Back to the 'Burgh

We have considered looking for a new job, for Justin, for a long time. We kept putting it off though, feeling like we should just be grateful that he has a good, steady job and wait and see what happens. So we waited and waited and put it off some more. And then Heavenly Father gave us a couple of good kicks in the behind to get us going and get us to move on. We LOVE it here in Austin for so many reasons (not including the summer heat). But yes, we are moving back to the 'burgh!

Justin is staying with the University of Phoenix, but will be working at the Pittsburgh Campus, where he started his career with them almost 6 years ago. He starts June 1, so we are planning on packing up a truck on Memorial Day, May 25, and then hitting the road the next morning. So we have a very busy few weeks ahead!

We will stay with my parents in Kittanning until our house sells here or we find our own place there. The campus is in Robinson, so we'll probably look for a place around there.

We will really miss Austin. We have family here and lots of friends and a house and ward that we love, but its time to take the next career move. We do look forward to having our parents and some siblings and other family close-by in Pittsburgh though!

Crafty

Every once in a while I get the urge to be crafty. Once I get something in my head that I want to do, I want to do it now. (Fortunately for our wallet, I don't have a car during the day so I can't just run out and buy all the stuff to do it all the time)

I was watching John & Kate Plus 8 the other night and they had these little cloth baggies that they hooked onto the kids carseats for snacks. We have the same carseat & I can't figure out how/where they hooked it on... Anyway, I was doing other things while it was on and missed Kate talking about them, except the very end when she said how great they are. Our car is a mess from spilled snacks and we always make a mess on our row at church, so I've been looking for alternatives anyway.

So I searched the internet and found something like what they had. I don't know if its exactly what they use or not. But I like the idea, and of course, no way am I going to pay $9 for a snack bag. Especially when I will want at least 4, so I can have one in the wash and one ready to use for each kid. So now I just have to figure out how to make it.

It has a little stainless steel bowl in the bottom to make it stand up and a carabiner on the back so you can attach it to your diaperbag, stroller, etc and apparently, carseat. http://www.thesnacksack.com/

The other option I found in an etsy store is this:

It closes like a ziploc, but velcro. I also like that the bottom is flat so it can stand up. Click here for a link to the etsy store. I kind of like this one better, and it would probably be easier to make.

Justin is always asking me a) when are we going to open a bakery; and b) when are you going to come up with a good idea that will make us millions?

Well, my answer to both is this - We could never go into business together. It would be the end of our marriage.

But it still is one of those things where you just say, "why didn't I think of that??" A lot of times I did think of that, but I just wasn't the first one.

So now I just have to figure out how to make these. I'm not an expert at sewing, but anyone want to join me??

Phone Pictures

It was time to pull the pictures off my phone. So here are some pictures that were taken with my phone. This is Logan, making a fist, ready for a fight. He always wants someone to fight him.

Yeah, this was fun. It looks like you can just open the lid and take it out. No, it was wedged in there under the rim. It wasn't very easy to get out. Have I posted this one before? It is seeming familiar?

They don't have kid's sized cones at this place and Logan ate the entire gigantic cone. It took him a while and was messy, but he did it!

When we go to restaurants, Tolan is always in his own world, doing anything but eating usually. And he never sits down. We completely gave up on high chairs and booster seats when we are out.

Remember how Logan is always looking for someone to fight? Well, we found him someone over the weekend. We got together with some friends for dinner and the boys found some boxing gloves and had a great time. They went for a good half an hour nonstop. Adam is a little over a year older than Logan, but he was up for it and held his own. Don't call CPS on us, they were just having fun and no one was hurt! Here's an action shot. They loved it, but we won't be starting any fight clubs for 3 & 4-year-olds.

And these, I forgot I was going to add these pictures from the last hail storm a few weeks ago. It's the closest thing we get to snow. Luckily Justin was able to come home from work a little early so our car could be safe in the garage!

Our Day Out

A few weeks ago we had planned to go to the Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center south of Austin. It rained yesterday, but we hadn't heard that the trip was cancelled, so we got up and took Justin to work so we could have the car, but it turns out they had cancelled afterall. Since we were already packed up, ready to go, and in the car - we went anyway. The boys were not exactly cooperating with the camera, so they are looking at the camera in almost none of the pictures, but here are some anyway:

The boys were also promised a picnic with our trip to the park, but the picnic tables were all wet from yesterday's rain. So we had a picnic at the mall on the way home.Unfortunately the mall did not have a play area for kids, but by the time we had gone to a few stores and were ready to go, it was pouring rain. I think the boys had a fun day, but the only time they said so was when I was running to the car in the pouring rain, pushing them full speed in the double stroller and Logan said, "this is fun!!"

TV Junkies

I think most parents would agree that its a bad sign when you realize that the kids are not in your sight and the house is strangely quiet. This usually means they are up to something, and my boys have had their share of that mischief, but the last couple of times I have noticed that strange silence, this is what I have found:

They are up in our room lying in our bed and watching tv!

Silly. TV Junkies!!

Tolan's Surgery

Poor Tol-Tol had to have surgery a few weeks ago. A few months ago I wondered why I could never see his teeth when he smiled. So I hung him upside-down and took a look in his mouth. I noticed that his lip was basically attached to his teeth, and thought, "I don't think that's normal." So at his next well-check we asked the doctor and he said we should see and ear, nose, throat specialist and probably have it clipped. So that's what we did.

The procedure is called a frenulectomy, and you may have heard of it before. Babies who are "tongue-tied" have the same thing done to the little bridge of skin under their tongue so they can nurse. Tolan just had it on his top lip. The part that was attached was pretty thick and attached pretty tightly, so they had to put him under and clip it then sew all back together with about 7 or 8 stitches. He was pretty mad when he woke up and for the rest of that day, but within a couple of days he was back to his normal routine. Now all the stitches have dissolved and the doctor says it looks great and he should be fine. We will just have to wait and see how his permanent teeth come in some day.

So if you are still confused, here are some before and after's that may help:

Justin's Latest Project

Since Justin did such a great job posting on here while I was in Utah, I thought I would have him post this since it's his thing, but he hasn't had the time, so here goes.... anyway Justin got it into his head a while ago that he wanted a projector. He searched and searched the internet until he found a good one at a really good price that he was willing to pay. Then he just had to talk me into it. I gave in, knowing that the projector itself wasn't going to be the end of it. The next thing was something to mount it on. So he got that. Then it was the surround sound. So we moved the surround sound from the tv downstairs to the projector upstairs. Then it was a screen. I thought it looked just fine projecting the picture onto the wall, but Justin wanted perfection. So then it was a search for a screen. Screens are not cheap. So he looked at all of the options and he finally relented that instead of buying one, we would just go the DIY route and we made one. These projects are always more complicated than they sound, but it turned out pretty well!

This is the finished project. We of course, did not take a "before" picture, but I'm sure you can imagine what a blank wall looks like.Here it is in action

This is what he got to mount the projector and everything on. I'm not a fan. It's definitely bachelor pad-ish and I don't know why but I think it looks like one of those trees in Africa.

So the next thing is to figure out how decorate that wall around the African tree.

Valentines Day

Fondue is a vday tradition at our house. We were out running around on vday so it got too late and we picked up Chinese take-out instead, but we had our cheese fondue the next day and chocolate fondue for Monday's family home evening treat. We let the boys in on the fun this year and they loved it! Tolan didn't really get the dipping part - he just loved having that stick in his posession.

Maybe we should have had baths after the fondue...

Take a Good Look!

It's not very often you will see me wearing sports-related clothing. And I'm usually against worshipping the NFL on Sundays, but in a marriage there is compromise. Justin and I are both born and raised Pittsburghers, so when the Steelers play I keep my mouth shut about watching football on Sunday and when the Steelers are in the Superbowl, forget about it. We had to show some hometown pride and support our Steelers with some t-shirts and Terrible Towels. Thanks mom! And congrats to the Steelers!!!