Keeping Up With the Klauses

Oh my G-O-S-H, you guys. When we were talking with our landlords about renting this house, they told us how Christmas is a big deal here, and that everyone on our pipe stem goes all out with the lights and decorations. They were not kidding, and it makes me SO happy. The pictures I'll be posting do NOT do it any sort of justice, so you'll have to take my word for it when I say it is fabulous!

I don't have any pictures of our outside decorating job in New Jersey. That's probably because it was only two strands of fifty lights that went around the pillars outside our front door. It was kind of sad, but there really wasn't more we could do when living in a townhouse.

This year though, this year things were drastically different. The Wednesday before Thanksgiving we went out shopping for lights and decorations and all sorts of things. The Friday after Thanksgiving and the Saturday after Thanksgiving we were all out there putting up our tons and tons and tons of decorations.

 Friday

Saturday

There are 7 houses on our pipe stem (8 if you count the one on the corner that faces the main street), and by the end of Saturday, 6 of us were lit up like...like...something that lights up really brightly. It was so much fun setting it all up. The guys (and some gals) putting up lights, the kids running around the street "helping." Halfway through Saturday we had this conversation:

Josh: This is great! It's like a two day long block party!
Me: No wonder I'm so exhausted.

Josh: Yeah. We've been partying it up for two days.

And we had been. But it was totally worth it because our house, and the street at large, looks amazing! (One of our neighbors even rigged some of his lights to move in time with some music that he has constantly playing - awww yisss!)

I'm telling you again, it really does look better in person.  Here are some shots of the whole street. I tried getting fancy with the panoramic feature, but it still falls short of seeing the whole thing in its glory.

Here are the numbers, since Josh took the time to figure them out. We have 2,466 lights up on and around our house. That is about 754 feet of light strands. And we aren't entirely sure we're completely finished. I did order some Snoopy lawn ornaments that we're waiting on for this year, that'll come in the next day or two. Apparently the thing to do is hit the after Christmas sales to stock up for next year.

Like I said, totally crazy (#embracingthecrazy) but totally amazing!

The First Week

Everything started this week: school for the boys, soccer for the boys, Bible study for me. It was great getting back into the swing of things, and I'm thinking it's going to be a really good year. I've managed to keep myself busy every morning so far, so I it hasn't completely sunk in that I'm home alone all day every day now.

So, Tuesday was the first day of school. Zeke is in 4th grade this year, Deacon is in 3rd, and Finn started KINDERGARTEN!?!

They do full day kindergarten here, so it was a bit of an adjustment for Finn. As soon as we got home from school he just lost it. He snapped at Zeke then put himself in his room. I went to check on him after he'd been up there for a few minutes and said, "Monkey, you okay?" To which he replied in the deepest, flattest voice he can do, "No. And I'll never be okay ever again." OH! This child. I had to leave so I didn't laugh in his face. Eventually he was okay, and came back down in a better mood about 45 minutes later. The subsequent days have gone better.

Tuesday was also Zeke's first day of soccer. He has a really great coach and it seems like a good group of kids. He had a blast running around and learning some new things. At one point he ran over to get a drink and said, "Soccer is SO much fun! And so is school!" And then he ran away. A dad sitting next me said, "Wow. How did you get him to like school so much?" I informed him that we're a bunch of nerds and books and math and learning are some of our favorite things. He said he was going to start sending his boys over to my house in hopes we'll rub off on them. Ha!

Wednesday Finn and Deacon have soccer. Poor Finn. Apparently someone decided the 5 year olds should have practice from 5:15-6:15 (dinnertime), games usually at noon or one (lunch/nap time), and have practice on a field that has ZERO shade. It's still hot and humid most days here, so 3 minutes into Finn's practice he was dripping sweat and ready to go home. Hopefully it'll start cooling off soon. Or rain every Wednesday from now through November 14th. (Did I say that out loud? Oops.)

After Finn's practice is Deacon's practice (at a different location). Deacon's age group had the most kids (30 something) and the least coaches (1) sign up, so their games will be a little different. I'm not sure how it'll work out, but the coach, I was told, used to coach at either the collegiate or semi-professional level, so I have faith he knows what he's doing. He does have some parent volunteers, so hopefully it'll be a fun season and Deacon won't get lost in the crowd.

Then, yesterday, PWOC started. I met some ladies, had some good food, and signed up to take a study on the books of Joshua and Judges. I'm super pumped as I love the Old Testament and history and what's it. 

Saturdays are soccer game days. I think of the 8 or 9 Saturdays they play, ONE of those weeks is a week where there aren't any time conflicts. I think there's also one Saturday where all 3 play at the same time in different locations. Yee-haw! This is going to be fun!

And that, as they say, is that. A good first week getting started and getting things underway. Zeke came out of school yesterday, gave me a hug and said, "I think this is going to be a very good school year." I think so too, and I'm looking forward to it all.

Walterland: Virginia, is Open For Business!

Hey all! What a summer we have been having over here. Obviously the biggest thing that happened (besides my sister, Katherine, giving birth to the most beautiful baby girl ever!) is that we moved from New Jersey to Virginia. We got down here on August 1st, and after receiving our stuff the 4th, we are FINALLY unpacked and settled. Sure, there are few things left to hang on the walls here and there, but I decided enough was enough, and it's enough to get me back here to show off some pics of our new place, and maybe even entice a few of you to come visit? Anyhoo, on to the tour!

The front of the house:

Nice, right?

Here's our crazy front door:

It's just one big knob. What?

As you step through the front door you will find a tiny bathroom on your left (Josh loves it because he says it makes him feel like a giant) and a closet on your right (they're swapped in the pic because I took it from the other side so you could see the doors):

From this entryway you come to the rest of the house. Let's go upstairs first since it's really just bedrooms and closets.

So, you go up the stairs and then there's the boys' bathroom (no pic - it's a bathroom), Deacon's room:

Finn's room:

Zeke's room:

then our room:

Our room has a pretty sweet bathroom, with a rain shower (that's the shower head coming out of the ceiling):

Josh LOVES the rain shower because it allows his 6'4 body to stand up straight in the shower instead of having to bend at awkward angles to get all the shampoo off his head and what's it. 

There's also two linen closets on this floor.  Now let's head back down to the main floor.

As you come in the house and turn left, you enter our dining room. 

It's sort of plain at the moment, but soon the walls will be covered with the boys' artwork and that'll be fabulous.  From the dining room you enter the tiny kitchen.

I seriously feel like I'm back in Germany some days. Christine proposed the idea that most families living in these houses are dual income families and so no one really cooks, which means the kitchens aren't that important to them. I think she's on to something. It does have a nice pantry though:

Next to the kitchen is some space where we stuck the breakfast table and Tony Stark.

And seriously you guys, Tony couldn't be happier there. He's been basking and doing yoga poses all over the place.

Next to the Tiny Terror of the Terrarium (my nickname for the turtle sometimes) is our living room.

The living room has two doors that lead out onto our tri-level deck:

which leads to our backyard (view from the doors):

Back between the kitchen and the dining room is the door to the garage (no pics because it's a garage). From the garage is a door also leading to the deck, but more specifically, to the grilling deck. This deck has a thing to hook up the grill to the natural gas in the house, so you never have to buy propane tanks. How cool is that?!

Back inside. Next to our living room, or if you made a right instead of a left upon entering the house, is our library:

AhhhAAAhhhAHHH!

This is also the home of Josh's legos (which are still being unpacked):

Now, back to the kitchen. Across from the garage door is the basement door, and the basement looks like this:

Needless to say, this is where the boys spend almost all of their time. There's also a bathroom down here, and the laundry/storage room. The basement also has double doors that lead out into the yard.

And that, as they say, is that.  Anyone up for a road trip now?