We have moved!

They say that moving house is one of the most stressful changes in life, and I must say I couldn't agree more! There's the having to pack up all our belongings in the middle of the night, since it was impossible to pack until the kids have gone to bed (and it's amazing how much stuff 4 little people can have). And having to face all the clutter and junk that we've put off clearing for years (of which there is ALOT). There's having to deal with cleaning the new place, and getting things ready over there, and sorting out all the reno issues. 

We've been living in our new home for two weeks, and we've barely unpacked since there's been so many other things to do. There's the reno rectifications, which I have to clean up after each visit by the workmen. There's the old place to pack and clean up, since we didn't manage to finish packing on moving day. My days are spent trying to get into the swing of things, cooking our meals, and just trying to keep the kids alive.

Being in a limbo aside, this whole move has been a time of us receiving so much grace and goodness. The actual move was really smooth, even though we more or less shifted 90% of our furniture over instead of buying everything new. We had a wonderful moving company who charged us really reasonable rates (I raved about them and shared their contact here). We had friends and churchmates helping to babysit and pack, as well as run various errands for us. One even helped us to clean our filthy fridge until it was spick and span (he even cleaned the top and scrubbed every single corner!), and that same friend came to help babysit the kids after the move, so that we could unpack. My parents were amazing and helped so much, so that we could pack as much as we could in the final stages just before the move.  The weather report for moving day looked gloomy, but the rains held until the last truck headed back to our old place to pick up the remaining items, so there were no delays.

Just like most folks, we faced some issues during our renovations, and there was a possibility that our kitchen faucet would not be installed when we moved in, since they had difficulty finding the correct fittings. But thankfully they managed to find the parts in time, and the faucet was up and running the day we moved in. We had friends who were praying hard for us, for the weather, and for things to be ready, and God really answers prayer.

We contacted our telco rather late about our change in address, so our internet connection was only up and running more than a week after we moved in. While it meant I couldn't do any blog-related work, I did enjoy the break. The kids had to go cold-turkey, but one good thing that has resulted from this is that they are now screen-free on weekdays (we used to let them watch stories or videos on Youtube when they drank their milk for tea or supper). 

Most of our homeschool materials are still lost within the mess of boxes, and we've yet to get back into a regular rhythm. But so far, going screen-free has meant I've had to work harder at engaging the kids, and it has resulted in us reading so many more books together. These days, we gather and read, and these times spent huddling over an open book have been wonderful. 

The kids have more or less adjusted pretty well to the move. We had expected the very sentimental Junior J to be rather affected by the move, but he's been really excited and happy in the new place, probably because he really needed room to breathe and be away from his brothers sometimes. Lil J intially kept asking to "go home", but we brought him back to our old home, and I think reality sunk in after he saw the bare rooms. He's now happily settled, with many things (like feeding the fish, and throwing his stuffed toys down the stairs) to keep him occupied. Small J adjusted really quickly, and has discovered all the places to get snacks in the kitchen (he is the foodie in our family).

I've been itching to write about so many things, but for now, it's time to focus more on unpacking and getting things into their right places. We didn't really have time to declutter throughly before moving, so right now I'm in a throw and giveaway mode. I guess moving was good, because it forced us to confront 10 years worth of built up clutter. I'll get down to writing more soon!

All in all, we're good. And God is good. And we give thanks.