The Right Place

We're not going to be homeless!!!

HUZZAH!!!

A week after applying for a townhouse in the school district and ward that we felt very inspired to live in (which had exactly one other rental available, and yes, we had applied for that too), a week that was full of agonizing stress and fear and the kind of worry that makes it hard to breathe, after a Priesthood blessing from Bryan which counseled patience, we found out we will have a place to live for the next two years. Two years in one place!? That sounds like forever for us.

A week ago Monday we had two applications out, one in our preferred school district and ward, one in the other ward. The latter was our backup. As I was driving to the store with the kids, Bryan called to tell me that our second choice had turned us down because they didn't think we could afford it. I felt like someone had punched me. It was on the higher end of what we wanted to pay, but still within our price range. I had a hard time turning my anger and hurt off.

A new listing popped up in my email while the kids and I were shopping. The sting of rejection still fresh, I was not overly optimistic as I opened the link. I parked in the toy section to review the information. With a chaotic whirlwind of children surrounding me, I scrolled through pictures, a feeling of urgency growing in my chest. I called Bryan immediately and told him I would go see that house right away if possible. He looked at it while we spoke and we submitted an application without even seeing it in person.

The next morning we visited three potential homes, including the property we'd applied for. It was beautiful in the pictures, but I was afraid it would have some terrible and unlivable flaw, like stinking of cigarette smoke, an absolute no for this asthmatic. But it didn't. It was large and lovely and just lived-in enough that I felt comfortable having our kids there. After seeing only a few rooms, Bryan turned to me and mouthed the words, "This is it."

My response? "I know."

And then we waited. And waited. And waited. Our realtor sent daily notes to the owners' realtor, asking for an answer. Two other people had applied right away as well, the landlords wanted to make a fair choice. And so we kept waiting. We continued to look at other properties. We finally applied for one more, another beautiful home that was in the wrong school district and a different ward and would have been the same price as the home that told us no.

We prayed all week long, first that we would be able to live in the townhouse we had loved, then to live where we were supposed to live, then to just not be homeless. We only had a week left in corporate housing and that fact played in a continuous loop in my head. By Sunday night, we were desperate. We knew that school started in both districts the next day, and our kids weren't signed up anywhere. I even seriously thought about homeschooling them for a while, you know, while we lived in our van and showered at truck stops.

The blessing that Bryan gave me had calmed my nerves quite a bit. It was easier to remember that everything would work out. I held tight to the word "patience" from Thursday night, when I received the blessing, until Monday afternoon when we got the call. The house that we wanted had picked us. A wave of apprehensive relief washed over me at the news. Until the contract was signed, I was still going to be slightly on edge, but so much of the fear melted away.

We signed the contract yesterday and did all of the paperwork to register the kids for school. We hope to complete that process today. We'll get the keys tomorrow and our packed-away belongings will arrive a week later.

Thanks to all of you that included us and our housing search in your thoughts and prayers. I truly have a testimony of prayer, and of patience.

Always

Shortly after his bedtime song a few nights ago, just before he drifted off to sleep, Peter turned to me and said, "Am I your baby?"

"Always."

"And are you Nana Cris' baby?"

"Always."

He smiled, content, and went back to the business of sleep.

Accurate

The Benefits of Living in a Hotel

In case you were wondering, we still don't have a place to live. And school starts on Monday. Since it's remarkably easy to despair at the moment, I've been mentally compiling a list of why living in a hotel is awesome.

• Someone else washes, dries, and puts away all the towels and bedding. They even make the beds and come find and remove the wet towels.
• If we want, someone else will clean the bathrooms, take out the trash, and vacuum the carpet everyday.
• Free breakfast every morning. Our room is on the bottom floor and I feel fine sending our eager-for-more-responsibility ten-year-old (who happens to look more like a twelve-year-old) a few feet down the hall each morning to retrieve said breakfast.
• Most days the kids only eat part of the breakfast they asked for. Instead of throwing it out, I stick it in the fridge and feed them second breakfast for lunch!
• We're also just down the hall from the laundry room, so lugging the multiple loads I do each week isn't so bad. Of course, it costs $4/load, but I won't focus on that.
• I'm just a few steps away from the exercise room, although I haven't taken advantage of that perk as much as I wanted to.
• We have very few possessions, so cleanup is a snap.
• The kids are learning about marketing since they've gone from watching no commercials to watching way too many commercials.
• The Disney Channel has a few shows that aren't terrible.
• My kids now love building shows like Treehouse Masters and Fixer Upper.
• Because we're on the bottom floor, we can have dance parties without getting a call from the front desk.
• The kids have many opportunities to practice sharing since there aren't enough beds or chairs for everyone to have their own all the time.

Silver linings, eh?

"Mommy! Take a Picture of My Wavy Hair!"

Science and Crafts with Nana and Papa

 

Temple in the City of Brotherly Love

After some moving related business, we spent Saturday touring the Philadelphia Temple. It's a gorgeous building with a very special purpose. I particularly loved the interior decor of this Temple. There's a painting of the signing of the Declaration of Independence near the recommend desk and we spotted quills throughout the woodwork. It feels like it fits well in a city steeped in American history.

Grandparents to the Rescue!

Bryan's parents surprised us by coming to visit and lending some much needed hands the first week we were here. They spent a lot of time with the kids at the park while I did laundry and looked for a place to live. Their visit was a blessing for all of us.

While they were here, we took a day off from house hunting to visit the Crayola Experience. Bryan and I had taken the kids almost a year and a half ago, but Sophie was so little she didn't really get to participate in any of the fun activities, and the other kids were excited to go back.

 

 

Thanks Nana Shari and Papa Ron! We all had lots of fun!

All Cop-Outs, All the Time

We haven't found a place to live. I could tell you the whole, long story, but my brain is weary. Instead I'll stick with: we still live in a hotel, we still don't know where we'll be going next.

All of my time is spent either child-wrangling or internet-scouring for a new home.

And that is why from here on out I plan to only do cop-out posts, at least for a while. If the mood strikes me, perhaps I'll actually write something, but I'm giving myself permission to mostly just find pictures to share.

Because I can.

Fabulous Fifteen

Happy birthday to our family!

On this day, fifteen years ago, Bryan and I were married in the San Diego Temple. That means if our marriage were a child it would be solidly in the moody/angsty territory of youth and spend an inordinate amount of time texting friends and claiming that the world doesn't understand.

Thankfully, it is not a teenager.

We celebrated today by having as fancy a dinner as we could manage in the tiny hotel kitchen (which, frankly, is only slightly smaller than my Illinois kitchen). Baked potatoes, fruit salad, carrots, and sugar-snap peas for everyone!

We also celebrated by staying indoors and watching Disney programming all day long while Peter and I put our energy into healing. We had a totally awesome day yesterday with old friends in New Jersey. We swam in their pool for more than two hours. Funny thing, I've had great success with spray sunscreen, but it doesn't work so well when the can is empty. That's what happened to Peter. I don't have that excuse. I used the old-school, cream kind (SPF 70) and still got roasted.

So our party was low-key, but it did include a rousing rendition of, "Happy birthday to our family!"

Trampoline Twins

Be of Good Cheer

Cooper had a hard time during bedtime tonight. He was overtired and is already prone to naughty-word-spewing, the combination of which did not earn him any positive rewards. As I was singing Sophie her bedtime song, he yelled that I needed to come snuggle him "right now!" Yelling doesn't work so well on me, so I kept singing.

"I hate you! You're the worst mom ever!"

Those words hurt, but I've heard them so often that I've built a defensive wall for when they start flying in my direction. I wasn't going to say anything at all in response. But Sophie turned her shocked expression toward her angry brother and said, "No. She good." Then to me, "You good. He being stupid."

I was touched by her quick defense and hid my embarrassed amusement while I asked her to please not call her brother stupid. But as I laid her in her bed, my thoughts went back to Cooper. He didn't know that I planned to sing to him and snuggle with him as soon as I finished with Sophie. He couldn't see things from my perspective. All he knew was that he wanted something and he wasn't getting it and that made him mad.

How often do we do that as adults? We want something, we pray for it, it doesn't come according to our timetable, so we get mad. We wonder why God has not heard our cries, why he hasn't answered them the way we had planned. Do we ever respond with frustration, as Cooper did tonight?

This has weighed heavily on my mind recently. I'm watching loved ones struggle with pain and anger and what appear to be unanswered prayers. My prayers have been pleas to know how I can give aid and comfort and understanding, but my own hands have felt tied as I've watched them struggle.

Today, during an inspired five-minutes of quiet, individual scripture reading with the kids, I came across Doctrine and Covenants 78, verses 17 and 18.

17 Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye are little children, and ye have not as yet understood how great blessings the Father hath in his own hands and prepared for you;
 18 And ye cannot bear all things now; nevertheless, be of good cheer, for I will lead you along. The kingdom is yours and the blessings thereof are yours, and the riches of eternity are yours.

 Heavenly Father knows us. He knows our wants and our deepest needs. He loves us and has our best interest at heart, even if we can't always see it from our limited mortal perspective. Those scriptures were an answer to my prayers. I still don't know how to give help, but I know that help exists, that hope exists, and that these trials will have an end.

Cooper's night ended with a hug, a kiss, a song, and an "I love you," one for him, and one for me.

Look Closely, Can You Find Someone That Climbed Out of Their Own Bed and Into Their Brothers'?

Think, Then Speak

On Monday we met with our realtor to see a few properties. We had worked with the same fellow during our house hunting trip a month ago. Bryan and I exchanged greetings with him as we prepared to enter the first house.

Cooper gave him an appraising look and announced, "You look older."

Cue two parents scrambling to apologize while simultaneously explaining to Cooper why that wasn't the coolest thing to say.

The Final Leg

The next two days had sooooo much driving. Really, it was only about twelve hours spread over two days, but we drove both cars, so there was no relief for either of us. We stopped in Lynchburg, Virginia on Thursday night after driving down a long, long, long country road to avoid driving up a scary mountain pass.

On Friday we drove out of Virginia, through a small tip of West Virginia, quickly in and out of a tiny corner of Maryland, then into Pennsylvania.

And then, after making it to our hotel on Friday night just in time for the Olympic Opening Ceremonies, we all slept until 10 in the morning on Saturday. I think we've almost recovered from the trip.

Broadway, Y'all

After sleeping in Louisville, Kentucky on Tuesday night, we were only a few hours from Nashville, Tennessee. Most of us had never been there, so we detoured and had a little adventure.

Walking down Broadway is fascinating. It's lined on both sides by honky-tonk bars. In nearly every bar was a live band. It was a swirling cacophony of country music, and it was pretty awesome.

Look! A stadium across the river where people engage in sports of some kind! Go sports! However, no one was sportsing when we took the photo.

What was that? You want me to stop taking pictures?

We drove by the Nashville Temple. It's beautiful. Maybe next time we'll actually get out of the car.

We Stop for Friends

One of Peter's good friends from first grade (whose dad was in the same MBA program as Bryan) now lives in Indiana. Peter has been asking to see Reed for the last three years, so we planned our route to include a detour for dinner and some fun at the park with Reed and his family.

My boys loved playing with their two boys and my girls loved playing with their four girls. Sophie was in heaven. Not only do they have a little girl about six months younger than her ("It's a baby!"), but they had more barbies and princesses than our girl had ever seen in one place.

I loved getting to catch up with my friend. The moms chatted while the kids played. It was a much needed break during a long day of driving.

Reed is a month older than Peter, just for comparison sake.

Sophie mothered Jane, much as she mothers the rest of us on a daily basis.

Six People at Six Flags

Bryan's company sponsors the Six Flags theme parks, which came with the perk of getting free tickets. As our time in Illinois drew to a close we realized we probably wouldn't be able to use those free tickets. Except, we discovered we had some unscheduled days. See, our lease in Chicagoland ended on July 31, but our hotel stay in Pennsylvania wasn't set to start until August 5. It's only a twelve hour drive from one location to the other, so we had some days to fill.

And that's why we went to Six Flags Great America last Monday.

We almost got everyone in the picture.

Bumper cars!

While Bryan took the three big kids on the Dark Knight

I took Sophie on a few rides perfect for a girl who's exactly three feet tall.

Then we all found some kiddie rides to enjoy together.

Sophie really liked this roller coaster, but not the next one. I don't have a picture of that one because I was busy holding Sophie and reassuring her that we were safe. When we finished that ride I asked what she thought. "It was crazy."

I really like the spinning rides. Bryan really likes Dramamine.

This one is for my brother Jordan. Look! It's the Hall of Justice! The line for this ride was two hours long! And even though it was a cool evening they still had fans spraying mist onto several areas of the line! It was not awesome!

We finished the night with a teacup-like ride for us and a tall-people-only roller coaster for Peter and Bryan.

It was a long, hot, fun day