as promised...

i'm back. amazing, i know. But i wanted to write down some things about life and our summer before i have to pack up the computer and MOVE! yup. i said move. I can't even believe how things have transpired over the past few months. and as things usually work for us, it happend in a whirlwind and i look back and think, what on earth?? but FYI this is pretty boring stuff, i just wanted to document things.

So, to keep it brief. Dick had been getting antsy at work, and was seriously contemplating going back to school to specialize. He had talked about this many times, but never really pursued it much further than talk. As soon as he mentioned it, i felt a pit in my stomach. like i knew it wasnt the right thing. But I have learned sometimes its best to just keep quiet and let him run through the process of figuring things out on his own first, before i open my big mouth. So anyways, after talking with numerous proffessors, getting his official marks back, talking to a few schools etc. It was still on the fence. He could probably get an interview at most schools, but no guarantees, and who knows if he would get in? a huge gamble any way you look at it.

He was waiting to hear back from a lady at UBC, and she was on holidays, not returning calls and so on. When out of the blue one night, dick was at a YM meeting or something, and i was bored so i jumped on MLS in lethbridge to snoop around. Which i honestly haven't  done since we moved here 2.5 years ago.
As i'm looking, prices are getting too high, and i'm not interested in anything, but then i saw the address of a house in sunset acres. which is kind of where dick and i had talked about ending up someday, if we stayed in lethbridge. Its an older area of lethbridge that used to be considered out of town on the westside, but it is gradually becoming part of the main new development over here by the new highschool/church etc. The name says it all, basically they are 1 acre lots with older homes on them, about 15 or so in the neighborhood.

So i looked at the pictures and was intrigued, i showed dick when he got home and he said we should go check it out. Just out of curiosity. My mom was out of town, so i called my brother (another fabulous lethbridge realtor:) and asked if he could line something up. Turns out it was just listed 2 days before i saw the mls listing. So we went out to look at it with the kids for FHE, and it was really nice. older  bungalow style home, but beautiful land. The prettiest trees and landscaping, 35 years of growth. tons of room for a garden, play area, etc. Still, i wasn't even considering that we would even make an offer. just snooping.

That night the tables start to turn, we talk about the options, possibilities, long term benefits and so on. But i knew that this property would not last on the market very long. Larger lots on the west side are hard to find, and the value of homes in that location is quite high with all the new development and city plans. Plus there had already been multiple showings in just a few days. So we talked to the bank, and headed out to look again. this time checking things over carefully. by tuesday night, we knew that if we were serious about this we should make an offer.   We did, they countered, we countered back. SOLD!

Just to clarify: house listed on friday, saw it on MLS sunday, looked at it on mon/tues, bought it on wed.
                         
What??? This will be the 5th property we have owned and i'm certain none of the deals were that crazy fast!! and i guess to say the least, our prayers were answered about going back to school. Things literally fell into place.
 I'll admit i was/am a bit scared of the fact that this could be our house for potentially the rest of our lives, and that we are going to be on an "acreage" with not many people around,  we are moving from a new home to an old one, and we have to leave our fabulous ward. But mostly i'm super excited for the change. A chance to renovate and then one day really gut it and make it our own. To have trees, and lots of them. privacy, a garden space, a hottub(bonus!), lots of storage, and wood burning fireplace and the list goes on.

the best partÉ sorry, i must have hit a weird button. but the best part is we dont have to sell our current house right now. we have great tenants lined up to rent it out. and we have 2 years to contemplate what we want to do with this house. phewf!


So come August 31 we will have our new keys, and start ripping out nasty cat carpets(haha) and are shooting to be in the new house by Sept. 14:)  hopefully:)


Here she is.  #2 Sunset Lane. ill post more pics when we get in there. woo hoo!

so its been half a year. nbd.

I was overwhelmed with guilt when ozzie was complaining about not having a hard copy of any form of baby book the other day. and then i felt even worse when i realized i have not blogged about our lives at ALL in six months. lame lame l.a.m.e

So heres the long and short of it all. Greta first.

Greta finished out her Kindergarten year with flying colors. The girl loves school, is insanely social and seems to get along with all the kids in her class. She also picked up on reading and all of her sounds with no major help from me. It just clicked and she is reading a lot of easy readers now, and can sound out almost any word. CRAZY! I just didnt expect it to all come together for her until grade 1. She turned 6 in may, and had a fun girls only ice cream party with her friends! It was difficult for her not to invite her best little boy buddies to, but i figure its all part of growing up i guess. the big present was a new Bike which she def. needed. She is going crazy fast now on her bike and really loves to go riding with ozzie.

Greta is becoming quite the drama queen these days, i'd like to chalk it up to age combined with being tired from summer activities. but i think its just her. LIFE is generally a big deal for her some days, and if she feels wronged by the world or me or whatever, you defiantly hear about it. She is getting better at watching hazel for me, and really loves her brother and sister a lot. She is also a crazy bug/butterfly/anything little and creepy catcher. She has had non stop bugs in her catcher all summer and she loves it!

And then there's the Oz man. Ozzie is going through a growth spurt/whining spurt as of late. maybe its the middle child syndrome, but he is VERY persistant when he decides he wants to eat or do something. Like never stop asking, drive you crazy all day long persistant. But he is getting really excited to turn 4 in the fall, adn start pre-school. He loves being gretas tag along, and runs around the neighborhood with all the friends like hes one of the gang. super cute. his appetite is bigger than ever, and i think he may have a worm or something in their consuming all of his food. Ozzie is still my little sensitive soul, he gets very sad when hes hurt or if greta does something mean. but he is never mean back to her, and just tattles about it. so at least i dont have to deal with a hitter.

Ozzie endeavored to try swimming lessons this spring, and it may have made his fear of swimming actually worse. but were working on it. He is the sweetest most days, and will give up stuffies from his bed for extra hugs from mommy at night, or come up to me and say, you know what? I love you. So sweet.

Hazel Just turned one on July 9th. ONE!!!! i can not even begin to say how fast this year went by, it is heart wrenching actually. i was super excited when the other kids turned one, but this time around seemed different. slow down time, would ya? Hazel at one year old is a little fire cracker. One thing you could never say about my kids is that they didnt have a mind of their own. She is already wanting to be very independent in almost every way. feeding herslef, pushing my hand away when i try and help with things, screaming when we try and carry her away from something she wants to do/see. etc. etc. Little miss stubborn.

She loves to eat like all my kids do, thank goodness. Her faves right now are spaghetti, any fruit, bread, green beans, blueberries, and mostly mango. the good ones from mexico. loves. them. Baby food is non existant around here any more, she wont touch it as of a few weeks ago. and she just basically stopped nursing over night, right around her first birthday. single tear.

Hazel has a lighnening fast crawl speed these days. i should time her. and she is pulling up on all the furniture, chairs, legs, walls, climbing the stairs, etc. sitting on top of boxes and toys is one of her favorite things, and she loves to take out the vents and dig her hand in there. gross. why do kids like that?

WE had a fun little party for her first birthday at gyro park. Just cake and treats and friends. but it was nice to celebrate her special day. I made her Owl cupcakes because of her beyond massive eyes and how cute little owls are. just like hazel. Hazel has got my heart, maybe cause shes the baby still and cant talk back or not listen, but i want to squeeze her and kiss her all day long. and she is such a great baby, very laid  back, easy to please, and happy. As long as her soother is close by:) thats the next battle coming up.

Hazel is loving summer, all the swimming and outside sunshine etc. she is so brave, and all too eager at the spray park to get in their and get soaked, and she just loves to be outside. She goes to either door and climbs up and starts banging on the door to let me know she wants to go out there. if only i could keep her from eating mud and rocks.

aaaaaaaannnnnnnnd i'm spent. 

coming up tomorrow, update #2. Were moving!? and Vancouver holidays:)

half a year

i havent posted about hazel is awhile. First back to school, then getting ready for Christmas and mexico, and all of the sudden it's january and she's already 6 months old! i can NOT believe it! here's what i know about Hazel at 6 months.

- she is seriously the BEST sleeper ever. from 1 month old until we left for mexico, she slept EVERY night from 10 to 6 at least, and in the past month from 9:30-9. no eating in the night, no fussing, not a PEEP! it was seriously amazing. i kept thinking, is it humanly possible for her to sleep that well? is she eating enough? maybe i should wake her up? but, no. she just likes to sleep.

- she has 2 teeth now, they just popped up last week while we were in mexico. so cute and tiny, and jagged. she didn't seem to fuss about them too much, woke up a couple times in the night while we were there, but thats it.

- Hazel loves to eat, but not like my other kids. they LIVEd to eat, especially ozzie. Hazel jsut enjoys herself, eats slow, and when she's done, she's done. She will NOT however take a bottle of any variety, which is getting a little annoying i must say. but whatever, i figure you only get that special time with your baby for 9 months or so and then its over, so i better enjoy it!

-She loves her bother and sister a lot. especially greta. she will laugh at pretty much everything greta does. even the super annoying things like when she's playing dog ALL day long. but its really cute how hazel watches her every move, and even likes it when greta picks her up and totes her around the house.

-she loves to roll from her tummy to her back, but wont roll the other way yet. and she's totally into biting and drooling all over everything she can get her hands on thanks to those new teeth

Other than that, Hazel is basically the sweetest, happiest, baby around. i am so blessed for such a special spirit to be part of our family. I remember when i was waiting for ozzie to be born, worrying so much that i wouldnt love him as much as greta, and the same when hazel came around. it's amazing to me that you can love your kids each SO much in such different and individual ways. Hazel makes me feel calm, and happy, and her gummy little smile melts my heart, daily. Love you Hazel Felisa:)

oh and here's all the kids at 6 months