ugh

I know, I know, I am totally out of date here. It amazes me how much more there is to do here than there was at the old place. I have a bigger house, that still isn't fully unpacked, a more intensive yard that had way too many flower gardens that need some desperate help. (if anyone likes to do landscape design, I could use some pointers) I also have a very cute and adorable toddler that has kept me on my toes as well as the other girls that are running around everywhere.

So I am asked constantly if I still like the house. My constant answer is that I LOVE IT!!! It's so nice to have a space that is our own, we can do projects to improve it (and there are a bunch we are working on) and we aren't thinking "we will be moving soon, so don't get too comfortable." I don't have pics yet, sorry, I will try to find the camera again and time again to do it. My favorite thing is that while we were painting trying to get ready to move in, I had a niece working on the floor boards while I was doing walls in another room. She got a phone call and stepped away for a few min. When she came back she was shocked to see that Jez had taken the liberty to add her own art to the walls. My niece was so worried and sad that it had happened, but I just laughed and thought it was cute. It's still on the wall, just hidden behind the couch. I do show it to just about everyone that comes in. We have been building shelves, railings, and trying to figure out other stuff that needs to be done and in what order.

One of the best things about this house is the neighbors. In our old house we had two kids next door that were older than my girls, but they played together anyway, and that was about it. Here we have a family next door with 5 kids close to or the same age as all the girls. On the other side 2 houses over we have another GREAT friend for Dai. Within a block from our house there are about 20 kids. There are days that they just play leap frog from one house to the next and I'm not worried about them because they are all good kids. Jez on the other had has kept me worried. With all the kids running from house to house, they hadn't figured out that the doors needed to stay closed to keep babies in. One day I was making dinner and had JJ next to me, and the kids came through like a whirl wind. After the reminder they closed the door and JJ went to go play with them up stairs. Some of the kids wanted to run outside and forgot to close the door. About 20 min later I realized that all the kids were here, the door was open and no one knew where JJ was. I instantly ran outside with her nowhere in our yard. Luckily some ward members had found her about a block away at a 4-way stop and started canvasing the area to find out who she belonged to. They came up to us and I ran straight to her, completely embarrassed and scared. I thanked them and vowed that I would keep an eye on here from
then on. Whoops, she kept sneaking out because the girls weren't keeping the door closed (darn that nice weather). Luckily she has learned her boundaries, and doesn't go past our yard on the east side, and doesn't go past the neighbors yard on the west (they have a really fun play set and the other two are usually there when she starts going that way). Now she just wanders around the back yard where we have all the fun stuff, and Avi and Dai actually keep a really close eye on her when she is out there with them.

This summer is interesting. Avi and Dai think they have to constantly fight. They will even fight that they are agreeing on the same thing. I don't know how to get them to chill out, it is always such stupid stuff they are fighting about and it doesn't make sense to me. I just count myself lucky that there are always so many kids around that they don't fight as much. We have been doing the library reading program that is so awesome. We also have 7-Peaks passes that we have been using like crazy! We go at least once a week. JJ loves the slides and because she does that is one of the best words she says. Dai loves going on the big slides alone, and Avi is still being a little extra cautious about them. Each time we go she tries something new and realizes that she does like it and it isn't scary. JJ just figured out how to have a lot of fun in the water. She likes jumping in and going under the water, she is fearless!

Yesterday was a little milestone for us. Nathan and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary. We are so unromantic and claimed our house as our gift to each other, and just went for ice cream as a family. I can't believe that we are so OLD! I know not as old as many of you, but it is so weird to us that it has been 10 years, and it feels like we just got married.

I will see what I can do about pictures, but if you haven't seen my house yet, you are more than welcome to stop by and say hi. It is rarely presentable, but oh well.