Mostly Moved In

I just said that it was helpful having Tracy here.  And it really was!  She was great for holding Camille so we could hang pictures (and doing a little bit of arbitrating, since it's the only thing Craig and I can NEVER agree on) and so I could finally unpack her (Camille's) room.  Tracy also stayed home and watched the four big kids while I took Camille with me and drove to Ikea (which is now two hours away!) to get a table and chairs for our breakfast nook and a couple kallaxes for the family room.  I don't know when I ever could have found the time for that without Tracy's help, so that was wonderful.  And everyone at Ikea was great about helping me with the heavy stuff.  It turns out it's hard to lift things when you've got a baby strapped to your chest!


Here's what our family room and breakfast nook look like with the Ikea stuff!

The panorama tends to make this look bigger (and less square) than the room really is, but you get the idea...  (This might actually be worth clicking on so you can really see everything.)  See both the big and little kallaxes?

I love all the windows and trees!  What a lovely way for the kids to start out the day!

So we're pretty much moved in now.  Yeah, we've got a few boxes left, but nothing we care too much about.  At some point, I'd like to buy a couch for our living room, but if it took us a few years to get around to doing that, I wouldn't care.  I feel like all we've done is spend money these last couple months and I would like to stop doing that now.  And my bank account agrees with that idea, too.

While my parents were here, I took care of two more tasks that I was having a hard time doing with all five kids: I got Bentley and Kendra registered at their new school, and I got myself a library card!  These are VERY IMPORTANT things.  I also learned that the library validates parking, which is helpful since there isn't much street parking nearby.

I'm slowly learning the ropes around here.  And I'm really loving our new home!

Accountability

We moved about five weeks ago, and have had a steady stream of visitors since then.  My sister Tracy came to help out the weekend we moved.  Then my parents stopped in a few days later as they headed to Europe on one of those river cruises.  Then Tracy was close by for three weeks, working on a farm, so we convinced her to pop in for a few of those weekends, which we loved (and which was super helpful).  And then my parents were back, on their way home from their cruise.  And then Craig's brother and his family got to come and visit for a few days!

So, yes, we've been feeling quite loved and popular, which is nice.

Except it's also extremely bad  . . .  for my weight.

Because every time we have company, I feel the need to eat lots of desserts with them and go out to dinner and cook anything I can think of to show off (hint: this usually involves lots of cream cheese)...  And even before we moved, we'd been eating a pretty steady diet of pizza, Chick-fil-A and ice cream (and any other comfort food imaginable) while Craig re-did the kitchen and we tried to keep the house spotless and pack.

So yes, I'm probably the fattest I've ever been without being pregnant or recently post-baby.  And that is not such a lovely thing.  I sort of hate it.

So after we were done waving good-bye to Craig's family last night, it hit me that it was finally time to start trying to be healthy again.  Camille sleeps through the night regularly enough that I should be able to get up early and get some exercise in.  And while I thought it made the most sense to start a new thing like that on a Monday, in a burst of energy and good intentions I decided to just jump into the fray this morning.

So I went running!

Well, walking.  With a little bit of very slow jogging in between the walking.  So it was a pretty laughable start, but as my friend Vangie would tell me, we all gotta start somewhere.  And it was cool and lovely outside and I even managed to catch the sunrise, so it was a perfect way to begin.

And then I thought-- well, maybe if I blog about this, I'll manage to actually keep doing it.  Don't worry-- I won't report back on every little run I go on.  But if I notice myself slendering up, I might have to get excited and talk about it here.

My other line of attack is to change how I eat.  I don't think I can handle doing anything as extreme as the Fuhrmann plan right now, so I'm not exactly eating super healthy.  But as badly as I've been eating, I think if I just cut out all the snacking, extra desserts, and maybe even my addiction to chocolate milk, that would be a huge improvement.  If I added some salad and fruit into the mix, so much the better.  And then maybe I can ease back into cooking healthier dinners or eating an apple for breakfast instead of a bowl of cereal. 

So there.  It's blogged.  I'm going to work on being healthier.  I told you, so now I have to do it.

Let it be thus!

Plagiarizing

My sweet friend Juliana wrote a beautiful blog post about my Grandma's 100th birthday.  Since her blog is private and you can't just click on it easily, I'm going to copy and paste what she wrote (and her pictures!) onto my own blog, too.  Juliana has spent WAY more time with my Grandma in the last 10 years than I have, and it was really wonderful to read all the nice things she had to say about my Grandmother.  I'll write some of my own thoughts in a separate blog post later, but I want what Juliana wrote recorded here, too!  (Sorry, Juliana-- I hope what I'm doing is okay with you???)


Here are Juliana's words:


Helen Bentley has been a sweet grandma to me throughout my entire life. And it was a sweet honor to celebrate her 100th birthday over Easter weekend in Seattle.

Here are a few of my favorite Helen Bentley memories (with pictures of her party too):

two cakes! and many, many bouquets of flowers. 

• Helen used to work at the front desk of my dentist office (Dr Thomas). I remember my mom would always schedule our dentist appointments for days/shifts that Helen was working, just so we could visit her when we came for our appointments. (Plus, the other front desk lady Claudia always seemed mean.)

• Until I was in college, Helen lived in the Greenwood Ward in Shoreline, which meant she was in our stake at church. It was always fun to see her at stake conference, and I grew up knowing that she had mutual friends/church acquaintances with my parents. I think this overlap helped me realize that she was more than just a nice grandma, but she actually had her own life.

• I remember visiting her condo in Shoreline with my mom semi-regularly, and her floors were always immaculate. It seemed like she vacuumed every day! Especially as a little girl, how someone could keep their house spotless always seemed incredible.

Emi loved all the catered food and treats.
Emi also loved going on walks with Jeff  and playing with the other Bentley babies.

• Helen Bentley came to my baptism and gifted me the most beautiful little teddy bear in a fancy peach dress. I remember opening the bear on the drive home from the baptism (even though I think I was supposed to wait) and being so excited that Helen gave me a gift I actually wanted. (In contrast to some of my other baptismal gifts that felt boring to me - like scripture quotes.) This teddy bear was on display in my bedroom until I got married, and now is packed safely away in a box full of my favorite things.

• When I was in high school, my dad would visit Helen to check on her toilets, plumbing and any other household details, as a friendly check-in. My dad would always bring me along, to both practice my own fix-it skills, and also for a chance to visit with our favorite 90 year old.

• Nearly every Thanksgiving morning growing up, the four of us Hogan’s would wake up early, get ready, and drive through Shoreline to pick up Helen Bentley. Then drive to the Seattle-Bainbridge Ferry for a weekend of Hogan-Bentley festivities. My mom always joked that we had the best end of the Thankgiving responsibilities - all we had to bring was homemade pies and Grandma Helen!

• I remember when Helen was in her 80’s and my mom gushing her how she didn’t look a day older than 60. In my mind I kept wondering, how is that a nice thing to say, 60 is still so old?!

I love this picture!
It is crowded, but I love how Helen is surrounded by laughing family
and she is just sitting and soaking it all in.

• Helen often shopped at Nordstom and bought the Bentley girls the fanciest scarfs and holiday presents. The summer before I went to college, Helen bought me a set of fancy gold and silver earrings and wrote me the nicest note. (I still have them both safe, tucked away with the baptism teddy bear.)

• When Helen was in her 90’s, she had a memory-driving fiasco and got lost in Woodinville. My parents drove out to save her and her car, and I remember my mom explaining how Helen calmed right down as soon as she saw my dad and he started talking and joking with her.

• Helen, Patrice and my mom would go shopping at Alderwood Mall together, and Helen would love to buy her pants at Coldwater Creek. She always dressed so classy.

• I remember Helen was so excited for my wedding, she bought Jeff and I the fanciest gift, and made a sassy “well of course she is” comment when my mom told her I was getting married in the Seattle Temple.

Emi holds her own glittery 100 year glasses

a small group with our 100 glasses on

• Helen loved my mom fiercely. When the Bentleys arrived to my mom’s funeral, Helen was sobbing. She was dressed in black and looked as classy as ever, but her tight hug and her raw tears broke (and validated) my heart in a powerful way. Even after witnessing the sorrow and heartbreak of life for 95 years, she still had capacity to deeply mourn and love my mother.

• Three summers ago, Helen fell and broke her hip. The replacement surgery and rehab moved her out of her assisted living home and into a facility closer to my dad’s house. For several weeks over the summer, I visited Helen in the evenings. One of my favorite nights was when we watched the opening ceremonies of the Olympics together and she laughed at how frumpy and old the Queen of England was looking. Ha!

• During those same summer visits, Helen’s regular pants (the black ones from Coldwater Creek) got misplaced in the laundry room. It was suggested that she could wear hospital scrubs - and Helen was both scoffing and insulted about that suggestion for days! (Thankfully, it felt like a glimpse of inspiration that I remembered Helen’s favorite pants and could help find them.)

with Rachael and Ian after the party

• Two summers ago, Kat, Emi and I visited Bainbridge Island for a day trip. We had lunch and ice cream with Patrice, and visited Helen in the afternoon. Helen was so captivated with baby Emi, and remembered exactly who Kat was, including details about her family and parents. Such a sharp mind and sweet heart for age 98!

• During that same visit to Bainbridge Island, Helen asked me why I wasn’t visiting her as often as I had the summer before (when she was in the rehab facility). I explained that Jeff and I moved to Connecticut and were living back East. Without missing a beat, Helen sassily replied “oh I know that, but why don’t you come by anymore?”.

Helen and me

Helen’s 100th birthday party was a beautiful success! The party was hosted on Bainbridge Island, and both her children, and all her grandchildren and great grandchildren were able to come! Helen’s mind is still sharp, and it was so sweet to see her face light up when her friend and family walked into the room. I don’t think I’ve ever had a conversation with Helen where she didn’t pay me at least one compliment, and ask me several questions about my own life. She is absolutely gracious, and there is no question why she is so well loved. I can’t imagine my life without Helen Bentley on my team of favorite people, and it was so sweet to be a part of her celebration.

*    *     *     *     *

Okay, me again. Wasn't that a sweet tribute from Juliana? I will get around to writing about my Grandma, also, but I don't know that I can even add much to what Juliana already wrote! Thanks for letting me steal this, Juliana!

And P.S. Isn't Emi the cutest little girl ever??? I'm desperate to make sure that she and Colton end up marrying each other...

Getting Settled

I have very slowly been unpacking.  And by "unpacking," what I really mean is, "moving boxes into the room where they should go, and then just leaving them there."  I seem to be having a difficult time getting past that.  In my defense, though, there's usually a good reason for it.  In my room, the unpacked boxes are mostly full of Craig's stuff.  And most of it should probably be thrown away.  But he doesn't have time for unpacking, and I'm not throwing away his stuff without his permission, so it's just sitting there.

In Camille's room, I could unpack more, except she's always either a) asleep in her room or b) awake and demanding that I hold her.  To be in her room NOT holding her means she is screaming.  So those boxes will get unpacked the next time someone is visiting who wants to hold her while I unpack.  (Any takers?)  And the many many boxes of toys...  Well, sometimes I open a box and let the kids play with them.  And then they mostly just throw them all over the house and I am reminded of why I'm planning on selling all of them at the HOA's Fall Yard sale.  Then I throw them all back in the box (or make the kids do it, since they made the mess) and forget about them for a little longer.


But, to prove that I was making progress, I did manage to snap this picture the other day:

That's my car, actually parked INSIDE my garage!  I haven't managed to pull it into the garage since then, but it still makes me happy that I did it at all!  Progress, any way I can manage it...

Other than unpacking, it's been weird trying to fill my time.  I've never had so much time with all the kids and no Craig before.  If they're out of school, he always has been, too.  So this has been an adjustment.  I've switched to doing as much of my grocery shopping as possible at night-- it's hard enough to find everything you're looking for in a new store WITHOUT five little people interrupting you non-stop.  And I'm also trying to enjoy the unstructured time that we have.  Yesterday I decided to make a lasagne TOTALLY from scratch-- I even made the sauce, something I've never done before.  It wasn't even all that hard, and it was the best lasagne I've ever had.  (Thank you, Our Best Bites!)  Because, when you have absolutely nothing planned for the day, why not make your own sauce?

And about once a week or so, I'm trying to pull Bentley and Kendra aside for a little "Mommy School" time.  This is pretty short and laid back-- I just pick a topic and we talk about it.  So far we've discussed World War I and II, how to make movies, and dinosaurs.  I think next I might talk about Van Gogh, since kids are always fascinated by him.  Unless I decide to talk about something else instead.  It was Craig's idea that we do this, but I love that he suggested it, as it is something I always pictured myself doing with my kids, but then never got around to.

In fact, I realized this last week that I needed to step back and fix my parenting in a big way.  With all the craziness of the last couple months, I'd become about the grouchiest mom ever-- one of those moms who seems to be constantly snapping at her kids to just leave her alone and to stop making messes.  I felt kind of justified in my terrible attitude, but it quickly turned from a coping mechanism to just who I was.  And I didn't like that.  So I'm working on being more patient and turning back into a person who actually enjoys her kids, instead of someone who just tries to get away from them. 

So that, like so many other things in life, is a work in progress.

I'm hoping that eventually I can have some friends around here, too.  Everyone has been very friendly at church and in the neighborhood, but I seem to have forgotten how to take that next step and become actual friends...  I was filling out the school registration forms, and it occurred to me that I didn't know a single person who I could put down as an emergency contact here.   And then I sort of wanted to cry...

So yes, unpacking, parenting, meeting new people...  All works in progress.



Moving is hard.  {Sigh.}

Crazy Ryder

I took this video back in November when we went to South Carolina to spend Thanksgiving with Craig's family.  It was a wonderful holiday, but Ryder was a bit over-tired throughout (it's always hard for my kids to adjust to sleeping in a different bed than their own).  And one evening, as we were getting ready to eat dinner, I noticed Ryder performing these "acrobatics" across the way.  I think he'd been doing this for about five minutes before we finally began recording it.  And he continued long after the camera was turned off.

This is how Ryder acts when he's beyond tired:

Let's hope he never starts drinking.  I can't even imagine what that would look like...

Under Contract

We have a ratified contract on the house! 

Did I ever share its listing here?  I don't think I did, so I'm going to fix that right now.  Tadaa!  I was very pleased with how the picture turned out, especially considering that I just about worked my fingers to the bone trying to get it perfectly clean.  I kept finding dirt in places I never would have thought of.  And much thanks also goes to my in-laws who came and put in many hours helping us clean-- my mother-in-law washed all the windows and I immediately regretted all the years I HADN'T been washing them, because looking through them was so much sparkly-cleaner than I could have imagined!  Seriously, my goal now is to actually wash my windows once a year.  Who knew that made such a difference???

I had heard lots of horror stories about people selling their homes without an agent and using terrible pictures.  And, we'd seen our fair share of terrible pictures when we were sorting through all the foreclosures before we bought our house!  I really wanted our home to NOT look like that.  And I thought the pictures turned out beautifully, so that was a relief.  Also, I think moving half our furniture out of the house was a good idea, even if it was a huge hassle.

Anyway, our house was listed on June 3rd, and then we've had open houses every Sunday since, plus the times when someone was coming and I'd have to frantically tidy up every little thing and take out the trash and make ourselves scarce, regardless of who was napping (or who needed one)...  It was such a relief to move out and not have to play that game any more! 

 We finally got one fairly low offer on the 26th, and had slowly been negotiating with that, and then got a better offer on July 3rd, so we just took that one.  (The first offer was from another real estate agent buying the house for his daughter, and he struck us as being a big pain to work with.  I can't even imagine how awful he would have been over the home inspection!)

So, yes, we have a contract.  I've seen lots of contracts fall through, so I'm not celebrating just yet.  But if this all goes down how it ought to, then I will be very happy with how it all went...  For now, though, we have a bit of waiting to do.

Chicken News

So we brought our chickens to our new place even though the HOA rules specifically prohibit keeping poultry.  We figured they're pretty quiet, and the coop will be located down the hill from our house, so not that many people would even see them, right?

We forgot the fact that we have children and where there are children, there are no secrets.  Especially in this neighborhood, where all the kids run around and play at each other's houses, like we're back in the 1950s or something (which is the coolest thing ever and one of my favorite things about our new place, actually).  Our very first day here, Bentley announced to his new friend that we had chickens.  This friend reported this to his mother, who said, "Chickens are illegal!" which was promptly reported back to Bentley.  And this mom is on the board of the HOA.  It turns out most of the moms in the neighborhood are on the board.

We figured we were screwed and prepared for the worst.

But then... nothing happened.  We weren't celebrating yet or anything-- I figure these things take time-- but honestly our biggest concern was a cat that was getting interested in our back yard.  Even more concerning was when I told Bentley to shoo it away, and watched as Bentley began chasing after it with a shovel!  I put a stop to that pretty quickly.  It's one thing to protect your chickens, it's a whole 'nother thing to go around killing the neighbor's cats!  We came up with the better solution of squirting water at the cat if it ventured into our backyard.  It quickly learned its' lesson.

So a week goes by, and as Craig is rounding up the kids for dinner one night, this same on-the-HOA-board Mom comes out to speak with Craig.  She begins by saying, "I'm not the one who turned you in, by the way!  I don't mind if you have chickens!  I just want this to be a fun neighborhood!"  Craig quickly reassured her that we hadn't thought any such thing about her, but he was pretty confused until she asked, "So what happened?"

"Uhhhh...  Nothing?" Craig replied, "No one's said anything about the chickens so far..."

It took a few more minutes for them to figure out that Kendra had told a different mom that we would need to get rid of our chickens because of this woman.  And the other mom had passed the story on to her.

Clearly we need to stop talking about anything in front of our children.

I saw this same mom at the pool on the 4th of July and quickly apologized for whatever gossip my children were spreading around the neighborhood and thanked her for being so gracious about everything.  I hope after all this we can all still get along.

And maybe even keep the chickens, too!

Not attacking any more cats with shovels would probably be a step in the right direction...

Is a Picture Still Worth a Thousand Words?

In lieu of actually blogging, I'm just going to share this picture, because I love it so much:

Of all her siblings, Colton loves Camille the best.