The Fantastic Amazing Super Cool Bunk Bed!!

This bunk bed really is super cool, fantastic, amazing, and we love it! CJ has been in need of a bed for some time now and once we had the means I was all over Craigslist looking for a bunk bed for my favorite tike. I am partial to bunk beds because I always wanted one, who hasn't?, and CJ just loves the top bunk of his friend Melodie's and cousin Abbi's beds.


After only a bit of searching we struck gold with STEP 2, they don't make this bunk anymore so when I saw that CJ could sleep and play all in one I was all over it. I love how the lower bunk converts to a play area when you aren't using it as a bed. And Janie loves it too!

The sleeping arrangements are a little tight, but not for too much longer. And the kids really do love playing underneath the bunk together.

P.S.

Jeremy and I spent a few nights scrubbing the daylights out of the plastic when it first came home, it was in a pretty dirty state when we bought it. One morning my fantastic new friend out here, Stevie, came over with her chitlins to help assemble the bed. There was also a severe thunderstorm advisory that came in that morning. Well, the storm came with loud booms and bangs and heavy showers, and when we went to check on the boys, we found Adam and CJ hiding in Lizzie's crib from the storm, it was so cute I had to snap a photo.


Then I realized shortly later that CJ was missing his bottom clothing! Apparently he was in the bathroom when all the commotion started and ran for cover! I couldn't stop laughing when I caught on to what had happened. I just had to share.

A special thanks to Vanessa who shared the story of Jack and his wet diaper head and inspired me to share such moments on my blog too without shame.

Love you Van!

Huston Rodeo

It's a wonderful thing to be able to fly with Southwest, and know people in the entertainment industry. When the two come together its like magic, and in the middle of it all is my amazing Jeremy, a big dreamer who makes things happen. So this last weekend Jeremy was in touch with his pyro buddies from CA who just happen to run the happenings at the Huston Rodeo, and one short flight later we were there, soaking up all the ten gallon hats and bronco riding we could handle.

We entered at the fun zone and CJ had so much fun trying out many of the events, one carnie was even so nice to let him and I run through a fun house.
Carnie's are the best!


Lizzie was all smiles as she enjoyed the colors and loud sounds around us.

We're just resting before we enter the rodeo stadium. I held Liz a lot that day and tired CJ wanted some of Mommy too. I like having a pile of kids, there's at least room for two or three more!

We had the best seats in the house, literally. Our VIP tags allowed us to go onto the dirt and sit on folding chairs during the show! No way! Without the kids, maybe, but as the show started we saw how those horses bucked in only 8 sec. so I was happy being safe in the stands.

We had such a fantastic day together. It became a long night, and we learned a few travel tips, but would do it again in a heartbeat.

Our Home On the Ocean

So really it's a home that's on a street named Ocean, but it's going to be ours! I wish I could say in a short amount of time, but as it's a foreclosure, it may be awhile to get all the paperwork and repairs completed. It doesn't need a complete face lift, thank goodness, but a bit of TLC that will take a few weekends.

Front View of Ocean - Est. in 2002, like us!

I love how open the kitchen is and the big pantry!

The front living room and neat-o fireplace

The other living room on the other side of the fireplace

Master Bedroom - Needs a little life!

Master Bath with a garden tub and separate shower

Back of the house, we want to do so much here!

Our back yard with a fantastic running slope all for CJ!

We are so excited that we'll be able to stay in the ward we are currently attending and are even closer now to friends. The schools are wonderful and there's even a community park just a few houses away that CJ and Janie already love to play at.




I love that the play equipment is set within a more natural setting so there's shade as well as plenty of adventure at hand. One other interesting feature is that we have deaf neighbors near by. I remember a while back when we were house hunting that we came upon a neighborhood that had this sign


and I thought that the community must be pretty responsible and neat to have such a thing, plus I'd love to have the chance to sign as part of my daily life, I really miss using the language. It wasn't until we started the process with this home and drove the little neighborhood that I remembered this was the community with the caution signs. It's amazing how some things come together.

So we're up to our ears in inspectors, and paperwork, and planning, and loving every bit of it. Keep coming by for updates on the process and we'll do our best to post. Thank you to all who have been so supportive of our little family and our big dreams. If you'd like to see more of the home click on the link below and you'll be taken to YouTube and our home page where I've uploaded six videos of the home. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/user/HappyHuntHome#p/u

In Other News . . .

For our regular happenings, there's been a bit of chaos and creativity lately.

First, the chaos . . .

Chris is recovering nicely from strep, but his poor face looked like it was shedding winter skin. The result was me having to scrub and then lotion his face every night, morning, and afternoon, but we're better now. And Lizzie Jane cut her seventh tooth on Feb 28th and her eighth tooth just yesterday on Mar 9 so you can imagine her disposition as of late. Eight teeth! She's only 9 months old! CJ was the same way though so I'm not surprised I guess. I don't have any pictures of screaming children to post, the real images just weren't pretty, but everything is looking up now, or until more teeth cut or CJ contracts the plague!

Now onto Creativity!!

Jeremy felt inclined to cut CJ's hair last week, really cut. Normally we have a buzz session for both the boys, but today was different. Using the super dull scissors that came with the kit for the buzzer, Jeremy sniped and clipped the hairs of our wiggly three year old, who was not happy to have the treatment preformed. Once the process started though, we had to see it through and it ended in tears, restraint, and hugs - isn't that how anything worth while is accomplished at this age?


Though skeptical at the beginning as to where this was all leading, the result wasn't too shabby! And then Jeremy asked me to do the same to his hair! Well, we lovingly refer to both results as a "Hunt Job" and just keep going. Although Jeremy says a co-worker paid him a positive comment on his new do, I still find myself glancing at the top of CJ's head and at Jeremy's profile and grimace a bit. I have learned that a home hair cut is all about blending, and that I need to get better at it!

And then there's the sewing bug that has finally bit me again! I've been waiting, and planning projects, and piling repairs, but I didn't have the drive, until this week. I follow a super cute blog called Sew it to me that has great links to sites for Sewrific projects. Sew, I found this one about making a cooking apron out of a dish towel for kids, and here it is! Sew it didn't turn out like the tutorial, but Chris loves it!



In other ambitious projects . . . I travel a lot recently and struggle with the car seat madness that I always need to deal with, ie, packing, moving, and walking with huge, bulky, required objects. So here is my solution, a security bag for my kids so no seat is required . . . just kidding, it's my car seat bag. Both an upright that Liz will be using in a few short months, and CJ's full booster fit in it. And what cool fabric! CJ was just sure that it was for him, and I had to get a pic.

So where is darling Lizzie? She felt well enough to be available for one day of photo's at the Picture People, I love their work. The next day she was back to cranky teething, but for this one day we were all bliss! Isn't she beautiful! This is why we call her Lizard at home, she loves to use her tongue! CJ began calling her Elizabiff, then Elizabiffy, and now calls her Tinseybiff and Lizardbiff. It's just too cute.

The CJ Special Edition

CJ is such a character! Every day he makes us laugh with all the things he says and does. He is creative, thoughtful, independent, and hard working. Here's what he's been up to lately . . .

AHHHH!

Christopher has been loving his Trio Block set that his cousin gave him for Christmas. He loves to make the design from the booklet and then start rearranging the pieces to make different creatures. He laughs and screams with delight and demands pictures to be taken and of course we oblige and laugh along with him. He's so creative!

Isn't that sweet?

Christopher is so in love with his sister Janie. Often times, like this, when we are in the car on long trips Chris is able to keep his sister occupied. He wants to make sure that she isn't crying, which keeps Mom happy, and has toys to play with. I assure him that she needs only one or two toys, but he loves to pile them on. He's so thoughtful!

YUM YUM!!

Chris is into eating peanut butter sandwiches, no honey, no jelly, no bananas, only peanut butter. I think, well, it's protein right? and a quick fix so why not. I do limit him to one a day though, sometimes he asks for one as a snack and a meal substitute! So this is him yesterday, asking for a PB snack and I was already feeding Lizzie so he would either have to wait, or do it himself, he chose the later and was still working on spreading when I was able to help. He did a wonderful job and ate the whole thing with pride. It was awesome! My little man is so independent!

Just one more nail . . .

This was the first month that we've taken Chris to the Home Depot Kids Workshop and he loved it! There were several little projects to choose from, I was sure that CJ would have picked the helicopter, but he choose to build a hot wheel car display case. Daddy and son worked hard while I juggled a squirmy babes and took pictures. I was so impressed with CJ's concentration to do just as Dad instructed and finish the entire project without losing interest. He's such a hard worker! The result was perfection and one one the best pictures of Daddy and Son that we have.

So that's a wrap of our man CJ and what he's been up to lately. He's quite a character and we love every bit of him!