More Like Home

 This house is feeling more and more like a home every day...

Crazy

 Call me crazy, but as Tracey was reading a story to Howard and Caroline, it really looked like the bear is looking over their shoulder and also enjoying the story.

Basement Campout

 This past weekend some of the kids had their first basement campout downstairs.  It sounds like they had a great time.

New Tables

 We have two new tables in our new home and I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THEM!

You might remember our dining table from past pictures.  I've never talked about it, but it was always a staple for events at our Rifle home.  We would pull mis-mashed chairs around, and attach high chairs, and it served us well for a number of years.

That said, the chairs were falling a part, and we did not have enough chairs for all the people in our family, and we definitely didn't have enough chairs when family or friends came to visit.  I had dreamed of a table with benches for YEARS, but it was never the right time and in our Rifle home, we were never sure exactly what kind of larger table would fit in the space.

When we moved to Rangely, we moved our well-worn table with us to the blue house, where it continued to serve as the place for meals, and homework, and projects, and puzzles.

Once in the big house, we were thrilled with the timing of our moving a few weeks before Thanksgiving in order to shop some Black Friday sales, because were able to find two BEAUTIFUL tables for our new home.  Our old table moved with us and held up for Thanksgiving dinner and Christmas Eve dinner and a Christmas party we hosted... but on December 26, the old table was moved to our sun porch so our new tables could arrive.

One is a very long, sturdy dining table with two benches, four chairs, and two removable leaves.  This is our everyday eating table with room to spare for family or company.

The second one we put in our dining room which is a little smaller, but has one bench, and four chairs.  This also has six drawers around the table -- which is perfect for children to keep pencils, calculators, and scissors inside for homework.  This is our new homework table and I am so excited about it.  We can still convert it to an eating area with very little warning because the children each have their own drawers where the homework gets tucked away, but for daily life when we don't need a second eating room, it works perfectly for the homework room.

These tables (and this home) is a long-awaited Christmas present to Hubby and me, and we are so excited for the way they meet the daily needs of our large family and allow us to plan for entertaining friends without having to pull up folding chairs and have children sit on our laps.

Christmas Eve

 We are usually home on Christmas Eve and Christmas morning.  It is a priority that I have set for our Christmas tradition with our family since our children were born.  That was not different this year.  We arrived home from Great Wolf Lodge on December 22 with enough time to prepare for a wonderful Christmas at home.

That said, several things were different this year for our first Christmas Eve at our new home.

First of all, we did not go to church on Christmas Eve (which really bothered me) but we were SICK.  Some of us came down with illness while we were at Great Wolf Lodge, some of us were sick on the way home, some of us were sick once we arrived home.  We had a nasty 2-week fever/cough virus that STILL is not fully out of our system.  So, we stayed home on Christmas Eve both for our own health but for the health of others that we would see at a Christmas Eve service.

Also, this was the first year since the twins were born that we were not packing up to leave right after Christmas.  While our tradition is to spend Christmas at home, for the past 6 years, we have ALWAYS packed the car and hit the road December 26 or 27 depending on the weather.

This year, because I didn't have to pack up the family, and (honestly) because we were not going to church, we RELAXED as a family ALL DAY!

The kids wrapped a few presents to each other (I had all the presents wrapped and hidden away).  I turned on a Christmas movie shortly after breakfast and we had Christmas movies playing pretty much all day, and I actually sat and watched a few (that ALMOST NEVER HAPPENS in the Christmas season).  Also, our kids were all under-the-weather either a lot or a little, so rest was exactly what they needed and they were happy to lay and cuddle.

I found this picture on my phone that one of the kids took while we were watching Home Alone -- the first family movie of the day.

Another new thing was I made French Onion Soup for Christmas Eve dinner, which is a long-standing Sanden Family Tradition, but I have never made it because I couldn't figure out the logistics of making the soup, serving dinner, getting to church on time, getting to bed at a relatively decent hour (for the kids), and getting the nice broiler-safe bowls clean and put away before we had to get out of town 36 hours later.

As much as I always wanted and craved French Onion Soup on Christmas Eve... it just has never made the cut of things I could get done on Christmas Eve.

This year, knowing we were staying home for the evening, and knowing we were staying home the day after Christmas, it just seemed do-able.

We did not have the correct bread, and we did not have the fancy cheese that the recipe calls for, so I fondly called it "Poor Man's French Onion Soup" but the kids really liked it, and it was not as hard as I had worked it up to be in my mind.  When I called the kids to the table and told them to wash up for "Christmas Eve Dinner", the three girls saw the special bowls I was getting out and took the cue from the title "Christmas Eve Dinner" to run upstairs and put on fancy dresses.  You will notice from the picture, they still have pajama pants on, but honored the special meal with a beautiful dress.

After a year of tremendous life changes, tremendous joy, but loads of stressors and transition, we truly had a merry little Christmas, which began with a relaxing, enjoyable, and delicious Christmas Eve. 

Home Birthday!

 Here are pictures of Howard and Caroline's birthday at home!

The requested Cherry-Berry on a Cloud for their birthday cake and they opened presents from family, and their siblings, and from Mama and Daddy.  Howard, especially had a little test of character because we brought out about 8 presents from Caroline and one present for him.  He was initially pretty shocked, but he never said a word, and he watched her open her presents and was very happy for her, and he opened his one present and smiled and said Thank You.

What he didn't know was that his birthday present was hiding in the garage -- a brand new (REALLY NICE) bicycle.  

I was really proud of how he handled those minutes of thinking he got one present while Caroline had a whole table full.  Deep down, he really is a good kid.

Home

 I have been overwhelmed pretty much since Hubby accepted the job as principal 100 miles away from where we were living.  I mean, we had one day of celebration before the work began, but the mental load has been big... heavy for the past, well, seven months.

I still have a lot going on and a lot to accomplish headed in to Christmas.  We are BARELY settled in out home (and settled is a widely generous description), almost no Christmas decorations are up, I have so much work to accomplish at school (always work to accomplish at school), the end of graduate semester in the coming weeks, and all the Christmas activities I want to do -- Christmas cookies, Nativity pageant, Christmas cards, making family calendars, and so much more.

I have been overwhelmed and pretty much on the brink of tears for months.  I'm sorry to say it, but its true.  And that's not to say that I haven't been excited, and incredibly grateful to be here with these new jobs... its just been a lot.

But, can I just say, we are finally home, and I feel it.  I can rest in it.

I still have a ton to do... but I have a place to rest... really rest amidst the multitude of tasks.

I have a MILLION things to do, but my TO DO list does not make me cry anymore (at least at this moment)... I will do my best, and I will do my best in a place where my family has what it needs.

Fitted Sheets

 Everyone helped me make Grammie and Papa's bed for their visit.

Gotta love the tricky fitted sheets.

The Motto

 Sometimes facebook has links that you can click and then it tells you something funny or random -- what would your occupation be in the 1800s?  What kind of martini are you? or something else.  Sometimes I'll click on the link and laugh at the result they give me but RARELY do I ever share the results on facebook -- I mean once a year or less.

But this once came up regarding "everyone has a motto, what's yours?" and the results along with the profile picture in the background was just too perfect.

"Dream until your dreams come true."

But, when I shared the results, I added the caveat that work is a big part of that.  Work until your dreams come true.

The motto hits even closer to home this week, as Hubby and I will (please, Lord) be selling two houses and buying one this week.  Your prayers are appreciated for this week of very big events.

Ordinary and Special

 I saw this quote a few days ago and saved it.  This summer, when so much is changing, and our family is moving from one lovely home to ... a lovely town (still working on the home), this quote has become incredibly real.

Home Sweet Home!

 Home Sweet Home!

Home Sweet Home

 We are so fortunate to have a home sweet home.

I snapped this picture at 6:00am after we arrived home having driven all night from St. Louis to Rifle.  Well, Hubby drove all night, but I can say that being 20 weeks pregnant in the car for 18 hours and overnight is no picnic even when I didn't do the driving.

Everyone collapsed into their own beds for a few hours before the children were up and ready to start their day... Lloyd beat Hubby and me to bed, but the picture was still such a sight of comfort to me that I wanted to snap a picture.

Home Sweet Home.

In this case, a little more accurately - Bed Sweet Bed.

Surveying His Kingdom

He really does appear to be king of the yard

 

Sunday Naps

When no one can stay awake on Sunday afternoons...

 

Heading Home

Yesterday, we headed home from the hospital with Addallee and we're now really learning the ropes of four children under four years of age.

** FYI: we pronounce her name Add-uh-lee **

Here are some pictures of our heading home with Addallee... and then some picture of our heading home with our older three for fun comparisons.

Addallee

Addallee

Addallee

Addallee

Tracey

Tracey 

 

Howard and Caroline

Caroline 

Howard

 Howard and Caroline

Murderers row is now complete... at least for the time being.

Home Sweet Home

After three-days away from my family (I attended a work conference in Denver), it is so nice to be back where I belong.

 

Snowy Fun

A few days ago, we had some fun in the wet snow...

I think it took longer to dress everyone in their snow gear than we actually spent outside.

 I find these next two pictures hilarious because this really sums up life at our home these days... one minute Tracey is an amazing, mature, grown-up little girl...

and the next moment, she is very upset and behaving like a tired toddler.

"Let's go, Guys!"

"We're coming..."

 What fun!