Major Lifechange

We had gone all summer with no offers on our house. I had resolved that we weren't moving and was getting ready to start school in Memphis, buying school supplies and uniforms for both situations during the summer just in case. Thursday afternoon Aug 5th we get an offer! WHAT?!?
Friday August 6th my parents came up to take the kids back with them to have a few days of play time before school started since we really didn't think things would work out.
Saturday August 7th the kids get packed and head out with my parents not knowing if they would be coming back or staying in MS. I didn't really mention that possibility to them when they left because Conner is a bit sentimental and would have probably gotten upset. By that afternoon, we had a contract on our house!!!! We immediately go into "pack the essentials" mode. By Sunday afternoon we were on our way to Hattiesburg. The kids get to Hattiesburg on Monday afternoon and got up to go to school on Tuesday morning!!!!! By Saturday we put in an offer and signed a contract on a house in Petal, MS. A LOT changed in a few days!!! I never thought it would. Needless to say, that week was the MOST STRESSFUL of my whole life.
Grandma and Grandpa are gracious enough to let us bunk with them until we can close on our new home. 5+ weeks in someone elses home is quite a test for all involved. We are only 3 weeks into it, but I have to say it has gone extremely well!

Now back to starting school:

The kids were very excited! Poor Conner didn't know he was going to Kindergarten until practially the day before he started. He took it like a champ though. They are going to the school that Ben went to as a kid. Some of the same teachers are there as well as the headmaster. Very strange feeling for Ben and the teachers I am sure. Linlee and Conner looked so cute in their school uniforms.




So far everything is going great for them. They have both made friends quickly. Neither one got upset when se left that first day. I was very proud.

Siblings, Friends and Family

After this post I will finally be caught up with blogging. I have been 2 months behind for a while. So, this summer we have spent ALOT of time swimming next door. One morning I decided to take Madeline with us to the spray park. Sidney is not a big fan of actually getting in the spray water (she loves the pool though!). The older kids loved it!



We spent the days around the 4th with friends. We had a wonderful cookout with the Marlars. Avery and Leyton are getting so big! I just love their white blonde hair. Sidney loves playing with them.




A few days later we took our slip-n-slide over to the Fish house and let the kids, joined by the Sumner girls, have a blast getting wet.
Look at all those kids!!!

The Sumners will be adding a new member in just a few more weeks!!

This past Friday we took a trip down to Alabama to visit my parents for a few days before heading to Hattiesburg for some school meetings. We had fun swimming nearly all day Saturday, eating watermelon, playing in the jumping house with Ava and Maleigh and riding the 4 wheeler with Papa.


We then drove to Hattiesburg to visit Grandma and Grandpa. I helped take the kids bowling for the 1st time. They all loved it, but Linlee and Sidney got tired of it before the rest of us. Conner could have bowled all day. In fact, he scored second highest out of all of us with a 96. He really got into it.



We also went fishing a good bit.






Ben and I came back last night and left the kids to spend a few more days down there. I think getting out in the boat and slip-n-sliding down the hill are in the plans for the rest of the week. It is weekends/weeks like this that help reinforce our decision to move. If it is not in God's timing to happen this summer, maybe next summer we can get back home. We shall see.

Living in Quarantine

A few months ago we had a leak in our refrigerator that got under the floor. We thought we had it taken care of until we noticed that our wood floor started showing signs of water damage. Late June we decided to get it taken care of.

Because the whole dining room and den area is wood, it all had to be sanded and restained. We lived 10 days with the house in disarray. It was sooooo much fun having to crawl throuh zippered plastic each morning from our room, which by the way held 3 rooms worth of furniture.

It is finally done and looks great. We also had our backyard (which was basicallly a dirt farm) beautifully sodded.



I think this will really help in the sale of the house (hopefully).

Berteau Fashion Show

Poor Conner. He is always the odd man out in just about any group we get together with. So, what other choice does he have when it comes to his sisters playing dress up?? He tries to join in. I encourage him not to put on the fairy dresses so he pulls them off an invents his own character....Captain Underpants. It was hilarious, especially when the other 2 joined him. I don't think I will post those pics for privacy purposes, but I will keep them for future use.....:)

Conner's 5th birthday

I made the promise to Linlee that when she turned 5 that she didn't have to take naps anymore. Since then, Conner has been counting down the days until he could enjoy that same luxury. Needless to say, he has enjoyed the extra playtime.



I knew that this would likely be the last birthday party we would celebrate in Memphis so I decided to do it a little bigger than our normal at home thing. We booked a party at Incredible Pizza which the kids love.


I let Conner choose the guest list. He invited the Fish and Marlar crew as well as his friend Kate which is the usual guest list. This year he also wanted our neighbor girls as well as Kara, Declan and Will Skinner from is school class.


I think once we finally got to go play games, the kids (and parents) all had a blast.

WDP Spring Musical, Nana and Papa visit.

I got to go to Field Day at Conner's preschool this year. It was hot but we had lots of fun. Sidney joined us too. Conner waas so proud to have his little sister with him He would hold her hand in line and try to get her to participate. It was very sweet.




The musical was great as well. Conner really enjoys music and singing and it really showed. He was so cute.



Nana and Papa came up to visit shortly after school was out and we just had fun hanging out. We took a trip over to Mud Island. Why haven't we gone there before? It was sooo much fun and free!




The Fish family joined us. We had a picnic and then rode the trolley before heading home and crashing.



I treated Linlee and Nana to a pedicure while the others napped after we got home. That was fun too!!

Linlee's last days of Kindergarten

The last days of K were bittersweet. Kindergarten put on a production of "The Boy who Cried Wolf". Linlee had a speaking part as one of the villagers. She did great.


They have such a terrific class and group of kids. We loved it!



The last day of school was the bye-bye breakfast

followed by games







a movie and the farawell assembly. It was great to be able to participate. I was just fine until we were leaving. As I was walking down the hall it occurred to me that this would likely be the last time we were there and I just lost it. Parents and kids were just staring and wondering what in the world was wrong with me. I can't help it, I have always been sentimental and I love that school. I hate that we can't take it with us.