- We called the children to come to the supper table.  When 4yo dd arrived, she was out of breath.  We asked her what she'd been doing. 

"Playing."

"Playing what?"

"Detective.  I'm a detective and I detect when people have been muhduhd."

-We were driving home from errands and talking about our pet chickens.  10yo dd and I were discussing petting the chickens and just generally lovin' on them.  4yo dd pipes up from the back seat, "Yes, but we can't hug them, or their heads might pop off!"

-Like mother, like son

The phone rang today, and before I could get to it, 2yo ds picked it up and answered it.  After saying "hello" he immediately frowned, pointed at his sisters, and said, "Shhhh!  Be kite!  I on the phone!"

I wanted a book case headboard, so several years ago my husband made one for our bed.  He made it of plywood, with trim moulding for a little texture and a more finished look.

It holds books, alarm clocks, lights, whatever. 

The headboard was painted to coordinate with our walls and bedding in our old house; we moved last week and the walls here are still white and I haven't found all the bedding yet, but you can get the general idea.

Here is a photo of the headboard.

Here is a side view so you can see how it looks from the side.

The book cubbies have a hole in the back for electrical wires.  We were in a hurry at the time we built the headboard and those were the only lights we could find that weren't halogen. I don't want halogen lights on my headboard - I think they would be too hot.  So, we will keep looking untl we find some lights we like better that are non-halogen.

April 24 - everything proceeding as normal - busy living life and have planned and purchased materials for a DYI remodel of our family room

April 25 - husband driving home from work sees a sign in a yard

April 26 - look at the house, love the floor plan

April 27 - look at the house again and after much discussion decide that it is just too much work and we are not interested

April 28 - make an offer on the house

April 29 - offer is accepted and contract drawn up

May 2 - home inspection

May 6 - renegotiation based on inspection

May 15 - approval of terms by all parties; get storage pod delivered

May 20 - meet with tradesmen to get bids on work to be done

May 22 - show house to sister who is visiting from out of town

May 29 - close on house

May 30 - get family room measured for carpet

June 4 - take possession

June 5 - meet with window guy, floor guy; also a friend about removing wallpaper.  meet with seller to learn about mechanicals

June 7 - remove wallpaper, paneling from house; realize the drywall is not textured. begin moving things from old garage to new garage

June 9 - meet with contractor about texturing walls; hire him

June 10 - meet with another floor guy; hire him

Jun- 12 - 15 - drywall is being textured

June 16-17 - new roof put on

June 16 - 20 - floors being refinished

June 20 - dumpster delivered

June 21 - 22 - put all trash from drywall texture, wallpaper removal, roofing, etc. into dumpster

June 22 - replace doors

June 23 - clean house in preparation to move in; begin moving small items; prepare furniture for new home on wood floors

June 24 - movers arrive to take large items and FIRST NIGHT IN NEW HOUSE

My daughter's recreational soccer team had their-end of season party last night.  We met at their practice field and before we commenced with pizza and trophies and cake, we had a parent v. daughter game.

I am NOT athletic, I am not competitive, I have never played soccer before in my life.  Let me just say those things up front.

Last night I learned some things:

-  I learned that I am more competitive than I thought I was.

- I learned that I don't really care whether my team scores or not, but ain't NOBODY gonna score on me.

- When facing my daughter on the field as a competitor, I learned why her coach says she is "scarey good."  Wow!  Even just for fun, she is intimidating.

- I learned it is a good idea to keep my eyes open when I am kicking a soccer ball.

- I learned why my daughters love the game of soccer!

On my daughter's team, the girls are from three different schools plus homeschool; they are from a variety of family situations; they have a variety of spiritual beliefs.  But they all get along well, and our parent group enjoys each other too.  We are a soccer community and it is a wonderful thing to be a part of such a group.  The team is parent-coached, and all other positions are parent volunteers as well;  we are blessed to have folks who are so committed to our daughters' enjoyment of this past-time.

that we are moving.

We have wanted to move for a while now.  We have felt that with the birth of our current youngest, we are bursting at the seams.    Our floorplan works awkwardly for us, at best.

We have looked and looked, for years, in fact.  But finding the right floorplan on the right lot in the right neighborhood at the right price has been impossible.

(The word "right" in the above sentence does not mean ritzy or new or fancy or anything like that. It just means "fits our needs".)

And... as frustrating as some things are about our house, it is our home.  Our first two children were brought home from the hospital to this house; two more were born here.  Three of them learned to walk in this house.  Except for nine months of TDY, all of our children have spent all of their lives here.

But, our split-level floorplan was causing increased problems for the grandparents; it became increasingly difficult for them to visit us because of all the stair climbing to move from one room to the next.

After years of searching wore me out, we decided that there were possibly things we could do to make the most of where we are, so we set to work in August to make that happen.  We have been making gradual and sure progress and feeling pretty content with that.

On April 25, all of that changed. 

My husband was driving home from work and noticed a "for sale" sign in a yard.  That was a Friday. Saturday we looked at the house. Sunday we looked at it again.  Monday we made an offer. Tuesday the offer was accepted.

Now we are just doing all of the little things one does between putting a contract on a house and closing on it.  Lots of paperwork, inspections, etc.

We are so excited!

The floorplan is one we have dreamed of. The house is easily-navigable for senior citizens: the grandparents today, and us in the future. 

The house and yard are very easily classified as "fixer-uppers", which is why it fits our budget.  That gives us room to plan and dream.

God is so good to us.

My little son hurt his arm.  He came to me crying and showed it to me.

I said, "Oh, poor guy!  Do you want me to kiss it?"

He replied adamantly, "No.    Chocolate!"

You know you have, ahem, made too much smoke in the kitchen when your 22-month-old son walks around singing to himself, "Beep beep!   Fi-yar, fi-yar!"

Yesterday, DH and I did another "Big Cook."  Friday night we got a sitter, and spent 4 hours at our food warehouse store and then at our grocery store.

I got up at 6 yesterday and put the final touches on my labels, printing out the recipes, made the prep list, etc., and by 7:30 we were cooking.

My 7yo helped quite a bit, until the beautiful weather was just too exciting to ignore. Also, we enlisted the neighbor girls who were in the back yard playing, as well as my girls, whenever we needed hands to hold baggies while I filled them.

I now have 50 frozen entrees in my freezer.  And, one of the recipes made a bit more than I expected, so we were able to share casseroles with three other families, as well as having one for our dinner last night.

We finished at a little after 6:00 last night.  It sounds like a lot of work, but these meals will last for around 10 weeks.  Doing the planning, shopping, cooking and clean up individually each day over the course of the next 10 weeks would take waaay more than 16+ hours, so I came out ahead.  Additionally, there is no stress because every day I KNOW WHAT IS FOR DINNER.  AND IT'S READY. 

Yee haw!

This week we have been watching the movie "Heartland."  It is a very well-done movie about homesteading in the early 1900's.  However, it portrays a life that was harsh and unrelenting. 

(note: there are also graphic scenes of how animals become food. this movie is not for the squeamish. preview before watching with your children)

There were some sad and difficult parts, and my daughters were making sympathetic noises during those scenes.  HOWEVER...

my boy was screaming with excitement throughout the movie.  His twenty-month-old self was just too excited, and he was bouncing in Daddy's lap yelling, "Train, train!  Wook! Train!"  or  "Chruck!  Chruck!  (truck) Yay!" or "Tows (cows)!  Oh, wook, Mama, tows!)"   or "Horsies!  neigh! neigh! Horsies!"

The next day while Baby Boy was sitting between us eating breakfast, DH and I were enjoying remembering how thrilled Boyo was during the movie.  I said that was to be expected.  "After all, there were trains, trucks, cows and horses.  What more could a boy want?'

Without missing a beat, my son looked up and said, "Doggies!"

Oh, yeah, I forgot.  Boys want trucks, trains, cows, horses and doggies.  Oops, my bad.