Two months of hodge podge-y moving fun

Now that the holidays have come and gone, I can finally get around to sharing some photos I snapped during the slow move to our new house these last two months.  I tried to pull just a few to highlight the long drawn out process.  So I'll start back in early/mid November.  We would pack up a few boxes, just enough that would fit in the back of my mini van swagger wagon.  The dumplings played on the Wii one last time before we boxed it up.

The kids were eager to help, even if it was just moving puzzle boxes.

Since we rarely used our old dining room for eating but rather as my sewing room, Patrick wanted to convert the dining room in our new house to a play room.  I, on the other hand, was on the fence about what to do with that room, though our old dining room saw much more fabric than food, for sure.  Well wouldn't you know that on one of Patrick's first trips down the road to drop stuff off, he spied this air hockey table tossed to the curb.  He called me and said that if it was still laying there after he dropped off his load, he was going to grab it and put it in the dining room.    

So now the dining room is a play room.  This room also holds all the kids lego pieces that you saw them playing with on Christmas morning.  (Photography friends, it has two nice size windows plus a wall of mirrors to help light the space.  Plus, it is open to our well lit living/family room).

As soon as the boxes were emptied, we would head back to the old house and load it up again.  I had wanted to snap a shot of the dumplings in the back of the mini van (aren't they the most precious cargo), and of course, Madeline had to do her obligatory "I'm gonna pose myself by looking at my brother" shot.  She's too funny.

My sister and crew came for Thanksgiving.  So the kids got to work coloring in the pavers.  We actually stayed at the old house because that's where all the big furniture was located.  They were troopers.

As I unpacked boxes, the kids would watch shows on the iPad.  They would drag their anywhere chairs out front and chill.

Finally the first week of December, our friend Shail and his buddy Carlo loaded up the moving truck and hauled all our big stuff over.  They were amazing! And we're ever so thankful.

So one month later, our house still looks like we've just moved in.  No, it doesn't have tons of boxes piled high everywhere.  I'm thankful that we did it piecemeal because we have just a few boxes left that need rummaging through, and those are keeping watch over our guest bedroom.  But we have nothing hung on the walls because they still need painting.  And we're a long way off from having everything in its place.  Thankfully, though, the wall color is neutral.  So I can live with it until we get around to painting.  The only "room" painted so far has been the pantry.  And that's because the painters removed all the anchors from the wall to paint and left us with a completely non-functioning pantry!  We needed to patch all the holes and redo it so that we could actually put our food away! I'm happy to say that our food is no longer accessorizing the kitchen counters.

Although the kids now have a pseudo playroom, it doesn't hold all their toys.  They still have some they keep in their rooms.

Our school area is much more spacious than at our old house.  We're no longer schooling in the smallest guest bedroom.  Instead we are able to use the family room off the kitchen.  I love how bright this room is throughout the day, and I'm in love with its location!  I can fix snacks or lunch while keeping my eye on the kids during the day, and they can continue to work.  

We still need to organize the room so it functions well.  Right now it just has everything moved into the built in already there.  So we can function, just not well; it's a far cry from ideal.  And for my photography friends, I thought I would also let you know that there is a BIG bay window off to the left in these shots (the same window I used to light the dumplings when they had breakfast in the previous post) AND a big triple slider right behind me.  You can actually see that slider in the shot of Caleb a few images up.

Anyway, there you have it!  The reader's digest version of our move and a few intro shots of our new house. Although we've only been here one month, it's safe to say that we love living on a cul-de-sac!  The kids really enjoy playing with the young kids across  the street.  It's just like one big giant asphalt playground.  We've already endured more scrapes and bruises than I think we ever had at the old house all those years! lol.  But it's worth it.  And I'm in love with all the natural light throughout our home....like, in almost all of the rooms...not just one.  So you'll be seeing lots more of our "doing the daily" throughout the interior.  That makes this every day moment snapping mama happy.

Speaking of snapping, I've joined ProjectLife365.  Now, I don't think I'll be taking a photo every day.  But I wanted to push myself by using daily prompts to get my creative juices flowing.  I've been sharing those images on Instagram (username is lifewith2dumplings) .  But I'll be sharing some of those highlights here too.  AND I will also be working my way through an Everyday Photo checklist from Rebecca at Simple As That. I hope that 2013 also finds you looking for the beauty in those ordinary, everyday, "doing the daily" moments!