Things under control...kind of

Well, it's been a while since I've posted, but I have good reason! After our last house deal fell through, we began looking for a place to rent. And through a chain of events that God laid out for us, we ended up purchasing a twin home in the nearby town where Eric works! I didn't write anything about it previously because I learned the hard way how house deals can fall through. Anyway, we moved the last weekend in June and have been here for two and a half weeks. I'd like to say we're settled, but....

I'll try to soon post pictures of the new place. It is almost bran new and we love it. Lots more space! However, we leave for vacation on Friday and it might not happen for a while.

Things I love about our new place:

Working laundry (we didn't have it hooked up for the first two weeks)
New(er) appliances
Screened in porch
Garage door opener
3 bathrooms (yes, we've used all of them AT THE SAME TIME and we are SPOILED)
Master bath with attached closet
Less yard work
Great neighbors

Things I miss:

Our great neighbors at our old place
Trees (this being a new development, the trees are still puny)
The two minute drive to ALDI (now it is 8 minutes)

Notes on the kids:

Danny has lost both front teeth
Caleb got sick the other day (threw up) from too much xbox (at the neighbors, a special treat)
Sophia loves toads and cried both times the toads the boys caught died.

And Eric is playing Ranger Wayne Danger for VBS. I have the year off due to my "condition". Come see us at our new place!

Spring in our backyard

For about one week in the spring, our crabapple tree looks like this. It is absolutely beautiful and I get to look at it from my kitchen sink. Eric went out with Caleb and Sophia and shook the branches so the petals would fall down on them. They loved it. (Jess, these pictures are especially for you! We miss you!)

Future Plans

So, you know my last post, "New House". Well, after the inspection, because of some roofing issues, the deal fell through. No more new house. We've known for about a week now that it probably wouldn't happen. And to tell you the truth, I am really okay about it.

However, I'm still packing because we know we have to be out of this place by August 1. Yikes! Packing can seem overwhelming! I don't remember feeling this way about moving and then I recalled that the last time I was packing, I had one less kid and I wasn't pregnant. Hmmm, maybe that makes a difference. :)

So right now Eric and I are still keeping an eye on the housing market, as well as looking for places that would be available to rent. Who knows where we'll be come August 1.

And for some family news: Mother's Day was really fun. The boys gave me a back rub and a "pedicure". I made Swedish pancakes (a family favorite) for breakfast, but after that Eric kicked me out of the kitchen for the rest of the day. What a treat! After lunch Danny hauled out the lawn chair they got me two years ago for Mother's Day and I spent part of the afternoon reading in the sun. I have a hilarious video of Sophie singing "Jesus Loves Me" while the boys have the vibrating back-rubber on her back. I'll try to post it soon. Sophie also managed to get her toenails painted while I was getting my pedicure. And my Mother's Day gift?--a new stroller. I'm SO excited to get it in the mail. We've been taking family walks/bike rides almost every night and our stroller is too short for both Eric and I. I hope the new one lives up to my expectations. Danny should finish school this week. Both boys spend large portions of each day outside, getting dirty. I love it. And I recently finished a new novel, "Peace Like a River" by Leif Enger. Excellent book.

New House!

We bought a house! I'm excited, if not a little nervous. I do think it will be a great home for us. We close June 18th and will move soon after. Eric emailed out some pictures, but I don't have any pictures, yet. I'll post them when I get them. The kids are really excited, even though they haven't seen the house, yet. I'm VERY sad to leave our current neighborhood, but am anxious to have more space! I'm already dreaming of paint colors, curtains, and where I'm going to put our furniture in the new house.

Sophia's Birthday

And finally, birthday #3 in March-Sophia turned 2! At this point, I was sick of cake! :) When we lit Sophie's candles, she immediately blew them out-before we got a picture or sang or anything. So then we lit the candles again, but she wouldn't blow them out again. Sorry, I again forgot to rotate the picture.

Caleb, Sophia, and Danny "helping" frost the cake.

We had lots of guests come for cake and ice cream. Our friends Matthew and Spring, our good friends and neighbors Deb and Tess, and our other good friends and neighbors, whose daughter, Gretta, is 6 wks younger than Sophia. They are too cute together! Although for the life of me I couldn't get a picture with BOTH of them looking at the camera. Happy 2nd birthday, Sophia!

Danny's Birthday

And birthday #2 in March-Danny's. Danny had the Arant family over to celebrate, but for some reason, we didn't get a picture of all the kids. Oh well. Danny had a strawberry cake, also had a treasure hunt, and could barely eat the whole day he was so excited. He got a couple of really cool transformers from the Arants. Here's the family on Danny's birthday.

Danny with his loot. Right before we took this picutre, Sophia jumped in and put her arm around Danny.

Danny with his 7 candles and strawberry cake.

Caleb's Birthday

Caleb had a great time celebrating his March birthday with cousins Moses and Johnnie. We went to Hickory Park for supper, had a treasure hunt (in the dark with flashlights), played pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey, and Caleb and Moses got to sleep in a tent we set up in their room (it was too cold to sleep outside). Caleb and Danny then convinced us to let them sleep in the tent for the following three nights! :) Thanks to the Each's for driving a couple hours to celebrate with us. Caleb had a blast.

Caleb with his "funfetti" cake and his new Webkinz from Nanny and Baba. We lost the tag for this Webkinz, which is what you need to log it on to the computer, so ended up buying another one. Yeah, I'm a sucker. Nevermind that I spent probably 5 hours or so scouring the house for that tag.
Caleb modeling his new ISU jersey. Go Cyclones! (Sorry, I forgot to rotate the picture.)

The party-ers: Johnnie, Caleb, Danny, Moses.

The kids showing off Caleb's loot. L to R, Sophia, Johnnie, Caleb, Danny, Moses.