Welcome Welcome Conference Sunday!

Conference Sunday was the first major event observed in our new home. It was absolutely perfect, family, cinnamon rolls, snuggle time and the word of God. I can't think of a better house warming.

All of the kids were super excited.
Abizella kicked off the Saturday sessions by creating a "CTR" snack plate.

We whipped the kitchen into a functional enough state that we could make our traditional cinnamon rolls. This was not optional. We talked about it for weeks before hand. Let's face it, if you can produce homemade cinnamon rolls you have a functional kitchen!
We waited with baited breath for the big moment.

They were met with much delight!

After we sucked every last cinnamon speck from our sticky fingers, we piled on the couch and listened to the Mo-Tab ring in conference.

Some of us got a little restless...

But that's okay, most of us didn't mind our little distraction.

1 Week Down

With two full time jobs and 5 kids between us, any step we can take beyond the basal level of survival is remarkable. While to the untrained eye it may look like nothing remarkable has changed, I dedicate this blog post to our best efforts of our first week in our new home. 

Early Sunday morning I woke up and once again tip toed around the house to check our status. 

Superkid and Tadpole both made it through the night in their own beds (and you may notice that a few toy boxes have been unpacked!)...

The family room is postured for Conference Sunday complete with fresh paint, blinds, new carpeted stairs, comfortable seating, BYU TV, a cheery lamp and a picture of the cutest family ever.

In the kitchen, the mop has moved from the sink (last week) to the floor. 

I spent the morning scrubbing up the paint drips in the kitchen and family room.

The bathroom, to the untrained eye, looks like an 80s throw back, but to me it is radiant. After spending 5 hours scrubbing off all the scum that had accumulated since the 80s, I am in love. 

Well, kind of.

The living room is still serving as a box dumping point...

Pop's office has been converted from the family bedroom into a place he could actually work!

Abizella has a real live mattress on which to sleep.

The master bedroom is painted and Pops has installed closet organizers! 

 A most productive week!

Mind Blowing Excitement!

After a weekend of watching our backyard sink before our eyes and actually seeing our septic tank emerge from the earth...

Nothing was more heart warming than to see a back hoe parked in the back yard when I got home from work. 

Pops said Jaws planted himself at the bedroom window all afternoon. 

Nothing is cooler than pushing dirt. We can all agree on that. 

The First Night

Well the music stopped and it was time to move into the new house. After 2 weeks, we had painted the dining room, living room, family room and office and we had new carpet on the stairs and office. I had to head back to work on Monday, so we stopped the painting madness and started moving over. The Larsen's thankfully took the kiddos Friday night and Pops and I hefted our beds over to the new place. Saturday Pop's friend Dana came over and helped move the stuff that I refused to help with (i.e. granite table and the china hutch). I'm not going to lie. Our bodies were shot. Because the master bedroom was yet to be painted, we hauled our mattress into the office and collapsed there for the night. Sunday morning, I woke up before everyone else and tip-toed around the house to see where everyone ended up.  Pops, Tadpole (started in his bed), Jaws and I woke up in the office...

Abizella and Superkid (started in his bed) landed on the couches...

And Little Chief in Superkid's bed (started in his bed)...

Then I took stock of the rest of the house... the kitchen...

The dining room...

The living room...

Abizella's room...

Our bedroom...

Then I decided it would go a long way to help us feel like we were "home" if I whipped up some breakfast. So I tip toed down to the basement to riffle for some basic kitchen implements and found that the basement was flooding. That spring shower that started Friday night and continued through Saturday was a torrential down pour that morning. I followed the river to the waterfall that was coming through the bulk head.

Pops ran outside in the storm, schlepped through the mud and began digging a trench around the bulk head. He next went down to the basement and sucked all the water out with the shop vac. The septic system was replaced before we closed. We're hopeful that all the soil shifting caused the mud slide and that the situation can be eradicated.

We called off church and spent the day digging out. We even found the dining room table and managed to put a roast on it. Our favorite meal made us feel all warm and fuzzy.

And so did the two loaves of banana bread that Jaws whipped up!

Ahhh, home sweet home.

Red Blaze

Even when you are up to your eyeballs in paint, the Toad world continues to spin. We all changed out of our painting jeans to root for Superkid's entry in the Pinewood Derby. Go Red Blaze!

Here is the cheering section!

The Red Blaze was not Superkid's fastest entry, but a good contender. This kid's heart is pure gold. He was genuinely happy for every kid and encouraged the stragglers and sincerely congratulated the winners. He is the best thing going.

First Things First

Since the kids were denied any part of the painting detail, they were relegated to day after day of screen time. The first few days they huddled in a corner with a bag of crackers and the iPad.

With frigid temperatures outside and nothing legitimate to play with inside, Pops recognized the TV as a top priority to keep the kiddos occupied. He was quick to get the internet up and move the TV over. The kids then sat happily transfixed for days on their TV perch (i.e. staircase). When the carpet guy came to take measurements Tadpole excitedly announced, 

"We've been watching TV for 4 days straight!" 

Not our proudest parenting moment.

Neither was the moment when we ripped up the carpet and discovered that it was really rose color not brown. Seriously, I would be too skeeved out to let my kids sit in many a public place way cleaner than that nicotine stained stair case.  Ick!

We had a really high point when the Blanchard family came over armed with cleaning supplies and tackled the kitchen. They made their way through nearly the entire kitchen, partly thanks to the happy TV distraction. Little Chief was particularly pleased to have a snuggle buddy!

Only problem left was what to do with ourselves when we were back at Joe and Holly's. Little Chief took matters in his own hands and announced that he would be our TV. He jumped up on the TV table and proceeded to act out scenes from Dragon Tails. Now that is a proud parenting moment.

And add having a sanitary surface to loaf around on while boobing in front of the tube to the "Proud Parent" list as well.

Not All Fun And Games...

Okay! Okay already. I know, the fan base is not pleased. It has been a long absence during a most interesting development. If you really want to know what we've been up to, grab your nearest ash tray and take a deep breath. First thing first. Operation, "Freshen the New Pad". This required scrubbing the walls with TSP followed by 2 coats of Kilz primer and 2 coats of paint. 

After taking possession of the house, we brought the kids back. They ran around like it was Christmas morning. Pops and I slumped down against the wall and curled into the fetal position as we started to conspetualize the magnitude of our lunacy. Seriously, what were we thinking?

No worries, we got into stride. I extended my 1 week off work into 2 weeks and we got busy. Really busy. And with this kid on percussion, we stepped in time.

But it is not all fun and games.
Often, this poor pathetic munch had only his pillow and his sucky fingers to give him comfort.

Day after day

after day

and up for more!

While I don't have any amazing "Before and After" pics to present, I do have about a month of "Before and In-The-Middle" pics to post. Things are shaping up and we are really starting to love our new home and feel very very blessed to have it. It really is perfect for our family. Now on with the show!