I'm back!!!

It has been a long time since I have last blogged and I have missed it. I have thought about blogging often, but something (myself) has always gotten in the way. I made many excuses. I'll blog after the house is unpacked and set up, after the kids are settled into their new routines, after Lord Humbles wrist is healed, etc. But these were just excuses. The real reason that I had stopped blogging was shame.
Yup! Shame!
You see, we had owned our own business in FL. We knew things weren't going well, but with a healthy dose of denial and stubbornness you fight like crazy to save it instead of moving on. Eventually, we had to move on. Tom took a sales job and was traveling a lot. We were planning on moving closer to his job and the gym, but his boss kept making comments about having too many sales people in the district.
Not wanting to be forced to move or being relocated to someplace that we didn't want to be, we got very proactive and found out that the company was hiring around the Seattle area. So, we moved. A month later, they laid Tom off and he didn't find a job until the start of the new year.
It was extremely stressful.
At first, you think that it is nothing. So what if I can't buy curtains for the room. I can wait. But then, you realize you can't buy Christmas gifts for the kids, or food, or pay rent, or any other bills. And your world starts to slowly cave in. There were many days that I felt like I was drowning like my head was barely staying above the water. We had to swallow our pride and start calling friends and family to just make rent. We had to get public assistance. It has been very humbling life experience. So, I hid. Instead of blogging and reaching out to my online friends for moral support, I hid and wallowed in my shame.
I am tired of wallowing. I am ready to play a different game. So, today I am taking the first step and starting to blog again!

What else could happen?

Have you ever asked yourself "What else could go wrong"?

Well, this is what happens while you are packing up to move across the country....



That's right, Lord Humble broke the growth plate in his wrist while practicing on the pommel horse.
For more Phun Fotos, head over to Candid Carries.

Taking Over

There is an absolute craziness that has taken over the madhouse. One could argue that a house with 5 kids is always crazy, but we have went and added even more.
YUP, Girly Wirly starting kindergarten, homeschooling Lord Humble(9/10th grade) and Red (7/8th grade), fundraising for our upcoming gymnastics season, Little Bit trying to crawl, and Mini Man longing to be in school with everyone else, just wasn't enough. So,we decided to move across the country to the Seattle area and gave ourselves just a few months to make it happen.
I am looking forward to the seasons, and trees--BIG trees (not palm trees). And the thought of being hurricane free just makes us all do the happy dance. No more boarding up and evacuating. Woo Hoo!!!!
But in all of the excitement, there is also some sadness. We are leaving our friends some of whom I consider family. We have shared so much; births, weddings, illness, gymnastics practice.
It would be easy to get lost in the sadness. BUT, the movers will be here in 14 days. So back to the craziness I go!!