can you say... SLACKER?!

Yes.. I AM alive.. and a total BLOG slacker. School is crazy and takes up a lot of time. I'm trying to keep my head above water with all the typical mommy stuff, steven's business and nursing school. Anyway here are a few of the more recent highlights ...

1) We put an offer on a house.... the offer sat and sat (short sale) until we finally got fed up and looked around for something else. After a few weeks of searching listings religiously we finally found THE HOUSE! We walked into the deal with bank approval letters in place We signed the last week of July and moved in the couple of weeks after that! SOOO exciting.. finally we are homeowners (or at least in 30 years we will be!) Since we were first time home-buyers we qualified for the $8000 tax credit. SWEET! This house is so awesome and we were very fortunate and blessed to have found such an amazing house at the price we did. The virtual tour is still online here. We payed less than the listing too!! YAY for short sales! It's just too bad the owners lost out on this home. Brynley is in the "second" bedroom, the boys share the "third" bedroom and i get the 4th as MY OWN CRAFT room! YAHOO! It also doubles as the guest room, my office/study space and for anything else we might need it for.

2) The boys FINALLY learned how to swim (their confidence is growing!!) It was such a warm winter and there were SOO many beautiful days for swimming - we spent a lot of time at the pools!

3) We got a puppy. She was a suprise from my parents and the kids had SOO much fun playing with her all summer. Her name is Daisy, she's an irish setter (so she fits in with ehr red hair!) and she's a wonderful dog. She has a great temperment and when all the normal puppy stuff is outgrown she's really going to be a great family dog! The kids love her and she definately loves them!

4) The boys started school up again! They are in 1st and 3rd grades and we were able to get them into a year-round magnet school (it's magnet subjects are math & technology) so our summer was cut a couple weeks short but I am REALLY happy with the school and the boys are doing very well. Their teachers are great and they are both doing extremely well.

5) Brynley started her first dance class with Miss Kim at Elevated Dance Project. That's right - Miss Kim.. as in Kim Machado! She used to teach me in La Grande in high school and I'm SOO excited I have her to teach Brynley. This girl absolutely LOVES dance and loves Kim. She dances all through the house.. and even in the shower! It's so adorable and she's SO excited to go each week. Now if only things would slow down a bit - I could go too! Kim's studio is a little far from our house so right now with school I'm not able to make the drive 2x per week - but as soon as school is done I am TOTALLY back in!

7) We FINALLY made it to the Oregon coast again! The last time we went was a week or two before I found out I was pregnant with Brynley. The boys didn't really remember it and Brynley had never been so it was a lot of fun. They loved the ocean and I can't wait to take them again!

6) I started school back up again. This semester we actually get some time in the hospital. We do a 12 hour clinical in a local hospital 1x per week for the entire semester. So far I've learned a lot and my confidence is growing. It's so nerve-racking that first time you walk into a patient's room! I'm excited to learn new "skills" and eventually get to where I can finally be done with school. It's been a LONG time coming and I'm excited to finally have the opportunity.

I'm sure I'm forgetting things .. and I will add some pics later. But for now - I can say I've UPDATED the blog.. FINALLY! :o) My goal is to do this a little more often - it sounds like a nice sunday afternoon project!