Moving

We are finally settled into our new house.  I was unable to do blog posts from my phone or the kindle so I just emailed them to myself until the day came that I could use a computer again.  Today is that day.  I haven't found the camera cord yet but since the battery died long ago it doesn't really matter.

This is from January 7th.

In mid December we naively thought getting the house ready would take hardly any time.  As time went on we were proved wrong.  Toward the end we scrambled desperately with 13 hour work days.  It wasn't quite enough.  We kept pushing back the date of departure until we finally said Monday would absolutely be it.  I left about noon with the kids while Buddy finished up.  Once again we underestimated what was left and Buddy didn't start driving to St. Louis until 10pm.  It was the hardest move we've had.  That house is so big and it's impossible to get it completely clean and finished.  By the time we left almost every room in the house had been painted, almost all of the doors and trim had been painted, and almost all of the electrical switches and outlets were replaced.  The dark cave of a basement room finally had a light fixture and new carpet which turned it into a completely different room.  Buddy killing the mold that had been under the carpet and sealing the concrete helped as well.  We concealed the sump pump in the sump room which made it much nicer. The sump pump looked a little creepy because it was a barely covered hole in the ground with a pipe coming up almost to the ceiling.   When we moved in there was a large exposed sump pump in the corner, a bare bulb in the ceiling, and an exposed waste pipe running across the ceiling.  Now it would make a nice small guest room or office.

The list of things we accomplished in that last week is really long.  The house is much nicer than it was one month ago.  We are both so burned out on renovating and look forward to maintenance free living.  Unfortunately the camera battery died after Buddy took three pictures.  All we have are a couple of pictures from his phone. 


We arrived in Kansas before noon on Tuesday to pick up the car which had been shipped.  Our next stop was the housing office.  Once again I naively thought housing would be ready.  Naivety has been a trend recently.  There was one unit available but somebody was ahead of us on the list.  They gave us a key to look at it anyway.  The key didn't work.  The neighbors offered to give us a tour of.their place which was very nice and extremely helpful.  She told me a bit about the different layouts.  When we finally were able to see the empty unit we knew we could do better by waiting.  It was very fortunate that we were able to see the neighbor's much bigger place.  The first couple on the list ended up taking the empty one.  They are going to have a fabulous porch but pay for it with extremely small bedrooms and a weird layout.  More units will be available next week.  There will be one on Monday and six on Thursday.  I'm hoping the Monday unit is a good one.  We are number one on the list so we have first dibs.

While we wait for housing we are at a hotel.  We spent the first two nights at the Great Wolf Lodge but have now moved into something closer to post since the kids will start school tomorrow.  The kids really enjoyed The Great Wolf Lodge.  Nyla liked story time and the clock show.  Bohdin liked Magiquest.  After the first story time Nyla.went to the craft room and decorated a picture frame for the stuffed character that appears at story time. While Nyla created her present, Cora colored.  She enjoys coloring and I had plenty of problems with her coloring in Kentucky.  The night before we left I discovered her art on the upstairs hallway wall.  I had to repaint three areas because of her.  The lady in the craft room said Cora was very good at coloring for her age.  I have to agree.  She is certainly the best at coloring of my three kids by a long shot.

Cora finally hugged her first character.  At the story time I attended Nyla coaxed Cora up then shoved her toward the bear or whatever she was.  Cora gingerly hugged it much to Nyla's delight.  When Nyla gave the present to the character that audience "ahhed".  The next day a girl was in the craft room making a present for the character just like Nyla did.  Nyla started a new thing.

The waterpark was fine.  The best part was the extremely low crowds.  I think there were six other families in the entire resort.  There were times when we would be the only ones in the waterpark.  We never had to wait for anything.  There were three.tube slides and two body slides.  Buddy and I took turns going with Bohdin.  Nyla tried two of the tube slides but was traumatized when she went down the dark slide.  I had mixed up the two and sent her and Buddy on the wrong one.  I knew she wouldn't like the dark one and I meant to have her avoid it.  Bohdin kept trying to convince her to do a body slide with him but she was firm in her refusal.    I tried to explain to Bohdin that he would have been too scared to do those slides as a six year old and she just needed more time.  Bohdin wasn't scared of any of it.  He even did the dark one repeatedly.

Painting

I have a few minutes before the kids go to sleep and I thought I would take pictures off the camera and post them but I can't find the cord. 

Painting has taken much much longer than we anticipated.  We are nearing the end.  The second floor is done.  The main floor is nearly done.  I think there are just a few touchups and some trim painting.  The basement needs a second coat and trim painting.  I want to burn these paintbrushes when we are done and not look at one for a very long time.  In addition to the painting there were a lot of little jobs that needed to be done.  We needed to finish the banquette area, repair the outdoor lights, and numerous other things that I wish we had done earlier.  The kids haven't done much because I don't want them painting.  They did some window washing today and cleaned floors. 

Cora has been doing a decent job of staying out of the way.  She's not as bad as she could be.  I do think a few of her clothes have paint stains from not staying away enough.  She has spent a lot of time playing with Nyla.  They were playing chase/hide and seek earlier today and squealing so loud that glass nearly shattered.  She also joined Bohdin and Nyla in the bathtub today when their play involved washing toys.  Right now the three of them are watching something on the other computer. 

The other night Cora placed a cup of water in the middle of the hallway.  I told her it wasn't a good spot because it blocked the path.  She walked over and made a show of going around it.  Then she turned to me and said it was fine.  Another day she had food in her hand and her mouth.  I told her to go to the table to eat.  She finished chewing, swallowed, and said she wasn't eating after showing me her empty mouth.  She then ran off with the food in her hand.  

Nyla has been making progress with her reading.  She read 42 words the other day.  When she is in the right mood she works hard.  Since that day it has been hard to get her to agree to read much. 

Hurdles

The past few weeks have been so busy.  We decided to have the movers come before Christmas so it would be easier to get the house in move out condition.  Buddy had wanted sooner and I wanted later so the week before Christmas was a good compromise.  Once that was settled we needed to move Christmas up because it was important to the kids to have a tree.  The tree is too big and bulky to take up precious cargo space in our personal vehicles.  Once the decision was made I had a bit over a week to pull Christmas together quickly.  That wasn't the only thing we did.

On Tuesday we saw M- and W- for the last time to say goodbye.  The kids had a lot of fun at their house.  Those boys are so wonderful.  Tuesday evening Grandpa stopped by for the night.  We went to dinner where Bohdin talked to Santa for the first time ever.  I thought of him scared at the sight of Santa as a little kid and how far he had come when he actually requested to see Santa.  Nyla was all over Santa and asked for a Tangled dress which she later regretted.  Luckily Santa didn't bring the Tangled dress.  Cora is less scared of Santa than Bohdin at that age but she still kept a healthy distance.  After dinner Bohdin played his new game courtesy of M- and W-.



On Wednesday, the M- family came to visit.  I thought it would be a farewell visit but they want to see us one last time.  Hopefully that works out.  Again the kids had a great time and it was hard to break up their fun when it was time to go.

The next few days were spent on Christmas prep and moving prep.  I had a list of things I wanted to make the kids for Christmas but couldn't complete the list.  I made Nyla pants from Tangled fabric but haven't made a matching hair band or shirt yet.  I did complete two stick horses for the girls and a dress up stand to organize their clothes.  I wanted to make a few additional costumes but ran out of time.  I had started building a bed for Bohdin in October with Buddy's help and that needed finishing. It was never meant as a Christmas present but since it was done on the day we celebrated I told him Merry Christmas when I set it up in his room.















Cora received a lot of Mickey and Minnie things which pleased her enormously.  Bohdin received a lot of books which he enjoyed and Nyla received a mix of items.  I don't think I could choose a favorite.  They liked everything quite well.

It was a huge relief to have Christmas done.  I felt like I had three hurdles in front of me and Christmas was the first one.  The next one would be the packers that came three days later.  Once Christmas was over all of my attention needed to focus on getting the house ready.  We did a lot of decluttering and organizing.  I also painted Bohdin's dresser, a shelf, a small table, and two small chairs.  Bohdin is sad that he will be losing his colorful room.  His new room will have white walls.  Part of the reason I made the bed is so that it would be colorful.  I also wanted him to have a lot of book storage since he enjoys reading so much.  I painted his dresser in 10 different colors per his request so he could have color in his room when we move.  Nyla is sad that she will be losing her pink room but I didn't start soon enough to remedy her problem.







The movers arrived Wednesday morning and worked hard.  I don't even remember what time they left.  That night was the first night I could go to bed at a reasonable time because nothing needed another coat of paint or a bit more cleaning.  They arrived Thursday morning at 8am and left close to 9pm.  It was a long day.  Now we have a mostly empty house that we can paint and finish cleaning.  We will have plenty of time to get this work done and if we work hard we may be able to take a short vacation before driving to Kansas.  Buddy is exhausted and still has one day left at work.  After working so hard these past few days I'm not sure I'm willing to do a brutal schedule in order to have a few vacation days at the end.  Perhaps after a short rest we will both feel energized to tackle this last hurdle.

Sick

I'm having trouble posting pictures and don't have the time to mess with technology that doesn't work.  I copied most of my post before losing it so I'll just paste that.  I'll come back another time about Bohdin's birthday.



Monday at gymnastics I was working on Nyla's Christmas present. The next thing I knew she is standing right next to me. She told me she wasn't feeling well and the next instant threw up all over me. The vomit was everywhere. It was on her, the floor, and me. I cleaned her up a bit and we left. Two other moms were nice enough to shoo me off while they cleaned the floor. I had to drive home with Bohdin's coat draped over me since I had only underwear on. It turns out that Cora's throwing up from the week before was not vaccine related. It was contagious. Nyla threw up a few more times that afternoon. I took Cora out Monday night so we could pick up supplies for Bohdin's party with his friends on Wednesday. When I was at the store I started feeling a little queasy and had to come home. Buddy was already feeling bad. It was a rough night. Only Bohdin and Cora were feeling fine. The next morning I told Bohdin to stay as far away from all of us as possible hoping he wouldn't catch it. He threw up a minute later. Cora was the only one feeling well. With the exception of Bohdin we were feeling better by Tuesday evening. Bohdin developed a fever on Wednesday and wasn't completely better until Friday. His party was cancelled. We saw M- and W- today to say goodbye and we'll see more friends tomorrow. It's a shame that the party didn't work out. We'll try our best to see S- before we leave.

December is always a busy month and this time even more so because of the moving. The packers will be here next week and there is a tremendous amount to do before then. We've moved Christmas up to the 16th which leaves even less time to get things ready and I lost several days with the illness. I'm making many of Nyla's presents this year and I've only completed one so far. I'm in the process of building Bohdin a bed which has to be done before the movers come. I also want to paint his dresser before then. I need about 8 more hours in each day for the next week.

Last Monday at gymnastics I discovered that Nyla has her first loose tooth.  She is beyond excited.  She can't wait to exchange her tooth for money.  Nyla's first two teeth popped up on Christmas day five years ago.  It would be ironic if she also lost her first tooth on Christmas day.  

Really Busy

We're in the final crunch of getting the house ready before we move.  There is an overwhelming amount of things to do in addition to the holidays and just daily life.  Nana and Papa came for Thanksgiving help us out.  The help was so needed and appreciated.   



This week we've been busy painting, working on the fireplace, and various odds and ends.  In addition Nyla developed a high fever after receiving the varicella vaccine on Wednesday and Cora threw up about a dozen times after her MMR vaccine.  They're both fine now.

Today was Bohdin's Lego League presentation.  Two of the kids couldn't make it which we were aware of so the girls stepped up.  The two remaining boys on the team aren't talkers.  Bohdin did his two lines.  He had them memorized very well but had trouble remembering to say them loudly and slowly.  The team did a great job.  We'll have one last get together on Wednesday for a farewell/birthday party. 

Hooters

The Halloween candy from the zoo was stored in an upper cabinet.  Cora was in the mood for candy and pushed the chair across the kitchen so she could climb up and find something sweet.



Nyla made a Mickey and Minnie Mouse for Cora.  I don't think Cora appreciated it that much.  I don't know where they are now.  Nyla made me a necklace out of yarn and later made another one with a large drawing of her attached.  I haven't worn the bigger one yet because I am worried that Cora will ruin it but I did wear the simple one.

The kids went to G-'s birthday party on Saturday and had a great time.  Nyla was really excited to play with A- and Bohdin was excited to play with G-.  It was an owl themed party and we came home with owl magnets and an owl attached to a mini clothes pin.  Nyla was getting ready for bed so she only had underwear on.  She clipped an owl to each hip and came into the bedroom shaking her hips and asking if I liked her hooters.  I don't know what we'll do with a teenage Nyla.

Mickey Pusher

One of the reasons Cora likes Mickey and Minnie so much is that Nyla is really pushing it onto her.  It seems like the moment Cora wakes up, Nyla asks her if she wants Mickey.  We have two Mickey toys, a small stuffed one and a Lego Duplo one.  Nyla asks Cora if she wants to wear her Minnie shirt.  Sometimes if Cora doesn't want any of these things Nyla gets mad and yells at her that she is not getting her a Christmas present.  I'm having trouble convincing Nyla that it is not a nice thing to do.

When we were in the science center in Orlando there was an area with paper and tape.  There were instructions on how to build something that would fly in the wind area.  Nyla couldn't read the instructions so she designed her own.  I was surprised at how well it flew.  I told her she was an engineer and ever since then she has been making all sorts of things.  Some of it is just art like a paper doll with clothes and some of it meant to be useful like the house she made for D's cat last week.  She thought it turned out too small so we just threw it away.  Yesterday she made herself a paper basket.  We go through a lot of tape in this house so I was glad to be able to find a six pack at the dollar store. 


The schools in Kansas are supposed to be excellent and after talking to somebody out there with a second grader I want to put Bohdin in school as well once we move.  Supposedly the elementary schools are among the best in the country.  If Bohdin is ever going to attend school this is the one.  It has a few things going for it.  The school has great teachers, lots of money, and great students.  Almost the entire school is made up of kids with parents going to school on post.  None are poor or have uneducated parents.  These things can make a difference.  The other thing I like is that there are lots of new kids.  Most kids are only there for 10 months.  The school is used to a huge turnover.  Bohdin shouldn't be the only new kid at the time.  Every single kid will know what it is like to be the new kid in school and most have been there just a few months.  It seems like it would be easier for Bohdin to make friends in that situation.  My concerns are that he doesn't like the noise of a lot of people at once.  He can't concentrate with lots of people talking.  In Lego League on Wednesday all of the kids were trying brainstorm and he kept trying to get everyone to talk one at a time.  Eventually he walked away.  That was only five other kids.  My other concern with Bohdin is he crumbles under time pressure.  I can see him failing a spelling test because he will be so focused on time that he will be unable to move at all.  I tested him out at home with a spelling test and it ended in tears.  I'm hoping the teachers will work with him and if it doesn't work out that's fine.  I don't anticipate that Bohdin will be behind academically.  They are starting to learn cursive which Bohdin hasn't yet.  I thought about starting him and seeing how much we can do in the next few weeks.  Bohdin might also feel overwhelmed if he went in and had to catch up. 

I'm not concerned about Nyla at all.  I think she will thrive in school.  She has a completely different personality than Bohdin and it is the kind that works well in public school.  If the kids have learned something that she hasn't she will just learn it.  I expect that she will be one of the most popular kids in the class by the end of the year and doing somewhere between fine to great academically.  Nyla isn't reading yet but she's progressing well.  She's getting better at putting sounds together into words but still needs more time to mature or more practice.  I'm not certain which.




Nyla and Cora laying together watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.  Cora finally watches tv and now that she likes it she wants to watch it all of the time.  She would watch all day if we let her.  In the picture Cora is wearing Nyla's underwear.  Many times Cora will wear only Nyla's clothes.  She won't wear her own underwear at all.  It must come from Nyla's drawer.  Yesterday she wore Nyla's pants and popped in them.  Cora likes to wear underwear but she won't sit on the potty even when she knows she needs to go.  There are times that Nyla can successfully take her but even Nyla isn't 100% effective at convincing her.  I don't know what Cora will do with herself when Nyla is gone.  She's going to miss her tremendously.