New Home

I promised photos of our new home and here are a few. This is the view from the front door. This mobile home was built in the late 70s but it doesn't seem like it (outside of the kitchen) because most of the wood paneling is painted. Thankfully we didn't have that job to do. ;) I love the white walls in the living room and the three windows. We have never had new furniture in our life and we are OK with that. We make it our own by our art and photographs.

 
This view is looking toward the door from the picture above. We have a lot of books and so many book shelves. Ethan and I love being able to just get a book and sit and read in the living room now. This collection is mostly children's and classics.

Ha! My IKEA cabinet door is still off! There is a bracket that has to be ordered still since we stripped that one during our building process. But, it is great otherwise! Inside is all of my art supplies, Ethan's art supplies, and Ethan's school supplies. The laptop fits perfectly in the slide-out keyboard drawer in the computer desk. I am not use to such a small desk to work at and I was all over the place when I worked at the new space earlier in the week. But, I am sure it will do fine once I get use to it.

The view into the living room from the kitchen hallway.

The kitchen is really outdated but I don't seem to mind while in it. I am not including the photo of the 70s yellow/green stove to the left. ;) We added our IKEA kitchen racks to help with space and you are not going to believe it - we have extra room in this kitchen! Not sure how that happened. Ha! I guess we realized we don't need four sets of china! This kitchen doesn't have a dishwasher and for the first time since the third grade I am washing dishes by hand. All is well now though because my dear friend Sarah heard that my portable CD player broke in the move and bought me a new one. Now I listen to The Chronicles of Narnia radio broadcast by Focus on the Family and it is like listening to a movie! It is so wonderful and helps the time go by faster. It takes me a good hour to an hour and a half washing up after dinner.

I will have to share more soon. I just finished cleaning up the last room. I still have those three boxes to unpack and then I will be done. Have to do it tomorrow since Ethan's birthday is on Sunday!

Happy Birthday Ethan!

It was a blessed day! My little man turned three! We will be having his birthday party on Sunday with a vegan birthday cake from Whole Foods! So excited that Ethan will be having real cake this year!

For those who want to relive Ethan's journey into the world you can go here. Don't worry. It's not scary. Just super cute. ;)

Isn't He Sweet?

I can't wait to take more pictures of our home. Until then, here is a little teaser. Ethan loves the bookcases in the living room filled with books. He gathers a few and sits to read for quite some time.

Isn't he sweet?

Guido Rescue!

During the move we noticed another one of Ethan's cars was missing. When we asked him where he was he never came up with an answer... for about a week. Then, we heard him say that it was also in the stove! Oh no! Not another one. So, Dave got out the wire hanger again and "hooked" Ramone. I was glad to see him again. Then, we decided it would be a good idea to try and get Guido again. Dave used the flashlight to find him. Then he decided to use duct tape on the end of the hanger to "stick" to Guido. Yeah, that didn't work. Then when shining the light, Dave realized that there was another hole on the other end of the stove. So, he used the end of the hanger to flick Guido to the other side and sure enough - out he came!

See?! Guido is very happy to be rescued!

Moving Day!

Our first day moving we loaded up Dad's truck with mostly boxes. Ethan wanted to help Dave so much that he mostly sat at the window crying while we loaded. He was upset that "Dad" was up in the truck and he couldn't be. After every load Dave would put Ethan in the bed of the truck. Then, he was happy as could be.

This last picture Ethan is saying, "Cheese!"

Just One Of Those Days

Moving is always hard on children and even more so on toddlers. Ethan had a pretty hard time during the packing process. It was strange having boxes piling high in the hallways and rooms. His behavior was difficult too. For one of the sunny days we went out for a walk on our favorite gravel street in Lyons. Ethan started out good but then half way down the road he just stopped. Sat down and stayed there. I got a few shots of his negative attitude. It was funny when he started to tell me he was in time-out and not to take a picture of him. Man, he gets in time-out once in the nursery with a substitute teacher and he won't let it go!

My Little Piece Of Sunshine

I knew that I wanted my new living room to be clean, fresh, white, with black accents. But, I also wanted another accent color to bring life into the room. I wasn't sure that color that would be. We went to IKEA to buy some much needed items for our new home. One being curtains. Our new living room has three large windows in it and I didn't own three sets of curtains all the same style or size. IKEA had them for super inexpensive but they only came in three colors. One of the colors was a nice yellow. I hadn't thought of yellow, but it is very cheerful and great next to white.

Later that week, I was packing Ethan's room when I decided to wash his slip cover to his little rocker that Mom bought him at a garage sale after he was born. The chair had terrible fabric stapled to it and I just used a slip cover from Target right over it. I decided that nasty fabric should come off and then it dawned on me that I hadn't see what the original chair even looked like. So I ripped off the fabric (it wasn't too hard) and couldn't believe my eyes! There sat a vintage yellow rocker. I cleaned it up and decided if Dave liked it we were keeping it that way and adding it to our living room for that extra color we needed.

Dave was surprised (I think he thought it was a new garage sale find) and he loves it. Who doesn't? Everyone that comes over loves the little pop of color it brings to the room. ;)

I took these photos of Ethan in the chair the day after discovering it's original color!

Ethan Had The Right Idea

When I was offered my new job and this new home, we knew we had to try and stay a night here to see if Dave or Ethan were allergic to the place. So before we said yes we packed our suitcase for a night and camped out. We laughed joking that all we had to do is rub Dave's face in the carpet and we would know right away if he could live here. ;)

I gave Ethan his own suit case and told him he could pack anything he wanted . I left the room and heard several crashes! I went back in the room and this is what I found. Ethan tried to put every toy he owned (including his coat rack) into the bag. So funny!

Right Where We Belong

Well... this has been a very productive week. Dave called from work on Tuesday and said, "Well, I traded my vacation for this week! Wanna move tomorrow?" So I started packing the kitchen (which took the whole day) and we were ready to go! Wednesday through Friday we were going back and forth with Dad's truck moving. We did everything by ourselves and I have the bruises to show for it! ;)

Thursday was our first night in our new home even though we hadn't moved everything yet. After stubbing my toe three times on the same box I decided to start unpacking. It was the same night that Dave and I stayed up until 2:30am trying to build the IKEA cabinet for my art supplies. Let me say that building things together isn't marriage strengthening. You know, "Pray together, stay together." "Play together, stay together." You know them all. Building is not one of those things that you can do to strengthen your marriage. In fact, I learned something new that night. If we want to stay together to never build together. ;) We couldn't get those stubborn doors on. We built the whole cabinet together using a word-less instruction booklet with over 30 steps and couldn't get the doors on!

Friday night I stayed up until 1:30am (man, I need to find the batteries for our clocks) and finished most of the living room. Saturday, Dave had to go back to work for the day and then he was on his weekend. While Dave was at work, I finished Ethan's room and most of our bedroom. We had Josh, Becca, and Sarah come over to help with our stubborn doors. Josh wasn't here five minutes before he had all the doors installed. Sigh! Why did we risk our marriage when we could have just had our brother-in-law over to build it? Becca helped me unpack all my art supplies. Now our living room is done and beautifully cozy. But, if I can't find something in the cabinet, I am going to have to call Becca to tell me where it is!

Today has been a relaxing day. I didn't unpack one box! Dave and Dad went to pick up the washer and dryer while Ethan and I played outside. Ethan drove his big Tonka trucks and stomped in mud puddles. I started clearing the garden to get ready to transplant my perennials.

This house use to be my best friend, Joanne's home. In the front of her garden she had this beautiful Spanish lavender. Since she moved out, someone moved the lavender to the back of the house. So, when Dave told me that he invited Joanne and Eric to dinner I made sure I cleared the front of the garden. Then, I went out back and moved that lavender right back where it belongs.

How Much Is Much

It has been a productive week of packing and well... packing. While Dave is at work, I have been busy packing boxes. Then when the boys are asleep, I have been cleaning out the attic and packing some more. Now, the house is done and I have been twirling my thumbs for the last two days wondering what to do.

I got my Craft Warehouse assignment today and I got so distracted that I actually finished half of the assignment during Ethan's rest time. Of course, I packed some items that I needed to finish the job... sigh! Oh well. ;)

While we are working around the house we have been listening to The Narnia Series on CD. Sarah got us this for a gift. It is the most rewarding thing I have done in a long time. While I work, I am being touched by the stories and symbolism that C.S. Lewis wrote about. I had been working on reading The Horse and His Boy for three years now. I am so glad I finished it this week. So powerful. Becca and I have been gushing over it ever since.

Dave and Ethan have been fighting off something for the last two weeks. I am sure Ethan's behavior has a bit to do with this new transition too. We have had a casualty this week due to Ethan's strange mood swings. Poor Guido (from the movie Cars) was placed in a hole in the wood stove. Mind you, this hole leads to no where we can reach. Dave tried with a wire hanger with no luck. Now if we can just keep Ethan's fingers from going inside the hole yelling, "Guido! Where are you?!" Poor Guido. You never had a chance. From the first moment Ethan pushed you along you became an out cast. It's not your fault you are small and your wheels can't race. Sven gets rejected too. Probably because he is a politician...

Today Dave came home with Ethan wanting to play with him right away! So, they got out their soft swords. Dave and I bought these swords probably the first year we were married at the Lego Store. I am so glad that they get to play now and not me. Ethan swings at Dave while looking at me yelling, "Watch Mom!" Then I laugh and he says it again. Dave swings, turns, flips, and continues playing at the same time making sure he doesn't actually hit Ethan with the sword. Dave is very talented when it comes to doing Ninja moves while doing several things at once. Tonight, Ethan yelled, "Look at this big one Mom!" Then, he swung and smacked Dave right on the cheek and Dave fell on his back. It was so funny that I couldn't stop laughing. Then I cried. It hurt. Sigh, it was great!

This weekend is supposed to be nicer than next so we are taking advantage! Becca and I are going to paint the new house tomorrow, while dear Sarah watches Ethan. I love those girls. I am not sure what I would do without them. They not only are wonderful friends but the best workers I know. Then, Dave and I will be moving as much as we can this weekend.

Well, we will see how much is much...