Pictures from the last week:

 Last Monday, we turned in our keys to the rental agency.  And for the first time in 31 days, we did not have to do anything.  I mean, there are still boxes to be unpacked but all necessary items have been located.  We'd been painting or cleaning or packing for 31 days straight.  Often falling into bed around midnight knowing the alarm clock would go off (electronic or human) in just a few short hours.  I didn't realize what a toll the stress was taking until it was (almost miraculously) gone.  We could just relax in the evening on the couch.  We woke up refreshed after getting a relatively good night of sleep (we are still not quite in the going to bed at a reasonable hour mode)

 Anyway, it's been a little off-setting not having pressing things to do.  As I said, there are boxes to unpack, so I have loads of things I could do...but, why?  Let's just all relax for a bit and enjoy our new house.  And the fact the kids are pretty good at helping maintain some semblance of cleanliness.

 Today, randomly, they started picking everything up.  I have no idea why.  I thought they'd ask to watch something or play a video game...but, no.  They just decided to do it.  I'm just rolling with it.

 I am so pleased with our new living room.  It's just cozy.  I foresee many evenings of movie watching, game playing, fire enjoying and waking up at 2 AM to shuffle down the hall to bed.  Speaking of the hall, that has been a raceway for cars, a excellent place to bounce balls, and today, for the first time, a 20 foot dash with a jump on the ottoman for good measure.  Only one injury was sustained during this session, so I assume I can expect to have it happen again.

 I don't know if it is possible to buy a house and not immediately find things wrong with it...but, Eric and I are 0 - 2 on this.  This time, it was a dryer outlet.  I had a foreboding feeling when the delivery guys told me it was a 'simple' matter to exchange a range outlet for the dryer outlet.  But, I remained calm and had Eric pick the correct outlet from the store and install it.  When the dryer did not start, we researched and discovered a few odd things going on.  It is most likely lucky we chose to do the 'cheaper' option of exchanging the outlet instead of just swapping the plug because we discovered the outlet was wired completely incorrectly (my electrical engineer of a husband drew out the circuit for me to show just how crazy it was).  Several hours on the phone, two weeks, and two professionals later, we now have an electrical outlet that is wired correctly and a dryer that runs.  But, truth be told, I am sort of loving the clothesline.  Everything with the dryer cost about $650 (cost of dryer and accoutrements, cleaning the dryer vent that was a fire waiting to happen, and repairing the electrical) (not to mention the future electricity cost and the annoyance of figuring out what was wrong).  The clothesline and clothespins cost a grand total of $11, was ready out of the box, and worked!  But, as Dom pointed out this morning as I hung some more laundry, it is nice to have options.

 We have a to-do list that is pretty long.  Nothing super intense, just a wish list of things to get done.  One is to re-finish our thrift store filing cabinet.  #thankspinterest  #nailedit

Not bad for a couple of math nerds, eh?

 Our kids have been dealing with some really stressed out parents.  They've learned to steer clear of us.  Dom has also started the annoying/endearing habit of asking if I didn't sleep well when I snap at them.  I have explained as most women need to explain to men that when I get angry he should really consider if he actually did something to warrant it...I am more than happy to provide a list of what could have possibly irritated me.  And Will, in general, agrees.  And if he doesn't, I generally agree with him...Bottom line, I am leading by example that is always important to apologize and start each day with a clean slate. 

 After 10 years of looking for the best deals and settling for things that aren't exactly what I want, but I will make do (this is always me, Eric would let me buy whatever I want), I have loosened up a bit.  I bought curtains at Home Goods because I liked them.  I went back and forth on a large area rug for our living room and bought it even though it was slightly more than the $20 I always think area rugs should be.  I also got a cool area rug for the office.  Molly is quite complimentary of just about everything I have purchased.  So I've got that going for me...which is nice.  And, I bought a $4 box of cereal just because it had Darth Vader on it.  I think I'm on a slippery slope...

 Our sleeping beauty.  She is in constant motion until she crashes.  And then she is so still.   She is also very still when she is hiding from me.  This morning I had a minor panic attack when I couldn't find her.  Turned out she had taken her blanket and curled up inside a cardboard box.  She probably was dozing when my frantic calls brought her running.

 The office is very close to being set up and I am getting antsy to start school.  I think the kids are, too, but they won't admit it.  Yet, every day, they are doing something educational not because I tell them to, but because they find it on a shelf.  A few days ago, Dom picked out a magnetic puzzle set that tells about 12 different periods in history.  We worked through the puzzles which are now displayed on the fridge, and he and Will have been reading through the book regularly.  Yesterday, Dom broke out the science kit and all four kids made a big mess with food dye.  I wasn't thrilled, but guess what?  Rubbing Alcohol will get quite a bit of the dye off skin and time and soap will get the rest.  And today, they played with the marble works which John (whose favorite word is "ball") loved.  He only tries to put a marble in his mouth a couple of times in a sitting.  For the most part he is content to watch it go down the tubes or throw it all over the house.

And now I need to get my youngest up from his nap.  Tomorrow I'm planning on taking all 4 kids on my monthly grocery shopping outing.  Should go well...or I'll blog about it next week...win/win