It's official!

Well we did it! We signed the lease this afternoon claiming our home for the next two years. Anyone willing to let a family with 4 kids, a dog, a cat, and two rabbits rent their home is the kind of landlord we need! Our new house is really nice and will have a lot more space than our current place, and it's in a nice, quiet, kid-friendly neighborhood. I'm really going to miss this crazy old house though! We've been here for two years now; this is where Coral went from tiny toddler to big strapping preschooler. This is where the kids got their first swingset that my dad built for them, and this is where we brought Hobie home when he was just two days old. I guess we'll be making lots of new memories in the new house!

I also just realized that I'm planning to start school in just over a week. I have to go buy a few supplies, and I'm just about finished with my lesson planning for the first six weeks. It's going to be tricky packing and doing schoolwork but I don't feel like delaying the start of school until after we're all moved in; I like having that flexibility later on if we want to take time off around Christmas or a vacation or whatever. I'm hoping we get our workbooks in for Alexei next week! If not I have a 4th grade English book calling his name - I'm sure he'll be thrilled. I think getting back to school and a schedule will benefit Ibis, and I know Coral is looking forward to some pre-K lessons.

exploring the big yard when we first moved in here, September 2008, Coral had just learned to walk!