Birthday week

This week has been full of fun and wonderful times for our family. We started out the week celebrating Jacob's birthday. I ordered him the Magic Flute cd online, but found out it wasn't estimated to come after his birthday. Anyways, I really wanted him to have something to unwrap so Jonathan and I went on a Birthday shopping trip to downtown (Claire came too). It was very successful, except I couldn't find anything awesome enough and affordable enough to give Jacob, but then  we came across this huge used book store called "The Book Buyers." It was just chalk full of great books! Jonathan wanted to give Jacob a fish book and we found a good one. We also found a great little shark book and two little comic-books I thought he might like. All of this for less then fifteen dollars!
We walked home to find that the package had come early and Jacob would get all his presents!

I prepped the cake (We have both always wanted to try/make baked Alaska), but ran out of time to make dinner, so when he got home we ordered Chinese food and had a wonderful dinner followed by our baked Alaska! Jacob had the first turn.
 

Then we got to facetime with Jacob's family and had a some of his nieces and nephew singing "Happy Birthday."
The rest of the week included Jonathan wearing my hat all day

 Claire being beautiful and occasionally standing on her own  for seconds at a time.

I got beautiful drawings and a letter from my niece!

Then my parents cam to visit! It was wonderful! Jacob and I were able to go to the Oakland Temple for the first time while my parents babysat. It was the first time we  had someone babysit Claire for a long time. Then we went to the kite park, where my dad taught us how to fly our kite and Jonathan and my mom searched for ladybugs. After we went to Mongolian BBQ for a belated birthday dinner. Jonathan and his grandpa became best friends, with Jonathan asking for him to read to him every chance he had. The best thing was after my parents babysat, Claire would go to my mom  and not cry when I left! Anyways, here pictures of the time at the Kite park.

Kites and Toddlers

I love Saturdays! Jacob's off work so I can sleep in (or at least pretend to sleep in), get a break from the kids, and Jacob always helps me get the house clean. To top it all off we usually get to do something fun as a family. Its my favorite day.
Well, Today was pretty great as far as Saturday's go. Jacob tried to take Claire in the morning, but that little mommy's girl kept crawling over to our bedroom door yelling "mom." I tried to sleep anyways, but finally accepted I wasn't going to get more sleep. It was really sweet though, because when I came out Claire just sat in my lap cuddling and when Jonathan woke-up, he wanted to cuddle with me too while Jacob did cleaned up the kitchen and front room for me. I felt very loved.
Later, Jonathan was being an amazing big brother and playing nicely and singing  to his sister. Unfortunately, it ended with him showing his sister how to draw fish and sharks on our coach! We were not pleased with this development, but luckily it wasn't permanent marker and we were able to wash the cover and get the drawings out. Actually, I kinda felt sad about getting rid of his drawings because it was one of the best fish he's ever drawn and he drew it supper fast too.
I did, however, take a picture so everyone could see how good it was.

Later, we went on a family bike ride, which Claire sadly did not like :-/ I think her brother and being tired may have contributed to her not liking it though.
Then we had a picnic play-date with some new friends at the kite park. It was so fun. Jonathan also charmed some older girls who decided to  take him under there wing.  I also made this awesome dessert Jacob calls "Eclair Casserole" and I call "Mer de' Claire." it's just lady finger cookies layered with pastry cream and chocolate. I think  it is my new favorite.
Anyways, these new family friends are really amazing and I learned something about being Christlike from spending time with them today which is: It's not enough to just be nice to people. If you really want to love others you need to be interested and actively aware of what that person's goals or values are. For example, I casually mentioned to her the first time I saw her that I wanted to learn to be more fashionable. Ever since, she has made a point to complement me on something I tried fashion-wise every time she has seen me. That is what the savior was like, he identified what was important to those he interacted with and cared about it with them. Now, I just need to learn to open my heart to others a bit more then I thought I had too.
Now to end this blog here's a picture of what Claire likes to do before she sleeps,

sit with her dad and suck her toes!

On a Rampage

If you haven't watched "Howl's Moving Castle" you should because it's one of my all time favorite movies. Anyways, it has this great line when the heroine is cleaning and a little boy is addressing a customer waiting, he says "Come back later. there's a witch on a rampage in there."

That kinda describes me this afternoon except I was unpacking books. We have been in our home for three plus weeks and we had not unpacked all our books. Now it has been three months since we have seen these books, and today I decided enough was enough.
----> quick back-story on the emotions behind this. I had packed the books back in January when we thought we were going to be moving. When that fell through I refused to unpack, so the books just sat there in boxes until we really did move. Then we had no place to put them so they stayed in the boxes until we could afford real bookshelves...then we had to set-up said shelve and then we needed to anchor them to the wall so our daughter doesn't kill herself when she inevitably tries to climb one in the not to distant future. Well, we anchored one but needed more dry wall screws to anchor the other.
I started just unpacking some books to put on the anchored bookshelves when I decided I was sick of boxes and wanted them all out of my sight. So I decided to put all the books in piles and get rid of the boxes, but guess how well piles work with two kids. Anyways, several "mom, read me this one" moments later our living room now looks like this

and you know what even though it's a mess, I am so happy to have our books back. Also, I love that Jacob and I are both mild book hoarders because we have some fun books. Also for those of you who are like, what's with this girl not capitalizing things that should be capitalized... here is a picture of my keyboard

Now be amazed.

zero to sixty

For the past four years our family has had to be concerned about money to pay for the necessities. All the sudden that constant worry has been lifted. It is so surreal. Also, we are now living in a family friendly community where other couples actually have children! So I've decided I am going to gloat and give you a list of why our lives rock right now!

1. We finally got over being sick... mostly. We don't have any long term health worries, and the main family back home worries seem to be resolved(ing) too.
2. I made an awesome roast chicken last night
3. We live in a clean 2 bedroom duplex with our own garage, washer/dryer, dishwasher, big kitchen and backyard!
4. There are so many other families here.
5. I have NOT been asked if my kids are twins, been given unwanted parenting critiques from people who didn't have or aren't raising children, or been gawked at for having not one but two young children.
6. I get to go garage-sale shopping Saturday
7. We have four new chairs that match our table
8. Jacob's company leased car is this
9. . I am close to a really good library that has a huge children's, media, and music section
10. . next to said library is a great park
11. Jonathan has found friends quickly
12. Claire is still is 'Ooo'ed and 'awed' over (she is cute)
13. We have a great internet service that isn't evil
14. I get to buy produce here:
15. I have a dreams come true marriage and smart, kind children
16. central heating
17. I got a bike and a bike trailer for a great price (pics to come)
18. Our mail has NOT been stolen
19. For the first time in my life I am going running with my husband and not hating it!
20. family is coming to visit soon and Jonathan got to facetime with someone he missed and was happier after.
21. My husband likes his job

Okay so that just 21 reasons our lives are on the up and up.

Friends!

I guess I have made it pretty obvious that I have been homesick for LA friends and AZ family. Well, this week we were a bit healthier, so Jonathan and I set out to make friends. now, I am going to tell you an overly dramatized, mostly true with some not as true spice, story of this week's friend finding venture. (it also has some personal stuff, so deal with it) it begins, on Easter. Our family,stepped into the back of the church examining the hoards of people. Somewhere, I thought, amidst this sea of strangers are some of our future friends. I was confident in my ability to be engaging and talk to new people and have people lined up to be friends... at least until it came down to actually having to be engaging, learning names and being confident. After the main sacrament meeting was over, all those confident thoughts went out the window and I went back to wanting to just hide. Jacob and I took Jonathan to primary and even after Jonathan adjusted to the new class, I kept wanting to just stay there with him so I won't have to be with the adults, but Jacob managed to convince me to come to class with him, using his manly charms (its like feminine whiles with more testosterone and less cleavage). Anyways, I just joked and cuddled with him the whole Sunday school, and then I insisted we make sure Jonathan was happy (secretly, hoping I would have to go sit with him, but that boy is amazing and was doing great). Then time came for Relief Society. The only seats open were in the front row. I introduced myself as is tradition and then talked with a nice pregnant women who told me about a music group some mothers did on Wednesday (which was just what I was looking for). Then that was it. Monday and Tuesday I tried to say hi to my neighbors, whenever, I saw them, but mostly just tried to keep the children happy and put away a box when I could. Then came the Wednesday music class. Jonathan was super excited, and I was too. I had woken up feeling I just needed another mom to really talk with, so we arrived 10 mins. early. I kind of felt like the main character in "Mean Girls" when she goes to the Halloween party wearing a scarey witch costume instead of a slutty nurse costume...except everyone was modest and it wasn't really anything like that movie. (because really Hollywood! Normal teenage girls aren't actually like that. At least not the ones I knew... except for the slutty costume thing that's kinda true). My point is, I was a little homesick before the music class, but being there just made my homesickness 10x worse. It was a small group, the set-up wasn't quite as fun for the kids as the LA music maker group, and I just wasn't feeling 'at home.' That being said, Jonathan had a great time and made friends easily. He even stood-up in a gentle manner to some bullying and was hugged by the girl afterwards. (I am so proud of him) Also, there was one mother (a dancer) who did talk to me and I thought she was pretty cool. Despite the nice things, however, I left trying not to get teary in front of anyone. My imagined goal of instantly having a best friend did not come true. I was very close to buying a ticket to Phoenix, if it didn't cost so much. but then, like a little spark of light in my spirit, I remembered this super nice girl who had managed an apartment we looked at (who was a friend of a friend I had had in high school and a little in college that happened to also have moved up here). She had a daughter just younger than Jonathan who had acted like best friends as soon as they saw each other and a son a few months older than Claire. She had seemed really awesome when we meet with her to see the apartment, so I decided to text her. It wasn't an hour latter she texted me back and we set up a play date for the next day. ---Gaw this is getting long--- ---okay now the shorter version--- Thursday: Play-date went awesome! it was like our kids had always been friends and there was no awkwardness at all, even down to similar parenting styles. That afternoon, we were coloring with chalk in front of the house when my neighbor invited us over for coffee and a play-date for the kids on saturday. Homesickness abated. Friday: I tried the wards 'parkday' and it was :-/, but I realized that although I don't quiet fit in, that might be a good thing. Also, friendships take time, so of course I didn't have a friend in this group yet, and Jonathan had a good time... except some girls did try to boss him around again, but he didn't pay attention to them :-P Saturday: Neighbor turns out to be from Germany and works as a translator! She also made awesome cake and they have a beautiful backyard. Our husbands got along. Jonathan was rather tired and not that interested in playing with their girl, but had fun non the less. they were super great. So now, that's the story of how we started to make friends.

And we're... waiting

we're still trying to get the house in order and hoping to be able to get some furniture soon so the house can get unpacked all the way. The events of the past few days have included: Jonathan insisting that he doesn't need a shirt or pants, while I am trying to learn be more fashionable. Claire has discovering that chairs make good walkers, while I discovered this awesome store called "The Milk Pail" with organic pink lady apples for 99 cents/lb. Jacob is still waiting to get fully settled at work (we are amazing at 'getting lost' in systems, its a talent) but he loves it here. And a trip to IKEA, where we found furniture that will work in our new home, but couldn't transport/buy it yet. On a less fun note, both kids are still not sleeping well, but we are coming closer to feeling healthy again. Jonathan keeps praying that he can play with Hannah and Sophia back in LA which is not helping my homesickness. Jacob's German lessons are apparently going well, so now I just need to figure out how I can keep-up. He also mentioned that his co-workers talked about how it might be good to move to Munich for a few years in the far future. Normally, the idea of living abroad for a little-bit would sound exciting to me, but not when I am already feeling so far away from my family. Anyways, that's neither here nor now and isn't even a topic of conversation. hope you all are well. lots of love.