Moving Update

The last time we bought a house, it was new construction. This time, the house is 11 years old and comes with many quirks that weren't immediately visible during the buying process. For example, Sarah's closet is huge. It has five curtain rods in it. Jacob's closet has none. There's no linen closet in the master bathroom. There's no overhead light in the study.

The kitchen cabinets are really, really nice. Too nice to have been used for 11 years. Maybe they didn't put anything inside them. Not a scratch to be seen. And the island, though slightly off-center, is not attached to the floor! Hip check from Mark...problem solved! Was the kitchen recently remodeled?

In the master bathroom "toilet dungeon" (as my friend calls it), there are at least 100 thumbtack holes on both walls. From eye level to thigh level if you catch my drift. Weird. Was this his alternate office space? What was hanging on the walls? Morning salutations? Daily scriptures? Family photos? In hindsight, I should have checked BEHIND door #1 when I took this photo! What is that? A map?

The garage was an episode of Hoarders waiting to happen. Multiple kinds of shelving, random nails and screws all over the walls and ceiling. Kind of like the toilet dungeon walls on a larger scale. He must have thought "I think I'll hang this (insert: shelf, Packers towel, yardstick, clock, bamboo curtain) right here" all over the place. BAM!

They did leave us a wall-mounted boxing speed bag with two pairs of gloves. Hmmmm. That could be entertaining. 

At one point, their daughter lived in the long room upstairs. Behind her closet door was this lovely graffiti homage to Candice.

She also had a little nook behind a 3" x 3" ft. storage panel. It was painted blood red; had pictures of romance scenes on the wall; and had bean bags, pillows (including a playboy bunny) and a coconut bra lying on the floor. Feel free to draw your own conclusion. Eeew.

By no means am I unhappy with this house. I find its quirks entertaining. Like it's a new person we are getting to know as the stories unfold. We have met some neighbors. Coincidentally, both of them have four kids each too. Much older than our four, but it's rare to meet people with four these days.

At Cub Scouts a few weeks ago, I met a dad that just moved here from Plymouth, Minnesota. Turns out he and his wife have four kids (under 10) and they will be moving in a couple blocks from us. Ethan and their son, Cameron, will be in the same Scout Den. We've had them over twice already and hope it turns into a nice friendship for all of us.

Even Super Heroes Need A Nap Sometimes

Bedtime Stories

Love to see big sister reading to her little brothers. 

Moving Update

If you're a frequent reader of this blog, you might want to scroll back to some of the older posts. I've finally updated the First Day of School AFTER pics and posted Lucas' and Sarah's birthday party pics (in chronological order like they should be!) 

We've been in the house for almost a week now. The mountains of packing paper and cardboard are dwindling. We are slowly but surely finding things we need: the stock pot, the telephones, the label maker! We are also finding many things we don't need ... three infant nose aspirators? Four coffee makers? Five toilet plungers? The sunroom has become the new "staging area" where we put things we don't know where to put elsewhere yet. And all the pictures yet to be hung on the walls.

We have a new phone number and super-fast internet. Phew! I can live without the TV, but that should be installed by the end of this week. Make sure you change my email address to snault4 @ hotmail . com because we had to let go of AT&T and my sbcglobal.net address.

We rely heavily on our friends, the Shoups, for meals, child care, driving tours, general information and sanity checks. Pam and Chris, if you're reading this ... THANK YOU AGAIN!!!!! We've also met some neighbors with a five-year-old grandson and nine-year-old granddaughter; new friends like a family with four young kids moving here from Minnesota just a couple blocks away; and reconnected with old friends from our SA block, the Lamberts!

School is going well for all the kids. Lucas is in a dual language kinder program that has him alternating English days with Spanish immersion days. He's saying numbers and colors in Spanish already...some other nouns too. Ethan's teacher called to say that Ethan was doing great. That he, along with the rest of the class, talk A LOT, but are learning when to be quiet. I laughed and said that Ethan was very social and may continue to talk the whole year. She assured me he was not a problem. Sarah's teacher is an avid reader and I hope she continues to nurture that in Sarah, who often reads without being told to do so. I just got a full report on what's happening in her Monster High book and I know she's got good comprehension skills. Jacob is managing well at middle school. We have a parent orientation Tuesday night (finally!) where I will get to run through his schedule and meet his teachers. He has already lost two PE shirts and a pair of shorts so we are headed to school early Monday to go through the Lost & Found. Lucky for me, the PE Lost & Found is in the boys locker room so HE will be the one that has to sort through the smelly clothes.

I'll post pictures of the interior of the house in a little bit. It still looks like Tornado Alley runs though here. But here's the exterior:

The culdesac to the south.

The culdesac to the north. It's so great that I can see the kids ride their bikes all the way up and down the street!

For our Des Moines friends ... our new street was meant to be!

School Daze

I'm getting adjusted to not being at the elementary school every day. I did join the PTA board and become chair of the Hospitality Committee. I'll be doing staff luncheons every six weeks and staff appreciation week in the spring. I spent almost a whole day at school on Thursday - for my first PTA board meeting and volunteering in the Library when Ethan's class was there. Isn't this a cute little amphitheater - right in the library - for story time? I love it! 

I also brought a belated birthday lunch for Miss Sarah and cookies for her class.

Sarah joined an after school art program called Young Rembrandts. Her colored pencil drawing was posted in the hall at school, coincidentally right next to the instructor's paper. I think she did a great job! 

Filled to the brim!

When we bought our San Antonio house, we were moved there by NAPA. We filled a 53" trailer with all our household belongings (2400 sq. ft. with only two very young kids) and one of our cars. Our bikes were on a bike rack on the end of the truck! 

Fast forward eight and a half years later and the movers managed to get our 3300 sq. ft. house full of stuff in one trailer again! No car this time, but more kids, more rooms, more furniture, more bikes, more stuff AND the dismantled play set from the backyard! I don't know how they squeeze it all in there. Must recruit highly skilled Tetris players or something.

We closed on the new house today and it went very smoothly. The truck will be unloaded Monday in the new house! Can't wait!

Sarah's 9th Birthday Party

Sarah wanted to have her birthday party with her friends in San Antonio, so over Labor Day weekend we gathered up some girls for a party at Chuck E Cheese. I was so glad these girls could make it, even though it was a holiday weekend. Sarah was thankful to be surround by girlfriends and be able to say goodbye since she hadn't seen some of these girls over the summer.

McKenna and Sarah

 

Kaitlyn and Samantha

Sarah and Grace

Future jailbirds?

Dancing with Chuck. This pic cracks me up!

Jenna, Sarah and McKenna

The Ticket Blaster!

Terrific Third Graders!

First Day Of New School 2012

The elementary school is nestled in a residential area and has a VERY SMALL parking lot. Most parents park within the neighborhood streets and walk to school. So glad we didn't purchase on one of these streets ... chaos twice a day! 

 First day jitters? No way. We got this! Sarah (3rd), Ethan (2nd) and Lucas (K).

OK, maybe a few jitters. It's really noisy and crowded in here!

Ethan is ready to go!

The only picture of Jacob we got that day was sitting next to Lucas in the cafeteria ... too cool for pics at middle school!

Second thoughts?

 Wow, this is overwhelming! I will not cry!

Phew! Made it to the classroom. I'm not sure I like it here though.

A peek into Ethan's class. He's in the back, far side.

It was a good day overall! After pics to come!

UPDATE! AFTER PICS!!

Catching my eye at pick-up time!

Playing on the stones in the shade, as we wait for Ethan and Sarah.

 Lucas' buddy, Andrew!

 We all survived!

Wiped out!