Moving

A week into January we got a phone call from the establishment that rents us our home with the news we have been dreading to hear for almost two years...
Nice lady evicting me:  Hello I just want you to know we have received an offer on the house and accepted it.
Me: Silence
Lady: So that means you have 30 days to find a new place.
Me:  silence
Lady:  I'll email you the papers to sign.  Have a nice day.

And just like that we were 30 days away from being homeless.  I should have known it was coming, for two reasons: #1 It was for sale the whole time we were in it. #2 I had finally made my peace with it and it was starting to feel like home, instead of a temporary lodging that we could any day be sold out of.  Yes, that is what happens when you start to feel comfy, a gentle reminder that life isn't FAIR, comfy or peaceful. However, after a brief moment (okay more like a day or two) I came to grips with it and we started on plan B, plan C, plan D, a migraine like I haven't had since high school and we ended up with plan E.  A week before we had to move we made the decision to live...

 in a van down by the river.  hahaha.  
Okay, not really, 
well kinda, 
how about a house that used to be on wheels, I got the axles in my front yard to prove it, down by the river.  
There we go.  

Yes, I am being a little ungrateful and painting a picture worse than it is, we do have five bedrooms and 3 bathrooms after all.  It's clean.  Jack and Jara like the purplish hue.  Our landlords are very kind to let us be here and most importantly, we felt divine inspiration that it was the best choice for now.  We are probably only a couple of football fields away from where we used to be, I love my neighbor (that's you Brandi), Jara didn't have to change bus stops and we can stay in our same ward.  Plan D didn't accommodate for that little detail.  
So, yes I've been silent, kind-a crazy and muttering to myself in the grocery store but I think I'm coming back.  I now only have one room full of boxes that are still unpacked and I plan on leaving it that way.  Oh and if you have a house you want to sale, let me know, because this is temporary and the next place is going to be permanent  and I'm going to stay there for at least twenty years because my husband is not in the military or a carnival worker.  

Thank you:
Everyone who watched my kids or had them over for play dates before and after the move so I could pack/unpack.
To those who brought me food because the kitchen was out of commission for awhile.
To my family because they know the worst.  My sister packed my closet, my mom cleaned my old house, my dad babysat, my brother listened to my bitter diatribe prelude to the migraine blow-up, and my father-in-law who cleaned up the outside (among other things) single-handed (literally) poor man had to even take down our Christmas lights-yes it was February.   
My neighbor for organizing and lysol'ing my kitchen and letting me junk up your garage.
To all the kind people who helped move my excess o' furniture and didn't judge me for the plethora of cheerios coming out of the wood work.
To my friends who came to my cleaning "party" 
Bless you all.  We are so, so grateful.  As grandma Wheeler would say..."I'm buying you all a pony."    


*note:  the pictures will come, don't you worry

Merry Christmas!

WHERE'S THE TYLENOL ?
OR...
In our case Pepto.

It went something like this...

December 25th
2:25am  Joshlyn gets up to take NyQuil (couldn't sleep and had a little cold)
2:30am Jack pukes
3:00am Jack pukes
7:00 Jack pukes
7:30 Presents!
Noon:  Elise has pooped her way through 5 outfits
7:00pm Jed pukes in the kitchen sink
9:00pm Joshlyn is alone on the kitchen couch eating her way through a cheese ball and praying everyone feels better and she stays disease free!

Good news-that was the worst of it.  Jara and I avoided the disease, Jack and Jed never displayed another symptom except an aversion to food the next day. Elise was smelly for awhile and then also recovered.  Whatever it was, came swift and fast, by the next day my whole family was cursing me and praying for death, and then left.


Happier Memories...

Jara with her two favorite presents: a red bunny and an art/scratch/draw kit.  Jara specifically requested from Santa a red bunny, about a week before Christmas, of course.  She kept insisting she wanted a RED bunny.  I tried to convince her she didn't want a red bunny.  Four days before Christmas she told me "Santa would be sure to bring her one, because he knew how much she wanted one."  Good thing Santa and Amazon prime are affiliated.  It truly has been her favorite present, even a month later she is still playing with it every day.

Packages, boxes and bags. 

Elise with her favorite present.

Jack with his favorite present.  Jack is going to be a professional archer.  He can aim, pull back and let it fly. This picture was taken right after he had let go, look at that form.

We try to make memories for our family and hopefully they will remember the nativity advent calendar we mostly finished...the few little projects we did...the daily excitement of opening the advent calendar Aunt Loni got us...the gingerbread doghouses...the Christmas songs we are still listening to in the car...favorite presents...and most importantly the love and happiness we feel at this time of the year as we celebrate the birth of our Savior.  Merry Christmas!

Twas the Night Before Christmas...

Christmas Eve is my favorite holiday.  The anticipation and excitement of the kiddies.   The yuletide ham.  The family party which involves white elephant bingo and some form of a game with trivia that I can win at and at the end of it all before going to sleep, the feeling of calm and gratitude when contemplating the night of our Savior's birth.

This year on the agenda...

Fun:  the babies were so fun this year, even if Elise had two wardrobe changes and it was past their bedtimes.  Who doesn't love patty-cake?

Food:  I would like to say I made all of this but really I only made a couple of things but most importantly I supplied THE ham.  You know how I feel about ham.  Not just any ol' ham, honeybaked ham.  Mmmm.  I also made the twice-baked potatoes, my specialty, that diseased everyone, or so I've been told, more on that later.  

Games:  The infamous white elephant bingo.  We are good at bingo.  My presents were the best, worst kind...

As in-my dad won a sporty, yet stylish sweat band provided by moi! He dutifully wore it.  It helped him get into the action and avoid sweat dripping in his eyes during one of those intense bingo caller moments.  

Just when you think nothing could top the head band, lookee here, fishnet gloves.  For that perfect moment when you want to have the look of gloves but the use of your fingers, due to the breathable fishnet they can also be worn year-round in Nevada.

Here is the star of the nativity.  So precious.  

And here is our first ever, live nativity scene.  It melted my heart.  Look at Joesph with his sweat bands and UNLV snuggie/robe.  I scripted, sang and dressed them and couldn't have been more proud.  They were perfectly in character and performed Oscar worthy roles.  A great way to end a wonderful evening.

*note: This post took a long time coming due to the fact that blogger and my computer have been having issues.

Farewell Cookie Monster

After all these years and all the memories, cookie is gone, newly purchased by another teenage boy looking for a pimp chair.  It wasn't easy letting this Alderete family heirloom go but Jed was brave and bit the bullet and 14 years of memories were sold for $20.  (I know, can you believe it?)   We both shed a little tear as it was tossed in the back of a truck and carted away, taps careening in the background.  I have swore and cursed at this thing our whole married (and unmarried) life but now that it is really gone I feel like a piece of me is missing, literally, the furry beast has taken chunks of my flesh on a regular basis. I have vicious scars to prove it.  Don't worry we did fix it for the sale , it won't ever harm anyone again. 

Now for the cookie monster chair's life story...

Right after Jed and I first started dating, way, way back in '99 my great-granny needed help moving.  I was eager to volunteer/show-off my handsome, strapping new boyfriend so I enlisted Jed.  It was love at first sight, cookie and Jed immediately bonded (oh us too.)  I would like to say at this point that Jed asked granny for her chair, but lets be honest it might have changed destinations en route.  Neither one of us are clear on that little detail.  No matter.  Cookie had found a new loving home, rid of Precious the chihuahua mix, forever (thought I'd throw that in Ash..)  Cookie was one of two pieces of furniture in Jed's den of iniquity, um I mean first college apartment, and he had many a good times and survived to tell about it.  At the end of that rodeo, Cookie made his way back to Logandale.  But not without a good cleansing.  Nothing a little Palmolive and the pressure washer in the driveway couldn't take care of.  Cookie's plush, blue, velvet furry-fur had never been so swanky.  The monster resided with Jed's little bro. Jesse in a life of shaggy contentment.  Retirement years for cookie.  As in he should have been retired when Jesse left the house, but no!  Jed came home from his mission and not only did I marry the man, I married the monster.  He never went to a "man cave" like he was supposed to, he scratched my desk up worse than a rabid cat on a tree trunk, and he has been shedding fur for so many years that it is true testament to the withstanding nature of shag that he is still fuzzy.  On top of that, he has been residing in the formal living room, which frankly requires a lot of exhausting explanation, bringing down my PB rug for over a year now.  I have threatened to throw it to the curb for years in many a bloody rage after it would rip open my wrists but I could never execute such cruelty, I would turn the other cheek.  However, in light of our impending move #5 in nine years, we decided it was time to pass on the torch of glorious blue, tufted downy'ness.  Actually we didn't think anyone would actually love it enough to buy it and put it up for sale without a worry.  I guesssss we would have to move it again if no one wanted it.  

or not.

Goodbye Cookie-monster-furry-blue-chair we loved you.  May the boy who bought you keep you long enough to have his wife write a bittersweet saga too.  amen

sniff sniff

we want you back

Kindygarten Program

Catchy songs, well executed memorization, coordinating actions that I am still laughing about it.  Well done Kindergarten.  Well done.  I love this age, they are so...inherently good (well there is always a little johnny, but for the most part...)

In the spirit 

Grateful for this wonderful lady.

All Wrapped Up

The flurry of holiday happenings has come and almost gone.  I want it to stop, slow down and quit making me utter such old person sayings.   I haven't even had time to chronicle all the happenings.  I now make my attempt...

Christmas bonding time: Jara, Jack and Max.  I love that Jara still totes around Max from time to time.  She never plays with dolls but Max gets dressed up, talked to and cared for more tenderly than any baby doll.

Santa visits...

Classic.  Poor Elise, poor Santa.

Jack telling Santa he wanted a BB gun.  Santa, bless his heart, didn't tell Jack "you'll shoot your eye out kid."  However, he did tell him 4 year olds don't get BB guns...he has to wait until he's 6 or 7.  Oh my.  

Jara and Santa.  All week she begged to see the big guy and was scared to death when the big moment came.  She made it through upon the precept that it was necessary to tell him her heart's desire.  However, the next night at the ward Christmas party when Santa showed up, she'd had her fill and begged us to leave because once was enough.  "He already knows mom...lets get outta here."

Toothless Jara.  She lost her bottom right one.  You might not be able to tell because the big tooth is already in place.  After sitting on her and holding her hands down I ripped it out by its tiny thread (the results of weeks of wiggling) and declared myself a dentist.  And then told Jara to save her tooth fairy money for therapy.  kidding. kind-a

Gingerbread house making, or should I say, doghouse making.  We bought the, "oh so easy, so perfectly perfect" 4 doghouse making kit at lin's, thinking to save some time.  It was beastly.  Two days and two very red hands later we had our doggy houses.   

Master dog house maker.  I may or may not have sang:  "put this on your snoop doggy, dog house" as I handed the kids their candy.  Jed told me it was inappropriate.  I told him it was culture, every kid should know that line and only that line.

Santa's workshop.  Sending off the Christmas cards.  I have lickers!  Yay!  I've waited a long time for this.  If your card has two stamps you are the lucky winner and if your card has any chocolate residue I apologize.

We have also been...

 -playing in snow, the kind you make in a bowl at home, we do live in the desert after all, and it was 75 degrees for the first two weeks of December.  Didn't light the pilot light to the furnace until the 9th.

-Ornament making: popcorn garlands that a little birdie ate, and do-it-yourself kits from the advent calendar, thank you Loni.

-attending parties: the aforementioned family ward party and two work-related, kid free parties.  One of them Jed forgot to find out was a black-tie affair.  I showed up in my school teacher cardigan.  Classy and frumpy all at the same time.   

-Crunching the numbers:  16 deliveries the kids and I made one rainy day to friends and neighbors, 8 loaves of pumpkin bread (not bad) and 12 days of Christmas adventures, 9 rolls of wrapping paper I have amassed in fear of repeating the Sponge Bob year.

I love Christmas!  Now before I burst into rapturous singing...

Happy 4 more days!

Elise 15+

Where to begin?  She is naughty, nice, devilish, loving, demanding, adoring...The list goes on.  The consensus, Elise has multiple personalities.  The last 3 or so months have brought increased understanding, determinism, independence, and 2 shiny new top chompers, which she has used to pulverize everything in the house.  She now has a grand total of four teeth!  Latest teether ever.  Don't think has stopped her from eating everything in sight.  

This age amazes me, she clearly understands everything , for example, she picked up a crumpled piece of paper in the living room and I absently told her "garbage, go throw it away."  To my astonishment she crawled right over to the trash can and dumped it in.  The understanding is great, the communicating...ehh, not so much...Elise insists on achieving her needs only through varying degrees of screaming.  AhhhhAHH means: "I want my food NOW" whereas, AHHHHahh means: "get out of my way NOW " and then there is always the !@#$ screaming.   

She loves to be a "destructo" as Jack has deemed her.  Jara calls her wreck-it Elise.  Cupboards are a specialty   My bathroom often looks like a bomb went off.  I don't care, look at that precious face.  Besides, she is happily entertaining herself while I am getting ready.  (Maybe this is why I don't get ready too often.)

Bath-time.  Don't you just want to eat up that delicious baby chubbiness?  She gets "squeezeeed" alot. 

Favorite past-time, reloading dart guns.  Much more gratifying than the lame shape sorter.  After she is done she proudly hands her weapon to Jed and waits for him to aim at an object, then laughs.  Scary? Yes.

Acceptance of the toy/walker.  She is FINALLY giving it a try.  She might be walking before Kindergarten. She absolutely refused to put any weight on her feet, standing up, until the last week or so.  Crawling is much more efficient.

Following after her dear old sister.  Elise loves art and has decorated the fridge, wall, floor, picnic table...most surfaces have now her signature style-drooly scribbles, littered with chunks of gnawed off crayon.

Elise could you please stop growing and go back to cuddling me for hours on end?  10 minutes of hugging just isn't enough.