Meramac Caverns

The kids were so sick of the car, but after signing for a house, we had a few free days with my parents.  We didn't want to hang out at the hotel so we take another road trip.  Missouri apparently is the cavern capitol.  There are caverns everywhere.  We went to Meramac Caverns which is between here and St. Louis.

We had to stop at Kmart to buy sweatshirts because all we had were tank tops and shorts.

Jaelyn's pointing to my mom's new pink shoes...a very hip Baba.

Allie and my mom were buddies.  The fearless one was actually scared while we were in the caves.  Go figure.  We finally found something that Allie is scared of.

After the caverns, I paid $7 each for 3 bags of dirt so the kids could "pan for gold."  They found a collection of rocks and got an identification card to identify them.

We really enjoyed the cavern.  This area is called mirror lake.  The top half of the picture is the wall and ceiling.  The bottom half is it's reflection in the lake. 

This is another area with the reflection. It was a really neat optical illusion.

Gramps, Baba and the kids...thanks so much for all of your help and support.  This has been the hardest move and we really appreciate everything you have done for us.  We love you!

Our Puppy - A Goldendoodle

I was asked what kind of dog we are getting so I thought I'd start a new post instead of answering in comments.  I read a book several years ago that had a labradoodle in it.  I had no idea what that was so I looked it up and I became intrigued by both labradoodles and goldendoodles.  Say goldendoodle five times fast.  It just makes you smile.  Dan's always wanted a dog and I think it would be great for the kids.  I also maybe need something to nurture with everyone gone all day.  We've been talking about it for six months or so and decided once we got settled in Missouri we'd take the plunge.

A goldendoodle is a cross between a gold retriever and a poodle.  We are getting a F1B which means a first generation goldendoodle is mated with a poodle.  The F1B is supposed to be the most hypo-allergenic.  Also, like a poodle, they aren't supposed to shed.  Goldendoodles also have the great golden retriever personality and are incredibly smart.  It's a win win in my book.  Our puppy will be a medium goldendoodle.  Her daddy is a medium sized poodle.  The litter should average around 40 lbs full grown and the colors will be in the apricot and red families.  She will hopefully look something like this dog.  I found him on the breeders alumni page.  Isn't he adorable? 

We are still debating names. Dan and I like Sadie. Allie likes Daisy and Jaelyn likes Lily. Caden thinks we should wait and meet her before we pick a name.  The litter is due in the next two weeks and we'll be able to bring her home at 8 weeks.  I really can't wait.  I'm actually reading a Puppy Book.  I know nothing about taking care of a dog.  The biggest thing will be potty training.  I potty trained three kids...how hard can a puppy be???  LOL

School

We went last Wednesday to meet the kids' teachers and school started on Thursday.  I'm just going to say it once.  We miss Emmorton Elementary School!



Allie's teacher is Mrs. M.  She has a very kind, out-going personality.  I liked her immediately and Allie really seems to enjoy her class.  I think she's going to do just fine here.

Caden's teacher is Mrs. S. She looks like she should have retired last year. Not that older is bad or that experienced teachers can't be nurturing and loving, but Mrs. S doesn't seem to be either of those things. Caden says she's mean and she yells. That makes me sad for him. He's a good kid and doesn't need that.  It's makes me miss sweet Miss K from last year.  Caden says there's one little girl in his class that always gets in trouble.  The other day she was playing with her chair so Mrs. S took her chair and made her stand all day.  He never did tell me what time she took it away, but if it had really been all day, I would have been hopping mad if it were my kid.  Apparently the other first grade teacher is the one we wanted. She's kind and always smiles and says hello when I pass her in the hall.

Caden has had a hard time adjusting.  He went into school fine the first day, but on the second, I had to literally drag him out of the car and pull him into school.  I walked him to his class, hugged him and walked away.  I heard tears and footsteps behind me and he was following me.  Talk about breaking my heart.  I took him back to his non-cuddly, sweet teacher and told her she had to hold him until I left.  The school counselor checked on him later for me and he was fine.  This week, he's been earning stars and has been great every morning.  Today was his 5th star and he earned ice cream for everyone.  5 more stars and he'll earn the Wii back (it's continuously going into time-out).  5 more after that and he'll earn his most coveted Air Hog (which is a little indoor remote controlled helicopter).  Once we've hit 15, I expect him to go in without a fuss.

School is going to be hard for him.  He'll race through reading and math, but he struggles with writing. We are already having issues with homework. Yesterday, I paid him a penny for everyone word he wrote. Whatever works, right? And when I say he'll ace reading, the reading book he brought home was similar to beginning of the year readers from last year.  He's been reading beginning chapter books.

Jaelyn is proud to say she is not the smallest girl in her 4th grade class.  Her friend Victoria takes that award.  Silly Jae.  Jaelyn's teacher is Mrs. M.  I didn't like her or dislike.  Jaelyn really likes her and she seems motivated to learn; so I am happy.  I'm a little concerned about Jaelyn struggling because while 1st grade skills seem below Caden, 4th grade skills seem way over Jae's head.  The good news is she isn't the social butterfly (yet) that she was in Maryland so she is focusing more on the teacher and less on her friends.

Walking into school on the first day.

They Survived!

Check out the edge of the playground in this picture.  It's pea gravel.  Seriously, who in their right mind puts pea gravel underneath kids play equipment?  Jaelyn says it's wicked on your knees if you fall.  Craziness.

Sew Hip

Dan, the most awesome husband around, bought me a new sewing machine.  I used it for a not fun project (sewing black-out material to curtains).  I decided to use it for something fun.  I found a doll dress pattern at Walmart and bought a fat quarter bundle for material (because the closest fabric store is apparently 30 miles away in Lebanon).  I think the dresses turned out really cute.  I joked that they are either really hip hippie dresses or mumus or really rockin' choir robes (if they were longer)!   I can't wait for Jae and Allie to come home from school and give me their opinions.  The sewing machine is awesome.  I didn't say a single bad word while I've been sewing.  I had no jams and the machine didn't come unthreaded all by itself even once.  I'm looking forward to more sewing projects when I have extra time.

Our New House

Okay, I am finally taking the time today to upload pictures and post them.  Yea for me.  :)

Here's our house.  It's LOOOONNNNGGGG...

The back yard...there's no fence and I don't think we are going to put one up.  Looks like I'll be getting lots of exercise with our new puppy. 

Did you look at all the windows?  Go back and look again encase you missed them!

I'm slowly but surely getting things hung on the wall.  I'm not going overboard with nail or screw holes.  I think the bedrooms and bathrooms will be the only rooms with curtains.  I'm going to have a closet full of pictures I'm not hanging.  I did, however, hang stuff in the kids' rooms.  Here's Caden's...

Arghhh on this picture.  The shelf needs to be 3" lower.  I think I'll have to settle for moving Yoda 3" higher.

The girls' room is huge.  What is two bedrooms on one side of the house is one on the other.  They blew the wall out and made a huge bedroom.  This is Jaelyn's side...

And this is Allie's side...Polly world is almost unpacked too, as you can see.

Home Alone and Other Stuff

We are slowly but surely getting settled in Missouri.  I must admit, there have been tears shed.  Stupid, silly tears that keep spilling out of my eyes.  Tears that choke me up so badly I can't talk.  New is just hard.  I promise to post more pictures of the house and the kids (they started school last week - it hasn't been all peaches and cream for Caden either).  In addition to trying to move in and get settled, we are also dealing with major stuff from the kids.  Thankfully, I nipped Allie's sass in the bud, but Jaelyn is being Jaelyn.  All this change is causing anxiety which is causing tantrums.  Caden is taking a page out of Jaelyn's play book and has started pitching explosive tantrums as well.  It's all just exhausting to be perfectly honest.

Today is the first day I've spent home alone.  The kids are at school and Dan went back to work.  I started my day with a walk.  The fresh air did me good.  Next up is sewing more black out curtains with the new sewing machine my awesome husband bought me on Saturday.  Anyone know a good bridge to chunk my old horrible one off of???   I also have plans to bake a pie for the new neighbors moving in across the street.  We are seriously lacking in neighbors since all the houses in the area were damaged in a tornado.  Renovations are finishing and hopefully we'll have a street full of new neighbors soon.

PS  Have I mentioned we are getting a puppy?  I mailed in our application this weekend.  The litter is due next month and we'll get to bring her home around Halloween.  Call me crazy, but I can't wait.

The Race Track Turned Living Room

The wall with the church pew is the walkway that separates the two halves of the house. I am happy with the way we were able to slow down kiddie traffic and make the room look less like a long bowling alley (it's 26x11). My curio is still empty, but after having it on four walls in three rooms, I think it finally found a home.

Our 1st Fatality

It was a frog.

One Room Down...Sort Of

It's Here

They brought two trucks instead of one so we get all of our stuff today!!! Yea!!!

Moving Day

I am so thankful tomorrow is almost here. I've been waiting for it since a couple weeks after the movers took my bed. We've been camping in our house and making do in the kitchen with plastic utensils and paper plates for the last few days. I have everything purchased for a big pot of spaghetti just as soon as I unpack a pot. I've been saving a very special jar of home made sauce for the occasion (a gift from the Queen of Brussels Sprouts).

The more we are in the house, the happier I am. Yesterday the kids were running back and forth. Our house isn't on a slab (is that called off grade?) anyway, I could hear the stomping. I didn't have to yell at them because I was worried about bothering the neighbors. Our house doesn't touch anyone else's. There are no neighbors!

On that subject...there really are no neighbors. I haven't seen anyone. We are in an area damaged by tornadoes New Years Day. I was hoping for lots of kids to play with. We just have to be patient and wait for houses to be renovated and for families to move in. Until then, we'll make friends at school. The kids start on Thursday.

So encase I don't blog for a few days, don't worry, we might just be buried in a pile of boxes!

Sent while lost in the woods on my iPhone

Over the river and through the woods...

...to Target we did go We do have a Walmart outside the post and there's a Kmart about 25 miles away, but that's about it. We headed north to Osage Beach to go to some outlets and Target today It was 80 miles of curvy, hilly back roads. I must admit it was a pretty drive. I'm just thankful none of us get car sick. I spent a ton of money on curtains and new bedding for the kids' rooms. Did I mention the huge windows or that none of my old curtains or rods will fit??! I'm ready to get our stuff to we can get "moved in."

Floor Plan

You'll have to tilt your head, sorry. It's the best I can do from my phone.

Eighty Two Feet

We've spent the last couple of days exploring our house. While it's not the bigger two story I wanted, it's nice and big with new carpet and freshly painted walls. I like it. There's just one problem. This house used to be a three bedroom duplex. They knocked out the center wall and made it into a four bedroom single family house. It's a LONG house. Jae and I had nothing better to do this morning so we measured. From one side door to the other is 82 feet. That's a long way to walk. Thankfully we have a door on either end along with his and hers driveways :). I also measured windows. The big floor to ceiling windows in my room are 11 feet long.

Sent from my iPhone

Who Was It That Was Praying For Windows???

Here's proof that God is listening. No jail windows for us.

Floor to ceiling windows in several rooms....do they make curtain rods that long and more importantly, can we find them here?

God's Timing and Sense of Humor

I really wonder what God is thinking sometime.  I'm sure this was all a lesson in faith and trusting God and I'm also sure I failed the lesson.  I get a big fat F, but thankfully, God gets an A.

Yesterday, when Dan checked into the housing office, the woman there, C., offered him a three bedroom renovated house.  There's no one on the Captain's 3 bedroom list.  Dan made an appointment to see it today even though he told her I wouldn't want it. I found the floor plans online last night (my mom has advice about google and the Internet - I don't like it, but she's probably correct).  Anyway, I agonized about it all night long.  I couldn't figure out how we'd fit all of our stuff in it.  We really want a four bedroom house.  We want space. The girls want their own rooms.  I hunted for rentals.  This morning, I called several looking for something that would rent monthly until the big 4 bedroom house opened up.  No luck.   Well, C took us to the house this morning.  It is nice and clean and recently renovated.  We went through one bedroom and then two and then three and then there was another bedroom at the end of the hall.  Huh...I actually retraced my steps to make sure I'd counted correctly.  Sure enough, when they turned the house over to her, they gave her the wrong information.  Since we were there, she said we could have the FOUR BEDROOM HOUSE.  Yes I'm yelling.  There are eight people on the captain's four bedroom list, btw.  All eight should have had first dibs over us.  C got a big ole hug from me.  I don't think she minded because people in Missouri are down home and pretty friendly.

Dan's signing for the house this afternoon so we can empty our trailer into it, saving the cost and my shoulders from moving our stuff into and out of a storage unit.  Our household goods won't be delivered until Monday and Tuesday.  They said we have too much stuff to bring it all in one day...seriously.  We have a normal household of stuff.  I think we'll stick with our hotel until we have the beds set up.  And after all of that, the girls have decided to share a humongous room (it's a long rectangle) so that the fourth bedroom can be a playroom.  I'm still not sure about our furniture, but we'll make it work or sell and buy new if we have to.

The Great Missouri Move - Part 2

Begins Tomorrow!!!

Taming the Seabass

Sebastian is my first baby.  Dan and I adopted him and his brother right after we got married.  He is the sweetest cat to his masters, but he is a mean, mean cat to everyone else.  That goes double for kids.  He hated the girls as soon as we brought them home.  He'd hiss and tell them in no uncertain terms to leave him alone.  When we went to Germany, my parents adopted Sebastian and have had him for seven years.  He's an almost 15 year old, old man now.  The kids have worked hard at befriending him this summer.  Jaelyn is THRILLED that not only will he let her pet him, but he'll also let her pick him up.  He let's Caden pet him as well.  Allie still hasn't made it to his good side.  All she gets from him are hisses and "love pats."

So, he's not totally enjoying them, but he's tolerating them.

Bungee Bouncing

When Allie was about two and a half, we let her bungee bounce at the zoo.  Being "the Fearless One," she loved it.  Jaelyn didn't even consider it.  They still talk about.  We were at the mall last week and saw a bungee bounce.  The kids begged me to let them do it so we took them back last weekend.  They had so much fun.  I loved watching how they all approached it. 

Caden went first.  He giggled as he bounced higher and higher.  He was scared to try to flip, but did let go a couple of times.

Jaelyn had fun, but she only bounced up and down and up and down.  There was no way she was going to let go or try to do a front or back flip.

Allie, being the dare devil that she is, was more than willing to try front and back flips.  Her timing was a little off, but with more practice, she would have mastered them.  At nine dollars for six minutes, she'll have to find someone else's trampoline to practice on.

As Allie was finishing up, Caden was begging us to let him go again.  After watching Allie, he had decided he was brave enough to try what she did.  Sorry little man...one time was all I could afford.  Lesson learned.  Next time the fearless one needs to go first to show them how it's done.

Afterward, we went to Dairy Queen for dipped ice cream cones.  I don't know when the last time was that I had one of those.  Chocolate dipped chocolate...soooo good.

The Jack Hammer

Did I mention we've created monsters?  I was having a bad afternoon the other day and my Dad offered to let me take out the top kitchen cabinets.  Isn't he a good Dad?  It helped my mood tremendously.

Today we rented a mini jack hammer and we went to town on the ceramic tile.  It was loud and dirty and hot and I LOVED it.  Dan says instead of teaching me to destroy things, I should be learning to rebuild them.  I guess he needs to buy me a plane ticket to come back and help when it's time to put it all back together!