We're In! Well, Sort of ;-)

Waving goodbye to our old house

Getting ready to sign a bunch of papers.  Micah along for the ride :-)

Well, we're in our new home!  We had one minor hiccough with closing, but we closed on both houses and are now living in our new place!  Our stuff is in...

well, sort of.  We still have the pod that has a whole bunch of boxes still in it, but we have to have it all out by Friday so we'll get there one way or another! (update, we did empty the pod... now the house is really a mess!)

The actual move went really well.  We had some great friends who gave sacrificially of their time (and muscles) to help us move.  We are SO thankful for those who were the hands and feet of Jesus, providing childcare, meals, cleaning help, and moving help!   I really mean it when I say that we could NOT have done it without them!!!

However, the getting settled in part has been MUCH harder than I anticipated.  It just doesn't seem like anything fits easily.  I can't find places to put my dishes or appliances.  It's hard to fit my groceries in the fridge or the pantry.  Every time Jim tackles what is supposed to be an "easy" project, we find something wrong with the way the something was installed.  The previous owner liked to tinker with things, but without having any real skill or desire to do things the right way.  Plus there's the little detail that we have four children to care for while trying to get settled in.  Most of the time, I have them help with whatever I'm doing, but putting things away when I don't know where to put them has been a little harder to have them help with ;-).  So it's been an uphill climb.  But we know we'll get there... eventually :-).

Here's my attempt to make going through cleaning supplies "fun."  ;-)

I had Micah help me put the cleaners into two groups.  The ones we were keeping went to "Keep Island" (marked with a "K"), and the ones we were getting rid of went to "Trash Island".  Believe it or not, it worked, and made the job much more enjoyable!

I'm trying to remind myself that this is a season.  Even if it's happening slower than I want it to, we are getting settled in.  And it's summer, which means we have a lot more freedom with time.  So I'm trying to give grace to myself and not feel guilty if the kids watch another movie or if we have to go out to dinner because I can't get to my oven (like the other night when Jim was installing the dishwasher).  I'm also trying to remember that time with these little ones around me is so precious and embracing the moments I have with them is more important than trying to figure out where in the world I'm going to put my electric skillet.

Now, where in the world am I going to put that electric skillet? :-)

***Here are some fun pics from our time at the hotel.  I'd like to think I'd do a separate post, but I know it's not going to happen.  We stayed at a local hotel for a couple of nights while in transition.  The kids had a blast!  It actually felt like a mini-vacation in the middle of the insanity :-).  At least for me and the kids; poor Jim had to go to work, which is why he's not in any of the pictures.