En route to DC we stopped in Pennsylvania to see my family. We conveniently left Lillian and Michael in the care of my mother and sister. So on Monday the 8th of May Matt, Madeline and myself went to Silver Spring to get the keys to our new home. That first night we had furniture but opted to sleep in the house. All three of us sharing an air mattress and a blanket. It will be a fun memory but I can't say we slept that well. The next morning I drove around the beltway and dropped Maddie off at our good friends the Brown's . The moving truck arrived at about 11a.m. Al, Bud and Bill made a good team of movers and our stuff was unloaded by about 8:30 PM. We began that night opening the boxes. Thankfully we had the beds ready to go and slept comfortably that night. Wednesday morning began with setting up the kitchen. We worked until about 3 in the afternoon and then headed back up to PA to get the kiddos. Our schedule was dictated by the much anticipated LOST episode. We had to leave in time to miss rush hour and be at my parents in time for the show. The following pics were taken during the second half of the visit May 10-14.
We were able to participate in the community garage sale over the weekend. It was nice to unload more of our stuff. Madeline was quite the salesgirl. Grandma had batches of fresh baked yummies for her to sell. She then branched out into selling her original drawings. She sold 6 at 10 cents a pieces to garage sale customers.
Pap had just come home from a week long fishing trip. He was greeted eagerly by grandchildren who had one question on their minds "Pap, when are you going to make fudge?" They did get their special homemade treat soon after. Michael loves hanging out with his Pap. Though I am not sure how Pap was able to fall asleep with an active preschooler on his lap.
Gram and Pap bought Michael a new trike with a wagon. The kids had a blast riding up and down the Cul-de-sac in front their grandparents house. Maddie as you can see did most of the work. Lily had a great time with cousin Natalie. In the picture, Aunt Jeni was trying to encourage Lily to stay on her feet. She does not have to much motivation to stay vertical but having her cousin around was helpful and a lot of fun. It is going to be great having family so accessible. We are now back in our house and becoming acclimated to our new neighborhood. We will be updating again soon with new pics.
Today the kids and I spent the morning making a bug catcher. Maddie is still our little entomologist and loves going on bug catching expeditions. The first step was to nail the boards together. She did a great job with the hammer. After the wood was assembled, it was time to tie a string handle. Next step: mesh, then a door. Maddie's favorite part of the process was painting the new catcher. We used our books about bugs as inspiration. After the paint was dry she went out on a bug hunt. We'll let you know what new "pets," as she refers to them, we find. What a fun first day alone with the kids. Matt started school today. It has been a wonderful season of all of us together. The day was not the same without him. We have definitely been spoiled. But I know that God has special plans in mind for each of us and I am excited to have some time to devote all my attention on the kids.
