Sunday, December 4, 2011

House Update

We're closing on the new house December 28th and moving our personal belongings (not furniture, though) to the new house the next day. Our furniture will stay in the old house until it sells, but we're shopping for a few new pieces of furniture that we would have eventually bought anyway to get us through until we can get fully moved.

We're also shopping for a fridge. I think we've settled on a stainless steel model with freezer on bottom and double doors on top. Many thanks to all of you who shared your fridge experiences with us.

We have our first showing of the old house today, and hopefully it sells soon. If not, the builder of our new house will buy it...a sweet deal for us and one that made this whole move possible in the first place.

We visited the house yesterday to measure for area rugs, and the builder has done so much work to get it ready! It was exciting to see the door pulls on all the cabinets, the cooktop and wall ovens installed, the door hardware on the front and back doors, and the bottom, stone portion of the front porch column built.





At one point, Jack asked me to go with him to the back bedroom. He asked, "Is this going to be my room?" I replied that it would be, and his face lit up. "Thank you, mommy, for giving me a room with such a beautiful view!"


I guess he'll handle the change pretty well!

After fretting and hemming and hawwing over whether to get a real tree, I finally decided that it just wasn't practical. But because everyone in the family enjoys the experience of going to Big Tree Plantation, we're still going to take Daisy and go, donate a tree to the family of a deployed soldier, take a horse-drawn hay ride, visit Santa and a few of his reindeer, drink hot cider, and each buy an ornament to commemorate the year we moved into our new house.

Last year, when Daisy saw the horses, she didn't know what to make of them. Hopefully, this year, she is a bit braver and more mature. Not likely, though. She's still a big goofball.

The kids and I decorated our dinky little fake tree with pretty dark red and gold ornaments, most of George's grandmother's vintage glass ornaments, glass icicles, cotton boll angels, and our White House ornaments, given to us by military friends stationed in DC.

As several of you recommended, we put it on a box to elevate it a bit, and that helped so much! The tree looks so pretty and festive, but is totally impersonal as befits a staged house. All the personal ornaments--the handmade ones and ones that have been given to us and the ones we've collected as we've moved around the country-- are still packed away.



Love these handpainted ornaments I bought at KMart years ago.


Next year's tree will have nothing but our more personal ornaments on it, including--on top--the large construction-paper-and-glitter-star Jack made years ago in preschool. After all, we'll be in our very own new house and won't that be something to celebrate!

The rest of the Christmas decorations I have put up are understated but festive (mostly garland), and I decorated the mantle with our nativity set (handpainted by my mom) and two pinecone "trees" I bought at Target a few years ago. (Will share pictures later of them later). Hopefully, strangers wandering through our house will appreciate the decor and will want to buy our house.

May this, the second Sunday in Advent, prepare you for the spirit of Hope, Joy, and Love that is the reason for the season.

10 comments:

  1. I love reading this blog, Susan. Thanks for sharing so much of your family time. Your trip to the tree farm sounds like fun, and I had to swallow a ginormous lump in my throat when I read that you were donating a tree to the family of a deployed soldier. You are truly good people, and I'm honored to call you 'friend'. Good luck with the sale of your house - hope it sells very quickly, and you soon have the move behind you. When our home burned, and we relocated, we did it on December 22nd. I'll never forget the feeling of that first Christmas in the new home. The furniture couldn't be delivered until after Christmas, so we brought our mattresses home, put them on the floor, and slept in front of the very sparse tree for several nights. Ha ha, now, I'd need help getting up off the floor! Hugs...

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  2. Love that you can donate a tree to a military family :) Wouldn't pass up that fun day with all the activities either - sounds wonderful! Love Jack's comment - something to treasure in a mother's heart :) Can't believe the builder will buy your home if it doesn't sell - win/win for sure!

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  3. I'm happy you put up a tree. We did a similar thing a few (many) years ago when we were in moving limbo. The tree was on packed boxes covered with a Christmas table cloth. We felt better having even a small one. Thanks so much for donating a live tree to a military family. It's a great and generous idea!

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  4. What a magical time of year, and this one even more so. We sold our first house on Christmas Eve in 1978. You are building memories for your boys that will never be forgotten, especially when mingled with faith! Your tree is fabulous, and your new kitchen looks wonderful. Merry Christmas!

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  5. I love your little tree. This will be a Christmas of change and your tree is part of it.

    My husband and I have only been together 4 years. He was not a Christmas tree person; but he indulges me in my passion for our tree. We use an artificial tree because of our lifestyle; but it is very pretty. He puts it up every year and puts the lights on it.

    This year as I was decorating it and hanging all of the ornaments he commented, "You really enjoy doing that, don't you?" And I do, it makes me so happy to put all of the special ornaments on the tree that have history.

    I love my slightly tattered blown glass santa head; it's my favorite ornament that I have from my childhood. The 3" curtain ring that is covered in green glitter with my 4 year old daughter's nursery school picture almost brings me to tears. The handpainted wooden ornaments from my mom; the little mittens sewn on plastic canvas, the many pairs of ice skates from my years of skating, the red cloth heart made from the giant flag that flys over Fort Mackinac, the clothespin reindeer my son made, I relive memories when I decorate my tree.

    We are adding new ornaments a little here and there; they are part of our new history.

    I love the pretty "staged" trees; but ours is special.

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  6. Your tree is lovely, as is the story of tree-shopping that you shared. While I don't comment often, I read both of your blogs regularly and so appreciate the inspiration you provide. Thank you, and best wishes on the sale/move. :-)

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  7. Wishing you much joy and a lifetime of building happy memories in your new home.

    "Thank you, mommy, for giving me a room with such a beautiful view!"
    Sometimes the little ones just take your breath away. Thank you for sharing it.
    Joan

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  8. Thank you for sharing your journey to your new home. Your tree looks lovely, and I hope your old house sells quickly. You and your family will enjoy all the "firsts" after you move as you settle into your new life.

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  9. Thank you for sharing and keep us up to date with your journey and experiences with your new home; the best is yet to be

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  10. Congratulations on your new home! Your fake tree is still beautiful.
    I have a double-door on top refrigerator, and if I had to do it again I would get a single door. The double doors don't fully close by themselves, you have to push them all the way shut. It does have a handy-dandy beeper that lets you know if it's not shut, but I'm deaf and never hear it. But maybe the model you picked out WILL fully shut by itself!

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Thanks so much for taking time to comment!