What did we keep?

We did it! One, 10x10 (x10?) storage unit, a suitcase each, a back pack each.... and a trailer full of boxes and small furniture that will soon be left with older kids in Utah and Idaho... and various odds and ends that we haven't quite shed yet (extra books, extra paper, extra pencils pens etc... but we have almost done it! We are leaving for Northern Colorado on Saturday where we will stay for a little while and then on to see the big kids and hand off the last trailer load of boxes that are still following us around. And then we are truly free. Assuming we have given up those other extras too. But we will!

Purging was a pretty extensive project and we utilized whatever means was available. We sold most of the bigger things on craigslist: couches, beds, dressers, treadmill, desks, tables, bookshelves (so many bookshelves!) and the extra car. We held a one day yard sale extravaganza with smaller things and stuff that hadn't gone on craigslist yet. We donated to goodwill and the homeless shelter downtown. We had friends with a junk-hauling business take away at least two truckloads. We gave away lots of books and toys and games, and we threw stuff away like crazy. It was intense. And somehow therapeutic.

I look at our packed storage unit and know that someday, I will have to go through it all again and I will wonder why I kept some of this. I doubt I will experience much regret about what I didn't keep, because it just doesn't seem to work that way. The things I have let go in the past just fade from my memory and I don't miss them.

So... what did we store and what did we not?

Toys: We stored a lot more toys than we needed to I think. But it was a conscious decision because we didn't want to delve into all the boxes right now. Our youngest child is eleven, much of the toys we still had were already in storage boxes, we just moved them from garage to storage unit. We did get rid of many too, but some we chose not to make a decision on yet. Like Lego. So much Lego. Individual children's lego, family lego, Kris's childhood Lego. So much Lego.

Books: We probably got rid of three- fourths of our books. But our book collection was extensive and there are still several boxes of them. I finally parted with most of my college books. We gave away the majority of our homeschooling books. Most of the paperbacks are gone. I kept my favorite history resources. I have a decent collection of antique hardbacks, my 'pretty' books, and I kept them. The kids all kept their favorite books, and they had first chance at any I was giving away too, but those are stored in their boxes.

Kitchen Stuff: We kept enough to reasonably stock a possible future kitchen. I kept the best baking pans and my pots and pans and the best dishes. I kept the Bosch and Kitchenaid and Blender. The toaster is going to one of my sons, the waffle irons and griddle to grown kids too, the rice cooker to goodwill. We donated storage containers and cookie cutters and canning jars.

Furniture: We kept our mattress and boxspring and 3 twin mattresses, we kept our office and sewing desks (but not chairs), we kept our television stand (and the tv) and the trunk from the bottom of our bed, we kept two living room lamps and an area rug. All the other furniture is gone. Well, there are some throw pillows.

Kids' Stuff: We never told the kids what they could and could not keep really and so it varies widely from one child to the next. The grown kids already had their stuff mostly boxed up of course, though when we got serious about packing, we found plenty of things hanging around the house that needed to be added to each of their piles: dishes, books, coats, games. Depending on the child, they have anywhere from two to six boxes stored.

There are other odds and ends in there: bedding, office supplies, some electronics, photo albums, old art work, a few baby clothes and blankets. But so much is gone, so far we have all been just fine, and tomorrow we leave for Northern Colorado.

Almost there....

The whole reason for us renting a "vacation home" only minutes from the home we owned just a couple months ago came to a sudden end last Thursday morning as I waited in the car outside of the seminary building waiting for my three boys.  They were tapping at the car windows a full half hour before they normally do and telling me that seminary was over for the day because the high school was being closed due to smoke in the building. Over the course of the next few days, we learned that the school would still be closed on Friday, and then for the whole next week.... and then for the week after that too. Well, that last week of cancelled school also happened to be the last week of school for the year, suddenly the high school, and thus my kids seminary class, was out for summer break a full two weeks earlier than expected.

And here we are in a house we rented so they could finish the college semester and the seminary year. Well... the college is already out, Noah graduated last weekend. And now, seminary is out too. And here we still are. While we are anxious to commence some actual traveling, if only to end the constant "We thought you moved" comments every time we show up to church one more time, we have been keeping busy in our two months here:

School: The kids are still doing school, mostly the same as ever, some math, some Spanish etc. But there has been an added emphasis on finishing up the history books we are currently reading together so we can pack them away and decide if we are bringing any out of storage to read this summer. In fact there has been a rush to read several books that we just can't take along, Fionnula has been working her way through a whole stack she wants to read before we go. The older two boys have been focused on completing the college semester and, for Noah, graduating.

Pictures: Our first seven children were born before we owned a digital camera (before most people owned a digital camera). So a huge project that had been hanging over our heads for several years now was to scan all those old family photos. Well we finally did it! Technically, Kris did it, but I am allowing myself partial credit for being the person who removed them from albums, stacked them up pre-scanning, and then received and replaced them back in albums post-scanning. After our photos were done he also scanned and uploaded a collection of my grandmother's old photos dating back to the late 1930s, so that's pretty
awesome.

Appointments: We have been to doctors, dentists, pharmacists, eye doctors and orthodondists. Shots are updated. Braces are off. Glasses prescriptions are renewed. Cavities are filled.

Sewing: Okay, this is mostly me, but I have been working to get a couple quilt tops and various little projects done so I can pack away all my sewing.

Eating: We are still trying to finish off some food storage items! We have been eating whole wheat everything for two months, and still we aren't going to quite make it through all the wheat. I try to fit rice into as many meals as possible. Spices are a particular challenge. Still, we have done pretty well working through a lot of pantry items: oatmeal and cream of wheat, lentils, hot cocoa mix, pasta, canned beans and tomatoes and nuts (so many nuts!) as well as the few remaining freezer items. Anything that green chilies can go in, has been extra spicy lately. What is left will go to accommodating friends willing to see what they can create from our much too large stash of bean noodles.

And we go for walks, visit our friends, play at the park, go to our favorite places one more time, or find the places we haven't been yet so we can experience them before we go.... oh, and watch the sun set over Pikes Peak every night because we are really going to miss that.

Lessons Learned From Living Together in a Much Smaller Space

Moving to a home that is probably half the size of our previous one has been an adjustment I think for the four kids who have been enjoying the luxurious spaciousness of a house we had originally bought for twelve. We are all learning some lessons about living in closer proximity:

Getting the laundry and the dishes washed during the daylight hours is paramount because no one is going to be able to sleep with the dishwasher or dryer running at night.  They sound as though they are right there in the room with you, no matter which room you are in.

The math (or English or art) classroom and mom's yoga studio have suddenly become one and the same and it is bound lead to uncomfortable moments for everyone involved.

When one person is washing dishes at the sink while someone else is frying bacon on the stove, it is important that everyone keep their elbows to themselves, space is tight. And unloading the dishwasher at the same time? Well that's just not happening.

When Dad is in a video conference in his office/bedroom then the door to that particular bathroom is within full view of the camera.  We are out of luck for the duration of the meeting. Plan accordingly.

There is seriously no room to not put shoes away. Or coats. Or books.

If the children insist on stretching out on the living room couch within full view of the parents' bedroom before mom gets up in the morning, they are definitely going to witness her getting up in whatever state of dress she is in.

When someone sneaks into the kitchen at midnight in search of some of that leftover pizza, dad is totally going to hear them and send them back to bed pizza-less.

Most of all, for good or bad, everyone knows where everyone else is and what they are doing most of the time.

Our New Home

When we moved into this home, it wasn't nearly ready for us. It was, in fact, mid-renovation and the basement had several walls that were (and still are) only really drywall, the stairs were bare particle board and the basement tile floor was only partially grouted. Grouting dust was on pretty much every surface of the home and floating in the air, I could taste it. And the place was just plain dirty and messy. Several of the kitchen drawers were full of trash. It was a tad discouraging. Here we were feeling triumphant that Fionnula, after all her anxiety over the move had announced that riding in a moving van was "Like a ride at Disneyland.... a really boring ride at Disneyland," and yet facing the monumental task of making this new place livable.

We spent two days just cleaning and rearranging. The boys slept in the living room at first until we could get the basement cleaned and their beds moved downstairs. This is a furnished rental, but their beds were all stored upstairs during construction, two sets of twin mattresses and box springs were propped up in the dining room and one full bed was crammed in a closet in the upstairs bedroom.  We cleaned cabinets and counters and showers and tubs and floors and walls. Kris spent hours just extracting lego pieces from the jets in the master bathroom.

Then we commenced living here.  The furniture is not ours. The decor is definitely not ours. Our books are mostly not with us. But our first weekend here was General Conference and we had our traditional cinnamon rolls for breakfast and we had our traditional sandwiches and chips for lunch and we watched and listened together just like we always do. We have now celebrated a birthday here and colored Easter eggs here. We talk to our older kids on hangouts every Sunday from our ugly, rented couch. We play skip bo, we cook dinner, we watch Seinfeld and read together. Basically, it is our home.

One evening not too long after we had moved, I went to my book club meeting. The meeting was way north of the area of town we live in now, I drove pretty close to our old neighborhood and kept on going. I came home in the dark, drove right through the old neighborhood without a thought. As I approached our little community of town homes, I could identify which lighted window was ours and I knew that beyond that window, Kris and the kids were hanging out together, probably watching silly youtube videos and I knew I was home. My furniture and books and walls painted a certain color aren't what makes my home, its the precious people who were waiting for me behind that window that make it my home. Even if the curtains hanging in that window are a nasty gold and brown and feature orange tassels!