Future/House plans update

So THIS house, has been really good to us. (no things aren't in bloom now, this picture is from last year)

We've loved it. Loved living in this town and everything about it. BUT, Brooks Pathology residency is coming to a close this June. After his test in May, he'll be a certified Pathologist, that could TECHNICALLY (if he had chosen not to do a fellowship) go out and get a really nice job.

Which is exactly what we've decided NOT to do. ;)

This July Brooks will start ANOTHER residency in Family Practice. (3 years)

It started a while ago when he thought about it. He's LOVES Path and loves learning everything at the cellular level, where EVERYTHING started. He's loved getting specimens from surgery, doing FNAs and even autopsies. Every few months he did a different rotation and he liked that. But in real life, he would be doing the same thing everyday and mostly w/ a microscope. He just couldn't see himself doing that everyday for the rest of his life. His goal in family practice is to combine the two (hence, not leaving his Path residency early). He would like to see a patient, and also do their labwork. Have both aspects of medicine that he loves.

When he told me this, it wasn't a shock. I always tease him he has "Professional ADHD" and can't do the same thing everyday. My dad followed his dream in his vocation and went for what he loved instead of just going for the money. I just looked at him and said, "If from 10 years from now you'll look back and regret that you never did another residency, you better do it now."

So that's where we're at..........applying for programs once again (like we did 4 years ago), going through interviews and waiting for Match Day to come in March to tell us where we'll be headed.

Either way, we're moving from here. That was sad. I didn't really WANT to leave this place, but on the other hand, wanted to meet new people and off to a new adventure. We've decided to RENT out house out and not try to sell it, with the hope in mind (or at least in MINE!) that after his 3 year Family residency that Brooks will do his Pathology Fellowship back here. And I can come back to my house!!!!

(This is getting long, so feel free to quit reading, but I've had so many ask what our plans are....)

We were obviously planning on selling this house all along, and KNEW we would be going to a place (fellowship most likely) that we wouldn't be making much money. Ever since we moved here we decided to pay a LOT extra on our principle of the house each month to get it as low as we can. We did this so when we sold the house and moved, we could leave w/ a really good chunk of money to either put down on another house or start paying of med school debt. We sacrificed and Brooks took extra jobs to make this happen and we felt peace knowing that we could never have to "eat it" at closing or have to take out a loan to SELL the house.

We have ended up over 7 years ahead of schedule on the payments in paying down our principle. Brooks is basically married to amortization schedule calculators. It's kinda his thing. ;)

Then some realtors came to our house and said that the market has gone down and we should sell it for 10,000-15,000 less then we bought it for. Which is FINE because we've paid off well over that, but we were disappointed w/ the fact that it wasn't what we had in mind. We ended up putting $500 extra to the house each month to just eat it and not leave w/ as much as we had hoped?!?! As I said, at least if we sold it, because of this sacrifice we would've been fine. And could've even sold it for a lot less...................but we decided to rent it instead.

That way, Brooks could keep his little hobby of watching his principle get paid off even MORE (it really is his little obsession) by someone else, while we go rent wherever we move.

So there you have it. Our plans in the next few months. IDEALLY we could have someone rent our home w/ a 3 year contract so if by some chance we DO come back for a fellowship, the place would be available.

We actually had a resident who emailed and wanted to come see the house last week. He was going to be here for 3 years. He said he was super interested. PERFECT (I thought!) and I was going to give this the BEST shot I had. I had no idea where he was from, kids? (surely he would if he was looking at a 3 bedroom w/ a LARGE yard, right?), etc. But I didn't care. I went to WORK. A few things I did last week in a matter of 4 days:

-got a storage unit and filled it up (Brooks took it down there though)

-painted the garage

-painted all the doors and frames

-pressure washed the house (my friend Jim came over and helped too, what a stud)

-shampoo-ed the carpets

-bought mulch and spread it in every flower bed

-took out 50% of EVERYTHING in the closets (shoes/shirts) and threw them in storage tubs in the back of the Yeti so the closets looked more open

-cleaned out every cupboard and closet, etc.

-cleaned out the garage/organized it

-Need I remind you that keeping a house spotless w/ 6 kidlings running around is pretty hard in and of ITSELF!!!!????

-I had even made bread that came out 5 minutes before he came so it would smell perfect

I was giving this my best shot and frankly was getting my hopes up SUPER high. Afterall, who WOULDN'T want this house? It's awesome!

Friday came and the guy showed up early, so yes, I pulled a few tricks and threw some things in the dryer and shoved some papers under the chairs. This younger looking man walked in and introduced me to HIS GIRLFRIEND!!!!!!!

AH!

No family. Single guy. Super nice guy, but in my mind I couldn't figure out why HE would want a house the big w/ a yard w/ such an upkeep. The walk through lasted all of 7 minutes.....not a closet was opened or anything!!!!!!!!!! AND, they didn't even want any bread. ;)

After they walked out Brooks and I collapsed in the chairs and just kept saying, "Unbelievable" over and over. Then we giggled and I said,

"I'm going to get a hot fudge sundae at McDonalds"..........and I did.

And yes, it helped.

So that's where we're at. In the process of finding renters and also looking ahead to our own move. WISH US LUCK!

Can you tell.....

which princess we're into right now?

And it's probably a better idea if you do NOT ask me what is on her face when I found her singing. She walked in with it taped to her mouth.

(But if you're REALLY curious, there happened to be a shoe heel insert thing on my seat at church. Apparently I sat on it, and it got stuck to my skirt and brought it home that way. Aleeya found it, ripped it off my skirt, and decided it might be fun to have something sticky taped to her face?!?!? I still don't quite get it, but yes, it's from someone's shoe that we have NO CLUE who........and if you're reading this and want your insert back, sorry, because it found it's home in my trash. Nasty..........thankfully it didn't hinder her singing too much, as she seems to get into quite well with it on.)

Mamacita

That's what we call Aleeya, "MAMACITA" because she really is like a little Mommy and that's all she wants to be, pretend to be, etc. Her BIGGEST goal in life is to find a "Daddy for her to marry", not a husband. She just wants to find a man, marry him, so she can finally be a Mommy.

Oh yea, and "kiss on the boca" because she ALWAYS reminds me that she "Loooooooooooves besos!" We're CLEARLY watched too many princess shows. :)

Anyway, so Mamacita was sitting at the table this week while we had chicken wings (Brooks' mom's FAMOUS recipe of wings she makes every year for New Year's.....but the kids had it Jan. 1st and begged for it again, so I made them this week). She LOVES them, and kept asking for more. I told her she had to eat her potatoes and peas first. Surprisingly, she DID, so I handed her a bunch of wings.

After dinner, as I was cleaning up, I found this:

Sneaky little thing. (I'll make sure to remind her of it when SHE'S a mom!)

But this picture is my favorite of the week. This is during family scripture study at night. We usually all sit around w/ our own books, but I couldn't stop Aleeya, she was just too cute. So the whole time she sat there holding her baby and kind of bouncing it up and down as she rocked back and forth. Every once and a while saying, "Sh, sh sh sh".

She LITERALLY rocked her baby the WHOLE TIME!!

And what does THIS picture have to do w/ Aleeya the Mamacita?!?!?

Well, those would be HER PANTS that Emerson had on while he was brushing his teeth and JUST ABOUT READY TO WALK OUT THE DOOR TO SCHOOL!!!! I ALMOST let him out like that because I hadn't noticed!!!! AH! You should've seen how tight it was on his hiney w/ all the girly designs on it. Classic.

This is crazy.

The weather here has felt like spring!!! Today it should be 63 and tomorrow 69. Pretty sure I could get used to this. But with weather THIS nice, there are definitely more trips to the park.

(I assure you, Aleeya IS in this picture, but she's behind the little boy, Corbin, who happened to follow my family around everywhere. I mean when there's a party, better stick with it, right?)

Royce loves walking around and doesn't think TWICE about staying near me......which is FINE, because I just follow him around. But when the WHOLE family wanted to play a good ol' game of tackle football on the field by the park, well, Royce's adventurous attitude wasn't going to fly.

So once again, my husband's ingenuity came through in how to keep him close.....

Not sure if you can notice the round shape in the back of Royce's pants.......but Brooks stuck the handle of Sally's leash down there, so he was connected to Sally. You're PROBABLY thinking this is a bad idea, but you clearly don't know Sally. She will NOT leave my side for anything. She always is around me, so it was perfect......and Royce had no clue it was in there!

He would walk and sometimes Sally would go a few feet away with him.

But when he wanted to go away from the family, Sally stood her ground and sat down.

Yep, I think that's about as far away as Royce got during the whole football game. HAHAHA.

It was awesome. Thanks Sally.

WE LOVE FROSTIES!

And by "WE" I mean Iris and me.

What's that you ask? Why the WHOLE drink carrier full of frosties? You think we like them that much? Well, yes, we do, but normally Iris and I don't order that many for our little date.

You see, the past few days Brooks and I have noticed a decline in gratitude from the kids. Even yesterday when I made a huge batch of cinnamon rolls and they all devoured them....WITHOUT SAYING THANK YOU! So Brooks said, "Okay, I don't care HOW much you like something, you say thank you. So next time you don't say thank you, we'll take it back."

Lo, and behold after Bronson's basketball game, (THAT SAME DAY!!!!!) we went to go get us some free frosties and Brooks gave me the look like "Okay, here we go......."

I passed out all the frosties, spoons, napkins, etc. We drove a few blocks and I'll be darned if not ONE of my children said thank you......or GRACIAS for that matter. So Brooks pulled over, I grabbed them all back, and the rest of the ride home there was MUCH wailing and gnashing of teeth........to say the least.

However, it wasn't ALL a loss............because Iris and I sure enjoyed yourselves.

Our house has been taken over by

Beyblades.

Anyone else have this problem? Beyblades are EVERYTHING to my boys, and when they earn or get money, they buy beyblades. You see, they're basically graduated tops that battle.

The most entertaining factor for me (besides Brooks getting into it w/ them), is to see which "Stadium" they're playing with. They're always going through random household items to get their beyblades to battle in.

Exhibit A- a cookie sheet.

My personal fav to play with- a round cake pan. There's some MAJOR close action with it.

(inside the wood arena Brooks built.....but the beyblades didn't hit each other enough in it)

Beyblades LITERALLY entertained my boys for 4 hours today (and 2 of those hours before church. Beautiful.) They're pretty happy when they play them too........

Side note: if there are TWO things that gross me out more then anything, they are 1) a plunger.......I NEVER own one. They're a one-time use thing around here then they get thrown away......and 2) portable potties.

They are nasty. I bought one once for Aleeya or Emerson or something and after they used it once, I took out the cup thing and all inside parts, threw them away, and we now use it just as a step stool.

And more recently, a new Beyblade stadium.

HAHAHAHAHA. This picture makes me laugh soooooooooo hard. Just seeing my kids hover over a child's potty seat makes me smile. But it DOES make a great stadium.

Look what I found

My camera. Oh happy day......... here are some random pictures I've found

the two twins. My 2 baby boys. (snuggling in Grandma's blankey.....it goes everywhere w/ Emerson)

So there's this Nature Center/Children's Museum combined close by. And the kids LOVE the outside part (animals) best.

However ME? Well, when Emerson brings his clipboard and has to DRAW EVERY. SINGLE. ANIMAL.............it gets a little old. He was pretty adamant about it though.

Brooks has finished up his interviews now and when he had on in Virginia, we stopped by a quick pizza place and got to meet up with my brother. Asking for them to set up a table of 15?......classic.

My girls could NOT have been happier being spoiled by their older girl cousins.

And this is the part I was KICKING myself for not having my camera for our stay w/ the Henriods, downtown D.C. and Air and Space Museum w/ Tio Bug and Tia Linsey.

Bummer. Then again, it would've been a lot of pictures of Brooks off by himself reading every plaque while Linsey and I watched the kids. ;)

He's 9!!!!!

My eldest and most awesome Smith seed turns 9 this week. Brooks has an interview on his actual birthday and we would be out of town. Bronson was starting to think I was NOT going to celebrate his b-day, and the fact that I hadn't made a pinata and asked who he wanted at a party probably confirmed that. So as you can imagine, he was SURPRISED when he came home this morning and found a room w/ his family, balloons, 3 friends, cake/presents waiting for him. I wish I caught that moment on camera.

But before anything he just wanted to go in the driveway and play basketball with his buddies.

I finally had to to call them in to eat cake......they were having just too much fun. Check out the PURE joy on Bronson's face.

And having a basketball cake helped keep that smile there.

The presents were so fun (check out Camden's face in the bottom picture......he cracks me up!), and Bronson was ESPECIALLY excited over the Human Body kit w/ books and skeleton thing to make. He LOVES learning about the body, so when I saw it at Megathrift this week for 1.99, I HAD to grab it. Talk about the best 2 bucks ever spent!!!

Since I couldn't MAKE a pinata, I knew probably had to go buy one. Then my sweet friend Melissa offered me one they found in her dad's garage. Score.

WAIT. time out........Bronson's gotta wait while we move Royce.....

The candy grab. Gotta love those moments.

As fun as the pinata was, the boys all thought this was MORE fun.........taking the new football out for a game of 500........w/o the points. Brooks would just throw it and the boys decided they would do whatever it took to get the ball.

I love all the faces.......

it was pretty intense. Between each throwing, Bronson couldn't wipe the smile off his face.

Boys are awesome.

I've decided parties must get easier when the kids get older. You don't need to plan games, entertainment or anything. All Bronson REALLY wanted to do, is grab his friends, go outside and play some sports.

Love me some Bronson.

Realization

Yes, I realize I haven't posted in a while (mystery of the missing camera), but it MIGHT have something to do w/ me laughing over this article too hard.........and too long:

(Keep in mind, if you do NOT have a sense of humor, you are NOT allowed to read this..... it's not a comparison article, just pointing out the differences of the two work environments.....but holy cow, is it funny.)

http://www.babble.com/toddler/toddler-development/questions-for-parents-from-SAHM/

It just made my day.............it ALMOST made me forget that old lady giving me the meanest crusties she could muster at Walmart today. Man, do I wish I had a camera for THAT moment. Who knew faces could make that face? CERTAINLY not me.

My deserved treat

Almost my WHOLE family joined together in Salt Lake City yesterday when my parents were set apart and blessed before they go down to Brazil to be the Missionary Training Center President there! What a neat day and spiritual boost I know they all had. It is so neat hearing about it from all of them......

Then. there. was. my. day........

Actually the DAY on the whole was fine w/ having everyone home, eating football snacks, wings, etc., painting different rooms, and playing some games. THOSE parts were great. But there was a good ol' hour of the day that was hard........No, allow me to use a different word .......... TORTURE! Yep, a WHOLE HOUR OF TORTURE sitting there in the photo studio w/ Royce for his year old pictures (to match all of these yr. old pictures of the others above my bed)

It had to be a WHITE background like the others and sitting down....the sitting down part being the trickiest part. Man, he was SUCH a stinker.

The photographer was SUPPOSED to take more pictures, but since Royce kept shaking his head no to him, he decided to mark the shorter photography session on his paper "Cut short due to unruly child". Perfect.

And if you'd LIKE to feel like you were there too, here are the ones that he DID get to take and that weren't blurred w/ Royce shaking his head.....once again, telling him "no".

http://www.myonlineportraits.com/ViewSharedAlbum.aspx?ShareID=8325a1e8-a5f6-4974-a730-c6edcdb75c47

The last 6 on the first page crack me up because you can see him progressively starting to get more and more bored w/ the whole situation, until the last one when he gives the photographer a look like, "Really? Shaking that stuffed animal at me?! Do you REALLY think that will amuse me?!"...with his hand balled up in a fist, probably ready to deck the guy.

Honestly, the VERY last one he smiled big........but only because he heard me say, "Wanna go get a treat?".......and after that, we did. We went, but it was ME who got the treat. NOT HIM!