Well we are coming to the end of our first week of summer together, even though we were stuck inside more than we wanted to be, due to the rain.

We had our ups and downs this week.  Hopefully more ups than downs 

Julia exhibited major 2 year old behaviors, throwing tantrums and ready to attack anything that doesn’t go her way. (I’m in the process of reading the Twlight series and I think Julia has the characteristics of a new born vampire.) She has tendencies to whine , freak out and then go in for the kill (teeth). She also has become an expert in tormenting Delton, feeling the sister love here. It is very funny to see that she knows what buttons to push on all of us.

Delton is adjusting well to being home – no complaints from him. I’m trying to work on some preschool skills that he needed to improve upon, he actually is liking it. Delton also attended a local VBS program this week.

We also got to take in a free movie in Lancaster, a Veggie Tale movie.  Explore a new grocery store in Elizabethtown.  They had everything I needed, unlike some other stores around here.  So, I guess that is were we will be going from now on.  It’s kind of funny how driving 15 minutes to a grocery store seems a lot faster now than it did 4 weeks ago (BTW – today we have been our house for 1 month)

Today we made a museum exhibit.  Delton was playing with some creatures he had and was talking about setting up exhibits for each animal in the house.  So, I asked him if he wanted to make an exhibit in a box for some of his creatures and he said, “sure”.  Well we finished an insect and arachnids exhibit. Here are some pictures to enjoy.

How it all started.

Delton adds details.

Just need to add the insects and arachnids. Note the Phonetic spelling for his sign. Do you like my 3D tree in the back?

Deltons exhibit sign. (Insekts and Arknids)

The finished product - with insects and arachnids.

Julia's final project. Note the animals all laying in a heap and broken up. Also note her hair - I have no clue where her comb is - combed by my fingers like in the olden days.

Just dusting off the cobwebs here to announce a milestone for Julia. Over the past two months, she has peed on the potty at least five times!

She did it twice at school during her last two weeks there. Last week, she stood up in the middle of her bath and told Aleisha she had to go. And, on our way home from the cabin Sunday, she christened the family bathroom toilet of a new Target store in Selinsgrove.

That’s my girl! Perhaps we’ll see the end of diapers by the time fall rolls around. She’s already got some big girl underwear, and they’re mostly pink, so of course, she’s keen to use them.

Coming up on our third week in the new house, Maytown is beginning to feel like home. With a lot of help from family and friends (thanks!), we managed to squeeze everything in one 26′ U-Haul truck, three pick-up trucks, one groovy conversion van and the back of our Freestyle. Actually, strike that. I forgot that I ended up putting a bunch of stuff on our old neighbor’s porch and in his fridge. (Alas, the beer did not make it.)

The only thing that broke while moving was our grill, which lost its legs in the transit from our backyard to the street. To be honest, I’m glad to have an excuse to buy a new one. The only other real problem was that we spent a few days searching boxes for a cell phone charger and some of Aleisha’s shoes, which got inadvertently packed by some well-meaning packers.

Other than painting three-quarters of the first floor and mowing the lawn twice, we haven’t done much beyond un-packing and arranging furniture. Still plenty of boxes to go, so it may be a few more weeks until we see our garage and basement floors. On the list of to-do’s this summer: hire a contractor to install an egress window in our basement, seal the wood on our back deck, paint the kids’ rooms, hang a wash line and put in a raised bed for gardening.

The kids are adjusting wonderfully, thanks in no small part to our neighbors’ children, four preschoolers who almost always seem willing and eager to play in our adjoining backyards. Not having fences, so far, has been a blessing. We look forward to getting to know their parents better.

On the day of our settlement, as we were unloading the truck, a large military cargo plane coming out of Middletown flew over. Having spent the first five years of my life as an Air Force brat, I instinctively look skyward whenever I hear these big jet engines, a sound that immediately takes me back to those carefree ages. I was reminded of all the moves and changes that I dealt with when I was two and four, and I know Delton and Julia—and Aleisha and I—can thrive here.

That evening, while taking Chloe on her first walk around the new neighborhood, another sight in the sky brought me comfort: stars. Much more of them than could be seen in the city. The stargazer in me is happy.

For Delton’s first birthday, Aleisha and I put together an iPhoto book titled Going to Market. I wrote this in the intro:

Our house at 534 North Mary Street in Lancaster, Pennsylvania is not our ideal home. Noisy neighbors, peeling paint, creaky floors and lack of parking make us pine for something better, something rural.

Despite the drawbacks, city life does have its charms; chief among them is living within walking distance of work, school, shops and restaurants. This book depicts the mile-or-so stroll from our neighborhood in the northwest quadrant of the city to Lancaster’s historic Central Market, smack dab in the center of downtown.

More often than not, we drive to market before work on Tuesdays, scurrying to find a parking spot and rushing to pick up our usual items. However, when we don’t have to be at work and the weather is nice, we find joy in walking this small journey, exploring the city and market stands at a leisurely pace and watching you discover the world beyond our front door.

We initially bought this place because it was affordable and close to work. I don’t think either of us intended to fall in love with it, and I’m not sure that either of us did. But, for seven years, this home gave us more than shelter. Within its walls, our dreams of creating a family came true—arriving first on four legs, with a cat we brought home on the Fourth of July, 2002.

Tonight, as I tucked Delton into his mattress on the floor, I said a prayer thanking God for our good memories in this home and asked for His blessing on the next family to move in. This past week Delton has been excited about the move, but my short prayer must have made him realize that this was it, and he began to cry. “Please, can’t we stay a few more days,” he sobbed.

I quickly changed the subject, reminding him of all the good things about our new home, including the neighbors’ children we met briefly yesterday after dropping off the truck.

He calmed down, but then I realized that I too had tears in my eyes. This would be the last time I would squeeze myself next to him in his toddler-size bed, beneath the child-like drawings of cars and trucks in the wallpaper border of these four blue walls.

No more loudly rattling door knobs to alert us that Delton has gotten out of bed. No more squeaking floor beneath us as we rock with Julia in the room that our family and friends helped to make a cozy nursery.

We leave here excited and hopeful that our next house—and the world beyond its front door—will contain as many good memories as our first.