Let it snow let it snow let it snow

I was really wanting a white Christmas but now that I am the one to shovel the driveway (its a workout) and they don't plow the streets I think I have had enough. However my girls can't get enough.

Last Tuesday was the first really good snow of the season and we took advantage. Jane is old enough this year to play with us in the snow. First my two angles made snow angles.


Then we tried to build a snow man. Either there are some major tricks to it or it was the wrong kind of snow. We kept trying anyway, the girls made it two thirds of the way through and then came back for the finishing touches this is the end result. It has snowed a lot more sense then maybe we will attempt a bigger one, or some sledding.

Update on Mike...Painting is suppose to be easy?

Just to update everyone, Mike had surgery on the day before thanksgiving and is doing great. He actually relaxed over the break and is back to work. He is way more helpful with the girls than I expected and getting very fast at the stairs. Sometimes I don't think he knows how to let someone else take care of him. He is a trooper.

We had our first attempt at painting. We decided to paint because we cant take the white walls anymore we thought the master bath would be a god place to start since not everyone sees that and we have little experience. After we taped everything I let Mike use the shower, big mistake. I had to go back over all the tape to push it back onto the wall. Looking back I should have replaced it but live and learn. Besides a little bit of bleeding it looks really good. My sister told me a trick i was to lazy to implement but next time i think I will listen to her wisdom. Both Mike and I cant believe what a difference a little color can make. I ready to tackle the next room!

This is why men have a mid life crisis

Once again I am forced to acknowledge that my body can't do what I'd like it to do. While playing flag football with my elder's quorum and some friends my Achilles tendon decided that I didn't have enough opposition in my life and once again, I needed to learn patience. :] The Achilles rarely ruptures after a hit or "twisting wrong". On the contrary, it usually ruptures when you are running or starting/stopping quickly.

Dave said "hike" and I started to run, it felt like someone kicked the back of my foot and when I whipped my head around looking for the guilty party and saw no one, I knew exactly what that meant. Sometimes having medical knowledge isn't the greatest, there is something to be said for long ER waiting room visits that end with complicated medical terms you can't explain to your family. You can at least have hope that it is something minor even though all evidence suggests otherwise. I couldn't use denial at all. A few orthopedic tests and one incredibly 'gushy' tendon and I knew more than I wanted to.

On the flip side I called 2 of my orthopedic surgeon friends, got an appointment first thing in the morning on the next business day and will have surgery in the coming week regardless of what their skiing plans were.

Prognosis: This will absolutely be another lesson in patience as I will be on crutches for 2-3 months, a normal shower will become an acrobatic event involving plastic bags/shower chair, and my little 2 year old won't be able to figure out why I don't carry her up the stairs.

All things considered I am extremely grateful that we have options like a surgical repair and I think I know of a killer physical therapy office to rehab my injury in, with incredibly friendly staff. Also, the only real pain I have is in my right shoulder after pulling a muscle while using the blasted crutches!! I am in good spirits, which is more than I can say for my best friend Dave, he just lost his favorite target. Many of you may not know that we get up early 2-3x/week just to go practice running routes and drawing up trick pass plays. Yes, we are most juvenile 28-29 year old on the planet, but we have most fun too (and probably have one of the strongest friendships too).

As for my football career as a weekend warrior, both my father and Kenna have officially declared it over. Could someone please retire the number "9" so I feel a little better about that?

For the curious, here is some additional info on my type of injury:

http://arthroscopy.com/sp09009.htm

Whats in your folder?

TAGGED

Saw this on a friends blog and thought i would try it.

Here is what you do. You go to the 4th folder in your picture album, pull the 4th picture in that folder, and post it!

here it goes!
I think I would have ended up with a very funny picture from my other computer but Jane sure is a cutie.
Try it it's fun.

Projects

I have been working on a few projects for the house. The first one was inspired by my Mom. She has a bunch of old windows that she uses to decorate. She gave me one and after we talked this is what I came up with.

I was very proud of myself i think it looks like something you would spend a fortune on in a boutique . Not to mention that all the flowers are from mike, so it is special too.

Also this is the wall in my dinning room wall. I had a little trouble getting the letters to stick, but they are up now. We did something similar in my cousins house, so i got to see what it might look like before i tried it.


This one looks way better in person. It was hard to get the lighting right to take the picture but it gives you the general idea.

Happy Halloween

Just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Halloween! We also wanted to share some of the fun things we have done this month.

We made sugar cookies with our friends, we had so much fun but boy was it messy.


We went up the canyon and collected leaves for our new place mats this year.

We went to a Halloween carnival at the preschool. they gave us cotton candy, their were lots of games and even a spook ally. Shara didn't want to sit and sing with her class at first, she sat down reluctantly but once the music started she got right into it. She was so cute! She was very excited that she got her first kazoo at the fish pond.

Today we made ghost cookies with our cousin. these cookies were not to messy to make but I have a feeling they will be very messy to eat.


I also punched tin cans full of ice with a nail to make cute candle holders for our front porch.

I think the favorite activity was making the bats and ghosts for the front of our house. all growing up we made ghosts for our windows and i have continued to do so through the years. We also have made bats that hang from the porch and blow around in the wind. We have so much fun making them and it sets us apart from the neighbors.

My friend Sara did this on her blog and I thought it was cute! This is what Shara had to say about me...

1. What is something mommy always says to you?

I love you

2. What makes mommy happy?

when I give you a hug

3. What makes mommy sad?
when I don't give you a hug for prayers

4. How does your mom make you laugh?

when you do something silly

5. What was your mommy like as a child?
born, cute and cozy

6. What is her favorite thing to do?

cleaning (not so sure where she got that one?)

7. What does your mommy do when you're not around?

go cut someones hair

8. What is your mom really good at?

Scrapbooking and remembering things

9. What is your mom not very good at?

your not very good at doing stuff on the computer (she is right on that one)

10. What does your mom do for her job?

Scouts

11. What is your moms favorite food?

Daddy's rice and Beans (they are tough to beat but i would have said chocolate)

12. What makes you proud of your mom?

that you remember stuff

13. What do you and your mom do together?

Projects (like scrapbooking and crafts)

14. How are you and your mom the same?

when we both have blond hair (I'm temporally dark)

15. How are you and your mom different
when we don't have the same hair

16. How do you know your mommy loves you?

Because when i say that to you, you say that you love me too.

17. Where is your mommy's favorite place to go?

to the store
Anyone feel free to play along... I think it's funny to see what your kid(s) will say about you:)

Field Trip

We got to go on a field trip with Shara's class. We had a blast. We went on a hay ride and got to walk through the pumpkin patch and pick our own pumpkins. There was a corn maze, that took us a min to get through. Also they had a bunch of animals to see. I think the best part was the pumpkins, they each are so proud of their find.

I do it!

We recently celebrated a birthday for our little one and I think the theme for the next year is going to be I Do IT! She wants to do everything by herself even though she gets frustrated we are not to help. It's great to see her becoming more independent and capable but all the wining that goes with it is a little hard to take sometimes. It's a good thing she is so stinking cute to balance it out. When she finally gets what she is trying for she gets really excited and says I did it. then she stands up and puts both hands in the air and proclaims "Ta da!" Really can she get any cuter.

Memory Lane

I saw this on my friends blog and thought it would be fun.

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot. Anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty fun to see the responses.If you leave me a memory about me, I'll assume you are playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one to you.

Roar!!

Thanksgiving Point had $2 Tuesdays in August, we were lucky enough to find out about it right before the last Tuesday of the month. We made a family event of it because, daddy loves dinosaurs and the girls love doing anything with dad, it's a great combo. As much as they loved seeing the dinosaur bones i think their favorite part was the river and digging room. I couldn't believe how many people were there, I'm glad the girls didn't mind sharing their space with several other kids. It's truly is amazing to see how big dinosaurs really were. I am glad we don't have to coexist with them. Check out the photo album.

Family Reunion

Recently we had a family reunion at seven peaks, It was a Blast. I wanted to post just a few of my favorite shots. I hope we do it again sometime, it was great visiting with everyone.

Face Lift

We have given our house a face lift and wanted to share pictures. We love everything about our house but the outside needed something, it was a lot of peach so we opted for a lift. What do you think? We are pretty proud of the way it turned out. I also have a star to go above the porch but I have decided to wait until the yard is done before putting it up.


Before After


A Little Closer

Frustration

Have you ever tried to be very clear on your instructions and then surprised at how wrong someone understands what you have told them. Even if they repeat the same thing back to you.
I have been frustrated as of late with that very thing. We have been continuing to work on the house and yard. Because we have no idea how to do anything I have been researching and planning. I have done everything to learn what I needed to come to firm decisions but it seems that when I explain it to others they always miss the most important details. They know more than I do about these things and when I talk to them they act like I'm talking in another language. Have you ever had this happen? What frustrates you?

Back on the Train

I have finally finished a lot of the little things that come with moving and our Internet is no longer giving us trouble so I decided it was time to update. Everyday Shara tells me how much she loves our new house and how beautiful it is. I am so glad that she likes it, almost as much as Mike and I. It has been fun finding the right place for everything, the only place that I just haven't been able to get right is the pantry. It seems impossible to get right, I guess I better go back to my sisters blog and read how she did hers.

Our last place had no inside stairs so even thought Jane is plenty old enough to do stairs she had no idea when we moved in. I tried showing her but she just wanted to be held. Finally I asked Shara to show her, by doing it next to her. That was all it took, one day and she was a master.

Mike has finally picked golf back up and is loving it, I love seeing him do something that he enjoys so much. Besides the house we are pretty boring and I'm sure I have talked enough about that so i'll have to come up with a good idea for the next post.

Sorry I have been a slacker lately, but getting ready to move has taken some time. I always forget how much stuff we have until its time to move. I guess it's all relative though because once we move into the house I'm pretty sure it will feel like we have nothing to fill it up. I will try to post again soon, and hopefully it will be much more interesting.

The House

Ready for some more ups and down on our house roller coaster?

I know we have kept you all in suspense, so here is goes, but at least we are not charging admission.

We put in an offer on a house right before the long weekend and our vacation. We were hoping to hear the night we got home, no such luck. The next day we couldn't handle it so we called the Realtor. Apparently the other Realtor (not ours) dropped the ball, he never submitted our offer, he said he accidentally deleted it. I was Angry, I think he was trying to hold it out for someone else, very unethical. Our Realtor worked through another agent in the office and got it submitted but said we wouldn't hear for at least 2 days. Then he called us after two days and said it would be another 3 to 4 days(got to love banks). Talk about anxious. In the mean time we have been trying to decide if we should jump ship on the other home we have under contract. We decided to do some more ward shopping so to speak. If you didn't hear about our first experience with this idea, ask me sometime, it's a great story.

As we were sitting in the meeting Mike turned to me and informed me we could leave any time. As we left he said he had come to a firm answer on the offer house. It was not the right house for us, it was not where we needed to be at this time. We talked about it some more and speculated because we decided not to go with that house, they would accept our offer. They did!

Then we had to be strong enough to say never mind even though we loved it. Talk about ups and downs. Our Realtor told us to make sure we didn't just have indigestion before he called them back.

We really love the house we have under contract and have become increasingly more excited as we have talked and moved forward. I'm sure there are many houses out there that are good deals and that we could fall in love with but we love this one and it is a great deal. We should get to move in by the end of the month. I can't believe we are getting a house! Sure there are some projects to be done but we are young and should have to do a few hard thing in life, like dig sprinklers. besides what house doesn't have a project or two. We are very excited and hope that everyone can be happy for us too.

Vacation

Have you ever got home from vacation and felt like you need a vacation? This is usually the case for us but not this time. This vacation was all about relaxing. We stayed on the beach, so we could go down and play or come have lunch and take a nap with no hassle. the kids weren't constantly asking when we were going to get ready and go to the beach, we were already there.

I think my favorite two things about the vacation were sitting on the deck in the sun listening to the ocean while reading a good book. I love just soaking up the sun. The second thing was breakfast across from the pier. I can stop thinking about the french toast, yumm!

Shara and Jane loved playing in the sand, I don't think they ever got in the water. Their cousins were with us so they always had someone fun to play with and to give them new ideas. Like burying them selves in the sand and taking up lodging in the towel closet. They also got to see some fun wild life, a rabbit, lizards, pelicans, dolphins and the favorite lots of puppy's.

I always enjoy shopping and we did some of that. I bought 3 sand dollars in hopes that one would make it home whole. Nope, all broken beyond repair. The shells and rocks I found all made it.

My least favorite things where being searched at the airport, I don't recommend letting your drivers license expire! Also we cut it a little close heading back to the airport and forgot to fill up the rental car with gas before dropping it off. I think they charged us a default of like $7 a gallon, mind you it's only $4 at the gas station. Oh well, you live and learn.

Over all I think we cant wait to do it again. We love San Clemente, but may venture to other beaches next time too. We recommend this type of vacation to all! Now we are back to everyday life.

Why I Love San Clemente (a.k.a. heaven on earth)

Those of you who know me well, you have probably heard how much I love San Clemente (usually to the point that I annoy you, yes I am aware :] ). Let me give you a few experiences that epitomize why I love it.

Yesterday we went to a gift shop and we were there about 20-30 minutes. About half way through the only guy in the store (I assume it was the owner) goes in the back and brings out a plate with a huge burrito on it and starts eating it next to the register. The register is located in the center of the store. In what I would call a normal/professional setting this would not fly, BUT IN SAN CLEMENTE it is a staple. I love it!! I was thinking, I wish in the middle of a initial evaluation with a patient with a shoulder injury I could get up and bring in huge burrito and be like "Keep telling me about you injury/functional deficits while I pound this burrito" and not have them flinch.

Another time we went to a donut shop for breakfast and the total was $3.46 The shop owner explained that they have a $5.00 minimum to use credit cards, but instead of making me order more food he says "Just come tomorrow and we'll be square" and slams the receipt down on some little spiky thing and gives my food. I was floored!! The next day I went back and explained what had happened the day before. A different guy grabs the spiky thing and asked what my total was. He couldn't find it, but quickly grabbed another receipt and asked "I've got one for 3.20, that is close enough" throws it on and ran my card as if this was standard protocol and occurred all the time.

As we walked around the town, in stores and drove around I can't really say that I found one person that was stressed out. On our first trip a few years ago we actually forgot our cell phone and were wandering around looking for a pay phone. We must have looked distressed because a realtor noticed us and asked if she could help. After explaining our predicament she quickly offerred up her personal cell phone without asking my income range and if was interested in property. This is a realtor folks, no offense to all of your realtors out there, but my experience has been that most realtors are in a similar state to a starved Lion in a beef slaughtering house--pouncing on anythihng that looks remotely good. IT WAS LIKE WE WEREN'T ALLOWED TO BE STRESSED IN THE AREA, TOO MANY BAD VIBES. :]

So this vacation I have wore flip flops (or no shoes), sat on the beach listening to the ocean while watching season 3 of the office. Can life be more complete? I submit to you that it cannot!!

I have bought 3 t-shirts and a sweater with the words "San Clemente" on them and will wear them with great pride. My primary goal in life (besides the really important stuff like being a total awesome dad) is buy property on the San Clemente/Dana Point area on the beach and retire here.

You want to talk about "Chi" & "Zen" we've got plenty out here.

Growing Up...houses, yards, jobs & kids

Well, the one thing that I have realized as we have looked at houses is that the one thing that I am totally afraid is truly growing up. I don't know how to do many things that it seems my father was innately good at like: taking care of a yard, lawn, fixing leaky faucets, general maintenance with cars and basically being what I would call a true adult. I mentioned that I didn't fee like a real adult to one of my co-workers and she quickly recanted "You own your business, have a doctorate degree, are married and have 2 kids...I'm pretty sure you are already there" (meaning I am an adult).

This was nothing short of terrifying, simply because the thought of me being an adult is pretty silly. I mean, let's face it; I would still play with transformers if A) it was socially acceptable B) I had the time and C) my best friend Dave wasn't in Idaho (cause I know he'd play with me). Of course we would have some type of smoke screen like we were playing with our kids, but I have 2 girls and he has 1 gril so we would probably get smoked out :-]


Buying a house seems like it would be "the nail in the coffin" to seal the deal that I am actually an adult. I am not sure that I can deal with truly being a responsible adult and although I am only 28 years old I can appreciate why people have mid-life crisis. I will consider this my early/transitional life crisis. Oh if only I could institute recess in the adult world where everyone is required to go outside, form a pickup game of flag football in an environment where all the toys were provided along with "the lunch lady" (Usually a giant lady that keeps the bullies away, picks you up when you fall, gets your ball if it goes over the fence and has the eyes on the back of her head so no one can get away with anything).

So I guess Kenna was right when she said that going through those model homes (see our last post for details) truly was "the beginning of the end". It would now appear that I am about to embark upon a life with more and more adult stuff: talking about life insurance, mortgages, interest rates, investing, and other things they talk about on CNN...if I have a nervous break down, don't say I didn't warn you. :]

I need a vacation and luckily we are about to take one...we are going to heaven on earth, also known as San Clemente, CA

To House or Not To House?

Well, Mike and I decided to go walking through houses to get a better idea of what we would like in a house. We planned on purchasing next summer and wanted to be prepared. That was the beginning of the end. We found it, exactly what we wanted. The question was: "do we move on it this summer or stick to the original plan?" As we started researching we came to the conclusion that we should move the time line up due to interest rates and housing prices. That is when the roller coster picked up speed.
First, we were going to build, then the lot we picked got taken, then our plan wouldn't fit on the lot, then we decided not to build. Then a new lot became available, then we found a speck home. We singed a contract and then went looking at existing homes with the Realtor. We found a house that is to die for and decided to put in an offer. Can we say A.D.D. ? We have had all sorts of ups and downs and we are sure there are more to come. We are waiting to hear on the "house to die for" before we decide to back out of the speck home. Both are great options so either way we will be happy. The saga continues!

Project #2 and an experiment

Well I decide I should get on with my projects so I picked another one of the easy ones and got busy. As I was cutting out the pattern I noticed I bought the wrong size. My easy project just got a lot more complicated. How hard could it be to just cut down all the pieces and make it work? I was never the greatest at math and I'm sure that I didn't cut them all down to the same scale but I tried. It worked out okay and it was cute enough that I allowed ambition to sneak in and I ended up making a miniature one for Jane. With her little diaper bum, it kind of sticks up in the back but oh well i tried.