Forming a routine

Day 4:
With the end of the weekend comes the day of getting up and everyone getting ready for work/school. For us it represents the first early morning wake up alarm. It's probably not much unlike anyone else's Monday mornings. The diesel truck in the next space fires up at 6:15, the dogs stir and bark and there you have it.. . the start of a typical day. At least what appears to be a typical day for the Thompson's over the next 27.

In all the craziness of mornings in the RV it wasn't that bad. I mean yes, we take turns brushing our teeth while standing in the bathroom, bedroom and kitchen all at the same time. And yes, the girls get dressed in the their bed behind the curtain and who doesn't get right out of bed to walk across the gravel to take the first pee of the morning. (We have a shower and toilet in our home but it has turned less into bathroom and more into closet -<< insert picture here>>).

Once we all pulled away from the ranch it was Monday as usual. I dropped the kids off at school and heard each one of them tell the teachers at the car line that they are now living in an RV. .. I'm so proud!

Monday night was rather uneventful, some playing on the playground, eating Subway for the 2nd time in 4 days and then an early night to bed for the kids. Would have been an early night for me too but much like the rest of North Texas... I've got Ranger Fever!!! 1 more win!

Day 5:
Tues morning much of same. Same diesel alarm, same business inside, same morning walk across the gravel. The big difference on Tues is that we had very little time in the RV. That's because we spent most of the night with a great group of folks at Mansfield's Big League Dreams. It's now about 10:00 and everyone is asleep and I'm headed there soon.

We'll try to make tomorrow more interesting. Although did meet our Aussie neighbor today and another maintenance man. The maintenance guy actually stopped by to introduce himself, and pretty much told us that owner of the ranch had told him to keep an eye on us. I'm not sure rather to be honored or embarrassed. . . until tomorrow - nitey.

Just like every Sunday. . .

Day 3:

For the first time that I can remember I missed setting up the church this morning. (And it was glorious!) I wish I had a good excuse. Like the thunder and lightning knocked the power out, or I was too sore from all the heavy lifting from the move. But the truth of the matter is, I slept right through my alarm. That has to speak of the comfyness of our 25 footer right? As a matter of fact when I finally was rudely awaken at 7:30 by texts from the actual guys that were setting up the church I was the first one up. The kids all tucked away in their "room" above the cab of the truck were still sleeping. Desi hadn't noticed the sun coming up and Lela was too cozy burrowed in the blankets of our bed. For the record, for the last 3 years the dogs have been sleeping in the closet of our bedroom through the night. I'm pretty sure they are enjoying the confines of the rolling home and the fact that allows them back on the bed pretty well.

Sunday provided a good way test our morning routine out. We need to be at church by 8:40 so by the time we all got moving at 8:00 we had a little time to find which cubby everyone's clothes are in, get some breakfast (although Adam and I both decided we'd eat our breakfast at church - Thanks Rush Creek - ML for donut deliciousness!). After a great day of worshipping we stopped in on a couple of potential houses (this time not of the rolling variety) and then home to the ranch.

It was really just like any other Sunday afternoon. The kids rested, Brandi napped and I intently watched Arian Foster rack up the fantasy football points for my teams!! After being inside for an hour or two we saw some kids at the playground so I forced our munchkins outside to make friends. Turned out the three of them running towards the tiny little wooden play structure scared the other kids away so they were left to make monkey's of themselves alone. Brandi and I also decided to enjoy the weather and sit under the canopy by the pool and go through our RV Park survival kit from Lanae. (side note: This is where we WILL be playing cornhole in the near future when I get my boards down there). (side note to the side note: blogger flagged "cornhole" in the spellchecker. . . won't they feel stupid when it's an olympic sport!)

There is just something about a pool on a nice day that is like a magnet for the kids. Not to mention that it is mid Oct, but it never fails - what starts at touching the water, turns into full on swimming in their clothes. I'm sure the people that saw our kids had some great thoughts about our parenting skill but my line of thought was . . . . when in Rome. . . (this does bring up an interesting debate to be addressed later - is there a difference between trailer park and RV park?)

A short run from the pool to the bath house allowed the kids to get nice and warm (all without using our precious hot water from our tank) and clean!

Yesterday was also the first day that we were out and about and met some of our neighbors. There are the prankster pipeline guys that live in front of us. Who are in town from either 2 months to 2 years and it could change at any time. There is Nick next to us who is a diesel mechanic living in Gma's RV (and although it is probably from the early 80's makes us jealous at the size of it) and also the little girl that lives by the dumpster. No kidding that's how she introduced herself. "We live down there by the dumpster". . . can't make it up. . . only at the ranch.

We enjoyed pizza dinner at the Skinner's then back in time to threaten the kids with spankings (too much of Tina's sweet sweet tea!) and watch the Ranger's win before another restful night.

Day Two

We managed to stay busy most of day two. We had two morning soccer games, grocery run, dinner plans, and a Ranger watch at the Hall's. Things were looking on the up and up...we got all the kiddos tucked in bed and JD and I shortly followed. However, once all snuggled in the unthinkable happened. You guessed it, a good ole thunderstorm. I like rain and all, and know we need the rain, but truly was not a happy camper (pardon the pun) when giant rain drops hit the metal roof of our RV. The storm would appear to have had passed only to hear the patter of more raindrops throughout the night. Not the most restful. Oh did I mention that any slight wind and we feel like we are on a boat ride gone wrong. Stay tuned....

So We've Moved. . . . (Again)

So the Thompson's are on the move again. Only this time, things will probably get a lot more interesting. So let's start the play by play as we count down the days in the RV. Yep, that's right RV as in Recreational Vehicle!! Or in our case as in. . . HOME!



What started with a contract on our house back on Sept 29th has already been a little chaotic, and is only the start of the adventure. The new buyers wanted in the house ASAP which meant we had little time to prepare, much less find a new house to go to. Home inspection was Oct 7 and it wasn't until the the 17th that we found out everything was good to go. Oh, did I mention the closing date was scheduled for Oct 21!!


So where does a family of 5 and two dogs go for a short term (oh boy do we pray it's short term)rental? Well, you start by looking at rental properties. When you get denied by them you move on to cabin rentals, when the dogs can't join you there you go to plan B or maybe Q. That's the local 1-800-RV4RENT location. So we secured our reservation and a spot at the Texan RV Ranch in Mansfield.


With that all settled the next hurdle is the actual move out. What we thought was great forethought, naturally turns out crazy busy and after two flat bed trailer loads, two small trailer loads, about 8 guys, two 10x15 storage units and 1/3 of a garage (Thanks Crawford's!) we were out of our house and prepped for the move into our rolling casa.


Of course it couldn't be that simple. Tuesday Brandi was at the Dr. with what appears to be ulcer like symptoms. . . just think how bad it would be if she had some stress in her life! Obviously super mom was overcoming that too well and therefore came down with strep throat on Thursday morning.


But we survived all that even without as much direction from the Boss as we would have liked, we closed on time on Fri. Thanks to a last minute visit by Lanae even Brandi's treasured red chandelier is safe and sound (probably still in the back of Lanae's car) and we were out. No longer residents of the Lowe's Farm community but ready for our next space. . .Wherever Gods wants us!


With all that said, follow us along over the next 30 days as live out our very busy lives here at the Texan RV Ranch! We'll try to keep this up with day by day details of all of our adventures.


Day 1:

We check in at the front desk while our RV and all it's stickered up glory sits in the parking lot. Mary at the front desk realizes right away that we are not the "normal" RVers as she tries to field all of our questions. Before long, Micheal, the maintenance guy is there to escort us to our site. (I have since learned by watching others check in that what we thought was sort of the norm of someone helping you to your site is not so normal) Not only did Michael escort us he also attempted to get us all hooked up with the luxuries of the RV park. . . things like connection to the sewage line, the city water and electricity. I say attempted because none of these connection went as planned. First he looks at our power cord and tells us he can't connect it. The pegs are all bent up and corroded.


While we wait on what to do about the electricity he moves on to the water supply. After we locate the hose (only took me about two trips around all the cubbies on the exterior of what we will be calling from here on home), he connects it and a nice steady drip runs down the home. And based on the rust stains it's not the first time this leak has happened. So new hose is also in our near future. Finally, after a quick visit to the general store on site we had the right adaptor for our sewer line and we were in business!!


Last thing to do is go get the kids and bring them home! Needless to say they are jazzed about their new residence (follow along and we'll see how long that lasts). But the excitement declined some when Brandi and I went to bed at 8:45. It'd had been a long a couple days!

Check back for day two and on as we count them down. (Also hope to update this with some photos. . . as soon as we find the cord!)

In my mind I'm going to Carolina

WOW. . two posts in a week!! I know you all have been on pins and needles waiting to hear how the story ends. (Although even at this point the story is a long way from ending)



Previously on What 'n the sam hill?. . I could recap it or you could just read it again you lazy people!! Anyway, on to Sunday.



As I trekked across the southeastern United States, The Wife, The Honey and The Princess were scrambling around trying to get the house ready to bring home The Boy. That scrambling included a trip to the store to pick up some goodies. Each of the girls picked out something special for their new little brother. It also meant turning the game room into a bedroom. . The first bedroom The Boy will ever have!! All this was done in anticipation of a glorious return on Monday night or Tues morning. or as it turned out whenever the state of South Carolina and North Carolina could agree that we would make suitable parents for The Boy.



Monday

While I was sitting through my 3rd welcome to the company orientation in 4 years, The Wife, her brother and the girls were headed to Jacksonville NC. As far as I know Monday went as well as possible for the family in NC. Everything got signed over, The Wife took custody and they all checked into the hotel till they were given the ok to head home to Greenville.



Tuesday

In Texas I was sitting in my first customer meetings as a recent rehire, while in NC The Wife continued to wait around. They made a trip to the beach and got some pictures (insert pictures here). By the afternoon it was clear that another night in NC was evident which meant at least another 3 trips to the McDonalds across the street from the hotel!



Wednesday

More waiting and visiting McDonalds

Thursday

The fam finally started moving across the state of NC when they got the call that The Boy needed to see a Dr. before he could be taken home. Unfortunately no urgent care centers had necessary shots and no regular pediatricians would see them for just one visit. After a long day of phone calls and visits to no less than 3 Dr. office's they found themselves camped out in Gastonia waiting anxiously for the anticipated call that they could finally cross the border. . . the border that sits a mere 9 miles from the hotel!!

Friday

Friday started with The Wife on the phone with the attorney's office pleading for them to get home. Turns our a little pleading can go a long way. . .The got the call around 12:00 that they were relieved of any restrictions keeping them in NC and they were all set to head home to Greenville!

** NOTE ** I finally post this about 3 weeks later
Most recent update is that things are going really well. The fam (minus me) had two weeks in SC and by now everyone has been relocated to Texas. We are all camped out in a 700 sq. foot apartment but doing just fine. We just signed a contract on a house and will be in it by mid April! Everyone is so excited to get settled!!

How fast thing change

For all those following at home here's the end of the Disney recap. . . We spent 13 hours at Magic Kingdom on Sunday. Had a great time with great weather, the girls rode all the rides available to them - Ella absolutely loved Space Mountain!! - that's my girl!! The evening ended with us waiting in line to see Mickey and Minnie. Alle started to run out of steam and by the time it was our turn. She was passed out in my arms! The girls will have great memories and Alle will always remember that she missed out on seeing Mickey and Minnie . ..but they saw her!!



(eventually I will insert some of the Disney pics here but they are not on this computer so you'll have to wait - however I must warn it actually may or may not happen; you've been warned



*********************************************************************

The Move or The Addition



So I mentioned in a previous post that we have decided that our family was moving back to TX. We have been really excited ever since we broke the news in late Jan. We are looking forward to getting back to new jobs (which technically are also old jobs - for both of us), we re looking forward to getting back to great friends and a great Church. . . and for those of you suffering through the cold and snow - which includes those of you in South Carolina, we are looking forward to getting back to the weather of North Texas!!



With that said, as if relocating (again) and organizing the logistics of me living away from my family for 3 weeks, while our house continues to be for sale and The Wife continues to finish up her last couple weeks of school is not enough we found out Fri (Feb 20) that the we were going to have a new addition to our family. Now before you get all happy and excited for what The Wife is going to go through over the next 7 months or so you should know that this type of addition is one that we found out about on Fri and completed on Monday (sort of).



I have told this story so many times that I wish that I actually had spent the time to write it out and just pass it around. But every time I do tell I get more and more excited and I see God's handiwork all over it. So here goes:



In late Sept after meeting with a co-worker (now former co-worker) and his wife who also happened to attend church with us, who also happen to be the proud parents of Lizzy - their little adopted baby girl we felt lead to seek out an adoption attorney. Our reasons were simple - we have a great family (both immediate and extended) we have a whole lot of love to give out and we have a true desire to represent the example that God laid out in the bible in the form of adoption. We had very open requirements, any boy or girl (preferred a boy but were open to anything) between the ages of 2 and 5 - it would be an added bonus if he had already mastered mid range jump shots and the half cross-over. We were told at the time by our attorney that he may only come across a couple kids a year that met that type of requirement - so we said it would be ok if he could only shoot left handed lay-ups. . .we'd work on the rest. We also said that that age is the niche that we want to fill and we would be patient as we went on with our lives.



Shortly after retaining our attorney we started on the homestudy path. We got great recommendations from our friends, we filled out all the paperwork then. . . . well then we got a job offer from TX. Over the next two months we were so focused on how we would get our family to Texas and then how everything would work out that we had nearly forgotten about adoption plans. Then The Wife and I flew to Texas for a weekend to do some house hunting. After visiting with our good friends we found 1 of them to be pregnant and another that hasn't ruled it out. After some time and prayer we had decided that once we got to Texas we would expand our age requirement and open it up to younger children. Then Friday happened. . .



Actually Thursday night happened first (funny how that always happens!), before we went to bed The Wife and I came to the conclusion that because a house that we were really interested in was about to go up for auction we were prepared to through out a low ball offer on it in the chance to pick it up on the cheap. So Fri morning The Wife calls the realtor to set up a deal. Unfortunately, she got the voicemail . . . or maybe fortunately. About three hours later we got a call from the attorney's office informing us of a little boy (jump shot undetermined) in NC that needed a home and if we were interested. It didn't take us long to determine that we were interested but were they interested in us knowing of our looming departure from SC. After a few checks we found out that we were in fact candidates and due to our little ones and Desi maybe even frontrunners!



My last day at work turned into complete chaos as we tried to set up an in home visit with a homestudy investigator, finish up paperwork stuff and all in all prepare for being a father (potentially at that point). The investigator came and left by 9:20 and made arrangements for his return at 9:00 Saturday morning to finish up the obligatory two in home visits - even if Saturday morning consisted of only one question and tour of the house. By 10:30 we were heading out of the house due to a showing of the house (which by the way is primed for someone to make an offer - talking to you Schaberg!) At 11:00 while in the McDonald's parking lot we took a phone call from the NC agency representing The Boy. By 12:30 we were back home waiting on a phone call from the birth mother to introduce ourselves. That awkward conversation lasted about 20 minutes and then shortly after we found out she had decided that we were the ones that she wanted to raise her little boy! The feelings that we felt while talking to her were everything you can imagine.



The news of the choice meant a quick trip downtown to sign some paperwork and then a 6 hour drive to the North Carolina Atlantic coast. This may be a good time to mention that on Monday I am still expected to be at work in Texas. The van was packed, Desi was ready and The Wife and I were prepared for 3 weeks of being separated by 900 miles. The original plan was for me to leave Saturday and take two days to comfortably get into DFW area my late afternoon. Instead we will be driving 400 miles the other direction to meet our new little boy for the first time.



We arrived in town in time to swing by and pick up some gifts - including a Desi look-a-like with a promise that the real thing will lick him more! We had a great visit and the interaction between both me and The Boy and The Wife and The Boy went very good. I have never been prouder of The Wife as I was on Saturday night as she connected with her new little boy. The end of the meeting brought another round of washing machine emotions. It also brought another 5 hours in the car!! The drive went pretty fast as we talked adoption details, move details, family details and most importantly how much I love The Wife - at least I am pretty sure I brought that up a couple of times!



We finally pulled into the drive around 2:00 am Sunday morning - just in time for me to wrap up a couple last minute things on the computer (of course the work that I did went for naught when I forgot to bring my external hard drive with me!). I was comfy in bed by 2:30 and not really looking forward to the 7:30 wake up call that was about to lead to another 16 hours in the car.



** This is getting long and I am getting tired - Check back in a couple days for the amazing details of the drive (not really) but at least the rest of the story of the Wife and her adventures in North Carolina **

Disney Trip day 2
So you may be asking why in the world would it take 20 days to come up with enough information to make finally make another post. Well the answer is that we at the Thompson house have been a little preoccupied. Since returning from Disney we have started a new journey that will end in Mansfield TX. . . again! It didn't take a trip to Disney to convince us that we needed to get back to a place that meant so much to us but that did give us a chance to break it to the folks. More to come on move details. But first things first let's wrap up this trip recap. Fri Jan 16 After arriving at Mom's place around midnight the girls were wired and so excited. It was nearly 1:30 before they were all tucked into their makeshift bedroom at grammy's FL house. We finally shut the lights off and pulled the closet door closed to get some rest. The funny thing (or not really funny) about our little lovelies is that no matter what time they go to sleep they are up and at'm by 7:00. Fortunately when visiting anywhere that Gma and Gpa are they have a breakfast buddy in my 87 year old Grandpa! We spent most of the day Fri just hanging out around Mom's, taking golf cart rides, showing Grammy and Gma and Gpa how The Princess can ride her big girl bike. A trip to Downtown Disney was planned for Fri night. It turned out to be a great night. The temperatures warmed up, everyone was feeling good (foreshadowing), and Mom bought dinner!!


Downtown Disney proved to be a great taste of what was to come on Sunday. Everyone had a great time, and we had a great time hanging out with Grammy, Gma and Gpa.

Sat Jan 17
Saturday started off much like Fri morning, with the girls getting up and eating donuts with Gpa. Today was all set to meet up with UR and AE for some hang out and lunch. Turned out that UR and I headed to Dicks to check out the latest golf gear that I will never buy and the girls went to the flea market. Well, part of the girls. A very strange thing happened Saturday morning. The Princess woke up begging to gargle salt water to help her sore throat. NEVER A GOOD START!! We dismissed it as a consequence of the cold weather and late nights and decided she would stay home with Gma and Gpa. The Honey, didn't really like the idea of going to the flea market so she too decided to stay home. Normally Gma (84) and Gpa (87) wouldn't be expected to keep up with the lovelies, but this was not normal, The Princess never left the recliner while the Honey entertained herself with Grammy's new found stash of doll babies.

After everyone met back up at Mom's for lunch we determined that if there was any chance in a successful day of Disney World in about 18 hours The Princess needed to get some medical attention. So it was off to urgent care!! $120, a strong dose of Motrin and prescription for antibiotics later and we had a whole new little girl. By 8:00 pm we were in bed dreaming of Disney fairytales.. . .

***** To be continued *****