Packing...Part III

Friday... Of course we had a snow day, the kids were home, we were packing and cleaning and had a generally crazy day! At the end of it all, we ended up with LOTS of suitcases and hopefully everything that we will need for a stay in PA, FL and Russia!

Ken, Katie and Dylan are posing with all of our many suitcases!

Of course a trip is never complete without an accident. Ken neatly accomplished this task with a little fender bender that he had on Friday night. We were all tired of leftovers, so Ken graciously went out for pizza, unfortunately he got more than a pizza (a ticket, a dented door...). While no one is happy to have an accident, we are still counting our blessings - Ken and the other driver were not injured, we still got to eat pizza and our van was able to be driven to PA.

A shot of the damage...courtesy of Ken...AKA "Crash!"

Meanwhile, we are settling in to a routine with homeschooling, enjoying the hospitality of my mom and getting ready for our trip to FL.

Packing...Part II

We continued to pack today - at times it was overwhelming but mostly it was satisfying. We are actually fitting all of our belongings into the allotted number of suitcases!

We took a break from packing to gather the last of the school books. We are expecting snow tonight and into Friday so we wanted to have everything we need in case there is a snow day. The kids are actually wanting to have school so that they can have more time with their friends! The first time in their life that they did not want a snow day. I had an easy time gathering materials for Katelynn. Mr. B. had already made copies so it was just a matter of cleaning out her desk (yuck!)

My most frustrating moment of the day was seeing the cost for medicine for Katelynn and Dylan. The pharmacy dispensed what looks to be a lifetime supply of one of their asthma medicines. When I called to question it, I was referred to their doctor. I spoke with the receptionist who had a good laugh about it. I was not amused. At least we won't run out of Foradil in Russia!

The kids were happy to go out and play in the snow with our neighbors tonight and we were happy for a few quiet moments.

The plans for Friday: Clean and finish last minute packing...The end is in sight.

Packing... Part I

We began packing - the kids clothes are packed, my clothes are packed and we will tackle Ken's tomorrow. Ken's feeling good, I'm feeling stressed. I think my main issue stems from the amount of clothes that are left hanging in our closets. How can we possibly have everything we need packed when there are still lots of things in our closets and drawers? I'm reminded again of how much we have and how little we need all that we have.

The kids showed a little bit of excitement today. They were happy to hear that we have some of their favorite outfits packed and they became excited discussing what games and toys they would like to bring. Dylan mostly wants his nerf basketball hoop and Katie wants a few stuffed animals.

I also spent some time at Dylan's school getting prepared for home-schooling. Dylan's teacher/principal have been amazing! We are taking his books and I spent about 3 hours copying tests/worksheets/answer keys and other assorted things that I expect will be VERY helpful as we begin to tackle this whole homeschool adventure.

I'm amazed that we have only 2 days left in Canton. We said goodbye to some church friends at Venture Club tonight and I started to become teary, realizing that we will be gone for 6 months! I wonder what will change in the time that we are gone. I noticed when I got my hair cut that a cupcakery was coming in next to the salon - I'll have to check that out when I get back!

Preparations...

We are home for one week and are busy getting everything set up. Loading programs onto our new laptop, purchasing long underwear, figuring out what toys are going to make the cut... We haven't started packing yet, but we do have quite a collection of things that we don't want to forget!

Ken just left to go running, it's 13 degrees with a wind chill that sets us at -3 degrees. Saratov is at a toasty 30 degrees right now. Maybe we'll be moving to warmer weather!

This week should be a busy week. Keep your fingers crossed that we fit everything into our luggage!