Moving on.

I really do try to be pretty optimistic for the most part. But there are certain things in life that just, by nature, bring out my inner pessimist. Like taking my car in to the shop to see what that pesky "check engine" light is all about. Or, the most prominent example as of late, putting our house on the market. My last house took eighteen months on the market to sell. I was never so glad to be done with something.

So when we put our house on the market last month I went into it with a not-faint-enough memory of last time and a little bit of dread just washed over me. We had about ten showings in the first 2 weeks but no offers. The most common negative feedback was in reference to the small (almost nonexistent) yard- which is totally understandable to us because that is exactly the reason we want to move.

But then during the first week of May we had an impromptu showing to a couple from California who had traveled in-state to look at several properties. They came back to look again the next day. And by that night we had an offer, a counter-offer and an acceptance. The inspection is all done and we're moving!

So while we did spend a few hours this weekend doing some of this-




-it seemed that we spent far too much time doing this.


{I asked him to lay across the boxes and look exhausted. I don't think he really had to do much acting. Whew}

We're going to be renting a cute house not too far away while we spend some time looking for a little piece of land to call our own. The thought of having to move twice is a little overwhelming, but I think in the long run it will be well worth it.

I feel like poor Henry has been a big neglected since we accepted the offer on our house. He does like to help (?) me pack, but I know he is so bored some days. We do try to take breaks now and then in order to stave off the insanity.






{He is SO proud that he can pedal by himself}

While I honestly love being around this little creation of ours the vast majority of the time-






{he caught his first ever fish at Gaga and Pappy's pond!}

-he has really been testing, testing, testing lately. Whining mixed with pushing boundaries mixed with a big dose of stubborn. And a lot of time outs. Have mercy.





Luckily he is cute and his good far outweighs his current toddler disposition. So we will persevere. And we will pack, box after box, to get ready to start this next chapter! We'll check in soon!

Strange British Holidays.

Well, it's not actually a holiday, but if you ask Mr. Zuill it should be. Mule Day. He seriously starts a countdown around mid-March every year. And we have a group of mule-loving friends who love any reason to get together (and roast a pig).

(how do you like that crazy orange shirt? It was the most obnoxious one I could find! ha!)

I ran the Mule Kick 5K again this year- this time with my sister-in-law, Robyn. She set a goal for herself to run a 5k this year, trained really hard, and she did amazing! I beat my time from the first year I ran. I give at least some of the credit to my super fast looking socks!

A big deal around our house right now is the fact that Henry will be starting school in a few weeks! After having friends who have had such good things to say, we decided to enroll Henry in a local Montessori school. Will and I visited the school and loved it. The teaching methods are so refreshing! A couple of days later I took Henry in to visit the school. He dove right in to several of the little activity stations (after he helped himself to a snack at the snack station). Everything was new and challenging. And he did the thing that makes mothers gasp a little bit. He looked at me and said "You go away now, Mommy.". Sniff.



I found several great Montessori apps for the iPad and he was smitten. Of course "YaYa" wasn't far from his side.



The other excitement in our house right now has something to do with this.



My Brit is getting himself a sweet new ride! And I think that after years of driving a Purple PT Cruiser he has every right to be excited! Henry and I are excited too (see above photo). I'm hoping that even though my car and the garage door have been way to likely to collide over the last two months, I'll sweet talk him into letting me drive. {Are you reading this honey?}

The long awaited warm weather has allured us outside as often as we can get there. This year Henry is big enough to really play with the neighborhood kids and he would stay out there all the live long day. Also, anything involving water makes for one happy little ginger.




I don't think there's a kid on earth who doesn't love a good spray with the garden hose. It's a good day when you have to get stripped down to your undies before you can go it.




You may remember when last year I told Henry to "take a drink" while playing with the water hose? Well, he fell for it again this year. (For the record he loved it!)





We've really been making an effort lately to let Henry do more things for himself. He surprises us more often than not. Although the results are sometimes a little inconsistent.




The last couple of weeks have brought wonderfully refreshing days. It has brought us summertime knees and a little bit of naughtiness. It has also brought the potential for big change. Whoa!




Thanks for catching up with us! I'm going to sign out with this sweet image of my favorite boy.