The Time Has Come

Today we registered Miss A for Kindergarten.  She'll start in the fall and she is super excited.  She can do most of the "recommended" skills, only misses the "count to 29" one.  Everyone says that this is when time starts to really fly, so let's see how it goes.  Chris liked the school and managed to get all the paperwork completed. 

For Chris's b'day we didn't do much. We had a typical Saturday -- did a few things around the house, went to the park, attempted to convince kids they needed naps so that we could sleep... If you ever know someone who can watch kids so we could sleep, that'd be a great thing. 

We are pretty much set up in our new house.  We've got to turn the claims form in and then hopefully we can be done with the relocation agent.  I'm not sure this move has been "smoother" or not, and I'm not sure if it is worth the cost of it.  Chris has managed to get a kitchen island put in and plans on tiling it tomorrow.  Hopefully we can show pictures in the next couple of days.  He's done a great job with the couple of helpers that he has. 

The new job for me is good.  I'm starting to get into my role more and more, so that's a good thing.  I'm trying to strike a good balance and we will see how that goes.  We are hoping for the FDA sometime soon, so that will be a stressful interesting week.  I get to sit in and take notes during the audit. :)

Anyway, I'm beat as I mowed the lawn tonight.  It has been a while.  One of the father's of a friend said he had children to help him mow the lawn, and I completely see why.  Maybe the teenager across the street will help us out some with that lawn mowing.

Hope all is well by you!

We Are In!

We finally closed on our new house.  Chris has worked very very hard this week with his two helpers to get a lot of the house unpacked and has done a fantastic job.  He unpacked while also cleaning up the temporary housing we were in for a while.  We've made some new friends (across the street) and are having a blast so far. 

Last weekend we managed to make it to OK for my niece's graduation and had a lot of fun. The kids did well in the car, though we may wait a bit since there was a lot of, "Are we there yet?" on the way home.

Little Miss A turned 5 this week! She got a new car seat for the occasion and is working on using the booster seat well.  She's still having trouble buckling, but will need to learn how to do that for Kindergarten in the fall. 

Birthday Parties Oh My!

Chris and the kids have had a blast at b'day parties the past couple of weeks days. The past week has been rather stressful for all of us, so it was nice for them to have some party fun before packing up and coming to join me.

I'm adjusting well to my new job.  It is a learning process that I'm really enjoying.  I'm enjoying learning a new process entirely for making products.  I've liked being here in St. Louis alone, but am looking forward to my family joining me in the next couple of days.  I hope the apartment is big enough for all of us.

He Is Risen! (And Carolyn has left the state)

Well, after our beautiful sunrise service at church I left NC for the new job in STL.  So far it is going well, but that's only one day of reading endless SOPs. :) It does get better and I expected the job to start out like this.

Chris is staying in NC with the kids for the next few weeks, so pray for him and if you think he needs help -- offer, he won't do as good of a job asking as we might like. :) Chris has done an amazing job potty training G the past few weeks, and we may have crossed a line.  Hopefully it doesn't go bad with me not there.

The drive up was fairly uneventful, just some wind and rain in Illinois.

Here are some fun "I'm not ready to get up for Easter pictures of the kiddos."

Yes G's feet are almost as long as he is wide and yes, they sleep together in the same bed. 

The blue blanket has been our constant companion the past few weeks.  G has an amazing sense of things going on around him, even if he doesn't seem like it.  

Waving Palms

This morning was the last day for me to attend the church here in NC.  We are moving to St. Louis in the next few weeks and I'll be going up next week after the sunrise service.  We will decide during the week if we all will go to the sunrise service or just me.  I found a job with a company making vet products.  The new company is working on beefing up their existing quality department and helping me get there.  Chris and the kids will be staying in NC to finish up his term and then come up in a few weeks.  Prayers for all of us as we go through this exciting yet stressful time. 

The past few weeks have been eventful as we've watched some amazing things come together.  We have a contract for a house in the St Louis area and the contract was accepted outright.  No haggling or counter offers -- simply accepted. 

Anyway the children's choir sang "Holy Holy Holy" for church this morning after processing while waving palm fronds.  G got to wave a frond but was upset he didn't get to sing with the choir.  Here are pictures of the kids with their fronds and the choir. A is in the middle of the choir if you are looking for her in her cherub robe.

I hear the OU game going on so I'm going to watch some basketball since it is on the TV.  Boomer Sooner!

The Madness that Becomes March

For the last week in February A and I went to DisneyWorld with NJ and my mom.  A and I went down Friday night and went to see friends of mine from high school in Gainesville.  We went through Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and Hollywood Studios while there.  NJ was ill the day we had Magic Kingdom scheduled so A and I did that by ourselves.  Our favorite "ride" this trip was Enchanted Tales with Belle.  For this ride the kids act out the story of Beauty and the Beast.  A was: ottoman, an enchanted plate, Maurice, Chip, and the Beast! I got to be an enchanted piece of armor for one of the trips through the library.  Here are some fun pictures from the trip with a bit of everything thrown in. :)

Fireworks set to John Williams at Hollywood

We found army green men walking around the Pixar area in Hollywood

Waiting for the ToyStory Midway Mania ride

Ready to get in and play the ToyStory Midway Mania

Sitting outside at Epcot

Ready for a day in spaceship earth (A's favorite ride)

Fireworks at Magic Kingdom

Beast

Chip

Ottoman

The backside of the Fairytale castle

leave the "Be Our Guest" restaurant

In our "Mermaid" room

Look who we found outside our room

I'm a butterfly!

The best way to see butterflies

How to Train a Nerd

We had a random snow day today as we had freezing rain most of the morning.  I went to work, but they sent us home at lunch.  After having some fun finger painting with the kids, Chris decided to put together a few light saber grips he got for Christmas.  After he got one put together A asked if she could go outside and play with it.  As she put on her coat Chris said she looked like Luke on Hoth (the ice planet). So we pulled out a couple of our already existent light sabers and went out to play in the ice. We had fun until G caught A in the nose and I caught Chris in the hand.