And the unpacking goes on… as does my sorting, repacking and labeling of the umpteen buckets we brought south from Canada. I am so glad we started packing in the Rubbermaid tubs way back when the twins were tiny. Stackable, sealed and so far rather indestructible. I am well on my way to being down to JUST tubs and NO cardboard boxes… of course with how much we got rid of… not a huge surprise. Of course out of necessity most of our stuff must remain in said tubs… this time (the third time) the organization is going to have to be a much higher priority.

So many buckets

In fact, today I got down to the last 3 buckets and some boxes… so close to complete! I am thinking the only thing we could have possibly gotten rid of that I wish I had kept is my first baby doll… but she may be in my childhood bucket. I did not search through that. I did, however, find my cabbage patch doll! AND this… made it in one piece!

Great Grandma’s dishes

We have more than a few buckets in our bedroom that require sorting and shifting as well as loose bits and pieces that need to be organized. Once that is done we may even manage to remove ALL the cardboard! I was out 3 hours in the sun working on the sort. Better than attempting to do it in the basement and have to move it back and forth or in the garage itself amid the clutter and disorganization. We have some work to do in the sub basement to make room for our stuff… and once Ken is working again we certainly have some purchases to make! 

The kids spent their time outside for a bit of my sorting (Gavin)

Reading a book (Zander)

Now we took a day off on the schooling so I could get as much done as I needed to. They did work on Legos and make some interesting creations…

Legos

From the comfort of the long missed couch

Once Ken made some inroads on his coding (gotta do the required coding so the company gets an idea as to what you can do) we all packed up in the van and went for our pen pal related activity – using the funds send by Gammie to purchase the next best thing to a slurpee – Icees at Target. Blue raspberry and red cherry. Everyone was happy. 

Icees

We found a new show to watch on the On Demand… Grandpa in My Pocket. There is something about British tv that the kids and I just seem to love! And this show was rather cute. Even Echo enjoyed it. Now to finish our sorting… find a way to fit some MORE furniture in the already full basement. Like playing Tetris or something! 

Stopping to look at photos

And that was my life for today… boxes, chasing kids and more boxes… oh and something that is most definitely NOT a slurpee… but a little yummy all the same… oh and I got some hay fever medication and did NOT sneeze, weep and wheeze my way through my time in the sun! YAY!

Note the NOT red eyes!

The road to Canada was smooth as silk, the time to pack amazingly SHORT… We followed their saga via texts and then correspondence with the people they saw in Canada. Thank you so much Kristen, Fydo, Chris, Chris and of course Karyn… for putting up with Ken, for holding stuff for us, for keeping track of the guys. A major part of me wishes I could have been there, an even larger part was glad not to be confined to a vehicle for that length of time. Nana figured that it was a much easier drive on the guys due to its 2 hour planning time. No time to focus on the length of the drive.

Thank you so much Karyn for the bag of special stuff too!

That kept us close to home for another day to the great unhappiness of the boys. I, however, managed to write TWO letters in one. I really need to practice my penmanship. After the first page it gets a lot more sloppy than I would like. So more incentive on MY end to add to the letters… again if you are not on our pen pal list… please send me your name and info or email so we can exchange addresses. 

Of course we had time for some photos. She loves this dress and every time she wears it wants to take pictures

Anyway Saturday was nice and quiet and sunny and … lonely. It is amazing how much we miss our menfolk while they are gone. We did get ANOTHER pen pal letter in the mail today though! I honestly am loving the mail on Saturdays. A nice surprise on a weekend. The excitement in regards to our mail has already started. So on Monday we drafted a response!

Saturday night Arby’s picnic in the basement.

Pretty much Saturday, Sunday and then today (Monday) were all at home days. Sunday just after lunch the menfolk made their way here. They actually made the round trip in less than 3 days! That included sleep, two border crossings (both of which went well) and filling the trailer. We rushed right into the U-Haul when they got here and got it emptied well in time to avoid paying for 4 days as well!

Welcome home Daddy and Baba courtesy of Gavin (I had to write it out for him but we worked together on the spelling of welcome)

Waiting for the guys

Time to work

So Sunday was basically, get the U-Haul empty, return it, empty the Envoy and.. NAP! I think we were all worn out. But wow, the guys did an amazing job getting everything to fit in the space they had AND on top of that, it takes up so much LESS space in the garage. I am slightly afraid of when we are able to get our own place… exactly what are we going to have to fill it??? 

All the way from Canada in one piece, my Shandai Kurylo original!

Trying on a find

We did find quite a bit of what we were sure we needed immediately Sunday night… Ken’s second monitor… clothes for everyone… and after a tearful late night search – my dress from Chris and Chris’ wedding to wear to the Renaissance Fair! My friend Shandai works it and is getting us tickets. I am not sure if we will all go or just Ken and myself but I am so excited!! All I need to do is hunt down my hair things or come up with a style to do myself. 

Not THE dress, but the OTHER dress

Anyway… while we did not go far or do much, the kids were over the moon to see Daddy and Baba. And their toys… clothes and whatever we have unearthed so far. Everyone is officially well clothed again… options!!! And the boys have their precious trains and Legos! 

Today was a little more organized though schooling except our pen pal response was put on hold while I worked on opening and labeling buckets. I managed to complete 18 buckets and dismantle one of the few cardboard boxes before running out of steam and having to face that there is stuff in our room that requires sorting first. I am trying to figure out creative ways to keep stuff packed away but available as school and life must go on and I know that it will be some time before we can get into our own place. 

We had another first since getting here… Ken had his very first interview! He thinks it went well and now has code to do. On top of that on recommendation of my friend Shandai’s boyfriend he has applied at another company for 3 different positions. I have to say THAT company would be a perfect fit for him. So here’s hoping either the interview or this new company pans out and moves us along on our goals to getting our own place and starting to get our feet under us once again! 

The only big negative today was sadly related to my eyes. For some reason this year after years of relief I am getting back into the hay fever issues. I think I got some dust in my eye and then with them being so dry from some random plant that apparently I do not agree with it has NOT been a fun day. So tomorrow I am hoping we can get some over the counter remedies from Target. I am not sure what there is here in the states as I know it is different than in Canada where they all are. I was hoping to avoid the medications but I miss my contact lenses… oh and breathing better… 

The plan for the rest of the week… dig out the math books I know are there, find our supplies, educate on the butterflies and Mars rover before the interest fades… Oh and find those toys and other objects of interest that the kids are SURE are there. I still have to hunt down the tv remote for one of Ken’s favourite possessions – our personal tv.

I am hoping to squeeze some sewing in on that list but with the garage full of unlabeled buckets and our bedroom a stack of randoms… well I have my mission and 5 kids to balance so we shall see how it goes! Wish me luck! One more tie to Canada cut and one more root put down here in the USA!

Mobbing the Daddy and Baba