6 weeks and 16 days

Today marks 6 weeks until Carol and Will come home! We cannot wait! I've dubbed it the Stoddard Summer '09 since it will pretty much be a party from late June through July. In 16 days we'll offically move into our new house, which is making me feel a bit overwhelmed since all we've done as far as packing goes is to unload our old stuff that was in the storage trailer:

We've been so focused on our new house, getting repairs taken care of, painting, floors, landscaping, etc., I forgot that our stuff won't magically appear there when it's all done. I'm going to need to start packing, but I don't know where to start. So, I'm going to procrastinate yet another day and think about what I'll miss at this gorgeous house.

#1 - The central vacuum system. I LOVE IT! I don't know what I'll do without it, but one day, I vow to have it again.
#2 - The basement. A room where the mess can build, but you don't see it and they can be as loud as they want, but you don't have to hear it - fabulous!
#3 - The laundry room. It's huge, maybe that's why I only did laundry about once a week, because I could just keep piling it in there.
#4 - The three fridges and four freezers. What will I do without my beverage fridge, breakfast fridge and lunch and dinner fridge? So sad.

And #5 - The neighborhood. The trees and birds are amazing down here. I love how lush it all is.

I know there's more that I'll realize as we move and live without, but I'm excited to move one and see what I love about our new house. I know one thing already - we only have three bathrooms instead of five to clean. Yippee!

Hallelujah!

Well, the day has finally come! We closed on our house today - we are officially first-time homeowners! After almost 5 months, we got the house I posted about a couple months ago, and I could not be happier. It is overwhelming and so exciting at the same time. If anyone has good references for painters, plumbers, flooring, and pool fence people, let me know. : )

Ladybug Hunt

Yesterday, we were playing in the backyard and we started to notice a lot of ladybugs in the grass. It was kind of like finding ants in your house. You see one, then two, then your peripheral vision kicks in and you see dozens. It was really cool. We all held a bunch, except for Elle who would think they were the cutest things in the world, but scream her head off when we put one on her foot (it was so funny we did it a few times). Mae had no fear and picked up one after another, but I had to stop her when she was pinching them to pick them up. Oops.

Girl's Trip!

I got to go away last weekend for our annual girls trip with my fantastic friends, Dana and Megan. About 6 years ago while living in Phoenix, our husbands surprised us for Mother's Day and sent us to Sedona for the weekend. We've continued the tradition pretty much every year since and it's so rejuvinating! Especially this year since I didn't have Mae, and no one was pregnant (bring on the jacuzzi). We basically just ate and vegged for 2 days straight. It was wonderful! I'm so grateful to Bud for watching our four crazy kids this weekend with no complaints. And I'm sure there was plenty to complain about, especially during three hours of church. : ) I'm grateful for great friends in my life too. It's nice to get away and just be a girl for a weekend.

Doozy

I know it's been awhile since I've blogged, and now I don't know if I should do seperate posts for everything, or just tie it all into one. I'm going with the one big post because it's past midnight and I'm tired and really want to get this up before yet another week begins. So, here are the past two weeks in a nutshell:

Spring Break finally came - yahoo! We headed down to San Diego to finally meet our new niece/cousin, Brooklyn. Such a sweetie and happy to have another girl in the family. That now brings my parents up to 9 grandkids. My dad and sister and her kids came with. We hit the beach even though it was pretty cold, made it to IKEA (why do we not have one in Vegas?!), celebrated the twin's birthday, and swam and soaked in the pool/jacuzzi (Thanks Dana for the great accomodations!). It was a fun trip, but we weren't done yet!








Bud took the kids out to dinner the night we got back to give me a little peace and quiet for a couple hours and to celebrate the boys birthday since he couldn't be with us in SD for their actual day. That drew their birthday out to a full week from getting their presents from Nana two Saturdays ago, to Nintendo DS's on the morning of our trip for the car, to their actual birthday on Friday, breakfast in bed on Sunday, then they STILL had donuts for their class the following Monday. After they got home from school that day I told them, "Your birthday is officially over" (lovingly, of course).
Wednesday I also got to go on a fun field trip to the Natural History Museum with them. This picture cracks me up, it looks like the dinosaur is going to attack our poor tour guide.











Easter was great last Sunday. I didn't have my camera, but the Hilbus traditions were alive and well (except for egg wars, that one kind of fizzled out this year). Kim came back from San Diego with us so she could celebrate with the family. All the cousins were together and yesterday we took family pictures of the whole crew which I'm sure I'll post soon.

So, I think that's pretty much it. Man, I do not like catch-up posts, but it's just been a crazy couple weeks. At least we're up-to-date now.

You're Turning Violet, Violet!

Well, she's at it again. Sometime during the night, Elle colored her hands purple with a non-washable highlighter. Then she slept on her hands and got it on her face. I've tried to get it off, but to no avail. Looks like we'll have to wait out the fading process over the next few days. But, notice how we color-coordinated her outfit? Now, you might ask, "well, where is she getting these markers?" Perhaps I am a little at fault, but the girl rumages through her toy basket during the night and finds the darndest things. She's supposed to be SLEEPING!










Mae's been a total handful too. She's teething and she's either crying all the time or if she's quiet, then she's getting into something. These girls are driving me crazy!!

April Fools

So right about now my sweet boys should be finishing up their lunches where they were treated to a little April Fools joke. I wanted to put toothpaste in lieu of the cream filling in some oreo's, but we didn't have any, so I had to settle for some other little pranks. First, I swapped their honey and jelly sandwiches, which for some reason they get really upset about. Then I took the straws off their juice boxes. But the best part was I filled their lunch bags to the brim with goldfish. Lots of em. Wish I could see their little faces when they opened them. Hee Hee!
I tried so hard to get them to play a joke on their teacher, Mrs. Medina, and what better trick to play with twins then to switch places. But they would not do it. I kept telling them they were missing out on a prime opportunity where they most likely wouldn't get in trouble, but I guess I just raised them too well. Wusses.

Now to think of something for Bud... I don't think the fake pregnancy test would be too funny since I've done that to him for real and it's just not something we can joke about in our family. With our luck, I really would be. BUT I'M NOT! Anyway, gotta keep thinking.