Santa delivers... a few months late

Santa brought the kids a certificate for a new trampoline at Christmas. We thought we would be in our new house, but decided it was worth it to set it up since we are still going to be here for the summer. Jeff spent a solid ten hours putting the thing together, (you are so handy, honey!), but it has already been worth his time (according to me!). The kids have been out there for hours every day - rain or shine. Brock jumps in circles yelling "This is fun!" Britton and Emily have a blast together, and I think Jeff has even enjoyed it. Unfortunately I am a few kegal muscles short of being able to jump without peeing my pants. Darn the post-childbirth bladder!

HOLY HOLE!

The process has bugun! We have a hole! I was so excited to go see some progress being made on our house after all the months of preparation. You can see some of the view we will have from our back windows. It is just beautiful! The plan for this next week is to do the underground plumbing and start pouring the foundation.

We're movin' on up!

Okay, here is the next chapter in the Gardner housing saga, and my excuse for infrequent blogging these last few months. Despite my apprehensions toward building a house (see former posts), we have decided to take the plunge. After things went sour with our short-sale, we cried a little, moped a little, then got up, brushed ourselves off, and started the house hunt once again. My list of must-haves is not long, (a neighborhood with kids, a three car garage, an open kitchen/great room area, a mud room, and room for a grand piano), but there wasn't anything out there to match our list, so we are building. The closer we get the more excited I am. It is fun to be able to put together a home I really love. It may not be my dream home if money were not an issue, but it is my dream home for real life and real living. I am so excited to see it through from start to finish and look forward to being "settled" for the first time since I left home a mere fifteen years ago. I will post pictures of the progress as it occurs! Wish us good luck!

EMILY!!

Sweet Emily! Emily just celebrated her fifth birthday. I am so excited to be able to tell people that she is five. People would just roll their eyes and mutter a "ya, right" when I would tell them she was four. You just don't run across too many 4 foot tall four year olds. Especially with a vocabulary like Emily's. These are just a few moments from the week before her birthday that I actually wrote down (Yeah, me!):

While reading a valentine from a class mate aloud she said: "To: Emily From: Elsa - hey! that's alliteration!"

"This ring pop has an exquisite taste!"

(Jeff had just told Emily to clean up the living room and they could play a game she had just invented called Karate Ping Pong afterward. Emily went to clean, then came back and said:

"Dad, God just told me that we are supposed to play games THEN pick up." Jeff said: "No, he didn't." Emily answered, "Yes, he did, you just can't hear Him because he talks to my mind."

and finally - "If I were cheese, I would eat myself."

How can you not be entertained with a child like this in the house. I love you, Emily!

Addendum to the previous post...

Just a little FYI, the home shown in the previous post does not belong to us and will not be the home we raise our family in for the next thirty years. We learned a lot about addendums this past week. We learned that if your realtor does not hand one in on time and the other realtor doesn't like your realtor and wants to "teach him a lesson", he will promptly submit another offer, even if it happens to be 7:30 on New Years Eve, and you will wake up to the new year, thinking you are moving in a few days, but wrong, oh so wrong. Oh well, renting isn't such a bad idea in this economy, right?...

Pie Fest, Thanksgiving, "Sh$@", and moving at Christmastime

Okay, I have been blogging for a year, and still haven't figured everything out. These pictures posted in opposite order of the order in which they occurred, but you will have to bear with me... I guess this way, you get the biggest news first... WE ARE BUYING A HOUSE!! The picture below is of the soon-to-be Gardner residence! We thought we would be buying this summer, but a home became available on a short sale in an area that we really liked that was just too good a deal to pass up. I had kind of set my heart on building a home, but when Jeff and I started having conversations like this one... Jeff: "Honey, why do we need a bathroom in the basement?" Chelsea: "Because all our children's bedrooms will be there." Jeff: "They only bathe in our bathroom now, I don't see why they need their own." started occurring, I knew it may not be a good idea for our marriage. This home has has two bathrooms for the kids and I don't have to fight Jeff to justify it! My favorite part of the home is the kitchen. It has a bar that seats seven as well as an open area for a kitchen table and a dining room, so I can seat 21 people for dinner without bringing in in an extra chair! It also has a great range with six burners, two grills, and two ovens. the floor plan is very open and functions well for our family. My second favorite part of the home is its location. Our lot backs up to a neighborhood park with a big grassy space and a playground. We have golf course in front of us and a beautiful red canyon a within walking distance. Jeff can ride his bike to work in five minutes or drive in three. Yes, I think we may have found a place to settle after three states, five homes, four jobs, and three children. This picture is of my dad and Brock playing at the Dixie Narrows during Thanksgiving week. Brock has a new favorite word - the "S" word. He is often known to enter a room or approach perfect strangers by running, jumping, throwing his arms in the air, and yelling "S*$&!" Let me tell you how fun that is to explain to people. There is a reason for our foul-mouthed two year old. Before Thanksgiving, we went to Salt Lake to stay with Jeff's family since we wouldn't see them during the holiday. One evening while we were there, I was sitting and chatting with our teen-age nieces and Brock was playing nearby when Emily came by and said in her most obnoxious four year old baby voice, "mommy, I want to sit on you." Unfortunately "sit" sounded more like "S*@%" and no one could keep from laughing. The more she said it, the more we laughed and Brock caught on to the fact that this was a pretty funny word. I could explain to Emily that what she was saying sounded like a naughty word and she shouldn't say it again, however, that logic went right over Brock's head and he now had a way to get every ones attention really fast. I must say, the pronouncement did come in handy on one occasion. During the Thanksgiving holiday, my mom's house was buzzing with grandchildren of every age and size and somehow, Sunny, my mom's bird received a little too much love. When we discovered this, the adults and older kids were standing and mourning Sunny when Brock entered the room, took one look at the not-so-alive bird, and yelled "s@*#!!!" In this case it was appropriate. Love you Brock. You do always have a way of keeping me from taking life too seriously.

During our week of Thanksgiving festivities, in addition to our trip to the Washington County swimming pool, Dixie Narrows, movie day, Thanksgiving dinner, and a girls trip to Las Vegas to see Phantom of the Opera, we had a Thanksgiving party for the grand kids. My mom is so good at making the grand kids feel extra special. She knows just what kids will like and does her best to make sure everyone feels as though they are her favorite. The party consisted of a "turkey hunt" which was an obstacle course through the basement that ended with the kids being able to "shoot" the turkeys/dads with water guns. We also had a pie making contest and ended the evening with some robust square dancing. (pilgrims square danced, right?) The kids loved it.

We kicked off the holiday season with Pie Fest '08. This is a tradition we started when we lived in Saginaw where we would gather before Thanksgiving and eat pie when we weren't too full to enjoy it. We didn't do it last year and I really missed it, so this year, pie fest made a triumphant return. I baked 14 pies over the space of three days, my mom made four more, and we invited our friends and neighbors over to partake. We ended up having about 100 people come by and it was a blast! I am already looking forward to Pie Fest '09 in our new house where we can fit twice the crowd!

Things may get a little crazy between now and the end of the year and I don't know if blogging is going to make it on to my "to do" list, so if not, I wish you all a wonderful Christmas season and feel grateful for the many people who grace my life with their Christ-like examples. Thank you to all of you. Happy Christmas!!

I AM...

Okay, Okay, This is the I am... tag from MaryEllen. Here goes...
I am.....a wife, a mother, a daughter, a sister, a friend, a musician.
I think.....about what my mission in life is and whether or not I am staying true to it.
I want....to have an eternal family.
I have....all that I need and most things I want.
I miss....my dear friends and mentors in Michigan and Indiana, as well as those that left with me.
I feel.....a zest and passion for life.
I hear....David Letterman explaining a urine filtration test.
I smell....Thanksgiving pies and rolls.
I crave.....baked goods of all sorts.
I cry.....I cried today when my mom's bird died and my son made her a head stone which read "Sunny, a very kind bird." I am crying again as I write this because once I start to cry, I can't stop.
I search.....for a house to call a home for many years to come.
I wonder....Why my life is so blessed when there are so many who struggle.
I regret.....not keeping a journal
I wish....I had more answers for the many questions my family asks. (Jeff is the worst).
I love.....anything that makes me feel alive
I care.....for my children more than anything.
I always.....want to stay healthy
I worry.....that I am learning life's lessons well enough that the lessons don't have to be repeated.
I am not....tightly wound.
I remember....less and less...
I believe....my Heavenly Father loves me and guides my life.
I sing....all the time!
I don't always....take a shower when I should.
I argue....hardly ever, because I already know I am right.
I write.....more than I used to!
I lose....socks, sunglasses, binkies (I am sure I have purchased at least a hundred in Brock's two short years).
I listen.....to my children and wonder if I will remember what they sound like at these tender ages.
I can usually be found....in my exercise clothes.
I need....to be adored.
I forget....the things I don't want to remember.
I am happy....when my life is in balance.
I tag.....Tami and Kelly