Our New Home!

 

Exciting News:  We have a new home!  Our new house is currently under construction and will be completed at the end of April.  We will move in on May 10: Exactly 48 days from now... but not like anyone is counting! 

 

January and February involved lots of exploration of Greensboro: driving through neighborhoods, attending open houses, assessing houses currently on the market, researching school districts, touring elementary schools for Luke and preschools for Leah, and trying to find the best fit for our family.  We wanted to balance a reasonable commute for Mark, find a public school system that would be consistently strong long term (potentially through high school years), and live in a community that was family oriented.

 

Week after week, we felt like we were spinning our wheels.  Although we were slowly narrowing down possibilities, we still had no idea where we'd end up.  And it's very hard to establish roots in a new town, make friends, and feel like you are making progress when you can't pinpoint where your "local" doctor, vet, grocery store, or library will be.  One day in mid-February, I toured one of the last elementary schools on my list, and the moment I walked in, I knew it was "the one".  I texted Mark to tell him that I didn't even need to take the tour.  My instinct told me that this was the perfect place for our children, and my thoughts were affirmed at the conclusion of my visit.  Finally, we were able to focus our search on this sweet little town that is a suburb of Greensboro called Oak Ridge, and it felt wonderful to be able to picture that this may be our new community. 

 

So, we looked at everything on the market, and not finding much, we tried to patiently wait.  We were reassured by our realtor that spring would be a more active time for real estate.  While Mark was at work and Luke was at school, Leah and I drove around Oak Ridge, street by street, neighborhood after neighborhood.   And then one day, we stumbled upon a house.  There wasn't even a sign in the yard or an MLS for the property yet.  Mark had asked us to explore an area that he saw on a map that had some new construction, places that may be coming on the market soon.  And our wonderful home was just sitting there, seemingly waiting for us:

 

Our realtor was with me, and in a moment of serendipity, the builder happened to be at the house that day, too.  He walked us through the structure, which was framed and proposed to be finished this spring.  It was perfect.  The floor plan suited our family wonderfully, the timing couldn't be better, and I anxiously awaited a chance to take Mark back to the house to show it to him.  Over the course of a couple of weeks, we put in an offer and went under contract.  I was able to revise many of the selections that the designer had originally chosen for the house.  Lighting, plumbing fixtures, cabinets, tile, granite, etc. all were mine for the choosing, but I had this wonderful outline as a guide, and for the most part, didn't feel overwhelmed by the decisions.  It was fun to have a project again, and purposeful movement forward. 

 

The house is coming along nicely.  The below pictures were taken earlier this month.  We visited as a family one Saturday morning shortly after the brick and sheetrock went up.  As we walked through the front door, I burst into tears as I had my first vision of each room and the "home" that it would be for us.  Mark laughed at me, and mentioned that it was ironic that I thought it was so beautiful and poetic, as the house was absolutely filthy, filled with drywall dust, mud, nails, and wood scraps everywhere.  But I had a glimpse of what is was to be, and that made all of these months of diligent searching absolutely worth every challenging moment:  

 

 

 

There are so many things that we are excited about regarding our new house.  We love that we are within walking distance of the town park and Luke's new school.  We adore that our new neighborhood is on a lake and includes a nature trail through the woods for Winnie and the kids to explore:

 

This covered bridge is my favorite part of the walking trail.

Our little hikers explore their new 'hood.

  We are looking forward to having space again, enjoying a screened in porch for the first time, and I can't wait to decorate a brand new home.  We have already met the family across the street, who have several young children, including a son exactly Luke's age.  

 

When we initially told Luke that we were moving last fall, we thought he'd be excited and not hesitant at all.  After all, he's our adventurous one, who embraces new experiences and loves to try new things.  Instead, he started crying and said through tears, "I don't WANT to move."  It broke my heart.  Over the next few weeks, he processed the upcoming move, and would ask me out of the blue:  "Mommy, can we pack my walls... my ceiling fan... etc?"

 

I asked him to make a "wishlist" of all the things he wanted in the new house, and here is what he came up with:     

"Play room, Blue Room, Snow, Lots of 'leafs', and good yard."
 

 I can guarantee you that we promised Luke every single item on that list (although maybe I shouldn't have prayed so hard for "snow").  He has also drawn some pictures of his version of the new house, which make me smile:

 

Our South Carolina house is now under contract (HOORAY!), so we will return to Greenville one last time in April to help the movers pack and load our belongings.  Our furniture will be in storage for a month and then will be delivered to our new NC home in mid-May.  We can't WAIT for that happy day, and look forward to being in our new home with great joy and anticipation!

North Carolina Zoo

We took advantage of the sunny weather last Saturday and visited the North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro, NC.  This zoological park is absolutely enormous, and is the largest walk-through zoo in the world, with over five miles of walking trails.  The zoo is divided into two sections:  Africa and North America, and we focused on exploring the Africa section this time.  The kids especially loved the African grasslands area, and were delighted to climb on the elephant tracking vehicles and statues of animals. 

 

 

Another fun feature of the zoo was the elephant game that we played as a family:  

 

As usual, Luke enjoyed reading the information at each enclosure about the animals' habitat, lifespan, and endangered status and he educated us throughout the day with interesting facts and trivia.  We walked through the zoo for several hours, and didn't even cover all of the Africa section this visit.  We're excited to have this neat place on our list of interesting attractions, and look forward to returning soon to explore more of the zoo next time!   

Leprechauns!

 

The kids have been anxiously awaiting St. Patrick's Day for several weeks, in the hopes of catching a leprechaun.  They made leprechaun traps and were thrilled when they woke up this morning to find a trail of gold coins through the apartment.  Although the leprechaun escaped, he wrote notes to L&L wishing them a Happy St. Patrick's Day.  We're donning our green today, listening to Irish music, and enjoying shamrock-themed goodies.  Here are our two little leprechauns in their St. Paddy's Day attire.  Happy St. Patrick's Day to you!

ACC Tournament

 

On Thursday, we had a great spontaneous adventure when Mark was given last minute tickets to the ACC tournament.  We surprised Luke with an early dismissal from school and made it to the Greensboro Coliseum in time for the 2:00 p.m. Wake Forest vs. Pitt game.  Greensboro has been referred to as "tournament town" this week, and you could feel the excitement in the air as thousands of ACC basketball fans gathered to cheer on their favorite teams.  The tournament was really neat, with lots of activities and entertainment.  Booths and games were set up, fans tailgated outside, and we marveled at how fun it was that this was happening in our new town:    

We won't talk about how pitiful WFU looked in the game, and instead will focus on how fortunate it was that we had tickets to Thursday's game so we could watch our Deacs play before they were eliminated:

 

One of our favorite parts of the day was the mascot halftime game.  All 15 ACC mascots participated, and the kids loved watching these crazy characters compete:

 

Here are my boys, watching the game together.  How I love these two!

 

It was our kind of Thursday afternoon: Demon Deacon basketball and family time together! 

March Madness

 

We enjoyed our own version of March Madness a little early when we attended the WFU-Boston College basketball game last weekend.  It was Junior Deacon Club Day, and Luke and Leah have memberships to this neat Wake Forest Sports Club for children.  The kids spotted the Demon Deacon before the game and both were excited to have their picture taken with him:

 

 There was a poster making station for the kids, and L&L showed their Wake Forest pride with special messages and drawings to cheer on their Deacs:



His sign reads: "Go WF!  Boo BC!'. 

 

For the first time ever, we arrived before the game and actually made it to the very end!  This is a positive sign that we are no longer bound to nap schedules and short toddler attention spans, and allowed us to watch the team warm up and enjoy the pre-game festivities:

Luke was absolutely enthralled.  He took it all in with a wistful, hopeful expression, as he clutched his sweet poster tightly.  I looked over at my dear son, donning his WFU hat and jersey, as he soaked in every detail of the game, and my heart almost burst:

 

And just when it couldn't get any cuter, Luke slowly raised his poster above his head and held it there for much of the game.  I think he truly believed that the team "needed" to see it, and that it would bring them good luck.  It was a darling preview of our little sports fanatic's many, many games ahead: 

 

 

Leah was positively adorable in her cheerleader outfit as well.  She danced along to the music, as she shook black and gold pom poms:

Here's one last glimpse of our silly Deacon fans, showing Mommy their best "crazy" faces before the game. Go Deacs!  

Danville Science Center

 

Last Friday, I met my friend, Mandy, at the Danville Science center in Virginia for a fun day with our kiddos.  Mandy and I worked together in Roanoke in the B.C. (Before Children) days, and became close friends.  The last time we have a picture of ourselves together was in 2009, when we were still relatively new mamas: 

Ahh, look how fresh we still are here!

Then we blinked, and all of the sudden it's 2014.  Luke didn't join us on our museum day trip, since he had kindergarten (wait, isn't he still that chunky toddler on my lap above?)... but Leah had a blast with Mandy's 3 adorable children and has been talking about her "new friends" ever since.

 

The kids explored many exhibits, but I think this one was their favorite.  They shot balls through wind tunnels to each other, and it kept them occupied for a long time: 

Sweet Ashton with Leah.

 

We also liked this exhibit, as it allowed all 4 children to be contained in one area all at once!

 

Eden (who is now 5 and no longer the tiny infant on her Mama's lap as pictured above) and Leah formed a cute girl bond together:

 

We also had a picnic lunch with our friends and loved catching up and playing together.  Now that we are only 2 hours from Roanoke, we look forward to seeing them more often and planning play dates and visits with them in the near future!

Weekend Getaway

 

Last weekend, we drove to Bean and Poppy's house, and were thrilled that our trip now takes less than 4 hours (vs. almost 7!).  Our new, shorter drive was a breeze!  Mark and I realized that our middle of the night departures may officially be a thing of the past, and we high fived at that happy thought.    The kids did lots of their favorite Williamsburg activities while we were there, including taking a ride on the city bus, visiting the jellybean store, and playing with many of B&P's toys and in the sand table.  Mark and I had a chance to shop, rest, and recharge while Bean and Poppy took the children on several outings, which was wonderful.   

 

One of the children's excursions with their grandparents was to feed the ducks.  We used to take Luke to do this often when he was a toddler, and realized that Leah may never have gone to see the Williamsburg ducks-  Poor second child!  Apparently she had no fear, and walked right up to each one, talking to them and handing out pieces of bread:

 

 

 

The kids also went to Yorktown and learned a little about life in colonial times:

 

Leah doing "laundry".

The kids couldn't resist posing with George Washington, and Leah even dared to get her picture taken with a "Redcoat":

 

 

A cute Leah story from this week:  Bean and Poppy taught Luke and Leah some basic Revolutionary War history during their Yorktown visit.  We had no idea that Leah absorbed so much of the lesson until this week, when we were back home in NC.  We were getting ready to run some errands, and Leah told Winnie, "You look out for the Redcoats while we're gone and put them in jail if you see them!"

I giggled, and asked Leah what she meant.  She looked exasperated with me and began to give me a detailed story about "soldiers hiding in the woods... and the Redcoats were captured and defeated  during the fight..."

I was amazed at what that barely 3-year old brain processed and remembered from her Yorktown visit, and decided that I needed to brush up on my history soon, so that I can keep up with my toddler. 

The kids also soaked in lots of fresh air and sunshine during our Williamsburg visit.  Below are a couple of my favorite photos of them playing outside.  Thank you, Bean and Poppy, for a wonderful weekend!