Cade lately

The kids have been super excited about the move to Texas, but this week, it really hit Cade. He is a kid that thrives on order and structure and the unknown is scary for him and he realized he's really going to miss his friends. I have no doubts that he will do great academically when we move and I'm sure he will make new friends super easy. Still, he will miss friends here, and this is the first big change he's ever really had to endure. His travel baseball coach had a last practice so he could see his team again. He wanted Cade to pitch to each player and for each player to pitch to Cade. His coaches were really a great group of guys, it's too bad Cade won't get to play with them. It was supposed to be mid 70s but about 30 minutes before practice, a cold front came through and it went from 60 to 40 with major winds.

You can't really tell, but it was super cold. The boys still had fun!

Since it was so cold out at baseball, they decided to play for an hour and then go eat at Buffalo Wild Wings. The boys were hanging out outside for a while dancing to Gangham Stlye. It's a new Japanese song and it was very entertaining to watch those boys dancing. Cade was the new player to the team and has only been with them since the end of July, but the whole team has been so welcoming and friendly.

I never got the group shot I was hoping to get. As we are telling people about our move, we are realizing that we have met some really great people. We have some great friends waiting for us back in Texas and we look forward to meeting even more as our new adventure begins.

Cade will get to see this group one last time the day before Thanksgiving. One of the boys is having a birthday party, so he will get to go to the party and say his final goodbyes.

Maddi lately

Maddi isn't doing dance company this year and it's been wonderful, to me, anyway. We get to see her so much more and she has time to hang out with friends. Maddi can usually be found on the trampoline perfecting her front and back handsprings, flips and walkovers. She can also be found making something in the kitchen. One day she had Jane over and Jane, Maddi and Emma were making chocolate covered pretzels. Pretzels are worthless to me, but cover them in chocolate and I'm in love!

3 sweet girls! Emma has no idea that she's lucky to have a big sister!

Jane and Maddi met in kinder when we moved here. She has always been taller than Maddi, but she has really taken off in height. Maddi is still waiting to shoot up, she's about 33rd percentile in height right now. I'd be surprised if she really ends up that short, but like I told her, I always thought it might be fun to be more on the short side.

Maddi is really going to miss her friends here. I pray she makes great friends in Texas too!

Last Friday, the junior high had Pirate night, which is a night to hang out. It was also a costume party. Maddi went as Miss Texas.

Brett and I had to laugh. She looked so pretty and glamorous and then she plopped down to buckle her shoes sitting totally un-lady like and unglamorous. Ha!

Maddi's friend, Maddie, went as Miss Hawaii. They did their own makeup and I helped with their hair. It was fun. I can't believe they are old enough to be doing their own makeup. Such pretty girls, looking so grown up. Emalyn was watching them get ready and she insisted on putting her princess dress on. She also insisted on being in the pictures.

6th graders, how did that happen? Maddi and Maddie won second place in the costume contest. It was decided by peer applause. I was so happy for them. How great is that to have your peers cheering and shouting for you! They had a great night and were telling me about boys they talked to etc. I'm glad Maddi is so open and shares so much of her life with me. So far it's fun having a middle school girl.

Poor little princess got left at home all by herself! She was crying because she really wanted to go to the costume party. Get used to it Emma, Maddi will be doing all kinds of things that you're too little to do. Life of the third child...She even went to bed saying "I'm sad. I really want to go to the costume party with Sissy."

Although Emma gets left out of a lot, Maddi is so great about including Emma when she can. She always lets Emma play with her and her friends. Not sure how long that will last, but we'll enjoy it while we can.

The next morning I flew out to find a house in Texas. That night, Maddi went to a sleepover party at the dance studio. She didn't sleep the entire night! Lucky for her, they had no school on Tuesday (they have the most random days off here). Maddi spent several hours snoozing on the couch trying to catch up from lost sleep.

Maddi has really grown up this year. She is still the sweet and loving Maddi, but is just a little more mature. She's an amazing little girl and Brett and I are so proud to be her parents.

MIA

I have been MIA, I can't believe it's been so long since I've blogged! Part of the reason is because there are big changes ahead. It's now official, so I can put it out there...we are MOVING back to TEXAS!!! A brief synopsis so I can remember how fast this all happened one day...
Brett started interviewing for a position back at the end of July. He took some tests for the position while we were in Texas in August. When he went to A&M for his birthday, he stayed a day later for a face to face interview, the timing was perfect. Then he had to do some more testing in late September. You'd think this was some top secret job with all of the testing he had to go through. He finally got a call on October 8th, Columbus day, that they were going to give him an offer. They verbally gave him an offer and then asked where in Texas he was willing to move. He wanted Dallas and was open to Houston. I am not open to Houston (Houston is not a frizzy haired girl's friend) so we told them we would only take a position in the Dallas area. We were excited about the new opportunity but then were worried we might have shot ourselves in the foot as we waited to hear if there was an opportunity in Dallas. We finally heard they were happy to have them in Dallas so we put our house on the market. Actually, we might have put our house on the market before we knew the location.
We listed with an agent October 9th. It went on the market, the night of the 10th. We had our first showing Friday, the 12th. They stayed for over an hour (I was stalking them down the street waiting to come home) and I figured they liked our house, but I was shocked when we got an offer an hour later! We negotiated the deal that night. We had our house inspected the next Tuesday. I flew down to Dallas Saturday, the 20th and found a house. We are still finishing the negotiating after inspections and need to have the appraisal, but things are moving ahead and looking good. During all of this, Brett still had not officially accepted or resigned from either job. He was waiting to try and figure out dates of closings, etc. We close here December 12th and on the new house December 17th. After talking with the mortgage company this week, we found out that if Brett quit here and then started his new job in January, he'd be unemployed at closing time. Apparently that's a problem. So, he has officially resigned from his current position, with his last day November 23rd, the day after Thanksgiving. He will start his new job the Monday after that, the 26th! He has to have a pay check before we can close on the new house to show he is employed. Thankfully, his current and new employers were very open to working with us on start and end dates. He will fly back here to help us move down to Dallas.
This has been a wirl wind, but we are so, so thankful that this has all worked out as it has. We love our new house, at least I do, I'm the only one who has seen it, and we are so excited to be back "home" near friends and family. We will miss our friends here and I know it will be an adjustment for the kids, but we are excited for new beginnings.