I have decided to block my blog from the public. This is something that I should have done a long time ago but I had a friend terrify me with something her dad had told her about unknown readers getting a hold of bloggers personal information, so I have decided to block my blogs starting on Thursday, the 1st. If you want me to add you to my list of "readers" then please contact me via email and let me know. Otherwise if you are a frequent person that I keep in contact with on email, I will be sending out an invite for you to be able to sign in and read my blogs. It will require you to sign in every time that you want to read but it keeps my family safe! Thanks so much! My email is below!
Tonight we carved pumpkins (punkins as Caleb calls them). He was so excited about it since he has been watching "Spookley the Square Pumpkin" on Disney the past few days. He was so excited about it but I don't think he thought it would take as long as it did. Fortunately, the last twenty minutes of "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown" kept him pretty content until we finished the carving.
We first drew out the face of the pumpkin and then when we started carving the top of it he said "Can I eat it?" Dan and I were both laughing because as soon as he said that the top came off and he said the title above, "SHEW-WEE I don't like that smell!!" He did however continue to put his hands into the pumpkin and pulled a few seeds out. But that was all that he did. Dan decided to put Ariel in the mix, so he put her hand in there too! We really happy with the final results but Caleb was a little confused when we had to blow the candle out and say goodnight. He wanted him to be lit all night long! I assured him that we would be lighting him again tomorrow night before we go trick-or-treating.
We went to Southwest City, Missouri tonight with a couple from our connection group. They have a Corn Maze and Hayride there that is absolutly the best that I have seen! We all had a blast!
The Family on the Hayride
Caleb climbing on the hay bales
Full View of the Corn Maze Caleb and Allison
Caleb scoping out the right way to go looking over the corn maze Caleb and Allison taking a hug break Caleb telling us which way to go in the corn maze Caleb going down the slide
And another slide! My Family! Keeping her head warm! Trying to get buckled into the cow train
Ariel and I...ready to go! Here we go! Going down the slide again!
We are almost done unpacking. I just have a few boxes left of odds and ends and I still have yet to get Caleb's room organized...it's tough when he's just in there messing it up anyway! I thought I would share some pictures of what our new place looks like from the inside. We really do enjoy the new layout. It is so nice not having a bathroom right next to Ariel's room to where she could hear everything and wake up when Caleb had to use the bathroom. Ariel has done exceptionally well with her new room. She hasn't woken up in the middle of the night once since we have been here. I think maybe it's because she isn't so close to us anymore and she is behind closed doors unlike she was at the old place.
Wow...it has been a crazy week! Probably the craziest week I have ever had! Our original plan was to close on our house last Monday (oct 15th) but none of the paper work was ready on both ends of the closing deal so we decided to postpone it until Wednesday. Tuesday night (oct 16th)we got the Uhaul and Dan's dad and sister came to help us get the Uhaul loaded. We got nearly everything loaded and ready to go for us to move out of the house completely on Wednesday afternoon. The next morning (Wednesday) we loaded last minute items and I cleaned the house a bit. Dan's dad came and got both Ariel and Caleb and took them to their house for the night so that we could move in to our new place that evening and not be chasing kids around. Well this is when all my careful planning fell apart...goes to show that you can try to control all the things you want but in reality God is the one in control and He was REALLY trying to get my attention!
Wednesday afternoon we were under a tornado watch all day long. It didn't rain (THANKFULLY) but the weather was awfully unstable. The closing was at 3:30 and during the closing, the agent was getting text messages from his dad who was a storm chaser that there was a tornado that had touched down in Benton County. Then our Realtor walks in and had no paper work in hand and stated that the closing almost wasn't going to happen due to financial reasons on the sellers end. There were a few confusions while we were at the table doing the closing and we had all agents working for us trying to get the deal closed. All in all, everything went well, they all straightened out the confusion while in the midst of a tornado warning.
After the closing Dan and I went back to our old house and loaded the fridge and the washer and dryer (with the help of friends of couse...I am not that strong) and then around 7:00 we were off to our new house...with no electricity!!!
In order for a person to occupy a home after an inspection on the home is complete, they have to pay impact fees in order to get a certificte of occupancy. Well the seller was on the verge of foreclosing on the house that we bought so therefore he wasn't able to afford to pay the impact fees until after closing. In order for us to be able to get electricity turned on at our new place, those fees had to be paid for...free and clear. Needless to say, we didn't get electricity until Friday at 4:00!! We are so blessed to have friends and family so close. We had at least 3 couples ask us to stay the night with them until we were able to get power. Thanks guys for all tour help in moving us and also offering us a place to stay.
My plan was to get into the house on Wednesday evening and then spend the rest of the night unpacking while Dan's parents had the kids...and since I had no electricity that didn't happen. We had a friend from our home group come over as we were moving things into the DARK house and he brought a generator and we were at least able to hook up a lamp in the living room and also turn on the microwave light. We got the entire Uhaul unloaded in less than an hour!!! We had decided to spend the night at Erron and Libby Smith's house in Rogers and we asked everyone who helped to meet us a Braum's for ice cream before we went to the Smith's to stay the night. As Dan and I were pulling out of our driveway the transmission went out in our van. At this point all I could do was just laugh. I thought..."this can't be happening!" We went to Braum's and decided that since we would be further away from our house if we stayed at the Smith's house that we would at least try to make it to Caleb and Leah Mitchell's house in Centerton. So that is where we stayed the night.
Thursday morning Dan and I went to the new house and unloaded the van that was full of all of our electronics and our tv. Then we took the Uhaul to our old house and got Dan's truck (that was full of all of our outdoor stuff) and then went and dropped off the Uhaul and then went back to the house. At this point I was trying so hard to get as much stuff as I could get done accomplished since I didn't have the kids. Dan called the tow truck and had the van towed to a transmission shop in Springdale. I called Dan's parents to see what the plans we were as far as bringing the kids home that evening and all I could do was to pray that they would keep them for one more night. They were unable to unfortunatly due to prior arrangements that they had made but that is where I cried for the first time during this whole ordeal. As a mom you want everything to be straight and orderly when your kids are around especially when a move is going on and since there was no power at our house I felt as though I wasn't able to fullfill my part as being a mother in providing a secure location for us to sleep that night. As night fell we still didn't have power and at that point I wasn't sure what we were going to do. Leah and Caleb thankfully came through once again and we were able to stay with them but I still felt as thought I was bombarding in on them...and all I really wanted to do was be in the home that Dan and I had just purchased! We had Chick-fil-a that night for dinner (meal 3 of about 15 that were fast food or in a restaurant).
Today I am feeling somewhat back to normal. We are still living out of a cooler since our fridge did not fit in our kitchen (we went and bought a new fridge tonight and it will be delivered tomorrow), and I am just now washing my first load of laundry in over a week! We have DSL, Dish Network, Phone, Electricity and Water now. I am about 3/4 unpacked and feeling better with each box that I crush! I love my new home and my kids love it too! Ariel has slept so well since we have been here. Going to bed at 8:30 0r 9:00 and waking up at 8:00...sleeping all the way through the night and taking two seperate 2 hour naps during the day. I have my van back as a well...we spent a whole paycheck today on the transmission and also a new fridge...rediculous!
It's great to be alive and that we are all healthy. This week has taught me to be patient (which is so hard to do!!!) and to not rely on my schedule! I don't have pics because honestly I have not been in the picture taking mood but I will take some pics of the interior of our new place sometime this week and post them.
I got in from Little Rock and Benton at 5:00 Yesterday evening. Just enough time to watch the kids eat a little dinner and then get them ready to go to church so that Dan and I could go to our connection group meeting. I had a great trip. I saw tons of people from all over.
On Friday night (I got to Little Rock at 6:45) Patricia and her sister Laura's Dad had tons of people over to his house for a pre wedding dinner. There were seriously about 60 plus people there. It was so good to see faces that I hadn't seen since childhood. I saw a few people from junior high there, a few people from my high school, and then a lot of people whom I remember from childhood when I would hang out with Patricia so much. Then at around 9:00 I headed to Benton and stayed the night with my best friend from high school, Shannon and her husband Clay. We were up until 1:00 playing Wii...so much fun!
On Saturday I got up and went to visit my boyfriend from high school (Randy) and his wife (Amber) and finally got to meet their son (Ethan). Over the years Randy and I have kept in touch and his wife actually blogs and that is how we keep in touch now. They are such a great couple and we have so much in common. It was great seeing them!
I had lunch with Shannon and her mom that afternoon and then we went and looked at Shannon's mom's new house.
The Wedding was at 6:00 at the Manor House in Little Rock so Shannon and I went home and got ready and then headed to the wedding. Before the wedding started I was able to go see Patricia. She took my breath away and I tried to hold back the tears. The Ceremony was outside in a little courtyard at the Manor House, the perfect setting for her. After the Ceremony, the Reception was held at the Union Station on Markham. It was a perfect evening. I was sad to say goodbye to her that night because I didn't know when I would see her again.
On Sunday, I went and ate an early lunch with Shannon and Clay and then Patricia called and said that she wanted to see me one more time before we both parted ways again so I went to her dad's house and met up with her and Brian again.
It was so good to have the weekend to myself. Dan was so wonderful to keep the kids for me so that I could visit my friends. Makes me really miss being a kid when I think of all the momories that I have had. Makes me feel old, too!
On Monday night I went to a women's dessert and coffee meeting at our church. At this meeting, Kathy Ferguson, our women's director had a panel of women on the stage discuss topics that today's women struggle with...fashion being number one. They showed a few vidoeos from the internet that I thought I would share. They were a huge eye opener on how I need to be happy with myself no matter what. This is highly important now that I have a daughter because I will be the one who she looks up to. Take a few minutes to view these videos...the first one may be a little disturbing so beware (the video is of weight, self image, fashion images that a girl will see by the time she is 7-8 years old) and the last one is what a mom says in a 24 hour period of time, all summed up in about 2 and a half minutes by Anita Renfroe...pretty funny! (If you want to pause the music on my blog, scroll down to the bottom of the page and then press pause the music player)
The table of women that I sat with were a lot of fun. Here is a link to a picture that one of the women took of all of us. Sarah, Me, Becca, Ranae, Rachel and Debbie.
My best friend, Patricia, is getting married this weekend and I thought that it would be a great idea to make her a digital scrapbook of a few pictures that I had of us along the years. We have known each other for 18 years...that is a long time...lots of memories to be shared! Here are just a few pages from the scrapbook that I did for her.
We had Ariel's birthday Party today. My mom, Jim and Aunt Amy came to help celebrate. She had tons of fun and really enjoyed herself.
Here is the birthday cake...Dan said that we had to have my name put on there as well...hopefully this won't be an every year thing...I would rather her have the cake all to herself!
Singing happy birthday to her...she wasn't sure about the candle!
This was her first reaction of the cake when we put it on her tray...
Sweet cake face!
Licking those lips!
Unwrapping the first gifts...she loved these bows
The little people house that Granny gave her.
My Grandma made this crochet shaw for her...it is so sweet!
My mom got her "My First Babydoll" set and the first thing that she did was give the baby a hug when she got it unwrapped
She had just finished unwrapping this gift...a cute stuffed hippo...that is pink none the less...this is from her Pappa and Gamma.
Aunt Amy went to Bikes, Blues and BBQ last night in Fayetteville and got this adorable T-shirt that says "Born to be Wild" on it!
She had such an exciting day that she went to bed early tonight...must have been a sugar crash from all that cake she ate!
I am an outgoing and caring mother of two. Caleb is seven and a half and is in second grade this year. Ariel is five and has such a precious soul! I have been married for 10 years to my wonderful husband, Dan. Dan works hard as a self employed Landscape Architect (ebenders.com)so that I have the ability to stay home with the kids. I have a passion for living my life for Christ. I am an avid digital scrapbooker and painter and enjoy learning new things about the creative aspects of art and architecture. I have also started my own photography business and you can view my website by going to katiecole.com!
