Me!

I almost never put up a picture of myself. I'm growing my hair out, and it's definitely awkward. I took a picture of the stage it's at right now on a good day--(I'm not showing the bad days!)

Daffodils!

We went to the Shaw Nature Reserve for preschool today. They have a cute little acorn trail just for preschool aged kids. Sam and Ginny loved it because they give you a backpack full of fun discovery items, and two keys which magically unlock treasure boxes along the way. Each treasure box had items like seeds, feathers, shovels to dig with, weather items, pictures of camouflaged animals, etc. The best part for Sam was using the key to opening the lock. What I found most stunning at our visit, were the millions (I'm not exaggerating!) of daffodils they decorated the grass and hillsides surrounding the lake. They were stunning. I took a couple of pictures, but they don't do it justice. Seas of yellow and white flowers everywhere you look. Spring! It was lovely.

trickery

Tonight as we were finishing dinner, I told the kids they needed to make a choice. Here were the choices:
1. do the dishes and practice the piano
2. pick up the house
(at which point they are all groaning)
3. have a family game night

Of course, Max , Sam and Ginny immediately shout "family game night, family game night!"
But Emily, looks at me with the eyes of an adolescent and says... "con artist."

We had a great time!

ups and downs

I'm in major mood swing mode. Yesterday I was in tears and calling my sister for some emotional support, and today I'm fine. I suppose it is to be expected with all the upheaval of the move and new business. The kids are really out of sorts, too, and we've had lots more time-outs and revocation of privileges than we usually do. Today, though,I'm determined to be more positive with the kids. Max is auditioning for his school talent show today. He's been practicing Sakura, Sakura on his trumpet. I feel like I barely see Emily these days. She disappears into her room when she gets home from school. She and I are watching American Idol together on Tuesday nights, though. I am a little embarrassed to admit that I've become so addicted to American Idol. I've never watched it before a weeks ago, and I was so impressed by this one singer (Melinda) that I really want to see her win. Anyway, Emily and I have been watching it every week. The weather is gorgeous today. It's very up and down. This weekend it snowed, and today it is 65 degrees and sunny. No bites on our house yet. Sigh. I think we need to add the MLS listing. We found a great deal on a suburban for the new business, and bought it last night. Just what we need for the right price. It's a great blessing. The repair trailer will be delivered this weekend!
So things are really happening now. It doesn't seem real.

for sale

After two weeks of work, work, work--lots of little repairs, painting, cleaning like crazy, and with a little boost from my dear friends at church yesterday, we are finally up for sale. I'm exhausted. Trevor's exhausted, but the house looks great. Now, no one can touch anything or even breath on anything.

the big news

I just wrote a letter to the Allen Family kindata letter, which summarizes the events now taking place in our family. I'm going to copy it into the blog so I don't have to type the whole things two places. big changes. Much craziness. I'm very, very tired. Here's the letter.

Dear Kin,

We are abominably late in posting our own kindata, mostly because of the utter turmoil our household has been in during the past month. Truthfully, our household is almost always in chaos, but now we could receive an award for major upheaval. Why? Well....long story, but the crux of the matter is that we are moving to Utah and starting our own business. When? May....therein lies the insanity. We started out thinking we would move next year, then later this summer, then after school was out, and finally, when all is said and done, we think we are all coming around the first of May. The reasons are many, and complicated, and I'm too tired to write them all down right now. So, considering the fact that May is only about 7 weeks away, we have been burning a lot of midnight oil taking care of obligations we have for work and church, taking steps to get the business going in Utah, securing financing, legal matters, etc.. The biggest job, of course, is to get our house sold. I have been painting, and painting, and cleaning, and more cleaning, and making ever longer lists of things for Trevor to fix. It's just little stuff, but it all really adds up. We're hoping to have everything ready for the house to go on the market by next Tuesday. Yikes!
The business itself is going to be Teuscher Band Instrument Repair. Cache Valley is missing a full-time professional band instrument repair technician, so it is Trevor's intent to fill that niche. He has been offered a rent-free shop space inside the Book Table in Logan. He will be independent, but it will offer a nice customer base, and hey, you can't beat free. He is also purchasing a trailer from a technician in Indianapolis that is retiring. Basically, it's a little shop on wheels. Trevor will take this shop to the area schools and repair their instruments on site. Not just in Cache Valley, but in Southern Idaho, the Bear River Area, and even possibly over into Evanston. This is all rather terrifying to a non risk taker like myself, but after a lot of prayer, we both feel like this is the right thing for our family right now. I think Trevor will really like being his own boss. He is an excellent technician, so I think the quality of his work will help the business really take off.
Otherwise, our family is fine. Emily and Max are enjoying Upward Basketball at the Baptist Church. It's a very positive program, focusing on sportsmanship, as well as athleticism. They even give a star every week to the kids with best effort, best offense, etc. The best one is for most Christlike. You won't see that in sports programs in the public schools. Sam and Ginny are really learning a lot. They both like school time with me, and love our Monday preschool group. We got to tap maple trees and taste the sap a few weeks ago, and last week we measured things with rulers and measuring cups. They both love art projects and playing outside. Emily has been busy with 4H and church activities. She's really a wonderful young calligrapher. Her grandmother would be proud. Mostly, we find that she's suddenly an adolescent--- manifested by mood swings, too many hours on the phone, and other things that she would not like it if I mentioned. However, she is also a big help to me, and works really hard at school. She continues to have excellent report cards. Max also does well in school, and is responsible with his homework. He loves to play outside with his friends riding bikes, playing baseball, etc. He loves doing archery in 4H, although we are not thrilled about a few arrow holes we've found that were caused by unauthorized usage of the bow. So, the bow is now completely off limits except at 4H meetings. Boys! Honestly, having grown up with all girls, I am continually astounded at how much trouble these boys can find their way into. Of course girls are emotional....okay, so both genders are a lot of work. Good thing we love these children so much!
I think that's all for now. We're excited to be living back so much closer to family. We have made so many good friends out here in the Midwest, that it is truly difficult for us to think about moving away from here. We're trying to exercise faith and trust in the Lord that all will be well. (with a lot of hard work on our part!)
See you all soon!
Love,
Trevor, Karen, and kids