The House

This is the house that we will hopefully be moving into. There are a lot of houses like this one that are sitting empty due to the poor market, so we got a killer deal on it with a possiblity to buy it..or rent to own. I am most excited about the fenced back yard and that it is at the end of the subdivision. The kids can ride bikes with little to no traffic. The house is plenty big enough...so no worries there. The kids berooms are a little smaller than the ones they have here in Iowa, but we don't play in bedrooms anyway, so no big deal. We are excited...is it that obvious?

More Updates

I know..we are just such exciting people...lol! Kids are good. Our house is still on the market...we just dropped the price....anyone...anyone?? Any takers? Drew and I have been looking like crazy for a place to rent in Oregon. With the size of our family and the dogs we really needed something with some space. Today we finally applied for tenancy for a house in Aumsville, Oregon. The good news about being in Aumsville is that we will be in our old ward which is still very special to us....the Stayton Ward. We are looking forward to rekindling old friendships and settling down. I am excited for the kiddos to have some new friends as well. Now that the house situation is done...I feel like I can relax a little and focus on packing. We have some friends here that are going to drive to Omaha with us and spend the day at the zoo. It's supposed to be a fantastic zoo with a lot of attractions. After that we will explore winter quarters. We are booking the same hotel so we all can play in the pool and have some good times. It will be a fun way to say goodbye. Unfortunately, they will have to go back to Iowa while we drive to Oregon. That's all she wrote for now.

Yummy Recipe!

We have been BLESSED big time through fasting and prayer! Drew will be precepting with Dr. David Milroy in Hubbard/Salem, Oregon. He is a DC as well as a ND. Some of you remember when I lost a ton of weight?? I was working with this doctor. He was the guy who suggested a very low carb diet for me. I've been very bad and gained everything back over the past 1.5 years, but since Drew will be working with him we both decided to be good over the next 6 months. I''ve got a good start having lost 6 pounds in 3 days. It does come off quickly, but once you start eating "simple" carbs/sugars again it comes back just as fast. It has also been proven that the low carb diet has helped thousands of women who struggle with PCOS to gain their fertility back. Most of you all know that I have this disease. It's near impossible to lose weight or get pregnant with it. Anywho....the recipe I found is for Chocolate peanut butter cups:
1 unsweetended chocolate square (melted 35-45 seconds)
1 stick butter (melted and then mix w/ choc.)
6 splenda packets
2-3 tablespoons peanutbutter
Mix it all together and pour into 5 foil lined cupcake papers...then freeze!
YUM!!! 5 carbs per cup.

Finished Quilt!

I am SO excited to finally have this quilt done. It took about 3 months...now I am looking forward to sewing up some curtains and accessories to match!

Snowy Day Fun

Quick Update..

Sleep Study: Confirmed moderate sleep apnea...ooooh, I get to wear a mask thingy to bed

Preceptorship: Original plans fell through when the Doc's app was declined due to disciplinary action on his record...we frantically called a bazillion offices looking for somewhere else to precept. We have a few options to consider and will make a decision by Monday.

Megan: Doing awesome in play therapy!! She will be sporting new glasses at church on Sunday :-)

House: Still no offers, but it looks like we will probably rent it out.

Quilt: Top is done! Pics coming soon. The plan is to quilt it on Sunday after church.

Moving Truck: We bought one for about as much as it would have been to rent one...will be loading it over the next few weeks.

Nursing Covers: Have about 6 to make. Working on Kara Faith Sheldon's currently. If you want one, just let me know.

The rest of the clan is doing good. It will be a busy weekend. I hope to visit Michelle, Dean, and Kara sometime :-) Sorry no pics today :-(

Hoorah for Routine!

Well, it was difficult at times, but the Isaksen troops survived a 17 day Christmas break...that was all 7 of us together 24/7. Some moments were delicious, fun, exciting, while others are not blogworthy (lol). My kids and I thrive on routine. So, it was nice to get back to it today. The plan is to homeschool everyone through the end of the year once we get moved back to Oregon ((7 weeks and counting)). However, during the break we homeschooled everyday. I don't know how I ever managed to homeschool everyone before? It was CRAZY! Everytime I sat to read or give instructions, Joe decided it was time to scream loud enough that I couldn't possibly read over him. Because of the sleep problems I have, nap time for them is nap time for me. I just don't have the stamina to stay awake during that 1-2 hour period. I would love to have that time to exercise when I get my energy back. Anyway, I just don't know I managed before and I'm not sure how I will manage after the move. The only thing I can think of is to have loads of faith, prayer, and look for ideas to occupy them all. The thing is, I feel strongly about homeschool and I feel like that is what our kids are supposed to be doing. Burn out is likely though. Here in Iowa, the kids don't have a nice yard to play outside in (who would want to play in this freezing weather anyway). Once we get moved I am praying for a nice back yard that is fenced in. Oregon has beautiful weather year round. This could be the answer to my insanity. It would be SO nice to say "Okay...go out and play while I....". Also, I am seriously considering the "community closet" thing like the Duggars use. I don't mind tossing loads of laundry in..the tricky part is dividing it all into drawers and closets upstairs. It would be SO nice just to pull it out of the dryer and seperate it in a laundry room thingy. I got behind on laundry during vacation and am still catching up. Anyone else feel this pain? Hahaha! We are going to Iowa City this afternoon to get the U-haul decals off the truck we bought for the move. Yes..did anyone know that you can practically buy a moving truck for around the same price as renting one to drive accross the country?