Insider's Sneak Peek...

Today it rained...but it helped my new potted flowers blossom:...

These are a gift from my good friend, Teri- aren't they lovely? Too heavy to hang on my shepherds' hook, so they sit- I love them!
We were the gracious recipients of FREE DIRT- so, I had Dana put some in some old pots I have kept for years, and bought simple inpatients to fill them- just perfect for my porch.
Another pot to fill, and some beautiful pink ones I picked up at the grocery- just because I wanted them!
A front view of the house after today's good cleansing rain...
The street angled view, and the weeded lawn of ours that is slowly becoming grass again...
This rock, the kiddos painted for Dana for Father's Day- thanks to Grandma's help! It sits in the corner of the bushes- you can see it in the top left of the picture above...(barely)
They kids picked these rocks from the lake last summer with my mom...she held on to them and let them paint them at her house for decoration at our new house...they carefully placed them in the mulch beside the garage- their own rock garden...
Okay, so, on to the inside...oh, and please keep in mind that we haven't done all the painting we want, and haven't gotten it quite perfect just yet...but for today, here it is...

Leah's room:
Typical, Leah, right?! She won't even sleep under the covers...she doesn't want to mess up her bed! Funny girl.
For some reason, I can't seem to get a good shot of Alex's room...the lighting is bad, and I even bought him 2 new lamps! We are working on getting his curtains hung- one we did, we need to re-do and the other we haven't' attempted yet...but we are getting there. He has Bakugan figure wall stickers he strategically placed all over his walls- I have to just shake my head..he is a boy and that is what he is into for now...glad they are removable! He got the full bed, the one the girls shared, and the old desk- he loves having his own space and spends a lot of time in there reading and relaxing. Perfect!
Brace yourself for the brightest bathroom ever! They picked the orange- and I really like it! I found it hard to find a shower curtain that they all 3 would like- being that the girls would like whatever he didn't! Go figure...so when we saw this at Target (of course, Target!), we just had to have it, along with an orange rug, towel and caddy for the sink! We have since added towels to match every color- WOW!
Celeste's multi-colored girly room...She has nothing on the walls yet- but we will get to that.
Our bathroom- I have that picture there, because it is covering a hole I made while trying to hang a towel hook...we haven't picked a color for the walls in there yet- but I am thinking green...
Something to go with this...
Our bedroom with nothing on the walls, not even curtains...yeah, getting to that too...someday!
Large plant ledge I have zero intention of using...more to dust and clean, right?!
The color choices I just can't seem to decide on for the whole downstairs, minus this accent wall...
The basement- with Dana's new purchase- an air hockey table we found while yard-saleing on Friday- the kids are loving it!
The futon from Craigslist that we got so the kids have their own space to hang out in...the tent was Leah's idea! (note her hanging out in there!), plus it's nice and cool down there! They are watching the TV we brought down from our bedroom- don't pay attention to all the crap behind them- we need to get that into the crawl space!
Back upstairs to the kitchen- this table will eventually go into the dining room, but for now it is in here- and the hanging light goes there too- and a new one we will put in this spot. This bump-out nook I think I will paint a different shade of the color I can't seem to decide on, as well as the fireplace wall in the next picture.
We love this sectional! It is lovely, and another Craigslist find...1/2 price- can't beat that! I am working on a family wall arrangement, hence the pictures on the floor, but don't want to hang them until we get the wall painted...so I guess this would be the before. (soon the after picture will come, I hope!)
My next favorite find- bar stools that don't' hog the bar!! Target of course- clearance! The kids LOVE them, and it is so much easier to make food for them on the bar and then feed them! Please don't notice the trash on one side and the recycles on the other- they both need emptied- where is Dana? Oh yeah, you can see his head sleeping soundly on the chaise end of the sectional! (It's Sunday, and naps are sacred here on Sundays!)
So, that's about it today...
I bought some new things to add this weekend, but haven't put my finishing touches on them just yet- work in progress- I will give you that later this week.
Hope you enjoyed the tour- I left out the office- still a minor chaotic and not very organized, the 1/2 bath - you know what they look like..., the mud room, but that is coming along, and the dining and living rooms, because they too need paint!
Let me know if you have any ideas- I totally need them- I have been on tons of blogs this week gathering ideas- a new addiction since leaving Facebook! Better, though!

Updates....

So, we are finally getting all settled in the new house....today we hung curtains in Alex and Celeste's rooms- they look awesome!! I will eventually take pictures, but my camera is still out of commission- I need to send it in to be repaired, if that is even an option- (boo!!) We bought bar stools for the kitchen bar (the kids love them, and I wish I would've taken a pic of them sitting at the counter yesterday from behind- it was darling), we narrowed down the paint color for the downstairs to 5 choices (getting closer!), we got the curtains hung in the kitchen and on the back door (thanks, Mom!!), and we decided to make a kid room out of half of the basement!
So, that is the project we are starting on first...but before we get to that, we have to create a "floor" for the crawl space, so we can put all our crap in it, in order to have the play room ready! Projects, projects...it never ends, does it?!
We also weed and feeded our yard...still looks like a bunch of weeds to me, but better since Dana mowed on Saturday! We also picked all the weeds and added some rocks the kids painted with Grandma to the mulch, that needs spruced up...but, it is beginning to look like our house...we love that. Eventually the kids will play in the yard, but for now, it's just to hot anyway!
The most exciting thing that happened a week or so ago...
Dana got recalled to teach here- so he resigned his job in Heath! Sad as he was to leave there, it really was not a hard choice to come back- his school is 1/3 of a mile from our house- he can WALK!! He won't, of course, but he CAN, the pay is much better, I can scale down subbing, the kids are in the district, Celeste starts pre-school here, Dana can continue to coach baseball and perhaps girls soccer, and we just bought a new house here...That means Alex will have him for Spanish in 2 years! Crazy, huh?! We are thrilled!
Dana also got a new calling in church last week...he is 2nd Counselor in the Bishopric of our new Ward. Basically, for those who aren't familiar with the Church callings, he will basically support our new Bishop directly...he will be a right hand man, sort of speak...he was Young Men's President prior to this, so he may be gone a little more often, but serving in the Church is very important, and he is very happy to serve when/where asked. As for me, I get to keep my current calling in the Relief Society Presidency, where I am a counselor and support our Relief Society President. I am happy about that, too.
We have a busy summer planned...I will take pics with the old, old camera until mine is back, so check back in a day or two and I will have new pictures...promise.

Zany Zooers

We used our zoo pass for the first time this year on Monday! It was finally nice enough, no school, everyone in a good mood, kind of day! We even "adopted" 3 other kids to take with us! Are we brave, or what?! Crazy is more like it!
No, it was great! It was really crowded- apparently many moms felt that it was the perfect day for them, too- but still a great day. We had not seen the Polar Bear exhibit yet- it was better than expected for me! I really could have stayed there the entire time and not even seen the rest of the zoo- it was THAT good. So many viewing places for you to see them: above the water, under the water, on different habitation- just so nicely done- I can totally see why it took them years to develop this place. These are my favorite pictures:



We stayed at this spot for quite a while, just watching this amazing beast of a bear play around- he was so energetic!! I just watched a documentary about Polar Bears with a class of 3rd graders a month or so ago, and I have to say that I was completely fascinated in every way about how and why they do things and how unbelievably intuitive they are- Queen Latifah narrates it, and we are going to rent it for the kids to see- it is very much worthwhile.
Here are a few more shots- before the battery died on the camera...






Hopefully there will be more "perfect" days for us to venture out to the zoo this summer....my kids just love it there! I keep telling them that our house is much like the zoo- they don't seem to believe me!

Big Girls Don't Cry

The rule in our house is: Ears get pierced when you turn 8...

Leah will be 8 next month!!

So she can wear new earrings that she will surely get for her birthday, we let her get her ears pierced this month! She was very brave:

They were busy, so she did one ear at a time...

Hold your breath...

SO happy now!!

My beautiful girl

Of the three kids, this girl has the most tolerance for pain: she has had the most injuries and surgeries too! Go figure! She is loving this "big girl" privilege...she carefully turns them and cleans them several times a day- I have no fear that she will let them get infected- she is quite diligent with them and is smiling like this all the time!!

Who Let the Moneky's Out?!

School's Out for Summer...
My kiddos have been singing that all day long! I can hardly believe it really is out! I think I just sent them and it was August! It has been a very fast year and they did so great! I thoroughly enjoyed teaching at their school this year- it gave me great insight on how things run from day to day...wow- those teachers are amazing and they work so hard- I just am so grateful for all they did this year with Alex and Leah!
Yesterday was Alex's 4th grade recognition- yes, 4th grade!! I just cried and cried- I honestly remember crying on the first day of Kindergarten and that was last week! I am good friends with his Kindergarten teacher and as she saw him yesterday, it was so sweet- he has come so far in just a few short years. My kiddos will be going to a new school next year, with our move, so it was even more sweet for them yesterday. Alex will be going to the middle school anyway, but Leah will get to be the "new 3rd grader" at her new Elementary school. Celeste will attend pre-school at an entirely different building as well- so that should be fun- 3 kids- 3 schools! I guess we'll figure that out too when the time comes!
So as I was saying...Alex got 3 awards at his celebration yesterday- One for just finishing the 4th grade (quite an accomplishment, I think!) - Another for being a "GOOD" kid- only 8 kids were chosen all together- hand selected by their teachers- he got a gold t-shirt for that- they hung those up all year in the classroom as motivation- apparently it worked!- And lastly, he got an award from the President of the United States! WOW! Only 10 kids got this award - it is special for only 4th graders and they had to achieve over 90% on standardized tests and 90% classroom average as well- so, WE ARE VERY PROUD!!
4th grade was not easy!! His teachers and I don't always see eye to eye on certain issues....but they pushed him academically and that was really good for him- he has really wonderful memories of this year!

Leah finished at the top of her class as well- making the honor roll every grading period! She is very prepared for the 3rd grade- her teacher is wonderful too and I am impressed at how much Leah has grown this year- it was a great school year for her too!
I could not be a prouder mom with these two- they are great students in and out of the classroom- they not once got even a warning for behavior this year at school. I am proud that at school they are on their best, respectful behavior at all times- at home, perhaps not always, but for teachers and leaders- they certainly are and that is a great thing as a parent- at least for me. I love these kids and want them to know how great they truly are!

Here's to an AWESOME summer- we are off to a wonderful start already!

Of all things to break....

Last time we moved, my beloved Pampered Chef Bar Pan got broken....
that was sad...my very favorite pan- BUT, thanks to my mom, I got a new one!!
This move...
it was my camera...
BOO HOO!!
I just got this one, too!! I bought it in December and I really like it!! It is my 3rd point and shoot camera- apparently I am hard on them, ya think?!
The screen got cracked- and I don't know how- it was in a case, IN my purse the entire time, and only I had it!! I am so bummed!! It still takes pics, but like the old times, I can't see what I am photographing until I upload it!! I heard there may be a way to just replace the screen...I need and will look into that!!
I had to tell Dana- that was the harder part- he just looked at me- I said, "it wasn't my fault!!"- he can't believe it happened again- I know, neither can I!! So crappy.

BUT, we are in our house- so life is good...our house is wonderful and we are thrilled to be here- today our internet and phone got hooked up, so I am now catching up on what is happening in the blog world- feel so out of it!
We have had many visitors this past weekend- lots of people like to see what your house looks like days after you move in- apparently!! Just kidding- I LOVE it!! I always wanted a house people could come to and hang out- I don't even care if it gets a little messy- because this is OUR house and we are staying for a really long time- and honestly, having friends and family just stop by makes my heart smile...
life is funny like that- it is the simple things...

SO, I am going to quit whining about the camera and be happy for today- I would be happier if Dana let me buy the camera I really want- but since he bought me this house- I better not press my luck!