For Sale

The first of numerous major steps in this move was just accomplished this evening. Our house is finally up for sale. Our agent was impressed with the house and only made the suggestion to take down the princess and Pooh decals from Juliana and Kevin's bedrooms. She said that there was no need to paint since the walls look great and the house smells/looks wonderful. Thank goodness! We worked really hard to get the house looking perfect for today. I hope a buyer will come around the corner and snag the house SOON!

My mom was visiting my Granny today and was said she was looking for some desirable apartments for us to rent until our house sells. It is wonderful that she is helping us look now so we can get ahead of the game with neighborhoods, school districts, etc. The internet is great making properties look clean, but we all know, that once you get up close, many times the real deal is much different. Thanks for being our eyes and ears for now Mom!

Kathy and Jim will be here this weekend. It will be the first time since Thanksgiving since we've seen them. The kids will have a great time being spoiled. Jason's 30th birthday is on May 6, so it will be a nice gift to have his parents here to celebrate with us.

We're exhausted. Signing off...

Westward Bound????

I've been holding off this entry for days now, although it seems like weeks. Jason got the job offer in California! This is wonderful news for Jason's professional life, but adds an extra spark to our personal life too. We miss being with family and friends, and this will give us that opportunity again. He also applied for positions in New Hampshire and New Jersey, although not much transpired from those, according to Jason.

The move to California is not final yet. They are trying to figure out compensation, and all the wonderful things that go along with a job transfer. There are many many more details to sort through before this is set in stone. I'll do my best to keep you all updated. To save myself from sitting on a psych's couch for hours on end, don't get too excited about this move until it is finalized. I'll admit, at this point if it doesn't pan out, I'll go crazzzzy. I did not invest a lot of emotions into this process at first because no one is ever sure if interviews will go as planned or whatever. I pray that it goes well. More than anything else, I am so proud of my husband for all he has accomplished! There are few men in this world that are such good men, Daddies, husbands, employees, and friend. Hats off to the man I love...

Polishing Memories

I began this morning wondering what in the world I can do to pass a little time. I bought silver polish yesterday at the grocery store, so I thought I would go ahead and polish the few silver treasures that we have around the house. I started polishing my Grandma's old silver jewelry box. It is small with a large "A" on the top. Of course, it has many of the rings she wore hidden inside. Juliana peeks and asks if the rings for dress-up. I told her they were Great-Grandma's rings and she had to compliment all of them, even the ones that most would say, "hmmm, that's interesting".

After polishing Grandma's jewelry box, I began polishing a silver bowl and spoon that was given to Juliana for her Baptism in October 2002 from my Granny, Juliana's GG. The silver bowl and spoon actually belonged to my Uncle Pat who passed away June 2, 2002. As I was polishing the bowl, I was in deep thought. I found it a little ironic that I was polishing my Uncle Pat's silver spoon, while remembering what a tough journey he had while on this earth. I made a point of polishing his initials on the front, "EPM" (Edward Patrick McNair, actually changed to Patrick Standish McNair) to make them stand out.

During my deep thought, Juliana asks me once again what I was polishing. I told her a little bit about the bowl and spoon, and who it belonged to. She got a confused look on her face. Without getting exact quotes, she said to me, "Mommy, Great-Uncle Pat lives in Heaven, how can he use a bowl?" Then she thought for another second and said, "No Mommy, Great-Uncle Pat lives in the dirt, remember I talked to him and cleaned his rock (tombstone) while we were in California? What would he do with a silver bowl and silver spoon?" I honestly can not remember what I told her, I just remember thinking that I wish Uncle Pat could her Juliana's curiosity and genuine interest in wanting to know more about his life and more about this simple silver bowl and silver spoon.

Who would have thought that a simple task of polishing a few pieces of silver would bring out so many memories. I often wonder how interested Kevin will be with family history and memories from the past. Perhaps I can polish a few more memories for him in the next few years.

The picture above is Juliana cleaning off Uncle Pat's tombstone while we were visiting the Standish family plot in Los Altos Hills, CA in March.
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The weather here has been all over the place. It's been warm, sunny, dark, rainy, windy, calm, snow, thunder....

During Juliana's spring break, we went to the Easter Egg hunt at the Henry Ford Museum with friends, and went to the park a few times too. When we went to the park the other day it was windy and cold and were the only ones in the HUGE park. It was fun to run around and not have the competition of 75 other children and 100 other parents running around. Now it is back to school, back to a regular schedule.

Hoppin' By...

Happy Easter! The Easter Bunny must have gone back into his bunny hole after leaving our house. Boy, he must have had some help from other bunny friends to get everything into our house. Juliana woke up this morning and thought she was in heaven. She saw four baskets full of candy, pretty eggs, chocolate bunnies, books, and even a present from Nana and Grampy that resembled a DVD, rather than candy.

Although Juliana was excited to see her Easter basket so early in the morning, we held off the silly part of Easter until we fulfilled our obligation to go to church. Both Juliana and Kevin were absolute angels throughout Mass. Kevin does not usually go to church because his attention span is close to zero and his desire to run is off the charts. This morning he wore his halo well!

Our egg hunt after Mass was so much fun. Juliana had competition for the first time, and was not sure she was up for it. As usual, she had a tough moment or two, then ended up helping her brother find eggs to put into his basket. Without knowing it, she also made Shadow's day by spilling candy all over the floor in excitement. The egg hunt is over, and the kids are sleeping right now. What a wonderful day!

Happy 5th Birthday Chandler! What a lucky girl to have her birthday on Easter!
Happy 9th Birthday Xander! 9 years old on the 9th... WOW! (April 9) XOXO

Tomorrow is the 5th anniversary of losing Grandma and Uncle Don. April 9, 2002 was probably one of the hardest days of my life. It's wonderful to have a sentimental daughter, because as she remembers birthdays or anniversaries, she always makes a point of making it extra special by singing or saying something profound. I wish I knew all that was going on in her thoughtful little noggin.

Finally A Home

Our house is finally turning into our home. It has been sterile white since we moved in, with the exception of the kitchen and bathrooms that have been slowly painted in the last 2 1/2 years. We finally took our 75th run to Lowe's and bought the paint. After bringing home four colors that we could not decide on at Lowe's, we picked two and Jason went crazzzzzy painting all weekend. He did a fabulous job taping the baseboards, patching up nail pops, scratches from the kids, builder issues, and much more. I was on clean-up duty during his breaks, although that does not nearly match the work that Jason has done. Pictures will finally start going on the walls tonight , then the upstairs hallway will be painted this weekend. The rest of our house will need scaffolding and a professional to complete it. We aren't that ambitious!

Hopefully the Easter Bunny will enjoy our new colors and hop in with a basket full of joy!