You're all way cuter than Ty!!

first off...
i have to tell you all that Rose was 'pleasantly surprised' at the packing i had done prior to her arrival. she jumped right in and started cleaning and packing the very last things in the kitchen. we worked hard and were able to enjoy a little R&R at the pool late sunday....
Monday of course came too soon...movers showed up right on schedule and began dismantling the home we had made for the past year. at first..it is all very emotional, watching the men carry out your things...smiling at the crayons that you find behind furniture....but....then after some time you just get grumpy and ready to get the hell out. we hit that point just shy of us leaving...so luckily our children didn't have to endure much..
i wish i could have seen my neighbor Betty's face when she got home from work monday. i had let her know that there would be some furniture out by the road..but assured her that i felt the college kids would scoop it up...besides...it WAS patchy...whats not to love??? anyway...there was a whole bunch of junk and bags out by the curb by the time we left.
we made great time heading north and only stopped a couple times for potty and wendy's. Kids did really well in the vans and so did the pets.
Midway through the drive, rose took over in my van and had the girls and got pretty far ahead of me and hubby so they were the first to see....
to seee
to seeeeee
my entire faith community, neighborhood, former coworkers and family standing on our front lawn. I kid you not it looked like 200 people!! (i'd love if someone took a picture to email it to me) so...when hubby and i turned the corner and were coming up our street...i knew to probably expect my folks, i knew that my father had come into town and he and my aunt mary 'were at kohl's' picking out a coffee pot for me and would be running it by the house...i also had gotten a call that one of the girls friends wanted to be in the drive when we pulled up so..
i saw some cars up ahead.
the cars began a full block below our house.
yes, i did have the thought that someone was having a party...and ..i wasn't invited...:)
but as we got closer.......
the clapping began.....
incredibly i did not run anyone over
hubby's mouth dropped open and he just sank back into the seat.
'incredible' is what i think he said as the tears welled up in his eyes.
ok, i must confess...i did have a Paris Hilton moment as the mobs of people closed in on our van......it was darn kewl to be 'waited on'.
i was able to get out of the drivers side as my mother tackled me...
i'm sure someone tackled hubby.....
soon some 'body guards' ushered us up to the front door where our new Pastor Fr. ....i've got to come up with my own name for him since this is the internet..stay tuned...the crowds were asked to quiet down as Fr. offered a blessing to our family, to our community and to our home. it was about that time that i noticed....i'll be dammed i have a portch!!! and, oh by the way there is landscaping all along the front of my house...and oh by the way there is settee to sit on and this major huge planted pot right there on OUR porch....

then, my mother starts pushing us towards the house...you have to go inside...you and doug have to go inside right now.....and i'm thinking...ok mother...can i just get one of those molson's bert promised me in teh fridge and let me hang out with my friends....i was so overwhelmed at that point that i hadn't even looked anyone in the eyes...it was so surreal...
and...i wanted to sit on OUR damn porch!!!!!! visions of morning coffee ran through my head....thinking...oh i can be that 'crazy lady' that sits on her front porch in the morning in my robe drinking coffee..
the children, hubby and family are lead into the home.
the first thing i see is a Sacred Heart picture on the fireplace mantle. love love that!!! now I can be THE one to bring the picture to prayer group....
i had been told that a couple love seats had been dropped off..which i was anxious to see and then i knew that there was another couch for the back room and another for the basement since we were going to put the TV down there for the kids....
the front room looked stunning...and then i rounded the corner into the dining room....OMGSH..a gorgeous dining room table and fabulously upholstered chairs sat right there with a wonderful fruit bowl in the middle. (i really like the pattern on the fruit bowl by the way!!)it was so great...
and then........
we turn into the kitchen..............
i was again anxious to see my agate green on the walls... i knew that there had been questions raised as to my color choices...but..i like colour...i just do and i'm not afraid to use it...sometimes you win..sometimes you don't...but it is just paint...
do you know...the first thing i saw was the dishwasher....can i tell you that the dishwasher that was here when we left was older than me....it had some kewl settings...like 'dish warmer'....i sometimes imagined the former lady of the house with her heels, teased up hair and pretty little apron tied around her waist 'heating up the plates' for her dinner guests....
yeah,,,kind of like my Pa (little house on the prairie) fantasies....sounds real romantic..but probably too much grunt work for this girl.
that dishwasher was just tired...tired and warn out....it wanted to retire...but you know what...it worked....the damn thing didn't work very well...but it still worked...and so....it stayed...
and then i saw the counter tops
and then the cook top
and then the 'tin' back splash
and then i saw that the cub hoards had been nailed back up into the soffet
and then i noticed that the piece of wood we had wedged to hold those cub hoards up was gone...
and so,,,i opened one of the now totally safe cub hoards...AND....
my very own MEIER store!!! food for everyone..paper products for everything....lunch bags....ziplocks....papertowles....paperplates........
a new SINK!!! and new FAUCET....
by the way..my green looks just fine!!
we turn into our new master bedroom.....
it is NOT The same room.
it is a NEW room...................AND...it was COLD in there!!!! and it was HOT outside.....the room had been insulated and even a new duct run (the return that hubby always griped about not having)
the huge metal monster gas blower/heater thing hanging on the wall was 'outttaa here' (picture me with my hitchhiker thumb)
all new trim work....
rosettes on the door trim
a beautiful mantel....and up on that mantel...the sign that pushed my hubby over the edge....we're to expect new windows soon.................
windows was already on the short list to be installed just as soon as the siding had been paid off....we knew that it would help ten fold with heating costs...but hubby was very very concerned about heating costs this winter. we've all been told that our bills are going to jump in a major way right????
oh, my big guy....we found the recliner that was placed in the room, we found the couch that was there....we felt the wonderful breeze from the new ceiling fans and felt the CARPET below our feet!!! oh yea....i have Berber i have Berber!!!
i looked out the window and i see tons of people peeking in to look at us...
(another Paris moment:)
we're egged on into the 'man cave' which had been painted...
down the basement stairs...that had been shined and painted by the way...
i see and smell new carpet down there as well.
i notice canister lighting up above
i notice the glass block windows
i notice a freezer and washer and dryer
everything just looks so fresh!!! fresh and clean!!!!
on up stairs...to the room that i had been anxious to see...
remember the 'guest' bath was being updated with a new sink and flooring.
i knew about that and i wanted to see it...
the entire bath was 'divine' (anyone like Candace Olsen)
then into the rooms....
fresh paint.....on all walls and ceilings thank you very much!!
organizers in the closets
rugs in every room for winter piggys
the master bath....had a new floor in it as well!! i just couldn't get over it....
then the outside....a very kewl outdoor recliner for hubby, edging and landscaping continued from the front of the house all the way to the back and around our patio.....
hosta hosta, a clamitis vine, shrubs...this very very very kewl turtle light, the jungle gym reinforced and painted...new swings on it even.................
and then the dog house....ok, this dog house was built when we were on james...those were the days when hubby let me keep the dog outside all the time.....but since moving here (and taking a while to get a fence put in) she had become an INDOOR dog....so the little doggy condo just wilted in the sun and Mr. K would hide toys in it...
well, doggy is 'movin on up....to the east side...to a DEE_LUX apartment' in the yard. it has her address on it in case she can't find her way from the back door....:)
golly neds............have i missed anything????
oh yeah,,,he insulation was done around the WHOLE house....and under the roof as well...the 'other' thing on hubby's list....
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we enjoyed all of our company for a bit...kissed a ton of folks....welled up and then dried up and then welled up again...(all the while in pursuit of that Molsen).
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you guys...........you may not believe this but i'm struggling to come up with the words................there are times when words just don't do justice...
so, i'll tell you what i FELT as i laid down last night...with all of my family back home...back in our happy ever after home ...
i laid on my back
my chest had that really crazy 'full' feeling.
like there was no more room for air to fill my chest.
it was full
full like on your wedding day when you are just filled with promise, hope, joy, peace..those same feelings you feel a couple weeks after you bring a baby home.....just like your ribcage is smiling....
that's how i felt last night................
my ribcage was smiling.....................
today, that smile moved to the front of my face as i 'found' all the little special touches around the house. you all didn't miss a beat i tell you!!!!!!!!!!!!
INCREDIBLE...................
Promise, Hope, Joy and Peace.....that's what you all mean to us..............