I thought I'd post today...

Okay, so it will be short...Cob is staling toys from Jam...so what is new?  It took so long to figure out how to fix (since I didn't know) my background and see all that has changed in my absence, now the moment is gone and I need to go.

Mom is headed home this afternoon and I will miss her company and her help with the boys.

Sorry I've been gone so long. I would love to say I'd completely painted the new house, finished the yard and decorated all the rooms, but alas, I think I've been lazy.  Some painting has been done, grass was planted, and there have been more purchases than I planned, but none of the above is done and the list of things yet to do is daunting and expensive! 

I did join facebook - evil thing.  Look me up!  One more thing to do and try to rip myself away from. I have to admit, it has been fun facestalking with my son....checking out people without friending anyone. Too many good things to do: scrapbook, blog, facebook, genealogy, nurture my kids, play taxi for the older one, fix dinner, take the place of their father when he is at work to late....and on and on...Good, Better, Best - Too often I don't choose Best. Facebook usually falls to good for me. 

Anyway, I said this would be short as Mom is putting batteries in a train and settling disputes between the little ones.

Conference was good, wasn't it? Relief Society was great and I really enjoyed the parenting advice from Elder Lawrence and a few others on Sunday afternoon. My favorite is still the Monkey bread for breakfast and no, Tori I haven't finished that cross stitch yet.  Close though! Maybe next fall?

I enjoyed your comments this morning...and to think I didn't think anyone read my posts. I miss you all and I'll get back to seeing what you are all up to ....um, tomorrow?

 

Okay - so much for mixed emotions....

I've moved on and now I can look back and think of the things I do miss about Baltimore. You know, the last thing we did was to visit Ft. McHenry for the FIRST time? Pretty funny. We really enjoyed it though despite the wind. There were so many things we didn't do that were on our "list". Oh well. We will miss the ward and all our friends there. There were many people who touched our lives and the lives of our children there. I really will miss those stinking trees and flowers as they change with the seasons which we won't have in Cali. I miss Jar's orchestra teacher. The alley life will be missed...in a bittersweet sort of way.

Many of you are probably looking for what we are doing and all that stuff. I know I would be. We did find a house. Our realtor thinks that we got the house because of Cob. He was pretty cute each time we visited the house. And she played on the fact that he was "homeless". We sold our B'more house very quickly and for just what we asked. We left in a whirlwind - it seemed so sudden although I kept pushing back the mover's day. We flew to Utah - all except the Dad - who closed up the house for the last time. I think I would have cried if it had been me. It looked funny all empty!

Lucky survived the flight rather well and is getting along with his "cousins" better than I thought. My Mom has been great to put up with us all in her once quiet house. We've tried not to take everything over. Jar is in school here and will finish here for the year. He likes the 7 pd day and his orchestra class. Jam has been in preschool here too and will have his last day on Tuesday this week as we head for Cali. Cob has almost adjusted just in time to leave as well. It has been good to see family - those that have found us. How exactly do you appropriately "arrive"? Do you send an announcement "We're here - come see us"? Or just wait and see? It feels funny, rather self-centered to invite them over that way - maybe that's because I've been "away" so long?

We did get a house in Cali as I said. It will require more love than I am excited about. Remember buying that first house and being so excited to decorate and landscape it? I'm so over that!!! I need to paint so the rooms work with our stuff and Dad needs to do sprinklers and the ENTIRE back yard! We do need to tile the kitchen and put in some fans. We did paint one room already! Yea! We had to buy a fridge and a washer and dryer. Thank heavens it was a good relo package and a good tax year for us! We couldn't have done any of this without the blessing of our Father in Heaven. All things come from him, but this year I feel his hand in our lives particularly strong. He wants us there. Now to find out why...what an adventure!? It does give me pause - what does he have in store? What blessings and what challenges?

The ward is nice. It was split last year and is small and reminds Dad of Parkway in Texas. I think it will grow on me. They were very nice when I visited last weekend. Jar laments the 9:00 start with a 15 min drive. Oh well. There are plenty of young folk in primary and YM to keep them busy.

We move this week without Jar. He is staying here to finish the school year. We need to be together - Dad and I. I'm running out of steam without him and getting a bit stir-crazy knowing all I have waiting for me to do in Cali. I'll post some pics later today if I have time and then there will probably be a dry spell again as life picks up and carries us away on it's shoulders. Oh if I could do anything with the reins I've been given!

Mixed Emotions

I remember when we left Texas that I had planned on it for some time, was anxious for it to happen, and so unhappy to be there....and then my husband got a new job out of state in less than 3 weeks and I had to list the house, keep it clean, find a new one in the new state, and take care of the kids alone while he was working until the house sold. Then, and only then, did I realize how much I loved Texas, our neighborhood, our family and friends and ward there, and the social structure we had around us to support us, the activities my sons had to choose from...the list goes on and I repented of my feelings and my hurry to move. I so wanted to go back there - still do. BUT, that's not the Lord's plan. He has other ideas and I am coming around. Again, I wanted to move, planned on it for some time (according to my calculations it is nearly a year overdue), anxious for it to happen and unhappy to be here in Maryland.

And moving. . . leaves me with mixed emotions. All of a sudden, I kinda like my house - we've done a lot to make it ours and lots of cool things happened here: Jam learned to walk, Jar grew up, Cob was born here, I'm sure if I thought through my tears I could think of more reasons why I am reluctant to move. There are folks we've come to love in our ward who have done so much for us that we will really miss - particularly Jam's friends, old and young alike. I will miss those darn trees. I'm finally familiar with my surroundings - must be time to move. There is so much that we haven't done here too - another thing I regretted about leaving Texas - all the things we hadn't done (isn't that a country song line?).

So, yes, there is a sold sign in front of my house, we're moving to California and there is much to do. Jar is excited, Jam is oblivious as is Cob and I am mixed. My husband is already gone and I can see there are tons of things to do and I have no idea where to start. Any suggestions?

Evening News

Evening begins to fall here in B'more and the Passey news bureau brings you: Jam falls asleep much to the blogging pleasure of his mother who was able to post many belated posts due to his sleeping. However she realizes that this angelic picture will likely yield an ornery bedtime monster. Tough mommy decisions. What a beautiful sleep it was!

Also notice the change in the snow from morning til night here in lovely Towson. Lots of melt, NO added snow, and no flooding but lots of neighbor bonding occurred over full shovels of the slushy stuff as everyone rushed to clear their spots out.

The kids still have Friday off of school and I remembered today they have Monday off for President's day. Grr. What to do? When was the last time they went to school anyway? I vaguely recall them having 2 hr early release LAST Friday? Let's hope the snow expected on Tuesday doesn't come early and cancel more school!

More news another lazy afternoon in the future. . .

Is post-dating your blog posts cheating?

I don't know if I can keep up with a blog and the scrapbooks....this might be the only way. Already I am struggling with remembering the what and when of the pics and everything I forgot to take pics of....Am I cheating? Its for a good reason, right?
Enjoy what I should have posted the past two months!

Have you ever been this happy to see the sun?

Some of you may have heard about the record snowfall here on the Atlantic seaboard. Yes, last I heard BWI recorded 79.9inches for the winter ** so far**. I can't remember ever having been so happy to see the snow go and the sun come up! It really has been a beautiful day! I was dug out by 11:30 and on a run to Dunkin Donuts for James and Jaren mostly. The snow at the very bottom of the picture is a pile between our porches - easily five feet tall. Last Thursday my front yard was grass and I was unsure if I could stand moving to the land of forever summer - LA.

LA-here I come!

After taking this photo and a few other at 6:40 this morning (another story all together) I came in and took these last two - beautiful - a rival for the sunrise, for sure.



My "roommate" while my spouse is out of town - especially cute when asleep - even after wrestling him most of the night. I have to say though that he has a cold and his room is colder than my bed. I guess he has an excuse?
Just before the smile - one of my favorite moments of the day if it is after 6:30am - just waking Cob.

Just a cute pic of Cob

Don't you just love those blue eyes? With his brown hair? We sure do! 5 1/2 months. I can hardly believe it has been so long, yet it seems like summer was ages ago!

Snow-pocalypse?

Yes, we are expecting what was originally 4-6 inches and has ballooned to 10-20 inches of snow and my spouse is headed out of town to sunny LA. Before he left though we had to clear out the blizzard of '10 to make way for snow-pocalypse as they have dubbed it.

This is the first pic - we couldn't get the door open! No, it wasn't drifted either!

Here are some photos of our fun. I remember watching the East dig out via the news when we were in Texas. I never understood what the big deal was and I repent - NOW. See, here we don't all have garages or driveways. You are privileged if you do have both, but it is a special feature if you even have a parking pad out back! So most of us are parked on the street and you all back West know what it's like to dig out your inturn after the snowplow! Imagine this:

Jar had to dig out the dog, by going out the front around the block to the back yard to clear the backdoor! Poor dog - poor cold Jar.

This is the snow in the back yard and yes, the garbage can is sitting in 2 ft of snow and the snow on top is fresh and at this point it is still coming down.

Evan Jam likes to "help" dig out after the storm.


Jaren spent more time playing than helping -his friend made mention of how much time he has to be an excellent engineer (this is the same kid who find Jar can never play because he has too much homework). Apparently he can focus on something!


A pretty front yard - from across the street at dusk. Can you find the van? You can see even less of it from the front door! And the snow is blown under it completely....aaarrrggghhhh! Good thing my husband shovels the snow!

Sugar rocks, snow rocks, whatever - as long as it isn't yellow!

Whew! Time to call it quits until tomorrow!

Not time to quit playing apparently. Jar's crowning achievement of the day was the tunnel in the front yard. It was only about 5 feet long, but enough to play groundhog - oh, yeah! 6 more weeks of winter. Thanks Phil!

Oh and no church tomorrow - such a strange feeling - second time in my life. Last time was the blizzard of 2009 - Dec 19-ish.

More News. . .

Some of you may have heard about Black & Decker being bought by Stanley Tools? It is a truth. Luckily it appears that we would still have a job here, but we are even more blessed than that! There was a fabulous opportunity that came up - exactly what he was looking for - in LA as controller of a company B&D is purchasing. He is really excited about it. So the other news? Oh, yeah, we're moving to the LA area sometime this spring or summer. That's the hard part...waiting patiently until the ball starts rolling or until I get to start juggling them. For now, we are waiting as he prepares to go out of town; only one week this month, but then we aren't so sure when he will be in town.

So I get to leave B'more? There are days that I am excited about it and others, like when it snows and freezes up the reservior and coats the trees in a dusting of white diamonds and the sky is so clear and blue that I have those pangs of regret. I will miss the snow, LR Reservoir, my new toilet, FALL - definitely miss fall here, and the people. Having my husband home for lunch most days of the week - stopping in to take him out. That I will miss. I might miss Jar's orchestra teachers at school and the program they run so well. I don't think I took the time to take stock in what I would miss as I contemplated leaving Houston - maybe I did, hmmm.

LA has lots to offer - nice weather, earthquakes, fire, hail, mudslides, summer all the time, smog, pollen all year round, BIG houses if you live far enough out, real football, smaller area wards and chiefly - closer to home and only one time zone away! I didn't even mention Disneyland - I'm a DW girl.

So we are working on the house when we can, trying not to let the stress boil over, and figuring out just what else we want to do before we fly away for good.

• Ft. McHenry
• one more NYC trip (with or without the kids???)
• Assateague or Chincoteague island
• rest of the Smithsonian
• beach week - outer banks, SC?
• Palmyra & Kirtland (maybe on the way?)
• Gettysburgh & Antietam
• Monticello
• DisneyWorld - do I even ask?
  

Do I try to throw in a genealogy trip or two? Probably don't have the time.

What do you miss? What would you most want to do back here?

I need to remember this one and reflect back on it often!

One of my favorite noises is the clomp, clomp sound of my heels on the upstairs wood floor! The sound echoes and resounds so loudly and as I approach it usually quickens telling me he has begun to run in anticipation of being caught. The funny thing is that I usually laugh at him. His wearing my shoes doesn't bother me, just the loud noise and the fear he'll break the high ones. This particular Sunday afternoon he had gone upstairs alone and found his dad's suitcase, filled it up with his entire drawer of clothes and Cob's socks and a few stuffed animals and books. When I came upstairs to see what my color coordinated child was doing this is what I found and when asked he said, "I'm moving to California!"

If only it was really going to be this easy! Somehow I know it will be harder on him than this and incidentally - I'm not worried about his cross dressing. I love the innocence in it all - to him they're just shoes that make great noise and cause mom to chase him and illicit the most beautiful mischievious grin from him that I'll never capture with a camera.

I hope one day to remember all those grins and things that I've seen so beautiful in my children that I couldn't capture for a photo album. . .

Multiplicity?

Rememer that movie? I have pics of each of my boys wearing these goggles. Mind you they are only 2 years old which means one child was 12 when he wore them, of his own free will and choice to pose, and the other child was 2 who also wears them of his own free will and choice. This poor urchin is the baby of the family --obviously!

Cob's First Food Taste

First he tastes it, then the dislike oozes out of his expression. Granted, rice cereal doesn't have much flavor and I might not have put any formula powder in either. I later called my younger sisters for their advice, something I never thought I'd do. I just never thought we'd be in the same stage at the same time.

The funny thing is that he has been and still is watching every bite of food or swallow of liquid my husband and I take in. I guess he expected something better?

Teenagers are such beasts

Until they sleep some days. He's still a beauty this way. I can't believe what a man he is becoming. I find myself watching him with wonder many times a day much the way I watch Cob and Jam. Some times he really stuns me with his maturity and often I can't get by without him; he is a big help to me. I love this kid! Unfortunately I become the beast I see in him on our bad days. Oh, if I could only take those times back!

Jam's first bike ride

Jam's first bike ride! Think he liked it?

Knowing Dad was going out of town, we pushed to get the bike put together and then it rained or snowed or something. Maybe it was just cold or he couldn't make it home for lunch or too dark when he got home? We took our chances today and had a quick ride partway down the alley at lunch and this was the happy face we got. I have no idea how Dad convinced him to come in; I had already gone in with Cob who was freezing.

Cantaloupe

A kid's first food is supposed to be what, rice cereal? plain? then the veggies because they aren't sweet? Oh, well. I guess we failed. No wonder he didn't like his first cereal! This was good cantaloupe! Good thing he wasn't allergic to this one!

Raspberries and Slobber

Our conversations these days consist of a lot of "Spppplllltt" Cob will demonstrate in the goofy looking pictures (btw, I love the highchair for pics of my blue-eyed boys):






























Below: Catch the break and then continued slobbering and Raspberry-ing? The wet shirt doesn't do justice to an end of the day shirt!

Happy Birthday Jam - My favorite Pic

It doesn't matter that I picked out the bike, does it? I got all the gratification out of the joy in his face in this one moment!

Happy Birthday Jam!

I


It has been an interesting birthday season at our house so far from Jar's to the Saviors, to Jam's. I think I really scored on this one! Too bad the best gifts were from others, but the cake . . . I am proud of that and you should have seen Jam's face when he first saw it - that I couldn't catch, but it made the effort worthwhile. Just like a Mom, right?