Finally...Moved In

We spent Saturday cleaning out the garage.
Not exactly our idea of a great time.
But...
It needed to be done.
We had lots of stuff in there that we didn't need anymore.
Like moving boxes I wouldn't let Burke throw out when we moved in (5 years ago).
Because I hated it here. I had left my friends, my awesome ward, and my self-confidence in Michigan.
I just knew we were going to move again soon, so I didn't let him get rid of the boxes I would need.
I guess I have settled in a little better.
And I know I can always get more boxes if I need them... ;)

Annika was sick, so we let her stay in and watch the Disney Channel all day while we worked.
The boys also caught a few minutes of Snow White when they sneaked in from time time.

We got everything cleaned out, found the sandals Burke got me in Brazil, made two trips to the dump, one to the thrift store, swept, sprayed, and hung things up. Now we can walk around in there. It looks great. And now we have officially unpacked... for now.

As a side note, I ended up going to the maturation program with Nathan at the school two weeks ago. It was hilarious. I have never heard so many giggles from 10 and 11 year old boys in my life. The dads there were pretty giggly themselves.
After the program, they passed out little booklets for the boys to refer to for questions they may have had and not asked.
On the way home, I encouraged Nathan to read through the booklet and see if there were anything he had questions about. He rolled his eyes and said he would never open the book, it was too embarrassing. I checked my rearview mirror 30 seconds later and found him flipping through.
He felt comfortable enough with me to ask a few questions (thankfully) and then reminded me how embarrassing it all is.

Since then, we have tried to keep an open dialogue and keep it light. There has been a little teasing from time to time, mostly from me and his dad.

But Saturday, Nathan got a laugh.
We asked him to stack some 2x4's along one wall of the garage with some help from Kade and myself. It was hard work to get them just right so they didn't fall down. When Burke came and checked them, of course they toppled. We looked at Nathan and Kade (of course, I didn't own up to the stacking job). Nathan sheepishly told us that it was too hard for him right now because he hasn't got all of his grown-up muscles yet. We laughed and I told him I did have my grown up muscles and I still couldn't do it.

It wasn't a lot of fun, but when we walked out Sunday to go to church, the boys were so proud of themselves. I think the pride of workmanship is worth as much if not more than a day of goofing off.

Love those boys, even without all their muscles yet.