Lost and Found

This weekend was quite exciting and emotional! Tom and I tease our poor puppy dog relentlessly about "getting rid of him". Of course we'd NEVER do it, but some days it seems our constant on-the-go family could "go" easier without always making dog arrangements. Well, this weekend we were reminded just how much he means to us...and mostly, me!

On Saturday, Sarge got out of the dog run. You see, our yard is not fenced in, but there is a decent size dog run fenced in on the side of the house. Deer were in the back of the property, eating their nightly dinner. As Sarge emerged from the dog run, he BOLTED into the woods after the deer. I didn't expect him to return immediately, but I did expect him to come trotting up again that night after he had exhausted from deer chasing.
Brock was pretty upset Saturday and I kept telling him Sarge was off meeting new friends and would return soon. We went to bed...without a sign of Sarge. I woke up around 2:30 that morning and went to the back porch...TOTALLY expecting to see him. No Sarge. At that point, my stomach sunk for the fist time and I really started to imagine the worst. I went to bed, cried myself to sleep, and woke up again around 6. I went to the back door again. No Sarge. By this point, I was so sad I would tear up instantly if I thought about him.
I was stunned with how much it affected me. However, when I started thinking about it, Sarge is 10 years old. I'm 31. I've had him nearly a THIRD of my life! I had him before I was married. I've had him twice as long as Brock. He is definitely a big part of my life.

On Sunday, Tom and his brother went into the greenbelt for nearly an hour searching for him. No Sarge. While at the park with the kids, I left my sister-in-law & mother-in-law with the kids and walked a good while into the greenbelt on a trail. Unfortunately, after 15-20 minutes, a rattle snake crossed my path and I immediately turned around!!!

Sunday night rolls around. No Sarge.
Monday morning we go put up posters...knowing, if he's alive, our best chances are that someone kind took him in. Monday afternoon we receive THE CALL!! Someone claimed to have him!
I went to pick him up and was so happy and relieved to see it was him, indeed! The family had found him Saturday. That warmed my heart, knowing he didn't spend a night out alone in the woods. They had 5 dogs, so I know he was in good hands. The crazy thing is...they are not even a quarter mile from our house. He was one street across from us on the cul-de-sac. Thank goodness for great neighbors!

Thank you Lord! And Thank You everyone who prayed for him and thought of us!

Our family is once again, complete!

But Sarge...please watch the deer from the INSIDE from now on...not up close and personal!!

Noisy Cabinets

Here they are...nice, normal looking cabinets in the kitchen.
But BOY ARE THEY NOISY!!

I started to get a little worried when I noticed the cabinets seemed to be growing a FOOT.

Then, not a minute later, they developed HANDS! (and perhaps the forming of eyes?)

I backed off a bit and was startled to now see...yes, EYES!

Before I could make it to the home warranty number, a BOY popped out!

I quickly closed the door and all of a sudden...A GIRL!
Wait a minute, the boy changed to a girl?

Before I lost all composure, Brock quickly explained it was
JUST "BROCK & AUBREE"!

PHEW! Thank goodness! I can't tell you how happy I was to know the noisy cabinets were now under control.
Now...what to do with the noisy blanket?

By the way...I have unpacked our entire kitchen and have about 3 cabinets left completely empty. Have I mentioned I LOVE our new house? (I apologize for those of you currently rolling your eyes!)

My Favorite Things

I'm going to need all you "Sound of Music" fans to use your imagination and sing with me on this one. Everyone else...you can chalk this up to me being a bit loony! ;-)

I've made a little list so far of My Favorite Things in our new house! The list is actually a bit longer, but these are the ones that rhyme. ;-)

Are you ready? Start singing!

Deer in the backyard

High counters in kitchen,
Garage door with windows,
Our own re-cycle bin.

More room than I ever thought I would see...
(though messy at the time of this post...you see our Living Room, Media Room & Game Room)

these are a few of my favorite things!


A shorter commute time
And soft fluffy carpet
2 large bay windows
And a filtered faucet

Watch the kids play from our shaded wood swing...these are a few of my favorite things!


When the dog barks,
When the kids scream,
When traffic's really bad,
I simply remember my favorite things...
and then I don't feel....sooo sad!

(Ok, obviously my real favorite things are a little more substantial like my family, my faith, etc. But these definitely top my list of house favorites! Hope you enjoyed!)

New Shoes

Our little princess pulled a good one today.

This morning as I put on her shoes, she fussed a little. I took off the shoe and checked to make sure there wasn't anything inside that would bother her. Everything looked ok so I put the shoe back on. She walked around the kitchen and we went out to get into the car and drive to school.
At school, I took her out of her car seat and carried her inside. Once inside, I put her on the floor so I could sign Brock into his class. She started limping. Then, she wouldn't put any weight at all onto her left foot. I took the shoe off again, checking the shoe and her foot. Everything appeared ok...again. The shoe went back on and she still refused to put any weight on it. I took them off and wanted to see if she would walk without the shoes. She was initially timid, but then started running around.
I guess we won't be wearing the shoes anymore!

Sure, kids outgrow shoes. Sure, sometimes parents don't always know it before the kids "tell" us. But now, the Aubree-factor. The child is fine in the morning when I could have swapped out her shoes for another pair at home. However, the princess decides she wants a new pair of shoes and to do that, we need to be as far from the house as possible. So the noble servant goes to get her Highness a new pair of shoes and drops them off at school at lunch.

Oh, Aubree...

Breaking for Blogging

It's been a while! We are moved in, and I'm not sure I've sat still this long in a few weeks. So, today, I'm taking a break for you! Time to catch up. I always find the longer I go between blog posts, the harder it is to start one. There is just too much that has gone on! We'll hit some highlights and hopefully I won't let so much time go by before the next post!

A Sad Goodbye
* We had to say goodbye to our dear friends and neighbors. Luckily, friendships like this don't end, so even though we're not across the street, we are only a 5 mile (and rather traffic-filled 281) drive away. I made the boys a photo book since they are the very best of friends. It captured pictures and memories since they were born. I LOVE IT!

(What a cute pair of brothers & sisters!)

House Closings

* Both got delayed. A wonderful new regulation caused us to wait 72 hours to think about our loan when the interest rate dropped. If that doesn't make sense to you, don't worry...it doesn't make sense to anyone! We can thank Washington D.C. for that one.
* Finally closed on the new house Monday (4/19). We had such wonderful helpers to load our truck, then unload into the new house and also unload both storage units! You always know true friends...they will work for not much more than a pat on the back...and perhaps some pizza and beer! :-)
* Still awaiting a closing on the old house. Yep, we currently own two houses. Someone told me this is the time to go to a reunion..."well, my OTHER house is...". Ha! I'd be just fine owning one.
* Learned today the mortgage processor for our buyers has been sitting on his rear and tried to throw our realtor under the bus for not getting this deal done. After our realtor provided plenty of paperwork and communication trails, and finished a conference call with the VP of the company, the mortgage processor no longer is employed. The VP is personally taking over the case and we should have some good news tomorrow.

St. Joseph
* Those of you who read my St. Joseph post knows we buried him in our yard and have prayed faithfully each day to help sell our house. After it sells, you are supposed to dig him up and put him in a place of honor in the new house. We have dug and dug and dug...we CANNOT FIND HIM! We can't figure out how we're missing him, but Tom has put a lot of effort into trying to locate our dear St. Joseph.
Even Aubree has tried to "help"?!?!?!?!




The BIG 3-1
* I spent my birthday this year a little sad since our closing had been delayed and we didn't get to move in for my birthday. However, we were able to celebrate my dear nephew's FIRST Birthday! Happy Birthday my dear Conner!
The only thing I was responsible for at the party was bringing my camera and taking pictures. Guess what I forgot in the haste of packing and moving? Yep! The camera. I think my sister has forgiven me, but I will say the pics I took with my mom's camera turned out pretty darn good anyways!





Soccer
* The Shooting Stars are in full swing for Spring YMCA Soccer! And this team mom is up for yet another challenging role of juggling work, kids, home, soccer, etc. THANK GOODNESS for my co-star, Tom!

Top 10 reasons you know you're about to move

I've waited for over a year, and it's here. It's almost time to day goodbye. Lots of goodbyes. Some I'm looking forward to saying. Others I'm not. The most surprising thing from this experience is that I've had just about every possible emotion known to man!
I'm happy, excited, thrilled, can't hardly wait!!!
I'm sad, hesitant, unsure.
I feel like I'm closing a chapter of my life. I won't re-hash the post I wrote a couple months ago, but this house definitely made us a FAMILY. A family that continues to grow and get stronger each day.

Every day the reality settles in a little more. And here's why!!!!!

Top 10 Reasons you know you're about to move!

10. You feel like you're back living in an apartment. (No house furnishings, cardboard table in the eating area, etc.)







9. You lose your garage space.







8. You buy the larger package of bubble wrap because it comes in a box!! (to use later)








7. You get quite creative in meals - NO grocery shopping until we move in!





6. The more you move out, the dirtier your house looks!



5. You let your 5-year-old use a black magic marker.









4. You ask yourself at least once an hour: "Why did I buy this?" "Where did this come from?"






3. Hide-and-go-seek places really start to become abundant.













2. You clean the oven. (for the first time EVER...note to self: Let Tom do it after the next 6 years!)






1. Your son gets a kick out of using the restroom because "it sounds funny in here". "echo...echo...echo..."

Texas Wildflowers

As move date gets closer, blog posts get shorter! But I just HAD to share a few beautiful pictures from this weekend in the amazing Texas Wildflowers!