new routines

The thought of decorating a house gives me hives.  The thought of leaving all the wallpaper gives me hives as well.  I thought I would dive in and see what I could do in an area we use the most - the kitchen table.  The rest can wait until November when reinforcements are coming.

Before:  (from the realtor listing)

totally blurry and with their furniture, but you get the point

After:

I did it all myself - including installing a light fixture.

I feel like I can relax now and start inviting some friends over to see the place.  The wall paper was only on the bottom half of the walls and came off super easy.  Plus I had help.

First child I was all, "let's read."  Third child is cheap labor.

I am thrilled to say that my buddy is on his way back to me.  He spends the morning in with kindergarten, eats lunch in the cafe and then afternoons with the preschoolers.  He isn't 5 yet, so he fits well into both classes.  He loves preschool and seems to be thriving there.  I did not have to drag a crying boy out to my car at all this week.  On Fridays he has a half day (no pm preschool).  My buddy actually put down the iPad to help me make muffins Friday afternoon.

My buddy is thrilled with the freedom of getting himself things from the kitchen.  We were on the back deck enjoying the muffins we made.  He let himself inside, got his milk and rara's milk and another muffin and came back out.  Just the fact that he didn't make a bit of mischief and thought to get something for someone else is huge.

That smile I love is back.

He is zooming super fast until he gets right to my feet and then throws the brakes on.

Big sis is in a stage of adjustment at the moment.  She still misses the old house and gets scared in the new house.  Her teacher is on a medical leave for a few weeks and while she likes the sub, she knows it's temporary and change isn't her strongest suit.  She has stepped up and now takes the bus home from school.  It makes us nervous trusting a stranger to drive our most precious cargo, but it had to be done at some point.  Rara and my buddy love waiting for the bus and get so excited when it comes down the street.

He totally photo bombed my picture of rara, but I love this picture even more.

I love spending my days with rara.  She follows me around everywhere.  We take a morning walk together.  It feels so good to be moving again and rara loves the horses and donkeys we walk by.  I've trained rara to hand me my towel when I get out of the shower - if she's going to be all up in my business, at least she can be helpful.  I couldn't ask for a cuter side kick.

We are all figuring out the new routines and so far it's a good fit.