Unpacking

I knew moving was going to be hard, and it was, but unpacking seems to be low on our list of priorities these days. Eating, sleeping (ha ha) and dealing with the never ending laundry seem to have taken up the list of things to do. Today I reached a critical point where I realized that I needed help. Dan and I just figured we'd get to sorting out the house when we could, but after a full week in the house we were still tripping over boxes every time we walked into the kitchen. So, I hired "rent-a-mum". Meagan came in and in three hours managed to organize and unpack everything in the living room and kitchen. It was the best money I've spent in a very, very long time. Tuesday morning a man named Matthew is coming to stack the firewood. I'm getting smarter... now if only I could get a little more sleep I'd be sorted.

Wool sweater

This gorgeous wool sweater (a hand me down from Corey and Riley) was Ben's, until 2 days ago. This morning I pulled it off the drying rack and marveled, "hum, it seems to have shrunk." We are borrowing a washing machine at the moment, and while I admit that it's a bit more complicated then I'm used to, I could have sworn I washed the clothes on cold. So how did the sweater shrink over night? The mystery was finally solved, with a hot tip from Debbie, when Dan investigated the taps and realized that he'd attached the hot to the cold and vice versa.

Thoughts on Moving

We have successfully "shifted house" as the Kiwis put it and I can say to sum up the experience, "Are we insane?" Moving with two small children is truly a challenge.

Highlights of the adventure include:

• The moving truck breaking down the day we were suppose to move
• Unpacking all the bedding and remaking all the beds so we could stay another night in our house
• The moving company leaving the bikes, skis and a whole range of other odds and ends in the garage
  
• Josh waking up 5 times and Ben getting up and into our bed twice on our first night in our new house, then Ben demanding to eat breakfast at 5:45am the next morning
  
• Dan and Gareth moving a winter's worth of firewood
  
• Shoveling an entire sandbox full of sand into a trailer (envision Dan with one shovel, Ben supervising and me with another shovel and Josh in the backpack)
• Cleaning an entire kitchen with Josh in the exersaucer
• Our new house being a sea of boxes

So, we've survived... who knows when we'll be unpacked and settled?

Flying a kite

Josh learns to fly a kite at the ripe age of 4 1/2 months

Boat to Stewart Island

Ben and Josh are riding in a boat (aka the laundry basket). When I asked Ben where the boat was going he proclaimed "Stewart Island." We went to Stewart Island in November last year and he was scared of the ferry and didn't enjoy the passage at all... but today he thought the boat ride was great and he even made Josh the captain.

First Spoonful

After countless nights of too many feeds we decided that it might just be time to see if Josh was interested in some real food. Tonight he had his first spoonful of rice cereal. He did pretty well. We'll see how things go in the sleeping department... we're not overly optimistic.

Childhood songs

Ben and Kate at the field down the street from our house. Kate wanted to play ring around the rosey with Ben. It's so touching to see young children sing all the words to songs. The other day Josh was making some noise in the car and I asked Ben, "What's Josh doing?" "He's singing the Wheels on the Bus mommy."

swimming

Boys

Night time reading

Too precious for words. Ben is such an avid fan of books it's hard to keep him away from him. In this photo he was reading one of the Thomas stories about Bulgy the bus. His favorite section at the library these days is the children's nonfiction section with books on trucks and machines. I can now say that I know what a tunnel boring machine and a dredger are. Oh the things you learn!