First week as Finksburgers

We've been in the house for a whole week now. I think I'm getting used to the drive. Especially now that we don't have to drive into town every single day. Most of our stuff is at the house now. Oh there's still a lot of stuff to get, not to mention the storage unit. But it isn't stuff that we have to have immediately. So we can take a day here and there to rest, and not drive in. Jason and I got to sit out on the deck and relax this weekend. And he finally got to walk down to the stream.
In more normal news, a sweet friend invited us over this past week to do Monarch butterfly stations. She and her son have been catching, hatching, and tagging Monarchs for the past two months. When she realized she had Monarchs in all stages of life in her house at one time, she organized an impromptu science activity for everyone. It was really neat to see the eggs, various sized caterpillars, chrysalises, and adults. The kids all got to feed and tag an adult, then let them go at the end to start their trip to Mexico.

Gwyn and Celee are really enjoying soccer. In their game this past week Gwyn kicked her first goal! Celee has gotten really close to a few too. They are both hustling out there! Go Turbo Turtles!

Our History Club took a field trip to the Havre de Grace Maritime Museum. We've never been to Havre de Grace before. It is a very pretty place! At least the parts we saw are. The museum is small, but they have a booklet for kids to look for and answer questions using the exhibits throughout the museum. When they finish it, they get a certificate as a Maritime Museum First Mate. The girls learned all about the Bay, fish, boats, Native Americans, John Smith, and the evolution of ship navigation. Outside the museum is a lighthouse and a cool fishing pier. We tried to measure the circumference of the base, but all of us together couldn't reach around it. The kids enjoyed the pier too. A very nice man was fishing and showed them all his gear and the various fish he caught. He even gave them a piece of bait to "fish"with a piece of line and hook they found. It was a perfect weather and a beautiful day.

Gwyn got to have the first friend over at the new house. The lucky girl got to go to IKEA with us. We bought our first couch from a store. All our previous couches were either hand-me-down, or thrift store finds. Nothing wrong with that, but it is neat to sit on a new couch.

Celee's troop bridged to Juniors on Sunday. Each girl walked across a rainbow balloon "bridge." Celee was super excited to finally be a Junior. There are lots of things that Girl Scouts can't do until they're Juniors like sanctioned archery and sailing trips. I say "sanctioned" because if it's an official GS activity they have to be Juniors, but we often get around that by doing it unofficially. Anyway, we are proud to have two Junior Girl Scouts in the house now. Congratulations Celee!

Moving Again

     This week the girls finished up their dioramas for History Club.  Lyla's was on the Inuit.  Celee's was on the Iroquois.  Gwyn's was on the Choctaw.  They all did a really good job!  They had to present their dioramas to the whole group and answer questions.  It is always really neat to see them talk about something they are proud of.  The whole group really did nice presentations and we (the adults) were pleasantly surprised with the enthusiasm that they all had in creating and talking about the dioramas and how much they learned about various people groups.

     We bought a house.  I say "we," but really we just rode the wave of blessings.  We showed up and signed papers.  Either way, we have a new home now.  It is way out in the country.  Not the "country" the way my Mississippi peeps would think of, but "country" for up here.  I can see other houses from the yard, but we have 2.5 acres and lots of woods so we can't really see what anyone else is doing.  So no more shushing the girls and telling them to stop stomping.  Now I can once again say "Go outside!"

     Our first meal in the new house, sans furniture, was pizza and Five Guys.  Two fifths of us got sick afterwards, so I don't know if we'll visit that particular Five Guys again, but we had fun eating it at the time.

     My first morning waking up in the new house, I walked down the hill to the stream.  This is not technically our property, but it sure is nice to enjoy!

     Out of all the times we drove out to the house prior to buying it, the girls and I never noticed this lovely statue.  Jason pointed it out to us after we bought the house.  Now every time we drive by someone yells, "Hey Sasquatch!"  I'm sure it will wear off eventually, but it's pretty cool for now.

     My Aunt Gale bought a used trampoline and gave it to the girls before we moved last year.  My parents brought it up with them and finally we got to put it up!  Jason worked hard yesterday and the girls are sooooo excited to finally have their own trampoline.  I am excited too because I always asked for a trampoline and never got one so now I finally got one to jump on too!

     Here is the house.  Don't those flower beds need some work!  I am certainly looking forward to tackling them!  Everything on the inside of the house is nicely remodeled and we have big plans (in the future) for the outside.  So exciting!

     We had promised the girls that we could spend the night in the house on Friday after we closed.  So I mentally was prepared to spend one night in the house.  But I guess we are there for good, so it's all a little harry right now.  There's no internet or garbage service.  Like I said, I was only prepared for one night.  But little by little we are moving things.  We do have to get movers for the big things like the piano, but I think that'll happen next week, or maybe this weekend.  This is definitely the least planned out move I've ever done, a very loose move.  But I'm trying to just go with it and be thankful for every little thing.  Like the beautiful ride to church Sunday morning.  Or the picture of the girls painting Lyla's room in their underwear b/c we didn't have extra clothes with us.  That one won't get posted.  Or the stand mixer that the previous owners left behind.  (Finally I get a stand mixer!)  My motto this week is We can only do what we can do and get there when we get there.  Oh, and no fighting in the car (cause the car rides are longer now)

Life is school

     Life is school.  And I figure the more naturally "school" fits into life the easier it is to learn.  And the more reason to learn it if it is very apparent that it is useful in normal life.  Now, I'm not crafty enough to fit everything into normal life.  Some things lend themselves more easily than others.
     The girls love the bunnies at the farm.  That's where they end up spending most of their time when we go.  Of course Gwyn has named them all.  Lyla has added a bunny to the list of animals she wants on our "farm" one day.  :)

   
     We got a cool old pogo stick at a yard sale.  It is really heavy and Lyla isn't heavy enough to make it bounce.  Celee and Gwyn try their hardest though.  It's also kind of weird that now, in our last few weeks in the apartment, we feel like we can go outside.  The girls have been playing in the front (contrary to the sign in the hallway that states there is to be no loitering or playing in the halls or the front of the building) and even chalking the sidewalk.  I guess if the apartment police really have a problem with it they'll ask us to stop.  Anyway, Gwyn made an impressive hopscotch course all the way to 100 and hopped it.  And then it rained the next day washing away all the evidence.

     On Friday we finally made it to DC to go to the National American Indian Museum.  I had planned this two weeks ago, had been thwarted, planned it again, was thwarted again, and finally purposed to go in the face of a ghastly week no matter what.  We did have a rough week.  One of those "Why am I doing this?!" weeks.  But we did go, found curb parking right outside the museum, and we all really enjoyed it!  We picnic-ed on the Mall before going in.  As you may can tell from the pictures, the wind was a bit chilly that day.  Once inside I was really surprised at how attractive and engaging the exhibits were.  First of all - the museum was Native-designed and voiced, which is a really nice change from the usual.  Who better to tell a peoples' history than those peoples' descendants?  We were given a Family Journey guidebook when we entered which gives children specific things to look for in the exhibits and questions to ponder.  There were a lot of nicely animated myths from various tribes throughout the museum.  They also have a great family area with 12 stations for kids to learn something about a particular people group and do a hands-on activity.  The girls weaved parts of a huge basket, discovered the differences between walking with and with-out snowshoes, challenged their balancing skills on kayak boards, among other things.  There was also a childrens' library section where we read a few stories.  One was an Inuit story with the moral of appreciating what you have, in this case a house that seemed too small at the beginning of the story.  I thought this was particularly apt for me and funny because we are moving out of the small and into a "normal" sized home again.  The building was beautiful and the staff were all very nice and friendly.  We all definitely want to go again.

     When we got back to the van, we had 50 min left on the meter so we walked over to the National Botanical Garden.  This without a doubt needs more than 50 minutes!  We saw some highlights though.  We learned about coffee.  The girls sketched some of their favorite plants they saw.  We played in the children's area where there is a succulent playhouse, a vine tunnel, a frog fountain, and a bamboo forest for fun.  Then we had to scoot.  And I did not pick a good time to try to get to Baltimore from DC.  Oh well, that was my only strike for the day - the 2 1/2 hr. ride home.

     I keep forgetting to take the real camera to Gwyn and Celee's soccer practices.  They are having so much fun!  Go Turbo Turtles!  (Celee picked the name that the team chose)  I knew Celee had fun playing soccer but I really didn't expect Gwyn to like it.  I'm so glad she said she wanted to play!  She is really having fun!  Both girls are doing well too.  I'm glad they aren't in a travel team or on a really competitive one, but they are doing good for their little league.  They got to play a scrimage at the practice on Saturday and Celee almost made a goal.  None of the girls wanted to stop when practice time was over, so the coaches just let them keep playing.  I feel so normal sitting at soccer practice!  Like other moms!  I don't want to necessarily feel "normal" all the time, but once in a while is nice.  And I love seeing the girls do something that they enjoy and put effort into.  Score all around!

     The Art Club that the girls participated in all summer had their Art Gallery on Saturday. So Jason got to go see all of their creations on display.  I must say, when it is all put out and displayed so nicely, it was quite impressive.  We are so thankful for Mrs.Marta for giving her time and creativity and space to all the kids over the summer to create such cool projects!  I can't wait to pick the spot for the girls to display their art in the new house!

     

     We have started packing some things.  Mostly because we sold the girls bunk bed and all the stuff that they kept in bins under the beds had to go somewhere.  Progress is progress though.  We just found out today that the closing is going to move up - to this Friday!  I can't believe we will have our house in 4 days.  It is all still so crazy to me!  I am still in amazement that God has done this.  I hope I stay amazed.  It is a wonderful feeling.