New House!

Here is our new house!

2448 N. Expedition Ln. Washington, UT 84780

We went to the St. George courthouse yesterday at 1 pm and bought this house at auciton. We did some speedy research and decided it was a good deal. The opening bid was $154,700. We were the only bidders and we got it for $154,701. Jack's good friend Brett is leding us the money to buy the house and then we will pay him back when our mortgage is set up.
This is a giant closet just off of the living room. What will I put in here? I think I will put kid toys on the bottom shelves and storage crap on the upper shelves. I am sure it will be packed full soon.

Here is a view of the living room if you stand at the front door. You can see a built in area for a desk and the kitchen beyond.

Here is the kitchen. I like the cherry cabinets. Maybe we can update the coutertops in the future. Quick story: While we were at the auction, the previous homeowners came in and took the stainless steel refrigerator and the vacuum cleaner system that is built into the house. A locksmith changed the locks an hour and a half after the auction. Jack called the police and this morning the refrigerator and the vacuum system were on the front porch. Yeah!

Here is the master bathroom. We like having a seperate shower and tub. This tub has jets. The walk in closet is large. Maybe we will change the mirrored closet doors for ones with frosted glass.

The backyard is small, but atleast it has some grass and a coverd patio. I am afraid the kids will fall and drown in the deep pond built into the far corner. I may take it out and put in some more trees for more privacy.

The house has 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, and a 2-car garage. It is just under 1600 sq. ft. We can move in any time. We are very happy to we get to stay in the neighborhood with its walking paths, excellent parks, and club house with 2 large swimming pools, 1 kids pool, tennis courts, weight room and more.

Toddler Trials

Here are some new phrases Guy has recently picked up:
1. What the Hell! (Learned by me unfortunately)
2. Ah man! (From watching Dora the Explorer)
3. I can't. (New defeatist attitude)

He has been in underwear for a month now. It isn't easy for either of us. The sticker chart didn't provide an immediate reward, so I gave up on it. Instead, he gets one candy corn for peeing in the toilet. He gets to use my handheld spot remover for pooping in the toilet. He thinks it is cool and it has a short battery life, so he uses it for 10 minutes and then it must recharge until next time.









Guy set down a sugar cookie and Sloan helped herself to it. She had her first M&M and some frosting. She loved it! Good thing she also likes to brush her two little teeth.
We are excited for Halloween. I have started working on Guy's Halloween robot costume. I have high hopes for it, but right now it is a medium sized garbage can, a cleaning bucket, some dollar store maracas, and battery operated Halloween lights from WalMart. Sloan and I will reuse caveman costumes I made two years ago. Pictures to come.

Grandma's Birthday

I took the kids up north to visit family. My brother Brian just had his 25th birthday and my mom was celebrating her 52nd birthday. We drove up to my sister Charlotte's house in Tremonton first. We took the kids to Willow Park & Zoo in Logan on Friday. The boys ran up to the pronghorns just as they they decided to get it on. Cody said they were tackling each other. The male pronghorn just wouldn't give up even though the female was making it clear she wasn't interested. He kept butting her with his horns and chasing her around. Is there a sex abuse hotline for animals?

Sloan and Ella loved having a picnic in the park.

Guy and Cody found a tree hut (Guy called it his spaceship) and made swords and a bow and arrow from sticks. They rid the park of all bad guys.

The next day we went to J&J Nursery where my mom works. We donated canned food and got to take a tractor ride out to a pumpkin patch. Guy wanted the smallest one he could find. I tried to find one as big as Sloan.

***FYI Crafty People***

Check out dollarstorecrafts.com for awesome craft ideas. I want to make the baby legwarmers from a scarf.

Robot Teeth

When raising a child...

Do NOT give him as much apple juice as he could ever want.

Do take your child to the dentist before 2 1/2 years old.

Try not to cry when the dentist puts him under to treat 4 cavities.

Do call his new capped teeth 'robot teeth' so he won't cry when he sees them in the mirror. Retraining a child to drink water instead of apple juice isn't hard and only takes a week.

Guy started 'Joy School' last week. He is in a class with 4 other 2 almost 3 year olds. The moms are the teachers and we rotate each week. This is picture of Guy's first day of class. He learned about the letter A and the color red. He loved it! I am the teacher tomorrow and I am excited.

Guy's two favorite things: Robots and Superheroes. He wants to be Darth Vader. I made the black cape and pants last year with inexpensive material. Then I bought the mask for $0.35 at WalMart. I bought the Spiderman costume secondhand for $10. I like the muscles. We got the Superman cape at the DI for $4 (it lights up and makes sounds) and the light saber at a garage sale for $0.25.

Sloan continues to pull herself up to furniture. She surprised Jack the other day when she bit his big toe while he was sitting on the couch.