Moving Day is Here

We're packing up and moving this weekend! Holy moly, I can't really believe it--but we are!

We are taking up residence in Montgomery in a beautiful 4 bedroom, 2.5 bath home with a view of gorgeous Lake Conroe! (We couldn't stand being just 1 mile from the water...we had to move so we could be just 1 block from the water...)

It's a blessing how it all worked out really. You see it's my grandparent's old home.

After my grandfather died last year, Tyler and I worked alongside my parents (and many other family members!) to help my grandmother manage, clean out, and eventually move to a smaller home herself. The more and more we worked there (and believe me, there was ALOT of working there!), Tyler and I began to fall in love with the house, the space, the water, the lot, and ultimately moving our boys there to grow.

It wasn't an easy choice. I've not blogged about the journey as I meant too, but you can read some about the choice here.

God's definitely in it. I had admittedly been dragging my feet about packing and moving. But it was a friend's off-hand comment (not even in reference to me!) that struck me. She is selling her house, too, and said something to the effect of "our house isn't selling because we are obviously not looking in the right place for our next step."

Now the Biblical message there to me is: God can't unleash his blessing if you aren't headed in the right direction. My husband, my money, my families' actions were headed to this new house, but my thoughts and attitude and emotions weren't. So I got on board. I shook off my fears and concerns. I took a leap of faith, and I tell you what, God handled it.

We got an offer on our current house the next week! And even though there is no reason to get emotionally involved with a buyer, I had the chance to and I couldn't be happier for them. It's a relative of our neighbors, a kind, young, new family who will be a great addition to our neighborhood. I really feel our house is the perfect house for them. We close right after the first of the year--a fresh start and a fresh year for everyone.

So here we are,  after months of painting and cleaning and making the house our own, we are (almost) ready to move in...just in time to celebrate Christmas in our new home!

P.S. This blog would NOT be complete without a special thank you to Tyler. He has worked tirelessly on the getting the new house up to Lauren standards and the old house up to New Buyer standards. And he's done all this with a very busy and emotional wife, two crazy boys, and his demanding job. He deserves something special (read: expensive electronics) for Christmas.

Put a For Sale Sign on it

Today marks the first step toward a new chapter for the Maddox family....

Our house is officially on the market.

This step is a HUGE one and brings a variety of emotions. 

• Joy to be blessed with a chance to move into a beautiful home that will be a place where we our family can continue to grow. 
• Anxiety over all the steps involved with moving.
• Relief that (after how many months of talking about this!) we finally got it posted for sale.
• Anxiety over all the steps involved with moving.
• Excitement over what's to come.
• Anxiety over all the steps involved with moving.
• And pretty strong, feet-dragging, "Do I have too?" "Are we sure" emotions (does anyone have a word for that feeling?) about leaving our current home.  

We lucked out more than we knew when we, as two young newlyweds, stumbled upon this neighborhood, this street, and our red brick one-story on Perkins Crossing.

We never dreamed that some of our best and dearest friends would be next door, or across the street, or down a few houses. Seriously, these ladies are some of my best friends. They've loved me, supported me, and laughed with me...and in turn, our kids (all similar in age) have done the same.

I'm blessed beyond measure.  And I'm thankful that these friendships aren't bound by proximity.

More details to come soon on this new adventure...

Time for "Ooh's and "Aww's"

More pictures of Baby Suri!

Welcome Baby Suri!

Suri Ella Granberry was born today (October 9) at 3:30 p.m.

She weighs 7 lbs. 13 oz. and is 19 in. long

I admire my brother and sister-in-law for making it NINE MONTHS without finding out whether it was a boy or a girl. I can only imagine how exciting today was for them!

Suri helps round out this family to an even SIX...three males and three females. 

Congrats to Justin and Misty, big brothers Caleb and Noah, and big sister Caitlyn!!

Hi Mary!!

Hello blog world! I'm posting so that when I send this link to my mother-in-law, she will see a new post! (Let's all ignore the fact that it has been well over three months since I've posted and longer than that since I changed the URL so no one even knew where to find us!)

Today seemed liked a good day to start a fresh beginning on the blog. It is after all the day that my newest niece or nephew is set to be born!!! Will it be a boy or girl? Ww can't wait to find out!!! Stay tuned!

If this posts, technology is the coolest. Im sending this from my PHONE!

I mean it this time

Great news, my loyal 14 followers...I've got high hopes and great aspirations to get back into the swing of...

BLOGGING! 

(applause! cheers! hip-hip-hooray's!)

I've been berated encouraged by friends and have become envious inspired by all those gazillion bloggers out there with clever ideas, completed projects, and creative endeavors. And really, I just need an artistic outlet.

So what sort of things do you hope to read on my blog? Do you want to hear tales from Mommyhood? Get all the secret Maddox family recipes? See Instagram uploads? Get step-by-step instructions on how I do it all?!?! (Because I do do it all). Whatever it may be, I vow to meet each response in a timely manner, so please, do tell! (And be kind.)

Stay tuned! And be sure to "Join this Site" (on right) to get the updates. 

I can't promise perfection, but I can promise a genuine effort.

Photo Book

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Proud Mama - Artwork on Display

I know, I know. I think very highly of my kids, and I always will, so indulge me for a moment while I show off some of my 3-year-old's artwork. I mean seriously, is he not the next Picasso?!?!

He's always been into art--writing, drawing, painting, play-doh...that kid was born to create. But lately, his squiggles and marks have developed into bonafide images. I guess he gets his artistic skills from my Grandma (a signature watercolor artist) or my aunt Cheryl (also a watercolor artist) or my mom or my dad (both of whom have some artistic capabilities).

Regardless of where it came from, we do all we can to encourage it! In fact, one of my next Pinterest-driven projects is to create a special art area for him. (Sure the kitchen table is fine for now, but as he grows, I think he'll love his own art space! Or maybe it's just an excuse for me to do another project!!)

I've labeled the images below according to what Dash has told me. Enjoy!

a transformer

a Stegosaurus (dinosaur)

Mommy

(and yes, this is hanging up in my office at work)

a fire truck

(Daddy's version is in red on top...Dash's version is the yellow one)

an ambulance and police car

(the orange images on right and mid-bottom)

Now go on---tell me honestly---is he not a genius?!?

Happy Birthday Tyler!!

When you get older, birthdays become less and less "celebrated." And when you have kids, you "celebrate" those adult birthdays with things that will entertain the children! So for Tyler's #28, we made our maiden voyage to the Houston Museum of Natural Science!!

We've been telling Dash about the dinosaur fossils at the museum for several months, so he was pretty amazed. But on top of the dinosaurs, he (and all us) really liked all the other exhibits, too. The energy exhibit had all sort of buttons and experiments for the boys to do. The wildlife exhibit was full of animals and was like a visit to the zoo (except, you know, withoout the "being alive" factor, lol!). We even killed some time in the gem and shell exhibit. (No, not much, but enough to feel like our children our cultured.)

If you ever decide to go, Tuesdays at the museum are FREE after 2 p.m. And no, it was not usually busy. And yes, they are expanding their dinosaur fossil exhibit, with completion scheduled for May. (As an aside, the zoo is also adding a dinosaur exhibit, so it sounds like we'll be making many trips to Houston this summer.) I digress...

We also toured the Butterfly Exhibit at the museum. (That was an additional cost, but on Tuesdays, it was like $2/ea. or something super cheap.)

You can tell that I am trying to get pictures here...hard though with my phone and busy kids!

We walked across the street to Hermann Park. Does anyone else have great memories of rolling down that big hill as a kid?!? Well, I do! And as soon as Dash saw the hill, he said "Let's roll down!" I guess rolling down hills is an inherent trait in kids. 

This is Dash rolling down.

All the boys checking it out. 

After enjoying some time at the park, we made our way to The Aquarium-Downtown for dinner. 

And yes, our boys were EXHAUSTED already and fell asleep on the way. That was fine for us, because we missed our turn, I got in trouble for being a lousy navigator, and well, let's just say it's best that there is not a picture of Tyler or me at this point. 

But then we got there!! And The Aquarium was nice! Tyler and I had been before, but we realized that was for my 19th birthday--almost 9.5 years ago!!! Crazy! 

We enjoyed a nice dinner, toured all the fish tanks, and then, of course, did the shark train adventure thingy, which was surprisingly a bit more scary for a 3-yr-old and 1-yr-old than I anticipated. Their faces say it all. 

Despite some last minute change of plans from family who couldn't join us, we had a memorable night. We got to treat the boys to something new. Heck, Tyler and I were treated to something new!! But more importantly, we did something different to celebrate Tyler, whom we all adore. (S.W.A.K.)

The best family pic of the day!!

(Man, if only I could hold my hand steady---that would've been a good one!)