Blogging Back Up

I just realized that I haven't blogged since Oct. 19th!  Trust me when I say that this is not due to a lack of topics, but rather a lack of time and energy!

I was a single parent for about 5 weeks while Matt came up here to Iowa and started his job, and that may have been the most exhausting 5 weeks of my life.  Halloween and Cooper's 2nd birthday fell during that time period along with the everyday tasks of keeping up with 3 children.  I was also still chairing the Parent Teacher Committee at Addyson's preschool and had to plan the Fall Festival there (for a mere almost 400 people).  And of course, there was prepping for the move - researching schools here for both girls, checking the area out via the internet (making sure there were decent places to eat and shop!), and spending time with and saying good-bye to all of our Charlotte area friends.  Lots of good-byes!


Then of course there was getting here.  A 2 day road trip through 6 states with 3 kids followed by a 3 day stay with my parents while we waited for the movers to deliver our belongings.  And then the most dreaded part - unpacking.  I nearly buried myself alive numerous times but I was determined to have everything unpacked and put away in record time.  I hate clutter and being unorganized makes me feel out of control so I had to get it all done - fast.  And I did.

Rylee started her new school last week and is transitioning well, and we finally found a preschool for Addyson to attend, although she hasn't started yet because I am currently working on completing the 5 million pages of paperwork that is required.

And amidst all of that there is also Christmas planning and prepping!  We took the kids to a real tree farm here, out in the country - just like the Griswold's do on the Christmas vacation movie:)  So our tree is up and decorated, the stockings are hung on the mantle, and the outside lights and wreaths are in place.  I'm not doing the full-on Christmas decor this year - I've done enough unpacking for awhile and I can't bring myself to take any more "stuff" out of boxes and bins - so we stuck to the basics and did only the big things this year.

Finally life is returning to normal and I'm finding myself with a wee bit of free time each day.  Actually, that "free" time could and probably should be spent more wisely - cleaning, doing the never ending loads of laundry that we seem to accumulate, continuing to decorate our new home (you know, the important stuff) - but what would life be without the internet - Facebook, blogging, Pinterest, e-mail and Google?  Americans waste too much time on the internet - it's our way of life.  I heard that on the radio the other day and I couldn't agree more.  But I thoroughly enjoy my time wasters!


So, I have yet to post about my Farewell Tour of Charlotte (I managed to make a pretty good dent in my list but wish I had more time to hit all of my favorite spots!) and Cooper's Sock Monkey birthday party.  And I have a list of Christmas post ideas that I was hoping to get out of my head and on here but I don't know how many of those will make it to the blog world.  I also have some posts about decorating our new home (remember the yellow and gray color scheme?) and life in Iowa.  And of course, I never stop wishing and wanting so Wednesday's Wish List and the Designer Spotlight posts will return at some point.  I have lots to share!  So much that you will probably tire of hearing from me but I hope not:)