I Knew She Was A Smart Little Cookie

After talking with the teacher at the beginning of the school year about how she thought Jocee seemed lost in class, I was beginning to think she'd have to be taken out. When we'd work on her homework, she didn't seem to get the formation of the letters and wasn't motivated to try to do it right. I thought my easy days were over.
But for the past 2 weeks or so, she's made a complete 180!! She now knows at least 10 phonograms by sight and can write them, and can write her name! Her handwriting is improving dramatically and last week she had to recite a poem in front of the whole class! She brought back an award for doing such a great job on it! She also brought home 2 phonogram tests and she got 100% on both of them!!! I'm so proud of her!! I made up some flash card with all the phonograms and also math facts and I've been going over them with her and Jordan. I guess it's helping!!

Home Improvement Update

I went to the Homeowner Orientation last Thursday. It went well. They explained the program and how the financial part of it works and what improvements they make. So basically the max amount of money you are allowed is $50,000. Then the total amount is divided in half. One half is due upon the sale of the home--no interest or payments! It just sits there until the house is sold. The other half decreases 10% every year for 10 years. So we get all these improvements done and it doesn't cost us a dime until we sell our house. And even then, the value of our house is increased by all of these improvements by at least the amount we spend! So it's a win/win situation for us! When it's all done, it will be like having a new house!! I'm SOOO excited!!!
Tomorrow morning I will turn in the information they need. Then they will give me a list of General Contractors to choose 4 from. I'm going to be researching them carefully before making my choice. I will also be asking friends and family if they know anyone on the list.
Because our house is more than 45 years old, we have to get approval from the state historical something or other and also we have to have a lead-based paint test done too. They said those things usually take about 4-6 weeks. Then we will have the 4 chosen contractors come through the house to write up a bid. A couple weeks after that, we will get the 4 bids and choose the best one. THEN they will start the work. They suggested that we clear out our house and just have the bare necessities until the work is all completed. It will just make it easier for the subcontractors to work when there's not a lot of stuff everywhere. So we are going to start downsizing, which will make us feel free from "stuff!" I'll update you as things progress and hopefully time will go by fast! I'm like a little kid waiting for Christmas--it seems like forever away!! :)

Why didn't we do this eeyons ago??!!

On Friday, I was putting groceries in the van at Fry's and these ladies came over and said, "You know your car is smoking, right?" I was like, "What??!" So I put up the hood and I knew right away it was freon squirting out of a line. Sure enough, the whole drive home, the air was HOT!! So I got home and was furious! I called Chad and let him know and we talked about what to do. We have already taken our van in to the dealership at least 8 times in the last 3 months and they've never been able to fix it properly. Why buy an extended warranty if they can't even fix it right and you end up having to take your vehicle to a mechanic and paying him too? So I called my dad and told him what happened and he agreed to go with me and Chad's Mom to the dealership and just talk to the service manager and tell him our story. Jen (MIL) thought it would be a good idea to type up a timeline of when we took it in and how long they had it for and any information we could remember or had written down. So she was awesome and whipped up the timeline and also included how I had been treated rudely, how we never got phone calls from them (we were always calling to see what was going on), how they haven't ever fixed it right in the first place, never given a rental car but the very first time we took it in, etc.
So we went in and talked to the manager and he was immediately like "Well, let's get you a rental vehicle and get yours fixed!!" I asked that a mechanic who had never worked on my van be the one to work on it because obviously the guys who have been "working" on it, don't know how to fix it. He said that he used to work at Pinnacle Nissan in Scottsdale and asked if it would be okay with me to send it up there. "Of course!! That would be great!" He told us that whatever charges incur would be taken care of by the dealership and that we wouldn't have to pay a dime--for the rental car either. It was so amazing! My dad was like, "Why didn't we talk to you eeyons (sp?) ago??!!" We coudn't have asked for it to go any smoother than it did. So this is the rental that we got.....
2008 Dodge Grand Caravan!!
It is sooooo nice!!! We want to keep it!! It has automatic sliding doors and fold-n-go seats. The inside is so cool too! Of course the kids love it too. It drives perfectly! And best of all---it has freezing cold A/C!!!! Yeaaa!! So they can keep our van as long as they want now! Now we're just hoping that our van will be returned to us with air that works perfectly!

Fun Saturday

A relative of the mom that my sister, Lexee, nannies for was moving out of his huge house and asked my Dad, brother, Lexee and Brad to hold a yard sale at his house to get rid of his stuff. We didn't have anything planned for the day so we went over around 11am. A lot of stuff was already sold but we managed to get some great deals!! Chad got a pair of snow boarding boots for $1!! He was sooooo excited. He said "I've never had my own pair, I always had to rent!" I don't know when he'll use them but it made him happy. For those of you who know Chad, he is obsessed with Christmas decorating. He puts up as many lights as he can (in and out of the house) and even kills the power sometimes! So at the sale, we got 3 boxes of Chrismas lights and also some cute Halloween decorations for almost nothing! The guy just basically wanted to get rid of the stuff and since it was so late in the morning, he was practically giving it away! And Callie got some toys too! She got this little chair that plays music and lights up. My friend's little boy has this exact toy at her house and every time we are over there Callie doesn't do anything but play with this little chair! I looked for it at re-sell stores but couldn't find it and at Wal-Mart it's like $30!! So I was SOOO excited to get it for free!! She is loving it just as much at our house as at my friends'! She also got this little table that also lights up, plays music, sings abc's and other stuff. We actually had this toy for Jordan when he was a baby and he loved it. Callie is liking it a lot too (the chair is her favorite though). What a great yard sale!!!






Then, after we left the sale, we went home to put the kids down for a nap. Then my dad and brother showed up and asked if we wanted to go to In-N-Out (Lexee's treat!). So instead of all of us going, Callie and I went and got a yummy chocolate shake! Callie had fun showing off in front of everyone. When a stranger would talk to her, she'd smile and run back to my lap and cover her face with her hands. It was SO cute!! My dad laughed and asked "Since when does she get embarassed??!" It was fun to just sit and laugh with my dad, brother, sister and her new husband. We haven't hung out and laughed for a while so it was nice.
Then after that we all went to Chad's parent's house to swim. And it just so happened that both of his sisters were there with their kids swimming too! So the kids got to play with their cousins. Brad and Teddy had fun throwing Jordan and Kyle in the pool too. And I got to enjoy talking with my sisters-in-law about our week and the great deals we found. We also were treated to pizza and lemonade for dinner! Thanks Mom!!
So even though we woke up with nothing to do for the day (except mow and housework), we had a fun and great Saturday!!

New Accomplishment!

Chad called me on Thursday night while I was on my break and said that while he was reading the kids a story that Jordan started yelling "Callie's walking!! Look!!" They all watched her take about 8 steps and then fall, but then got up again and did it a few more times. I was so sad I missed it. Earlier that week I had been trying to coax her into taking steps but this time she did it all on her own! So the next day I saw her with my very own eyes!! It was so cute!!! So now she's officially walking everywhere! My little baby's growing up :-(

Hayley's Birthday/Girl's Night Out

On Saturday night we celebrated Hayley's birthday (my SIL) (I won't tell how old) at the Cheesecake Factory. We had so much fun and were there for like 3 hours! We had to wait about 35-40 minutes, then we just enjoyed our food and each other's company. We shared fun stories and just had girl talk! It was so nice not to be in a rush or have kids to deal with. I think as mothers we need time out where we can just focus on ourselves and not worry about anyone else. We tend to forget about ourselves and focus on our kids, husbands, housework, bills, doctor visits, and everything else we do, and we leave ourselves out an awful lot. When we take the time to have "me time" we come back better Moms and wives.

WARNING: The picture quality isn't the best.

Hayley opening some gifts

Me and Christy (SIL) got the Chinese Chicken Salad and they were enough to feed an army!! Neither one of us finished even half of it. We should have totally shared one and been full--and saved money too!

SIDENOTE: I am totally white next to Miss Hawaiian Tropic! LOL!

Another Tooth!

Jordan's 2nd tooth came out tonight! I tied floss around it after church and he tugged on it all day until tonight he finally let Chad yank it out! He was SOOO nervous about it. So I put some Orajel on it before he pulled it out and it didn't hurt him at all! He was REALLY excited when it came flying out! We all had to search for it on the floor and couldn't find it until I stepped on it! His "grownup" tooth is already mostly in but it grew in behind the baby tooth so I hope it starts to move forward next to his other one.

Here he is all bloody.

And there's the tooth! He's so excited to see what the tooth fairy brings him!