Late nights and Early mornings

I realised tonight that I have spent an awful lot of time in our house over the past few days. Our shipment came on Monday, and cjl and I have been working non stop to put things back together. We brought the love sack and guess what? It fits in our bedroom just fine! (We were worried). The kitchen fit most things, I have a large box of things to store, and one to donate, but I even found a spot for my wheat grinder and bread maker! The closets are another story. They are overflowing, they literally look like they are throwing up piles of clothes. Curtis has added bars to wardrobes, and finally ended up moving his work shirts into the guest room. I spent awhile in Eli and Jo's room cleaning up a HUGE pile of clothes that ended up on the floor when the rental furniture moved out Monday morning. Founds some yellowed up tight whities of Eli's. that made my night happy.

Grumpy comes in tomorrow morning for Eli's baptism Sunday. That will be cool for Eli.  I need to focus on his baptism, but it is really hard to leave mountains of junk piled up to sit at the computer. Then Sadie's birthday on the 24th, and then CHRISTMAS!!
Santa came to our ward party last weekend, they were so excited.They all sat on his lap except Janie who took her present and got off that stage as fast as she could. Jonah peed his pants earlier that night from laughing too hard, so he was self conscious, but did a good job standing instead of sitting on Santa's knee. He walked around with a wet bum all night.
Well I am falling asleep as i type so I am heading up to bed.

Good Times at IKEA and Costco

We have been to IKEA probably 5 times, and Costco at least 3 times since we moved. That would be normal, except, they are in Croyden which is like an hour away. So it is almost a whole day trip to get there, go to both stores, and make it home. Also, I have no idea how to get there, so Curtis gets to be my driver, which also means that we have to take everybody because we always go on a Saturday. Good times. It also gets dark at 4 in the afternoon, so yesterday we were driving home as the sun was going down, which added to the feeling of a long day. We started at IKEA and made it through pretty quickly, it helped to have kids in the smaland of course! And then on to Costco. We get through the doors and almost to the samples, when Janie has to go to to the bathroom. So, we turned around, mad a trip to the 'toilets' and then decided to get some lunch. It went downhill from there. Around the meat section, the kids started getting really squirrely, so I decided to take them out to the car, and Curtis said that he would take Sadie and finish up. As we were walking out, I saw a helium balloon kit, (just like at home! YAY!) and decided to buy it on my way out, perfect with Eli and Sadie's birthdays coming up! So the 4 kids and I got in line and here is what happened next:

Me: Janie, can I put this box by you?

Janie: NO, no, I wanna lay down, I want DADDY! DADDY!

Jonah: SHUT UP JANE. SCOOT OVER!

Ethan: SHUT UP JONAH, you FOOL.

Me: Wrestling with giant box

Eli: Hey look Ethan, something something BUTT something something FART something POOP!! HAHAHAHA

Ethan: YOU ARE AN IDIOT.

Eli: AHHHHH... runs into Ethan and tackles him.

Costco: Can I 'ave your card?

Me: Hand my card over, and as I glance down I see...

Eli: Holding Ethan with one hand and punching him with the other...

Me: I ignore it, because...

Janie: Laying on the ground now (climbed out of the cart as I was holding the giant box) is WAILING: DADDY, I want DAAADDYYYY... I PEEING, I PEEING!!!

Me: Reach down and pick up Janie and see...

Ethan: holding Eli's arm an BITING him like a carnivore.

Me: Dying inside, but time to pay, so I hiss at the kids to stop fighting and tumble Janie into the cart with the giant box. She doesn't love it, but it doesn't matter because she is wailing anyway, so we pay and get the heck out of there. We get to the car and Janie is still crying, Jonah is crying because on the way to the car Eli shoved him and Ethan called him an idiot. Eli is crying because he has bite marks and a bruise on his arm from where Ethan BIT him. And Ethan is made at Eli, Jonah, and everyone else too. Biting doesn't help a guy feel good about himself you know.

Thank goodness for Kung Fu Panda 2 (which is the only DVD we have that works over here in the car).

Life in Esher

I have actually drafted a few different blog entries but haven't been able to get any pictures from iPhoto to blogger. Also it has been a long, hairy, stressful 3 weeks and I didn't want to rant too much. So with things calming down a bit and, with a new iPhone and car situation settled, and especially with internet being pretty reliable, I will attempt a blog!

We left MN on Monday morning - a 6 am flight. The flight went ok. Wasn't great, there were some moments, but overall not too painful. Got our luggage and had 2 cars picking us up, and took us to a swanky Hilton by the airport. We had 2 rooms but not enough beds, so it was a rough night. I think Curtis ended up with Ethan in a teeny double and Janie slept with me in the queen, she is un fun to share a bed with! Got up and made our way over to our house, where our rental furniture was being delivered and also our air shipment. That worked out so well. The kids had fun running all over the house and yard and exploring. Eli and Jo claimed the attic, and Ethan ended up in a bedroom by himself, as did Janie and Sadie has the littlest room. It suits her:)

We then went to a grocery store with all 5 kids which was a mistake. Curtis ended up with 4 of them waiting in the car while Jonah and I did some shopping. Didn't know where any restaurants were that would accommodate us, so we cooked at home with what we had- we had pasta, with this yummy cheese sauce, and garlic bread. I was famished by the time we ate- we hadn't eaten anything all day. Woke up too late for breakfast and there was no food at the house until we came back from the store!

We are still making do until our sea ship arrives. We iron on a floor on a towel:) But it will make it that much more exciting when we do get our things! YAY! Ironing Board!!

The first week after the flight was a tough adjustment for the kids. Nobody slept well. At one point on Tuesday night EVERYBODY was awake at 2 am, so I put on a movie for the kids and went back to bed. Curtis and I were exhausted. I came down with a cold and it is still hanging on. Even though we did a day flight, I still felt so tired for days.

The kids are adjusting to school, it is a much earlier schedule, but we are getting used to it. The first day the boys took the bus, they wanted me to follow them and be there when they got off (well mostly Jonah did). So Curtis stayed with the girls who were sleeping, and I took the rental to the school. All was well, they got off just fine, and ran off to their classes. As I was driving back, I took a turn too fast, and went over a curb, and the curb popped the 2 left tires of the rental van! I pulled to the side of the very narrow road. I had no phone, and didn't know any phone numbers to call anyway (the phone numbers here take some getting used too, they are like 12 digits long with no dashes). So I said crap a few times and got out of the car and walked home. It was about a 25-30 minute walk I think. It was a little chilly but I was fine. I found a preschool for Janie on the way home too. But I still shed a few tears of discouragement when I got home. The car too 2 days to repair. But I was just fine without a vehicle! Not in a hurry to get behind the wheel again! Curtis took care of the whole mess, missing some important meetings to help direct traffic while the van was towed away.

I have my moments of why the heck did we bring 5 kids to a foreign land, but hopefully those moment will get fewer and fewer. We do get some looks as we are out and about with all 5. Wehave yet to eat out at a restaurant together- except at IKEA, our second home.

Curtis has been amazing. He drives like a pro already. He takes care of details. Honestly I don't know how he juggles all that is going on. Thursday morning he was hosting a meeting on the phone while driving us back from yet another trip to IKEA. He works so hard at work and then comes home and does lots of dishes and baby baths and laundry.

I think my next post will be about differences that I find frustrating... oh it's going to be a long one.