camping.

The Christmas after we got married, we got a tent. Last weekend, we opened it for the very first time. Pathetic, I know, but it was totally fun. All except for the fact that I was expecting it to be relatively warm. I. Was. Wrong! We drove up to a campground on Mt. Charleston, getting there around 6 p.m.; the thermometer on the car already read 60 degrees. 60 degrees!! Holy Cow! Needless to say, it was a bit chillier than we were expecting. Regardless, we had a blast. We roasted hot dogs, had s'mores, went for a hike...and then cut the trip short due to the rain. It rained off and on the entire time we hiked and then was raining steadily by the time we were done. All of our supplies got wet, so we packed it up and came home a day early. Freezing, still and wet, we watched the thermometer on the car rise 30 degrees before we even got back to the highway. Yes, in the mountains it was 60-something and raining. At our house, less than an hour away, it was dry, sunny and 95+. Welcome to Nevada, I guess.

quirks of me...

I love to read these things and since I've been tagged twice (by two different people) I will play along. However, I hate tagging people b/c I never know who to tag! So, without the tagging, here we go!

Here are the rules (that I'm not really following...)
Link the person who tagged you.
Mention rules on your blog.
Tell about 6 quirks of yours.
Tell 6 fellow bloggers to do the same.
Leave a comment to let them know

1. I cannot go all day without putting my make-up on. And, unless I'm cleaning or {gasp} exercising, it must be put on around the beginning of the day. I can throw my hair up into an ugly ponytail and be fine, but my make-up is a must. Even if I get up super early for an airport-run, say, I must at least have eye liner and mascara on. Wierd, I know.

2. I love candy. I rarely go a day without having some in a some shape or form. If we go to the grocery store, we usually come home with a candy bar for a snack. If not, There is usually some form of sugar around my house to satisfy my sugar addiction (currently it's a bag of peanut butter m&m's, and a bag of kraft caramels is just waiting to be opened). It's an awful downfall of mine and I struggle to keep it from showing on my waistline.

3. I love babies. I love to hold them, cuddle them, and look at cute stuff to buy for them. However, I am VERY private about when and where my babies come into the world :). If you know me well, you'll know. I keep my preganancies a secret for as long as possible. (no, i am NOT making an announcement, just a lot of people around me are ;) ). I have this horrible fear of telling everyone we're pregnant, then losing the baby and having to tell everyone that we're not. My dear friend went through this soon after I had Brooklyn and it broke my heart just to watch her. I was 4 1/2 months along before we told anyone about Brooklyn and I was 3 1/2 months with Mason. We would've kept him a secret longer, but we had family in town (Des Moines) and we thought it would be fun to let Brooklyn tell them about the "heart beep".

4. I must go somewhere nearly everyday. It is a rare day that we stay home all day. Even if I just go to the store to browse, I want to go somewhere. We used to go to the mall to play a lot, or to Target to browse. If we stay home, we usually at least walk out to the mailboxes for a little fresh air. I never, ever thought I would want to be a stay-at-home mom. Now that I am, I love it more than anything, but going places is just in my blood, I guess. It's funny because Mason always says, "Go, bye bye, car!" and tries to open the door. All the while Brooklyn is saying, "I want to stay home" or "Can we go home now?". I don't know where they get it from :).

(ok...this is getting trickier...two more??!!)
5. I love shoes! I have a ton and I love to shop for them. Everytime I show Jon a cute pair, he says, "Hmm...do you really need those?". It's a girl-thing, I know. My Mom has a couple hundred pair and she's even gotten rid of a bunch. I LOVE shoes and could buy a new pair for every season. However, I hate to wear shoes at home. I walk in the door and promptly take them off :). Not to keep my carpet clean or anything (I never really lived anywhere where that was a true issue, although this apartment has been amazingly clean), just because I'd rather be barefoot or in socks while at home.

6. I love to give compliments, but I always have this worry that they'll be taken the wrong way. For example: (I've been thinking about this a lot lately) If someone loses some weight and everyone is saying, "Wow! You look great!" Is that person really thinking, "So, I looked awful before?" I know it's stupid, a compliment is a compliment; but I can't help thinking what the flip side is. Crazy.

Well, there you have it, If you want to play along, it's kind of fun to think about :)

some days....

...you just need some peanut butter M&M's.

a little love/my home

There are a few toys that just need to be handed down. And these:
are at the top of our list! These little beauties are from Easter Eggs via Target when Brooklyn was about 2. The best money we ever spent. Mason is currently fascinated with "Melmo" and "cookie" runs a close second. A newly discovered love include "Nie" (ernie). I love it! I've been carrying these babies to church and he would sit through sacrament driving them around in the milk truck. Now, he digs them out more than once every single day. Yesterday, he discovered that he could drive all three at the same time on his little semi.

This is one happy kid. Perfectly content to dump out an entire box of cars, then play with approximately two of them. That's the standard at our house.
Happily playing computer games. Heaven bless pbskids!

Finally, some pics of our new abode. Remember, this is only temporary and really there isn't much different from our nest in Des Moines.

the kids' room
the front room as you come in (yes our "entertainment center" is still a little w.t....oh well)
the kitchen/dining area from the living room
the kitchen.

Thriller, eh? Our bedroom looks the same as in dsm, with an addition of a pile of boxes in the corner that we didn't want to unload and had nowhere else to put. Two bathrooms, and closet for the washer/dryer. Brooklyn saw the w/d and immediately said, "It's just like Debbi's Mom!" Funny, she doesn't recall that Erica had one, too at one point. Anywho, that about does it. I hope everyone is enjoying their fall weather. We went to the park this a.m. and it was 80 degrees at 11 when we left....no fall temps here!

a little thump...

I'm not quite sure how we got into this position. It's entirely possible that she "put" herself to bed like this, however, I'm thinking that since she's on top of her quilt that it was more of a rolling situation. I didn't hear any thumps, but then, there's no basement for it to reverberate through. It didn't seem to wake her. Oh well...all's well that you sleep through! I even put her back in bed with her being completely oblivious.

On a side note: I sent emails out this a.m. with our new address and phone numbers. If you didn't get one, leave me a comment with your info (if I don't have it already) and I'll send you one :) Happy Monday!

settling...

completely unrelated, but still cute!
Ah....do you all realize how fabulous it is to live with your spouse? In case you weren't cognisant of the fact, it IS! Not that Jon and I have done anything together (besides unpack); just having him with me and the opportunity to talk to him all night is divine! Unfortunately, I cannot say that we are finally settled. Unpacked boxes still litter our floor and we are still dumbfounded on where to put it all. It's slowly coming together, though. It's a little depressing how it's worked out, actually. I spend all day trying to get stuff together (and entertain, feed, etc the kids) and Jon comes home to the house looking pretty much the same as when he left. Then, he spends an hour putting stuff away and the apartment transforms into a home. I just don't get it. He is super-man, I guess. Just another reminder of the fact; I'm ok with it, though. He's better at most things, so why not this too?
Yesterday was a doozy as well. Apparently, Nevada likes to fine you for any reason possible. Thus, you MUST get Nevada car insurance AND register your cars on the same day; or you get fined (nearly $300). Not to mention the smog check you must get for each car (thank goodness the honda passed and the hhr is new enough for one more year), the VIN check they do at the DMV and removing the plates before you go in to turn them in (so much for my license plate collection...they confiscated a significant three years!). THEN, heaven forbid, the IA plates were expired (even though they were still valid for 30 days in IA), and I had the gall to DRIVE them in Nevada. Seriously, did they want me to float my car in? Maybe I should've parked it at the AZ state line and hitch hiked to the DMV. OH, but then they couldn't have checked the VIN, so how would that work? Also, you must prove that you are who you say you are with 10 different documentations. And, NO, your previous state's license doesn't count as i.d. and your social security card with your married name on it doesn't prove you really changed your name with the federal government. Who knew that my Birth certificate doesn't say "hibshman" and that I could've possibly cleared that with the Social Security department without Nevada's knowledge? (I am a little frustrated about this, if you can't tell.) So, lucky me, I get to battle the DMV again. Just to change my license so that if I get pulled over, I don't get an extra fine for having and IA license. I'm praying they'll be open on Saturday so I don't have to tow my kids there again. Whew. I'm really glad that today is not yesterday.
The perk was having lunch with Jon. During all our runnings around we were at his office (due to the smog check for the honda) and got to eat with him. Way fun. I was a little frazzled when we went in, and was greeted with everyone from the office waiting to meet the kids. It was fun, but I wasn't prepared for that :). At least they were sympathetic to my goal for the day.
Sorry about the lack of pictures. I just realized today we never got a picture of the caravan TO Nevada :(. I need to upload and organize all the pics from the summer, but I think that will wait until everything is put away. Stay tuned, hopefully I'll get it all put together sooner rather than later :)

yay!

Yay! It's finally moving day! Thus, posting will be on the ole' back burner for a while. Have a great weekend everyone!

for sale

For some reason, I have an utter lack of desire to post this in the newspaper....so, I'm going to attempt my blog first and then go from there. As it turns out...we don't need our washer and dryer anymore. They are only 3 years old and we've taken excellent care of them. I'd like to sell the pair for $300. Does anyone want them? Does anyone know anyone who would want them? Currently they are in Logan. I do have access to a truck and could meet someone if they didn't want to drive to Logan. I, however, don't really want to drive to Salt Lake, either. Picky, picky, I know. I do have both owner's manuals...and as soon as I find them, I will mail them to whomever buys the set. Let me know if you're interested! We would SO appreciate it!
P.s. I'm pretty sure they're Whirlpool, but as I've not even so much as looked at them in 3 months or so, I can't say that for positive. :) stupid, I know...sorry!

Ok, I'm dumb...They're Frigidaire Crown :)

dying to know...

I am aware that everyone is anxiously waiting to read my blog daily....ok, so that isn't true in the least. I did want to let the whole world know--since I felt it my duty to let the whole world know that we were attempting it in the first place--that we did NOT get the house. We are sad. However, I am so relieved to just KNOW that that is what happened. Now, we can move on. We are searching for a place to rent as I type, and I'm planning on moving back in with my husband NEXT weekend. Just in time for our *gasp* 7th anniversary! I'm so glad, too because I did NOT want to spend my anniversary alone. Hopefully, we'll be renting for a short period of time and find the "perfect" house before long. Yes, that means yet another move is in my near future, but in recent weeks I've decided that isn't as yucky as it used to be. Don't get me wrong...it is totally yucky, but definitly NOT as yucky as being husband-less. We are sad to leave all of our loving families here in good old UT, but very excited to be moving on with our lives. PLUS, it's only a 7 1/2 hour drive, or so, so anyone can come visit, anytime they want! (we'll be venturing up this way from time to time as well :) ). So, thanks for all your well-wishes and such....but I think I'll go live with my husband now....

and then there was....

Less...



6 inches less...and she loves it!

recovered

Thanks to everyone who commented. I feel your Love :) and I feel much better. Sorry about that. Just having a struggle or two. In light of the slightly depressing post, here is a much more fun one :).
So...What do you do in the Summer Time when you have an entire evening to kill and no Daddy???

Play at the Park, of course!!




This little mishap was at my Mom's house. What happens when you mess with the stairs?? They mess with you!
And....5 cousins + 5-10 minutes = utter destruction and chaos....but at least we're having fun!

Finally, I just had to upload these videos....Mason's one-armed run is the BEST!



well...i had one of Brooklyn, too but it isn't letting me upload...maybe tomorrow :)

yuck.

I feel yucky. I have some really great pics to blog, but I just can't bring myself to do it. I want to be living with my husband. I want to be settled in a place with our belongings put away. I want to hear on that STUPID house. I want to know when all of this is going to happen so I can MAKE SOME PLANS. I feel yucky. I've run out of projects and my kids cry for their daddy. I want all these things that apparently I cannot have right now. I want to not be whiny, but that is just how I feel. I promise to suck it up and blog something fun sometime soon. I took pics/videos at the park the other day and they are very entertaining. Don't feel obligated to comment on this post. I just feel yucky.