Far and Close

My mom and dad live in Virginia, and we live in Texas.  This is the farthest we have ever been from them.

I wish we were closer...

But then again, we're pretty close.

MISSION: (SOMETIMES SEEMS)IMPOSSIBLE

Now we're getting somewhere.  My mom and dad showed up and started cracking the whip.  They got this show on the road, laid down the law, took the reins.

It's great fun to have them here, we've already laughed a lot and we are hoping to be in the house before they're gone-it's our mission. 

Dunt, dunt, dun-nit, dunt, dunt, dun-nit, nninninni...Here is your mission should you choose to accept it.  You will efficiently and cheerfully continue cleaning your new house, and get all of your possessions transferred from their immediate location to a new and better, more orderly position.  You will do this in the next 48 hours.  Your accomplices will be Kenneth, the menace; Tricky Vicki, a slick chick; Mr. Clean, head of intelligence;  the Three Stooges.  These agents are well-trained in their fields, and most of them are potty-trained.  This message will self-destruct in ten seconds...

Eliana wasn't quite sure what to think of this mess...but we worked hard to get it into some sort of order.

Things are always more interesting when they are in a strange spot than when they are in their normal place...

Dinner and relaxing after a long day of packing...

Before...

Here is what the space looked like after the big packing extravaganza.

Sassy, isn't she? 

We are excited about any progress we make, so this is good stuff! 

A "7"

As I was reading tonight, Christian was working on something in his bed.  Here is the project he had going on...

"A seven!"    

There is so much going on in his head that I don't know or hear about.  I would love to know what inspired this.  Was it something in the story (I don't recall anything about a seven in The Secret Garden)?  Maybe it just emerged as he moved the coins around.  Who knows?  What I do know is that Christian is funny, creative, smart, passionate, intense, caring, and sweet.  Seven words for my son.

And here is something else that I think is noteworthy.  The blanket that he is wrapped up in is a small quilt that I bought from someone at the online store etsy; this person was donating all of the profits from several of the things she was selling to the Cora Playground Project (a playground at the church where the McClenahan's attend, in memory of Cora).  Many etsy sellers were doing this, and Cora's mom is selling some things to benefit the playground as well, but they sell so fast they are hard to get.  Christian has slept with this quilt every night since we've had it.  He knows I purchased it for Cora's playground, and he knows her story.  I think it's sweet that he wants to snuggle up in it.  He has a big heart; I pray that will remain true.

Ordered Chaos

I'm not sure if that title is the overstatement of the year, or the understatement of the year.  The chaos would indeed be accurate (and if I could come up with a stronger word then I would put that down instead); the order would be a little tongue-in-cheek (or maybe tongue-sticking-out-of-mouth-at-the-whole-house).

Before I go on, it seems appropriate to insert this...

There is a (large) part of me that is thinking,"Under no circumstance in the world would it be appropriate to insert this picture anywhere, unless it were in front of a criminal as a torture technique, to look at until said criminal confessed his or her hideous crime, which may or may not be more hideous than this photo."  I will never tell why I took this picture several weeks ago.  What I will tell is why in the name of all that is good I would put it on this website.  Actually, I will show why.  Here is the reason...

This is my lovely daughter.  She made this face at me while I was taking pictures this afternoon.  And I thought,"Surely, she's mine.  100%."  The eyes.  The nose.  The teeth.  They will be returned to their proper equine owner immediately. 

She had no idea that the above picture of her mother existed.  This just runs in her blood.  Her horsey blood.  Like a racehorse who only knows how to run fast, so, too, do we only know how to make others run fast, and far, far away. 

The following is in no particular order, so maybe then it is chaos.  I don't know. 

This shelf earlier today was full of stuff.  It also had stuff behind it. 

FOUND:  ONE BALL, ONE TINY MAGNET FOR A TOY, ONE WOOLEN HAT WITH A POM-POM ON TOP, ONE THOMAS THE TANK ENGINE TRAIN SET PART, ONE HOT WHEELS CAR; STILL MISSING:  MY MARBLES. 

The shelf is in the kids' room.  Now the stuff is in the dining room, in its proper containers and awaiting transportation to a new location.

See?  Ordered chaos.  Here's some more...

See that empty, black bookshelf?  Here is its contents...

I had bags on hand, not boxes, and since we are just moving around the block, I thought that they would work just fine. 

And this is what Eliana thought of macaroni and cheese.  The box kind.

She is officially a member of the clean-plate club.  They notified me late this afternoon that her outstanding performance around lunchtime insured her membership at least until dinnertime, at which point they could guarantee nothing.

Right about now I'm sure you are thrilled with the time you have spent here, if you even got this far.  Unfortunately, you can never get it back.  I am realizing this myself as I ponder all the time I have fiddlefarted away in the last few weeks, while I should have been packing.   Imagine how one fiddlefarts.  Is it difficult?  Does it require much concentration?  A musical instrument?  And with those burning questions for you to contemplate, I will leave you. 

School Days

Christian has been busy at school, and I thought I would share a few of the projects and assignments that he has completed recently.  They are hanging up in the hallway for parents and other interested folks to see.

The class studied the presidency and Abraham Lincoln a couple of weeks ago, and this is what Christian had to say about what it would be like to be the President of the United States.

If you need a translation, this says,"I want to be president so that I can write a dissertation about John Calvin.  I would land in people's yards in my helicopter."

Priceless.

This is what he had to say about Abe.

"He made lots of speeches.  He was born in a log cabin.  He told funny jokes.  He had a black beard."  And here is his Lincoln, black beard and all.

The class just finished a unit on castles; these are Christian's thoughts on castles along with his drawing of one.

"My castle is in Rome.  My castle is special because it has 3 diamonds at the top.  The whole classroom lives in my castle."

Seeing the results of his hard work in the classroom is so wonderful.  His creativity will always enchant me, even if I don't get to live in his castle!  (Although it doesn't say only his classroom lives in the castle...)