almost done... and out of CO

What a busy and stressful day/week/month!! The boys were excited to see the moving truck pull up in front of our house today. :) Especially Finn-Finn. They are off to Ms. Adams house while all of our household goods are loaded into the truck bound for Indiana. The boys think it's hilarious that we will be sleeping on the ground the next two nights.

Sean and I will spend all day tomorrow (Friday) cleaning the house, getting it ready for our tenants. Then we'll be on the road to KS bright and early Saturday morning.

I'll feel much better when we are unloaded in South Bend, the end of July. With all of our furniture intact and nothing missing!!

getting ready for the move

Sean has had the power-washer out a lot today... cleaning the deck (ready to re-stain), cleaning the front of the house, cleaning out the recycle bins and trash can. The boys LOVED it! Every once in a while Sean would squirt them, they couldn't get enough and kept coming back for more. :)

8 weeks later... the cast is OFF

Getting the cast cut off.

Cutting the other side.

Cutting off the wrap.

It's free.

Yay! Just a sore wrist.

Hooray! The cast is gone. :) Cullen has been counting down the days until the cast came off. Dr. Springer, his orthopedic surgeon even joked about how even this fair, Irish boy tanned a little! He said the bones should (he had 3 ornery boys) be as strong as they were before the break, but no rough-housing for 10 days! So far Cullen is serious about it... telling Finn to be careful of his arm. Before we left, Dr. Springer gave us a referral to South Bend Orthopedic.... should we need another orthopedic surgeon when we get get settled. (I sure hope NOT!) Dr. Springer is a huge Michigan fan and alumni, so we had joked a lot with him about that and Notre Dame. :)

After we left, we went to McDonald's (where else?) for a celebratory lunch. Wouldn't you know, there were two little girls there with casts on? Cullen told them he just got his cast off. Now hopefully we're done with casts, stitches, and any other trips to the ER or Urgent Care!

abnormally tough (and rough)

Finn's reward... a 7-11 slush and sucker.
He picked out a sucker for Cullen too.

6 stitches!

This spring and summer is proving to be very rough for our boys. April was the worst month with Finn getting stitches and Cullen breaking his arm. But once again this morning, I found myself on the way to the Urgent Care Clinic with a head wound gushing blood.

Finn was playing with Cullen, running around. He tripped and slid into the wall hitting his head on the trim. He didn't cry long, but it was a long gash (1 inch) so Sean and I decided he needed to head to the Urgent Care Clinic. The PA didn't want to give him stitches, she wanted to glue it... but they ran out last night. So then she suggested staples.... but I really preferred stitches, so she gave in. Once again, she and the nurse were in absolute awe of how tough Finn is. He did not cry or say one word when they numbed him up and put in his 6 stitches. They said they have never seen anything like it. The PA mentioned that he's got really thick skin, I thought she was referring to how tough he was. But she said, "No, really, his skin is really thick.... like a horse hide."

I've said it once, I'll say it again (and again)... God has made our boys incredibly rough AND tough! It seems as though He blesses the really ornery ones with extreme toughness, for good reason.

Cullen has been to the ER/Urgent Care Clinic 5 times (stitches ((x3)), dead tooth, broken arm). Looks like Finn won't be outdone... he's been twice for stitches. Basically, I'm averaging one trip to the Urgent Care for each year of their life.

the Grotto at dusk

Here is the picture Sean took of the Grotto at Notre Dame at dusk (after church Saturday night). The glow of the candles is so beautiful. I am anxious to see it at night with the snow this winter. See the woman in the blue backpack on the right? She is touching an original stone from the Grotto in France.

Everyone at Notre Dame talks about the lake effect snow from Lake Michigan. Sounds like it will be like Fort Drum (and Lake Ontario's lake effect snow) all over again! Everyone also talks about how busy Sean will be in the MBA program... I think it's all relative! He sure has put in some insane hours the last year... Time will tell.

Catholic Disneyland (touring Notre Dame)

Sean by the War Memorial on campus.
Notre Dame has a long history with the military.

Inside the Main Building.

The Main Building with it's famous Golden Dome and Mary.
(Administrative Building) Built in 1879.

Statues of Jesus and Father Sorin (founder of ND)
on campus.

The Basilica of the Sacred Heart.

The Basilica.
What is a Basilica?

These pictures do not do it justice.

Looking back at the entrance.
We saw Father Jenkins, the president
of Notre Dame when we were here.

The Lady Chapel added in 1886.
It's at the back of the Basilica.

The Grotto. 1/7th the size of the original in France.

They hold a daily rosary here at 6:45pm.
Gorgeous at nighttime!

The famous mural named: Touchdown Jesus.

Inside the gates of the Football Stadium.
I like how they built around the original.

Did you know that the coach and football team used to march from the Basilica
to the stadium before every game. And the Basilica holds a mass starting
30 minutes after the end of every home football game?

We are so excited that we found a place to live so close to this beautiful campus! Sean and I attended Saturday night mass at the Basilica and went back to the Grotto again afterwards. It was stunning at night.... the glow of all the candles. Sean took a few pictures with his phone, I'll try to upload them later. I can't wait to see it this winter with the sparkling snow.

Grandma & Grandpa Camp 2011

The boys had a great time at this years Grandma and Grandpa Camp! Even though my parents were extremely busy moving into their new home, they took the boys so we could look for a place in South Bend. We are SO thankful, it would've been really hard to explore a new city, tour schools, see different homes, etc with the boys in tow.

The boys rode the Arctic Cat a ton, rode the Gage Park train, fed the ducks, went to a Children's Museum, toured a dairy, played Wii with Uncle D and Papa, visited grandma's school and had lunch with the kids, watched Ashton play volleyball with Coco and Josh, and had a cousin sleepover with Adah and Arley where they made their own pizzas and ice cream sundaes. I'm sure I'm forgetting something... Needless to say, they didn't miss us at all!!!!

Our house in South Bend

After 4 crazy days of searching for a suitable *family* house near Notre Dame, we finally found it! ( God was on our side, it was JUST listed and we were the first to see it.) This house is (almost) perfect.... It doesn't have a dishwasher. But it has everything else we want: a mile from campus, quiet neighborhood, plenty of storage, a garage, remodeled kitchen, office and playroom, and a nice large yard for the boys. We were struggling on deciding between this house and a newer one about 15 min (drive) from campus. But then the owners lowered the price, will pay our water, sewer, trash, and their teenage son will mow our grass! How could we pass up this adorable 1945 Cape Cod?

Interestingly, the current owners knew the family that built the house and they lived there until they passed. Then the current owners bought it. The original owners also owned the old Ace Hardware Store, so they know it doesn't contain the old lead paint. A concern I had.

We are driving now, but I will post some pictures of campus when we get back to CO.