Changes

I looked back the other day at the first few posts in this blog. I can't believe how much has changed over the last few years. My babies are in first grade. My oldest is living on his own, and the second oldest is going to graduate high school this year. The middle child is dangerously teetering on the edge of childhood and pre-teendom. She still has a couple of years to go, but you wouldn't know it by talking to her.

Our family has also moved. Again. We also gained a new member of the household...my mother.  This also brings about new routines and challenges. Several months ago I *might* have blasted some Beastie Boys tunes in the middle of the day while dancing around in my underwear. Now if I play music it is something like Tom Petty, and the volume is at a respectable level. I ask for parenting advice and learn the names of the different birds that are outside the window.

The family is enjoying the new house. There is a loft area, which has a nice reading nook, and allows for paper airplanes, secret messages, and the occasional toy to be catapulted down to the first floor below. Cats walking by up in the loft area also provide superb target practice for nerf guns aimed from the first floor.

There is a pond out in the back yard that has been great for watching frogs, poking sticks in the water, and in Owen's case, "accidentally" wading.

There are two fireplaces here. Real, wood-burning fireplaces. After setting off the smoke alarm a couple of times, and Bruce once setting the carpet on fire when a log fell out, we finally got the hang of it and it has become a source of enjoyment on really cold days.

Hopefully now that we are settled, I can start to update the blog more often.  It is almost time to pick the kids up from school, which means the blasting of Taylor Swift shall commence...with the kids dancing around in their underwear.