New House Pics

Now that we are unpacked (for the most part) and settled, I finally got some pics of our new home to share! :)




We love our new house!














Snowy backyard












Screened in back porch and deck












Kitchen

















Messy basement - but so happy to have a place for all those toys! The kids love playing down there!






Master bedroom













Dining room














Living room

Moved Back to the Mitten

Just over 2 weeks ago, we moved back to Michigan. It has been a very crazy time, getting everything settled, unpacked, and organized, but we are finally getting there! The kids did great with the move, and the long drive up here. Luke and Emmy are loving their new classes at school, and Luke is happy at home with me. :) Ray's new job is going well. We love our new house, and it feels really good to be back "home" again! A couple of pics from moving day:






I will update with some new pictures of our new place soon!

Pumpkin Patch

We went to the pumpkin patch last weekend, and of course the kids each got to pick out a pumpkin. Lots of pictures to share:




Attempting to get a good photo of all 3 kids. Sadly, this was the best one.






Aiden












Lots of little pumpkins! Emmy actually took this photo, and I love it!








I love this face!













Found their pumpkins













My handsome Lukey









P.S. We are moving back to Michigan. Very soon! Ray has actually been up there about 2 months now, working at his new job. We are in process of buying our new home, and the movers will be here to pack us up next week! Lots going on right now! :)

HUGE news!

A few weeks ago, I announced that we were moving to Chicago. I really wasn't too excited, despite the fact that it was a great job opportunity for my husband. However, the first couple of weeks at his new job were not what Ray expected, and as a result -

We are NOT moving to Chicago! Ray is coming home this week, he got his old job back, and we get to stay in South Carolina!

Although there were some nice aspects to moving back up north (mainly being so much closer to Ray's family and our old friends), I think there are a lot more reasons to stay here. We like it here. We like our house, our neighborhood, our church, our friends. Even though it is freaking hot right now, the weather is WAY better. Plus, now we don;t have to worry about selling the house and moving, which potentially would have cost us a LOT of money, since the economy is so swell right now.

So, Ray is leaving on Tuesday to come home - I can't wait! Looking forward to getting our lives back to normal....


P.S. - I loved seeing all of your "definitions" from the last post - I have been laughing for the past 2 days at your comments.

Update

Well, Ray left for Chicago this morning. It is pretty depressing. We have been talking about him flying home for the weekend in 3 weeks, or maybe we will go up there - who knows? I hate having him so far away.
We did get most of the stuff I wanted done around the house completed before his departure. I have a few more little things to get done around the house, and the carpets are being cleaned on Tuesday, then I will feel "ready" to sell this place. I met my realtor this evening, and the house will probably be on the market Sunday or Monday. Then - anything could happen. I dislike the unknown.

OK, enough whining for now. I actually feel pretty good right now, despite being husbandless and having a cold. At least I get the whole bed to myself at night. :)

Happy weekend!

Busy, Busy

It is still crazy busy around here - Ray leaves for Chicago Friday morning. We spent the weekend painting and cleaning, trying to get our house ready to sell. I still have a pretty long list of things that I want done before Ray leaves, on top of our already busy regular schedule - I am whooped.

I will try to be back next week with "normal" posts. :)

Upside Down

Ugh. It is crazy and stressful around here.
If anyone remembers, I had mentioned a few weeks back that we had a lot going on around here, but I couldn't write about it yet - well, now I can.
Ray was offered and has accepted a new job in Chicago. He starts in 2 weeks. The kids and I will be staying behind for a while as we attempt to sell our house here in South Carolina. I am absolutely dreading being without my husband for a few months. I do not really want to move - but it is something that we need to do. For my husband, it is an excellent career move. And it will also be nice to be closer to our friends and family in Michigan. But, this is not something we had planned on doing. We have been in our house for less than 2 years. Of course, the market sucks right now, and it may take a very long time to sell our house. I feel like we have just recently felt like this was our home now. We have good friends here, we belong to a fantastic church, we love our neighborhood. I was not planning on leaving for a very long time.
But - we are. It is making me grumpy. We have a LOT to do over the next couple of weeks, getting ready to put the house on the market and Ray will be leaving.
So, my bloggy friends, be prepared for much whining and complaining from me over the next few months. And forgive me if I am not blogging and commenting on blogs as often as usual, I know that it is going to be a difficult transition.
I know that we will be fine. We have moved cross country before, had to wait to sell our house before, and we can do it again. Please keep my family in your thoughts and prayers in the upcoming weeks.