Moved

We did it! We moved! *sigh* Talk about stress! We are still unpacking and the mess is driving me crazy! I have never viewed myself as a clean freak but I simply can not live in and out of boxes! I have been here hardly at all and when I am, I'm mostly dealing with Isaac who has taken this move quite hard! We've taken him out to the property so that he could see where the house is being built and that's all he can talk about now. He wants to go build the house! He isn't sleeping though the night anymore. He wakes up about midnight and comes to bed with us. We let that go on for about a week and then we noticed we weren't sleeping well and everyone was crabby the next day so Greg has been putting him back in bed. So he gets up at 12 and then anywhere between 2 and 4 to come and try again. So with the combination of not sleeping well and all the stresses of moving (living out of boxes, trying to find a home for everything, getting used to all the new noises), needless to say we are major meltdown central!! The next few days should be slower, not as much stuff to go and do so we should be able to stay home and chill for a bit! I just hope he mellows out!
Wish me Luck!

10 Days...REALLY?!

Part 1
Our house is about an hour away from us in Tumwater. So we decided that to save on commute time, gas and build time, we are moving closer! After a VERY hectic time finding an apartment, we finally found one! It's down stairs (YAY) And only 15-20 mins from the property! It's right between the house and work so Greg can go out and build in the morning and then stop by on his way home and shower and change for work without having to drive insanely out of the way (or right past work for that matter). We looked at it last week and decided to take it. so we put down the deposit/holding fee and we get to move in the 26th!! Which means I...WE now have 10 days to finish packing and clean!! I thought we were about 1/2 way done....until I realized we had to be out in 10 days! Now I'm going a bit crazy and am kind of wishing the boys had spent THIS week at my moms and not last! *Thanks Mom for taking the boys for week so we could find a place and do all our fun stuff* which leads to
Part 2
This past week the boys were at my moms. She SOOO Graciously took them so that Greg and I could get some work done on the property and do some other Super Fun stuff.
For my Birthday Greg bought me Jason Aldean Tickets! He was at the Puyallup Fair this past Friday. So while the boys were having fun with Nana and Papa, Greg and I found an apartment, went to my very first concert (which was AWESOME), and then went up to Bellingham for Greg's cousin's wedding (which was amazing) It was nice to have time with just the 2 of us, since Greg had the week off. They had lots of fun adventures! Isaac and Gary are now both fearless when it comes to the dogs! Before, both would scream and cry if they even came near them. and now Isaac goes out to play with them and Gary loves and hugs and tugs on them! They are such good dogs to be so patient to put up with a baby pulling at their ears, tails, and hair! Kelly took Isaac to the car show and Isaac hasn't stopped talking about it. Every time we get in the car he says "YAY!! Car Show!!!!!" and then gets mad when i remind him that we're goin to the store...or home...or somewhere besides the car show. Gary got stung by a bee on his lip so his it was all swollen for a good 12 hrs. Took it like a champ though, and now we know he's not allergic! Gary also learned how to go down the stairs so now it's a fun game to go up and down stairs! A good time was had by all and everyone came home Safe and Sound!! So Thank You Mom and Dad for allowing my tornado children invade your house for a whole week!! You are the best!

We Dood It!!

We have signed the papers!! We are officially land owners! We went in yesterday and got all the papers signed and we start construction THIS Saturday (Happy Birthday to ME!)! We get to go break ground Saturday morning and then we will work for a couple of hours! We are so excited to begin this amazing adventure of building our own home! Wish us luck (cuz we may need it)!!

right after we signed the papers

our property from starting from the white stakes

from the rightfurther back from the right

Let the Games begin! Remember, if you can swing a hammer or babysit, your welcome to help us out!! We can use all the help we can get!

It's a PARTY!!!

I'm having an ONLINE party!!! that's right! ONLINE! Partylite has a new feature where you can now order online! you now longer have to worry that you can't go to that awesome party because your kids have a soccer game that night, or football, or baseball, or dance, or chess, or whatever it is that your kids are doing that keeps you so busy you can't even remember what your name is! It's so super simple! All you do is check out my website and click SHOP, enter my name as the hostess (Sonya Buchanan) and "shop till you drop, then charge it" (my grandma bought me a shirt that said that when I was little and it's stuck with me ever since) We are having AMAZING deals in August! Save up to 75% on select items and when you spend $40 or more you can buy 1 dozen tealights or votives and you get 2 DOZEN FREE!!!! Can't beat that! Halloween items AND Christmas Items are here and they are Rockin this year!! So go check it out and when you find something you like, just hit "add to cart"!! Shop till your hearts content! No procrastination is allowed here!! Orders MUST be in by Aug 31st in order to get our great sales! so GO....now....before it's to late...or you forget!! Try it...You'll like it!! and you'll LOVE what we have to offer!
http://www.partylite.biz/sites/SonyaBuchanan

Finally!!

We had another meeting about our house Tuesday night. We met our supervisor who is super excited and motivated about the whole project. He's done habitat for humanity and LOVED it!! He's been in construction for 20 yrs and loves things to go fast (Which really appealed to us)! We got a date to close our loan (Sept. 3rd) and he's hoping he can get our permits in about 2-3 weeks. As soon as we get the permits we can get going on our house! So I've been apartment hunting the past couple days and have found a few. We toured one yesterday and like it. It's location is perfect as far as Greg's work and the property is concerned, it's right in the middle. It was a bit small and the price was a tad high but it will get the job done for the next year. It's a 2 bed 1 bath that's ground floor and the slider opens up right to the "park" area. Which is more like about 1/2 an acre of grass with wooden play area (the ones with the slide and swings). But it's all fenced up so as long as i sit out there with them the boys are free to run till they pass out! No laundry in the unit but the laundry in the facility is free! They said they would be willing to hold it for us and the holding fee didn't seem to bad. I've got a couple more i would like to look into though so we'll see. I've started packing so that when we do find one we can move ASAP. We have to give 30 days notice here so hopefully we'll find one soon.
That's all for now but I'll keep ya posted!

5 yrs

Yesterday, the 12th, was our 5 yr anniversary! We had a GREAT day! Greg's mom, Becky, watched the boys while we went to IHOP for breakfast! When we picked up the boys we decided to go to Charlies Safari, which is a family fun center, on our way there I turned around to find Isaac hiding from the sun! This was HUGE deal for me because every time it gets too bright in the car he starts freaking out, kicking screaming, crying...the works. So we were thrilled to see that instead he had figured out to just close his eyes!
After Charlies Safari we came home and our neighbor Allison watched the boys while Greg and I went to a Mariners game! For those of you who know us, you know that we are HUGE Mariners Fans!! At our last Mariners game (now this is MY version of the story, Greg's version is TOTALLY Different!) the announcer mentioned the Hit it Here Cafe and Greg suggested that we go there for our anniversary instead of going to the space needle (which is what we do every other year for our anni.) I jumped on that idea!! He was totally shocked and bought the tickets that night when we got home so that I couldn't change my mind!
Greg's version goes something like this. We were sitting at the game and I looked up and saw the Hit it Here Cafe and then I suggested that we do that for our anniversary and he clarified "Instead of the Space Needle?!" I agreed and we came home and he bought the tickets later.

Who's is true?! Who knows! Who cares! We went and we had a blast!!!

This is one of my favorite views of Safeco Field!

This is the Hit it Here Cafe where we sat! We sat outside on the deck that's off to the left in this pic. We were right in front! It was an AMAZING view and AMAZING food!! Greg had Ribs and this chocolate cake that looked like someone might die from eating it! Sooo good! And I had a chicken teriyaki burger and lavender cheesecake with a fresh peach compote! YUM!!! It was so incredible that we could have such good food at a ball park!

Before we went and sat down (because we were 2 hrs early) we decided to walk around the stadium. We have never done that before because we've never been that early! This is the view from right above the bullpen!

It was Irish Appreciation Day so they brought in Irish Musician and Folk Dancers!

They had a Special Olympics Softball game before the Mariners Game! It was so much fun to watch these kids as their faces lit up to be playing here! It was so apparent that they were thrilled to be interacting with some of the big league players!

FSN's Before and After the Game

seriously! it was like I'd never been here before! we saw so many new things!

The game starts!

Felix Hernandaz is Pitching

We sat right behind Ichiro

Which was great since he kept stretching through the whole game!! Right dear!?

After 14 innings of a 0-0 Game against the Chicago White Sox, they FINALLY brought Griffey out to end the game!

He hadn't played all game and when he came out the stadium rumbled with cheers!

He hit a Single to right field that gave Adrian Beltre the chance to score giving us the 1-0 win against the White Sox

The Mariners.com Website says "The longest scoreless game in Mariners franchise history"

He obviously was tackled! Griffey ran to first base and then straight out into the field!

One of my favorite things about baseball is the obvious feeling of brotherhood between the team mates!

After a GREAT game, 3 hrs, and 14 innings later we Take the win 1-0!!!

It was an incredible day filled with amazing food, from breakfast to dinner, Family time, and by the time it was all over I had NO voice!!

A Tribute!

Meet Derek!

Today is his Birthday!!He is my 'twin'

Ok! Not really but at 1 yr and 25 days apart you might as well be!

We did EVERYTHING together. We hung out with most of the same people, we liked the same things, were in 2 of the same classes (band a choir) and tell each other everything.

He's Got it ALL!!
The looks

The theatrics
The Grilling/Cooking skills!!!The Baking skills!!
He's loved by his family

He's always looking out for his sisters

Don't mess with us or you get the wrath of Derek!

Trust me on this! Would you want to mess with this face?! NO you do not!

The Kid in him lives on!
and every now and then the bully in him comes out!
You know it lives in you too!
as you can see from the look on Isaac's face, he wasn't threatened! LoL

He takes his responsibilities VERY seriously!but he is always up for a good time, no matter what the hour!

and no matter if mom (ahem...ME) is trying to get her little man calmed down and into bed at 930!!!

He is quite the ladies man!

He's a great problem solverand takes GREAT care of ALL of his friends!

He stands out in a crowd

but he knows when it's important to blend in

yes he's in there. I promise

He knows all the right people!and after a long day he knows the best way to relax and wind down!He is one of my best friends! Always has been, always will be! So on this joyous day! I would like to say to the bestest brother a girl could ask for...HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!