Tuesday Toot

It has been forever since I've done a Tuesday Toot, so it's about time I got back in the game here. :)


As many of you have expressed, moving with two little ones is no picnic. It's not easy to get much done, and when you are busy doing things to move you feel guilty about the lack of attention you are paying to those dear little ones...


We made the big move here merely 5 months ago... and it was a difficult move. Very disruptive for the kids. And in getting things ready to move, it was almost impossible for me to get anything done. Baby B was only 6 mos old and at that point where there wasn't a whole lot that would keep her occupied. I probably managed to pack about 3 boxes total. My husband and older daughter ended up doing most of the packing.


But this time around things are going much better. I'm able to get a little more done. Partly because B is more mobile and able to occupy herself quite a bit. But the big difference this time is that it's summer and I have the help of my 11-year old daughter. M has really stepped up and done a great job helping out with the two little ones while I've been busy making phone calls and packing boxes.


She has become the expert at getting B to sleep! I hate to admit it, because in reality she's had an easier time getting B to nap than I have! B fights me like crazy when I try to get her to nap. She puts up very little fight for M.

So my toot this week goes out to my daughter M! Mommies little helper ;)

Tuesday Toot

My toot this week goes out to my baby sister :) She just had her (2nd) beautiful baby girl yesterday afternoon! And she is absolutely gorgeous! She looks a lot like her big sister did :) Her big sis is about 2 1/2 and still absolutely gorgeous! :) I can't wait to go for a visit! New babies are always so exciting!!

Tuesday Toot

Nice to be able to sit down for a few minutes and toot someone's horn here :) Most of my toots have been celebrating my small accomplishments, but today I want to acknowledge the two people in my family who have made this horrid journey bearable (and who really deserve a toot!). My husband and my 10 (soon to be 11) year old daughter M.

My husband ended up doing most of the packing and most of the keeping it together before we left Wisconsin. He probably packed 20 boxes to my 2. He picked up my slack :) And he also did quite a bit of cleaning at the 1st house before we decided it wasn't worth the days of effort it would have taken to clean it (especially after we found the black mold in the basement and living room closet!).

And M was great. We ended up with an extra kid, a year older than D, during the loading and unloading. M did a wonderful job keeping the two youngsters occupied. It was a lot to ask of her, and she stepped up and did a great job. She was also great when it came to help keeping an eye on D and baby B while we attempted to clean the first house we were going to rent. And when we found another house to rent she showed her physical strength and moved just as much as everyone else. Everyone commented on how strong she was :) and what a great kid she was :) and she is! She retained a cheery disposition through everything.

And of course my husband - who ended up with the respiratory flu on the day of the move from one house to another - worked his butt off from early in the am until late in the pm getting everything moved over to the new rental house. I don't know where he found the strength.

I owe so much to those two! I am so grateful. I feel so blessed to have them in my life :)

Tuesday Toot

All of my Tuesday Toots (for the next couple of weeks anyway) will probably have something to do with moving. Surprise. This week I actually have a list of accomplishments! :)

1. I got a bazillion phone calls made! Called all the utilities for the new place and called all the utilities here. Called all the places to change our address or filled out online forms...
2. And... I got almost all the dishes done!!! Now that one is the most amazing. OK, I still have one thing left to wash - the roaster that's been sitting there since I don't even want to say when... If it doesn't fit in the dishwasher it takes me a while to get to it.
3. And... I got at least 2 loads of laundry done!
4. And... I was showered and dressed by 10am! (I think I'd been in my pjs since friday).

I had a busy day! Now I really need to get my butt in gear and start *really* packing! We have maybe close to 40 boxes packed. I'm guessing we'll have at least 100 total (and that's a modest estimate). 8 Days and counting!

Tuesday Toot

Small toot today ;) I actually accomplished quite a few small things today. I finally ran my dishwasher!!! :) I'm so behind on household stuff. I've been so preoccupied with trying to find a place to rent for when we move (2 weeks!!). Finding places in small towns really sucks!!

The funny thing is that the place I tooted about finding a couple of weeks ago went out of the running and then came back in and that is where we're going. We sent my sister-in-law to go look at it - she gave a horrible report, but did not take any pictures like she was supposed to. If she would have it would have saved us soooo much trouble. The landlord had not yet had a chance to clean, paint and re-carpet. So we ended up taking the 8+ hour trip (even longer with the aftermath of the Iowa blizzard coming home) to look at a few things for ourselves. The one we were really going to look at was not good. We were desperate enough to think about purchasing a home on contract until we had enough time to get financing... anyway, that house was in a town that was pretty run down. Not to mention the cracked foundation, the very cheaply done remodels, the fact that the house appeared to be seperating... ugh... the worst was the bubba neighbor who leaned out the top of his broken door with a beer and then let his dogs out... I would so not want my children to live next door to a guy like that...
The second house we looked at I wouldn't even let my dogs live in. That town was even more run down. There was boarded up houses less than a block away. It was beyond horrible. And that's what we imagined when we got the report from my sister-in-law about the house she went to look at. Out of desperation we called that lady back and asked her if we could go look at that house. Of course it was short notice, so she couldn't meet us and said that we could go peek in and see the downstairs. It was not bad. We could tell that really it just needed cleaned up. The previous tennent had left a few things, and it really just needed to be cleaned up and repainted. The floors weren't even that bad. It was certainly in liveable condition. Unlike the other two we looked at. And the town is so worth it. The town has a really neat business district. There are no run down neighborhoods in the town! I'm really happy that we went down ourselves and looked at the place. We ended up getting stuck in the area because of the blizzard and were able to meet with the lady and look at the place. So everything turned out great.
We found out today that the place was surely ours and so my other accomplishments were getting the utilities called and getting the school called! :) Small things, but good things :)