B's wedding

After being in our house for 5 days, we packed up and headed to DC for my little sister's, Bethany, wedding.  It was a little difficult finding everything, I had packed with the intention of unpacking the next day, so I had not pulled all the wedding clothes.  We were able to find everything we HAD to have.  We spent Friday morning getting a few boxes unpacked and then we piled in the car.  

Our first stop was in Richmond, VA where the groom's parents hosted an open house (they were leaving directly after the wedding to go on their honeymoon).  Most of the cousins were there and everyone was so excited to see each other.

After the open house we drove to DC, despite Mark's bad attitude (he was mad at Bethany and Eric for getting married in a city with lots of traffic; he has that right you know to tell people where they should get married) it was uneventful and there was minimal traffic.  We stayed in a great hotel close to the mall.  My whole family was staying in the same hotel, which is always an adventure.

Sat morning was the big moment.

The bride was beautiful and my kids were cute.

Bethany and Eric decided not to have a reception, and just do a family lunch.  So after the temple and pictures we all headed to a great Italian restaurant.

All the grandkids and my youngest siblings

This is just my side of the family!

Bethany and Eric

After the luncheon, we headed back to see some of DC.  That night we went to the Natural History and Air and Space museums.  The next morning we went to the Zoo.  During and in between all of this the kids played with their cousins.  Marcus and Max (Jenn's son) became best friends (it started off with the love of trains, Max had an oldschool movie on trains that he was watching at the luncheon, every single little boy was squeezed around his little DVD player trying to see).

Carson, Talia, Katie and Addy at the museum

Marcus and Max being silly in the car

The Adventure...

As we watched our stuff being loaded into the moving truck and going to...STORAGE, Mark and I were both on the verge of a mental breakdown.  This has all been too much for us, but we were trying to stay positive for the kids.  We called it an "Adventure", Katie was so excited.

The kids hung out with our neighbors while Mark and I finished packing and directed the movers.

The kids with John our neighbor, they helped him "move" everything from his room to the steps, they even packed it in boxes.

Then around dinner time the kids and I got in the car and headed to a friend's house for dinner, leaving Mark to deal with everything else.  After dinner we drove to my cousin's studio apt.  She lives about 15 mins from the house we are building.  Ashley has two kids, a daughter a couple months younger then Katie and a son a month younger then the twins.  Needless to say, all the kids were super excited about living so close to each other.  Bennet asked if we could stay forever. (please no)

Getting stuff to storage took longer then we expected so Mark ended up sleeping at the old place (technically he was squatting, but he was gone in the early morning so no one ever knew).  I spent that night on a tile floor while all the kids slept together in the bed.  I think that night set the tone for the week.

The first day we went to the Discovery Place and met Mark for lunch.

Addy on a bed of nails.

That afternoon the kids took a nap, and I did paperwork on the tile floor of the bathroom.   Tuesday we met Bethany and Hannah for a day at Sarah's pool.  Addy started swimming by herself while we were there.  She was so proud of herself.  Because she had been practicing the moves from her float all summer she could instantly swim as well as Marcus and Katie.  She had been afraid to jump in the pool before, but once she realized she could swim, she realized she could jump in--it got a little crazy with all three of my kids trying to swim independantly.

 Wednesday we went wedding lace shopping with Bethany. And Thursday we met Hannah (she was babysitting Talia and Will) at the Nature Museum and then went to the mall.  Every night the kids would play with Bennett and Miller when they got home.  

At night we had Addy and Katie sleeping on our Love Sac (a big bean bag for those non-Utah people) and Marcus slept on his old crib mattress.  Mark got home late every night that week so I would watch Roswell on my laptop with my earphones in while the kids slept.

I don't think I officially lost it until Thursday.  But our dag-blasted builder was taking his sweet time on everything and it was looking like it would never going to be finished.

Friday morning I left with the kids and went to my parents house.  Sat was Bethany's bridal shower.  The kids had a blast, but I was losing my mind.  Mark and I looked at short term rentals, but none seemed to work out or be a good idea.  Friday afternoon the electricity went on in the house.  So Mark and I  decided we were moving in--like it or not Mr Builder. (He has told us we could move in before we closed, and we had already signed a lease, but then he kept pushing back the actual move-in date, yet NOTHING was really being done at the house.  We figured it would get done faster if I was in the house to "push" people.)

My mom offered to watch the kids so Sunday morning after church I drove to Charlotte to help Mark move in.  When I arrived the house was a construction zone.  I spent the day cleaning, etc trying to make it livable for the kids.  At this point everything was working except the gas and a few odds and ends with plumbing and electric.  That night we moved in.  My mom kept the kids until Tuesday morning, and my sister Flossie brought them to me.  I spent those day stressing out and trying to get things together.  The kids spent those days sliding down homemade slip'n'slides (read more about this here-lol-http://ericandbethy.blogspot.com/2011/07/ghetto-water-slide.html/) and playing with animals.  The cat even had kittens while they were there.  It truly was an "adventure" for the kids--they loved every sec of it.

Homeless...

So, yes, we are homeless.

  Thank you to all the kind people that offered their homes to us, I wish I could come stay with you.  Mark wants me to stick around to harass the builders, although at this point I am on the verge of doing more then that.

 We had to be out of our rental Sunday.  Saturday Mark and I stopped by the new place and realized there was no way we could move in, that night nor the next day.  We thought it would be just a day or two thing so we moved into my cousin's studio apt over her garage.  Don't get me wrong, I love my cousin and am so grateful that she moved her brother's girlfriend who was staying here into the house for us; and I am so grateful to have a place to stay for free.  But there is something to be said about doors.

So anyway, as each day goes on, it is still going to be another day or two before we can move in...

I don't know what we are going to do, I am trying to have a good attitude, but it seems to have escaped me at times.

Addy summed it up best; when we got here, after a long day of moving she just sat on the bed and started crying and said "I just want to go home."  If only we had a home to go to.

Limbo

So, building a house is not all it is cracked up to be.  The house was supposed to be done in June.  Our current landlord is making us leave at the end of this week, and we don't know if we have a place to go or not.  As of Sat our house had not passed final inspection, did not have carpet or appliances OR electricity.  But, we have movers for this Saturday, so we have started packing and things are getting a little chaotic around here.  We are trying to keep things as normal as possible for the kids.

I let Katie make dinner last week, she was so excited.  She studied her cookbook (thanks cousin Ella) and decided she was going to make bagel faces and a chocolate/banana shake.  We made a list and hit the grocery store.  She did everything herself (except for cutting with the sharp knife and getting the bagels out of the toaster).  Addy and Katie had so much fun making the faces.  And, Katie was so proud of herself.

 

Marcus was just focused on drinking his chocolate shake.

 After dinner the kids had a little water party.

 Addy didn't join in, she just wanted to do my hair.  Her new thing is to play with my hair and try to put it in ponytails.  She does it in church and distracts everyone one around us (because she is so cute).

 And, just a cute picture, I caught Marcus by surprise, I love that my kids love books so much.

Now the big question is...are we going to be homeless this weekend?

The summer of 2011

 We are a having the ultimate STAY-cation this summer.  We have been taking full advantage of everything around us.  We go to the pool almost every day.  I'm not sure I will ever be able to post pictures of this because it is almost always just me and the kids.  Marcus and Katie can swim almost the width of the pool.  They run and jump in, and can get things off the bottom.  Addy is the master of her float.  The first couple weeks of the pool she wouldn't let me put her down, now she won't let me hold her.  She wants to do her own thing and goes all over the pool in her float.

We spend plenty of time outside riding bikes and playing with the neighbors.  We hike some, but not that much lately since it gets hot so early here.  We have gone to some of the kid museums here in Charlotte.  We have also been enjoying the free movies at the local theater every week.  As crazy as my life is with 3 kids so close in age, it is nice  that they all love to do the same thing at the same time. 

We had Talia and Will spend one night with us, Katie was so excited to have a sleepover.

At the end of June Katie had an adventure camp at the Nature Preserve near us.  She loved everyday.  She learned about a different type of animal everyday.  On the day she learned about fish, they sent her home with a gold fish.  She was so happy, she named it Princess Fish and carried her everywhere (in the jar they gave her).  She cried so hard when her fish died the next day.

The week that Katie was at camp, Marcus and Addy got a little bored...I bribed them with taking them to the movies with their friends.  My neighbor joined us with her son John, Marcus' best bud, and we brought Addy's favorite friend, Kate.  It was very entertaining to watch a movie with 4 three year olds.

Marcus and John

The crowning moment so far this summer has been Katie's birthday.  There has been a countdown going on for the past month (we are now counting down until Sept for the twins birthday).  We spent the week before Katie's birthday celebrating--we tried to do something special each day.  We had a "mixed up day" where we ate dinner at lunch and then a picnic lunch for dinner at the pool so we could swim all evening.  We went for ice cream.  We went to a movie.  On Friday we went to the park and then on a hike.  We ended up at the lake because the kids wanted to throw rocks in.  

It started with this...Katie went in to get some shells and fell...then Marcus joined her.

Then Addy joined them.

And ended with this.   A full blown swim fest.

Grammy and Grandpa showed up Friday evening.  While we waited for Mark to get home we went to the pool, when we arrived some little girls asked Katie something about Marcus and Addy.  I'm not sure what they said, but I heard her say, "Some families are different colors".

Saturday morning was the big day.

Katie started the day with a yummy breakfast then we headed to check out the progress on our house.

For her birthday Katie asked to see Mark's office--his building has so much security that the kids haven't gone up yet.

She got her picture taken and got to wear a name tag

They are using dry erase markers on the window

After lunch complete with ice cream and then nap time we opened presents.

Emmie had this horse while she was at our house, her and Katie played with it everyday.  She was pretty excited to get her own horse, she just had to tell Emmie.

Our church always does fireworks the weekend of July 4th.  This year it fell on Katie's birthday, she decided the whole thing was for her.  We got there around dinner time and spent the evening hanging out with friends.

Talia, Katie and Addy

Katie getting her body painted--she wanted dots all over her arms and face.

Other kids kept jumping in front of Addy so finally I just decided to paint her myself.

Mark and Addy and Charlotte--Charlotte is a twin almost exactly 2 years younger then Addy.  She is so cute she almost tempted Mark into wanting another child-almost.

We were at a Native American Reservation in SC--meaning that pretty much anything could go with the fireworks.  It was quite the show.  Marcus wasn't scared this year, he just said what he always said about noise; "too loud!".

Katie trying to comfort Liam and Charlotte

The next day after church we had cupcakes and sang "happy birthday", my baby is getting so big!