Spring Break

We had a pretty low-key spring break this year.  We mainly just stayed home and played around town and worked on the house.  It is very fun settling into the new house and we are trying to make the kids feel comfortable here as quickly as possible. 

We turned a little built-in porch into their playroom.  I was a little concerned at first that it would not be a big enough space for a playroom but, it turned out great. 

We ripped out the dirty old carpet that was in there, painted the concrete and put down an area rug and it looks much better. 

We still need to get the walls and ceilings painted but, for now, it is so nice having an organized place for the kids to play and I love that it leads directly to the backyard where they can go out and play.

The weather was up and down during spring break but, on the nice days it was great to get out and play outside.  I love sitting on the back patio while the kids play.

And the new circle front driveway is the perfect place to ride bikes and cars.

Tuesday of Spring Break, we had tickets to a sold out Artie's Peter Pan show.  Most of playgroup had tickets with us to the same show so it was a big event that week. 
Kinley wanted to dress like Wendy instead of Tinkerbell. 
And she knows that Wendy has curly hair in her ponytail so we busted out some hot rollers for the first time for Kinley's hair.  

Her Wendy ponytail turned out so cute!

Wendy with Wendy.

Wendy and Tinkerbell (AG) with Tinkerbell

We played at the park that afternoon and enjoyed the sunshine.  

Wednesday we started out with a donut date!

Afterward went to story time at the library with the AG & SR  where all the books and crafts were about teeth and the dentist.

We went that night to Central Market for dinner and to play outside some more but, at some point after that Kinley got sick.   She started vomiting and running a fever, she fell asleep just not feeling good.  Thursday she laid around all day and after the vomiting subsided, she was saying her throat hurt.  We got a quick apt with Dr Scott and Kinley tested positive for strep.  24 hours after antibiotics later, she was back to her old self. 
I have to admit, I hated her being sick, there is nothing worse than a sick kid.  But, I loved her sweet, cuddly self. 
She wasn't whiny or bored or unsatisfied. 
She was just content and being so tough. 
I praised and praised her for her good attitude because it has been so tough for us lately. 
I told her straight up, I really hope your sickness goes away soon, but, I love this sweet girl and I hope she stays. 
I would say, it has been better but, we are still in prayer over her heart and attitude that she would be the sweet, grateful, peaceful girl we know she is.  We know that the move and this transition has been hardest on her and we are praying through the best way to parent her, be patient with her and love her through it.

After a couple days of antibiotic we were ready to be back in the swing of things and had a Saturday full of birthday parties! 
Spring is birthday party season and we have multiple every single weekend it seems like but, it is just so much fun and endless entertainment. 
We started with a caravan road trip down to Temple with the Barstads for Ella's 6th bowling party birthday.  It was such a fun time for Kinley and I to road trip down and back and for her first time bowling, she had so much fun! 

We headed straight home from Temple in the rain to Maverick's 4th Jake and the Neverland Pirates party.  We had a quick costume change into Izzy when we stopped for gas one time.

Lindsey did a great job setting up the treasure hunt that was supposed to be outside in her house and the kids LOVED every activity on the treasure map.

Walking the plank..

Fishing in crocodile creek

The largest Jake balloon ever...

A pic from above of the kids about to do the Pinata.

Happy Birthday Mav-man!
All that rain led to a gorgeous rainbow at the end of the party!
It was so fun for everyone to gather on the porch outside to see it.

Overall, it was a great Spring Break!

February round up and moving

Yep...it's well into March already but, here's what we did to round out February...

 

We went to see The Little Mermaid at the Music Hall in Fair Park for Aslynn's 5th birthday.

 It was such a fun mommy and me afternoon celebrating sweet Aslynn.

 

We also went to see Doc, Doc Goose at Arties with Mav and Parker.

 

Ty and I have been having some fun mommy-son days on Fridays while sister is in school.

Lunch date with this silly boy

And why does this start so early??? Boys!

 

We managed to squeeze that stuff in when the majority of our time at the end of February was spent packing up our house and moving.

 I feel like we have been living like this for a month.

 

Basically, for three years Ben has been looking at houses online and driving through neighborhoods and searching for a house that better fits our family. I have been dragging my feet forever because I was just way too attached to our house and neighbors and it was just so comfortable and peaceful.

 I brought my babies home to that house.

 We have the best friends on that street.

 There were 1001 reasons why I did NOT want to move.

 Ben has had me look at thousands of houses online and we've even gone and looked a few but, there was always some deal breaker that would make me emphatically say no.

 

  But, one day in late December Ben drove by a little house 2.0 miles away that was for sale by owner and he fell in love with it from the outside. We waited until after our Costa Rica trip before we went to see it.

 And we saw it three times.

 And took all our parents and Alex and Mendy to see it before we even decided to put in an offer.  Everyone was in agreement that it was a great next step for our family.

 

  We put in an offer with a contingency that our house had to sell first and asked for a 60 day close. This was the first test.

 There was pretty much no way the owners were going to accept an offer with a contingency and definitely not one with a 60 day close.

 But, they did.

 They accepted our contract on a Tuesday. Then we decided to put our house on the house that same week. We busted our tails getting it ready to show and listed it on that Friday night at 8:00pm.

 This was the second test.

 By Saturday night we had three offers above our asking price to buy our house.

 This is when it became very real to me and I realized we actually were going to move.

 Within the next week, we had both contracts signed and moved our closing date for the new house up 30 days.

 It was a little bit of a roller coaster throughout the inspection and waiting to close process for all parties but, in the end, we closed on time and had 5 days after close to move out of our old house into the new one. We prayed and prayed and prayed throughout the entire transition that God would open or close doors as He chose.  Kinley and I spent one whole afternoon going through every single room in the new house and praying over that room and what would go in that new room.

 It was so sweet.

 

There is literally no way we could have done this without family and friends. We didn't hire movers. Ben's entire bible study helped move one night. Ross came over multiple days to help Ben move at night after the kids were in bed. And the Friday night of moving week we had a big moving party with pizza and beer and lots of our favorite people.

 Mom and Dad brought champagne to toast the new house and we all went to work. \

 It was so thoughtful.

 

When I say "moving" I really just mean taking things out of the house and putting them in the garage, empty rooms, a storage shed and trailers. The 5 days we had to move were basically being used to get some work and painting done in the house before we lived there.

 

We spent that first weekend out of our old home living with my parents because the paint smell was so strong. It was such a blessing to be there and such a peaceful time for me before living in the new house.

 Everything was out of the old house and I couldn't do anything yet in the new house so we just relaxed for one day.

 The weather was amazing.

The kids played and played outside.

It was so weird seeing our old house one last time with it all cleaned up and ready to hand over...completely empty.
 This is so boring to everyone else and the pictures on my phone are terrible, but, I really want to remember it.
And that day spent relaxing was perfect for me to rest and get ready to sing in Anna and Tyler's wedding that night.
 It was so fun!


Sunday was our first night in the new house.
We got beds set up and sheets on the bed and just slept there.
 It is amazing how once your family is there a new place feels like home immediately. We did our normal bedtime routine and the kids slept all night long the first night in their new rooms.

  We have been staying here for about a week and a half now. We are doing our best to chip away at what all needs to be done each day but progress is very slow. We have painters in here everyday so we are living around that. But, in a few weeks we will be able to get things in a more "liveable" and we can start to make some rooms feel complete.
 It is a fun but, slow adventure.
 I think the kids favorite thing is their new backyard. It is big and just a new place to explore. Kinley likes using our deck as a stage to put on shows and I can't wait to sit out there and watch them as the weather gets warmer.


Things are starting to take shape...we have a few rooms and ceilings done...I will definitely post more pictures as things start coming together.
 I love some good before and after shots.

But, overall, we are just trying to keep on living our normal routine and normal life and enjoy the process of making our new house a home. The absolute truth is, home is where my family is and I am loving our nights together here and just thinking of all the new memories we will create in this house. More to come....