The 40 Day Birthday

Well we have been celebrating Cody's birthday for 40 days now. We had a birthday party for him back in the end of June before we got totally packed up to move. It was a huge success. We had 21 kids come from the neighborhood come and all went really smoothly and was SOOO much fun. For the backwards theme we started with Thank You cards for the invitations that opend backwards (you can see the reflection from the mirror of the info for the invite.) Then for the decorations we hung balloons upside down and streamers on the floor. A lot of the kids wore their clothes inside out or backards. When the kids were arriving we had a card with their name printed backwards, they had to decorate them and as they held them up to the mirror they were totally amazed that it said their name the correct way. Then of course we had dessert first, which were cake filled ice cream cones with ice cream and frosting on top. (I thought these turned out really cute, if I do say so myself.) And sang ..You To Birthday Happy. Then we went down and opened presents, I wanted to do something fun with this, because last year is was pure mayhem as he opened over a dozen presents in less then two minuets. Well at the last moment I figured it out. I had the child who brought the present got to open the present, but had to sit behind Cody and be his arms. It turned out to be so fun and Cody did so good. at letting the other person open the present. It turned out to be really fun. Then we had lunch, which was backwards hot dogs and Capri Suns from the oven. (My camera went missing in action, until after everone was done eating, so the pictures are not that great of the backwards hot dog.) I was so happy that so many of Cody's friends could come and show how much they love him. My plan was to also have a Birthday party here in AZ, but fortunately or unfortunately we hadn't made any friends yet. I might just use this same party idea for next year, since it will be an all new crowd. A few dats later we celebrated a family birthday party with Matt Family. I made him a Monster Truck Cake (turned out really cute for how easy it was). Then came the real day for Cody's Birthday. August 11th...not only was it his birthday, but also the first day of school and Matt happened to be in Tennessee, so it was interesting. I happened to stumble upon some Star Wars Cupcakes at Wal-Mart--$5.00 Oh!!! even easier then the Monster Truck Cake! We saved Cody's last present and four cup cakes for when Matt came home. We also went to Peter Piper Pizza. Any ways all in all our 40 days of partying turned out great. On a side note....the the day after Cody's Birthday I checked the mail and there was a key in our mail box to open the mail box for packages. I waited to get the package until Cody was home from school, as I assumed the package was for Cody. I made a BIG deal about the package in the mail box and let Cody open the mail box and get the package out himself. We hurried home Cody opened the package and guess what it was...... printer ink cartridges!!!! Yes just what six year old wants. Shoot!!! Ya, I forgot that I had ordered those. Cody kept asking why I would trick him like that.... I felt pretty bad. Oh well at least he had his last present still. Which I had convinced him that his last present was a big box of crayons. When Matt got home and he opened is Lego Star Wars Land Speeder....as you can see he was pretty happy!!!!

Some Adjustments

The day after arriving here in Mesa we went out to eat. As we were walking to the restaurant Cody asked...Why is there HOT WIND....Welcome to Phoenix buddy. Some advice we have learned over the past few weeks....When you have a band-aid on , be sure and take it off and sunscreen under it before applying a new one and going swimming. Apparently you can sunburn under the band-aid. Elena, if you want to ware your winter hat and gloves inside that is fine...but it is too hot to ware them outside. Another reality we have to face....We have NO cold water, it comes out warm. Brushing teeth, was an adjustment especially for the kids....they were freaking out that the water was warm and could not understand why I wouldn't turn it cold. I also like to wash my clothes in Cold Water. I shut off the hot water completely and it is still warm. I guess in the winter we will have Cold Water again. Woody can now properly be held for ransom or hung to die. And then there is poor Mogley Cat. He just layed in the garage for a few days.....thinking what just happened and why is it so dang hot!!! I think we have about three cats worth of fur in our garbage can....That Cat Can Shed!!!! He looks like he is 20 years younger....hummm maybe I should go sit in the garage for a week and half and see if I start "Shedding" those extra pounds.

Relocation

The next few post are mostly documenting the past. Might be boring for you to read, but if you are board...read away.

Well we did it...After a much strung out relocation, lots of emotional eating, a weight gain of 10 lbs and lots of nights being away from each other....we finally moved our family to Mesa, AZ. We ended up renting our house out in Kaysville... in hopes that some day we can return. This made buying a new house a little crapy, as we didn't have much of a down payment. We also had some intense buyers remorse and threatened to back out a few times...and all in all probably should have...basically we are getting less house for more money and in AZ right now...there are so many deals to be had that this should not be the case. Oh well, lesson learned and we move on, right? Despite the ups and downs I think we will be very happy here and we are just glad to be here and be together. The house was a spec home, so we had NO say in any of the options. The ungrateful side of me hates the colors of the cabinets and the stair rail, the crapy carpet, and while I am being picky I would have picked different tile and had it layed at an angle. We also have the whole issue of the yard not being finished at all. YA...what were were thinking????? We also really want a swimming pool.... a necessity here Mesa! So basically any sign of a raise from this promotion is a complete wash. See why we had the buyers remorse?!!!! But what is done is done and we felt good about it at the time, so we need to trust in that I suppose. And then there is the un-materialistic side of me, that says...SHUT -UP LORI and look at all you have to be grateful for!!!! and it is SO true. I have and AWESOME husband who has a job that provides well for our family, a wonderful home, two strong, beautiful healthy kids and a forever family. A person really couldn't ask for more. And in all, NOTHING else matters. I am so blessed and despite my complaining about our pink cabinets, I truly am greatful... (not that they are pink, but greatful that I have cabinets.) Ok, Now that that is out of the way, scroll down to read a few side note stories of our journey so far.

The Pink Cabinets and Green Walls

Now I have to preface this post with a mention of....Again I am very grateful for what I have, I am just playing catch up and trying to capture some of our mental and emotional thinking of the past few months.

In our house in Kaysville our Kitchen was the absolute best there is. It is so functional, can hold a crowd well, has TWO huge drawers for Tupperware and kids cups and plates (I can never keep these things organized) and way more cupboard space then any family should ever need. And last but not least....it is beautiful!!! That is one of the things that stood out from all the other houses we looked at was all the wood. We LOVE the DARK!!!!! Any ways...we spent most of our two days house hunting in Glendale and a few hours of the second day in Mesa. Because of our time frame for moving and wanting to get settled we fortunately or unfortunately ruled out short-sale homes. Any ways long story short...we found this spec home that would be ready for us with in our time frame. Great floor plan, but it had pink wood work. (Not really pink, but the wood has a very pink cast to it.) When you buy an existing home, it is easier to accept the wood color or some of the other designer choices. But when you are buying a new home, mentally it is hard to accept the fact that I am paying for something brand new and I DON'T like it. Silly I know, but that is how we were feeling. The pictures don't pick up the pink color like the natural eye does, but you get the idea....just not what we were used to. The walls are plain white and are only painted with a primer. (Ya what kind of a cheapo home builder sells their house with just primed walls.) And at this point we were too late to choose a paint color...RIDICULOUS. (But it turned out better in the long run.) Any ways, the windows here are all tinted so they reduce the sun penetration, so there is a greenish cast on the walls at times. So it true, we have pink cabinets and green walls.

Painting

When we lived in Sierra Vista, I painted our whole house. It was quite a job, but I only had one small child and my husband was working on his Masters...so I painted and painted and painted. We loved the end result!! As expressed in the previous post, the walls NEEDED paint. Matt wanted us to paint them our self and I had to remind him that he hasn't even held a paint brush in the past...well for as long as I have known him. (Not really true, but it helped make my point.) When we came to see this AZ house for the first time, our next door neighbors were out. And when we came back after putting our earnest money down, these same neighbors welcomed us with such love. Any ways... I was in contact with Nancy (the neighbor) as we were still in Utah. She gave me the name of a painter, who was really reasonably priced. We called and got things schedule to have him paint a few days before we would get there. Matt was in AZ for work and went over to the house to pick the paint color. He grabbed all sorts of samples form Home Depot and was thinking of picking a color called Chocolate Cup Cake. YA!!! have you ever seen a chocolate cup cake....TOOO DARK MATT. Now I have to give Matt credit for his thinking.....everything in our house is light, so he remembered the contrast that we liked of the light and dark of our house in Kaysville. But I decided to ask for assistance form one of our good friends in AZ. Their goal in picking the color of paint is one that tries to pull more of the brown out of the wood work and less of the PINK! Any ways they picked the colors and all was well. I called the painter and gave him the colors. I also called and left a message for our new neighbor Nancy, to see if she would go take a look and tell me what she thought. Any ways, a day before they were supposed to start painting, I came home from being with my mom to a couple of message from Nancy saying that they have started painted and she and another neighbor think it is WAY DARK. I was FREAKING OUT!!!!! I felt sick to my stomach.....During this time, Matt was in Utah, but was at work and stressed to the MAX. The kids were sleeping over with their cousins and I was home by my self packing and getting ready for the mover that would be coming the next day. Any ways I lost it, I felt SOOO over whelmed, I felt like I was starting to hyper ventilate and I kept having bouts of crying like a baby. I missed my kids like crazy and yet I knew I needed to have them away, so that I could get things done. Any ways....It was an awful feeling. It was at that point that I said....I don't care! I don't care if we have pink cabinets or green walls, dark paint or light paint or no paint!!!!!. I could care less if we were in a card board box. I just want my family to be together. I said a prayer and was finally able to calm down and get the packing done. A few days later when we arrived at our new home....it was like night and day, WE LOVED THE PAINT!!!! I actually really like the kitchen cabinets and the stair rail seems much less pink. And the primer paint....gone...and painted to perfection. This was our home and I was just happy to finally be there with my family.

The Drive

At the last moment Matt decided to have us each drive a car to Arizona. This left me in a state of panic, as I have never driven more than 6 hours at a time. But we do what we have to do right??? That morning we cooked up our last package of Rodes Dough Cinnamon Rolls and had a smallish picnic on the kitchen floor. We made a few rounds though out the house, wondering if we are doing the right thing by moving our family. Recalling all of our cherished moments that now will just be memories of a house that we called home. The echo that filled the empty spaces, so familiar to when we moved in and yet this time so much sadness. Wondering if we will really ever be back. With tears streaming down my neck, we drove a way. Only to return moments later so that Matt could make sure the stove was off. (It was) Matt took Cody and Mogley Cat in the Honda, and I took Elena in the Armada. This arrangement actually worked out quite well. Our kids are great travelers and to my surprise, I am a great driver!!!! I did awesome!!! But I must say... I have 104 oz of diet Pepsi and all of my Mom's prayers to thank. I seriously could have gone on a few more hours. WE also managed to dodge a speeding ticket..well actually probably two speeding tickets, because we were both speeding. We were at the front of a long line of cars when we both went hauling past a cop on the side of the road. By the time the cop could turn around and start heading our direction, we conveniently had to take a potty break and too the next exit we came to. I wouldn't consider it fleeing from a cop, because there is no way to know if he was coming for us or the car at the end of the line up. But to be on the safe side we took some time and refilled our cups and stretched our legs for a few minuets and Matt took off his Yellow hat. We arrived around 11:00pm and walked into a couple of baskets on our counter and food in our fridge...talk about some amazing next door neighbors. The kids went wild and ran around the house, finding their rooms and exploring.

Kindergarten Graduation

A few weeks ago Cody had his Kindergarten Graduation. They sang tons of cute songs. His teacher Mrs Hoddenbach, was exactly the teacher Cody needed. I LOVE her and will forever appreciate the great influence she has had on Cody, truly and amazing lady. Cody has a lot of School Pride and it makes me sad to take him away from a school he loves so much. Cody will start 1st grade in Arizona on August 11th, which happens to be his birthday...poor kid, but that is not what we tell him, we tell him....."It's AWESOME!!!!!!!!! I have added two videos from Cody's program. Remember to pause my music on the side of this blog. I had to cut the videos down to get them to load, so some of the really cute parts are missing, but you get the idea. The first one is called "Read to Me Some More" and then there is my favorite one called "I Like It Here"..... So why are we moving again??? Makes me want to CRY!!!!!! On a happier note, you have to watch closely at his eye brows at the very beginning for the video, they do a little dance. Gosh, I love this kid!!!! Congrats Cody Code on your Graduation from Kindergarten, you are truly an amazing little boy!!!!! (Darn... the upload made the quality too bad to see the cute eyebrow dance, you will have to go to my face book page and click on videos, you can see it better there.