Moving day(s) are six weeks away!

The painters are all done (except for final touch-ups) and the tile guys have started working.....so far, so good. My kitchen countertops have finally been installed and I really like them. It was hard to compare a sample chip of the countertop to a little piece of cabinetry and decide that it would look good.....I was a little apprehensive! Now if my backsplash looks good, too, I will rest easy. All tile and hardwood should be in by next weekend. Then comes lighting, closets (shelving, etc.), and plumbing fixtures, followed by carpet and final trim/paint touch-ups. We are getting really excited, but are also trying to get a handle on what we will owe to the builder at closing (the things where we went over budget) and what $$$$ we will need to bring to the bank (shouldn't be much). We also need to figure out our taxes. We have been socking away as much money as we could, but it will be nice to have some figures in black and white, especially because there are some things we want to buy for the house (flat screen tvs, new furniture) but I don't want to get my heart set on anything if we won't have the cash right away. There is NO WAY I am going back down the consumer debt trail now that we are almost off of it for good.

I don't know when it was that I last posted, but I am now past the busiest week of my year (which culminates in Solo & Ensemble Contest) and life is GOOD now that it is over! I had 31 entries (almost all soloists, just three ensembles) and the kids came away with 21 1st place ratings and 10 second place ratings. They are "competing" against a score sheet, not each other, but it is so gratifying to see them taking the next step as performers. I was very proud of them! My mother-in-law had come out to help me accompany all of the students, and it was a godsend that she was here because I got strep throat the week before Contest. Of course. I got on antibiotic and kept going to school, but having her there too really saved my bacon. My youngest had strep this week, so I stayed home one day with him.

The boys don't have school tomorrow, but I do (snow make-up day) so it is lucky that DH is off after about 10 a.m. tomorrow (since he has been on call all weekend). The older boys' bball season is FINALLY over and it is kind of the end of an era.....I have driven the Lutheran school circuit for games every fall and winter for the past four years.....no more! Of course, the damage has been done.....the Suburban currently has 199,253 miles on it. The boys and I will finish the second trimester at our respective schools this Friday. The third trimester always FLIES by, and I am sure this year will be no different. I will need to register Luke for high school as soon as we move (don't currently live in the district) and I can hardly believe my baby (who is six feet tall) is this old! He will be 14 in April, and it really doesn't seem like so long ago when he was giving me fits as a toddler/preschooler. Honestly, he still gives me fits at times, but I am proud of the young man that he is. He's trying to make choices about which classes he will take and which sports he will go out for....I hope he is good enough to keep playing basketball, because I really enjoy watching the game!

I am feeling a little sad that the homebuilding process is coming to an end. It has been really, really nice to have a project to work on with DH. I have loved spending time talking through various choices with him. I have shared this with him, and he has reminded me that since we are *never* moving again, there will be lots more projects that we can work on together. It is strange wrapping my head around the fact that this house is IT for the rest of our parenting years, at least, and hopefully for our grandparenting years as well. (Except for when we are wintering someplace WARM!) We have moved six times in our 18 years of marriage (I guess this next move will make it 7 moves by the time our 19th anniversary rolls around) and have always known from the moment we stepped into a "new" home that we would be leaving it. It is a new concept to think about spending years and years in one house, and although it is my "dream", it feels really permanent and like an end to our young, transitory years. Not really bittersweet, but definitely a change to get used to.

I need to take more pictures of the house....I will try to get that done this week. I am loving all of the pictures of the new babies! I don't think I have been very good about posting congrats to all of you with new little ones, but know that they have been sent.[/QUOTE]