The 2 day drive to Texas was, thankfully, rather uneventful. We left Virginia in a small flurry of snow flakes and thought it a fitting goodbye, but then the weather was fine on the entire trip. There was basically just two days of this:
We arrived in Texas in time for a great Christmas Eve and Christmas with Grandma and Grandpa and Aunt Ruth, but we'll post more about that later.
On move in day (the day after Christmas), we didn't expect it to look like this:
(And, yes, that is several boxes dumped out onto the street. The movers had a little trouble opening the back and it eventually kind of exploded outwards. But nothing was damaged.)
The initial unpacking of boxes was actually a little fun because there was so much space to move into! I unloaded all my kitchen cabinet boxes - and there was still empty cupboards and drawers!
We had a few weeks to settle in before school started on January 7. By then the kids were pretty anxious to get out of the house and meet some people!
And I was equally anxious to have them doing something not under foot! I started in on hanging pictures and unpacking more with just Sammy for company.
We love the new big playroom upstairs! It's so nice to have few toys in the family room and to be able to say to the kids, "If you're gonna be that crazy, go to the playroom!" and then they all disappear!
Some things we're particularly enjoying here:
The sporadic weather! We've had the windows open several times to the 74 degree weather. And once we've closed the windows because it was getting too hot! In JANUARY!
In fact, one 75 degree day, Richard led the kids in a quick, cold dip in the unheated pool. They just couldn't resist! (I think it cured them of that desire until true warmer weather arrives.)
We love, love, love our Sundays (And Tuesdays and Fridays and whatever else) with Grandma and Grandpa and Aunt Ruth. It's so nice to have them close enough to just drop by or pick up one kid or another for this or that. I'm afraid moving away might be very, VERY difficult - because we are already use to this!
Did I mention the kids are excited about the pool? It's not big, but it's cool and close!
And the weather. Did I mention that? We love it.
One last thing - the closets. Here's a closet in Sammy's room that is entirely devoted to currently-out-of-use baby things. And that's all! It makes me happy every time I open this door to put one more thing in there. There's just so much room!
A quick note: I don't think I've even mentioned on here that we're expecting. Baby #5 is due August 2. This is a stressful thing for me emotionally, but also physically I was very restricted. I've packed our entire house, and then unpacked it, without lifting a single box (under doctor's orders). And last week I had a little surgery (cerclage) to help prevent last times insanity from repeating itself. I am almost allowing myself to be hopeful that this time will bring no bed rest. So far the little peanut is looking good! We'll find out Friday if it's a boy or a girl.
In summary, we're starting to feel pretty settled here. We're very happy with our move. We're thrilled with the house. We've unpacked bazillions of boxed, but still have dozens more to go. We've hung hundreds of things on the walls, but there are still plenty laying around on the floor waiting their turns. Everyone is happy and healthy (a bit of a miracle itself this time of year - move notwithstanding *knock on wood*). Write us a letter or give us a call! We miss our friends even as we make new ones!
