The Big Move

After three weeks of packing and over three hours of loading and cleaning and six hours of driving, we have arrived in our new home in North Carolina.  Now the question remains, how long will it take for us to recover from the experience?  I think I may be too old for this.  Or have too many kids.  Or something.

It all started on Friday morning when we went to go pick up this beast:

I could swear they knew that a family with four boys was coming.  We were pretty excited to have our dino friend for the trip.  And it was lucky it was such a memorable image because there were quite a few U-Hauls on the road this weekend at one point we were behind two with the same back and similar plates.  But only one dino!

Friday afternoon we filled it up.  That would be the royal "we" since I didn't actually put anything in the truck.  I do have to say, we debated between the 20 foot and the 26 foot truck.  Just to be safe and since we were packing to moves (one to the house, one to a storage unit), we got the 26 foot.

And good thing because it barely all fit.  We had a lot of fabulous help for both packing the truck and cleaning the house.  At one point, I looked out the window and saw the gentlemen all standing around with half our belongings on the front lawn area just staring at the inside of the truck.  I figured that couldn't be a good sign.  I am pretty sure they were all looking and thinking, "There is no way that is all going to fit."  And that was the general consensus up until it all actually did fit.

Whew.

The boys were lucky enough to spend the afternoon and evening with Opa and Oma.  Jason and I got to their house just before 11pm and crashed until 5am when the next day's excitement began.

So, I do feel a little bad that I didn't get a last picture with the boys and Oma and Opa, but since we left their house at 6am and they were still in their pj's I figured they probably didn't want a picture.  We piled in the car and headed back to the townhouse for a couple of last minute chores and to have breakfast with Nana at Tropical Smoothie Cafe.

And then we got situated in the van and followed Jason and the truck down to North Carolina.

Some nice surprises:
-It rained after we packed the truck and it rained twice on the way down and it poured rain Saturday night, but it did not rain during either the loading or the unloading of the truck.  Hallelujah.
-We've never been so cool in the summer.  Lots of fans and a house that doesn't hemorrhage whatever temperature air the HVAC is desperately trying to pump into it means we've been far more comfortable here with a higher number on the thermostat.  For. the. win.
-I think North Carolina likes us.  I've been keeping an eye on the weather down here for several weeks and been alarmed by the daily DAILY heat advisories.  And it was toasty and humid when we moved in, but the weather has been not that bad since.  I am sure that will change.
-Michael is thrilled to live in a house with no stairs.  Apparently the townhouse was quite a trial for him in that regard.  Who knew?
-Having a backyard is nice.  Having one with no poison ivy is even better since the boys went charging into the bush before I could get a peek at the plant life.  ::facepalm::
-Isaac does really, really well on long car trips.  Not so well at taking naps in his own crib.
-The public library is close by and has reading programs for this summer.  I was amused to learn that we have a three month probation period during which we can check out only 10 books and 8 DVD's each at a time.  We may have to go to the library a couple of times a week, but I think we'll manage.

So here we are in North Carolina.  Sometimes it still doesn't feel quite real.  The more we unpack the more this feels like home.  And then we leave the house and I realize that I have no idea where anything is.

Other degrees

We recently paid off my student loans.  It was a time of rejoicing and reflection.  I received my Bachelor's in Anthropology back in...well, let's just say it wasn't this decade, but it was this century.  In any case, while I enjoyed getting my education, the jury is still out on how useful it has been or will be.  I took a lot of interesting classes and gained a lot of trivia knowledge.  However, I have spent the last 11 years (oh my gosh, has it really been that long?) being a stay-at-home person and during that time have thought that there are other degrees that might have proven more applicable to my daily life.

Some examples:

• Early Childhood Development: Let's start off with the obvious, shall we?  We have no idea what we are doing.  And poor Josh, with every new stage he goes through, Jason and I just look at each other and say, "Um, is that normal?"  When Michael does it we think, "Okay that IS normal." And by the time Ben does it we hardly notice.  It would save us a lot of grief and Josh a lot of future therapy sessions if we knew what to expect. 
• Music: Aside from the obvious benefits in math skills (or so I've heard), if I had any clue about music (and by "clue" I mean ability to read the notes on those line thingys), I would have a more sophisticated response than a blank stare to give to the piano teacher when she explains the boys' homework.  Also, might not have to rely on Bugs Bunny cartoons to expose my children to Wagner.  (Note: my grandparents are rolling in their graves on that last one.)  Also, might know who Wagner is.
• Nursing: Also a bit obvious.  Can't go wrong with solid medical knowledge.  At this point, I don't take the kids to the pediatrician unless there is some risk of them actually dying, because I am so tired of the slightly condescending smile followed by "It's just a virus.  Go home and drink lots of fluids. Thanks for the $20."  Okay, maybe not that last sentence, but you know what I mean.
• Veterinary Science: Somewhat related to nursing.  I love my boys, but some days they remind me more of howler monkeys or feral cats than human children.  It might be nice to have some idea what to do with them on those days.
• Theology:  There are deep questions about the nature of God and universe that I did not know existed until I had children.  And we are talking DEEP.  Deep, deep questions.  Maybe if I had more training in this field, I would be better equipped to answer such questions as, "Can Jesus jump over buildings?"  (I...guess...so.  I suppose anyone who has the power to move mountains could move his body up and over a skyscraper.  Here, have a cookie.  Let's go to the park.)
• Computer Science:  At some point in the very near future, I am going to live with a bunch of people who know more about electronics than me (it's the natural cycle of life).  But these people's brains won't be fully developed yet and so they will be prone to making stupid decisions.  Stupid decisions + the internet = (possibly) bad, bad things.  I have no intention of isolating them from the web, but it would probably be a good idea if I could give them some guidance about using their various devices.
• Recreation Management: Or event planning.  Or social coordinatoring.  Whatever.  Planning and organizing trips, activities, educational excursions, play dates has been a learning process.  It often feels like the logistics of getting us all out the door and on a day trip is a feat comparable to Hannibal crossing the Alps.  I am sure there is an easier way, I just don't know what that is.

Science Museum

In an odd turn of events, I actually had to get the boys up and get breakfasts and lunches made earlier than usual on the first day of summer vacation.  But, it turned out to be totally worth it.  At 8 o'clock this morning, we piled in the van and headed down to Richmond to check out the Science Museum.  It was a fabulous trip (in no small part because Isaac was a peach) and well worth the drive.  The boys had a wonderful experience and even I learned some new things.

Things I learned:

1.  Although matching neon shirts make it very easy to track down my children, they wreak havoc in the pictures.

2.  Rat basketball is THE BOMB!

3.  You can never, ever, ever, ever, EVER go wrong with bubbles.

4.  Some people think that roaches are good pets. (eww)

5.  There is a nonvenomous snake that eats venomous snakes.  For. the. win.

6.  Josh wants to live in Salt Lake City, Michael in North Carolina and Ben in Lake Michigan.

7.  Even though the boys had a great time, they unanimously voted that this wasn't better than the Marbles museum in Raleigh.  Which is fortunate in light of our upcoming move.

Last Week of School

This post could just as easily be titled "It's All About Josh", because, yes, it is pretty much all about Josh.  Sorry, Michael, Ben and Isaac.

This was Josh's last week of elementary school and it came with several exciting events.  

Monday was the school's AR Carnival.  AR is a reading program that assigns books points based upon level of reading difficulty.  After reading a book, the student can take a test and accrue points.  Josh only got exactly 600 of them this year.  According to the librarian, that would be twice the runner-up.  Our school librarian is a lovely lady who head the Battle of the Books team and champions reading (I guess that goes without saying). At the end of the school year, she holds a carnival where the kids can use tickets based on their AR points (5 points=1 ticket for Josh's class, 2 points=1 ticket in Michael's) to play games. To reward Josh for his achievement, she got him a Kindle.  I wasn't there when he won it, but I have heard from a very reliable source that Josh was over the moon.  I do know, however, that this is the position we have seen Josh in for much of the last few days:

He clearly hasn't wasted any time.

Tuesday was the Fifth Grade Recognition Ceremony (AKA graduation but not really graduation because who does graduation in 5th grade anyway?).  It was an hour into the event and in sweltering heat that we broke one of my parenting rules.  I swore I would not be a parent who hands an electronic device to each child in lieu of teaching them to sit still even when they are bored.  I still maintain that is an important skill, but we broke down and gave Michael and Ben our cell phones so they could play with the calculators.  Ben somehow figured out how to make it show the infinity sign and Michael stopped accidentally bumping (and almost waking) Isaac in the car seat.  

I blame Isaac.  This fourth kid is kicking my trash.

But, back to Josh.  He earned some sort of award for having all A average for 4th grade and the first two quarters of 5th (??).  And then he got his certificate for completing elementary school.  Below he is waving it at us.  Or maybe he was really hot, too.

Josh and his awards.

This morning was the talent show.  Only the 4th and 5th graders were allowed to participate (if they wanted), but at a school with 600+ kids that turned out to be a lot of kids.  I think the talent show ended up being just shy of 2 hours.  Two hours.  Twwwooooo hoooouuuuurrrsssss.  Like many a talent show, it was a mixed bag.  One of the girls who sang could probably walk into a recording studio today.  And others you just had to hand it to them for having the guts to get up there.

Speaking of guts, Josh and his friend Harry were the final act.  (Twwwwwoooooo hhhooouuuuurrrrrrsssss)  They lip synched and dance to "Let It Go" from Frozen.  It was funny and a nice ending to the show.

And now they are all home for the summer.  As usual, I expect the first week to be a little rough as they go through withdraw from having a bunch of kids to play with and a teacher to entertain teach them.  But after that, hopefully we'll all enjoy the process of packing and cleaning the house as a family.  (Mwah ha ha ha)

Piano Recital

The lovely Gayle has been Josh and Michael's piano teacher for these last two years and they have done really well and worked very hard.  To accommodate a scheduling conflict with a school activity, she graciously hosted a small recital in her home Sunday evening.  

Michael played "March of the English Guard" by Faber and "Yo-Ho-Ho" by Catherine Rollin.  Josh played "We're Off to See the Wizard" and the "Cantina Song" from Star Wars.  

Isaac's Blessing

Last Saturday was Isaac's blessing.  We obviously weren't in a rush since he is over 5 months old.  However, since we are moving soon, it seemed like a good idea to get it done if we wanted our VA family to participate.  We've been so blessed to live near so much family and we've been so blessed to have Grandpa here.  But Grandpa is almost 94, so we decided to do the blessing at Dad and Diane's house rather than in our church, which is more traditional.

In any case, the day actually started with a trip to the temple with Mom.  And because I love her (and she made me promise), I am not going to post any of the pictures I took of her there.

It was a beautiful, if hot, day.

Then we went to Dad and Diane's for a family meal - chili because I have my seasons and my foods all mixed up - and family fun.  The blessing was scheduled for 5pm, so at about 4:45pm we started the excruciating process of getting the boys into church clothes on a day that is not Sunday.

Not pretty.  I mean, they do clean up real nice, but getting them there.....

But the blessing went well.  Aunt Marilyn managed to get Isaac to pass out drunk on formula fall asleep right before so he didn't make a peep.  Below are all the priesthood holders who participated (and the chairs I couldn't crop out of the picture): Jason, Dad, Grandpa, Uncle Mark, Bishopric Member, Aaron W and Aaron L.

Then I just had to get a 4 generation picture.

And then a picture with the ladies: Audrey, Me, Mom, Megan, Diane and Aunt Marilyn.

Then we went outside to get a family picture before the boys shed their church clothes,

I know, I know.  There have been a shocking number of pictures of me on the blog lately.  Never fear.  That will end soon.

And finally, because I wouldn't want anyone to think that we are an overly pious family, I have to include this lovely picture Jason took of the boys armed and crazy.