Still breathing

Here is an adorable picture of Ada playing in the "mouse house" at my parents house last weekend. Yes, my sweet father actually built this into the kitchen cabinets as a surprise for me when I was a little girl. He recently added lights to it and the girls were mesmerized.

So, I am still breathing. We are all still breathing around here.. things have just gotten a little hectic. Stephen is chaperoning the senior class trip to Greece (lucky much!?...well, except for the unrest there but we are assured that it is going to be safe..). He leaves on Tuesday. We get to start moving into our new house.. Tuesday. Perfect. I can handle it. Oh wait.. I broke my two day before yesterday.. yes.. my toe.. broken. I tripped over a corner. A corner in my home.. that I walk past at least 68 times a day. Now my toe, and a great deal of my foot, is blue and swollen. This will make walking our stuff back and forth a bit more challenging. Not to mention the fact that I am stuck indoors with the girls while Stephen is gone.. unable to take them on walks cuz you know.. I can't really.. walk I mean.. well I can.. it just hurts a lot. I have lots and lots of help. So no worries you worriers out there... lots. Just about everyone we know is ready and willing to pitch in and get'r'done. So.. it's gonna happen... the move that is.... Just haven't felt much like talkin' about it.. little stressed. A little stressed. Just a little. The end.

Dear David...

... today I saw these pictures on my FB news feed and my heart started to ache. You are in such a beautiful place.. such awe inspiring surroundings. I see you there, taking it all in.. and I want to be in the picture with you. I want to be there with a baby on my hip ..holding hands with your brother. I want to dangle my legs from the roof of your car and watch Ada and Margot explore the wiry grass on the side of the road. I am so grateful to God that He has you in this place, grateful that He is helping you to thrive there, grateful that you so generously share your daily joys in photos like these. Still my heart aches as I print these pictures and put them on the fridge for the girls to see.. it aches because I miss you so much. I just want to wrap my arms around you and give you a big squeeze. I don't know how Mary can stand it.. how does she keep from racing to the airport every other weekend? We all love you so much, David. The girls are trying so hard to say your name. It's comes out as "Daaa-iiid" right now. Speaking of baby girls, I hear them calling from upstairs.. waking up to another day of Cheerios, watching for busses, and skinned knees. We love you, we miss you.. come see us soon.

Love always,

Your Family on the East Coast

House

It looks like May is going to be a busier month than originally anticipated. We are moving!!! The neighborhood we live in is managed by the Raleigh Housing Authority. This means that some of the units are set aside for their income based housing program. If you qualify for this program, as long as you work 40 hours a week, you can rent a home/apartment for a percentage of your annual income. With Stephen's salary as a teacher and two kids running around, we definitely qualified for the program. We filled out the paperwork this fall and were told there was a long waiting list but they would let us know if anything came available. Well, apparently it wasn't as long a list as we thought! She called yesterday to say that a three bedroom house less than a block away from our townhouse was available! I threw the girls in the stroller and literally ran up to the office to get the key to take a look. Three bedrooms, two and a half baths, a back yard, a small front porch (as you can see in the picture)... all for $160 less than we are paying now for a two bedroom (not sure how that works but I am not asking any questions!)... we just have to move by the end of the month (gulp!). I was up most of the night last night thinking about where I was going to put things, how I would organize our new space. I am so excited I can hardly contain myself. I walked over there this morning and I could see the workers working on replacing the carpet and the linoleum, painting and cleaning. Our first house! We have never lived in a house before.. always apartments with at least one shared wall... the girls are going to have their own yard to play in. Hurrah!!!!!

Greetings and Salutations

The girls absolutely love the picture of Baby Alice on the fridge and greet her with a kiss most mornings.

Thanks Grammy!

Grammy suggested to Stephen that we could fill our wagon with water for the girls to play in. Great idea Grammy!!! The only minor obstacle was that there are holes in the bottom so that water can drain out.. Chimay corks to the rescue! We had a few extra corks so we threw them in as well. So much fun except for the dag-gum mosquitoes .. it's only the beginning of May ya'll.