Uncle Ken

I woke up this morning to get a call from my mom.  My Uncle Ken passed away.

Uncle Ken, Dad
Aunt Bernice, Aunt Valene

Growing up, he was like a second dad to me.  I loved, loved, loved to see my Uncle Ken and Aunt Nancy.  We would go to their house for a weekend and we (me and my sister who ALWAYS had to go to bed earlier than everyone else.  wonder why?)  would fall asleep in one of the beds to wake up on the floor in the living room.  We would play cards.  We would play with their dog (I remember feeding Skippy peanuts one time.  Loved that dog!)  Aunt Nancy would cook (we loved it when she came to our house - she would cook and clean the kitchen).  Uncle Ken was my protector from my cousin Brent.  I lived with them for a few weeks before and after college started.  I would drink their nasty diet drinks because that is all they had.  Good memories.

In their old house, they had stairs going up and stairs going down right next to each other.  Brent had my half-way up the stairs pretending to throw me over the edge to the other stairs.  I was so scared and I remember screaming and crying.  Uncle Ken made Brent stop and then I sobbed and sobbed on Uncle Ken's shoulder.

I was told that when I was little, I doted on Uncle Ken.  My parents told me it was hilarious - as soon as they would walk in the door I would ask Uncle Ken what he wanted.  I would get him drinks.  I would get him food.  I would do whatever he wanted me to do.

I am going to miss that man!

School!

I have to admit - I'm not one of those parents who are sad to see their kids go off to school.  I'm jumping for joy!

But I'm also not a stay-at-home mom.  I am a mom who hates to see her kid home all day with not a lot to do.  And I'm a mom who was paying $100 a week for daycare and hated to pay so much when my son was the one watching the other kids.  (We pulled him from day care a couple of years ago - so that equals a lot of time home alone until he met Brandon.)

Anywho, I love school.

Until the first day of homework and then I'm pulling my hair out.

And that first day of homework just happened to be the first day of school.  Yuck.

Now, it wouldn't be so bad if my son didn't have issues.  But he does.  So, 5 math problems turned into 25 minutes.  I won't even go into the writing assignment that didn't get done.

It didn't help that Ster was tired.  And that he wanted to play with his best friend and his best friend can't play in the evenings now.  (He was more than a tad upset that he wouldn't be able to play with Brandon until Friday)

Now I'm on the countdown until Christmas break!

One Year

One year ago, we made a major decision that changed our lives for the better.  I can't believe it has already been a year!  This time last year we were waiting to hear back from Ivory Homes on whether or not they accepted our offer for our house. 

Two years ago I had fallen in love with an Ivory Home house plan called the "Mapleton" and we almost signed on the dotted line.  But we just couldn't do it.  For a 1575 (Main level) square foot house on half an acre, we were looking at $275,000 (and that did not include granite countertops and have vinyl flooring).  I loved that plan but it just didn't feel right.  (Side note:  that house plan on a smaller lot would have been $310,000 now)

Then last year, after the incident with our neighbors, we knew it was time to move - and Tim once again took me to an Ivory Homes salesman to look at a house.  I did not want a two-story house (which this was), nor did I want a corner lot (which this was) nor was I going to spend $330,000 on a house.  At that point, I didn't even think I wanted to build a house - all the landscaping work and fencing expenses was not something I wanted.

But we walked thru the model home (the "Tivoli") while waiting for our salesman.  And then the thought of building wasn't such a bad idea.  I mean, I had loved the "Mapleton" and it was an option for us.  As we wandered thru the house I slowly grew to love the Tivoli - the floor plan, the openness, the BATHROOM.  This house is 400 square feet larger on both levels and is absolutely perfect!

And so our journey began.  We put in our offer and waited for it to be accepted.  Our salesman laughed because the first time he saw me smile was when I signed on the dotted line - I was so resistant to the idea and finally just had to let my fear of change go and make the plunge (I mean, I knew at that point it was okay for us to move - fasting had given me that answer).  While waiting for the acceptance, I kept changing my mind on which house to build - we didn't need anything this big (our house has 1960 square feet on the main level) nor did we need to spend so much money (yes, it was well over what I wanted to spend, which was no more than $300,000).  I would change my mind (driving Tim crazy) but I just never felt comfortable with the decision until I would throw my arms up in the air and say "Okay the Tivoli it is" and then peace would come back.


One year later and we are all settled into our home (there are several unpacked boxes downstairs still - but obviously we don't need them).

We love it here.  We love our ward.  We love love love our neighbors.

Life is good.