The Appliance Debacle

How we came to be without our kitchen appliances:
When we were looking to purchase appliances for our new home, I found some great deals online. A few days after we ordered them we got notice that the fridge was back-ordered. This was annoying, but not a huge deal as we have a second "garage" fridge to meet the needs of our family. Little did we know that instead of delivering our stove/oven, microwave and dishwasher on time, and then bringing the fridge, they would keep all of them until the fridge came and deliver them together!

Feeding our family without these appliances took a little creativity to say the least. But I was surprised at how many alternative small cooking appliances we have at our disposal, i.e. crockpot, griddle, inside grill, etc.

One night we ran across the street to our new neighbor's house to see if we could warm up a bowl of leftovers in their microwave. :) It turned out they had a spare microwave we could borrow, so that made things much easier in the kitchen. I even figured out that you can cook angel hair pasta just beautifully in the microwave--you just heat the water first!

A couple of times Jeff built a little bonfire in our yard and we roasted hot dogs and smores. Grilled chicken Caesar salad was another easy favorite. We ate most of our meals outside because the weather was so nice and we were hungry for Spring.One of the first things we assembled at the new house was the trampoline and swingset. The kids were so excited and eager to help their daddy set it all up. This worked out well as it kept them all busy while we worked on the rest of the house.Here's a random pic of us when we were going on a walk after church one day during this time. Tristan had changed out of his Sunday clothes, but it's a nice shot of all of them.
Finally on May 17th, 3 WEEKS after we moved in, our appliances arrived. We were very ready for them! --especially our dishwasher! I thought our appliance troubles were over, but we still had a few more days ahead of us. In my inexperience I had thought that you pretty much just plug in your appliances and you were ready to go. I knew the dishwasher was a little more complicated. Anyways, each appliance came with installation instructions that contained a list of materials included and a list of materials needed that we had to go out and buy. Jeff actually had to take a day off work to get all this done, and struggled to get the dishwasher in just right through the weekend. We are so grateful to have these modern conveniences installed and functioning in our lives! It is amazing what we take for granted!

5-month-old Sebastian

The day we moved to the new house Sebastian turned 5 months old. I took this one just a week after the move and it is one of my favorites.Is it any wonder this little guy has me wrapped around his little finger? I just can't resist his cute little face!Too bad I took these with my phone, the quality's not so great.He still loves that pacifier!
Our move was a bit rough for him. He definitely knew we were rocking his world. He didn't want me outside of a 1 foot radius from him. He also wasn't taking very long naps. It made it a little hard to unpack!

The Big Move

First let me say that I NEVER want to do this again!!! :)
Because we were moving just 15 minutes away, and because we had to move so quickly, we really didn't have time to weed out and throw away like you really should before you move. We ended up with four 26' truck loads (not tightly packed)! The last time we moved we only had one child and it was a company relocation. This time there are 8 of us in the family, with all the accompanying dressers and bunkbeds and bikes and toys that go along with that. Plus, we were doing it all ourselves and there was a major time constraint as our new tenant needed to be moving in the minute we were able to get out. It was simply crazy, I tell you!

I will forever be grateful for all of the people that so selflessly helped us during this time! People helped us pack, helped us clean, helped watch kids, brought us meals, and at least 20 friends came to help us move on the big day--even though it was a busy week night. Then at the new house, men from our new church congregation, whom we had not met before, showed up to help us unload the last truck and assemble bunkbeds! If you were one of these folk, I say thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Our antique square grand piano was the worst part of the move from the men's perspective. It is extremely heavy! Moving straps and the muscle of 10 men were what finally got it to its new home.Sebastian tried out the exersaucer for the first time and seemed to like it.When we finally got all our belongings to their new home, I seriously felt such intense relief! Here is Sebastian trying out the Bumbo that a friend gave us.Over the next couple days the kids thoroughly enjoyed rediscovering their basement toys that have been packed up for several months. Actually a lot is still packed up down there, but they don't seem to miss it. Here they are playing dress-up. I love that Maya has half the fireman costume and Isabelle the other half!One of the other blessings God gave us during this time was the weather. The two days we were moving our belongings, we were due to have severe rain and thunderstorms. We were very grateful that it all waited till we were done!

So grateful to be on this side of the move!

Easter

Okay, so we're a little behind here in the record keeping, but I have to start somewhere. So, as Easter was just a few days before the big move, we didn't get to do all our normal festivities. Despite that we still were able to do a few, starting with painting Easter eggs.During our Monday family night, we acted out Christ's Triumphal Entry, and then on Saturday we went to an Easter Egg Hunt at a park with a bunch of friends. We were surprised to see that some very determined squirrels were snagging eggs for themselves, carrying them up into the trees and gnawing right through the plastic shells to get to the treats inside!This egg hunt was very well organized! Each kid had a number and could only pick up eggs with that number written on it. This was so much better! No hurt feelings or selfishness! They also had cute little stations like Lollipop Land below for the kids to each take one treat.

Later that same day the kids were excited to find that the Easter Bunny had set up another hunt in our backyard--complete with a letter to them and a new movie.Sunday the kids found gifts (sticker books) from Mom and Dad on the table, ate cinnamon rolls for breakfast, and after church some wonderful friends had us over for Easter dinner.All my little darlins' in their Sunday best.
I feel so blessed!