Movin on

Sorry for the long delay in posts. We have been a bit busy

We sold our house of 12 years and closed on it a week later. If you have ever sold a house before, you know that closing means moving out. 

Yes, we had 1 week to find a house, pack and move 12 years of stuff.

Needless to say, it was a stressful week. 

We ended up renting a house only a short distance from our old home but in a better neighborhood and with this amazing park across the street. 

We get to look at lush, green grass and mature trees and we don't need to use our water to water everything and spend our Saturdays trimming trees and lawn! Score!

Our kitchen has tripled in size and has granite counters and stainless steal appliances. We really don't care about that stuff but it's a total bonus in our books!

The kids are so excited to be on one level now and toys are actually staying in the toy room.  I'm excited for the garage and being able to park in it! 

We actually had all our stuff unpacked and set up within a week...including pictures being hung. Granted, not all our pictures were rehung but the important ones were. Enough to make it homey. 

Now, while all this craziness was going on, I also went on an interview and two days later I got the call

I am an employee at Phoenix Children's Hospital! I will be working in the ICU and will be trained in multiple departments so I can help where needed. 

I will keep my Scottsdale Health Care position but go down to part time while Phoenix Children's will be full time. It's going to be busy come September but I'm looking forward to a challenge and learning new skills. Both of these hospitals were dreams of mine to work at and now I'm working at both! I am still employed with Hospice of the Valley but I'm afraid my time there is now limited. I think 5 nights a week will be enough but I will miss hospice. It's such a rewarding experience working with hospice patients and I'm hoping to get just as much out of the children's hospital as I did hospice.

So there you have it. We are still alive and well, just super busy the past week.

Last but not least

FINALLY!

Snowball has been waiting for the last week for school to start

It's hard when your brother and sister started school and are playing with friends and having homework

Remember when homework was cool?

The day has finally come

Snowball's first day of Second grade!

Her little toothless smile can't get any bigger. 

Her BFF, Piper, is even in the same class!!

She found her desk and unloaded her goodies

Her school doesn't have the school name in a convenient location so the door to the classroom had to do

She's been so excited for her glasses that she couldn't wait to show her friends

She even had homework for the first day of school. 

She finished it within minutes of getting home and can't wait for more

(Too bad I didn't record that for future reference)

I can't leave little man getting off the school bus out either. He started his other preschool on Monday and he gets to ride the bus to and from. It's part of the mom handbook to snag a picture of your kids getting off the school bus

Here's to a wonderful school year...it's my first day with all the kids back in school and I miss them already...is it summer yet?

His turn

It was little mans turn for school today. He started his morning preschool program today and will start the afternoon program on Monday (of course there will be pictures)

He was so excited to meet new friends and then go back to Desert Voices to tell his old friends that he made new friends. Silly guy! 

Still can't believe he's 4 and in preK

He's growing up too fast...although when he saw me getting ready for work tonight he said I couldn't go because we needed to snuggle tonight instead. *sigh*

Middle school

The day has finally arrived

Sophie has started middle school

She's a big 5th grader at a school which serves 5th-12th grade. 

This will be her home for the next 8 years!

She was so nervous/excited this morning. 

The world of unknown in a new school. We met her teachers and found her locker the other night

Of course one of the shortest kids in 5th grade ends up with a locker on top

Needless to say, she will be receiving a new locker..on the bottom, later today

She has all kinds of new locker accessories, including a carpet, shelf and chandilier 

She has picked out the perfect binders...10 of them

Our little girl is growing up and I couldn't be more proud of my big middle schooler!