Counting Down

Well, we're counting down the days until we have keys to our new home.  The boys are keeping track of how many days until we start moving and when Grandmanette and Grandpa Michael arrive with their paper chain.  Boxes are piled high, cupboards and closets are empty, and we're anxious to get through closing on Thursday and get the moving show on the road!  I've packed pretty much everything that we aren't using for daily living.  We have a book checked out from the library that talks about moving to a new house, and the boys seem to be going with the flow for the most part (aside from being tired...because they will not stop playing with each other even when the lights go out).  I have been hugely impressed with our boys through all of this house and moving stuff.  They've been very patient and well-behaved, even when we've had to drag them to showings, loan meetings, carpet stores, furniture stores, etc.  I'm blessed to have such great kids.

Unfortunately, the combination of blistering hot weather and smokey air from the High Park fire have really curtailed our outside time.  We went swimming on Saturday.  And yesterday, to escape the heat we jumped into our air conditioned car and journeyed south of Denver to visit Ikea, a giant store full of home stuff.  It was fun to wander and look at some different things.  The oldest child has taken upon himself to channel his unused energy into climbing on, over, through any and all of the railings inside the house (even those going upstairs).  His other parental unit and I disagree on whether or not this behavior should or should not be allowed.  I saw the wheels turning in Morgan's head as he watched his brother's new stunts, and I have no doubt he was just waiting for his parents to be caught up in distraction before he took to the railings as well.  And sure enough, he had to show me his new moves this afternoon when I got home from work.  They also really love when Justin uses his new helicopter to chase me around the house.  I'm totally out numbered here!

A very special Happy Birthday to Aunt Jill!  Here are a few pics from the week:

Happy Father's Day!

To our very favorite Daddy...

And lots of love to Grandpa Bill & Grandpa Michael!

Tuna Noodle Casserole: The New Delicacy

 Three cheers for canned tuna, salmon, and shrimp!  The first foods we've been able to add back into our diet since Jacoby's food allergy diagnosis over three years ago!  We feasted on casserole this evening.  Jacoby had 4 servings or so.  Morgan was on the fence, as usual for him with any sort of meat.  Jacoby had allergy testing today on a few foods that had decreased significantly in his recent bloodwork.  And leave it to this kid to stump the doctors with unusual results!  I think they expected the test to show negative to poultry and positive to fish--instead, it was the other way around.  We are thrilled to be able to add new meats back into our diet!

In other news, last week was crazy busy with home purchase stuff and kindergarten enrollment 2.0.  I'll write more on the other blog about our new kindergarten plans, the current state of my mental health with regards to kindergarten, and my encounter with Mean Office Lady...stay tuned.  Anyways, the house passed inspection with flying colors.  The only thing we're working out is replacement of the water heater.  We also sorted out the carpet issue, and we're very excited about our environmental-friendly, allergen-free, low-VOC, lovely carpet going in right before closing.  And finally, I felt as if we may have signed away our boys during the loan meeting last week after we signed two dozen documents, most of which I didn't read in detail.  All of that is in the hands of the underwriter this week, so we hope all goes well and no surprises turn up.  I'm reservedly excited (if that's a real term) right now until keys are in hand on the 28th.

This week has been slightly less busy, but still a lot going on.  We met friends for a hike, picnic dinner, and Meadow Music at Chautauqua on Monday, which was lots of fun.  We're packing and trying to get this place tidied up (a realtor comes over tomorrow to see if he should start showing this house--June 28th can't get here sooner, as far as I'm concerned).

We hope you all are having a good week!

 

Tuna noodle casserole never tasted so good!

 

 This boy was quite pleased with himself, after enduring more testing, that we finally get to try some new food!

  Mastering the art of riding a bike...he's doing so great.  Daddy is never far away, just in case.

 This little man loves the strider bike!

 I love that they can ride on their own (mostly)

Preschool Graduation and Other Major Events

We've had a lot going on in our busy world the past week or so.  Memorial weekend was a bit of a blur.  There was a birthday party, lots of time spent looking for a house (the boys did outstanding and love riding in our realtor's minivan...I'm guessing her DVD player is why), a 10K race, and an offer was made on a house.  We ended up pulling our offer after seeing several red flags on the property disclosure list, and felt a huge sense of relief once we were out of that situation. 

I ran in the BolderBoulder with a group of friends from work.  It was so much fun!  55,000 people participate in this race, so it's total mayhem with lots of costumes and all types of racers.  The course winds through Boulder, so the neighbors come out and spray their hoses, play music, throw marshmallows, cheer, put out their slip n' slides for racers, etc.  I ran with two ladies, one of whom was 30 weeks pregnant, and we had a great time.  The race ends at CU's Folsom Field.  We got to watch the professionals race--the BolderBoulder is a qualifying race for the Olympics for many countries.  It was quite impressive to watch runners doing miles under 5 minutes!

This past week was our last week at our sweet little preschool.  It was hard to say good-bye, but we're so grateful for our preschool family and all the ways they've enriched our lives.  Morgan will hopefully be back this fall.  Jacoby's class went to the zoo and had a great time (I was part of the parent team herding a dozen crazy preschoolers...it was madness).  We enjoyed a fun graduation ceremony yesterday, where all of the Pre-Kers were celebrated.  I cried the entire time!  We're so proud of Jacoby and all that he's accomplished these past 3 years.  He received a "big boy" bike for a gift and was already successfully riding solo this morning on his maiden voyage.

We looked at more houses towards the end of the week and finally found "the one".  We're under contract and will be closing on the 28th, so long as the steps between now and then go ok.  It's a cute little house up in Longmont.  We of course are very sad to be leaving Louisville, but we like the area and the house.  We really wanted to get moved in July, so we can be settled well before Jacoby starts Kindergarten at a new school.  The boxes are out and, as of today, most everything has been taken off the walls.  The boys seem to be taking all of this in stride.  Today's worry was about how the bunk beds were going to get moved and whether or not we'd be taking the potties from this house over to the new house.  (: 

 My running partners

The work crew

Preschoolers at the zoo -- at times it was difficult to tell who was really on display.  (:

 

Jacoby's friend B.-- so cute!

Jacoby's friend -- he celebrated turning 5 at the zoo

Jacoby and classmates

The mandrill staring at all of the preschoolers

Our graduate

The graduating class

The best Pre-K teachers ever!

Jacoby accepting his diploma

Hugs from Miss C.

The graduates getting bombarded by picture-taking parents

I can't believe he's going to Kindergarten!  Aaahhh!

Miss C. having a hard time saying good-bye...insert more tears here

Miss M. stealing more hugs

Pre-K graduation present (thanks to one of Jacoby's research project payments)

Ready to go!

An Update

I can't believe we're heading into Memorial weekend already!  Special anniversary wishes to my parents, who are celebrating 40 years this week!  And to Mark and Megan celebrating 6 years this week!

We're doing really well here in Colorado.  My meeting in Fort Collins was a success and is now behind me (insert cartwheels and back flips here).  The meeting was held at CSU, which was great.  We went on a very cool tour of the Vet Med school (a place my youngest sister should definitely check out if she ever moves back West...hint, hint) and had several interesting sessions on our agenda.  The board approved salary increases for the first time in four years, contingent upon several things happening in the budget.  I'm hopeful we'll get there later this summer or early fall.  I'm definitely a tired girl after a couple of 14-hour days but am now looking forward to summer and taking on our housing adventure.

The boys are doing great.  They are hugely into independent play right now and politely excuse Justin and I from the room, claiming the "need space".  They're always playing together, which of course means that conflict often arises.  Justin and I are trying to give them time to learn how to sort things out by themselves without automatically intervening (unless things get physical, of course).  We've been reading The Lion, the Witch, and The Wardrobe with them in the evenings.

We decided to take the boys out of preschool for the summer.  Since Justin isn't working and we're trying to buy a house, it was the best decision.  I definitely shed a few tears during the decision making process, but I think the boys are going to have a great summer with Justin.  The school is holding a spot for Morgan in the fall.  Jacoby will be finished with his preschool career next Thursday, after a field trip to the zoo with his class.  He has a graduation ceremony next Saturday.  It's safe to assume I'll be shedding tears then as well.

Tomorrow we look at more houses with the realtor.  I think we've narrowed down a lot of our priorities in finding a house, the location, etc.  We've got some good choices on our list, and I sincerely hope we can make an offer on a property soon.  It's nice to have choices, but also makes it a bit overwhelming.  We've been learning a lot about new construction, old construction, fracking, drilling, land fills, school districts, finding out who lives in the neighborhoods (the good guys and bad guys), floor plans, square footage, etc.  The real estate market is crazy down here, and I feel like we've just stepped onto a very fast-moving merry-go-round.  But in the end, it's going to be really good for us.

I'm running the 10k BolderBoulder on Monday with a group of colleagues from work (including my boss).  It's going to be tons of fun and I can't wait (just hoping my knee holds out...it's been complaining the past few weeks).  We're going to a birthday party on Saturday, and the boys are very excited about getting cupcakes for the occasion.  Jacoby had a dexa bone scan today down at Children's.  He's quite proud of the picture they sent home of his skeleton.  We'll be doing this annually, since he's on steroids for EoE.  He has an eye exam on Friday at the recommendation of our GI doc (also because of the steroids) and our pediatrician because of some things she was seeing at his last well-check.  We'll definitely have a mini-Justin running around here if the child needs spectacles!

That's about all from our neck of the woods.  Hope you all have a great holiday weekend!

Here are some Mother's Day pics...love these boys!