by the numbers

16,000+: pounds of belongings

2: storage pods (actually called Pack Rat.  I've been calling it Rat Pack, and thinking of Frank Sinatra.)

8 ft. by 8 ft. by 16 ft.: size of each pod

20: hours that our 7th spent at our house moving furniture and boxes

9: number of boxes and Rubbermaid bins my Honey and I have of childhood treasures

17: number of times I promised our 7th that I can purge those boxes down to one for me and one for Honey

42: Rubbermaid bins I own, full of items I own

1: meal delivered by a good friend

12: midnight, the earliest I got to bed

4: o'clock in the morning, the latest I got to bed

1 & 1/2 multiplied by 3: hours times people it took to clear out our attic (in a thunderstorm no less!)

Gazillion: kindnesses given by my parents and the aunties and uncles and cousins in taking care of the kids and family as we make this move

15: number of nights in between the old and the new houses

15: number of nights we are being welcomed by family and friends into their homes

Countless:  gratitudes felt day after day after day

this moment

Joining Soulemama, and many others, in this moment. 

In Amanda's words: "A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember."

Please link to your moment too -- I love to see what you are enjoying this week!

Wishing you a weekend full of grace and goodness!

around here

this home

We've been packing.

Painting the garage.

Patching dozens (and dozens more) nail holes.

Saying our many good-byes.  Some are so very hard.

And fluctuating between feeling like we can easily do this, and wondering when we will do all of this.

More so I'm uncertain how to go about dismantling a home after a dozen well-lived years within its walls.  It seems like more than just putting belongings into boxes.

We've had three different couches in our living room, but in the same spot this whole time.  Talk about comfort in the familiar. 

In so many ways I know this house by heart.  How many steps to cross the kitchen, to cross the living room, to go out the back door.  The rhythm (and squeaks) of descending the staircase.  The sunlight in every room at every time of the day.  The familiar feel of tasks that have been done countless times, the muscle memory for each and every one.  How long will it take to change that muscle memory for our new space? 

All four of our children came home to this house following their births.  Quite literally, this is the house where we became a family.  For that reason alone I love this place in a special way, despite our having long outgrown it. 

And I realize that this may be one of the hardest goodbyes.

this moment

Joining Soulemama, and many others, in this moment. 

In Amanda's words: "A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember."

Please link to your moment too -- I love to see what you are enjoying this week!

Wishing you a weekend full of grace and goodness!

on packing, kids, and packing with kids

This, my friends, is what's a happenin' inside this whirling mind of mine. I say whirling because, well, you'll get the idea...

:: it is essentially impossible to pack anything when the kids are awake

:: when optimism wins and I do pack when kids are awake, you never know what greater mess they are making in the other room

:: if you let your kids play with a jump rope tied to a slide (a slide without a ladder, and rigged up with wood) eventually there will be tears

:: please don't report me to authorities for allowing the kids to play on the slide with a jump rope

:: it is hard to believe my oldest, Buddy, is making the transition to upper elementary, we are attending a special ceremony this week to mark the occasion

:: why make only one kind of cookie as a teacher thank you when you can make two different kinds and homemade caramel corn too?

:: I know how to bake when kids are awake

:: maybe I'm in denial that this house needs to be packed by next Thursday

:: I'm so glad there is a play set (with a proper slide) at our new house

:: I have about a dozen eloquent, thought provoking blog posts, with accompanying photographs all in my head

:: they are trapped there, you get this instead

:: Pal spends his entire waking day on the go, discovering, squealing, spreading joy

:: I spend my entire day following him around

:: with the amount of exciting stuff Pal discovers each day, I have no idea how he can fall sleep at night for thinking about it all

:: Lovey is going to be a flower girl soon

:: every day she asks "is it my wedding today?"  No, not today, but soon.

:: every time I mention that I need to pack something she asks "are we moving today?" No, not today, but soon.

:: Buddy got to bring his recorder home from school yesterday

:: I am being serenaded by the most wonderful rendition of "Hot Cross Buns" right now

:: I envy people who have professional movers.  Sort of.

:: I am glad that by packing on our own we have to take stock of our belongings and decide what to keep and what to let go

:: next week when I've stayed up way too late a dozen nights in a row to pack I may change my mind about the professional movers

:: Munchkin and Lovey helped wash out some storage bins in the back yard.  Lovey was singing "It's a Hard Knock Life" from Annie while doing so

:: I got a new camera.  A one-of-a kind Lego camera designed and created by Buddy.

:: did you notice the workable flash?

:: that kid amazes me

:: I can't seem to convince Lovey to stop picking my planted flowers.  It is hard to stay frustrated with her when she always presents them to me as a gift

:: today when a police car drove by Munchkin mentioned something about "Cobs," as in "Cobs and Robbers"

:: that kid cracks me up

:: Honey has spent the last several evenings patching up holes where pictures - lots of them - used to hang

:: The house is sounding more echoey now, just not quite like home anymore

:: I've used the word "bittersweet" about a billion times in the past week

:: Does anyone need a slide?  Slightly used, hours of fun, needs a ladder.

weekending

We began packing this weekend.  The eleventh hour seemed the right time.

 

As I suspected, once the first box was packed, the household devolved into a pretty spectacular mess.   One that doesn't seem worthy of the usual end-of-day tidy up because I know that the mess will continue to organically change as more gets packed.  Piles of boxes will slowly grow and become the predominant feature in rooms.  Not toys, or books, pictures, or furniture.  

I already sense the shift in our daily lives from living here, to moving from here.  Bittersweet, my friends.  Bittersweet, indeed.

We did have a respite this weekend when the family went to Munchkin's soccer game Sunday evening.  I took advantage of the soccer field being close and walked there, which helped me let go of the many tasks waiting at home and instead accept the gift of being outside with my family, and their antics that bring such pleasure.  I brought along my Nikon, which I too haven't used much recently, and was reminded why I love taking photographs outdoors.

It made me excited for summer, and the adventures that lie ahead for my family, and the beauty that I will find in them.