No pictures - just stuff

So our house is packed up! I HATE packing. I think it's because just when you think you are almost done you find another closet that needs unpacked. We managed to completely fill U-haul's largest truck and we still have several things in the house. Big things - a bed, a sofa, two dressers, Miranda's crib, and the dinning room table and chairs. How did we get so much stuff? The other hard thing about packing this time is that there isn't a new house to put it all in. We have to sell our house and then build the new one before we will have a place to put all this stuff. Jodi says that maybe I will become detached from all my boxed belongings by then and I will be able to throw some stuff away. I hope so, because we have way too much. On the bright side, if everything turns out like we hope, I will never be moving again! That is too good to be true!
This past week has been very busy. We packed all weekend and we planned to leave for Coeur d'Alene on Thursday because I had to work Wednesday night. A good friend, Kyle, offered to drive the truck for us so that I could sleep while Len drove but he wanted to leave Wednesday. So we planned to have the truck packed Wednesday afternoon so he could head out. I managed to switch my shift to Tuesday night instead of Wednesday so that we could leave Wednesday afternoon as well. This worked out better but meant that we had to be ready to go earlier. This really meant that Len did all of the loading. Dan came and helped with the big stuff in the morning which was very appreciated and Kyle and Mark Livingston helped load in the freezer just before we left. I have a good husband. Anyway, we finally got out of town about five o'clock Wednesday evening. The roads were okay until Dillon but then were icy and yucky until Butte, Montana. We were driving Len's pick-up and towing the Jeep behind us while Kyle drove the Uhaul. The uhaul seemed to do okay but the Jeep kept fishtailing behind us and threatening to pull us off the road. My the time we got to Missoula I was a mess. I wasn't even driving. Len was fine in the drivers seat but I felt like I might throw up. Something about having three kids that changes your perspective of snow covered, icy roads.
Anyway, we decided to stay the night in Missoula. We didn't get there until 11:00 at night and the road report sounded like the passes would be very icy. We slept in a motel and then left the next morning at 8:30. The roads were nearly perfect the rest of the way to Coeur d'Alene. There were remnants of the previous nights' storm and I am so glad that we stopped. Plus it was a beautiful day with blue skies and not a single cloud, so we had time to actually enjoy the scenery around us instead of the pitch black darkness we would have had the night before. Either way we finally made it safe and sound.
Len and his dad unloaded the entire truck yesterday and then Len left to go fishing with Kelly and the Livingstons. Its just me and the kids here at the farm because Neil and Kay went to Seattle for their 40th wedding anniversary. Len and Kelly will be back tonight. We are staying until Tuesday I think and then we will head back to Idaho Falls to start living with my parents until the end of the school year. Then we will come back to Coeur d'Alene to live with Neil and Kay until we can build our house. First thing that has to happen is selling our house in Idaho Falls. You can look at it HERE and if you know of anyone that wants a really great house with a really great yard - send them our way!
We are excited for these changes in our lives. Thanks to everyone for all your support!

Mr. Countered

Lately Kanyon has been fond of making inanimate objects become real. His toys, his food, whatever. I was laying in bed this morning when I heard Kanyon making himself breakfast. This is what I heard:

"Look at what you made me do! Ugh! Now I am going to have to clean up your mess. You made me do it. Now I have to take care of it!"

Later, when he came into my bedroom we had this little conversation:

Me: Did you make a mess with breakfast?
Kanyon: No
Me: Did you spill?
Kanyon: Some cereal spilled but I cleaned it up. It's good now.
Me: Who were you talking to?
Kanyon: The Countered (counter)
Me: Why?
Kanyon: I was on the countered and then when I was getting off, he made me spill my cereal. I didn't do it, he made me.

Oh. Really. :)

Birthday Party and Near Disaster!

Like I mentioned before, this past weekend Len worked six days in a row. He worked through Tuesday and then I was scheduled to work Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday night. So much for time together! We also had the little problem that Kanyon's birthday was on Monday and he wanted to have a party. He wanted to go to a place called "Blast Off" for his party and I know that those places are CRAZY on Saturday. So we decided to have the party on Wednesday, March 4. That way Len could come and then I would go to work that night. I was only supposed to work for four hours so it would work out. We had the party at 4:00. We picked up his friends from school and then Kalli and Terek met us there. It was just a small party but just right for Kanyon. They played on the slides, in the ball pit, and we got some tokens to play the games. We also had pizza and we brought a cake. Michelle let me borrow a cake pain and I made Kanyon a Scooby Doo cake. I think it turned out pretty well considering that I have no cake decorating experience at all. Kanyon really liked it and that is what mattered the most. He has been telling everyone that his mom let him have three parties. One at Grandma Fuller's when we celebrated my, Jake's, and Kanyon's birthday; one at home when we let him open his presents on his real birthday; and one at Blast Off. He thinks his mom is the best mom! We had a good time and I can't believe that he is five years old. Time sure does fly.

I did end up working that night but I ended up working all night instead of just four hours. I wasn't planning on this so I didn't get any sleep the day before. It was a long tired night but I was glad for a few extra hours. I ended up getting put on call last night so I really was glad for the extra hours. Yesterday, while I was sleeping, Len was working on the house. He fixed the broken window in our garage and replaced the hot water heater (it was SO old and full of sediment) and he painted some trim on a window downstairs. While painting he set the lid down on my new elliptical. He notice that Miranda was being very quiet just as he was finishing painting and he turned around to find this :

She found the paint irresistible. She managed to get it all over my elliptical but somehow, did not get any on the carpet! I am so glad because we would have probably had to replace the carpet before we sold the house if that had happened. Disaster averted. I woke up to Len yelling, "Brooke, I need help RIGHT NOW!" He did have the presence of mind to tell me to take a picture of her. Here is another one of the guilty party! It reminded me of that picture that has been circulating the internet of the two kids that got into paint and painted everything, including the couch and the new plasma television. I am so glad that it wasn't worse than this!

The New Job - take 2

It's true. The rumors are flying and they are all true. Leonard got another new job ..... in Coeur d'Alene! We are moving. We are excited .... and sad. It's really hard to be both. It is causing us a lot of stress!

Ever since we moved here we planned to move back to Coeur d'Alene. In fact, we told all our friends there that we would only be gone five years. It's been nearly nine. I have loved being by my family to start my family. I have been so grateful for my mom and dad and all they have done to support us the entire time that we have been here. We have been so blessed. I love being near all my extended family and being able to attend things like monthly Sunday dinners and birthday lunches for Grandma. I will miss those things so much!

The new job went like this. A few years ago we analyzed where we were and what we wanted to be doing. Len realized that he wanted to be a nurse. He was accepted in Twin Falls at the College of Southern Idaho to their nursing program. After he finished, we thought about moving to Coeur d'Alene right then but we knew that he had a job waiting for him in Idaho Falls and we thought that he would be more marketable in Coeur d'Alene with a little experience under his belt, so we moved back to Idaho Falls. For the past year we have been watching the Kootenai Medical Center (the Coeur d'Alene hospital) web site for a listing for a Psych nurse job. After waiting and looking off and on they finally posted one on December 24. We talked about it and Leonard applied on January 1 of this year. Then we waited, and waited, and waited.
It seemed like forever but about a month later he was contacted by the manager of the unit and they were able to ask questions back and forth. Len decided he still wanted the job so they set up a telephone interview. That interview happened on February 17 and it went pretty well. They were interested in meeting him so they set up an in person interview for the following week. We arranged for Traci to watch our kids for the weekend (Thank you Traci!) and we took a very short trip to Coeur d'Alene. We stayed the first night in Missoula, Montana. Up to this point we had not even told Len's parents that we were coming. The next morning we nervously drove to Coeur d'Alene and we each had interviews. I decided that since we were going and we didn't have kids that I might as well make good use of the time to find my own job.
Both interviews went well and later that afternoon we were told that they would be checking both our references. We stopped by his parents house and told them the news. They were excited! So we waited some more! That was last week. We waited all week and were still working on contacting all our references on Friday so we had to wait the whole weekend too. On Monday we got a call about 5:30 p.m. that we were both going to be offered positions! Then yesterday they gave us their offers and today we told them YES!
After all the waiting, things are now moving very fast! We put the house up for sale by owner. We are going to try it for about a week and then list with a realtor - just in case anyone in the neighborhood knows someone looking for a house here. They want Len to start on April 6th! That is only one month. Today he is talking to his boss to give his two weeks and then we will most likely move all our stuff out during spring break at the end of March. It is still up in the air if the kids and I will stay here until the end of the school year or move with Len right now. There is SO much to do! I don't even know where to start really. The thing that is the coolest part about all of this is that we were so blessed because what we hoped would happen, did indeed happen. Len got a few years of experience and Coeur d'Alene was really excited to have him and gave us a great offer. We are so blessed and we both really feel that this is the best decision for our family right now. We are sad to leave so many friends and family behind, but excited for the friends and family we will get to see more. We hope that some of you will come and visit us in Coeur d'Alene. Let us get our house done first, but then come on up! What a CRAZY week!

Just try to tell me she's not beautiful!

Last week I took Miranda for her first professional photo shoot. I know, I am a terrible mother. She has never been to the photographer. I think that because digital pictures are so easy I have just taken my own. She has more pictures than any of my other kids as a baby - just not professional ones. I decided that it was time. She takes a while to warm up to strangers but they managed to get a few great shots. She is so pretty! The last one is my favorite - what do you think?

On another note, tonight we were in the kitchen while I was cleaning up and Kaydra said "Look at Miranda." She was standing by herself in the middle of the room. I snatched the video camera and caught the moment in action. She is so close to walking - my baby is growing up! :(

She is so funny!

Kanyon Turns 5

Kanyon's birthday was yesterday and he is now a big five year old. On Sunday we had cake and ice cream to celebrate his, mine, and Jake's birthday. He got to open one present from my parents that was a transformer and he has hardly put it down. Then yesterday we went to my Grandma Parry's to celebrate her birthday (Kanyon and her share a birthday) and the family was nice enough to sing to Kanyon too. Then that night when Len got home we opened presents. Everyone was so nice and he got lots of really great things. He loved the lantern from Grandma and Grandpa FitzSimmons. He was also excited about the books from the Stephans and the walkie-talkies from the Throcks. Thank you. His "big" present was a scooter. He has been asking for one for a long time and he was so excited. Mom was excited too because she found it on sale! Tomorrow he has invited the two boys from his preschool to a small birthday party. It is his first "friend" party and he is excited for that. We love him and we are so blessed to have him in our home. I can't believe that he is five. Now he is just a little sad because he knows that five year olds have to get shots! We'll see how it goes!

Boise Trip

So this past weekend Len has been scheduled to work Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. Because he leaves for work at 6:45 a.m. and gets home at 8:00 p.m. we don't get to see him much. This is hard on everyone. So instead of being sad that we don't get to see him much we decided to take a "distraction" trip to Boise to visit the Stephans. It was really fun! We left at lunch time on Friday (I took Kaydra out of school early - she missed a jump-rope assembly) and got there about 6:00. The drive there went okay. The kids had movies to watch and Miranda fell asleep about an hour and a half into the five hour drive. I decided to take the highway through Arco to get there because I am tired of driving the freeway to Twin Falls. I have driven that road so many times the past few years that I needed a change of scenery. It was a mistake because the views aren't really that great (so much of nothing!) AND I managed to get a speeding ticket just as we were nearing Arco. I was going a bit too fast. In my defense there was a truck right on my bumper and I didn't want him to pass me because I hate driving right behind a big truck. It was definitely well planned by the state police because they had two cops right there and they pulled me over and the truck behind me. Then another cop came a couple minutes later and pulled another person over and while we were all pulled over to the side of the road, another car drove by going too fast and they waved him down and then pulled him over too! Kaydra said "Why are so many people getting pulled over?" She also said, "This is my first time in my life that I got pulled over by a police man!" This is true because I haven't had a ticket since I was in college 10 years ago!
We continued on our way and made it to Boise in time for a yummy dinner provided by Michelle. That night went pretty good. Miranda slept with me until about 3:30 a.m. and then I was able to get her to sleep in her bed. Saturday we went to the YMCA with the Stephans. They have a GREAT YMCA! I wish ours was like that. They have a large shallow pool with fountains and a lazy river and a long water slide. The kids had a good time for a couple of hours. Miranda was getting cold so I took her in the hot tub to warm her up. Michelle and Reid had all the kids and were playing in the lazy river and the water slide when Kanyon decided to throw up in the pool and on Michelle! YES, that really happened! It was terrible. He apparently said, "I think I swallowed too much water!" Obviously. He was feeling just fine - not sick, just too much water. So they had to evacuate the pool and vacuum the stuff out. We took that as our cue to leave! We were about done anyway.
That afternoon the kids played and played. They seemed to have a good time. I put Miranda down for a nap and then Michelle and I did a little shopping while Reid watched the kids. Thank you Reid, that was very nice! That night we played a game with the kids and sent them to bed early!
The next morning we drove home to be to be able to go to church at 1:00. The drive home went very smoothly. I didn't get a ticket and I came home though Twin Falls on the freeway. It actually was about 30 minutes faster to go that way. The kids were good and when we got home I said that they needed to hurry and get dressed for church so we wouldn't be late. I need to learn not to say "hurry". It's like a trigger for Kanyon to NOT hurry. Instead he started crying and saying, "Mom, you know that I can't get dressed fast and that I can't hurry." He cried for about 15 minutes in the car while I got me and Miranda ready and Kaydra got dressed. I had to go back out several times to "encourage" him to get in the house! He finally came in and continued to cry and cry about everything! He said, "Mom, you always say 'do this do that' and 'no, no, no'. There are never any yeses!" WOW! So much for the fun weekend! Anyway, we made it to church a few minutes late. My sharing time went well and we managed to make it home from church in one piece. What a day. We then went to my mom's for dinner and had birthday cake to celebrate Kanyon's, Jake's, and my birthday. It was nice not to have to cook dinner. Thanks mom. We had near meltdowns the entire time we were at my mom's but managed to make it home and put the kids in bed. Len and I went to bed and I was asleep by 9:15. I think I was the one that was near a melt down by the end of the day. It was a fun weekend but I was SO tired. I never took my camera out so there aren't any pictures, sorry! Thanks to the Stephans, you guys are so awesome! Now Len just has today and tomorrow of work and then he has a few days off. Unfortunately, I am working three of the four days that he has off. Is there never an end?