First Days in Our New Home

Our house in Portland sold much faster than we had anticipated.... that leaves the kids and I living in the new house of 3 weeks while Gabe finishes up work.... I think we can make it;) A huge thank you to Gabe's sister and program director for giving him a place to stay during this time.  Gabe was able to be here for our first weekend in the house which gave us time to unpack and set up "enough" as well as explore the area.  Farmington was having a summer kick-off festival where the kids got arm paintings, rode ponies, fed the goats and road on the ferris wheel.... Ben is quite adventurous and does all of these things without hesitation... I think we should be worried;)  

Noah lost a tooth on the first morning in the new house and yes, the tooth fairy did find him. The kids and I spent the first few days exploring our new property, enjoying the beautiful weather and the pool.  No one wanted to get into the pool initially, so after 10 minutes or so James agreed to be thrown in... it was not warm. We are very fortunate to have what seems to be a really well thought out and landscaped yard that has been a bit neglected in recent years, but with a bit of work should be very enjoyable.  Our first findings were a cool robin's nest with chicks in the apple tree just off the deck, we also discovered some strawberry bushes and a rhubarb plant... sounds like good summer treats to me! 

Noah's Last Week of School AND Moving Day!

Noah and Ms. LeGage- Kindergarten     Noah & James with Matteo- classmate

This has been a crazy bittersweet week for us!  We are so excited to be moving into a new home with a much bigger space for the kids to play, but at the same time it is sad to leave our home in Portland and all of the neighbors and friends we have made here over the last four years.  Gabe and I are probably the most excited to close out the "training/school" chapter of our lives that has spanned the past 10 years and move into the "real job" phase;)  I thought I had planned the move perfectly to happen the day after Noah got out of school, but just for fun, his last day happened to be the day we moved... and why didn't Gabe take this day off?? Thankfully we hired movers! 

Noah had a theme day each day at school this week the top right picture was from Flag Day when everyone insisted on wearing (and having Audrey wear) matching shirts.  He has really had an amazing year with a teacher he loved and meeting lots of new friends.  He can now read most things and has improved greatly in math and drawing/painting skills. 

During this week we have tried hard to do some fun activities with the neighbors and around Portland while the kids are awake, then packing like crazy at night. We have made it to the end though, things got done and we are very thankful that my parents were able to be here and go above and beyond with some late nights... We have promised them that if we move again we will hire movers to do the whole job;)

James Turns Four!

This sweet guy turned four today.  Pretty cool that he was born just a short time after we moved into this house and he turns four just days before we move out of it.  James is turning into such a neat and fun kid.  He loves driving cars and playing trains... more than anything he seems to have a great memory that we hope will some day be used for something other than repeating movie and book quotes, but for now it is funny to hear him insert those quotes into daily life... it is like a quirky little guessing game, James's own version of "name that movie/book";)  James has a fairly stubborn temperament, but we just keep telling ourselves that this is a quality that will serve him well into adulthood... and that he probably will be potty trained sometime before he is 10... right?!?!?  He is such a sweet, cuddly and caring boy and we couldn't be prouder that he is part of our family and such a good (*protective) brother!

James's Birthday Party Weekend

Our last weekend in Portland was James's Birthday weekend as well as Father's Day, so we packed as much in as we possibly could... packing will get done at some point... I think;)  For James's 4th birthday party he was super excited for a butterfly themed day and had been thrilled to find the decorations he wanted at target.  We took our first stab at a piñata... we were thankful our neighbors came to play and were able to finally break it open!  The kids had a great time playing outside and having one last get together at our house.  Thank you to all that came out to celebrate James's birthday!

Saturday evening we took both sets of grandparents to a Sea Dogs game in celebration of Father's Day.  I forgot my camera (surprise!), but everyone had a great time with their baseball mitts and all of the popcorn/pizza they could eat.  On a side note, Gabe had to skip the game for a more exciting trip to the ED where he was dx. with Atrial Fibrilation.  He is perfectly fine, suffered no ill effects and was back home after only a few hours.... just made for an interesting evening and farewell to his co workers at the hospital;)  

The Playset Weekend

 

 

Last weekend my parents, my brother and his family came to visit and take on the project of our "new to us" playset. Saturday we played, they disassembled the playset, and we walked around the old port on a beautiful evening.  Sunday morning we took the kids over to the hotel for some swimming fun.  We then took another day trip to our new home in Wilton.  There we spent the rest of the day playing in the yard while Uncle Jon, Nicki, Daddy, Grampa and Noah reassembled the playset.  It was a gorgeous day that has made us very excited for the upcoming move.... only a little more that a week away...!