1. Cort turned 9 years old and started third grade.
2. Elizabeth turned 5 and started kindergarten.
3. My little sister and brother in law (Dani and Frank) had a little boy.
4. Henry passed his promotion test and will put on another stripe.
5. We moved from Virginia to New Jersey.
6. Cort has become awesome at building legos - both from directions and using his imagination.
7. Elizabeth can ride her bike without training wheels.
Certainly much more has happened in the last three months but these are the things I remember. :-)
We moved to New Jersey the middle of September. It took us quite a bit of time to find the perfect house and for the house to be move-in ready. In fact we just moved in last Thursday. Currently we are still in a state of "which box do you think the movers would put that in?" It is a slow process and always challenging as each house is different but it is fun too, decorating and setting things up. Our "new" house was built in 1926 and has beautiful wood inside of it. All the floors, doors and baseboards are the original wood. We now have a basement and an attic which is interesting, although it can be exhausting when climbing three flights of stairs trying to find something. I am looking forward to having the house all together so I don't have to play "hide and seek" with our stuff. The kids are enjoying their new schools and have made friends fast. Cort has a field trip tomorrow to a cranberry bog which should be interesting for him. Living in Cape Cod when we were younger I find cranberry bogs to be pretty cool. I remember in the winter waiting for them to freeze so we could go ice skating on them. :-)
We miss our friends, Cub Scouts and our Church in Virginia quite a bit. I still haven't found the "perfect" Church but I will continue my search. I know that like St. Vincent's, it will just happen and I will know when I walk in that it is where we belong. We found a new cub scout pack although I haven't contacted them yet to join. Now that we are in the house I am hoping to get Cort back into scouts sooner rather than later. As far as our friends, well naturally they can't be replaced. We miss them all dearly and hope to visit Virginia again, perhaps next summer. In the meantime technology will help us to keep in touch.
Henry's new job is proving to be a challenge as he is used to being in the middle of all the action, and now he no longer is. So far it is a slower pace that he is not used to. I think in time it will all work out - at least I hope so. I have started working again, currently as a nanny for a nearby family. It is only part time but I am enjoying it so much. They have three children although the older two are in school during the day so I am mainly just with the little guy who is 19 months old. He is so sweet. I look forward to the time I spend with him. In some ways it is a blessing since I miss having the little ones around. He fills that void a little - as goofy as that sounds. Its like a grandparent thing - I can spend time with him and then give him back. :-)
I have reconnected with some friends here that we have kept in touch with since the last time we lived in New Jersey (2004-2006). It has been wonderful to see them again, see the kids and how much they have grown. It makes me feel old. We are working on making new friends although that too has been a slow process since we just got into our house and don't really know any neighbors ....yet. I know in time it will come.
That's all for now. Its time for a glass of wine and a show. My mom flew up here a couple of days ago to help us get settled (and spoil the kids, of course). It's definitely been a blessing as we have gotten lots unpacked. I wish family wasn't so far away. Anyhow, here are a few pictures of the house. I will post more soon, I promise. So long for now....
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| Our "new" Home |
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| My huge kitchen |
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| The kitchen and the sunroom |
