Loving our new house

It's been a week since we moved in, and we are really enjoying our new home.  I love the hardwood floors (so much easier to keep clean than carpet!) and the skylights all over the place.  This house is so much brighter and more cheerful than our other home.  It seems positioned to catch the sunlight better, and I think that's doing wonders for everyone's moods.  The backyard is small, but the boys have had lots of fun playing ball and running around.  They seem to enjoy this backyard already more than the other one.  I think it's going to be a great spring and summer here.

We have had a rough start, health-wise.  Both David and I were sick with bad colds last weekend, and mine seemed to hang on and get even worse this week.  Thomas and Peter seem to have caught a milder version of what we had, but hopefully they'll be better in the next couple of days.  We're all pretty tired of being sick.  Aside from about a week and a half, someone in the house has been sick since right around Lent began, 5 weeks ago.  Fortunately, it hasn't been anything serious, but it has made us weary of the various sicknesses we've had, and much more appreciative of good health.

The boys are doing pretty well with the move, aside from a few attitude setbacks here and there.  Also, although the movers were very efficient and helpful, I'm discovering that they made some interesting choices in deciding what things to combine in the same box -- and then they were very vague in the labeling department, so I have to really unpack every paper-wrapped item in every box to find out where things are.  Normally, I would do this anyway, but this house comes with such a well-stocked kitchen that I won't need to take out most of the cooking pans, storage containers, etc. that I brought along the way.  It's not a big deal, but it's something I haven't felt like dealing with just yet.

One thing I've been working hard on this last week, and over the last several weeks, is to really enjoy the time I spend with the boys.  I do enjoy their company, their antics (well, not all of their antics), their jokes, etc., but sometimes I get so caught up in the things that need to get done -- make meals, make sure they get dressed, get teeth brushed, get school / preschool work done, not watch too many movies, etc. -- that I find the day is over and I haven't really enjoyed the kids, I've just survived the day, if that makes sense.  I know a lot of this comes out of the first 3 months of this year, when I was sick and exhausted with early pregnancy and it was all I could do just to get those bare minimums done.  So I've been making a conscious effort lately to enjoy the boys' quirks and to try to look at even their difficult times with a better sense of humor.

Last Thursday, on our crazy moving day, I had a great moment where I really had the presence of mind of enjoy Thomas being just what he should be -- a silly and totally non-self conscious 4-year old boy.  The movers had delivered our belongings to the new house, and the boys were rummaging around in the boxes while I tried to put a few things away and get ready for dinner.  The boys found their Halloween costumes and were so excited to put them on and run around pretending to be Iron Man and motorcycle drivers.  I realized that I needed a few things from the grocery store, and Thomas begged me to let him keep his Iron Man costume on (mask and all).  I hesitated for a second, and then thought "Well, why not?".  So he went in full Iron Man costume with his brothers and me, up and down the aisles at Giant, much to the amusement of the people we walked by.  He *loved* every second of it.  "Mom, did they think Iron Man was going shopping here today?!?" he asked excitedly.  It was such a great kid moment!  I treasured it, because who knows -- by next year, he might be too self-conscious or just not quite silly enough to want to do this.

Juxtaposition

Ramrod straight "For Rent" sign + crazily crooked mailbox

≠ curb appeal

But it does make us laugh a little every time we pull in to our driveway.

Annunciation Artwork

I freely admit that I am not a naturally crafty or artsy person.  When it comes to teaching Jack art for school, I'm often at a loss for new and interesting ideas.  I also don't like projects that are super messy or expensive to set up, since many times I end up doing 3 art projects since Thomas and Peter want to get in on the action.  Some of my easy, inexpensive, simple ideas have fallen flat on their faces ... like my "let's make new crayons by melting old crayon stubs" project that ended up looking like droppings from a crayonivore animal. 

The other week, though, with the Annunication coming up, I really wanted to do a nice art project that had something to do with the feast day.  I researched ideas well ahead of time (which helps!), and I found instructions online for making simple triptychs -- three-sided displays that can be decorated/painted.  I used some cardboard we had lying around, cut out the triptych shapes, had the boys paint them gold, and then had them choose artwork that I've been saving from the Magnificat magazines we receive every month.  The Magnificats always have gorgeous cover art, but I've never figured out what to do with it.  I also made a space for a "stained glass" window -- which was colored tissue paper pieces that the boys sprinkled between sheets of clear contact paper.  Anyway, I was pleased with the results and the boys were pretty happy, too.  I also let them put white/sparkly glitter on top of it as a final touch, and they went a little crazy with that, but they loved it!



Jack's triptych




Peter's (note the liberal use of glitter on the left panel)




Thomas's




I like how the stained glass window effect looks when light shines in from behind.



Good news all around

My doctor's appointment went great yesterday and it was such a relief to hear the baby's heartbeat galloping away. I'm so grateful to God for this new little life, and for how well things are going so far.  I feel like I can take a big breath and enjoy this pregnancy a bit more. It also helps that I've come out of the green-gray haze of the first 3 months, so I actually feel more like myself again instead of a sick, tired blob.

The other good news is that we secured a great rental house! The lease paperwork finally came through the other night and we signed everything and we're all set now. Another big sigh of relief after a couple of weeks of frantic house searching. Also, the parade of prospective tenants seems to have slowed down a little bit. We did't have any lookers yesterday or today so far, and just one scheduled for tomorrow. It's been a nice break.

Next Thursday the 7th is moving day for us. I haven't really started doing any packing or organizing yet. After 3 moves in the past 18 months, all of them more complicated than this one, I'm not too worried about it. This week will be busy, but I think I might try and take it easy and enjoy this weekend and then dive in to the moving stuff on Monday.

I'll try and update again later this week.