Crunch Time

Excitingly, we got the keys to the new house on July 22nd - two days early!

(That is guest room, not front door.)
Mimi was still in town at the time, so we made a trip to one of our favorite stores, IKEA, to get new couch covers.  And, lucky for us, I found a *chair just like the one we have, with the new cover I had in my cart for $20 more than it would have cost me to buy the new cover alone.  SCORE!!

(Even if it was a little tricky to maneuver with the stroller.)

We went over to the new house every day, mainly moving the kitchen, linen closet, and the guest room a few boxes at a time.  Emily did pretty well entertaining herself (in the backyard mostly) but Everett required some work on my part.  These clips kept him busy for a little while...

 and when he tired of that, I found this light up jack o' lantern pen!

I am not above putting the kids to work either.

But I wasn't always successful in keeping them busy, and once Mimi left on the 25th, I was on my own.

Until the evening of the 27th, that is!  That is when Nana and Grandpa arrived to REALLY dig in with the move!  No time was wasted either.  Bright and early on the 28th, Grandpa and Daddy set to work installing 3 new ceiling fans (this one is in the playroom), Nana started assembling some new nightstands,

and I took the kids to a birthday party!

It was for Emily's friend, Rachel (from preschool), at one of those bounce house/slide places.

Emily was hesitant at first, remembering that trip down the slide two years ago...

that resulted in a dislocated elbow.

But, after one trip down with Mama, she was ready to do it with anyone who happened to be sitting at the top.

And Everett?  Well, he had PLENTY of cool things to play with...

(he climbed his first ladder)

and also loved the slide himself.

Even though it was pretty tall!

(Everett and I went down about a dozen times - he loved it!)

After a lot of play time (and lunch), it was time for pictures...

and cake!

While all of the kids were eating cake, Everett enjoyed having the play area ALL TO HIMSELF!

I had to go back and check on Emily though.  She was the only one left at the tables - it WAS cake after all!

When she finally finished every last crumb, we went back out to the play area, took a picture on the big chair,

and Emily continued to slide.  By the end, there was a huge group (several classmates) going down holding hands with her friends' dad.

Emily had a great time...

and was sorry to have to say good bye to the birthday girl.

But, there was A LOT of work to be done so we didn't dawdle...

* (Does that make sense?  I got a new chair chair and cover for $20 more than I was going to spend on the cover by itself.  Always check the "as is" area!!  The chair is in perfect condition, IKEA just wanted to change it out on the floor.)