Feels Like Home

Liv and Lila ride at Reading Reptile in Kansas City, MO.

Well, it's been nothing less than busy around here. However, it's beginning to feel like home. We're really enjoying it, surprisingly. Several people have asked if we have pictures of our house to post. I don't. Sorry. We haven't painted any of the rooms (Matt does not, I repeat, does not, want to paint - I have colors picked out - so if my mother-in-law comes to visit soon, we will get to work on it!), nor have we gotten the girls' bedroom set up, aside from beds, tables, dresser, basic blankets, pillows and sheets. I'm trying to find an inexpensive, cute bedding set. Maybe I should browse Craigslist.

Anyway, there wouldn't really be any great pictures to post. It's a modified raised-ranch. Four bedrooms, three full-bathrooms, two car garage, fenced-in backyard and so on. Aside from the carpet in all the rooms, except the kitchen and dining room (hardwood in there), I like the house. I love our neighborhood. Everyone is fabulous and friendly. It's just as good, if not better, as living on post. There is a neighborhood gathering at the park on Friday nights. We're really happy to have found such a great place to raise our girls for the next year or two.

Lila sniffing the scent coming out of the meter at Science City in Union Station.

Matt has entered a Master's program on top of CGSC. So, he is very busy studying. We've been attempting to give the girls earlier naps and an earlier bedtime so he can study in quite. Some nights this works out well and other times, Olivia (because, in all honesty, Lila is still a peach. She naps easily and goes to bed at night easily - always) is a pain most.every.night.

Climbing at Union Station

How have the girls handled the move? Well, Olivia is emotional, angry, sassy and just having a rough time of it. She asks to go to the beach, on a regular basis, knowing that there isn't one nearby. Lila, as I said in the previous paragraph, is a peach. She's taken to cuddling with me, cupping her hands on my face, stroking my hair and kissing me on the cheek. She's been begging to go to preschool with Olivia (We did find a preschool, with an elective, twice a week Spanish class - which we may or may not do, depending on whether she likes the class after she's taken it a couple of times, as it's pricey) and has cried her little face off both mornings Olivia has been so far. She's on the projected wait list for preschool, on post, in January (she's not yet three). In the mean time, I'm trying to get her involved with playgroups and trips to the library.

Both girls are signed up for ballet. They start on 1 September and they can't wait!!! The class is at the same time, therefore, I can bring a book and read (Mommy time, yes!) while they participate in class. I'm only a little irked that the ballet outfits they had already were not up to code for this school (they have attached tutus and this is a no-no at their dance school). So, of course, I had to order them each new ones.

Lila, once again, at Reading Reptile. Antagonizing the store cat.

I've been cooking my butt off (though, the unpacking is taken a back seat to my cooking) and I LOVE it! I have plenty of local produce and local, grass-fed beef, poultry, lamb, sellers who I buy from on a regular basis. I am so happy and fortunate to have found so many families, running small farms, who believe in the practices that I do. I'm striving to become a locavore in this crazy country where most of us have grown up leaning on huge grocery stores for nearly all of our food and have lost the tradition of growing our own and/or seeking out local whenever possible (I include myself in the above category-I am learning as I go). I can't grow a thing and will be leaning on my husband, blogs, books and friends to guide me as we begin a Fall family garden soon.

That's it for now. Sorry I don't have more pictures. Now, I must run and attend to my baking bread!