Moving is loud and exhausting!

On July 30th, we closed on our new house, just a few minutes down the road from our rental.  We love our new house!  It is right down the road from the pool and playground.  We can see them from the front yard.  It's a quieter neighborhood because it is a younger neighborhood with new construction going on in parts.  We are in a "bend" cul-de-sac, what I call a half cul-de-sac which is good for bike riding and learning.  

Bobby was listening to a story on Audible in our bed, obviously exhausted from packing, while his daddy worked at his desk.  Taken before the moving day.

The day after we closed we moved all our mattresses and clothes over to the new house with the pets too.  We started sleeping over there and making multiple daily trips to the old house to load the borrowed horse trailer, the van, and the "new to us" SUV that we bought used.  (Oops, I forgot to mention that on here!  We'll have to revisit this topic later.)  Brian scheduled the movers to come 10 days after closing.  This was so he could work from home as needed and make the move slowly.  The plan was not to overdo it, but each time he finished his goal for the day, he added on new things he wanted to bring over.  The movers ended up bringing way less than we thought they would over.  It saved us money, but we were getting in 14,000 steps a day and fell onto our mattresses each night completely spent.

Bob found the noise cancelling headphones and started wearing them around the house.  Was our moving too loud?

Everyone was dying to get our couch!  Isaac finally finished my fairy garden that he started at the beginning of the summer, and just in time for our new front garden.  This "garden" needs a lot of work, but it's just too hot right now.  I already bought tulip and hyacinth (for Genna, in memory of her bird) bulbs to plant with her after we weed it and fix it up in October.

He found rocks on our early summer walks and glued them onto the bottom of a half gallon carton with a door cut out.  He painted the rock to go with it.

My budding entomologist has found several geckos and anoles to occupy himself with in our new backyard.  This one he caught for me in the house and lost part of it's tail in the struggle.  Then he tried to take it outside only to have it run up his arm and "disappear."  He came back in saying maybe it was on his neck somewhere.  I found it on his back hanging out.  Drew was quite weirded out by the moving tail left behind in the house.  :)

The unpacker's throne!  Judah had the honor of mashing down the packing paper.

The first Saturday that we were in the house with furniture we started back up with Saturday chores.  My littlest vacuumer had lost his spunk and needed some help finishing this room because he wanted the nice carpet lines and couldn't keep them straight.  

The New Normal

Things are slowly opening and raising their capacity, so life is picking up the pace a tiny bit.  However, my co-op has completely cancelled for all of next year which means we are far from getting back to normal.  Many are wondering if this is the new normal.  I love the slower pace of life.  I love being with our family altogether so much.  It will be sad though if we can't have any big gatherings for a year or more.  All I can say is Jesus, I trust in you.

Our Marigolds (grown from seeds, for my Botany class)

Our green bean plants are struggling.  We've only harvested five beans.  :(  I should've stuck with tomatoes and peppers.  

The kids are trying to help me more in the kitchen.  A couple weeks ago we had a super fun menu for the week and Isaac helped me with these Cowboy Calzones (by Pioneer Woman).  He made the dough and I made the filling.  We filled them together in an assembly line.  They were a big hit as was the Marlboro Man sandwiches that Genna helped me with earlier in the week.  The next week Isaac made the same pizza dough so and we used them for homemade pizzas. 

Then we picked up rocks from the neighborhood rock garden and painted them before returning them, a little neighborhood beautification project.  Everyone loved it and can't wait to do it again for Aunt Kristen's house since they soon discovered that she has the same rocks in her yard.  I have to admit most of the kids were so happy with their results that they wanted to keep the rocks for themselves, but we told them that would be stealing and we should share their talents with others.  They were a little taken aback that we'd consider that stealing...a few rocks?  But, alas, the rocks were returned in the end.

I mostly verbally helped with these rocks, but I did help with the star a bit on Drew's Captain America rock.

Bob called his a "stained glass" rock and Judah's was Groot.  I helped Judah with the lines on Groot.  I was so proud of Bob!  All I did was paint the border lines.  He is so precise with his coloring and painting for a four year old, in my biased opinion.

Hannah did the Northern Lights.

I did the M&M one because I thought the idea was super clever that I found online.  Genna's is the long, skinny sunset.  Isaac's is the other night sky.  I didn't help my big kids at all other than explaining how to layer and blend the colors.

Week 3 Quarantine: The Rainy Days

It's been raining for awhile and our walks been thwarted many days.  The children have taken to screening people as they go up and down the stairs in our house, "Have you had any flu-like symptoms?  Have you been out of the country in the past two weeks?" as a game.  Quarantined Kids' Games...

Making Tents in the Living Room

The decrease in walks have brought about a bit more fighting amongst the younger ones.  We had to bring back our "Tummy Time" again.

In case, you missed this technique of mine for resolving fights between littles, I make them touch tummies until they are laughing and have forgiven each other.  I started this when the girls were little.  It had been a while since I needed it.

Grocery stores are actually getting better.  They're not stocked with toilet paper and dried beans, but they also don't have lines waiting outside just to get in.

The schools continued to send home packets, but since they are going to be closed at least until May 4th, they are now moving towards using Goggle Classroom, despite trying desperately to avoid screens, being a Classical, technology-free school.  They can not sustain the printing costs of the packets.  Next week will be the last week of printed packets.

Some of the children, mainly Hannah, are sick of games.  I found a new Christian book series for her that are re-tellings of fairy tales that the library had on ebooks.  Melanie Dickerson writes them.  She read five of them this week and as I write this a week later, she has read fifteen of her books.  She's a little hooked.

I have been remiss to mention that our churches have been closed.  Our priest has been sending out ways to fulfill our Sunday obligation from home since we are prohibited from attending Mass.  Another benefit of having no outside activities, we have been able to do our nightly read alouds every night again like we used to when we were a fully homeschooled family.  And we are able to pray together more often than just bedtime prayers.  We say the Divine Mercy Chaplet together often at 3pm, and our decade has turned into a full rosary again.  Our dinners and, therefore, our bedtimes have been later and more relaxed.  SO nice not to worry about the clock all the time!

We started the carrots in soda bottles and the Marigolds a while back in my Botany class, but we added a bunch of vegetable seeds when I was able to talk Brian into making me a couple of wooden planters to put them in.  I bought a pack of vegetable seeds that grow well together in a two foot planter.  So we are going to try it this summer since it wouldn't hurt to have some fresh veggies growing in our own backyard the way things are going.

I have been working on a few different projects in the evenings.  I am making myself a light spring crocheted sweater, but unfortunately Hobby Lobby closed down before I finished it and I am stuck without any yarn to finish it up because online they are "Out of stock" of the color I need.  I am so close to finishing.  I then started making five sets of nativity scenes like I made for my nephew out of wooden peg people for gifts next year at Christmas time.  I also ran out of peg men though and was temporarily paused on this project as well, but Amazon came through and I now have new ones to complete the sets.  Then I was suddenly inspired by a tapestry to draw this.

I am also working on a saint doll for a new baby boy, but again ran out of thread in one spot.  Grrr.


I've had a few "get togethers" via various video conferencing methods this week.  I had a harder week, but it was just because I can't be alone here easily.  I took a walk by myself one day and made a few extraneous trips to drop things off on my siblings' doorsteps and to Sonic just to get out alone.  The rain induced bickering was the main cause I think.

Watering the Flowers and the Children

On the actual Memorial Day, Brian and I had a date at the flower store to buy flowers for the pots and balcony boxes.  Drew and Judah still had German school so we took them for a shortened day so we could get the flowers.  In the afternoon, we planted them.  Isaac had won this set of pots at the Christmas market in the neighboring village.  He was very excited to help plant flowers in them.  

Although these plants are still doing okay, the lavender is water logged and going to need to be planted in the ground instead.  

Last year, our geraniums did not do well.  Every other box of flowers in the whole country was overflowing and ours never grew at all.  We are hoping for better results this year since we waited a safe time after the last frost date in mid May.  The hanging geraniums in the boxes are not blooming (two weeks later) much anymore.  I'm not sure if they got too much rain or what.  They have drainage holes and yet they still seem to be over-watered.    

It was definitely hot enough to bust out Judah's water table, at a high of 92F on this day.  It doesn't usually get this warm this early in the summer.  I'm afraid it's going to be a hot one, however, it is back down below 70F now as I write this.  He and Bobby have had a blast with the water table.  When it's warm enough in the house, we open the big sliding door to the porch and just leave it open so the boys can go back and forth.  So far the water has only made it inside one time and they stay mostly dry too.  I'm impressed.

My newest invention

Don't get too excited as this isn't anything spectacular. I won't be getting a patten or anything. This may be only useful to our particular household, but you never know.

You may be asking the question, "What is it?" That's understandable, like I warned you, it's nothing spectacular or superbly useful to the average Joe. It is a mini greenhouse cover for my kitchen herbs that will deter my cat from eating them all while I sleep unsuspectingly. This in and of itself isn't that original, I guess. The way I made it was the original part. I cut to size and sewed together sheet protectors, and it doesn't look half bad. I am feeling very resourceful.

Our Peter Rabbit Predicament

Despite our best efforts, the rabbits have made it into our garden. Not only that, they have made a nest and had babies right in between my two tomato plants! I had noticed digging, and was wondering what the culprit was. I was checking for bugs and such when I saw a pile of hair and grass in the garden and thought, stupidly that it was a bird or something that wasn't there.

I start ripping it apart and realized it went pretty deep and there was movement down in the hole. Then I see ears and think maybe it is mice. Well, it is a nest of tiny baby bunnies. If you look really closely in the next picture you can see them all huddled up asleep. I didn't want to bother them too much more to get a better picture.


We just don't have the heart to move them. I guess the plan is to watch and wait until they get big enough to venture out of the nest. Then we will chase them out and put a better barrier around the garden. I have some good looking tomato and cucumber plants that I am praying do not get destroyed in the meantime. Look at our first cukes!

More Gardening: the kids plant vegetables

We finally decided our seedlings were ready for planting. Hannah and Genna planted a tomato and a cucumber plant. Isaac planted two more cucumber plants. Daddy will take care of them while we are in Texas and then they will be helping take care of their plants when we return. I also planted their potato plant that we grew for and experiment in the Lowe's bucket with the bottom cut out. I planted it about a month ago, and it is doing really well. I planted our basil that we started from seeds and some dandelions on all four corners that are supposed to help keep the bugs away. I doubt they have any effect on the ant problem we have out there.

The girls' tomato plants

The girls' cucumber plants

Potato plant

This is really an unexciting picture since these berry bushes are just sticks right now, but I am hopeful that they will grow and blossom into bushes covered with raspberries and blackberries.

This is my attempt at growing tomatoes upside down. I read how to make one of these online instead of buying the $10 or more plastic kit. So with just a piece of newspaper, an old hanging basket, some dirt and a tomato seedling, I was able to make this. I hope it works and that Brian can keep it watered while we are gone. I have to admit that I don't have the best history with hanging plants, so this may be a long shot. I am better when stuff is in the ground.

This is part of my herb garden hanging right outside my kitchen window, off the deck. I also have sage and oregano (not shown) on the other side of the box. I couldn't get a good picture of it all. I am hoping these basil seedlings can make it through all these thunderstorms. They seem so delicate.

Now we water and we wait.

A Big Surprise!

I sent Isaac with his daddy to the "man store," AKA Home Depot, the other evening only to be surprised with these gifts that Isaac just really wanted to get his mommy. What a surprise it was too!

The covered gazebo on the deck is the first surprise. He also planted those plants and hung the boxes for me too.

He also got me this end table for my front porch glider. Don't know what I did to deserve all these gifts.

Since the A/C in our house is out and it is cooler outside than inside, we are getting a lot of use out of these new gifts! We've been eating dinner on the back porch protected from insects and the sun all thanks to my sweetheart!