And so it begins. Andy received a notice from the Army that his report date is June 3, which means we probably will move the week before, which is actually perfect. Andy graduates May 17, Max finishes kindergarten May 23rd, so we’ll probably move right after that. I’ve got two major projects going on to prepare for the move. First, preparing the house to sell. We painted the front door, pressure washed a little (need to do a lot more), and started some trimming of shrubs in the backyard. We have quite a bit more to do. From little details like touching up paint, replacing light switch covers, to bigger projects like pressure washing the sidewalks (we have a corner lot), replacing the vent in the kitchen, and a fan in one of the rooms. I am actually pretty proud of the work we’ve done to this house. A prime example of some of the tasteful wall paper we’ve had to removeCurrentSo removing wall paper is NOT fun. But we did it. In nearly every room. As I’m looking for a home currently, wallpaper is on our blacklist. Luckily for us, it is a buyer’s market in Augusta right now and a seller’s market here in Houston so we won’t have too much trouble finding a house that fits our likes. Andy’s one “must have” is Fiber. He is pretty insistent that our next house has fiber. with family being so far away, it makes sense that he wants a pain free connection to them when we facetime. Our joint “must haves” are a home within our budget that has 4-5 bedrooms (if four then an extra room for a study), 2500 sq ft or bigger. Of course, it needs to be zoned to a good elementary school. Some people opt to live in Augusta, because the homes are even cheaper, but their school ratings are in the 2’s and 3’s, but most of them homeschool. Despite being a former teacher, I don’t think I could homeschool my kids unless absolutely necessary. Besides the basics, I would like granite counter tops, and enough counter space so my kids can “help” cook sometimes. My kids really want a playground in the backyard. So far we’ve found a few homes with these requirements. So I guess I have three projects, because finding a new home has been kind of a project too. My last project is going through our stuff to prepare for the move. So far I have several bags to donate or garage sale and whatever we don’t sell from the sale we will donate. We hope the army gets our paper work done quickly so we don’t go too long without a paycheck once we move, but we’re saving now in anticipation of that, because if anyone knows anything about the army, you can depend upon their SLOW process. The last two weeks we’ve celebrated Andy and Mav’s birthdays (with honorable mention to Ben and Wesley and my mom– Happy birthday yall). Mav had a spiderman birthday with some family friends and Andy opted for a stay-at-home homemade pizza night. too tired to flip this image. I’ll fix it tomorrowOther than all that I’m enjoying my children. They are growing so fast. Max is learning to read like a champ. Mav finally learned how to ride his tricycle today and Bev went to nursery (with me). She loved it. She also chipped a tooth because she is spastic. Then we fixed her tooth and then she somehow chipped the filling off, which they said would probably happen. Well that led to a quicker weaning. Nothing like a chipped tooth to motivate you to end breast-feeding. I love being a mom and I love seeing them learn and grow. Nothing gives me greater joy than when I see their creative minds at work. Hope y’all have good week! Happy birthday Mav (top right)