Monday and Tuesday it was back to business as usual. For morning time this month we are learning the hymn Trust and Obey and Ever Be. We have memorized 5 poems and are starting our 6th. I would highly recommend IEW's Poetry Memorization program. We all enjoy the poems and seeing how many we can recite. In Bible we are studying the Fall of Man how that has affected everything from that moment on until Jesus sets it right all right again. It always gets the kids in their Bibles searching out scriptures.

On Wednesday we got our school work started and then my Grandma came to help pack. A little after lunch my cousin Kirsten came too. She brought some boxes and packed as well. They both were a tremendous help.

Landon started Math 5 this week in the newly "decorated" room. 

We had to send in a little monkey to grab that picture on the mantel. We needed it in another room after Kyle had moved all the packed boxes in front of it. Ooops.

On Thursday Kyle moved lots of mulch and we had school in the morning. Then in the afternoon I was able to work in the boys room. Mainly I cleaned and sorted so it will be easier to pack when its time. Friday was a really sweet day. The kids and I enjoyed our school time. Emilia took good naps and was very smiley all day. I was able to get caught up on some regular household chores and more sorting and packing. Kyle got home late from work, but we still enjoyed grilling brats on the deck. The kids had a movie night with popcorn. They love having movie nights where they get to "sleepover" in the basement. 

Emilia has started trying a few solids. Mainly she played with them. She has tried a broccoli and fruit blend, banana, and guacamole. She was not a big fan of the broccoli, and kept shuttering when she would get much in her mouth. I think she would have preferred just some steamed broccoli, so I plan to try that next time we have it.  She loved the guacamole and kept reaching for more, which made her Daddy very happy. I am sure all the Mexican mommy eats has helped in that regard. 

Our Saturday should be relaxed for the kids and more cleaning and sorting for me. Next week we close on the new house, so I will post some pictures and details then. 

                                                                                   Until next week,

                                                              

Back to Reality

This past week started still on vacation in El Paso. Monday, Kyle and I had a lunch date (with Emilia napping in her seat) at Taco Cabana. We shared steak fajitas, and discussed some house things without interruption. Kyle made his homemade pizza for dinner, and it was enjoyed as usual. 

These girlies had so much fun together. This day they wanted Gram to do their makeup. They also made a spa treatment using almost a whole bottle of  grape seed oil...ooops.

Tuesday was spent swimming, doing laundry, getting airplane trip snacks at Walgreens, and packing. 

Wednesday, Gram made everyone eggs and bacon, and we loaded up for the airport. We had three legs to our trip. El Paso to Atlanta, Atlanta to Detroit, and finally Detroit to Evansville. We got to the airport around 10:00 and easily went through security. Then we waited...which was actually the only time that day we waited to board. Once we landed in Atlanta, we grabbed Chic-fila, by the time we made it to the gate and did a quick restroom stop, it was time to board. The kids had to finish eating on the plane. After we had already boarded and they had cut the air, we were told the pilot was waiting on a new seat before we could take off. So we sat in a very warm airplane while Kyle and I calculated the chance of us actually making our flight out of Detroit. I texted my mom, as she is very familiar with the Detroit airport. She was pretty sure the only way we were going to make that flight was if Kyle ran ahead to have them hold the plane. So we sat back and tried to rest up for our mad dash through the Detroit airport. The flight from Atlanta to Detroit went well. We landed and as soon as Kyle could physically get off the plane, he ran carrying Elliot to our gate. It was not a short distance and he felt like he needed knee replacement, but he did get there in time for them to hold the plane. I ran with the other four kids as quickly as we could, very thankful for moving walkways. As we approached the gate Levi accidentally got on the walkway moving away from the gate. He was exhausted from a long day and from running, but he was managing to still move toward the gate! Kyle lifted him over the side and we boarded the plane. Our luggage even made it to Evansville!

I think we needed some groceries.

Thursday we met the home inspector at the new house at 8:00 am. The inspection took about 3 hours, but all in all went well. We were eating lunch when I realized Landon needed to be get to his orthodontist appointment. We got there just in time for them to call him back. We don't have to go back for another year, so yeah for not having to fit braces in the budget. In the late afternoon we got groceries, and I worked on unpacking. 

Friday morning was spent doing laundry, unpacking, and packing for our weekend trip to Princeton. Kyle and Landon worked in the yard all morning. They were dripping it was so hot and humid. After lunch Kyle headed to bed, as he worked nights this weekend. The kids and I spent Friday afternoon and evening at Grandma Kolb's for a family get together. It was nice to catch up with my aunts and cousins. We spent the night at Grandma and Grandpa's house and then celebrated my nephew Jesse's birthday on Saturday. 

I guess he thought he might want a midnight snack at Grandma's house.

Sunday we went to church. It was nice to see everyone as we had been out of town the past two Sundays. Elliot moved up to the preschool class, he said it was a lot of fun. 

After church he was serving up some interesting snack options.

After church we ate lunch at Sam's and then got our Sam's groceries. The kids love going on the weekends because of the samples. This only happens occasionally as I try to avoid weekends because the store is so busy. Once home I started some meal prep for the upcoming week and laundry. In the evening the kids decided they wanted to watch Star Wars IV, so I popped popcorn for dinner and they were all set. I enjoyed catching bits and pieces as I walked through working on laundry and sat to nurse Emilia. It is still one of my favorite movies. 

Monday morning its back to school...and packing. Hopefully we can work around the empty packing boxes.

 

House Hunters

To catch everyone up on the house situation, we have been looking and not looking for a different house for about 3 years. As our family has grown we have outgrown certain areas of our current home but at the same time we love much about our current house. We have also had several contractors come to look at our house with the intention of adding an addition or remodeling, but the cost has always been more then we felt would be a good investment.

The Monday before we left for El Paso, Kyle came home from work saying he had found a house online that he thought would be a good fit for our family. I checked it out and agreed, so we contacted the realtor and went to see it late that night. We both really liked it and it would give us more space in all the right areas. We met on Tuesday evening to see the house again and to make an offer, our offer was accepted on Wednesday, and we started all the paper work on Thursday. If all goes well with the inspection, which will take place the day after we get back from El Paso, we will be moving at the end of August.

August will be a high energy month. We will get back from our trip, pack up our current house, move, ready our current house and list it. Carnahan Academy will still be in session, and Kyle starts another Master's class the week after our scheduled moving weekend.

Once we are past inspection and all that fun stuff, I will post more pictures and details. The new house is 5-7 minutes from our current home in South Broadview sub-division. We appreciate prayers during this transition time.