Jack Hendrix Piano Competition

     Brinley and Tanner played in the Jack Hendrix piano competition on Saturday.  They both did very well.  Brinley played "Quiet Moments" and placed first in her division. Tanner played "Allegro" in the level above him because he liked that song more and placed second.

     The winner's recital takes place on Sunday afternoon and if you win first and don't attend, you forfeit.  Well, we had three hours of church and then headed over to the Vore's for Adam's setting apart as a missionary.  We came home,even Brian:), who is usually staying after for Bishop stuff, fed the kids, cleaned up and decided to rest around 2:30. Brian, Brinley and I all forgot about the recital.  Totally forgot!  Somehow at 3:00 I woke up and suddenly remembered.  Brinley and I threw on our church clothes and raced across town.  We were 15 minutes late.  I felt badly about that, but she was able to play and did so flawlessly in the recital.

Since Gram is serving a mission at the temple, Mrs. Belinda Richey is our new teacher.

Tanner showing off his medal.  This is his second year of piano and his first competition.  He was calm, cool and collected.

Gram was able to come to the recital. Our cousins Benjamin and Lauron won first with their piano songs.  Charity placed second. Stevie sang and won first.  Go Vore cousins!

A Few House Pictures

Our new house....new to us anyway.

The front...much prettier when it is not winter in Odessa!  I couldn't get it all in one shot, so the last window and front part of the house is in the picture below.  (Four windows across the front.)

Love these two big trees in front.

The laundry room.  It actually has a full bathroom in it. (random!?)  Also, it has two big pantries.   We are putting in a mudroom.  In our current home, the kids walk in the front door and that is were their backpacks, shoes, books, lunch boxes end up.  I have high hopes of our garage/laundry room entry in the new house!

The kitchen table area.  Currently there is no tile and the cabinets are ripped out.  Also, this terracotta tile was throughout much of the house.  We are putting in new tile in the kitchen/laundry, carpet in the family room and bedrooms, and also adding a wood flooring in the entry, front room and down the hall.

This thing is huge.  What does someone who doesn't really like to cook going to do with all of these cabinets?  We do like to eat, so I think it will work out.  We are having the wall/cabinets on the left hand side pushed back two feet.  I am really excited so the galley kitchen won't be so tight with the six of us in and out.

The dining room will actually be the playroom for the kids.  Love the pretty bay windows.

Front living room, the kid's playroom is through the door.

Front door.  The family did a great job of keeping up with paint and care of the house.  I do want to paint the porch entry ceiling a nice neutral color.  They were much bolder and more eclectic in their decorating style than we are.

Bryn's room.  The paneling has been torn down, and it will be textured and painted a turquoise color that matches the bedding she got for Christmas.

Aubrey's bathroom.  We will go with a nice, boring neutral color...probably a gray or taupe.  We aren't going to do much with the bathrooms.  I would love to update them and now would be the perfect time since we aren't living there....but not really perfect b/c of the cost! 


So fun and stressful at the same time.  I am ready for it to be over...but then the packing and moving comes into play.  Hopefully soon we will be moving in and on with our lives!

Remodeling Stress

     Okay, so I thought waiting for the contract to close and the house to finally be ours was stressful.  Ummm, I didn't know how I would feel with remodeling.  Much more STRESSED!  There are just too many decisions to be made and in an area I really do not feel competent. 
     What color should I paint the walls?  Will it go with this tile?  If I pick this for kitchen cabinets, will it be too dark?  If we go with the light kitchen cabinets then we should do a darker floor....right?  We settled on tile for the kitchen, laundry room and bathrooms, ordered and payed for it, and a week later were told it was discontinued.  I am a walking disaster!  Heeeellllpppp! 

Our New House

     We finally got the keys to our new (old) house!  We signed a contract on the house in September, closed on it at the end of November, and the family moved out on December 30th.  It has been a stressful 4 months with the waiting but an exciting two weeks since it is finally ours!  We have gone over at least twice everyday.  The kids will walk Buttercup over and stay to play in the house and then walk home.  They love hanging out in their rooms, playing ball, and running through an empty house.  Last week we  had Family Home Evening over there.  My parents joined us, and after the lesson and we had an awesome game of hide and seek in the (mostly) dark!
     The house is actually on the street just behind ours and is about four blocks down.  I like that it is a quieter street.  It has another bedroom (yea!) and too many bathrooms.  It is an older house with fairly large rooms and huge walk in closets.  I am so excited that Brian and I will both have our own closets.  Across the front of the house, it has four picture windows and two large trees.
     We have some things we want to do to it before we move in.  (paint, new flooring etc...)  Brian and I have been busy getting quotes for some of the work, picking paint, tile and carpet etc.... It might be a couple of months before we can move in, but we are all excited for our beautiful new home!  (Pictures coming soooooon!)

Some of our favorite things about it:

Dad: Three car garage (Any garage for that matter since our current home doesn't have one that we can park in....half is converted to a laundry room.)

Mom: I like the curb appeal.  Also, I like that each room has a walk in closet.

Brinley: I am excited to have my own room with beautiful windows.

Parker:  I like that it is big!  It has big closets too.

Tanner: I like that Parker and I will have our own bathroom.

Aubrey: I like that I get my own room, my own furniture and my own closet!

Quote of the Day...

     We have never really had other children to play with on our block, but about a month ago, two little girls (6 ish) started ringing our doorbell.  They are sweet and quiet and Aubrey has loved having friends to play with after school.  I think their family might possibly be living with grandparents for a bit.
     Brian and I have been a little surprised because: 1. We aren't sure exactly where these girls even live. 2. We have never met their parents. 3.  They are allowed to come in to our house and stay and yet their parents/grandparents? have never met us.
     So, with that being said, a few days after Christmas we did our morning chores and I took my kids to The Jumping Party.  I packed lunches and we met three sets of cousins (Kings, Halverstadts, and Vores) for an afternoon of fun.  I enjoyed visiting with the adults and the cousins played together until they were sweaty, thirsty and ready for a change of scenery.  Bryn went home with the Kings, and I took Zack and Holden home with us.
     Soon the doorbell rang and the two little girls from down the street joined in the chaos.  I was putting away Christmas decorations when I overheard this conversation.

Aubrey:  "You go to church?  Awesome!"

Girl one "Yes, we usually go on Saturday, but if my mom forgets, which she does a lot, we go on Sunday."

Me: not saying anything, but thinking "good for them."

Girl two:  "Well, let me just put it this way....our Mom is one of those moms that sleeps all day."

Me:  just feeling so sad for the little girls....until I hear this....

Aubrey: pipes in excitedly "MY MOM IS TOO!!"

     I about died laughing!  My jaw dropped to the ground.  Seriously?!  Who is standing two feet from you putting away Christmas decorations?  Who took you to The Jumping party all afternoon?  Who is not taking an afternoon nap so you and your brothers can have four extra friends over???  It was hilarious!  (It was also terrifying to think what my lovely children might be saying throughout their day that others might 100% believe).


       I realized I needed to be less judgemental.  These two little girls are sweet.  They are easy to have at the house.  They are clean and dressed nicely.  I was judging their situation because Brian and I would have done things differently in allowing our kids to play somewhere else.  So, when I need to be dropped a peg or two, I just hear these lovely phrases echoing in my head "Well, let me just put it this way....our Mom is one of those moms that sleeps all day." Followed by..."My Mom is Too!!"