M.I.A.

Sorry I haven't been here much lately. We had lots of computer problems for a while, and then with the move I haven't had computer access. However, we're finally here in our new home! The unpacking is going slowly (as always) but progress is being made every day (every hour)!

So far, we're loving Lubbock. The weather is great, Megan loves her new school, and it is SO NICE to move someplace where you know at least 1 other person already (Angela, are you sick of me yet?). We haven't had that before!

Until the boxes are unpacked - at least mostly unpacked - I probably won't be blogging much, but I did want to let everyone know that we made it! I'm off to try and organize the basement. If we can get 1 designated "kid" area finished, it will make life so much easier!

The Facebook Phenomenon

Are you on Facebook? This is the biggest time-sucker that there is, but I'm addicted! My cousin, Kelli, invited me to join a few months ago. At first, I didn't know what the hell to do with it. Do you just write random, 1 sentence updates all of the time? Do you actually post pictures? What's the point, since it went through my email address book to find "friends" for me? (If they're in my email list, then they are already people that I keep in contact with at least a little.) Then, I found a friend from college who I had lost touch with. Very cool! Then another. Then another. What a great way to keep in touch!

My sister, Karen, just joined today (congratulations on having something else to obsess over)! I think that we're both a little behind the times, but we're here now! Lisa, time for you to join!

...at least we're not on Myspace, which seems to be the hub for 14-year-old girls.

An Interview with Megan & Hannah

This has been circling the Blogging world as well as Facebook. I thought it was funny, and I stole it from several of my friends who have already done it. I asked Megan (7) and Hannah (4) several interview questions about their beautiful, sweet Mom (what? I'm writing this, not you)! Their answers are sometimes very funny! First are Meg's answers, next are Hannah's.

1. What is something mom always says to you?
(Megan) NOW! (think she's heard that a few times?)
(Hannah) I love you.

2. What makes mom happy?
When I do what you say.
When I act nice.

3. What makes mom sad?
When I disobey (sense a theme?)
When I'm naughty (hmmm...)

4. What does your mom do to make you laugh?
tickles me and tells me jokes (I'm the world's worst joke teller)
tickles me

5. What was your mom like as a child?
the youngest (and still am!)
She was so excited to go to school.

6. How old is your mom?
31 (I expected her to get this right)
10

7. How tall is your mom?
I don't know
(measures me with her arms) - THIS tall!

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
read
go to Texas

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
read
takes Owen to the doctor (well, sometimes)

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
Being the best joke teller (ummm...only if people like lame knock-knock jokes)
for going to a show

11. What is your mom really good at?
giving me kisses
...before Hannah answered the rest, she made me wait for about 15 minutes while she went to make her hair pretty...
making cupcakes

12. What is your mom not very good at?
running - not at all! (well, at least she's truthful!)
doing this ballet twirl (the she shows me)

13. What does your mom do for a job?
watch us
takes care of me and Owen and Megan

14.What is your mom's favorite food?
corn
spinach pizza (close, I LOVE Red Rossa's margarita pizza with spinach, proscuitto & roasted garlic...YUM)

15. What makes you proud of your mom?
When she wins a game (???)
Didn't we already do this?

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
Candice - the bossy sister on Phineas and Ferb
Caillou's Mom

17. What do you and your mom do together?
watch movies in the basement
We go on Mommy dates to the playground at the mall.

18. How are you and your mom the same?
We're both girls.
We're both girls. (aren't they creative?)

19. How are you and your mom different?
She's bigger and I'm smaller.
You're favorite princess is Jasmine and mine is Cinderella.

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
She always gives me kisses and hugs.
You keep telling me every day.

21. What does your mom like most about your dad?
He entertains Owen.
He does a lot of stuff that you need him to do.

22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
Texas
Shopping

...and on that note, I hope you're all having a great week!

I've forgotten

We aren't novice movers by any means. When Kevin and I first got married, we lived in a little 1 bedroom apartment. After a year, we moved to a small 2 bedroom duplex (still in College Station). That's where Meg was born. After he finished grad school, we moved to Lake Dallas (that's where Hannah was born). We then moved to Abilene (where Owen was born) and then on to West Des Moines (where, thankfully, we had no more children). Why does it seem like I've totally forgotten about how moving is done? I can't imagine h ow to get everything done so quickly! I can't remember how to budget my time to get everything done while Kevin is out-of-town (because, of course, he's already started his new job) and still take care of the kids! Sleep? Who needs it! I'll be running on caffeine for the next month!


Thankfully, we found a great house to move into, in a nice area of Lubbock, close to our awesome friends, the Karnei family (who are probably sick of us following them around the country)! I guess, for better or worse, it will be over with in a month! Our closing date on our new house is March 31!

The Birthday Boy

No, it's not my husband or my son. The big birthday in the house today was Spencer, our dog!

We've had other dogs, but I've never had one whose birthday I ever remembered! I guess when it's also a national holiday, that helps! On Valentine's Day, Spencer turned 8 years old. I remember telling Kevin, not too long after we got married (when our dog, Bailey, had to go live on my in-laws farm because she ate our kitchen tiles), that I wanted either a baby or a puppy. The puppy won out (but it wasn't long after when I found myself pregnant with Meg). We searched and searched for the right kind of dog for our family. After being told wrong information about our last dog (who got twice as big as they told us she would) we decided to get a pure-blood dog so we could be pretty sure of their temperament and size. The West Highland White Terrier (Westie) won out. It doesn't hurt that they are adorable, too! Spencer is a mess sometimes, but he is definitely a part of the family. He loves (and puts up with a lot from) the kids, and they love him. "Dog" has been one of the first words from each of them. I never thought of myself as an animal person before he joined our family, and I'm still not sure that I am. I am, however, a Spencer person! Happy birthday, sweet puppy!

I hope y'all all had a nice Valentine's Day! We don't typically do much to celebrate the day. Maybe a card. I was super surprised when I got a huge bunch of tulips (my favorites!) delivered on the 13th! I totally wasn't expecting it! Trust me, they're gorgeous (since I'm not on my own computer, I can't upload the pictures). I made a special dinner for the family (steak, bacon wrapped scallops, rice pilaf & garlic roasted broccoli - YUM) and we just hung out together. Maybe not the most romantic of days, but I was with all of the people who I love the most, and I'll take that any day!

Ready or not, here we come!

I am still having computer problems (well, I'm not at the moment, since the computer is not in our posession, but you get the drift) but I had to borrow Kevin's work laptop to let you all in on the latest update about our family. Drumroll please...we're moving back to Texas! We have truly loved our time in Iowa, but can't wait to get back "home"! Kevin just accepted a new job with his company, and we'll be moving to Lubbock! We have some great friends who are there (hi, Angela!) and some of Kevin's family there. Truthfully, Lubbock wouldn't have been my first choice of locations, but we are still so excited to be moving back within driving distance of our families!

We have our first (and dare I say it, hopefully only) house hunting trip planned for next week. They want Kevin to be working full-time there by March 1, so if we don't have a house yet by that time, he'll be going back and forth between there and here until we can all make the move as a family. The kids are of two minds about moving. They are excited to be closer to their grandparents, but will be sad to leave their friends (especially Megan, since she's in school and all).

My head is swimming with house prices, cleaning out closets to get our house ready for the market and wrangling my kids, but ready or not, we're coming home!

Hey...anyone want to buy a house? It's a nice house, but the neighborhood is truly first rate! Whoever gets to move in next door to the Hill's (and in our awesome culdesac) is very lucky!

When it rains...

...it pours! There may be some delay in posting for a while. Our computer has crashed and we don't know what's wrong with it (I'm on Kevin's work laptop right now). I think that our house is where computers go to die. In the 8 years that Kevin and I have been married, we have had 3 brand new computers, and in between getting new ones, we've had them repaired at least twice, each. Our current computer is about 2 1/2 years old. I am so happy that we got a new external hard drive for Christmas (surprise, our old one doesn't work!) so that all of our pictures are backed up. We lost all of our digital photos about a year after Megan was born, never to be recovered. I don't ever want to go through that again!

Our house has been feeling puny for a while, too. It started with Meg not feeling well at our next-door-neighbor's Super Bowl party on Sunday. She was sick all night and missed school on Monday. Tuesday night, Kevin, Owen, Hannah & I were all sick all night long. Do you want to know how fun it is to give a baby a bath 3 times in one night, while changing sheets 3 times? So much fun I almost can't stand it! Luckily, we are all pretty much back to normal now. As hard as it is to have sick kids, it is just horrible when you're sick, too. Add a sick husband in the mix, and you're in hell!

I do feel bad for complaining so much this week. My in-laws have things so much worse! On Wednesday (very early in the morning) their house caught on fire. For those who know them, don't worry...they're fine. No one was hurt at all. The house is totally gone, though. Fires are one of my biggest fears! I have often thought (once my family and our dog was safe) what the one or 2 things I'd try to save would be. Poor Rodney had to actually do it! To make light of the subject, though, now they'll be able to build a house with TWO electrical outlets in the bathroom! Sorry, I couldn't resist the joke (the old house only had one, and according to an electrician, there was no way to put another in there...made for very interesting times when Karen, Jen & I would all try to get ready for church, weddings, every day life when we're all together)! I'm so sad for their loss, but so thankful that no one was hurt!