School is here

School has begun and it turns out that all my wildest fears have yet to come to fruition.  The girls haven't gotten in a bus wreck or disappeared on the way to school.  They haven't been lost and crying for mama in the hall ways on the way to class, or been bullied by older students.  The gym teacher hasn't humiliated either of them and the other kids haven't teased them about slow.  No one has had to run the mile yet.  Their friends seem to be kind and not back stabbing thus far, and no one has learned a new curse word or been taught the birds and the bees by their peers......yet.  There have been no school shootings and no one has tried to sell or give them drugs (that I know of at least).  They haven't starved to death between breakfast and lunch and they come home happy and excited to go back.  Last week when Alex and I were butting heads she even said "I wish I was at school right now"  which stabbed me to the core and simultaneously made me happy that she was enjoying it so much.
       A friend asked the girls if they were excited to start school while I was busy elsewhere.  Alex responded "yeah, but my Mom is REALLY excited. She is way more excited than me." I was so nervous that the kids would be nervous that I must have gone overboard with my fake enthusiasm.  I've been a bit crazy, it's true.  Sad that we arn't homeschooling, but glad that they girls will be gone and not fighting each other for at least 6 hours of the day.  But ohhhh 6 hours!  That's so long to be away from my darlings!
   The first day I was a ball of nerves.  Alex had to ride the bus alone because I had to take Heidi in an hour later for Kindergarten orientation.  She was thrilled that Heidi wouldn't be tagging along and it went off without a hitch.  I took Heidi and she went just fine as well.  At home I had to keep busy so I wouldn't think about it and when we picked them up from the bus they were so excited to tell us everything and hug and snuggle and play.  The time flew by until bedtime and it was the next morning when they both got on the bus that I cried, and cried. And cried.
But now we are in some sort of routine, and ohh routines are so nice!  I get up at 6:30 and make breakfast (no cereal for these kids because it goes straight through them) then wake them up and we have family breakfast at 7.  After that it's clothes (that have been laid out the night before) and hair, checking folders and putting lunch in backpacks (also made the night before).  We do scriptures and prayer and then it's usually time to head to the bus stop.  A little boy from Heidi's kindergarten class catches the bus at the same stop, just us and him, and they choose to sit by each other on the bus as well.  He is a sweet kid.  Quinn always comes with me and everyday she gets mad that she can't get on the bus as well.  Tommy stays home with Daddy who doesn't start work until the beginning of October.  The rest of the day thus far has been catching up on things.  Meal plans, groceries, house cleaning, weeding etc. It's amazing how that can really fill a day! Today Quinn and I had a great chunk of quality time while Tommy napped, and yesterday Tyler and I got in a quick date and played RISK while both the littles napped.  Quinn and I hang out at the bus stop and then she attacks her sisters with hugs and Alex carries her home.  Then it's more chaos until everyone is asleep.  I haven't mastered this time of the day yet and I'm really hoping things get better fast.  Tommy wakes up right when the girls get home and needs to be fed, Quinn wants everyone's attention and is willing to fight and bite for it, Alex and Heidi both want to tell me every exciting thing that happened during the day at the same time, and within 30 seconds there are backpacks and lunch boxes littering the floor and chaos in the home.  Snack time and reading through school folders is mixed with sisters fighting and then I'm getting dinner ready and packing lunch for the next day while trying to keep everyone from ripping each other apart while they rough house and "play" with each other.  Dinner then homework, family reading time if we can manage, scriptures and prayer and then a good 30 minutes of cuddle time per kid because these guys just HAVE to dump every detail of their day on me or else its tears at bed and tears the next morning.  I don't know how I'm going to juggle it all once Tyler starts work- guaranteed not to ever be around for bedtime.  I'm in panicked survival mode from 3:52 when they walk off the bus until 9pm when all the kids are in bed and quiet, if i'm lucky.  Today we threw in swimming lessons for 3 kids and it nearly killed me, that was with Tyler's help.  I hate that I only have 3 hours with my kids, to split between the 2 of them but really the 4 of them, with dinner and dishes and homework competing with it all.  I'm doing better at being a kind happy mom to everyone because I must, there isn't a second I can spare for an unkind word or frustrating moment because they get so few.
      Heidi started loving school but now each day she complains that it's just too long.  I feel her pain and wish so much that it was half day kindergarten, but I try to smile and convince her that she loves it. Alex enjoys school but says "I spend all day having to be nice and sit still and be quiet, when I come home I'm grumpy and tired of being kind."  She is.  So we are trying coloring therapy and I've printed off a pile of intricate coloring pages that completely engross Alex and help her calm down after a day at school.  She loves it and Heidi and Quinn can pester each other in peace.
         Tyler has been helping cut firewood for an older man in the ward who heats his house with wood all winter.  He has also been helping me out with some projects.  He took my list of monthly jobs that I'd split up week by week (split up so I wouldn't have to do them all at once) and did them all in a few hours of hard work.  I'm trying not to rely on him so I can still function when he starts work, but it's so nice having him around to chat with and lend a hand.
   I've been called as Enrichment leader in our new ward, and Tyler is in the Young Mens Presidency,  I don't quite know what this means for our family yet.
      I'm enjoying the time during the day to complete tasks of my choosing and not having to referee the big girls every minute.  There at the end of summer they were at each other's throats every second of the day.  I used to wonder what Mom's who don't homeschool do with their days, and now I see that the days are always filled whether you are teaching your kids and neglecting yourself and house, or if your kids are at school and you are taking care of the home.  I'm enjoying the schedule, but missing the complete freedom.  I'm also afraid of straying too far from school in case there is an earthquake or nuclear bomb crisis and I need to walk to the school to rescue my kids.  I've got issues.
     The mornings have started to get chilly and we've had some rainy days to prepare us for fall.  I'm starting to feel the urgency to be outside when it's sunny, even if there is plenty to do inside, because I know the sun won't be around much longer.  As wonderful as this summer was with everything coming together at once... I'm a bit afraid of the downswing that will happen once Tyler, the warm weather, and the sun all disappear at once. But having 1/4 of the living room be windows has got to help a bit- I'm hoping.  We are without a doubt going to be investing in a happy lamp this year.
     No pictures this go around.

The new home on Ekastown road

It turns out that I haven't yet mastered the art of keeping an entire house clean for more than 5 minutes while a husband and 4 kids are about, but I was able to get the living room, and backyard in showable condition for some pictures this weekend.  The rest of the house will have to wait for another post........

The past month has been madness, always running always something to do and not enough time to relax!  August 1st we started our move.  All the rental trucks were booked for 150 miles in any direction so we loaded up Tyler's truck, the pilot and a friends Outback and spent the day driving back and forth.  The next week  was more of the same while trying to throw in a playdate or two and the cleaning of the "old house".  Since we ended up renting both for the month of August we weren't intending to worry about moving and cleaning so fast, but the drive to get settled and stop living in-between worlds sped us up a bit and the landlords desire to get it cleaned and us out helped push us on that end.  Lots of sweaty long backbreaking days will be my memory of August 2015.

        When we moved to Pittsburgh we moved into our rental after only seeing a few pictures of it and setting the whole thing up from afar.  Those first few days we seemed to be constantly surprised by unpleasant little thing after inconvenient little thing, all livable but not wonderful.  This experience has been the opposite, that first week every day we found a little thing or two that made us feel completely spoiled!

Alex is a 3rd parent to this little guy.  She is wonderful with Tommy and we can usually trust her walking around with him.

 For the first time ever (I've been waiting for 7.5 years) one of my kids fell asleep in a weird spot.  I was there when she woke up and it was hilarious.  She sat up and promptly slipped off the chair.

 This is our living/dining/greenhouse- aka- the place I will be spending all of my days.

 Our front door and entryway (I wish I could pull that rug up, but it's glued down!) So much carpet!

Looking from the table to the front door.

 Our awesome fireplace.

 We had to set up our office next to the dining room table because while we have about the same amount of space (maybe less) than our old house- we have less rooms.  Here is my new kitchen table which I love- a great craigslist find-  I wanted a light colored table this time so the kids scratches wouldn't show up so brightly- turns out that scratches show up on all kinds of wood and now we can see all the marker and pencil marks that were previously hidden on the dark table. Sigh.

 The dining area leads into the kitchen.  The fridge is behind the wall with the clock and that big white thing is a convection microwave thing which we haven't used and haven't moved because there is so much counter space we don't need it.  Can you imagine- counter top to spare- it's like heaven.

 Our greenhouse has a short hall that leads to the outside door- I love this because it keeps the dirt and junk the kids bring in and drop hidden, and is a great place for shoes.

 This is my favorite part of the house.  Our tiny toy area with giant windows to watch the birds and squirrels.  This is what sold us on the house and I want to replicate it in our forever home.

 Here is the carpeted porch and the view from the outside.  It took me hours to scrape all the moss off that carpet with a hose and broom so it wasn't disgusting.  The home had been empty for a few years after the owners died.  The son inherited it and lived there for a bit and then moved in with a girlfriend and decided to rent it after it had been empty for so long.  Score for us.

 This is the awesome tree- or fairy tree as we call it because Alex has build a dozen fairy houses in and around it (thanks to Grandma Asay and the library for that idea!)  Tyler has decorated it with birdhouses and we get quite a lot of the little visitors.  Cardinals, Blue jays, golden finches, woodpeckers, morning doves.....

 Tyler also threw this beauty up- the next step is a swing attachment.

 Quinn's corner.

 My view everyday as I enjoy watching the kids in their world.

 Steps to the pool yard.

 Fire pit and toad pond.  We put a bunch of 10 cent goldfish in and they are still alive.

Cardboard storage facility.

 Standing at the pool steps looking down the yard.

 Standing at the garden looking toward the pool.

 View from the garden.  We are only renting half the place.  The other half was an add on and sort of an odd layout of offices and a giant master bedroom.  All the stuff from our half of the house is in storage over there now and the door connecting them is blocked off and locked.

 View to the lower driveway and garage we don't have access to.

 View from the lower driveway up to the porch in the front of the house.

 View of the front of the house from the lower driveway entrance.

 View from the top yard.  Those windows on the left are the kids rooms.  The middle brown pillar to the left of the light post is where the house splits.

 My driveway.

 Our front door.

 Our side yard this is huge and that we never use because it's by the busy road and we don't need it because our backyard is huge.

 Upper driveway.

 Looking down the porch.

 We gave talks in church today and the girls chose these earings and this necklace for me to wear.  It actually went really well with the dress and I got excited for the day when the girls could do my hair and makeup and accessorize me.  Heidi totally pulled off the look.

Tommy is so long, and skinny, and I need to write more about him- such a little doll.

So here are all the details about the house.......

      Here is a list of our favorites...... starting with the kitchen........the fridge has a ice and water dispenser, we have a garbage disposal and 2 sinks in the kitchen plus a dishwasher!!!!  The oven is a convection oven and there are lights mounted under the cabinets to brighten the countertop.  The stove isn't gas, but it's a glass flat top one! There are so many cupboards in the kitchen that even with our office supplies sharing the space, some are completely empty.  The kitchen garbage is hidden in a pullout cupboard thing, which is wonderful.  And we have central air!  There is a fancy shmancy grill built in outside and so we have been grilling a ton while the kids play and we enjoy the wildlife.  There is even a warming drawer under the oven.  You can see that there are lots of bells and whistles in the kitchen- which is the most updated part of this 1960's space.
      While the kitchen is long and skinny and closed off from the living space, the dining room and living room are joined and span the width of the house.  The entire back wall is windows and face the gorgeous backyard.  The bedrooms are average size but between the 3 we have 2 closets, plus a coat closet, cleaning closet, linen closet, a little closet next to the backdoor, and a tiny odd closet in the dining room I have no idea what to do with.  We have 2 bathrooms (one in our bedroom, yay!) which each have odd little hidden drawers to make up for the fact that they (and the kitchen, and the porch) are carpeted.
   We just discovered that there is a laundry shoot!  This is everyone's new favorite thing.  The downstairs is a bit odd and dark and not nearly close to being as creepy as our last dungeon, but still not a place I intend on hanging out.  There are a few closets downstairs and a large storage/laundry room, a craft closet with a table inside it, and a bar downstairs for entertaining.
       There are some odd things here as well, there are lightswitches everywhere. Really, everywhere. We have no idea what 1/3 or more of them do.  A big chunk of the living room is wasted by a spiral staircase which everyone has been banned from now that Quinn fell through the rail and took an Ambulance ride to the hospital (she is ok, it's a miracle- she hit her head on a bench on the way down- a 6 foot fall.)   The stairs to the downstairs are a bit tight because there is a chairlift thing on them (we have it off so it's not a toy).  The bathrooms have carpet and the kitchen and dining area so I'm heavily investing in rugs and praying that we don't destroy all of them before we move.  But we decided to get a decent vacuum on Tyler's insistence and I'm really loving having a decent machine.
    We are happy here and like our ward and see a good potential for friends.  We are sort of in the outskirts of 2 small towns and have a Walmart, YMCA (where the kids signed up for swimming lessons), and a pizza hut within 5 minutes.  We have really been blessed in finding this home- it is a good space for us and has us spoiled in a lot of ways.  It's tempting to daydream about staying and making it our own someday- but I think our hearts are still out west with our families and the mountains.  It's crazy to think that Quinn and Thomas only know a world were everything is green in the summer and there is no sun in the winter-  I'm afraid when we move back the kids won't appreciate the sagebrush and wide open spaces like Tyler and I do.
   But our yard is awesome.

A trip to the beach!

On our D.C trip I looked at a map and about died at how close and yet so far we were from the ocean.  Tyler promised that at some point in the next year we would go, but that wasn't good enough so we did some talking and figuring and decided to make things happen.

 We decided on Ocean city, MD somehow, and looking at it on a map sort of gave me the chills as I pictured a tsunami sweeping us off that little strip of land.  We didn't tell the girls but let it accidentally slip the night before we left and they went bonkers.

 It was a 6 hour drive and we left earlier in the day, but with children and food stops we didn't make it to the beach until evening.  After checking in we decided to take a stroll and look for shells- our hotel was on the beach and the whole set up was just perfect.

 Of course no one stayed dry for more than 5 minutes and Quinn just wanted to sit and be eaten by the waves.  It was exhausting holding her up because she would make her body go limp and I'd have to lift her with every wave and drag her as we walked so she wouldn't go under.  Fortunate or unfortunately this didn't last a single day and she spent the next 2 afraid of walking in the water.  I was pretty nervous because I have an crazy fear of the ocean and Tyler was strapped to Tommy and I was convinced Heidi and Alex were going to be swept away or eaten by a shark that evening.  They had no fear at all.

 The next morning we were at the beach by 8:30 am and I was surprised to see umbrellas and chairs everywhere!  Apparently people get up early and set up their stuff and then leave.  The beach didn't get crowded until later in the morning but we ended up about 3 rows back in the sand even after getting there so soon!

Tommy hung out under the umbrella in a tent and just slept while Daddy studied for boards.  We took turns watching the baby and keeping the big kids alive.

 Tyler's favorite part of the ocean were the waves.  I had told the kids not to go out past their knees (so sharks wouldn't eat them) which was impossible with the tide coming in.  Tyler kept picking them up and taking them way out so they could enjoy bouncing in the waves.  This turned out to be especially cool because of the pod of dolphins that was swimming near shore.  I didn't get a picture but Tyler took the kids out and got within 20 feet while I freaked out on shore.

 Quinn especially liked to be carried out into the waves.  She loved the ocean, but for some reason day 2 brought with it the fear of walking into the waves no matter how shallow.  She would run and cry every time a wave came in unless Tyler was holding her.

 Alex and Heidi had no fear, and the water was the perfect temperature.  It was a warm and humid day so the water didn't seem cold at all.

 We played and played and played for hours.

 As we were about to leave for lunch I went to the waves to rinse off a bucket and shovel just as a blue crab washed up with the waves!  I scooped it up and put it in the bucket and the girls were overjoyed!

We had planned on going crab fishing that afternoon but with this luck scrapped that idea and stayed and played with our new friend.

Alex adopted him as her pet and new best friend and was of course broken hearted when we made her set him free that evening.

In the early afternoon there was a thunderstorm so everyone had to clear the beach.  This gave us a chance to eat lunch, but everyone was so sandy we cleaned up while we watched the rain.  When the storm stopped we walked down he boardwalk a bit and then decided that the big kids and I would go back to the beach to play.  So we got in our suits again and decided everyone would come, went and played for 30 minutes before another storm rolled in and we had to leave.

 This time we went to the hotel pool for awhile until the kids were shivering and it was dinner.  So back to the room to change and eat.

 After dinner Quinn fell asleep and Alex, Heidi and I decided to go hunt for shells during low tide.  Back into the wet swimsuits we went and had a blast walking down the beach for hours and playing in the waves and hunting for shells.  The beach had been pretty empty all afternoon after the first evacuation and I wish I had taken my camera on our stroll because the lighting was perfect and the ocean was beautiful and the kids were in heaven.  We filled our bucket up to over flowing with every broken bit of sea life we could find- it was the perfect age to take the kids because they were super excited about every "treasure" they found in the waves and got overly excited about whole or big shells.

 Wednesday morning marked our last day at the beach and we got up and get their early enough to get a front row spot.

 We tried to get all our fun in so we could get back to the hotel, shower and check out at 11, but it was still sad to go.

 Quinn had warmed up to the water a bit and I spent nearly the whole time sitting making castles for the waves to knock down, while Tyler took the girls and enjoyed the deeper water and the waves.

 We caught a little burrowing sand creature by chance and enjoyed him for a bit.

 We ended up leaving with a grocery bag full of shells, broken crab arms and various other dead beach life that made the car smell just wonderful on the way home.

 Quinn was great at throwing beach fits, and it seemed most of the people on the front lines of the umbrella rows were older couple who came to be amused by the children and disprove of the parents.

Despite all the tips I'd found on doing the beach with kids, and our attempts at sunscreen slathering- everyone got sunburnt and Quinn ate plenty of sand.  Tommy spent the days semi wet from being held and nursed by swimmers, but never went in the water and never got sandy except for day 1 when Alex yelled "SNOWBALL FIGHT" and slung a handful of sand at Tyler (who was wearing Tommy) and I.  You can imagine how thrilled we were at that.

 I wanted to take one last picture but of course no one would cooperate as they were fighting over pinecone people.  So I took the source of contention away and got this picture as a result.

We left Ocean City and drove to Washington D.C. so we could swing by the temple and get some time in there.  We got a hotel for the night and Tyler got up early to do a session while the rest of us slept in.  I took the girls down for breakfast in a large and crowded hotel lobby and after getting everyone successfully fed with no incident and Tommy strapped to my chest I was told that I had the best behaved kids that a older couple had ever seen and that compared to their 2 year old grandson Quinn was very advanced.  I was so proud until we hit the elevator and the kids unraveled again and went nuts.  But it was a proud few minutes.

 After Washington we decided to swing up to Gettysburg and recreate a picture.  I mean why not when it's only an hour away?!  We took a similar picture exactly 2 years ago when it was a baby Quinn on Tyler's lap and couldn't pass up the opportunity to visit uncle Abe and get his blessing on another baby.

 The visitors center was crowded so we went to see the canons, or canyons and Heidi calls them.

 The weather was perfect and the kids had a blast.

Almost everyone got their picture with a cannon.

 Quinn was wearing her beach dress and looked like a complete hippie.  It made me laugh every time I looked at her.

 Tommy, though yet to cut his first tooth, was determined to throw his lot in with the North. Here he made his stand with Lieutenant Butler and his canon corps against the dreaded Colonel Sanders and his Confederate finger lickin' chicken.

 The girls gathered sticks and made weapons to aid in the battle.  Heidi chased Quinn off while saying "We are making weapons, you could get hurt!"  Quinn then became the bad guy and ran around shooting everyone and every statue with her stick, and then it turned into a directing stick for a few minutes while she led the music and it was adorable.

 Tommy was a good sport.

Of course when it came time for the fun to end Heidi was not at all pleased and stomped her way to the car.