1.31.2015

Miscellaneous

January mostly involved unpacking, rearranging, and finding our way around town. We may have spent a little too much money at Ikea in our first few weeks here. We had to furnish a whole house! We bought a dresser, king-sized bed, dining room table, and eight chairs there. We also bought a washer and dryer, but not from Ikea. This move has been a killer for our bank account.


I started off the New Year right by having a play date with Olivia. It's not the same as real life, but it will have to do.


Our new king-sized bed frame needed a king-sized mattress so we went mattress shopping. The salesman was showing us super nice mattresses and we told him how much we were planning to spend and he took us to the very back of the store where they hide the junky mattresses – just our style!


There is so much unpacking to do but sometimes I just don't.


We had to go get new driver's licenses. The line was insane. It was a four hour process. We did not have to stay there the whole time because they give you a number and then text you when it is almost your turn. We took a lunch break at Chick-fil-A while we waited for our turn.


I took the boys to check out story time at the nearest library. They got to make friendship bracelets.


We signed up for gym memberships at the YMCA. The day we went to sign up happened to be the Open House. It was so fun and the boys got their faces painted.



Later that night, Sam went to the Jazz vs. Rockets game.


We are keeping up the monthly visit to the temple but the Houston temple is only one hour away! I accidentally went to the Spanish session so I got to wear those sweet headphones.


I joined a moms group on Facebook and we met up at an indoor playground called Stomping Grounds. It was fun and I hope to get to know the moms even better.


Edison had his first day of Sunbeams! Alex was a great big brother and showed him the way.



The moms group went out to dinner at Chuy's and I am obsessed with that place. Sometimes I wish friends included applications and you could write references. That way someone could call a friend from the past and immediately know that I am worth getting to know. I need references.

No idea, Evelyn, Amanda, Stephanie, Missy, Tawnya, Amanda, No idea, Anjali, Leslie, Sarah, Emily, Jennifer

We have two parks in different directions from our house. One is our neighborhood park and the other is a city park. The boys love them both.


The boys loved having no furniture in the living room. We had a surplus of boxes and it was the perfect kid play ground.



Alex said, "I think our house is going to fall down because the walls are cracking!" We are not making big changes to the house since we are renting but I put contact paper in the cabinets and I switched out a few towel rods.



All of this moving business has worn us out!



I was doing (or attempting to do) wall walks and push-ups. Then Alex totally outperformed me. 


Declan carried Alex's backpack on Pajama Day so it would not disrupt Alex's cape. It made Declan look way too grown up. I do not like it, not one little bit.




Edison: I want to be in a drink.
Emily: How do you get in a drink?
Edison: With a ginormous cup.





The boys' bunkbed was delivered and Sam had to build our Ikea bed. We had to wait a few weeks for the couches to arrive and it was a wonderful day when they finally got here.



 The spare bedroom looked like this just a few hours before my parents flew in. It took me three hours to get it in order.


This was one of five things that got damaged in the move. I was amazed. This was, by far, our smoothest move. 


We are discovering interesting things on our neighborhood walks.


Other than that, we party, sleep, and eat. This is the life!






1.29.2015

January Dates

After a year of successful Mommy Dates and Daddy Dates, we have decided to continue the tradition for 2015.

Sam and Edison went on a date to kick off the first month of the new year. They got dessert and then went to the store to choose a toy.

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Alex and I went to the dollar theater to see Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. It was cute and I am thrilled to have a cheap theater nearby.

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We do not know any of the young women in our ward yet so we went to Ikea to utilizSmÃ¥land so Sam and I could get a date. Declan is not potty-trained so he stayed with us.

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We need to get out of the froyo/park/store rut we got into in Williston. There was not a lot to do there and the boys seem to think those are the only date options. I am hoping we will be able to break out of that mold. We are looking forward to another year of fun dates and getting to know our boys better.

1.25.2015

Arboretum

We spent a Saturday afternoon at Mercer Arboretum and Botanic Gardens. I was supposed to be getting certified as a TurboKick instructor but it got canceled because too few people signed up. I was sad it was canceled but I was glad we got to enjoy the beautiful day as a family.

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We watched a bird show on our way out. Alex was especially amazed. I was amazed that Alex was answering questions about the birds. He retains all sorts of information. I wish I had a memory like his.

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They trained a bird to snatch money out of our hands for tips. Brilliant. I bet they made a fortune.

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We walked right under a moving train and it was loud!

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