Weekend Explorations

Love when our family comes to town to give us an excuse to try and explore new things in Raleigh. Dad and Heather came to Raleigh to see the new digs, watch Addie's t-ball game, take Alli out to dinner for her birthday, and to have fun with their grandkids! 

We did all that plus play at Halifax park...

  eat lunch at the new Trophy restaurant downtown...

 check out the Brewgaloo festival...

 and check out State's campus in hopes of getting large cones of Howling Cow ice cream.

Success! A fun weekend exploring some cool things around town and enjoying time together.

Spring Sports

I loved that both the girls were trying new sports this Spring. Addie was clicking along with t-ball...

 

   

and Collins was doing a nice job with soccer.

I love that they were learning new skills and interacting with new people, but they weren't the only ones learning something new. Little brother was learning how to swing a bat...

and hug. :) Maybe the cutest thing ever.

The Big Time

In true boy form, Brian wanted a new big-screen TV to go with his new house. And since we only had one old TV in the other house, the rest of the family agreed. We all headed to Costco in search of a new one.

We found a nice one and after purchasing, Brian ran into a friend who Addie immediately told, "Now we have TWO TV's instead of one!" Talk about feeling pretty big time. :)

Our New Home

It was time to officially move in! Time to put furniture into place, set up our beds, finally stock the fridge, and live in our new home. And we could not have been more excited...just look how pretty the house looks in the spring!

I literally could not believe that this was going to be our new peony garden...

The movers showed up bright and early and put everything into place pretty quickly...

I had been dreaming for months about how to set up each room so it was thrilling to finally put things into place. And our first meal in the new house? Char-Grill of course. :)

Sara was so kind to give us this breakfast table that they were no longer using...it fit perfectly into the sunroom! Having a breakfast nook and bar seating was a big selling point to me. This house just gives us lots of good livable and functional space.

Our first night in the house was a joyful one. It was kind of like, "Do we really get to live here??" It almost seemed too good to be true. The kids went to sleep (in their own rooms!) without any problems, and Brian and I enjoyed a delicious steak and crab cake dinner out on the deck. The Rogers were very kind to leave us some crab cakes from their favorite seafood place in VA.

On Sunday, Collins had her first soccer game...

and then Mimi and Baba arrived! Our first visitors...

It is appropriate that Mimi has a garden tool in her hand in this pic because I'm pretty sure she and Baba did not stop working while they were at our house. They organized closets, unpacked boxes, pruned the garden, cooked dinner for us, etc. I was so grateful for all their help, but felt bad that we all didn't hang out and relax more. But turns out it is a ton of work to set up a house, and I couldn't have done it without them.

And this chair was a fun surprise...Baba brought it from her house because she no longer needed it. We promptly painted it white and slapped a piece of fabric on it Collins had in her craft closet and look how pretty it turned out! Turns out it was the perfect chair for my new desk...and I loved the fact that it was from Baba.

It didn't take long to feel settled and happy in this house. I hope that's a sign that we made the right decision.

After whipping the house into shape, Mimi and Baba headed back to Hickory, and we got ready to start a normal week in our new home.

Play Ball!

When the Crushing Cheetah's season officially got underway, Addie was ready. I thought she would be nervous and not want to play, but she surprised me and got out there and did what she was supposed to do. BUT there was a lot of convincing to get her to wear her uniform...but how cute was she when she finally agreed??

 

 Addie's first at-bat went well...she smacked the ball and ran the bases (sort of!).

 

 

Then it was time for the outfield...acing her stance. 

She was happy to be on a team with Tyler...

 

and was so darn cute sitting on that bench. :) 

 

Luke had fun too..

A good first game under her belt!

Work to be Done

Now that the unfun mess of packing up and saying goodbye was over, the real fun could begin...making this house our own!

The fact that our stuff was piled from the floor to the ceiling of our new family room was a little daunting, but there was no getting around it. We couldn't move anything upstairs until we painted and put in new carpet. But the upside was that the kids loved their new climbing challenge. :)

Time to get rid of the old green walls...

 and the thirty-year-old carpet...

and ta-da! The changes were transformative!

 

 

 Everything looked soft and clean and fresh. I was thrilled!

 

We all stayed with Donna and Marty the whole week which was extremely kind of them because we are a lot to take in! We produce a lot of dirty dishes, a lot of noise, and a lot of chaos. So while Donna and Marty were holding down family operations, I was able to come over to the new house during the day and after the kids went to bed to start the business of organizing and putting away. I worked till midnight almost every night, but I honestly could have gone longer. It was that much fun being in our new house and organizing closets and cabinets exactly the way I wanted them. 

I worked in the yard...look at the snowball bush that was blooming!

 And even took pleasure in organizing the shed. I loved making the space our own...

 The kids had fun with their grandparents...

and finally Saturday morning arrived. After a long week, it was time for the movers to come back and move all the big items upstairs. The moment we had been waiting for all these months had finally come- time to finally move in and live at our new home!