Mother's Day 2009

Today is Mother's Day. I have been thinking about my own mother, women in my life that have influenced me and of course, the fact that I have three children that call me mom. How did I get here? When I was in high school, I wanted to be an airline pilot. I earned my pilot's license, I took school seriously, maybe a little too seriously. But somewhere along the way I changed direction. I decided to get married, start a family and be a full time wife and mother. It is the greatest challenge and blessing all rolled up in one. Some days are more rewarding than others, but I don't regret my choice. These are some of the things that I love about being a mother at this point in my life.

• reading books to Maura at bedtime



• combing out my girls hair



• driving them to school each morning so that I know they got there safely



• praying with my kids



• planning family activities, especially when it involves maps



• watching the kids try something new



• having Hayden attempt to put a cub scout pin on my shirt at pack meeting



• discovering a book that Hayden and Sydney will want to read



• painting my girls finger nails and toe nails



• watching cartoons with them wrapped in a blanket on the couch

The list will change as my kids grow older, but it is perfect for now. I don't regret my choice, I never will.

Just a little shout out to my awesome husband who gave me the coolest gift ever, my own iPod! It is blue, it is gorgeous and now I don't have to borrow one anymore. I can take it running, on the plane to NY and CA and even play it in the Tahoe. Thanks Michael, I love you!! And brunch was delicious too, of course, all the food that you make is better than anything that I cook- we all know that!

Five Places to Explore

Once we arrive in New York next month, we are anxious to hit the ground running and explore some new sites. These are some of the spots that have caught our interest.




This is one of the places that our children are dying to go to. The Great Wolf Lodge Water Park requires no sunblock and is open all year.



Vidler's Five and Ten on Main Street in East Aurora is a throw back to vintage Americana. You can buy almost anything here from army men to post cards to furniture.





The Hill Cumorah Pageant in July is held each year in Palmyra, NY. Can't wait to see it this summer! Jen's mom performed in it in the 1950's.




Imagine being on the Maid of the Mist boat as it approaches Niagara Falls, the thundering water is deafening and you are getting soaked. Did you know there are fireworks over the falls on summer evenings?

Historic Lockport, NY. A chance to experience locks on the Eric Canal. We hear the caves in the area are fun to explore too.

There will hundreds of more places to find and explore, so we will post them as we find them.

The Schaff's Are No Longer Homeless!

So we made an offer on a home in Orchard Park, New York yesterday and we finalized it this morning. We are so excited to have finally made a decision and to know that we will have a home to move into in June! The home is in a great location in an established nieghborhood. It was built in 1995 and will be about a 9-10 minute commute for Michael to get to work. It is very close to church as well. It could use a little paint and a few cosmetic changes to make it feel like ours, but all in all, we are very excited.

This is it, our home in New York.

The living room, hoping to change out the white carpet sooner rather than later.



Formal dining room- every single house back there has one.

Fun at Hogle Zoo

It is spring break and today was definitely going to be the best weather day this week. So I called my sister and we made plans to take our kids to the zoo. Unfortunately, so did several other hundred familes. So it was a bit crowded, but it was about 70 degrees and sunny the whole time. It felt wonderful! We had a great time. Of course, we had to ride the train and the carousel. And the giraffes and the elephants are a must, but we experienced a new animal today- an armadillo. A zookeeper brought one out and put it on display in a blue kiddie pool for us all to see. Pretty cool. Good times.

The armadillo

Maura, at the playground

Sydney on the carousel

Hayden

Old house, new house, rental house oh my

In the past few weeks we put in some really long and exhausting days. First we had to move out of our Kaysville home. It was a lot of space to clear and clean. Frankly, we purged a lot of stuff, but I was a little embarrassed when we filled a semi full of storage crates. Although, when they unload the storage crates in June and pack the truck back to front for the cross-country trip, it is supposed to condense down enough so they can come and get what we have at the rental house- we hope!






After sending most of what we own to storage, we moved to a little rental house, emphasis on little. We gave up 3,000 square feet, but it kept us in the neighborhood. We literally took our beds, one dresser each, one couch, a tv, the piano and some kitchen stuff. The house has new carpets, tile floors and paint, but I feel like I am playing house by living here. But in the end, we are grateful that we found this place and that we can stay in Kaysville until June.




After settling in for 48 hours or so, Michael and I flew to Buffalo, NY for some house hunting. We spent the weekend walking through about 20 homes, but now I have to laugh because the house that I have watched since the first week in October, the one that I said I would buy from the very beginning, is most likely the one that we will make an offer on. It is about 10 minutes to Moog and 5 minutes to church. It is a two story brick front home with four bedrooms, 2.5 baths, a formal living and dining room, an office with french doors off of the foyer, and a large kitchen, eating area and family room in the back. It is on a half acre lot with mature trees and a deck. The only downer is the $9,000 property taxes!

First attempt

I promised myself that once I had figured out Facebook, I would give blogging a try. Now that we have sold the house and I have a little more free time I figured it was now or never. So, here goes nothing!