Boy am I tired...

But I know that is no excuse - I have been thoroughly chastised by family and friends.

We are still getting settled, and it doesn't quite feel like home. BUT the kitchen is unpacked and the cable is hooked up - the two most important things right?? I don't think I will ever get the girls room organized, everytime I try Maiya gets too grumpy to stay with me, and when I put her down to sleep I can't work in there. I was thinking of putting the kids in day care just so I could finish getting this house put together.

I promised details of the trip here, but the pain of unpacking has begun to deaden those memories, but I still need to once again thank everyone that helped. We couldn't have done it without everyone!! It seemed like we ran out of room in the Uhaul about five minutes after we picked it up. We gave away a bunch of stuff, then had to do some major maneuvering to finish packing the rest.
The trip itself went relatively well, despite one "break down" with the Uhaul which was beyond frustrating at the time but only cost Kyle a couple of hours. Meg and I went on with the kids and animals. We managed both closings in one week. And even though it may take me forever to get it straight - I am loving the new house.

Funny comments from the kids post move:

Benjamin --
"This house is cool - there is one room, then another, then another..."
At Walmart "Wow this is just like our walmart - they must like Virginia Beach - they are copying it!"

Ella --
The second night here they were playing outside and she forgot the sliding glass door was closed and ran smack into it at full speed. The next day I found her going back and forth through the door; "what are you doing Ella?" - "Practicing not running into the door"

Ella has also been concerned about Santa Claus - will he know where we are? - will he get burned if we have a fire?. Its funny to me that they weren't really concerned about how he would get in when we didn't have a chimney and now that we do they're worried.

We're here!!

It was one heck of a ride but we are home... here are a few pics; story to follow ;)

Hitting the road from Nana's
"oops" - somewhere in Bristol
Aren't we a sight! - somewhere in Tennessee
Thanks for the conversation Meg!
Maiya found one way to keep herself occupied
"YEAH - we're in TEXAS"
We're home!!
The kids were in shock - "the new house is sooo cool!"
Celebrating with some sparkling cider!

VA to TX...

Well tomorrow it begins... We are going to church and saying some more goodbyes then leaving for Aunt Beth + Meg's in the afternoon. We will pack her then us on Monday, close on the house on Tuesday and hit the road. We will spend the first night with Nana and Gram in Danville. We will close on the house down there on Friday and unpack the truck on Saturday. Kyle spoke to someone from the ward down there and there will be a few people to help us on Saturday. The Church is so cool!

So most likely the next time I blog, I'll be a bloggin' Texan. Wish us luck!

Bye-bye's have begun :(

Happy Fourth!!!

Some pics...

Maiya likes to get into everything I am packing or unpacking - boxes, drawers, cabinets, under beds, closets, etc.
mmm. outback. mmm.
Bye-Bye Kylie
"that's not quite smiling Maiya"

Its been great but...

Tomorrow is the last day I am taking AVON orders !! Let me know if you need anything

Lips

Ella the budding artist has begun adding voluptuous lips to her drawings, and every drawing gets them - man, woman, child, baby, even a frog or two I think!

Update on us:
We enjoyed a great week with Kyle's Mom and Gram and will see my family at the end of this week. We are in countdown mode with about 12 days to the big move. We are sooo excited and dreading the actual move all at the same time.
We splurged and bought a new sofa and the coolest ottoman at a local store that was going out of business - we are like kids at Christmas because we left it all boxed and wrapped up and we are dying to get it unpacked!!
The kids are saying goodbyes to friends - Kylie and her family are going on vacation for 2 weeks so we said good-bye to her this morning - I still don't think they get it though! They keep asking me things like why are you packing our coloring books too and why are you packing that? "Guys - we are packing EVERYTHING!!"

Dolphin Watching

Party

Happy Birthday Maiya

and Welcome Summer!

Apologies...

I know, I know - I have been blog slacking - but we have a lot going on:
So a few updates - The paperwork for the move all seems to be going great - we got the inspection done on the house in TX and everything looks good. We are done with all of our inspections on the house here and that went fine.
Benjamin finished Kindergarten on Friday - no big "graduation" but Mom and Dad took him to his favorite restaurant Red Robin that night to celebrate! His report card was solid with 3 "outstandings" in Math!
Kyle's Mom and Gram got here Saturday for the week and Kyle has taken some time off - so we are going to enjoy a mini-vacation before the big move.
Be back in a week or so!

What a week!

There is so much should I use bullet points? Went to see my mom over the weekend - van broke down - stayed with Aunt Beth until Tuesday while the mechanic worked on it, he said "I'd go trade it in right now your transmission is going" - I hoped he was just being melodramatic... Wednesday take the van to get the transmission serviced hoping to ward off evil spirits and buy us some time, but alas to no avail - transmission needed a full overhaul - I swear as he swiped our once paid off credit card I heard the theme song to "Welcome back Cotter" playing welcoming us back into debt -- Its like my purse just doesn't swing right if we aren't in debt! And that is not all - My Aunt's car broke down tonight, My Mom is still not feeling good and I think feeling the fibers of sanity unravel - being on a roller coaster of health for this long - she's ready for a break, Kyle and Meg's flight is delayed in Philly, and, Maiya has been suffering with I think quite possibly the worlds worst case of constipation - I can only take so much of her gripping my legs and screaming - its terrible!
But this all leads me to the silver lining:


We got an offer accepted on this house in Texas !! Kyle was a great house hunter, although it got tiring and we were bummed when one offer on another fell through - I won't call it our house yet - for one thing there is tons of paperwork left to do - and once we're there tons more redecorating to do! Its a great house 4 bedrooms and 3 living areas, but I'll spare you the inside pics - just think wallpaper and burgundy walls.
We are taking time to count our blessings - We have had the short end of the stick house wise for a long time - We can already see ourselves loving this place! And there is lots of room so we expect company!

Preschool Graduation

Pics...

"Thanks for the tent Grandma - now take us camping Daddy!"

Blissful slumber

Weekend at Nana's

The patriot's blood is the seed of Freedom's tree.

~Thomas Campbell

Someone needs a nap!

Summer food cont.

"Doubtless God could have made a better berry, but doubtless God never did."

William Butler

(1535-1618)

How to eat a strawberry when you don't have any front teeth.

Is that strawberry shortcake?

"More please!"

The neighbor and I took the kids to go pick strawberries.

YUMMMMM

I think I've got about 8 pounds and they are DELICIOUS. Feel free to stop by if you have a craving!

Smiley Face Watermelon

"When one has tasted watermelon he knows what the angels eat."
-Mark Twain

twos

So I have this weird fascination with or should I say obsession about my lucky number... 2 and to fuel my fire today is the 22nd and... WE HAVE ACCEPTED AN OFFER on the house... YAYYYY one of many hard parts is done. We got over what we were asking with no contingencies and they have agreed to close on the day we chose: July 11th.
I still can't imagine pulling away and saying goodbyes but for now I am happy this part went smooth and barring any problems I don't have to keep the house "show" ready anymore - not an easy task with 3 kids.
We also got our approval for the mortgage on the new house and that went smoothly too. It almost makes me worry when the snags are going to hit - is this the calm before the storm? Oh well I'll buy worry later, for tonight I say...
Hip, hip, hooray!