Life has been nothing short of crazy lately, which is why the blog has been silent with new content the past week. I was already tired from all of the craziness that surrounds moving a family of five into a hew home, but add Daylight Savings Time to that mix and my body is physically feeling the tiredness. As mentioned above, we're finally in the new house, still unpacking, still setting up, with sooooo many projects ahead of us I can't think about it or I get dizzy.
While we just moved a few blocks away from where we were, packing and moving was no easy feat (we're actually taking this week to clear away more of our belongings from the old house). It took a lot of planning and organizing and then realizing I didn't organize enough. We've had family and friends bring us meals, coffees, snacks, gifts, and plenty of lending hands. We've been in the house for a week and the minis have settled in marvelously.
To say they love their new house is an understatement! I was worried about how they would take the move since they weren't doing so well with the packing stages, but so far so good (other than the middle mini claiming he would like his own room yet won't fall asleep without someone else sleeping in the room with him). We concentrated on getting the daycare area and kitchen set up since those will be the two most used rooms of the house. Hubs installed a new ceiling fan, we child proofed, tethered shelves and book cases to the walls, and other than putting up coat hangers, painting the walls (to brighten things up a bit), and taking out the wood burning oven (which will be happening in the next couple of weekends) the rooms are ready to go. Daycare started up last Wednesday in the new house and while it's been quite the adjustment for the kiddos (a few of them had a harder time with the move than my three minis), I really love having the big daycare space for playing! Cleaning at night takes half of the time it did because not every inch of my house is used as it was in the previous house.
While we haven't had much time to do much besides unpack boxes and work on little house projects, we did leave some time to celebrate three birthdays this past weekend and have family over to see the house. We still have A LOT of work ahead of us (and I'm positive you'll be seeing a lot of DIY home projects coming up on the blog) but next weekend we plan on taking some time to see a movie (you may have heard of that little movie coming about called Beauty and the Beast) and going to the Lawn and Garden show to see the oldest mini's art work from school displayed.
During this time of craziness and excitement, we've been constantly reminded of our amazing support system we have backing us up....and we have needed each and every one of them! As much as I thrive in chaos, it's been a bit much even for me. I'll be happy once the last box is unpacked, we're done with the old house, and we can get into a new groove with life.
Here's some (and by some, I mean quite a few) pictures that captured life the past couple of weeks for us:
During the last few days of daycare at the old house, we celebrated Dr. Seuss by reading plenty of his books and make our own Truffula Trees. Otherwise, I made sure to keep those days easy going for us.
We've had Hurts Donuts a few times for celebrations....I'm not complaining about that one bit.
First night moving. Moving a household with three kids, two businesses, and a husband to likes to keep things for when we might need them, was a lot to deal with. Luckily, the daycare room took shape fairly easily.
Their last walk to school from the old house. I had the day off for moving toys and planned to take them to school, but they insisted on walking so they could walk with their neighborhood friends. All kinds of feelings at this moment.
So many new things, such as our coveted refrigerator. We bought it from Nebraska Furniture Mart and I cannot recommend them enough! We had a wonderful experience with them and plan on buying all of our appliances from them (a new dishwasher is in my future soon!).
Our first night in the new house. I STILL can't get over our bedroom wallpaper. That's getting peeled away later this week.
The big moving day started with breakfast pizza from Casey's and a trip to Target for new book shelves for the daycare room (I decided I wanted a white theme....after nearly completing everything with the espresso look...oops. Hubs isn't exactly pleased with me at the moment for that).
I failed to get pictures of moving day, but we owe everything to my brother in law Andy, Uncle John, and my dad who worked hard that day. My Aunts made everyone lunch and made plenty for leftovers (which came in very handy the next day). We ended the day with a late night (like way past bedtimes) pizza party at our new dining room table. Exhaustion all around that table!
The minis kept themselves busy while Hubs and I unpacked and set the house up.
The cats didn't do so well with the initial move over to the new house. Bringing them over to the new house was interesting....one of the cat carrier locks broke but I didn't know that until we were on our way (in the car) to the new house. One cat broke out of her carrier and ran around the minivan howling and screeching while the other followed suit. I was so distracted trying to calm them that I managed to hit every pot hole on our four block journey.
It may have been a rough start, but they now love looking out the big front windows and having plenty of rooms to explore.
The house is slowly but surely coming along. We've even managed to put some of our own touches to the house since we've been here.
With every change in life, the minis change too. The youngest mini has been going through a phase: she wants someone in the bathroom with her, twenty stuffed animals to watch over her while she sleeps (and lights and music on), she wouldn't go into a room by herself....well, that is until we moved. She suddenly has no issues doing things on her own, including taking herself on a walk around the block (without my knowledge). I thought she was playing in the backyard with her brother's, but I caught a glimpse of her out the window walking around the corner and down the sidewalk, headed around the other corner. I had to call her (and argue with her) to stay in her own yard. This (above) is her marching back to the house.
We've been doing sooo much hauling lately that the boys have figured out how to do our stow and go seating themselves. I can't wait for our Pacifica (maybe next year???) where it's done with a push of a button!
After Elizabeth's conferences last week, we took a moment to have a celebratory dinner (and a much needed drink) at our fave Mexican place. The oldest mini used chip to practice math equations with the youngest, who was more interested in the salsa than doing simple adding and subtracting chips.
All set up for the first day of daycare at the new house! Some of the kiddos were VERY unsure of the new place, while a few others could have cared less. We're still settling in and coming up with a workable routine but so far so good.
After the first two full days of business at the new house, spring break began. We had a dance party to celebrate.
We had our first theme day at the new house already: Fairy Day (complete with fairy bread).
The minis had wanted to have a "sleepover" at the old house, but we ran out of time. So they got to have their first one in the new house already. Surprisingly everyone slept well.
The best part of moving is coming across things I'd long forgotten about, such as this picture from 2001.
We've been on the hunt for curtains for a few rooms in the new house and have found....nothing. Absolutely nothing.
My smart ass 8 1/2 year old who claimed he "gets car sick" after we mentioned taking the long way home from my aunt's house in Cumming, IA.
Sunday night chill time with my minis while watching Once Upon A Time (in my bed, in case you couldn't tell from the wallpaper).
Sunday night I worked on setting up the office/daycare nap room a bit more. Just like every other room in the house, it's slowly but surely coming along.
I showed up to work 10 minutes early and had the place to myself. The room was unbelievably quiet....just for those ten minutes. After that you could hardly hear about the children's voices.
Hopefully life will (kinda) settle down and posting on the blog will become more regular again after this week!