We're HOME!!!

We moved on Saturday, and are adjusting to life in our new place. I'm so excited and wanted to share pictures with you all, ignore the mess, and keep in mind we still need to paint and such. It's just the inside for tonight, I'll try and make it out tomorrow to get pictures of the house itself and the yard. The Playroom The Playroom opposite cornerWashing Machine/Pantry/Hot Water HeaterKitchen from laundry room
Breakfast nook?/More storage since there's not much cabinet space in the kitchen
New appliances! I love having a gas stove!
Our Dining Room. The spot on the wall is the color of paint that we're painting the dining room/living area.
Living room from the hall looking South-East
Living Room from the dining room

I will get pictures of the kids' rooms tomorrow once they are awake. The kids are loving all the space, and since we haven't put anything on the walls yet (we have to paint first) and there is hardwood floors throughout they love the echo. Joshua loves to walk throughout the house yelling various types of ooh, and aah, and uh, just to hear himself echo. He does it anytime we go into a bathroom also. Charlotte and Brianna love to run throughout the house screaming because they have the room and can. I'm working on putting an end to that real quick though to save my own sanity. I love having them in separate bedrooms, though I think they miss having eachother in their room to entertain themselves before I get up and get them out of bed. We don't have much in their bedrooms right now as we have yet to decorate. It all will come in time.

We have been so blessed to have been provided this house to take care of. I spoke with the owner's daughter-in-law today and she just asks that we treat it like it's our own. I guaranteed her that we would and thanked her again for trusting us with it. I am amazed at how God worked through my frustration at not getting a different house to provide us with this place. It's another reminder that though we get frustrated when things don't go the way we think they should and we whine and complain, God really has our best interest in mind and has something better for us once we give ourselves over to his plan.

We're going to have a painting party after the first of the month, so get on your grubby clothes and come join us! We have a lot of house to paint, and the sooner we get it done, the sooner we can have a party! We'll probably do it the weekend of the 3/4th (if my parents don't move that weekend!), so mark your calendars!

Speaking of my parents moving, I'm so excited to tell everyone that they've bought a new place! It's in the same park as they were in before, but they are moving a few streets over and getting twice the space! Talk about spreading out! They've got central heat and air now and are going to take the extra fridge we had (we bought one before we knew we were moving to a place that already had one!) and a dishwasher! Talk about moving up in the world! I'm so proud of them, and hope that they enjoy it half as much as we are enjoying ours!

That's all for now! I'll post in the next couple of days more pictures as we get more settled and it's daylight for outside pictures!

Testing, Moving, Working, & Playing

My CBEST test on Saturday went well. I think I did fine on it, I'm not worried about it too much. I will be able to access my score online on the 28th, then will get my official score after that. There wasn't anything on the test that I didn't really know or couldn't work out. So now it's just a waiting game for the results.
We're moving this weekend, and my house is like 3/4 packed. We've gotten to the "miscellaneous" boxes that really don't go with anything, and some things we can't pack because we're not sure if we'll use them between now and then. As we use stuff and know we won't need it again I'll pack it at that point. We're recruiting help for Saturday, so if you are available for help we'd appreciate it. We're going to pick up the truck at 7 a.m. and then we'll start packing it after it gets here. The more help we can get the faster it will go! I also would like to get someone to watch the kiddos for me so that I don't have to worry about where they are and having to wrangle them as well.
Chris' work is going well. He seems to really enjoy it. I hear all kinds of stories all the time about the guys at work and the pranks they pull on eachother, the fits they throw about "their" things, and so on. The kids and I try to go at least once per week to have dinner with Chris, and I think Chris' co-workers really like seeing us. Charlotte has befriended Randy who seems to get a kick out of her. She drew him a picture the other night. They crack up at Joshua's eating habits, and the amount that he eats. The other day he ate 3 cupcakes at a birthday party we were at. He had his own, shared mine (read: ate most of mine), then went outside and snagged a cupcake from a friend's daughter, who complained loudly, but it was too late, he'd already eaten half of it. The boy is quick, and don't mess with him and his food.
We're so excited about the backyard at the new house. We're looking at getting a swingset/jungle gym thing for it for Charlotte's birthday. We'll see though, they're pretty expensive. Maybe we'll get a few people to chip in to help with that gift instead of getting lots of little toys. We'll see.
I hope that everyone had a good weekend. God Bless!