All in All

     So it turned out we ( I ) stressed out over things like the B4 forms that weren't important after all thanks to being military.  We didn't do any forms for my husband's car or our suburban and they came across the border just fine as well.  Over all an easy experience.
     You would do well to pack as much legal food and household goods as possible to bring with you.  We packed a few dry goods and brought butter but I wish I had packed a LOT more in the extra trailer space.  Prices are double to triple on almost all necessities so keep that in mind.  Rolls of toilet paper amongst other things make good packing material and can be re-used.

Made it!

     Wow, it has been a long time since I have written here.  Things got rather hectic preparing for Christmas and then having the moving truck come straight away.  We had a rather uneventful Christmas season which was enjoyable.  After the candle light service at church on Christmas Eve we went to a friends house and had a nice time visiting.  Christmas was fun as expected :), had a white Christmas and the kids loved their gifts.  The Christmas tree went to the curb by the 27th and we rushed to finish the packing and inventory sheets before the truck arrived with the moving trailer on the 29th.  Thanks to the help of a handful of wonderful people we managed to get the trailer packed by the end of the third day and had room to spare!  Jr finished the B4 forms from all the stuff we listed and brought in, we were very detailed trying to list everything in the boxes and the value of each item or group.  The trailer was picked up the next day and it was nice to see our stuff finally on its way.
     From here on out it was time to clean (ugh!).  I stuck mainly to the kitchen and the floors while Jr worked on the windows, walls and bathrooms.  The stove took me 2 days thanks to using Easy Off which proved very hard to get off lol.  I ended up taking the bottom out to get all the run off that went down the cracks.  The fridge took a couple hours, I oiled all the cupboards/drawers and wiped them down inside, bleached the counters and dishwasher....  Somewhere between kitchen and floors I ran to get drinks at the Dollar General and picked up a cheap sponge mop to wax with.  I prefer to be more detailed with a good hand wax but it was going to be daylight before we left the house so I needed to work faster.  Well, about the second stroke the sponge fell off my $1.50 mop lol.  Jr fixed it and it lasted most the wax and by the end of the wax I was on my hands and knees finishing up.  Needless to say we were there till Monday morning.
     After running to base to get medical records and let Jr finish up last minute details (we were so unprepared) we made it back to the house for inspection.  I slept through most of the morning out of sheer exhaustion.  Jr said we did good, passed the inspection and were officially out of the house.  We went out to eat with our friends to say goodbye and celebrate passing inspection that evening.
     We drove out Tuesday after we got the car repacked and ran some errands we headed out about 4pm and made it to Monroe, MI where we stayed at the Red Roof Inn with our pets.  Then after a few more hours of city driving we made it to THE BORDER!  Ahhh.. we finally made it!!!  The moment of truth, will we make it across???  How long will we be stuck???  Turns out only about an hour and things went fairly smoothly.  What we worried most about, the B4 forms, weren't even important because Jr was on Military orders.  They still stamped all the forms but had said they didn't really need them.
     Turns out if you are born in Canada you are a citizen no matter what and your kids are also considered citizens... go figure, didn't even need those passports.  I guess I have just never considered myself Canadian since I was raised in Texas.  That made for interesting conversation... "Just what makes you think you aren't Canadian?".... Hahahahaha
     We made it to the ABF place in Brampton ON and after driving around a couple hours we found a Motel 6 and stayed there for the night.  The next day we took care of our business in Brampton, got a great cup of coffee and hit the road.  Made it to North Bay just before dusk and found our motel off the main road.  We moved in lol.  I was disappointed in our room but just glad to be here.
     Currently we are still at the motel, been a little over a week.  We have been searching for a rent house non-stop but are still looking for that perfect place.  There are about 80 offering ads and 90 want ads making it hard to find a good place here.  We are hoping to be out of here soon.  Thanks to the critters we are not able to get the suite, putting us all in one room.

Almost Christmas!

     Ahh, the smell of fresh baked cookies and other sweets fills the house, I love this time of year.  Okay, maybe not this particular year but I never forget the true meaning of Christmas, Christ himself.  Sometimes I wonder how Christmas got to be such a huge holiday and Easter did not but I guess Christmas just cornered the commercial market and the devil got a better grip.  Regardless of the commercialism I do love spending time with the family, and on normal years, drinking hot chocolate, relaxing, watching the classic Christmas shows, cooking, singing carols....  I could go on and on because I love this time of year.  Unfortunately, my kids like most are getting too much this year, I got most of it from the thrift store but they still got too much.
     We have made good progress on filling out the B4 forms, sure hope we are doing it right lol.  I am not trying to hide anything and sure don't want to loose it but by this time I don't remember every little thing I used to fill those boxes.  When you have to cram a family of five's stuff onto 27' of trailer you use every last space to put something in.  Not until the very end do we have boxes with unfillable space...maybe I should go back to the thrift store :).
     J's first birthday came and went.  Now he is due for a vaccine that he wasn't supposed to be due for until after we got to Canada.  Hope we can get his shot and records (and everyone else) before we leave on the new year.  I can only hope that we have all our paperwork done and ready to go.  I hope the rest of this move smooths out.
     Well, to everyone out there, have a merry and blessed Christmas and know that our Saviour, Jesus Christ, was born on Christmas day and you too can find peace and everlasting life through him.

Tired

It's been about a week since my last post, we still live in a maze of boxes.  The week was pretty hum drum with out anything exciting.  I took T. to get his hair cut on Friday and then we ran by a few stores together and it was nice getting some one-on-one time with one of the kids.
     I have been wanting to start cutting our own Christmas tree as a family tradition for a few years now and it's nice to finally get started.  Saturday, we let T pick out the tree, A will be next year.  Thanks to the bit of snow we had all week it turned out to be a nice but very muddy day; next year we will take a change of clothes.  I had this picture in my mind of a nice farm with a restored barn turned into a store (like on the web site) where we come take the horse drawn wagon to the trees, pick one out and get picked up, get the tree loaded, have a warm cup of hot chocolate while browsing the shop and leave to go get lunch.  Nope.  We turned at the Fulton Farms Christmas tree sign and parked in the mud in a long row of cars, walked to a covered trailer to get instruction, picked up a saw from a wagon, walked through the mud into the trees until we found a nice modest tree, cut it down, waited about 10 minutes or so for the wagon to come around and I opted to walk with Jacob so I could get pictures of the kids on the wagon.  The tree was netted and paid for (more than expected but reasonable), loaded, and I picked up a couple cokes from the covered trailer, stripped the kids to their thermals, and picked up fast food on the way home.  Even though it didn't turn out like I expected it was still a fun experience and I would do it again.
     At home we set up a large polar bear inflatable in the front yard.  I got this from a relative and this is the first year we used it, kids seem to enjoy it.  Setting up took a while since the instructions were vague but hubby figured it out.  After the outside was complete with polar bear we move to set up the tree.  Our small tree had to loose another foot in order to stand and once standing hubby put on the lights and then the kids got to put on the ornaments they made and the balls we got from the dollar store (a wonderful place when you are trying to find disposable products).  It was a fun and exhausting day.
     Snowed all day Sunday, we didn't make it to church... the day was uneventful.  We reopened boxes to find some of the stashed Christmas presents and start filling out the B4 forms.  Played on Facebook (too much).
     Today was pretty outside, at least from the inside :).  I love being the first to make foot prints in the fresh snow but I guess living in suburbia you just don't get that chance, even in your own yard.  I looked out my window to see what appeared to be snow shovel marks through our yard, perhaps to do with the snow fort across the way?  And foot prints all around our house.  I still may go leave footprints but where's the fun.  I'm so tired and wish I could sleep now.

Fun day Monday... not really

     Another cold and snowing day here.  You may think we have a good bit of snow by now but only seems to be a couple inches that have remained.  This old house is rather drafty so we keep the cokes refrigerated at the draft by the back door.
     We managed to get the shopping done last night.  It was a nice thought to drop the kids off at AWANA around 5 and head to the commissary right down the road but that isn't what happened.  Okay, it is what happened but not like we thought, the commissary was closing when we got there so off to Kroger's.  I boycott the super 'W' as much as is within reason and so we pay a little more and go to Kroger's (a LOT more compared to the commissary) on occasion.  I had a hard time buying at those prices but then thought of myself shopping across the border and cringed.  I will soon HAVE to buy this over priced food and say goodbye to our nights out.  Who said this would be a fun experience?  Just kidding, I think.
     Nothing new to report today.  A long boring day and nothing accomplished, I will remedy this tomorrow. 

Sunday

     Well, we missed church today.  I can't say either of us are looking forward to showing our faces again after having our last Sunday announced a few weekends ago.  Actually, I am also avoiding a question that I prefer not to be asked but it is my guilt and should not keep me from church.  I was somewhat thankful to awake sick with no voice even though we had already decided not to go this morning, perhaps I thought it would make not going more acceptable.  After I caught up on sleep and got a hot shower I found my voice and have come to terms with my guilty conscience... for the most part.  Ironically (as it was meant to be) the AWANA verse this week is - He said, "Friend, your sins are forgiven." (Luke 5:20).  Last Monday evening when I was feeling exceptionally guilty I was laying between my oldest (almost 5) and his sister as they fell asleep and he whispered in my ear, "Don't forget Jesus forgives us."
     I don't plan on being part of AWANA this evening but I do want my kids to be there and have fun.  Hubby and I have some shopping to do since we are going to be stuck here and currently have very few groceries.  It would be nice to go shopping without the kids but if I'm needed I will go and hubby can do the shopping :).

Snow Day

     Today we should be in Canada but I am still looking out on our tiny Ohio backyard blanketed with 3 inches of snow today.  This started off on what seemed like a fun excursion to Canada with the U.S. Military.  My husband Jr (whom may add his own posts later) was to take the place of another that was leaving in October.  Our original report day was the beginning of January but because the other Sgt. was leaving in October he wanted us there sooner.  In the end my husband compromised and agreed to the beginning of December but, had no idea the trials this would bring.  Around the end of October we find that if we want our household items moved by the military it will take at least 45 days to get the movers here which of course is a little to late and this is just the start of our headaches.  After a short trip to TX we do some searching and opt for ABF to move our household goods, we pack it and they move it.  Now we had to buy the boxes and pack everything we own and narrow it down to fit in a 27'x10' area.  We had a month at this point and it seems a lot of time but it really isn't.  I start with the school room (homeschool) which went easily but got messy in the process (who knew packing could make such a mess).  I combined a lot of the toys from the playroom into the schoolroom boxes and anywhere else they would fit.  The kitchen is tackled next but really it about tackled me, after boxes upon endless boxes.  A and T's room is very simple with the exception of clothing.  We are taking abundant clothing thanks to hand-me-downs and thrift store shopping they are set for quite a while.  Within about 3 days I complete their room and head to ours, the master bedroom.  In the process of doing our room I knock out the hall closets, kid's bathroom and J's room, our room is still not quite complete but very close.  J's room is also the office area minus computers.  I took many boxes of books out of his room as well as files, photos, clothing, toys and more.  During this time my sweet hubby helped me keep up on the endless cleaning that seemed to be getting out of hand as well as cleaning up the garage and getting it ready for packing and packing his own clothes and the electronics as well as working on disassembling large furniture.
     At this point during the move we were prepared to leave.  We said our goodbyes at church on Sunday the 21st still thinking we were leaving Dec.3.  James had his going away lunch from work the next Wed. and that is the day we found out we would be here until the 9th.  That meant I was far enough ahead in packing that I could go with hubby to Texas.
   We realized we may have a few things that we like but that may not be allowed to cross the border or fit in our moving van so we do a turn and burn to TX leaving late wed. afternoon...for those of you unfamiliar with holiday traffic the day before Thanksgiving in Ohio is horrible to drive in.  Managed to make it to Texas in about 20 hours with a 2-3 hour nap break at a truck stop.  So, we are there Thursday (Thanksgiving) afternoon and work on clearing a path in mom's shop so we can haul our cargo upstairs which is all completed by Friday afternoon (big thanks to my sister and brother-in-law for the help).  Friday night we have a girls night out (Christmas shopping) while the guys watch all 6 kids :) hehehe, a good break from a lot of stress.  Saturday morning after sleeping in we had to reload the car thanks to giving it a much needed cleaning the day before and that took till noon.  I think we left mom's about 1pm to head to dad's shop and say goodbye.  Dad wasn't available on our first trip to Texas so I was glad he had time to see us this go around.  We stopped at good ol' McD's for lunch and hit the road about 3-4pm (this is still Saturday).... We didn't get home until Sunday at 7pm.  J had one seizure in Memphis, TN so we went to the ER and after several hours and 2 hospitals we were given the 'good to go' and hit the road but stopped at a rest area for some sleep.  J had a second seizure in Cincinnati and we drove the 45 minutes home and Jr took him to the ER while I got the kids bathed, fed and to bed.  Longest trip ever for us between Texas and Ohio.
     Jr found out the next day that his friend had passed away the day before which saddened us both.  This was Monday and our moving truck was to come Friday and Jr still has no orders so one of the ladies cut him orders on Tuesday that stated his family couldn't go until we were medically cleared but at least he now had orders.  Well, all seemed well, Jr attended the memorial on I think it was Wed and on Thurs. (Jr had requested delayed reporting prior) instead of delayed reporting they just cut him new orders all together.  Now, the report date is the end of January and the earliest we can leave is January 1st.  This is just insane to me.  If we had actually gotten movers then we would be living in an empty house at the moment.  Currently it is all in boxes except what we were getting rid of, taking with us or trashing.  We will be celebrating Christmas here, going back to the church where we said our goodbyes, and Jr is back at work after they already had his going away.
     I am working on figuring out the B4 forms and trying to figure out if we have to list each specific item or if we can do it more general... like one craftsman screwdriver, one craftsman wrench or just tools.  Lord help us if we have to be specific.  The lists on the boxes are fairly specific but it will still take time.  Then we also have to come up with the value in Canadian dollars (yippee).  I am NOT looking forward to this trip across the border but I will be relieved when it is all over!