These Two.

 We are living life on both ends of the age spectrum these days.

 

But sometimes,



just sometimes

 

it works out quite nicely.

And those moments make the crazy days totally worth it!

 

 

*Thank you all for your kind words over the last few weeks as we have transitioned.*

The saying is true enough... 

Thank you for being our "village"!

 



As Promised: New House Pictures

This post is dedicated to Cousin Beth, who continues to be our number one blog fan despite the fact that I STINK at blogging!  Beth, here are the many-times-asked-for and long-awaited pictures of our new house! 

 

Entrance

 

 

Living Room

 

Kitchen

 

Eat-in Kitchen

 

Family Room

 

And....our little friend The Bear.

 Our neighborhood bear eats our trash and climbs our trees.

He's a little scary but we keep our distance when he makes an appearance!

We are so happy in our new place!

The Great Move by Patrick (and of course edited for readablity by Emily)

As Emily has clearly fallen behind on her blogging, in an unfortunate moment of weakness I mentioned that I would step up and do a few posts to bring everyone up to speed on what we forgot to tell you about this summer.  I always envisioned my first blogging attempt to be an exposition of political theory tied to some sort of conspiracy, but I guess life had other plans for me.   

 

The first and probably most dramatic would have to be one of life’s most dreadful and feared events… MOVING.   It all started last winter when we decided we had had enough of home ownership.  About this time my boss John had also decided that now was the time for he and his wife to begin building a house, and he mentioned the possibility of renting his house out.  Seeing an opportunity, we quickly began working on a scenario when we would sell our house, rent his and be done with home-ownership for good.   

Starting in March we began to prepare the house to sell.  We patched minor holes, repaired cracks in the walls,  holes in the ceiling, touched up the paint, finished painting rooms we had started painting in 2009 and did everything I had always been meaning to do.  We had the landscaping redone, painted the shutters, and found out just how nice the fence looked stained and not a plain greyed weathered look. Alas, this was not to be and to make a long story short, we were not able to sell ours, and ended up purchasing their house making us both landlords and homeowners all at once  (But if you are interested in buying a lovely home on Haydon St, please let me know.)

By July we had set a move in date, July 31^st, and began to pack as much of the house up as we could during every spare moment we had. We also made what would turn out to be one of the best decisions possible… we hired a mover, something we now recommend to any and all who will listen (it’s so great, you just pack up little things and look busy and they pick up all the heavy stuff and put it in a truck! Yes, you have to pay them but that is beside the point.  It's so worth it!)  

Finally, the move was over and we slept.

Except, we didn't.  Because the cats took a few days to adjust to the new house and decided that the way to deal with their stress was to keep us up all night long, alerting us each time they discovered something new and different about....ANYTHING.

Unpacking went quickly and before we knew it, we were settled into the house.  Unfortunately we were too tired and confused to take pictures of the house…  but Emily assures me she will take some this week and upload them for all to see.  That being said, look for pictures of the new house this Christmas after I get done Grizwalding this baby!

However Calvin and I didn't have long to get settled in the house before ...... Spain… But that is a story for another post… or 3….

There's a princess wand in my bathtub.

And a pink backpack on my kitchen island.

And Dora the Explorer on my TV.

Hairclips in my purse.

Princess coloring sheets in my living room floor.

Sparkly shoes on my steps.

Yes, friends, it's safe to assume a little girl has made her very sparkly, very pink, and VERY imaginative mark on our lives... and our house.

On September 28, ONE DAY AFTER I last blogged and promised to be back with millions of new blog posts and updates, we got the phone call that a sweet six year old girl needed a temporary home.

And because of our big move (remember how I promised to write about that? yeah.) we were able to YES.

And the empty bedroom at our house just happens to be pink. (Is there anyone out there who thinks God doesn't have a sense of humor?!)

So here we are.  A little temporary family of four, wandering our way through senior pictures, SAT scores, and graduation announcements and now adding things like "sign Elizabeth up for dance class" and "return Barbie movies to library" to our To-Do list.

So you see?  I'm so good at finding excuses not to blog!  Just when things start to get settled, a whirlwind rips through our lives and stirs it all up again.  This time, the whirlwind is about 3 feet tall and lets me put headbands and bows in her hair.