Recovery Mode

I've been in survival/recovery mode since school started - well, really since the move. I wonder how long, exactly, the "I just moved" card is good for... One year? Two? Anyhow, I was convinced that I could really roll my sleeves up and get some unpacking done as soon as school started again and my house was less full of kids. Then my two oldest went to school, and suddenly I was left to entertain the little boys on my own. The girls who used to take Nolan and play with him or get Troy drinks of water and help him with his toys were suddenly gone. And I was left getting even less done and thinking, "Wait a minute..."

Anyhow, here's an overview of our summer wrap-up so far:

A new Dairy Queen was installed in our neighborhood, which apparently is a big deal, judging by the buzz amongst our friends and the ridiculously long lines of cars outside, so we had to check it out.

Consensus: Um... it was Dairy Queen.

Amazing sunsets every night...

Kids are no longer allowed to bathe in the jacuzzi tub without supervision

Some friends invited us to a super fun water park on an absolutely perfect afternoon

We went shopping for school supplies and found the stores were selling... Halloween candy...? WHAT???

We went to the zoo with some friends. I'm pretty sure that I still love the zoo more than my kids do. As always.

Travis has been hard at work with the heavy-duty projects around the house 

I designed some custom built-in beds for the girls' room, and he built frames for them according to my sketch. His part is done - now we'll see how long it takes me to get around to my part! (The design and finishing!) Stay tuned.

Yesterday the kids and I went to a community "transportation day" where we got to climb all over all kinds of vehicles - a fire engine, ambulance, police car, giant mobile crime office unit, library truck (an unexpected favorite), and even a zoomobile where they had some unusual animals visiting.

But as for the big question: no, I have not finished organizing the bathrooms or cleaning up the knee-deep mess of the girls' room that resulted from them "unpacking" by themselves. Troy is still sleeping in a little toddler bed wedged amongst the boxes of books in the office. And no one knows what's in the basement. One day at a time over here!