Holiday Weekend

(fruit pizza)

I spent yesterday running errands so I didn't tell you about our 4th!


We had a wonderful time with friends coming in on the 2nd. We went to the zoo with our seven daughters (all but the youngest gal pictured here)


and Nate (here he is with the young gal--in her mama's arms). If he has trouble getting a date in a few years, it won't be for lack of options, so long as he likes older women and traveling a few hours! We're leaning toward arranging a marriage for him with the youngest little miss--she's 5 months older and already turned 2. Maybe we'll talk it over with her parents.

Sunday, was a day of rest, with church and all.


Then we spent the Fourth eating berries with real whipped cream


(Nate approved),


The kids playing in the fun pool we got for them,


Making home made ice cream,

Oh and Justin put in a new ceiling fan, set in the sump pump, and hung some shelves in the girls rooms this weekend too!

Fourth

Happy 4th of July from my little fire crackers!

The Nursery

Nate's room was the first one to be completely ready. While he probably cared the least, his room was the easiest to complete, so here it is!


View from the door


His crib, though he desperately wants to sleep in the big bed


The border, with cars, trucks, planes, and all (He was very excited when I put it up.) I really wanted to put it up more at waist height, but I figured the little guy would shred it, so it is up high.


The matching valance


A framed Noah's Ark Puzzle

Curio

Can I let you in on a secret? I have a hard time letting things go...in other words I'm a bit of a pack rat. I'm pretty good about somethings, but I have a hard time letting go of the sentimental. We don't have much of great value, but I like my memories!

Thankfully, I have a nice, pretty place to display some of these trinkets now.


A few years ago, I inherited my grandmother's curio cabinet.


It has the kids baby shoes (and mine too),


The girls' silver cups and a figurine that was a gift when I was expecting Kate,


Willow Tree figurines from a sweet gal who worked with my mom--one for Kate when her great grandmother died and one for us when we bought our house in Kansas,


Our wedding cake topper,


An ornament we bought on our honeymoon,


Doilies tatted by great, great grandmothers,


Folded paper stars from our exchange student from Denmark and a teeny tiny tea set that my Grannie bought for me when I was a little girl.

So maybe I was stalling a bit on my unpacking by taking pictures...shhh.

Not My Week

It's not been an easy first week here. I somehow thought moving across town would be easier, but I was wrong. It was cheaper yes, but it means my attention has been divided. I have wasted literal hours driving between the houses. All the trips bringing things over and working on little projects. Once we moved here, I have been back to clean. Back to paint. Back to scrub the carpets. Justin was back to mow. And back to haul sand and a sandbox. In all of that, I have gotten most of our things unpacked, but the garage is a mess of things that don't quite have a home yet.

I had been planning to have Justin help me with that this weekend, but his advisor sent yet another set of revisions for him to complete, so I am left with boxes I can't move and frustration in that, since aside from visiting with our company coming next week, I don't expect him to be free again until the middle of July.

We have no dishwasher, due to an ordering issue...and won't until after the 4th of July. It is an inconvenience, but I've been staying on top of the dishes, so not a huge deal. The washing machine leaked a bit, due to the drain not being hooked up, which I laughed about...it was okay. It was easily resolved and just a product of an overly busy day. Then it leaked again...it was he hoses that time. I laughed again. Also easily fixed. Now my fridge is broken. I seriously have everything I can cram into an ice chest in there--including a three months supply of two different types of insulin(!). I'm not laughing. Not even a tiny bit. Maybe tomorrow (after it is repaired), but not today.

Lessons from the Grocery Store

You learn something new every day I suppose. As we were walking through the store yesterday there were a lot of signs on things marked DNI. Kate was trying to sound it out and asked what it meant. I told her about abbreviations and guessed, as I saw inventory stickers about, that it meant Do Not Inventory.

Then we learned about another abbreviation. One you don't expect to see at the store. I rounded he corner and saw a crowd of people who worked there. I assumed it was a bit of a meeting about a display, but then a movement caught my eye. Someone was performing CPR. We stepped away from the aisle quickly and said a quick quiet prayer.

I had no idea what to do at that point... Do you leave? Do you shop out of the way? It seemed so odd to do something so mundane while this heroic effort is being attempted. I didn't stand by to watch, but we heard the siren of the approaching ambulance. I heard the defibrillator beeping. I caught a glimpse of the gurney go by, CPR still going. The kids didn't seem to notice much, thankfully.

Some unknown person and their family will be in my thoughts and prayers for the next few days though. And I'll guess that I will always remember, when we are in that spot, how fleeting life is. And how God provides us helpers even in the most unlikely of places.

I suppose we can all learn something at the grocery store.

Step 995 of 1000

Missed me? It has been a busy week around here. Saturday my mom came and gave us a hand while we got some things taken care of here and ran to get one more load in the van from the old house. Justin was able to haul two loads via U-Haul on Saturday and Sunday.

My dad stayed with the movers as they emptied the old house, aside from all those toys and books that had fallen down behind furniture, on Monday. It took them hours to empty the old house and set up the new one. They were very careful with our furniture, wrapping it up in blankets and covering it in plastic so nothing would be damaged. Two of the movers were excellent...the third seemed nice enough, just not the best job for him.

My mom and I brought the little ones here (Justin went to work as normal in the morning, just came home to a new house!). The kids beds were already here and set up by Sunday evening, so we were sure those were all ready. The kitchen is pretty well established, as I carried much of it over one load at a time in milk crates and emptied those boxes I found with 'kitchen' labeled on them first.

Yesterday I took the kiddos back to the other house where we found books, toys and even a lost shoe on the kitchen counter. I was able to give the house a good once over--walls to bathrooms and kitchen to baseboards. Justin got the lawn mowed there one last time, and aside from the need to go back to get the sand box and the rest of the sand, he ran out of room in that haul, we are pretty well finished there, except for turning over the keys.

So we are officially here. Over half of our To-Do list has been accomplished and we are settling in. There will be pictures eventually, but there are boxes to unpack, and a few more decorative touches to complete. Oh, and wonderful dear friends coming to visit in a week and a half to prepare for!