Our walk through is tomorrow. We are scheduled to close the Monday after. 1/2 the house is in boxes, And the other 1/2 I am just pretending it will pack itself. There's a few things that still need worked out on the house, {The fence is the only one that I am slightly concerned about, But it will get worked out} I'm kind of stressed, But not really. I probably should be, But I think I am just not facing reality. It's easier that way. 

We have a Halloween party almost every night this week, And I still have to finish one more costume, I'm just going at life as normal, like the whole moving thing isn't happening. After all, I can't just skip the Halloween festivities, It does happen to be my FAVORITE holiday.

Want a sneek peek?

Cutest sidekick ever right??

 Plus the regular school scheduel, and you know, packing the house up. So I will resume the blog after we get settled. Thanks for the help. Thanks for babysitting. And hey, If anyone wants to join me for a paint party on Monday the 29th, Holla at me. I'll pay you in pizza, soda and love. And you can come see the house. {Am I the only one that likes to creep and see other peoples houses? Does that make me a weirdo?}

One mans trash is my treasure.

I am really up to my earballs in stress, boxes, projects, and kids.

Our walk through is a week from monday. And we close a week after that.

Holy cow. I have a lot to do.

The house is beautiful. It's more than I could have ever imagined it would be. Mike and I went through yesterday and it was the first time I had seen the correct backsplash, {The first one that was put in was the wrong color, And it looked terrible. just a little miscommunication, But they fixed it quickly and without issue.} And the wood floors were put in... And my stove. Oh my stove.

I was fighting as hard as I could to not burst into tears. I was so overwhelmed and grateful, and couldn't believe that this was going to be ours.

Here was the list we were waiting on and here are the things that have been completed.

The garage door and front doors need painted. {They were doing that today}

The shutters need installed

The lawn, landscaping, irrigation, and fence need done

The backsplash in the kitchen

Glass inserts in the kitchen cabinet doors

wood floors need installed

carpet needs installed

stairs need stained

stone work on the fireplace 

We are so close. 

Sarah and I went garage sale-ing today.

It was one of the best, most successful hauls I've had. 

I got blake a bag of boy dress up clothes for $5. Retail new - at least $100.

 Including 

optimus prime

bumblebee

swat team leader

army dude

firefighter 

police

pirate

spider man

a knight

A disney store sleeping beauty dress in fantastic condition.
I paid $5. Retail new $45

A Barbie Jammin Jeep power wheel for $40. Retails new - $290

{I got Blake and LaLa a power wheel on target clearance last year and paid $75 a piece and so this one is for Kynzi because we all know LaLa would never let Kynzi drive}

A pair of sperrys for LaLa... get this... I PAID ONE DOLLAR. Retail new is $50

  A pair of Gap zebra print shoes for LaLa -$1.00 Retail new $29

3 Gap shirts $1 each. Retail new-$13 each

Pair of cowgirl boots for lala $2. Retail new $15

A mirror for the girls room-$10. Retail at least $40. {And thats with a coupon from hobby lobby}

An old school desk $20

But my best deal and favorite score of the century... 

This swing set. 

We were going to buy a new one when we moved anyways so finding one at a garage sale was beyond awesome!!!

I paid $500.

Retail new for this particular one is $1200. 

And bonus... I don't have to put it together from a million pieces. 

So, Total saved by buying other peoples "junk"... Instead of new.

$1,241.

The only advice I have is to be picky. VERY picky, Don't just buy junk. Know what you want and don't settle. It's so easy to get caught up in the moment and buy junk just because its a good deal. Or to buy something you will never use just because its a good deal. Only buy it if you need it and will use it.
That being said. I have no shame in proclaiming to the world that I buy used things. I buy other peoples trash.  And you know what? I save a LOT of money doing it.
I don't know why some people think they are "above" that, But they are missing out!

The washer broke two weeks ago. And our less than fantastic land lord will not fix it. I can't even talk about it. This lady makes me so mad. 

However, It just makes reason number 450 that I won't be getting a front loader for the new house. 

They are really expensive to fix, and break down quite often. 

So, I have 3 more weeks without a washing machine. Awesome. Especially since we cloth diaper. Now I am having to buy disposable diapers. I am not a fan.

So far on the house we are waiting for...

The garage door and front doors need painted.

The shutters need installed

The lawn, landscaping, irrigation, and fence need done

The backsplash in the kitchen

Glass inserts in the kitchen cabinet doors

wood floors need installed

carpet needs installed

stairs need stained

stone work on the fireplace

Pretty sure that's all we are waiting on. The house will be complete in 16 days. We will move in 24. 

Projects have been at an all time high.
I painted the boys dresser {free dresser from my moms house}

I painted a 2 ft by 3 ft mirror for the girls room {its been sitting in the garage waiting to be used for two years} I used left over paint from their dresser so that was a no money out of pocket project.

I got/made some throw pillows for the living room

But my favorite "project" was our bed. Michael and I have always slept on a box spring and a mattress that sat on the floor. So this was a big deal. I finally feel like a grown up. We have a real bed!! We have carried life insurance for 5 years, But the bed is what finally made me an adult ;)

Remember this post. When I said it was killing me that some sucker was going to get a steal of a deal on the Pottery Barn sleigh bed I wanted... Guess who that sucker was.... 

I hadn't asked Mike to buy it when I first saw the ad because I assumed that he wanted me to wait, because we had just spent a lot of money on the couches, And so I put off calling the guy because I figured surely the ad was old and the bed was gone and he hadn't taken it down. Well, It was killing me so much that I just had to know... So I inquired. He told me it was still available. So, I picked it up the next day. I would have picked it up that night but the bank was already closed. {That's the one bad thing about craigslist, All cash. No card, Which is actually a really good thing I suppose depending on how you look at it.} So, $1250 Pottery Barn Valencia Sleigh bed for $400. It isn't the exact one I wanted originally, The one I wanted has different feet, But for a $850 savings, I can live with those feet. There was a small ding where the wood had chipped a bit, But I just took a $5 wood stain pen to it, and now you can't even tell that it was there.

 We need new bedding obviously, We have never even had a duvet cover, and we sleep on clearance Target sheets. So I will be getting that after we move. And when you come over to my house, You don't even need to ask me where I got something, because the answer 99% of the time will be Pottery Barn Via Craigslist. And I really cannot tell you how fantastic the quality of Pottery Barn is. There really is a difference between them and the cheaper versions. Obviously not enough of a difference for me to pay full price, But enough of a difference that I will pay a little bit more on craigslist and get PB quality instead of even cheaper cheap crap from craigslist.

 Here are my grand plans for our master bedroom retreat. I wanted to keep it very neutral with just a few accents of my favorite color. 

I was "thanked for my service" as a Sunday school teacher and my replacement has been called. {I will officially be released next week.}
I bawl like a baby thinking about it. I love that calling. I love my kids. I was terrified of the calling when I started. {When these kids were 13 years old! Some of the kids I taught are sophomores in college! And some 6 months into their missions!}
I could never describe what that calling did for me, And what it gave to me. It taught me so much. It taught me to love the scriptures, It gave me an unquenchable thirst for the wisdom and knowledge contained in those sacred records. It taught me how to search the doctrine and gospel of our Savior. It gave me a friendship with the Holy Ghost. It gave me an understanding and a compassionate heart to those sweet {sometimes irreverent and rowdy} teenagers. It gave me faith and a sure knowledge that I can do all things through Christ. I was SO SO inadequate for that calling. I still am. But I know that those kids feel the spirit in that class and I know that they love being there, not because of me, But because they love learning about our Savior and his teachings. This calling was by far the hardest most challenging calling I have ever had. But it has been by far the most rewarding and sweet experience of my life. I love teaching the scriptures.
To my kids, I hope that you know I love you. I am so proud of the choices that you make. I am so proud of who you are becoming. Know that I love the scriptures. Know that to every question you have in life that on those pages there is an answer that was written for you. Know that Jesus Christ is our savior and that through his atonement all things are possible. Through his atonement, He knows you. He has engraven you upon the palms of his hands. He knows how to help you. He will never give up on you. He will always welcome you into his arms. He knows that you will make mistakes, That's part of His plan. None of us could learn if we were already perfect. That's the purpose of us being here. To be given hard things in life, to gain a stronger relationship with him.
I am so grateful that we got to share those lessons together. To learn from you, and to learn with you.
Be good, Make good choices. Don't be in a situation you know you shouldn't be. Where the adversary will have power over you. Don't you dare give him that satisfaction. Don't pick a fight with him, You won't win. Search the scriptures. Really pray. Don't just say prayers. Take the small things seriously. They really do matter. Listen to the prophets. There is a reason we have been given counsel. They are the watchmen in the tower. They see more than we do down here in the trenches. Learn the doctrine behind the counsel in the FSOY. There is protection and power in obedience.

And P.S. We are so having a party at the new house and we are going to watch corny living scripture movies and eat all the chocolate chip cookies, smarties, twizzlers, and crunch bars we can get our hands on.

I've been stewing over a lot of things recently. Mostly with how different I want to be living my day to day life with my children. I have been feeling {For quite some time} That my life just isn't what I want it to be. I mean with the things that we are spending time on, and the things that we aren't spending time on.
Our days usually look like this {This is since school started about two months ago}

7:30am wake up rush to eat and get kids dressed and out the door by 8:30
9:00 drop kids off and go to gym
11:30 leave gym to pick up lala
12:00-2:30 waste time doing who knows what while we wait to pick up Blake
3:00 pick up blake
3:30 get home get snacks pick up a little bit, fight to get homework done
5:00 start dinner
6:00 eat
7:00 bed.

Then we do it all again the next day.

Growing up all I wanted to be was a mom. I wanted to be the mom that did crafts with the kids, and helped them with their numbers and letters. I wanted to be the mom that taught them music lessons, I wanted to be the mom that read books to them all the time. I wanted to be the mom that threw fun parties. I wanted to be the mom that surprised my kids with little presents on random days. I wanted to be the mom that my kids deserve.

But recently, "Life" Has gotten in the way. I hate that my kids aren't with me during the day. I hate that we fight for two hours to get homework done after he is exhausted from being at school for 6 hours with only a 30 minute recess.

I have come to the conclusion that I want my kids home with me at least for a little bit longer. We will fight for those two hours and do the numbers and letters and then we will spend the other hours doing the things that I think are important for them to learn. Music, cooking, scripture stories, and having fun together.

I have decided that after the move I am going to home school them. I want these years with them.
I want to stop spending hours wasting time running from one school to the next. And when the school on our street opens and everyone is on the same school scheduel and we aren't spending crazy amounts of time in the car, And they are a bit bigger and I have had a bit more time with them, Then I will send them back to public school.

There is also another reason I have come to this conclusion.
Blake is dyslexic. He needs some special therapies to help him get to where he needs to be. So we will start those as soon as we get to the other side of town and can find someone who can do help him with that, But my mom taught 5 of us that had this problem, So I will be using the same method at home with him that she used with us.