Christmas Dresses

My friend, Tamara, sent the girls ornaments for Christmas, and Abby refused to leave hers at home. Somehow, Barbie made it into every picture at church this year:)

Sound Spelling by Jenna

I love watching Jenna learn. She has learned so much in just six months of Kindergarten and it's so exciting to watch her learn to read and spell. The other day, she gave me this card. Apparently, they've been working on sound spelling in their classroom. They sound words out and write them how they sound. Of course, her teacher shows her the book spelling too, but here's what she gave me. I'll translate:)

Page 1: Love Mommy--I think she's trying to tell me she loves me:)

Page 2: I love you mommy. I hope that you have . . .

Page 3: a good day

Page 4: and you are so beautiful.

How cute is that? I am not sure who she's looking at lately because I feel like one nauseous, big, cranky pregnant lady these days. I'll take the compliment though!

I've Been Taken Over By An Alien

I thought that with my other two pregnancies, and I don't know why I expected anything different. But I am not myself and there is an alien that is controlling so many things at this point.

I have fully accepted that I am not the best pregnant chick. I love all the parts of being pregnant that don't include nausea, cankles, painful breasts, heartburn, and in my case, too many kidney stones. If I could get rid of some of those, I'd be such a great pregnant lady. But I'm not.

Here's my deal with the nausea. Everything is repulsive to me these days. Everything. Thin Mints sat in my pantry for weeks. I can't even look at Totino's Pizza Rolls without thinking about throwing up, and Pizza Hut Pizza usually doesn't taste good to me. How can this be? But a pregnant girl has to eat, and here's the problem. I force myself to eat whatever looks kinda good at the time. Lately, that's been applesauce, Wendy's Jr. Bacon Cheeseburgers, chocolate milk, Triscuits, and Pop Tarts--the brown sugar kind. I know, not enough nutrition, but I try there too. I make myself eat carrots and salad and even bananas. It's just really hard. I carry around ginger ale and always have crackers. They have saved me often.

Tonight, I had a glimpse of what eating could be like if this nausea ever goes away. Nate had the leftover Pizza Hut cheese pan pizza (which is my favorite) and it smelled so, so good. I asked him if I could have his last piece, which included a part of the crust. I swear, when I put that food in my mouth, I thought I had tasted a little piece of heaven. It tasted so good to me that I cannot adequately put into words how good it was. I'm hoping this returns, because I really miss enjoying food!

A New York Blizzard

I had absolutely no idea that the snow was going to get this crazy today. I knew we were getting a bunch of snow Thursday, but had no idea that it would be a blizzard!

One of the things I loved as a kid was to wake up and turn the TV on to see if my school had a snow day. I would patiently watch the ticker at the bottom of the screen for the "M's" for Mt. Lebanon. If our district's name showed up, it was one of the best feelings in the world! No school, back to sleep, and a lazy day in front of the TV. I did the same thing today, switched on the TV and saw that school was cancelled for Jenna. I had that same excited feeling as I went back to sleep for two more hours.

As the day went on, however, I realized that parents probably aren't as excited about snow days as kids are. We were cooped up in the house because it was too windy to spend much time outside. So it was me and the girls cooped up all day. I did let them go out for about 20 minutes because they have been so excited for snow. Enjoy the pictures!

Yep, you see that right. The snow is up to Jenna's knees in the picture above.

This last picture has a story behind it. A pretty funny one, actually. Nate left the house this morning with no boots. I bought boots for the girls and for myself, but Nate didn't get around to buying his quite yet. I laughed at him as he left the house today with no boots and a blizzard outside! He decided to go to Kohl's to find some boots and got caught in horrible weather. It was dark by the time he left the store and had such a hard time seeing and driving that he parked the car in the church parking lot and walked home (which is about a two minute walk). So here's what he looked like when he walked in the door . . . covered in snow (apprently he fell down once . . ha ha), new boots, new clothes he bought in the Kohl's bag, and his computer bag covered in snow. So, so funny!

I'm thankful that he made it home safely. Going to Kohl's probably wasn't the smartest idea, but at least he has boots now!

We'll see what tomorrow has in store. When Nate walked home he said the snow was up to his knees--so a few feet of snow on the ground. We are supposed to get 6 to 9 more inches tonight. Welcome to Western New York:)

A Few Funnies

I was talking to my friend, Tamara, last night and was telling her all these funny things that have happened and thought that I should share.



The fish saga: I am most likely disqualified for mother of the year, because I left Jenna's fish, Alison, in San Jose. I was prepared to travel cross country with her. I had her in her travel container and had her food and necessary supplies ready. I put the fish and all her stuff in the kitchen cabinet so the movers wouldn't pack her:) And that's where she stayed.

So we told Jenna that we would have the fish "mailed" to us. I went out to the pet store and bought what I thought was the perfect look a like fish. I was quite proud of myself, actually! The new fish totally got past Abby, but when Jenna came home, she said, "But Mommy, Alison didn't have a fin on top of her in San Jose!" AHHHH--I had to think fast. I said, "Really? Maybe she grew it on the way out here? She's getting older, you know!" Jenna totally bought it and in the end, the fish saga ended happily:)

Our first social outing at the church: We arrived here in NY and then Nate left the next morning to go to a PLI conference. He didn't want to leave me here with a house full of boxes and two kids, but I insisted that he go and I even bought his plane ticket behind his back so he had to go. That Saturday night, the youth group was hosting a spaghetti dinner, so I took the kids. This very nice gentleman came up and introduced himself to me. Here's how the conversation went:

Man: Hi, I'm Steve, welcome to Orchard Park!
Me: Hi, we're happy to be here!
Abby: My momma has a baby in her tummy!

Abby then proceeds to rub this man's belly and says, "And you must have a baby in your tummy too because you have a big tummy!"

I wanted to find a hole and hide in it.

Nice first impression, huh?

The underwear incident: We were hanging around after church a few Sundays ago talking to some members. The girls were talking to some other little girls from the church. Apparently, they were talking about what characters they had on their underwear. :) Nice. Instead of just talking, Abby decided to pull her underwear down and show the other little girls. Awesome. While I was standing there talking, someone shouted, "Oh my goodness . . .she's got her underwear down!" I so knew it was Abby! Yep. Another great first impression.

Maybe they'll realize that pastor's kids are normal too:) Maybe normal isn't the right word . . . yeah, it's not about being normal. They're just getting a nice dose of Abby:)

We are Full of Scrap!

If you have ever been to Disneyland or Disneyworld with kids, you know that they love to get the signatures of the characters they see at the park. I had no idea about this when we first went a few years ago and we ended up buying an autograph book at the park. But this year, I bought personalized books for the girls from my friend, Maria, who runs her own business called We are Full of Scrap. She makes all kinds of crafty goodness . . . and she is good! Check out her site here! She makes invitations, announcements, photo books, autograph books, wedding card boxes, and so much more!

She worked with me to get exactly what I wanted. For example, Jenna's favorite princess is Belle, so she is on the cover. If you are like me and love the way scrapbooks, homemade cards, etc. look, but you detest making them, please contact her! She does excellent work:)

We Are Full of Scrap
Maria Egal: wearefullofscrap@gmail.com

Dirt

That's what my Honey Nut Cheerios tasted like today.

I remember the last two times I was pregnant, feeling like an alien took over my body. But this is nuts! The morning sickness/nausea deal went to a whole new level today. I really thought I was eating dirt. I was reading this article on weird things happening during pregnancy, and this was one of the things. Seriously! When I read that, I thought about how awful that was and how that could never happen to me. I mean, who eats Honey Nut Cheerios and tastes dirt instead of golden honey goodness? Dirt!

This pregnancy is a little bit different . . . so far I don't have the cravings that I did with the girls. I used to always want pizza, specifically Pizza Hut Cheese Pan Pizza. That was heaven to me. The thought of that makes me want to get sick right now. Before, I would eat anything with sugar in it. Anything. I drank way too much juice and loved cookies and cake. I really had to watch myself because I didn't want to have an issue with blood sugar.

I only had a few aversions--eggs and red meat. But this time, all food seems to fall into the aversion category. I mean really . . . there's a whole roll of uneaten Thin Mints in my freezer and I don't even want to think about eating them. If you know me, you know that I can eat a whole roll in minutes. There's even a huge box of Totino's pizza rolls in there. I bought them when we first got here, but can't go near them now.

So here I sit eating tiny bites of applesauce so that I can have something in my stomach. I guess I should be thankful that at least the applesauce doesn't taste like dirt . . . yet.

Oceanside and Legoland

After our two days in Disneyland, we drove down to the San Diego area. We were planning on going to Sea World or the zoo on our first day in San Diego, but we never made it there . . . Oceanside was too inviting! We stopped there for lunch and found ourselves in a beautiful seaside town that we ended up spending much of the afternoon in. First, we walked down a long beautiful pier and had lunch at a cute diner, overlooking the ocean. Then we headed to the beach, where the girls played and played and played and played!

Day two in San Diego was spent at Legoland. It's a little kid theme park where everything is made out of Legos. Very cool. We happened to be there on Halloween, so the girls wore their costumes all day and even did a little trick or treating at the park!

Mom with the girls on the pier.

I love playgrounds on the beach! I don't think we'll find these in Buffalo:)

Abby

Jenna

Ladybug Girl and Fancy Nancy!

Trick or Treating was a little different this year!

They loved the airplanes!

Disneyland

After our night in Morgan Hill, we traveled during the next day to Disneyland. We stopped in Huntington Beach to have dinner with the Gibsons and then spent two days at Disney--which is more than enough for me! Disney is awesome, but draining with two little kids:)

This is how we roll . . . a packed car, dvd player, and the ever important headphones!

First day at California Adventure . . . on our way to lunch with the princesses!

Lunch with the princesses was a huge hit again! The only problem was that Abby's favorite princess, Snow White, wasn't there. We spent the rest of our time hunting her down and finally got a picture with her at the end of our trip. Well worth the wait! Here's a picture with Belle, Jenna's favorite princess.

Cute sisters!

A pictures with Minnie all decked out in her Halloween dress!

(See the autograph book in Jenna's hand? My friend, Maria, makes them, and they are awesome and affordable. If you go to either Disneyland or Disneyworld, consider buying one from her! More details to come in the next post!)

Grandma and Abby

The Toy Story game in California Adventure was, by far, the favorite ride. We went on this ride a lot! Each player had to wear 3D glasses and got to shoot at video game type interactive screens throughout the game. Very fun! There's even a Wii game for this and I think we're going to ask Santa for it this year:)

And finally, Snow White! Abby was SO happy to finally get a picture with her!

Moving Day

The moving truck originally tried to back into our cul-de-sac, but it didn't work:) How huge is that truck?

boxes waiting to be packed on the truck!

Chuck and Jean, our vicar and his wife who moved into our house, kept the girls busy:)

Bye bye Hartke house! Can you believe it all fit in one third of that truck?

Leaving our house was very, very hard for Jenna.

Abby had an easier time, but wasn't so sure about all her stuff being put in that huge truck that was backing out of our street.

We were absolutely exhausted. Physically and emotionally. We ended up having dinner with our friends in Los Gatos and then got in the car to drive a little ways to get out of the city--on our way to Disneyland! We only made it to Morgan Hill:)

Last Sunday

I don't have many pictures of our last Sunday at Mount Olive, and the ones I do have include other people's kids. I generally don't post pictures of other people's kids, so I'll have to leave those out. But our last day at Mount Olive was hard . . . really hard.

Ironically, my friend, Julie moved one day before we did. She left that Sunday and in the craziness of all our packing, we didn't get a chance to say goodbye until the morning before church, so Julie and Lorraine (who was making the trip with her) stopped by before church to say goodbye. That's when I knew it would be a hard day . . .

We absolutely knew that accepting the call to New York was the right thing to do and we were excited about it, but that doesn't mean that we didn't grieve the loss of a great congregation and many people whom we loved. It was hard to watch our kids say goodbye to their friends and not fully understand what was going on. After church, there was a nice luncheon for us and people had a chance to tell funny stories or share some thoughts . . . it was awesome and we were overwhelmed by people of Mount Olive. Below is a picture of a formal "sending off" prayer. Our family was somewhere in the middle of all those people and everyone was connected in some way, praying for us as we finished our time at Mount Olive.

Overall, it was a very good day, but a difficult one. We are just thankful to have had such a great first congregation and know that God has wonderful things in store for the people of Mount Olive.

The Pumpkin Patch

I was done with work in the beginning of October and had the opportunity to go on the girls' fieldtrips to the Pumpkin Patch. I've realized one thing . . . I am a pumpkin patch snob. I hesitated to even tell you about my frustration with the pumpkin patches in California, as not to offend my CA friends who only know these kinds of patches, but I just have to tell you about it.

First, our trips were great. I love chaperoning fieldtrips, and we had a great time. Second, I know that not all pumpkin patches in CA are either A) set up in a parking lot with jumpy houses and hay to cover the lined parking spots or B) set up in a field where there are no pumpkins growing in sight. I know that REAL pumpkin patches exist in CA. I just found them hard to find and our preschool happened to not go to those in the past two years:)

My beef with the pumpkin patches we encountered in CA is that they are fake. I am a big fan of pumpkins that are actually still in the field. I want to get my shoes muddy when I go out to pick my pumpkin. I want to see all kinds of pumpkins: perfectly round ones, distorted ones, green ones, and really ugly bumpy ones. In CA, all the perfectly shaped, small pumpkins were laid out on the neatly lines haystacks for the kids to pick up. There was no mess and there wasn't even a hayride. The kids rode on tractor, but there was no hay and they just rode around an empty field which happened to go right next to the highway. How can pumpkin patches be next to the highway?

Okay, I'm done with my mini-rant about the awful pumpkin patches we encountered in the past two years. We really did have a good time . . . really!

Abby's not too sure about the peacock in the cage.

Jenna's not too sure either!

Apology

I am so sorry that I have been such a bad blogger lately. I fully realize that I have not posted many pictures since all the craziness of our transition began. Not to worry though . . . a flurry of new posts are coming in the next few days:)

Baby # 3 is on the way!

Two kids. That was it for so long. We were absolutely only having two kids--for two reasons. 1) Having more than two kids when we lived in California just wasn't a possiblity for us. We were committed to putting the girls in private school because we weren't comfortable with our area public schools, and we most definitely coudn't afford three kids at a private school in the Bay Area. 2) I nearly went nuts having two so close together. Abby was/is such an active kid and having two little ones close to the same age was very challenging. The thought of one more made me crazy:)

When Nate accepted the call to NY, we agreed that we'd CONSIDER having another baby. Note the emphasis on the word consider. Really only because we COULD consider it. Living in California, we knew there was absolutely no way we could have another baby. We agreed that once we got to New York, got settled in life, and felt comfortable with our finances, we'd think about a baby.

During our last weeks in California and especially while we were on vacation, I really felt like two kids was it for us. I was comfortable with our family, I was kind of excited to look for a full-time teaching job (or maybe part-time, who knows), and excited to get more involved in activities outside of our home. And this is all really hilarious to me because that was the exact time that I was pregnant and I didn't know it!

The first test was negative and I was relieved. But I was still late, so I took another test and the line that indicated a positive result was so, so faint. Really, I couldn't tell if my mind was playing tricks on me or if it was really there. So I waited a few more days and then we got the for sure positive result. And in all honesty, it took me a few days to be okay with it.

I feel bad for even saying that because it's a baby . . . a blessing . . . who wouldn't be ecstatic? With Jenna and Abby, we had planned them. I was waiting for them and so happy when I knew they were arriving. But this baby wasn't planned and I has mixed emotions about having three kids. It only took me a few days to get over it and be really excited. I think I was just scared.

I was scared of our comfortable family life changing (but really, what's one more change. we did just move to NY). I somehow felt like having three kids was a bit frivolous--for us (this isn't a reference to anyone else but us). Many couples have one kid. Two isn't abnormal because two is what a lot of people do these days. It makes sense to have another baby so that your first one can have a sibling. But three, if you have three, you must really want more kids or a "big family" as I've heard. (and please no comments about having 8 kids here . . . Nate is the oldest of 8, but we are not going for that many. surgery to prevent that is in one of our futures!) And there are people out there who actually think that having more than two kids is a really, really bad thing. I won't go into that . . . but I just wasn't sure about three. A family of five can't fit at a four chaired McDonald's table. One person will have to ride by themselves at amusement parks . . . all stupid thoughts, but that's what went through my head. I just had an idea of what our family was and it changed in an instant.

But I am very, very excited to hold a little baby in my arms in the beginning of July and think that after he or she arrives, I won't be able to imagine our lives without this new little one. Jenna and Abby are so very excited! When I first told Abby, I said, "I have a baby in my tummy!" Abby said, "Well, who is it?" So funny! Jenna has been carrying around heavy things just to show me that she can help carry the baby when he/she comes. They are both hoping for a baby brother so daddy won't be so lonely in our family! All so cute!

I would appreciate prayers for a healthy baby:) I haven't had any nausea yet, which is crazy because with the girls, I was so sick by now. But I have been feeling that pregnancy tiredness and hunger, but that's it. So far, so good!

How was your trip?

That's a question I've been answering a lot, so here's the answer . . .

I have so many pictures to post from our trip, but don't have them all downloaded yet, so this will kind of have to be out of order. I thought of so many blog posts on during our trip, but didn't have Internet access most nights we just got it here at the apartment yesterday!

Here is an update of what has happened in the past few weeks:

Our trip to Disneyland and San Diego was awesome! Tiring, but so wonderful. If my kids could have spent their entire time at the Toy Story 3D game in California Adventure, I think they would have. We attended the princess lunch again at Ariel's Grotto, and that was awesome . . . all except the fact that Snow White wasn't there that day and we had one very disappointed Abby. So we spent the rest of our time figuring out how we could see her. More on that later.

Most people would think that five days in the car with kids would be excrutiatingly difficult, but we actually enjoyed the trip a lot. Portable dvd players + headphones + new Barbie Three Musketeers movie = hours of quietness in the van. We had a ton of movies with us, but they watched that one the majority of the time. We made pit stops and let them pick out candy at the gas station once a day, so that was a nice bargaining tool for good behavior:) Overall, it was a nice, relaxing trip. Five days was certainly enough though!

We arrived in Orchard Park last Thursday, and Nate left for PLI on Saturday morning, so we didn't get a lot of unpacking done. He's home now and we are rocking and rolling on getting this place to feel more like home. The girls have both started school . . . both really loved it and seem to be jumping right into it. Jenna is a little sad and is missing her friends, but I expected that. Abby's way of dealing with the transition seems to be through bad behavior, but we're working on that and each day is getting better. She needs structure and a schedule, which is something we haven't had much of lately. We're taking this transition day by day and being positive about the good things here in NY, but remembering the good in CA. So far, so good.

The biggest surprise came during our vacation in Southern California:) I am pregnant. Yep . . . preggo, bun in the oven, new redhead on the way, three kids under six, not planned . . . we're having a baby! See the next post for details . . . .

Always an Adventure

My friend, Cindy, calls most everything in life an adventure. Good things are adventures, bad things are adventures, and things that aren't planned are most certainly adventures to Cindy.

Today was an adventure . . . it was packing/moving day for us and I am so, so happy it is over. I am happily indulging in the Internet in a hotel room while the rest of the family sleeps. The adventure all started when the driver of our moving van (who was awesome) said, "so it looks like we're packing more than six boxes!"

What? Seriously? Our arrangement was for us to pack everything except the breakables. Apparently "breakables" has a different meaning for me than it did for the lady to made these arrangements. So our driver, Steve, thought he was coming in to pack only six boxes of "breakables." They packed for two hours. I mean, come on . . . breakables include the entire kitchen, all pictures, and fragile things we didn't want to pack.

And while I'm thinking of it, I'd like to send a huge thank you to Jean, Mount Olive's vicar's wife. She is awesome and helped me clean the house she is about to move into:)

Anyway, at about 5:00, we took the girls upstairs to say goodbye to their rooms. Abby blew her room a kiss and walked out the door. Jenna, on the other hand, was very emotional. She didn't want to go and was very sad about leaving. She curled up into a heap on her bedroom floor and kissed her carpet until I had to pick her up and take her out--both of us crying the whole time.

We ended up having dinner with our dear friends, the Bomanns, and in the middle of a conversation with Mark, I realized that we left Alison, the purple Beta fish, that has been a part of our lives for many years, in the kitchen cabinet.

Yes, I forgot the fish. I put her in the cabinet so the packers wouldn't get her, and I forgot to take her out. Thinking quickly on his feet, Mark piped up and offered to "mail" Alison to us in New York:)

So, I have to find a home for the real Alison back in California and find a purple look-alike Alison in New York:)

Always an adventure!

Planned Hiatus

I won't be around the blogosphere for a few weeks, and I won't be posting to the blog until we arrive in New York. The moving van comes tomorrow, and we are taking off for Disneyland! We are going to spend a few days in San Diego too and then off to the cross country trek to Orchard Park, NY!

As soon as we get everything set up, I'll give you lots of updates, but until then, know that I am on planned hiatus:)

Cashin' In

Today marks a milestone. Jenna lost her first tooth at school today! I was certain is was going to come out today, because it was hanging by a thread, but she wouldn't let us touch it. I was very relieved to know that it had fallen out at school today so she would be done worrying about it:)

Since she came home, we've had several interesting conversations about the tooth fairy and what exactly happens after you lose a tooth. Here are a few things that I have learned from Jenna:

--The tooth fairy takes all the kids' teeth, plants them, and then they grow into big beautiful flowers.

--The tooth fairy only comes at night when you are sleeping and tiptoes very quietly into your room.

--You must put your name on the envelope that contains the lost tooth, or she will forget whose tooth is whose. She's apprently very forgetful.

--The tooth fairy has a lot of money. Jenna heard that she pays somewhere between $5 to $10 per tooth!

. . . which leads me to her next revelation. Jenna thought that she should start wiggling all her teeth so that she could get lots of money from the tooth fairy and buy some toys that she's been eyeing.

Yep . . . cashin' in on the tooth fairy!

We'll see how much the tooth fairy actually leaves tonight!

I Wish

that I could write exactly what I was feeling on my blog. I really do. I wish that I could just write and write and write about all the hard things and the awesome things that fill my days. Especially now . . . emotions are running high. There are so many frustrations and joys that I would love to theraputically purge onto this page, but I can't. I don't get to do that because it's not fair to the people it involves.

But, oh, how I'd love to be selfish for just a few minutes and type away the struggles. For me, there's something freeing in writing or talking about the things that weigh me down.

I am just not comfortable with putting stuff out there on my blog for anyone to see . . . knowing that it could be hurtful to some people . . . even if it was true. I think people create blogs for different reasons, and some people are comfortable with the purge of emotions--it's authentic and real, but it can hurt people too. Mine is to stay connected with family and friends and have a record of events from our lives. I love to blog, but I have limits as to what I will and can write because it's not fair to anyone for me to open up my thoughts and feelings for all to see. I wouldn't do that in front of a large crowd of our friends . . . I just can't do it here.

Although sometimes I really want to. I guess I just need an outlet. Nate should be home in 8 hours:)

Chalkboard Communication

Apprently, there is a new form of communication in our house . . . the chalkboard. In the past 24 hours, Jenna has decided to use her chalkboard to tell me that she is upset with me. For example, when I told her that we couldn't go to Target to get a kite today, this is what she held up to my face . . .

And when I told her to finish her milk, she wrote a sign that said, "No Mom!" Sorry I don't have a picture of that one.

At least she's creative!

To Flu Shot or Not To Flu Shot?

I have been leary of the flu shot for a long time. I obsess about it for weeks during the flu shot season . . . I go back and forth between thinking that there is no way I am going to get a vaccine for something that probably won't happen to me and thinking about the extreme guilt I'd feel if one of my kids got really sick with the flu and I hadn't taken them to get the flu shot.

Jenna, Abby, and I have had a flu shot every year since I was pregnant with Jenna. The guilt always wins out, but not before I obsess about it and wait until the very, very last day to get one.

But this year, I was one of the first ones in line to get the flu shot when it was offered by our health care provider. And I even made Nate come:)

Why this turn around? So glad you asked:) Last year, Nate got the flu. Not a 24 hour fever with some chills, but the full blown "I can't get out of bed for five days because I am exhausted, achy, and feverish" flu that immediately went to pneumonia that took two rounds of antibiotics to get rid of. I have never seen him so sick. It wasn't the flu that scared me, but the pneumonia that was so dangerous. He got so sick so fast. And after he was cleared up, he still had to use an inhaler because fluid kept building up in his lungs. Fun stuff:)

Now that we've seen the effects of the regular flu and that Nate is more susceptible to pneumonia because he's had it, I marched all four of us to the dr's office to get the flu shot.

I'm interested in hearing other people's thoughts on the flu shot . . . and also the swine flu shot. Are you going to get it? Why or why not?

I am not sure what we are going to do about the swine flu shot. A part of me isn't comfortable with the fact that it is so new and hasn't been tested for long enough to make sure it's safe, but the other part of me doesn't like the idea of death associated with the swine flu. I know it's rare, but if it's "safe" like the seasonal flu shot, than why not?

My mind isn't made up yet, but I really want to know what you all think about it.

Feel free to comment!

Yep, I'm still alive!

You know that you are behind in life when no one has socks, underwear, or lunch for tomorrow. That's where I was this morning, hence the break in blogging. We have been so incredibly busy here, that I can't even keep up with the necessities, let alone my blog!

But I am getting caught up. As we speak, a load of laundry is being washed, I went grocery shopping and have food for tomorrow, and I have a few minutes to sit down and give you all an update:)

Moving is a huge task. We have not actually started to pack boxes yet, but we are almost there and getting to that point has been just as busy. We've had moving company estimates, school registrations, spending hours trying to figure out where we are going to live! And this is all from the west coast. By the time I'm up, the people on the east coast are ready for lunch! That makes it hard to make plans, especially with me working in the mornings.

Friday was my official last day of work and so now I am focusing on our transition. Packing has not been a good thing for our marriage in our past moves:) Nate and I don't usually agree on how to pack and arguments surrounding packing up our stuff usually transpire. But so far, so good. We are still married and hope to come out unscathed come October 27th when we shove off.

So we leave on Oct. 27th. We are going to take a short vacation in Southern California--which includes Disneyland and San Diego! Yay! Please don't mention this to Jenna and Abby though, they don't know the Disney part yet, and I don't feel like hearing "when do we go to Disneyland for 22 more days." We'll tell them closer to our departure date:) Then we make the long trek from San Diego to Orchard Park, NY. Fun:) Actually, Nate and I love car trips. I don't know if we'll love car trips after this one, but we've planned enough time so that we aren't driving too long each day and we can get out and let the girls have some fun along the way.

Another huge piece to this move is housing--both here and there. I am incredibly relieved to know that we have a place to go to once we leave here:) We will be renting a two bedroom apt., temporarily while things with our house here in CA get figured out. I am very excited about less cleaning and no yard work--particularly no snow removal this winter.

We own approximately half of our house here in CA. Our church owns the other half. That makes this situation very difficult when our house has lost so much money in the downturn. We still don't know what will happen with our house. We are still figuring it out with the church. We are all trying to do what is in the best interest of all of us, and that is hard. Really hard. So living in an apt. gives us some time to figure it out, and I am more than okay with that.

So that's the general update . . . we have had some of our dearest friends, the Woltemaths, in town for the past few days and we've had a few adventures that I'll share later. For now, I have a washer to unload, some underwear and socks to wash, and some peanut butter and jelly to make for lunch:)

Sweet Sisters