We're Here!

It was a bit of a rough journey, but we've made it!

Helen at 2:30AM after 14+ hours of travel. 

For the sake of documenting it, here is a breakdown of the moving process.

Our entire household was packed up on Monday, April 30, and then drove away the next day. But not before I added another 52 cans of whole wheat and 20 cases of my favorite brand of diapers and wipes. 

We then spent Wednesday, Thursday and Friday visiting the dentist, spot-cleaning the house, buying last-minute items and saying our goodbyes. We spent the night at the La Quinta by the freeway on Rayford Rd. (Wednesday - Saturday)  with two adjoining suites. I think it was the best hotel setup we have ever had because all the kids had a bedroom/living room to themselves. It's proximity to our old neighborhood meant we easily squeezed in several fun playdates while Scott got in a few more days at work, and several friends graciously fed us dinner once our house was empty. Friday night, our last night in Texas, a few friends even stopped by the hotel to say goodbye. 

And then suddenly, Moving Day was here! There was a lot of stuff to keep track of -- 3 squirly children, 6 suitcases, 5 personal items (including the boys adorable little backpacks) and 4 carseat pieces. It was such a relief to leave most of that at the ticket counter!

It was fun to experience first class. Unfortunately they'd oversold it and Ian was bumped to coach. He sat immediately behind us on a row with only one seat. He said he felt like a captain of a spaceship and still talks about how 'lucky' he was to get to sit there while we were all stuck in the seats up front. 

We had a layover in Toronto and going through customs in the middle of the night was less than pleasant. We had to collect all our stuff again and haul it across the airport. There just wasn't enough adult manpower. Scott had one overloaded cart and I had the stroller and baby, a roller suitcase and the diaper bag. That left one other overloaded cart and believe it or not, Ian and Joseph pushed and pulled this cart --stacked over their heads-- through a queue that snaked through a large room, then up a steep ramp and around some sharp corners. That is where they ran out of steam and a customs agent took pity on us and pushed it the rest of the way.

The cart they manned is in the front. 

After clearing customs and changing planes in Toronto we headed for St. John's. It was a short flight, and the fact that the boys got to watch movies the entire way made it bearable for all of us. They willed themselves to stay awake the entire time!

Once we arrived in Newfoundland we gathered all our bags again, got the boys' temporary residency all sorted out (The middle of the night is perfect! No lines!) and got the carseats in the rental van, and headed off into darkness and dense fog, without a map, in search of our interim-living. Miraculously, Scott got us there without too much trouble. Getting all our suitcases up to the third story of these adorable brownstones was less simple. Fortunately everyone slept in until 9:30am the next day. After getting lost on the way to church (then finding a gas station that would take US dollars for a map) we made it to church halfway through the second hour. It was nice to meet some branch members, but our boys ran around like lunatics and caused all kinds of disturbances. We even had to excuse ourselves from Sunday School because we could hear them screaming and carrying on in Primary down the hall. Fortunately many of the families had been through similar moves and assured us we could still be friends. 

This crazy behavior would become a theme in our next two months in Newfoundland. Thankfully, our kids are now more or less back to their normal selves. 

We stayed in #18 at the Hometel for several weeks until our household belongings arrived. Free breakfast was a highlight because it gave us something to do first thing in the morning. The daily housekeeping was nice at first, but eventually I began doing the cleaning myself because it made life seem more normal. 

Our Hometel house had three bedroom suites, a living room and a full kitchen. It seemed great on paper, but the bedroom doors all locked automatically from the inside and there was no deadbolt on the exterior door of the house... so for a worrier like me it wasn't realistic to have the kids all in separate rooms spread across three levels of the house. So we put the kids to bed all over the house and then moved into the same room when Scott and I went to bed. I am positive housekeeping thought we were nuts when they saw we'd removed the couch cushions every. single. night. and crammed them all on a bedroom floor.

We really only brought one toy with us -- some blocks that snap together to built a castle that a neighbor boy in Texas gifted the kids before we left. They proved the perfect toy because the boys built and rebuilt them into ships and cars and planes multiple times a day and never tired of them.

Here the blocks are a hot air balloon. 

A tank.

One of the many flights of stairs. This is where the boys were sent to play when Helen was napping in the downstairs closet.

We took turns putting on The Three Little Pigs. 

We didn't bring a single toy for poor Helen! So sometimes there was nothing left to do but shred the phonebook. 

On May 15 our lease began and we started spending the day in our empty house, running around and playing with a few toys left in the basement. We discovered the house was excellent for Hide-and-Go-Seek. The two kitchen sinks also provided for hours of filling and dumping, washing and splashing. 

The boys found these nets and hauled them around the backyard. We later learned they are intended to cover bags of garbage, so that birds don't peck the bags open. We no longer play with the nets...

Helen loved walking along the back deck. 

There is a neighborhood park behind the rental house and we spent many afternoons back there. Sadly, we always have the park to ourselves. 

A week after we arrived in Newfoundland, dandilions bloomed across the city. It reminded us of the Texas Bluebonnets! These dandilions were far bigger than I had ever seen before, and it appeared that they were regarded more like a wildflower than a weed. After a long dark winter, I think I would welcome them too!

My favorite thing about the little park is that it is light on equipment, but abundant in open space to run, hills to roll down, and has a gigantic tree that is made for climbing. 

As tricky as it was to not have a real house or more than a suitcase of belongings (which only included a Texas-Summer-Worthy wardrobe!), this was actually a really happy time for us. I recorded the following during that time:

The kids and I have been having so much fun together this week. We've been cooped up in the hotel for the most part, but it's been really pleasant. We've colored, built towers, wrestled, read the same stories in The Friend magazine, and it's all felt so fun and fresh. And the boys have been their sweetest, most patient selves. Without a car, a cell phone, a calling, no real commitments or any real domestic responsibilities (I could get used to having daily housekeeping!), could it be that I am less distracted? I hope my "fun mommy" self becomes a permanent part of our St. John's experience.


After playing with our new friends The Coopers on Wednesday, we stopped by Bowring Park on the way to pick Scott up at work. It's a large park with walking trails galore and at least a couple great play structures. While pushing the boys on the swings for much longer than I normally would, the boys began to exclaim "You are the best mommy! This is so fun! I am always going to remember the best day we ever had at the park!" And it really was that fun. It was one of those moments in time that I will remember when they are grown.


Even once we moved into our house, it took several weeks to get a cell phone (and we didn't have a land line either) and even longer to get internet. Back then we were far more rested and far less distracted. Sometimes I miss it! But it wasn't all rosy. We were ready to settle into what would become our new normal life.

When I felt as though I could not bare to live out of suitcases and in temporary housing any longer, we were told our stuff was still at least 10 days away. And I cried. A few hours later, we heard the truck was actually waiting for us at the customs office in town! Scott signed off on it the next day, and that Saturday it was unloaded.

Our driver/packer was fabulous and from our entire household, only one candle stick was broken. Amazing! Next, we set about making the house our home.

Brought to you by Ian.

Newfoundland is an incredible place, and we've had lot's of adventures already! More details to come!

Ian's 5th Birthday!

Is it possible we have a 5 YEAR OLD in the house? 

Since age 2 when Ian first saw some neighborhood kindergartners boarding the school bus, Ian has awaited his 5th birthday with great anticipation.  And amid all our relocation chaos, the big day finally arrived! We didn't accomplish many of the traditions that day -- balloons on the mantel and chair, crepe paper across the bar, (or actually spending more than 5 minutes in our carefully staged house) but I did manage to get some Birthday Boy pictures when we woke him up!

The tired birthday boy!

He's an early bird and is not at all accustomed to being awakened by someone else. He was surprised to see Joseph and I before 7 am!

But it didn't take long for him to put his party face on!

The BIG FIVE!

Because the entire house had been scrubbed, polished and steam-cleaned the day before, we opted for breakfast at American Donut. This proved to be an extra big treat because while enjoying our donuts, we got to watch the donut-making process from our seats. (This beat eating an Egg-McMuffin on his preschool teachers driveway, which we had done the morning before while the aforementioned cleaners were hard at work on our kitchen. Unfortunately that scenario has played out countless times in other locations over the last two months...!)

They each selected the perfect kolache and donut. And Ian requested "those little parts that go in the middle of the circled part of the donut." So we got some of those too.

Ian carried that balloon everywhere! He'd be asking for one from Kroger for at least 6 months.

After that we dropped Ian off at preschool, where he got to share the multi-colored grocery store cupcakes (you know the ones -- the kind with a plastic ring imbedded in some unnatural blue-colored frosting with sprinkles. Ian was ecstatic when he saw that I had not in fact baked the mix he had chosen, but had outsourced to Kroger instead.) The chance to share a birthday treat and be sung to at school is referred to as a VIP birthday, and it was a big highlight to his day.

Since we had originally been planning to leave on our house-hunting trip the following day, we told him he could invite 5 friends to the park for some cake and ice cream that evening. I thought it was adorable that he included his little brother and another 3 year old named Andrew, "for Joseph to play with". He also invited our new friend Lincoln, who happened to be visiting from Newfoundland, our soon-to-be home! I had wanted to do a big blowout birthday party because our social guy Ian was already sad to tell his friends goodbye. But I felt I was smart in keeping it small and very low-key, even though it made me a bit sad too. So I ordered some dinosaur-themed items on Amazon, asked Scott to pick up some Little Caesars, sent out an email a day or two beforehand, and called it good.

Then I dashed off for back-to-back appointments with our realtor, the stager, and the home photographer. It was a busy, busy day!

When I picked up Ian from school he informed me that everyone in his entire 9-person class was --TA-DA!-- going to be able to join us for the party! He told everyone to meet at a certain park at 4:00 pm that afternoon -- a message all his classmates dutifully delivered to their moms at pick-up. The moms all called to make sure it was a real invitation, and do you know what? I thought it was really cool they took the invitation seriously, and I was thrilled! Except for a last-minute park switcheroo (due to construction) it was perfect. The weather was great, the kids were well-mannered, and Ian felt very special and celebrated. I can't say enough how glad I am that Ian took the invitation list into his own hands! Plus it was meant to be -- I had exactly enough party supplies for all twelve kids!

At some point that afternoon I decided that if you throw a party for 12 preschoolers (with a few hours notice), while a photographer is at your house taking pictures for your listing, the day before you fly to another country for two weeks (with only 5 days notice), and you are putting your house on the market before you leave, you just have to be chill about the party details. Evidence of my chill: the ugly shirt that Ian is not only wearing, but wearing backwards, and inside out. But I don't think it's any coincidence that the lowest-stress was also the highest-fun party I have ever thrown.


On to the pictures:

Everyone picked a dinosaur mask and practiced their scariest dino pose.

Then they played dinosaur freeze tag.

"Help! Unfreeze us!"

It was fun to watch them all dart around the yard. I don't think they ever kept track of who was "it", and just ran around helter-skelter squealing when anyone got near. And it was really fun to watch them freeze in place.

Then it was time to play Paleontologist and find the plastic dinosaurs Scott hid all over another playground. . The preschool kids had just learned about paleontologists at school and it was adorable listening to them talk like mini experts.

Success!

Those kids are all good buddies and I loved watching them help each other.

On to the pinata! The dinosaur pinata was painfully overpriced, so I got an after-Easter special for $2 instead, and told myself not to feel too lame about it. But the partiers began calling it the "dinosaur egg" pinata. Perfect!

Unfortunately only two kids got to whack it before it sprung open. Turns out $2 was all it was worth after all!

The real fun came when Scott raised and lowered the egg over the swingset bar, plopping in on the kids' heads. They could have gone on for hours!

Next up was pizza.... 

... and birthday cake! 

And presents! I loved that the kids could write parts of their own cards and Ian could read them. They all seemed so grown up!

After the party was over, we lingered at the park. It was such a gorgeous evening. 

And we even managed to get a family photo!

We were all so caught up in the celebration and the togetherness that when we got home and saw something new stuck in our lawn, we had to remind ourselves we really were moving away!

Happy Birthday to our Five-Year-Old! You surprise us with your intellect, dazzle us with your memory for minute details of people, places and events, and delight us with your hugs and pecks on the cheek (rare as they are). You always remember to ask how Dad's day was. You like to add and subtract in your head. You are incredibly persuasive and are determined to get your way. But when you don't win, you often say "Oh Well" and walk away. But sometimes you pitch an enormous fit. You chose your bedtime song by the number of verses it has (Current favorite: There is a Green Hill Far Away, because it has 4 verses. Never mind that it is still only half a page long). Your undershirts are always tucked in. Sometimes the top shirt is too. And often, it's tucked into your underpants.You are serious about looking after your little brother and sister. Unless they defy your will. Then they better watch out. You sound like a young man when you talk with your friends. You do a fabulous job making your bed every morning, and you even fold back the covers and place the pillows and stuffed "friends" like Mom does. You are motivated by the success of others and you are willing to work hard to do your best.  You make up the funniest nicknames, rhyming words and phrases, and have a gift with rhythm and music.We love you Ian Boy, and are looking forward to many great years ahead! We are so glad to be your family!