cha-cha-cha-CHANGES!

It's been a while, I know!! It's been a busy few months trying to get adjusted to the new house and new life. Things are great, though, and we feel so lucky to be here. The kids are finishing out the school year at the old school so we still have one foot in our old neighborhood and one foot in the new, so the transition is...well...not too bad! My friend Tiff "urged" me to post pictures of the new house. I thought I would humor her and the few of you that still come to my blog and show you my pet projects for these last few months!

The beginnings of our master bedroom. I am thrilled that it is no longer the master bedroom/office/exercise room like it was in the other hose. NO KIDS ALLOWED! I love my new color scheme of white, gray and aqua...so clean and crisp! I still want to: wallpaper the back wall, buy an upholstered headboard, create a reading nook in the corner, hang curtains, and add some art and accessories. Someday!!!

Here is my formal living room...haven't done much in here but figured I'd show you anyway.
I hope to get the walls painted a soft gray in the next couple of week. You in, Dad??

Here is my cute kitchen. I love how bright and open it is. My dad and I painted the walls, and Cade installed knobs and pulls on the cabinets and drawers. Aren't they purty?

This is the dining area. Again, bright and open the way I like it.
This house is not lacking in windows, that's for sure! I had to close all the blinds to get decent photos, but they are usually open from sunrise to sundown. Happiness.

This is my favorite room so far - the upstairs family room. I decided out with the greens and in with the blue, yellow and grays! I am happy with the results. You likey?

And lastly, this is the new office/exercise room/guest room. I repainted the walls and tried to create a soft, neutral color scheme. This will be your room if you come stay with me. Right, Tiff?

Coming soon (...or maybe not so soon...): the kids bedrooms and the downstairs family room! Maybe even the bathrooms! And the yard! (...I planted flowers, you know.)

Miss you!

Moving...

Today is the day that we will be getting the keys to our newly purchased...yes PURCHASED...home! I have so many strange emotions swirling around inside. Moving is hard - even if it IS only 1.5 miles away. It's still a new address...new friends...new ward...new school...new surroundings. I am familiarity's number one fan, so change is hard for me. Fortunately, I KNOW this is right for our family and that assurance helps me feel more at peace about uprooting my family. We have had 3 wonderful years in this house and we couldn't have asked for better neighbors and friends. I am grateful to no longer have to rent a home and that we are able to live somewhere that is OURS. I am so aware of the Lord's hand in our lives at this time and know he is mindful of our righteous desires. I look forward to this next chapter in our lives and hope to be able to embrace the changes ahead. Wish us luck...

Out with the old...

...and in with the NEW!

Text message from Hannah

To: Cade Seeley

Iloveyow dad love hannah
yowurthebesd dad
inthewrldtyowmacmehape
ddad

Sent:
Wed Feb16, 11:54am
Delivered:
Wed Feb16, 11:54am

Picture taken September 2010

I'm no photographer...

...But even my crappy camera can't lie.

These girls are C-U-T-E. Cute!

Remember this hair-cutting catastrophe?

Yes, this is my poor Rachel after Hannah took some scissors to her hair. It was a real low-point in my life (and Hannah's!), I have to say. Well, it has been 16 long months, and it has finally grown out! I was even able to curl (or as Rachel says, "crill") it today, so hence the photo shoot. Hair really does grow back, people.

After I got done "crilling" Rachel's hair, she ran to the mirror and pronounced:
"I"m SOOO BEAUTIFUL!"
(Humble? Not so much.)

One of the super fun things about having a 5th AND a sixth grader is that we get to do 2 Science Fair projects. Yippee! And because we are such awesome, on-the-ball parents, we would never dream of starting on them the day before they are due. Oh no. We started on them 2 days before they were due! Because we're awesome parents and all.

This is Adam's project about what melts ice the fastest (do you like my clever title? "Ice, Ice, Maybe" instead of "Baby". Get it?)

And here we have Tyler's project about what liquids react with a penny the most. Don't you love the copper color paint? (Yep, my idea, too.)

Don't let that smile fool ya...it was a rough day at the Seeley house...2 days before the Science Fair...but we survived. Maybe.

Note to self: Start earlier next year.

My Girls

My darling Mia Maids came over on Wednesday for our activity. We made homemade soft pretzels and Orange Juliuses. Mmmm...

Our newest Mia Maid, Savannah!!

Oh, and look at the cute recipe files we made!

We had a great turn-out and we had so much fun together! I love these girls to pieces!

Tiny Dancer

Last week Rachel had her very first dance recital. It was so much fun to watch her...and funNY! At the beginning, each girl had to stand up and introduce herself. Rachel just sat there waiting for the teacher to physically lift her up. When the teacher whispered for her to say her name, she yelled, "RACH!" (not Rach-el). That girl is definitely a free spirit. And instead of facing the parents during the performance like the other girls, Rachel was facing sideways so she could see herself in the mirror! I kept loudly whispering her name so that she would face forward but she was completely oblivious! The funniest part was when they were throwing pieces of tulle or "snowflakes" into the air gracefully. Rachel had a long piece of it stuck to her leotard for the whole segment of the dance, which was pretty humorous in and of itself. But when she finally realized it was there and pulled it off, she waved both pieces up in the air triumphantly and exclaimed "I HAVE TWO SNOWFLAKES!!!". Miss Courtney or "Miss Corny" as Rachel calls her, definitely has her work cut out for her with this little ballerina! Best of luck to you, Miss Corny!

Here she is doing her "thing". Notice all the other girls are standing in a line watching "Miss Corny".

She goes to dance with two of her best friends from the neighborhood: Rose (right) & Tyli (left). She's almost a year younger than both of them (although every bit as tall), so I like to blame her dancing on immaturity.

I look forward to many dance recitals...and some laughs ahead!

Good Times!

Oh, and don't worry Rachel...we have it all on videotape for posterity!

Hannah's night!

Hannah is in a little performing group. She has class once a week and has been working on her Christmas show over the last few months. Last night was her recital and she had a small solo part in one her group's songs. She did SO good! Hannah is a natural performer and she sings amazingly well for her age. The best part is that she LOVES it and has no fear of being up in front of people, unlike me who would be TERRIFIED!

Here she is with her cute cousin Carly - they always support each other! We also had Grandma and Grandpa Jenson, Grandma Seeley, Aunt Dorrie & Uncle Rick, and even more cousins: Bekkah, Goldie, Ava, Ashley, Adam & baby Aiden. Thanks for coming guys!

This is Miss Laura,, the owner of Performance Academy and Hannah's teacher. She LOVES Miss Laura (and I think Miss Laura likes her too!) Hannah was thrilled to be able to wear a little bit of makeup...should I be worried??

This is a terrible picture, but the best I could do...I'm no Jodi! I was so nervous her to come in at the right time and on the right note, but she nailed it (of course!)

I can get used to this "girl" thing - I'm pretty sure I had as much fun watching her as she did performing. I'm already looking forward to the Spring show!

Family Photo Shoot

So, when you are blessed with super-talented friends like I am, you sometimes are are the beneficiary of their incredible gift, like a family photo shoot with Jodi! My friend Jodi is an amazing photographer. She's been playing around with photography for years and she truly has a talent for it (I can picture her face turning red right now!) She took our annual Seeley family pictures several weeks ago. She endured all kinds of drama (the husband/sons "we don't want to be here" sort) in those two hours and yet somehow managed to get a lot of great pictures (she said she took over 600!!)... AND the best part is that she's still friends with me! As much as I KNOW you'd like to see all 600, here are just a few of my favorites (in no particular order)!
Jodi, you somehow managed to make photography look easy and our family look flawless. We BOTH know the truth! Thank you so much!

My big day!

So yeah...it's my birthday. 36. I'm not a big birthday person, but I had a really good day today thanks to my cute family and kind friends. Cade got up early to make me/us breakfast. He decorated with streamers and everything. He's really good at birthdays! See?
Oh, and he got me an I-pod Shuffle (I ruined my last I-pod running through the sprinklers...I know...dumb)! The kids were super cute and gave me lots of birthday hugs and kisses. The rest of the day flew by with lots of well-wishes from my friends including lunch at the Brick Oven. Yum.

The MVP of the day would have to go to my sister, Suzanne, who devoted her whole day to my b-day. She even wrote a really nice, non-sarcastic post on her much-more-up-to-date blog about yours truly. She came to lunch with me and then shopped with me all afternoon. I think that will definitely have to be a birthday tradition from now until forever. She helped me pick out things to try on and even hung up all the clothes I tried on, which is the worst part of shopping. That and paying...but we sure got some cute new duds! Later Cade and I went to the Mandarin restaurant in Bountiful, along with Suz and Frank and our friends Jodi and Jon. We had a great time, see? (Sorry Cade, Frank, Jon, and Jodi...this was the only picture I had).
I don't much like getting older, but I do like feeling loved and appreciated...so I guess December 10th isn't such a bad day!

Last Monday for Family Night we decided to hit good ol' Krispy Kreme. They give 1/2 dozen doughnuts for each kid's report card, meaning...lots of free doughnuts for the Seeleys. Boy, were they happy to see us! It was fun and I think Rachel could have watched them make doughnuts all night long. I have to say, I am very grateful for Monday nights and the chance we get to spend a little quality time together as a family. I know as the kids get older it's going to get more difficult to make the time, but I hope we'll always make it a priority.

Some of us weren't really feeling that cooperative for pictures when we got home...
A little better?

Tyler & Adam are nothing if not DETERMINED. Whatevs.

p.s. Krispy Kreme? Well see you at the end of 2nd term!