Final Week at 148......

{Leaving for church for the final time from this house! Aren't they sweet?}

Well, this is our final week at this house & it shows! We have boxed & packed until we just can't take it anymore! The house is a total wreck but that is what it has to look like before we can move it all out, i guess. My brother & sister in law (uncle jeff & aunt malissa) came up today & we "traded" our TV armoire for the matching couch that he had (that matched our love seat/chair combo). All of which (both the living room set & armoire) used to belong to Grandaddy & Grandma Tee. We won't be able to use the armoire in the new house, so we didn't want to move it. So luckily, Uncle Jeff wanted it. (He hated moving it though- it was the one peice of furniture that Randy dreaded moving from the get-go. It is massive & heavy!) So at least one big piece of furniture is already gone!
We have had to do a lot this weekend because Randy is working all week & I am working wed/thurs myself. Sooo, that makes for an interesting week since closing is Friday morning. So basically, we have to be ready to be moved out by the time we leave for work on Wednesday morning. After work, we will pick up the Uhaul & start loading Wednesday evening with the big stuff from Randy's shop & the larger furniture & appliances. Then the plan is to move the boxes into the Uhaul on Thursday evening & clean the house. Whew, i am tired just thinking about what lays in store for us this week. I am sure we will be worthless before the actual move-in! The move out just might do us in since we are having to drag it out all week! But hey, you gotta do what you gotta do, right? Here are some pictures from the last few days....

{the living room looks like a tornado went through it! Broken down furniture & boxes everywhere!}

{while Randy worked in the yard & i worked in the house, we wasted some water & let the kids play in the sprinkler to keep them a) entertained & happy and b) out of the way!}

{I am sure you can see the total stress this is causing Lola. I mean, this is about to send her over the edge- can you tell!? (sense the sarcasm!) No but seriously, she is so relaxed & stretched out that she almost fell off the edge of the bed! She just cracks me up when she lounges like this.....}

{and this leg, all propped up on the pillow.... she totally thinks she owns the place!}

Eli, the eating machine

I knew that no one would believe how my child ate unless i actually video-ed him. Seriously, about 1 minute into this video, he starts to shovel it in again like he was before i brought out the camera. And he literally eats like this on a day by day basis. How he doesn't get indigestion, i don't know! And yes, there is a reason he doesn't have a shirt on.....

Approved!! (officially!)

We didn't have any worries about actually getting approved for our new home loan, but it sure was nice to receive THIS in an email from our loan officer:

"Congratulations! Your loan is approved and has been given to my closing
co-coordinator. The loan package should go to the attorney's office
within 48 business hours."

Whoooo Hoooooo, we are on our way. This time next week, we will be literally sleeping on mattresses on the floor & those mattresses should be the only things left in the house, not loaded on the UHaul yet. Pretty crazy, huh?

Now let's pray that the guy buying this house has already gotten the same email from his lender!!

What fun packing can be.....

..........for a cat, that is!!! Lola has been having a good 'ole time while i have been busy packing! She hides in & out of the boxes, then pounces (at nothing really!)..... see her hiding behind that box?She also has been playing in the paper, pouncing in & out & hiding inside of it all.....
She even tasted some.... as you can see from her licking her chops!
Her friskiness has come back full force since all these supplies have been hanging around. She runs laps across the living room at night too- which sends Randy's blood pressure on up! I think it is funny myself! All this playing & romping tires a girl out.......
Such a sweet girl. I love it when she snoozes with her paws up at her face like this!

Ditto!

This arrived in the mail from Disney World over the weekend. Eli was elated, & insisted i take his picture. Don't worry, Disney... We miss you, too!

Oh, the boxes!

{i couldn't resist a picture of this in front of the new house}

Stress is kickin' in over at our house. Tomorrow marks the one week mark for when we pick up the Uhaul to start loading up for our move. And as much preparing as i have done, i don't feel like i am going to be ready. I have just begun to feel the pressure & to try & counteract it, this morning i treated myself to a cappucino blast from Baskin' Robbins. I have to say, it took the edge off for a few minutes! Ha!
The boxes are closing in around me.....
{the office- this is what i call the packing zone...... where i have been keeping all the supplies, it is looking totally unorganized & hectic in there!}
{I've even got piles of boxes going in the kitchen.....}
Since i took these pictures, piles of boxes have also popped up in the master bedroom, master bathroom, & i have emptied out the master closet. Whew! I didn't take more pictures though... but maybe if i do, i will feel like i have been more productive.

Meanwhile, Randy has been getting the inspection list knocked out. I am so proud of him! He has worked really hard to get it done by this past weekend so that our final weekend here can be devoted to last minute packing. (So basically he complied with my OCD for a few weeks!)
He had to do a "makeshift" job of getting some branches down that were touching the roof, it was a little tricky since he didn't have the right kind of saw & he was balancing on this ladder, plus, he was quickly losing light outside!
This was the only time i took a picture of him working on these things, but he has had to do a lot of handy work! He has had to lay vapor barrier in the crawl space, replace vinyl siding, replace a vent cover outside, get on the roof & replace the plumbing boot stack flashing, replace interior laundry doors, yard work, etc etc! He is tired of all this, i know, but he did a great job!

For now, we are trudging through, though. We are living out of suitcases for the last week & a half, so i am packing up the clothes today (& yesterday). Hopefully once this is done, then the only real big room left is the rest of the kitchen. I will pack that up this coming weekend before taking the white fridge to a friend. We are getting there!!!!!

Mama Love....

I just love the nights when the boys go get their blankies out of their beds & want to snuggle before bedtime. And i love that my lap can still hold the both of them. I know the time is going to come where they won't want to snuggle with me, so i try to get all the late night snuggles that i can!

The Grill.... finally!

Sometime LAST year, a friend (our preacher, actually! Thanks Monte!) gave us a grill that they didn't need anymore. They had broken the lower grill grate & they opted to get a new grill instead of replacing the grill grate. We took it off their hands, gratefully, because we didn't have a grill & wanted one. BUT, since then, it has been sitting on our back patio area unused because we never got around to replacing the grate ourselves. And to be honest, i didn't take a good look at it & i assumed there was no propane tank with it. So a couple of weeks ago, i asked Randy about the grill, asking how much it would cost to get a propane tank filled & he said he thought it had one! So, after inspecting it finally, i realized that it had a tank. I was pretty frustrated with myself because i would have looked into a grate sooner & had my wonderful hubby out there grillin' for me! SO that night i looked into a grate & ordered a replacement one online for $60 including shipping! I was estatic to get it a few days later & the next day Randy grilled hot dogs for us! I was so excited, that i took a picture of course!

We really should have moved it before firing it up because it was RIGHT beside the back steps. Before we really thought about this, it was too late to move it because it was hot! So, i panicked when Eli came out the back door & I literally screamed "HOT!!" when he came down the first step. As a result of my over-reaction, he ended up in the bushes, looking like this.... and crying..... poor baby.....
But don't worry, he recovered quickly & enjoyed the hot dogs. I know you are all surprised!

Peto's Farm (Bay Blossom Farm)

Back in April sometime (i honestly can't remember which weekend) we went to Wilmington for the weekend (I think it was the last time we were there- we are definitely past due for a trip!) While we were there Nanny took us to Peto's farm for a "roping" contest that Little Ed (Mommy's cousin who really isn't so little anymore) was in. While we were there, the kids got to see the horses, calves (that they were roping), & then ventured around & got to see more fun things. They really loved the baby chicks & the sheep. These sheep crack me up, because they are like pets, seriously. They have names that you can tell they are pets (Lucy& Fancy). They were so cute & sweet. Fancy, the white one, is like a big baby. She comes to you to pet her & she loves to be pet behind the ears. She was so patient & gentle with the boys!

{nanny walking the boys to the roping arena}

{checking out the baby chicks in their cage}{Jackson thought it tickled when the baby chick "kissed" (pecked) his cheek}

{Eli thought the chicks were so funny!!}

{Fancy was so calm & laid back!}
{Fancy enjoying her good back rub!}
{Lucy posing for the camera}
{Fancy again... she just looks sweet!}
{They were both interested in that Gatorade bottle he was carrying!}

Easter (in June) ......

As sad as this is, i am just now posting pictures from EASTER! Wow, i missed that one big time, huh? I was looking through my folder on my computer that i throw pics in to upload to blogger & came across these. So i guess i never got around to it with all the preparations for selling the house and all that we were doing in April. Soooooo, here are just a few pictures from dyeing easter eggs at Nanny's. These eggs were beautiful in color too because we had brown eggs from Peto's farm. The colors were deep earthy colors & we loved them! The kids ate boiled eggs every morning for a week. Eli still asks for eggs, in fact some mornings!