Today...

Happy New Years Eve!
work was slow, thank goodness. I really wasn't in the mood to hustle today.
My FK's should be moving Friday. On the plus note, the social worker will contact me when it is time for them to go to grandma, and I will do the transport.
We closed on the house on Monday! Hubby has the keys. The seller left the washer, dryer, fridge and riding lawn mower. The mower needs some tinkering, but hey. I have lots of young men wanting to fine tune their mechanical skills.
I have free-cycled several items. I am trying to get rid of stuff before the trailer comes Wednesday. The goal is to have it loaded Wednesday night, and to get it picked up Thursday. Hubby flies in Thursday, we leave before the sunrises Friday.
I have the phone and power scheduled for shut off hear, and scheduled the phone hook up in the new place. Hubby already has the power, water and garbage service set up in the new place.
I have 3 1/2 days at my job. My last day will be Thursday. It seems so odd, getting ready to move. When we bought this place, we hadn't planned on moving again. I guess I am sad that we never got all the things done we had planned. I love the layout of the new house, but it needs ALOT of TLC.
My goal for tomorrow is to go thru more items and see if I can get rid of more things.
Stay safe tonite! My plan is to hit the sack, early.

Merry Christmas

It's been a great couple days. Hubby arrived home Tuesday night. It was raining hard on the way up to the airport. The airport was busy. I haven't been there in years. Jason's flight arrived on time.

Christmas Eve day, we spent almost 6 hours at the emergency room. Our youngest FK had a boil that had to be lanced. I was irritated to say the least. They weren't busy. The procedure itself didn't even take 5 minutes.

My family was already here for our Christmas Eve gathering. We do a white elephant gift exchange. We had a blast. I got a pair of fuzzy pink slippers and a big pancake spatula.

We got the papers for the house we are buying. We just need to take them to a notary tomorrow and sign them. The goal is to be closed by Tuesday.

Hubby and I were up before the kids. They didn't get up until after 730 this morning.

The kids had a great time opening their gifts.

The weather was decent. The kids spent several hours playing football.

My niece came over to hang out with the boys.

We had dinner at my parents. We are now at home, relaxing and enjoying being together.

The moving trailer is scheduled to be here the 7th. Hubby flies home the 8th. We will leave the 10 for the new place.

This week....

Its been an interesting week here.
We got an offer on our house. Its lower than we would have liked, but I don't want the house to sit on the market for months. We should close the end of January.
Our new house is suppose to close the end of this month.
I called the social worker, he says they are still working on paperwork. I scratch my head, how on earth in the days of computers can it take this long to do paperwork for kids to go to their family?
Even if they are in another state.
We have a trailer coming from UPack on January 7th. Jason will be home the night of the 8th, so that the next day he and the boys can load it up.
I will withdrawl the kids from school that day, Jason will have the luxury of enrolling them in school on that Monday.
Its been rainy here, with above normal temps. The other day at work, I was walking to my car and was sweating. I heard later that the temp was 66 degrees. I felt better, knowing there was a reason why I felt so warm.
Today my plan is to organize my garage and do more packing- fun times.

Snow in November

I was up at 4, hubby left around 5 to go to Utah.

It began to snow, and went on for several hours.

It began to warm up, then the snow began to really dump.

It finally let up. The sun came out. It was 27, without the windchill. With the windchill it was 17-22.

I have lots of lovely icicles, those pics are on my cell.

Happy Saturday!

Chaotic

I don't function well with chaos or being unorganized.
About a month ago, we went to the bank to get preapproved for a mortgage so we could buy a house in Utah. We were approved, and said it did not require selling the house to buy another.
Even  better.
We find a house and put in an offer. They accepted. We had the house inspected two days later.
This past Monday, the underwriter called me and said they could not fund us because I didn't have a job in Utah and was not actively seeking employment. The first thought that went thru my mind was, are you freaking kidding me?
To make a long story short, my realtor knew of a finance guy that she used to work with.
We told him our situation and he found a loan we qualify for.
The funny thing is, when I contacted the bank to tell them we didn't need them, then the underwriter stated, " we can do that loan too". Really, because on Monday it wasn't even an option.
My husband has a few choice words for them, ha ha ha.
We have been up late every night this week, cleaning, painting and tiding up. We are going to go ahead and list the house. We will see what happens.
I am excited for our new home. It is 5 bedroom, 3 bath on an acre of property. There are lots of trees on it. The house has tons of storage space. Its almost a 1000 square feet bigger than my current house. Its been cared for. The major drawback: it was built in '78, and has the original windows and some of the original flooring. The basement has the same linoleum that my parents had in their house as I was growing up.
My plan is to move this summer. My kids will graduate high school and college, we will stay with my sister. The cost of living is less than where I currently live, so we will be able to begin updating the house later this spring. That's the part I am looking forward to.

Thursday

     I am beat. The traffic here in the Seattle area has been something else.
My husband finally received his formal job offer. He is awaiting for the employer to verify his military background. He should be starting the end of November, beginning of December. The only downside is, it is in Utah at Hill Air Force Base.
    My foster kiddos should be leaving in December or January. Once that happens, I have a few house repairs to make then the house goes on the market. I have been trying to go thru things, to make the move easier. My sister will take my couches. The boys went thru all their jackets in the coat closet. Anything that was too small went into a basket. I will take that to the next foster parent meeting to see if there are any teens that may be interested in them. I am hoping this weekend to get into the crawl space and go through the items in there. I know I have snow pants that the kids have also outgrown.
I already told my boss my plans, so that it also taken care of. I'm not looking forward to packing the house up and having to change my nursing license over. Then there is the task of finding another job. Grr. We will see what comes up.
My kids are excited. Epic asked if he could get a dirt bike, the younger two asked for a swimming pool. Those seem like reasonable requests.
I just want a four bedroom home, with a gas range and a pantry. And a garden space and to be able to have my hens.

waiting

I am not a patient person.
I admit this.
I really dislike not knowing what is going on.
Hubby has a job offer in the works, they were hoping to have his official job offer today, but it didn't come.
There will be some major life changing things coming about.

My blue spruce is still standing. The poor tree people had a job in Seattle and got stuck in the traffic. All I could do was laugh. Seattle traffic stinks on a good day. It was too bad. Today was great weather wise.
My tree gets to "live" another day.
Hopefully, it comes down tomorrow.
Hopefully tomorrow I will have some better news to share.

Pumpkin patch and Blue spruce

We went to the pumpkin patch this past weekend.
The little kids had a great time.
The pumpkin patch we went to is located in the valley.
It was grey and very breezy

 

 

Epic was a good sport, he offered to push around the wheelbarrow.

FK #2 had quite the time picking out the "right" pumpkin.

As for my blue spruce..
Its in my front yard, not to far from my house. The roots stretch towards the front..

As much as I like the tree, hubby and I have decided to have it taken down. Whats crazy, I have called several tree removal places ( got the names of the BBB. Many aren't licensed and bonded.)
Only two have called me back. Only one has given me an estimate. The other is suppose to come by today. We will see.

Monday was really nice here, I raked up two big brown bags worth of leaves.
Cant tell I did looking at my yard today, lol.

Sunday

Well, quite a bit has been in the works the last couple weeks.

Hubby got a job. It's a temporary position, there's no benefits; but it's better than nothing. He has an 8 week contract that will probably last longer than that. He worked 60 hours this week. He figured work all he can now, to get us a little bit ahead. Hubby put in for a job in Utah. He is suppose to know in the next couple weeks if he gets the position. I don't really want to move, as two are in high school and my family lives in the area. My grandmothers health isn't improving, I don't want to leave to turn around and come home. I also have great neighbors. They are the best. We all watch out for each other's stuff, and help if needed. Everyone is kind and the kids get along too.

I finally got ahold of my foster kiddos grandmother. She sounds like a sweet lady. She told me that the plan is for the kids to move in December. We both feel it should happen before Christmas. Considering how slow the state moves, we shall see. I finally got our renewal packet filled out. I have to take it to the post office tomorrow.

I am off tomorrow, I have tons of stuff to do. We are going to take down the blue spruce out front. The roots are coming towards the house. I don't want to wait until my foundation is messed up to do something about it. I like the tree, but like my house better, ha ha ha.

Starting the beginning of November my hours will be cut. I am looking forward to it,nas I'll have more time to take care of things here around the house.

This weekend i unburied my desk, filed bills, and shredded lots of papers. I cleaned up my room. I went thru my books. I have a small pile for goodwill. I got all the laundry done too! Today it was nice outside for a bit, so the kids were outside playing. It's weird, last weekend it was 80 out. This weekend it was in the mid sixties. Last nite was a little odd. We had lightening for over an hour. The clouds were super dark. Not a good time to get gas, lol. It was odd to look towards the west and the sky was bright ( the sun was setting) yet in the east it was black.

I am going to try download my pics tomorrow. We went to the pumpkin patch yesterday morning and had a great time.

Thursday 18th

Hubby got hired for a "temp" job. It is for at least 8 weeks, maybe longer. He was told to expect OT. The employees have been working 10 hour shifts, and if one chooses they can do weekends too.

Hubby says at least he can "get experience",as he waits for his applications to be processed.

I noticed today at work that the trees are starting to change colors.

My maple out front is beginning to turn red. My dream for that tree is to put up a tire swing. I just have to wait for it to get big enough.

Foster kiddo #2 turns 3 on Sunday. We got his birthday presents the other day. I am excited. I am going to make m&m cupcakes. He doesn't like ice cream, and really isn't into store bought cake. I know he likes cupcakes though.

Andrew and Ryan have started football. They both seem to be enjoying it. Their next game is Thursday. The bad thing is that their games are at different schools. 

 

I am glad the weather has cooled down slightly. I got down some of my fall decor.

I got these on clearance last year. I think I paid under $10 for both these guys.

I found some cute decoration ideas on Pinterest, but will probably wait until next year before doing any of them.

Saturday project

So, several weeks ago hubby built a planter around our blue spruce out front.

It ended being more work than he expected.

He and the other boys went camping last nite and I knew were going to be gone most of today. That left me with my oldest boy and the two little boys. Last night, the little ones were asleep by 8. 

They awoke around 730. I knew today was going to be really warm, so I began working on filling in this planter. I got it done. My one day lily was hard to dig up, luckily oldest came out and dug it up for me.

Here's the finished project:

I worked on some of the planters that are on our property line

It's hard to see, I planted 4 mums...

And spread red cedar mulch. It smells so good...

Hope you've had a great Saturday!

September

Things continue to be chaotic here.

All the kids start school tomorrow. They objected when hubby kicked them out of bed this morning. He told them he wanted to make sure they were prepared to be ready on time tomorrow, lol.

Hubby had an interview today, he will be contacted within two days to let him know whether or not he got the job.

I canned 70 pounds of tomatoes and 125 pounds of peaches. By Saturday, I was tired of canning. It was so warm here Tuesday and Wednesday, I was scared that i may not get it all done in time. I spread the peaches out on my dining room table, I only had a few that were bad ( they were given to the hens). 

I worked out in my garden a bit.

These are the strawberry plants that volunteered themselves. I have a friend coming over tomorrow to get some. I think I may dig up what I can and free cycle the rest.

My garden is a mess. My lettuce bolted after the heat last week. My tomatoe plants are full though.

I picked a big bowl of tomatoes yesterday.

It rained all say Saturday. We purchased a rain barrel a couple weeks ago. It was full in a few hours.

 The crazy thing is out upper roof drains to the lower roof. So we will need to figure out how many containers we will need.

That can add up to a lot of water for the plants for next summer.

These are my newest projects. I am working on making the little kids finger puppets and a quiet book to play with in the car when we are on the road.

Weather

This morning I awoke to a beautiful sunrise.

I noticed the clouds were quite tall for around here.

I watered my strawberries and part of my garden. I was in doing the dishes when it began to downpour. We had some hail too.

We helped one of my co workers move. There was thunder here, but since I was in Olympia I missed it. It was warm and humid all day.

My fuchsia has been loving it!

Happy Friday!

Hubby is home. He  has officially graduated with a Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering.
He is the first one of his 9 siblings to accomplish that goal. He has spent the last several days applying for jobs, and working on his "honey do list"..

Hubby already power washed both back patios. He did have to fix a part on his power washer. It was an easy fix.

We have decided to not move. We really have been going back and forth on it. We have done a lot of work here, and I really don't want to start all over. I also do not want a mortgage payment when I am 80. We will stay here, and expand out the lower level. If we have enough money, we will expand out the backside of the house. That would give us more than enough space for what we need.

Its been warm here. My garden is doing ok. My spinach died. Not too sure what happened there, as my lettuce, kale and chard are doing well. I have a volunteer tomato plant that is loaded with blossoms. The bees have been all over, I am hoping for a good crop this year. We are planning this fall to rent a rototiller and mix the soil with the compost I have been piling up on the edges.

We are hoping to replace the chicken coup this fall. He has drawn up a new design. We are going to get thick/better wood this time. It will be 4 inches taller, which will make it easier to clean.

The kids have been going through their items in their rooms, and getting rid of what they don't need. I have had them go through their clothes, Ryan has outgrown all of his jeans. My one foster kiddo has shot up in the last month. He got a bike for his birthday in March, and is already too tall for it. We picked him up another one last Saturday. He really likes riding it. Andrew is good at taking him out with him. They practice how to correctly cross the street and how to turn and brake. He still has training wheels on it, I don't think he quite has the balance yet to take them off.

We went to Wally world tonight, and there was an old car show. My kids and husband LOVE mustangs. I pointed one out to the 2 year old, and said that is a mustang. He repeats," a mustank". I got a good laugh out of it, however my husband did not find it as humerous.

Sunday the 13th

Its been unusually warm here the last several days.
I had heard on the radio it hasn't been this warm in 5 years.
My tomatoes and zucchini are loving it.
I tried to share from weather bug the temperature, but it didn't work on my phone.. ( go figure)
The forecast for today is a chance of thunderstorms. My kids and I are anxiously awaiting. We LOVE thunder and lightening. We just don't get much around here.
The picture below is from last nite. Notice the cat laying over the edge of the bed....

 

Here is the weather bug pic I tried to post yesterday. I think it was 90 degrees for the high.

Yesterday my middle boys spent most of the day fixing their brothers car. Its a 92 topaz that is dying a slow death. Some temperature sensor thing went TU. It took the boys most of the day to figure it out. The good thing is, they did have the car fixed by 930 last nite. My second oldest was upset with himself that it took so long for him to diagnosis, I told him his dad learned by trial and error; it was a learning experience. I think he felt better about it today.
My husband graduates school in 10 days. I am ssooo excited that he is almost done.
It will be good for him to be home. My kids are super excited for him to be home as well. I know he is anxious to start working again. He told me he is tired of being a student.

As for my little foster kids, we still have them. Their mom went into treatment, however she did not last a week from being released. I feel so bad for the kids, they have not seen her in almost a month. The older boy asks me almost everyday if he has a visit. I tell him that she is really sick, and that when she is better he will be able to see her.

This week is cub scout day camp. I will be there Tuesday-Thursday for an evening camp. I figure the mosquitoes will be happy. I swear, they must smell me from miles away. What on earth was the purpose of a mosquito? Spider food? Surely there was a better critter that could have been created/evolved. This will be my last year of doing camp. I have been doing it for 7 years. Its time for someone new to step up. My younger two boys will be away at scout camp. Ryan is excited, as this is his first time attending a week long camp.

I am off this Friday- Sunday. My goal is to make some felt paper dolls and a felt Mr.Potatoe head. The foster kiddos saw some online, and they asked me to make them some. I already have the materials, now to just create the time.

This week

As of the 30th of this month, hubby will be retired from the military!

He had to go to Camp Murray for a meeting, so he is home this weekend.

I will have the luxury of getting up at  O dark thirty to take him to Yakima.

He only has 7 weeks of school left, then he will be home.

I made him some chocolate granola to take back with him.

The weather has been great here, I have been picking lots of strawberries already.

I have to add more twine to my fencing, as my peas have really shot up in the last several days.

My lettuce is almost big enough to begin harvesting.

My oldest graduates in a week. We will be having an open house. Nothing too stressful.

I have been working on putting my clutter away. 

Someday, when I don't work full time, I will have the time to complete my projects.

I did get the laundry room finished. All the walls are painted. It looks good, if I do say so myself.

All we need is new flooring in the basement.

Here is my dog, playing in the sprinkler.

He is silly.

This week

The weather has been GREAT! I am enjoying the sun, however my allergies are acting up as well.

Mother's Day was mellow. The boys and I hung clothes out to dry. I painted my kitchen Saturday, the paint was lighter than I expected. I will probably repaint it in a couple weeks.

The boys are counting down the weeks until school is out. They had no school Monday, and Memorial weekend they have no school Monday through Wednesday. They were good sports and did quite a few chores Monday. I'll have to create a list for them when they have all those days off.

Things are busy, but uneventful. One of my foster kids started counseling. His counselor is very sweet and patient. The FK's mom is now in treatment. Only time will tell if it's successful. 

I have been working in my garden. I planted more lettuce and beets. My peas are about 3 inches tall.

I need to wind twine up between the posts so the peas will wrap around them

I will try to post pics tomorrow.

Old pics

Here are some old pics that I came across as I was cleaning out my emails today. Some are 6 years old.

Thomas was in the 4th grade.

This was a coast guard helicopter. This was a boy scout activity, but cub scouts were welcome to come up for the day.

Here are my nieces and nephew. My nephew turns four in a couple weeks...

This picture is 4 years old as well. The boys look so little....

Projects

As usual, I've been working on projects here.

What I do depends on the weather, literally.

Easter the weather was decent. We went to my father in laws cousins house. They are close to us( 8 miles), beats driving 40+ miles.

When we returned home, I began to paint the laundry room/ boys bathroom 

This is a before pic.

Ignore the mess.

I had picked out a light green. One of the boys was with me when I purchased the paint. He said nothing  negative about the color.

I began painting

Needless to say, 2 of them objected, including the one that was with me when I bought the paint.

I conceded, and bought another color.

I got the blue up. My goal is to paint the green on the walls surrounding the washer and dryer.

I want to also paint the ceiling a bright white to help reflect the light.

It's been cool and rainy here, so not real good painting weather.