Moving time - again - and now we are in!

Yes, I counted - this change-of-address makes 13 times that Jim and I have moved in our 16 years of marriage. Yes, we are exhausted. Yes, we still have too much 'stuff' (even though we keep trying to get rid of things!). And Yes, we are really happy about the new house and location!! It was an incredible, last-minute provision to find this place after months of looking (we knew our lease on the Hooper St house was finishing and the landlord was planning to sell the house, so we needed to find something else). It is just a mile from our previous house, and still next to sidewalks (very unusual to find around here) and close to downtown Sylva and all our favorite daily life spots, like church, parks, pre-school, and some neighbors. In the end, it was a friend of a friend of Hawk's social worker at Social Services who heard about this house (and it wasn't even listed for rent yet), and the first house we saw that was still in Sylva and at nearly the same price. Plus the house has been taken good care of, and is clean, spacious, and with a safe yard for the boys. We have signed a month-to-month lease. Since that is open-ended, it gives us the flexibility and freedom to be able to move out when we are ready without having to be locked into a year lease. And hopefully the owner won't end our lease before we are ready to go...

So - here's to the hope and uncertainty of being ready to move to the next phase of life after Sylva, whenever that may come about! Unknowns and hope go together, don't they? As do unknowns and fear. But we are slowly learning to lean into the hope, and not get gripped by the fear.

a view of the back door which leads into the kitchen

The house is about 100 years old, and was originally built by a family who owned a car dealership on their property, which is just below the house and on Main St. The house sits above that building and parking lot, though after the dealership closed, other businesses have rented the space. It's currently vacant as the brewery/restaurant that has been there is just closing.

Here are some shots from walking around the Crescent (the house is on a crescent road which curves around from Main St). There are only 4-5 houses on our street, and then the Masonic Lodge and a large warehouse/business.

at one end of the Crescent; the white building beyond is the old car dealership

view along the street; our house is at the bottom of the hill but you can't see it from this angle

the view directly across from us is the cement factory - perfect for boys' entertainment!

Going back... the craziness of the week before the move! Phew!!! Jim had just returned from Cape Town, so we were spending our evenings organizing and packing, but there was simply too much to do - and since we were just moving down the road, we didn't pack as thoroughly and as 'cleanly'. For example, I took this photo of the boys on Friday morning (we moved on Saturday) and you can see that I still had work to do in the bedroom. When moving day arrived, people were helping us pack up the kitchen and the laundry room and the bathroom, just putting things in boxes and crates as best we could. It was a bit crazy and I was honestly glad to take the boys and get away for most of the day.

Timo said, "Let's sit on the bed and read books and listen to Spiderwick."

When moving day arrived, we weren't really sure how many people would show up; we had sent out an email to people at church and told a few friends. We ended up having 8 cars and about 10 people, and got everything packed up and transported in 2 1/2 hours. "These people from church are so nice," Timo remarked. It really was incredible and we felt so supported and cared for! Phil and Gayle Woody went above and beyond to help us on numerous days, too. The boys and I packed up one car load (Timo thought it was the greatest and was really helpful and excited), and then we spent the rest of the day at the Woodys to get away from the chaos. Meanwhile after everything was moved Gayle went over with Jim and put together the beds and got everything ready for us to sleep there that night. Wow.

Let's get going!

Unloading

Mr Cozy

Mattias has long liked to pile stuffed animals into his crib with himself and sleep under and around them, and now recently he has taken to using his duvet cover as a sleeping bag. He crams his animals inside and then climbs in with them.  Cozy!

(And I have photographic evidence of this because I still have to wake him up from his afternoon nap almost every day, or he would keep sleeping!)

Thanks, Mom

Thank you, Jaja, for coming to be with us for 4 days while Jim was away! Especially since we got a bit of snow & ice, and were mostly housebound for the first 3 days, we were very glad you were here. It helped keep us all in a better mood - and well-fed (and I even got to sleep in a bit), most notably!

Watching the bubbles and getting ready to punch down the bread dough

Unfortunately Hawk got another cold this week but he does love his Jaja (and for some reason looks huge in this picture! I can verify that he is still small and lightweight. I checked my notes and he is almost exactly the same weight - at 8 months - that both Gemma and Timo were at 4 months.). He particularly enjoyed the "touch and feel" truck book that Jaja brought. Very cute to see him pointing his fingers and feeling the textures.

The weather warmed up on the last 2 afternoons, so we were able to go out for walks. The first afternoon the boys had a great time showing Jaja a few spots along Main St (including the gallery where Gayle has some prints, and the antique store with a kids' play area), and the next day we all walked a bit further around the neighborhood.

Good-bye, and see you again soon!

Snow day

Jaja arrived yesterday (Tuesday) midday, to help out and be with us while Jim is gone to Cape Town for the week - and last night we had a lovely 2 inches of snowfall (with a coating of ice underneath). It was nice to wake up to the sight of beautiful snow outside! Although the temps are lower so the snow is light and fluffy (and the air is COLD on one's cheeks) and not dense enough for building or throwing. Still the boys had fun this morning brushing snow off the cars, experimenting with tracks in the snow, and walking down the driveway following after some cat paw prints. Later in the afternoon Timo and I went out again for a longer walk down Main St, seeing which businesses were open and which were closed, and knocking icicles off all the benches.

Testing out the bike to see its snow tracks

Mattias insisted on pushing the doll stroller down the driveway!

Timo followed the cat prints down the driveway and then up a hill in the neighbor's yard, and then lost the trail - and was disappointed not to find the cat hiding at the top of the hill.

standing on the fence in the backyard

Sunday night

8 months old, and Hawk loves to "walk" around! Already he wants to keep up and get into whatever his brothers are doing. The biggest grins and laughs that we get from him are when Timo or Mattias are singing a song to him and waving his arms around, or when he is being tackled and wrestled. (parent-approved, safe wrestling, that is) He also has his two bottom teeth now.
                                                                         

And here's a testimony to simple Sunday night suppers. I didn't plan ahead or think about what to have for supper, until about 5:30 PM - so we had popcorn and fruit and peanuts, and Timo announced, "This is a great dinner!"

Mattias is quite particular about his cups; this is the one he likes best right now.

Cheers!