One Week Left! (Give or Take a few Days)

We move next week!

Life has been going full-throttle this last month or so. It seems that there is something happening every minute of every day, and when I take a few days to catch my breath (that would be yesterday and today), I'm met with a dozen more things I could have accomplished but now must squeeze in somehow. 

But! This move is already going much better than the last one. This is what hindsight gives us, dear reader! If we are willing to learn from past experiences and/or mistakes, we will be so blessed for it --in other words, we will not rant and rave and whine all the time.

Stuff: 

*My sister and mom came to visit and I took them for a ride around Philly (no time to stop), to Valley Forge, Lancaster County (the Amish!), and the Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island. We had so much fun and in the midst of the sight-seeing, we purged and cleaned the basement, the boys' room, and the girls' room. 

*Baby girl is one year old! 

*#6 is 4 years old!

*I turned 37 with very little fanfare (which is good), but I received one of the nicest birthday gifts of all time from my dear friend, Rachel B. :

*#4's birthday party was a hit!

*#1's good-bye party was last week and we had about 60 teenagers at the house. There was loads of food, the Wii, music, the campfire, and star-gazing on the trampoline. Word is that it was a huge success! And my lovely neighbor said she didn't hear anything, so this means they were also very good. :) 

*#2's birthday party is this Friday night. 

*I spoke in church on Sunday, Brandon was released from his calling in the Bishopric, #2 also spoke, and next week at Stake Conference I'm accompanying the stake choir. 

*Brandon's dad came to visit and we took him with us to see the Priesthood Restoration Site in Harmony, PA. It was such a wonderful place!

*#4 had his first cello concert and he's been taking to the instrument a lot more, lately. A 14 year old in our ward (son of our very good friends) is an incredible cellist and he has kind of taken #4 under his wing, teaching him some things and giving him music.

*MOVING IS HARD WORK

*#5 has lost so many teeth...

This Friday, we close on our house!!! Wha?! So excited! The packers come on Monday and Tuesday to pack up the house and the truck comes next Wednesday to load everything up. Next Wednesday is also the kids' last day of school and we're hoping to pull out Thursday morning or afternoon (crossing fingers for morning). We really want to be in Kansas Friday night so we have Saturday to get things a bit situated before Easter Sunday. The truck should be there by the 29th or 30th!

WE ARE ACTUALLY DOING THIS!!

My list is long and includes things like "return the cello" and "don't forget to cancel the phone/internet" and "pack clothes for 10 days" and "purge some more." 

I'm exhausted due to the ridiculousness that is Daylight Saving... And I swear, I just keep going and I've only had one breakdown that I know of, but it didn't last too long! So, I'm doing just dandy. 

Let's see... More things... Oh! We performed at our ward's talent show Saturday night. We did a lip sync which we believed was very appropriate for our family size and our moving situation: 

Remember last year's? (Well, this is from almost 2 years ago because I don't have a copy of our video from last year. Just pretend we have one more kid and it's on a stage in PA instead of a church parking lot in Provo, UT ;) ):

Baby girl is, btw, walking everywhere and into everything. This is making things a bit trickier as she keeps heading to the cat food and kitty litter... No time to implement new systems! We're moving, people! Moving soon! Very soon! Too soon and not soon enough! 

Quotage for your Tuesday: