Good-bye Rexburg, hello to Indiana!

Yes, that's right, we're uprooting from Rexburg & moving to Indiana! It was rather a quick decision & has been a continuous whirlwind for the past month & a half. Here's a quickie-like update of all that has been happening to get us to this point (I'll post pictures later):

1. Whoa, we decide to move all-of-a-sudden at the very end of May. I tell my principal on the LAST day of school that we're moving...
2. The boys leave for Florida the next day!
3. I leave for my teacher history grant Boston/D.C. trip the next day after that (Sunday) for a week.
4. Tony moves a couple weeks later after packing up a couple of the rooms with me
5. I pack & pack & pack...
6. I clean & clean
7. We look for houses for rent. No luck
8. Tony likes his new job. Very good news.
9. We don't know when I'm going to fly out, the doctor tells me not past 34 weeks, but we have other issues to work through the third party
10. I pack & clean & pack & clean & get lots of GREAT help from family
11. We look some more for houses for rent. No luck
12. Tony still likes his new job!
13. We finally work through the issues with the third party, I'm leaving on Monday & the boys will come on Wednesday! Hooray for family togetherness again!
14. Still no house for sure so we'll live in a cozy month-to-month
15. Dad to drive out our stuff hopefully by the 20th (we plan on finding a house by then :)
16. Baby to be born a short month later (hopefully it will all be unpacked by then)!
17. Whew, what an adventure, and it's just beginning...

Ah, yes, and one more thing...

iT's a GirL!!!

I made the ultrasound tech check three times, so I'm planning on it! We are beyond thrilled...even Tony who was pretty durn sure it was a boy is so happy as well. Sorry honey, once in a great while even you are mistaken :) She would NOT hold still, she was doing somersaults the whole time (hence the, "please check one more time??!!" from me) & when we told Tony's sister that she said, "Well, sounds like a Tony-baby." If she has his sunny disposition in combination with that crazy energy, I say bring it on! The boys have gradually accepted the fact that there are not "10-tuplets" in there, but only one sweet baby sister & now they both talk to my tummy in cute, quiet tones on a regular basis. I love my life.

Q: Do trampolines fly? A: They do in Rexburg wind!

I mean, the radio said "wind advisory," but I didn't think that included a "watch out, your tramp might blow through your trees, over the 4 ft barbed wire fence & a few hundred yards away!" You learn something new about this little place every day. The boys were so sad, they jump on it with Tony all the time, but our landlord thinks maybe he can help us unbend the couple of poles that are skiwampus. We shall see. Until then, watch out you Rexburg-trampoline-owners! You might want to be like our next-door neighbors who now have their tramp tied to their fence!!

Birthday Celebrations

The boys' b-day is on the 7th & mine is on the 9th, so some years it's more of a combined effort, which is what it was this year. We opened their presents & had "their dinner" on their b-day & then did the cake & real celebrating on my b-day, that Saturday. This is the picture of elation when they received their Legos.

This is the aforementioned "birthday dinner," and oh, wow, what a feast it was. They've always both LOVED garden beets (we grow them every year in our little garden & they never tire of them). But recently, out of the blue, being the clever 6-now-7-year-olds that they are, decided that maybe it would be delicious on homemade...hamburgers?? They both get to choose a couple of meals each month and the last couple months the newly-invented "Beet Burgers" have been on the menu. So, of course that's what they wanted for their birthday feast, along with "not homemade macaroni & cheese, Mommy, the stuff from the box!" You see, this is the first time in their lives I've ever bought it in the box, and oh boy, they thought heaven had arrived...in a box. Go figure. The cutest part is that Jaydon-boy is pointing at me (in the picture above). He said he did that because I was the one to make it all for them. Oh, I sure love my wild cats!

This is the treasure chest cake that we ate with family & friends on my birthday that Saturday. I have to admit, I was pretty worried about making it, but you stuff enough chocolate coins & candy necklaces in something (surrounded by graham cracker dirt & chocolate rocks) and really, you can't go wrong. And if you look really close you can see their shirts say "My Mom Rocks!" Isn't that the greatest present ever? To myself? :) I admit, I HAD to buy them when I saw them at Kohl's (pick up yours today to adorn your darling tots!).

This is the Tautphaus Zoo we attended with seven adorable children (assorted relatives & friends, all under the age of 7). Really, we were quite fortunate that we only lost one of them...twice. Sorry Dina! Luckily the 3 year-old in question made friends with the flamingos & a lovely park guide until we came running breathlessly up.


And, to top it all off, after all the festivities and fun, the most favoritest part was when the boys received their bug catchers--from the ever-prestigious dollar store.

Creativity abounds!

Gotta love those faces!


Creation a'la popsicle sticks

Tony surprised the boys one Saturday morning (and me) by randomly taking the boys on a "Secret Mission" all over Sugar City (& to Millhollow for a secret agent treat). He had a bunch of clues that ultimately led to the treasure (a small pile of Legos at his Mom's house). They had to dress the part (hence the weapons & positions of the "agents" in the picture) & he even woke them up by playing "Secret Agent Man" on their cd player in their bedroom. It was SO awesome! I love my creative husband!!!!!!!!!!!

The Greens

We love our Greens! Here we are a seeming short time ago eating all green (except for the shamrock-shaped biscuits). And, in the background you may see my accident hair. I've had blonde highlights for awhile & decided to try & go back to my now-darker-than-it-ever-has-been-hair-color (my hair lady said I have lots of different colors in my hair, but we were just trying to pick the darkest one to make it all uniform so I wouldn't have to get highlights every other month). Weeeelll, let's just say I am NOT so very fond of this color on me, but it taught me one very important thing--I'm grateful to have a husband who loves me no matter how bad the "hair accident" is. Hooray for Tony.

Love the Happy V-Day thing!

Happy V-day breakfast (look closely & you MAY see the heart-shaped eggs, compliments of a friend who gave us the mold)!!

Well.............. I thought I'd join the crowd of several of you good pals & become pregnant! We're so excited and also keep telling ourselves that God is certainly in charge because it's a bit crazy here right now as well! Luckily Tony is the very best dad in the whole world & he is also WAY better at adapting and rolling with all the punches life throws out. So...let the good times roll!

Luckily I'm not nearly as sick as I was with the boys, but Tony has been incredibly patient because I've been nauseous pretty much all the day & all the night. He helps out a lot, and my favorite is when Jaydon gets really close, kisses the "baby" and says, "hi baby" in his little voice. Jyson is also very quick to say, "Oh, Mommy needs that for the baby," in reference to the best of whatever kind of food. So wonderful. They're certain I need to have "10-tuplet" boys so that they can wrestle Daddy (Tony) and win!

Anyway...the rest of our life is awesome as well. I feel so blessed (even on yucky, my-house-is-messy-I-feel-barfy-but-can't-quite-throw-up-days---you all know what I mean, you've been there, lived that!)!!

And here are this week's random pictures...

Here is the class pet Lizzy-the-Lizard-----may she not die like last year's hamster (tumor) & guinea pig (cleaner poisoning). Seriously, we were cursed.

Here are some pics of "Colonial Day" I did with my students awhile back.

This one is of me teaching the little darlings about bread while we passed around the whipping cream they shook into homemade butter-yummeroo!!


This one is the candle-dipping station--they LOVE doing it & the candles turn out into the most beautiful, slightly lumpy, great-smelling homemade candles ever!!


Here is one of the boys getting "silhouetted" by his mother--I know, he looks thrilled. Yah, he really is.


This is the paper quilt-making station.


And, finally, this is the "John Hancock" penmanship center (bamboo skewers w/ watered down tempera paint--magic!)