Michael has always liked...well odd...positions to read/play/sit. I have found him reading upside down and crammed into small areas. I was unpacking and found Michael reading in the guest room like this. Later I found him behind all the boxes. I need to take pictures of all of them and make a book "The Various Reading Positions of the 7 Year Old."*
*My mom originally had this idea and it is a great one!
When we arrived at the new house the kids had fun exploring it without any furniture. They found a secret room under the stairs (that is finished!) and lots of nooks and crannies.
The room under the stairs. It is shaped like a big 'U'. When it is not being used for storage it is going to be a secret hide out for Michael with a little couch and bookshelf. He is very excited!
Everyone loves the new pantry. Just right to fit little people. Damien likes to 'hide' in there and play peek-a-boo.
The cats were pretty freaked out by all the hubbub from the last couple months. They pretty much hid all the time. It became a game to find out where they were. Damien found them in the cupboard in the laundry room. He liked to sit in there with them and shut the doors. He even brought some of his hot wheels in there so he could play.
We made it! We are in Washington! I can't believe two years of unemployment, planning, graduate school*, heartache, hopefulness and anxiety are over! Somedays I didn't think I could do anymore but I kept reminding myself of Dory from 'Finding Nemo' and had to "just keep swimming."
Many times I had to let things go just to get through the day. One of those things was the blog. I had great intentions but no motivation....but now that we are here in our new beautiful home I am so excited to share with you all that we are doing and how the kids have grown!
That picture of Damien cracks me up. It was taken by my cousin, David (aka daveydave! aka proxy godpapa), at Christmas. Damien adores him.
*Ben got his Masters in Chemical & Nuclear Engineering - which is actually his 2nd Masters - he also has his MBA...can you tell how ridiculously proud I am of him? He worked so hard and it all paid off with this new job that he absolutely loves! And since I'm bragging about him I'll also say that people at his plant have been surprised at how young he is for his position.
The kids had their last day of school at Franklin on Friday, January 21st. Michael's class had a friendship circle at the end of the day to say goodbye. Each kid said something they liked about Michael and a wish for his future. Michael asked me not to come but I heard that the kids had just wonderful things to say about him and a couple kids cried. We loved our time at Franklin and will really miss our family (real family - that is where their cousins attend and the music teacher is my aunt and our Franklin family).
Mrs. W (Kindergarten teacher) and Abby
Mrs. Free (2nd grade teacher) and Michael
(Mrs. Free had a hard time letting go - she really loved him)
Owen wanted to get into the picture too.
Owen and Abby are best friends. Owen has declared that he will marry Abby and they are going to live across the street from his parents. His mom told me that when Abby would come over to play and Owen would get in trouble Abby would defend him "Well Miss Katie...Owen didn't really mean to do that." :) Owen asked his mom sadly "But who will be my best friend when Abby leaves?" :( Good thing we will still be able to visit!
We moved into this house one month after we got married, Ben was 22 and I was 21. Our history with this house, however, goes back much further. My older brother used to live here and the first summer Ben and I dated ('97) Ben stayed with him when he came to visit me. It was in this house, one summer evening, that Ben and I first exchanged "I love you"s. We didn't imagine that we would buy that house a few years later and live there for 10.5 years!!!
When we moved in we had a full size bedroom set, a couch, a bookshelf, a chair, a TV, a throw rug, a futon, a very small dining table and chairs. I remember sitting in our living room imagining hearing little feet thundering down the hallway and a small face peeking around the corner. We discovered we were going to be parents four times in this house, we brought 3 babies home to this house....we lost a baby in this house...we, in a sense, grew up in this house...so many memories...so much laughter...a few tears...it seemed so weird to leave...
...but it was time for us to move to the next chapter of our lives and let another family create their memories in this house...
we were so blessed to have as our realtor my brother, Jim . He did a great job and 15 days after the house was placed on the market we had a great offer. We actually knew the family who bought it, although we didn't know it until we got the offer. They will take such good care of the home and have plans to update a few things (the flooring & the kitchen) I had always dreamed of updating - until the layoff. They have invited us back to see all they did to the house when we are in town and I am very grateful for that.
I need to see if Jim still has the pictures he took of the inside for the listing. It looked SO good!! :)
Michael has always liked...well odd...positions to read/play/sit. I have found him reading upside down and crammed into small areas. I was unpacking and found Michael reading in the guest room like this. Later I found him behind all the boxes. I need to take pictures of all of them and make a book "The Various Reading Positions of the 7 Year Old."*
