If I wasn't unpacking or picking up toys that had been strewn around the house I was probably cleaning. Let's just say Lysol and shelf liner have been my closest companions these first few weeks. Prior to moving in, my mom had watched the kids for me a few times so that I could start the cleaning process, but there was just too much to do. So, when we moved in I basically had tackled the kitchen, one bathroom, and had had the carpets cleaned. Needless to say by, I think it was Thursday, we were all pretty exhausted and I was in a major melt down. The adrenaline was gone, I was over feeling productive, I didn't want to open or break down another box, and if I had to scrub one more sink or tub or floor, that regardless of my effort was never going to look clean, simply because it's old, I seriously thought I might loose it.
So it was that Thursday afternoon Brandon came home to a very emotional wife and Melinda got a call from a slightly hysterical friend. It simply all felt too much and I was missing home more than ever. Among the many things I was missing, I was missing my friends the most. I unpacked box after box of decorations and desperately missed having Melinda close by to help me decorate and to take me out to do something fun, and as the kids woke up from their naps and I thought the last hour before Brandon got home would never pass, I missed being able to walk across the street to brave these last minutes with Courtney while the kids played together and us mommies talked or being able to call Candace to walk down to the park.
Saturday came and it was out to work in the yard. Brandon wanted to tackle the pasture and I figured I would tackle some weeding while watching the kids. By middle of the day, once again, I wanted to cry as I was pretty sure all of my free time, for the rest of my life, was going to be spent working in the yard. Brandon reminded me that we just needed to get on top of things, as they haven't been taken care of for a while, but it was all just a little to overwhelming for me. Funny how when we moved the Saturday prior I had only seen the beauty and newness of it all and in only a week the reality of how much work this would be had me totally overwhelmed. Thank goodness my husband remained level headed.
Week two was better in a lot of ways, mostly because I remembered to take some breaks to enjoy this new life that we were making, and because I remembered to laugh and play a little more.
The kids favorite thing to do right now is to ride down the little hill in our front yard on their bikes. I'm pretty sure we are going to have some injuries at some point, but they are having the time of their lives, and I love that I can leave all the doors open and be in and out of the house unpacking and working without having to worry about them. The space they have here to play is amazing!
My favorite thing right now is picking fruit and flowers and watching the chickens from the kitchen window. We were able to pick a couple bowls of cherries from our cherry tree this year and the raspberries are out of control. This morning I picked a huge bowl and I think I only got through a quarter of our bushes. When I think of how expensive it is to buy them at the store this frugal mommy gets nearly ecstatic!!!
These are our chickens. Little Red is a Road Island Red , Chick Aletta has some polish in her, and Skye and Zuma are the grey ones. Most of the names are from the kids' new favorite show Paw Patrol, in case you're wondering, and we just collected our first dozen eggs. Yay!!!!
Chick Aletta, Little Red, and Zuma
Skye
