A New Beginning

I feel like as a family we have been given a new beginning. Life without Memah, isn't the same and never really will be, but I hold tight to the great memories, fun times, good laughs, and wonderful worldly advice that she gave me everyday of her life. I miss her more then ever.

This weekend was the big move. We moved from our small shoebox house to her house, which is ours now. It gave us twice the space, and many more benefits. (Like a second bathroom!!) It was a crazy weekend, but I think we have found most things, not all! We havea majority of the boxes put away, but still have a ways to go. I am hoping to put a lot of the finishing touches into place over spring break.

I truly feel her here, and that brings me comfort to know that we will add to the already long list of wonderful memories that are here. We made a lot of changes to make it our own. I will post some pictures later next week, when we are done!

Painting Problems!

Okay, I've painted before so it's not something new to me. It was really hard to choose the colors, but once I had them picked I was really pleased with what I had picked out. So this weekend I gathered my friends and set out to paint. My mother-in-law and I did some painting earlier this week so that I had a head start since we are painting all 3 bedrooms, both bathrooms, a wall in the living room and a wall in the dining room. (We aren't tackling the basement yet!) So it was an ordinary Saturday and things got started, and then went wrong....so wrong!

Here is the list of all of our traumas:

1. First our bedroom, it was going well, but once we started painting you could see all our brush strokes....looked ridiculous! But since I married such a wonderful guy, he fixed it all! It looks beautiful!
2. Next we have the bathroom. I patched some spots that chipped when we removed the wallpaper. So when we painted you could see every spot. But once we put on the 2nd coat we thought we were going to be okay......but that isn't how are luck works on to number 3!
3. Next, Jake tried to help paint....he very helpfully painted my cream bead board with camel paint....I was NOT happy! So I cleaned it, which went well. That then lead to number 4!
4. I went to paint a 3rd coat on the bathroom wall and found a spot I must have missed that was clumpy from Jake's helpful painting. I went to pick it off and the paint peeled right off! Basically the paint did not adhere to the wall and pulled off in big sheets!
5. On to number 5! Jake wanted a baseball themed room, and I love the comforter he has so I decided to use similar colors. The wall was going to be grey.....but with a original color of periwinkle and a bad painting job it didn't go well. You could see the color thru even with 2 coats, and see where the original painter trimmed the room. It was bad. We did solve the problem by going 2 shades darker and it turned out really great.

I'm not done yet, but hopefully we are done with all the traumas....I can't take anymore! I will have to finish the bathroom the went horribly wrong, and paint the other one. The living room is done as is the dining room, Emmah's room, and our room. So that isn't bad. I will keep you posted on all our exciting decorating adventures!

Tests!

Things have been pretty crazy around our house for the last few weeks, I mean with moving, and cleaning out two houses who didn't really expect it! Anyway, the kids have really been testing us these last few weeks, and they are just little tests, but they just keep testing! We love them dearly, and they really have done wonderful with the passing of my mom and working to get things cleared out, but every once in awhile.....the testing begins.

I will say that I have seen a big growth in Emmah though, she is really turning into quite the little lady. Jake on the other hand, is a little stinker! He just gives you that look....."who me?" I hope to post some pics of the house once we have it painted, we are doing that this weekend. Emmah has had a lot of fun choosing her room color and new comforter. I also promise to post a video of my great reader Emmah! She is doing a fantastic job reading and thinks she is pretty big stuff that she can read on her own, although she does like mom to still do it sometimes! (Mom likes this too!!)

Moving Mania!

We have been very busy working to clean out my mom's house. Living there for so long she accumulated a lot of stuff. It has been hard sometimes, but also fun to find some of the great things that she saved. I have been able to relive a lot of memories! We are planning to move there in about a month, which is a big task. Because we also have to clean out our house.....wow who knew how much junk 2 people and 2 kids could accumulate!

I am excited to move there because I have so many good memories there. It will also give us a lot more space. I miss my mom everyday, but know she is in a better place. And hey if anyone feels like cleaning, painting, moving furniture, or helping with the move be sure to let me know!

An Amazing Women

It has been awhile since I have posted, but there is a good reason. On February 11, an amazing women passed away. She was known by many names, teacher, mom, student, friend, memah, and sister. My mom passed away, she was an incredibly strong woman who was always there for me, and I know she will definetly be watching over us from above.

We had a beautiful service to celebrate her life, and I saw many people who cared very much for her including some prior students. It was great to hear all the wonderful stories about how she affected so many lives. I know that she will be deeply missed by many people. I know she will definetly be missed by me, she wasn't just my mom she was one of my best friends. I have been blessed to have such an amazing woman in my life, and can only hope that I am half the mom she was to me to my children.

I love you mom!!

A Day at the Beach!

We had heard that the beach had some really big ice burgs, and you could walk out on what is usually the water, so we decided to check it out. So this afternoon we went out to the beach and the ice was covering a ton of the water. The kids thought it was so cool!! So did Toby and I! We walked all the way out on what is usally the pier, and about half of the pier out in the water. We had a really good time and enjoyed some nice family time!

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

Wow everyday we make a ton of decisions, what to wear, what to eat, what route to take to work, and the list goes on. But some of those decisions are much bigger than your ordinary every day decisions. Currently we are in the midst of making two of these HUGE decisions. Our first big decision is where to send Jake to preschool. We feel he really needs to go not only for the academics, but the social part as well. He really struggled with Sunday School and this mom can't handle a major meltdown at Kindergarten, cause I won't make him go! We did send Emmah to preschool and LOVED her 3 year old teacher, but last year was not as good, (for multiple reasons). So now we are faced with where to send him, someplace that will work for our schedule, him academically and socially. It is been a challenge, this may be because he is my baby?

Major decision number 2 is what to do about Emmah. She is enjoying Kindergarten, but we feel that she isn't being challenged and more could be done to keep her rolling as well as doing more to help with some of the issues we are having with her ADHD. Working at a charter school has been a very interesting experience and has really changed and shaped my views of what I want for my kids in their education. We did toy with the option of sending her to the school I am at last year, but schedule and ride wise we couldn't make it work. I see the teachers there challenging their kids everyday, with such engaging lessons that we have decided to throw that choice back on the table for next year. I hate to move her after she has made friends and we have discussed some of the downfalls to the charter school, such as less sports (if she chooses to play, classes only up to middle school, and having to make new friends). I am torn, I want her to get the best education possible and achieve all her dreams and a good base education will help her to that.

I think I am going to have to rest my decision in God and have him lead us in the right direction. Feel free to share your thoughts.