The miscellany of settling in

All our things arrived the day after we closed. This is our fifth move and we did something different this time. We had the movers unpack our boxes. This was something I had happily avoided before- my control issues sent me into complete panic at the thought of someone else unloading all our goods. But our anxiety to get the boxes out of the house on the double overshadowed my need to micro manage. And, I'm happy to say, it was great. The house was complete chaos for a couple of days - they literally just emptied boxes out onto floors and countertops. But the whole process went so much faster.

Those first weeks were busy for me. We bought new furniture and window treatments. I spent a chunk of each day organizing and organizing. Eden was always at my side. She is a good little helper.

Grace is still pretty crazy for her rainbow loom. She loves finding new patterns on the youtube channel.

We had a solid month of daily blowouts from this little guy. Everyday. Blowout city. The likes of which I have never before seen. He is a squirmer too and has the uncanny ability of getting his mess EVERYWHERE when being changed. Also, notice my nice shiny face? Yep. Houston humidity isn't doing much for me there! The blowouts have died down, thank heavens. My shiny face, not so much.

Jeffers started crawling right as we were leaving Phoenix. He is a busy baby. He loves cruising around in his walker too, when Eden isn't sitting in it.

The community where we live boasts a 'country setting'. It has lamp posts, no sidewalks, and nine lakes that are stocked for catch and release fishing. We took lots of evening walks before the summer heat set in.

This poor girl falls and skins her knees just about every time we leave the house. And if I don't have bandaids... the tears!

Eden wore this headlamp for days on end. It is her thinking cap, and she needed it for all the big ideas she would come up with throughout the day. It is very handy.

This is Grace and Grant on their first day at their new school. Grace was thrilled. Poor Grant had a rough time at first. But they both got great teachers and had a very positive experience transitioning. They love riding the bus. ( I LOVE IT TOO!) And we are grateful to be zoned to such a fabulous school.

Eden was a little happy for them to go back to school as well... This is her favorite shirt, by the way. Even now when it is hotter than hot and 60%+ humidity she still tries to wear it.

A little snap of me and my number 1 girl. This was taken the night of the LDS women's meeting. We went to Hobby Lobby, then to get burgers, and then on to the Stake Center. I loved sharing that evening with her. She is a great date!

Oh, this baby. I am in so much trouble.

Speaking of trouble... Our neighborhood is still being built out. We had a construction site across the street for the first several weeks. This taco truck would show up outside our front door between 10:30 and 11:00 every morning. EVERY MORNING. No person should have to endure that kind of temptation. This house is now completed and the workers have moved down the street. I still hear the siren call of the taco truck's horn every morning...

My children and husband do not feel the need to wear shoes outside. We have an especially long driveway now. I throw away socks every time I do laundry. It is very annoying.

A witch and her cat.

This was a common scene everyday after school.

I got serious about getting my running milage back up. Every Saturday has been spent running through our new community. It sure is lovely here. The humidity ended up being good conditioning. Humidity really is not my favorite thing, I tell ya.

This girl is all Texas!

One of the favorite spots in our house for everyone!