This weekend, just shy of one year from the date we arrived here at this house, we did something I like to call Moving In. We aren’t done, not by a long shot. But we started, which is something.Let me explain: we moved very quickly without any notice. We had movers pack our stuff - a first for both of us - and it did not go well. What we got, instead, was everything thrown together in total disarray. Silverware divided between several boxes, individual pencils wrapped in sheets of packing paper, heirlooms thrown into junky basement toy bins, clothing thrown into holiday bins. Imagine the clean-up after a tornado hits your home and that approximates what we brought down here with us. 

So we still have boxes left to unpack. We have three big boxes in the house and countless in the garage. I would toss it all at this point, ordinarily, assuming if we haven’t needed it in a year we will never need it. But the state of the packing makes that impossible. We literally have to go through every box and separate the junk (most of it) with the cherished possessions (little of it). It is tedious, overwhelming, time consuming. It makes me so mad that we did not hold the packing company more accountable.

So…..

I officially finished Addison’s room. Finally. I added the pictures of her brothers up over her crib and added some huge dVider dragonflies onto a big previously bare wall. It looks *perfect*. She LOVES her new “flies” and today I heard her whispering her brothers’ names over and over again when she was supposed to be napping Sweet.

I also hung four shelves in Noah’s room and finally put his name letters on his wall. I put up both Dalton & Teegan’s wall shelves so now their trophies and prized possessions have a place of honor.  I think, aside from new furniture, Dalton & Teegan’s room is done too. Noah needs new furniture and he wants his room painted and decorated in some sort of jungle animal theme.

Tony and I made a dent in the garage - the most daunting of tasks. There is SO MUCH STUFF that needs to be thrown away or donated so we can even get to the point of purging and reorganizing what does belong in the garage. But I am reclaiming (or claiming, I guess) that space. I love that garage, as dumb as that sounds. And it is going to be functional for us.

We hung unused bikes, we went through two HUGE wardrobe boxes full of sports equipment and purged TONS and organized the rest into our sporting goods organizers. We set some stuff aside for garbage pick up and set lots of stuff aside for Goodwill. But it is all just a drop in the bucket. When we moved here, we took everything. We had no time to purge. Now we are purging.

Here is the remaining mess:

All that stuff in the front left is garbage/donations. All the stuff in the front right are the bikes that four kids use daily. Everything behind it is mess that needs to be sorted, pitched or donated. We have a long way to go. Back there somewhere it a utility tub I could have really used this weekend that I didn’t even know existed until Tony told me about it when I was complaining that we don’t have one! haha. THAT is BAD!

Among the boxes in the garage are 2 dozen or so book boxes filled mostly with Tony’s books but also with kids books and books of my own (although I had already purged my own book supply before we moved). I am selling off Tony’s book supply on half.com and over the weekend I went through three boxes of my own/kids books and purged some and moved the rest up to our gameroom….the final stop on the eventual completion of Moving In. There are three more waiting for me tonight. I can not WAIT to go through all of these boxes and get that much closer to organizing the most messy and disorganized room IN our house.

Last but sooooo not least, I tackled the tedious job of painting our playhouse. I have wanted to post pictures of this beast since my Daddy built it but I wanted to wait to get the paint done. In my mind, I pictured it as a pretty minor feat but boy was I wrong. It was ALL trim which meant TONS of taping off. Add to that that I was painting weathered wood - you know, the kind they make wooden porch railings out of? It is awful to paint, the paint does not just glide one. Plus I had to paint every single spindle and then I had to paint trim *through* the spindles since the porch is not big enough for actual people to get on. Now I know why the previous owners of said playhouse never painted it! After four hours of painting, I got exhausted and quit. I did the entire outside and some of the underside of the roof. I need to apply the quarter round to the outside and then it will be finished outside. Inside, I still need to apply trim around all four windows inside and paint all that trim including the ceiling planks. Then I need to hang christmas lights in there and I think I may paper the particle board that is the roof with some cool scrapbook papers - that would be cheap and sooooo super easy, right? And cute!  I’m so excited to finish this project.

So after a year, we are finally Moving In. Getting pictures hung, paint on the walls, making this house feel like a home. We have SO far to go but the fact that we did so much this weekend makes me feel 1000 times more at home. And let me tell you - I will NEVER hire packers to pack my stuff again! How hard is it to just pick up the utensil tray and lay it in a box? Harrumph.

Can you believe I forgot to include Arbor Day on my list of holidays that we do not decorate for?! Today was the day. And not a day too soon for Noah who definitely considers this a True Holiday right up there with Valentine’s Day. We mistakenly thought LAST weekend was the big A and bundled up the fam to head out to the festivities when I realized I had screwed up the dates. So the anticipation has been….intense….for Noah. He came running down the stairs yelling “Happy Arbor Day” to anyone who would give him the time of day.

Our community holds a rather ambitious celebration. And even though it is as Cold as a Cast-Iron Commode* I still dragged out all four kids to celebrate The Trees. I left the camera at home thinking how many pictures could I possibly capture in a cement parking lot in the freezing cold? Dumb.

In addition to The Trees, apparently our community mascot, a large spongy acorn, was celebrating a birthday  - which involved free cake and cupcakes. He invited a few dozen of his favorite costumed friends including Dora herself (wearing the infamous Backpack), Spiderman and the Houston Rockets mascot whose name I can never remember. I’ve never seen so many costumed characters in one place at one time outside Disney! Noah and Addison just love them!

There were also a bunch of those inflatables that the kids jumped through, slid down and threw themselves around on. We really are going to have to check out one of the local indoor inflatable places soon. The kids had so much fun.

There was also a petting farm full of the most friendly animals ever! I’m usually not a huge fan of the petting farms but this one was really nice. Noah just loved the baby goats and Addy thought it was so cute to see the baby goats nursing. She was amazed to be able to pet a real live chicken. She also just loved the piggy. Its the first time she’s seen a lot of these animals up close and personal so it was pretty exciting for her.

But of course the main reason we went, other than the free cake and cupcakes, was The Trees! I think we ended up taking home at least few dozen trees of all different varieties. I really wanted some pecan trees and a few more magnolias but we also got pine, elm, maple and other varieties.

Best of all? ALL FREE!!!!!!!!!! I’m going to have to file this away as reason #5467 why I love it here. Of course now I have to plant them out in the Cold as Cold as an Ex-Wife’s Heart*. But we’ll live. At least it isn’t snowing.  

* I am practicing southern phrases. I have the strongest Michigan accent you will EVER hear. I didn’t even know there was such a thing until I moved here and am repeatedly reminded of this every.single.time I speak to people. So, in an attempt to fit in, I’m adding some new phrases to my repertoire. They might lose something with the wrong accent, I’m afraid.

My holiday bins are all color coordinated and organized by when the holiday falls within the calendar year. It’s one area in our lives that we are pretty organized. Once the Christmas Tree comes down and the Christmas bins go up, the Valentine’s bins come down. That’s the correct order of things.

See my blog header? See the hearts? No more trees. The correct order of things.

So imagine my surprise when I learned that some neighbors decorate for Mardi Gras. Noah, poor Noah, is still learning the proper order of the holidays. Now he’s all confused about this house decorating business that involves colorful beads and masks and Much Glitter. I don’t even know how to explain Mardi Gras to a 5 year old. Something about alcohol and nudity, right? I dunno. I’ve never been to New Orleans, I’ve never been to a Mardi Gras celebration at all.

And I remembered that Chinese New Year (Tet) is also coming up. This one we definitely celebrate. We have events, big and small, to attend plus whatever I plan for our own family. It may involve cooking and Pho. It may involve eating out at my favorite Vietnamese restaurant, if they are open. I don’t know yet. But you know me - I like to celebrate.

But what it won’t involve, like Mardi Gras, is decorating my home or changing my blog header. Ok? You’ll have to look to Google and Flickr for the cute graphics. I’m going all Hallmark Holiday on you instead.

So back to Valentine’s Day. On today’s agenda is decorating with Noah. He lives for this stuff. He’s already bought (and wasted) his valentines.  Last year I put up these cute mailboxes:

Last year they basically sat empty. We’ll use those again this year and I am going to do a Valentines Countdown with a new little note or sweet sentiment in each kids’ mailbox every day in February leading up to Valentine’s Day along with a treat of some sort. I thought that would be a nice way to build up to an otherwise boring holiday. And that way it will be all about the kids and not about the chocolate I wish I could eat but can’t do to my new Healthy Lifestyle* or the date I wish I could have but can’t due to my Clingy Children.

So remember when you are busy ribbing me for decorating for Valentine’s Day or changing my blog header to match the upcoming holiday - there are some people who actually decorate for Mardi Gras. Or - gulp - CLEAN for Tet. The craziness astounds.

* dont ask, you really do not want to know