Hotdog!

 It was odd celebrating Halloween without Robby, but I refused to let my missing him deter from making it a special day for Timmy. From a special Chick Fil-A breakfast to homemade cookies for his Halloween party, I tried to infuse his day with little surprises. His bedroom was filled with giggles and shrieks throughout the afternoon as he celebrated Halloween with his classmates. 

I made "Monster Mash" for dinner while Timmy artfully carved his pumpkin. After watching the minutes tick down until 6 pm, it was finally go time. Timmy pulled on his costume and he and Scott headed out to trick-or-treat. (Unlike his brother, Timmy asked his dad to take him out of costume this year.)

For our first Halloween in this house, Scott and Robby dressed as hotdogs. Last night, for our final trick-or-treat on our little road, Timmy dressed as a hotdog. 

I like when things come full circle.

Happy Halloween

 Happy Halloween!

The holiday feels strange this is the first year for so many reasons, among them preparing to move and Robby going to college. I realized this morning that this has been the first Halloween since becoming a mom that I haven't had to tackle a costume for Robby. Thankfully Timmy is still a huge fan of trick-or-treating and has been planning the route for months. I'll unveil his costume tomorrow morning, but it is safe to say that he has stuck with his food theme.

Have a great holiday!

Pressure

 It seems that my new schedule now includes nightly trips to West Virginia to find a new home. I am trying to take the entire experience in stride. As soon as we discover our new home the constant trips will stop and I can concentrate on packing. Until then, the back-and-forth treks are necessary so we can discover the perfect new home for our family.

Thankfully, we selling our current home was considerably easier than we anticipated. On a lark we invited realtors in so that we could start to sort through the to-do tasks before listing. To our delight, we were offered as-is contracts.  As soon as we sign (which we plan to do on Halloween), the countdown starts. We will have 60 days to clear out the house and move.

 Talk about pressure!

Packing

 I spent the weekend packing (and purging) around the house. I started in my closet and, once finished, moved into the basement. I've been delaying conquering the basement because of the sheer quantity of 'stuff,' but it has turned into an easier project than I anticipated. Because I am not emotionally attached to the items in the basement, I found it easier generate a healthy donation pile.

I have been so productive with packing that I have now run out of boxes. I ordered more to be delivered later this week. I'm hoping that I estimated correctly and that this will be our final box delivery. In the meantime, I'm just going to continue to sort items into piles. I don't want to lose the packing momentum. 

While I have been busy packing and organizing for the move, Scott has been focusing on finding our new home. We have signed with a realtor and have packed schedule of walk throughs scheduled for tomorrow. Fingers crossed we have better luck this time!