Home Sweet Home...for now!

If you've read our blog at all, you've likely heard me complain about moving! We've been here in Colorado for about 9 months and we are going to have to move again soon. 8 months into our 12 month lease, our landlords called to tell us they wanted to sell the home we're living in. YIKES! We've sold 3 homes and it's hard enough to sell your own home, but selling someone else's home.....NOT fun! 

It's been on the market for almost 2 months now and we've hosted 2 Open Houses and 3 showings already. We have another showing tomorrow. According to 2 websites we looked at, the asking price is about $100,000 above the estimate, so we didn't think anyone would be interested. We still own our home in Arizona, so we are going to keep renting here. So, that means we're looking for a new rental and showing this house with 24 hours notice. My poor kids are so sick of my psychotic worrying about keeping this house perfectly clean. I wish that I could just not care, but I don't work like that. 

Now that we're facing another move, another home, another neighborhood, school and possibly city...... I have very mixed feelings. I absolutely adore this house! It fits us so well and I've grown to love so many of the details. I love the kitchen, the convection oven and lots of cupboards. I love the big windows, built-in bookshelves and entertainment center and fun paint colors. I love the laundry chute, the french doors, the radiant heating, the basement for the kids and the big yard. 

However, it all comes down to LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION! 

I'm not sure I like living 15 minutes away from the nearest grocery store & 25 minutes away from church. I feel so secluded here!!! I wish the kids had friends from church at school and I wish I had more friends that lived close. Our kids have been incredible to roll with it and make new friends wherever we are and I admire them so much for that.

(Above): The kitchen, dining room, piano room and family room.

(Above): It's been fun to have 4 seasons again! The best part... It's almost always sunny!

(Above): Master bedroom, view from Ashlyn's room and kitchen.

(Above): Kids' bedrooms.

(Above): I am a big fan of basements! This one is set up for movie nights, with dark walls and ceiling and blackout curtains, so we call it THE MAN CAVE!  

Lego mania...

 I find that my biggest obstacle in keeping my home clean is often my kids' toys. I'm grateful for a playroom in the basement where we keep most of their toys, but their newest craze is presenting more of a challenge for me...

LEGOS!

 It's no surprise that we have all adopted Dan's focus at work. There ARE a lot of very cool sets and so many possibilities for endless creativity. Even Claire loves them and thankfully, she's not one to put small toys in her mouth, or we'd have a big problem! Ashlyn & Corey recently completed the Fire Brigade and Medieval Market Village, a courthouse and Ferrari. I seriously don't know where we're going to put all of them!  

A few weekends ago we went to a Lego store in Lakewood and I'm sure the kids' wish lists got a little longer! They have a incredible Digital Imager that shows what the finished product would look like. Here's Ashlyn holding up her box for the Fire Brigade building and the preview on the Imager.

Dan just downloaded the Lego Photo application for the iPhone that takes a photo and converts it into Lego bricks. Here's one of Claire that I took. Talk about Legos on the brain!

Dan's in Denmark right now, but I get him back tomorrow. No doubt that he'll return with a suitcase full of Legos and a head full of plans to build more!

Wild time at the Zoo!

The kids had a Friday off of school and we woke up to a beautiful morning, so we scrambled and headed off to the Denver Zoo. I think it was my favorite day at the zoo ever!  The weather was absolutely perfect, the Zoo was nearly empty and the animals were active. We saw the Zookeepers feed the lions, polar bears and sea lions. Claire walked around with the peacocks and Canadian Geese with no hint of fear and we enjoyed sitting in the sun with some ice cream. All 3 kids (and their Mom) slept very well that night!

Chocolate....NOW I'm paying attention:-)

I've really enjoyed my calling as Relief Society Activity Leader. For those of you who aren't LDS, that means I plan social, spiritual and craft activities for the women who attend our church. I guess I got this calling by default because I was the Assistant, then Deniece was released 2 months ago as the Leader and I just filled in. Last month we had an activity called "Don't Agonize...Organize," which I blogged about HERE.  We served the most delicious chocolate fondue, which we also had for Valentine's Day at our home. Ashlyn made this cute scrapbook page yesterday (her FIRST Photoshop project!!!) and I wanted to share it and the easy recipe from my sister Andrea...

This month we did a SERVICE AUCTION and Relief Society Birthday Dinner. Women donated services or handmade items and everyone bid on items they were interested in. It was a fun way to share talents and serve each other. We ended up with 60 in attendance, so it was a big event and I felt like sleeping for about 3 days after!
Next week we are making FRAMED MAGNET BOARDS.  I even found a local business to donate sheet metal for free (!!!) so it made them much less expensive! Fun, fun!

Happy CHINESE New Year!

I've never celebrated Chinese New Year before, but after this year, we may just have to make it a tradition! Our friends the Elzingas invited us to a Chinese New Year dinner recently and we enjoyed yummy food and great friends. Happy year of the TIGER!    

Team Mom vent...

 I love my husband! He's been coaching our kids in sports since Ashlyn was 3 and he's been doing double duty coaching both Ashlyn and Corey in basketball. It means so much to the kids and it's nice that I don't have to go to practices and  I can stay home with Claire!

That's 3 practices and 2 basketball games each week, lots of team snacks, laundry and driving to very small towns in Colorado that I otherwise wouldn't ever make a special trip to see.  I absolutely love seeing my kids shine, work hard and be part of a team.  Dan & I both enjoy making friends with the kids and parents.  I know now why some of my Mom's best friends are those she met through our sports teams.

Both kids just finished basketball.  They both improved so much over the season!  I did a team DVD with photos and videos for both teams and we had 2 Saturdays without any games..... and then Ashlyn's soccer starts again on Saturday.

I love being a "soccer Mom," but a little break was nice.  My list of things I still want to do here is growing (Butterfly Pavillion, Denver Aquarium, Rocky Mountain National Park, Boulder)..... and it will wait for summer vacation!