Moving Update

I am so excited that Robert is on his last trip before we move! It has been a long couple of months since he started the job and has been flying back & forth each week. Here's our schedule for the next few weeks:
-Robert gets home this Thursday
-Aubrey's 6th b-day on Monday 12/20
-Packers come on 12/21
-Aubrey & Will's last day of school on 12/22
-Load the truck on 12/22
-We fly to Austin on 12/23
-Drive to Dallas on 12/24 -12/26 for Christmas
-Stay in Rob's corp apt. from 12/26-Jan 4
-Buyers close on our VA house on 12/29
-Close on new house on 1/5
-Moving truck arrives on 1/6


Here's a picture of the house we are moving into... that I have never been in! I trusted the pics online, Robert & our realtor's opinion and the fact that it is in our old neighborhood. It is the same builder and the same age as our previous house, so I pretty much know what to expect. I am most excited about a quiet street and a nice, flat, fenced yard for the kids to run around in. Oh, and no ticks! After finding 3 deer ticks on Will this summer and knowing lots of people with Lyme's disease, I am just never fully at ease when the kids are outside here. Anyway, I am praying that all these things happen smoothly in the next few weeks ahead. We are sad to leave Virginia and have had a great 2.5 years here, but we are ready to come home!

December

Between house showings and Robert traveling and getting ready to move, our December hasn't been nearly as festive as I would like. We have tried to do a few fun things to make it feel like Christmas is approaching...
Will with his batch of Christmas cookies.

Aubrey & Ella making cookies after kindergarten today.

This is our tree, all 2 feet of it. The packers are coming on the 21st so we couldn't justify putting up our big tree to have it taken down before Christmas... We only put about a dozen ornaments on the tree and the kids have had fun undecorating & redecorating it.

We did a gingerbread house kit last week...

Saturday, we went down to our neighborhood clubhouse for cookies, crafts and a visit with Santa.

Will had no interest in sitting on his lap, but did like picking out a little stuffed animal from his bag. We're down to 10 days in VA and look forward to seeing family in Dallas for Christmas!

Tea Party

Even though we're moving across the country in the next few weeks, I really wanted Aubrey to celebrate her birthday with her friends in Virginia. We had a dozen girls and three boys (including Will) over on Saturday for a tea party.

Aubrey loved the cake that my friend, Angela, from my MOPS group made.

We just decorated the table with some doilies, flowers and a few little tea sets.

The girls having lunch before and sipping "tea" (pink lemonade).

I felt a little disorganized with the party planning this year, with everything else going on. But I think Aubrey had fun, so I guess that is what matters.

Aubrey is saying that she is now 6, even though the real day is the 20th... Happy early birthday to my almost 6 year old!

Birthday

I got to celebrate my birthday three times last weekend! Friday night, I went to dinner with Emiley & Courtney, two of my good friends from church. We had a delicious meal at Tuscarora Mill and stayed talking until almost midnight. Saturday was my real birthday and we had a fun family day. The kids woke me up with flowers, a present and donuts for breakfast. We actually didn't have any house showings that day, so we got to stay home and have a lazy day playing. Then, we went out for an early dinner and came home for cake. :) Sunday, my neighbors planned a birthday/going away dinner for me at the Wine Kitchen. Robert ended up having to fly to Austin on Sunday evening, but thankfully I found a babysitter. They got me a silver bracelet as a going away gift, with charms to remind me of all our time in VA -- I love it! They also got me a generous gift card for my birthday and treated me to dinner & dessert. We had a great time and I will really miss these ladies... :( I felt loved all weekend and am so thankful for all my family & friends!

Catching Up

Here are just a few pictures from our trip to Myrtle Beach over Columbus Day weekend. We were a little worried about the 8 hour drive, but the kids did great and the trip was well worth the miles on the car & hours to get there. The weather was sunny & in the low 80s all 5 days, perfect. We just spent our days swimming at the pool and playing on the beach. We made a few big sandcastles and found tons of shells. It was nice to have some relaxation before life got so busy... I think everyone knows by now that we are moving back to Austin! Rob accepted the job in mid October and already started the position on Nov. 1! We already made one (unsuccessful) house hunting trip, and Robert is headed back to Austin for the third week in a row. We just got our house on the market this weekend and had a few showings. Robert will probably continue to travel back & forth for the rest of November and we are planning on joining him in his corporate apartment sometime in December. We hope to find a house as soon as we get down there... That's the update and the reason I haven't posted anything in over a month. We'll keep you posted once we have a new home!

The Red Caboose

This is where we slept in Pennsylvania, in a real caboose! The rooms weren't fancy, but the experience was worth it. Will has said several times that he wants to go back to "the caboose". They had a big playscape and lots of room to run around outside. We also got to watch Toy Story (projected on the barn) outside one night.

This was in front of the restaurant where we had an awesome dinner one night. It was a huge buffet where everything was super fresh and homemade -- all six kids loved the variety and getting to pick out all their food, and especially the desserts.

Posing together.

The Strasburg rail road runs right by the Red Caboose. We could step out of our room and watch Thomas go by. Will was excited to see this "W" sign by the tracks.

Of course Aubrey was thrilled to see that were was a barn and lots of animals on the grounds. They fed some goats and chickens, but the horses were the favorite.

Lancaster county is a big Amish area -- we could also watch lots of horses & buggies go by from our caboose.

Playing outside of our room, corn field behind them.

This was the caboose we stayed in. The kids loved sleeping in bunk beds and on the way home Will asked, "Have you ordered the bunk beds yet?"

Breakfast in the dining car before we went to see Thomas.

We really had such a great weekend with our neighbors in PA. The kids loved having some friends there... we also went back to Dutch Wonderland (an amusement park) the next day, which was also big fun for Aubrey & Will. Next up, we're packing for an 8 hour drive to Myrtle Beach later this week!

Day Out with Thomas

Last weekend, we drove a couple hours up to PA to see Thomas the Train! Thomas was at the Strasburg Train station, which is surrounded by corn fields and other farmland.

Some of our neighbors were there too -- here are all the kids Aubrey & 5 boys!

I'm in mid blink here, but it is the only picture of all 4 of us with Thomas...

Getting ready for our train ride.

We saw this farmer carrying corn on our train ride, along with many cows, barns, silos, horses & buggies, etc. It was a really peaceful day and Will kept saying, "my little toy Thomas turned into a real train!"

School & Soccer

Will had his first day of preschool last Tuesday and loved it! He went right in his class and started playing away. He was excited to see lots of big Legos in his class, since that is a favorite at home.

Getting ready to go...

In his class, right before I left. He looks a little apprehensive here, but he has been all smiles both days when I picked him up :)

Will also started his first season of soccer this fall. He's so excited to have his turn after watching Aubrey play last spring.

Kindergarten

Aubrey has finished two weeks of kindergarten and so far it has gone great! The waking up early is taking some getting used to, but I'm actually liking getting up & ready for the day earlier. Aubrey's teacher is wonderful, each week different animals come to the classroom and teach them different things. Aubrey is definitely engaged and already learning a lot. I am going to volunteer in her class on Thursday mornings and am looking forward to seeing more. There are also a couple pics from the school picnic the first week of school -- playing on the playground and doing the rock climbing wall.

Queen Pony

I got Aubrey this big horse for Christmas last year and it is still one of her favorite things to play with. She calls her Queen Pony, but also says her full name is "Minerva Louise Belterra Parker." She loves decorating her with all her necklaces, covering her mane & tail with bows and piling bracelets on her head as crowns.

You can tell Aubrey doesn't adhere to the idea of "less is more."

A shot of the tail.

After several minutes of unusual silence one afternoon, I checked on Aubrey to see what she was up to...

She was busy fully accessorizing herself with all her jewels!