All Quiet on the Home Front

So, I've been a little quiet blog-wise these past few weeks since we've been relatively busy moving in and getting adjusted to our new home. We moved into our new house a few days before all of our stuff starting arriving, and had fun visualizing where all of our stuff would go.

The kids headed to school after a long weekend and chaos descended when our stuff arrived in 2 shipments - HHE from Chennai and our stuff from storage that we haven't seen since New Jersey. Our HHE arrived first, and the packers in Chennai were amazing. Everything arrived in one piece, and was expertly packed. I can't quite say the same thing about the US movers...our stuff from storage came in mostly intact, but we did have some scratches and dents. I guess there's something to be said about having 10 guys packing your house instead of 4!


Before...

living and dining room

kids room

and after....

HHE

furniture and boxes from storage

We're still working through the last few boxes, waiting on a new dining room table, and trying to figure out how in the world to fit our stuff in our 1000 sq ft of space...time to get creative with what little storage space we have!

We had a "where are we again?" moment when the fruit truck drove by, and we had to buy from them just for the experience. I was thinking we were supporting local farmers, but the produce stickers were awfully suspicious....think we'll stick to the grocery store for our regular fruit and veggie purchases!

The kids are continuing to settle well into school. Oscar is really happy, and talks about his friends all of the time. He started taking track and it's very low key, with 2-5th graders meeting twice a week after school at Audubon Park. I'm not sure how competitive he is, and I think he just likes running around in the park with his friends!

Livi is coming into her own at her school. She's absolutely exhausted by the end of the day, and actually naps during rest time (which she hasn't done in years!). She can count to 10 in French and sings some pieces of French songs. I got her a few CDs of French music for kids, and she likes to play it sometimes on her own and try and sing along. You can tell how proud she is when she says something in French! Since New Orleans is the most football crazy city I've ever seen, Livi's school has Saints Friday's and all the kids can dress up in Saints gear. I got Livi a little dress and even in black, she absolutely loves wearing it, I think mostly since it's not her uniform ;)

We've started meeting our neighbors and everyone is so friendly and welcoming. The neighborhood is a great mix of people we're already getting excited for Halloween. New Orleans loves their excuses to dress up, and it's time to start planning the family costumes!

We also made our first excursion in the area to Bay St. Louis, MS yesterday, about an hour from New Orleans. Miles of beach line the Gulf coast, and while the water isn't crystal clear in Mississippi like it is in Florida, it's still so beautiful and the the kids had a ball.

Livi - "I love the beach!!"

After the beach, we grabbed a burger in Bay St. Louis and strolled around a little. We walked by a graveyard and Livi wandered in. When I asked where she was going she said, "To where the dead people are!" Oscar played a little zombie and then we headed home. Our next excursion will be a long weekend to Destin to see what all the fuss is about!