We're Home

It took us seven years, three months, three weeks, and four days, but we're finally home.

The Living

"...no matter the kind of house, it is the living inside that makes it wonderful, what happens in each room that makes it marvelous." ~ Cynthia Rylant, Let's Go Home

Hiatus

Well, we're down to 10 days left at the old house and we're hoping the new house will be ready by then. Jay has interviews lined up this week and we're back and forth between towns. And Alice still does not love the car seat. Imagine the most stressful thing you can think of and then multiply it by three and then you'll know where we're at. Unless you're thinking of death, in which case you should divide it (is that the right operation?), since I am fairly positive that we aren't going to die from this. At least most days I think we'll survive.

Anyway, all of that is to say that I will be taking a brief break from blogging for the next few days as we try to get everything done. I have a house full of stuff to start dismantling, school to plan, a garage sale to prepare for, and a three month old who may be just a tee-tad spoiled. And to top it off, I have a sneaking suspicion that I missed the season premiere of The Office, so you know I must not be myself.

Check back next week and I hope to have some posts for you then!

The Money Jar

Several months ago, my mom began putting her spare change into a big vase. She told the kids that when the vase was full, they could divide the money among the three of them.

Dad helped sort.

The kids ended up with $50 each! Jack bought a couple of toys, and then he says he will pay for college. After he has that paid for, he is saving for a new Reading Rainbow DVD.

Painting

I don't like to dust, but hopefully I'll keep it a little cleaner than this!

Living room

Kitchen...We're not sure about the cabinets. Jay is already thinking about repainting, but I am thinking that once everything is finished and the lighting is in, they may not look so yellow. We'll see.

The guy room

Dining room looking into the front entry

North entry

Dining room

Our bathroom

We thought about doing different colors, but we decided we should wait until we knew how we were going to decorate. We figured it would be easier to start with beige. Do you know how many different shades of beige there are? Do you know how many sample cans we bought? We finally ended up with some strange concoction Jay mixed up and we are really happy with the results!

Going to the Chapel

Jay's sister, Shannon, got married last week at the Thorncrown Chapel in Eureka Springs.

Alex and Samantha

Jack, William, and Keegan

The happy family!

Afterward, we had dinner at the Crescent Hotel.

Congratulations, Shannon and Kevin!

Road Trip

What should you do when you have a baby who hates the car seat, you're two weeks from closing on your house, and have four million details to figure out for the house you're building two hours away? Hit the road, of course! Jay's sister got married last week, so we took a little trip to Eureka Springs. Even though we have so much going on, it was a nice trip!

Well, it was nice except for this part. This sign also comes in the 6 mile variety. And I have a real problem with crooked and steep roads. Especially when I'm the passenger. And it's raining. And the baby is screaming. I probably should have been medicated for the last part of the trip.

Alice did quite well most of the way there. On the way back, not so much.

Jack kept himself entertained with his Etch-a-Sketch and GameBoy.

He was excited when he saw we would go through a tunnel, but a little disappointed that it didn't take us back in time. Thanks, Dinosaur Train.

We stayed at the Basin Park Hotel. Parking for the hotel is not anywhere near the hotel. We had to take these stairs to get between the hotel (at the top left of the picture) and the parking lot. That's a lot of fun when you're carrying bags and a baby. If I lived in Eureka Springs I would be thin or dead within a week.

For just $150 a night, you, too, can have such historic luxury.

Jack liked the little closet cubby until Jay moved away.

The view from our room was nice. Not really $150 nice, but nice.

I laughed every time I saw this sign.

Hopefully I will get more pictures from the weekend up soon. There are wedding pictures and pictures of the painting in the new house!

Family Resemblance

The last two pictures were both taken on September 9, too--2004 and 2009. Now you can see why our answer to who Alice looks like is always JACK!

ConservaStory

Today Jay didn't have to work or go out of town, so we took a little trip downtown to the ConservaStory exhibit.

This book greets you when you come in.

You enter the garden through a castle door!

The Black Orchid

A huge dragon

Gnomes are hidden throughout the garden.

We also spied a few fairies.

Afterward, we headed out to lunch!

Three Months

Today Alice is three months old. As usual, she was dragged around town doing things five year olds enjoy. She's usually a pretty good sport about it, and even seems to enjoy it. She always wants to sit on my lap and face the action.

This is where Alice can usually be found if she's not sleeping. And sometimes even when she is sleeping. They don't stay babies for very long, so I'm not too concerned about it. She also likes her bouncy seat. When you make the bird play music, she gets this huge grin on her face as if she's thinking, "You're playing that for me?!" It's downright adorable.

She can laugh now, and if she could just figure out how to move her arm out of the way, she could roll over. I love those thighs.

She also enjoys chewing on her fingers. Last night she found her thumb and almost soothed herself to sleep with it while I was in the shower.

Next week Alice gets to take her first out-of-state trip, and by the time she is four months old, we will have moved. It's going to be quite a month for all of us!