AIRSOFT ADDICT

I knew this would happen. In my last airsoft blog I spoke about Shane's persuasive nature in getting what he wants. I gave into a high-end airsoft pistol but I should have know that there would be a catch. "Oh hunny, I need a high-end airsoft rifle now because I "just" realized that the pistols don't work in the winter when it is cold."

I tried my hand at the sneakiness too. "Jayson and Josh will never play with you if you are the only one with a rifle...so you can not have one until they get one first." I knew that Ashley would never allow Jayson to get one. She is cheaper that I am...if that is possible.

That VERY night, Jayson had one!!! And within a few weeks Josh and Papa had one too!! I lost again.

ANTI-TOYS

I am also cheap on children's birthdays and Christmas. Gasp!!! Shane is very anti-toys. He does not want to live in a house overrun by them. The kids are allowed one small toy box and if it starts to overflow toys are either packed away or trashed.

I also have very generous in-laws that love to spoil. So Shane and I buy something small and let them do the rest. It works out great. For Christmas they got just enough toys to satisfy the season but not too many to be frustrated.

CHRISTMAS TREE

As if you did not already know but...I am CHEAP!!! Cheap, frugal...boring! I do not decorate for holidays because I am too cheap to buy the decorations. I have tried the after Christmas sales but you have to get there fast to get the goods. This year I discovered that there is another good reason not to decorate...LITTLE HANDS!!!

Our first Christmas with Brenna we got a four foot Christmas tree off of craigslist for about $10. We have used it ever since. I was amazing at being consistent with Brenna and I don't think she touched it at all for the first few Christmases...but the brothers are another story!

I redecorated the Christmas Tree about 100 times and it was only up for a week. Those boys are constant and sneaky. After the first few times that they got to it, it was no longer beautiful, or symmetrical. I just left it that way and hoped people who came over would understand.

BABY TALK

Jackson is a good talker. I can understand everything that comes out of his mouth. He also doesn't seem to talk unless he has something to say.

Landon on the other hand is a bit lacking in the communication department. He repeats what you say and knows how to talk, but most of the time it is gibberish until the last word, which is clear. I think that he does well with words one at a time, but if he wants to say a sentence, he gets so excited that it all runs together.

NICKNAMES

I am the queen of creating nicknames for my children. Each month it is something new and "more creative". Sometimes I just call them whatever word pops into my head at the moment...peanut brittle, cracker jack, fluff n' nutter.

Jackson loves his grandma Karen. Jackson loves even more to call out her name whenever he sees her, which sounds A LOT like, "OBAMA". She does not encourage it...I have no idea why ;)

Shane told me the other day that Landon only calls him "Shane".

Jackson calls me "daddy" still. I cannot break that habit.

SOLD

As of Monday, December 2nd, we no longer own our condo. Very bitter-sweet. It cost us A LOT of money to get it sold. It was not that we could not make our payments, it was just that we do not have faith in the economy and believe that it would take 5-10 years for the value to come back up. We could not squeeze anything else into that tiny place, and could not wait 5-10 years before selling it. We were just about to give up and foreclose, take the hit on our credit, but then the windows of heaven opened.

We had a viewing drought. We did not have anyone come and see our place for a few weeks. Then, I got a call from a Realtor asking to show my house later that afternoon. "Sure" I said, knowing that I needed all the in between time to clean/prepare it for showing. "Oh by the way" he says, "I am at the property right now. I like to do a walk through before I bring the client." I opened the door to find him standing there. I took a quick look at myself. I had a cold sore on my nose medicated with a thick white cream, was in workout clothes with my hair in a high pony tail. I took a look at my condo. I had been slacking off that day and it was a mess. I had a sick husband on the bed in one room, and the brothers trying to take a nap in the other. Brenna was running around being a ham, and asking a million questions. I was SOO embarrassed.

I assured him that he will see a DRASTIC difference in the state of the condo when he came back that afternoon. I guess he believed me because he brought them back that afternoon, and that night they offered us our asking price...in cash...and asked if we could be out in 3 weeks.

We KNEW it was a blessing from heaven and that all the rest would just fall into place. The process was easy and smooth. Now that it is sold we are restful and happy with our decision.

WE ARE RENTERS

WOW, so much harder than owning. You have to search a million places to find the one that you want in your price range. It is just like buying a house but you have to do it every 1-2 years.

I was not too concerned about moving because we are not pack rats and do not have a whole lot of stuff...but I was wrong. It was tough. Karen and I packed it up in 2 mornings...Shane and Jayson moved it in one night...and I spent the next 3 weeks unpacking. The majority of our problem was my addiction to food storage. It made up at least 50% of our move.

We looked at a few places. Shane was STRICT that the place had to have a 2 car garage and adequate parking. At our condo we had to take the car out of the garage, save a parking spot for the vehicle we were using, and then switch back when we got home. I made the mistake of leaving work at 0300 in the morning. There were no parking spots. I had to park in the neighborhood over, and walk a quarter of a mile in the pouring rain. He also believes that he MUST have room in the garage for a ping pong table.

We actually applied and were determined to live in a house in the same neighborhood, but a friend who desperately needed a renter begged and negotiated to have us rent her place. It turned out to be GREAT. There is only one bummer part...they are going to put it back up for sale in the future...I do not want to move again. I guess the only solution is to save, buy it from her and live here for the rest of our lives.

It is so much bigger than our 1060 square foot condo. In hindsight, I have NO idea how we lived there for so long. It was tight quarters.

TWO 2-YEAR-OLDS

This year was way more fun. They are older and more interactive when opening presents. Whenever they opened a present, they would scream, "WOW", before even seeing what it was. As soon as they realized it was just clothes they were on to the next one.

I made them a "special cake" like I love to do for my babies on their birthdays. This year it was a mountain, with a trail and two motocross men on it. It was very cool.

HALLOWEEN

Since this year Halloween was on a Sunday the whole holiday was a waste of time and money. Our ward Halloween party was on the Tuesday prior. They babies wore their Halloween costumes for about a hour and then never again.

Brenna won and was Jessie for Halloween, so of course Landon was Woody and Jackson was Buzz. I had a REALLY hard time finding costumes in their sizes, so I got one size smaller for the brothers...which turned out to be skin tight. Brenna's costume was too big and was folded in the back and then safety pinned.

They were ADORABLE though. As they stopped at each trunk, they would get their treats and then SCREAM "Thank you".

They go enough candy from the church party to satisfy their desires...as well as mom's sneaks.

NEGLECT...

Neglect... creates an overwhelming task. I have not blogged in a month, and have no idea how to begin explaining all that has happened in a few short weeks.

Halloween.

The brothers turned 2 years old.

We moved to rent a bigger place one street over.

We sold our condo to a nice little retired couple.

I had my 27th birthday.

I did not have a single melt down during all the chaos!!! Maybe I am finally growing up!

I will attempt to blog in hindsight about my list of events...hold on tight.