We're all moved in...

We have worked non-stop for the last two weeks on the new house. Things are going really well and we are loving the space. It is just a lot of space to update. My sister Elisa (Seaba Five) came for several days and we got lots of painting and decorating done. Then Greg's brothers family (Lanker Time) came for 4 days and we did lots more painting and Heather made us curtains and window seat pillows for all the kids windows. We also got all the wallpaper peeled off all the walls. So we have made a bunch of progress, we just have a bunch more to go. It is so worth it to have all this space. It has been so nice for the kids to have places to go play. They are all loving it! Check out Lanker Time on our blog roll for a couple pictures and we promise to post some soon.

We're Homeless!

We just closed on our old home and are now waiting for a few hours to close on the new one. It has been an exhausting few days, but the end is in sight. I know we've been terrible at updating, but as soon as we have a few minutes to get a few pictures and think of something funny to write, I'll get things rolling. Anyway, keep us in your prayers as we finish up our move.

PURE EXHAUSTION

We have been packing all of our stuff in the moving truck since last night. We have so much more than we realized. The kids have all been big help and have been good at disappearing when mommy would get a little(ok, a lot)stressed. We are going to spend one last night just for memories in this house before we start the rest of the big move tomorrow. We are excited to have the room to put 11 years of accumulative stuff!

We bought a house!

We are a little slow at keeping up here in the blog world lately. We are very busy getting ready to move. We bought a house the end of June and we are very excited to be moving in next week. We won't know what to do with four times the space twice the amount of bedrooms and four bathrooms. No more fighting over just one. The kids are all very excited. We will post pictures once we are all settled in.

HAPPY 11th BIRTHDAY BRENDON & CALEB

We love you and we are so proud of you both, Happy Birthday boys!!!

Twins

I know it shouldn't surprise me, but I still think it's pretty interesting how Brendon and Caleb are so much alike. Today, within an hour of each other, they both lost the same tooth. And it's not the first time. Kind of weird.

God Answers Prayer

Look what happened at 11 o'clock tonight. What a relief! After 45 days on the market, we got a great offer tonight from a couple and accepted without a counter. It exceeded our expectations. The Lord is good. Now comes the hard part, finding something else. Please keep us in prayer as we finalize everything and continue our search for a new home or place to build.

What We've been up to...

We are not doing so great at keeping this blog updated so I am going to just make this a variety post. The biggest part of our time is spent keeping the house and yard clean at all times as we show the house several times each week. There are a few families that have been back multiple times and show a lot of interest. No offers yet though. There is someone coming to look again tonight that sounds like it could result in an offer. They have been through several times now. We haven't found a house that we think would work for us yet,(we are being a little picky) so if ours does sell we may just rent for a while. We are talking about building but haven't made any final decisions yet.


Summer is finally here and the kids are anxious to keep a busy schedule. They are always asking first thing in the morning what the plan is for the day. I took them to the water park yesterday and they had a great time. It is so much easier now. The boys spent their time at the diving board and lap swimming and Meryn spent her time in the smaller kids pool with her friends. She can't quite reach everywhere so she likes to keep her life jacket on. That makes my job a lot easier.


Trevin is playing machine pitch baseball and has his first game on Tuesday. He is doing a good job and really enjoys it. This is his first year to play baseball.


Brendon and Caleb have decided to try something new this summer. They are going to do the Salty Pup Triathlon. It is for kids 15 and under. They will swim 100 meters, bike 4.2 miles, Run 1 mile. This is August 9th for all you cousins that want to come join them:).


We plan on making several camping trips this summer and a trip to San Antonio. So that should help take up some of the long days.

Face painting at the school carnival

Fun at the water park

Spending time with cousins in Kansas City

Trevin

Trevin had cowboy day at school, so we had to go get him a hat and bandanna. He was just upset we didn't get him boots also.

His class did a community project last week. All the second graders went to some apartments for people who have become homeless and need emergency housing. They planted lots of flowers in several different areas. He loved getting dirty as usual. When we drove away he told me that we were really lucky that we had a home to live in and how he felt sorry for those people that may not. He has a big heart and loves to always help out so I know this was an eye-opening experience for him.

I took him for a physical yesterday and he is catching his brothers. He is in the 50% percentile. I think he will pass them both up the way he is growing. He is such a fun happy boy, who is always making us laugh. He is playing machine pitch baseball and loving it.

Today seemed like one of those never ending days. It started out with me catching up all the laundry from the past couple days (mostly folding, I hate that part). I had to get this done because we are having another open house tomorrow. Then rushing around getting everyone ready for soccer, looking for the "missing" soccer shorts that always magically appear when mom looks for them. Reminding all four to brush their teeth...sending at least three back because they were in and out in less then 30 seconds. Getting all the water bottles, chairs, etc. in the car and off to the games. Today Trevin and the twins played at nearly the same time, so shuffling back and forth between the two fields which are fortunately next to each other. Cheering, cheering and more cheering. Next we were off to a pizza party for Trevin's team. That part was actually relaxing and filling! Then we were off to change and gets the boys skates for a skating birthday party. Meryn begging the entire drive to skate and me trying to think of any excuse to get out of that. When she skates she wants me out there with her. I succeeded with an excuse :) and we were off to the mall. We finished up the day by driving around looking for a new house to buy. So now I am just relaxing and thinking how nice it will be to have soccer season over. Only to remember that WE are the crazy parents that decided to let Trevin play baseball this summer and kept Brendon and Caleb playing in basketball tournaments until June. So the saga continues for now.

Our house is finally on the market!

We have been very busy fixing up the house the last couple months (actually the last 10 years)! Anyway, we finally got everything done and it is officially For Sale. I am having a little trouble letting the kids be kids this last week since we never know when someone will want to see it. We had an open house last Sunday and will have another one this week. So i have been one crazy cleaning lady. One night when I was a bit out of hand I suppose, Caleb made a comment that brought me back to reality. He said "mommy the house doesn't need to be perfect does it, we are just a family." I have tried to lighten up a little after that. They are all doing so good keeping their rooms clean and keeping beds made. That makes my job a lot easier, thanks boys!!! We will try to get some pictures posted soon.

Meryn's New Haircut

Meryn has been begging us to get her hair cut short for several months. I finally got it done today and she is thrilled with it.

Easter 2008

This year was the coldest Easter I can remember. There are usually flower buds on our trees by now, but it's been too cold. So much for global warming! We went to church this morning and after the service, there was a huge egg hunt for all the kids. Before they got started they announced that there were 41 eggs per child, so fortunately there were bags to fill because the baskets were too small. There was money, candy and prize tickets in the eggs. The kids had fun, but it was bitter cold, so it went fast. After that, we headed over to Roger & Mary's church to be with them and family in town. We had lunch at there house and then on to egg hunt number two. There were about 250 eggs for the 8 kids old enough, so again, they got their fill. We forgot our baskets at home, so we continued our theme with the grocery bag. Whatever works I guess. Everyone had fun and it had warmed a bit, so it was nice to be out. Here's a few photos of our day. Isn't Susan beautiful!!

Long Overdue

It's taken ten years, but I finally fixed the mud pit we called a driveway. Every time we would get any moisture, our back driveway, off the alley, would turn into a huge puddle of mud. Then, after everything dried up, we would end up with sand everywhere. So our vehicles were always hard to keep clean. On Saturday, I finally got my ducks in a row, and with the help of Phil, John, Brendon and Caleb, we spread 12,000 pounds of gravel. I can't wait for the next rain storm to see how well it does. I forgot to get a final picture, but it turned out great.

Constuction at the Lanker house

Greg had 2 weeks vacation in February which we planned on using to get a bunch of things done around the house. Well we didn't get much of anything done. We both got sick instead, so we spent most of his vacation miserable. We are finally all well and the work has begun. We are hoping to get the house on the market as soon as possible. So we are doing some touch up painting and finishing the one room we have avoided for the most part, since moving in. I am happy to say the ivy is finally gone. When we moved in there was ivy on the walls, fridge, and cabinets. We have slowly eliminated it over the years and now it is finally all gone. We are still not done but have made a lot of progress, so hopefully soon.