This LONG post is for my Grandpa Porter who is recuperating in bed after getting a pace maker. He has always "kept pace" with folks at least 20 years younger so I guess he's really just trying to show off at this point. I promised to get caught up on my blogging so he would have some interesting reading. For all you others (like I have so many others!) sorry about all the detail if I bore you! Also, I am doing something I never do and posting without proofing (I'll go back later). I've been working on this update for 3 days and still am not done so it's LONG and very rough. Punctuation and formatting be damned!!! haha. (Pics are still to come).
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(Where did my awesome background go? Did the "Cutest Blog on the Block" website shut down? I used to have this nice green with some red circles and now it's gone. So, sorry for the ugly, boring backdrop. I'll work on that. Anyway....here is the last 3 months of my life.....)
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White Rock Half Marathon
Ok. So, I've kind of kept it a secret in case of failure but I signed up for the White Rock Half Marathon in December. My awesome friend Erin convinced me. I do love running and thought this would be a good way to get back in shape. I started training in April and could only run 1 mile. Seriously, I was out of shape!!! By August I had made it up to 7 miles. I've lost some ground now that my crazy, busy life is catching up with me. I haven't worked out in several weeks due to work and broken down cars (yes, still, that's another story I'll get to). Charlotte's naps get in the way. I know, I know these are really just excuses since I could get up at 5 a.m. and run in the neighborhood even if I don't have a car. I'll do my best to get back on track and keep you posted. Time is running out!!!!! Update: (I wrote this orig. part earlier) I am seriously off track so I am buying a bike trailer that converts to a jogging stroller and holds both kids. I'll pick it up today and the weather is beautiful. We'll see......
Connor is 5!!!!
Connor is now 5! I can't believe it. We had a party at home with just our family on his actual birthday (July 7) and then the following Saturday we had a party at GattiTown. I think his favorite part was the bumper cars. What is Connor like lately?
· Of course he is still very "active" (meaning ALL boy ALL the time). One of his teachers best described it one as "he lives enjoys life to the fullest"!
· He is also a total ham who likes to entertain anyone around him with weird noises or sudden strange tongue hanging out, arms in the air, legs twisted freeze motions--you moms of boys know what I mean!
· He is very detailed and has become quite good at puzzles lately. He is helping me with a 550 piece puzzle!
· He has a memory like a steel trap. I often hear comments that start with, "Mom, remember when I was 3...." and it is something totally random that I have forgotten about and really is about when he was 3. I often tell him to remind me of things during the day and he always does. He's my personal walking checklist.
- He loves Jesus/God. Whenever he gets hurt he says "Don't worry. God will heal it." Connor I hope your faith always stays so innocent and matter of fact.
- He has also been asking alot lately about the "debil" (devil) and where he lives. We basically tell him that if you love Jesus, like we all do, that we don't have to worry about that because we will go to heaven. But then he asked "How DO you get there? In a car, plane, boat, what?". I told him since I had never been there either I wasn't sure but that you had to be an angel and fly which sort of quieted him. When I asked why he was asking about the devil he said because of the toy he got for his birthday. So, basically a friend of mine gave him this "haunted" car track thing and on top was this very satanic looking gargoyle. He asked if it was the devil. It was quite scary looking and I told him if he wanted to keep the toy we had to cut it off and throw that part away which we did. I guess this made a big impression!
- He is a great big brother. He told me the other day his "job" is to pick up his toys and take care of Charlotte. The other day her roll fell on the ground and Connor gave her his.
- He thinks the show "America's Got Talent" is called "God's Got Talent".
- We were volunteering at church the other night and he was able to run around with other boys his age and I guess they were playing fireman. He loved it so much I have had to play fireman for 2 days now. Today he said, "Mom, we're not playing practice fireman anymore. (Pretend to imagine my look of joy). Today we're playing REAL fireman!". (Now pretend to imagine my fake look of joy).
- There is this new cleaning product shown on TV and Connor told me "Mom, you need the new stuff that you spray on and it is blue then turns white when it's ready to clean because you are so tired of all this!"
We decided to keep him in Bible Bears one more year since he is a "young" 5 according to the school calendar. He is doing great at school and says his favorite part of the day is "working". I heard him talking to his friend Zander last night and he said "I love doing my work and I never, ever, ever, ever get in trouble!". I think this has been great for his confidence level. We are so proud of him!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY CONNOR! WE LOVE YOU!
Packing Up the Old Homestead
My parents are now full time RV’ers. Through a set of unexpected circumstances they ended up renting out my childhood home for one year. They’ve been in the house about 30 years and packed everything in 30 days. My grandparents, yes, that’s right MY grandparents, went down to Albuquerque to help pack (that’s what happens when you stay in great shape--your kids still want you to help them move when you’re 88! Just kidding, they offered). I was convinced that the renter would want to eventually buy their house so I went home in mid-July to say my goodbyes.
Just as my dad had finished strategically packing 30 years of belongings into a storage unit it flooded!! By this time my parents were exhausted physically and mentally. The storage people cleaned all of their things since the flood was due to a construction defect and moved them to a new unit. They did lose some very old family photos.
They have since wound their way all the way to Nova Scotia and back to Albuquerque. I’m so happy they are getting to have this adventure!
Charlotte in ABQ. Had to throw this one in.
Swimming Lessons
Connor took 4 weeks of swimming lessons this summer and did great! Everything finally clicked and he is swimming underwater and doing awesome! He is having so much fun now that he can go in the deep water with the big kids.
Car WreckOn July 24 we were minding our own business (in Aaron’s beloved Mercedes) when a car cut in front of us two cars up. This of course caused everyone to slam on their brakes and we were at the end of a 3 car (minor) pile up. Well, it was minor for the other two but Aaron’s hood crumpled up and pushed the engine back just enough to cause major damage. Long story short everyone was ok but we STIll do not have our car back! Of course insurance only paid for a rental for 30 days so our kind neighbors let us borrow one of their cars for a while. Now we have another loaner from the repair dealership only because Aaron threw a fit. I think we are on our 5th loaner with no end in sight. This is crazy! Of course, Connor thinks it’s cool that we have a different car every few weeks. Don’t get used to it buddy!
SoccerC0nnor is playing soccer again this fall and Aaron is the coach. Their team is the Sharks and we are having so much fun (with the occasional frustration from trying to “coach” five year old boys!). Watching 5 year olds try to remember which goal is theirs and that the kids with the same color shirt “are on your team” is quite entertaining! They yell, cry, push, stare at airplanes mid game, watch the ball roll right by, and when you say “kick the ball as hard as you can” they back up 30 feet until told to stop! It’s awesome!
We’re Moving!!!
This has been what’s taking up most of my time. For my own future reference, this section will be the longest. The ways God has shown me he’s always had a plan are amazing and I don’t want to forget them. So, here we go.
In July, Aaron thought it would be a good idea to go “browse” through some model homes. I was completely against this because there is no such thing as browsing with Aaron. This may sound harsh but he just has a jump in with both feet and never look back personality and I knew where this was headed. So grudgingly, and, more obviously, grumpily, I agreed because it was a free family activity and Connor LOVES to go in model homes. I was sure to make it very clear that there was NO WAY (as in “have you lost your mind!”) that I was moving. We have the best neighbors—we dogsit, babysit, borrow eggs, spices, milk, the occasional corkscrew, and all have keys to each other’s houses. When most people don’t even know their neighbors we are so lucky. Then, of course, there is my landscaping that I love and have worked to keep up for 11 years now. So you can see I was not moving.
We looked at quite a few models and I slowly came to the realization that because we wanted to be in a better school district we would most likely be moving in several years anyway. I still didn’t think it was a good time but then I would think about the awesome interest rate. Back and forth, back and forth. By this time, early August, Aaron had found a realtor who would charge no commission on our end (sister of good friends). I insisted I would need WEEKS before I would dare let someone who sort of knew us see my home. It had to be in show condition! There were hundreds of things that would have to be done that we had put off over the years…..no way, no how.
I can’t remember the exact way it all happened but next thing I know I have one week to get my house ready to be evaluated (we wanted to be on the market for Labor Day weekend). This is the first “look back at God working” moment. I had just witnessed my parents pack up their house of 30 years in 30 days plus of course I am a hardworking Porter so I dove in. In one week I packed away all personal photos, patched holes, painted/touched up walls, painted all my baseboards, changed out our back door, spruced up all the landscaping, washed all the windows, fully cleaned the entire house in detail, emptied almost everything out of all closets to make them look bigger, fixed a drain, fixed our back gate, etc. The realtor said she would be very picky and all my hard work paid off. She couldn’t find anything bad. Ha! Take That!
(Connor helping me with the back door)
On the sales side, our realtor was quite blunt and told us our biggest obstacle would be The Colony itself. As you know, I love it but it doesn’t have the greatest reputation. It is largely a middle/working class town and we are “wet” (meaning we sell hard liquor, and on just about every commercial corner) while the towns around us are “damp” (sell just beer and wine). Plus, there were apparently some brothels in the area back in the day. I like to call it character! I said to Aaron that we were going to have to find someone who was from out of town and specifically a greener area so my abundant trees would impress them. We started having showings right away! We were frustrated because people liked the house but didn’t like the closet or said the air coming out of the vents was too loud—things we couldn’t do anything about. At this point I really was still praying that if we were meant to move the house would sell and if not, it wouldn’t.
In the meantime, we had explored just about every neighborhood in Frisco. The kids were so sick of being in the car. And then we found it! A neighborhood we both liked with an available lot on a cul-de-sac (very rare in Frisco). I have a friend who lives in Atlanta on a cul-de-sac and everyone comes out on their driveways and the kids play. That’s what I wanted! We found a floor plan we both could agree on and were generally happy with our decision. But I was still just unsure that we were doing the right thing, still nervous about all of it. I remember one night I called me mom and was asking “how will I KNOW if we are supposed to move??”. Her very wise answer? “If it sells, you are supposed to move, if it doesn’t, you’re not.” Brilliant! I really had to keep reminding myself that God was in charge and I should just STOP WORRYING ABOUT IT! Doesn’t it say somewhere in the Bible “Who by worrying can add a day to their life?”. So daily I had to remind myself to just slow down and let God handle it.
So, we put refundable money down on the lot and visited the design center. We’ll call this House #1 (you can see where this is going). There was one existing house that was the same floor plan and the sales agent arranged with the homeowner s for us to walk through it. We loved it on paper but just wanted to make sure. We went and visited and as soon as I walked in I loved it! Then I went upstairs. It was weird. I just didn’t like it but there was no way I was starting all over so I decided I could live with it. Besides it’s just a house. I didn’t tell Aaron because I didn’t want to disappoint him. When we got home later I asked him what he thought. He didn’t like it at all. When I asked why he said, “the upstairs is just weird!”. Whoa. We didn’t know what to do. It was on a cul-de-sac and we loved the neighborhood.
(House #1 lot and view from lot)
Me, I would have just said “It will be fine. Let’s just build it”. Aaron had a little more energy than me and started looking all over Frisco again. Our realtor told us about a builder she really liked and we started checking out his houses. They were beautiful but I didn’t like the neighborhoods (too flat and boring) and most of his floor plans had very few windows out to the backyard. I didn’t consider it when we built our current house but I can see Connor playing anywhere in the backyard. Hmmm, I guess God knew back in ’99 what my life would look like in 2005-2010.
I know this is getting long. Hang in there dear reader….
Then Aaron told me he found an awesome neighborhood (Shaddock Creek) with this builder so I agreed to go look at it. Hilly, windey streets, great location, great schools, but the backyards! So small! And, I have a huge swingset I am NOT willing to part with. But, Aaron, being the likeable, master negotiator he is was able to talk the builder into giving us one the corner lots without paying the lot premium. We found the one floorplan they had where I could see the backyard (House #2). Ok, now we were excited (or as much as we could be since our house hadn’t sold yet). But in the back of my mind I was trying to deny the little doubts I was having: The lot was big enough but was the street too busy? Was I just trying to convince myself that the sound of traffic wasn’t that bad? Where were all the neighbors? There was never anyone outside.
On the sales front, we continued to have showings but no luck. I had started working at Connor’s preschool and it was hard keeping the house clean in case someone came at any time.
While at work one day Aaron called and said there was a second showing at 2:30. I don’t get off work until 2:20 and of course this was the first day I hadn’t left any of the lights on and Annie was, of course, at the house. I had honestly started to not care anymore. But I thought, “if I don’t run home and make it right I will always wonder ……”. So I asked the school director if I could leave early. We raced out of the school at 2:00, got home about 2:15, ran in, turned on all the lights, doubled checked everything else, grabbed the dog, and ran out at about 2:28 to our neighbors house. They weren’t even home but I let myself in anyway. Did I mention we have great neighbors?
Well, it turns out we got an offer the next day and guess what?! They were from out of town! Maybe our house looked like a green oasis in what seemed like a desert to them. Ha!
You would think we would be happy about this but that day we were in, how shall I put it, a marital spat. Somehow we came to the genius conclusion to sell the house but back out on building. Hey, what a great idea, let’s not have anywhere to live! Aaron was out of town and I think we had both had it with the stress of trying to sell the house. But, again, God was really watching over the whole situation. My friend, Tracy, and her husband, Kevin, who have bought and sold several homes had flown in to visit on a whim and were staying at our house. They were here at just the right time and really helped us think everything through. They told us to just handle one thing at a time, find a temporary place to live, and then think about where we wanted to live next. We were trying to handle too many big decisions all at one time and were overwhelmed. So we backed out of House #2.
This decision actually took a lot of stress off of me and I felt free to look at all kinds of homes. I cruised the internet for days looking at existing homes that I wouldn’t have considered before. I started looking at parts of Frisco I had missed. Aaron went off on his own looking at more model homes and then we would meet in the evenings and show each other what we had found. We visited several different neighborhoods but kept coming back to Shaddock Creek. We went and visited the other builder in the neighborhood and started talking with them and looking at their lots and existing homes. After several days we had decided to pick a new lot with the new builder (House #3). It was a much quieter part of the neighborhood on a quiet street with a wide curve almost like a half cul-de-sac. It was walking distance to the park and pool. I really felt like this was it. The front entry lot would allow for a bigger backyard and there were many floorplans to choose from with lots of windows for watching the kids.
Meanwhile, we were haggling back and forth with the buyers and finally were so beaten down that we settled on a price decent for the current market but exactly the price that we paid for the house 11 years ago. Who does that!!!!! Apparently we do! I think we were just ready to be done with it and figured we’d make up our losses with the great interest rate we would get on the other end. So I spent the next few nights not worrying and enjoyed picking the floorplan I liked best. Finally I found one I hadn’t really considered before and decided that was it. It was everything we needed but not too big and worked great for the lot we had chosen.
The next day Aaron went to meet with the new builder and tell them what we had chosen and start negotiating. Next thing I know he came home and said……
A: Well, it’s done!
K: What do you mean it’s done I thought you were going to just talk to them?
A: Well, when I walked into the house, even though it’s just framing, I fell in love. This is it! And, the cul-de-sac is awesome!
K: What are you talking about? There is not anything built on the lot yet?
A: Yes, there is! And, the cul-de-sac is great.
K: Well, I would call it more of a half cul-de-sac.
A: No it’s a real cul-de-sac. All the kids were out playing. And the backyard is fantastic even if it is pretty close to the main street.
K: (frustrated) What ARE you talking about!!!!??? The lot does not have a house on it and it’s not near the main street! It’s the quiet street. Did you just buy the wrong house!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So you get the picture. We almost had an incident of epic proportions. We finally realized that we were talking about two different things and he explained what really happened. When he met with the builder and told them what we had decided on she said she wanted to show him one more house we hadn’t looked at. Right there, across the street from the model, was a true cul-de-sac and being built on the last of two lots was the exact floorplan I had chosen. There were also four front elevation options and they had already started on the one I liked best (but would not have allowed myself to pick because it was more expensive—you know me). It had been there all along. I went up and looked at it and LOVED it (House #4!). There were no little, nagging doubts like on the first three. There were kids running all over the cul-de-sac and the moms were all outside. I realized Connor had already run off to who know where so I introduced myself. I know it sounds mushy but we immediately clicked and, again, this sounds really cliché, but I felt like I had known them for a long time. Then the dads casually came out and talked in their own little group. They didn’t come over but I suspect they were scoping us out. Guys are weird.
Anyway, the house had been started back in July and that day they were already putting on the roof. I don’t know how many times we must have driven by and just not seen it. Maybe we subconsciously assumed it was being built for someone. Yeah, US!
It didn’t take much convincing to get us to sign the papers although we did pretend to drive a hard bargain. The sales lady told us we had signed just in time to still be able to pick the brick and all the interior decorator stuff. And good thing, because when I saw the brick that was about to go on the house I was appalled. So we picked three different choices and were relieved that we would at least get one of them. But, again, God had better plans. Brick #1: Discontinued, Brick #2: Upgrade Charge, Brick #3: Backordered. Seriously? So I told the lady to tell me where I could see the original brick on a real house and I would CONSIDER it. We saw it, We loved it, My brick had been chosen all along. Ahhhhhh. God takes care of the little things too.
We have been up to check on “our” house several times now and each time there have been kids and parents all outside. One night they were even in the middle of the street with a fire pit roasting marshmellows. What is this Mayberry? There are 11 kids on the street already and when we pull up they say, “Hi, Connor” almost like “oh, it’s you again” way. It’s pretty funny. Our street is five houses down from a walking trail that goes all the way to the elementary and middle schools without having to cross a street. On Wednesday, the teachers meet the kids out on the trail and walk them for you. Say what! The high school is right across the street on the other side. Too much!!!
It is so awesome to be able to look back and see how all these crazy paths that didn’t make any sense and seemed wrong were all really leading to the one place that was best for us. It’s like God gave us little unexpected gifts along the way that I can now see are part of an amazing story.
Can’t wait to see what’s next.
Visiting with Family
We also had the opportunity to visit with grandparents, siblings, and cousins over the summer. It was great to get away and see everyone!
Charlotte and Lily
(Sorry the video is sideways. Not sure how to fix that.)
I bought Connor a "shaving kit" and the cousins had fun trying it out. Connor is very serious when he shaves.
Tori, Hunter, Connor, Charlotte
Charlotte and Papa
Super Cool Uncle Jon
Nana and Charlotte
These next two videos are definately worth watching. Uncle Jon is quite the UFC fighter.
Another strange way I found Connor sleeping the other night. I think the wool hat was my brother's???
