Here is what we have been up to...

The dining room at our old house full of all our boxes and "stuff".

All I have done for 4 weeks is pack and unpack. I am ready to be done.

We decided not to hire movers- because that's why we had kids - to make them work for free!

Ethan engaged in the back breaking labor.

Surfin in the truck.

The babies contemplating which box they can carry.

Our new house, this happens to be the laundry room. But, many of the rooms still look like this. Before I had kids the entire house would have been unpacked in 48 hours. But, kids just wear you out!!! And, I keep getting interrupted by laundry, diapers, snack time, cleaning, meal time, you know the list goes on and on and on. Thank God they are so cute ;)!

The new family room. This was the first room we set up. The kids needed a place to play. And, we needed a place to crash at night at watch The Olympics or Alias (We just finished Season 3 and all my dreams are about espionage- thanks a lot Sydney Bristow).

Our Old Empty House

Here is our "old" empty house. When the time came to lock up and drive away, I must admit I was a little bit sad. Not really to move, but because of closing a very challenging and rewarding season of our lives. I was also sad to leave behind all the work and updates we put into the house, but especially the floors and the light fixtures!! John is so talented and put endless hours into updating and improving this home. But, now onto the new house, where we will start all over again! Good times. (On a side note- the sadness over leaving "stuff" does not even compare to living close in- near work, near our friends, near church- it's awesome!!)

Old Dining Room, good- bye beautiful floors!

Old Family Room, good- bye best ceiling fan EVER!

Our old kitchen, good- bye new oven, and awesome bar stools and counter.

Good- bye bedrooms with plush carpet and 10# pad!

Good- bye kids bath.

Good- bye master bath. ( I will never miss your size!)

And, now onto the future!!! First thing to load... Ethan!!

BEFORE THE RENOVATIONS

Here are some before shots of our "old" house. I post them mostly for my own encouragement, to prove that an out of date house can be given new life!! The shots are in no particular order.

Can you tell why we wanted to update??

We Have Moved!!

It is official!!! John and I are both in disbelief that it actually happened... but it did... we have moved. We are thrilled with the house, the location, the school district, the size, the Swiss chalet room (more to follow on that!), but we are absolutely exhausted. After two weeks of packing and unpacking- I am ready to never see another box again! I will do a cart wheel when the last one is taken away!

I promise we will post some pictures soon.

But, in the mean time, a big thank you to all the people who helped us move. We could not have done it without you!!

We are so thankful to be here- we will keep you posted.

PS - The kids are all doing well. When asked if Ethan likes the new house, he says "Yes, I have always wanted stairs." Deep thoughts by a four year old.

Packing, Packing, Packing!

Sorry for the lack of blogging - every free moment lately has gone into packing. The kiddos are enjoying all the "excitement" of packing and moving.

Two of our most prized positions- Mark as fragile.

No more packing please!!!!

Where are we moving??

Our plan, barring any unforeseen forces, is to move to this lovely traditional home. This house sort of fell into our lap, we were not really even thinking about moving to this part of town. But, as God often has it, he answered our prayers with something even better than we were asking for.

Your inquiries and emails about where we are moving has been almost humorous. We are only moving 15 miles to the nearest city. It is larger than where we currently live (more than twice the size) , but it is no Atlanta, Seattle, or NY!!!! I am hesitant to post the name of the city- because I don't want any masked murderers or vicious kidnappers to take my three little monkeys!! But, if you know us, you can guess.

The house is currently owned by a woman that John used to work with. She raised her family in it and we feel blessed that we will be able to raise ours in it as well. It is considerably bigger than our current home, has great schools, is only 3 miles from John's office, and is so much closer to our friends and our church! There are so many things we are excited about in this house- it is full of potential for years to come- and it is an awesome home for entertaining (one of our favorite pastimes!) . After we move I will show some pics of the inside. Until then you will just have to wait!

Under Contract

That's right folks!!!

After 54 days on the market and over 30 showings- we are under contract!!!

We could not be more excited... not only to move to "the big city" but also to not have to keep our house perfect while attempting to raise and care for three pre-schoolers!!

Our totally renovated 1970's brick ranch. What a fun and exhausting project you were!

Only 23 more days of living in one- story 70's charm.

The woman buying our house also has boy/ girl twins.. how cool is that!

I have been thinking about what I will miss most about this house when we move and many things came to my mind- but this was the first... the flowers and blooming trees in our yard. The previous owners were quite the gardeners and I will miss enjoying their craft! More to come on moving and what is ahead for us... stay tuned!

Some current blooms from our yard.