First Week in New Home

So hard to believe that it has been a week already...Henry made the comment that he feels like we have lived here forever!  I guess that is a good thing...like he feels like it is home.  I must say that there are a lot of reasons it does feel like home...here are a few of the things we have done to take San Antonio by storm and make it our own...or at least make it feel like home...

We started taking evening walks to get to know the neighbors and the lay of the land.  We love going out and seeing the regulars on their walk...it does make us feel like we are a part of the community.  The other night we had the entire crew...Hank and snake Juliette included!  It made for some interesting stares!  We actually started these walks to keep Hank from being active at night...he still is in the puppy stage and likes to chew, especially when he is bored!  He even learned to turn the water on after Michael used the outside spigot one time and now he is a pro at turning it on...unfortunately, flooding the side yard in the process!

Along with the walks we are also enjoying the wildlife that surrounds us.  Believe it or not...there are deer that come right up near the house and there are mallard ducks that live on the pond.  The deer are so used to the roads that they run right down the road and look both ways when crossing a street!  It is like a little taste of home...without the hunters taking aim!  Of course, it would be nice to actually taste some venison!  However, these deer have now been named...Flopsy, Mopsy, Moe, Dave and Rose....so I do hope they will be okay.

These are not the only animals we see...there are also many pets that take walks with their owners.  And I guess cats are allowed to roam as they choose.  Zaira especially enjoyed meeting a friendly kitty the other night...a nice bob-tailed cat that enjoyed being pet!

We also have taken over the playground as our own personal space.  There are other children who come and we are willing to share but our children definitely are using it more than most.  They love going there at least twice a day.  We have also discovered the playground at the library.  It is nice because of the larger equipment and the exercise trail.  The boys have already asked if we can come here once a week to check out books and do our PE.  We will see how long this lasts!

We have also kept up with our Green School motto...taking care of our part of the earth...this is a little different at this new house.  We have a small yard that does not need as much care...we had been told we could get an electric lawnmower to care for this small patch of earth but we took it one step further...we bought a push mower...no energy used other than sheer man power...in our case Henry power...not because no one else wants a turn but Henry has claimed this job for himself...so I put the others on weed duty and clean up!  We got the yard looking nice again and have plans for a butterfly garden soon!

We were invited to a co-op and enjoyed the day as visitors.  I am not sure if it is the right group for us...most of the children were eight and younger which means the moms were all young newbies.  They were kind but I hope to find another group that meets more of our needs.  However, the children did have fun learning about church music parts, Brazil, Greek art, and air molecules.


We also celebrated a birthday in the new house...always a fun way to break in a new home!  Although Edward had his birthday before we left the old house, we really did not have presents for him.  SO, I surprised him with a brownie after dinner on Friday and then gave him his presents.  I think he was really surprised by his new Lego sets and his outfit (including watch) from Gramma.  All the boys were thrilled and spent the rest of the evening putting it all together!

To add to the fun, here are a few other highlights:

• Our neighbor brought us a pizza just as we were sending the boys to bed Thursday night.  One pizza could hardly feed us all but it was the thought that counts!  We had it for breakfast the next morning.

• Zaira got a new highchair...all PINK!...and she is eating meals better than ever...even eating seconds at times!  I am not sure if it is the new chair or the new teeth that she decided to cut while we were in the process of moving!  AND...the best part of this was that I met my mom to pick up the chair...We had to mail it to her to ensure we would get it (no mail set up yet...city life can be complicated!)...so I met her with just a 30 minute drive for both of us...very nice!

• I had the joy of meeting several new Pro-life friends and prayed with them twice this week.  You can read about this is an earlier blog post.

• A spontaneous trip to the outskirts of a Comic Con that was being held in downtown San Antonio was a joy for Amanda and Katy.  They went dressed up and met several cool convention goers as they were waiting in the long lines outside.  It is nice to know that the girls could have fun (for free!) just walking up and down the lines.  

• And the best part of it all...Michael is home with us every day for some part of the adventure.  He even went to his National Guard weekend and came home every night!  YAY!  The main goal has been accomplished...a family reunited!  We still have some kinks to work out...it has been a long time for all of us to be under one roof consistently but we are getting there.  Praise God!