hello friends!
wow! it has been a long time since i have checked in here.
we are not in south dakota anymore. i am now a montana resident.
we are not renting anymore. we are homeowners.
the last two months have been so full, friends. so, so full.
but so good. so, so good.
if you follow me on instagram @bits_of_sunshine you have seen glimpses into our moving and beginning to settle. we welcomed the new year among unpacked boxes, wrapped in blankets, sitting on lawn chairs in our new living room.
the following week, we tore down wallpaper and cleaned and painted maddie's new room. we painted isaac's new room and he built himself a stellar closet organizer. we unpacked some boxes. we met some new people. i finished registering maddie and isaac for their new school.
over the past few weeks, i have painted the front entry - a deep, mossy green, ben has torn down ugly soffit in the kitchen for me, and i have painted the kitchen - blue thunder. all four of us have cleaned and rearranged and unpacked and sorted. ben fixed up a shelf for the living room. i painted a desk. i have baked at least eight batches of cookies in the new kitchen, and a few loaves of bread and lots of muffins. i painted the den and hallway in the basement - a soft, sandy color, and the downstairs bathroom - mossy green. i painted the living room, upstairs alcove and bathroom - grey heron. i have paint for a wall in ben's and my bedroom.
ben spent a week in colorado springs as a class (umm, lucky!), and is now getting settled in to how this new office and situation will work in the winter. my background check came back to the school district, and i have been substitue teaching almost every day. maddie and isaac have gotten off to such a great start at their new school. ben and i went to conferences in mid-february, and every single teacher told us that they have enjoyed maddie and isaac so much. that they work hard, that they are kind, that they are motivated and smart. that they are confident and participate in class. i teared up more than once. ben and i left the school saying that this is the right place for us. this is so good for our kids.
we (but mostly ben) have shoveled snow and shoveled snow and shoveled snow. we have gotten over 16 inches since we moved in! so, ben has even been up on the roof, shoveling snow off, so we don't stop vents, or bow roof lines.
we found a church - and the people there have been wonderful. we all look forward to sunday morning. the first two weeks we were here, four different families brought us meals and came to say hello. what a way to feel welcomed. and how nice to have some meals that i didn't have to cook - we could just keep working right up to supper time, and then eat a warm, tasty meal. each one of them brought enough for at least two meals - that was all kinds of fabulous. maddie and isaac have joined the youth group and love going - they are each making some fun, funny, nice friends. i also joined a bible study group, and the study and the fellowship are both so good for my heart.
the kids have both had new friends over to our house. maddie and some girls had a cupcake bake on a snowday. lots of laughter and frosting eating went on around my table. isaac had a friend over to play video games and eat all of the chocolate chip cookies i had baked that morning.
and, you guys! we had our first house guests on the twenty-second of february! there were ten of us in number six-twelve, and so much laughter and peace - even among some as yet unpacked boxes and with lawn chairs for seating. (living room furniture will come as we settle in a bit more.)
chaco and i have found some places to go walking - all within a ten minute or less drive from our house. we have found cottonwood trees and a rivers, open meadows and tree-lined path, buttes and valleys, and a huge parking lot and the fairgrounds - options for moving our legs and breathing the fresh air.
next week, we have meetings for spring sports (soccer for isaac, tennis for maddie, possibly reffing {soccer} for me), and the following week, practices start!
hopefully, i will be back in this space more and more, now that we are beginning to find how we do this life thing here, in our new spaces.
xoxo, my friends. go gently; love fiercely; be wonderful!
love, e