Kid Packers!

We had movers for both moves (I highly recommend it if you are planning on moving twice in 5 months) but we packed ourselves. The kids were really great in helping with the packing and packed most of their own rooms and almost all of the toys and DVD's & stuff from the playroom.

The drawers for our entertainment center finally came in last week & the guys came down and installed them. I'm excited to get the last few cardboard boxes out of here, so pulled out all the movies & video games and started sorting them into their permanent home.

It wasn't until I carried the box upstairs with VHS tapes to giveaway, that I noticed how the box was labelled.

Nice.

Of course, they mean "adult" as in "not Disney" but those movers sure might have wondered why we had such a huge box of them!

Last Sunday

Since we decided to move last November I have been really aware of our "lasts" and tried to soak them in. Our last Halloween parade, last Thanksgiving in our dining room, last time putting Christmas lights in the big tree, last time watching the ball drop on the TV in our basement, last time mulching my flowers beds (my pride and joy). It has been wonderful to have almost a full year to know we are leaving and try to really enjoy every minute of the things we love about living here, I can hardly believe we are now down to the last Friday, Saturday, Sunday .....

This week might be a bit emotional for me.

I set alarm early to get up and do my bike. With all the packing and swim meets and getting ready to move I have not been at all diligent about exercising myself. I got up & turned it off (thinking "5 more mins") and woke up at 8:20am. Yikes! We all raced to get ready and were only a few minutes late to church - getting there during the opening hymn. Hopefully this will be the last time we are late to church? Probably not!

We saw a family who had moved two years earlier and were in town visiting. That will be something I really will miss - seeing friends who have moved away and come back for a visit. Rebekah bore her testimony, which was very sweet. They sang to Emily, Jacob & Jane in primary & the singing time leader let them pick their favorite games to play during singing time.

When we got home I tired to get organized a bit but it's hard when there are boxes everywhere and shingle sample boards for the new house in the pile in the living room!

Our friends the Taylor's invited us for dinner. We will really miss this family, they are awesome. I guess the best thing about only moving 30 minutes away is that we will still be able to see most of our friends, even if it is not as often.

The swim team awards dinner was that night but I decided not to go. Even though it is on a Sunday, we typically have gone. With moving and everything going on, I decided not to go this year. It's always long (giving out lots of awards) and i just didn't feel up for a late night with the kids. I didn't send the team president an e-mail sating we wouldn't make it, given we were moving 5 days later but she said she didn't see the e-mail until after the dinner - or she would have given us a heads up to attend. Why? Because Emily won the high scoring award for 10 & under girls and the Presidents Award was given to our family for all we have done to contribute to the team (the kids swimming on the team and Swim Across America.) Sheesh, I feel kind of lame that we didn't go.

Rick is headed to Philadelphia tomorrow and this is going to be a pretty hectic week for me home alone with the kids with a few more swim meets and getting ready to move. I debated about staying up late and getting stuff done but decided to just try and get one last good night of sleep in preparation for the next 5 days.

Last Saturday

Today marks the start of our last week in our house. Each day we will be able to say "This is our last ______"

At this point, with the mess and piles of boxes, not buying any real food because I want to use up what we have and all the trips I am making to Connecticut for the building of the house - I just want to get it over with and be moved already!

I do know that as soon as we are settled, I'll miss it here - so I am trying to soak in the things I have loved about our house and our neighborhood as we go through our last week here.

After Swim Across America we came home to get some stuff I had to mail, and tile samples, etc. We left the 2 big girls to their own devices & took J&J. Jane was still repeating "I don't want to go look at tiles!" as we put her in the car. Sorry kiddos, today is just about getting things done!

We bought Rio for the iPad and they watched it on the way up. Thank goodness for technology and the boredom killer it is.

We first went to the granite place to look at a choice for the kitchen counter tops & island. We like the one named "Tiberius" that will please my Dad! I want to consult with the kitchen designer before making a final decision, so brought a sample of that and a few others we liked home. Then, we were on to the tile place a 45 minute drive away, so stopped at Subway for lunch.

I liked the first store for their selection and the nice way it was organized but the builder told us another place was cheaper. I like this marble basket weave. I'm thinking of it in a gray in our guest powder room.

We went to the tile place the builder had recommended.  Rick describes it as "a beautiful tile store ... after an earthquake" It is a jumbled mess but they do seem to have everything - once you can find it. It's cheaper for the same tile, so worth figuring out! Jake entertained himself on the iPad. Jane just drove me crazy. We need two iPads.

Then we stopped by the house to give the builder a check. Before starting the building they scraped all the topsoil into a mountain and weeds have grown all over it. The kids think it is the BEST play area ever, and really needed blow off energy by the time we got there, so I was thankful for it.

The stonework is almost finished on the chimney's.

Rick at the far end of our backyard. (See the little blue figure in the woods?)

They started putting on the roof and it's fun to be able to get more of an idea of what it will look like when it is finished.

And the windows have been delivered.

The second best play area is the sand pile at the house. Who would have though that construction sights are so much fun??

It's great to be able to actually see rooms now and get a sense of flow from one room to another.

I love the dormer windows!

As we headed home it started raining. We got home and ordered pizza for dinner. Then it was baths & bed for everyone. I could barely keep my eyes open and fell asleep lying next to the kids. I only got up long enough to take out my contacts & put on pj's & get right back into bed.

To Do day!

Today is the one week mark until we move. Yikes! Since we didn't have any swimming, I made it "to do" day and planned to knock out any remaining errands and little things that we needed to do before final packing and moving.

Jacob went to play with his friend James, and Jane went to play with to William & David. Rebekah is also counting down the days until she heads of to BYU and wanted to do as much "New York" stuff as possible before leaving, so headed into the city. Emily was left at home to rest and enjoy some quiet time by herself (she's earned it after such a busy swimming week.)

I ran some errands and then filled out school forms for their new school, set up the oil & oil auto pay for the rental (it has oil heat). Then I spent some time on the phone and internet and changed our addresses and billing information for our credit cards, bank statements, the dog's microchip, mail, Amazon, etc. Once that was done I could clean up & pack up my office before collecting the kids.

Then we went to the pool. I guess because we don't spend much time there??? A quick afternoon swim to cool down the kids and tire them out is always a good plan.

That evening our dear neighbors Elaine & Sarah had planned a going away party for us. We had it on our patio because it is a good outside space but they made me promise not to do anything to help - and I didn't. We love our friends in this neighborhood and will really miss them when we are gone.

and we're pretty sure the neighborhood kids will miss our trampoline us.

The Countdown Begins.

The move is just 10 days away & I am feeling a little more stressed. Mostly because I really can't get much done each day with swimming. Emily has practice each day from 10 - 11:30. I am trying to get everyone up & ready and accomplish one thing before we go to practice, like run to the dry cleaner or the bank, pick up paint chips, etc. 

Today I dropped off the dry cleaning for the last time. I love that place & they love me! I never have to tell them my number when I walk in because they have it memorized. Once I had the babysitter drop it off for me. She had never been there before & when she walked in they automatically knew it was my stuff & pulled my name up on the computer. When she asked how they knew the girl said "I recognize the clothes." Seriously, they are awesome. I know them all by first name, they know I don't like the plastic covering and gave me big cloth re-usable bags to cover my clothes, they always give me a discount when I pick up my order - they even gave me a bottle of wine last Christmas (so, I guess they don't know me enough to know I'm LDS.) I hope I can find a good dry cleaner in our new town!

When I got home Irene arrived for the last time. Irene cleans for me every other Tuesday. When I was pregnant with Jane I got very sick & was admitted to the hospital. We decided to get some cleaning help & hired Irene, after that I could just never let her go.

She is one of the sweetest people alive & has been super reliable. In the 5 1/2 years she has cleaned for us she has missed just 3 days due to sickness. When I said good-bye & gave her a hug, she cried. I wish her well in the future, we will miss her.

Then we all went to the pool and Jacob & Jane played while Emily practiced & I made good use of my iPhone to get as many "phone call" items done as possible. Today I set up a cleaning lady to clean the rental house next Monday and Stanley Steamer to clean the carpets on Tuesday afternoon.

After swimming we dropped Emily home to eat & rest and I ran to a pediatrician appointment with Jacob & Jane. The school nurse from their new school called me last week to say they were missing a couple of shots. Jacob needed chicken pox and Jane needed the chicken pox & to start the Hepatitis B series. I didn't need to say goodbye to Dr. Grace because I am just going to bring them back her to see her - at least for a while. She is SO good & we love her SO much. I will probably eventually find someone in our new town but for now it's just adding a challenge that I don't want to deal with and it will be easier to keep bringing them back here. On the way home we dropped off a bunch of giveaway stuff at the kids old pre-school for their thrift shop & got the car washed.

I got home at 1:55 and needed to leave at 2:10 - I took a super fast shower, left Bek with a list for the other kids for the afternoon and Emily and I were ready just in time for our ride to pick us up for Counties.

Counties - Day Two

First up for Emily today was the medley relay - where each swimmer swims a different stroke for 50 yards. Their team has come second SO many times this season and I was feeling the stress for them. Emily swims third -  the Butterfly.  The first swimmer (back) did a great job at keeping it level, the second swimmer (breast) held her own too. As Emily entered the water they were slightly behind the lead (see the swimmer in the lane beside her, ahead by a length.)

I was standing about 1/3 of the way down the pool. As she passed me she started to level it out.

 

Neck in neck. 

 

Then she started to pull ahead.

Then passed her for the lead!

 

They won their heat. They all did really well and Em had a personal best with her butterfly length. Unfortunately not quite fast enough to win overall but we were all super proud of them. OK, I actually cried. It was so wonderful to see them finally win a heat after so much hard work and training.

She also swam the 50 free today. She didn't have a great swim and was 2 seconds slower than her usual time but I reminded her that not every meet can be her best swim ever. Sometimes you just have an off swim.

We got home from the meet around 8pm and I had Emily eat and then sent her to shower while I ran to buy some groceries. When I got home from the store I bundled her off to bed and got cracking on the laundry. It would be lovely if I could just put our "regular life" - needing to eat and wear clean clothes & feed the dog, etc on hold while all this swimming / moving / building craziness is going on but I can't. A member of our Bishopric gave a fantastic talk 2 weeks ago about the difference between adversity or hardship and inconvenience - and how we sometime confuse the two. It was a great talk and very timely for me. I am getting about 4 hours sleep a night. I am so tired, I feel overwhelmed and like I have a million things to do all at once, I wish we had some family around to help out ... but it's just an inconvenience. This will all be over in 10 days (most of the crazy) and all the hard work will be over by the end of the year and we will have a beautiful place to live in, in an area that will makes our lives better and mine easier. The crazy of this month for us are champagne problems and we are lucky to have them.