To Make Aunt Bec Insanely Jealous...

We want Aunt Bec to move home really bad...so, we're going to get her where she's softest tonight...

Granmother called on Monday to let the kids know that she needed a little help.  See, she and Pop found this little guy alone in the pasture...

This is Buster, his mom abandoned him...

So,

We did what anybody in our situation would do, we headed over to meet Buster and feed him his dinner!

I was for sure that Bug would get a little nervous when we got in the pen, but it appears that Kindergarten has turned her into one brave girl (VBS helped to...because we FEAR NOT!)

Check out the big helpers Bec...

Ace turned out to be our little chicken and had to ease into it...

Well, I forgot my camera our help was needed bad again today...and really, what's better than 2 trips to Granmother and Pop's in 1 week?

We headed back again this afternoon for some more fun and feeding...

Even Pop and Hubs got in on the fun!

(Yes, Ace is wearing his too little Pirate hat inside out...but let's all take a minute to observe and appreciate the wicked cool knitting skills that went into that stranding!!)

Ok, moment over!

Never hurts, when making Aunt Bec jealous, to throw in cool knitting techinques she hasn't braved yet! ;)

Buster loved the little helpers so much, he tried to come home with them!

Well, we love you Bec, wish you were here feeding baby calves with us!

Wow, This is Great...

I got a little emotional last week after dinner.

Hubs and I looked for a house for a long time.  Some people gave us a hard time about being picky, but we figured if we were going to move, we were going to get what we wanted and live there forever.

So, we made a list...I'll spare you the details, but on the top of my list, was a place where our kids could play safely.  Our old house was on a busy street, the dogs took up all of the backyard, so we were left with the front yard and sidewalk for outdoor activities.  It was ok for the time, but I knew that some of my most fun times as a kid were being outside, riding bikes, and playing with my siblings and the neighborhood kids and I wanted that for Bug and Ace.  I was tired of being worried that someone would run out in the road after a ball, or go down the driveway too fast into traffic.

Wednesday, after we cleaned up the kitchen we opened up the garage door and pulled out the bikes, scooters, new water buckets and a lawn chair.

Wow, it felt great to finally be there!

We stayed outside for a long time...and let me tell you, nothing smells better after a long week of moving and unpacking than a sweaty, stinky kid who has had a great time playing in their new yard!

The Big Move...Dogs and Lawns.

Not only have we aquired twice the amount of house, we also now have an acre...Hubs is very excited!  He loves working outside and, well, doing outside stuff.

One of the first big things on our agenda was getting "the girls" moved over with us.  (The "girls" are Jenna and Katy, our dogs.)  Hubs built them their very own yard over the weekend...

It's off to the side, plenty big, and has a big shed in it...which is, for now, a big dog house.  We're pretty sure that they like being country dogs, and Hubs lets them out to run and play when he's outside.  Surprisingly, the kids are loving it too!  With all the extra space, the girls have been very gentle with Bug and Ace, who in the past have only been able to talk to them through the window of their room (because they'd get trampled in the back yard).

Hubs, as excited as he was to have an acre, decided that our little push mower from the old place wasn't going to cut it at the new house...a problem when I'm trying not to think too much about having not sold our old house yet.  He had made arrangements to borrow his brothers riding lawn mower for the rest of the mowing season until we could buy our own after the old house is sold, but Granny Lin and Grumpy Phil, (my aunt and uncle who are honorary grandparents to Bug and Ace) surprised us by asking if we wanted a riding lawnmower that they weren't using anymore! 

I'm really not sure who is more excited, Hubs or Ace (who thinks it's his).

Since Granny Lin and Grumpy Phil are some of our favorite readers, we now send you a big, huge, public

Thank-you!

Wordless Wednesday...

The Big Move...the Movers.

Some people would have you think that "you just can't find good help these days"...well, I beg to differ...

Moving the weekend of Labor Day turned out to be a bad idea.  There was a lot going on that weekend! Thankfully my uncle loaned us his trailer, our good friend Ben helped out with the big stuff on Friday, and Hubs and I moved the bedrooms on Sat.

And, of course, we had these big helpers...

Who came up with some inventive ways to be helpful...

Now that's some team work!

The Big Move...Packing up.

Well, we've officially lived in the new place for a whole week...it's been a wild ride!  In an attempt to keep your eyes from bleeding from all of the pics, I'll break it up a little.

I have never really been responsible for a move of this magnitude, sure I moved to a dorm and out, we moved while I was in nursing school...but I've never had to move a whole house!  I also have a tendancy to stress out easy, and am a good procrastinator (a gift from my mother, whom I love, but is also responsibe for my sense of humor...which dad thinks is just flat inappropriate, but I am thankful for...have to take the bad with the good, I guess).  Sometimes when I'm stressed I bake...

This is the lovely peach pie that was created Sunday before we signed on the house (yes, to all of you doubters I did hand-make the crust...thank-you to Granmother, the master pie crust maker who taught me some of her pie crust secrets many years ago!) to keep me from a total melt down.  It was yummy, and thanks to my Small Group friends, it was gone in a jiffy!

Since we signed on Monday and couldn't get the carpets cleaned until Friday, I decided to tackle the kitchen move first.  This was a comical experience, and please know that I'm not afraid to laugh at myself, so please, don't feel bad for a laugh at my expense on this journey to the new house.

I started by packing up the stuff in the cabinets that we wouldn't be needing on a daily basis...

and yes mom, it didn't take me long to figure out that all I would need to get by was a few Dickies cups, some ceral bowls and spoons :)  For those who don't know, we eat out a LOT!  (whole diferent post on that coming soon)

So off I went!  The sad thing about our former eating out problem is that I have a lot of nice kitchen stuff!  I love Pampered Chef, the concept of whipping up nice meals for my family is pleasant and a dream...the reality, however, is that we didn't have central heat or air so cooking in the summer is a misery, my ipod dock quit playing my ipod a few months back (so I got bored), I'm good at making up excuses to be running errands at dinner time, and eating out is just so much easier (i.e. someone else does the cooking and dishes!)!

During the packing process I found this...

a rogue wedding gift from almost 7 years ago that had been lost in the very back corner of my cabinets...oops!  If you are looking at this present and offended because you gave it to me...please know I am very thankful...and now due to my new circumstances, am a recovering "eater outer" and will be soon removing the plastic and whipping up casseroles and dinner galore in these lovely dishes! :) 

Almost as embrassing as the unused wedding gift was the amount of expired stuff I found in my pantry.

Opps, I'm sorry to all of the blackeye peas that died in vein...I'm not sure why we didn't get to you in time, but promise to do better in the future!

It was a hard job, but now it's done! 

For all of you worried that I didn't have help...Hubs was at work this particular day of packing (and did his fair share of packing too, don't worry)...I did have the constant interruptions help from this cute, up-and-coming handy man...

Who was so sweet as to always move my keys and "yock up de doors" for me!

Sorry, he's not for hire!

Coming up for air...

Hello,
We are alive and well!  Sorry for the pause, but we've been busy (and just got internet today)!  Things have been great, I have pictures that I'll get to eventually.
Thanks for all of your prayers and support!

Who would have thought?

That my kids would get a kick out of cleaning?

Just a disclaimer....this didn't last the whole afternoon!

ACE and I started the day by droping Bug off at school and started cleaning.  Our new house has been vacant for a while, so it's in pretty good need of a good scrubbing. 

We focused on the kitchen and laundry room today.  This morning we scrubbed all of the cabinets and counters and swept the floor, then headed off to pick up Nana for our normal Tuesday lunch.  This afternoon we scrubbed baseboards, mopped the floors and washed windows.  I can already tell that the extra dirt from being out in the country is going to be a challenge...esp, for someone who hates cleaning as much as me...I'll have to work on that!

I wish I'd have remembered to take pictures of the kids washing the windows in their rooms! So funny.

I'm thinking that tomorrow will be moving part of the kitchen and cleaning bathrooms...ick!