We Made It

As you can see by the title of the post, we made it! I was pretty nervous about the whole thing--8 hour car trip with the kids, moving into a place we'd never seen in person, the Columbus heat and humidity, the cost, etc. But everything went surprisingly well.

First, the car trip went really great in large part because my mother-in-law sent along some great things for the kids. She sent along two little backpacks (see last pic on post) filled with snacks for the kids and then a men's large shirt FILLED with activities and 'surprises' for the kids. Each sleeve was full, each pocket filled, and then she had sewn extra pockets on the back filled with surprises. She sewed the shirt on the bottom and then filled the chest with even more stuff. And the first thing I opened in the shirt was a hand puppet that we named "Iggy" and each 45 minutes-hour he "woke up from his nap" and brought out a surprise for each of the kids----stickers, coloring books, pencils and pens, bubbles, etc. Wyatt especially loved Iggy and still talks about him 4 days after our trip. But we made our 8-hour trip in 10-hours which I thought was great!

Second, our place was even better than we had thought it would be and the neighborhood is so great. We got here at about 6pm on Thursday evening and by 9pm two of our neighbors had introduced themselves and offered to help in any way they could! I was warned by many of my friends that after leaving resident housing, don't be surprised if you don't meet your neighbors for awhile. But apparently that's not the case here in Columbus. We have since met several other people and they are so great---they are really friendly with the kids and have lent us ladders, hoses, etc. I am so thankful!!

We haven't had to turn the AC on yet! Granted I've been trying to put it off, but it really hasn't been too hot. I was so worried that it would just be unbearable, but at least our first few days here have been comfortable. (I'm sure those of you living in the 'south' just have to laugh when you hear me worry about the heat in Ohio! I know, I'm a wuss.)

A few more things I love about Columbus so far:
1. gas is $3.60/gallon (it was over $4/gallon when we left Madison)
2. every shopping/restaurant store you could imagine is here (I love being in a big city again!)

Okay, back to the move. We really couldn't have done this all without my parents. They have helped us with every move we have had (6 in 6 years) and have never complained or even thought about not helping. And we thought we wouldn't have to do another move on our own as we thought we'd have a job that would pay for this move. But when we decided to do the fellowship and told my parents we would be moving to Columbus, OH, their first comment was "Congratulations, just let us know what the dates of your move are and we'll take off work". Even I wasn't that enthusiastic about moving again! They are pros after having moved so many friends from church and their 3 girls several times and we definitely have reaped the benefits of this. And they have the energy of 20-year olds. Matt and I sometimes have a hard time keeping up with them--they are like energizer bunnies--never stopping until it's all done! My mom cleaned all the windows (including screens) and floors (and she is a meticulous cleaner!) and my Dad helped Matt move in all the furniture, setup our computer and all other electronic devices, hang pictures, anchor bookshelves, watch kids, run to Home Depot, etc. They left yesterday and we are sitting in a home (not just a house) largely because of them. We have almost every box unpacked and pictures hung because they are so amazing. So Mom and Dad, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!! And we promise, this will be the last one.

My Mom (Nani) making a picnic on the kitchen floor for lunch with the kids

The kids' backpacks from my mother-in-law (Grammy)---they are still in their pajamas in this picture b/c they asked for their backpacks as soon as they woke up
We are really enjoying being settled in our own place and navigating our way around Columbus. I'm sure I'll have much more to post soon, but we are here in our new home, healthy and happy!!

Here We Go Again.....

Well, we loaded up our second moving truck today and Matt and my Dad are on their way to Ohio. (The kids and my mom and I leave tomorrow). We packed everything up in La Crosse and then stored it all at my parents for the last 5 weeks, so we are now in the final phase of our move. I'm praying that all goes well--this will be the longest car trip we've done with the kids (8 hours). My mom and mother-in-law have sent along plenty of 'hourly surprises' and snacks, so I'm hoping this helps! Not sure when we'll have email in our new place, but hopefully soon!! You'll hear from us on the other side of this move!!!!!

It's the least I could do

When I asked my parents if we could live with them for a few weeks before we moved to Ohio, one of my mom's first thoughts was, "Then you could paint our guest bedroom furniture" and it was the least I could do for all they have done for us. For those of you who haven't seen our bedroom set, Matt and I spray painted it a few years ago and we have gotten so many compliments on it. Several of our friends have done the same thing--spray paint it black and buy new hardware and you have completely new furniture. It's so simple and inexpensive! So I finally did my parent's furniture--but I'm kicking myself for not taking before pictures! I forgot to take 'before' pics when we did our bedroom furniture and you'd think I would learn my lesson. But here is a picture of a desk that was the same style.

Add a bit of this........

and this is what you get! We did it in the garage since it was so windy, but I didn't realize how messy the spray paint would be for me.....

...I wore a bandana over my face, but you can tell where I was breathing in the paint......

...those aren't tan lines--they are spray paint dust lines!
...this was the worst. The primer had stuck to my feet first and then grabbed ALL the spray paint and anything else that would stick to my feet!

....the end product (unassembled).
If you have any furniture that is good quality but completely outdated, I highly recommend doing this. It only takes a couple of hours and I was able to do a dresser, headboard, mirror, and nightstand in one afternoon. But be prepared for a mess if you do it inside a garage!!

Girls Weekend (condensed)

My mom has been wanting to do a "girls weekend" with my sisters and I for awhile and we've just never been able to coordinate one. So we decided to just do a "girl's day" in Chicago for the day before we leave for Ohio and my sister Lindsay leaves for New Zealand for the year. Thanks to Matt and my Dad for watching the kids while we were gone.

We started the day by grabbing Starbucks on our way to Chicago and sang old-school songs the whole way down. My sisters and I rocked out to all the christian music we grew up on---Amy Grant, DC Talk, Michael W. Smith.

Shopping on Michigan Ave.

Signature Room Restaurant on the top of the John Hancock building.....see the little sailboats down there.....we were up on the 96th floor
View of Lakeshore Dr from Signature Room

Chillaxin'

Mary Jo and Mom in our taxi----rushing to get to the show on time
Lindsay and I
YEAH----we made it on time and we are finally going to get to see WICKED!!!!!!!! I was SO excited!
The show was AWESOME and we all loved it--even Lindsay who hates the Wizard of Oz and gets creeped out by the monkeys. I never cease to be amazed at the talent of live actors and their amazing voices. AND the live orchestra---always an incredible experience and I am so thankful I was able to see it before it leaves Chicago this fall. We had a great time together and enjoyed shopping and relaxing, eating out, and spending time together. Can't wait to do it again---maybe the next one should be in New Zealand!!!

Stormy Lake

I just looked on our blog and saw that it's been almost a month since my last post. I can't even believe how fast our time off has gone. After our first week off in Madison, we headed up north to Matt's parent's cabin. And I have to laugh a bit because if you are from WI, you know where "up north" is. But many of my friends laugh when I say "up north"...."Isn't Wisconsin up north? How much more 'up north' is there?" is what they often say. So we headed about as far north as you can go in Wisconsin to Stormy Lake---a place my mother-in-law has gone to every summer since she was a little girl and a place Matt and his siblings have many fond memories of. We were really excited to be able to go up for over a week, as opposed to going just for a weekend as we've done in the past.

The kids enjoying the lake

It was an interesting week for Matt and I as we really got to see our children's personalities come shining through and deal with that. Wyatt, as you may have read in past posts, likes to be in control and know what is coming next. The first few days at Stormy were a bit rough for him as he was very apprehensive about the ski boat and didn't want to go anywhere near it. Matt and I have always tried to be understanding of what he may be thinking/feeling and this week in particular, we tried to be patient and realize that he'd been through a lot of changes in the last week and was living in another new place without the comforts of home and our daily routines. We answered all his questions about the boat/skiing and let him just observe for awhile. But after awhile, we told him he needed to go on the boat with Mommy and Daddy and see that it could be fun and he'd be safe. This was not his idea of fun. He cried the entire time as we put his lifejacket on him and tried to explain that everything would be fine. We could see in his eyes that he was just very fearful of the unknown--yet, we know from past experiences that if we don't push him to do something, he's very unlikely to try anything new. And as his parents, we want him to learn to deal with things in life that are uncomfortable at first but may bring him joy once he gets over his fears. Each day we'd take him on the boat and it did seem to get a bit better by then end of our time there, but he didn't ever fully get over his fear. We'll keep trying. In the meantime, he really liked sailing and would repeatedly say, "I like this boat because there's no motor".

Matt and Wyatt sailing

Sadie, on the other hand, was a completely different story. She loved everything about the boats and the lake. As you can see in this picture, she was ready to take off on the waverunner before Matt was even on!

Each day when we took her out on the boat, she'd fall alseep in the arms of whoever was holding her.........funny how something can be so calming to one of my children and so terrifying to the other.

After about 4 days of Wyatt's anxiety just overwhelming him, we decided it might be better to take him away from the lake for a bit and spend some one-on-one time with him. Two of Matt's cousins (I think that makes them Wyatt's 2nd cousins??) were going horse back riding with their parents (Matt's aunt and uncle) and I took Wyatt. I wasn't sure how he'd do on a horse--such a big animal that many people are afraid of. But he loved it! Every minute of it--and he was completely comfortable on the horse. We had a great time just the two of us and it was good to spend time together.

A family tradition---going to Kartway one night and riding go-karts Reagan, McKenna, and Wyatt watching the adults on the big go-karts

Sadie---lounging on the tube--i put her on the tube and would pull her around the shallow water and she just laid down and soaked up the rays (not really, she had sunscreen on!)

A friend got this suit for her last year--check out that belly!

If you click on this picture, you'll see a frog in Sadie's hand that Matt found. Sadie loves animals and wants to touch them all.....Matt had to hold her hand to make sure she wouldn't squish it....and the frog even looked right at the camera!!

As I said, Matt's mom has been coming to Stormy Lake since she was a little girl and there are many family traditions and memories surrounding Stormy Lake. While we were up there, many of Matt's cousins, aunts and uncles, and his grandparents were also there and we had a blast spending time with all of them.

Matt and his Grandad

Right before we went up to Stormy, Matt and Wyatt got their hair buzzed. And they started a trend...........Matt's brother Ty getting his hair buzzed

Colin before

Colin after....well, not fully completed. We had fun with his hair and did several different styles (including this mullet) on the way to completing it
Karsten before

Karsten after

Spending 4th of July at Stormy......Wyatt's deep concentration on his sparkler

McKenna helping Wyatt

Those fireworks were even too loud for Uncle Ty
Watching fireworks from the top of the boathouse

Auntie Cammie and Sadie on the 4th

Matt and his brothers....after their haircuts, they look even more alike!

All the cousins in our "boatcrew" t-shirts

Sorensens

How precious is that little face?

And this face......I love my children's laughter!

Matt's sister Mollie took this picture and I just love how she framed the picture of Matt skiing with Wyatt and I watching him

Sadie wanting to drive the boat





How could you not enjoy being in a place that looks like this? It's so refreshing to get away for awhile and spend time with family.....no computers, TV, cell phones. The sky was absolutely beautiful at night and we never got tired of looking up at the stars and marvelling at God's beautiful creation. We saw an eagle several times on the lake and watched it soar above the waters as it searched for food. I saw several deer run right in front of me when I would go for a run and each morning we'd wake up to the sound of the birds chirping (after our kids woke us up, of course!) We had a great time and can't wait until next year to go back.