48 Hours

We had a great party last night.  It was so fun to see so many family and friends before we take off.  Thanks so much to everyone who came!  And a big thanks to my dad and uncles who gave us a great performance.  If you missed the party, you are still welcome to stop by and see us.

There are 48 hours to go.  The suitcases are mostly packed.  Yesterday I finished cleaning my room.  The family room remains almost untouched, however, so I'm panicking about that.  I also have a fruit fly infestation in the kitchen.  Grrrr...  The trap is working well, but there are so many that I hate to walk in there.

On Saturday morning, the suitcases are all going to my mom's house where we will spend the night.  During the day Saturday, all the stuff and the beds from upstairs need to be packed up and put in the basement.  We haven't had much luck finding people to help, so if you can come help, please let me know!!!  I know, I should have asked for help a while ago so people could plan it, but I guess I didn't think of it as really moving or something.  Normally we do plan moving day a little better than this.  Maybe I'm just out of practice.  After all, we have lived in this house for over 5 years.  That's a record for us!

Well, I better stop writing and start packing.  Here are a few pictures from the party.

Crazy Days

Today Ben and I flew to California and back to apply for our visas.  The paperwork is in, and since the packets were complete, they should be done Monday.  It was surreal to do that kind of trip but very nice not to have to pack or be away from the kids too long.  This is the great news!

In other news, we've had some other crazy stuff going on.  On Monday, July 28, I took Kandy to the doctor to get some warts frozen off.  Unfortunately, on her right pinkie finger, she developed a ridiculously huge blood blister.  On Friday, we took her to an urgent care facility at night to get it drained.  Yesterday I took her to the pediatrician again.  The doctor said, "Wow, I've never seen this happen before."

Kandy was referred to the outpatient burn clinic.  My mom took her to the appointment since I had to be on a plane to California!  The good news is that it should be all healed up in 7 days.  The bad news is she really can't go to girls' camp.  Oh, wait, did I say that was bad?  Well, I do feel bad that she's missing it, but I'm grateful that next weeks' packing and prepping won't be complicated by her being gone.

And as if cleaning and packing the house (with lots less help than usual from Kandy), doing ridiculous amounts of paperwork, and Kandy's medical issues weren't enough, the dog got sick.  I had to take her to the vet yesterday morning.  She is now wearing the cone of shame, taking pills, and getting ointment rubbed on her rash twice a day.

I'm so glad Ben is home, and I'm feeling quite overwhelmed by the amount of work to get done in 8 days!

One step closer

Yesterday we got the last batch of documents back from receiving the apostille verification.  We picked them up at the lieutenant governor's office.  I took all the kids (and a couple of their friends) with me so they could see the state capitol building.  After we got home, Missy had fun painting faces.  Not too bad for a first time, I think!  She is a very talented artist.

The only paperwork left to do is the visa applications.  We're still packing the house and the suitcases.

14 Days to Go...

There are 14 days left until we hop on the plane.  I'm grateful that Sunday is a day of rest, so I don't feel bad about not packing anything today.

Yesterday I took the kids to have fun at Kangaroo Zoo.  While there, I worked on the packing list for what we are actually taking with us.  Ben and I also discussed plans for our good-bye party with our friends.  More details on that later.

TICKETS!

The company purchased the tickets Thursday..  It is official: we are leaving on Sunday, August 17, 2014.  That's just a little over two weeks away!  All the doctor visits are done, and the last batch of documents that needed to be verified by the lieutenant governor's office (apostille stamped) was dropped off today.  Ben and I fly to California for a day trip next week to go to the Belgian consulate.