The Settlers

I know, I know, I owe a few photos of the kids, the house, Michael's new haircut (just kidding). First an update...

We are completely moved into our new house but not even close to being unpacked and settled. Phew, it was a lot of work. Note to self: Next time hire movers...

Although the Ms love the house (They have even asked if we get to go to the 'new house'. I tell them over and over that the new house is now our house.) they are not sleeping so great. I'm that the adjustment to their new room is difficult but I also think they can 'sense' that things are chaotic and influx.

On the upshot....
Michael and I are digging all the space we have! The kids are digging the yard. They love hanging out, eating their breakfast on the awesome new picnic table (a gift from Brooke, Travis and Tegan), playing with their fantastic bubble wands (courtesy of Joy and Sofia) and their trikes. On warm days we fill up the pool (thanks to Jenna, Brad and Logan) and cool off in the hose.

I'm not sure how we ever did it without the space of the house and the yard to walk in. This morning we collected pine cones that had fallen from the trees. Sometimes we pick weeds and dig in the dirt and today it was a real treat when daddy mowed the grass.

Our backyard and patio is now a toddlers dream. Thanks to Mommy's attentive thrift shopping I have equipped our space with a sandbox (we have yet to put the sand in it though), matching pink and blue toddler scooters, and our newest edition. I step 2 climber with slide. Madeleine was calling it "the playground". Too funny. My poor deprived apartment kids!

As with everything there are downsides. Pros and Cons.
Pros:
-more space
-no shared walls
-no carpet in the main living spaces (makes messes clean up easier)
-Huge playroom for all the toys so that Michael and I finally feel that adult space is adult space and kid space is elsewhere
-grass and gardens
-patio that gets a lot of light
-pulling into our driveway
-quieter street
-a hose
-a mud room
-new counters, cabinets, appliances
-Helpful fun neighbors with fantastic kids!
-walk in closets

Cons:
-old house makes picture hanging difficult
-old house is creaky
-being a street level takes a while to get use to
-finding out our house use to be a 'crack house' or had some other creepy illegal activity. uck.
-funny smells
-with so many trees around the house can feel dark (a pro is that it stays very cool)
-bugs

You have to think that we use to live in a building that was built in 2000 and this house was built in 1930. Still the pros outweigh the cons.