Taken For Granted

There are so many things that we have in our everyday lives that we don't think about or maybe we do because we hate the way they function or don't function, depending on the situation. There was one inparticular thing that didn't really bother me in Troutdale, but now that I'm in Kentucky, I realize it should have bothered me.

My FAUCET!

In Troutdale, the water pressure was miserable. I don't know why, Kyle doesn't know why and we never did anything about it because it didn't bother me. My brother, Casey, hated it and told me every time he was at our house that he hated it, but it really didn't bother me. Once we got to Kentucky, the water pressure was amazing! So much so, that the water would shoot in all directions because it was a cheap apartment faucet that should have never made it into a house like this or lasted as long as it did in a house like this! So, after a few weeks with the awful thing, Kyle bought me a new faucet. It's beautiful. It has a long neck and when you turn the water on, it can be set to warm instead of trying to find the right tempurature with the hot and cold seperately. It's wonderful with the perfect water pressure to get the job done as well! 

Another thing you never think about when it comes to moving into a new place is the window treatments. I love the natural light that comes into our new home. In Troutdale, we had the windows in the livingroom that had a tree blocking. As much as I loved the tree during the summer for shade and privacy, it became a problem for bringing in natural light. In our new house, the light is fabulous, but something to think about, privacy, just a little! The window by our front door, at one time must have had a window treatment of some kind, but it had been taken down and nothing else was put up. The main problem with that was, our window looks directly across to our neighbor's front door. Not great when you have to get up in the middle of the night in your pjs or your son takes off his underwear to go potty and doesn't put them back on again! I've put up a window treatment for the moment. They need to be sewn properly (they are pinned right now), but we now have a little privacy when moving around the house!

I hate having boxes full of stuff all over the house, knowing that I need to put it away. It is so nice to look at the newly empty boxes and know that I have done something for the day! They are the perfect thing for the kids to play with as well until they are flattened! What has really been nice is being able to take my time and find the right spot for everything. My goal is to have a place for everything. If it doesn't have a place, it can't stay, so I'm taking my time and doing it properly.

Another thing that I don't feel I took for granted, but really appreciated, was having my mom close by to cut the boys' hair. They never sit still for me and are usually willing to sit still for her. Since my mom isn't an option anymore, we had to take them to Super Cuts to get their hair cut. Gordon didn't really care one way or another and sat perfectly still and Eddie thought it was so fun. They both look great, but we are definitely going to have to find some coupons or a less expensive place because little boys' haircuts shouldn't cost so much!

Some other things that I have found I took for granted in Troutdale? One would definitely be the distance to different places. I would think it was awful when Kyle had to run over to the Stake Center for church to pick something up or drop something off. It took up so much gas to go that 15 minutes away. Now, I will never complain about it again! We meet at the Stake Center for church now. The drive is just over 20 minutes away by freeway. We actually have come up with a new plan for getting up and going in the morning. We get up and dress. Then I prepare bagels and cream cheese that they have to eat in sandwich form on the way to church. Since we have 20 minutes, they can eat, and we can all relax and listen to church music. It's not a horrible way at all to start our day and so far, after doing it for a few weeks, we're getting into a good pattern.

Something else that I always knew I was blessed with and appreciated, but also knew that I was leaving behind and would miss completely was having grandparents close by. I know that many people don't live close to family, but since Celeste was just a baby, we've lived near our family. There has always been someone there to help out if I needed it. There has also always been someone there if the kids needed to get out of our house and have a new environment. Many times we would take a walk to Nana and Papa's house or to Grandma's work, just because we needed to get out of the house. There were also the Sundays when I just didn't want to cook and Grandma was willing to let us come over and enjoy the afternoon with her. I definitely knew then and I know now, that I was lucky. We're slowly learning how to deal with not having those blessings around. The kids are still in a good place where they have plenty to do. For them, going up and sliding down the stairs may never wear off. (Our carpet may shred into pieces, but the kids are happy!) We also have a basement and garage that they can ride their scooter or bike in, so even when it is raining outside, they can play. I must say, that after cooking for six days in a row, it was sure nice to go out for dinner!

We knew that we were blessed to have all of our family so close for so long. It was so nice knowing that there were people around that we could count on if we needed them. We also knew that this is where our Heavenly Father wants us right now. I love knowing that our family is just a phone call or email away. The blessings we have now of facebook and text messaging or google talk are amazing. We can chat with anyone, anywhere, at anytime if we want. I'm so grateful for the new blessings I have. I feel that if I need to live away from my family, it's REALLY nice to have a house that helps with the kids' energy levels, so life doesn't get too hard that we hate it.

I think everone has things they take for granted. What are some things you take for granted and are so grateful for?

Let It Snow!

Last night and this morning it said that there was an 80% possiblity of snow today. I was a bit surpriised because it was in the upper 50's the other day and sunny and rainy yesterday. Around 11am today they put out a notice that the kids would be getting out of school early for the day and then the snow started! HUGE flakes! I didn't get a picture of the flakes swirling in the air, but the kids just couldn't stay inside any longer once Celeste got home. She got her home work done in record time and then they all bundled up to go out side in the 1/2 inch of snow!

Even Grim had to go outside to enjoy the snow. He was bouncing around like a puppy and the kids loved throwing snowballs for him to catch. They also loved rolling down the slight incline in our yard. Eventually they got tired of that and we went for a walk to find better hills. Just down the road from us there is a better hill that goes into a drainage ditch. There isn't any water in the ditch right now, so the kids rolled down that hill over and over until Gordon and Mom couldn't handle it anymore and then we came home for hot chocolate. We're hoping for no school tomorrow and at least another inch of snow over night so we can play some more and visit some new friends from Church! The snow is finally sticking to our road, so there is hope of no school in sight!!!

Gordon Turns 3!!!

I can't figure out where the time has gone. My baby boy is 3 years old today. He's a rambunctious, sweet, caring, loving little boy. He loves cars, trains, planes, helicopters, police cars, tractors and dirt. His favorite thing to do this last summer while camping was laying in the dirt playing with cars. I don't have a picture of the dirt that was in his ear, but he would lay with his head in the dirt to and he would get up with his ear and side of his head covered in dirt. It was the cutest thing to watch and the most disgusting bath water ever!

I asked Gordon what he wanted for dinner. (I didn't know for sure what he would want, but wasn't surprised when he gave his answer.) He said, "Um, salad." He LOVES salad. Some times he will come and ask for salad as a snack, so I keep salad stocked in our house at all times. He likes salad even more if there are tomatoes on it. He doesn't enjoy cherry or grape tomatoes, he doesn't like them squishing in his mouth, but he does like a tomato cut up on his salad rather well. If he runs out of tomatoes, no big deal, Mom always has some for the taking! (Whether she likes it or not!)

Last night Kyle and I set up his gift from us. A few days ago we found a train table on Craigslist for a great deal with the tracks and trains to go with it. We stayed up until late putting it all together, so he wouldn't have to spend any time dealing with track and he could play all day long. This morning he received his first gift when he walked into the playroom and found his wonderful new toy. He and Eddie played with it off and on all day long. They were both in heaven and I already know that the investment was a great one!

So, for dinner Gordon wanted salad, but his siblings have been trying to talk him out of it for a few days. They suggested pizza, which he decided he was interested in. I asked if he wanted pizza or salad for
dinner and his response was, "Um, pizza salad."

I have no idea what pizza salad is, but that's what he wanted. From then on, every time anyone would ask him what he wanted for dinner, he told us pizza salad. So, we had pizza salad for dinner! We had green salad and put pepperoni, olives, tomatoes and cheese on it. He loved it. We let him make his own salad on his plate and then we put ranch over the top. It was actually really good and the kids did a great job of eating all of their dinner. It will definitely have to be a repeat dinner option for our family!

We made strawberry cupcakes with chocolate frosting and had vanilla ice cream. Mostly Gordon just wore his frosting, but I didn't actually expect him to eat any cupcakes since he snuck three of them this morning before I had put frosting on them. Then he tried to sneak another one this afternoon after the frosting had been applied. He finally got his frosting tonight though and that's all he wanted!

Since Kyle and I got him such a large gift, we only got him the one gift, so he didn't have a gift to open from us this evening, but his brother and sister had a gift for him along with one from his Nana/Papa and Grandma. He is loving his new gifts. He had a hard time leaving the playroom tonight because he wanted to keep playing. I have a feeling the next few days, I may not see much of him if he can help it!

I forgot to mention. This morning I made pancakes for him. At first he was too busy to eat breakfast because he wanted to play with his train. When he finally did come down for breakfast, he ate and then left. I turned and realized he was on his way back up stairs. I said bye to him and he said, "Bye Mom, I'm going to play with my trains!" It was so adorable. I love this age when everything is so much fun.

I'm so grateful for my sweet boy and all of the love that he brings to our lives. He's growing up so fast and I just appreciate everyday with him in it. The cuddles and kisses may be gooey, but they are sweet and the best gift he could ever give his Momma!

Celeste and Eddie made a birthday sign for Gordon.

Gordon sang Happy Birthday to himself with us. We all sang off key in traditional Hunter spirit and he was right there with us!



Playing with his new toy from Grandma. I promised him we would play with his new game from Nana and Papa tomorrow!

Celeste's First Day of her New School!



I didn't get a picture of her on her first day of school, but yesterday Celeste started Smyrna Elementary. She looked so nice in her red shirt and khaki skirt and red tights, but she wouldn't let me take a picture. This morning, however, she was willing to let me take a picture of her in her choice of outfits for the day. I love that she wishes she could be more of an individual and shows it by wearing a flower in her hair. I have a feeling more accessories will come as the year goes on!