Busy week

We've had quite the busy week here on the East coast. Last Saturday was the big move and it was made much easier by friends who came to help and watch our kiddos. Really the big move began on Friday when we went and picked up the keys. Andrew and I dropped all 3 girls off at a friends house (thanks Bonnie, superwoman who had her 3 kids and ours, so 6 kids under 6), got the keys and then headed home for our first load of kitchen stuff. The kitchen took about 2 loads in the van. After that I hung out at the house and attempted to unpack while Andrew picked up Charlotte to go home to nap. He took care of some more packing at home, I hung out at the new place waiting for the internet and phone to be hooked up. Once Charlotte's nap was over, Andrew picked up the other girls and headed over here to get me. The girls were thrilled to run around an empty house. We headed back to the old place for a bit more work and play. Luckily we didn't have to cook dinner tonight, my friend Lizbeth invited us over to her place for dinner, thanks again it was delicious (to us adults at least).

Saturday arrived and Andrew went to pick up the truck while I did last minute things before dropping the girls off at my friend Stacy's house. I then picked up a couple of teenage boys and headed home. When I arrived with the boys we had a few more helpers. In all we had 8 guys come and help us out (and one was an 8 year-old who was in my primary class before I was released a couple of weeks ago). It took 2 full loads and 1 partial load to get all the stuff we had ready to go here. And they did it in 4 hours. Moving is made a little easier with helping hands.

We've had many van loads of stuff since then and now the other place is empty. Monday was the big cleaning day. Again with the help of friends it was almost all cleaned on Monday. A little extra work on Tuesday, carpets cleaned yesterday and it is done. Andrew went to check it out last night and that is that. Now I only have to focus on unpacking this place. The playroom is about done and that is it. I know I should have done the kitchen first but I didn't want to. I needed to line the cupboards and blah blah blah. It is my task for today.

The girls were happy on Sunday to find that the Easter bunny found them and left some good treats. No ham or traditional Easter meal for us this year, we didn't even decorate eggs. Oh well, there is always next year and maybe we will dye eggs on a random day.

So that brings us up to speed on our current lives. The girls are happy and sad about leaving our old neighborhood. This new one isn't as kid friendly on the outside, not great places to ride their bikes and no kids on our end of the cul-de-sac. We do know of some families on the other end of the street though. We will adjust and the girls will see their friends at the other house occasionally. Andrew will now have 2 bus routes to choose from and I am happy with the set-up of the inside of the house.

Now I have to go and do something, maybe get a screaming baby.

Day 40: The End...of 40 days

I made it, Hooray! My 40 day challenge is over. I had a duh moment around day 20 or something when I realized I would not be finishing up on Easter Sunday. After doing a quick search I realized that the 40 days of Lent do not include Sundays so I could have taken Sundays off I guess. But I didn't and now my 40 days are up. I will hopefully blog more than before but not necessarily every day, especially not this week. We are moving on Saturday, finally. I feel like this has been a never ending move. We knew of the upcoming move all the way back in November when we were getting ready to renew our contract. So this 6 month process is now over (almost). We have a place to move too. The girls don't have to change schools. Our schedules will be disrupted very little. I think closing Andrew's park in ride was/is more disruptive than our move but the move will make it a little better because he will have the choice of 2 buses instead of 1.

And here is a little video of my cute kid walking a little bit more.

Anyways I am done rambling.

Day 39: Packing everything

Day 38: It is Friday!

Hooray for Fridays. That is all, have a good weekend.

Day 37: Cavities and ramblings of the dentist for your reading pleasure

The worst part of getting a cavity is one day it may need to be redone. That was my case today, I had to go and get a cavity refilled because the previous filling was just old and if I let it go too long could cause more damage (like root canal worthy, no thanks. been there, done that.). I was in and out of the dentist in 1 hour. You heard that right, 1 whole hour to get my cavity taken care of. No sitting for long periods of time waiting for them to call me back. The longest I sat was waiting for the numbing stuff to kick in so I wouldn't have feeling in my gums (and tongue and lips and nerves). All I can say is I like my dentist office for being efficient and friendly. Hopefully I won't have to see them again for another 6 months. Growing up I remember it taking forever at the dentist office. Maybe that was because lots of us went or because some little sister would throw a tantrum or two. Or at another dentist when I was a teen, the dentist was so friendly he took forever because he was chatting with the patients. And the worst part about a dentist chatting with you is you can not respond due to his hands in your mouth.

Day 36: Her favorite seat

Charlotte has learned a new trick...climbing on benches. She figured it out and now is constantly climbing on the bench and she figured out how to get off also. This is a big deal, neither of the other girls were much of a climber. I am in for it with this one. I already have to move the stool that is in our bedroom because she climbs right up and stands to look out the window.

Day 35: Why me?

Last summer while we were on vacation I received the unfortunate jury duty letter. The worst part is the jury time frame was for a whole stinking year and a half. Really, 18months of dread of waiting for a summons letter. Well, my time has come and I received the summons letter in the mail today. Now I have to call in on a specific day and listen to what day I have to drag myself to the nearest federal courthouse. Not a fun task since it is about 25 miles away in DC traffic.

I know it is my civic duty. Blah, blah, blah. Andrew would love this opportunity, I've been summoned before in Arizona and he was jealous then. I was able to delay it twice and then the third time I dragged myself and Sophie to the courthouse. I was sent home pretty quickly after being questioned about day care/family close by. I had friends who would have watched her but she was my first and I had never been away for longer than a couple of hours.

So that is my whiny complaint for this night. Anyone want to share jury stories?

Day 34: What the girls like to do

Day 33: Happy 6th Birthday Sophie!

Wow! I can't believe she is 6 already. She has brought lots of joy to our lives for the past 6 years. She is loving and very affectionate. Sophie loves her sisters (sometimes a little too much). Her passion is reading; she will pick up a book and read, read, read. Sometimes we wonder how much of the plot line she gets and how much of it is just reading to read. Sophie loves crafts and artsy things. She loves to write and draw. She loves school, riding the bus and buying lunch on Fridays. Sophie likes to be the boss, you can tell she is the oldest.

Sophie loves to help Charlotte!

Happy Birthday Sophie! We love you lots and lots.

Day 32: Tea Party

To celebrate Sophie's birthday we had a tea party. Thanks to my friend Lizbeth we had a fabulously decorated tea party. We borrowed crystal plates and cups, silver tea pots and tray and some vases. The food was delicious (especially the chocolate chip orange scones). Here are a few pictures of the event. Lizbeth stayed and helped for a bit and then it was just me and 7 girls. Sophie asked them to dress up and bring their dolls/stuffed animals. I wish I would have taken a picture of the bring alongs at their little tea table. Oh well.

The menu

The girls

The Sophie

The chocolate covered strawberries

The girls and friends

I took a cute video of the cupcakes and singing Happy Birthday but I deleted it by accident, such is life.
Thanks to these girls for helping celebrate my girl's birthday.
And Elanor, she went off on a daddy daughter date to the Silver Diner (her favorite) and Charlotte napped for most of the party.

Day 31: busy Fridays

Fridays are my busy days. Elanor, Charlotte and I leave the house around 9:30 to go to music class at the church. We stay there until 11 or 11:30 and head home for an easy Friday or more often head out to do some big shopping trips at stores closer to the church. Our favorite grocery store is out that way so we head to Wegmans or Costco or both. Elanor likes Fridays because we usually eat out before we begin our shopping endeavors. Then we are home around 1:30; just in time for Charlotte's nap and some quiet time for El and I. Sophie enjoys her Fridays too, it is the day she buys lunch (pizza and ice cream). Andrew likes Fridays because the next day is Saturday and he gets to spend it with us. So there you have it, our fun Fridays.

Day 30: Solo Steps

Charlotte took her first solo steps today. It was very exciting and her cheering squad(Neal, Shirley, Elanor and me) was there with her. Of course she hasn't done it since but it will come and we are ready for trouble.

Day 29: Charlotte, isn't she a cutie

Charlotte is trying to be helpful by unloading the dishwasher. I love the tongue hanging out.

Helping turned out to be her forming a little plate and spoon band.

Day 28: A walk with dad

Last Saturday Andrew took the girls on a nature walk. Here are the pictures taken before the battery died.

Day 27: at the park

Here is a super cute video of Charlotte and Elanor. Pay close attention to Charlotte's trick and Elanor's dance.

Day 26: Cherry Blossoms

An adventure into DC is always fun, especially the stop and go traffic down Constitution with all the other Cherry Blossom gawkers and 2 girls constantly asking are we parked/when are we parking/are we parking? Constantly. Here is our tale...

The view from the front seat while stopping and going in traffic. Beautiful.

Jefferson Memorial. The view was pretty (from the car but I am glad I wasn't amid the mass crowd).

Blossoms

Finally, we found a place to park at Hains Point. It was a great place too. The girls had a fun park to play at, we could see airplanes taking off from National Airport and there were cherry blossoms all around the water front.

Sliding (p.s. Charlotte does love the slide, just not when her sister is holding her)

A monkey crossing the bars. We were surprised she could go across by herself. This is what they learn in school.

Sliding and having fun.

See she likes it, she really likes it.

Sophie the photographer taking a shot of us.

Thank you random stranger for taking a fantastic picture of the family. He got all of us looking at him and having pleasant expressions on our face. Even Elanor. That is a big deal for miss not very photogenic.

Elanor the photographer, view from her window of a statue and part of a rickshaw.

We had fun, eventually. And we were able to see the cherry blossoms, hooray!

Day 25: Lazy Day

Today was a lazy day; we cleaned the playroom, went to a birthday party, the library and a nature walk. Saturdays are good like that.

Day 24: Baby Jesus pacifier?