What would Supernanny do?

It's always interesting, after a move, to witness how the children handle their new environments. And when I say interesting, I mean excruciating. This move is no exception, and we are all trying to adjust.

DAMON-Got his "summer buzz," and is trying to enjoy his summer.


He has always been resistant to change, and will usually stay close by me, no matter where I am. There is a little boy on our street in Damon's primary class, and Damon will go over and see if he wants to play (that is a BIG step for him). Usually, Damon ends up watching him play XBox for an hour or so and then coming home (Kobe is autistic and the boys are still "getting used to each other"). He gets a little bored, especially when I tell him he has watched enough tv, but we always try to get out and do something outside. He really wanted me to take this picture of him on top of the playground.

KYLA-Gets no pictures of her by herself. I guess we haven't taken any of her lately. She didn't get a summer haircut, maybe that's why. She is doing well. She is so friendly and unafraid of people, that she has had no problems with a new ward, new neighbors and new parks (where moms don't yet know what kind of parent I am). This is from Allie's second day of preschool (we forgot to take on yesterday).

ALLIE-Yep, you guessed it. She is having the hardest time adjusting to the new place. She started preschool at BYU for the summer, so we got her haircut on Friday. I have been threatening her with a haircut for months, but I told her that we needed to do it before summer. She agreed (amazingly). She and I both went in and cut our hair off (I am going to send mine in to Beautiful Lengths, a company sponsored by Pantene that makes wigs for cancer patients. Sorry, no pics yet of me. Maybe later.). I think she looks so cute.

Plus, it is much less tangly, which makes us all happy. But she has suddenly developed a crippling fear that someone is going to come into our house. It started about a week ago, when she woke up at 4 am, certain she had seen a face in her closet. For two days, she was terrified of any closets and bathrooms, and made me go in with her when she needed to go potty. And while we have mostly been able to convince her that no one is here, and that she is just seeing shadows, at night she completely freaks out. Jeff and I are really struggling with her, and not knowing what to do. We let her sleep on our floor one night, but don't want her to get into the habit of doing that. We have started our nightly routine earlier, so that we can do stories, talking, telling of things that make us happy, etc. for a good half hour before she gets in bed. We let her have the light on and music playing. We have given her a flashlight so she can check out any shadows. But no matter what we do, she always wants more. She wants me to lay by her until she falls asleep. She wants her door open (which can't happen, because Kyla won't stay in bed). She wants me to tell MORE stories and read MORE books. And when we refuse, she completely melts down, screaming at the top of her lungs that she is scared. Last night she screamed (ear-piercingly) for 20 minutes before finally tiring herself out.

And I just don't know what to do with her. I am trying so hard to be understanding and to help her feel that she is safe and can let go of all the scared feelings before bed. But I feel that she is constantly taking advantage of us and pushing us for more and more. Most nights, she doesn't fall asleep before 9:30 (which means Kyla doesn't fall asleep), even if we start getting in bed at 8:00. She needs sleep (and we need the quiet!), and we don't know what else we can do. I wish we could borrow Supernanny for a night, and see what she would say about it. I don't want to be mean and insensitive, but seriously. The girl just pushes and pushes and pushes until I finally break. And then she ends up alone, in her room, with the door locked. Any suggestions? Did any of your kids have problems with night time fears?

Okay, enough of that. You asked to see my kitchen. I didn't post any pictures of it before because it's hard to get a good angle. It is a very interesting kitchen to say the least. I wasn't crazy about it when we first walked through the house. I thought it was too small and too boxed in, with no place for barstools. It has these interesting windows that I have never seen before (taken from the family room, dining area off to the right).

But since we have been here, I have been pleasantly surprised at how functional everything is. It is much bigger than I thought originally, and there is TONS of storage. I actually really like it. I may eventually have counter tops put over the wood ledges, so that I can have barstools, but for now, I am just enjoying this unique design I would have never picked for myself.

Shutter Story

When we were looking at buying this house, we knew that there were a few things we would have to buy right away, while most everything else would have to wait for a while. The three necessities were:
1. A refrigerator
2. A washer and dryer
3. Window coverings

We solved the first two problems by shopping at the clearance centers in town and getting some good deals there. The window coverings was a bit trickier of a problem to tackle. We had noticed that the house had at one time had plantation shutters installed, but they had all been removed when the couple had been evicted. We were bummed, because we knew that was a big expense, and also knew that we didn't have the funds to put shutters back in every window they had been in. We started watching the KSL classifieds (much more popular site here in Utah County than Craigslist) to see if, by chance, they would be listed there, but had no luck.

That's when I did some detective work. On the public records page, I found the name of the owners of the house (meaning, the ones who SHOULD have been paying taxes for the past 2 years). I also found out that the woman has a blog. By reading through her old posts, I found out that her newly married son and his wife were the ones who were living in the house. And the daughter in law also has a blog. So, though a little bit of stalking, I found out more than I ever wanted to know about the previous owners of the house (including how their little dogs chewed on the cabinets in the laundry room one Sunday). We passed some of this information on to our realtor, and she contacted the owners (mom and dad) to see if they still had the shutters.

They did. Apparently, they hadn't yet paid them off, and they had been taken out of the home by The Blindman. After some great negotiating on the part of our realtor, they agreed to sell them back to us for 40% of the price they paid just a year ago, which included reinstallation by The Blindman. What a sweet deal for us! Within two hours, they were back up in the house (every window, including bathrooms and the garage) and making the house look so much better. Who needs decorating? We have shutters!

One cute pic I forgot I had. We went fishing at Pine Valley when we were in St. George last month with Tara's family. Kyla loved Kenya. Here she is wiping her mouth with her own shirt.


One funny story from Allie. I told her she was going to be going to a new primary class and meeting new friends. She said, "Good! I hate Noel (a boy in her primary class in Springville)." I had never heard her say anything bad about Noel before, so I asked her, "Why do you hate him?" Her answer? "Because he has cavities." Cavity snob.

The one you've been waiting for

No more excuses. Time to post pics and my feelings on week 1 in our forever home. I'm not going to lie, it has been a whirlwind. Emotionally, as well as physically. Actually, it has been more than a whirlwind emotionally. It has been a roller coaster amidst a whirlwind. It's been a rollerwind. Coinciding with the daily thunderstorms that have blown into Utah this week.

Blame it on the stress of moving, but I have felt much more anxious this week than I have in a while. I didn't sleep very well our first night here, but instead kept hearing all kinds of "new" noises that I was not accustom to. Also, because we cannot yet afford a rug (and other furniture), the house is very echoey (as if that's a word), and all noises are amplified (including crying, which has also gotten on my nerves quite quickly). So, all night that first night Jeff and I listened as the ice maker began to work, the floor began settling, and the wind chimes outside announced a slight breeze. Not the best way to start off.


Here we are hours after moving in, the beginning of day one for us. Every day has gotten better and better. Damon only asks where I am and where I'm going six or seven times a day, rather than every 15 minutes. The girls are getting along better and don't need me to be in plain sight to feel at home.

That being said, I love it here. Every morning I wake up and can't believe we actually live here. I know everyone has been dying for pictures (if you haven't, please humor me), so here are a few. These are my favorite things about the house.

THE VIEW. This was taken from my the window in my closet. I did zoom in a little, but isn't that gorgeous?
MY LAUNDRY ROOM. Only a mom could be excited about something like that, but since we have been married, I have never had a laundry room. We had a laundry closet in the bathroom in Ohio, a laundry garage in Florida, and another laundry bathroom at Jeff's parents' house. So, you can imagine that the sight of these two beauties doing their business gets my heart racing.

These are the Whirlpool Cabrios, and I LOVE them! I don't particularly care for front loaders (had them in Ohio) because I could never throw something in after it was started without making a huge mess. So, when we found these at the Sears Outlet for a smoking deal, I was so happy! Come over and do a load. You'll be sold, too.

Funny side note: the other night I left for an hour or so, and when I got home, Allie told me this story. "I was sad that you were gone, but then I went into the laundry room and saw your dryer balls and it made me happy." I guess there's another reason to enjoy the laundry room. It helps you not miss your mom so much.

THE DISHWASHER. Needs no further explanation.



THE SHUTTERS. This is another long story that I will save for another day. I love them, though!


THE MASTER BATHROOM (AKA THE GIANT TUB). The bathroom is incredible. Seriously, it blows me away every day. And I'm thinking about hosting hot tub parties during the winter up there. Any takers?

THE PIANO ROOM. This piano was Jeff's great aunt's (who never had any kids of her own and lived in the basement before us, where she was baptized at the age of 90). We inherited it while we lived at the Trapnell's, and I love having it here in the house. True, the room it is in is rather empty besides the piano, but it sounds so good. It makes me want to practice more so I can wow you with music as you come to my door.


THE ENTRY. This is the view when you come in the front door. I love it. Especially if these three are sitting at the bottom of the stairs.

Most of all, what I love about this place is what is inside it. No, not the floors or the appliances or even the sweetest tub of all. I love the people that are here with me. That has been the other part of my "rollerwind." My heart is so full of love and gratitude for the very fact that we are here together. I know that without doubt, they are the most important, and everything else is meaningless without them here. I told Jeff once that I would live in a cardboard hut with him, if it meant that we could be together. And, while I still mean it, I can't tell you how blessed I feel to have the best of both worlds--a wonderful home and a wonderful family to share it with.


And while I know the storm is far from over (I expect it to continue off and on throughout the rest of my life), today I am grateful for those moments that take your breath away. The rainbows that appear amidst the storms.

(Photo taken by Jeff Thursday night from our deck)

We're Here

After a frantic week of packing, moving and unpacking, we are in. Not completely (Jeff's office is still full of boxes), but we are settling in nicely. It feels great. I have a lot of pics to post, but I'm having difficulties. Blame it on the poorly secured network of an unknowing neighbor that I am currently connected to, but pictures are slow in coming (if at all). So, enjoy this one of our first hour in our home. We were in the middle of bringing 9 years of "stuff" into this house, and the kids were all starving. So, without any furniture, they sat in the middle of the kitchen floor eating peanut butter sandwiches and drinking from glass tumblers.

There will be more to come. MUCH, much more. But for now, we are loving our empty house. It will be a while before we can afford to fill it up, but every night Jeff and I look at each other and say that we can't believe this is really our house. This is the place we have been dreaming about since we got married, and now we are here. In the home we'll raise our family in. Because I sure as heck am not moving again.

Lately

I'm doing this post backwards, since that is the way the pictures loaded. See this cute, innocent face? She is posing here doing her favorite activity, finishing Damon and Allie's breakfast. Hence the 3 bowls and 3 spoons. And doesn't she look thrilled?

Don't be fooled, though. She is trouble. Yesterday she drew all over the leather couch and ottoman with a pen. It's hard to see in this pic, so you may need to click on it to enlarge to see some of her work. All three cushions of the couch, the seat of the love seat look like this ottoman. The pic is shiny because I sprayed hairspray on all the pen to try to get it out. NOTHING worked. Hairspray, hand sanitizer, tooth paste, soft scrub, magic eraser...nothing. Kyla is in BIG trouble. Honestly, I am so bummed out about having to put this furniture in our beautiful new house. I keep reminding myself that we're not taking the couches to heaven, but we are taking KyKy (hopefully). It still hasn't made it any easier. Anyone know any miracle solutions?


This is Damon and his second cousin, James, on the last day of first grade. They were lucky enough to be in the same class this year, and although they didn't know each other when school began, his mom and I were pretty excited about it.

Here is Damon with his teacher, Mrs. Wayment. She has been such a great teacher for him, not letting him get away with decent work, but always pushing him to do better. I am so grateful for that, because I know it would be easy to just let him slide by. I know he's a much better student because of the expectations she had for him this year.

This is Damon's "Horse Group." His friends from school. It took him a long time to admit that most of his friends were girls. I already knew that, but I think he didn't want to disappoint Jeff. I'm not exactly sure why they were the "Horse Group," but I think it had something to do with pretending to be horses. At least, that would explain all the grass stains on his pants throughout the year. I was surprised to see one other boy included. I hadn't heard that any other boys were involved. Jeff is anxious to get him in another school. :)

I love this last pic. Jeff was getting ready for a camping trip last week and was getting all the air out of his sleeping pad. The kids thought he was asking for a dog pile. Don't they look like they are having so much fun?