The Big Move

Most of you know this already, but Matt accepted a job at Millikin University in Decatur, IL. Our family affectionately calls Decatur "The Dirty D," so we bought a home in Forsyth. We love it here. Our house backs up to a soy field, so every night we get to see a fabulous sunset over the miles and miles of soy. And corn. And soy. It is very peaceful.

Life is very different than the "Main Line" of Philadelphia! My mom recently came for a visit to help decorate our home. And by decorate, I mean that she bought, brought, and

arranged everything for me! I love it! BTW: Mom, you need to be an interior decorator. That is, after your job of wedding coordinator. After your job of modeling agent for our kids. You have so many talents, Mom. I love you!

Back to my point of this not being the "Main Line." Mom kept asking about the stores around here to get some nick-knacks for the house. "Don't you have a Michael's?" No. "Let's go to Bed Bath and Beyond." Yeah. That'll be two hours away. "Marshall's?" Try again. So our store of choice was Hobby Lobby. We actually did quite well finding moss balls and other necessities to dress up the house. Here are two pictures of the kitchen and shelves she arranged:

Another difference is that we're doing things in Central Illinois that we may not have done on the "Main Line." 1) Running around in swimsuits in the backyard. 2) Wearing nothing but a diaper. 3) Playing with a Slip-N-Slide. 4) Owning a Slip-N-Slide. 5) Even knowing what a Slip-N-Slide is! The kids loved it, so who cares? Not these hill-billies, I can tell you that much!

One more difference from the "Main Line" is that life is a lot slower out here. That is mostly due to the fact that I am a stay at home mom! I can actually keep a clean house, I can actually put dishes away, I can actually cook a dinner every single night! The biggest change that I see in our new move is family. Our definition of family in Philly was best friends. Friends that are supportive and loyal and were our non-traditional family. But here, family is Matt and I and the kids. Matt is able to come home every night for dinner and then play soccer in the back yard with the kids. Every night. It is awesome. Family is also knowing that our families are so close. Matt's mom, step-dad, two brothers, sister-in-law, and new nephew came down one weekend to help us organize the house. They helped us put in shelves and organizational pieces to help keep clutter and toys and tools out of the way. They helped us make sense of our computers and TVs and technology-type-things because that is lacking in our immediate family. Thanks Al and Nancy, Gus and Christine, and Bryan! I love my 52" TV in my bedroom!

My parents are also close enough (5 hours) to hop in the car if they want. My mom and sister and her kids did that one day and stayed for the night and headed back. When they were here, we went through all of the kids' clothes. That's not a fun task. But DGID pushed me to do it. (Debbie Gets It Done is what her in-laws call her!) Oh! Funny story that I'm sure my mom will appreciate me sharing... Matt and I took mom, sis, and the six kids to Guadalajara, a fabulous Mexican joint to thank them for coming down. So Matt goes and talks to the servers and tells them it's mom's birthday. When Rob and Rach visited, we all went there and saw that the waiters come out with fried ice cream and sing "Hoppy Birthday" (if you know what I mean) and so Matt thought he'd play a little joke on mom, seeing as it wasn't near her birthday. Well, we eat our dinner and our kids are at blow out stage, so we decide it's time to go, right as we're leaving, I see the waiters all coming towards our table, so I let mom in on the joke and explain why we have to turn around and all go back to sit down. Little did Matt and I know that they were going to SMASH the pile of whipped cream in mom's face! Mom was a great sport, but the best part was the grandkids' faces. They could not believe that they would do such an irreverent thing to their grandma!

Then there's Rob and Rach. They came down the very first weekend that we moved in. Rob was not as excited as Rachel was to attack the organization. That weekend was hilarious! We learned a lot about each other and our strengths and weaknesses. Rachel was able to sit in my closet/bathroom for four hours straight organizing clothes and toiletries. I think the boys were trying to put together a drying rack for clothes that whole time. Yes, it took both of them for that project. The big thing that they wanted to leave us with was painting the kids' rooms. That wouldn't have gotten done if it weren't for them saying, "Let's just do it!" The girls are sleeping now, but their room is pink (duh) and as soon as Libby is out of the crib, I will hang pictures in there, so no picture of their room to share on the blog yet. Matthew's room is pretty much the envy of any spiderman-crazed boy. He loves it. He especially loves taking his little decals and moving them around the room.

Speaking of Matthew, the big boy started Kindergarten last week! He's doing really well. Of course he's picked out the cutest girl in the class and has befriended her. How am I with him in Kindergarten? Not so good. I miss him like crazy! I know he needs to be there, but goodness sakes! From 8:30-3:30? By the time we get home and the girls smother him with kisses, it's time for me to make dinner and then eat, a little soccer time and then bed! *tears* He growing up so fast! The two weeks before he started school, I spent some quality time with him because it really hit me that from here on out, it would be different. *more tears* We spent rest times reading, talking, coloring, or playing. I loved those quiet times together where we just read Runaway Ralph or Paddington Bear chapter books. He's such a good boy.

Natalie is a totally different little lady now that we've moved into this house. This summer she was quite the busy body and couldn't control her bones. As soon as we moved in

and were a complete family again, she slowed down. She is the most precious little lamb. She will turn to me during breakfast and say, "mom, you're so beautiful." That does nothing for me. And other times she'll say, "mom, I just love you so much. With my whole heart." Again, nothing. :) She loves to be a helper at all times with everything I'm doing. Sometimes that's very nice.

Libby has grown so much. She is trying to talk. We have toy phones all over the house and she picks them up and jibber-jabbers constantly. My mom couldn't believe the running commentary that goes on all day from that little one. Her personality has really come out. You certainly know when she wants something. She can be a little demanding, especially when it comes to "jutes." She follows me around with lips pursed saying "jutes, jutes, jutes" and tries to climb cupboards to get cups down for me to fill with juice. Yes, she's posing in this picture.

Well, that's a good enough update for now. Thanks to everyone that helped us with this move. I know that there are a lot of you out there that have stayed on your knees praying for us in this transition. Thanks for all the support. We appreciated all of the help out in Philly and throughout the summer and now to our new home. We miss our Philly Family, but are doing really well with our new definition of family.