Life

Life seems to be moving faster than I can keep up! I got to spending quite a bit of time catching up with a girlfriend tonight and we laughed about watching each others' blogs and how neither of us have posted anything new lately. Of course, she has the handy excuse of no internet access while they're in the process of moving... I do not have that handy excuse, but I can say that life has kept us spinning lately. Last week we had a wedding and two funerals, and no, that's not the name of a movie. Two of Jeff's family members passed away and in between the funerals Jeff was a groomsman in another wedding. It was quite an emotional roller coaster.

Now that we're home from all that and hopefully things are a little calmer I'm trying to catch up on other fun things - you know, laundry, cleaning the bathrooms, etc., etc. People keep asking if I'm done unpacking. I don't think it's ever taken me more than a month to unpack before... but I also never moved with two little ones before. :) Most of the house is unpacked, although the office is still a dumping ground. Once the final boxes are gone I'll tackle my projects list - things like organizing the closets more the way I want them, refinishing the dining room table, teaching my kids Latin... (just kidding on that last one).

Toward the end of our conversation tonight my girlfriend and I were talking about books we've read lately. Neither of us have a ton of reading time with little ones running around, but we both try to squeeze some in. I haven't read an actual book since before the moving process started, but I think she inspired me to go start one tonight, so here I go!

River

The boys and I walked down to the river today, it was a good day for an adventure (our favorite way to describe any exciting activity). It was so much fun. The river is shallow enough for wading at least several feet in. The boys loved finding sea shells (river shells?) along with some tiny fish and all kinds of bugs.

Have I mentioned we have a coyote or two hanging around? They make me a little nervous, although it is cool to see them. We stumbled upon what I think was a den today near the river, then later Jeff found another one when he was hiking with Trey. It was definitely interesting!

Here we are at the river:

Memorial Day Weekend

We drove up to Michigan for the weekend to visit long-time friends of ours, Sonny & Brenda and their two boys. (With a little girl on the way!) It had been too long since we've seen them, it was so great to see their house, let the kids play, and just relax with them. It was also great when Brenda and I stomped the guys in euchre three days in a row! Wooo-hooo!

The bottom picture shows all four boys: Evan, Roman, Ryan & Trey:

Visitors

Our friends Matt & Erica were in town last week with their four beautiful girls. We had tons of fun at their hotel pool (he had a conference at the hotel), our house, and the repair shop where we sat for what seemed like forever as their truck was fixed. :)

If it's not one thing...

It's several others, like Marley splitting the pads on his feet open (and bleeding on the kitchen floor), or Roman deciding to give himself a haircut...



On a more positive note, I took the boys to the zoo yesterday to get us out of the house for a while. The weather was great for it and it was a really fun morning. Here are a couple of shots:





Trey was really excited about feeding these Lorikeets, he did really well with it. Roman was excited, but nervous too and I think the birds knew it. He ended up getting bit and pooped on. :) Poor Roman.

Later yesterday I was busily unpacking when Trey put a box on his head and said he was a robot. I thought it was funny, and pursued it with him, making a robot costume with him and Roman. Here are the boys enjoying it:

Boxes, Boxes, Everywhere

That's the title of a kids' book we borrowed from the library in prep for the move. Fittingly, it's also the state of my life right now. I'm suspicious that they're multiplying every time I turn my back...

It seems that my day-to-day activity is consumed with, well, day-to-day activity, which makes it hard to put a dent in the unpacking and settling in. Our yard is still VERY muddy (although the grass is beginning to show), so I'm mopping the kitchen literally a few times a day. We're walking the dogs on leashes on especially wet days to minimize the mud, but they still bring some in.

I was happy this morning though to be sitting down at the table and see deer in the back yard. I am so excited to be seeing them! There was either one who crossed the field twice (across, then back), or two who crossed opposite each other within a few minutes. I'm not sure, but either way it made me smile.

Maybe I'll hang some pictures to make it feel more like people live here, rather than just boxes...

Day two in the new house

Can you believe that on our second morning in the new house I managed to lock myself and the boys out of the house? Well, l guess if you're reading this you probably know me well enough that you can believe it. :)

The boys were outside playing and needed me, I stepped out on the porch (in my slippers) to see what they needed and... oops... the door locked behind me. I couldn't believe it. I ran around the house checking the other doors and windows. Fortunately, I had some sneakers I had left outside since they were muddy, and fortunately, it was a nice day, and fortunately, the landlords are just a short walk down the road. They gladly saved the day, loaning me their spare key and wishing us a better afternoon...