It's starting to feel a little more real now...

The move, I mean. Now that the house is sold and emptied of our things I can now officially (and legally) not go there anymore and spend the night.
There is no reason to browse the home aisles at stores in hopes of finding an adorable little holiday-what-not for my house at a fabulous price. It's a strange feeling; not having a home but not being homeless. I still feel uncomfortable inviting over friends to a place that is not mine. Making dinner with pots and pans that I didn't choose, with food I bought but is in someone else's fridge. Unsettling.

Gage started school last week, and it seems that he will be alright. We don't know one other person in his class but he has not come home crying yet and he likes picking his own food for lunch in the cafeteria. On Friday the dessert was donuts and the little rascal admitted later that he ate that first. Yeah, well, me too.
The first day he got off the bus, I was trying to be cheerful and encouraging, you know... really peppy... "How was it?" I had to swallow hard when he said, "I miss Nate." Me too.

I have to remember though, when we started kindergarten last year we only knew 2 other children, and by the end of the year we knew all the classmates first and last names and I knew most of their parents. I felt like it was a place where we could spend our lives and that place could be the "village that raised our children" and that was only after about a year.

I think it will only be a matter of time before we feel the same way about this place. I know many of the adults from church or rather remember them from my own growing-up (I'm still deciding if this is a good or bad thing because I am unsure of how they remember me). We've already got the kids signed up for soccer and dance and gymnastics, and I hope we'll have a few friends before too long.

I'm still really looking forward to the days when I can ask the kids what colors they'd like for their rooms and I can look at the Pottery Barn catalog with the intention of actually ordering something. We would start today if the golf course would hurry and finish the road... and if we had a few hundred thousand dollars. Ugh. Details.

In the meantime, everything I see, everything I watch- I am taking mental notes. Colors, shapes, sizes, windows, plants, patterns, textures, prices; everything is a jumbled mess of ideas in my head. Have you seen the handrail from the movie Mr. & Mrs. Smith? Or how about the gorgeous Georgian-esque mansion on the front of Shannon Hale's Austenland. (Read it, it's good, by the way.) Driving to school, I saw a white 3-plank fence dripping with brilliant yellow bush-roses. They're the wild-looking kind that have slightly darker, smaller foliage than cutting roses. So sweet.
I cannot wait to plant a few of my own.

I feel like I'm ruining a fabulous surprise!!

I'm using the family picture from the header as my Christmas card photo (which, yes, I have already ordered and am anxiously awaiting) and I didn't want to spill the beans but how can I not show off these little lovelies:Krew's one year old (almost) portraits. Saw this edit online. Loved.
My gorgeous girlies.

My melt-my-heart boys.

It's a good thing Jen comes to visit so I can put her to work! Thanks a million!!

Goodbye to the house where we spent 2 Christmases.

Jocelyn wanted a picture with our house. She will miss her pink room.
We sold our house.

I can't really believe it yet...
Let move #14 begin!! And then be over as soon as possible!!
Tony and I went up and back three times in the last four days to pack/clean the house and shop. If I never drive again that will be fine with me. Or pick up a box. (And how is it he gets to ride by himself and listen to the radio while I have four kids all SCREAMing? Riddle me that.)

We sold it to a man from our ward who was going through a divorce. It was actually kindof a sneaky covert operation (he didn't want us telling anyone) and I know for a fact his wife wanted our house because we used to do a preschool carpool together. So he moved in, and then when we showed up on Sunday morning to clean, she was moving in, and he was moving out. It is awkward and strained to say the least.
I was feeling kindof sad about the whole deal because the price wasn't near what we'd hoped and I wanted a happy family living in the house that I had loved so much. But when I was up there and saw how many houses are still for sale and how much people in our line of work are still suffering, I realized truly how lucky and blessed we were to sell at all. At any price.
So I think we'll count our blessing and be thankful this is the path for us. It will take us awhile to get back on our feet, but this is a big step in the right direction.
I already have a notebook full of clippings and articles and drawings and ideas for the next house. Tony keeps rolling his eyes and letting me dream, cuz he doesn't know yet that I'm making him build me another.