um thanksgiving, christmas, new years? oh and we moved in!

well well well... almost 4 months exactly since the last post.  go figure.  lots o' changes.  lots o' going on in our world.

let's start at the beginning.
we took family pictures after Seth's 1st birthday.  Literally the day after.  Beautiful fall day, leaves and light were amazing in the back ground.

then we moved.  signed the paperwork that Friday before thanksgiving and started the moving process that very next day (putting up blinds, installing towel bars, toilet paper holders - you know the absolute necessities!)
it was a whirlwind for sure moving again, but the great thing (as i was reminded by my sister) was that everything was already packed up.  we just had to move it.  no going through stuff - deciding if it should go with us or not...just pick up the box and go.  frankly that was refreshing...  i think it moved a lot smoother...and of course that would be the case!

we took thanksgiving off from moving and had a wonderful and relaxing day at my sister-in-laws.  everyone brought something and it was a great day to let the kids play and be loud and crazy and for the adults to relax and visit about everything!

the very next day, "black Friday", we started at it again and the professional movers came to help with the heavy furniture.  i think my husband was really relieved i just called and set this up.  he and my dad had moved a lot of boxes/totes/everything from Monday through Wednesday and i think he was glad he wouldn't have to do the bed(s), dressers, etc.  he'd never admit, but we all know it's the truth!

first night for us was that Friday - it was weird sleeping here.  new sounds, new smells, new walls to run into in the middle of the night.  'where's that light switch again?'  the boys' first night was that saturday.  i think they were excited.  they seemed to like it and be happy to have room to move around.  I KNOW Seth was happy to be able to wander around freely.  i think the first week he just followed me around and did laps...he would be exhausted in the evenings from all his exercise.
Most everything is unpacked.  all the rooms are pretty 'put away'.  a couple of the closets need some help and the garage is an absolute mess, but it's been so darn cold that we didn't really want to spend too much time out there organizing.

had a couple of weeks prior to Christmas.. OK maybe three...seemed to fly after thanksgiving though.  i had the last two weeks of December off for the kids being out of school.  it was good that i did.  everyone threw up.  coughed up. snot nosed.  bloody nose.  there wasn't a fluid we didn't see or touch and nothing we didn't have to clean up.  oh well.  it wasn't that bad...OK maybe one day it was bad.  i was pretty stressed about all the puking.  so bad that i had a tension headache... pretty painful.  hope that doesn't happen again.  i'm sure it will...ha ha!

Celebrated with the in-law side a week prior to Christmas.  It was a nice, relaxing day as well... kids got to play and adults got to visit and rest.  And we had that Sunday to rest up before sleeping in on that Monday.  ha ha!  Well Curt did anyway.

Celebrated Christmas day with just us in the morning - the boys were up at 545am.  I assumed they would be.  One day they won't.  And I'll be sad about it.  So i'll take the early risers on that special day.  The boys got simple stuff from Santa this year.  Bikes, lots of books, a stuffed crab and a new blanket.  I thought it was a pretty good Christmas.  We spent the rest of the day at my parents' house.  It seemed to go well.  The boys had a great day.  My sister did not.  She left early, sick; ended up being really sick that night and Collin too.  Ashley never got it.  But the next night my dad and brother ended up with it.  Then Noah I think got it maybe a little bit?  Then Seth over the New Years holiday.  It was quite a couple of weeks.

Everyone is better now.  I think I cross my fingers everyday to hope for health.  Not much else matters right?

Wilson Dream Home - update

there have been so many changes to the Wilson Dream Home since I last posted.  Practically everything is complete... All inside paint is done, all stone work and tile are done.  All cabinets are set / painted / doors put back on.  We are waiting on some final drawers/doors to be painted for the kitchen, the hardwood floors to be put in and carpet on living room floor and stairs.  All lighting is ready to be installed, the finishing up of the light switches and electrical outlets...the faucets can be installed as all granite is installed and looks amazing...!

Its really coming along and surprisingly close to be completely done!  I don't know what we are going to do with ourselves in the evenings when we "don't have a house to go look at and check on"...might just have to find another activity...'unpack'...!

moving on...

 well we've moved...officially, mentally, financially, physically...any other "ally" you want to thrown in there...

it was a whirlwind no doubt... sad...emotional...wearing...draining... depressing huh?

the boys did great- got to spend loads of time with both sets up grandparents...4th of July happened in there somewhere and that was enjoyable with firecrackers and sparklers and loads of running around with the cousins...

some pictures of the adventure...

last pic of boys at old house... so big!  don't they look thrilled?

last family pic in front of old house... we look pretty good i think :)

it sure did...

our new 'basement' storage area... is it weird i know where everything is?

our lovely storage unit... jammed full!

garage poured... pretty cool...it seemed really big walking on it....

starting to frame it all in... stairs are right there...boys room is to the bottom right...

front view of framing starting... that wall is for the garage

yesterdays (7/14) status... you can see garage is almost framed completely, front door and then seth's bedroom windows (far right)... we also have the far kitchen wall (back left) and start of the living room with windows...pretty exciting

its been awesome to see the progress...i think the boys now are more excited to go see "the lot" every night to see the changes... they were getting kind of bored with dirt and concrete, but this "house shape" is pretty exciting to them... it's just amazing to see what the crews can accomplish in one day... between the 'front view' picture and this one above is just one day!

more to come... curt has been taking a picture from the same spot (out in the middle of the cul-d-sac) every single day...it'll be so cool to put that on a movie reel and 'watch' our house grow in slow motion!

exciting times 'wilsondreamhome2014'

So we went to see a house a few months back... driving home from a Saturday soccer game... Curt says to me 'hey let's go check this house out...'  I said 'sure!'... we love to do that together...some couples like going to movies, some to baseball games... we like to go look at houses...nevermind if they are lock-box tight - we'll find a way and aren't too proud to smoosh our faces to the windows to see what we can see.... well boy did we see...

Fortunately (or unfortunately depending on your viewpoint) the back sliding glass door was open... it was like a sign...the stars aligned... the choir from heaven sang out... I walked in and basically said "Oh my God!"...I fell in love, quite literally.  It had e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g. we have ever wanted in a home... dark hard wood floors, open floor plan...tons o' natural light... deck (covered with a ceiling fan!)...large yard for room to run and get a jungle gym for uno, dos & tres... giant (like a bedroom sized) walk-in pantry... laundry room equal in size...dramatic fireplace and open entry way....large bedrooms... large walk in closet in master... walk in shower in master... and for curt "3 CAR GARAGE"... finished basement with extra unfinished storage space... are you drooling yet?  yeah me too... the place is a dream... i mean i couldn't check off all the check boxes in my head fast enough... e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g i have ever wanted in a house... and then there in the back of the room... i hear a whisper..."kate", "kate...do you know how much this is?"... i wake from my intoxicated house dream... "what?" i ask... "do you know how much this house is?"...i reply "no clue, probably out of our realm"... and curt then proceeds to say "no kate...we can do this...we can totally do this..."... i laugh...and start heading back to the van - praying that uno and dos are still buckled and not climbing out to see where we disappeared to...

so we talk about it... a lot... like anytime there is a moment of silence...when the boys are sleeping...when they are awake... probably even when i am sleeping... "Curt are you sure we can do this?"... well... we decided to go ahead and jump... fast forward to today... we've sold our current home, signed up for a duplex to rent until the dream home is built (couldn't buy the existing one as it was sold...) and are in the process of packing up 8years worth of memories and life with now three children (er four children ;))

We have our lot picked out... we've (i've) been waiting what seems like an eternity to see some stakes on the ground to prove that we are actually moving forward with this and it wasn't all a dream - a dream that i may have sold my house and now have no where to raise my children... but no - it's moving... a steam train that is gaining speed and force with every day until it finally gets to its destination in December...what's that?  move again in December... during Peak!?  i know i know... i am crazy... peak season is hard... it's lonely....it's stressful... but darn it those people need those amazon orders...and i will finally be in my dream home... so it'll all be okay...  here's the start of something amazing for the wilson gang...

do you see the pretty pink flowers? (er' stakes!)