and THIS is why I'm so in love with little houses!

Our first home wasn't big by any means but it was super tall and we were all spread out. The lofted area was where the girls playroom was while the kitchen, dinning room and living room where I worked were on the main level. The bedrooms were upstairs together but not facing each other so even though the girls were in the room next to us we were never connected.

The first thing I noticed after a week of being in this house was how connected my family felt. We have two levels again but the basement is the basement, mostly storage even though technically there's bedroom and bathroom down there, laundry too. We all spend all of our time upstairs and in the yard. The girls bedroom is right across the hall from us and when I finally go to bed I see them, sleeping in their beds. We have conversations with each other at night from our beds. It's amazing. When they play, they bring their toys from room to room but it's all cozy and connected. When I work (from my dinning room table) I'm right in the living room too, I can see the kitchen and hear the girls playing, even if they're a back room.

Something about little houses. Everything I always wanted in a small simple space. This is all I ever want.

princess picnic

Our neighbors across the street have been sweet to us since we moved in. They have two daughters, one in high school and the other in middle school (who keep begging to babysit), and the Mom (I'm SO embarressed I've forgotten her name!) works full time from her home office. She told me she loves watching the girls play outside all day and how much it reminds her of when her girls were little.

The other day I was out playing with the girls and our neighbors came walking over with two little pink princess dresses. They were their girls flower girl dresses when they were little and they've seen my girls out in the yard dressed in their princess dresses (which are nearly in shreds now!) prancing around. They thought instead of the dresses taking up space in their closets the girls would get enjoyment out of them. Oh man they have no idea! The second I brought them into the house the girls ripped their clothes off and insisted I put them in those dresses right away! Rasa danced in circles and said, "I can't wait for my Daddy to see me in my new dress!" They've been wearing them everyday! It was a very sweet and generous gesture of our new neighbors and I'm sure now seeing Rasa and Adia running around in those pink frilly dresses it reminds them even more of Nic and Sam when they were just about the size of my babes.

This afternoon one of the same neighbors, Doug, walked over as Rasa and Adia were tackling me in the front yard. He made a joke about trying to help save me from the girls abusing me and handed them a box of sidewalk chalk. The girls thanked him and took off to color up the driveway. What a welcomed surprise! I was able to get dinner started without so much as a peep from the girls.

Sometimes little gestures make such an impact. I go back and forth feeling lonely here and things like this not only make my day they make me feel welcome here and at home. It also reminds me how important it is to do nice things for people because as cliche as it may sound you just never know what someone is feeling or dealing with and a smile, a wave, even a small treat can really touch someones heart. I've been meaning to go over all night and thank them for their kindness but each time I think about it I tear up because it's so sweet what they've done it touched me so much. Tomorrow, I'll bake something tasty and thank them :)

So tonight, after spending literally the entire day outside, Royce barbecued us dinner and my girls, dressed in their new frocks, had a princess picnic.

bike rides and new hood update!

The newest thing at the Steenerson house is the obsession with tricycle rides! All last fall the girls would sit on their bikes and push them (not peddle much) around in circles and then get board. A couple weeks ago Adia pulled hers out of the garage and peddled down the driveway and whipped down the street! Even after taking a major spill at the end of the driveway (it's pretty steep) she popped up with no tears, hopped on and took off bloody knee and all! Rasa saw Adia cruising down the street and took off after. Our first bike ride was a mile long!

We mostly cruise around the big block over and over a few times everyday. We got stopped on Sunday as Royce and I were walking along while the girls peddled quickly on their bikes. This older couple pulled up next to us and said they've really been enjoying watching the girls cruise on past their house everyday. So sweet.

We are so happy in our new place. Every weekend we get new neighbors stopping to say hi and welcoming us. The people around us are so warm and so friendly it's hard not to feel completely at home here.

Some of the biggest stressors we've had in our lives have passed through us over the last year and here we are, closer than ever and still intact, stronger and happier even.

We are so completely overwhelmed with gratitude for the kind souls and absolutely beautiful people in our lives. Yes, that means you too!

The best way to get the most solid footing is to have the earth shake a little below your feet.

making progress....

Still busy unpacking and getting things put away but we're making progress :)

Here's a peek at where we are at!

we're home

Well we had seven guys and three women and the group of us managed to empty out the entire contents of the old house, load it on the moving truck and pull out of the driveway in an hour and a half! Quickest move EVER! Everyone followed the truck to Richfield and unloaded and unpacked and helped us set up the house. Royce and I are completely overwhelmed with gratitude for such an amazing community of friends and family that we have. We are not worthy (but blessed beyond measure)!

Jenn and Melly stopped over with a house warming gift and to visit last night which was very sweet and lovely to see more familiar faces. Jenn chased the girls around the house and got them all tired out :) There's a circle the girls run through the living room, to the hallway, through the kitchen and around the dinning room which brings them back to the living room. They've been doing laps since we got here. The old wood floors creak and it makes the most delicious sound to me. I love, love, love old wood floors!

Rasa and Adia are very comfortable here and were immediately. Lucy is happy and comfy and slept half the night in Rasa's bed tucked under the covers lol! Actually last night was one of two nights that Rasa's ever slept all night in her own bed! They are right across the hall from our room and I'm typing this from my bed at 7:30 am on Sunday morning as the rest of my family still sleeps!

I feel good today and happy. The house was chilly last night as we had to get the heat rolling through it so we slept under a pile of quilts but we slept, and slept well for the first time in a long while.

So come on over! We've love to see you!

T - 2 days!

I thought I should pop in and do a little pre-move update! We are almost all packed up! The thought of packing one more box makes me want to hurl but we will get there ;) The girls have been much more gracious about letting me pack up their belongings whereas before they would look for something they hadn't cared about in a months and yell, "Momma!!! Did you pack _____?????!!!" I kept telling them we're not packing it up forever, just until we get into the new house!

We're loading the truck Saturday morning and saying goodbye to this house. It's bittersweet. We started looking to move two years before the girls were born and probably stayed too long. At the same time I look at all of the tiny details I put into the house, spending years of time and money making my new house look like a cozy old house. I was in the girls bedroom last night and flashbacked to me pregnant (and very sick) rocking in the glider of the girls room crying tears of joy and anticipation (well, and who am I kidding, crying to hurry the hell up and get here I'm in PAIN!!!!), dreaming of bringing my babies home. I tortured my family making that room exactly how I dreamt it up to be but they were gracious and even after my Mom painted the entire room and I changed my mind she painted it again. My Dad painted the dresser three times until it was perfect (thank you mom and Dad...ah I owe ya huh).

We brought our tiny 5lb preemies home here and lived in the living room with them for almost two months while we slept on the couch and they shared the tiny top hammock of the pack and play.

I brought Royce home his first puppy, Buddy, a wrinkled little tank of a purebred bulldog, and handed him over as soon as I pulled into the driveway. That dog trashed this entire house which led to many remodels and furniture replacements!! We put him down last September so his memory leaves here with us on Saturday.

We've been prepping the girls, telling them how wonderful the new house is and they've seen it for themselves and are excited. Tonight as I was getting Rasa dressed for bed in her room I told her we're moving in a few days, we will call the new house home and we won't be here anymore. She said, "Yep. Bye bye house, so long, farewell!" as she was jumping up and down. Adia's been saying randomly, "Momma's going to the new house, Papa, Lucy, Rasa, Jenn...." (Jenn asked her if she could come visit her in the new house). They point to their toys and our furniture and say how it's all coming with us.

I talked to one of my best friends today and she reminded me that I get to bundle up all of my happiness and move it with me. All of my sweet memory makers (Royce, Rasa and Adia). She reminded me of the images I've captured of our happiest moments here in this house and how those are mine, I own them, they are forever and they will never go away. Thank you Amy for that sweet perspective.

I've always been a sentimentalist. I can't help it. When my family moved from St. Cloud to Blaine I was eight years old and after everything had been cleared out of the house I went back downstairs to my bedroom, ran my hand along the ledge and said, "good bye room and good bye house". I felt a heavy heart about leaving it behind then too.

So with that, goodbye room and goodbye house. I'm moving on to a real cozy old house.

Cuz that's how we roll...

I hope I'm not boring everyone TO DEATH by my constant mention of packing and moving but since it's filling up all of our time I can't help it! It certainly wont be our last move by far so maybe I'll even find myself reading about it later on and learning from this move.

Royce and I devised a plan this week on what needed to get done today and we decided today was going to be the weekend we got rid of every single thing we won't be moving with us. Some is going in a landfill, some again to Good Will, some on Craigslist. I'm happy we now have every drawer and cabinet in the house emptied and we have half of the closets finished! Only three more to go!

The girls were literally driving me crazy this morning by getting into everything and then demanding one of us entertain them all morning (I NEED paper....I NEED paper....I NEED PAPER RIGHT NOW! I wanna color...I wanna color I wanna color I WANNA COLOR, I don't like these pants, I wanna wear these pants...I need my doggie shirt! WHERE IS MY DOGGIE SHIRT!! Momma what are u doing? What is this? What does this go to? I want it! I want that! I need this! I'm hungry...no I don't wanna eat that! I'm not hungry!.....catch my drift?).

I finally set up a stack of big boxes and said, "here ya go, this looks like a puppy house if ever there was one". They played with the boxes for an hour easily non stop and Royce and I were able plug away.

(PS Mom and Dad....please rest up in Mexico this week because I need to put you to work on babysitting duty when you get home :) :)

We needed to get out of the house and have lunch so we ended up at Chipotle. Highlight of my day for many reasons; first because Royce generally doesn't like their food so we hardly ever eat there, second because I LOVE IT and the girls eat it up and most importantly because my girls know how to have fun in public without being annoying, loud or rude.

We sat in the back and the music was blasting. Adia was quick to stand up and dance (that girl can dance!). Rasa and I joined in (semi descretely so as to not make a scene) and we all laughed and grooved. We have so much fun together doing the simplist things. Even on a day where we are knee deep in boxes, and dust and chaos it was fun to carve out a little bit of time to just be and have fun......cuz that's how we roll.

Everyday Things

oyi!

I'm slacking off having a beer and thinking about how I need to be upstairs, now that the girls are asleep, folding laundry and trying to take down that mountain. Six or so outfits a day that end up in a dirty bin thanks to the girls obsession with changing clothes multiple times a day makes for an overwhelming amount of laundry at the end of every week!

Royce and I are trying to come up with a plan for the big move and we've been looking around the house at all of the furniture we've accumulated over the past 11 years! When we bought this house it was just the two of us and we hardly furnished half of it. Add two bambino's and we're positively busting out at the seems! We've been doing a great deal of purging and no longer have any baby stuff left but even after a couple truck loads to Good Will it doesn't seem to have made a dent in our stash!

I'm overwhelmed at what needs to get done. My plan is to start tomorrow, one single box at a time. We have a month and a half (OMG A MONTH AND A HALF!!!) to get it done. It's challenging for me just to keep the house clean with the girls into EVERYTHING so I'm hoping by some greater force I can work at packing up while keeping my sanity about letting other things slide.

I need some serious positive vibes, good thoughts and prayers (whatever you fancy) to get this done. Please keep us in your thoughts for a smooth transition. The girls are tentatively excited about it but change can be hard for anyone and we want them excited and cooperative when it comes to packing up and moving on.

Cheers to new walls, new soil and new memories!

Yep we're moving......

Rasa couldn't be more excited!

She was jumping up and down saying,
"Lets go momma!!! Lets go!!"

She's excited to have grass and trees and a yard! Should make for a very fun summer!

Dare I say....Richfield is just about to get a whole lot cooler....the Steenerson Family is moving in!

More details to come but I gotta get started packing!

Its Official! We're Moving!

I have a smorgasbord of feelings about it: sheer excitement, sheer panic, anxiety and joy! I wonder the most how the girls will adjust. Where will we walk, play, visit with neighbors, find our place in a new community, buy groceries?! We are looking in a few different areas that stretch across the entire metro. We want to be closer to the city but the idea of being even further away is something we're not excluding right now. Room to run, explore and look at the stars are just as appealing as being in the city with all of the resources and culture. It's going to be a tough decision but we will figure it out in the next couple months. I believe we will be here until later this winter, early spring at the latest.

So my question is this.....How in the world do you pack up a home filled to the top with "stuff" and sort out what you have to keep and what you should really get rid of?! Insert [OVERWHELMED] here!

We are in for some tough work!

Please keep my family in your prayers or wishes that we will feel guided by the process and have peace with the area, house and community we decide on.

I'm sure you'll be reading much more on the topic as the months pass!