The storm

Last night a big storm went through...I guess.  I slept through it.  Sawyer said it woke him up.  There was a lot of rain and big winds.  Branches were downed again and school had a 2 hour delayed start this morning due to some road closures from the storm.  Kent's work lost power too.  Miraculously we didn't lose power this time.  Thank heavens!  Especially since Kent already removed our transfer switch for the generator.  17 days, that's all we need with no power outages.
The weather was a little nicer this morning so Josh was able to venture outside.  It will be nice to have a fenced yard.  He kept trying to go into the road.

Ex Libris

During our errands today I snapped a picture of one of my favorite places...the library. When we moved here there were a few key places I needed to find to feel at home: a house, the kid's school, the church, and the library.
At first I was put off by it's lack of inter library loaning. It's more of a wait here. But it is the heart of the community from Santa's visit, concerts, to recovering from the hurricanes. I love this little library.
I will miss our little New England community.

February 17

The granite is in.  The walls are all painted.  The tile is done.  The stair banister is stained.

The plane tickets are purchased.  We'll be flying back to Utah on February 17 so we can do the walk-through and then the closing.
Yesterday we were officially released from our callings here. 

If the weather cooperates I would like to take one last trip to the city with the kids to walk on the Brooklyn Bridge, and one last trip to the Atlantic Ocean to collect seashells.  I'm not going to the city if it is still arctic though...miserable.

Contacts

McKinley got contacts today, which they say is better for her eyes anyway. She has a big astigmatism in her left eye. She put them in like a pro!

4th grade viola concert

Last night was McKinley's 4th grade orchestra and chorus concert.  She came bounding into my room after school to tell me that her orchestra teacher (Mr. Hiyashi) chose her as one of the two lead viola's for the concert.
We had to split up the family for a few things going on so Hayden and I went to McKinley's concert.  I got a great seat on the aisle with a view of McKinley right in the middle.  But then Mr. Hiyashi conducted the orchestra right in front of her.  So in the video, McKinley is the tiny face with wavy hair and glasses that you can see poking out once in a while on the teacher's right side.

With no further ado.....



(My video camera battery died so I had to use the dumb ipad, which is why I couldn't zoom in any closer)

Reading with Hayden

Today was Hayden's reading with parent's day at school. I brought his favorite book (a non-fiction book about the cosmic universe). Two of his classmates joined us since their parents couldn't come. They were adorable. Hayden gave me a big hug before I left. Love that crazy monkey!

Get better soon

The kids had the day off of school yesterday. McKinley spent some time making cards. One of which is for Grandpa and Grandma Chambers. Grandpa Chambers ended up being admitted to the hospital. We were made aware that these are the last of the grandparents for Kent and I. Get better soon.

House

The cabinets are in.  The woodworking around the windows, baseboards and doors are up.  Getting closer!

The Giving Tree

 

I wasn't sure if the kids would like this book (The Giving Tree), but it is one of my favorites, so we gave it a try.  They were enraptured.

I read it once again to Hayden the other night just the two of us.  His eyes got teary and he said "It's kind of a sad story".  It made my heart melt.  I made this page (where I always get choked up) into a poster to print when I get to Utah so I can put it up on my walls.  It reminds me of my little boys (and girl) and how much I love them.

15 months

Yesterday was Josh's 15 month appointment.  He's getting so big!  Almost 30 pounds yikes!  He got three pokes yesterday and has been grumpy ever since.  Poor kid.

Today was supposed to be Hayden's long day in kindergarten, and McKinley had plans to go to a friend's after school.  That meant I could take a nice quiet nap during Josh's nap time.  Unfortunately, today is a snow day here.  Yep, all 4 kids here + one friend, including aforementioned grumpy baby.  All for a meezley 3 inches!  I will not miss the ridiculously frequent snow days here.

House

The garage doors are on!  The cabinets are sitting in their boxes inside.  The tile in the bathrooms and the fireplace hearth are going up.

They say we're still on schedule, but they can't paint the exterior until Utah stops being so stinking cold.

ED

Today as I was bringing Josh home from his 15 month appointment (post coming tomorrow on that), I got a phone call from Kent saying he had spoken with his doctor who recommended he go to the ED (emergency department). 
Rewind a little...headaches his whole life, now has complex migraines which include facial numbness, has had a numb face for about a steady week now.  Continue.
So he asked if he should do his work meeting or go to the ED.  I told him to go.  He got there just before noon.  His room ended up being in the hallway because there were no more real rooms.  He waited around until 3:00 to get an MRI done.  His first MRI ever done despite his long history of migraines.  The good news is there is nothing wrong with his MRI.  No tumors.  No MS.  The bad news is there is nothing to blame for his migraines.  The doctor gave him a steroid and a couple of other meds regimen to try and 'reset' his migraine over the next week.  Here's hoping.
And that was Kent's day.

4

We may only have 4 more Sundays.  Moving is emotionally complex.

Nuts!

Unfortunately, every mixed bag of Halloween candy bars has those pesky Snickers mixed in.  Our leftover Snickers fell back in the trenches of the food storage organizer. 
These tiny little arms are just the right size to fish them out though.  So when Josh needs a little chocolate he knows just where to go. 
He does not, however, care for the nuts.  He will eat the entire candy bar while storing the nuts in his mouth and sucking off every last bit of sugar.  Then he disposes of them (this morning it was on the kitchen floor) and we find a nice little pile of chopped nuts.
Thus supporting my theory that no one likes nuts in desserts!  (Same is true of raisins)

House

The mudding and taping will be all done this week (first coat is done) and moldings and trim will start to go up.  Close date is supposed to be around Feb. 20.

Snowballs

Kent was doing some work outside.  Hayden was sent outside for "outdoor recess".  Yes, in his jammies.  Mommy was frustrated with his tiny little body.  Sawyer joined in for the fun when he saw Hayden out there, in his jammies too. The boys (minus Josh) had a little snowball fight together.  I am glad we have got some snow here before we move.  It makes it feel like we got our winter in Connecticut one last time.

Hayden's Holiday Party

This is from back in December when Hayden had his Christmas party at school.  They are in a circle holding 'gently used' books to donate to the homeless shelter.  We had two "Corduroy" books at home so I picked one to donate.  The trouble is Hayden left it in his backpack.  On purpose.  He said he just couldn't give it away because Corduroy is so cute.   Grrr.

First taste of Nutella

 

I think he likes it!

Happy 2013

 

So grateful for a happy, healthy family.

 

Excited to see what the year brings!

 

We all wrote a goal for the new year:

 

Learn how to make a star (a toy one)-H

Finish the basement-K

Keep doing good in school and make new friends in Utah-M

Take a class-me

Play flag football-S

Learn to talk-J