Thursday, September 15, 2016

A Month and A Half

A month and a half ago my kids and I survived a harrowing two day drive (without Ian!) We arrived in Annapolis and signed on our new home. One day later the moving truck arrived with all of our things and we were able to begin settling in. It felt so good- six months of wondering if we should move back to the US followed by almost six months of uncertainty of where we would end up concluding with a new home in a beautiful town with a good job.

The Lord provides, even if we still don't understand why He brought us back.

The kitchen came together quickly, running lots of loads in the dishwasher and figuring out the most logical way to organize things.

Luke's room was easy as well. He didn't have much to himself besides some Little People toys and a pack n play.

The girls' room took some thinking. We found the right bookshelf, organized their closet, and finally figured out the right piece of furniture to fit between their beds that was low to the ground so that they could use the top surface for playing with their Calico Critters.

Our room was just a disaster zone. It was where we put all of the unopened boxes so that the kids couldn't get into them. My teaching supplies spilled over everywhere. And the books. Oh, my. The books.

We had sold our Target bookcases in Abu Dhabi thinking they wouldn't survive another international move but then we had the hardest time getting new ones here. We bought and returned SIX bookcases before I finally just ordered them online. Four had damage and two were the wrong color.

Books put away and order was still far away from us.

And I won't even tell you the hours I put into choosing a kitchen table. Our "breakfast" area in our kitchen is an odd shape and the whole kitchen is small-ish, meaning we really needed an all white table. Weeks after moving in we finally decided on one and ordered it. It was so good to stop having meals on the floor- a 5, 3, and 1 year old are not very clean and tidy.

We also knocked out some landscaping over Labor Day weekend. It's not finished but I think it's enough for the winter- I'm worried about putting stuff in so close to cold weather and it not surviving.

We are waiting on the last few pieces of the family room to come together but other than that we are settled in! Praise God for a place that is home.

I loved that last week Grace came up to me and said "This is a really good home, Momma!" That means alot coming from a girl who had a hard time leaving her home and her friends in Abu Dhabi.

Picture tour to come of our new home!