House to Home in 52 {1}

Many have asked if we are starting to feel settled in our new home.  With a deep breath and enormous smile, I am thankful to respond with a resounding "Yes!"

Between selling our home, preparing our rental house for new tenants, moving to our little piece of heaven on earth, and having minor surgery on my lip, I have felt incredibly out of sorts.

This is the first week that our new house has been filled with people we love.  There have been belly laughs, tears of joy and sorrow, spilled milk, words of encouragement spoken, voices united in prayer, and deep, real, meaningful conversations.

As I sit on my freshly Febreezed couch (Jax peed on it yesterday), I realize that our house is quickly becoming a home.   My world is back on its' axis, and my purpose has once again been made crystal clear.  Feeling 'settled' has nothing to do with unpacked boxes, art hung on the walls, or paint swatches.  It is all about the people we love and the relationships that we are continually building.

I have decided to document our year long journey as we make this house our home. There will certainly be art created, junk transformed, and walls painted, but there will also be a lot of love.

This is the Life {3}

*Last Friday, we were faced head on with the decision to end Fraidy's suffering by putting him to sleep.  This was a decision that we spent months contemplating.  His condition seemed to improve over the summer, but spiraled  downward once the moving boxes began lining the bare walls.  It has been a difficult, emotional week to say the least.  Tears have been shed daily.

I snapped this photo seconds before Scott gently placed him in the crate.  It was almost as if he knew we were saying our final good-bye.  I am confident that I have been loved by few people more than this kitty.  

*Last week, we had a sewer inspection at our current home. The inspectors quickly called me downstairs to view the video footage and to break some bad news. A large root had managed to grow completely through our sewer pipe. They prepared me for at least $2,000 worth of repairs. The next step in correcting this problem was to have the sewer lines cleaned so that they could get footage to the main allowing us to determine how much of the sewer pipes would have to be replaced. The Roto Rooter man told me that he ran into at least 3 roots while cleaning the pipes. The inspectors returned one afternoon last week, and we were prepared for the worst. They once again called us downstairs to view the new footage as well as previous recorded footage. There was no sign of any holes in our sewer lines. We were able to share our faith because the only explanation was a miracle. Our house PASSED the sewer inspection.

*Two days before school started, we broke down and bought Andrew new size 9 tennis shoes.  Less than 2 months later, we broke down and bought Andrew new size 10 tennis shoes.  I think his college fund is being quickly depleted in order to buy groceries.  

This is the Life {2}

Overwhelmed would be a definite understatement to describe how I am feeling at this exact moment.

*We will be moving all of our possessions from one home to another on October 20 in a very crunched amount of time.  Hiring movers has alleviated a lot of the stress, but my heart still beats a hundred miles a minute as I attempt to wrap my head around the logistics of that day.  

*Scott will be traveling a lot the next few weeks leaving me to manage all three kiddos, their crazy busy schedules, and all the house buying/selling details.  Of course, my number one concern is the fact that I don't sleep well when he is away.  Everyone prefers a well rested momma bear.

*We had our sewer inspection today, and it was a big time failure.  We are looking at thousands of dollars in repairs before closing.

*I have 2 swollen lymph nodes that are driving me crazy.  I was terrified that I was dying for several days.  After much research and several Dr. examinations, I am now at peace with the fact that I just have an infection that started from a sore on my head. 

I received this text from Deana yesterday..."There are a couple types of people who never die.  The mean and crazy...you're safe!"

On another note, what can make a stinky failed sewer inspection seem so unimportant?  A beautiful bouquet hand delivered by this cutie patootie in his underwear...

Happy Birthday AHG

All Aboard

This fella gets a one on one date with Papa and Gamma. 
In his mind, he is a working man. 
He will be the one yelling, "All aboard!"

Mouse and a Cookie or Momma and a Moving Box?

If you give this momma a moving box, she will see a playroom full of toys that need to be packed.

While packing all the toys into the gigantic box, she will be reminded of the movie, "Toy Story".

Replaying "Toy Story" in her mind will remind her of the main character, Andy.

While thinking about the main character, she will realize that she too has an Andy.

Thinking about her Andy growing up far too quickly will result in tears.  She will need a Kleenex.

While using the Kleenex, she will trip over a gigantic pile of legos.  The Kleenex will fall to the floor.

When the kleenex hits the playroom floor, she will see a pile of toys and be reminded of the fact that she needs to pack a least a few boxes everyday for the next 30+ days.

(I now wish that I would have seen the need for make-up on this particular day.)

This is the Life {1}

Before 11 a.m...

*One of my children managed to seriously offend another child in our carpool by referring to his friends as "wimps who only play video games".

*I was honked at in the car pool line because it was taking the 6 kiddos too long to get out of the car.  Please note that our school has less than 100 students, and I am dropping off over 6% of the student body.  Therefore, I should be entitled to at least 30 seconds in the car pool line.

*I cleaned up two "almost made it to the potty" accidents and did the "pee pee on the potty" dance at least 4 times. 

*Another "stranger" entered my home to look around and take photos.  (aka an appraiser)  I did manage to move the garbage bag off the counter before he snapped a photo.  

*I packed 2 boxes while Jax screamed at the top of his lungs, "Me like this house.  Me don't want a new one."

*While I was sobbing over leaving our home full of precious memories, Jax informed me that Skip was in the front yard.  Grumpily, I opened the door and called for him.  This is how he greeted me.

What's Up? (September 2015 Edition)

*In a matter of seven short, busy days we purchased our dream home and sold our much loved home of 12 years.  It is bittersweet, but I am super excited about our new place.  (wink)

*Andrew and Olivia have settled into 6th and 4th grades respectively.  They have already learned to spell their fair share of difficult words and solved countless math problems.  The homework load was an adjustment and a number of tears and gray hairs have happened, but we are finally falling into a routine.

*Jax is now wearing big boy "underwears"..Spiderman to be exact.  It would be an understatement if I described it as a long, difficult process.  We have hit the point of no return even if momma wants to throw in the towel which is more than likely covered in urine.

*Out of necessity, Scott has decided to step out of his comfort zone and coach Andrew's basketball team.

*Andrew has successfully made the transition from One_Elementary to One_JrHigh, and he loves his new found independence at church.  I may have shed a few tears, but I love getting the opportunity to worship with him on Sunday mornings.

*The oldies are running cross country this fall.  They are struggling to decide if they absolutely love it or absolutely hate it.

Back to School 2015

Andrew and Olivia have been back to school for a little over two weeks, and our entire family is still deeply mourning the loss of summer.  

I am finally posting our first day of school photos.  

There were tears. There was sobbing.  There were upset stomachs. 

(I didn't even pay attention to how Andrew and Olivia were feeling.)

Summer, we enjoyed every single second of your visit.  You really showed off this year.

We will be eagerly waiting and planning for your next visit.

I Heart My Tripod and My Family

We packed matching clothes and our trusty tripod in hopes of capturing some lovely photos of our family in one of our favorite places.  In hindsight, I wish that I would have adjusted the lighting a tad, but the end result definitely surpassed my expectation.

(I love J Man's arm around his Bubba's neck.)

Random Vacation Photos

Jaxson found the waves incredibly offensive the first 36 hours.  In fact, he would hold out his little hand and shout, "Waves (s)top!"  However by the end of the week, he was jumping off the raft with the intent of going underwater.

On Sunday the boys and girls decided to wage a war along gender lines.  The girls spent hours creating a fort lined with built-in shelves and pre-made ammunition while the boys built recliners. The war lasted about 10 seconds and ended with sand in eyes and tears. 

Cousin snuggles are the very best after an exhausting day on the beach.

We biked approximately 2 miles on a very hot Alabama morning to explore the historic Ft. Gaines.  The photo opportunities were limitless, but we were all hot, sweaty, and not in the mood for photos.

Yep.  They are sitting on historic toilets.  Can you even imagine?

Sharky's had a mini ropes course perfect for Jax.

This was the first time Olivia was tall enough to drive her own go cart, and she did awesome.

ABC's of Vacation 2015

A is for Andrew. 

B is for Bicycles.  We spent several mornings exploring the island on two wheels.

C is for Crab.  This is by far the largest hermit crab that we have found to date.

D is for Dolphins on Dauphin Island.  A pod of dolphins were following this shrimp boat.

E is for Estuarium.  We thoroughly enjoyed the hands-on exhibits.

F is for Ferry.  We rode the ferry to Fort Morgan for a day of exploring in Gulf Shores.

G is for Glasses.

H is for Hammock.

I is for Ice Cream.

J is for Jaxson.

K is for Kites. 

L is for Lazy.  This is the life.

M is for Mermaid.

N is for Nervous.  (Yep.  This shark made me incredibly nervous.)

O is for Olivia.

P is for Pier.

Q is for Quiet.

R is for Rope Course.

S is for Selfies with Brea.

T is for baby loggerhead sea Turtles.  Everyone managed to watch at least one nest boil.

U is for sitting under a colorful Umbrella.

V is for Volcano.

W is for warm, calm Water.

X is for eXciting.  Parasailing was definitely exciting.

Y oh why doesn't anything beach related start with the letter Y?

Z is for zip-line.