SOLD! and other great things

Well, it's Conditionally Sold and we're so very excited!! The story of it selling is nothing short of a miracle, which I will post on here when I've got a bit more time. We've been living here for 7 years (has it really been that long!?), so we'll miss being here, but we're excited to move on. Possession is June 15th, so we've got to get a move on finding somewhere to live in Lethbridge. We're going down on Friday to do some "shopping" - this time Sean's coming with me!

--Our home for the past 7 years--



Next bit of good news is that Sean is officially done Medical School!! He wrote his licensing exam on Monday. Next week is convocation and the banquet. I'm so proud of him. He has worked so hard the past 3 years, and is now enjoying the well deserved break before residency begins.

--Celebrating with sparkling raspberry juice--



We had an impromptu yard sale last weekend. We've gone through the house and had a large pile of things we wanted to sell. The weather was so fantastic last weekend that Friday night after the kids were in bed, Sean and I pulled everything out of storage and priced it. It was a great success - we got rid of almost 3/4 of our sale stuff and made over $70 to boot!

--Anise modeling a booster seat at the yard sale--



The kids have been anxiously waiting for the flowers in the front flower beds to bloom. Every day we go check them out to see how close the buds are to blooming. So last weekend when the daffodils made an appearance, Kaden was really excited to take care of them.

--Kaden the gardener--


We seem to have a lot of boxes around our house these days (I can't imagine why) Anise is of the opinion that they are here solely for her entertainment, which is fine with me, as long as she doesn't empty the ones that are already filled!

--Anise's new favorite place to hang out--


Yesterday, Sean took the kids bed shopping. Kaden has been sleeping on the bottom of a bunk bed for the past 3 years. We've never gotten a mattress for the top because I didn't think he was old enough to sleep up there and it was the best excuse as to why he couldn't sleep up there - there isn't a mattress for up top - well, I've finally been convinced that he is big enough to handle being on the top bunk. In a previous post, I also mentioned that Anise had finally decided that escaping from her crib was fun. We managed to move some furniture around to make it more difficult for her, but we just couldn't put it off any longer. So, Anise, Kaden and Daddy hit Ikea and came back with an adorably cute bed for Anise, and a mattress for the top bunk of Kaden's bed. The kids were so excited they hardly slept last night! They both woke up incredibly early this morning too. We hope this lack of sleep doesn't continue too long! Cranky 2 year olds are NO FUN!


--Kaden's top bunk--


--Anise's "big girl" bed--


Anise also got into the markers this week. Now normally this would mean she would be scrubbing the floor, or the walls, or her hands free of marker. This time however, she decided to give herself a makeover of sorts....

--I think this speaks for itself--



So this month is going to be a busy one! This weekend we are going to Lethbridge to find a house. Next weekend is Sean's convocation and banquet. The week after that Sean and I are going on our trip to Vegas (Yay!! Kid free vacation) and the weekend after that Sean is doing his ATLS course and I'm going on my yearly Mommy's weekend away with friends!! All this on top of taking Kaden to school and all that entails, laundry, eating 3 times a day, cleaning up from eating 3 times a day, keeping the house clean, packing, church callings...you get the idea. You don't even want to know what our June looks like already!

What can I say, my kids are funny!

With our recent snowfall, (yes we got more snow!) our backyard has once again turned into a bit of a mud pit...at least the kids still enjoy going outside to play!


The floor always ends up with so much mud on it (not to mention the kids!) but they enjoy it, and it lets me get a few things done in the house, so whatever.

I also wanted to share a couple of funny conversations I've had with the kids the last couple of days

First one with Anise a couple days ago after her nap.

M: Anise, your tummy is growling! Are you hungry?
A: No Mommy, it's not growling
M: It's not! It must be talking then. Is it saying "I'm hungry! Feed me! Feed Me!"
A (sounding only slightly annoyed): It's not talking Mommy! It's singing "Twinkle, twinkle little star!"

This one with Kaden on the way home from swimming last night.

K: Wow! Those construction cranes sure are tall, aren't they Mommy.
M: They sure are
K: How come they're so tall?
M: Because they need them to be able to reach high enough to build the tall building
K: Ya, but they're taller than a stack of monkeys!!

I don't know where they come up with these things!

p.s. anyone know how to get mud out of beige carpet?

MIA - Please buy my house

So I know I've been missing for a while, but we've been busy!

We've spent a lot of time getting our house ready to sell..I mean a lot!!! We've literally gone through everything in our house and decided what to keep, pack, sell or give away. I knew we had a lot of stuff , but it was ridiculous to see it..stuff just kept coming out of closets, and boxes! It was crazy!! We've been in this house for 7 years, and we seem to have spent the entire time seeing just how much stuff our house can really hold. It felt great to go through everything and purge though. A big Thank-you to my SILs who helped me go through my kitchen, the rest of the ILs who helped get the yard ready to sell, and the second councillor in the bishopric who supplied us with endless boxes! We couldn't have done it without you!

So now our house is officially listed (ourselves) We decided to try on our own for a bit, and save ourselves the realtor fees/commission. We've had a few people take a look, but so far, no serious offers. Here's our listing:

http://www.welist.com/listings_detail.php?listing=39397#

And seriously, if you know anyone looking to move to Calgary send them our way! The kids and I would really really like to move to Lethbridge with Sean.

Right now Sean is studying like a mad man for his licensing exam on May 4. Like, right now while he watches the Vancouver - St. Louis hockey game. He was at school all day studying too, so I guess a little hockey-studying is OK ;-)

I'm also really looking forward to our trip to Vegas in May. We decided after all this crazy house stuff and studying the two of us could use a little time away. I'm really hoping that the house sells before we go - it will be so much easier to relax if we don't have to worry about that. We've gone all out and are staying at The Mirage! It looks pretty swanky! I just have to say the beds better be comfy, and the blinds able to block the light, because I plan to spend at least one whole day catching up on sleep! After that I plan to spend as much time as possible shopping and being outside in the warm warm sun, either in or beside a pool. Sean doesn't know I've been searching for scrapbooking stores in Vegas - I guess he does now! Hi Sean, love you lots!! I wonder how much stuff I can squish in my bags before I go over the weight limit?

TA DA!!

And he's done!! Today Sean completed his final test of Medical school - he still has his licensing exam in May - but Medical school itself is officially over!! We're very excited. And I couldn't be prouder of Sean!! It's been 3 years of classes, tests, call, out of city rotations, and a lot of really hard work. Some days it felt like Med school would never end, but over all, it's totally flown by. It's been a fantastic experience, and we've made some life long friends whom we will dearly miss.

And now we are on the brink of a totally new adventure - Residency! I'm excited and apprehensive about it. After all, you hear the horror stories of how much your husband will be gone, how tired he will always be, etc etc. I heard all the same kind of stuff about Medical school, and to be totally honest, it wasn't nearly as bad as I had anticipated. So now I'm left to wonder how embellished these residency stories are. Because Sean is doing a Rural Family Medicine Residency I know it won't be nearly as bad as some other residency's would be, but it's still residency. I'm thankful that I will have my family nearby to help with the difficulties, and share in the joys. I'm also so thankful for a couple of fantastic fellow "Med school wives" who's husbands will also be doing their residency in Lethbridge. Having someone to talk with who actually truly gets the frustrations and excitements of Med school makes a world of difference!

In the mean time, we get to enjoy having Sean around a bit more, and try to remember to let him sneak away and study for his licensing exam once in a while. Did I mention I was excited?!

I'm so thankful....

For so many things really.

• For the beautiful weather we had today. And the forecast that says it's going to stay this nice and warm and sunny for the next week! It's about time. I've missed the sun. I've missed hearing the chirping birds in my yard. But mostly I've missed the kids being able to go outside and play!
• For General Conference. It never ceases to amaze me how so many of the talks seem to be directed to me personally. Maybe that just means that there are many many other people going through the same things as me, but whatever the reason I know that the speakers are truly inspired.
• For my fantastically wonderful husband. I could seriously write a novel about how I love this man. He's a hard worker, loves his family, knows just what to say and do when I'm stressed out (not that I EVER stress about anything) and knows how to have a fun time in any situation!
  
• For my kids. Despite driving me crazy some days, they come up with the most hilarious things that keep me laughing. Today, I had a conversation with Anise that went something like this:

Me: Anise, do you know how cute you are?
Anise (in a stern voice): No, I'm not!
Me: You're not!? I think you are
Anise (still sounding cheezed at me): I'm not cute!! I'm Anise!!

I could go on and on, because I truly have so much to be thankful for!!

I'm going CRAZY!

Yup, I'll admit it. I'm going to go nuts. When, you ask? Probably really soon. Like maybe later tonight. Why? Where do I start?

Sean is ALMOST done Med school! As in, he has 3 more days of work left. However, this translates into 60 hours of work...when I say days, I mean the whole darn day and night. Tonight is one of those all day all night deals. It's called call. To us it means Daddy calls to say goodnight to everyone, as long as he isn't busy somewhere at the hospital. Call sucks.

I went to look at houses in Lethbridge last week. Just to "see what was there". Problem. I found the house I would LOVE to buy. I mean LOVE. We have yet to sell out house here in Calgary. OK, no big deal...just get the Calgary house cleaned up and ready to sell. Problem. The children seem to follow behind me and destroy any progress I've made of any sort in each and every room I clean. Including the bathrooms! AGGGGGGHHHHH! I have been able to take pictures of most of the house, but it only looks like that for the 2 minutes it took to take the picture, and then the kids noticed a clean area. I feel like we will never get the house in order to sell, and Sean will have to move in with my Grandma in Lethbridge, and the kids and I will be stuck in Cowtown forever, because no one is going to want to buy our house.

Anise keeps fooling me into thinking she wants to be potty trained. She gets all excited about her princess underwear, tells me she won't pee on them etc. etc. Fast forward 3 hours later. She has peed in 4 pairs of underwear, gone through just as many outfits (because somehow manages to get her shirt wet in the process) and just as many socks because she refuses to go barefoot. She refuses to sit on her potty, or let me hold her on the toilet and won't do it herself. She won't just walk around naked, or with just underwear on, and I can't just sit at home and wait for her to "get it" because I have to take Kaden to and from school everyday. I hate potty training.

Anise has also figured out how to climb in and out of her crib. Now, I've known for a long time that we have been on borrowed time with keeping her in a crib. However, this now means that we have to get her a big girl bed. Which to me, translates into another piece of furniture to move. Not to mention, when the heck are we going to get to a store to buy one? Husbands just getting off call don't appreciate being ushered anywhere other than his bed, or being asked to watch the kids so the wife can go bed shopping (especially when it's not a bed for him).

So there you have it. 4 good reasons why I'm going to go nuts. The fact that all 4 are happening at the same time makes me wonder how I'm not already in the nut house. Must be divine intervention.

The hunt is on

So, I may be jumping the gun a bit, but I'm going house shopping in Lethbridge tomorrow. I've got 5 house viewings lined up for Friday afternoon and 1 for Saturday morning.

I'm really excited, but nervous at the same time. You see, Sean isn't coming with me. He is going to be on call this weekend. Looking at houses by myself isn't what I had ever envisioned. I've just always pictured to two of us exploring someone else's house together, talking about the ugly carpet, or the gigantic bathroom. Wondering why someone would pay for paint that colour, or debating with each other as to how big a job it would really be to redo the master bedroom. I'm also nervous that I'm going to fall in love with a house, and it will be gone by the time we have had a chance to talk about it, and go see it again. Or worse yet, I hate all of them and we end up with no where to live, but have to be in Lethbridge for the start of residency. Oh the complexities of Med-school life. Just when I thought things were going to get simpler.

Lucky for me, my Mom is able to be come with me to at least few of the viewings. I need that extra pair of eyes to spot the giant hole in a wall hidden behind a door, and the moral support more than anything. Thanks Mom!

On another note, here's a couple of pictures of the kids jumping off the couch onto a bean bag chair. It's currently their favorite thing to do. I can't wait for nice weather!