Life Lately

 Life has been so insane lately!  We have been plugging along, working to put our house on the market (hopefully this week!!!) and working to find a house in MI.  We threw in a vacation week back with family in PA...and that deserves a post all of it's own!  Then after that fun week we divided our family for the next 2 months - Daddy headed to his new job and temporary housing in in MI and I brought the kids back to RI to finish out the school year and close up our life here.  It has not been easy or fun...we've recognized what we've always known - we are not a happy family when we aren't together.  I am thankful for all we have in our lives - friends, families, and the means to make this amazing adventure happen - but I wish we were spending it together!  We miss Daddy immensely and cant's wait to all be back under one roof again.

I love that my favorite picture of the big 3 showed up in my Timehop :) just when I needed a smile.  I love these three little faces and that it was one last picture in front of Papa and Mimi's old house.

Just over a week ago my best friend stepped in to watch my crazy 4 for the weekend and I flew out to Michigan to house hunt with Daddy.  He did lots of legwork and ruled out all the houses that weren't going to work.  We spent 2 days seeing about 8 houses in 4 different towns - and found our dream home in the same town Daddy's working in (meaning shortest commute in our entire married life!!!) and right near this beautiful lake :)

We are currently under contract and will close on the house in June.

Meanwhile, I've been holding down the fort in RI - school, dance class, play practice, etc.  This single mommy-hood is NOT easy!  Point in case - I started typing this post on Monday morning and here we are on Wednesday and I'm still writing!!!  LOL!

We're in the process of listing our house.  It should have been on the market WEEKS ago but we have a relocation package and there are HOOPS to jump through!  But the end result is that we are guaranteed that our house will sell - either to a buyer or the relocation company.  So I suppose it's worth it!  The other bonus is that we've already gone through inspection - we had to complete that for the relocation company to give us the guaranteed buy-out.  We've repaired electrical, plumbing and the chimney.  We've also had more specific inspections than I knew existed..lol!  But all that means we don't have to fix anything else to sell...yay!  So this week we are having "professional" pictures taken of our house and then the listing begins.  It amazes me how SLOWLY everything moves and that no one does things on my time schedule...lol!  

The good news is that we have a moving date.  We can begin a countdown and look forward to being back together in our new home.  It's scary and exciting all at the same time!  We will three days of movers packing our house and then loading a big truck, then we will make our drive to Michigan, and then we have the movers again :).  Here's hoping we don't have to spend too many days without our things!!!

Daddy is able to come back for a visit about every other weekend.  It's helpful to have him home to finish projects we still need to complete and just help with the parenting.  It's a real struggle on my own and we all love that he can help with the disciplining!

He spent some time mowing the yard and he had a little helper that was LOVING his special time with Daddy!

Sassy came home Monday in tears, missing her Daddy.  I asked her why all of a sudden she was so sad and she said she was on the bus that morning and saw all the daddies at the bus stops with their kids and it made her cry.  Broke my heart!  She got some extra phone time with Daddy and a little extra-special time with Mommy (all around a doctor appointment!) on Tuesday and seems happier now :)

This past weekend, Tater was in her first school musical.  Her middle school performed Fame, Jr...which basically means they took a full-length mature musical and made it middle school appropriate.  She  was one of the dancers and did an amazing job!  Opening night she had just me and the middles there to watch her but then Daddy came on Friday and by Saturday she had a full section, with her grandparents and our family friends.  She danced her heart out and even had a small part and a line :).  She definitely caught the acting bug and hopes to find a group to join in Michigan.

I love that this picture of one of her first dance recitals popped up in my Timehop this weekend...she was so little and just adorable (and I think she was mad in this picture...lol!)

So that's lately...there's plenty more to update but I need to get our day moving and accomplish a few things before we have some fun with some friends this afternoon!