It's Official

We are offically moving to New Hampshire...More specifically, the Stratham area. It is about 1 hour north of Boston. Dustin will start his new job April 16th. Then the rest of us will move out by the first of May. Here comes another adventure.

Look trees.....Something we haven't seen much of, always living in the desert.

Also the beach is only about 10 miles away from Stratham...

We are looking forward to a new change, but it will be hard living that far from family. Wish us luck! Everyone is welcome to come visit and see the East coast!

Weekend with my sister

Two weekends ago my sister, Annesa, came for a visit. I was SO happy to see her. If we are lucky we see each other maybe 2 times a year. We went shopping in Santa Fe, hiking at Bandelier, checked out downtown Santa Fe, and went to dinner at Gabriels (an amazing Mexican food restaurant). I was amazed at how much my kids loved her. They wanted to sit by her at mealtime and in the car. Ava wanted Annesa to take her potty every time she had to go, and only wanted Annesa to do her hair. Ava sat on her lap for most of church. Now Ava prays for Nessy Poo every time she says the prayer and reminds me to when I pray. It was freezing that weekend and even snowed a few times. You would think it was the first time Annesa had seen snow, she was so excited. I guess that's what happens to you when you've lived in San Diego for 8(?) years.

Ian at Bandelier checking out the Indian caves.

Annesa with Ian on the hike.

Annesa in down town Santa Fe...

I already miss my sister. We made a pact that we would try to see each other every 6 months. Hopefully we will make that happen.

Eating poop.

Every time after Ava goes poop on the potty she says, "Mom, I don't like to eat poop." I don't know why she says it, we have never made her eat poop before.

Example of Ian's OCD

Last night Ian went in to go to the bathroom. When he went in he shut and locked the door. After he was finished he went to wash his hands. He got the soap on his hands then he couldn't turn on the water. So he knocked on the door so we would turn on the water for him. We told him we couldn't get in to help him until he unlocked the door. He kept saying but I have soap on my hands. We told him to wipe the soap off of his hands with the towel, then he would be able to unlock the door. He wouldn't do this because he HAD to wash the soap off with water. After about 20 minutes of us trying to calmly instruct him on either wiping the soap off with the towel or to climb up on the sink to turn of the water he still couldn't or wouldn't do either. He ended up crying off and on and kept saying open the door. We kept reminding him he had to unlock it. Finally he was able to turn on the water to rinse off his hands, then he was able to unlock the door. Thankfully he got out of the bathroom. The whole ordeal was so frustrating! Ian, it is OK to wipe the soap off your hands on a towel when you are stuck in a bathroom without actually finishing the act of washing your hands! Hopefully he learned his lesson to at least not lock the door. I don't think his meticulous hand washing will change though.

Croft Blood and OCD

Here is a group of the Croft men and their OCD ways.

Right now Ian counts everything. He counts how many bites are on his plate. How many stairs there are in our house, rocks outside, pictures on the wall, pieces of chicken that are cooking in the pan, cars, and every toy etc, etc, etc. Then he counts them all again. I fear he has the Croft blood and the OCD that comes along with it. Before we know it he will be stepping over shadows, corners or anything else that comes in his path. Or rubbing his thumb against his fingers like his Papa. You, with the Croft blood know what I am talking about. His shoes are never, nor have they ever been on the wrong feet, ever since he could put them on himself, they have always been on the correct feet.

He likes his bed made and his cars lined up in a perfect line, he is a perfectionist at folding his shorts and underwear, if his socks are a little crooked when he puts them on he freaks out. His cereal has to be equally submerged before he starts eating it, he does this by patting it down with the back of his spoon. He is very efficient at brushing his teeth, the same way every time, and usually brushes his tongue 3 times.

Ian is writing now, and if the letters are not perfect he cries and gets so frustrated even if he has never written that letter or number before, he usually says, "but it's not perfect" then cries more.

I know there are more weird things he does, but they are escaping my brain right now. Each time he does one I look at Dustin, shake my head, and say, "Thanks a lot".

I am grateful Ian will play out in the dirt and carry around worms, which means he has a smidgen of Hulet blood. But as soon as he is finished he demands to get in the bath. He doesn't like to stay dirty for long.

Ava

Last night when Dustin got home from work, Ava met him at the door, as she usually does. She didn't have any pants on. Upon seeing this Dustin said, "What are you doing running around in your undies?" Ava replied, "Just messin' around."

Then this morning she was playing with her playdough she got from a birthday party, and she said "I want to make baby Jesus" So I did my best to make a manger and a baby Jesus, after I was finished she jumped up and down yelling "baby Jesus, baby Jesus".

Where do kids come up with these things?

Verdict

Well it looks like their dad will have 90 days to prove himself. The girls and their dad will go to counseling and he gets them Friday after school and Saturdays. I think it is garbage that the judge didn't even let anyone testify. I am grateful that the girls are still with their grandparents and that they get to go to church on Sundays. I will continue to pray for the strength of the girls, that they can always tell the truth in counseling. Hopefully this won't drag on forever. I don't know how Sandy and Gary are handling this, it has to be so hard and frustrating for them.