Casey...My cat with the new personality

My sweet gray cat, Casey has changed a lot in the last week.

I knew that moving to the new house with Weasel wasn't going to happen.  I was tired of her hissing at Holden, and just being a little freaky cat.  She was the most lovable cat I have ever had, but she needed to go.  Luckily, I found a fabulous home for her last Friday night before we moved.  

Now Casey and Weasel have never gotten along, so it didn't surprise me that Casey didn't mourn the loss of the only other feline in the household.  She is now more talkative than ever!  She sleeps with us every night!  That was something she had not done since before Jason and I got married, when he took her "spot" on my other pillow.  Casey seems so much happier being an only cat, and I am glad I get to love on her more too.

One Week in our New Home

    

Well it is now Saturday, March 15 and we have been living in our house for officially one week!

And what a week it has been!!!!

Moving day went as smoothly as moving days can go.  We hired movers to come get the big stuff down the stairs for the first two hours!  It was worth every penny!  Jason's dad came over to help, and I am so glad he was there to be part of our move.  Holden thought riding in the big truck with his dad was cool.  I wish I would have thought to get a picture of them in the cab of the truck.  Once we arrived at our new home, the whole family came over to help us unload.  It was awesome!  Holden and Travis helped and threw around a mini football in the front yard!  It was so fun to watch them!

The coolest part of the day was when the Midlothian Police officer stopped by to introduce himself!!!  We were unloading the truck, and he waved and parked his patrol car in front of the house and got out.  He came into the garage and just wanted to say hello!  WOW!  This is truly the place for our family.  It was just another one of God's perfect confirmations that we are in the right place.

Sleeping in our house the first night was described by my dear friend, Xandra, as "WT".  Since we couldn't find the sheets for the beds, we just covered them with blankets and threw other blankets on top of us!  But we DID have pillowcases!!!  It was so quiet!  There was an occasional dog barking, but no cars or airplanes!

Sunday afternoon, Holden and his cousins played football in the backyard.  It was a beautiful day outside, so we had the windows open.  It was such an amazing sound!  I think that is my new favorite sound!  Holden and Travis have played outside at least once everyday that we have been home!  It is great to watch and listen to them together.  You must click on the pictures above to view them larger.  I love the happiness on the boys' faces.

The first few days were exhausting for all of us.  Tempers were on a very short fuse for all three Ivy's.  But with Jason, my husband with the patience of a saint, in the lead....we all survived!  Without him, I think Holden and I would have rung each other's necks.  :)  

Jason and I enrolled Holden in his new school on Monday morning in a school with no electricity due to a thunderstorm the night before.  After a week at his new school, I think he is settling in nicely.  His teacher says he talks a lot, but that isn't a surprise to us.  

The thunderstorm on our second night in the house was another special time.  Usually I am not fond of Holden coming in and getting in bed with us during storms because Jason and I are big enough filling a queen size bed...another body doesn't make it any more comfortable.  But once the storm started, Jason suggested he come sleep on the floor.  I told him where Holden's sleeping bag was so he went to get him.  Our sweet Holden was trying to be "tough" and stay in his room, but Daddy went and brought him into us.  It was kinda neat having him camping out in our room.

As the week has progressed we have each had our days of total exhaustion.  Luckily they have been spead out a little bit.  We have gotten several of our boxes unpacked and lots of fun things hung on the walls.  It is slowly but surely becoming our home.  Our new furniture was delivered the Thursday before we moved in, and it is PERFECT!!!  The sofa sectional is so comfortable and we can all get comfy on it with plenty of room to stretch out.  I LOVE eating at the table together for meals (even though we are still working out the routine and small details).  But the masterpiece of the entire house is the TV stand!!!  It is everyone's favorite, so I am including a picture.

Last night Holden and Travis had their first "slumber party" at our house!  We didn't tell them until the last minute that Travis could spend the night, and, goodness, were they excited!?!?!  I can't believe I didn't take a picture of them once they both fell asleep!  (I know, I am slacking).  I laid out a blanket on the floor and Holden's sleeping bag.  Travis camped out on the floor, and Holden slept in his bed.  Travis spent almost a full 24 hours with us.  The boys played video games, watched TV, played Monopoly, threw the football into the neighbor's yard, and we all went to the movies.  I love how they play together.  I am sure that was just the first of MANY "slumber parties".

Anyway, it is now almost 10:30 and both of my men are in bed snoring away.  Today was another day of unpacking, laughing, and few short fuses, but in the end - we are a family living in a home together forever!  Life isn't always perfect....and we don't "eat rainbows and poop butterflies", but we do love each other.  

You're going to have to go see "Horton Hears a Who" to understand that one.  :)

OUR NEW HOUSE!!!!

Friday afternoon, February 29, 2008, Jason and I signed papers to buy our first home!!!  

The morning of the closing we went to the furniture store and picked out a kitchen table, a TV stand, and a sectional with ottoman.  They will be delivered on Thursday!  It will be so fabulous to have a new home with new furniture.  Neither one of us have ever had a house with really NICE furniture, so we are extra thrilled.  

We picked up Holden from school and headed to the walk through and Title office.  Janet and Keith were both at closing to make sure everything went smoothly.  Holden got his own little room to watch Shrek.  It was perfect.  We went in had a few cookies, signed our names 100 times, and we owned a house!

After signing everything we went down to the house and just enjoy being there.  Jason's mom and Granny came over.  We took down all our materials we needed to paint Holden's bedroom on Saturday.  It was such a long day, but worth every minute of it.

When I woke up Saturday  morning, I ran an idea I had over night about painting Holden's room.  it would be a challenge, but we decided we could at least give it a try!.  Holden and I went to Writing Camp at my school, and when we got home, Jason had been Superdad.  He had done a ton of work around the apartment.  He had carried a bunch of boxes down to the garage and taken our bed apart.  He went to Home Depot and bought himself a toolkit. 

We headed down to the house to tackle painting Holden's bedroom.  It doesn't look perfect, but it looks amazing!  We painted one full wall blue.  One the side walls, we used a laser to tape off a diagonal line from the top corner down to the bottom.  The line turned out FABULOUS!!!

I was amazed that we did such a great job on our first attempt at creative painting!!!

Jason hung up a really cool ceiling fan in Holden's bedroom.  It is the nicest ones in the entire house!!  It was so fun watching my husband with his tool belt on and being my Mr. Fix-it!  Being in an apartment our first year or marriage, I haven't gotten to watch my sweet man be "Tim the Tool Man".  It was really kinda hot!  haha  

Saturday night, Holden went to MeeMaw's to spend the night with his cousins.  Jason and I spent our first night together in our home!  It was really fun!  We used an air mattress and slept in the living room.  It was so quiet and dark!  No cars, no airplanes, no neighbors upstairs walking!  The wind started blowing and it blew through the chimney.  In the morning I stepped outside and could smell the cows from the dairy farm!  

Now we have 5 days to box everything up and have it ready to move Saturday  morning!  I can't wait to be out of our apartment and we spend our first night in the house together as a family!

Grace Day

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God."  Ephesians 2:8

Today when I picked up Holden from school, I wouldn't let him speak.  I was shushing him every time he tried to talk to me.  He eventually starting laughing at me, but played along.  When we got in the car, he asked when I would explain.  I told him he would know soon.  As we drove away from the school and headed in the opposite direction of home, he stayed silent while I just smiled and drove.  

"Mom, where are we going?"

"Sssshhh."

We pulled into the parking lot of Chili's.  We sat down and Holden looked at me with questioning eyes.  I told him today was "I Love Holden Day" no matter what kind of a day you had at school.  Just because.  He asked if this was the grace we were talking about last night when we were working on his Power Card for church.  I smiled and said, "Yes my love, this is grace.  No matter what you have done today, I love you and want to have dessert with you and ruin our dinner."  

He said, "Well, I didn't get a check today."  I told him it didn't matter, but I was proud of him.

When the waitress came, I ordered us two molten chocolate cakes.  Holden's face lit up.  When the waitress left, he said, "Mom, I don't deserve this."  

And I was able to say, "I know.  None of us do, but we are loved anyway.    

I smiled at him, and he said, "Stop smiling at me like that.  You are making me feel weird and guilty."    

When he said that it made me think of how I will feel the day Jesus comes back and I stand before him, knowing I don't deserve His grace.  But He will give it to me anyway.  

It has been a long time since I have seen Holden that happy.  It almost reminded me of his face the day before and the day of our wedding a year ago.  Just a special day.  

You see, for the last week or so, Holden has been having a rough time at school.  Just speaking out and not making the best choices.  But I wanted to make sure he knew that no matter what happened at school today, eating dessert before dinner was not a reward...but just Grace.  Holden has dubbed today GRACE DAY.  

When we got home, Holden finished his homework and came in the kitchen to see what I was making.  I told him to go in his room and play and I would call him when it was time to eat.  He said, "But you said I can't play until after dinner."  I said, "It's Grace Day, right?  Go play."  Holden ran down the hall yelling, "I love Grace Day!!!"  

I love Grace Day too.  I hope Holden and I have many more Grace Days in our future.  

Quick Little Backseat Quote

Tonight after church, Holden and I stopped at Walgreens to get his teacher a Valentine.  I convinced him to get her Lindor Chocolates because they are soooooo yummy!!!

I got him one to taste in the car on the way home.  I told him to bite into it and let it melt in his mouth and just savor the creamy flavor.

He moaned and said, "If I had a nickel for every time I have ever tasted chocolate this good, I would have......a nickel."

I died laughing!!!  That was so awesome!!!  Thank you for making me laugh my sweet boy!!!

(Krista, thanks for the backseat idea!)

Run over by a truck named Weasel!!!

This morning at approx 5:45 am, as I lay sleeping soundly, my precious little feline, Weasel, was frightened by some unknown source. Next thing I knew she was running over my face at full speed. I screamed and said a word that "good girls" shouldn't say, Jason jumped up, and she flew through the air!

I immediately put my hands to my face. I was injured in the lip and above my eye. Jason told me to turn on the light. When I did, my hands were covered in blood.

Jason rushed me to the bathroom to clean me up. When all is said and done, I am covered with a dozen small scratches, a fat lip, and a swollen eye lid that is slightly black and blue, and there is blood on my favorite sheets!!!  

Click on the picture to get a close up of the full damage.

Jason also has a nasty scratch on his arm.

Our school nurse told me I needed to go to the doctor to get some antibiotics.  I listened but was not happy when I finally saw the doctor.  After getting a little chuckle out of my situation, she politely asked, "When was your last tetanus shot?"  EEK  I was afraid that would happen, but it wasn't as bad as I had expected.  The nurse who did the injection was great!

P.S. Anyone want a cat????

Clear to Close!!!!!

Yesterday we got an email from our Loan Officer that we are CLEAR TO CLOSE!!!

All we have to do now is pack boxes and wait until February 29!!  EIGHTEEN DAYS!!!

I know that the time will fly by!!!  Between now and then, we will celebrate Valentine's Day and Jason's birthday!  

I am so excited about having our own home!!