Single Digits

We are down to single digit days until the big move!
I am so excited I can hardly stand it. I love my house. Love it! It has been fun watching it being built. Every new bit of progress was exciting. Today the sod and landscaping was put in. It looks so pretty. We have our walk through on Friday and then we close on Wednesday. We should have the keys that afternoon and we will start moving things over. Declan asked if we can spend the night in it without stuff just once so that will be the night. We even plan to move stuff on Thanksgiving day. We might eat turkey sandwiches on paper plates.  We will probably have a delayed Thanksgiving Dinner. We have the moving truck on Friday and that will be that! I started packing the little house today but then decided it is kind of a waste of time because most of the stuff here we still use so I will wait until mext Tuesday and then I will pack. We will probably just throw stuff in boxes and drive it over to the house! I am not that concerned about packing for the giant 2 mile trip. There is still work to be done on the house. The stone on the front of the house, carpet, door knobs, garage doors and openers, screen on the porch, staining the stair rails and the porch roof, fixing all the holes in the walls, touch up painting, painting the shutters and front door, pillar and railing for the front porch, gutters... I sure hope it is actually finished by Friday! This whole house project has been a year in the making. Just about as soon as Matt got his new job, I was serious about the house. Started prepping the old house for sale, the sale of that house and the adventure of living in the little house. It seems kind of unreal that it is now just days away. Someday is finally here. There are so many things about this house that we are all looking forward to. So, this year for Thanksgiving we will all be thankful to be in the new house. For the added comfort it will be for our family. For Matt's job that made it all possible.
 I can't wait to make this house my home.

A Princess and a Pea

This morning when I woke Waverly up she asked me if beans are pokey to your body. I told her that you can't feel beans after you eat them. She asked if lots of beans would be pokey to your body.  Ok, I was a little confused, but again told her that beans won't poke you unless you eat a whole bunch. Then she said, "will they poke you under lots of mattresses?" Oh, now I get it! I asked if she meant a pea and she said , "yes, will a pea poke under lots of mattresses?"  I said, "only if you are a princess, are you a princess?"  her reply, "yes!" So I asked her if we should put a pea under her mattress to try it. She was quite shocked by that suggestion and told me " No Way! It would hurt me too much!"
She makes me smile.

Cannon's Baptism

 

 

Cannon was baptized on September 1, 2012.

This was a good day! He was so excited to be baptized. He was happy that Grandpa and Grandma Madsen made the trip out here to  join us. He was the only child in the stake being baptized so we got to plan the entire program. I think it turned out just right. Sullivan gave the talk on baptism and Madsen gave the talk on the Holy Ghost. He did cheat a little because he procrastinated and I finally gave in and found a talk I had given at Declan's baptism and let him change it just a little. Declan gave the closing prayer.  We sang I Lived in Heaven , which is Cannon's favorite Primary song.  Matt baptized and confirmed him. Because Madsen is now a Priest, he got to be a witness,  along with my dad. I thought that was pretty neat. Oh how I wish I could have taken a picture of Cannon as he entered the font. His face was beaming. He came down the steps and looked out at us with the biggest smile on his face. It melted my heart. Waverly went right up by the font to watch and as she came back she exclaimed, "that was awesome!" She was right.

Things I am Looking Forward To

Let me start by saying I am very grateful that we get to live in this house while ours is being built. It solved many problems for us and is much more comfortable than an apartment would have been. We are very grateful! However, it is small. We are so squished. There is stuff everywhere and no where to put it. I am so ready for the new house! I have a running list of things I am looking forward to about the new house. Everyday it seems like something happens that makes me think of something I am anxiously waiting for. 1. SPACE! 2. Waverly to have her own room again, she is not doing so well with roommates! 3. SPACE! 4. My screened porch: reading books, naps, relaxing with my husband... 5. Pulls on the cabinets 6. Soft, new carpet and nice hardwood floors. 7. SPACE! 8. Kitchen island 9. 3rd floor for the boys to hang out in 10. Having my books back. I miss my books. 11. A yard to work in and play in 12. A quiet neighborhood 13. A place for everything so everything can be in its place 14. SPACE! 15. 3 garages, at least 2 cars will be parked in them! 16. Most of all, SPACE! There are many things that I am looking forward to. Mostly just having enough space for my family. I think we will like each other a little better. It is hard being in this little house. The house is coming along. They should be painting the exterior any day now. All the electric, plumbing, heating and a/c lines are in. We are waiting on inspections so they can do the insulation and dry wall. Oh, how we hope it will happen soon and they can get to work on all that inside stuff.

Then and Now

July, 2004
This is our family when we  moved to NC.

 

June, 2012, This is us moving out of the house. A lot has changed in 8 years. Good bye, little house.Thank you for the memories.  

How Many Miracles?

There have been many prayers answered in the form of miracles for our family this spring. The builder starting the house before ours sold, the house selling on time anyway, Declan getting into Apex Middle... There is one more mini miracle on my mind right now. But I kind of feel guilty to even ask, kind of like I am pushing my luck or not being grateful for the blessings we received because I keep asking for more. So I have been thinking, is there a finite number of miracles or answered prayers or special blessings for a person or a family? Is that number over a life time or just a little bit of time? I often hear statements like if I can just have such and such happen, I will never ask for anything again. I have decided that that is an impossibility. No matter how many blessings, answered prayers, miracles I receive, there will always be something else I need divine help with. I will never run out of things to ask for. So I hope He will never run out of blessing or miracles for me. Throughout the adventures of the spring, I focused my prayers on the house and Declan getting into the right school. I wanted Cannon to get into a different school too, but figured I could deal with his same old school for one more year, I just really NEEDED the other things to happen. And they did. And we witnessed miracles. And we are so very grateful for the way things have turned out. We are now down to the final days of the school wait list. Final assignments will be posted on Friday. Cannon is #2 to get into Baucom Elementary which is just a couple of miles away from the house, lots of church kids go there, he could just ride a bus home! I want him to get into this school. I also just discovered that the bell schedule for Farmington Woods, where he currently attends, is changing to a start time of 9:15, end time of 3:45. That will make for 3 rounds of getting kids up and out and he won't get home until around 4:30 which will start to be pick up time for high school practices and cross country race time. This new information makes me really really hope he gets in. I just need 2 more open spots. Is that too much to ask?

Things I Wish I Had

Right now we have the majority of our belongings in storage while we live in our little rental house waiting for our house to be built.I brought mostly just necessities with us. One of my friends who is in a similar situation told me that she guesses we will go to storage 20 times looking for things we need. So far we have been here 2 weeks and have not gone at all. I have discovered a few things I wish I had... Bread pans, spare towels, spare pillows, blankets, more board games. I will not go to storage for any of these. When I decide I really need them, I will just go buy new ones. Except maybe the blankets, but I am hoping we will be in the house before it is blanket weather.