We're Here!!

We are in our new house! Today was a very busy and tiring day but so full of blessings. I can't tell you how much I've appreciated our friends and family this week, it's been filled with many people willing to help us. There were 5 women who came to help me clean the house, another two helped me set up most of the kitchen before we moved, my Mother-in-law looked after the kids, helped with cleaning, and fed our family and moving crew, a friend took Bethany a couple of times so I could get things done, that same friend brought meals today (made the other part of lunch for the moving crew and spoiled us with supper), friends from Iowa came out to help us move (they did happen to be in the province but not close enough the we expected them to come!) and we received many texts from friends who were wishing they could be here but circumstances just didn't allow it. It's very overwhelming to see that kind of support and excitement for something that is exciting for us. I was moved to tears a few times today!

The kids were so excited last night they hardly slept. They were at Ron's parents for the night so Ron & I could get some last-minute packing done which means we didn't deal with their lack of sleep, unfortunately that was left for Grandma and Grandpa. I think they had about 6 hours of sleep. Nathan and Larissa helped all day today, I think they had their rooms all set up before the boxes were all moved! Bethany played at her cousin's house all day, she's four as well and they're basically inseparable so Bethy was happy as a clam to not be part of the moving. When she got to the house she was thrilled to see things set up and wasn't upset at all that she hadn't been a part of it. She said, "Mom, I'm so comfortable in this house!" Larissa fell asleep before we left her room after we tucked her in! Bethany took a bit longer, she always does, and Nathan was having some anxiety about the whole thing, but he and Ron had some good father/son time that he relaxed enough to fall asleep by 9:30. We're just hoping they sleep in tomorrow!

Ron and I are tired and are looking forward to sleeping in our new room as well, although Ron's not sure how he'll sleep with an orange wall by his head! I am hoping to post pictures in the next couple of days. I didn't get many of the move today, there weren't many opportunities!, but I will hopefully get some of the semi-finished moved-in pictures up soon.

We can't say THANK YOU enough to all those who have helped in the past few months and especially in the last few weeks. We feel very honoured to call you friends and family!

Thanks to all of you for your support, encouragement and shared excitment during this journey! I'm off to bed!

Family Pictures

Ron's parents celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary a couple of weeks ago. We had a friend of ours (Alyssa Raeanne Photography) take family pictures of the whole family, then we had pictures taken of just our family too. Here are the results!

You can't take a picture of a (mostly) farming family without a tractor!

Our family

I'd like to post more pictures, however I'm having a few problems getting more pictures to load. The colours were beautiful that day and it was 25 C (75 F), it was a perfect fall day!

Lights, Camera, Kitchen!

We are nearing our move date, that's plain to see, cuz our house has been a hub of activity. The lights are installed, most of the trim is on, the flooring is in and the cabinets are on. The mudroom is finished, the kids love their lockers, they've chosen their spots, they're so excited they're bonkers! Now I'll stop this corny rhyme, not sure what got into me. Here are the pictures so the work results you can see.

Here is the unfinished kitchen. The countertops along the wall still need to be secured, glass doors need to be installed and there will be open shelving beside the window. The appliances arrive Wednesday.



The desk area still needs a shelf installed under the upper cabinets. The hardware also needs to be installed on all the fronts except the island.

The living room lights. Have I mentioned I'm looking forward to having the scaffolding out of the living room?

The lockers in the mudroom. You can see a sweater in one of them already! The kids climb into their chosen ones first and then dump their sweaters or jackets in it. We need hooks for them, at least, I'm hoping the hooks will encourage the kids to hang up their stuff!

The railing on the veranda was installed this week too. This now completes the work on the outside of the house, except for the stonework that will happen next spring.

The kitchen should be finished by Monday or Tuesday. Sinks, toilets and faucets are being installed this week and hopefully our interior doors will be ready too. There is also a bunch of "small stuff" that has to happen in the next couple of weeks (closets, towel bars, etc). When I think of the to-do list it feels quite long still but I'm told most of it will happen quickly.

It's been suggested that a Pampered Chef party would be a great way to break in the kitchen, I might have to look into that!!

Pumpkin Patch Fun

Last weekend we went to the local Pumpkin Patch with 2 other families and an adopted "Aunt" & "Uncle" for all of our kids. The kids had a blast! There was a train ride, wagon ride, pumpkin sling shot, corn gun, zip line, duck race, petting zoo, tricycle races, haunted house, corn trail, as well as bales to run around on and a pretend cow to milk. I could be missing some activities. Who wouldn't love this place?!

Little poser!

Going down the zip line! (Bethy's waiting for her turn in the background)

Let the duck race begin!

Pumpkin sling shot.

They shot little pumpkins into a target. This one was shot by Larissa (with a little help from Dad), it bounced and hit the bullseye. She got to take two extra shots and a whole lotta pride!

How many girls does it take to milk a cow?

We ended the day with a bbq supper and a play at the local school playground. It was a fantastic day, one that needs to be repeated next year!

Living in Colour!

Well, one thing you can't say about our house is that it's in the modern, monochromatic scheme of things! The painting was finished last week and it looks fantastic! Our painter, Jeannie, kept commenting on how interesting our house was without paint and now it was even more interesting. Not "interesting" but truly, genuinely interesting. Someone had walked through our house last week and Jeannie asked him what he thought of the colour and he said that it wouldn't be something he would choose. She looked at him and said, "That's okay, you're not the one living here!" She herself was trying to figure out where she could paint some of the colours in her own house. Ron's still trying to get used to some of the colours so I keep telling him that once cabinets are on and furniture is in it won't be nearly as overwhelming as looking at just the walls with nothing but colour on them. I'm making it sound like it's maybe something we shouldn't have done but that's not how I feel at all, I love it! Here are the pictures!

This is the view from the kitchen, into the great room and the hallway in the background. I think from anywhere in the house you can see at least 3 colours at one time. I'm not sure how well the colours show on the screen but you are seeing yellow, green and brown. Sorry, I don't know the "colour names" for each one! I can hardly wait to replace that scaffolding with furniture.

This is the dining area. The bay window is a darker colour from the rest of the walls, it's not an optical illusion! The kitchen island is a barn board painted the same colour as the bay window area.

This is our master bedroom. Unfortunately natural north lighting doesn't make for great pictures so everything looks a little off. Three of the walls are a dark grey colour and yes, that is orange you see on the wall! 

I don't remember if I've posted a picture of the girls room all painted so I'll post one. Again, the natural light and my camera do not work together very well.

The basement is also coming along quite nicely. We decided to put up all the walls down there and finish the bathroom. We won't mud/tape/paint except for the bathroom and flooring will not go down right away either. We have scraps of carpet that have been kindly donated for the time being and with the floor being heated it shouldn't be too uncomfortable down there. Here's a look at one side of the basement. The laundry/storage room is on the left, the main area is where Nathan and his friends can shoot the hockey puck around and wrestle till they cry! The tv will be well protected on the other side of the stairs where there is a wall blocking the action!

Now is the start of the finishing! The floors are going in this week, the carpet and vinyl are in and the planking is well on it's way. The trim, doors, beams, steps from the garage, lighting, finishing electrical, furnace, hrv, central vac, and plumbing fixtures (I'm sure I've forgotten something) are all going in in the next two and a half weeks. The cabinets come next week! The end is in sight! We are hoping to move in a couple of weeks, it's so hard to believe it's here already. I'm in packing panic mode but I don't really have much to pack right now. I've already packed up the things that we don't use often or can do without for a few weeks (games, photo albums, etc) so I'm at a standstill for right now but I have panicky moments that I should be doing more. I'm also trying to paint a dresser for the girls' room but I'm finding it hard to make time for that. It really won't take long but little things are seeming to add up these days! Anyone want to come help me clean.... ;)