Empty House

Everything has been moved out, boarded up in crates and hauled away! Our house is officially EMPTY - besides a few odd ends and some living room furniture we are selling to our renters!! It's so strange to see the house we occupied for 4 1/2 years be bare and boring in a space that used to be filled with laughter and crying, the smell of cooking or baking, doors being opened and shut all day long, children playing and having fun. We are sad to be leaving our Fredericksburg home for a different place on the other side of the world but we know we'll enjoy and love our new home as well. This move has been especially hard on Andrew. He's very sad and misses his home while we've been staying at the hotel for the past two nights. Poor little guy! The girls will miss it very much too; I'm almost positive tears will be shed once we roll away. I still think Andrew's going to have it the hardest.

Today we woke up and ate breakfast and got ready to go swimming with our family friend, Sabine, at her community pool. Knowing that all of the kids were again sick with their colds, I sort of tossed around the idea to go or not but decided in the end that it would be good for them. For all of us! :) We stayed for two hours. My friend and her daughter, who happens to also be Jocelyn's best friend, joined us as well. We sat and talked while watching the children play and have fun in the kiddie pool after slathering them with a bunch of sunblock. We snapped some pictures, ate some yummy food together for lunch and then retreated back to the hotel for some rest. We had such a fun afternoon! Aubrey even spent some time in the adult sized pool and tried to recall how to swim. (It's been quite a few years since she took basic lessons.) She hopped between that pool and coming over to play with Andrew and Jocelyn. Such a great sister! I did start to wonder though, on our way back inside the hotel, why it was taking Andrew such a long time to walk and keep up with us. I noticed as I watched him that he was avoiding stepping on the cracks along the sidewalk. Apparently his sister Jocelyn told him that if he steps on a crack, he would fall through. Nice!! No matter how many different ways I tried telling and showing him that that wouldn't happen, he still insisted on not stepping on the cracks. And that seems to be his new way of walking at the moment as he did it again when we went to the house. He really does make me laugh! The only way Andrew was even comfortable with the idea of taking a nap was to have me lay by him after an hour or being back in our room. It was four in the afternoon at this point and I ended up falling asleep next to him with Landon sleeping on my chest. For that hour nap, the girls huddled on the bed side by side and watched a Disney show. No complaints for free entertainment. :) Once quiet time was over, I let the girls walk to the front desk and get themselves (and Andrew and I) a cookie. Otis Spunkmeyer cookies anytime you please? Dangerous! Good thing we've only gotten one once in the two days we've been here! :)

During this move process, John and I committed to keeping dinner time as a family still and tonight was Mexican food. John went and picked up some food at Chipotle for us and our friends who are so generously helping us paint our home and I swung by Taco Bell and got Jocelyn and Andrew each a burrito and a little nacho on the way over to the house to eat. We ate in the backyard at the picnic table - one of our last meals at the house. And can I just say WOW! The whole upstairs is now completely painted with a nice shiny coat of white. Very clean looking. As the kids and I were leaving, they went back to work painting the hallway and downstairs bathroom. I felt bad for them to have no music to listen to while they worked away so I drive back to the hotel and grabbed the laptop and took another trip back to the house to bring it to them. It was 8:30pm so we hurried back to the hotel, I got the kids showered, changed and ready for bed, stories read, teeth brushed, songs sung, prayers said and they were finally out, all three snuggled on a queen sized bed, around 10pm. Meanwhile, I fed Landon, read him Goodnight Moon and cuddled with him a bit longer than I normally do at night to try and somehow make up for all the craziness before I put him down for sleep. It was a long day, but thankfully not as long and tiring like yesterday.

John could probably debate that comment in regards to his day...he and our friends have been working so hard and doing so much back at the house. But I'm very thankful. Being a single mom at the moment has been a bit challenging and stressful too but it's also been good for our kids to be entertained and not at the house while the moving has taken place. They do miss their daddy dearly and we all can't wait for Saturday to come - when we hit the road for our trip while we wave goodbye to Virginia. Thankfully for only three years. We have really grown to love this state and all of our amazing friends and ward family!