Goodbye Colorado!

What a busy last (we hope) week in Colorado it was! I watched Tanner on Tuesday and Thursday like normal, took Jared to preschool, had a farewell lunch with the Relief Society Presidency members (Diane Harvey, Brandi Bell, Lynn Marie Olsen) I served with, went to our pre-closing signing and packed up and cleaned our house.  I am sure there were other things too but just those things were enough.

Preschool Goodbyes

Jared and Miss Amy (Pollary)

The last two days of preschool for Jared were really fun.  They had an ABC day and played all kinds of ABC games and then spent part of the last day playing at the park and letting the caterpillars that turned into butterflies go.  Jared really loved preschool and handled saying good bye really well. I am so glad he could have such a positive preschool year.  We made a cute card for Miss Amy with this picture and a cute questionnaire that Jared answered about her attached.  I read that one of the gifts teachers really like were handmade cards so that is what we went with.  We did some fun teacher appreciation gifts for her (flowers, hurts beeswax (thanks for beeing a great teacher) and a gift card to Papa Murphy's that came in a pizza box and said "You are a SUPREME teacher) ) so I thought a card would be a nice way to end it all.  She was such a great teacher!

I really enjoyed serving with these ladies.  They were such great examples.  So generous and encouraging. They were always so willing to help me out and had such nice things to say about me.  They really made me feel good about myself and were great examples of serving in the Gospel. In church on Sunday our Bishop asked Mark and I to bear our testimonies.  We had been in the 18th ward for 4 years which is a pretty long time for that ward as it was very transient so we had gotten to know a good amount of people.  I am glad we could say good bye to all the people we got to. They said such nice things about us.  I am so glad we could help people and serve in many challenging positions.  We learned a lot and met some great people.

Diane, Lynn Marie, Aprillee and Brandi

Tanner Elliot.  Back in 2011 I filled out a profile on care.com.  Shortly after that (February) Kaylene contacted me to see if I would be willing to watch her then 7 month old little boy, Tanner.  We met and I aged to start watching Tanner.  Little did we know that 3 + years later we would be saying goodbye to him.  For the first year I watched Tanner two days a week which was perfect.  Than Kaylene got a new job and her husband Wes deployed so I watched him 5 days a week for the second year.  We finished the third year with me watching him 2 days a week again. I never thought I would watch him for so long when we started.  It was fun to get to see him turn into a little baby to a tricky (at times) toddler than a sweet polite little 3 year old. Kaylene and Wes were such great people to work with. Generous and helpful always concerned that I was happy with watching him. They always gave me a Christmas bonus and 2 weeks paid vacation a year.  They were the most amazing people to work for. I was so lucky to find them and so glad they picked me. It was a great experience. We will miss all the Elliott's. Jared and Tanner became good little buddies and Tanner was always very nice to Lydia. Kaylene brought cupcakes for them all to share on the last day. which they loved. 

When Mark and I moved to Colorado Springs without kids back in 2009 we used a 16 foot truck to move all our possessions from our 2 bedroom apartment.  It fit nicely with room to spare. Mark decided that all our stuff would again fit in a 16 foot ruck and he was right!  This made me very happy. Believe me I know how to throw things away and give them away.  Our town home was 1500 square feet (after packing is up and cleaning it I am almost positive I do not ever want a house bigger than 1800 square feet.) and we have had added 2 kids to our family since we moved in so I was impressed we could fit it all in there. It was a little tighter than in 2009 but still fit just fine.  I was surprised at how stressful this move was.  There were times when I felt completely overwhelmed and didn't know how I was going to get it all done in time. The Tuesday before we left I ran out of boxes and had to wait for some more from the grocery store so I essentially lost a whole day of packing. Living i a house with piles of stuff in the hallways and closets half empty and spread out was pretty tortuous for me. It felt so chaotic. I was so grateful when I got those last boxes and could finish up the job. I had everything I could boxed, labeled and taped about an hour before people showed up to help us load the truck. The people who helped us load the truck all commented on how great a packing job I did and how small the amount of stuff we had.  It helps when you don't have a garage and only have 2 kids.  Mark drove the van over to the storage unit and they had it all unpacked in 25 minutes!! Crazy.

We picked up our boxes from King Soopers but they had not broken them down so Jared and Lydia helped hold them for me. Note to self: do not pick up boxes when your trunk is full of stuff to donate to Goodwill.  They were good sports about it even though they were completely buried.

Plus about 10 more boxes and bags of our bedding. 

Wednesday and Thursday night I stayed up late cleaning and got it all done Friday morning, 35 minutes before the buyers came for the final walk through.  Thursday we had gone over to the Title company to sign all the papers. I really wanted to sign them without the buyers present. When we bought the house in 2010 it was a short sale and we signed everything with the sellers there. It was so awkward. I felt like we were stealing their house.  This was much nicer and faster.  I was so stressed that I wouldn't get it all done in time.  I had to take a car load of stuff over to the storage unit and when I got there I could not get the door open for the life of me. It was so very frustrating. The place wasn't open yet so I went back home to finish cleaning the upstairs then went back over at 9:00 and a very nice man helped me open the door. It took me at least 5 tries to get it! So embarrassing.  I quickly through it all in the storage shed (it looks terribly unorganized in the front now) then rushed home to load the car with all of our stuff for the summer and finished cleaning the downstairs.  The last 20 minutes when I had to sweep and mop I had Jared and Lydia sit in the car and read books and play with toys so I could clean without them running around. They did very well. I would have loved to let them just play out front but the sprinklers came on and Lydia thought it would be awesome to run through them I was not amused. But I got it done! Next time we have to do this I am closing on like a Monday where Mark can help me over the weekend. It was nuts doing all that by myself and it didn't have to be that way. I think I felt like I had to do whatever the buyers wanted but really as the seller I have "rights" too. (They were not demanding or anything I just made everything harder on myself.)  That last week was really hard for Jared and Lydia as we were so busy packing and cleaning we really didn't get to interact with them as much as we would have liked. And it was Jared; last week of preschool too so that was a change for him as well. We are all just so glad to be done.  It's amazing tom e just how expensive it is to sell your house! We paid so much money in commissions and closing costs.  We are lucky we bought the house for such a good deal that we were able to cover all the costs and make some money on it. That is a hug blessing. And now we are done, and completely debt free as we no longer have a house payment. That is pretty fun!

 Since we closed on Friday yet had family pictures planned for Monday we needed somewhere to stay those last few nights.  Our good friends the Pitcher's (Nate and Melissa) let us stay with them.  They are super nice, fun generous people and made us feel very welcome.  Jared and Lydia had fun playing with their youngest kids Talia and Tyson who are close in age to them. Mark and I did not have fun sleeping in the same room as them. Jared and Lydia have only slept in the same room a handful of times so they had a hard time settling down but we all managed to get some sleep those few nights and are so grateful to the Pitcher's.  Melissa is super sweet and crafty so she helped me make some cute bows for Lydia.  I had showed her our outfits for our pictures and mentioned that I wished I had something to tie in my shirt with the rest of our family and she came up with the perfect solution.  Cute bows for Lydia. It was fun to spend the day working with her.  I like her so much and we really miss her if we do end up moving to Virginia. (Yep still waiting on job postings.)

Friday night we went out to eat to celebrate being done and to check out the Airplane restaurant. It is one of the last things we wanted to do in Colorado Springs in case we moved away.  They literally took an old Air Force plane and made it into a restaurant. Kids could go up and sit in the pilot seat and play with all the controls. It was loud and the food was not that great but we can check it off our list.  Jared loves the movie "Planes" and was so happy to fly the plane. One of Mark's seminary student is a hostess there and was working when we went to eat.  She told Mark the following Sunday that we left at the best time.  There was a big rainstorm that night and one of the windows broke and flooded the part of the plane where we were eating!  Crazy! 

We really had a nice life in Colorado Springs.  We were very blessed and looked after while we lived there. We met great people but are just really excited to move on.  We so hope that Mark gets a new job. He really doesn't want to teach at his school anymore. We are just ready for a change and really hope it comes. 

Family pictures at Garden of the Gods

We had our family pictures taken a few weeks ago at Garden of the Gods.  The other 6th grade SS teacher at Mark's school is married to a really nice guy who used to be a full time photographer.  I am not sure what he does now, something with the Air Force.  Anyway he was willing to take our pictures so we spent some time with them (Dennis and Linda Rogers) and got some fun pictures.  Jared was the winner that day.  We got so many cute pictures of him. He was such a good sport. Not very many family ones which was what I was going for but oh well. Typically taking pictures is not very fun from me being super critical of myself to Jared and Lydia being super uninterested so it was great that Jared was so wiling.  We did tell him we would go get frozen yogurt after if he did a really good job.  He did so great and it was totally worth it. While we were there we saw a couple of Prom groups getting their pictures done too.  It was fun to see them all dressed up. There was also a couple getting pictures taken with their 2 pet pigs!  So random but to each their own. Jared and Lydia loved the pigs. One was dressed in a pink tutu which they thought was amazing. They had fun climbing and jumping on the rocks and admiring the pigs.  We had lots of pep talks before we took the pictures.  I had to reassure Jared that he could jump on and off the rocks as soon as we finished the pictures. 

 Mark told me this looks like a "teacher" photo.

 I haven't had pictures taken of myself, alone by a real photographer since we got married so that was fun and a little strange. Surprisingly I really like this picture which is a really nice feeling. It's like this is what I think I look like then I see pictures of me and wonder what happened.

He really liked this sign. 

After we set up this photo shoot I found out that a friend of ours from our Greeley days, who is an awesome photographer was going to be in Colorado and was willing to do pictures if people wanted them.  They recently moved to AZ and we sadly never had the chance to get pictures done by her.  I was super excited when I found out we would still be here when she was in town.  I am happy with the pictures above but am really excited to have them done by Chelsea too.  She does such a great job. I think they will be more creative and relaxed.  I also think these pictures were a little too matchy matchy for me.  I think just 2 colors wasn't enough variety. I was so proud of Jared and Lydia though especially Jared.   We have talked about the pictures we are taking next week and he is actually excited about it.  I can't wait. 

Preschool Fun

We went to the zoo on Wednesday with Jared's preschool.  Sadly it was like 48 degrees (May has been very un-Spring like around here) so not amazing zoo weather but we had a nice time. We go to the zoo a lot since we are members but Jared was really happy to be there with his "students".  He always calls his classmates "his students" and we think it is quite hilarious. We wonder if it is because Mark talks about his students at school. We did make the trip little more fun by riding the carousel.  It drives me crazy that riding it is not included in our membership so we don't ride it that often so Jared and Lydia loved it.  Note: It is very difficult to take pictures of children riding the carousel while trying to make sure a child does not fall off and you are moving in a circle.

Friday, the 16th was Jared's preschool graduation. We went over to Miss Amy's for a little ceremony and ice cream party.  She had each child come up and she talked about what she loved about them and what they learned throughout the year. It was sweet. She talked about Jared's love of garbage trucks and how he smiled all the time and was so excited to be at preschool each day.  They sang a few songs and were each given a gift from her, a book and a framed picture of the class together. He surprised me by really participating during the songs.  Whenever he sings in church for Primary he barely even says a word even though he knows the songs.  It was fun to see him be excited and participate. We have loved Miss Amy and are so sad she is not teaching next year!!  It was also a little frustrating for Mark and I. Jared is still a huge follower. We have had so many conversation with him about how he needs to make his own choices and when a kid is making a bad choice or off task he needs to not follow them but do what he knows is right. Again and again he would be sitting nicely than notice someone doing something they shouldn't and start doing it too. It's really hard for me. I really struggle with it. Yes, he is 4 years old but I want him to be able to control his actions.  Just because someone else is off task does not mean he should join in. We have talked again and again about how he needs to be a good leader/example and I am not sure how we can explain it any better.  I sincerely hope as he gets older he will stop being such a follower and that I can find an effective way to teach him. Again.

 Jared, Cecily, Colton. 

Jared likes all the kids in his class but Cecily and Colton were his "best friends."  One day he came home and told me since he couldn't marry me he was going to marry Cecily.

Performing their songs. 

It was fun to go to his ceremony and celebrate Jared.  It's strange too though because he still has a whole year before he goes to Kindergarten.  I personally am glad. I hope I can find another preschool for him that he will enjoy as much as he did Miss Amy's.  I have him signed up for one here in the Springs in case we don't move (yes we are still waiting for jobs to be posted.  There has still only been the one in Charlottesville and yes I am so over it. Where the heck we going to be in 2 months???) but can't do anything on the Virginia end till we know which city we will be in.  He has 2 more days this week and then he is done.  The year sure went by fast!!  He really did learn a lot, especially socially which is what I was hoping for and loved going to school.

Mother's Day

It's been a nice Mother's Day weekend, despite the fact that it is snowing outside today, May 11th!

I walked outside to go visiting teaching and ran back into get a hat and scarf. (I was running late and  they were more easily accessible than a coat.) It was so cold today!

Yesterday we went out to Kneaders for breakfast.  Their french toast is amazing and they were running a Mother's Day special where you could buy an entree and get a french toast for free.  It was great.  Saturday night was our monthly Philharmonic date.  The performance last night was them playing the score to Pirates of the Caribbean, while the movie was showing.  It was fun. I am not a big fan of those movies. They kind of gross me out and are sort of confusing but the Philharmonic did an excellent job. We went out to dinner with some friends beforehand and had fun visiting with them.  This couple, the Watson's are the ones who told us about the Philharmonic Pops and we are so glad they did.  It's been really fun to get to know them better.
This morning I slept in a little before church which is always a treat.  A few weeks ago I saw this idea on Facebook where instead of buying Mother's Day cards each year you have your kids write you a note in a little journal.  I mentioned it to Mark and he made it happen. He put in a few questions for Jared and Lydia to answer about me and traced their hands.  We made sure to take a picture of Jared Lydia and I after church and he will print it off and put in in there too. We will take one each year.  I am so excited.  I know I will love reading over it especially when Jared and Lydia are grown up and away from home. It's such a great idea. Jared also filled out a questionnaire about me in preschool.  He had some great answers such as my age being 21, and my weight 22 pounds! He also wrote down that my favorite food was salad (I am not sure where he got that idea) and that I really love to eat dinner!! Mark got a little miffed because Jared wrote down that I cooked the best hamburgers. That one is particularly funny because last week Mark got a really nasty stomach bug.  The day he was sick we were planning on having hamburgers for dinner but he was not up to grilling them so I did.  I had actually never grilled anything before so I am glad I did so well on my first try. I love these surveys.  They are so fun! This card will for sure go in his "memory" box.
 I do so love being Jared and Lydia's Mom.  They are great kids and they make me so happy. (and crazy) I am so blessed to be their Mom and to have Mark there to help me out. I appreciate my family so much and am thankful they helped me have such a nice weekend. I am also so fortunate to have a mother who supports and encourages me.  She has so much faith in me and makes me feel so good about myself. I am also blessed to have a fun, kind and welcoming mother in law.  Mothers are amazing and I am so grateful for all the wonderful examples around me and all the things I am learning.
The past 2 weeks or so I have been reading this parenting book, "It's OK not to share and other renegade rules." There have been some things I like about the book and others where I think they were really overdoing the topic. Reading books like that make me evaluate my parenting skills/styles which is helpful but also makes me realize that I am Jared and Lydia's parent and the Lord trusted me to raise them and when I try my best and involve Him I will succeed.  I want Jared and Lydia to know how much I love them and believe in them and to always know they can come to me and trust me.  While we were eating dinner last night we were talking about parenting some.  The Watson's have older kids (returned missionaries and in high school) and it is so overwhelming to hear about some of the things teenagers and their parents deal with. I hope I can build a strong foundation now with Jared and Lydia and always be able to communicate with them. This parenting thing is a bumpy exciting ride!

Waiting

We are still waiting on job openings/postings.  None of the school districts Mark applied to in Virginia have posted jobs so we are just twiddling our thumbs waiting for them to post some. It's getting very annoying. We are leaving in 21 days. I want to start packing but it is still too soon so again just twiddling our thumbs.  I know I don't really want to start packing until I can really do it because otherwise I am just going to have piles of stuff everywhere and boxes in the way (which will drive me crazy) but I want to start so it won't be this mad rush at the end and so I can see how many more boxes we will need.  Sigh. I really struggle at times like this, when you are just waiting and hoping. I would love to be packing and talking to people in whatever city we are moving too so I could find a place to live but I have no clue where we are going!  We did go ahead and reserve a moving truck and storage unit for the summer so that is one thing we could do.  We also decided we would spend June in Utah with Mark's mom and go with our original vacation plans (Vegas, San Diego, Disneyland than North). I am glad we have decided this and am actually looking forward to that time in Utah. Utah is actually a really great place to hang out with your kids in the summer.  Mark's mom will be gone the first week of June so she will at least get a little break from us.  We are hoping Mark will not have to go to school the Tuesday after Memorial day (classroom checkout day, no students or meetings) and we can just head out to Utah but again we are just waiting to find out. At least we do know when we have to be out of our house, that is one known thing.
 In happier news, Mark did have a screening interview with the school district in Charlottesville so that was something. It is sort of a funny story. A few weeks ago they contacted Mark to set up the interview and he got to choose what day and time (May 01 or 02)  he wanted to have the interview. He picked his date only later realized he had a field trip at that time so called to reschedule.  The person he called was actually on a field trip themselves when he called (weird right).  So she said they would pick a new date and let him know.  So time goes on and suddenly its May 01 and Mark isn't sure what time or day his interview is.  So he got to school that morning, called the district office around 7:40 to find out his time and found out his interview was in 20 minutes (10:00 Eastern time)!!  Mark was pretty surprised. I am so glad he called! They chatted a minute to make sure Skype was working well then said they would talk again soon.  He called back at 8:00 (Colorado time) and started interviewing just as his school's morning announcements were being read. They lady was very understanding (he does work in a school after all) and Mark felt really good about the interview.  We were so happy he got selected to have this first interview and hope good things come of it.
 Even though this waiting is hard we still have good things going on.  Lydia and I went on a field trip with Jared's preschool class to a nature center in town.  We are heading to the zoo with his class on the 14th. We also just went to the zoo yesterday as a family.  We had some nice Spring weather around here after a week of 30+mph winds and 50 degree weather so we are enjoying it. I really dislike how windy it is here in the Spring.  We also went out and took family pictures yesterday afternoon. We went over to the Garden of the Gods, a very popular hiking area here.  They have beautiful red rock formations and are pretty iconic of Colorado Springs. I wanted to get pictures there because sooner (hopefully) or later we will leave here and they are so well known here.  Garden of the Gods is always in the top 10 things to see in Colorado Springs. I was so impressed with how well Jared and Lydia did.  I am excited to see the pictures.
We have also had some fun around the house. We often do art projects or "Marking" (coloring) as Lydia calls it. So one day I decided to do it on a larger scale.  Jared and Lydia loved it. I love how simply setting something up in a new environment gets kids so excited. We also do a lot of races around here. Jared, because of his love of CARS always wants to race so we line up by the couch and then run into the kitchen around the island and back to the couch. Its a nice little work out if you really try to "race".  He and Lydia love to race with the stroller and shopping cart.  I also used Lydia's crib to make a fort, or a castle if you ask Jared and a tent if you as Lydia.  They have appreciated it much more than the table forts of the past.

 I wrote some letters and drew some shapes on this one and had Jared connect the matching items like connect the dots.  Then I had Lydia go stand on whatever one I called out.

 We also played a fun parking spot game. I wrote basic addition problems on the top (like 3 + 4) and had Jared add that many cars in the parking spot and count them up.  For Lydia, I had her identify the number (1-5) at the top and put that many cars in the parking spot. In case you couldn't tell I love having hardwood floors!

Get Ready! Get Set! GO!

I love how much easier this fort is to clean up! And all the blankets stay upstairs where they belong and they actually play in it! Win Win Win.

We have been slowly checking things off our "things we want to do before we leave" list. I hope we really do get to leave but at least we know Mark has a job and we are grateful for that.