The Big Move

Last Wednesday was the big moving day. We loaded up the 22 foot truck on Tuesday night and headed for PA Wednesday morning.

Seven long hours later we arrived at our new home!
Okay, I know this is a little silly, but I was really excited about our very first houswarming gift!
And the unloading begins.
And now it's time to unpack...



So, we had a little issue with getting our box spring up our stairs. It didn't fit. We were baffled because we knew we couldn't be the only people in the complex with a queen sized bed, but no matter what we did we could not get this thing around the corner. It was extremely frustrating and we actually dented the wall a little in the process. Jake's smile in this picture was forced, he definitley was not in a smiley mood. I told him to smile because one day we would laugh about this.
And sure enough we did laugh about it the very next day! Jake saw the maintence man, Keith, outside and inquired if other tenants have the same difficulty. To our relief this is a common problem and Keith offered to come over and do it for us. So, he and another maintence man showed up and just shoved the box spring up the stairs and around the corner!
Jake and I were so concerned about the dent we put in the wall but that was nothing compared to what these guys did! We have two huge scratches/dents in the wall as a result of this whole ordeal. Luckily, maintence will come by and fix up for us whenever we want. The important thing is that the bed is upstairs!
Our first meal in our new home...Domino's pizza.

I'd like to share with you some of my new favorite things.
Cable TV! For the first time in over 3 years I have cable in my home!!!! A dishwasher! For the first time in my LIFE I have a dishwasher in my home!!!!! I'm so excited about this because washing dishes is one of my least favoritve chores.
And a washer and dryer! For the first time in about 5 years I have a washer and dryer in my home!!!!! I'm really excited about the washer and dryer because I actually love to do laundry. I know that's a little crazy, but I do. And I no longer have to lug my laundry to people's houses or the laundry mat..woohoo!
Along with cable/internet/phone service you get a bunch of ugly devices you need to set up. I didn't realize how many gadgets you need just to have cable/internet. Our orginal set up was looking a little sloppy, so I went to WalMart and found a little cabinet to store all this stuff. Since Jake was back in MA and it was killing me to look at this mess, I decided to try to put the shelf together myself. To my amazement I actually did it and it hasn't fallen apart...yet!

Little People Who I Will Miss A Lot

I hate goodbyes. I have never lived away from home. I have spent 25 years living near all of my family. Parents, sisters, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins...all were less than an hour away. And now I am moving to Pennsylvania. I know it isn't like I will be living on the other side of the world or anything, but it's just a strange feeling knowing that I will not see my family as often as I have been. I will miss everyone, but there are a few people I will especially miss....

Jamieson and Mackenzie.

These two kids have been a HUGE part of my life over the past five years. Jamieson was only 4 months old and Mackenzie was 5 years old when I started watching them. Now they are 5 and 10 years old...time goes by so fast! At first I was their full time nanny, then only part time for a couple years, and this past year I have been with them full time again. Whether I was with them part time or full, they always held a special place in my heart and a high priority in my life. Though it was technically my job to take care of them, I never considered them my "job." They are my family and I love them so much and will miss seeing them often.

And I will also miss my little nephew, Connor. I was thrilled to become an auntie this past March. I grew up with all of my cousins and aunts close by and I treasure the memories I have with them. I am sad that I will not be close by him. I had the opportunity to babysit him once a week this summer which I enjoyed so much. He is such a cutie! I will miss seeing him regularly and getting to know him.

Last Tuesday was my last day with Mackenzie and Jamieson. Mackenzie bought me a present. She picked it out herself and used her own money. She got Jake and I Tri-Sum potatoe chips (which are our favorite and are only sold locally in MA) and a giant Hershey bar (just because I love chocolate!). I think the treats were supposed to for us at our new place, but unfourtunately they never made it to PA!
We had a fun day together playing mini golf and getting some ice cream :)

And then it was time to say good bye :(
And Jamieson couldn't let Jake get away without a hug too!

Good-byes :(

This is the part of the trip that is not fun. It was a very strange feeling knowing that the next time we visit with the kids, we will be living in PA. Since we only had the morning with them, Auntie Christine, Beezy and Joe came over for breakfast with their cousins to say goodbye.

There was a giant moth in our living room that morning and Abby was particulary excited about it so I thought I would share him with all of you :)

Nana bought doughnuts for breakfast...yummy!





Emma, Abby & Nate,
We had so much fun with you and we can't wait to visit with in September in our home in Pennsylvania! We love you and miss you so much!
Love and hugs,
Daddy and Nikki

Ready, Set....SHOP!!!

Saturday, we took the kids shopping. This was requested by Emma and Abby on their last visit in July, but never we got to do it with all the other events we had planned. Nana was very generous and gave each of the kids money to buy some new clothes. Since Jake had to work Saturday morning, Emma and I decided it would be fun to drive out to Cambridge, surprise Dad at work and go shopping at that mall instead of waiting for him to get home and go shopping in Leominster. We headed off for the hour and a half drive and everything was going well. We were only about ten minutes away from Jake's work when it happened....I made a wrong turn! Now, this is only the second time I have driven into Jake's work. The first time was so easy that I didn't bother to bring the directions with me this time and the GPS was sitting at home (a great place to keep a navigation system). So, now I am lost in Boston with three kids and Jake's lab manager Naomi on my cell phone (she lives near Boston so she knows her way around the city pretty well) trying to get me to the mall. OH MY GOODNESS! I tried to keep myself together, but it was quite nerve racking. The kids handled this ordeal much better than I did and they were all so well behaved the entire time. We got quite the tour of the city and 40 minutes later arrived at the mall! Once we were at the mall, I got lost in the parking garage...I'm not sure how I managed to do this but I did. Somehow we made our way (after a few elevator rides) to the mall entrance. This day was not turning out the way it was supposed to! And then, when it was time to leave the mall, I could not for the life of me remember where I parked the car! Jake finally had to leave me and the kids in the mall and go out and wander the garage searching for my car. I think we probably should have stayed home and went shopping in Leominster.

Back at Nana's house, the kids put on a fashion show to model all the cute clothes Nana had bought them.

This outfit is actually a hand-me-down from Elizabeth. Isn't it too cute? Abby loved this dress and matching tights so much that she insited on wearing them the rest of the night even though it was a HOT day! Nate having some fun with Daddy.

Thanks Nana for all the new clothes! We really appreciate it :)

Bowling

Tuesday was another rainy day, so we decided to go bowling. We had the whole place to ourselves and everyone had fun.

Emma giving her little sister some pointers.

Abby enjoyed sliding around on the floor with her bowling shoes.
I think Nate had just as much fun playing hide and seek between the chairs as he did bowling!

Playstation

Emma was pleased that she got to bring along her playsation for this trip. Part of the reason she brought it was to have Dad help her beat the levels she couldn't. And Jake (being the big kid he is) was more than ready to help Emma with this task!