Wecome to C'ville

Well, as of yesterday, we have officially spent our first week in "C'ville" (as the locals call it...which I guess includes us now!)

As opposed to our move to Front Royal, where we seemed to integrate with the community slowly and quietly, it feels like we have already jumped in with both feet to our activities and life in Charlottesville.

On Monday we had our first breakfast together in our new home, which turned out to be donuts and milk! It was a pretty big hit.

One of the first things we set up was the TV. We don't have "television" shows yet, but we can watch movies using our computer. The poor kids have been glued to the TV as the chaos of unpacking swirls around them.

On Wednesday we enrolled Mac in a little half-day Kindergarten at the baptist church a few blocks away. He was so cute on his "first day of school." It was "orange" day, so he got to wear one of his favorite super hero shirts, and he also insisted on wearing the bracelets that Calvin made him and his Iron Man watch. :)

Before I knew it, (and I am not really sure how this happened), I had Corrie signed up for two days a week at the same school. She loves it. No matter how many times I call it "pre-school," Corrie keeps thinking it is called "pretty school." So cute.

I can't be more encouraged or pleased with the godly teachers and wonderful environment that the kids are in at this school. I thought sending them to school in the mornings would negate homeschooling, but I am finding that having them away for a few hours of the day has actually helped to structure our home learning so much better than before.

I am enjoying having mornings to work with Corrie and about an hour in the afternoon with just Mac while the other two nap. Here was Mac eating a bagel after he got home one day after school. Pretty happy little guy!



Davey and I went to our first day of Community Bible Study together on Thursday, and he had the best time. It is pretty sweet having a special activity that just me and Davey do together.

We also happen to have the all-time best climbing tree I have ever seen right in our front yard! The kids have enjoyed playing outside here in the evenings. 

Corrie has decided that she needs to "stretch her legs" every day, so she has taken to "running around the block" (running in a circle in our front yard).

When I first saw the house, I thought the backyard would be a terrible place for the kids to play (all rocks and no grass), but it has actually also been fun for them. Another very pleasant surprise!

Mac has enjoyed discovering the different bugs that we have here. Much to my dismay, he is seems to be partial spiders right now (more on that at a different time), and he is loving the plethora of Daddy Long Legs in our backyard. 

He begged me to take a close-up picture of the Daddy Long Legs so we could see all of its eyes :)

While Mac was playing with his spider, Corrie came over and told me she had been shaving. I was shocked and worried. She is already trying to shave?! Then she put some pencil shavings on my leg. She was just shaving pencils. I guess she is still our little girl for a little longer at least!

Thursday morning was the first morning that I was able to get up in time to read my Bible a little bit before all of the kids were up. I sat down and accidentally dumped an entire steaming hot cup of coffee all over myself, the couch and my Bible. So much for that idea!

I thought it was a perfect opportunity to try out the clothesline I had discovered the day before. It turned out to be a little saggy. 

Thursday was also the day that our new washer/dryer set was scheduled to be delivered. Since we had to purchase our own set for this house, I had not been able to do laundry for several days. The mountain of soiled linens and clothes was huge by the time Thursday rolled around. I was really relieved when they were delivered on time and Ellis set them up for me!

Have you seen how they make washers/dryers these days? I feel like I need another degree to figure out how operate them, but I am so, so, so grateful. The kids are amazed by the clothes being washed and dried...so funny!

Yesterday morning we took a walk to our neighborhood park. I can't even tell you how beautiful it is.

I have been blown away by how great this town is, how well-suited our house seems to be for us, how much God seems to be providing for us at every turn, and how just plain happy everyone seems here. 

I even found out a little while ago that Charlottesville was just voted the happiest city in America. (http://www.dailyprogress.com/news/joy-town-u-s-a-charlottesville-named-america-s-happiest/article_394b5170-127b-11e4-94db-0017a43b2370.html)

Seriously, it is really, really different than what we are used to. I have felt pretty overwhelmed at times by all of the sudden changes. 

Poor Ellis. Last night we rented a movie and sat down on the couch together after the kids were in bed. He tried his best to understand why I would be crying and overwhelmed while also telling him how wonderful everything here was at the same time. I was so grateful for his insight and prayers for me.

We were also pleasantly surprised by the movie God had unexpectedly provided for us (Mom's Night Out). It got terrible reviews with the mainstream media, but we loved it. It could have been the state of moving delirium we are in, but we laughed and cried and everything in between. It was pretty awesome.

And then this morning we went to church at the same place that we attended when we interviewed here back in May. I cannot even tell you how extremely good it was. 

I found myself looking around and pondering how very different it was from our church back in Front Royal...almost polar opposites in many ways. The culture in Charlottesville is so different than the culture in Front Royal, but somehow it still felt like home to me. Another pleasant surprise!

We all dressed up a little more than usual today, and I thought the kids looked pretty cute on the way home from church. 

Davey probably fit in the best with Charlottesville's stylish culture with his cool hair-do this morning. It looked like we had styled it with hair gel, but it was actually ranch dressing that he had rubbed in his hair right before we left. I dunked his head under the sink as we were walking out the door, and his hair looked like this for the rest of the day.

(This was the best picture I could get. Poor tired little guy).

Earlier today a lady from Ellis' new office came by and surprised us with a meal for dinner tonight. She was so kind, and it was easy to see that she really loves the Lord. We all felt at home with her immediately, and it seemed like we had known her for a long time and not just a few minutes!

And that sort of thing has just been happening over and over again this past week. 

We ended our evening by visiting the neighborhood park again. There was a community potluck earlier, and we got to meet a few people who were still hanging around. Mac found a caterpillar, which was the highlight of his and Corrie's day. 

Here is Mac holding up the caterpillar in front of our house on the way back home.

And that pretty much sums up our first week in Charlottesville!