Long time no blog. Things have been super crazy around here. Elementary school went on break for the four oldest. Middle school began for the eldest. Middle school went on break. I spent three weeks in Sacramento with the younger four while Drake spent three weeks in Hawaii with the oldest two. (Gee, who got the better end of that deal?)Elementary school started for second child. Elementary school went on break for second child. All the while, we've had the fact that Drake interviewed for a job in Sacramento while eldest was in her two week session of middle school. Towards the end of our Sacramento/Hawaii vacation, Drake got word that he got the job. That left us deciding if he really wanted to take it and what it meant for us if he did and what it meant if he didn't. We had to make that decision while we were 2415 miles (give or take lol ) apart because the new job wanted an answer before we were back from vacation.

So, what was the decision? HE ACCEPTED!!! Whoa...talk about huge. Granted, it's not as though we're moving across the United States, but 496 miles (give or take lol That's the mileage allowance his new employer gave him, so I'm assuming they're right...or just trying to keep us under the 500 miles, at which point we'd be able to ship our car and fly up there and they'd pay for it. lol) Still, we're uprooting our children, taking them away from the only place they've really ever known, and moving clear across the state.

It's a good move for us. San Diego was always a temporary living situation. It was the first place Drake could find work after college, when we were being forced to leave family student housing and really had nowhere to go. It was always agreed that San Diego was a five year commitment, then we would move closer to my family. It's been six and a half years now. It's time. I need to be near my family. I need that support. Every year, I've applied for school, been accepted, sometimes even getting as far as registering for classes, only to have to withdraw at the last moment because Drake gets sucked into a new project that means long hours and not being able to commit to being home to watch the kids so I can take some classes. That won't happen this year. Drake will have regular work hours, so he can be home to watch the kids. If he can't, I have my mom, my three sisters, my sister in law and my brother, all available and willing to take my kids if I need them to at the last minute because Drake can't get home. Being away from family left me with the possibility of having a baby with no one there to support me. Drake had to go on a week long business trip when I was pregnant with Sera. He got back shortly before I was due. Thankfully, she went overdue. Had I gone into labor while he was gone, it would be just me, in labor, getting myself and four kids to the hospital. Not fun.

Not only will we have the support of my family (and I'll get to go out on DATES with my husband! We went out for dinner last Christmas and my family watched our kids, but that was the first time we had been out alone in six years) but my kids will get to grow up with their cousins. Growing up, I saw my cousins once a year. I wasn't close to them at all. They were people I was forced to interact with at Thanksgiving and it was really uncomfortable. I HATE the thought of that being how my kids feel. I am so close to my siblings. The thought of our kids not growing up together is heartbreaking. Caitlin is almost 11. For over half of her life, her cousins have been a once a year thing. I hate the "warming up" period that they go through when they get together. It makes me sad to see how close my sister's and my brother's children are and see my kids just off to the side because they haven't seen their cousins in a year.

Add to that the lower cost of living, the better schools (although I absolutely ADORE the elementary school my kids go to. I'm very sad to be leaving the school and the teachers who are so dedicated to the kids) and a safer neighborhood (not that my neighborhood is bad, but we did have three scooters stolen off of our front porch a month ago :( ) and it's just a good move all around. Caitlin is just going into sixth grade. I don't want to move her when she's older. I want her to feel like the next area we live in is "home." She won't feel that way if we wait much longer to move. If we move when she's in high school, I'm afraid San Diego will always feel like home to her.

Caitlin is upset because sixth grade is still in elementary school. (Well, that's just one of the LONG list of reasons that she's upset about moving) I think it's great, though. It will mean that all four kids are in the same school for their first year in a new school district. I like that they'll all have each other for support at school. I reminded her that it also means another promotion ceremony at the end of the year, which she's excited about. lol She's so sad to be leaving her friends, though. :(

Emma is upset about leaving her friends and leaving the school. She's having an easier time accepting the move than Caitlin is, though.

The younger four are just excited to be moving near my mom. They can't wait and are SO happy to be moving.

Drake was having a REALLY hard time accepting the job. It wasn't that he didn't want to move. It wasn't that he thought staying in San Diego was a better option. In his head, he realized that this was the best thing for us. It was a wonderful opportunity, both for our family and for his career. Why the hesitation then? He likes his job. He loves his coworkers. He has this amazing sense of loyalty, which I love him for...it makes for a good husband...but it made it really difficult for him because he felt like he was disappointing his coworkers and leaving them in quite a lurch because he's in the middle of a large project. He eventually realized that his sense of loyalty needed to be to his family and doing what was best for them. Things are "good" in San Diego. Life would be fine if we stayed. Things will be better in Sacramento. He realized he couldn't just settle for "good" for his family and that better was....well, better. lol

As for me, I was/am really excited about moving. I've found, however, that this has been harder on me than I thought it would. This has been our plan all along. I've been waiting to move near family...forever, it seems. San Diego has never felt like "home" to me. I thought I was just excited to move, that EVERYTHING about moving was a good thing, that it would be easy because this is what I've been wanting for a long time. Then, it actually started happening, and I started acting strangely. I've been on edge. I've been snapping at the kids. I've had such a short fuse lately. I thought maybe it was the money stress...trying to find the money for a new place and moving. I thought maybe it was the overwhelming thought of packing up and moving all of our stuff. Then, the kids had their last day of taekwondo. Drake took them to their classes. I went to pick them all up after class. My plan was to go in and say goodbye to their instructor and the parents that I had become friends with. I got there. I parked. I took the key out of the ignition. I sat there and cried. I couldn't go in. The thought of actually saying goodbye was too much for me. Here was something that had been a part of my children's lives for almost five years. That's more than half of Emma's life. Ethan was just barely one when we started taking the girls to taekwondo classes. Cole was two or three. The girls are black belts now. Cole would be earning his junior black belt next month. Their instructor and their friends from this class have been a constant in their lives for almost the entire time we've lived in San Diego. I didn't want to say goodbye. I was going to miss them. I felt like I was taking my children away from something and people they love. How can I do this?

I picked up Emma from school yesterday. It was her last day of summer session for the Academy. I saw her hugging her friends. I saw her saying goodbye to her teachers. How can I take them away from their school?

As of now, we don't have a place to live. Drake starts work on the 24th. We're going up there this weekend to look at a few houses that are up for rent. I think the plan, as of right now, is to rent a cheap one bedroom apartment for Drake really close to work. He's bringing his bike up with us this weekend, so if we can secure him an apartment, he'll ride his bike to and from work and continue to search for homes on the weekend with someone from my family. (We only have one car and I need it since I'm going to be the one with the kids) We'll stay here in San Diego until we can secure a place to live. Our lease here is up at the end of September, so we need to find something by then. So, the kids will be starting school here, then will probably be moving a couple of weeks after school starts. I had really hoped to be moved before school starts up where we're moving, but it starts Monday and it's just not possible.

So, anyways, that's the update from us. Kinda crazy, but very exciting.