grader. Four kids, four schools. They aren't so little any more. Well done boys, we are proud of you!

Elder Holland

We had the privilege of having Elder Holland at a special Stake conference today. Madsen and Sully were at the church at 8:00 this morning to save seats for a meeting that started at 10:00 and we were in the first row of the cultural hall! It was a really neat experience to be able to hear one of the apostles speak to us. He is funny and wise and kind. He speaks with such power and authority. When he started to bear testimony it was very quiet for a room full of people. The spirit was so strong. He talked about the challenges of growth that the church has, but that it is a good challenge. He talked about the early apostles and the challenges they faced after Christ was gone. He talked about the man who was crippled and for years went to the temple to beg and how he was healed by Peter. He spoke of the man who was blind and Christ healed him and he said, I don't know much, but this I know. I was blind and now I see. His point was that we cannot deny the evidence of the gospel. I loved it when he spoke of the crippled man and read all the verbs in the story. How this man went leaping and running and praising and singing. He said, "he hasn't had a verb in forty years. He can have all verbs he wants for a few days." Made me giggle. And I tell you, after being there today I feel full of verbs. I want to leap and run and dance and sing praises. It was truly a spiritual feast. At the end he pronounced blessings upon all of us. It was very moving. He spoke of those who need physical healings and said "this is as if I had my hands upon your head. This is your blessing." He blessed those with spiritual struggles and temporal struggles and those going through hard times. He said, "our children grow up mostly in enemy territory these days. I promise that if they stay with the gospel they will be safe." What a promise form a servant of God. We were able to shake his hand as he left. I told him that my parents were missionaries in Chile when he was there. He smiled and asked their names so I told him and he got a big smile on his face and said, "oh of course! Tell them I say hi." It is a rare experience to be taught at the feet of an apostle. I am so grateful that we were able to be there. That my children could shake his hand and hear his testimony in person. Elder Holland has long been one of my favorites. Now he is even more.

He is in!

I got a letter from the Student Assignment office today, here is what it says, "The staff in the office of student assignment has considered your transfer request for Declan to attend Apex Middle. We are happy to inform you that your request has been approved. This is Declan's school assignment for the entire 2012-2013 school year." I am so relieved! I guess the letter I got yesterday saying it was declined is the standard letter everyone gets. It was dated the 28, todays is dated 5/30. Now I need to contact AMS and schedule a time for registration and course selection. And I will take his name off the wait list so another parent can get good news too.

School News, maybe

Last night the father of a boy in Declan's class who has the same screwed up school situation as us, called and asked if I had checked the assignment web site lately. I told him no and he said I just might want to because theirs now says Apex Middle. So I checked and sure enough, Declan's assignment now says Apex Middle. But there is a sentence that says, "all of the schools that you ranked were above capacity. You were placed at a school within your proximity and are on the wait list for your first choice. Please call the assignment office for more information." Apex Middle is my first choice and he was #10 on the wait list. I called and left a message for my assignment office lady asking if he is indeed now assigned to Apex. I have not heard back yet. This would be such good news! I am believing he now gets to go to Apex Middle. I also received my letter from the student assignment office telling me that my request for transfer has been denied and I can appeal if I would like. I am not very surprised by this. I am hoping it is a moot point. This news will make this one good week! Now if I can just find a place to live for the next few months...

Hurray!

Our house is under contract! After a week of frustrating counter offers, the buyer came up to a price we are mostly comfortable with. I am so excited. Glad to have this huge weight off my shoulders. Glad to not have to show my house any more. Glad to be able to move forward. Glad to have the new house even more of a reality than before! They have until June 18 to do inspection, appraisal, finalize funding etc. Then the settlement date is June 29. One month. That is what I have to pack up my house and find somewhere for my family to live until the new house is completed. I better get to work! I hope this all goes through without any problems. I do not need any surprises at the inspection. I do not need to find out they can not get financing. I am remaining faithful. I went to the builder this morning and for the first time that drive felt more real than all the months of dreaming. We need to do all the design center choosing and then sit with the builder man and go over the plans in detail before they start building. They have the permit in hand. Hopefully, we can get over there this week. The sooner the better! We are very excited. I hope the new people will be good neighbors to my friends. I hope they will be happy in my house.

House Dreams

Anyone who knows me knows that we have had our house for sale for a couple of months. We had a 60 day contingency plan with the builder of the new house that was to expire on June 1. Last week I was mentally preparing myself for the disappointment of loosing my lot in the neighborhood and having to make up a plan B. Then we got an email from the builder telling us to come pick out exterior paint, window and shingle colors. They are starting to build. The builder wants to finish the neighborhood so they are building all the houses that were waiting. We now have until the new house is completed to sell our current house and they plan to break ground on the new house next week! We are so excited. Now we know we will get our house and it may mean fewer months in a rental. There are about a billion, give or take, color options. But, we can't be too similar to the houses right next to us or directly across the street. That means no blue for us which is ok with me. We both really like a nice deep, dark red but worry about fading. I have marked no less than 20 colors so far. The new house should be completed in November, maybe in time for Thanksgiving, anyone want to come to our house for the holidays? This is the link to the new house video tour if you want to look! I love the master bedroom colors and decor. I plan to copy it. http://www.vrguild.net/c/star.pl?U=1108161620023979

Each Peach Pear Plum

I have been reading a book from my childhood to Waverly lately. I actually have had it memorized for years!  It is an I spy book so you look for a person on each page... It goes like this: Each peach pear plum, I spy Tom Thumb. Tom Thumb in the cupboard, I spy Mother Hubbard. Mother Hubbard down the cellar, I spy Cinderella. Cinderlla on the stairs, I spy the three bears. Three bears out hunting, I spy Baby Bunting. Baby  Bunting fast asleep, I spy Bo Peep. Bo Peep up the hill, I spy Jack and Jill. Jack and Jill in the ditch, I spy the Wicked Witch. Wicked Witch over the wood, I spy Robin Hood. Robin Hood in his den, I spy the Bears again. Three Bears still hunting, they spy Baby Bunting. Baby Bunting safe and dry, I  spy plum pie. Plum pie in the sun, I spy EVERYONE! It is one of her new favorites. Now she calls me Mother Hubbard. 

Twirling in her Easter dress.
 

Total Failure and Heart Break

Cannon very excitedly lost a tooth yesterday afternoon. He ran from the bus to the car to show me his dangling tooth. He was worried about having to eat fried chicken for dinner with that yucky thing. I told him I was sure it would be out before dinner. Not a second later did he proudly announce that it was out! So exciting! For the record- I HATE loose and lost teeth. It totally grosses me out.

He went right to his room and found his tooth saver box and put it under his pillow. He told everyone about that tooth, even brought it back out to show dad.

You can see where this is going...

I had a friend from Colorado visiting for dinner, we had soccer and wrestling and adventures. We finally got everyone to bed. I remembered the tooth when we were heading to bed, however, Cannon was still awake when I went to bed. I thought I would have to get up with Waverly a couple of times during the night and the Tooth Fairy would make the exchange at that point. I thought wrong.

Matt went to wake the boys up this morning and found Cannon sitting up in his bed staring with sad big brown eyes at the tooth saver box complete with tooth and no money. OOPS!

He slowly came down for breakfast, slowly ate his food, slowly got ready for school. His heart was broken.

I felt so bad. I do hate to disappoint the boy like that. The Tooth Fairy arrived while he was at school and I was at the dance recital. She even left double the money to make up for being late. I hope he will forgive her.

On a side note, I do not think I will be sad when all the kids discover the true identity of the Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny and even Santa Claus. I have been doing this for a lot of years. The novelty has kind of warn off. Poor Waverly.

It only took 15.5 years!

It finally happened, the event and phone call I have been waiting for pretty much since the day Madsen became mobile. He broke a bone. His let wrist practicing a new throw move at wrestling practice.

Coach Armfield called to tell me about it and ask if I would please come pick him up.

I am such a good mom that the first thing in my head was can it wait til tomorrow when the doctors are open again so I don't have to go to the E.R. Fortunately the urgent care office was still open so we headed over and received not so urgent care.

He is all splinted up and we will head to the orthopaedics tomorrow for a cast.

This is the last week of wrestling so he will only miss 2 matches. Depending on the length of recovery, he may miss off season wrestling which is a bummer.

Madsen has ALWAYS been crazy with his body. I thought for sure he would be broken all the time and I would be on a first name basis with doctors all over. I am honestly amazed that this is his first real injury. And he is soaking it up, I tell you! He is sure he can't do homework or housework or pretty much anything with only one arm. I told him he is lucky it is his left wrist and if he was an amputee, he would find a way to do things with only one arm. See, Mom of the Year, I tell you!

The urgent care doctor was pretty impressed with my cool calmness. I guess you get used to these things and it was nothing to freak out over any way. I am just hoping this is the only thing that goes wrong this week while Matt is out of the country!

Rival High Schools

Friday night Madsen's cross country team received their conference champions shirts during half time of the basketball game. He got in free and I thought it would be fun to go to a game, so it was date night.

Panther Creek, Madsen's school, was playing Apex, Sully's school.

There were a lot of Apex kids in the stands. It was kind of obnoxious to have to listen to all the rival banter back and forth. This did not happen at my high school games since no one traveled the 40 plus minutes to see games.

Unfortunately, Panther Creek lost, by a lot. Apex was a much better team.

I told Matt that next year we will have to go to all the games that are PC vs. Apex. That way OUR team wins no matter what. It will be interesting to have kids attending rival high schools.

Truthfully, I think I will have a hard time cheering for Apex. Except the soccer team if Sully makes it.

And, we brought home Panther Creek pom poms that were handed out at the game. Waverly loves them. What was I thinking?

Proximity with Choice

Yesterday was the first day of school choice selection here in Wake County. The process was simple, log in, find student, choose schools. No problem. Now I just have to wait 2 months to find out what schools my kids will go to next year. It will either be the easiest possible year with 4 kids in 4 schools or a complete nightmare.

I am hoping that Cannon will get into Baucom Elementary because it is 2 miles away from home, he can ride a bus to and from school that comes into the neighborhood. It is traditional calendar, same start/end time we are used to. A lot of our church friends go to that school.

I am really hoping Declan will get into Apex Middle. This is the school Madsen and Sully went to. It is not far from home, busing to and from. A huge majority of our church friends go to this school. He is currently assigned a school that is 25 minutes away from us on the other side of a different town that we do not live in. It also feeds into a high school that is 20 minutes away from home. Totally ridiculous. I also put as my second choice Salem Middle which is close to home, a really good school, but a year round calendar. So, if this is the school he gets in, we will have 3 traditional schools and 1 year round. Yikes! We would try a transfer for this coming year and then try again next year to get him into Apex Middle. This is my biggest worry.

Madsen is staying at Panther Creek. He has had such a great experience there with friends and teams and school that I am not messing with a good thing.

Sullivan will be going to Apex High. All his friends go there and it is closer to home. We will survive 2 high schools for 2 years. I really don't think this will make much of a difference.

Now it is out of my hands. Much faith and prayers going out that Declan will get into Apex, that is the most important. I just might have to light a candle, too.

2012 in a Word

Successful. That is the word I choose for my hopes for the new year.

I hope we are successful in selling our house and buying one I love.
I hope the boys have successful school years.
I hope Sully is successful in making the middle school soccer team in the spring and the high school team in the fall.
I hope Madsen successfully gets his drivers license.
I hope Matt is successful at work.
I hope we successfully change school assignments for Declan and Cannon.
I hope I am successful in my fitness goals.
I hope we as a nation successfully elect a new President.
I hope that whatever happens this year we will successfully choose to have positive attitudes and make the best of whatever circumstance we find ourselves in.

The End

The year wrapped up with not much excitement at our house. Madsen blamed me for not having any friends and I reminded him that no one had called and invited him any where for New Year's Eve either! Sully was at a friends house. We sent Declan and Cannon and Waverly to bed around 10:00 with a sparkling juice toast. Matt, Madsen and I stayed up watching silly shows until it was time to watch the ball and acorn drop. We toasted and picked Sully up and went to bed.

2011 was a year full of ups and downs like most years. Good things happened and bad things happened. The most frightening was Matt's potential job loss which ended up with a transfer. My van transmission died. Cannon had surgery. The water heater died. We survived.

The boys had successful sports seasons. Sully's soccer season was cut short with a broken thumb. Madsen had an excellent cross country season, receiving his first varsity letter.

Madsen and Sully had "the best summer ever!" spending nearly 5 weeks in Colorado with grandparents. They loved it. Sully was not ready to come home and I think would head out again any time. Madsen was ready to be home. Declan and Cannon enjoyed the time with out those brothers!

Sully got braces on in September. The teeth that were sticking out were down in a normal position after just a couple of days. He gets the set on his bottom teeth next month. Not much fun right now, but he will love the results!

Matt started a new job in November and so did I! His is much more important. We love that we get to stay in North Carolina. He loves that his commute is now only 20 minutes. I love that his new job is close to the high school so I don't have to go up there to get Madsen after practice. Mostly I love that it will enable us to FINALLY buy a new house.

All is well that ends well. And now for the adventure of a new year.

Testing out the new camera

 

 

 

 

Since the weather was so delightful over Christmas we took a walk around the duck lake to test out the new camera. Matt loves it. Hopefully he will take lots of great pictures of the kids to make it worthwhile!

Christmas 2011

 

 

 

 

Christmas did happen at our house despite the temperatures being in the 70's. I was not complaining! We took the kids to see the Santa House in the neighborhood by the church. We do this every year. There was a lovely red BMW convertible for sale at Santa's house. Madsen tried to convince me to buy it for him. I resisted.

Apparently I did a realy bad job documenting Christmas or Matt did not move pictures from my camera to the computer. Oh well. The kids rushed through gifts before church, ignoring me telling them to choose one and wait til later. Oh well! All the boys got NFL jerseys. They were excited about those. Waverly got the prettiest dress ever and Russian nesting dolls that are, yes, pink and sparkly. The big gift was a google tv that will eventually be in the bonus room of my new house. Currently it in Madsen and Sully's room waiting for the new house!

I finally gave in and bought Matt the digital SLR camera he has been wanting for years. It was on sale for a really good price. He did not know I did it so it was a fun surprise. I told him Merry Christmas, happy Father's Day and happy birthday 2012. I will re-wrap on those occasions to remind him.

We had a good Christmas season and enjoyed the traditions of donuts and clam chowder and raviolis and countdowns and Christmas stories and reflecting on the gift of the birth of our Savior.

The Girl Turns 3

 

She was very excited about her pink presents.

 

She will be starting a dancing class soon so she got her dancing clothes and shoes.

 

She plays with the dishes at "our job" so we got some of her own.

 

Her cake was made to order. She wanted a pink square cake. It was a strawberry cake with strawberry icing and pink candles. Can you guess what her favorite color is?

Waverly was very excited about her birthday and being big and turning 3. 3! How did that happen? Whenever we asked her what she would like for her birthday and Christmas her response was always "pink sparkly presents." That is it! She is easy to please. She is so funny with the dishes. She only plays with the pink things. All the blue and white ones stay in the bag. Her dance class starts next week. I am looking forward to it and kind of anxious. I have not spent much time with groups of moms of princesses. It might be a little overwhelming!

She had a good birthday and we were happy to celebrate her. She is a joy and delight. I adore her.