Happy 4th!

Ok, actually 6th--LOL! We had a fun 4th. My mom's neighborhood had a block party, and we got to visit and eat while the kids all played with water balloons and squirt guns. Then we lit tons of fireworks. Austin got totally into it this year. Brendan sat in Grandma's lap with his hands over his ears the whole time. I'll try to upload some pics this week.

We put an offer on a house this weekend. We'll know by tomorrow night if they accept the offer or not. It's a great house--4 bedrooms plus a den and a loft. Nice big backyard for the boys. We're really hoping we get it. As for the job, I'm meeting with some of the other teachers this week and if all goes well, I should sign a contract by the end of the week. Lots of things to look forward to this week.

We took the boys to see WALL-E today. It was a cute movie. I still like Cars and Finding Nemo better, but Austin LOVED it! Poor Brendy fell asleep. Crazy kid. Uncle Taylor, his girlfriend and Grandma and Papa came along too.

Would you believe I haven't touched my scrapbook stuff in over two weeks. I'm just not motivated and every time I do, I realize what I forgot to pack with me. I do have a CTMH order coming soon though, so maybe it will be the kick in the rear I need to start creating again. I just seem to be falling behind on everything, including my blog. Once everything gets settled maybe that will change.

Anyway, just wanted to check in. Hope everyone had a fabulous holiday weekend.

An update

Sorry, I know my posts are few and far between lately. Hopefully, we'll be able to settle in soon. Mike is here now. He starts his new position tomorrow. I still don't have a job. I interviewed last week at a fabulous Catholic school. I would be teaching 7th grade English and Social Studies and 6th grade English. I was really impressed with the principal and school. I should find out on Friday. I also applied for a position at Boise State University as a student advisor. Now it's just wait and see. We've been house hunting and have found a couple possibilities. I am so anxious to get our own place and have our own stuff back.

As for our house in CA, we've heard a few versions of what happened. No charges ended up being filed. Mike was able to get everything done and we turned it over to the property management company. Fingers crossed we get good renters soon.

In the meantime, here's a few cards I've managed to create. When I got here, my new Sweet N Sassy stamps were waiting for me and I had to play with Olivia. I just love her! The papers are from a retro mat stack I have. It was a thank you card for my friend Brandy who threw me a fabulous goodbye party before I left.

This one was for my friend Cyndie. She and her husband and kids helped us load up the PODS before we moved. The stamps are CTMH's July SOTM and Sarsaparilla papers.

Finally, another card using the mat stack.

I made a few other birthday and father's day cards I'll try to take pictures and show you all. One I made for my mom uses SEI's gorgeous new Poppy papers. Anyway, I'll try to be better at keeping up the blog--I've missed doing it lately.

Just when you think you've got it all figured out

Ugh! I just have to vent, so forgive me. Mike called last night and I knew it must be bad news because it was after one in DC. It was. He got woken up by a call from the Sheriff in CA. Apparently, our neighbor's 14 year old daughter and her friends were partying in our empty house. They'd also helped themselves to the alcohol we'd left there and were running up and down the street spraying our fire extinguishers. Nice! Parents weren't home and we don't even know how many people were in the house. Our other neighbors across the street called the police because they knew that we were no longer there. Thank goodness for them.

How did they get in you ask? Well, the girl's parents had offered to keep an eye on our house for us and Mike gave them a key so they could get the lawn mower and BBQ that we were GIVING them. What a great way to pay us back. We knew it was against our better judgement to give them a key, but I didn't expect this. We don't know what else the kids messed with or broke. I guess we'll have to wait until Friday when Mike gets there to see how bad it is. I last talked to him at 3 his time (one ours) and he was still waiting for both the Sheriff and the mom to call him back. Angry doesn't even begin to describe how I feel.

Still here...

I know, it's like I've fallen off the face of the earth. It's been an adjustment to living with my family. As much as I love them, it's not the same as having your own house and your own stuff :) We're doing well. I actually got out some of my stuff and made a few cards the other night. I don't, however, have a clue how to upload my pics onto this computer, so that will be my next challenge. We're headed to Salt Lake City today for a wedding, so hopefully Monday I'll have time to sit and figure out the pictures.

Had an oh so wonderful, life with boys story to share yesterday. Brendan comes running up to me with blood pouring out his nose and screaming. Turns out he shoved Play-Doh up his nose. Now why, I ask you, would he do that?! I guess the simple answer would be, he's a three year old boy. Life is never dull around my boys, that's for sure :)

Been looking at houses. Going out with a realtor early next week, so hopefully we'll find something. We fell in love with one from the description and picture. We'll see how it holds up in person. Would love to get into a place soon. Had my screening interview with the school district, so hopefully I'll get an interview at one of the schools soon! Ta-ta for now, I have to finish packing and get the boys up and fed.

We made it!!

Just wanted to stop by and say that we made it to Idaho safely. It was a loooooong drive, but the kids and dogs did great on the road. We didn't get here until one am and didn't go to bed until after three, so I'm a little tired today. Thanks for all the wonderful comments and good wishes for our trip. I'll be updating soon.

Burnin' Down the House

All right, I had to pop in and share our moving stories from yesterday. We still haven't packed up the computer yet, so that should tell you something about how our day went. Started out all gung ho yesterday morning. My brother decided he couldn't come after all to help (won't go there). Our friends Robert and Cyndie came over to help and we did get a lot done, but we still had so much more. After they left, Mike was trying to move the freezer and ran over his toe. It's now two or three sizes bigger and he'll probably lose the nail--ouch!

Not 15 minutes later, I was working in the kitchen and I set the big bag of baking soda down on the stove top just right. Somehow it was enough to light the burner. Unfortunately, there was a bunch of stuff sitting on the stove and POOF--up in flames. I yelled for Austin to get Mike and he grabbed the fire extinguisher and put it out. It was plastic, so it smelled horrible and now I still have to clean up ash and fire extinguisher debris. Fun and games. Hoping for a better day today. Yes, I do have pics, but no time to load them on here.

Goodbye for now...

Tomorrow we load up and I will be off the computer until at least Friday when we are in Idaho. We'll arrive on Thursday, but I don't think my withdrawals from the computer will be so bad that I have to make a run for it the second we get to my mom's--LOL

Thanks for stopping by, and I'll be back to posting (and hopefully creating) soon. In the meantime, here's a few creations I don't think I've shared before...

Cards using Delight in Everything stamps and Let's Get Together papers (CTMH). Can't remember who to give credit to for the 10 from 1 template I used.

Summer Layout

Layout which was inspired by the talented Tiffany Cheney and had been hanging on my wall

And finally, one of my favorite cards I've made in honor of the fact that this year I will get to experience a true autumn again :)