Good thing I love him

A few posts ago I named a few of this little monster's masterpieces...I wish I could say that he hasn't struck since then, but I'd be lying. Needless to say, cherry pomegranite crystal light + 2 year old = stained hands, red puddles and cupped wood flooring. If it weren't for beach towels, I might have had a meltdown.

Equal parts mischief and sweetness...so I love him nonetheless. Lets hope that a troublesome two year old means he gets all the mischief out now and not as a teenager. One can hope right???

Land of projects 1 year later

So last year I posted about my many projects here. It has been one year and here we are with the before and afters. I have nearly completed everything except for Hannah's room, which I kind of gave up on for the time being. We ended up getting her a new bed when we upgraded Maddax's, but that's about it.

We got her a loft bed in hopes it would help her become organized. Its been a few months and I must have been dreaming when I got that idea, because she is still as messy as ever!

Maddax got a big boy bed!

The backyard for the time being. Most of the big projects are completed. We fixed the grass, finished the trampoline in the ground, and installed the rest of the fence. We now just have to polish up the grass around the edges of the concrete and level the grass a bit and viola!
(except for maybe the garden project I have in mind...I'm trying to tell myself it can wait a year...but when I get an idea it can be hard to stop me!)

Trampoline area before and after. The kids spend a TON of time on the trampoline. (yes there is some grass touch up needed here, but I'd say this is an improvement from last year, right?!)

Patio torn up last year and now it is freshly poured and waiting for some summer fun! (you can see in the background that UTA has made some progress on Frontrunner as well--oh joy, I can't wait...)

Thankful Thursday

Gotta run, so this is super quick-

let's think...think, think, think....

okay!

Today I am grateful that I get to choose my attitude. That sounds silly, but let me explain a little. This morning I was dreading every single thing I was going to need to do today because I simply had something to fill every single minute of my day. As I drove to work I was dreading what the day would bring (climbing on roofs all day, ending with meetings and not seeing my kids at all!) However, as the day reached about 10am I decided I was going to make the best of it. It is now nearly 7pm and I am headed to yet another meeting, but I am happy. I have lots to be happy about, and I'm grateful I have the power to change my attitude and ultimately the outcome of my day.

Terrible Two's

I'm sure every other mother of a two year-old boy has complained of this "stage." But I have got to share because I am in absolute shock of how actually terrible he has become.

Let me just re-cap the highlights of last two weeks--keeping in mind of course, that this is not all-inclusive:

1- An entire gallon of paint spilled on the office carpet. Why was there paint in there anyway you ask? Because he had colored with permanent red marker on the walls that even mr. magic eraser couldn't touch and I had just finished and thought the lid was on tight. It was a full 24-48 hrs before I discovered this debacle.

2-He flushed a large bouncy ball down the toilet...I'm sure that will only be part 1 of a much bigger story in the future, but let's hope I'm just being pessimistic and that I have fabulous plumbing. (haha, chuckle as I type that because lets be honest, every single builder cuts corners and its usually on the stuff you can't see inside the walls...)

3-He dumped bubbles in the toilet, oh joy.

4-He can put everything in the toilet except for his own #2. He constantly poops his pants. I have thrown away more underwear than I care to admit because I get so sick of cleaning up that particular mess. I'll spare you the details.

5-He found our electric toothbrushes, pulled the heads off and went around with the pointy metal end punching holes in the walls.

6-He spilled half a gallon on chocolate milk on the carpet and while I was cleaning that up, he jumped over the carpet cleaner breaking one of the attachment holders. It still works but only adds to my frustration.

7-He squirted white creamy desitin on Hannah's carpet and rubbed it in. This was harder to clean up that the entire gallon of paint. Desitin is oil based and resisted all carpet cleaner attempts.

8-He climbed into the fridge, pulled down two cartons of eggs, smashed them on the floor then came to me with yolk all over his hands saying "eggs, eggs."

9-While eating and Kneaders, he accidentally bumped his chocolate milk sending it spiraling all over me and the bench. I was so done with the child at this point I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. I really just wanted to crawl into a little ball and roll out of that place without anyone seeing me .

10-I found a bobby pin sticking out of his electrical outlet...not sure when he did this or how it worked out for him. I just hope he learned his lesson. (I'm sure he didn't, but one can hope can't she?!)

Now you may think this is evidence of bad parenting. While I am not mommy of the year, this kid can find trouble in seconds, literally, SECONDS! He puts Dennis the Menace to absolute shame!

Easter

Easter came, Easter went. I don't have pictures of the excessive amount of eggs that Hannah got at my brother's neighborhood hunt, but trust me, it was more than I could carry as it was overflowing the basket. The kids liked dying the eggs, I was honestly worried about what Maddax might ruin just knowing there was permanent dye within 10 feet of him. No damage done=miracle!

Sunday afternoon before church and Hannah was mad about whatever her problem was for that hour and Maddax wouldn't put down the nerf gun the Easter bunny brought. It's un-likely he will bring any other sort of weapon for Maddax ever again. 'Nuff said.

Life has a funny way of working out

It is very interesting for me to reflect on the last few months of our life. I can definitely see how faith has paid off. The renters of our townhouse moved out May 1st and we had listed it for rent for a month before that, with nothing promising. This meant paying two mortgages this month-ouch. Not long after, a position opened at work that I'd been working towards but there was another candidate also applying for the position who was well qualified.

Then our ward split---well split isn't the right phrase. It's more like we were plucked from our ward and put into a ward they formed just for us. Now, if anyone really knows me, it takes me a while to get comfortable with people and become friends. I wish that weren't the case, but it is. After only living in this ward for 2 years, I felt robbed and deflated that I'd be starting over again.

BUT-

I took the attitude that I needed to Trust in God, then go and do. (A lesson I had taught in Relief Society not more than 2 months before.) It was much easier to teach the lesson than to translate into my actual life. However, I decided I'd experiment with it anyway. I gave my best efforts to listing the townhouse, I made changes to the requirements as I saw fit. I gave 100% to my job interview, doing research before, polishing my resume and going in with all I had. As for the new ward, I decided that things would work out and I needed to just give it a chance.

And what happened?

Well, I got the promotion (see previous post). In my new ward I was called to the Young Women's Presidency as the first counselor, meaning I will be working with the 14 yr old girls. (mind you there are only 3 or 4 young women TOTAL...but let's not get into that just yet.) The other ladies in the presidency are going to be great to work with and I can tell we are going to be really good friends. Finally, a high school friend referred someone to our townhome and we are signing the lease this week.

These may not seem to be a big deal to most people, but to me, I can see that my Heavenly Father is looking out for me. Even if things had not gone this way, I know that it would have meant something just as good, if not better, down the road. This doesn't mean that new trials haven't popped up in the last 7 days to replace the ones I had before...because trust me, they have. With that in mind, I will continue to trust in God, then go and do.

Promotion

This last week I received word that I had been offered the promotion I've been working on for quite some time. Being employed for such a large company, they have several steps to even qualify for management. I have had to take several tests over the course of a year, pass 2 behavioral based interviews and finally win them over in the actual job interview. It seems I passed! I will now be a supervisor over a team of 5 adjusters doing what I've been doing.

I am excited and nervous at the same time. I've loved the job I've had over the last 4 years (there have been times when I've loved it less, but that comes with any job I suppose). I can honestly say that A) I've never been bored with my job and B) No two days have been the same or repetitive and C) I've traveled more in the last 4 years by way of driving than the previous 23 years of my life.

Anyway, I begin the transition in about a month and then off to a 2 week symposium in California in July, and then the first of August I take the reigns.

Unfortunately the promotion means no more company car and company gas :( So we are on the lookout for a replacement vehicle...

Family Pictures

We had family pictures done by Nichole Burdett Photography.

I think family pictures are always money well spent because as everyone grows up you forget the little things about how they all looked.