Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Now the Moment We've ALL Been Waiting For....

We FINALLY got a house!!  For privacy's sake I'm not posting where it is on here. And really, if you saw my status on Facebook you'd probably already know this little fact.  But I'm still excited.

In March of this year we moved here hoping to hop right into a house and explore this great country called Australia.  Unfortunately, we spent all of our free time searching for houses.  Up and down hills, in nice, scary, creepy, thrashed, and everything in between houses that we wanted or wanted to run from.  Our kids have endured so much and we've all grown in so many ways

They do, however, still get very antsy and overactive if we stay still for too long.  At bus stops, train stops, waiting for church to start, during church, at realtor's offices...  I'm amazed I have any nerves left after any of these named events.  Most, if not all, mom's probably agree with me to that extent. If not, how in the world do you make them quiet?!

The kids have enjoyed school.  They haven't gotten pushed at all during school since its all review for them, but they have enjoyed interaction with other kids. Even though Jakob's classmates said he was ugly without his glasses.  The ones he broke by stepping on them when he was changing his shirt. But that's a whole other story.

The end of me being completely in love with the school (besides the whole non-challenging part for the kids) came when I got a note home with my 7 year old. We were informed that there would be an auction and each class had a theme.  My 7 year old's class had the theme of Imported Beers.  I'm sorry but under no circumstances is it okay for a primary school to put any child in charge of taking BEER to school!!!  Jakob's class was in charge of bringing gourmet foods - such as tea and coffee to school. Now, I can understand this a little better. Its a big thing here.  I STILL have issues with them sending kids to school with it, but maybe its just my church upbringing.

This last weekend we celebrated Mother's Day.  I've decided I'm banning it. I'm okay with honoring MY moms and grandmothers.  But please, don't tell me its Mother's Day.  On Mother's Day Past I have had sick kids, sick husbands, sick everybody, gas leaks in the church (at the same time as the sick dad), and on and on.

So I went to bed the night before, wondering what is in store for my 'special day'.  Oh yeah, waking up to a headache at 5:30 in the morning.  When I woke up at 8:42 (which I admit was WONDERFUL), the headache was pounding harder.  I did get wonderful gifts from my kids. The school did a fundraiser where the kids could buy stuff for their moms. I got treats, a flashlight, bag, and a few other fun things.  They were SO excited to give them to me.

Then, the fights started. And kept going and going and going.  The headache pounded worse and I had battles with a hair straightener that I got from Steve.  I told him the one I wanted and I wish I'd asked him for another one. It pulled out hair and wouldn't straighten OR curl (it was supposed to do both) very well.  I got my hair to where I mostly wanted it and then headed off on the mile walk to church.

In the rain.

At first it was a small trickle - enough to have made little frizzies form at the top of my head. As we walked (and ran - I'm sure it looked GREAT watching a mom in a dress run with two kids in a stroller), it got harder.  There was a wonderful neighbor that saw us and stopped her car to help out.  We shoved the older kids in the car and I kept walking since there was not room for everyone, the stroller was huge and soaked, and we were almost there anyway. Steve caught up to me with an umbrella from our neighbor and tried to keep us dry.  How do you keep someone dry when they're already drenched?!  He actually did an okay job.  But by the time we got to the church, Heidi's tights were soaked, Ethan's pants were soaked, Steve's suit jacket was soaked and the blanket I used to cover Heidi's side of the stroller was a mop (Ethan had a cover on his side).

So glad I straightened my hair.  I used one of Heidi's pony tail holders from her pigtails to pull my hair up and pulled her tights off.  The good thing was that my headache was gone.

Church was wonderful and the kids sang nicely in Sacrament Meeting.   Then we got a ride home from two wonderful ladies. From then on I had one of the better Mother's Days I've had.  There was still plenty of fighting but dinner was yummy(Japanese that Steve made), home-made strawberry shortcakes(also made by Steve), and I got to be home.   I even went to bed early!

To add to the adventures of house hunting, school attending and bus catching we got to add one more dimension.  The elevator decided to break.  The poor thing was SLOOOOOOOW anyway but the other day I warned Andy that if he jumped in the elevator it would break (ok, really how often do people jump in elevators without them breaking?) and one floor down it stopped.  Luckily, the door opened and we got out but it wasn't about to go anywhere. I didn't really mean for the elevator to break when I warned Andy...  But alas, it has stayed broken on and off for the last two days.

So up and down the 6 flights of stairs I go. Three times a day. With a stroller and baby in my arms (and purse and whatever else we have to take with us) and a 2 year old and sometimes 4 year old following me.   Along with that, we've also added late and missed buses, stinky diapers at inopportune times (ok, really that happens to every parent),  and everything else that could go wrong seems to go wrong.  But I won't hold my breath because it could always get worse....

Oh yeah, did I mention the dryer that was getting black stains on all our clothes?  We figured that one out finally.  Now that we have black stains on half our whites. How many of you out there have to completely wipe down and wash out the filter before you dry your clothes? I don't mean clean the lint trap. I mean full out clean the filter?  If you ask me, its a belt. But whatever, at least we figured it out.

Back to the beginning of my post, I'm so so SO happy to be getting a house. It's partly furnished and has lots of space. No more cramped corners. No more Ashley's sleeping on the couch. No more broken elevators.  I'm not sure if I know what I'll do with myself... Oh that's right! EXPLORE.  I can't wait to get out and see what Australia is all about instead of wandering up and down hills trying to find that next house.  True, I know a lot of towns and their streets now...

Off I go to bed, so I can walk the six flights of stairs, catch at least nine buses for the day and enjoy that which we call life.

3 comments:

  1. Oh Jaclyn. My mother heart is just aching for you right now. I can truly see that you reached your breaking point. When you really couldn't handle it anymore, you received the blessing of your new home. Now comes the work and joy of making this house a home. I wish I could just come and sit and talk with you about stupid nothing stuff and help your heart and mind have a rest. My prayers and heart really are with you.

    Janelle

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  2. Jaclyn,
    I have been following your adventures and I am glad that you can share those adventures with humour, at least they make me laugh. I am glad that you have loud and squirmy kids who don't always listen to their very wise mother. They must be normal. Continue to find the humour in your everyday life.
    Megan

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  3. Hey where'd my first comment go? Pout. Well, anyway, Happy Mother's Day and I'm glad you survived and I'm SO excited about your house! Good luck! (My first comment was better.)

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