The Visit

I keep thinking having experiences that I sit and think I should put down somewhere, but when I think of this blog I hesitate since I go so long between posts.  I'm hoping by going ahead and doing one today I can possibly get back on track at putting down my thoughts from daily life.
Last night, I took Sarah to a birthday party that was in our old neighborhood.  We've stayed friends with one family there and it was so fun to take her there.  She jumped right into it all like the bubbly 3 year old she is.  It was kind of weird for me.  Driving through the old neighborhood brought back some nostalgia for when we lived there and for the people who were still there.  I did talk to a couple of people I knew and it was so nice. 
I had dropped Sarah off for the party and then went shopping at one of the four Target stores that were in driving distance.  It reminded me how much I miss having all of those around.  There are two Target stores within driving distance of me now, one is closer - but neither one has the clearance deals I seemed to find at the ones around West Jordan.  It was a lot of fun to bargain shop again (and especially since I was by myself).  I was reminded of how much I missed those stores and the ease of shopping out there.
On the way home, Sarah and I drove by our old house.  I had mixed feelings.  I still love that house and there are so many memories tied into it.  I am so sentimental about that house, since it was where I brought my babies home to and where they spent their early years.
I spent my drive home thinking about it all and feeling some small feelings of sadness, because there was so much I missed from that old neighborhood.  Then, I finally turned the corner heading on the street to my house.  As I saw our current house, I was filled with a feeling of being home.  I was HOME!  I realized that I love my current home and neighborhood as much as I did my last one.  I may miss certain things about where I was, but I certainly am in a wonderful situation and I'm thankful to be here now.  It's all about perspective, I suppose.

Letting Go at the Playland

I took my kids to the McDonald's playland for the first time today.  Yes, my oldest is five and you'd think I would have gone by now, but I never could bring myself to do it.  I think I was partially traumatized by the time a couple of years ago we let Zach play at the Chick-fil-a playland and he wouldn't come out.  That thing was not made for an adult to enter and I had to go in after him.  Not a fun experience.  Also, Sarah can be a crazy kid at times and I never knew what she would do.  Long story about why we went, but our original plan today was to go to the drive-thru.  As Zach saw the playland, he decided he wanted to play on it.  Zach is a really mellow kid and in my mind, he needs to be more social.  So, I'm trying to go with things that will give him some more interaction with other kids.  To me, that includes the playland.
From entering the McDonald's, my kids were bouncing off the walls (almost literally).  I had to keep getting after them to stay with me as they kept kind of bouncing towards the playland area.  My point:  they were ecstatic.  We got our order and went to sit in the playland area.  I have to admit I was kind of impressed, it was nicely set up.  I felt kind of weird though when we got in there.  I guess the other mothers are pretty frugal - I didn't see any other kids but mine with a Happy Meal.  They mostly bought hamburgers, had them share fries, and such.  I don't blame them, go for the affordable, especially since it looked like they had more kids than me.  Later, I did see kids come in with Happy Meals, so I quit feeling like I was spoiling my kids.
I got pretty bored though.  Not a whole lot to do but sit and watch the kids.  Even then, the thing is all tubes you can't see too well into except for a few strategically placed windows.  So, I couldn't even watch them all the time.  Next time I'll bring a book or my laptop (I'll have to check if they have the free wi-fi there).  Or hope that they decide to put some stuff in there for parents to do.  I guess they'd rather have you watching your kids.  Makes sense to me. 
My kids had a great time.  They were also very good about eating their lunch before playing and then not fighting me when I said it was time to leave.  I honestly expected the experience to stress me out, but it didn't.  I feel like I kind of let go of yet another hang-up I have about raising my kids.  I've got lot a long ways to go to be like a normal mom, but it feels really good to make one more step.

Awesome Blog

My cousin's daughter does a blog called "The Lovely Paper Blog" that is incredible.  I am not a crafty person and when I first went to look at it, it was with the attitude that it wouldn't be for me.  After I read through the posts, I found it was stuff even I could do.  She has some great tutorials on it, showing you exactly how to do it (which is something I need).  Plus, everything is so cute.  I am totally in love with the cupcake liners post, that is one I am definitely going to try.  Besides showing how to make stuff, she also sells custom invitations that are to die for.  She has posts of what she has done and I am so impressed.  I seriously want to get some for my Sarah's birthday when it rolls around.

Speaking of birthdays, she is having birthday week right now and is having a giveaway.  If anyone is interested, you really should check out her blog and enter.  She's giving away an invitation design and like I said, they are custom and gorgeous.  Check out her blog anyway, even if you don't want to enter.  She has some really great stuff on it.  Here is the link to the giveaway post:
http://lovelypapershop.blogspot.com/2010/06/birthday-week-invitation-design.html

Check out her blog itself at www.lovelypapershop.blogspot.com.  It is wonderful!

Missing West Jordan

Our house has sold and we've found a beautiful house in Farmington that we are buying. Everything seems to be settling into place. We've even met the new buyers of our house and really like them. However, I find as I'm driving around West Jordan and the surrounding area (especially South Jordan) that there are some things I am really going to miss around here. I thought I'd make a list, just so I can remember later one what I loved (it seems that I always forget as time goes on):

• I seriously love that I am so close to three Target stores, a bunch of grocery stores, and a great mall. Shopping is so nice out here. Most of it is just around the corner too, if I need to run to get something last minute. Brad just ran to Home Depot for some moving boxes and was gone only about 20 minutes.
• There is such an urban feel out here. For some reason that works for me.
• We live in a great ward. I've never felt so at home in any of the other wards I've been in. There are such wonderful people here and I am going to miss them. I'm also going to miss my neighbors. The people out here seem so down to earth.
• We are so close to three large movie theaters.
• We are also very close to so many restaurants, including a Cafe Rio. I'm not even sure where the closest Cafe Rio is to where we are moving.
• I was actually looking forward to year-round school. Now we are going to traditional. I guess we won't be doing a lot of off-season vacations now.
• Zach had an awesome pre-school teacher this year. I was hoping Sarah would be able to go to her. I'm also going to miss their pediatrician.

Although there is a lot I am going to miss, I know that this move is right. I'm excited to get off a private street and back into a neighborhood. I think my kids need that. I will also be so much closer to family and I feel that is very important for us to do at this time. Our new house is wonderful and has so much that I loved from my current house (and much more). It's just getting used to the suburban life again. It's just another adventure, for the first little while at least. I will at least have some great memories of West Jordan. Now it's time to move on and I'm fine with that.

Insanity

I've decided that selling a home is not for me. I think it is slowly leading me to insanity. We have periods of no one looking at our home and then we get a few people. Then, there is the cleaning frenzy. Now, my realtors are really, really good at giving me notice. I usually have a few hours to do it. What is driving me crazy is that the appointments are usually at a time where I'm alone doing the cleaning while trying to get my kids to a) leave me alone, b) stay out of the cleaning products, and c) not mess up what I just cleaned. By the time I'm done, I'm usually close to tears. Why do I do it then? Because I'd like to sell my house and I want it to look spectacular, hoping someone will fall in love with it.
Then there are the appointments. From what I've learned, Salt Lake County agents are just too busy to give any feedback on your house. So, every time someone goes through my home I'm left with hope and anticipation that they will be the one. Just to go days without knowing anything about it. It is such a let down. We've had two people give feedback (out of probably 14), one saying they didn't like how close the houses are and the other didn't like that we had an irregular shaped yard. OK, I can respect that. I am so glad also that they were kind enough to put me out of my misery by letting me know they weren't interested.
I guess part of why I am frustrated is that I felt so strongly that we were supposed to move closer to our families. Now, I'm not so sure if I was right. Maybe I imagined it, maybe it was all me. I don't know and I hope that it gets resolved soon.
So, I'm sitting here today wondering about the people that were here last night. They were here for at least a half hour (we leave, but I know it was that long based on when we tried to come back home to when they actually left). I'm left wondering if they loved the home or if they just were killing time. I'm really not sure how much I can take of this roller coaster ride. I guess I could just sit back and enjoy the ride, even if it does drive me insane.

Trying to Get Going Again

I can't believe I haven't posted anything for four months. I have had occasional things pop into my head that I should blog about, but I sure lacked the motivation to put them down in written form.
There was the time we sold our cradle and I cried because I was having a hard time letting go of that part of my life where I had my newborn babies in there (I've gotten over it, but that was hard). I also have passed on all my kids' clothes they have outgrown. It's time to look forward.
Then, there has been the ups and downs of trying to sell our house. I'm still kind of depressed about the whole thing. Our intentions are good and I prayed about it, feeling like it was the right thing to do. I thought for sure it would sell fast because I felt so good about it. So here we are, nearly two months later and everything is the same. Except for the stress of keeping a house clean with two young kids running around. I just tell myself that we aren't moving so I don't get disappointed when we decide to stay here.
So, I feel I must move forward. I'm signing Zach up for the Spanish Immersion program at the elementary school here. I'm pretty excited about it, I just hope it's a good fit for him. I've agonized about it for awhile and finally decided to do it. He'll be starting Kindergarten this year and I'm really excited about that. It should be interesting because he'll be on year round school.
That's what I can think of tonight. I'm hoping to try to pick different things occasionally just to talk about. I read a couple of blogs and that's basically all they are doing. I started this blog for an outlet for my thoughts (and boy, do I think too much sometimes). I guess I was hoping it would pull things into perspective for me. Here's to me doing better and getting this blog going again.

The Chips Truck

When we are driving home from preschool, I usually try to find things to point out to the kids, especially to keep Sarah awake. Last week, as we passed a grocery store, I pointed a Keebler truck (with one of the Keebler Elves on the side) and called it the Cookie Truck. The kids thought that was fun. Less than a minute later, we were stopped at the light and I noticed a truck with Doritos chips all over it. We were heading straight and it was turning left, to eventually be travelling in the opposite direction of us. I pointed the truck out to the kids, saying it was the Chips Truck. They thought that was even better than the Cookie Truck, maybe because they could see giant pictures of the Doritos chips all over it. The Chips Truck had the right of way and turned left, passing before us and heading the other way. Sarah says to me, "That way! Follow Chips Truck!" I'm not quite sure what purpose she had in mind, but I believe she may have had visions of her getting a large share of Doritos. Luckily, she wasn't too heartbroken when I decided not to give into her scheme.