Happy Birthday Carter

I love birthdays!  I love having a theme and trying to create an awesome party that the kids will look back on and love.  My husband is a good sport when it comes to dealing with me because I tell him, "this is the cake I want" and he makes it happen!

Other than the first birthday, we ask the kids what they want to do for their birthday.  Because my son is OBSESSED with cars, of course this year he wanted a hot wheels themed party.  Not one to let my children down, I set to work planning his party.

Pinterest is a HUGE area of inspiration for me, and I actually found a cake on there that I wanted to do for Carter's party....it was perfect!

We had a ton of people over for his party, and it was very bittersweet since this party was going to be the last party we had in the Clarkson house.

Once again, my husband came through and made and AWESOME cake!

Here are some shots from the day!

We're Moving....

So, a few months ago I posted this.  In that post, I said we weren't moving, we were staying and we were going to decorate our house.  That we had abandoned the idea of moving, we were going to finish the basement, and had bought insulation to put up in the basement.  We had bought more plants for the backyard, we were back into our routine. Life was getting back to normal.

Fast forward to July, and we have re-listed the house for sale.  So, what has changed in that time?  Nothing really in that my husband continued to look for acreage, but a lot in that he found a builder that would build us an amazing house on acreage that fits within our budget.

We found 1.24 acres just three miles from where we currently live.  It is flat and long and skinny and has a lot of potential!  We found a house plan that we LOVE!   It has all of the requirements that we wanted in a house, and a lot of character.

We decided that we were going to try and find the builder, and make sure that everything fit in our budget before we even thought of listing our house for sale.  The last go-round of selling our house was very emotional and stressful.  It is so difficult to keep the house clean with kids, so we wanted to make sure that all was well and figured out before we went down that path again.  Not to mention the toll it took on Byron and I looking, falling in love with houses (or more often than not being disappointed by the inventory) and then having those houses go under contract before we could sell ours.

It all worked out and we listed the house the Friday we left for Illinois.   While we were in Illinois and got the call from our Realtor that we had an offer on the house.  We were thrilled and after 6 weeks of back and forth, we were officially out of the Clarkson house.

It was a bittersweet move for me.  I am so excited to start this journey with Byron.  This is what he does for a living, he dealing with the building department, he keeps people on track with the deadlines, with the budget, this is what he is good at.  He has always said that he wanted to live on acreage, and I love being out with space around my house.  I love that we will have room (plenty of it!) for the kids to run and explore and not have it be near or on a busy street.  I love that we will have room for a vegetable garden for me, since I started getting my green thumb.  I love that we will be able to the the first owners of this house, we will know everything about this house, we will have touched and watched and decided on every aspect of this house.

I am sad that B and I are leaving the first house that we bought as a married couple.  I am sad that I am leaving the house that we brought our children home to.  This is the only house that they have known, and although I know they are young and probably won't remember it, they do remember their neighborhood friends.  It was a beautiful house, it met everyone of our needs, except the bigger yard and garage space.  We had put so much work, blood, sweat and tears in that house.  It's so hard to walk away and close the door.

The kids have done well in adjusting to moving.  In the beginning, Carter would say that Grandma was mean for taking his toys away from his house and keeping them at hers.  He would want to know when we could go home - not to Grandma and Umpa's home, but our home.  It has been a month and they now call the Clarkson house their "old home" and now call my parents house home.  This first month has flown by and my parents are so generous in letting us stay here while the new house is built.  Still, it is hard to drive by Clarkson Ct and not look down and think it so weird that the house we called a home for 7 years has some other family living there.

B was right though, a house is a house.  Haylee, Carter, Byron and I together are what makes it a home....for now, my parents house is our home, and I can't wait to make our new house our home.

Vacay Week

It has become our new tradition that we head back to Illinois for a week during the summer.  Because my grandma turns 80 this year, the whole family ventured back for the week to help her celebrate!

Here are some of our favorite shots from the week!

Buh Bye Preschool

Haylee going to preschool was challenging, exciting and fun at the same time.  When she started at Little Lights, she was so little, she hadn't quite turned 3 yet, and didn't seem like she could be big enough to be in preschool!   Here she is, ending her time at LL and moving onto Kindergarten as a 5 year old.  I don't know how she got so big so fast!  She is of course, a teacher's dream.  She always helps her teachers and the other children, so I was so sad that she had to leave the relationships that she had stared there.

Every year there is an end of the year program where the kids give us folders of the work that they have completed all year long, then they sing to us and then we have lunch on the lawn.  Haylee has really come out of her shell and isn't as shy as she used to be, especially at Little Lights, so I was excited for her last program at school.

When we got to the program, all was well, she seemed happy and ready to sing.  We took our seats and out came her class.  I knew the second that she came out that something wasn't right, she looked like she was ready to cry.  I caught her eye and mouthed to her to smile and to sing.  She made it through one song then started to cry.  I mouthed "whats wrong" to her and she just said her tummy hurt....uh, ok, 5 minutes ago you were fine!

Well, a few verses into the next song and the teacher grabbed her right before she passed out.  I leaped out of my seat and ran around the school to see what was wrong with her.  Apparently the children hadn't had snack that morning and her blood sugar was a little low.  After we got some crackers in her, she was back to herself.  Here are the few pictures we got of her when she came back!

Mother's Day

Although this was in the spring, I feel the need to share the pictures from this day.

The kids were amazing to me, I got to sleep in, and when I did wake, I had donuts and flowers waiting for me!  Byron also helped make a cake and cupcakes for me!  They turned out GREAT!!!

We got together with the whole Denning clan and climbed the stairs to Mother Cabrini Shrine.  It is an amazing view at the top and couldn't be more proud of my Grandma Denning (Grams or GG as she is more commonly refered as!)

Blake's Baptism

Kim and I have known each other and been friends longer in our lives than we haven't been.  (If that makes sense!)  We have stood next to each other as we said our marriage vows to our best friends.  We have been there for each other through the tough times in our lives.  We have drifted on life's paths but have always reconnected as if time hadn't passed.  We have been there for each other as we have found out that we are going to be mothers.  Kim is a true and genuine person and to her core is amazing, and I'm so happy to have her in my life.

When I found out Kim was pregnant with her first child, I was thrilled for her!  There is no greater a challenge nor reward than being pregnant and becoming a mother and I was so happy that my friend would get to experience this.

When Blake was born, it tested Kim and Raleigh to their core.  Blake decided to test his parent's strength from the beginning and as I knew they would, they made it through that difficult time with flying colors.  They never wavered  never broke, and they stayed strong.

I have never seen myself as a role model, and don't think that I have a clue as to what I am doing in any aspect of my life.  Apparently Kim thinks that I have my act together and thinks that I am doing a pretty decent job in raising my children (I must have fooled her!) that shortly after Blake was born, she asked me to be Blake's Godmother.  Couldn't have been more shocked or honored.  Blake did a great job and was absolutely adorable.  Thank you to Kim and Raleigh for thinking enough of me to have this role in Blake's life!

Here are some pictures from his baptism!

Life's Adventures....

It's funny.  When people ask me what I have been up to, or what's new, usually the response is, Oh, not much, just life.  And in that split moment, I truly try to think, what have we been up to?   And usually the most recent event pops into my head, but I figure that person already knows about it, so I respond with, just life.

Then I am emailed by my wonderful loving Aunt who tells me that my blog is so horrifically out of date as to what actually IS going on in my life (since she knows everything that we have been doing) and I sit down at the computer and organize my pictures into their folders (I know, OCD....) and looking back over the last 6-7 months of pictures, I realize, wow, my life has been insanely busy and full of adventure.

So, here is my update on life's adventures that have come our way in the last 7 months!

Enjoy the ride....