Well, it's been two months since I've posted, and believe me, life for the Banisters hasn't stood still since Feb. 4, 2009. "Free time" has been put towards updating and cleaning our house in preparation for selling it. Now, we sit and wait....well, we clean and wait is more like it. We've only had it on the market for two weeks, and it's still ours, but it doesn't feel like ours anymore. Most of the girls' toys have been sold or put into storage; we've had to hide anything remotely religious, and we're lucky if we can find a pen to write with. Our junk drawer isn't even "junky" anymore; now that's a first!
It is nice to live simply again. When I left for college, I had some pots and pans from my Grandma, some clothes, and a couple of towels. My parents went and bought me a desk at Walmart once we got to Austin. I'm sure it was pretty much the same for Brian. How did we collect so much stuff over the last 17 years?
With this move, I'm really not missing the stuff, and haven't even felt the need to go and get anything from the storage unit, but what I do miss is the comfort of having a home. We are keeping it straight, nice and neat for someone else, not for ourselves. I like that it's clean, but I don't like having to put out a set of "show" towels, instead of the ones we really use. I don't like telling the girls we can't play with the playdough in the fear that it will be too messy, or telling them that we can't play in the sandbox because sand always tracks its way back to the house. Sometimes the best learning takes place while making a mess! I don't like having to hide my rosary. I'm not complaining, just biding my time until we can live in our home again, whether that home is here, in an apartment, or at our future house.
The bluebonnets in our yard which Brian and I planted from our wedding favors are just blossoming all over, and even though we're enjoying them, it's bittersweet knowing we're leaving them behind when we move. We are happy that someone else will enjoy them. We have awesome neighbors. It's hard to leave the Surles and Green families, knowing that we won't be as close and we won't share in the happenings of their lives like we do now; they are like family. We are excited about our new place, but we will miss this house because it was our first real home together as a family. It's the only home our girls have ever known.
The girls love going to the pet store, but it's pretty much hit-or-miss if they get the opportunity to touch an animal there. This petting zoo was very much hands-on, and you can see the girls' delight in the pictures. 
I fell in love with the piglets and afterwards did some research on having a miniature piglet for a pet, but when I mentioned it to Brian, the look on his face told me "Are you serious?"...which I WAS! ;) Well, I guess I'll just have to read *Charlotte's Web* to the girls again to get my cute little piglet fix!
Our little niece Celeste, and parents Brad and Nicole came out with some of their good buddies. There was also a bouncy house (which the girls liked to jump on much better than our bed!) and Easter Egg Hunt (which the girls declined on so they could have extra time in the petting zoo. "Good choice!", says Mom.).
