Memorial Day 2011

We spent the unofficial start of summer at my parents house and had a fun day of swimming, cooking, and eating yummy food with family! Ethan had his first dip in the swimming pool...he acted like he could take it or leave it ;) Ayden was in the water most of the day with Uncle Nick!

School's Out for Summer!!!

Last Thursday was Ayden's last day of MDO till the fall! We had the option of putting him in one day a week for the summer, but decided to do some other activities instead. He will have swim lessons every Monday and Fit Kidz exercise class every Thursday for 10 weeks. Both classes are at the Walmart fitness center. Between those classes, the library, the splash pad, jump zone, and the park, we should have no trouble staying entertained this summer ;) When he starts back to MDO he will be turning FOUR! I just can't believe it!!! He has grown and changed and learned so much this past school year. He finally transitioned out of his behavioral problems in about the last 2 months. His teachers said he was very sweet, helpful, and friendly, and definetely the class clown! :) He loves going to school and I hope he always does!


Look how much he has grown!

First day of school Aug. 17th, 2010

Last day of school May 26th, 2011

Eustressed Out!!!

Eustress-stress that is deemed healthful or giving one the feeling of fulfillment

Yup, that about sums it up at the moment! We are eustressed- out around here! We came to an agreement with the sellers and are under contract!!! We are so excited! In the meantime, though, we are having to keep the house squeaky-clean so we can show it to potential renters (we have 3 couples applying so far), which with 2 little ones is quite the challenge in itself! Then there is getting all the paperwork together and to the right people, scheduling inspection (tomorrow @ 1), ordering an appraisal, hoping the inspection and appraisal come through okay, packing, hiring a moving company, and probably the biggest eustressor-hoping we close on time! We are supposed to close June 24th, so we are making our house available to rent July 1st. There is only a one week window in there if closing gets pushed back, or we will be living in a hotel! All of this is so totally worth it for what we really feel like is our dream house. I am very thankful to God to be having this eustress in my life! :)

Making an Offer!

Today we officially put in an offer on this house! We are really excited and hope to hear back from the sellers soon. It is an older home with so much charm and character, and breathtaking yard. This house has been renovated and has a great layout for our family, and also has so much potential if we decide to stay here for years to come. As much as we love it, we know there is always the potential that something might not work out, so we are trying not to get too attached.

But, as excited as I am, my heart is heavy tonight for those in Joplin and now in Oklahoma who have lost their homes and loved ones in the storms. We are under severe risk here in NWA in the next few hours, and I am praying for the safety of my family and of all those in the path of these horrible storms. I am and will always be thankful for the abundance of blessings in my life and my family, and the house we live in doesn't mean a thing as long as we have each other.

Silver Dollar City!

Sunday we took a day trip to Silver Dollar City with my parents. It was our first time to go since Ayden was a baby, and Chris' first time ever to go besides at Christmastime! We had such a fabulous time riding rides with our little guy who loved just about all of them! He didn't mind the fast rides or the spinning rides, but he did NOT like anything that involved going into a dark tunnel or cave, like the raft ride or the roller coaster Fire in the Hole. I was sure he would love it, but he was scared almost the whole time and when we got off he told me "it hurt his heart" and that next time we go there we would not be riding it! Oops! Chris even convinced me to ride the rollercoaster Powder Keg, where I felt sure at one point I would never see my children again. IT. WAS. AWFUL. I closed my eyes the whole ride and screamed until I lost my voice. Chris thought it was hilarious ;) Anyway, we are planning to get season tickets next year because that is SUCH a fun place and less than 2 hours away. There was so much we didn't have time to do and will have to go back again soon to check it all out! But I will definetely be sticking to the kiddie rides next time!!

Memaw, Pappaw, and Ayden

Waiting for the Powder Keg to "blast off"

Me and my big boy!

Pappaw and Ethan (I love this pic!)

Our happy little guy did SO great all day!!

Mommy and Ayden on the kiddie coaster!

hugs with Daddy!

Riding the elephants with Memaw!

Riding the train!

Ethan on the train! lol!

Mom's Day Out "Creation" Musical!

Ayden's MDO program had a musical last night and it was sooooo cute!! Every class, from babies up to 5 year olds participated and did such a fabulous job! They sang about the creation of the world and each class dressed as a different part of creation (day/night, sun, moon, stars, trees, etc) Ayden told us several weeks ago that he was going to be dressed as a star and that his class was singing "Twinkle twinkle little star" and has been practicing singing it at home for weeks. When we dropped him off in his classroom before the musical last night, we told his teacher he had been practicing the song. She said, "that's nice, but we aren't singing that song!" Ha! Well, apparently, Ayden wanted to sing twinkle twinkle and flat out refused to sing the songs that were actually in the musical. But he looked really cute in his costume and we got a priceless smile when he looked out into the huge crowd and found mommy and daddy! We're looking forward to many more school performances in the future!

Grace Point Church MDO kiddos!

Ayden's class "Promiseland" is the Stars

Our little shining star!

He sees us!!

He said he had a string in his mouth...lol!

Not happy that Twinkle Twinkle isn't on the agenda!

Another sweet smile!

House Hunting!

Chris and I have always shared an interest in looking in at homes, in fact, it is probably at the top of our list of hobbies as a couple! We have been looking at houses since we were dating! We love to drive around on summer evenings, eating snow cones and stalking our favorite neighborhoods as well as completely new destinations for for-sale signs, and dropping in on open houses on Sunday afternoons. We have mulitple real-estate websites bookmarked and check for new listings weekly. We have more maps and house-info flyers in our cars than you could ever count. We have gotten lost more than once while looking for a house, and have been approached by concerned neighbors for stopping in the street and starting at a house for 15 minutes. We can quote you the average listing, selling, and per-square footage price of almost any house based on it's location. Yes, we are house-hunting nerds!

But, interestingly enough, we have just been looking "for fun" for the past 2 and half years. We took a hard hit financially when we sold our home in Greenwood and it has taken some time to bounce back, and in addition to that, we have a list of things we really would like in our next home, so we wanted to make sure we were in a place to buy the home we really wanted. Well, we are now very excited to be "officially" house hunting and we are hoping to buy a house sometime between now and the next 6 months! It is such a fun but also extremely stressful process and I have already wanted to quit looking and just live in a tent at the city park a few times just this week ;) The list we have is quite extensive and while most of the things are mutual wants or needs, some are not and therefore it has been the source of some heated debates in the Anderson household! The biggest area of discord seems to be location and yard size, and yes, you can guess, the Boardcamp-bred boy I married thinks he needs a huge yard and/or small forest to be happy. And, in our price-range, you can only get these things if you drive 20+ minutes outside of Bentonville. This is where I, the one who stays home with the kids all week and loves being 5 minutes from Walmart, parks, library, mall, MDO, etc, has a bit of a problem. While I do appreciate nature and trees, I also appreciate convenience and lets not forget it costs $90 to fill up my tank. Just sayin'. SO, all that to say, we are trying really hard at this whole compromise thing and are trying to keep all our options open. We have an appointment to see another house tonight (our 3rd to see in less than a week) and we are very excited to see if it is something that will work for us. The last one we saw is still on the list, but I am hoping this one knocks them all out of the park...because it is IN BENTONVILLE! :) I keep telling myself that if it is the right house, it will work out. I guess we will see what happens!

Deep thoughts for a Wednesday night...

One of my favorite memories as a child is of going to the video rental store on a weekend night and getting to choose a movie. I started thinking about it the other day when I sat on the couch watching Ayden, at age 3, use the remote to flip through hundreds of choices of movies on Netflix on the Wii. All can be viewed instantly, with just the push of a button. And while I do love technology, for some reason I felt a little sad that my boys will never get to experience the anticipation of driving to a video store, wondering what movies will be available to rent, or how many movies Mom is going to let them rent that night. All they have to do is pick up a remote, click on search, and the movie will appear. They don't have to remember to rewind it when they are done watching, or to return in the little drop box within 7 days.

This got me to thinking about what other recent technologies are going to make my childrens' childhood so very different than my own. Phones, for example. We don't have a home phone, as many homes don't these days. Call me sappy, but I am a little sad that the boys will never run to answer the "family phone", record their sweet little voices on an answering machine, or have to wait their turn to use the phone. By the time they have a need for a phone, they will get a cell phone of their own. And when they are in junior high and have their first crush, they won't pass her a note in math class, they will send her a text or facebook message. The internet of course is a wonderful tool, but will my children even know how to use an encyclopedia? Or what it is like to read a book and not download it onto an electronic touch screen "reader"?

I know I am being pretty sentimental for a 29 year old, but if you know me at all, that won't surprise you ;) I know technology makes life easier--for example not having to remember to return movies on time and always being able to reach the boys on their phones instead of having to wait to hear from them once they arrive somewhere--but I do hope that not everything in our life becomes so overtaken by technology that we forget some of the basic joys in life, and the satisfaction that comes from having to actually wait to receive something instead of having everything magically appear at your fingertips the instant you want it. That sort of living actually makes me a little sad, and I know I am going to make a point to find little ways we can change our lives so we don't get caught-up in the touch-screen, download it now, instant insanity of this world.

Thoughts?

Splish splash!

Bentonville's new splash pad opened this week and I took the boys to check it out yesterday! It was the perfect weather for it, warm but not too hot with a nice breeze. Ayden ran and played and splashed for an hour and had so much fun! I loved watching him, and I loved that it was free! :) In the winter this converts to an ice-skating rink...maybe we can find someone more coordinated than Chris or myself to take Ayden to try that!! In the meantime, I could not be more excited that it's ALMOST SUMMER! Finally!!

He's going in!

loving it!

Sweet baby brother watching the action!

Ayden's imaginary sister

Ayden is at the height of imaginative play, and he spends the majority of his day pretending to drive bulldozers and submarines, building pretend castles, and most recently, playing with his imaginary sister! Yes, instead of just an imaginary friend, he has created an imaginary sibling! I guess this is what comes from being an only child for 3 years and still waiting for his baby brother to be old enough to play with him! He asked me several weeks ago if I could please put Ethan back in my belly and give him a sister. Then, about a week ago, he started telling me that he and his sister were playing outside together, then she came in and took a bath with him, ate supper with him, and even slept with him. She is his constant companion! Her name is "Alta" but usually she just goes by "sister". I don't know how long she plans to stick around, but until then, I guess I'm the mommy of 3! ;)