Life is finally beginning to settle down

Move day went well. We were still throwing things in boxes when the 2 trucks arrived at 11am. The kids did great, trying to stay out of the 4 guys' way and out of mine and John's way while we continued to pack up all our crap! Later in the afternoon, Mariana and Megan arrived to pick up Steph, Riley, and myself to get back to San Jose to catch our 5:50pm train to Sacramento. We bid John and the others a farewell and happy moving to the new house and left. We all had a really good time seeing Old Sacramento and learned some history about California in the mid-1800's and the city of Sacramento. Our accommodations were at a Youth Hostel both nights and that consisted of several rooms with bunk beds, enough to house all 28 of us. There were 3 floors to this old home and other people were staying there as well. It was fun to meet people and find out where they were from. There was a large kitchen which all guests use and a huge dining room. We walked past the Capitol on our way back to the hostel Sat. There was lots of time to shop in the little stores and we even made an old fashioned group picture with everyone dressed up. I'll have to scan it and post it here. It was pretty hot the whole weekend and I think carrying Riley continuously in my Moby wrap almost made us become one again! Talk about sticky! I found a small travel bed for him to use at night (for the most part) so that at least gave my back a break in the evening or when the others weren't holding him. We kept continuous head counts of all 20 girls and thankfully we didn't lose a single one!

While Steph and I were galavanting in Old Sac, John made another trip back to Morgan Hill to load up more crap in the van on Sat. On Sun., waiting for us to return, he made one trip to the house and another to finish loading both cars and to meet us to go home. Sun. night I got to sleep in my bed in my new house :-) A new friend in my homeschooling world that lives down the street brought John and the kids dinner and ice cream on Friday night! How awesome is that?!! They really appreciated it. John had some beds set up but of course boxes were everywhere. I didn't do much of anything Sunday night but Mon. we had to go back to the house and clean it up. That was it for that place.

We are meeting lots of people and making lots of friends. The family down the street has 5 kids, the family next door has 6, so I think we fit right in this neighborhood! The family next door have a lovely pool and John has been talking to the dad since the first weekend. He was invited to play cards last Friday and I went over to meet the wife. Turns out she's the OB unit manager and wondered if I wanted a job! Ha! They even have a Stephanie (14), Katelyn/Katie (8), and the nephew we met also was Connor (8). Crazy! They then invited over on Sun. to swim and for a bbq. That was alot of fun and great for the kids to get acquainted. We went with the other family to park day yesterday, where the homeschoolers meet weekly. Many nice families there as well.

I am making a dent in the unpacking. John has some of his media hooked up and so far I've got the kitchen unpacked, the 3 bathrooms, my clothes, and the kids' rooms mostly organized. I need to put a couple organizers together for Zack and Connor and I still can't find Max's sheets! We just had new carpet installed in the living room/library so we got the shelves back in and all the boxes of books piled back in there. I had a thought, though, that I will probably never want to unload the books off the shelves ever again and would like to see some color on these walls for a change. I think I will go pick out some paint and pain that room this weekend. Then that room is DONE. I'd also like to paint the other rooms (we've always had white walls in every house and I am SICK of white walls!) but will do them gradually. John has a few boxes downstairs that need to find a home upstairs so I hope to work on that this weekend too.

I've been pool-shopping and watching for the best deal. Since it will easily get into the 110's on and off all summer, I can't imagine not having a pool! I found a great price for an Easy Set pool like our last one but made with a new double-thick liner. We'll kill some weeds first then start getting it set up next week. That should help us keep cool. And much to our surprise, we got a credit from the Title Office for the house for just about the price of the pool! Woohoo!

I think that's about it from my end. I do have a 'new house/birth announcement' to go out tomorrow so look for that in the mail soon. Perhaps a few pictures to post...

Zack and his 'old' friend of 5 yrs., Jenny

Riley 6 wks

Riley 8 wks

Riley 11wks

Connor's 4th Birthday

Some of Riley's followers aka Troop 8

Troop 8 buddies

Steph aboard Amtrak

Loft/game room

Library

Kitchen

Kids at the new house