Life as we know it.

Moving stinks! I will be so glad when we are in a house and unpacked. Now if only we knew where we were going to be. This is beginning to have undertones of last January, although I know at any time I can walk down to the manager's office and cancel my 30 day notice, so we won't be "homeless" like last year. We're still waiting to hear back on two houses we've applied for. I really don't think we got the one on Joseph since they were supposed to make a decision on Thursday and we haven't heard from them. The good news/and frustrating thing in some aspects is that they are still moving forward with our application at Trident for the house on University Avenue. Hopefully we hear back on it this week. I would venture to say we're about 60% packed, just waiting to hear when we get keys somewhere to finish and begin moving. I think we're going to start moving some of the stuff that's already packed first, then one weekend move the rest of it. We're supposed to be all out of here on the 16th of March. We'll see... please pray for us to hear back soon and that God would give us wisdom as to what to do/where to go next.

Charlotte has been better this weekend. Thank you all who are praying for us and specifically for her behavior. I pray that she continues to grow and mature through this "terrible" twos. I'm beginning to think that she's definitely one of those "strong-willed children". That red hair doesn't detract from that either. I'm learning tricks to help, and I find that if I stop what I'm doing which isn't always possible, and explain that it is not okay for her to throw a temper tantrum, and that I can't help her if I dont understand what she wants, it usually somewhat helps. That's not to say that she stops the fit, but rather there is a moment of quiet that my brain can function in. She's also learning that her bedroom is going to be her living room if she doesn't start communicating more effectively as we are sending her there a lot when she's inconsolable. We've taken all of the toys out of there and don't let her come out to the living room unless she stops crying. That's helping too.

Joshua got his first haircut today. He needed it! It was getting so long it was hanging in his eyes in the front, and over his ears on either side. He did really well and looks like such a big boy now that its done. The pictures didn't turn out great, but you get the idea.

Before...

Being such a big boy during his haircut:

And afterwards riding on the train with Charlotte (who needs her haircut too as you can tell by this picture, we were going to do it today, but it meant waiting another 20 minutes just to have hers done, and all I really want done on hers is her bangs.)

And a cute picture of Charlotte and Bri from last week:

Now Charlotte was leaning over a bit, but she really is that much shorter than Bri. She gets her lack of height from her mommy poor girl.

That's about all that's new from here, I hope everyone's weekend was great and you all stayed dry and warm. May our week be even better and may you all stay safe and healthy.

Since I have no idea for a creative title for this I'll just write it without one!

So, Chris had Friday morning off of work at A-1 so we spent time looking for a new place to live. While our apartment is great, I'm itching to have a house, with a yard, and seprate bedrooms for the kids, so that hopefully they won't wake eachother up at 5:30 anymore. (We haven't slept past 7:00 in like a week and a half now, even though they were sick and still needed the sleep.) So we've been watching the paper and got the listings for all of the property management places in the the area, for 3 bedroom houses, and we think we've narrowed it down to two. We will go see them on Tuesday to see if we can figure out which we'd prefer. Hopefully we'll get our tax return on Friday and can put a deposit down. We've already given our 30 day notice here, and we have to be out of here by the 16th, so we're anxious to get out of here. We're starting to pack boxes and figure that once we find a place we'll start moving a little here and a little there and then one weekend we'll load all of the big stuff and then work here on cleaning and stuff. I'm excited and nervous at the same time. I think I'm somewhat fearful because of the last time and all the stuff that happened. I know that it won't because we're not going to go somewhere that isn't ready, but I'm still a little nervous about it. It does help to know that I can walk down to the manager's office and cancel my notice at any time.
Saturday was awesome. My cousin came over and watched the kids for us so that Chris and I could go spend some time together with just the two of us. We haven't spent a whole day away since before Charlotte was born, nearly 3 years ago now. We went to breakfast, went shopping in Sacramento, went miniature golfing, followed by lunch and more shopping. Although, we really didn't spend much, we did look at options for dressers for the kids and such, but we really only bought some fabric, a pepper mill, a set of cutting boards, and a really cute "town" floor rug for the kids to drive their cars on and such. It was really nice to be able to just get out and do things without the kids throwing fits, crying and being a real pain because it was naptime. I think it was good for both of us, as we've been a little snippy with eachother and not really communicating well, and I think this helped. It was nice to sit down for a meal and focus on eachother rather than the kids and keeping the items on the table.
Today I woke up feeling kind of yucky. I think I'm getting the cold back that the kids passed to me a couple of weeks ago. I think they got it again and Chris got it and I'm hoping that I'm not coming down with it again. So we stayed home with the exception of running some errands this afternoon and grabbing 5 movies to watch in the next two days. We watched Elizabeth, Underdog is currently on, to be followed by The Game Plan, Becoming Jane and Mr. Woodcock (not necessarily in that order) sometime between now and Tuesday. Elizabeth was pretty good, we watched it with subtitles on, because it was a bit hard to understand/follow if they weren't on. Underdog was pretty cheesy, Chris enjoyed it though (it's almost over).
Tomorrow Chris and Papa Joe are going golfing in Arbuckle (I almost typed Aruba for some reason?). They have been looking forward to this trip for a few weeks now. Chris has been really funny, he got a set of left handed clubs (he's left handed) and found this course in Arbuckle and has been focused on that since then. Silly boy. So my mom and I decided that we are going to take the kids to Chico to visit with my Great Aunt Nadine and Uncle Bob. We haven't seen them since before Joshua was born, and it will be nice for them to see the kids. I pray that they will be in good moods, we're going to wake them up early so that they take a nap early and can last through the afternoon for a bit. (At least that's what my hope is.)
Hope all of your weekends went well. I will post more later.

Double Double...

toil and trouble? No, but after a few days of high fevers, coughs, icky noses, green snot, and general crabbiness, the kids went to the doctor (Charlotte calls him Dr. Misameem, it's really Dr. Naseem) this morning and came out with a diagnoses of a double ear infection for Charlotte, and Joshua is working on one. So, we've got antibiotics, and we're resting more comfortably now with some Ibprofen. Actually, both kids are napping right now, which means I can actually get something done. I will have to admit that it's been kind of nice that Charlotte has been losing her voice the last couple days. It's been a lot quieter around here, and her tantrums are much less irritating, although they are more frequent, simply because she doesn't feel good.
School is going well, I'm over halfway done with my current course load. I have 3 1/2 weeks left for the current classes, then I'll start 2 more. I have 2 "A's" and 2 "B's" currently, but that may change as there's quite a bit out that still needs to be graded. We'll see how it goes. I actually have a 99% in my math class. Woo! And I'm 2 weeks ahead of the rest of the class.
Joshua has figured out blowing kisses, so now he blows kisses to everyone. It's super cute because he uses both hands. He's also figured out if he puts his hand in front of his mouth and does the "indian noise" that it makes mommy and sister laugh, so he does that quite a bit now. And he's started dancing. It is HILARIOUS, because he just shakes his head in chicken form, only side to side rather than front to back. If you don't get what I mean, try and keep your chin and forehead parallel and move your head side to side. Haha!! I bet you tried that didn't you?!? I can just picture all of you out there trying that! Thanks for the chuckle!
Anyway, that's about it around here... I'll post more later. Maybe I'll take a picture or two of the sick kids so you can all see how sweet they are when they're sick. I hope this finds everyone well and happy. Valentine's Day is Thursday, but there's no reason you can't spoil those who you love every day of the year. God Bless!

Disappointed

I'm finding myself disappointed tonight. Disappointed in people. I hate the fact that I've been disappointed by people, and that I am in fact disappointed in people. Over the last few weeks there has been several occasions where I've been disappointed by someone. Not the same someone each time, but the fact remains that I've been let down by people. Why does God allow us to experience disappointment? Or is it rather that our hope in people and their nature don't coincide with eachother. I guess the lesson I'm learning is to be who I say I am, or at least strive to be in every sense of the word, and to watch what I say and/or think about.
Lord, Thank You for being there when we need you. Thank you for allowing relationships and the ability to learn from eachother's strengths and weaknesses. Please forgive me for the unkind thoughts and words I've had lately. Please help me to have patience and forgiveness with those that have hurt me. Help me to guard my heart against those who wether knowingly or not, damage it. Help me to trust in people again and know that You have our ultimate plan in mind, and that You know where each one of us is at any point in our lives. That you seek to reach out and comfort us where we are, I thank you for. Please bless those who read this and those who don't, but are affected by it in some way or another. Amen.
Thanks for reading, and I hope that you know that you are loved and cared for by a God who knows where you are and cares deeply for you. I understand that my blogs might put some people off because they are too "religious" or what not, but I just put out what my thoughts are, and am finding this a place to be totally honest and get things out there. Please know that it is not my intention to upset or offend, but rather to maybe inspire or ignite a flame in whoever reads this. Anyway, thanks for reading and God Bless!

Seeing Less of Me...

No, not in the form of my blog or online or anything like that, I mean physically... and no, I am not turning into a hermit, I mean size wise. I've made a decision to go back to Weight Watchers and to turn my health around. I'm tired of feeling tired and fat, and overall yucky. So, I signed up for a monthly pass for Weight Watchers, and since Chris is home on the weekends now and I don't have to haul the kids with me to a meeting, I can go on Saturday mornings for a weigh in and fun-filled meeting, and hopefully do something different with my lifestyle. Chris has decided he's cutting out sugar as part of his "diet", but I think we're going to have to discuss that, I'm not sure it's the best way to go, when we just went shopping and he bought cheese filled bratwurst. (Isn't this like drinking diet soda with your extra large french fries?)

Other than that, it's pretty much life as usual around here, school is in full swing again, I got my issues worked out with my math instructor (until I find the next problems), I don't think I'm going to be able to take the summer classes like I thought I was, which means that my timetable for getting my sub credential and my BA will all be pushed back. The reason? We can't afford it. I'm only allowed so much to come from my student loans each year, and I've maxed that out for these two semesters. I can get outside loans to pay for it, but our credit is such that I don't think we'd be approved. So, I've pretty much come to the conclusion that unless 6 grand that isn't accounted for elsewhere, falls into our laps, I'm taking the summer off. I did schedule my CBEST test for April 12th, and am getting ready to take that. It is one of the first hurdles in getting your teaching credential. I have to pass it to go anywhere from here. So, lots of extra studying will be happening over the next 2 1/2 months, on top of my regular schoolwork.

Charlotte and Joshua are as crazy as ever. Josh has taken to throwing tantrums already when he doesn't get his way, and boy are they dramatic. He's ready for the stage anytime now. He was sitting on the floor this morning and Chris didn't pick him up when Joshua wanted to be picked up so he folded himself in half, laid his head on the floor and wailed. He looked crushed. Chris and I just laughed. He is too funny.

Charlotte is in the middle of the whining/fit throwing part of childhood. They say it gets better, and I can't wait. (Do I sound like a broken record? I think I've said all of this before) The other night we were at the store and she was driving me nuts, just whining this uncomprehendable whine for general no-goodness, the ENTIRE time. So we get out to the car and I'm loading her into the car, she stops, looks at me, says I love you this much with her arms spread wide. I chuckled and said I love you too, but not that much right now, and her reply was, "I love you more." Yes, honey, at this point in time that may be true... Then she looks at me and says "Sorry mommy. Hug?" How could I not melt? I hadn't even prompted her to apologize or anything. She is so smart sometimes it amazes me. It was like she knew what she was doing was frustrating me and was doing it anyway... stop that kid!!!

Oh, before I forget, there is a place at the bottom of each of my blogs that says something like 0 comments. If you click on that, you can leave a comment for us right there. I know that has been some of the feedback that I have gotten is that there is no way to leave feedback. Just wanted to let you all know it was there, and we love hearing from you.

Thanks for "listening" to me again. I will update soon.