Our Soon To Be New Home!

We have been searching for a house to call our own.... When we moved to Richmond 2.5 years ago, we only rented, not being sure how long we would be here. It is now pretty clear that we will be here indefinitely so we are happy to buy a house!! For the first time in our lives, we had time to find a house- we didn't need to find a house in a weekend- how freeing!! We have looked and looked and looked. Finally this house fell into our price bracket! It ticked just about every box on our wishlist- excellent neighborhood, garage, cul-de-sac, 4 bedrooms, playroom, and has great bones- just needs updating and landscaping! The best part- it was a regular sale!! In our price point, most houses are short-sales which can take up to 6mo to be completed!!

The outside- the driveway is huge and needed to be weeded and eventually paved

Family room- doors lead to a sunroom which is off a deck (sorry, no outside pics now- I forgot to take them!)

There is a woodburning fireplace in the family room- the front door is to the left.

Huge kitchen! The front door is to the right and the open door you see is in the garage. Where I am standing is where our kitchen table will fit. I think we will put on new hardware and hinges and put in a new counter top and this kitchen will be welcomed into the 21st century!!

This is the formal dining room which is right off the front door where I am standing and the entrance to the kitchen is to the left. We are going to make this the playroom. There is a set of French doors that we will put up and be able to enclose the playroom so you don't have to see the mess- perfection!!

Upstairs are 3 bedrooms- the master- I like to think of it is primed for my painting....

What a HUGE master closet!

Master bathroom- new vanity and toilet- just needs paint on the walls!

Looking down the hall from the Master and the top of the stairs. Addie's room is to the right, to the left just outside of view is the kid's bathroom and huge hall closet. The doorway you can see on the left is Alden's room with the office/guest room at the end. The hallway is a nice tan- just need to paint the trim white!

Kids' bathroom- love the new toilet and vanity! Al will re tile the floors soon.

Addie's room- huge closet and cute little shelves! There is also a door for the walk-up attic here!

Alden's room- his bunk beds will go on the wall you can see. Both kids love the new brown carpet that is everywhere!

This is Al's office and guest room- super cute and plenty of room!

The backyard is plenty big just a bit steep in sections. There is room for the swingset- my biggest criteria! I'll take more pics and hope to show you a transformed house soon! We hope to move Memorial Day weekend!!

Spring Break 2012

This year we decided to have a Staycation for Spring Break- and it has been fantastic! Our focus was to spend time with friends- and what a blessing it was!

Monday- we spent the day with our good friends who have a sweet almost 3yr old and 2mo old twins. We bought material for matching dresses for the girls, had lunch at CFA, and then lots of playtime in the backyard!

Ava and Addie "resting" during rest time.....

And then there was lots of time to hold, feed, burp and just soak in the sweetness of each baby! Sweet Isla is such a mild little lady!

Rush is such a sturdy little man already- love it!

Tuesday- we met up with our dear friends the Symons who have recently moved to No. Va from DE!! The empty Target buggy returns make excellent jungle gyms!!

Our sweet little monkies- they all still get along beautifully (most of the time) and are still the best of friends!

Looking for the cat that fishes- couldn't find it....

That evening, they spent the last of their Grandparent Money and went to Sweet Frog- a yummy frozen yogurt place! It was chilly but still lots of fun!

Wednesday we just relaxed at home- Ava and her sweet twins did come over and play for a bit- but while we waited for them to come, the kids played outside and then since it was freeeeeezing cold, they warmed-up with hot coco!

Thursday- we had friends that I used to teacher with come over- and their brood of boys! We were so busy playing and talking, that I totally forgot to snap some pics! Then at naptime, I went to our new house (more on that in the next post) as it was being inspected. The kids were thrilled that our friend Mrs. Karen allowed them to nap at her house- thanks, Karen!!

Friday- we drove to Chester and picked up Addie's friend, Lainey, and then hit the park! There we met up with Valarie and her sweet kids (remember them from Easter?) and my friend Katie and her sweet girls. The kids played hard for 3 hours and had a blast!

Addie and Ella on the jumpy see-saw...

Alden and Colten being 100% boys and loving standing in the middle of the jumpy see-saw!

All the kids- Val's girls were tired and had headed home.... Some day Alden is going to look back and realize how good he had it!!

Checking out the floating logs and looking for shells....

They all needed to walk on top of the wall back to the parking lot....

That evening we went to our city's baseball game- and I left my phone/camera at home! The kids loved the game- and we loved that 2 of the tickets were free thanks to a reading program Addie's school ran! Even though our team didn't win, the fireworks at the end were amazing!

It's been an amazing break- full of time with friends and family. We are truly blessed!!

Easter 2012

Easter marked the beginning of Spring Break and for the first time in forever, we remained at home! But the best part is that the kids really "got" what Easter is all about. Addie has been heard talking about Easter to Alden and her dolls- "What is the real meaning of Easter- chocolate or Jesus dying and rising from the dead? Jesus of course!!" It is super sweet seeing how what we are teaching them is taking root in their hearts!

Easter morning- happy to find simple Easter Baskets! Money sent from Grandparents was to be spent on fun activities- thank you Grandparents!!

For breakfast- chocolate bunnies!!

Attempting to get a cute pic of them together....

My beautiful little lady!

My handsome little dude!

After church and naps, we headed over to my friend Val's parent's house- there we had 9 children!! Thankfully they all played super sweetly together and were considerate of others during the huge egg hunt!

Alden was in his element!

Addie had a blast!

It was a great Easter and full of friends, happy memories and plenty of time to reflect on the true meaning of Easter and the difference it makes!

Catching Up with Life...

Life has gotten super busy.... Here are some of the many things we have been up to...

The S family moved closer to us- so we celebrated G and A's birthdays, which are 2 days apart, with them!! They picked right up from where they left off last summer- such sweet friends!!

Another family that we are friends with also moved closer to us- we had the privilege of having the twins come and play for the day- Addie was in heaven!!

Alden's project for school- it had to be about weather- and his teacher said to be creative. She laughed when she saw his- The Day It Snowed Jellybeans!

A dear friend recently had twins- we went over one day after school and got to play with them and their older sister!

Al had a comical job he had to oversee in DC over a weekend- so we tagged along! The indoor, heated pool was a huge hit- we swam twice!

After Al's job was done, we took in some sights....

Yes, we are awesome parents- our kids have touched the moon! We also went to Natural History and they saw dinosaur bones and a tarantula eat a live cricket. It was beyond crowded so we left and visited Ikea instead!

A quick snapsnot with the capitol and proof that I was there, too!

And this is what happens when kids swim in the morning, walk all over DC, and then play hard at Ikea's kid playroom- sacked out!

We host a Community Group (ie Bible Study) for our church. One night all the men were going to be gone- so we decided to do something fun- dye eggs! It was great- 9 sets of dye, 7 children and 4 mom's!!

On Good Friday, the schools were closed for the kids, but teachers had to work. It actually worked out great as a childhood friend and her sweet family were passing through- and literally were going to be driving right past the amazing park that is right by my school! The kids had a blast together- aren't they too adorable for words??

Saturday we met up with a friend of mine that I had taught with. Her daughter and Addie adore each other- and Alden likes tagging along with them! We visited a local park that also has a petting zoo.

Unique to this zoo is that they have a bear- not a part of the petting portion. The kids thought the statue of him was pretty cool to climb on!

Also in this park is a large Japanese garden complete with a Koi pond!

The man-made waterfall was cool- my kids wanted to climb all over it...

See? We have been super busy living the amazing life God has given us! It is full of friends, happy memories, and lots of adventures! We are blessed!! And the best part- today is the first day of our official Spring Break!!