Alden's New Bedroom

Alden wanted his own bedroom. We have a 4 bedroom house (3 upstairs and 1 down) but we were only using two. One for us, and one for the boys. The other one was a toy room right off the living room and the downstairs one was used for storage. Alden really wanted his own room.

Within an hour I had it changed over. I moved some baby toys from the toy room to Collyn's room and rearranged the room to fit a bed. I had to keep my printer in there, but it doesn't bother him at all. The boys share a dresser and closet right now so I didn't switch that over. Just the bed.

He was so excited to have his very own room. :)

Last Minute Decorating

Since it looks like we are 100% moving in August, I have been doing some little things to spruce this house up to sell. I had so many wonderful ideas for this house and thought I would have time to do it, but it doesn't look like that is the case. When we first moved in, we painted the living room a light warm brown color (All the walls in the house were white and not maintained at all). We painted one wall in the kitchen a deep red because the theme was Vintage Coca-Cola. The boys bedroom had a red accent wall for firetrucks and our bedroom was a calm blue.

I have been eyeing our bathroom since we moved it. The people before us did a horrible paint job and painted the whole bathroom this horrid light blue. I mean EVERYTHING. Walls, trim, door, everything. Thank goodness not the ceiling. They had two racks against one wall that were oversized and awkward and no place to hang a hand towel. Last week, I decided it was time to paint it. I always wanted to do a pale yellow. I found the color "Bees Wax" in the paint section at a local store and got a gallon. I should have only gotten a quart because I barely used any of the gallon. Now, I'm trying to figure out what else I can paint yellow... Maybe the laundry room.

I bought a new towel rack to go next to the shower and tub and a hand towel rack to go beside the sink. If we were going to stay, I was going to change out the storage from above the toilet and put in a pedestal sink and a oval mirror. But, we aren't so this will do.

My next project is to paint the basement a cream. We have a full family room downstairs that needs painted. It is all paneling and UGLY! I had the idea of making it a "Man-Cave" family room. I think it will up the price of the house if we paint it because there is new carpet down there, but it is so dark.

We also have to paint the outside of the house before we put it on the market. Lots of painting!

TIPS FOR PAINTING WITH KIDS

I did all my painting without Lyndon here, I did it while he was working. Here are some tips.

1. Snacks. Make sure the kids have lots of snacks as distractions. It will keep them busy for a good 15-20 minutes which is enough time to do the trim. 2. I'm not for TV as a babysitter, but turn on one of their favorite shows or movies. Alden loves Wreck It Ralph, so that is what I put on. He doesn't sit and watch the whole thing, but it gives me a good 20-30 minutes of paint time without little ones. 3. Make sure they is a safe place for your crawling babies. We have a toy room, which luckily is across the hall from the bathroom. I put up a baby gate and put Collyn in there to play. He would get bored within 10 minutes, but a cracker here and there and a brother for distractions helped. 4. Of course, right when you are almost finished they will have a melt-down. At least mine did. I had about 10 minutes left of painting and they were both crying. I finished the job and waited for the clean up. I went and rocked my babies until they were calm and content and then cleaned up my mess.

Big Changes

Okay, so most of the time I just write about what is going on in our lives. Not feelings or emotions. I try to keep things pretty surfacey and to the point. This post if going to be a little different.

So, Background...

I have lived in the same town my whole life. I was born in a hospital 20 minutes from the town I currently live in. I grew up here, went all the way through school here (Preschool- High School) and I went to college at a community college 20 minutes away while I lived with my parents. When I got married, I moved out and moved into a house a block from my parents. Moved to a house 2 blocks from my parents before we had Alden and then moved 5 blocks away right before we had Collyn. All in all... I've never left my comfort zone. I've never been adventurous and left my hometown like the majority of the people I went to school with.

Lyndon and I were talking about how I'm not adventurous and I said I can be. And, I started naming things that I have done.... In the end, I realized they were lousy adventurous ideas and I've come to the conclusion that I am boring. I like structure, schedules and organization.

Lyndon was offered a job in Northern California that is about 10 hours away from where we currently live. We took a second trip down to the town last weekend (without kids). On Saturday, there was meet and greet to meet the congregation. On Sunday, Lyndon preached. That afternoon, we found out that Lyndon was voted in and he signed the contract to become the lead pastor of the church.

I am so proud of him and glad that he is finally able to follow his dreams and have a job that he went to school for. I'm just having a hard time because I am leaving everything I know. I struggle everyday knowing I'm selling the house I love after only a year living in it. I never was able to see its full potential. I have to sell a business I have put my heart and soul into. After 2 years, I almost have it paid off and now I have to sell it (Or sell the equipment) and never see the the glory and success I was hoping for. We are moving our kids away from every relative they have, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, great-grandparents... They all live in this town and we would be leaving that. My kids won't really know who they are when they visit or when we come to visit. And, it breaks my heart.

The plan is to go through the summer with our normal jobs. Lyndon will still be working at the garbage company and I will be teaching summer classes at the studio. We would be moving mid to late August, after dance is over and after Collyn's first birthday. I've gone back and forth through excitement and happiness for this new adventure to anger and sadness and disappointment for everything I'm leaving. I'm not exactly sure how I feel about it yet, but in the end, we are moving.

I am looking for houses to buy. The market is way more expensive than in Idaho, so it's going to be tight, but I will do what I need to do to help my husband be successful.

I will keep updating with this and how everything is going. Such a big life decision. Probably the biggest one we have ever made and will ever make....

Collyn- 9 Months

I am a little late posting this. There has been so much going on these last few weeks, I have neglected a lot of things in life. He is an update on our little guy. 9 months already!?

GROWTH: Weight: 16 lbs 4 oz (3rd percentile) Height: 26 1/2 inches (3rd percentile)

SLEEP: Collyn is sleeping through the night. His bedtime is between 9 and 9:30 PM. He sleeps until about 7:45 AM or 8 AM. His first nap is at 11 AM and his second nap is around 2:30 PM. I have scheduled his second nap with Alden's only nap of the day. I am able to get a lot done because they both usually take a good 2 hour nap.

EATING: He is still on Sensitive formula. He isn't spitting up at all which is great. He eats about 3-4 8 ounce bottles a day. He eats breakfast in the morning which is baby cereal mixed with some sort of fruit puree. A snack mid-morning (Bottle and finger food). After his nap he has a bottle and a little later he has lunch which is a veggie puree and a finger food. Nap time again. BOttle when he wakes up. Then, about 7 PM he has dinner which is a meat, veggie, and grain. Then, he will have a bottle before bed. I swear all I do is feed the kid! :)

CLOTHING: 6-9 Month

DIAPERS: Size 3

DEVELOPMENT: He is pulling himself up to stand but sometimes can't remember how to get back down, so he either cries or falls backwards onto his bottom. He is still army crawling, not on his hands and knees yet. He tries, but it is much faster army crawling. He is self-feeding. He says Momma, Dadda, Baba, Uh-Oh. He plays really well with his brother.

I can't believe times has flown this quickly. Pretty soon I will be planning a birthday party!

The Haines go Healthy! :)

So, I think in some of my past posts, I've said my cooking has been just "Farm cooking". Lots of butter, potatoes, red meats, etc. Good "Stick to your bones" cooking. It's true.

Our favorite meal around here is Shepherds pie. Nice, fattening, way too many calories.

This past couple weeks, Lyndon hasn't been feeling good. He's not sure if it is stress, lack of sleep, poor diet, or a combination of all three. Of course, I can't really help the stress. He's has some big decisions on his mind (See past post) and the company he is working for was bought out by a different company, so he is going through a transition stage, and trying to deal with all the end of the school year things with youth group. It adds up.

I can, sort of, help with lack of sleep. He has to be at work now at 6 AM. And the company he is now with is about a 30 minute drive away. If Collyn or Alden are up in the night, I get up, so he can sleep.

The main thing I can help is his diet. I cook the meals, he eats them. If I don't have the time, energy, or motivation to cook, we eat out. And living in a small town, there are about 7 places to choose from. Maybe 2 of them have healthy options... Which means they have a salad bar.

On Saturday, we got to talking and I told him he is scaring me. He doesn't feel good, he has no energy, he is tired all the time. It's time for a healthy diet change.

Yesterday after church, we headed to the grocery store. We shopped in the meat department and the produce department. We stocked up on fresh fruits and veggies, some good chicken and some nuts and some "Treats" that were low calorie, low fat, low everything.

For breakfast, we made our normal Sunday morning rush through McDonalds drive-thru because we don't have time to make anything in the morning. Instead of the normal 500-750 Calorie breakfast, we chose fruit and yogurt parfaits and orange juice.

For lunch, we made a big salad with green leaf lettuce, cucumbers, carrots, a little cheese, un-salted sunflower seeds, croutons, and light dressing.

For dinner, I made another salad, Caesar this time, with grilled chicken, and strawberries on the side.

Lyndon ate some pistachios for a snack and I had a nectarine and a string cheese.

Lyndon is a pop drinker. Instead, he is drinking water or lemonade. I've always been a water drinker or an unsweetened iced-tea drinker so this wasn't a big switch for me.

The nice thing about it.... With just that in his body, he was out yesterday afternoon mowing the lawn and doing yard work. I was pulling weeds in the flower beds and sweeping the sidewalks. We were both motivated to do more.

It's such a nice change. I'm excited to see the results.

I don't have much weight to lose, but I want to be more tone and healthier. Lyndon has some weight to lose. It will be nice to see the changes in both of us.

Dance Recital 2013

The Next Step dancers had their spring recital last night at the high school auditorium here in town. They did a wonderful job. There were 18 total routines with dance and tumbling.

I was a little frazzled the whole night because Lyndon had to work late and I had both kids by myself. I had family there, thank goodness, otherwise I wouldn't have made it.

Of course, we all pulled it off and the recital was great!

Lyndon Preaches for Mother's Day

Lyndon was asked to do a tribute to Mom's for Mother's day at church. He did the sermon.

It was wonderful.

He talked about Mary, Jesus' mother and how great of a mom she was.

I was so proud of him.

If you want to hear it, go to

http://www.westvalleychurchfm.org/sermon-audio/

Click on the play button underneath

Worship 5-12-13

The Next Step performs at the Mother Daughter Luncheon

My dancers were invited to perform at a Mother Daughter Luncheon at the Weiser Christian Church. We brought the Tots, Pom, Jazz 1, and Jazz 2. The dancers did amazing.

Lyndon did the music for us. He braved his way to the sound booth around aout 60 women to do the music. What a great husband! :)

We brought 8 routines which was a 1/2 hour show. They all did wonderful. Our recital is this weekend, so it was a great chance to practice on stage.

Mother Daughter Luncheon

For Mother's Day, the Weiser Christian Church, where my parents and sisters go to church, had a Mother Daughter Tea/Luncheon. My grandma put together to luncheon. She did a wonderful job. It was a potluck with salads and finger foods and great drinks with tea and lemonade. There was a "Photo Booth" so to speak where we got our pictures taken and The Next Step Dancers performed for the entertainment. (There will be another post for this, of course).

It was such a fun time. The food was great and the dancers had a good 1/2 hour show for all the ladies of the church.

Lyndon was busy the hour before the luncheon, he took Alden with him, and I took Collyn with me. He was the little ladies man for a little while before the luncheon started. Lyndon picked him up right before it started, but I was able to get a picture with him.

Big Decisions

A couple months ago, Lyndon applied for a lead pastor position at a Christian Church in a small town in California. He went through numerous Skype interviews (I was involved with two) and recently found out that they were offering him the position.

Last weekend, we made our way down to Northern California to visit the church. It is an 11 hour drive... With a 2 year old and 9 month old. The kids did AMAZING! There were only a couple meltdowns along the way that was taken care of by stopping at the next town on the route (Some with only a population of 250). We would stretch our legs and maybe find a little gas station with a bathroom and convenience store where I would change diapers and Lyndon would find little things to buy for distractions. Normally, crackers and juice and one stop was a little toy car (Cheap toy car for $3... I about choked but it kept Alden happy for hours so it was worth the.... 3 whole dollars for a 5 cent car)

On our way down we drove through Oregon and Nevada and stopped in Reno, NV for the night at a Holiday Inn on the Freeway. We got there about 9 at night so we got to the hotel room and let the boys run out some energy and then hopped into bed for another day of traveling.

We drove through Sacremento, CA the next day and headed north on I-5 for about an hour until we reached the town. When we got to the hotel, there was a little care package on one of the beds with snacks and drinks and toys for the boys. It was very refreshing to have. We went to a local Mexican Restaraunt for a late lunch (and the boys were restless, so it was a little bit of a disaster. Thank goodness the restaraunt had a little pond with turtles.)

Later that evening, we went and visited the church, met the board members and they had some snacks and drinks for us to enjoy. We did a walk-through of the church and then chatted with them for about an hour. We were exhausted by this point, so we went back to the hotel, swam in the indoor pool and went to bed.

The next day, we went out to breakfast with the pastoral search team and board members. Then, Lyndon went to a meeting to talk about the job and all that fun stuff. I stayed with the boys in the hotel room until he got back, getting them down for their naps and resting a little bit. We then were picked up by a couple who drove us around town showing us some houses and the town in general.

Later that night, we were off to a BBQ at one of the search teams houses and had a great time enjoying their company and fellowshipping.

We came home the next day, driving the whole 11 hours in one day. We were all exhausted by the end of it.

Now, the question is... Do we take the job??

We have gone back and forth a lot. The town is adorable and the church members were friendly and inviting, but we would be leaving everything we have always known, including all our family and friends. It's a big decision, but we know God will show us the right way.

Lots of changes and big decisions ahead.