A Little Update

We have finally closed on our new (built in 1963) house! It took a long time and alot of patience on our part...the guy kept wanting more time. We closed on Sept. 17 and were told that we could take possesion on the following Monday (22nd) On Saturday we drove by just to see if they were moving and noticed that the front door was open. Well, the house was not technically ours and we did not know if they were in there or coming back or what so we left it as is. Monday morning I drove past on my way to work and the door was STILL OPEN. I shut it and then called my agent to ask if they were out and what the story was. She called back and said that we could move in and the 2nd key to the house was on the counter in the kitchen. After school, the boys and I went to check things out.

When I opened the front door to MY HOUSE a CAT came running out! I entered with caution...the cat had been in the house all day without a litter box. To my dismay I found that the house was TRASHED and still full of JUNK! I took some pictures for documentation and then called my agent. I told her how upset I was and she said that she would call the listing agent and tell him to tell his clients that we were going to hire a professional cleaning company at THEIR EXPENSE!
To make a long story short, the woman (who had been gone for several weeks...divorce) came to "clean" the house. Her version of clean is not like my version of clean. She took 2 truck loads of stuff out of the house and filled both the garbage can and the recycle can. We have a lot of work to do!

This is what the garage looked like

Stuff left in the house

Nasty Bathroom Floor

Nasty Bedroom Floor

Food still in the fridge and freezer!

Nasty Toilet!

More stuff left in the house

Big hole in the closet!

Taun repaired the hole!

Taun scraping the border off! This took several days to get it all!

More wall paper border...what a pain!

Wall Paper mess!

Benjamin helped me paint "yellow room" a.k.a Grandma's Room or the Guest Room

We have spent every night at the house since then working our tail ends off (especially Taun) fixing up the place so that it is not inhabitable. We bought paint and paint supplies, sheetrock and supplies, a wall paper steamer, food from McDonalds, more paint supplies, more putty and knives, etc...

My brother, Todd and his family came up on Saturday to help for several hours. We were able to get most of the wall paper border off (thanks Tiffany) and the ceilings in the bedrooms painted and mopboards put up and the one bedroom primed (thanks Todd) The kids enjoyed playing with cousins and stayed out of the way (thanks Cooper, Meg and Roxy) Cooper (6 years old) helped with some of the sanding and Meg (5 years old), Roxy (3) and Benjamin (3) helped pick up the wallpaper shreads that Tiff and I managed to scrape off. It was quite a day and we could not have done as much without Todd and Tiff. Thank You! Thank YOU! THANK YOU!

We still have a lot of work to do but it will be great when we are finished. I will for sure post the after shots so you can see the house.

It is OFFICIAL!

BENJAMIN IS POTTY TRAINED!!!

He has not had an accident for a week and a half. He sleeps in big boy underwear and wakes up dry! If asked, "Do you want to wear a diaper?" He responds quickly, "No, Diapers are for BABIES!"

Thanks to Kim, the babysitter for helping us get it done. She taught him to "tuck his pee-pee so that it doesn't spray out" and to "shake it when you're done." (these are phrases that Benjamin has reminded me to do several times when I am going potty.)

He is really good to tell me when he needs to go and sometimes he even goes in the bathroom and gets it done on his own. He even washes his hands when he is done...sometimes I wonder if he just like to play with the water and soap in the sink.

I am sure we will have accidents sometimes but for the most part it is official!

The most exciting part is now I only have one kid in diapers!

What's for Dinner?

On Thursday, I was trying very hard to be positive after an incredibly frustrating day at school. (I have two students in my class that are not ready to be in kindergarten and it drains me everyday. I have to help them hold their pencil so that they can scribble their name on their paper and I have to help them hold thier sissors so that they can cut paper and not their hair or shirt. I have to clean up accidents and get them in dry clothes so that we can continue on with our day. I have to hold thier hand to get them to do any of the things I ask them to do.) I came home and decided that I would fix dinner (it only happens on rare occasions at our house) so that when Taun came home we could "act" like a real family and have dinner together. I had a screaming one year old at my feet the whole time...he did not want to eat, drink or play. He just wanted to be held. I was making a delicious Cheesy Mostaccioli (thanks to Hilary for the recipe) and it was only going to take a few minutes until I could hold him, so I let him scream for a minute. Anyway I got all the ingredients into the casserole dish and put it in the oven to bake for 25 minutes.
When it had 6 minutes left I heard a small explosion coming from the oven. I did not dare open the oven but I went into the kitchen and saw glass on the floor by the oven. It kept popping and exploding so I turned the oven off and waited for Taun to come home. When we opened the oven, we saw that the pyrex dish had exploded (no, it had not been in the fridge before and I don't remember there being any cracks in it) and the glass and pasta was everywhere. I thought "it's okay, just crap on the end of an already crappy day!" Taun told me to go in the other room and veg while he watched the kids and fixed something for dinner. I did just that and he did fix a delicious dinner...Chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, and even a vegetable (broccoli-my favorite!)

Here is the recipe...just make sure your dish is a good one!

Cheesy Mostaccioli

1 lb. mostaccioli noodles (cooked)
1 jar Classico tomato and basil sauce

1 can cheddar cheese soup

1 tsp. black pepper

1 tsp. Italian seasoning

3 c. shredded mozarella cheese

1 lb. browned hamburger

Preheat oven to 400. Combine pasta, soup, and classico sauce. Add pepper, Italian seasoning, 2 cups mozarella cheese, and meat. Mix to combine. Place in baking dish. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top.

Bake for 25-30 minutes and ENJOY!

THREES

A friend tagged me several weeks ago and now I am finally getting around to doing it...A day late and a dollar short has become my motto lately...

Post these rules on your blog. List: 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 goals, 3 current obsessions/collections, 3 facts about yourself. Tag 5 people at the end of your post by leaving their names. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog!

JOYS
1. My Family
2. Teaching (when I have well behaved students...we are working on that this year)
3. My Kids

FEARS
1. Losing someone I love
2. Falling
3. Dying

GOALS
1. Be a little more patient
2. Get organized
3. Be Happy!

CURRENT OBSESSIONS/COLLECTIONS
1. Blogging
2. Books
3. Digital scrapbooking

FACTS
1. I have 4 brothers and 2 sisters.
2. I have amazing parents.
3. Benjamin is officially potty trained!!

I'm tagging: Gayla, Amy, Tiffany, Carrie, Kristi

What Were You Doing...?

20 YEARS AGO...
1. I was 10 and in the 5th grade. (Mrs. Crosby was one of my favorite teachers.)
2. I was playing lots of barbies and 'house' with Rebecca.
3. I was sporting a great 80's hair do.

10 YEARS AGO...
1. I was working at a bank.
2. I was going to school part-time.
3. I was living in Orem.

5 YEARS AGO...
1. I was still working at the same bank.
2. I was a recently returned missionary.
3. I was going to school full time in Elementary Education.

3 YEARS AGO...
1. I had just had Benjamin.
2. I was teaching Kindergarten.
3. I was living in my first home.

1 YEAR AGO...
1. I had just had Alexander.
2. I was teaching 1st grade.
3. I was patiently waiting for Taun to finish school.

THIS YEAR...
1. We sold our home and moved closer to Taun's new job.
2. I am teaching All Day Kindergarten.
3. I am "patiently" waiting for Taun to finish school.

YESTERDAY...
1. I cried. (I am sick...every year during the first few weeks of school I get sick.)
2. I screamed out of frustration. (I am trying to adjust to working with a new school district.)
3..I remembered how blessed I am. (Benjamin is so sweet, every time I cry he tells me, "It's okay, mommy." Taun made me take a nap at 6:30 p.m. and he ordered pizza so I would not have to cook.)

TODAY...
1. I worked with 21 little darlings who love to learn.
2. I laughed. (I was going potty and Benjamin thought it was necessary to remind me to "tuck my peepee." He is being potty trained with the help of the babysitter and that is something she reminds him to do so that he does not pee all over the floor.)
3. I got hugs and kisses from my beautiful little boys.

TOMORROW...
1. I will go to work and celebrate that it is FRIDAY!
2. I will probably take the kids to the park. (Very few days left for that...it is starting to cool down.)
3. I enjoy time with my family.

NEXT YEAR...
1. Hopefully, Taun will be finished with school! (He will be...The thesis is being reviewed by his committee and then it goes to publication...Keep your fingers crossed that all goes as planned.)
2. Hopefully we can go on a nice vacation.
3. Maybe baby #3 will be on its way. (No promises or announcements are being made here!)

The BIG 3!

Benjamin turned 3 on Monday (Sept. 1)! It is so hard to believe that he came to us 3 years ago. He was 4 1/2 weeks early so he gave us a little scare but all was well and he is growing up to be such a good boy. He was one of the 5 babies born in my family in 2005. He is such a polite little one and we are very blessed to have him in our family. Some of his favorite things in this world include: hel-i-doctors (a.k.a. helicopters), trains (especially Thomas & Friends), Nursery, books, chocolate milk (YUM!), strawberries, grapes, hotdogs, playing outside (14 more days until we close on our house with a yard, YEA!), cartoons, singing songs, playing games on the buncuter (a.k.a. computer), horses, and people. He will gladly talk to most strangers and even tell them his name (good thing he does not know his address yet!)

For his birthday we went to Grandpa and Grandma Davis' house (even though they are on a mission...we still have our family get togethers at their house.) We celebrated with his cousin Kade (who was also born on Sept. 1, 2 years after Benjamin). My sister made a darling cake that looked exactly like Rocket from Little Einsteins. She had games and a pinata for the kids. We really appreciated the work she put into the party. All of my brothers and sisters and kids were at the party. My grandparents and some dear friends were also there. It was a fun evening!

Since turning 3 Benjamin has worked really hard on getting potty trained. He has only had a few accidents and some of them were my fault because I was too sick and tired to help him remember to go potty. He has done really well and most of the time he remembers to tell us that he needs to go. We are very proud of him! (and excited to only change one kids diaper.)

One Word!

I've seen this on a couple of friends blogs and thought I would give it a try.


1. Where is your cell phone? Purse
2. Significant other? Taun
3. Worst bad habit? disorganization (it didn't used to be that way...but 2 kids, a full time job and a very busy husband makes life interesting)
4. Hair? needs work
5. Favorite food? pasta
6. Your favorite thing? family
7. Your dream last night? none
8. Favorite drink? water (it used to be Sunkist...but I am 3 weeks clean!)
9. Dream/goal? be a stay at home mom
10. Room you are in? Office/hallway
11. Your ex? we don't talk about that
12. Your fear? Falling
13. Where do you want to be in six years? Happy
14. Where were you last night? home
15. What you're not? crafty
16. Muffins? Blueberry
17. Wish list item? a new car
18. Where did you grow up? P.G.
19. Last thing you did? get kids out of tub
20. What are you wearing? PJs
21. Your TV? on...but no one is watching it...go figure!
22. Your pets? NONE...thank goodness!
23. Your computer? functionable
24. Your life? Busy
25. Your mood? Okay
26. Missing someone? Yes
27. Your car? Camry
28. Something you are not wearing? Shoes
29. Favorite store? Lane Bryant
30. Your summer? Busy
31. Love someone? Yes
32. Last time you laughed? 5 seconds ago
33. Last time you cried? 3 days ago


If you got to the end...you are now IT!