Moving In

So I got a little out of sequence last week when I posted about Ajay starting school again.  We're going to jump back to the moving process.

We did a reallllly slow move from the old place.  I do believe it took us 2 full weeks to get everything out.  And now, although we're mostly settled in our new house, we still have boxes to unpack.  All the stuff that you can't throw out but stuff you don't really use on a regular basis.  Time to start filling up storage shelves!

There were a few days when we had nothing electrical to entertain the boys - no T.V., no computer, etc.  The boys had to rely completely on their imagination and non-electrical toys.  It was quite nice, from a mother's point of view.

There are lots of kids in the neighborhood.  We're all very happy about this!  Luckily it didn't take long to meet most of the children in the area.  One day there were 9 small folk out playing in the street. There is a couple across the street with three children all around the same ages as our three. 

Plenty of bikes, scooters, racing and playing tag.  The kids go to bed exhausted almost every night.  In fact, Alex  put himself to bed at 6:10 last night.  I had to bribe him w/ playing in the sprinklers (Biju was checking them to see if they worked) to get him back out of bed. 

We rented a U-Haul two Sundays in a row.  The second Sunday we had a friend/co-worker of Biju's come to help with the heavy stuff. 

Once the couches were in the boys were given the task of putting the "feet" back on.  Can you see Aren peeking over the couch edge?

Aren wanted to get in on the action.

Once we got the computer set up the boys wasted no time figuring out it comes with it's own games.  Still no internet to play games on but they discovered Minesweeper!

We're really enjoying our new space.  The boys seem to have adjusted very well and sleep just fine in their new bedrooms.  Aren wakes up in the night now and then but I think it might have more to do with his allergies than anything else.

The first day of school....again.

Ajay gets to remember two first-days-of-second-grade.

 We woke up Monday morning and started getting breakfast.  This is the view I saw as I was standing at the kitchen sink:

Can you see the sky turning pink and yellow out the window?

I got a little closer....

After another couple of minutes, though, we had to shut the curtains because the sun was too bright.  Still, a great way to start the day! 

Ajay's school is about 2 minutes by van from our house. 

Since Alex doesn't get to go to PreK for now (boo!) he came home and found some things to do on his own.

Ajay's old school started at 9am.  This school starts at 8:20am.  That's quite the adjustment but everyone seems to be doing well with the change. 

Now I don't know if this has anything to do with the school, and I don't know why it would, but he doesn't mind reading out loud to us now.  The last few days when I've asked him to take a turn with the bedtime book he gladly reads instead of crossing his arms, pouting and refusing to read.  I'll take it and hope that he stays this way!

The last day of school

Last week I sent Ajay and Alex off to their last day of school at their old elementary school. 

The previous weekend we had moved their bunk beds so they got to spend a few nights sleeping in our bed with us.

I had the intentions of baking some Oatmeal Coconut Cranberry Cookies for the boys to hand out as treats for their classes but time just got away from me and the move took over.  I ended up finding a deal on chocolate chip cookies from a store's bakery and the boys handed those out instead.  Still a tasty good-bye treat.

I used paint cards for labels and let the boys sign their names.

Here is Alex handing the treat to his best buddy from pre-k.  (He sure is gonna miss this kid!)

Once pre-k let out Alex, Aren and I then met Ajay at the cafeteria for his last school lunch there.

Something interesting - there is a "stop light" monitor that show's the kids how loud they're getting.  They need to stay on the green light, or yellow, because if they hit the red light they owe 5 min. of recess.

The light has an automatic sensor.

Then it was off to recess.

Alex, St. Paul and Ajay.  St. Paul and Ajay are both in second grade!  He's almost a head taller. 

The kids always love it when Aren is on the playground.

Alex practicing his dribbling skills, Ajay playing ball with his friends.

 Alex held himself together pretty well while we were at school.  I didn't even know he was sad until we got in the van to come home.  He announced "Mom, I'm going to miss my school."  I looked in the mirror at him and he had a sad face which made me sad.  I told him I was sorry and that it was okay to be sad.  We drove a bit more and I heard a strange noise.  I looked in the mirror again and realized he was holding back sobs.  I told him it was okay to cry and he opened floodgates.  The poor kid just cried and cried.  He finally stopped about 10 minutes after we got home. 
Once he got that out of his system he was much better.  He still mentions missing school and he talks of his buddy often but he doesn't seem sad anymore.  Ajay still mentions his friends and his old school but he likes his new school and teacher and has already made some good friends.  (More on that in future posts!)

Moon Gazing

Lately, Ajay has been really interested in how full the moon is.  You might notice a new gadget I've added - this will help Ajay and I know how full (or empty!) the moon is on any given night.  Fun!

Making note of firsts

Doing a lot of firsts in the new house!  I made Biju a sandwich when he came home for lunch....

We used our stove for the first time today.  In India it's good luck to boil over a small pan of milk when you move into a new place.  I didn't have any milk to boil over but I think I had a little water boil over as I made lunch.

I had intended to make macaroni and cheese and tuna and peas for lunch but I forgot the can opener for the tuna.  I also forgot to bring along the peas.  And I forgot the strainer, so the noodles were drained over the sink with nothing but a fork (plastic, at that!) to keep the noodles from pouring out with the water.  Wanna know what else I forgot?  Plates.  So we ate our macaroni and cheese out of "Red Solo Cups" (sing it with me!) .....

I vacuumed a bit then Biju took over while I cooked. 

And then we had the carpets cleaned!!! 

It's a good feeling knowing the carpets have now been sanitized. 

Signed, Sealed and Delivered

Biju and I went and signed some paperwork this afternoon. 

We dropped Alex and Aren off at a neighbor's house and had instructed Ajay to get off the bus after school and go over to the neighbor's place instead of coming home. 

We are now officially the owners of two houses.  I sure hope our real estate agents have some fancy tricks up their sleeves to help our "old" house sell quickly! 

Speaking of our agents, they were wonderful and worked very hard to get everything lined up just right for us.  Mrs. Real Estate Agent met us at the house after closing.  Since we had to swing by the neighbor's to pick up the boys she arrived at our new place before we did.  By the time we got there she had already decorated the front porch with a couple of house warming gifts!

There are still a lot of things to do at the new place so we dove right in tonight and got started. 

I, of course, took some Norwex items so I could get busy cleaning.

We had to change out the locks on the doors so Biju worked on that. 

The boys busied themselves with a few things we brought along.

I'm not sure why but Alex felt the need to leave a trail of Candyland cards down the stairs and across the entryway tile.

Ajay spent some time playing Angrybirds on Biju's phone.

I then took the boys to seek out the closest fast food joint.  Can you believe the closest drive through was 4 miles away??  This is a good thing.  Because no one ever uttered the phrase "Man, I need more fast food in my life!"

Mean Mama.  Ajay was the only one who knew I was taking the photo so poor Alex and Aren have bad "shoving food into mouth" poses.

After dinner the boys played a bit outside then came in for a game of Guess Who.  Alex still doesn't quite understand the game if I'm not right there helping him so Ajay got a bit frustrated. 

Aren entertained himself by playing on his booster seat (or stealing Daddy's tools, or hiding in the empty cabinets).

And a house is not a home without a little personal touch.

I'm so excited to get all the carpet cleaning and appliance deliveries out of the way so we can start really moving in!