Waiting

You know what I hate?
Waiting.
For anything.

No one has ever accused me of being a patient person, I know. But this is getting ridiculous. I sit around my house for hours at a time waiting for something to happen.

I wait for friends to call.
I wait for the mail.
I wait for Mike to email.
I wait for Sammy to get ready.
I wait for Jon's martial arts class to end.
I wait for my Bed, Bath & Beyond gift cards to arrive.
I wait for the UPS truck to arrive with our approved (hopefully) visas.
I wait for the movers to come.

I'm tired of all this waiting.

Street Signs

Pop quiz...
Do you know what this street sign means?
The other day we were driving and Sammy pointed out the window at this sign and asked, "Mommy, does that mean you can't go pee there?" I laughed so hard! Now it has become a family joke. I love her interpretation of the world. Always uniquely Sammy.

Access denied

Bad news.
Our visas were denied today.
This means we have to reapply.
This involves...
(1) getting our fingerprints scanned in Indianapolis again
(2) collecting the appropriate documents
(3) sending everything via UPS
(4) paying another $1200
(5) waiting to be approved (hopefully)
How frustrating.
I keep telling myself that there must be some reason that our applications were denied. Like perhaps someone is ready to buy our house and I need to be here to take care of that. Who knows? All I know is that we won't be leaving for England as planned.
It's just a waiting game now.

T-shirt Quilt

A sneak peek for Dad of the quilt I created for him out of old Harley Davidson t-shirts.
Can you believe how many shirts he had that he was willing to part with? and he still had another 15 or so in the closet!
I love how it turned out.
Warm and memorable...
The perfect combination.

They make me smile...

I love these plates.

They make me smile when I serve meals using them.

They are so cheerful and fun.

I am so excited that I own them.

Although purchasing an entire set for 8 was more challenging that you might think...

I ended up buying pieces at five different stores across the country.

I bought 8 dinner plates, 6 salad plates and 4 bowls in Woodbridge, Virginia.

I bought 2 salad plates and 2 bowls in Richmond, Virginia.

I bought 2 bowls at a random mall in Ohio.

I bought 6 mugs in Greenwood, Indiana.

And finally, I bought 2 mugs in Bloomington, Indiana.

You might think this was a lot to go through to buy a set of dishes.

It was.

But I love them and they make me smile, so it was worth the effort!

Hair today, gone tomorrow...

Many years ago, gosh I can't remember how long ago, my brother, Paul, decided to grow his hair into dredlocks. I looked everywhere for a good picture of his hair, but this was the best I had. And it's mostly covered up with the bandana.

Over the years they got longer and longer and kind of became his signature look. When dad called me and told me that Paul had cut his hair, I couldn't picture his new look. What fun it was getting to see him (and his new haircut) when we visited in Virginia this week. Check out his new look.

I love this photo of the kids with their Uncle Paul. We had such a great time hanging out and being silly. He was a regular riot and the kids loved every bit of it. Thanks, Paul, for teaching my kids to goof-off in public...

Motorcycle rides

It's been a tradition for as long as I can remember.
Grandpa takes the kids for rides on his Harley when we come to visit.
This visit was no different. Despite the extreme heat and blazing sun, he humored the kids and took them for motorcycle rides today.
When they were younger, Dad would just take them around the block a couple times. Now that the kids are older, they could be taken all over town. Sammy had so much fun that she said, "I think we should have motorcycle rides every day!"

Fantasy Park

When the kids were little we used to spend hours at the park playing on the equipment. One of our favorite parks is Fantasy Park in Virginia, so when we went to visit we took a trip to the park to play.

Something occurred to me today while we were at the park.

Things have changed.

Most of the kids at the park were under two feet tall.

Most of the kids there were toddlers with their parents.

Most of the kids there were still in diapers.

My kids walked into the park looking like giants. They didn't run all over the place playing on the equipment like they used to. Sammy found a shady spot and started sorting out "pretty rocks" off the ground. Jonathan posed for some pictures for me and climbed on top of the playground. He's such a monkey. We only lasted about 30 minutes.

Things sure have changed.

Saying goodbye

I love my Civic.

I think it's because I was the one who researched the car, made all of the decisions and most of the payments. So I have a greater attachment to it.

I know it's silly, but I really love my Civic.

So today was a sad day for me.

Today was the day that someone bought my Civic.

I am going to miss how easy it was to park.

I am going to miss the sunroof.

I am going to miss the great gas mileage it got.

I am going to miss everything about my car.

I just hope the new owner loves it as much as I have.

Things we will miss

Things we will miss about Bloomington...

(1) The beautiful fall colors.

(2) Our friends from school and church.

(3) The location - not too far from family.

(4) The small town feel but with the conveniences of a big city.

(5) Our home, when it sells.

(6) The kids' teachers.

(7) Our backyard and the wildlife we see there.

(8) Target - nope, they have no Target in England.

(9) The proximity to State Parks - we love to go exploring.

(10) Clear Creek Trail.

The end of an era

Sammy graduated from 6th grade today.

It was an emotional day.

Sammy did a great job and was so excited to be moving on to the next great thing, but I couldn't help but be sad. It's hard to have Sammy grow up. She's my baby (although she hates when I say that). It's hard to believe that time has passed so quickly. Also, I am really going to miss her fabulous elementary teachers, Mr. Gallagher and Ms. Reinier.

They are truly the best teachers that I have ever met. They are 100% committed to helping children develop a love of learning. They support students throughout the many stages of their lives. They have helped to raise my kids during the seven years they have taught them. I can't express enough how grateful I am to have known them and benefited from their dedication. Just one more thing we will miss when we move.

A quick visit

It was great to have Mom and Stan come down from Rockford for a quick visit. We are really going to miss them when we move to England! We tried so hard to get a good picture of them with the kids before they left today, but the sun was really bright. Jonathan's eyes were closed in every picture except this one, and Sammy was not cooperating for this shot (so I cropped her out - thank you very much, Photoshop).

Campus Photo Shoot

Over the years we have conducted many a photo shoot on the IU campus.
Today was a pretty day, so I thought we would take advantage of the unique buildings around town and get a few pictures of the kids. Most turned out okay, but this was my favorite. I love the old door in the background and Jonathan's peaceful expression. It looks great in black and white too!

Happy Mother's Day

I have had a headache since last Wednesday and a stomachache since yesterday. I woke up this morning and decided that I was too sick to make it to church. Jonathan went to church with the Andersons (thank you very much) and Sammy decided to stay home and "take care of" me. (translation: watch TV and play on the computer while mom slept)

After church, Jonathan informed me that he got to help pass out candy to all the mothers.
It figures...
Every other year it's flowers that I promptly kill (without meaning to) and the one year I miss church they decided to give out chocolate!

Sometimes life isn't fair.

Feeling sick.
Feeling grumpy.
Feeling sorry for myself.
But also feeling grateful for my two wonderful children who spent the afternoon entertaining themselves so that I could rest and try to feel better in time for school tomorrow.

This is not a paid advertisement

Jonathan is pretty creative.
This quality was always appreciated and supported when he was in the Gallagher/Reinier multiage classroom for elementary school. Since being in middle school has been such a huge change (with different teachers and expectations) Jonathan has not had many chances to truly display his most creative work. He felt sort of "stuck" as he completed various read and respond assignments.

When he was given an assignment to create an advertisement for a health product, he saw it as his chance to do something more out of the ordinary (similar to the focus study presentations he had done in elementary school). Together we started brainstorming ideas, and by the end of the night he had written a script, come up with a product name, and recorded a short commercial. (see below)



Because they had been learning about how people are influenced and the types of media messages often used, Jonathan was required to include at least three advertising methods. It really turned out cute - especially considering we got it done in two days (writing, filming, and editing included).

In case you missed some of the more subtle "jokes" in the film...
(1) Take a closer look at the names of each of the experts - obviously all the same doctor.
(2) Listen to the great offer at the end - to double your bottle size AND your pill size.
(3) The medication is called "i.b.quiet" (similar to ibuprofen but pronounced "I BE QUIET").
(4) The medicine quiets the voices in your head - did you see the phone number?
(5) An excellent price, but how about that shipping and handling!?!
(6) What's that song playing in the background of the video? It was chosen for its lyrics.

The latest pictures of the kids

I haven't done a great photo shoot of the kids in a while. I guess I've just been lazy. Or busy. Or unmotivated. But Sunday they were both in cooperative moods and it was lovely outside so I tried it. Here are a couple of the best shots...

Maybe it's the braids, but I love that Sammy still looks "younger" in this picture. I'm adjusting to Jonathan getting older, but it's harder for me to let go of Sammy. Perhaps because she's the youngest?

Sad faces

This picture was Sammy's idea.

She decided that we needed to take a "sad picture" to send to Mike since we missed him so much. Cute idea. Cute picture. Cute kids.

Mowing blues

There is a reason that I never learned how to use this riding mower.
Actually several reasons.
First, it's Mike's toy...not mine.
Second, it just didn't interest me that much. I can drive a car, why learn to drive a riding mower?
Third (and most importantly) I figured that if I never learned to drive the thing, I would never have to mow the grass!

Unfortunately, there was a flaw in my logic.
Mike moved to England.
Now what?
Although Jonathan has driven the mower before, he never got it all started on his own.
The grass really needed to be mowed and we are having an open house tomorrow. I needed to get the lawn looking presentable. And Jonathan was at an all day Academic Superbowl Competition anyway.

So...
I decided that I would try to do it myself.
Not an easy task as it turns out.

I read the directions that were conveniently printed right on the mower. I followed each direction. I got the mower started and even managed to drive it in a relatively straight line without hitting anything. But when I stopped and looked behind me, I realized that it wasn't actually cutting the grass!

New plan.
I stopped the mower and tried fiddling with some buttons and rereading the instructions. Then I tried to start the mower again. It wouldn't start! Had I already broken it?

Long story short...it was out of gas.
Luckily we had a bit of gasoline in the garage (enough to get the mower to start).
But I was still confused as to why it wasn't actually cutting the grass.
I decided to give up and use the push mower - which I was unable to get started after priming it over and over again.
So I put that one back in the garage and tried the riding mower again.

Another long story short...
Eventually I discovered the little yellow button on the riding mower that apparently released the blades so they could cut the grass. It sounds so easy, but this took me about a half hour to figure out.

I had to be very careful as I was mowing the yard because I was scared to death that I would run into the mailbox or the house or the car or Sammy. Plus I still hadn't gotten used to how touchy the controls are. So I didn't mow very close to anything. This left me with a problem when I was finished - how to do the trim. Since I still couldn't get the push mower started, I opted for the next most logical thing (at least in my mind). Scissors. Yes, that's right! I trimmed the grass with utility scissors. Hey, I wanted to get the job done.

I'm just glad Mike wasn't there to make fun of me as I crouched down on the ground and cut blades of grass with my scissors. Of course, if Mike had been here, I wouldn't have been in this ridiculous situation at all!

Cheap Thrills

The airport.
An obvious place to take your kids for some cheap entertainment, right?
For the Bunton family it works!

The Indianapolis Airport has been rebuilt recently. This spring we have had the chance to go to pick Mike up at the airport and drop him off three times. Each time, we have to use the moving walkway to get from the parking garage to the terminal.

That in and of itself is a fun time...but the kids love the fact that there are lights up above that change color and light up when you walk beneath them. The kids call it the "disco room" and love it when we have to go to the airport. It's the highlight of our trip.

Saying Goodbye

Well, it's official.

Mike is off to England.

After many hurdles and hoops he had to jump through, his visa was approved yesterday and we took him to the airport today. It was a bittersweet farewell. We were glad that he was able to start his new job finally, but we are really going to miss him.

Real rollercoasters

It used to be a family tradition...

Going to King's Island theme park every summer on "Navistar Day".

Mike's whole family (parents, sisters, nieces, nephew, aunts, grandma) would head over to King's Island for the day. It was so much fun. We would ride rides all day and go home sunburned and exhausted.

Since Mike and his dad no longer work for Navistar, we haven't gone to King's Island. We tried Holiday World a couple years ago, but it just wasn;t the same. So, knowing that we would be heading overseas and likely not have the opportunity to go to the theme park again, we decided to take the kids one last time.

We had a blast!

Sammy even rode some of the bigger rides (although not many).

We spent the whole day there and headed home...sunburned and exhausted.

A rollercoaster ride

Up:
Our passports came back...finally.
Down:
Two of the three passports came back with incorrect information.

Up:
I went to Bradford Woods last week.
Down:
It rained and was freezing cold the whole time.

Up:
We sold a lot of our big items already.
Down:
I miss our stuff. Now this move seems even more real.

Up:
Mike's visa got denied (yeah, that's an up in my book because that means he's still in Bloomington a while longer).
Down:
Mike's visa got denied (okay, it's a down too because we still aren't getting a paycheck until Mike starts work which he can't do without a work visa).

Up:
We sold our truck.
Down:
We lost money on the truck.

Up:
I got RIF-ed last week (reduction in force - aka layed off) so I don't feel as guilty about leaving after only one year.
Down:
It never feels good to lose a job, even one I would soon be quitting.

Happy Easter

Easter at our house has changed a lot over the years. Part of that has to do with the fact that the kids are getting older. This year I asked Jonathan and Sammy if the Easter Bunny still needed to visit our house. Jonathan didn't answer right away, but Sammy piped right up. "Of course, Mommy!" she said. So once again the Easter Bunny hid plastic eggs around the house. This year he hid some on every floor of the house. It took a little while for the kids to find all 92 eggs! But they enjoyed the hunt.

This makes me smile

Ok.
With life as crazy as it's been lately, I have to find joy in little things.
I did in this TV commercial for Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cereal (one of my favorites).
It makes me laugh every time I see it!


I just saw this one for the first time today. It's pretty cute as well.

Fears

I am not an adventurous person.
I do not deal well with change.
I have lived in Bloomington for 21 years.
I have never left the USA except to visit Canada briefly as a child.
And now I am moving to England.

I am scared that I will get lost.
I am scared that I will get in an accident because I will have driven on the "right" side of the road instead of the "correct" side of the road.
I am scared that I won't make new friends.
I am scared that I will get bored not working.
I am scared that I will lose touch with my friends and family.
I am scared that we won't sell our house.
I am scared that we won't sell our cars.
I am scared that I won't be happy.
I am scared of the unknown.

I need to have faith.
I need to trust Heavenly Father to help our family.
I need to do my best to stay positive.

But I'm moving to England and I'm terrified.