Obviously the majority of my time in July was spent getting ready for the move, getting the house in San Antonio packed up and getting the house in Fbedericksburg ready for us to move into. While Chris and I hired help to get the house in FBG ready, we couldn't have accomplished as much as we did without the help of some family and friends. I didn't get pictures of everyone (and really should have, but hey, there was SOOOO much to do). The first big work weekend Wendy and Sean drove up with their kids, Misty and Joanie came in from Austin and Doug and Deanna drove in from Mountain Home. We all rolled up our sleeves and got DIRTY!! The kids played at the house the first day and rode bikes in one of the rooms where we had the carpet up and no new flooring down yet:-) Later Oma and Opa watched the kids so we could all get a little more done. Then came the big weekend before the move. Once again, without family we couldn't have done it. Aunt Nelda, Heather, Mom and Misty all pitched in and helped clean in FBG, watch and hold kids and pack in San Antonio. I can't say how much I appreciate everyone helping in the ways that they did - I'm sure I would have had a nervous breakdown with out them! Here are a few photos of the first big work weekend:
Joanie (a cleaning machine that weekend) is in the right side of this picture but due to my poor camera skills and the lighting, you can just BARELY see her, and this is the only photo I got of her that weekend - boo.
Misty thought she was going to come and help point out where furniture was to be placed. Yes I wanted an opinion on that for when the movers came, but there was a lot of work to do so I had to lend her a T-Shirt as she didn't come dressed for the occasion.
Deanna doesn't pose for pictures either which is probably why I got this shot. She and Doug started by painting a wall in our bedroom blue and then pitched in and helped in so many other areas. We need to invite them over for a real dinner because all they got was Subway or Sonic - what kind of friends are we???
My handsome hubby. I must say, he was a lot more helpful PRE move than POST move. He keeps insisting he needs to work, something about having an income and having to pay for all this stuff that's going on:-)
Doug the handy helper fixed not one but two hopelessly broken crank windows! They don't crank because they were stripped long ago, but as a big plus they are most certainly closed completely. Doug and Deanna are awesome because they have a ton of work of their own to do always AND two little ones (Addie and Wyatt's age) and they still were crazy enough to volunteer to help out for a day - we LOVE them.
I like how Wendy is the only one who looks truly happy while cleaning. This is what Wendy does best so it is only natural that she commented to me that once they got this big house clean it was going to be impossible for me (the not-so-happy cleaner) to keep it up properly.
Brotha' Sean. Poor guy spent the night with Chris and painted until something like 2am only to wake up the next day and continue to paint. There was definite painters claw happening to his hands after. We need to treat them to thank them but Sean likes a cold house and ours isn't the coldest so it will probably be the fall or winter before he'll venture an overnight trip here again!
Chris' grandparents lived in this house for around 63 years and of course had as many years of memories and things stored up in it! Some of the rooms had been updated a few times but even so, they hadn't been updated in quite some time so here are a few pictures showing some before and after efforts (we didn't do these rooms, the guy we hired did - great job, right!?)
Tuesday, August 2nd - Moving day! Move in day my mom put up with me and the few hours of sleep that she, Chris and I all had AND she kept up with the kids with Misty's help when we got to FBG. One last fun thing the girls got to do was go with their San Antonio babysitter, Ms. Amanda, to do a ton of fun things while the movers were packing us up. They got feathers in their hair, went to Bass Pro, Target to get blue slushies and then to Chick-Fil-A to eat and play. We really miss Ms. Amanda although she helped us out at the zoo the week after we moved and we plan on continuing to ask her to help whenever we can! Misty didn't brave the night with us after we moved in but Mom stayed a few more days to help with the beginnig of the unpacking. Cassy and Courtney came that weekend and helped unpack some boxes. The girls played on their move-in toys too! They got really good really quick on these things and they were worth every penny.
Settling into the house has been a slow process as Chris went straight to work, Addie didn't start school until August 15th and Nora and Wyatt are still at home with me until their daycare opens in October (when I'll go back to "work" - trust me, what I'm doing now is much harder than practicing law). I painted during nap times for the first few weeks and continued paining when movies were on or in the evening. I put myself on a strict "no painting" regement for two weeks (expiring tomorrow)because I was certain that the fumes were getting to me. I still have quite a bit of painting to do but it's mostly trim work type stuff. Some days I feel totally overwhelmed with what all I still have to do, but occasionally I remember to sit back and appreciate how much we've accomplished.
The Friday before Addie started school I took the kids to the Zoo with the help of Ms. Amanda since we'd only been once before when Addie was much younger. It's one of many examples of "You don't realize what you've got until it's gone." San Antonio really was an awesome town to live in BUT I don't miss traffic AT ALL!
August 27th was the first day of a MUCH NEEDED break from the house - a celebratory trip to Las Vegas in honor of my cousin, Tiffany, and her awsome fight and victory over breast cancer. We had a blast telling people that we were in Vegas celebrating boobs! The first question people ask is "Where are you from?" which is almost always followed by "What brings you here?" It's amazing how many people had stories about other breast cancer survivors - it really affects so many lives. My camera died half way through the second day so I need to get our good group photos. I'm hoping we make this trip an annual occurence:-)
Girls wearing their gifts from vegas.
Overall, the kids are really happy as these pictures show...
Addie with her feathers that we had to remove so she would be in dress code. We kept them in until the 3rd day of school when we found out in the new parent meeting that they weren't allowed:-(
On the plus side, all this stress, physical labor and limited time to eat has resulted in additional weight loss for me:-) We finally have a few pictures hanging and I'm starting to make a decent dent in our storage unit so I know the light at the end of the tunnel exists, eventhough I don't see it just yet. Prayers for strength and patience are appreciated:-) I am loving my time with Nora and Wyatt at home eventhough it means I get less done. Wyatt started getting up on all 4s and "crawling" around the week before I left to Vegas. Nora's little personality is developing more and more each day. Those two and Addie crack me up at least a few times a day. Wyatt, his rolls and blue eyes make me smile non-stop. He's recently upgraded his army crawl to an "up-on-all-fours" crawl.
Nora has taken to playing "fetch" with Olsen who has recently rejoined our household after a long stay with mom and dad. She can't be convinced that cats really don't enjoy fetch so a few times a day I have to scold her for taking the cat's food bowl and walking around the house randomly throwing pieces of cat food and telling Olsen, "fetch." I mean, the cat runs after the food allright, but there is no bringing it back. Nora just adores her though, in fact, tonight we went into the girls' room and she was laying at the foot of the bed just so that she could sleep by Olsen. She also has an artistic side as you can see below. Poor Wyatt was her unsuspecting canvas too! I was literally in the same room with my back turned hanging curtains when this happened. Luckily it wiped off easily.
Addie is LOVING school (but she did have a rough day or two the last day of my Vegas trip and the first day I was back - just can't leave and not have them spoiled I guess). She wants to play with the big kids of course and loves being first at EVERYTHING and I mean everything. Last weekend was the Gillespie County fair and the girl was literally crying because Nora and I had gotten on the ferris wheel before she did and we were higher than her and SHE wanted to be highest. She couldn't be convinced that it would be ok as the ride was slowly being loaded. It was only when things really got underway and she realized that we would switch being highest (depending on whether we were going up or coming down) that she calmed down and enjoyed the ride - VERY competitive. She is always making up songs and stories for herself and her little sister. I love that they have each other!
First Day of School
First Roller Coaster ride for both girls.
I may try to go back and fill in the blanks or this may be it for a while. New beginnings are always exciting, not always easy, and certainly more work (and money) than you initially anticipate!
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