Once upon a magical Father's Day morning

As I looked out the double french doors at my two oldest children I couldn't help but smile.  It was one of those oh so elusive "maybe I am doing something right" moments.  There they sat on a beautiful Father's day Sunday shucking corn.  They did not argue about the task I had assigned.  They did not grumble or groan.  They sat across from each other smiling and laughing together as they worked.  As I noticed the happenings just outside my window I hesitated to acknowledge what I was actually witnessing for fear that it would vanish just as quickly as it had appeared.  But I couldn't pass up this opportunity to document this occasion.  If only for myself; for in the future I may need a reminder that there was at least one time when I felt like a successful mother.  So camera in hand I snuck towards the doors to snap a few shots.  Then got braver and stepped outside to get a few more.  I feared the spell would break as soon as the door cracked open.  But somehow something truly magical was afoot just outside my door.  They smiled and told me how much fun they were having and asked if there was more corn to be shucked.  Saddened that they had nearly completed the job to it's fullest they quickly perked and returned to last of their duty.  I then reminded them that they needed to pick up the husks that had dropped around the garbage can thinking surly this would cause the murmurings I had so desperately hoped would not return.  Again smiles and compliance.  Then without being asked they brought the bowl of shucked corn inside and took the full sack of corn husks out to the garbage.  Then just for good measure they grabbed the recycling that needed to go out as well. 

Happy Father's Day Ben! This is why we do what we do.

Sweet home...

Wouldn't it be great if Alabama was one of our options so I could end that phrase the way it is meant to be said.

Oh well I guess one state in the deep south is as good as another; right? 

We are going to Georgia.  I know it is a big shocker, but I will say there were a few days there when I thought Ben was going to do a 180 on me and decide on Michigan. 

That would have made the t-shirts we bought for everyone in Georgia useless.

It is so nice to have an official decision.  Now the really fun part begins, selling our house and moving across the country.  So if you know anyone that wants to by a house in Sandy I know where you can get a really nice one:)

Raising Arizona

So we got home from Georgia last Tuesday night then promptly headed out to Arizona Wednesday night.  I think I am beginning to understand the meaning of whirlwind...and we have only just begun.  (Did I mention that we are going to Oregon in 2 weeks for one brother's wedding reception and another brother's baby blessing.  Yep we love 12 hour drives so much we want to do it again and again.)  Anyway we took the kids with us to Arizona for a couple of reasons.  First it was Easter weekend and it just didn't seem right to leave them on a holiday, second we were driving so we didn't have much of an excuse not to take them with us and third we couldn't ask Ben's parents to take the kids again after just having them for 5 days and we couldn't ask my parents because they aren't close enough for impromptu babysitting...although if we had asked I know that our parents would have gladly watched the kids.  This trip to Arizona was on again off again for about 3 days.  We loved Georgia and thought that going to Arizona was a bit pointless, but felt like we needed to give them a chance, Ben's co-workers all thought that he needed to see all of the programs before he made a decision so even though when Ben left for work Wednesday morning the trip was off by the time he got back home it was back on.  So why not get a head start we thought.  We packed up the kids and headed out around 9 o'clock that night.  We hoped they would sleep through most of the drive and that we would be able to get a good start on the driving.  Oh how wrong we were.  We left as a storm was starting but thought that we would get through it quickly.  Wrong.  We must have been in the middle of the storm and it was with us all night.  The kids did sleep for awhile.  The drive was really scary.  At one point we almost got in an accident.  You know one of those "thank goodness we said a prayer before we left" type situation.  We should have been in an accident.  We decided to stop so we could get off of the road even though we hadn't gotten as far as we had hoped.  We stopped in a little town with 2 hotels, one was full and the other had one room left but it was $80 and it had a broken T.V. so we decided to go to the next town which we thought was just a few mile down the road.  Wrong again.  We were on the road for another hour at least and the roads only seemed to get worse.  Then the best part...Van started throwing up.  Not just a little a lot.  We couldn't stop because the roads were too bad and even if we did there was nothing we could do in the middle of no where.  Of course at this point the other two kids had woken up so all three kids were wide awake.  I have to say the kids were really good through all of this.  I think they could sense how stressful the situation was.  So on we drove hoping to get some where, any where soon.  Around 2:00 in the morning we ended up in Pangutich Utah and stopped at a crappy hotel for the night.  We got Van cleaned up in the shower because of course there was no tub.  And cleaned up everything else the best we could in the little tiny bathroom sink.  At this point we are tired and very frustrated.  So as we climb in bed for the night Lillie says "I think we need to say a family prayer, because I think we are all pretty frustrated."  Sweet Lillie.  So we did and then went to sleep hoping to put the events of them past few hours behind us.  The next day was just more driving.  Until Joseph threw up on the floor of a convenient store bathroom.  Not very convenient.  Poor Ben had to clean it up.  Finally we got to Arizona.  The next day Ben met with faculty and got a better feel for the program.  While Ben was at the school the kids and I went to the Phoenix zoo which was huge.  I think in the three hours we were there we only saw about half of it.  Once Ben got back to the hotel we decided to cut our trip short and just head home.  We wanted to sleep in our own bed and be done traveling for awhile.  So just one day after arriving in Arizona we headed home.  After a long drive and a quick stop at the Grand Canyon we got home late the next night.  So now that we have seen all of the schools you may be wondering what is our decision.  Well we have made a decision but we aren't ready to announce anything yet.  I think we need a couple days to let everything settle and make sure we still fell good about it.  But we will let everyone know soon.  I know you are all so anxious to hear, so we will try not to prolong the suspense for too long.

First things first...

So before I give another Georgia report I want to share a picture with you that I took before we left Utah...this is what happens when you try to take a shower leaving a 3 year old to take care of himself...

Yes that is in fact a potty seat.  And yes he was very much stuck!  He was pretty upset when I got out of the shower.  I asked him if I could take his picture before I helped him out of his predicament.  At this point the tears stopped and he smiled and said "Yeah!"  Come on you know you are all glad I grabbed the camera this is too classic and oh so Van!!!

Ok now onto the next Georgia report...

We met with a realtor yesterday.  Over all it was good.  We were hoping to see some amazing deals, although the housing market is more affordable here than it is in Utah we are not going to be getting a amazing deal.  We did find quite a few houses that were newer and that would work well for our family.  We also saw some not so great houses.  But we saw enough good ones that we feel confident that if we move out here housing wont be too difficult to figure out.  Ben is meeting with faculty and students from the program today so check his blog for the details about that. 

Georgia on my mind

So we got to Georgia last night.  We flew into Atlanta then rented a car to drive the rest of the way to Athens which is about an hour and a half away.  From the time we pulled into town I loved it!!  It is so cute and quaint.  It has such a small town college-y feel.  It has a lot of the stores that we are used to having, those that are noteworthy include, Walmart, Target, TJmaxx, Hobby Lobby and Payless.  There are also some that we are not used to like Publix, Piggly wiggley, Kroger and a bunch of others.  So it is a good mix familiar and new.  There are trees EVERYWHERE, which I love but Ben is still getting used to.  The trees remind me of Oregon.  Especially the ones that are in full white bloom.  They are not exactly like the pear trees in Oregon but similar and very beautiful.  I wish I had made room for my camera.  But all we brought was the crappy point and shoot.  So sorry no awesome pictures for you.  We are meeting with a realtor tomorrow to get a feel for the housing market.  I can honestly say I can see us living here.  Arizona and Michigan have a lot to live up to and it is going to be tough for either of them to out do Georgia. 

Just a side note: although I hate to admit it a GPS is awesome and totally worth having.  When Ben brought up the idea I thought he was just trying to get a new toy out of this trip, which lets be honest he probably was.  But it has been soooo nice to have and because we have it I was able to venture out on my own today while Ben was at his conference. 

That is my report so far on Georgia.  I will write more after we talk to the Realtor and see some houses.

And then there were three

It's official.  Ben has been accepted to all 3 schools he applied to; ASU, GUA, and MSU.  So now comes a whirlwind of trips and lots and lots of decisions.  This is all on top of our already hectic and crazy lives.  So this should be an interesting couple of weeks for us.  Wish us luck!!

Finally!!

We finally heard from ASU!  Ben has been accepted, Yay.  For those of you keeping track he has been accepted to Arizona State University and Michigan State University and we are still waiting to hear from University of Georgia (of course my first choice is taking their sweet time).  Looks like we can start planning visits and making decisions.  This is an exciting and scary time, but we are all excited for the adventure which surely lies ahead.  If you would like to add your 2 cents about where we should go visit Ben's nerd blog professional blog to vote.  It is not the first entry so scroll down a bit.

I know that for some of you it is hard to think about us leaving (that sounded totally self centered, sorry not my intention).  I only know this because you have told me.  Anyway, we really appreciate your love and support despite this being difficult.  Some of you hoped (myself included) that this would all blow over.  That in the end we would stay right here, but I can assure the chances of that happening are dwindling daily.  This is happening and I am happy we can start making decisions instead of being in limbo.  And I really am getting excited about the adventure our little family is about to take.

This is what made me laugh till I cried today

Joseph (to Lillie):  Spell pizza
Lillie: p-l-a-z-z-y
Me: audible laughter
Joseph: audible laughter
Joseph: No spell pizza
Lillie laughing: p-l-a-z-z-y
Me and Joseph: hysterical laughter
Me between sobs and tears: Lillie there is no l and no a in pizza
Joseph (puzzled): Mom there is an a
Me: realization
All of us: more laughter and tears

Just when you think being a mom is the hardest job in the world someone spells pizza with a y and and someone else forgets the a.  Thank goodness motherhood is sprinkled with hysterical belly laughs!  Because the hardest jobs are always the ones most worth doing.

Missing

...my motivation!  Have you seen it?  It's about yea high, weighs 100 lbs or so.  Typically hangs out with guilt and sometimes ambition.  Ambitions seems to be MIA as well so they are probably somewhere together.  Guilt however is still here and has for whatever reason taken on a bigger role with motivation and ambition on leave.  Anyway if you see them let them know I am not happy here by myself with guilt...we are not compatible left on our own.

Here's your (NEW) sign

I told Ben recently that he needs to wear a sign that says "WE DON"T KNOW ANYTHING YET!"  Referring of course to our pending move and total life style change due to Ben going back to school to get his Phd.  We get asked a lot what is going on and up until now have had to say "nothing, we are still waiting to hear from the schools."  But we finally have a little something to share. 

Yesterday, Ben got a phone call from Michigan State telling him that they want to send him an acceptance letter but that they needed a few more things from him.  You know little things like his GRE scores, transcripts from BYU and WGU and 2 more letters of recommendation.  Either Michigan State is really interested in Ben or they will accept anyone...even if your application is severely short on the necessary materials.  I am pretty sure it is the first, since he was one of only 8 applicants that were flown out, on the schools buck, to visit the school and see the program first hand.  It's nice to be loved!

He also received an email from University of Georgia wanting to schedule a phone interview.  I guess that means he made the 'first cut' in Georgia. 

So I guess what this really means is that this is starting to feel real.  Things are starting to happen and we will have some big and interesting decisions to make very soon.
 
Even though I joked about the sign...because we really were getting asked a lot.  We feel very loved and supported through this transition.  Thanks to all of you who care and are interested in our decision and our future.  We will definately keep you updated as we know more details!

Goings on

I thought after Christmas things were supposed to slow down...well life has not gotten the memo!  We are super busy so I thought I better do a post and hit a few of the highlights. 

Our resident smarty pants was recently invited to participate in the school geography bee.  I didn't even know such a thing existed.  But it does.  Joseph was one of 2 from his class who were invited.  There were 2 kids from each class in 4th, 5th and 6th grades.  There were about 18 kids total.  Joseph made the first cut and tied for 4th place.  It was so great to see him up there and being oh so proud of himself.  Situations like this always make me a bit nervous, because you never know if he is going to handle the competition aspect well and if he will remember appropriate microphone etiquette.  He was great.  After he was out he came and sat by us in the audience then proceeded to whisper the right answers for most of the last questions.  Go figure.  He was so excited and his class was so excited for him it was a great day for him.  I love seeing my kids grow into themselves.

In other news we have recently re-surfaced our master bathroom.  If you want to see pictures you are going to have to visit my craft blog...because why post it twice when I can just give you a link, right?   

Well I am off to catch up on a million things...ok I am off to close the gap between where I actually am and being caught up, I am pretty sure I will be forever "catching up"  A girl can dream though!

I'm back

I know you all terribly missed my ramblings about my life, so who am I to disappoint. We had a fabulous Christmas break. We went to my sister-in-law's cabin for Christmas and it was so fun. We ate (waaay to much), played games, had a pool and ping pong tournament, went sledding and just generally had a great time. (Just a side note on the pool tourney, Haley beat Sam and I beat Ben so it was totally awesome! Yes I just said totally awesome) At some point in the week all of Ben's siblings and their families were there except James and Lauren who we missed! It was stressful getting everything ready to go and the weather was pretty rough on the way but once we were there I was so glad we went. The kids were well behaved and had a great time too. Even our homebody Joseph who was pretty sure he would hate it loved it. He didn't complain once about being there. After we got back form the cabin Ben had the whole next week off. It was so great to spend time doing what ever we wanted. This week has been a little rocky getting everyone back on a schedule. Mostly the mornings, remind me again why school has to start so dang early. But it is always nice to get back on track. You may notice an obvious void of pictures. In our rush to get to the cabin I forgot my camera. I am like the worst photographer ever. I always forget it. So no pics to share, sorry.

I hope you all had a fabulous Christmas vacation too, and that you are adjusting to the torture of getting up early again.