a big (little) family

Homeownership has been... well, so far mostly the downs of trying to get things ready to move in, but we're loving it anyhow. The yard is awesome, the shop has Blaine quite pleased with his space to work in, and the fireflies are great fun for the kids. Yes, I know fireflies come out after dark and long past bedtime. My poor children are on a new, no-bedtime schedule. Last night it was 10pm before we were home, their filthy bodies were bathed, and all were in bed. On a bright side of this late night life, bedtime is super easy, once Sterling gets his pj's on. He gets a bit emotional when he's tired, so that's always fun, but Ruby is too tired to get out of bed - something she's been trying lately when she's not completely exhausted. It's a good thing she's not been fighting me - I don't have the energy to deal with it.

Sterling is three! Photos to follow - as soon as Blaine dumps his camera onto the computer. Every day though, Sterling gets up and informs me he's still three - I think he's a little afraid of reverting back to two.

The landlord wants us to move asap. Theoretically we have the house until the end of July, but moving sooner means less rent - a very cool thing. They have a new renter that wants to move in sooner, so now the pressure is on to get the new house ready. That news came on the heels of being informed from the propane company that our gas line is leaking. Add another job to Blaine's list of jobs to finish. In the meantime, my procrastination on buying paint for the kitchen paid off. Lowe's has a mail in rebate on the paint I wanted now! Very cool. I bought that today, and am headed out there later to start painting the kitchen. Yesterday we microwaved water to scrub the house down (no gas hooked up because of gas leak means no hot water) and we're starting to take everything we can live without out there. Great fun. Makes moving day easier!

I've mowed the lawn out there twice. The first time, a month after being mowed for the first time of the year, took me 7 hours with our 21" push mower. It was disastrously tall! The second time, five days after I mowed it the first time, took 4 hours. Much better. I read yesterday that pushing a lawn mower burns 408 calories an hour. Pad that slightly since the lawn is 80% hill, and that's looking like a great exercise program!

That's all I've got. Life's crazy busy, trying to go back and forth between the two houses, maintain both - and if you think that's crazy, hold on a minute. We're eating supper out there every night, often lunch too, cooking only on the grill without a stove or fridge, hauling dirty dishes back to the rental since there isn't any hot water. Ok, minute over. Back to work on... something! Babies are sleeping, and with our late nights, I hate to interrupt their naps to haul them back out there so that I can paint. So, here I sit.