Ketchup

• It took a few days longer than expected, but we finally got keys to our house and moved in. The Realtor told us that we should be able to get the keys when we signed the papers, but things got a little messed up and some of the companies we were working with for the title put things behind a few days. I spent an entire day saying to anyone who would listen, "If the email they sent us says that the signing is complete, why the heck do we not have our keys yet?!?" I was very impatient, and the minute we got the call to pick up the keys, I stuffed the kids in the car and headed over to pick them up. Then I drove immediately to our new house and started painting the kids room. The boys room is done in Charm Blue, because, obviously, they're charming, and Alyssa's room is done in Purple Slush. Brian calls it Purple Flurp, from Jimmy Neutron. It is quite purple. I've put purple curtains in her room, too, and I think we're going to take them back and switch to white. It really is quite purple in there.
• We got the keys on Wednesday afternoon and frantically painted and moved in until Friday morning. Back in January, Brian signed up for a Continuing Education conference in Seattle for the 27th and 28th of March, and at the time, we thought it would be a great idea for me to go with him. But as things were going, with only two days to move, we didn't think it would be a good idea for both of us to take the weekend off, and up until Friday morning we didn't think that even Brian would be going. We had already set up babysitting for the kids, though, and I completely blew out my knee while moving furniture and wasn't doing very well because of that, so we ended up taking the weekend off anyway.
  
• So just after lunch, we called my mom and Tallia to make sure they were still okay with watching the kids, and Brian and I took off to Seattle. I slept and watched T.V. at the hotel while Brian went to his classes. When he called me during one of his breaks, I answered the phone by saying, "This is the best week of my adult life!" We went out to dinner with Mark and Becky, since we didn't get to see much of them at their wedding. We were right about Becky: she is just as nice as she seemed to be! We loved being able to go out with them and get to know them better.
• We finished getting all of our stuff out of the old house, and spent an entire day cleaning. My poor nails are destroyed from all the cleaning and scrubbing. I'm not entirely picky about my nails, too. My idea of a manicure is just making sure they're clean and shaped nice, and putting on a coat of clear nail polish, so you know that they're destroyed when someone like me says they're destroyed.
• Last week was Spring Break at MCP, so we took the week off at home as well. Alyssa made friends with the kids across the street, who were also on Spring Break, and I organized the new house. It's amazing how fast and easy it is to move in when there's enough space to put everything. When Brian and Nathan (brother-in-law) and Michael (brother) were moving things in, they put all the furniture on the right rooms, which made it so easy to put the beds together so we could sleep well. Mike and Nathan even carried a filing cabinet up the stairs that took two guys carrying each drawer and then the cabinet to get it out of the old house. When they made it to the top of the stairs, almost dead from exhaustion, I said, "Wow, you guys are awesome!" I was really impressed.
• The Easter Bunny came on Saturday. Marcus went downstairs before coming to our bedroom (which he never does) and came back up the stairs with a Cadbury egg in one hand, saying, "Zandy! Zandy!" Apparently he had attacked Alyssa's basket and eaten half of a Cadbury Caramel egg before coming upstairs to tell us of his find.
• We didn't dye Easter eggs until Saturday night, when Brian was at the Priesthood session of General Conference. The kids loved it! Then they ate about 15 eggs between them. At first Marcus wouldn't let me help peel his eggs, and he ended up eating and choking on some shell. It didn't stop him from having fun, though, and soon he let me peel his eggs for him.
• Conference was wonderful, like always. I liked the theme about love that seemed to run through all of the sessions. God's love, love in our families, Jesus' love for us - I loved that. Conference was tough this year, because the kids are still young enough to not sit still, but they're getting old enough to be decently noisy. I spent the entire weekend saying, "Sshh!! I'm trying to listen." Alyssa sat through a couple sessions, though, which surprised me. She did great!
• We had my family over Sunday afternoon. Brian and I were talking afterward about how crowded it was to have anyone over at our old house and how it was so wonderful to have the room to enjoy having people over.
  
• We're back to school today. It's a new Trimester at MCP, so Alyssa starts her new classes on Thursday. She's taking a butterfly class, Hands on History (which she is thrilled about. She loves History!), and she's still in P.E. it Mr. Jolly, and all of the kids love Mr. Jolly. Right now Alyssa is finishing up with Math. It's wonderful to have a school room! The kids are away from the toys and the food in the kitchen, and Alyssa is doing a fabulous job of trying to stay focused.
• I love our new house!