Moving Forward

I have little time and no patience to space these pics throughout the post. So, all clumped together is our life in pictures right now and other entirely boring unemotional updates below it of our life in transition. But, we're managing to have a ton of fun in the midst of it all. Thankfully, husband has worked his last days at both jobs and together as a team we are able to accomplish much more than I can do on my own at this point. Even job delegation for children takes thought and organization that is much better done when he is home. We make a pretty good team and with him home even the most overwhelming tasks become fun. He keeps me laughing and life stays light despite packing, selling, donating, setting appointments, being on time for appts, traveling to see friends and family, moving arrangements, phone calls, emails, and so forth. And.....he cooks dinner.

Taking a break from packing. With the cooler weather they have lived outside.

Bald boy that made the milestone of 1st haircut.....sort of. You can't exactly tell but of the long stray mohawk hairs 1/4 inch was cut. It's not exactly a haircut but since his twin got tons of hair cut from his head he had to join the milestone in life too.

Little military cut red head now. I didn't think to get before pictures. But 3 inches came off of his hair. Since I saw fit to throw away every guard above a 1/2 inch since we only use 1/8 to the 1/4 on the bigger boys and the 1/2 on Gavin's I was tired of all the others taking up space. Soooo....Graham's hair ended up a little shorter than anticipated since I mistakenly thought 1/2 was not so short. But, he's looking like a clean cut little boy now.

In line for his haircut....which he desperately needed. He's looking a bit elfish. Between 7 boys and a stringy haired little girl it took the entire morning to go through them all. One of the many reasons blogging has become sporadic, at best.

That would be a newborn hat on his head

Half way through the donation clothes

Trying to stay organized about it. As of yesterday the entire playroom has been emptied and everything is out. When there was nothing left for husband to help with he'd serenade me on his bass while I worked on. Just the sheer presence of his company and moral support was enough to boost spirits in the midst of claustrophobic chaos.

My clothes sorting buddy....dirty though she may be.

making progress....though you can't tell by the state of the kitchen cabinet or the table behind it. Life is kinda messy right now. Children stay pretty filthy and tend to live in mismatched clothes...but at least their hair's cut and they're having fun! House tends to look like this much of the time but at least dishes and laundry stay done...for the most part.

helping each other

I fear I've become a very boring blogger throughout this move. The to do lists consume my days. But over a period of 7 days I have been able to sort through a retail size store of disorganized clothes harbored in the attic. The overwhelming project resulted in 18 boxes of boxed clothes to move and 22 boxes of clothes to donate. I ended up dumping all donation items in trash bags since trash bags proved to hold twice as much as boxes do. Husband hauled off bouncers, stroller, swings and 11 trash bags of clothes to the women's shelter this morning. I have never felt such exhilaration at watching stuff leave and knowing where its headed. With his help and lots of working kids we have emptied our 600 sq ft attic and 600 sq ft playroom below. So far we have a total of 40 boxes, including clothes, that will be filling the trailer of the semi. I figure that's pretty good for a family of 12. With the completion of those two spaces packing is pretty much done. We have half of the kitchen, 1 bathroom, and the everybody closet remaining, all of which will be tackled today.

We spent the weekend out of town saying good bye to his family in west Texas. Lots of tears as grandparents kissed children for the last time until baby comes in March.

Lots of milestones hit in the midst of it all. Both babies are walking now and both had their first big haircut....or as big as it gets for the white blond, barely any hair Gatlin. The 14 week milestone was hit with this pregnancy and 2nd trimester has begun....always a good thing in every way. Marriage flourishes, energy increases, and I feel good enough to actually be productive at something. Shift husband worked his last day as a firefighter/paramedic for the city this past Saturday. Bittersweet in every way.

As I stated, this is entirely boring and there's so much more emotion that plays a part into every aspect of life right now. But, the clock is a little merciless and continues to tick whether I'm at the computer or actually doing something productive. Even this will be cut short by the fact children and I are leaving in half an hour to drop Evye off for the day with her horse family. She'll be participating in a rodeo playday this Saturday so she prepares to ride.

I miss writing. I miss logging the details of all of this. Children stay happy and we are proving to be quite efficient at this as everyone pitches in to help. Maybe more with a bit more emotion about life as time allows....someday.