Can I Please Come Home???

A sad Houdi--"I miss my 'mom'"

Making the House a Home

We spent all day Saturday moving Katelynn into her new house. Well, all day included a leisurely breakfast at Gunther Toody's, and a very late lunch/early dinner at Chick-fil-A afterwards. I was so busy keeping Ailah out of the path of movers that I failed to take pictures of the actual unloading. I wasn't present for the loading of the truck so you'll just have to take my word for it that we actually did manage to get all the stuff from Katelynn's apartment into her house. Jan and Merle generously gave up their Saturday to help get the move done in record time.

Wow, what a job! We didn't think it would take too long to load one small apartment's stuff into a U-Haul and move it across town. However, U-Haul's web reservation system is apparently a mess, so when they showed up to get the truck, a few blocks from the house, they didn't have one. (Despite the fact that they had confirmed the reservation the night before.) Long story short, they ended up picking up a truck in downtown Denver almost two hours later. Which meant last night it had to be returned to downtown Denver! Augh! But even with all that, it was a relatively short day moving, compared to the dawn to dusk jobs our last few moves have been. (I'm not sure I like what that says about the amount of junk Jeff and I have collected over the years.)

The little girls and I stayed at the house cleaning. Well, I cleaned, Mara and Ailah played with every toy I'd brought, depleted all the bubbles and silly string that Katelynn had brought, ate numerous snacks and watched two movies. Although, Ailah doesn't watch movies, so she just unpacked bags of stuff Katelynn had dropped off earlier. You know, doing her share. Despite numerous interruptions, I managed to get the kitchen, two baths and miscellaneous small jobs finished, like getting a ton of dirt out of window tracks and nasty dog slobber off the back storm door. Yuck! But I figured Katy would feel bad if she didn't get to do some of the cleaning herself, so I left the rest for her.

Katelynn's house is pretty neat! It is unbelievable how much space she has, compared to her apartment. Well, about 4 times as much. Last weekend, she and Jeff shopped out a used washer and dryer and a huge freezer, also used. Those were delivered while they worked on other odd jobs. Last night Jeff put in an outlet for the freezer, so she is all set. There are plenty of cosmetic things she'd like to do like bathroom updates, some painting and new windows, but otherwise it is a quite sound and pleasant house.

Today, we are just going to relax and enjoy being settled into our house. Have fun unpacking, Kate!

Moving Day

The Moving Crew


Jeff and Merle did the heavy lifting.

The infamous U-Haul truck

A Haircut, a house and a huge birthday

May is always a busy month for our family. Besides the annual hoopla surrounding the end of the school year, we celebrate two birthdays, Mother's Day and observe Memorial Day. This year the birthday was a big one for both Nikki and me. She was thrilled because she finally was able to leave the teen years behind and can now say she is 20! I was not so thrilled because, well, let's just say she was born on my 30th birthday, and I wasn't as happy about leaving my 40's behind as she was about embarking upon her twenties.

Our break from end of year activities was short-lived; one year to be exact. Mara had two events this year. On May 13 we enjoyed a potluck with other families from the Union Colony Children's Music Academy classes. Then the children put on a great program performing many of the songs they learned this year as well as showing off their new music reading abilities. Mara loved Music Makers Home this year and can't wait to start up again in the fall with Music Makers World.

The next evening, she "graduated" from Awana Cubbies after two years of working very hard to complete both her books. She received a big ribbon and a cool banner to display all her awards. We're very proud of her hard work and know that this program was instrumental in her journey to asking Jesus into her heart last fall. She will be a Sparky in the fall. She tells me she is ready because she knows the song already. She does.

Ailah's milestone for the month was her first haircut. The sad, choppy hair she came home with had grown into a very shaggy, if adorable, mop of hair which was in her eyes much too often. So in she went for a bang trim and a first effort at evening out the orphanage cut. She sat very still and allowed Anna to do the best possible for now. It will take a few more cuts for all the odd pieces to catch up and allow her to begin growing it out. But since her hair grows as fast as Mara's, it won't take long.

Now drum roll please, for the biggest milestone of 2008, to date. On Friday, May 30, Katelynn closed on her first house. Wahoo!!! (As if turning 50 didn't make me feel old enough, now I have a child who owns a house.) We are so happy for her and can't wait to help her move in so she can start turning it into a home. It is a great place, 2000 sq. ft, 5 bedrooms, 3 baths and a full-finished basement. Thanks to the sad state of the real estate market and the low interest rates, she was able to get much more house than she otherwise could have. The perfect storm causing heartache for those who had taken on more house than they could afford, was a timely opportunity for Katy. She had a month left on her lease, so she can spend some time fixing up a few things before she moves in.

The month went by in a blur and, as usual, left us rather breathless. I'm so glad my favorite season is here and I'm ready to settle into a summer routine. I'm loving having Nikki here for the summer, though she is gone during the days Monday through Friday working an internship at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment in Denver. (A little nepotism is always helpful in finding summer jobs.) Mara has been accepted into the Colorado Virtual Academy for the fall, so we can relax a little knowing that the decision has been made about what to do for Kindergarten in the fall. I'm a little worried about how she and I will fare as we embark upon a home school situation, but Jeff and I both believe this is the best choice for her this year. So for now, we'll just enjoy the season, assuming, that this chilly, rainy weather ends soon and allows us to once again enjoy watching the daily sunset from our deck as we enjoy a grilled meal or an iced coffee. Ahhhhh, summer!

Great Job, Mara!!

Since Nikki was off on an adventure to Seattle on our actual birthday, the little girls and I spent the day with one of Mara's SWI mates who lives in Denver. The girls had a great time feeding the ducks, wandering in the runoff creek and playing on the playground at Glenmere Park while her Mom and I caught up and made predictions about their upcoming referral.

A nervous Ailah sat on my lap for her haircut.

Katelynn is rightfully proud of her new home, weeds and all.