Yawn

It has been a long few days.  I have been traveling, trying to get things done for our move.  I am tired, and it is tough to try to spread our little bit of money out far enough.  I will be glad when this us over and we can be settling in. 

I am really scared to drive all the way from here to our new home by myself with the kids.  Prince Charming is my navigator when we travel and doing without him is intimidating, but I will sick it up and what I have to do.

Midnight

I do my best work when I am alone.  I get so much more packing done when everyone is in bed.  In the last couple of nights I have packed, done laundry, cleaned the kitchen, and tidied all at about midnight.  It is crazy, but I like the quiet while I work. 

Magpie

I love that Princess Magpie is such a fun girl.  One minute she is almost a teenager all hormones and maturity and the next she is a child who dresses up in costumes and believes in the tooth fairy.  I love her heart.

I am a Weinee

I am a wind weinee.  Storms scare me.  The sounds of the wind shaking my windows makes my heart race.  I am scared that they will break.  I hate the feeling of it when it takes the side of my van.  I am afraid that we will fly off the road.  Everything about windy storms terrifies me.  It has been that way since a hurricane blew the roof of a building into our apartment years ago.  I survived, I am fine, but I am a wind weinee.

Yuck

It is one of those days where my head is aching.  It is hard to function when that happens.  I have things to do and I am in no shape to do them.

Soundtrack of My Life

Princess Magpie loves to sing.  Music fills her soul she does it all the time.   When Little Prince is in his room, he can hear her.  And most of the time, he sits in his room and sings along with her.  It really is the cutest thing ever.

Getting At It

Little by little, I am getting things done for the move. I am exhausted, but I am hopeful that I will get it all done.  I am taking the opportunity as I pack to purge the house of all the extraneous junk.

Winter

It is a funny thing.  Winters will be longer and colder once we move, but I don't even mind.  Winters here are mild.  We get a storm, and then two days later, the snow has melted again.  That is how it goes all winter long.  It isn't like that home.  It snows early and then the snow stays on the ground until spring. 

But I actually will like a real winter, where the kids play in the snow.  I look forward to tobaggans  snow angels  and snowmen.  Winter storms in a house we can afford to keep warm, drinking coffee I can afford buy.

Wow!

Prince Charming and I watched Forks Over Knives today.  And I was surprised when he told me that he would like to try a plant based diet after we move!!! I am amazed.  It would be so good for him. 

Impromptu Concert

Is there anything better than an impromptu concert from my Princess Snifflefritz.  I love songs in the living room and air guitar so enthusiastically that my pictures are blurry.  Love my babies.

So Creative

Princess Magpie and Princess Snifflefritz spent a lot of time today to create a manual on their baby brother.  Since he is autistic and more complicated, they wanted to be sure anyone who came to our house would understand him.

Surprise

Every day Little Prince surprises me with things that he can do.  It is like Princess Magpie said today, his autism doesn't make him know less, it makes it hard for him to let us know what he knows.  Several times today, I caught him reading things, his sister's shirt, a kids book, and a piece of paper. 

At one point today, he ran over to a magazine, picked it up and used an advertisement in it to spell out the name of a show he wanted,  using the remote to look for the show. 

He is so clever.  But my favorite part of the day is still the cuddles I get when I change him.

Happy Valentine's Day

My girls spent a long time today working so hard to make the best card they could for each member of the family.  The ones that they gave me were the best. 

Princess Magpie made me the most thoughtful, sweet, heartfelt card.  It filled me with love.

Card made for me by Princess Snifflefritz.  She says it is me as a Flamingo, a mamma bear, a protective dragon, and a sweet and kind lamb with clown feet for my sense of humor.

How sweet are my girls?!

Here it is

Here are some pictures of my new place! 

I think We Got It

I will feel a lot more confident about it once the lease is signed on Thursday.  But for now, I can say that I put a deposit on a house!!! It is in a GREAT neighborhood.  It is near a playground.  It is located where I went to college.  I am really hopeful.

Accomplished

It has been a busy day today. Firstly, I packed some boxes.  It felt good to get a start on that.  And we got a possible line on a place to live! We did school in the afternoon.  Princess Magpie worked hard and Princess Snifflefritz was silly, but she got it done.  I finished off with a little baking and taco seasoned chicken and rice for the kids.  I am tired, but it feels good to get things accomplished.  And the beautiful sunset was the perfect way to end my day.

Worth It

Taking pictures of Little Prince is challenging.  He loves the camera and my cell phone and all he wants is to get his hands on them.  That makes it a trick to get pics where he isn't jumping up and down I excitement or grabbing the camera.  But it is worth the effort because he is do darned adorable!  I mean, look at those eyes!

Keeping At It

I am keeping as busy as I can while things are up in the air.  I made some more calls, did some more looking, and then I started in around the house.  I  cleaned and rearranged the living room before I started baking.  My kids were thrilled with chocolate cake and chocolate chip cookies for today, with pasta for supper.  I will be glad when I can have more certainty about my future.  On the upside, I am handling the stress okay.  No had dreams, no medication, and no sleep problems. 

Proactive

Today I am being proactive.  I spent a LOT of time researching housing options.  I am making calls, sending emails, making inquiries on social media.  I am doing everything possible to move forward in some way.

And in between it all, I made my family happy by making cookies and bacon and cheese pasta.

Worst Part

There are two worst parts about this move. 

Firstly, our budget.  Our budget is the reason for our move.  We can not survive any more winters in this house.  We can NOT pay this much for oil every year.  $1000 per month is outrageous!  We can not afford it.  BUT . . . this means that our move budget is negligible.  We have a job lined up, but I don't know how to get us there yet and I don't know how to get by on our budget here until we move.

Secondly, finding a home long distance is HARD!  Landlords can't see you, and don't know who they are renting to.  You can't see the house and don't know what you are getting. Available places at reasonable prices are hard to come by. 

There are other things that are on my mind too (to a lesser extent). 

• Long distance moves stuck!  
• I was kind of looking forward to the city with my friends.  
• Not knowing when and exactly where makes it hard to plan.  
• The uncertainty makes it hard to be motivated to prepare. 

Overall, I know that this move is necessary, and I will be glad to be nearer to family.  I know that life will be better, but . . . there is a lot of stressful stuff on my mind.

Everybody Wins

In an effort to get past my stress, I am keeping busy.  Today I am in the kitchen again.  A big pot of homemade chili, a batch of cornbread muffins, and 2 dozen sugar cookies, had my kids hovering in the kitchen.  I keep busy.  They get yummy stuff.  Everybody wins.

This Girl

This girl is always making me smile.  I love the surprise outfits she is forever coming up with.  I never know what funny, adorable, or creative costume she is going to wearing when she greets me.  I love this girl.

Today it was flamingos.  Flamingo shirt, dress, slippers, and toy. 

And this was a super-hero:

Smile

It is a beautiful, sunny day today and it is making me feel like being productive.  I am making homemade chicken noodle soup with broth I made yesterday, doing laundry, and making "Cookie Oatmeal" for the kids. 

Something about a bright day just makes my soul smile.

Lovely

After a long few days, I am enjoying a quiet day at home.  I am accomplishing nothing except enjoying my home and my babies.  VERU grateful to be home.