Cha-Cha-Cha-Changes

Alrighty, friends - some crazy stuff is happening around these parts.

We're moving.

Wait for it...

To my parents house.

Yes, I did just say that.

We're putting our house up for rent and moving to the country (gonna eat a lot of peaches... ahem) and we are really excited. My parents have over 40 acres of room to run. We plan on living there for about 2 years until we find a place in the small town they (and Jeff's parents) live in to buy or some property to build on.

It's an adventure, that's fo-sho!

So, now you know why I've been mostly MIA the past couple of weeks months. We've been (sort of helping) remodel part of my parents house (including two bathrooms) and trying to pack up our house and put it up for rent.

Lemme tell ya' - what. a. chore.!

But we're so excited to live in the country. We're excited to help my Dad with the garden and help my Mom with the house. The kids will live within a mile of the school they go to (instead of the 45 minute bus ride they had last year). They can run around and be kids without the constant, "No, you guys. Hey - you're being a little too loud. The neighbors don't want to hear you guys fighting over that. (Etc. etc. etc.)" They'll get to hear, "Yes!" more than, "no." And we're all excited about that.

There is NOTHING wrong with raising kids in the suburbs (that's where our house is now), but it's not where we grew up. I guess we're just not used to it. We were - dare I say - spoiled - growing up and we want the same memories for our kids that we have from our childhoods.

So, there you have it. Our craziness (who am I kidding - part of our craziness) in a nutshell... We're moving in with Mom and Dad.

Random Inspiration

As I was running this morning I was listening to a CD with this song on it. The song started playing right at the very end of my run. I ran in intervals (which KILLS!) and literally felt like I was going to die at the end, but the lyrics of this song REALLY got me thinking a bit (you know, in between the wanting a paper bag to breathe into and feeling like I was going to fall off the treadmill).

Anyway, it made me realize that every day that I don't take full advantage of (in every aspect of my life) is one more that's just.... lost. And how it's important to recognize that EVERY DAY has potential to be something great. It's just up to us to make it what we want it to be.

Most things in life aren't just handed to us, we have to work for them, and more often than not it's... HARD! Often in order to get something we want, there's something we have to give up (time, money, sweat, etc.) but if we give up something we'd rather not have to, we appreciate what we worked for all that much more.

This song was just the reminder I needed to appreciate what I have and to think about the things I *want to have* and to not let another day go by just wishing - but to start TODAY working towards making them a reality.

What are some of the goals you've set for yourself - and what are some of the things you'd be willing to sacrifice to reach them?

Hope you all have a fantastic weekend!

Wordless Wednesday

Kid Quote

Because tomorrow would have marked two whole weeks since I posted last, I'm going to throw something up today (kid quote anyone?) and not continue to feel bad for neglecting my blog.

And because it's been unbelievably crazy lately I will leave you with a pinky-promise to write about all of the exciting happenings around these parts soon.

SOON, people!

December 30, 2009:

Carter: "So... if you find a girl that you wanna marry... do you, like, say something?"

I need therapy.

If you've been a reader of Family of Five for any amount of time at all you probably already know how much I despise doing laundry. 

However, you might not know (and I'm not even joking) that I love to vacuum.

I thought for a while it was because I love the lines it makes in the carpet - making the huge rug in the living room look crisp and clean when someone walks in our home (and it is about that a little, I'll be honest). I also thought for a while it was because I hate dog hair so much and vacuuming the whole house (the wood floors and the carpeted bedrooms) on a daily basis keeps it at bay.

Today I realized the real reason I love to vacuum.

When the vacuum is going, it's so loud that I can't hear my kids arguing, yelling, and screaming at each other because it's summer and we all have a tendency to get overtired and cranky. It drowns out the, "BUT MOM, HE SAID HE WAS GOING TO KEEP MY TOY FOREVER AND NOT EVER GIVE IT BACK!"

I mean, come on. Forever? Really!? You share a bedroom, for the love of Jack Johnson, where is he going to keep it from you!?

So, for my sanity's sake, I'm doing vacuuming therapy over the summer.

For especially nice days, when we're outside and the screaming is louder, I'll move straight on to mowing-the-lawn therapy. A louder, longer, more therapeutic version of vacuuming.

It just makes life a little more pleasant for a while. Lines in the carpet lawn and all.