The Scudder Family: Moving Days

After spending a few days in Fort Wayne, we left for Arkansas on July 31st.

Wednesday, July 31:
Erin and Aunt Cindy came with me in the car with Carter and the girls while John and Jack flew. Jack was beyond excited to fly on an airplane! The drive went well. Aunt Mary and Mimi were driving back from Arkansas (they spend three days cleaning our new house) so we met halfway on the road and had lunch together with them. They delivered us our "list" of the things they couldn't clean while they were here due to the contractors. We all made it to the house that evening and when we got there, the kids got right in the pool. They are fearless. They go off the diving board and down the slide by themselves. At first they wanted to be "caught," but after a few times down, they would do down all by themselves.

Thursday, August 1:
Our stuff was scheduled to arrive the next day, but the flooring guys didn't get as much done as they had hoped and when we got there, we walked into a house with wet paint in the kitchen (cabinets were all painted and glazed) and almost half the family room floor done with a bare kitchen floor and laundry room floor. The office was taped up, too, ready to be sprayed so when the moving truck came the next morning, the decided they couldn't really unload due to all the mess at the house. So they took out a few things from the back of the truck (our master mattress and Jack's box springs) and things that could go upstairs and left to come back the next day. Cindy and I began tacking the cleaning left on the list and finished it. I don't think the cleaning would have gotten done if the truck was unloaded this day, so it was a good thing in the long run. The flooring guys finished the floor (well, all but one little piece).

Friday, August 2:
By Friday morning, the truck was ready to be unloaded. We have so much stuff, that the unloading took two days: Friday and Saturday until mid afternoon. John and I got our Arkansas licenses in the afternoon. John claims this is the worst part about moving--the DMV. I disagree...there are many worse parts about moving. But, in Arkansas it was very easy to get a license. I was happy not to take a test! My kitchen was done drying by Friday night, so Cindy and I got right to work unpacking the kitchen Friday night (into early Saturday morning). Jake and Mimi came on Friday morning and Jack and Erin kept Jack and the girls busy, mostly in the pool since it was over 90s most of the first week we have been here. John surprised me with bedroom furniture that was delivered on Friday morning. We had looked at this furniture while we were down here looking at houses, but I didn't know he bought it. So in the midst of the chaos, here comes the furniture. But I love it! After 13 years we finally got nice furniture in the bedroom!

Saturday, August 3:
On Saturday, Cindy and I moved a ton of boxes from the garage to the attic, garage to shed, shed to garage and shed to attic in shed. What a huge job to organize stuff from one house with a basement to one without. I lost living space! Somehow we managed to fit it all in and everything has a place for now. Cindy was a work horse! And Erin was a lifesaver playing with the girls. Of course, Mimi and Aunt Mary cleaned the extremely dirty house and Mimi and Jake came back to help out with grocery shopping and watching/feeding the girls. It was a total joint effort and I got everything in great order by Sunday when they all left (but Erin). All I can say is THANK YOU ALL!

Sunday, August 4:
Jake, Mimi and Aunt Cindy left for home. Exhausted! We kept working on the boxes inside and in the shed.

Monday, August 5:
John went back to work (he took three days off, not too shabby for him). Office is now dry (we had the built-in sprayed white) and ready for us to unload the boxes and bring the furniture. After work, John and I moved the furniture in there and rearranged the living room furniture. It is also our 13 year anniversary so we went to a late dinner while Erin graciously watched the kids (Jack, girls were asleep).

Tuesday, August 6:
Erin and I took the girls downtown to the splash park (lasted about 20 minutes) and then we ate lunch downtown. It felt good to "rejoin" society and get out of the house! We also had a new family pizza party at St. Vincent's School so we all went there for dinner. School is a week away for Jack. Later that evening, I finished organizing what I could in the garage. All boxes were opened and put away

Wednesday, August 7:
All the boxes in the garage were picked up an hauled away! Oh, what a glorious site! Sarah, Margaret and Nick are on there way to our house for a few days but get diverted off I-44 due to flooding in southern Missouri. They went 66 miles in 5 hours...Margaret began calling Missouri, "misery."

Thursday, August 8:
Sarah and I got out for a run! I took Jack to registration and he met his teacher (Ms. Frederick), got a new sweatshirt and t-shirt and I signed up to volunteer. We spent the rest of the day at the pool and outside playing baseball with the kids.

Friday, August 9:
Sarah and I took the kids to Crystal Bridges--an American Art Museum that one of the Walton daughters totally funds. The girls were slightly young, but it was fine. We went swimming in the afternoon. After dinner, we went to downtown to see the Walton 5-10 and got some ice cream. The square was busy with older people playing music. The kids gave big hugs to Erin who was leaving in the morning.

Saturday, August 10:
The Scudders left. John spent the day cleaning the garage, organizing the tools and hanging pictures. The upstairs is finished. We are waiting for it all to get painted on September 9th. The downstairs is almost done. Whew! What a huge amount of work! I spent the day with the girls outside back and forth between our pool and our neighbor's pool.

Lunch about 30 miles east of St. Louis

Jack on the airplane

Lay-over in Atlanta

The first night we slept on sleeping bags on the floor and air mattresses. Kate and Jack wet the bed (he was sharing with Cindy) and I didn't have a washer/dryer for another two days until they finished the floor in the laundry room and they got hooked up.