Things we love

We had a great weekend. Sean came home last week with tot skis for all the girls and we got to try those out on Saturday. Denali and Elsie LOVED it but it will take Sandia alittle more coaxing to try which is okay. We hope to be able to take little day trips all together with them on skis and Sean and I snow shoeing and from the looks of it we might actually have a shot at it in the next year or so. After that we made a snow man and then got ready to go downtown to the winter market where my friend Buzz was putting on a puppet show. The girls really enjoyed this. There was a puppet opera and then all sorts of bugs dancing and singing songs. Then they got to meet buzz and touch all the puppets. On Sunday morning we decided to do one of our favorite things...go to Seward. The girls were awake the whole time on our way down and did very well considering. When we got to Seward it was beautiful, warm and sunny. We went into the sealife center and got to see all our favs. Especially Woody the stellar sea lion. Sandia Loves him and could sit there for along time watching him just like mama. We snuck a sea lion stuffed animal out to suprise her for Christmas. For as beautiful as it was in Seward our drive back was white knuckles all the way. Anyone who drives that road knows its no fun at night in the winter but then add emense fog and rain to the slush and dark and its really no fun. Everyone was going about 45 miles the whole way, all lined up with no one rushing to pass. I think we were all happy to be following a set of red lights. Needless to say we made it back just fine and the girls slept the whole way so it was a very good trip afterall. We also got our girls their very own down blankets and everyone is sleeping like little beautiful logs. Now I guess we get ready for xmas. Yeeha!!

holiday 1 down 1 to go

So, Seattle, lets just say this was necessary fun. Brynn and I sync back in like fat on bacon. It was beautiful and sunny the whole time. Sean on the other hand was dealt a bad hand. The girls all started to vomit the night I left and the washer broke. Despite all this he held thru like a champ.
Thanksgiving, my simplest menu to date, rib eye roast, potatoes etc. I called my father because even though he is now a vegetarian I happen to know that he is the supreme authority when it comes to cooking some divine meat and that's exactly what it was....divine. We had some friends over and really just a nice day in all. Sean had to work a few hours of course each day but one of this supposed holiday vacation which is a bummer. On Saturday we went to the zoo and luckily there was only one or two other families there. The tigers and Wolfs were out like mad to. The snow was perfect so we ended up having a big family snowball fight after which we had to remind Denali not to throw balls at other people. Over all things have just been really relaxed and wonderful. Looks like I'll be picking up another night at Darwin's other than Mondays and call in which is fantastic. So okay, I'm hoping that all of you are feeling as blessed as I am. Love and love, love.

All the happieness and more

Well, things seem to be settling in beautifully.Sean got back last Saturday from Albuquerque and I am afraid his trip was not as wonderful as hoped but atleast it was some time in the sun and with a good friend and now we'll know more of what to pack for his trip next year. I leave for Seattle on Thursday to visit my oldest and dearest and most sensational friend B. She is turning 30, so I have to take her out to celebrate in style and if not in style then atleast together. She means very much to me and Sean knows this as well so he actually suggested I take the trip this year. As much as I am looking forward to it it will also be alittle strange being away from the family. The last time I was away it was for a string of meetings over 2 days 3 nights, very busy and swift. Sean and the girls had a blast of course while I was away and I fully expect this time to be even more fun for them. We also in the past few days went to Seward for one of our many trips to the Sea life center. It was perfect because we got there right before they were feeding Woody, the huge stellar sea lion. We were the only one to actually go outside (I guess it was cold, wussies!) so we got to hear all the sound effects that go along with the feeding of a ton and more sized sea lion. The girls loved it. We also bought a land cruiser. Yes, an 87 toyota land cruiser and I know what some of you maybe thinking but come on, they kick ass and run forever and now we have 2 vehicles that we can fit the whole family into which makes me very happy. I never said we were the most practical. In other news it is my fathers 64th ? birthday tomorrow so props to him. I love you daddy and I can't wait to see you in January. So thats all for now. Keep chins up and keep having fun, life is far to wonderful.
Ps. If anyone wants to give Sean a call while I'm gone and set up some play time I would be very appreciative.

Mountain View lights

Last night was our 3rd night in our new house. Sean was going to the store around 8pm when he came back in and said to bundle up the girls and come outside. In our old neighborhood we couldn't see stars or northern lights, the lights of all the street lamps and apartment buildings were to many and to bright but outside in our new driveway we have millions of stars and the northern lights were swirling around above us. All the girls started singing twinkle twinkle little star which was sickeningly cute. This house maybe smaller but its ours, its full of color and we LOVE it. I feel much more at ease in our surroundings. So goodbye mountain view lights.

UGH!!

So, we are done for NOW with the painting etc. Some people got the impression that we HAD to redo the ceiling and floors so just to clarify, we didn't have to but we saw our opportunity and did it. We knew it would be a hard task but it always is and we've had enough experience at moving with small children that we figured we could do it and we did. The difference, this time someone has offered help. Our dear friend MJ has offered to take the girls in tomorrow while we try to move the bulk of our furniture and then on Saturday we have our babysitter coming. We have never really had help moving before so I figure this should be a breeze (joking). Then we will have a week to clean our old place. Probably in the beginning of December there will be a house warming party for all of you (in town) who helped be it physically, mentally....whatever you know. Thanks to you all. I am very excited about this move, this neighborhood, this school district and this life. Goodbye to the hood, next time I write in this I'll be a turnagain mama! Loves to all.

The new digs

So we finally closed the deal. We have been very busy since then making changes to the house before we move in. So far the popcorn ceiling has been removed, re taped and mudded and now we have to primer and paint. Yesterday we had the house measured for new carpet. We decided to go with carpet due to time issues. I would have loved wood floors but when you have no babysitter and 3 kids you have to be realistic about your efforts so carpet it is......for now. Outside of that I have been typically working about 3 nights a week which means about 3 - 4hrs of sleep for me and then up and get everyone ready to bring Denali to school or all of them to music class or what have you, I'll just say its been chaotic and I am very much looking forward to things settling down a bit after we move, we are hoping to be well on our way to moved in by the 24th. So wish us luck and as soon as the house is ready I will post pictures! The pictures I posted today were taken by My friend Scott Pugh last week, as you can see the girls had a blast! Love you all and Hope things are well!

wow

So what a busy couple of months we have had around here. Sean's dad was in town for 2 weeks, we enjoyed spending alot of time with his family. The girls had their Super big Pirate bash which went off very well, even the rain held out until the party was over. Denali has started school and LOVES it and though the other 2 girls are sad and miss her when she is gone I think it is good for all of them. We are supposed to close the deal on the house by the end of this week which is almost overwhelmingly exciting. We should have about alittle over a month to make the changes that we want, ie: wood flooring and carpeting and painting. This of course is where I get really excited. Anyone who knows me knows that this is right up my alley, Sean's main job is to raine me in alittle right. After we get all moved in Sean will be going to NM on the 2cd of Nov until the 8th, he'll be back for a week and then I'll take off for my best girls birthday in Seattle on the 20th of nov and come back the 23rd. All of this and possible a dodge caravan to boot. Its crazy and fun as usual. We are seeing how all the hard work and saving is really coming through for us now and it feels good. More later but there is just a quick update for everyone. I love you guys and will hopefully talk with all of you soon. Hey and what about this Palin stuff huh? Pretty hilarious.

finally back on track

The HOUSE!!!!!! Ugghhh! The source of so much stress! We are finally back on track to buy it. We did some fancy foot work with our financing and were able to jump over those petty little gliches that were plaguing us before. The new close date is on or before sept 29. Out side of that we have been busy planning for the girls birthday party...Argggghhh! They can't stop talking about it. I have everything lined up except for the food and the clean house, hah! Luckily Sean is off from wed on so we should be able to get everything done. It appears as though we will have a pretty full house so keep your fingers crossed that it doesn't rain! Denali starts school on the 2cd of September which of course is another non stop topic of conversation around here. This week Sean will take her shopping for her first school backpack. I hope everyone is doing fantastic and love you all!

Holy Buckets we' re buying a house!!!

Alright I just got the call today, our offer has been accepted and we can proceed with all the inspections and what have you. I am to be honest terrified at the prospect of buying a house again but this one would be completely worth it. A good neighborhood for the girls with public schools we would actually send them to. A huge yard and room to expand when and if we want. I know things could still go arye from here but I am so excited I could spit! We have come along way from the days of renting our 1bedroom place on E 11th ave, our bright blue crack house in mountain View to the possiblity of buying another house in Turnigain. They may not have seemed it but they were all steps in the right direction because without the money from selling the crack house we wouldn't be able to have enough down payment for this one. I am (and have been since we first looked at it) picking out paints as we speak. No paint from the dump this time.....yes I am excited. Though maybe a few paints from the dump if they have the right colors.....heck I'm still thrifty. As you can probably tell my head is all a mess and if you could hear me my speech would be slurred, so I am going to exit this post before I have a chance to read it and delete the whole thing.
Ciao~ Sarah

camping and painting

This weekend we went to Seward again. We camped out at Forest Acres which is alot more woodsie than the bay area. There had been black bears spotted in the campsite and rumors of a brown running around. Personally I started praying that nothing would happen. I am terrified of bears and babies mixing company. A few yrs back I used to run into bears quite often, so much so that a few people thought I was charmed( yeah right). Anyways after having kids your whole perspective on camping and risk in gerneral changes dramatically. So, I prayed. The campground had a play area where the girls met tons of other kids. The site right next to us was full of a family of 7. Wow was I ever impressed. This mama had her shitake down. There were a pair of 3yr olds in the bunch for the girls to run around with. Along with a seven yr old boy who I credit with Denali's new interest in toy guns and saying Bang bang I shot you. Yay, not thrilled about that influence at all. I know Sean's a gun fanatic and all but not in front of the girls. All in all we had a great time and only suffered a few scrapes and bruises. Denali ran straight into a tree face first. How does this happen, split second and well....it just does. We left by 11 am on Sunday morning and headed into Hope, we are hoping to go camping there in the next few weeks with some other families and friends which will be fun. By the time we reached home in the hood we were all ready for some rest and real food. On Tuesday I gathered up the girls for some outdoor painting during probably the sunniest day we've had yet. Hopefully my slide show will work out for this post. We are still waiting on the house deal. We keep hearing that chances are we are going to be able to get it because we are the first offer in that has all the qualifications for buying the home. Again its a holding pattern game, we just keep flying around in circles and waiting. Til then we are just going day by day. The girls are particularly excited today because they get to go play with there cousin Sara. Hope all is well! Big Love from Sean and the Whalenettes!

maintaining composure in the face of loan processors

We have been extremely busy with the red tape paper work process of the home loan situation. I was talking to Dad the yesterday morning about one of our loan processors saying I just wanted to reach through the phone and slap her.....he let me vent and he's good at saying things I need to hear ...most of the time!:) Sean and I are completely ready to sign the paper work and get the deal going. You all know how he is, he just wants to put money down and worry about fixing anything later......no. Due to our special financing through the Anchor program everything has to be inspected and fixed and so on for us to get the loan. That thankfully means a house in good working order this time around. I'm not to worried about CIHA not accepting the offer because the stipulations with selling the house mean that they will have to deal with the same financing (anchor) for anyone buying the house. Luckily Carol has now explained this to Sean and told him "let me do my job" in the kindest way that you could feel him relax about the whole thing. We are still taking it day by day and keeping in mind that we weren't in the market for another house to begin with, so if it doesn't go through we'll be disappointed but fine.
In other news, Denali is having a great time at the Sunshine Generation dance and sing group. Personally I think its alittle hokey but she LOVES it. Its the first real thing she's been able to do on her own without her sisters which I think is very important. Sandia is upset but she is starting to get better and it gives her more specific bonding time with Elsie which is needed for them both considering how at the hip she and Denali are. We are also busy planning their birthday party. They decided they want a pirate party, so there are many things to make in preparation. Denali and Sandia talk about it everyday. Sean's father is going to be here in late August and after talking to him we decided to try to have it when he is here on the 24 of August which is Sandia's actual B-day. Blah Blah blah. Anyways I have to get running I am making home made Chile Rellenos for dinner, so LOVE love LOVE to you all! ~Big Mama

PC-afying my blog and whalen style camping

Okay so things look alittle different yes? Yes, my old Google page creator was not letting me publish pages and messing up in general all over. Hence I found myself not keeping it up. I instead decided to invade my own personal ranting page, make it pc and use it for my family page. I equate this to the Seinfeld (sp?) episode where George is freaking out because single George is about to die in the face of relationship George as the two are forced together. I suppose its about time. So with all that said and explaining the changes around here to previous readers lets get on with it.


This weekend was fun Fun FUN!!!!! We went camping in Seward, all 5 of us in a tent. Others told me camping with kids is to crazy but I remember doing it when I was a kid and I thought we should try. Sean and I agree that some of the things we LOVE doing are going to be different now but that we can't just stop doing them. How then would the girls get a love of travel and hiking and camping? Needless to say everyone was wrong! We had the best time in our little tent and the girls LOVED it. Here are some pictures for you all. I didn't take many pics because we were just having to much fun. There was an excellent playground very close to the campsite which was wonderful for running the girls out. They got to roast hot dogs and marshmallows and play in the sand and along the water. When it was time for bed they were all very excited that we were all sleeping together and then everyone just crashed. Anyways this just confirmed our belief that while it will be different than before its new and fun and a keeper for summertime family excursions.

Home sweet mortgage

Son of a bisquit!!! I am so excited I could poop. Everything is coming together for our loan process for this house in Turnigan, all we are waiting on is the last 50 thousand to come through from CILC. Theres no reason it shouldn't come trhough its just a matter of the time they take to process the loan app. We more than meet the guidelines for their loan. We fall 20,000 under the lowest amount for a family of 5, we could make double what we make and still qualify, but this way atleast the loan will be deferred!!!!! We could be moving in in 2monthes.
To take our minds off it and put it on much more teeth grining things we are attempting our first over night in a tent trip with all the girls. Seward I hope. It will be a miracle if we don't get so frustrated that we pull up stakes and go home in the middle of the night. On other news.....its 10:09 am and my Denali is still sleeping so I must go wake her up.

Indian mountain sunshine

This is a beautiful day. I woke up all pissy and uncomfurtable but then all the girls started waking up and coming into our bedroom, piling on us. Theres not much more I love than laying in bed with the whole little fam. Its blue sky, leaves finally making it out. I want bird seed and flowers. We are going out to Indian nursery today. 2yrs ago we took Denali and Boo out there and picked out a mothers day hanging basket for 12$ it was all we could afford at the time. That day is near and dear to me for so many reasons. Today I want to bring them all back out there and let them run around again, pick out our basket and get some bird seed. Sean knows I love bird houses and he brought me back one the other day, the girls LOVE it but I can't wait to see how they react when we see birds in and around it, they are going to flip out.
One last thought, Sean wants to go back to church, Catholic church, when ever I hear catholic I always think alcoholic, the words I have associated together since I was really young I am assuming its because they sound similar. Catholic he says, alcoholic I think. Great thats a great start. I never thought I may be faced with this. The whole thought of church for me is very bizarre (SP?) I am nervous. Its not what I expected out of him either. My brother say" don't burn up on your way in sarah" ..........