Moving day is coming!

Finally, after all the trips to Branson, all the times staying in someone else's house, packing things back and forth- we found a house! It's a rent house that will suit us just fine while we go back and forth. There are so many great things about it that I could go on and on. But for less than the cost of a week in a hotel, we have a cute cottage in the woods, kind of. It's on 108 acres that include 8 horses we can spend time with. I'm so excited for the kids to be able to explore the outdoors without the concerns of traffic or them being too far out of sight. We have a 1/2 mile driveway that's paved to ride bikes and scooters. Lots of trees to climb. A rope in place for a swing. The stove is gas, which I've wanted for a long time. It has 3 bedrooms, so we'll have room for everyone. We've been packing in a leisurely fashion for about 2 months, but now it's time to start in earnest. Mom came over to help today, which was fabulous. My grandma is in assisted living, so she has no need of things at her house. Last fall when we went, we were able to get some fabulous treasures. One was the contents of her utensil drawer. Perfect for our new little house.
God has been in this all the way. It was so easy finding it, the price is fabulous, the placement is 1/2 way between Branson and Springfield. The things we need to make it homey we've either had enough to have some here and some there, we've gotten at really good price, or been blessed with. I'm so thankful for His leading in all this. The facts that we have a church family there, great friends, my parents have land not too far away, and that we've had that as a desire for several years make this a very special thing.
I tell you what, packing after living in one house for over 12 years with 4 kids, all kinds of pets, and grat memories is challenging. We will be there about 1/2 time, coming back for therapy and times with family. Buddy still has a lot of work here, so we'll be commuting both ways. With his busy schedule, we don't see him very often most of the time. It'll be nice for him to have a place to get away to all the work of getting away. I'm looking forward to sitting on the front porch, listening to the crickets chirping, looking at the stars, smelling the horse smells, and enjoying it all with my family.
Another nice thing is that we'll be back and able to spend time with friends when we're back here. Plus our Sunday School class is here! We'll figure it all out
So, if you're in the neighborhood, here or there, we'd like to get together! (Cammie, that means we won't be running in and out so fast that we won't be able to coordinate meeting!)
Better get back to packing!
If you're handy on Thursday evening, come on over for a load-the-trailer party!

From the birthday party- C had his face so close to his plate so nothing would fall off his fork. H picked up the plate and licked it to make sure she didn't miss anything!

Lots happening around the Wright house.

Found a baby bird under the car yesterday, so did the dog. It got away and made it into the garage. Catherine made a little box for it, complete with a lamp and a towel. We asked in Petsmart how to care for a baby bird, looked it up online, and came up with sugar water. It was so cute to see it open its mouth and take those drops in! Samuel named him Pico, and he was a constant distraction from anything they (mostly C) was supposed to do. She spent a lot of her free moments out there looking at him, holding him, etc. We had to run around a lot today, and he wasn't looking so swift before we left. You guessed it, he was gone by the time we got home. C was heart broken and cried and cried. It didn't help that we're finishing up Where the Red Fern Grows. (Can you believe I'm 40 and just now reading it?) We were both mild basket cases while we read aloud to each other this morning. Not a great combination to have to deal with in one day. If only I could have eaten worms and thrown them back up to feed it... Thankfully, we have a bird feeder that we can fill to attract more birds. We just won't be holding them and caring for them like we did Pico.

The plan was to finish reading the book and watch the movie tomorrow night. Now I'm wondering....

C had her end of the year recital on Tuesday. It was really amazing to see these dancers'

progress! She came a long way this year, even since November, the last time I got to observe in class. They had some of the older dancers performing, as well. It's so beautiful to see them on pointe! Amazing to think that will be her in just a few years! Now we have a little break from dance running. Her teacher is leaving, which is really sad. She's been C's teacher for 3 years, and is really talented. We'll miss her.

For some reason, going to the Home school convention gets me excited for what more we can learn. Silly me, I think the end of the year is time to crank up and see what else we can do before we finish for the year. So, we started Botany 2 weeks ago. We've been having fun looking at leaves and seeds. We started a germination experiment today, which should be fun to watch. I'm sure we'll do some on and off over the summer, but I really am winding down.

Another end of the year gear up is an accelerated reading program. I enjoy reading so much, as does S. C has recently started not just reading because I tell her to, but for fun. I'm excited to see what is in store. It's a good way for me to be reading some classics.

As we move into summer, I'm sure we'll do some math, spelling, and reading most days. We'll stick some science in occasionally, too.

Caleb got a little Lego set with Jesse and Bullseye yesterday. He is having so much fun with it! The cutest thing is that he keeps saying "Eye ball" instead of "Bullseye."

We made a trip to the orthodics place again today. They had 4 people come in and talk about what to do. They made a gooey mix that is the same as what is used to make retainers, so it smelled minty fresh. Then they had her stand in a bucket full of the mix, one foot at a time. When it firmed up, they had an impression they poured plaster into and made a little Hannah foot. She was so tired, she willingly put her head on the back of the chair in between each thing they did. The plan is to make something that will be formed around her foot, be opened on the top with a velcro closure. Something flexible, cushioning and supportive. How they'll do it, I'm not sure, but with 4 people collaborating on it, they should be able to do amazing things. One thing the surgeon didn't think we needed to do was take x-rays of her feet. However, we're going to do that next week to get an idea of what's going on in there.

Looking forward to a nice mostly quiet weekend. Have a good one!

It was my mom's birthday on Friday, so we had the clan over to celebrate. We had a great time, with 9 kids together, what's not to like? It was the 1st time in a long time that I'd cooked for so many, but it turned out really well. I made wacky cake in mini-bundt pans, with a mini-loaf thrown in. Help was needed to blow out the candles.

We celebrated Hannah as well. She's getting the hang of the tissue paper process!Just a silly picture of C from last weekend.

Off to another great week!

I should be going to bed instead of posting, but we had such a great weekend! We went from thinking of a hotel, to camping, to camping in a friends back yard, to crashing in their house. The kids had a fabulous time the whole weekend. We did make it to SDC for part of Saturday. We saw an Austrian yodeler, an Irish harpist and a tenor, an Indian band, the Russian circus, Canadian dancers and fiddlers, and lots of people! No rides this time because we had an agenda! It was the kids' choice to just see shows and eat food. Fine with me.

The kids gave me presents before we left- C made a fun bracelet and necklace out of colored paper clips, S made a card that had a cute picture of us together (me barely taller than her is.) H brought some bath salts and a card home from school. Both she and C made a cute craft at church. I got flowers to plant, a good book to read (an American leader's bio) 1/2 my kids with me, and a nap! Awesome day!

One of the most exciting things that came out of the weekend is going to have to wait. Suffice it to say, I am so happy about this, and everyone else is pretty excited, too. Stay tuned for more information...

When we got home, Caleb cried when he saw me. I was so tired, it was ok. H was not crying, it was no big deal I was home. That Grandma is amazing! What's to miss about mommy when you've got someone as fun as she is? She righted my house and took awesome care of the kids. What I would do without her, I don't know. I am truly blessed with my parents- my dad had to agreed to let her go for the weekend! Thanks for life, mom!

Happy Birthday, Hannah! Today is Hannah's golden birthday, her first birthday in America, her first in a family. Last night we had a party to celebrate Buddy's birthday, and today it's about her. This morning we had the traditional candles in the oatmeal moment, which she wasn't able to blow out. Both because she couldn't get her breath going in the right directions and because a little "helper" stepped in and took care of it after she had a little time to try. Off to school she went, and when she comes home, she'll have a weekend with Grandma! Mom is coming to stay so the big ones of the family can go to SDC and camp. A little challenging with little ones.
Yesterday we went to an orthodics place to see if we could find something to help H. Of course, this is a huge challenge. What they decided to do was find something to cushion during weight bearing, and a separate something to stretch her feet during the night. Great idea! I also found out there are at least 2 different people who do serial casting in town, instead of the 4 hour round trip journey we thought we'd be doing originally. We go back in 2 weeks to have 2 people work on her feet to try to get impressions and design the best thing for her. She continues to get more mobility in her feet, so it's all good. Not the original time frame, but it's going to be fine in the end.
Have a great Mother's day to all the moms who have children in their arms, in their hearts, and in Heaven.

Day 1 of Stanford testing done! It was a good one, but I didn't take lunch, since we usually finish early. Sadly, I think I was the hungriest and couldn't wait to run for lunch! S was having too much fun to stop to eat, and C was having fun running back and forth with her friends, but did pause to eat. One more day and we're done for the year.
This past weekend was the homeschool convention and Samuel's campout. We forgot a water bottle and I think that was it, as far as he was concerned. Lesson learned- he needed some better hiking boots, and he should have kept the raincoat out and packed the jacket when it was time to pack up. Needless to say, he was cold, tired, and wet when I picked him up. While he was there, he had a great time, as usual, and got to participate in some fun activities.
I found some good things for next year, which I'm looking forward to already! WE're not done yet with this one, and I'm anticipating what's coming. The best purchase of all" My wheelie cart! For the past 2 years, I've been dragging at least 2 bags, lunches, and my purse up the stairs to my class each week. Silly girl! Now I'll be ready for next year and any adventures between now and then that require a little help on wheels.
Caleb is managing at Grandma's again for a few days. Spur of the moment while we were at church, so no "b" or anything else special. So far, so good.

A few weeks ago, we were driving to church and the conversation went like this-
Caleb: What class is H going to?
me: What class do you want her to go to?
C: Mine
me to H- Do you like to be with C?
H: Yes.
C: She's smart!

Last week while working on geography, the laptop fell from a desk to the floor sadly shattering the screen. Thankfully, I've borrowed a monitor for the side work I've been doing and can hook that up to the laptop. Today I found out I can buy a new one and have a connection to get it replaced! Thank God for help when you need it! New battery, new hard drive, now a new screen. I think I'm set for a while!
Have a great evening!