Isaac's 5th birthday

Hard to believe it's been 5 years since that little boy of ours was born.  He is one joyful kid!  Who would have known when we decided on Isaac ("he laughs") that it would be such an accurate name?  Just like his momma, he wears his heart on his sleeve, not much containment of emotions (unfortunately sometimes).  Even as I went through his birthday pictures I was reminded of me opening presents!  Everyone always said how animated I was. Check out this boy's expressions!  I just love it!
We started the day with the breakfast of his choice--cereal!  Easy on mommy :)  We let him open one of our presents before Keith left (a big magnifying glass to look at all those interesting things outside).  Then it was off to the "castle playground" on the way other side of town.  A favorite of the kids.  I mean this thing is HUGE.  Look at it!

One of his favorites for dinner (chicken tetrazinni) and strawberry cake with strawberry icing (all from scratch I might add!), at his request, for dessert.  So, my boy had a pink cake for his 5th birthday :)  He had asked for Frog and Toad to be on the cake but despite my best efforts, the strawberry icing I had put on was too runny and I couldn't get it to work.  Thankfully we had a Lightning McQueen candle my mom had sent last year!  He may never have forgiven me :)

Thanks for all the birthday wishes, cards and gifts!  He was certainly blessed by all of your thoughtfulness!!

Mark and Kim's visit

My big brother and his family came up for a visit a week after we moved in. It was good because it made me get unpacked super quick instead of putting off all those boxes! We had a wonderful time with them that went by way too fast! I didn't have my camera out much though.

The kids had a great time playing, we hardly saw them after their arrival. They went into DC on Monday, and Isaac cried and cried that Mika had gone without him. So, the kids and I joined them on Tuesday at the Smithsonian. We managed to make it through American History and Natural History, plus a stop at Georgetown Cupcakes on the way home.

One funny from their visit:
Isaac: "Oh, I don't want ..." (in a whiny voice)
Keith: "Isaac, no. Try that again." (meaning the right way)
Isaac: "Oh, I don't want..." (same whiny voice)

Kim could hardly keep from laughing :)

Settling in

I have quite a few pictures that didn't make it onto the blog since I'm so far behind, but thought I'd toss this in while I play catch up :)  Here's Isaac and Samy having breakfast the morning of our move.  Just too funny.

So I guess I posted about the actual move, now I'll let you into my world post move in.  I'm still feeling so out of the groove of normal life it's hard to sit back and enjoy our new home still.  Plus we've got quite a few projects in the works.  We have radon, which means it's a good idea to get it mitigated by sealing the basement floor and installing pipes and fans to suck it out.  Well, our basement isn't your model citizen for this job.  There are two crawl spaces at opposite ends of the house that open into the basement through big holes in the wall (kind of creepy!), there are also several holes in the floor (not sure where those came from), and can you believe it, we found a well down there!!  I asked the previous owners if they knew that was there, and in all their 28 years here, they never knew that!  It was kind of crazy to remove all these old boards to find an 8-inch pipe that goes 30 feet deep with water at the bottom, especially in your basement. 

A friend of mine told me a few months ago about these really cool tag sales, and I managed to get there just before my brother and his family came last week.  I scored a great table and four chairs for the kitchen that I'm going to repaint and reupholster.  I'll have to be sure to do before and after shots :)

I've loved getting to know our neighbors!  On one side they go to church with us and the kids made fast friends. On the other is Mickey--she's 72 and lifts weights, swims daily, keeps her yard immaculate, and does amazing oil paintings!  Her late husband's family has owned the land she now owns since 1712!  She is so much fun to talk to, and I'm hoping one day to explore all the old stuff she has in her basement :)

So, this no A/C thing has been a little tough in the nice heat wave.  There were a few days we were really wishing we hadn't bought a house with no air conditioning when it was 100 degrees and like 90% humidity.  We got our big window unit into the kitchen just before my brother and fam arrived, and that has helped tremendously.  Most days though I still open the windows even in there until the mid-afternoon.  The house has a great breeze always coming through.  The third floor (where the play room is) is just hot, no way around that, so the kids are usually dragging toys to the kitchen to play on the floor or the hall where it's cool.  Good thing I've got such a big kitchen now!

Date with Samy

If you've ever been around our little Samy, you know she is all girl.  She just came out of the womb that way!  I remember her at 10 months old crying because she wanted a bracelet on and couldn't get it :)

This afternoon Keith and I took our little dates with the kids and it was my turn with Samy.  Not knowing this area well, I headed to a shopping center hoping for something that she would enjoy.  We went in Home Goods where Samy enjoyed sitting on every chair we passed, pulling open every drawer to every jewelry box, admiring the pink polka-dotted piggy banks, pointing out the crowns and slippers on artwork, and just being a real cutie :)  Then we went into TJ Maxx next door...oh it was a hoot!  We spent some time in the "dress up" section looking at all the fluffy skirts and princess jewelry and make-up, then we walked by the shoes, the adult shoes mind you.  She wanted to try on every pair there was, it was so funny!  She was trying to walk around in high heels and huge flip flops with fake jewels glued to the them.  I only wish I had a camera.  "Look Mommy, just like Cinderella!" she would tell me in the high heels.
I do love that little doll baby of mine :)
Then we headed to McDonald's for $1 ice cream sundaes.  The part I love about this is that Samy kept saying, "Old McDonald has ice cream!"  And that is all my children will ever know about the golden arches :)

Busy, busy, busy

We have been busy little bees around here this past week, so sorry for the lack of photos still :)  I've actually only taken one picture since we moved in!
We all worked hard this past week to get our new place mostly in order because my brother and his family came up to visit Saturday and are staying until Wednesday.  And I spent all day last Tuesday and Wednesday cleaning our old house (seriously 10 hours total!).  There was a disgusting amount of dirt and grime hiding behind our furniture :)  So while it was a bit stressful last week, we're now all moved in and moved out (with the exception of our satellite dish that's still mounted to the old house--we're regretting that decision to get cable for football season!) and now can just enjoy our home and begin on the long list of things to be fixed and prettied up :) 
Yes, our perfect house is full of problems from serious (like the roof) to just annoying (like the ice maker that always spits ice on the floor).  It's been a wonderful reminder to me that our eternal home will not have a sagging roof or faucets that all turn on in different directions or rotten boards on the porch.  But we are still so very grateful for our new home here!  We are grateful that we could host my brother, his wife and their three kids with plenty of room for all and lots of fun to be had in the yard.  We are grateful for our new neighbors who the kids have made fast friends with and get so excited when they get to go out to play with them.  We are grateful for our front porch swings and tomatoes and cucumbers already growing in the garden.  We are grateful for the apple tree and raspberry bushes and grapes all growing in our yard.  We are grateful to our heavenly Father for providing for our every need but most of all for our greatest need--for providing a Savior from the punishment that we deserve!!  We pray this home would be used to honor and glorify Him everyday! 
Drop by anytime :)  Pictures to come soon, i hope!!

We're in!

We are moved into our new home! Tons of boxes to unpack and lots to explore :) so grateful for all the help we have yesterday, that made it possible to be loaded and unloaded in 3 hours! And the Lord was so merciful to send a one day long cool front yesterday...it's been in the 90s up here for a week or two, yesterday the high was like 79 and today it's back to the 90s. Thank you kind Father! A bit of rain, but everything went fine and it was brief.
Still a few things left at the old house and cleaning to do there. No Internet yet at the new place but I'll get some pictures up as soon as I can :)

it's official!

We are officially home owners again! Closed on the new house yesterday, and to say we are amazed at God's kindness in the whole process is an understatement! From beginning to end buying this home has been a JOY, not a hassle, not stressful, not complicated. The owners are just as wonderful as they come! They were relaying to us on the final walk through how their grown son was crying the last night saying goodbye to his home of 28 years. I would be a mess and the husband was certainly fighting back the tears. I loved hearing our realtor, Wes (who is absolutely the BEST realtor in the world!!) telling the sellers that it is God's grace through them, through their love and care over all those years that would cause their son to be so touched in saying goodbye. It was just such a sweet time signing the papers, talking, and just feeling like a bunch of old friends! I'm confident we will be seeing more of these dear people as the years pass. And to top it all off, they gave us a very generous gift as they left! As if this wonderful house and the many great things they left in it for us weren't enough! Oh, we are amazed as we look at God's perfect timing and order and sovereign hand ruling over our everyday, right down to that haircut that started it all :)

We went straight on over to the new house with our dinner and explored and started painting the master bedroom. Our neighbors even came by to welcome us and introduce themselves. The kids are thrilled and Isaac is just asking all the time when we're going back over. Here are some pictures from last night:

Dinner on the picnic table they left for us :)

Samy finding her room. She laid right down like she was going to bed :)

Isaac enjoying the view from his window.

The adorable package of cookies the settlement attorney gave us, that looks a bit like our house.

And the four of us on the front porch.