Our new journey

My family is embarking on a new journey. We are doing a MAJOR life shift and moving our family into a temporary housing situation so that we can plan and build our dream house and live debt free while we do it.

We have 4 kids: 3 daughters ages 10, 7, 4 and one son age 2. We had a friend about a year ago whose house burned down. It was awful. A year later they had rebuilt their home and were forced to have a do-over. They rebuilt their house with changes to make the house better, and only brought in things they needed. There was no clutter left to bring back in with them. Doesn't that sound amazing? Not the burned down house part, but the rebuild your house of your 40 year old dreams, not your 25 year old dreams, and only have in the house the things you really need? It sounds good to me!

So for a year or so now we've been talking about giving ourselves an intentional do-over. We are 42 and we want our children to grow up in the house of our dreams and to be able to enjoy all of it. We also don't want to find ourselves in 20 years saying that we wish we would have built a different house or didn't use credit cards, or cleared out all that stuff in the basement before we got too old to do it on our own. More importantly, we were being ran over by our stuff. None of our things had homes, the children's toys had taken over, mail had piled up. It was all just too much!

We bit the bullet! We made the decision we were going to move. Now we just needed to figure out where. We found a great townhouse that wasn't too far from where we were living, but it was in the wrong school district and we decided that lying to keep our kids in the district was not an option. We are okay with changing schools when we find our permanent place, but in the interim, we wanted to stay in the district. It's now been 3 weeks since the decision has been made and we have moved into an apartment in my in-laws basement. It's huge, in our school district, and we have a live in support network! My mother in law loves to do laundry and bathe my littles, so I might get a little spoiled. Can't get much better than that!!

In this move, we have decided that we will only take what we need and very little else. We brought our mattresses, our clothes, and basic kitchen utensils and necessities. They already had couches, so we are selling ours. Most of our large items in our house are going to family members or friends who need or are interested in having them. This way we can buy only what is necessary to go into the new house and be intentional about the size of what goes into the new house. On top of all these things, when we sell our house we plan to pay off our cars and any other debt we have acquired in our 8 year marriage. This will allow us to save enough money for the house and set ourselves up for success moving forward.

We have involved all of our kids in our new house planning. It's really interesting to hear their input on what they want us to have. The bigs have made many model homes for us on Minecraft. They are so cool. They all have lists of colors for bedrooms and things they'd like to see.

The first part, us getting out of our house, is completed. Next, we will get the rest of our items out via sale, family members, friends, donate, etc. Then we begin preparing to sell. We will paint the house and replace the carpet and then put the house on the market to sell. The ball is rolling and it's rolling  pretty fast! We have been in the basement now for 5 days. So far it's going well. We are finding a place for our things and scrutinizing all the things we bring in the house.

I am trying to use this journey as an opportunity to live simply and intentionally. I am starting with this blog www.becomingminimalist.com.  This sounds like a logical place to start right?? Join me on our journey. I'll be writing periodically about our challenges and our successes. I never thought I'd hear myself talk about becoming a minimalist, but I think I'm ready.

Electronics what???

We decided that we were going to take a break from electronics in our house for a little while. Basically the only thing available is the radio. All tablets are put away, the laptops are all cord free (so no laptops), and the radio is pretty much always playing. I think our kids, like many others in todays world, are too dependent on electronics for fun. So...this house is getting a shake down! 

We are on day 3. Day 1 was a dry run, Jane's computer died and she didn't get it charged. But there weren't any fights. We finished the night with movie night in our bed. We watched The Book of Life all cuddled up together. It was awesome. Then everyone went to bed.

Day 2 was our first day with Grace back at our house and so it was full family...zero electronics. It was interesting. The littles played Legos all day, and Grace joined the fun with Kate, and we ended it all with trivia that had us all laughing! What a fun night. Then...bedtime...I think Grace said about 50 times between 8:30 and 9:00 "this is so boring. I'm not doing this." Then Kate had an epic meltdown that was awesome! Not in a good way. It lasted about 15 minutes, and was just a WOW moment! Crazy! Brian finally told the big girls that they needed to retreat to their rooms before Kate blew up, and the big girls read and read and read. Such a good ending.

Today is day 3. It's going pretty well. This has caused me to come up with creative things to do with the children that don't include the tv or them watching a screen.

Kate, David and I finger painted on tupperware bowl lids and got pretty messy. so much fun! David wasn't quite sure of it all, and didn't get very messy. Kate loved it and thought it was so fun!! A little sensory play time certainly never hurt these preschoolers. I'll have to see what I can come up with for tomorrow.

Now it's quiet time. Kate is curled up on my bed and David is napping. This could be the beginning of a family transition that I think we need. Say a quick prayer that this goes well. I'll report back soon.

  

Happy father's day

I'm taking a break from my life to sit with my dad today. I miss him so much. It's been almost four years since he passed away. I was pregnant with kate at his funeral.  He never got to hold our meet her or our sweet david. I know he's watching over them,  but I wish he could have held them.

I love remembering the days when he would hold jane's hand and take walks with her up and down the halls at the veteran's home. Those are always some of my favorite memories. I wish he was still here like we all remember him, without alzheimer's.

I remember one afternoon at our apartment when Chad and my dad were playing baseball on the wii.  I laughed so hard that day. He swung that wii remote the exact same way whether he was pitching, or hitting. It was such an awesome day!

I miss you more than you can ever know Mikey.

Wow...just wow

I cannot believe I am writing these words.  I was sitting on the floor in my closet minding my own business. Kate walked in and said Bubby has my potty. We are potty training kate, we talk a lot about the potty, so i said okay, not really thinking anything of it.

Then I felt a very warm liquid go down my back.

Covered with kate's pee, i realized she was warning me of what was about to happen. Thanks kate.

My guy

This boy is so funny.  He just keeps putting this crown on and smiling.  God bless him.  He's so cool!

Keep your business in your britches

My David was running around naked this morning in his usual morning fashion.  After I put a dispute on him he kept pulling it down so his "business" was sticking or the top.  Good love him!  I told him "David. .. put your business back in your britches. " my sweet kate decided she needed to remind him odd it too.  So for the next 5 minutes or so she followed her brother around telling him to "put yo biness in yo bwiches." Never a dull moment!

Character kate

This morning is trash day.  My sweet kate is outside with me checking the mail when the trash man is driving by.  She wanted to watch,  he waved,  all was good.  Then she stayed chasing him up the street yelling "you truck is big !"  You just never know what will come or of my 3 yr old' s mouth