Farewell to Ohio

I have been dreading the move from Ohio for a long time, yet also looking forward to moving back to Utah.  I feel like I said goodbye to my friends about a million times and I kept feeling sadder and sadder as E and Sammi had their last playdates with their little buddies.  I cried a lot.  Luckily we did a lot of fun last things, and soaked up our time in our cute little house.

Here are the puppies pretending to take naps.  I love how clever they think they are to be pretending.  They didn't pretend too long though because they were worried I would make them stay there.  I'm mean like that.

 Here is Sammi with her best friends, Boomer and Kay.  They lived next door to us and were so good to us.  One of my favorite things about Ohio was sitting out on our back porch in the evenings and chatting with Kay while Sammi went back and forth between playing with Boomer and sitting on Kay's lap.  Kay likes the same shows I do and is always up for chatting about Sister Wives and My Big Fat American Gypsy Wedding.  (Confessions, anyone?)

 Sammi and "Ruff-Ruff"

 This is how I like to think of my girl-- On her third bowl of cereal, wearing her shades, bananas untouched.

 Thinking she's big stuff on the swings at Homestead Park

 This is Emerson's favorite outfit these days.  Did you know that boots and a John Deere hat go with absolutely everything?  Well to E they do.  He makes us refer to him as "The Cowboy" or "The Puppy" or "The Train" or "The Lifter Truck" depending on what he is being that day.  He also refers to himself in the third person all day every day.  For example, "The Cowboy misses his mommy."

It's so bright outside!

 The adventurers

 Here is a picture of the four buddies in our neighborhood.  It's hard to believe that four years ago E was only 4 months old, and Taylee was 16 months old and Mathis and Sammi weren't even around!  These kids look so big.

 Here are E and Tuck (with Grayson in the background) on their last playdate.  (I stole this from your blog, Britni!)  It makes me tear up every time E asks for Tucker.  They have been buddies their whole lives!

 Sammi in her favorite spot in the house.  She went in the pantry whining for a snack and she got a big surprise when it was all cleaned out.

 Our last picture before we moved away from 4771 Perlman Street.

 We've loved this house and have so many memories.

It made me cry to see it empty, but I started crying the hardest when I vacuumed the kids' room for the last time.  

It sounds funny to cry about vacuuming, but I think it's just because this is the only house my kids have ever known and we've grown so much as a family here.  We've met and grown close to so many amazing people who have taught us so much.  We're so happy to be close to our families again, but it felt like we were moving away from our family too when we left Ohio.  Thanks everyone for being our family away from home.  We miss you dearly.

Where to Start?

We have had quite the busy month, and it isn't over yet.  We thought we had sold our house in Ohio and eagerly awaited the closing date until we found out that the property management company failed to file some important paperwork on behalf of the whole neighborhood, so it is no longer FHA-approved.  This caused us to lose our sellers and have to leave our home behind empty, just praying someone will buy it.  We're still holding out hope that someone will want it.  We've had quite a few showings since then, but no buyers yet.

We had been going a little bit crazy with packing, packing, and more packing, but my dear friends tended my kids LOTS and helped me in so many other ways.  I'm so lucky to have such sweet friends.  We had a few last hurrahs sprinkled in there and I shed a few (a lot) of tears at the thought of leaving all of them.  We're really going to miss our neighborhood and our ward.

We packed up our huge truck, cleaned and painted like crazy, and sent Ben and his Dad on their way while the kids and I flew on the airplane instead.  I was very happy with that choice, and I don't regret it one bit.  A cross-country drive would be a little bit of a nightmare with them.

We moved into our new house in Provo and our awesome new neighbors helped unload the truck in a flash.  Our families helped us get things unpacked and organized and tended the kids for us. I think we're going to enjoy our new neighborhood a lot.

Just days after moving in, we left the kids and went on our graduation trip, a cruise to the Western Caribbean.  Much more on that later!  Unfortunately our kids were sick and throwing up pretty much the whole time we were gone, which was exactly what my worst nightmare was.

And lastly, in 2 more days I will be flying back to Columbus with my parents to meet up with Ben for Medical School Graduation.  I can't believe we are really at this point.  I'm sure pictures will follow of that too. :)

Family Pictures 2012

 We had our pictures taken by the lovely Tamara Jacobs.  I really wanted them in front of the Ohio barn before we move away.  We will miss Ohio a lot!

Preschool Program

 This little guy had a "Special Friends Day" at preschool.  I guess they had to be politically correct so as not to discriminate against those that don't have parents.  Losers.  Couldn't call it "Parents' Day".

We got to watch a slide show of the kids throughout the year while we were waiting for everyone to arrive.  It was fun to see how much bigger they've gotten.  I did notice that Emerson had two picture attempts every time he appeared in the slide show.  That's the way he rolls.  Can't make a normal face, so I'm left deciding which is the best of what I've got.  I guess the preschool teachers haven't learned the art of discrimination yet.

We got to make a fish craft (like a craft of a fish...not with fish.)  My child hates crafts of all kinds so I got to hone my foam-cutting skills with those safety scissors.  I sort of felt like the preschool teachers were judging me as my child stared off into space while I made a perfect fish craft.  I just know they were thinking, "Well that's why he doesn't know how to use scissors.  She is such a control freak that she won't even let him hold them!  Look at her!"  I invited Emerson to participate several times, but he very politely declined with a "No, thank you" every time.

After I proudly finished my fish craft, the kids sang all their songs from the year for us.  They included You Are My Sunshine, The Days of the Week, The Months of the Year, I'm Bringing Home a Baby Bumblebee, etc.  Emerson was an absolute stinker.  I don't know what my face looked like, but I was dying inside.  I didn't know whether to laugh or be mortified.  He thought he was living on the edge and being very clever when he started singing the word "not" before everything.  "I'm NOT bringing home a baby bumblebee, won't my mommy NOT be so proud of me..."  And he beamed while doing it.  Just as pleased as punch with himself. 

I wish I would've had my video camera.  I'm sorry to all those parents who brought video cameras to film their children and ended up not being able to watch them because my son was so entertaining (read: naughty).  He knew all the words and was doing pretty well until we reached new lows of pelvic thrusts.  See here:

I DON'T KNOW WHERE HE LEARNED THIS!  Anyone who knows Ben and me knows we are not dancers, nor do we pretend to be.  Oh well, I guess it was memorable.  He thought he did a great job and was really happy I came.  So was I.  Despite his silliness I was very proud of my little guy.

Kentucky

 We took a little trip last weekend to Louisville, Kentucky to see Mammoth Cave and the Thunder Over Louisville air show and fireworks.  We had a great time, and the drive even wasn't too bad!

We decided to go on the Historic Cave Tour and we were glad we selected that one because there weren't too many closed-in spaces.  I had a couple minor panic attacks but had to remind myself that if I passed out I would still be in the cave when I woke up, so that I needed to get over it and keep moving.  We made it through.  I just get very claustrophobic.  The kids thought it was great though and they were good for the whole 2-hour tour. I was just praying that Sammi wouldn't decide to fill her pants and that I didn't hear those horrid words, "Mommy! I need to go potty!" because there would have been absolutely no place to go.  We heard those words later when we were far from any bathroom but luckily out of the cave.  E was very quick to volunteer to "go wet in the grass like at camping."  Don't you fret, we didn't let him.

Entering the cave

 Sitting in the amphitheater inside.  They had us all sit and then they turned out the lights so we could tell how dark it was.  It was so dark you could feel the darkness and couldn't even see your hand in front of your face.

 That night we enjoyed a ton of food at the Claudia Sanders Dinner House and survived with all four kids.  The next day was the day the boys (and I mean the big boys) were excited for.  They were pretty excited for the cave too...did I mention this was a boy-planned trip?  Us girls were good sports.

It was pretty fun to people watch where we were sitting.  The air show attracts the kind of people you would find at a state fair.  It was pretty dang cold, but we had a good time and only had to brave the nasty port-a-potties a couple times. 

 Ben caught this candid moment.  I know it looks cheesy, but I'm really going to miss this lady.

 Sammi LOVED the airplanes.  She would scream and giggle with glee each time they flew over, and would yell "air-pane!"  E was just excited to have a Lunchable for dinner...although he appreciated a few of the planes and every single one of the fireworks.

Did I mention it was cold? The good part was that the kids were snuggly.  It's not often that they hold still long enough for a good snuggle these days.

After the late firework show we made the long LONG walk back and both kids were asleep within seconds.  Then we headed back for a second night at the hoe-n-tel. (Or hotel.  I hope E never stops saying it that way.)

Easter

 I realize this is super late, but we did celebrate Easter around here.  I was curious to see how Sammi was going to do with the eggs and the dye and all that, but I didn't ever get a chance to find out because she konked out right before we started.  So we successfully transferred her to her bed for a long, sound sleep.

 My favorite part growing up was dropping the color tablets into the vinegar.  I'm pretty sure my siblings and I fought over this.

E knew just what to do with the egg dipper!

 We broke a few, so E got to eat one...of course he couldn't pick it up like a normal boy though. :)

Easter morning.  They both have their father's slitty morning eyes.

 I loved watching this little body crouch down to gather the eggs.  We would've gotten pictures of E, but he was too speedy.

 The baskets.

The children with their spoils.

E was too sick with croup to go to church that day, but here is Sammi in her beautiful Easter dress.  She knew she was beautiful, too, because she pretty much floated around once she was wearing her dress.