Safety First

Sadi was chosen to be on the Safety Patrol at school.  So for the past few weeks she has been getting to school early and staying late to keep all those kids and parents safe.  Watch out for this little patroller who has a badge and is not afraid to use it!

Settling In

August 30, 2017 we were handed the keys to our new house.

Our new house  is located on Riverside Drive, just a little over 7 miles from our first home.  

The layout of our new house:

Walking through a new door, to an empty house, with bare walls to imagine yourself living here is a weird feeling.

Our new kitchen, with so many cupboards I'm not sure how many times I have moved things around.

With so many rooms to fill...

 

  

 

 

I'm sure to have "loads" of fun in this room...

And a whole second living area, with another kitchen!

A 3 car tandem garage, that filled up so quickly I'm not sure how we ever fit everything into our 2 car garage before.

Our backyard is a blank space, with endless possibilities.

 

Our lot backs up to the Carson River and so we will never have neighbors behind us which I LOVE!  And the views are pretty amazing.

Our property goes well beyond the fence and so we have an access gate leading out to a path that takes us to the river.

We are slowly getting settled in, and working hard to make this house into a HOME.

Moving Weekend

Labor Day weekend was real labor at our house.  Saturday Sadi and I boxed up the last few things we wouldn't be needing until after we were moved.

The boys worked on cleaning up the yard, and doing some trash runs to the dump along with taking a few odd items to the new house.

Apparently I forgot anyone needed to eat during the day so it was a gas station dinner on the floor for the kids.   Not sure Matt and I actually ate that day?

I had this great idea to bake the last of the cookies from our freezer the last night we were in our house.  I thought I had left out everything I needed to  complete the job.  Pans = yes, hot pads =yes, spatula = PACKED IN A BOX.  Luckily I was able to round up a plastic knife to get them off.

We picked up this beast of a U-haul after major delay because they lost our reservation!  We got up early on Sunday morning and started loading.

We moved all day just the 4 of us, furniture and all!  It was exhausting! 

Sadi LOVED riding in the U-haul truck, and wanted to keep it.

We ran into a few glitches that put us back (water would not turn off to the washer) but it was amazing that we did it all and were moved by 9 p.m.  We were too tired to even think about unpacking anything like dishes so we made a quick trip to Jack in the box for some dinner.  Really wish they had got our order right the first time because they messed up and forgot Sadi's food.  So exhausted I drove back to pick it up.  In the end all happy faces.

We put our bed together and let the kids sleep on their mattresses on the floor.  First night in our new home in the books!

IN THIS HOME

OUR FIRST HOME

909 NICOLE STREET

I will soon have slept in this house for the last time.  I will soon usher my family out it's door.  I will for the last time lock the door.  I will for the last time sit in the driveway.  We will for the last time drive away from this our first home.

IN THIS HOME:

we became grown-ups with a mortgage

brought home 2 new babies

painted, painted, painted

went from cribs to beds

bought our first lawnmower

used that lawnmower over and over

planted a garden

family came to visit

friends came to visit

13 Christmas's

we had birthday parties

we had holiday parties

we had illness

we had health

we had happiness

there were tears of joy

there were tears of sadness

there were tears of anger

we experienced home repairs

we experienced home remodeling

we buried our dog in the backyard

Oldest graduated high school and left for college

Little's started school

friends were made

laughter was found

joy was had

a family grew

Thank you first home.  I know at times I complained about you.  As we pack up, and remove things from your walls I realize how truly special you have been to us.  I will miss your rooms, and all the memories we made in each one.  I will miss the blood, sweat, and tears we put into making you our home. 

I will miss you.

A New Start

Although we had a longer than normal summer this year, it still went by way too quickly for me.  All too soon amidst the packing chaos it was time to go back to school.  Both kids starting new schools this year, it was going to be a new start for all of us.  Chase started middle school, and is attending Dayton Intermediate school.

They had a back to school night before the first day of school to walk the halls, find your classes, and open your locker.  He tried and tried that locker combo with no luck.  We thought it was user error, but neither Matt or I could open it either.  A few days after school started they finally figured out they had given him the wrong locker combination.

He was excited to wake up early that first day of school and get to school to meet up with friends.

  

Since we had just closed on our new home the night before school started and hadn't moved yet, he rode the bus to school.  It was uncool for me to hang out at the bus stop with him so I casually drank my coffee in the driveway until he got on.  He told me later that day he thought it was weird that some of the kids who rode his bus had beards (they ride with the high school).  Made me laugh.

Sadi really was going to have a new start this year.  Just one day before school started they posted their class lists outside the school.  She found her name under her new teacher's list, Ms. Dutcher.

I think I was more nervous than her for her first day.  They had no back to school night, and we didn't know a single person's name on that list....teacher's or students! 

She started her 5th grade year at Dayton Elementary School, home to the Bobcats.  She was excited, I was a wreck.

We made her teacher a little first day of school treat.

Their school had a rule that no one was allowed into the school before the bell rang for kids to line up, and then parents were to leave campus.  I totally broke those rules.  There was no way I was leaving my baby on the playground full of strangers not knowing where her class was.  Her teacher was fine with me breaking the rules and getting that first day of school picture.

 I think had I not been so ridiculously busy that day I would have worried/stressed about her all day (Was she fitting in? Was she making friends? Was she feeling sad/mad about the move?).  I was so relieved when I went to pick her up and I saw her getting a hug from another student.  Best part of the day when she told me "I'm so proud of myself,  I made a friend today".  She has really been maturing, and surprising me with how she is handling this change.