Settled??

Well isn't that a loaded statement. We are in our house and functioning on a daily basis. However, we still have lots of boxes to unpack. And wouldn't you know it, God decided to play a little trick on us and make it 39 degrees yesterday morning!!! Yes - the last day of August and we had frost on our cars. (since the garage is still to full to park in) Nothing like scrambling to find the warm clothes.
We have met some of the neighbors who seem really nice. All the kids have been 6 and under - so it's a neighborhood full of little ones - which is GREAT! Ahly already wants to go "visit our neighbors". Dreyden has adjusted very well to his new room. Which really wasn't a shocker to us, but Ahlyana on the other hand is having a harder time. Her room is to "bright" she says. Mind you we moved from the country to a little subdivision closer to town, where a small street light is on the corner opposite our house but right across from her room. One of the things we failed to noticed when we looked at the house.
Ahlyana starts 4K tomorrow. 3 full days a week. I'm really unsure about these full days. I think it's going to be tough on her and Mom. I have a feeling bed time is going to be getting earlier too! Her school had an open house this weekend with pony rides and a bouncy house! She just loved the ponies (once she wasn't afraid of them). I'll post pictures as soon as I find my connecting cords :)
Dreyden is growing us so much. He will imitate almost any word you throw at him. His favorite now is Apple, MINE!, "tank you", More. It is so sweet when he says "tank you" it's even at the appropriate times.

Well I better go - I promise to post more when I can.

SOLD!

Well we have sold the house - officially. Whew... there were a few bumps these past few days but we seemed to have gotten around them. In a little over 2 hours, we will be owners of a new home! sigh... it's been a long process and longer 10 days of moving - we are just exhausted. I guess it's to be expected when you have two little ones, and it's pretty much up to you and your hubby to pack and move. Don't get me wrong we did get a few family and friends to help with the bigger stuff, but my husband is a perfectionist and hates asking for help. So if he had any chance of doing it himself he'd much rather do it alone. Last night we were up until 2-3am!!!! We both were suppose to be in to work at 7 - needless to say we both had to take the morning off, not only to try and get some zzzzz's - but also to still finish up on what we still had to get out. I sure hope it's much smoother doing the unpacking thing :)
When I got the kids to the sitters today, as we backed out of the garage - I told Ahlyana to say good-bye to the house, because we wouldn't be coming back, that we'd be in the new house tonight. She was very chipper and said "Bye House - Bye Bye House - Dreyden say good by to the house - bye(whimper) house(whimper) - bye bye house(sniff sniff)." Poor girls was really sad to be leaving. I guess I never thought that it would affect her this way. She is a very sensitive and sweet little girl and I suppose I should have known better. Let's hope she takes to her new room without any problems. Dreyden - well he didn't care - all morning he was running in and out of the rooms - loving the sound of his voice echoing through each room!

I'll post more as I can - may be a while though :)

Finally!

Well we have finally heard that we have officially sold our house. We close on Friday the 21st. Yes the 21st. So the next 10 days will be crazy!!! Thanks to everyone who's been praying for this with us. It sure is going to be nice to get my kiddos sleeping on the same level of the house :)
As for the rest of us we are doing well. I will post more later.
I also want to congratulate Jason and Liberty on the referral of their little boy!!!

Well we are back from our vacation, rested and ready to tackle the next endeavor. No that doesn't mean we've sold our house. As much as I'd like to say we have we are still in limbo - - - Argh!!! We hope to hear soon, of course, but we are done, exhausted and burnt out over this. We've never sold a house before and totally underestimated this process. So we will be patient for this offer to run its course - but after that we're done. Remodeling it is - not that this sounds much fun either ;)

But back to our vacation - it was great - good family time without distractions! I'm all caught up on laundry and now we've resettled into our daily routine.

Here are a few pictures.

Ahlyana and her Cousin Sienna, first day at the beach!

Ahlyana and her extended cousin, Briti (literally, I think they are like 4th cousins)

Briti is also from ISRC

Ahlyana (future biologists???) Loves clams, snails and frogs!

Dreydens future is so bright - he has to wear shades

(what a handsome man, not that a proud mommy may be a little bias)

Rainy day in the camper, this is life with the two of them. Ahly is so motherly, that the smothering is fairly constant. Dreyden is such a trooper with it, most of the time.

Finally, Dreyden has realized he LOVES ketchup!!

this and that

Well I've already not met my goal. Sure thought I'd be able to do one update a week and now it's been almost a month.
To my defense it's been beyond hectic. We are still in the midst of trying to sell our house. Actually it is considered sold, but the buyer is using a government loan and YIKES, what paperwork and ridiculous amount of inspections and mandates. I know these are suppose to help people get housing they may not have been able to afford otherwise, but my gosh it requires a lot from the sellers - especially when we both work and have two little kids. This last month has been nothing but cleaning, cleaning and more cleaning. Juggling of schedules to make sure we are out of the house when we have to be and there when they need us. I have to apologize, to all those super effecient Moms that work out of the house because I just find that there are days where this just isn't time to make a bed in the morning! Kudos to those that do :)
Anyway, it appears that we are closing on the 14th, so things will only get more hectic I'm sure. But first of all we are taking our annual vacation. We leave tomorrow for 10 days of camping. I know some of you are saying - 10 days!!!! But yes, 10 day of family time, no TV's! Just family, sun, hiking and lots of swimming. Unfortunately, everything with the house requires us to take the cell phone!!! (darn) This is typically so much fun - actually more of a reunion - it started at least 30- years ago with Aunts and Uncle, with all the kids. It has turned into about 25 families on my Dads side all getting together. A cool part of this is that my 3rd cousin and his wife have also adopted a little girl from ISRC - she is now seven - so her and Ahlyana have the best time together. This year we get to throw Dreyden into the mix, which will prove to be an adventure in and of itself - since he is a real go getter - seriously this boy isn't afraid of anything!
Oh yeah, one more thing, my husband decided that at 41 years of age he has to play softball like the young pups! Anyway, this last weekend he dove for a ball and has either broke or severly sprained his thumb! Of course he can't go see a Dr to find out! - what is it with men anyway????? We need to finish packing the camper and need to start packing up the house - the one armed-bandit isn't proving to helpful in this situation :) I feel terrible for him and it could be worse - 2 years ago he broke his leg. (Love ya Honey - but what timing)
So any way, it will be a while now before I post but I will try and get back at it as soon as I can! Happy remaining summer everyone.