Owen in His New Surroundings

Owen seems to really like the new house. Yesterday he went to the door and said outside please, so of course I had to oblige. Although I was cooking dinner so three other kids were asked to go out with him. Then they were all out for over an hour in the beautiful weather riding bikes, shooting basketballs, and playing in the dirt.
Owen's favorite phrase is "I wanna help." He always exaggerates the P. He helps with everything, he unfolds laundry, he tries to help pick up, he uses five paper towels to clean up his two drips of milk, and he carries wood for Ben.

He loves to do anything and everything Ben does.

This is the office, and the floor looks like this almost every day because Owen loves to color. He colors while I'm at the computer. He uses markers mostly but anything will do. He makes sure his page is covered in all different colors with no room left to color more. He usually colors on himself and sometimes me too, but he is leaving the walls alone. Wish I could have said that about the rental too, but I did a lot more wall washing than I expected on the last day of cleaning there.

He has moved to the big table in a booster and drinks his milk from the cereal bowl just like the big kids. I think he really likes his new bedroom with Luke. He goes to bed great, but he isn't sleeping through the night yet. Hopefully someday soon. I think he has night terrors like Luke did because he cries in his sleep a lot. He's saying more and more everyday although unfortunately his favorite word is "MINE". He loves to yell yeah in the car if he thinks I'm saying something exciting although many times it isn't something exciting and the other kids think it is hilarious that he yells yeah for something silly like me saying we've got to stop and get the mail. He makes life fun and very busy. Mondays are by far the hardest day, he whines a lot because he really hates it that everyone has gone back to work and school and its just me and him again, but by Tuesday he's accepted it and busies himself playing or like today throwing cars across the room until I put an end to it.
We just finished lunch and now we'll watch the end of Price is Right while he falls asleep, and then I have about 45 minutes to get a lot of work done.

Saturday Morning Watching Cartoons

Unpacking...Again

We've finally moved it all out of the rental and into our home. Now I just have to get organized a major feat for me. Today I managed to get the office empty and organized. I emptied four bins and one large suitcase. I also unpacked and put away 7 boxes from the living room. Luke and Owen's room is done and organized, just a few more decorations to go up. Beau's room is painted, he needs some shelving units, but I did find curtains for his closet and a small valance curtain for his window. It helps that he has always loved the ocean and each bedroom continues with that theme, this one just delves a little deeper as he calls it and underwater cave. Pictures will be posted soon. Anna's room is a nightmare, not really, but close. Her bed is a loft, that is not yet lofted, so there are pieces and parts everywhere, plus she has collections of stuff that need homes. She needs a shelving unit and she'd like a desk to do her homework in her room. Her room is our goal this weekend, if we complete that the garage is next. I'm still planning a look back at 2011 blog, but life keeps overtaking me. Hoping to get a little done in my bedroom and bathroom tomorrow as I just keep making stacks in there and I think Ben is ready to have an organized bedroom (although he does know he's married to queen of disorganized.) Owen spent the day coloring, thankfully he is getting it all on paper these days, I was surprised how many coloring spots of his I found on walls at the rental when I was cleaning.

All 5 Marnell Cousins

We finally got a photo of all five. In between moving, school, basketball, and bugs (not the good kind Memere) it was hard to capture this. Auntie Kara sang a rousing rendition of Old McDonald had a farm to make Owen smile and not scream while I fed Ruby puffs to keep her happy. So Memere's bugs are sending her lots of smiles. Beetle bug, snug-a-bug, cuddle bug, doodle bug, and lady bug all in one mess of love. Praying whatever nasty bug is turning three of my kiddos stomach inside out doesn't get to Auntie Kara and Ruby, we want them to fly home healthy. Anna amd Ruby wore matching outfits today, although Ruby wasn't very cooperative we did get a couple cute ones of the girly cousins. The one of them standing was unplanned and they were both in the same position so I pointed and shot. Love these kids, they are fun, especially love being an auntie, I miss her already.

We love you Ruby-doobie-doo.
A good auntie will get this Dora chair in the mail ASAP, I'm not promising you have a good auntie, but you will get the chair eventually.

Hugs and Kisses to Memere and Pappa Lloyd

I had a lot of great intentions to get pictures of Memere and Pappa Lloyd's five grandkids on here today, but um I haven't taken any. I intended to take pictures of them in their Sunday best, but Owen's Sunday best ended up in not getting out of pajamas (several different pairs). Owen got a stomach bug last night that kept me up all night and him puking every 20 minutes for four hours, it was not fun. But before all that, and when we thought he was fine Ruby and Owen were very loving for the camera. And Ben was sharing some snack with them I don't even remember what but I'm sure I saw it again at some point in the middle of the night.

A List

Things I've done in the last three days...

-Packed and unpacked at least 20 boxes.
-Welcomed my SIL and niece from CT who are here for a week :)
-Taught kindergarten CCD
-Woke every hour or more one of those nights because Ben gave Owen a yogurt, ugh!
-Coached basketball practice.
-Watched basketball practice.
-Watched kindergarten basketball game.
-Chase Owen everywhere.
-Burnt trash.
-Painted, painted, painted.
-Woke up early, went to bed late.
-Made chicken noodle soup.
-Went to the grocery store three times in one day.
-Made another batch of chicken noodle soup (its really good).
-Helped Anna with a biography report about Eleanor Roosevelt (she got a 105%, she said the teacher said "she went above and beyond")
-Helped Luke with his 100 day poster project...original idea scrapped due to supply issue, made do with something I found in a box, ugh!
-Cut firewood.
-Cleaned cobwebs.
-Drove back and forth to do laundry at the rental.
-Moved the washer and dryer with Ben alone, only dropped the washer twice.
-Broke a step.
-Cleaned the garage.
-Washed walls.
-Vacuumed floors.
-Swept floors.
-Visited with a friend.
-Read to children.
-Rocked Owen to sleep.
-Cooked lasagna twice (the frozen kind, mmm).
-Cleaned the kitchen multiple times.
-Walked the property with my husband, just the two of us (FANTASTIC!)
-Kissed Ruby (my beautiful niece).
-Showered only once, um that's not so good.
-Laid with Beau and discussed his day.
-Alphabetized Beau's spelling words with him.
-Read to Anna.
-Helped Luke do his homework.
-Filled the gas tank on the car.
-Sang a lot of songs.
-SMILED.
-PRAYED.
-LOVED.

It has been an overly busy three days, and I am thankful for every minute of it.

Lunch in Pajamas

Auntie Kara and Ruby are visiting, we are very busy but I finally grabbed the camera for one shot for Memere and Pappa Lloyd and Uncle Scott to see the Goober Twins.

Santa Came to the New House

We were up by 6 and over at the new house sometime before 7, it was way too early. Owen really thought we were all crazy and just wanted to go back to bed. Santa brought the tree and everything from the rental so the kids could have Christmas morning at the new house. Ben and I had spent an hour at the house the night before scrubbing the living room floor so that this could happen. It was dirty to say the least. I think the kids had a fantastic Christmas and I know I did. They opened and played while I began cleaning again. Around 11 we were all very hungry having no food at the new house we'd all skipped breakfast. So we packed up and headed back to the rental to eat and get ready for Christmas dinner at Grandma Marnell's. Our first Christmas in Georgia was a success. We have now celebrated Christmas in 8 different states. I think that is plenty.

Christmas Ever

Christmas Eve day was a quiet morning that led into a sporadic afternoon. Auntie Annette invited us over for appetizers and we exchanged gifts. We were given a fantastic family movie night basket. The kids especially enjoyed the candy. Jordan, Katie's husband plays in a band The Kicks and he brought his guitar because Anna has been showing an interest in playing the guitar. She loved it, I guess I have added another item to my to do list. We posed for pictures, we chatted, and then headed off to the Children's Mass. We had to get there over an hour early just to get seats, and it filled up fast. It was a nice Mass. We indulged on McDonalds for dinner as we wanted to head as quickly as possible to the new house which we took possession of at 6:00 p.m. on Dec. 24th. We were so happy to be going home. We went to the house and made a to do list of all the cleaning that had to be done. Top of the list was getting rid of the smell, we are almost there. Then it was back to the rental to get kids to bed so Santa could come.

The Family.

Anna and Rebecca

A New Year

Wow, the last couple weeks have flown by, but lots has been accomplished. We started the New Year with going to bed by 10 after having driven back from a fantastic wedding in Louisville. Every day since the 24th we have been working hard to get our new house clean, fresh, and smelling better. We are slowly making progress, at least I think it smells better. Two bedrooms are painted and ready to live in. One bedroom is ready to be primed and I think I have one kitchen/dining floor (its a big one) that is ready to be scrubbed. But this morning I am giving myself a break. Since Ben is flying to the Virgin Islands for 5 days I feel I can take a morning to blog and rest and even watch a little tv. Of course no break is completely a break with Owen around. I have peanut butter smeared on my pants because his snack of apples (from Michigan) and peanut butter was done and his way of telling me was to wipe it one me. It's almost nap time and then I think I might have to accomplish something or read a book in peace. I will be back later today to add pictures, write my a year gone by post and maybe add a little something else if I can think of anything.