Moving Help

David was so patient while we worked hard to complete our move this week.

He found some fun in there, as well--like when he got to play with Tyler and his sisters for a whole day. Lindsay, he slept through church the next day--which hasn't happened in about 4 years--so I think your household did a good job of wearing out our boy. I rarely see him reach the point where his energy needs are met, but I think Tyler helped him find that.

While I pulled everything out of the closets, David enjoyed finding a few things that were previously hidden. Like a stash of party poppers. During the day, David had a grand time opening the poppers from the bottom and pulling out the paper inside that usually acts as confetti. He even managed to hang some up for decoration.

 But once Daddy got home, David was shown the proper way to open the "poppers"--which involved more pyrotechnics than mom had shown him. Once he figured out how to really pop the poppers, David put together again all those that he had already pulled apart so he could hear them pop.

At one time, David was in his carseat and we were ready to leave when I realized I had room for more odds and ends in our car. So I turned off the car and went inside to get an arm load. And another. And another. David quietly waited for me in his seatbelt while I went back and forth. It was so nice to have a patient boy while I filled up all the empty space.

There was plenty of fun with boxes.

This box was well-taped and well-marked thanks to David's help.

We're grateful for a boy who put up with multiple late bedtimes, the craziness of the move, and all of the transition of the week. David loves to be in the middle of things, and seems to hold his own pretty well while he keeps up with the intensity around him.

Moving Day (is behind us--Yay!!)

We had quite the move. We put 90% of our things in storage until we find another house to buy, and now we are staying in a 1-bedroom apartment for a few weeks. The move was intense overall. After the moving truck left, I looked around in the corners of my house and wondered why I still had a house full of stuff. Frankly, I felt overwhelmed while I sorted through that last 10%--which took at least as many hours to do as the first 90% that was already tucked away. Here are a few things I want to remember.

• The shed needs to be cleaned out and sorted before the moving truck shows up.
• It's difficult to clean out the shed when you get 28 inches of snow between the time you accept the offer and your moving date (which were only 4 weeks apart).
• It's difficult to meet the schedule of the inspector, appraiser, repair technicians, re-inspector, then the final walkthrough while you pack up the house in 4 weeks. I don't think we'll do another 4 week closing.
• We had a few things that made this move harder than it needed to be--like the house phone got transferred to a cell phone before the cell phone was in working order, and the electricity company confused our request and turned off our electricity 2 days early.
• It was a tremendous help to have friends watch David while I did a power hour of packing and cleaning. Now I know how to offer service.
• Our dear neighbor, Jerry, stopped by to say goodbye to David. He called him, "my little buddy Davey" every time he  saw him in the yard. As a nod to the many times Jerry was out grilling and he passed a package of hot dogs to David through the fence, he brought over one last large package of hot dogs for the littlest neighbor that I think he'll miss.
• In spite of it all, we finished. And we left a clean house for the next family. It took a tremendous effort, but we did it.

Davidisms--April 21

• At the eye doctor, David saw a butterfly that was pinned to the ceiling so the doc could say, "Look up for me at the butterfly." I was the patient in the chair, which gave David plenty of time to study the butterfly that wouldn't move. Finally he remarked, "I think it ran out of butter." I said "What ran out of butter?" David's reply, "The butterfly! It won't move, so it must be out of butter."
• Mom: Eat your lunch, David. David: Well, I don't want my sandwich right now, but I would like to talk to you about earwax.
•  David was giddy with excitement one day as we got into the car, so he was chatty. This boy is all words when he's excited. Here's what he was saying, "Mom! I am such a good boy! My body  is telling me that it needs sugar, and I am going to give it some. Just like that. I'll give it sugar. Oh, what a good boy I am. Heavenly Father is so happy when I listen to my body."
• David will often give credit to his grandparents in the funniest things. For instance, I found his folded laundry spread around his room instead of put into his drawer. His defense, "But that's how Grandma Ray taught me to do it!" Or if we praise him for something, "David, what a nice creation you made with your play dough!" "Oh yeah, that's just what Grandpa taught me how to do." Sometimes his grandparents get credit for good, and sometimes he gives them credit for the naughty--which makes it funnier to hear his justification. Grandma Ray would never teach a boy to throw his clean laundry around his room. It makes us chuckle.
• David is the little boy in public who strikes up a conversation with anyone who's near enough to engage. Sometimes it works, and other times the stranger just keeps studying their smartphone without giving David the attention he's seeking. Lately, his topic of conversation has been that we are selling our house. Except he's getting a few phrases confused. We are selling our house, and looking for a foreclosure to purchase. But here's David's pickup line to a perfect stranger in public places (usually with many ears listening on), "Our house is for foreclosure!" Often, the stranger doesn't know how to react to such  an enthusiastic attempt at what would be a very sad statement. It makes me giggle--and sometimes I'll set it straight, other times I'll let them wonder.

No Joke

Even though the call came on April Fool's Day--it's becoming more real with each passing day.

Where? In Minnesota

When? Around September 18

What? We don't know yet. (boy or girl)

Why? We've been selected by a birthmother again for placement!

We are over the moon excited.

David told us that if it's a boy, we should name him David.

And if it's a girl we should name her, well, David.

We'll keep you posted as we learn more details.

The game is on to get into another house and settled well before we bring home a new baby.

We got to skype with the birth mom (LW) today, and she is such a dear girl! Oh, how we have enjoyed getting to know LW. We've been emailing her for the last 10 weeks or so, and we have been so impressed with the depth of conviction she has. And we are so thrilled that she chose our family for the baby she is choosing to place. She was close to the spirit in her decision, and that's exactly what we hope for in a birth mother.

Here are LW's words in describing how she chose our family--I thought this was so precious, and with her permission, I am sharing it.

I want you to know that I have never felt like this was my baby. It's always been yours. From the moment I saw your picture I felt that; it just felt too early to really make that choice. 

This week I found myself back on your blog reading some old posts you wrote. I don't remember which blog it was, but I felt the spirit witness so strongly to me that the Lord had heard David's prayers specifically, and is answering them. I could feel how much David is loved by the Lord, and this baby is supposed to be David's little brother or sister. I know he will make a great big brother.

Miracles are happening in our family, and our hearts are full of gratitude.

Flour--Take 2

After the last mess of flour/sugar/oats, I channeled David's inner chef and asked for his help to refill a few bins before I sent the food storage to the storage unit we're renting until we're settled into another home.

He was more than willing to help out.

 

 He kept things a little more tidy this time (but not much!).

 He definitely had fun. I love it when David is this happy--our whole house is happy!

Easter Egg Hunt 2013

True to the tradition of the past few years, we hosted our annual Easter Egg Hunt again this year.

This year I made chili and cornbread, and the other families brought salads and desserts. We had 72 people attend, and it was oh so rewarding to me to be surrounded by so many friends. In trying to plan a party for an approximate number of people, I always wonder why I do it (especially this year, with trying to make enough chili and cornbread). But then my friends gather with their children, and it is all worth it.

Just for my notes, a quadruple recipe of this chili and three double batches of this cornbread fed the crowd of 1/3 adults, 1/3 small children 5 and under, and the rest in between. Yay for Mel's Kitchen Cafe! And if you ever need a honey butter recipe, hers did not disappoint. I made just enough chili, but twice as much cornbread as we needed--so those are the amounts eaten by the crowd. I was more than happy to send home cornbread with friends who stayed to the bitter end and helped me clean up. It was an all around rewarding experience, and I truly enjoyed myself.

OK, pictures will tell the rest. We held it at the church again. And while we had a few snow piles to keep the older kids looking for the eggs, at least this year the sun was out and we had a gorgeous day to enjoy!

The hunters . . .

 . . . and the gatherers.

 Oh, we love our cousin/friend Tyler! He and David held hands as buddies on their way out to the egg hunt. Tyler remembered that last year's egg hunt was frigid--so he wasn't going to get caught being cold again. He layered on those warm clothes--and in the end, after climbing that snow hill looking for eggs--he was one sweaty little kid.

 The little ones went first.

 The the big kids--4 and up--were off.

 Fun times!

 David had so much fun going up and down the  snow that he forgot to really hunt eggs. So he only got a couple. But he was fine with that--the fun for David is always in the journey.

 Oh, how we love our Alaskan style to what the rest of the world views as a spring holiday!

Happy Easter!

PS--I had such good intentions to make salt dough garden tombs again, but I'm afraid our life is a little chaotic right now. The tradition is that we do an Easter Egg hunt on Saturday and focus on the Savior on Sunday. David and I had a very sweet time together on Sunday morning reading the Easter story together. He understood bits and pieces of it this year, so I was thrilled. I guess I'll have to overlook the fact that I didn't bring out the craft around the story--we got in the essentials, and this year that was enough.

Buyers

Incidentally, while David was in the fore-mentioned flour/sugar/oat mess I was trying to clean the house to my standard of showing it. Which is absolutely sparkling clean. My part in trying to sell the house was to present a home in a "nice hotel clean" state--where someone could walk in and imagine moving right in without having to do a thing. (As I've toured other homes for sale, I am seeing that my approach was more unique than I would have thought.)

So because of the extra mess in the kitchen, I was running a little behind schedule this particular day. The 1:00 appointment showed up at 12:40. I was nearly done--just had to empty and load the dishwasher, then close a few upstairs windows from airing out the rooms. I asked them for 5 minutes--which I thought was fair, since they were so early. The realtor returned immediately and just let herself in with her clients, without honoring my request for 5 minutes. I felt totally invaded, thinking, "Wait! This is my home! You can come in only when I invite you in! It's on the market, I know--but it's still my home!" I didn't say anything, I just tried to keep David from offering his lecture about shoes on the new carpet while I was putting dirty dishes in with the clean dishes into the dishwasher--just to get them out of sight. I shined the sink, asked David to get his boots and coat on, and ran upstairs to close the windows. 

At the top of the stairs, the realtor met me. "Do you need something?" I wanted to say, "Yes, this is my home, and I can go anywhere I want without your permission." But instead I said, "I have more showings right after you (which was true) so I need to close the windows before I leave the house for that long of a time." The realtor let me through, I took care of the windows, and then we left for a couple of hours.

Turns out it was a good thing those people let themselves in--even if I wasn't quite ready. 

That was the family who made an offer on our home.

(Was it helpful for them to know that others were looking? Maybe so--their offer came in almost immediately after they saw the home.)

So we're in contract.

It has been crazy fast, and we're supposed to close in 11 days.

We're packing and doing the required repairs from the inspection, and trying to look for another place to buy. We'll rent and house sit until the end of July--so we have some time. Let the games begin!

Flour--Take 1

Thoroughly enjoying himself.

 Caught!

 Trying to explain himself.

 Well, Mom, at least I remembered face protection.

 Which actually worked quite well.

 Any questions?

Where was the mama, you might ask?

Upstairs, cleaning the place spotless for a home showing, of course!

We have since used up the combined flour, oats and sugar in some creative ways-- and all of those unwrapped Hershey's kisses went well into some cookies for the missionaries. As Ma says in Little House on the Prairie, "There's no great loss without some small gain."