Taking the Leap

Appropriate title for today, huh? We are officially homeowners now. It's kind of cool that it happened on Leap Day. We have been very busy the last few weeks packing up everything and getting it ready to move this weekend. We're just about ready to go. I guess I should sign off and finish up all those odds and ends that still need to be taken care of. Happy Leap Day!

A Valentine Payback

Valentine's day came and went pretty uneventfully here this year. I think having it on a week day made it hard to do anything above and beyond the school valentine parties. In fact, Kelsie had to remind me about the "tub of love" scavenger hunt we always do. Luckily it wasn't too hard to throw together. Wally went to help clean the temple that night, so things were pretty quiet around here. We did, however, have our traditional Valentine Family Dance, something we look forward to every year. It was tons-o-fun, as Wally would say, and we all got our groove on. The kids were super excited about it and couldn't wait to get the music started. I'm so happy that our kids still like to do it. Wally and I love to ham it up for the kids and dance all funny and crazy. Kelsie impressed us with a few new moves of her own, and Brandon always throws in some break dancing. Caleb wasn't feeling real great during the dance so he was happy to just play with balloons and throwing his socks around the room. Isaac got into it this year and bounced up and down to the beat as much as his little legs would allow.

Valentine Dance 2012 from Ronni Paxton on Vimeo.

I told Kelsie that with her awesome moves, she will totally rock the dance floor when she's old enough to go to dances. I was never like that. I remember going out of the room with my friends during fast songs because I was too embarrassed to dance. The dance circles? No way. I stayed away from those like the plague. Not any more though. Good thing I've got Wally to enhance my dorkiness (we're pretty good together like that).

Girl You Know Its True from Ronni Paxton on Vimeo.

I guess this is payback from the kids to all the things that I've posted about them.

Hip Hip Hooray!

Five years ago, Caleb entered our lives and it hasn't been the same since.  His bright blue eyes and contagious smile win me over more often than not, along with his happy, go-lucky personality. He's a creative genius and loves to take apart and rebuild his lego ships from scratch (good thing we keep all those instructions!). His little brother idolizes him and copies almost everything he does. He keeps us all laughing at his silly jokes and funny impersonations. He loves Star Wars and anything to do with it. Caleb learned how to ride a bike this past year without training wheels, a big accomplishment especially since he also broke his elbow while riding it last summer. He learned a new sport last year, soccer, and even scored his first goal last fall. He's looking forward to kindergarten and going to school, even though he lets me know that he's not quite ready yet. We love this kid so much. Happy Birthday, little man! We hope this year proves to be even better than the last!

Blue tongue from his treat he got in Primary

New Beginnings and Pinewood Derby

We have had a lot going on around here this week! Brandon participated in his first ever pinewood derby. We got his car a couple weeks ago at a pack meeting where he advanced from Bobcat to Wolf rank. They had everything all set up for the boys to design and cut out their cars that night. Lucky for Brandon, I'm not to bad with a band saw and helped him cut out his car that night. And even more lucky for Brandon, he's got an awesome dad who helped him paint and finish it off for the big race. There was the last minute gluing on weights (quarters in our case) and weighing in, but it all paid off. He won first place in his den and second place over all. We were all pretty surprised and proud at the same time! Way to go Brandon!

Right after the pinewood derby, Kelsie and I quickly changed clothes and went to New Beginnings for all the incoming Young Women this year. It is so hard to believe that I've got an almost 12 year old in the house (a pretty cute one, too!).  She was a little nervous, but did great when they introduced her and told some interesting facts about here. My favorite was when they announced she had been to 34 different states and the audible gasp throughout the room (lucky girl!). We learned all about the Personal Progress Program and ended the night outside lighting paper lanterns to go with the theme this year, Arise and Shine Forth. It was really fun, but because it was windy, they didn't fly as high as we would have liked. She's more excited than ever now to start the Young Women's program and can't wait for June when she'll officially be 12!

Sometimes I really feel like my kids are growing up so fast! Then I sit back and think about all the fun things they get to participate in now that they're a little older and it makes me so happy for them. They are great kids and I really am excited for these new adventures in their lives.

Lego Bowl II

Lego Bowl II from Ronni Paxton on Vimeo.

Lego Bowl I

Backtrack::January

January 2012

We rang in the new year with sparklers at 12:01 a.m.

We got a *little* bit of snow.

Basketball is in full force (inside and outside).

Breaking out the bike gear on warm days.

Trying to remember to slow down and remember the small things.

We bought a house.

We're packing and getting ready to move again.

template from rebecca cooper

Reflecting

I was looking back over this little blog the other night when it hit me that this has been up and running for six years now. Six years! We have since added two kids to the mix since the beginning and have moved three times. It was fun to go back and see some of the old posts and remember the things that we have done together. There were posts that seemed like they just happened the other day, when really, it was like two, three, or more years ago. I remember those days so well. The kids have grown up so much over the last few years. I also noticed that the kids all look the same up until about 2 1/2 years old...and why everyone was so glad when we finally cut Caleb's hair! :)

I have a tendency to measure time by our moves. I started this blog just before we moved away from Pennsylvania to Washington. I wish I would have started earlier and had all my PA memories on here as well. That was one of the best times of my life. Washington seems a little like a blur, mostly because we weren't there for very long. I have blogged most about Chicago and the great time we had living there. Looking back on those posts made me homesick all over again. We were so lucky to have lived in so many wonderful places and have so many experiences (good and bad).

We celebrated our year mark in Albuquerque just after Christmas. It is hard to believe that it has already been a year. I have thought many times in the past year about writing down my thoughts about moving. I never wrote anything about our move from Chicago, and try not to write too many feelings about it as well. Moving can be really hard. Especially when you move around as much as we have in the last few years. Wally and I have decided that we need to give it a good one to two years before we decide exactly how we feel about the place. This has been a year of ups and downs for us, and in true Paxton fashion, we have tried to make the most of it. We still have a long ways to go, but we're getting there a little bit at a time. I like to think that I have learned and grown so much with each move as well. Each one has brought on new challenges and experiences that when I look back, I can really appreciate now, even when I may or may not have been very appreciative then.

We're about to make one more move at this crazy time of our lives (I know, another winter move...). This move is different than others in the past. In fact, this could be one of the easiest and smallest we've ever done (except for the time we moved from a studio apartment into a 1 bedroom across the hall). This one involves a little more commitment and permanency. We finally bought a home. It's about time, right? So, here we are, packing up once again. This time to move onto our new adventure of home ownership.We're excited about this new adventure, especially since we've got grass at the new house! The next few weeks we'll be packing and getting everything ready for this next chapter.

Here's to a seamless transition and another year on the blog!