the move

Whew! The move is done! Like many moves, it took LOTS of amazing helpers to make everything go mostly smoothly.  MeeMee watched Ben Friday for our closing and most of our moving day Saturday.  She even took him to Skip which in not a tiny task. 

We had the Josephine closing early Friday morning and ran a couple errands (black fan) before heading home and loading both cars with fragile stuff.  The second closing was late afternoon so we had time to celebrate briefly before heading to the new house closing.  The sellers had done all their stuff the day before so it went very quickly.

After that we were off to the races and Papa Jim met us at the new house to install Ben's new fan, which was a must in his agreeing to take his room instead of the master. ;)  The fan, as most things do, took much longer than expected so we unloaded the cars and I cleaned a bit before heading back to the tiny tudor for the last night.

The movers arrived at the late end of their window and got right to work.  I had suggested more than once that they make sure to get the playset parts and garage packed first because we'd purchased quite a bit of small furniture since I got the moving quote.  I knew we could move those smaller things with cars but that the big stuff had to go in the truck.  5 men and none of them listened to me so they had to make a second trip in the dark.  I think they pulled away after 8pm but had certainly gotten the job done-well and quickly. 

Cole, Amy and Papa Jim helped all day with smaller loads, furniture assembly and cleaning.  A little smart planning meant everything was assembled and set on clean floors and we all slept in our own comfy, clean beds Saturday night.  We are overwhelmingly grateful to our friends and family for their help.  Having Ben gone and all those extra helpers made ALL the difference.

The mountain views from the new hood are breathtaking.

We awoke early Sunday and Ryan, Ben and I headed back to Josephine one last time for the last few items and a good final clean.  We didn't have to be out until Monday but it felt great to get it done.  After about 30 minutes there, Ben asked, "Can we go home now?" and we knew the new house was just great with him.  We had a great walk around our tiny tudor saying good-bye to each room and thanking our home for taking such good care of us for 3 years.  Leaving is certainly bittersweet and there is much about the character and charm of the tudor and the neighborhood that can never be replicated.  There is also a lot a family gives up to live there and in such a small space and we look forward to our next adventure.

My first house-warming gift, from friend Tisha, filled with ideas for lots more space.

 

The playset is dwarfed even in this small section of our yard.

Papa Jim's help continued Sunday as he and Ryan tackled the playset assembly.  Ryan headed out of town for work today and having it done will be a savior in letting me unpack.  Speaking of........
 

ugh!

this morning....

....at breakfast, after Ben poured his milk and did some other grown-up things, I said, "Buddy, you're so grown-up.  Are you going to college tomorrow?" "Yes," he replied.  So I asked, "are you going to be a Buffalo or a Ram?"  "I'm going to be Captain America!"  Ryan and I thought, "Amen, good answer."


A bit later I asked Ben to bring me a tissue from the bathroom.  He refused to hand it to me and balled it up and held it on my nose saying, "blow,"....."again,".....and "one more time."  by "again" I was laughing hysterically and continued laughing as he applauded my efforts and set the tissues down.  

Five today, college tomorrow.

trying

Though I might have been one of the first of my near and dear mommy blogging friends to blog a "monthly recap of random," many moons ago, I quickly fell out of the practice.  It's one of the things I enjoy most about other people's blogs and as kids grow and there are fewer special things and firsts to document, more cute pics and day-to-day fun get missed on the blog.  So, I'm going to try and hold myself to a monthly recap going forward, but will start with some goodies from the last few months.....

As soon as I gave him a dedicated play box while packing, he distracted me and headed up the stairs.  Thankfully I caught him before disaster ensued and his current distraction techniques alert my mommy radar.

 

MeeMee added an accordion to his musical repertoire.  Beats that recorder anyday.

His class is the meerkats and this is their family

Sweet Great MeeMaw Lola had a rough weekend but was back to alert as 

ever, at 98 years old, within a few days.

these mustaches were the most fun onespot purchase ever

 

No sooner had he begun to master the big ball and 

we raised the hoop a foot-didn't phase him a bit. :)

spider

Brandon came to watch football with us

Super Ben has made LOTS of appearances lately.  This day Ninja Joe joined the fun.

Payden and Haley entertained the family one morning at their beeyoootiful home.  Here Grandma chats with the newest family member, Jamie.

Ben was the only boy at Sara's birthday-tough break. ;)

On this day at learning time, he taught Jelly how to cut. 

His class made a paper maiche cake for their play kitchen and voted on the frosting flavor.

 

A very rare morning doughnut run.

Joey and family came for dinner and they both ended up snuggled with Ballou.

More Super Ben

A fun day at the Children's museum and he finally put on the critter costumes....

 

A last-minute mom/monkey Rockies game date.  The ice cream shakes were worth the train ride but the game was H-O-T! 

He did a great job this year at his school's running fundraiser.

Ballou really was the best idea!

up-staged

The yard sign came a couple days early and struck fear in the hearts of many...and began the barrage of neighbors to the door.

 

We had carpets installed on a Wednesday and the house hit the market on Thursday with showings to begin Friday at noon.  I was working to stage and prepare until 11:45 so when the first showing showed up an hour early, I had to turn them away.  MeeMee took Ben and Luke for Friday (which was packed with showings) and Saturday (which was day 1 of the open house.)  Although some pics I sent to DeDe and Kacey for the listing were actually old, I wanted to save some pics here of the new carpet and of our tiny tudor 

in her crowning glory.  

The office was NEVER this tidy.

We had finally figured out a possible solution for the basement to allow for a sectional and more seating but didn't stick around to put it into place.

Thanks to Trader Joe's, I had fresh flowers everywhere without breaking the bank.

One of the top five best things about this house was the view to Ben playing while I cooked.  I will REALLY really miss that.

I saw that Kacey had these cute mugs at the open house and requested a couple.  On this day I had both started and ended my day with one.  It's hard to express just how grateful we are to have DeDe and Kacey lead us through this process.  It's been a rollercoaster-and a hi-speed one at that, but thanks to the yesndede team, the end is in sight.

Fall fun at Four-Mile

The best laid plans are often not plans at all, and this weekend a trip to one of our favorite fall activities worked out for us and the Lineberry's.  We headed to the fall festival at Four Mile Park that we had taken Ben to two years ago.  There was a lot that was more appealing to him this year and Grace and Sara seemed to really enjoy lots of the activities too.  Aside from a poor choice on the beer front, we all had a great afternoon in the warm fall sun.  Amy got unending grief for having tried to cancel earlier in the day because of the cold weather.

All the kids were excited for the hay ride.

They're like sea shells, right? Can you hear the tractor? roosters? 

 I'm embarrassed to admit how often I discover us, side-by-side, making this pose these days.

oh my heart

He wants so badly to climb trees like grace can.

riveting pig races

We headed home for tacos at the Heimer Haus in what we knew was likely our last gathering there.  While our tiny tudor didn't make for great big-group gatherings during the colder months, I will have great memories of smaller gatherings with family and friends and was really thankful for this last meal with dear friends.