Building a House: The Middle

 I told you we were moving...  And I told you we had listed and sold the house....  And I told you about the beginning of the process...  But that is where I left you.  Because life got busy, and, well, we actually moved in, and that takes time, ya know.  So I guess it is time to try to finish up some stuff!  There are parts of the house building process that take forever, and there are parts that seem to go quickly, and make all the difference in the world.

Like the exterior of the house...  I mean, just lookit!  It looks like it is ready to move in....  If only the inside looked as good.  It became a tradition to go to the house on Sunday nights and look at the progress and see how things are going.  

See....  the inside looks better...  But not finished.

Not like this...  This is so getting better!

 There is a fireplace even!  For all those cold nights in Alabama.  (Can you sense the sarcasm?)

The entryway is so grand, it causes everyone to stop and look up!

So we let everyone take a picture in their room.

I am not sure they the vision that hubby does to see the finished product...

...But new things are exciting.  And that is great!

Because change is not always easy.

And it was harder for some kids than others...  But we are getting better!

As we walked around the house, trying to describe the parts of the house that the kids couldn't see, some areas were easier to see than others :)

Lil' Miss Copycat.

The problem with the house was that it was late...  Like, the closing date pushed by over a month.  And we had set the old house closing date with only a little bit of overlap, so we could move our stuff over and be done.  But, nope.  Didn't work out that way.  They were late.  And later.  And not everything was done.  Which meant we were going to be homeless for the first couple of weeks of the kids school, and my school.  No pressure, right?  Many thanks to our good friends Josephine and Mandypants who let us move into their house for about a month!  I mean, those are the best kinds of friends ever!

Furniture Shopping

The story goes: We knew we wanted to be out of our old house by the time Kari was going into 7th grade.  The elementary school we had been at, we really, really liked.  But we wanted to give the kids new opportunities in middle and high school, and to us, that felt like going into a new school district.  Believe me when I say, we looked, and we looked, and we looked, and we looked for ready to move into homes.  And because we knew we wanted to move, we saved, and we saved, and we saved, and we saved.  Our furniture was getting old, and some of it desperately needed to be replaced.  While other stuff wasn't old, but it was probably time for, oh, say Dylan and Kelsey to have non-toddler size beds.  When we finally found the house to build, we laid out approximately what we thought we wanted in the house via graph paper.  My husband is nothing if not a great planner.  But that meant that now we had to go find all this new furniture: stuff we both liked, stuff that would fit, stuff that we could afford.

And those poor children got dragged and dragged and dragged to furniture store after furniture store.

 Some things they liked better than others.

 And by the end of it, they actually got to be pretty good at it.  We would tell them they could bring books, and we would plunk them down on a couch in a corner of the store, and we would go look, and sit, and touch and feel to see what we liked and what we didn't.  

 I am happy to report that our house has most of the essentials.  There are a few items we still want to replace, but those may have to wait for a bit....

And the good news is: we have everything we could possibly need!

All About Me!

Generally speaking, I don't love it when all the attention is on me.  It makes me a bit uncomfortable.  But, if we are having fun as a group....  That is an entirely different ball game!  Lucky for me, my anniversary, mothers day, and my birthday generally fall within the same months time period.  And I get treated like a princess!  Hubby will take me out for dinner, and even take a selfie with me.

 And I get decorations all over the house for Mother's Day.

 And for my birthday last year, we just hung out with our friends.  And they brought over their tiny baby that they were/are still fostering, and just let me hold him.  Do they know me well or what?

So I suppose it is ok to be the center of attention every once in a while :)

Girls Camp 2017

Last summer, before we left on our big, cross country trip, Kari had the opportunity to go to her first Girls Camp.  For our church, starting at the age of 12, the young women are invited to spend a few days with other young women their age, learning survival skills in the woods, but also learning about spiritual stuff, and hopefully discovering a few things about themselves.  Growing up, I went to 4 years of camp, and enjoyed myself quite a bit.  I probably would have enjoyed myself even more, had it not been July, in Virginia, where it is 1000 degrees, the bugs are abundant, and it rains every afternoon.  

I can't tell you what she did there.  She did tell me, I am sure, but even if I remembered everything, it isn't really my story to tell.  I will say that when I got to the parking lot to pick her up, she was excited to go home.  I think she had fun, but at 12 she had never spent that many days away from us (especially without contact of any kind), and I think she was a little homesick.  It was touching and sweet, and made me glad that she hasn't grown up completely already.

 Because anyone who can still love their younger brother after being away for 4 days, can't be all that bad.

We are already gearing up to go again this year.  I think she is slightly more prepared this time, since she has already been and knows what to expect.  I hope she is still as excited to see us when she gets home this summer!

Drive Across the US Wrap Up

After spending time with family in Virginia, it was time to finally go home.  The drive from there was not nearly as long as the children had endured up until that point.  But it was still tiring for the little one.

 And I put almost 6,000 miles on the van in 3 weeks.  Thats a pretty good haul!

Its a good thing we got all our vacationing in at that point.  Because when we came home, it was time to pack up the house and get ready to move.  All kinds of fun trials and obstacles there!  But, having been in the new house for about 8 months now, I can safely say that the house is beautiful!

Gratuitous Swimming Pictures

One of our favorite things to do while we are up in VA is to spend as much time as possible in Aunt K's pool.  I swear, the children could swim all day, every day.

 Apparently, Kelsey doesn't even need to breathe!

 While I did take probably a bazillion pictures of them swimming, I have just a few fun jumping pictures to share.

Like this one.  Of Kari.  Apparently sitting on the water.

 And cousins Kaitlyn and Karley, jumping in on the count of three.

 And Kelsey, who can levitate.

 And Dylan...  And a possible poor choice of positioning.

 I love that the girls had all kinds of time to talk and visit and plan.

Because, really, what else are pools for?

Last Fourth of July

Yup.  I am almost a year behind.  And it is crazy!  And, unfortunately, I might not remember all the funny stories, or the good times we had.  Not gonna lie...  that is a little disappointing.  But, when things are going on, and you don't really have all the time in the world.... you do what you gotta do.  So I am going to play catch up.  Quite a few things have happened since, oh, July of last year.  Moving.  School.  Family visits.  Hurricanes.  I'll do the best I can :)

Last Independence Day, we were up in Virginia.  We celebrated with a few fireworks out on the cul-de sac.  For some reason, I love back of children shots.  They are so fun!

 And of course we had to bust out the sparklers!

 Because, what kind of holiday would it be without dangerous fire?!?!

 A boring one one.  I am pretty sure that is the correct answer.  

So happy independence day from last year!  Pay no attention to the fact that this years is about 6 weeks away.  :)

I did it!!!!

I did it!!!  I finished my first year of school!  I finished 2 semesters!  I survived.  My children survived.  My marriage survived.  My house may not have been super clean.  I may have been exhausted.  My best effort may have been less than my previous best efforts, but sometimes you just have to accept that.  I think I still even have friends!  They may have forgotten what I look like, but... they might still remember my name.

So maybe, I can catch up on some stuff this summer.  I'd love to catch up on my journaling, which is what I feel like the main purpose of the blog is.  Here's hoping regular life is more relaxing and semi productive!

Kaitlyn Turns 10!

For the birthday princess, we all went out to lunch at the restaurant of her choice: Olive Garden!

 Where they sang to her....

 And gave her a birthday slice of cheesecake!

 That evening, she had her real "cake" of donuts!

Happy Birthday dear Kaitlyn!!!

 Now blow out the candles!

 Then it was time to open the presents.  She got a cool new book series, which she devoured on the drive home.

 And the new Beauty and the Beast DVD.  And a few gift cards which she has loved spending already!

But we can't forget Utah!  We celebrated Kaitlyn a little bit there before we left :)

 She was super excited about the Mermaid Garden stuff that Grandma got her...  We might have to a post on that all her own :)

Happy Birthday dear child!  We love you so much and are so glad you are ours :)

Girly Haircuts!

Thankfully, we DID finally make it to Virginia.  Where Kaitlyn lost a tooth!

 And got to spend her birthday there too!  

For her birthday, she asked to get her hair cut.  So, we took my girls + Karley for a fancy haircut.

 They all got their hair washed.  Which they had never had before and felt special doing.

 Kari got a good trim.  Probably 3-4 inches.   

 Kaitlyn took off about 6 inches and went shorter than I think we have ever gone before.  All the way up to her chin!

 With a nice undercut so you don't really have to curl it or anything.

 And Kelsey got the princess treatment with a nice trim.

 My three stairsteps!  With their hairs did!

  A new haircut can make you feel like a millions bucks :)

 It was a super fun thing to do with their cousin too!