Home Sweet Home

Welcome to our new home!! We finally got everything mostly put away, and this house will probably never be quite this clean again, so I thought I'd take you on a little virtual tour of the new digs. As you can see from this picture and the one below, I FINALLY got my fabric shelves organized!

And this has now become my favorite room in the house. We're calling it Mommy and Daddy's play room.

I have plenty of room to sew and craft.

I am envisioning some very girly and very fun craft gatherings around this table. I can't wait to invite some friends over and make good use of this space!

Our office space is no longer in our bedroom, which feels great.

The books are no longer within Patrick's reach, as he is not generally allowed in this room. One less temptation for those curious little hands.

The living room and the studio/office through those double doors.

The apple painting made its way out of the kitchen and into the living room. Also, I recovered the piano bench in a really fun, bright fabric from Heather Bailey's Pop Garden line.

Our "quaint" little kitchen and dining area. I really do love this space. It has so much character. But I say "quaint" because we're a bit lacking in storage and work space.

It could quite possibly be that I just have way too many kitchen items, but what can I say? I love to cook. Speaking of which, you can see two little herb plants sitting in the window. I bought some basil and some rosemary and I tried them out this week in a homemade pizza.

Here's the new island in use, providing some much needed counter space.

I used some of the fresh rosemary leaves and mixed them right into the dough.

I brushed the crust with olive oil, then sprinkled with parmesan and garlic powder, topped with sauce, fresh mozzarella, and sliced tomatoes...

...then threw on some of that fresh basil for the last couple minutes in the oven. Yum!

We finally have a usable backyard, which has been so nice for Patrick.

It's divided into a front and back section, which means less to take care of. We're thinking we might get a swing set to put out in the back part.

More of the saltillo tile that's laid throughout the house.

The kids' very cute little bathroom.

Olivia's sweet room.

Patrick's room.




Our bedroom.

And a peek into...

...the smallest bathroom in the world!

And that's about it. We are loving our little home and are so excited to have all of our friends, new and old, over for fellowship and of course food. So feel free to invite yourselves :)

We'll unpack later...

Look, Mom! Mud!!

It's Box City!!!

Have I mentioned how much this kid loves boxes???

Seriously the sweetest smile ever!

Mmmmm... fingers :)

Family photo minus Mom, of course, who is snapping all these precious pics.

Exploring

Patrick conquering the great unknown of the new backyard...








...mission accomplished!

Pretty in Purple

These are from a couple weeks ago...

A Quick Update

Well, we are moved into our rental in Tempe, and we have been busily unpacking for the last few days. Just about everything has found its place, though we still have quite a few odds and ends that don't quite fit and may have to just be stored in boxes somewhere for a while. I will definitely post some pictures once things get tidied up a bit more.

The kids are adjusting just fine. We had to remove the rail on Patrick's bed in order to get it out of his old bedroom, and we actually decided to leave it off and turn it into a toddler bed for him. We bought him some "big boy" bedding, and he is loving his new "night night" quarters. I have been so pleased, though I really shouldn't be surprised, that he has been so good about staying in bed. He gets in and out just for fun during the day when he's playing in his room, but when it's time to take a nap, or go to bed for the night, he climbs right in and doesn't move until I come get him. I'll hear him at the end of a nap or in the morning lying in there talking to himself, and when I come in to get him, he just looks up at me until I tell him it's time to get up and then he pops up and slides out. He has always been an obedient nap-taker, and Olivia is following the same pattern now as well. I guess all that Babywise and To Train Up A Child teaching and training has really paid off. It truly has been a tremendous blessing!

We attended one church service at a brand new church called The Anthem the day after we moved. They meet on Sunday nights at the theater on Mill. It was started by a couple from Albuquerque, NM along with a team of about 14 or so people (if I remember right). They definitely have a tremendous passion for the Lord, and I am sure that they will be used by God to do some incredible things here in this town. Luke and I are thinking and praying about where God would have us fellowship. Perhaps this one is it. I think we definitely want to give Calvary Tri-City at least one try as well. We shall see...

And that's about it for now. Pictures of this cute little house will be coming soon! Thank you all for your covering of sweet prayers as we continue to make this transition. God is so good!