It might be okay if we were just moving a family of seven but we are also moving a homeschool and a homebusiness. This is the reason we are still sorting through stuff. I think that refrigerator is the cleanest it has ever been and with the cold weather I am betting that the carpets that were shampooed today will gather icicles overnight. Can't wait for Friday when this has to be done and keys turned in.

Sorry for no posts. We are still moving and some things have gone a little off. More info later. We are sleeping in a nice warm home though and are very happy. Michael said it was like waking up in a expensive hotel. Thayne fell and broke his nose but is recovering well. It is getting a tad bit on the chilly side so we are completely grateful for our new home.

Keys

Last night Michael had an appointment to do a walk through of the house and the man never showed! Nothing irritates me more than a broken committment dealing with our time. Michael finally got a hold of the man and rescheduled for this morning. So we made bet about what we thought Neil looked like based on his voice. We were both right. We have had a strong feeling this guy is not totally on the up and up. He claims to be doing all this for his "very, very, close" friend. Michael and I researched everything on this house, the owner, etc... So Michael purposely mentions the owners wife's name. Neil lets it slip that he has never met the wife. Then realizes what he has said.
We did the walk through, got the keys (YEAH!!!!) and will probably not see Neil again. He states as he is walking out that the owner would definitely want us to do whatever it takes to make it our home. Hello...YES! That's all the permission I need to start painting. There are lots and lots of nail holes in the walls that need to be repaired. Even with two windows open this morning, it was still warmer than the home we are in now. So we laid on the floor and the kids ran around and around, in and out of bedrooms and bathrooms. I think it will work.

Sunday

As many of you know I am the children's music director at our church. This Sunday was a major deal..we had our year end program showcasing everything the kids have learned and all the songs that go with our theme. It was incredible! We have a significant portion of Spanish speaking children and so part of our program was in Spanish. We had them sing a main song with the English-speaking children joining in(in Spanish). I am betting that we didn't get the words all quite correct but the Spirit that was felt there brought lots of people to tears. I had large posters that I held up from the back to try and help us and the Bishop was chuckling watching me try to juggle it all. Oh I love that man, he is a great leader! It was a wonderful Sunday and the children were even reverent until primary time when they had had quite enough of sitting still for lessons etc.. I am so pleased with how hard each one of those kids worked to learn their parts and to sing their best. It is such a joy to be their music leader.

Grateful

Tonight I need to run to Walmart to replace buns we needed for our supper, the mice ate the others. So Lyd and I jump in the truck for a quick trip. I run into a woman I haven't seen in longer than five 1/2 years. We weren't really close friends back then just casually knew each other. We stop to chat, then she smiles and says, "I can't tell you how happy I am to see Lydia" She tells me how inspired she was by Lydia's strength and how amazed she is to see Lyd so grown up. We spend a time chatting about other menial things for about 15 minutes. As we go to leave she says," It was great seeing you again but even more, it's great to see Lydia ."
Sometimes I am overwhelmed by the grace of having Lydia in my life , sometimes I forget when she won't shut up about Barney or please go to Walmart.
Thanks Melanie for reminding me.

warm and safe

I sit in this broken brown chair watching as the leaves are desperately clinging to the tree outside. The wind is whipping through these logs reminding us that winter is approaching quickly. I most certainly understand that perspective is rarely reality but am convinced that the mice have ganged up in force to show a might of strength before we leave. We have not winterized this house at all since we are soon to leave it, it is colder inside than out. Chaiya says we must move in the day we get the keys to our new home. I remind her that we have renovation to do before she has a room. She says she will sleep in a closet as long as it is warm.
I haven't packed a thing. It is like I am in a state of non-belief until we have the keys. This will be a much quicker move than any of the others I have done. NO I don't want help. Not that I don't appreciate the offer. For me, moving is like a closing of a book and starting of a new one. I need to personally toss out all the little things, it is refreshing and healing. When people come in to help move you and just toss everything into boxes, it is without care to the soul of the home. My husband hates it. He is used to the military coming in, boxing everything up, and heading out in a single day. They even box up any trash that has not been disposed of. I know it probably make no sense to anyone else but myself but this is how I enjoy moving.
I will only miss this house a little; I think I will miss the possibility that I had hoped this house would become for our family. The preserve was wonderful for our backyard but the creatures, the cold, and the discontent was not what our souls needed here. The construction and new "driveway" make us feel unsafe. A home should be always a safe place. I am so looking forward to creating that in our new place.

Mercury

Today we made these really cool viewers so we can see Mercury transit across the Sun. It will take several hours so we are charting the transit. Here are some pictures of our initial trys. We have since improved our viewers by putting one of them in a larger box. We can even see sunspots. It's really fun! This is why we homeschool. For more info go to: http://spaceweather.com

Not for the squeamish

My poor sister Ginny has been going through everyone being sick at her house. I think I would take that over what I just finished cleaning up.
For days now I have been saying..."this house smells wrong!" no-one listens. Tonight Michael came home from work and stated he believed something had died behind the refrigerator. Yes in-deed!!!
So continuing on with Mousecapades.......I do sincerely hope this is the last I have to deal with them before we move.
Not only one dead mouse but two.
Michael and I pull the fridge out and he locates the first one, starts to place it in a bag then stops to look at it's decaying body.
Within seconds he is throwing up in the trash can. He can't stop. I run the mouse out to the dumpster. It's not pretty underneath that refrigerator. It's 15 minutes til midnight. It has to be cleaned.
Michael pauses heaving long enough to point out that there is another dead mouse further back.
Out come the long tongs, the ones we use for the shrimp at weddings. Yes...we threw them away.
The second mouse is not nearly as rotted as the first. It takes me a bit of careful maneuvering to get it out from behind the fan. Oh this is so what I wanted to be doing at midnight.
Then the floor clean up. Even though I have not gotten any nasty on my hands at all, I am still feeling the need to wash and wash. It took Michael quite awhile to stop throwing up and he did hold the light for me while I was getting the second one out and cleaning.
He still is my SuperHubby, even if he can't stomach dead mice.
Bet none of those Stepford wives would be doing this.

Martha is a Stepford....

....I am not! Spent way too much quality time with Lydia trying to dye cupcake batter into toooo many colors, only to have Chaiya point out that in the movie it was just the frosting. Lydia was very happy and we all have colored tongues!

Deep Trouble

Sometimes I need a mommy movie and our local library has a great selection of different documentaries and a variety of videos to borrow. On our most recent foray to the library I selected the latest version of The Stepford Wives with Nicole Kidman. As I awoke this morning, I found Lydia watching "my" movie. She is convinced I need to make colorful cupcakes like the Stepford wives make. It seems that she was highly impressed by the spotless homes and all the yummy goodies in the kitchens. I think I am probably the farthest thing from a Stepford mother! So she told me I MUST make the colorful cupcakes today and she even got out the pans.
This is the child who concerns me the most.
Lydia is so smart she is already getting on the internet and downloading games that she wants to play. She signs into Chaiya's IM and email and then Chaiya's friends believe that Chaiya is being rude by not answering them.
Lydia hides things! Her distraught siblings are coming up with all manner of their property missing. Lydia is too blame.
Yesterday she was encouraging her little brother to get into the cabinet. Thayne just has to point and try and Lydia comes to aid and abet. This is trouble. I can already foresee the future. Her brains , his height.....deep trouble!
p.s. but she is just so darn cute.

Halloween lab

here's a picture of our fun halloween lab room that we decorated.
Dried fruit makes great dried body parts, cabbage for a brain and a fennel bulb with a little red food coloring was so impressive that the YC biology teacher even complemented me!

Smoki Pueblo miracle

This past weekend we transformed the Smoki Pueblo from a tacky kachina laiden area to one that was fit for a wedding reception. Someday I will have a camera that will capture how magical these things work out. One wonderful touch was having the couples' parents and grandparents wedding pictures line the fireplace mantle. It was a really lovely evening!!! Including the moose antlers.

Smoki miracle cont...

Smoki miracle