OUR BUILDER GOES BANKRUPT

So, our house got this far and we get a fun call from our builders saying that they got word that morning they are going under.

They wanted to let us know before we heard it on the news and read it in the paper.

Kimball Hill Homes is pretty big in Chicago with Communites all over the burbs.

They assured us that they will still build our home since they ground has broken. Any contracts with UNBROKEN ground will not get a house. They are delivering our home 5 months pretty much from today - so we made their 6 month delivery projection.

However, there are still question marks - they have like 11 disclaimers - in the event that they can't get time from their creditors, their builders don't walk out early, their staff stays in tact, they prices negotiated on building materials, and the manufacturing companies they have contracts with don't fall through...then it will get done.

So - everything we do seems like one big leap of faith after another. Will we sell our house in this HORRIFIC housing marker? (we got REALLY lucky) Will we have enough for a downpayment ?(by the skin of our teeth we think) Will the house get done as projected? It looks like now - its a yes - keep your fingers crossed for us!

So long term - we will have LOTS of empty lots near our house, including right next door and across the street.

Kimball Hill Homes is waiting for someone to buy them out, or to buy their assets. I guess we will hold on to our seats for this roller coaster ride which is our lives! The trick is, as P. Hinckley would say, to enjoy the ride.

6 months ALREADY!!!!!

Kylianne Angel, very properly named, just turned 6 MONTHS. It feels like it should be 6 WEEKS, though. It has gone, of course, too fast already.

She is the only of our children that looks like one of her parents, in my opinion. She is the spitting image of Brian's baby pics.

She has BEAUTIFUL eyes and LONG LUSCIOUS eyelashes. (I am always glad when girls can inhereit an eyelash advantage).

She sleeps from 9:30 P.M. to 7 A.M. at night. I take it for granted sometimes, but I am LOVING this!

She is extremely good natured with all the pokings, prodings, teasings, hoverings, emotional smotherings she gets from her two other siblings. She takes it in stride and pretty much basks in the attention.

She really shows impatience if we take too long to feed her the oatmeal, greenbeans, rice, or milk. She squeals as if to say, "CHOP CHOP and get that spoon in my MOUTH!"

She is not sitting, doesn't seem interested. She does crawl. She is not superfast, but she can get across the room in about 7 minutes. Less if there is something dangerously intriguing lurking a few feet away.

We managed to break her of her finger-sucking habit, which I was worried about. We switched her over to a pacifier, which is more familiar territory for me.

She still nurses, but I pump for 5/6 of her feeding and give it to her with a bottle. Its MUCH fast for both of us, AND she likes to look around. I would much rather her look around with a BOTTLE than totally EXPOSE me in front of people!

She laughs and coos at everything we say or do.

She is extremely ticklish and loves to be tickled and lifted in the air. I do upward push ups with her for strength training. She loves it, and seeing her face is MUCH more rewarding than looking at the floor.

Tyler calls her "COWEE", Brooke calls her "Keeli" , I call her "Kyli" normally and "Kylianne" in those rare moments when she is crying, Brian calls her "Kyli" Grandpa calls her "Boo Boo."

WE feel so lucky that such a cute little soul is part of our family!

Potty Training Fiascoes

Ok, not really FIASCOES per se,
more like...things that make me laugh.

Tyler first of all has been doing awesome - and he SHOULD as I have waited so darn LONG to potty train the kid. He is 3+ - and my motivation is that he has to start preschool soon.

So, after he has some urinating vicotories, he goes to the kitchen to find Grandma Wayne (we are living with Brian's parents currently).

"Look, Grandma, its ORANGE" he ventured as he showed her his anatomy.

He pauses for a minute and adds matter of factly as he looks at his anatomy closer, "Its SMALL!!!"

Grandma and I just chuckled about the cute observations of a "potty-goer in training."

Hopefully he will keep these verbal comparison observations to a very, VERY small elite group of kin (as I share it with the blogosphere.)

FACE BOOK FAUX PAUS!

OK - so I consider myself fairly computer savvy - so how could this happen???? First of all, upon joining face book, I accidentally invited my whole address book like 4 times.

But that is not the embarrassing part…

Included in my contacts were:

Harrison Powley - my BYU 304 semi-crusty Music History teacher (probably in his mid 60s). - That probably looks REALLY bad…. (not to mention I graduated 6 years ago!)

A really creepy guy named Vic who was one of my business contacts 4 years ago. I REALLY don’t want to give any impression of RECONNECTING - YIKES!

The T.A. from my music history class from BYU- I probably have only talked with her in person about 3 times...about assignments no less. She must think I am REALLY desperate for friends!! HELLLOOOO!!!

Good Things Utah (the TV show about 1400 miles from me)

Somebody I met on a Baby Center Bulletin about 6 years ago - somehow she ended up on my contact list and I never deleted her. I probably exchanged online comments with her 3 times about diapers or something. She must ALSO think I am very hard pressed for FRIENDS! (because I am PRETTY DARN sure I made a such a big impression on her that she put me in HER contact list!)

The former Primary Chorister from my parents ward in Jacksonville, IL that no longer lives there. I probably have only talked with her about 2 times. I really have NO idea why she is on my CONTACT list…but she is probably confused as to why I invited her to face book… maybe she'll give me a highly anticipated PITY reply.

My current MORTAGE LENDER named Carol is on my CONTACT list and was invited to be friends with me 4 times on fact book. WHOOPS! I mean, she is nice and all….but I didn’t want to send her a FACEBOOK invite! Can you see how DESPERATE this might seem if you didn’t know??????

The REALTOR that we had for 4 weeks and CANCELLED our contract with because she wasn’t getting the job done got no less than FOUR INVITATIONS from me to be a friend on face book.

Some girl named Jessica that is a RECEPTIONIST at a Storage Unit Facility that we decided NOT to go with ALSO got FOUR INVITATIONS to be friends with me on my face book page - I mean REALLY!!!!

And LAST but not least, the JEWLER that we bought our wedding ring from in PROVO named Renee (male) also received the FOUR HIGHLY SOUGHT AFTER INVITATIONS from me to be a friend on face book.

If ANY of these people said YES - I think I will just DIE OF HUMILIATION!!!!!

FROM THE MOUTH OF MY BABES

Tyler: Mom, I’m a smart guy. (couldn’t say it any better myself.)
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Tyler: Every day, coming out of his nap, he opens the door, hold our both hands and puts his legs in a wide stance and proclaims, “I’M AWAKE!!!!!”
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Tyler: Approaches mom while table is being set for dinner and starts crying, “What’s wrong?” says mom. “I’M HUNGRY!” (HELLLLOOOOOO! - this happens almost every single night)
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Tyler: says to mom while his sister is at school., “Where’s my Brookie?”
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Tyler: (the following happens every night) Hearing Kylianne cry at night, I come to check on her and hear Tyler tell me, “Mom, Kyli want the TOYS!” I look in the crib at the CRYING Kylianne, and see FOUR (sometimes more) different animals on her chest.
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Tyler: Today as Kyli woke from her nap I came in to find Tyler’s very special blanket that he puts over his face at night (weird I know) alarmingly on top of Kyli’s face during her nap. Tyler had heard her crying and gave her his most prized possession in just the way HE likes it. So while it was an adorable gesture, it was also not a very safe gesture. Note to self: Handle this one carefully.


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Brooke: (referencing her teacher) “Mrs Worman is SO BEAUTIFUL?

“What makes you say that?”

Thinks for a minute, and says matter of factly, “Mmm, because she has nice clothes.”

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Brooke: Commenting while the school bus is pulling away and a little girl is waving goodbye at her, Brooke says happily, “ I sat by Grace today. She is my BEST FRIEND.”

Knowing she has a cousin in the same grade on the same bus at the very least I say, “How many best friends do you HAVE?"

Matter of Factly Brooke says, “Mmmm, about 20.”

TIRED OF FEELING POOR!!

VENT:
Sometimes I feel like we are the only ones,

but sometimes I feel SO POOR!!!

We are as middle class as they come, so why is it we have no extra money?

I feel totally strapped for money sometimes, but we are not the what the world would see as needy.

Case and point: After being thrashed by the extremely low price sale of our current house, we have to live with our beloved in laws for 6 months (bless their hearts) to save enough money for a downpayment on the house we are building. We are required to leave our washer and dryer in our current house, which means we will have NADA in our new house. Since every spare cent will go towards downpayment we will not have money to buy a washer and dryer. *SIGH OF STRESS* (Also , we are still college STUDENTS believe it or not. Brian is getting a 2nd Masters right now to work toward education administration).

A new family in our ward have a spare washer and dryer and offered them to anyone in the ward that needs it. It was seriously an answer to a prayer.

However, she tells us, " I was expecting to give it to a needier family."

We were a little stunned - at this point we cant even afford to go on a real date. Our date night was going on a walk last night for 1 1/2 hours. So this comment smarted a little.

What constitutes "needy" anyway? Do we HAVE to live in the ghetto to qualify????? SHEESH!

SAYING GOODBYE!!!

So – the deal is done. Our house is sold. It did not happen the way we expected…at all.

If someone had told me during the first 4 weeks our house was on the market without any showings that we would have 11 showings in 1 week, I would have thought it IMPOSSIBLE!

We thought me met the buyers for our house at park – the couple we called “the miracle couple.” I still think they are, but not because they are the ones that bought our house.

We were offered 7K below our asking price by a (totally different)“dream couple” according to our realtor. They are Iraq war vets (we found out later) and had their financing all ready and wanted an immediate move in date because their last deal fell through on the sellor’s fault. Which means of course, there was no contingency. We did not want them to by the house we wanted our miracle couple to by the house.

So we played hardball and informed our realtor “NOPE, we are not taking anything less than full asking price. It is what it is – we just can’t, financially.”

Our realtor laughs nervously and approaches the reply with, “ I REALLY don’t think that’s your best strategy.”

Since we didn’t care if they bought it or not, our replay again was, “It is what it is.”

Little did we know he would call back in no less than 20 minutes to say they accepted the bid…IF we cleaned the gutters, left the washer and dryer, trimmed a gigantic tree limb, and fixed a portion of the roof professionally.

WHATEVER!! Well, we did concede on the first two, but again, we didn’t care if they bought our house because we really wanted that other couple to buy the house. We said absolutely not on the other two. We were actually trying to unhinge them to back off. Well, again in 20 minutes they accepted the offer.

Well, we had this perfectly good offer, albeit the VERY HIGH realtor’s commission, or we had this cuter than cute couple that we found at the park who were waiting to hear if she got a job to make their decision final, even though their financing was totally in order without it. They wanted to cover their bases.

So what else could we do? We gave the “park miracle couple” until 10 AM the next morning to tell us one way or the other. They sent a cute email saying they couldn’t decide that quickly and wished us the best of luck. Here is part of the miracle - If it had not been for them, we would NEVER have had the nerve to ask for full price, or to negotiate NOT doing a couple of pricey things to the house.

So that is that – we move out of here QUICK. November 8^th – for a closing date of November 15^th. The house we are building hasn’t even broken ground yet. But that is JUST fine because we will be essentially broke after selling this cute house of ours (because of the horrible housing market.) Brian’s parents have graciously offered to let us live there and save some money.

Still I see the miracle in it all – In a buyers market we sold the house in 1 ½ months – and out of the house 2 weeks later. That is 2 months exactly from the date we bought our “house to be built.” AND we got full asking price…before the end of October – no contingency. This was exactly my prayer!!! I am SOOOOO grateful I must say!

TOP 10 realities about selling a house with 3 small kids

1. You learn quickly how far back you have to stuff things under the couch for them not to be seen (in our house – we keep diapers and wipes under the couch for convenience)
2. You learn that with 3 kids you must literally RUN while cleaning the house to get everything done in time – running shoes and exercise outfit a MUST!
3. You browse the Weekly Mortgage Analysis like the Weekly Target Ads
4. You stop making regular dinners because people always want to see the house during dinnertime. Snacks in the car can suffice if they have to.
5. When the kids get home from school, you put their backpack right in the minivan, along with all the other things that don’t exactly have a PLACE for.
6. If you run out of time and realize that the kids bedding is soiled, you spray a bunch of febreeze, grit your teeth, make the bed as is, and vow to change it as soon as you get home.
7. Sweeping outside actually becomes a regular chore
8. If someone makes an appointment and doesn’t show, after all that effort, you begin thinking of very colorful names to call those people.
9. After constantly removing Shampoo and soap from sight in the bathroom for showings, you find yourself bathing frequently with soap and shampoo stashed away in a far off closet – and you grit your teeth and bathe soapless and shampooless….or you have with a very wet floor..
10. If you run out of time to clean and the prospective buyers are on there way, you find that hampers and washers and dryers can hide just about anything.

8

8 TV Shows I love to watch:
Well, these are shows I WATCH, not that I really LOVE all of them. I put them in order of what's on right now. I got through Thursday, I think.

1. Dancing with the Stars
2. The Office
3. Heroes
4. Desperate Housewives (I know, I got hooked)
5. Extreme Home Makeover
6. Brothers and Sisters
7. SNL (only now that they are doing political satire do I think it worthy of being watched. It wasn’t funny before)
8. I will put one I stopped watching – Oprah. It wasn’t doing it for me anymore.

8 Favorite Restaurants:

1. Any Brazillian Grill (if we happen to have hundreds of dollars to burn)
2. Cafe Rio (sniff . . . alas, only on trips to Utah)
3. Red Lobster – Can we say COCONUT SHRIMP?!?
4. Texas Roadhouse – the BEST ribs – YUM!
5. The Melting Pot – REALLY expensive – but 3 straight hours of good eating!
6. Cheesecake Factory (man, salads there are good times)
7. This really good Mexican place in Saint George Utah right up on the side of the mini-mountain. Hermitas? Man that place is good!
8. Emerals restaurant – I would love to go when I am not full.

8 Things That Happened Yesterday:
(not very exciting since it was Sunday, but hey – this is what went down)

1. Cleaned the house like a maniac after church to get ready for two showings
2. Went to Brian’s brother’s house and family with parents to spend the day – keep the kids away from the house while we had the showings.
3. I showed the miracle family (see previous post) the house at 5 – was so nervous I was shaking.
4. We – at my bro in laws - did the Sunday Crossword Puzzle “Dan in Real Life” Style (almost)
5. Practiced the Primary Program with the Primary Kids
6. Took a disappointingly cold bath
7. Watched my Sunday shows while I read the paper
8. Ate some really good white chili soup that my sister in law made

8 Things I'm Looking Forward To:

1. The Day AFTER the Ward Halloween Party the Primary is in charge of.
2. Getting a house contract signed with the miracle family
3. The digging of the foundation of our new house
4. Thanksgiving
5. Twilight the movie to come out
6. Getting negotiations with Julie Tupler finished to an agreement we are happy with.
7. Our cruise to the Bahamas in March or April (going to those time share things DO pay off!)
8. Saving some money as we live with my in-laws.

8 Things On My WishList:

1. A really good Camera
2. Hardwood floors
3. Some good regular shoes to wear this winter
4. Some Chocolate fudge protein bars and Omega 3’s
5. Getting rest of my allergies treated with NAET – I have to wait til next calendar year with insurance
6. A big container of Cashews – HEAVEN!
7. Some REALLY good chocolate
8. Finished Basement

8 People I'm tagging:

1. You
2. you
3. you
4. you
5. you
6. you
7. you
8. you

TOO PERSONAL? WHO CARES?!?!?

READ AT YOUR OWN RISK:

So some people may think this is too personal to share on a blog. Well, if you can’t put what you want to share on a blog, what freedom DO you have?

So I think what happened today was a miracle. Plain and Simple.

Let me say first of all – the housing market SUCKS more than you can ever know unless you have your house up on the market. We have already switched realtor’s after 4 weeks with ZILCH. We have already lowered the price 20K – OUCH!! Now it is lower than we paid – OUCH AGAIN!! So before today – only 1 person had come to look at our house, and the realtor of those people won’t call our realtor for feedback. Like I said – SUCKS!!

The stats are in - for Northern IL you can expect your house to be on the market 10 - 12 months AVERAGE - NO CAN DO!!!!!

So after working my hand and heart to the bones with my calling (can I say that? Oh well) – preparing for the Primary turned Ward Halloween Party, and "doing what we should" type of thing - I felt fully confident that my specific prayer pleading "CONTRACT ON OUR HOUSE BY THE END OF THE MONTH" (seemingly impossible) would be filled. I just had no idea how that heck that would happen.

Do we have a contract – NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But here is what happened:

After taking Kyli for shots, voting early, and doing visiting teaching, I went to the park with the kids. A girl was there with her mom, and her son. She was asking about apartments. I asked, “Are you looking to rent or to buy?” One question led to another and soon we exchanged phone numbers and information.

They have no realtor but were just driving around and after NO LUCK the mom suggested, “Why don’t we go to the park. People always know about stuff at the park.” So there they were waiting for divine intervention, and there was I waiting for the same. She ended the conversation by telling me she thought this was Destiny that she met me. It sounds so HOKEY when I type it. But it was a cool moment.

When do you want to move in? “Nov. 1^st” She says. UM – can we say answer to the “CONTRACT BY THE END OF THE MONTH” Prayer? Can we get ANY CLOSER???

She and her husband are living with her parents while they look for a house – can we say “NO CONTINGENCY!!!”

Can we say – SAVING MONEY WITHOUT GOING THROUGH A REALTOR? Let’s put it this way – we were going to have to PAY out of pocket to leave this place – all our equity – SE VA! NO MORE! - that is if we go through a realtor….after having the price butchered.

So they are coming Sunday. Keep fingers crossed. We may walk out of here with a smidgeon left for part of a teensy weensy down payment on the house we’re building (along with money saved by living at our beloved in-laws…again)

SO DO MIRACLES HAPPEN? UM – to ME after no sign of ANY life in the housing market – and to go to GOLDEN CONTACT – YEAH, they do!!!!!! Even amidst economic turnmoil everywhere you look!

The hurricane spews forth TOOTHPASTE!?!

The Hurricanes continues unabounded. Onlookers ask – will this Category 5 ever decrease in intensity??

TODAY –

Cute little guy this morning starts my day out on one of those notes – DIAPER SUPER SATURATED. I curse myself for not potty training the kid yet. PJs wet, bed wet.

No biggie. After getting cute little boy dressed, he refuses to eat what I make for breakfast and wants his own version. Whatever.

Then I happen to catch a glance of a red marker in his hand. That’s nice – I think to myself. He wanted to color. I ask him what he is drawing on. “NOTHING!” which sounds like “NOSSING!” I see BRIGHT RED MARKER STREAKS all over the CARPET – ALL THE WAY DOWN THE HALLWAY. The cute little blessing gets a time out – a VERY EXTENDED time out as I clean up the marker for about 25 minutes.

I come to get him out of the bathroom where he served his time out – knowing I might find something since I had heard some interesting noises.

TOOTHPASTE EVERYWHERE!!!

“MOMMY, I brushed my teeth!!” Oh little hurricane! Toothpaste is on the toilet, the bathtub ledge, on the floor, all over the toothbrush handle, and all over the bathtub boat. We are out of toilet paper, so I suggest he use a Kleenex and help me clean up the mess.

We go to get more toilet paper, diapers, and wipes – which we are totally out of. As I go to strap in the kids in the mini-van, I smell THE NASTY.

OH NO – CAN WE NEVER get out of the house?!?!

I luckily find a stray diaper in one of the diaper bags – SAVED!!!

I then send him out to the car while I lock up the house. I come to the car and while I am strapping him a quick motion catches the corner of my eye. I see water GUSHING out the back of my seat. I understand while Tyler is telling me we need a “newspaper” – to clean up the water bottle that Tyler had opened and then dropped on my seat. Sorry Kyli - we need to borrow that baby blanket!

As we unload the items we bought, I hear....NOTHING.........Something is TERRIBLY WRONG!!! I go to find Tyler quietly unwrapping my sacred freshly bought dark chocolate Ferrero Rochers!! OUT OF THE KITCHEN!! CASTIGADO!!!

UGH!!!! I AM EXHAUSTED and its only 12:30 P.M.!!!!

We MUST have 3 heads?!?!?!??!

So as we are in the process of building our house, the question from my mouth that issues forth is

"Are these TV hook ups going to be compatible with ANALOGUE TVs with a DIGITAL CONVERTER?"

I see about 10 pairs of eyes staring blankly at me. TOTAL silence. I thought maybe I sprouted another eye , three heads, or that my skin had turned some shade of neon orange.

"....You mean like...Dish? Yeah that will be compatible" says our realtor.

"No," say I, "I mean like just REGULAR TV. Nothing fancy - just the normal channels."

Again 10 pairs of eyes staring blankly at me. I felt like I was in one of those Super Mario Brothers Warp Zones.

"...Oh, you mean like Comcast!" Says the building manager with a look of relief she had figured out my question.

Brian and I say in unison, "No, we mean like channel 2,5,7,9,and 32. The basic channels."

SILENCE continues. 10 pairs of eyes with the deer in the headlights look. Finally after about 30 seconds of agony - they because they couldn't figure out what I was talking about, and us because we thought it was so ridiculous that no one knows what NO FRILLS TV is and that no one had apparently ever asked them that question that was building in the neighborhood.

Are we the last people on earth to know no HGTV, Food Network, Biography channel, TLC, History Channel and the like? Are we the ONLY people left that do not have cable? How is it that when I talked with the electrical supervisor on the construction crew that even HE did not know the answer. He asked me as well, "You mean like Comcast right?"

HONESTLY!!!!

HURRICANE WAYNE - a one house hurricane

That’s right – we have storm surges over here on the Wayne shores.

Lets call this Hurricane T. Wayne….no, no….Hurricane Tyler W….

Gusts of destruction everywhere I look.

5:00 PM The hurricane wakes from his nap, gets attention from his progenitors

5:05 PM The hurricane dumps out the box of toys all over the living room

5:06 PM The hurricane takes lids off all the markets and paints his toe nails, fingernails, his arm, the tip of his nose, and my personal favorite – his corduroy covered rear end.

5:07 PM Hurricane needs some gulf stream-like nourishment to enhance his power – tries to pour grapenuts into his bowl, somehow missed totally the bowl and grapenuts scatter quickly all over the kitchen and living room floor, all the kitchen chairs, and of course, the table. Can we say WALKING HAZARD – the grapenuts, that is..

5:10 PM Hurricane finds his way into progenitors quarters – gets the computer mouse, and takes out the batteries. His new favorite game. Puts them in his pocket…and he’s OFF!

5:11 PM Hurricane Wayne spews forth much waste – diaper needs to be changed.

5:14 PM Hurricane Wayne plays car by baby sister and accidentally crashes into her – leaving chaos and crying in his wake. Gets a time out.

5:17 Hurricane Wayne goes into room looking for a book, dumps out the ENTIRE 3 shelf books case full of at least 150 books in pursuit. We will never know if he found what he was looking for, the there is a 3 foot storm surge of books in that area of the room.

5:20 Hurricane Wayne decides he wants to watch a show – takes out a large portion of the kids DVDs and VHS (yes, we STILL use those sometimes). Carries around the one he wants and holds it incorrectly – leaving a nice filmy coating all over the DVD.

5:24 After being told NO for a show, Hurricane T. Wayne goes into the family room and dumps out the cars. Who can keep up with this?

5:25 Mom goes to the computer to check something and DARN IT – where are those batteries for the mouse.

5:26 The enraging pursuit begins to find the batteries and STOP THE INSANITY!!!!

If anyone wants to ever know what we moms do in a day – is it really hard to see how just ONE child can be time consuming. Multiply that by the number of kids you have – you can see why we need a brake. We are on RED ALERT status from the moment our beloved hurricanes make landfall from their peaceful slumber!!

FINALLY – the OFFICE!!!!!

I am so sick of NOT funny humor lately on certain shows…ahem….

*cough while saying SNL in their horrible skit last week about Scott Palin*

That I am ready for some well WRITTEN humor. And if Dwight Shrewt, among other can’t fix that, I don’t know what can.

My latest giggles to myself when I think of the office – are of that new girl they brought in that thinks that Kevin is mentally handicapped.

I specifically giggle to myself when I think of how Kevin told the new girl that he went to the grocery store and she remarked in a lively way, “You HAVE had a big day, haven’t you?!?!” And of course, he takes this attention to mean that she is VERY interested in him. What a funny dynamic – I love it!!! I can’t wait to see what they will do with that.

BRING IT ON!!!!!!

Is there such a thing as a PERFECT BABY?!?

Some people ask me “Is she always this good?” “Is she always so quiet?” “Does she always nap this well.”

YES – it is apparently possible to have a PERFECT BABY!!!!!

Literally – I could have a few more if they are like this. The girl sleeps 12 hours a night – TOTALLY uninterrupted.

She falls asleep on her own - be it in the crib, car seat, blanket with toys – even in the midst of her siblings very loud version of love.

And what a sweetheart – she smiles so lovingly – at anything and everything!

NOW the whole “be like a child” thing in the scriptures make sense to me....

ASTHMA GONE?!?!?!?!

NAET – has it continued to work to eradicate Tyler’s Asthma??????????????

The answer so far is an astounding YES!! I really could not have even imagined it was possible. Tyler was having symptoms every 3 days with 7 different meds – runny nose, water eyes, labored breathing, fever – he was not a happy camper. I was totally a stressed out mom.

So now it is 2 months later and it is NIGHT AND DAY!! Tyler is off ALL of his meds – which is unbelievable. He has no symptoms.

His allergies to wheat, yeast, gluten, eggs, sugars, some compenents of Vitamin C, and corn are all totally gone. He can have those just fine and he no longer shows any allergic reactions.

This has totally changed the way we live. In fact last week we went apple picking at a cute little orchard. Normally I would have had to find a sitter for Tyler because his asthma would normally TOTALLY flare up in that kind of environment. Now his immune system is so much stronger after finding and eliminating just SOME of his allergies – and we had absolutely no problems. Not even a fever – which was usually how it would start.

So on a weird side note, at the dr.s office, I saw a picture of Will Smith autographed “Thanks for putting me back together again” - I was dying of curiosity so I asked if Will Smith was really his patient. After he said yes – I asked if he went for NAET. He said yes and some other issues. I asked what his allergies and issues were. And, of course, he didn’t tell me, DARN IT!

My heart is melted!!

So Tyler has been so loving and cute lately. He has probably told me about 12 times in the past 24 hours out of the blue while one a walk, on the way home from church, right before his nap, when I was repainting the white trim on the walls, when we were reading a story, while making breakfast, " Mommy, you're my sweetheart.


"My heart is so melted! How do kids just know how to say the sweetest things?

Building A HOUSE....

So we have been on an emotional roller coaster ride the past week.

We had been feeling for an unknown reason that we needed to move soon. I have not wanted to because I really do love it here. I have lived in this town many different times in my life and its a part of me.

I have family here - my in laws are here - Brian's parents. They are the BEST In Laws imaginable. We walk there about once a week.

My sister Tami and her husband are here - well within a 20 minute drive.

Brian's brother Chris and his wife Kami are a few blocks west inside our subdivision.

We all go to the same ward.

I love "the girls" in the ward. We are all tight.

I love love love my neighbors;

I teach classes here;

The schools are in the top 1% of the nation, the Park District is #1 in the nation....

So why the heck would we move?!?!?!?!? We MUST be crazy!!!!!

The answer is I don't know - but we found an opportunity we couldn't pass up that pushed us to seal the deal, so to speak.

A home builder about an hour west of here in a smaller town - an ex-burb if you will - MAJORLY plummeted their prices in 1 week (60K) because September is the end of their fiscal year. To show they bank and stockholders etc that they were meeting their needed volume they flushed prices to rock bottom so they weren't making money on the sale - but they DID move volume.

Here is the house: When you get there - click on "B" - or just look at the picture I posted.
http://www.kimballhillhomes.com/plandetails.aspx?PageID=10&Region=Chicago/Milwaukee&Division=955&CommunityCode=366-1&PlanCode=1632

Since we purchased the house 4 days ago - they already re raised the prices 20K. It should go back up 3X that amount by October where their new fiscal year begins. That coupled with other events, AND interest rates going down below 5.75% (and our builder buys 2 points to be .5 below that) - we JUST couldn't pass it up.

I sound like I am trying to convince myself. We really LOVE it here now. We have fixed up our house with the help of Brian's dad - who knows everything about everything about fixing up houses - so that I just think its so cute and quaint.(BUT having 3 kids in a small bedroom does help make the decision slightly easier).

AND, there is a catch - we have to sell our house. We have 7 1/2 months - given the market - I think we will need ALL of it. We can even push it to 8 months if we need to. We have luncheons scheduled, ads, and we have the option to put a tenant worst case scenario which our realator will find as part of our contract. What if we sell too early??? Brian's parents have kindly offered for us to live with them - again!

Our ward will be so mad at us - Brian and I are both presidents of two different auxiliaries - and believe me there is a reason for that. Our ward is on the brink of branch-hood.

So while I am SOOOOO excited - I also have MAJOR mixed emotions. I guess part of it is that leap of faith!

The smartest of them all - I especially like the 2nd one:

Political axioms

"If you don't read the newspaper you are uninformed; if you do read the newspaper you are misinformed." -Mark Twain

Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress.... But then I repeat myself. -Mark Twain

I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle. -Winston Churchill

A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul. - George Bernard Shaw

A liberal is someone who feels a great debt to his fellow man, which debt he proposes to pay off with your money. -G Gordon Liddy

Democracy must be something more than two wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for dinner. -James Bovard, Civil Libertarian (1994)

Foreign aid might be defined as a transfer of money from poor people in rich countries to rich people in poor countries. -Douglas Casey, Classmate of Bill Clinton at Georgetown University

Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys. -P.J. O'Rourke, Civil Libertarian

Government is the great fiction, through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else. -Frederic Bastiat, French Economist (1801-1850)

Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it. -Ronald Reagan (1986)

I don't make jokes I just watch the government and report the facts. -Will Rogers

If you think health care is expensive now, wait until you see what it costs when it's free! -P.J. O'Rourke

In general, the art of government consists of taking as much money as possible from one party of the citizens to give to the other. -Voltaire (1764)

Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn't mean politics won't take an interest in you! -Pericles (430 B.C.)

No man's life, liberty, or property is safe while the legislature is in session. -Mark Twain (1866 )

Talk is cheap...except when Congress does it. -Unknown

The government is like a baby's alimentary canal, with a happy appetite at one end and no responsibility at the other. -Ronald Reagan

The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of the blessings. The inherent blessing of socialism is the equal sharing of misery. -Winston Churchill

The only difference between a tax man and a taxidermist is that the taxidermist leaves the skin. -Mark Twain

The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools. -Herbert Spencer, English Philosopher (1820-1903)

There is no distinctly Native American criminal class...save Congress. -Mark Twain

What this country needs are more unemployed politicians. -Edward Langley, Artist (1928 - 1995)

A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have. -Thomas Jefferson

Kousins Kylianne and Kaiya

This is my sister Tami's baby and Kylianne - they are 8 weeks apart. Kyli is fascinated with her cousin.

Sun dried tomatoes baby!

Since I have this abundant garden of mine, I decided it was time to grow up and create something with the extras instead of dumping my glut on all my neighbors and ward members.

So *GASP* I actually canned enchilada sauce, bruschetta, and beans.

Here is my latest with tomatoes - SUN DRIED TOMATOES.

!) set oven at 195 degrees - slice tomatoes in half and salt - put in for 6 1/2 hours

2) take out of oven, pour boiling water over to rehydrate

3) put in a jar (I use a jar garlic has previously been in) and drizzle with olive oil.

YUM!!!!!

First day of school

e



Well - somehow Brooke is in kindergarten. I am more excited than melancholy about the transition. I can't wait til she gets home to ask her if she got a green card ( good job) that day, look in her little lunch box and see what she ate (they have extended day kindergarten) and to see what activities they did.

She always tells me who got the blue card (call your parents) or a yellow card (stop) or as red card (time out). I think its so fun to relive kindergarten.

I am one of those people who loved the first day of school - the colors, the textures, the smell of new notebooks, seeing who is in the class, the new teachers, the new school clothes, the sound of the school bus, the shavings of pencils, the smell of the school desks - I love it all. I guess this is the start of reliving that for the next who knows how many years!

COMPLETELY BRILLIANT!!

So in the midst of enjoying immensely the political developments for VP, we had a little incident.

I got up at 7AM to check intrade - I woke up to Romney being at 70% - a good sign. I put in my contacts and checked again - he had plummeted to 5. I looked at Pawlenty - he was also at 5. I thought - who the heck stole the thunder? It was Palin.

I was not excited....at first.

At 9 my sister TAmi and I left to go on the 4 hour drive down to my parents house in Jacksonville, IL with the 5 kids between the two of us.

I was very intrigued with the situation and the more I thought about Sarah Palin the more I REALLY saw the brilliance of the move.

*Timing - right after Obamas big speech/democrat convention = minimal bump for "JOBAMA"
*Gender factor - either way you vote - your vote is still making history
*No place to go - any argument Obama could make against her, would be shooting himself in the foot.
*Son in the military
*Conservative - she is
*Drilling factor - she is FOR it - in her state "Alaska"
*Big family - had a 5th baby a few months ago - incidentally with downs
*Small town feel - parents were school teachers, husband a fisherman
*Babe factor - she was a beauty queen - strong women do not HAVE to be nasty looking
*Religous - she is
*Nickname strength - you can't beat "BARACUDA" as a nickname

So much was I enjoying the speech by VP Palin, with side commentary by Rush Limbaugh, I found that I was seeing towns I never knew existed. One was an Amish town, one was called Niaga - all these places that I never noticed...or was it that I had somehow not merged onto the other freeway?

Well, it was the latter - I had driven 59 miles too far on the wrong freeway...WHOOPS.
I tried to get my GPS to cooperate with me to find a new route. Our 3 1/2 - 4 hour ride turned into a 6 1/2 hour drive with TWO nursing babies - and 3 hungry and thirsty kids.

So as long as they make Romney chief of staff ( a rumor I have heard floating around) or a cabinet member (finance, energy - whatever) then I will be a truly happy political follower.

CHECK IT OUT!!!!

The market predicts as of right now, a 75% chance of it happening:

www.intrade.com


Lots of action going on. Tomorrow we will find out vp - Romney's stock is WAY WAY WAY up. Crossing my fingers!

borderline IBS at age TWO???

Well, Tyler’s lab results came back. He was borderline IBD /IBS – irritable bowel disorder/Irritable bowel syndrome….at the age of 2!!!!

How did this happen - well apparently just eating like most kids – lots of cereal, bread, hot dogs, fruit, treats, and some occasional good whole food that I make (we don’t have any sugar in our house – but the kid find lots of ways of getting stuff) was not cutting it for him. Out of the four strains of good bacteria you are supposed to have in your body, TWO of them did not even EXIST in his body. When a good strain is absent from the body, a bad strain takes its place…and the downward spiral perpetuates itself.

So he is on customized probiotics. He does not complain now when we tell him he cannot have something. He understands “that will hurt your tummy” and accepts it.

So far, he has gotten rid of his egg, vitamin C mix (ascorbic acid, citric acid, etc.), yeast, and (hopefully) corn allergies with NAET (www.naet.com). He has more to go.

But here is the absolutely AWESOME part – he has been off ALL of his asthma and allergy meds for 4 weeks WITHOUT ANY SYMPTOMS!! This coming from the kid who would have symptoms every THREE days with the entire GAMUT of all his meds (adult dosage, many of them).

I can’t even express the RELIEF I feel everyday seeing him without any symptoms that were disturbingly common – shortness of breath, wheezing, fever, runny nose, fatigue. And to have those completely disappear is totally amazing…not to mention I have been told he is a TOTALLY different little boy in nursery – much longer attention span, much happier, participates more. This is great news – I feel like he is becoming whole again.

I feel like I have my little Tyler back.

Veep-stakes - looking interesting...

So I really didn't think I was going to post about the whole political-sphere since McCain became the presumptive Repub nominee.

Well, I was wrong.

Since Obama picked Biden for VP - who is strong the the national security/foreign policy area (where Obama is extremely weak), the feeling is that McCain likewise should pick someone in his abysmally weak area - the ECONOMY.

I did not realize how high Romney's stock is rising. One of the best predictor's of who wins elections, states, etc. has been http://www.intrade.com/.

Intrade is basically the stock market for the politcosphere. They are right about 99% of the time. Right now Romney is trading at $65 a share to be the likely VP, whereas the next likely candidate is Tim Pawlenty at about $25 a share. The trend is similar - Romney's stock keeps on rising.

So while I thought I was going to be forced to vote for someone I did NOT believe in, and in whose politics I cared little for to avoid someone in whose politics I despise, I am blissfully mistaken...or so it seems.

While a McCain/Romney ticket has some weaknesses of its own, it will definitely patch up the bitterness toward McCain from many of the conservatives - ME for one.

Fingers are crossed. For some real action check back on intrade throughout the week and see what happens. These people who trade there get the really good inside info.

Is it worth it????

So - I ALWAYS seem to spend more on picture than I intend to. THIS TIME - I think I really went overboard. WE did family pictures and I spent *gulp* $250 WITH the coupons and the specials!!! I am trying to convince myself that this is money well spent.


HERE THEY ARE:



HERE THEY ARE:







:

HOW COULD I LIVE WITHOUT IKEA?!?!?

I COULDN'T!!!


You can't totally appreciate how UTTERLY and PUTRIDLY UGLY this space was initially - the entrance to our laundry room which leads into our family room.....Or maybe you can and I actually did it justice by these photos.

Try to also imagine a dark ugly dinged up door leading to this space...where the recycle bin falls on y ou everytime you open the door...or something falls on you...like a broom. Yeah - it was straight from your HGTV nightmare!





So we turned our project into a massive work day that lasted seemingly forever. WE got started on one thing and thought, " Well , while we're at it, we might as well do ______" Fill in the blank with any possible house project and you would be right.

My youngest sister Sarah is the one cleaning out the fridge - you rock!

Then the last 3 pictures are where you gasp delightedly at the "AFTER."

(The first picture I must explain - there is now NO DOOR from the kitchen to the laundry room, and it is looking INTO the laundry room which was formerly impossible and impassable as well.)

I SERIOUSLY LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!!!

Badlands, Mt Rushmore, Yellowstone, Utah, BYU, Wyveiw, Mark and Allisons Wedding, Independance, Adam Ondi Ahman: Pics from the past month!!!

These pics include: right before trip to Utah (here in Chicago)
Trip to Utah: Yellowstone, Badlands, Mt Rushmore, Mark Allison's Wedding, BYU visiting friends and family, Adam Ohndi Ahman, Independence MO