Thursday, January 3, 2013

Enjoying the New House (December 2012)

The new house is amazing.  After some set-backs at our final walk-through, we closed on 11/29/12.  We moved in on 12/7 and are enjoying a gorgeous home with an amazing parcel of land!

The 4 bedroom 3.2 bath house sits on 1.2 acres and backs to wooded space.  There's a trail into the woods that Dakota enjoys traveling.  The neighborhood is kid friendly and remote so very little traffic comes through.  We live at the end of a cul-de-sac so even less cars come our way!

The house was move-in ready, except that the owner left the hose on in the front of the house for a few days and it flooded the front sidewalk, poured over the foundation and flooded the finished bar in the basement.  So for the past month, we've been living in a construction site trying to put the bar back.  Luckily the seller is paying to replace the bar, so we're getting an updated bar for only a couple thousand (our upgrades above what it would take to put the bar back the way it was).  While it was an unexpected expense, it's a good thing.
Now - if we could just get the drapes back that the sellers took...

As I said, the land we're situated on is great!  We often have animals come and visit.  It's pretty neat to be cooking in the kitchen and to look out our wall of windows and see deer munching on some berries from a tree in the middle of your yard.  Definitely different than living in the city!!

2 deer eating in our back yard



Trey likes his play set and loves spinning the ball with the fish in it!

Ellie enjoying her sit-n-spin in the basement playroom! 

Who wants tea?  Coffee?  I can do coffee, too! 

Christmas 2012!



We moved into our new home in North Barrington at the beginning of December.  By Christmas, we had unpacked most boxes, hired a contractor to remake our bar (long story which will be explained under a different post) and got ready to host Christmas! 

We had four fun-filled Christmas holidays! 
Saturday was spent with the Thames side.  Ellie enjoyed playing with her cousins and mom and dad received some adult conversation because everyone wanted to hold Trey.  Trey loves being passed around, and it's like a game of hot potato.  Unfortunately Cousin Jeff was left holding Trey when the timer went off...but he wore the puke stain with pride! 
Sunday was Christmas with Grandma and Grandpa S and Chris & Angie.  Uncle Chris gave Ellie a Big Wheel and it was all over - no presents were needed after that and mommy and daddy couldn't put the car together fast enough!  Trey was a big boy and sat at the dining room table with us in his high chair! 
Monday we enjoyed Christmas Eve with Grams, Gramps and the GPs.  Dakota spent a little too much time harassing Gramps by walking in front of the camera during every third picture.  But Gramps did get a lot of good looking doggy butt shots!! 
Tuesday we celebrated Christmas at Aunt Joan's house.  Santa even made an appearance!  Ellie enjoyed handing out presents for Santa, until she received Caillou books - then nothing else mattered.  Trey sported his Santa outfit, too. 

Christmas Morning we spent by ourselves and enjoyed opening presents and baking cupcakes!  Ellie helped mommy make the batter by spooning in the dry mixture a tablespoon at a time.  She did very well and didn't spill much at all!  She also learned that the batter is YUMMY!  She kept saying "I want to eat more of that."
Christmas Morning also meant that Santa had come during the night!  Ellie was very excited to get a play Kitchen!  Trey received a hammer and ball set which Ellie decided she wanted - it's amazing how good her hand/eye coordination is! 

Only a few dropped/broken ornaments!

Christmas was fun as Ellie was very interested and helpful!



The 3 Waynes



Wayne thinks Trey looks like an owl

First Christmas in the new home!

Christmas Morning!  Did Santa come?!


Dakota always has to inspect what the kids have to make sure it's safe!

Baking Cupcakes!

Mmmm, batter is YUMMY!!

While the girls baked, the boys slept!