Moving Day

The night before moving day was my Grandma's 90th birthday. The kids and I went down to Cape to celebrate with her at Outback. She is so special and we were glad to be able to be there! Lila went home with my parents for the weekend and Nate & I came back to St.Louis for the last night in our old house.

We all slept pretty well, that's what being downright exhausted will do to you. Scott was working on moving day, so Nate and I packed up the rest of what was going to the new house that day and waited for the movers to arrive. Was it emotional? Yes. Yes, it was. It's been 2 weeks and I'm just now able to talk about the house without crying. I didn't think I would miss that house but of course all the memories came flooding in when I had to leave it. It was a good house for us. I talked bad about it a lot. Like a whole lot. But it was a good house. And I will miss it.

The movers were so fast. They got there at 8:00 AM and all the furniture was in our new house by like 10:30 AM. It was a hot mess, but it was all in there.

After Nate and I had made all the trips we were going to make that day, we went to get the cats and bring them to their new home. Kitty P was immediately adventurous. Truman? Not so much.

But he eventually came around. I have to say both of them have taken the move really well. Thank goodness!

The movers could not get Nate's bed up to the third floor (the box spring) because of a weird angle up the stairs, so we made a trip to IKEA on Sunday to get him a new bed. He just had to have a hot dog when we were done. I felt like I needed something stronger than a hot dog. Ha! After Scott got home that night and unloaded the boxes, he asked me how I possibly managed to get them in the car. I answered that since a certain someone was working all during the move, I had to breakdown and use my muscles.  Ha!

On Sunday afternoon, my Mom brought Lila to her new home! She was excited and immediately got to work taking over the guest room as her babies room. Sigh.

It was nice to have everyone under one roof in the new house that night!

Reaching back...

Sigh. Where do I begin?? Thank you to the "faithful 5" that consistently check my blog to see if it has been updated. I appreciate y'all so much. This past month has had its ups and downs but I am happy to say we are moved and only own one house as of now. Woohoo! I have a few posts to do about the last few weeks so bear with me while I reach back. 

The kids started summer swim team on June 6th. Lila is doing it this year too! Technically you are supposed to be 6 years old to be on the team, but when I signed her up, they didn't ask and I didn't tell. Clearly by the looks of the picture below, she is in.it.to.win.it. 

Also on June 6th, we closed on our new house! After we signed the papers, Lila and I went right over to get started on cleaning. We were both a little excited!

 

At kind of the last minute, Scott and I decided to get a king sized bed. He was going to rent a truck to get it back to the house, but ya know, we try to never miss a redneck moment around here, so check out embarrassed Nate with a king sized mattress strapped to the top of the car. Ha!

It took me a bit to get the kitchen cleaned like I wanted it to be cleaned. I wouldn't say it was overly dirty when I started but the kitchen is just one of those places you need to know that you did it yourself. Or at least I do:)

After all the cleaning that evening, I decided a glass of wine was much deserved. Small victories to have the first glass of wine in our new house!

Next up, moving day!

What We've Really Been Up To...

Wow. It's been a whirlwind month. On Saturday, April 30th we went to see a house that just went on the market. We knew from the pictures that it had the real possibility to end our long journey to find a new home in St. Louis. Well. We fell in love from the front door and knew that this was the best house we'd seen in the past 3 years. We made an offer that night and it was miraculously accepted the next day (there were multiple offers). We experienced a short period of elation before it turned to anxiety about getting our house on the market! 

We got to work immediately and after many long days and nights, we put our house on the market on Saturday, May 14th. Nate and I rode around with the cats all day. Really and truly all day. I felt like the crazy cat lady! We had over 60 people come to see the house and received multiple offers by early afternoon. We accepted one of them that night and the first step was done! 

There were times that I never thought I would see a For Sale sign in our yard! It's bittersweet though. Although I'm very excited about moving to our new home, I'm sad about leaving this one. So many memories here. 

A few pictures of our new home courtesy of realtor.com. We are even closer to the little Maplewood "downtown" area and are very excited about the location and our new neighbors, which includes our church! The house was built in 1904 but was completely rehabbed in 2012. So in a nut shell, it's exactly what we've been looking for - oodles of charm and character but finished up all nice and modern.

Hard to believe we will be there next week!! It has all happened so fast. We are in the throes of packing up our house and finishing up the deal with our buyer that we are set to close on later this month.

If I could ask for your thoughts and prayers as we move the kids and more importantly the cats. Ha! I hope Kitty P survives the move to her 3rd house!) Thanks!

Life Lately

Yes, I did in fact fall off the face of the earth in May. At least that is what it feels like! It's all good and more on that later...for now, a photo dump of our last few weeks. 

Lila flying at the park. She thought it was very cool that I caught her in mid-air and kept asking to see the picture. 

Lila's class had a special visitor, Dr. Ken from Mad Science, come to her classroom to do some experiments with them. Their class setup a lab this year and did many science units so the kids were so excited to see a real live scientist! Even though Lila technically lives with one. Ha!

I think this was when he was going to do something with expired milk. She didn't think that was too fancy.

Here we are again, waiting for Nate to get out of swim team. Playing finger puppets at the Bread Co.

That same day, Nate mowed the yard for the first time! He did a great job with the sections Scott let him mow and is excited to get paid to do it this summer! I will happily pay him as I don't want to do it and it gets a little high when Scott is on for 7 days.

Can I get an Amen?!? This is totally me. 

Lila's school had a Farmer's Market and she made this stepping stone. Which of course we had to purchase.

Nate and I have had occasion to be in the car with both of the cats lately. It's some fun times. More on that later...

Lila's last day of swim lessons before swim team starts so we celebrated with her choice for lunch. McDonald's. Ick. But she loved it and that's what matters. Her swimming is quite impressive and we are so proud of her. She's a natural and I can't wait to see her racing this summer!

I got the kids Converse tennis shoes a few weeks ago. They are SO cute and are winners to them.

Nate had his awards ceremony last week. He has had a GREAT year and we are so very proud of him. Overall, he has such a fantastic attitude toward going to school and we are so thankful for his work ethic in doing his best.

School is out and now we have a 5th grader and a Kindergartner. Crazy!! 

Mimi & Paka came to visit last weekend and these crazy people did a triathlon. Which is really just another reason to make me worry. They both did well and we are so proud of them for all the hours they put in training for the event. Now please, no more! Somehow I don't think I'm going to get my wish. 

Swim, Bike, Run! 

Bring on Summer!

Rainy Daze

Saturday was a rainy day for us, and it was one of those days that I just didn't have the energy to take the kids to an indoor attraction that was going to be crawling with people. So we hung out at home during the morning. The kids played well in their rooms and I continued my quest to rid our house of unnecessary paper. Why I kept the things I kept I'll never know! 

I decided to take the kids to Chick-Fil-A for lunch, just to get out of the house. It's always a winner. Nate decided last week that he wanted to get his hair cut shorter so that he would be able to style it with hair product. Wasn't he 3 years old just last week?!?! 

I had Scott take him because I've always wanted him to wear his hair a little longer, so I knew I would be sad. I have to say I really like it. But y'all, I am not ready for the pre-teen grooming rituals to begin. The higher the flip in front, the better. Ha! Reminds me of the junior high boys when I was that age. 

I am happy to say that Lila is still very much interested in her Baby Alive she got for Christmas. It went everywhere with us this weekend.

The rain stopped on Saturday afternoon, so we went on a walk.  I've experienced some growth over the last few weeks and I've given up almost all my control of the kids clothes. I was really hanging on to that control for far too long, especially for Nate, and decided it was in all of our best interest to let it go. 

Let's just say some of the outfits and hairdos that have left this house in the last few days would make you laugh. Or cringe. Or both. 

Exhibit A: 

We of course had to take 7 babies with us on the walk. Never a dull moment!

Fifteen

Scott & I celebrated 15 years of marriage last week. 

Gosh, we really were babies back then. I'm sure of that as I processed this comment earlier today...

"Mom? You have dark circles under your eyes. Just wanted to make sure you knew." 

Nate Boyle, age 10

Cheers to many more years to come! 

Good Reads

I go in spurts with my reading. I wish I could be more disciplined about picking up a book but a book either takes me 6 months to read or 6 hours. When I get hooked, I'm hooked. 

Mary let me borrow this book and I loved it! It's by Lady Astor's personal maid. Very interesting and I learned many tidbits about this family that I did not know. I love this kind of writing, it's like you are getting to peek behind the scenes. 

This was a 6 hour book. I cannot even tell you how it grabbed me. Like I was reading on my phone while cooking dinner and stayed up way too late to finish it because I could not look away. The fact that the story is based on real life events is shocking and fascinating and just well, a little insane. I really really enjoyed this book.

If you need me, I'll be off reading everything Diane Chamberlain has ever written.