They're Everywhere!

Boxes! Boxes! Everywhere! Even though we have been working hard there is still a lot to unpack.

This is what the Baby's room presently looks like.


The Family Room. As you can see the girls are working on it a bit.

Dave searches.

A photo of the newly made & painted shelves.

Another view of the shelves. Recently I put lots of books on them & some toys. Looks good!

Hanging Out in Nashville

After yet another day of driving, Day 5 to be exact, we reached Nashville. Boy, were we all relieved to see the signs showing us we were advancing on the hotel! Here are the hotel suites we stayed in.

I didn't get as many pics as planned b/c on Friday I woke up sick as could be. I was on my own trying to keep 4 kids entertained & relatively quiet. All I wanted to do was sleep I was so miserable but since Dave was at work I was in charge. Thank God for cable t.v.!

Hanging out in our hotel suite.

There was a 2nd story loft. It was cool. There was a bedroom & full bath upstairs. The only downer was b/c the loft was wide open all the noise from below sounded like it was right beside your head when you were upstairs in the bed. It certainly was nice to have 2 full baths one on each floor! Casey lived in the one downstairs as she doesn't get along with the other cats.

The living room & dining room. There was a comfortable Murphy bed that pulled out from the wall behind the privacy curtain. The couch also pulled out into a bed. All in all the suite slept 6. Perfect!

We had a nice, full kitchen too complete with a full sized refrigerator, stove, dishwasher & sink.

A view to the loft.

Waiting for Daddy to come home from work.

Daddy, where are you?

We've spotted him!

Yay! Daddy brought home a treat!

Saying Good-bye

It was bittersweet to leave that Sunday after the movers left. Sad because we had to leave loved ones behind & a little exciting because we were finally having our dream of moving to TN come true. The hardest to leave were family. We have lived near my Mom, Dad & brother Tim since Sweet Pea's first birthday. That's over 11 years! Now we were moving over 1,000 miles away. Our kids are also my parents only grand kids. One thing that made it a bit easier is knowing that when they retire they plan to move down closer to us.

It was also very strange to see the house so completely empty. It wasn't even that empty when we moved in as the previous owners left things behind for us to deal with. The basement was amazingly clean much thanks to Mom's hard work. It was home but not really home anymore. A strange & sad feeling.

THE EMPTY ROOMS

Foyer

Girls Room

Living Room

Dining Room

My Treasured School Closet

Kitchen

Boys Room

Playroom

Master Bedroom

Good-bye, Home

We have many memories from this home. And I also had to leave Rose Marie's rosebushes behind. That was very hard for me.

Us with Grannie, Grandpa & Tim

The Kids with Tim & his friend Molly

Grannie, Grandpa, Sweet Pea, Bugsy, Elvis & Boo Bear

HUGS GOOD-BYE

There were many tears shed & even the kids were crying. We look forward to their move down here to join us & to (hopefully) many visits from friends & family.

Thinking Out Loud

I have been blessed with a little time to catch up on my blog. I hope that I can get all my recent posts in this week & possibly next as things are moving fast here. I have a lot to catch up on!

I realized when I woke up at 3a.m. this morning how much there is to do! The moving van comes in 2 weeks! Yikes! I am so very grateful that Dave's new company provides this moving & packing service. I literally cannot imagine doing all this by myself. *gulp* I do have to pack everything for our 4-5 day road trip down to Tennessee & our temporary living hotel/apartment/cabin, (not sure where we are going to end up!), needs. I will be busy making lists today, picking up some needed items from the store, tackling our mountain of laundry, picking up Boo Bear a town or two away and other odds & ends. Time is already filling up fast. Yesterday was packed from literally dawn until well past dark. Tomorrow is when we find out about the Radon test results, (Please keep praying!), and Thursday is Boo Bear's birthday. Friday I will be going out of town for the weekend & then next week the movers come!

Please keep praying that the radon tests will be amazingly fantastic, that we can find a place to live in TN both temporary & long-term, and all our travel & packing plans come together. Thank you, friends!

Decisions & Dilemmas

It's that time of year again........time to head back to school. But first I still need to finish the portfolios & school planning. I have a general idea of what the kids will be studying. That is a relief. Sweet Pea is going to be doing two of her main subjects on the computer which will help both she & I. when I told her this she was very excited. She loves being on the computer and doing her schoolwork a little different than sitting down with pencil & paper. I think I have Boo's curriculum selected but am still figuring out all of Elvis'.

Dave is home this weekend and yesterday he and the kids went down to the storage unit to organize it. I think they found all of Sweet Pea's schoolwork from last year. What a relief! Now I can finally put it all together & get that portfolio off my back. I did call the Deputy Super's office last week and explained things. They were understanding and I was relieved. I think they have bigger things on their plate with public school starting next week anyway. =)

I'm kind of at a loss of how to plan our schedule this year. I am still believing God will move us soon. Because of this I haven't signed the kids up for soccer or anything else. I feel badly about this b/c they missed it in the spring as well. But frankly I don't know how I'd do it all myself - all the practices, the games, the errands, the cleanings & then school too. Plus I'd hate for them to be signed up & then have to quit right after they started as the season starts later in Sept. & goes through Oct. But I still feel badly they are missing out for 2 seasons in a row. I had so hoped we would be settled in TN by now. BUT again I am hanging onto HOPE. The fact that we will move soon, (keep believing!), also makes me wonder how to plan our daily schedule. How do I balance it all? Plus on top of everything else I have not been feeling well. The thought of a full day of school all week long simply exhausts me. Ack!

Speaking of all of this makes me anxious to begin. I had better get busy on sorting Sweet Pea's work from last year. Boy will I be relieved when I can turn those portfolios in and check them off of my long list!

Thanks for listening! It's nice to have a place to go and write freely. =)

Whirlwind of Work

We have been super busy working on the house and yard. We want to put the house on the market a.s.a.p. It's a lot of hard work! It's one thing to live in your house every day but to make it showroom perfect is quite another. Add 4 young kids to the mix and you find yourself becoming overwhelmed. At least that's the case with us. There are so many questions and such to handle with the Realtors, movers, new company, etc. etc. No wonder most people start 6 months or more before moving day! We have to work with the time frame given to us and so we will. My Mom is planning on coming over tomorrow to help me get the front flower garden in order and maybe some other small projects if time allows. I bought some Marigolds & Alyssum today to help jazz up the garden. I have a lot of perennials but they are either past blooming or haven't bloomed yet. These Marigolds & Alyssum should help fill this in between time with bright color.

Recently I've been reading many articles online. Most that I have chosen are those about curb appeal & staging your home. They are very interesting. Some have conflicting tips but I'll weed through those and pick those that I think are most important and most "do-able" for us. I'll try to remember to post before & after pics as we go along. It's an extremely busy, if not chaotic time but exciting too! I'm praying God will sell our house quickly so we will not have to be separated or at least not for very long. I know God can do it even in this slow market!

Big Announcement!

On Tuesday we received some very exciting news. Dave was offered a new job! We took some time to pray & then Dave formally accepted the new job on Thursday. After the phone call we sat the kids down so Dave could share the news. They had been on pins & needles for 2 days wondering what the decision would be. This new job is down south so we will need to move. It is going to be a whole new adventure! Our heads are spinning with all we have to do & plan.

Sitting Them Down

Their First Reactions

Woo whoo!

Think They're Excited? Lol!

Dancing With Daddy

VICTORY!

I Have A Job!

Sweet Pea Makes Tucker Join in the Celebration

That evening once the initial excitement died down reality started to creep in. The girls are very sad to leave their friends, Grannie, Grandpa & Tim and their home too. They are doing well with their mixed emotions and we are already making steps to make sure we keep in touch & have visits as much as possible.