A Few Things I Am Loving About Our New Home

Well, we have been here for a month and a half now, and things are starting to settle down a little bit.  I should probably post some posts about our move, but it's easier to start with the semi-present for now.  We are loving it here and I feel like if I love it now while the heat and humidity are on, it's only bound to get better right?  No place is perfect, I wish I could combine my favorite parts of all the places we have lived, and there are things I miss about Fort Wayne, but there are so many great things about here.

I love our neighborhood.  There are lots of beautiful trees and rolling hills, a pond, and very friendly people.  They do Family Fun Fridays throughout the summer where the neighborhood gets together for activities so it's easy to get to know people.  There are 8 houses on our street and we had 3 families bring over treats to us when we moved in and everyone has been very helpful and kind.

Just outside our neighborhood is this cute Little Free Library that is well stocked and great motivation for Shane to get some exercise. (He told me the other day: "does everyone around here like being active and hot and sweaty?  Does anyone like the cold and relaxing?"  when I told him that usuallly people who like that are really large he said, "am I the skinniest person who likes relaxing that you know?"  and we've talked about having a good balance:)

Sadie was pretty stoked when we stopped to check it out on a run and there was a Dora book in there.

 I LOVE my screened in porch.  We don't have any furniture in it yet but that hasn't stopped us from enjoying it already.

 Josh is really liking his job, it has the small town feel that he wanted.  And I benefit from it when his patients bring him things like sunflowers from their fields:)

 It has been hot and humid, but that means it's pretty much always a good time for the pool.

 There are crape myrtle trees everywhere around here and I love them.  They come in all kinds of different colors, here is the big one in front of our house.

Our yard is a lot to mow, but there's a lot of space to run and play.

We get a lot of wildlife- can you spot the deer at the edge of the woods in our backyard?  They are pretty much daily visitors.

 I love sitting back here after I go for a run,it's so peaceful.

 And I am loving having an island, it makes cooking with the girls a lot easier among other things.

And we love living close enough to visit this girl:)

Around Here Lately

I won't even apologize for the jumbled nature of this post, because life is kind of like that around here these days!  Josh has one more week of residency and we are moving!  We had a little garage sale to get rid of some stuff, and the kids did a little bake sale on the side.  They had a blast and made $23.

 We are not taking a whole lot of furniture with us- most of it was hand-me-down in the first place and has gotten its use.  Especially  my Paw's old couch!  (Don't worry, we didn't sell it- it went straight to the curb!)  I'm sure the kids will miss jumping on it though!

 We got rid of our table though so we've been eating outside a lot and using storage bins as makeshift tables.  Josh's work is paying for the move, and packing us up and everything, so I don't have to worry about packing, just clearing things out that we don't want to come with us and keeping the kids busy while I clean and try to keep them from undoing all my work.  Marissa loves anything to do with kindergarten, and plows through these kinds of things.

 I found Sadie a simple "same and different" book from the dollar spot at Target to do and I think she felt pretty cool.

 And Shane man got an "author's notebook" to jot down some of the jillion ideas for stories that pop into his head.

 Aaron likes to be a part of the action, and now that he is scooting around it didn't take him long to figure out he could come find us wherever we are now!

 He started solids a month or so ago and is enjoying them more each day

 He is a pretty good baby but sometimes wakes up a little too early for my taste.

 Shane is so good with him and loves reading to him,

 or anyone for that matter.

He finished off his baseball season and had a lot of fun again this year.  His team worked their way to the championship and lost, which he was pretty disappointed about, but was happy that the 1st and 2nd place teams got medals.  

He did a lot better hitting this year, and played catcher many a game because he felt like he was wearing armor with all the pads on!  The girls loved playing on his playground each game and we will really miss the league and his school when we move.  Lots of good people.

 I don't have any pictures of it, but Shane and Marissa both learned how to ride bikes without training wheels this summer!  We have been working with Shane especially for a loooooonnnng time and we ordered some "balance buddies" that hook to the back of their bikes and I took them out morning and evening til they got it- because sometimes I am more stubborn than them;)  No injuries on that front, but Shane did manage to randomly bonk his head on a fire hydrant!

 And Marissa lost her first tooth!

 We've been swimming when we can,

 and meeting up with friends and not looking forward to saying goodbyes!

But excited about the journey ahead!  

Best Mother's Day Ever!

This Mother's Day was so great.  Sadie made me this cute picture at the Y, and the big kids each made something for me at school.

 Josh got to be with us all Saturday, and he made my dessert then since he would have to work on Mother's Day evening.  Peanut butter texas sheet cake- soooooo good!

 He grilled us turkey burgers then told me to get out of the house for a bit, and I gladly complied.  I went to Dress Barn and got a new skirt and to Target and browsed in peace and got a bunch of cute shirts for $6 each!  When I got back, the kids were in bed, the house was clean, and I found what they had been up to.  Of course I promised to act surprised when the kids woke up:)  Josh has always been a good husband and father but in the past little bit he has really stepped up his game and has been so thoughtful doing little and big things for me to serve me and show his love.

 On Mother's Day I said I wanted a good picture of me with the kids and they cooperated!  It only took 40 or so pictures ha ha.  Church was great, the baby was in a great mood for the majority for the day, and the older ones were very eager to show their love.  I got to talk to my own mom and I feel so lucky to have her- she is such an example to me of living the gospel and doing hard things.  Add Josh's mom and grandma who send me nice things and are always so kind and supportive and also great examples of Christlike love and service and I am really spoiled in the mom department! Josh made thai chicken peanut wraps for dinner and then headed out to work, and the weather was gorgeous.  It was a picture perfect weekend.

Being mom to many littles is exhausting physically and emotionally.  But it is the best, and every now and then it is good to be reminded of just how lucky I am to be their mom.

Young Authors

Young Author's Conference is a cool thing they do where kids can write their own story and share it 

with other kids, teachers, and parents in the area, then hear from a real author.  Shane wanted to participate so he wrote "The Story of Super Doggy" about a dog who steps into a machine and turns into a Super Hero.  He was thrilled to be chosen to participate in the conference.

Here he is with the kids chosen from his school.

It was a really fun day and I'm glad I got to go with him.  I told him afterwards that I kind of wanted to be an author!  John and Pat were on their way home from Florida and stopped by to have lunch with us and celebrate.  It was so great seeing them as usual and they really made him feel good about his book.

Apparently The Story of Super Doggy is the first in a series of 23 so stay tuned!

Tulip Time

Tulips are my favorite so when I heard that there was a park in town that had a big display of them I wanted to make it there with them in bloom, and we did!  And it was a good excuse to take some pictures of my favorite kids too.