"Home" Turned Rental

The end of the month was here and it was time to turn "Our Home" over to the new tenants. A great day but also a day full of remembering. A friend asked me if I was emotional at some point during this month...I took a moment and thought..."Me, emotional about leaving this house?" I had not been thinking about it, I was so busy packing, cleaning, taking care of a baby and boys too, as well as still working on new house stuff. I had not thought about getting emotional and what I was leaving. From that moment on, I tried to remove myself from the moment a little and allow myself to feel and think about a few emotions other than the current To-Do list. 

While I was trying to take in a few more emotions as I packed up one house and planned the next we still ended to come up with a plan on where we were going to be living...our plan was to hotel it for the first week of July. But some friends were going to head out of town for a family vacation right at the end of June and the beginning of July. Perfect timing..the first week we would be "homeless." It was so nice being able to regroup at their house. I went through all of our belongings one more time...which turned into three more times. Each time we went out to the property, I thought this was the last box...everything else would be with us for our adventures, packed into one of two cars. One thing I was learning on this adventure was how much we think we need to live vs. how much we really "need" to live.  Simplicity is a wonderful thing!

A few pics of moving/packing days...

Addie and Easton bonding while watching a movie on dad's I-Pad. 

More screen time for the boys...they are taking advantage of this unlimited screen time. 

More paint touch-ups..

One last place to sit in the house...

The last item to be packed...Addie's Pack n' Play. 

After we had most of our house moved to the trailer and our "rental" house cleaned and ready to rent...we met the new tenants.  They were just getting home from China. Both of the adults are teachers and the father was teaching in China for the past two years. They have four children twin six year olds, a three year old and a one year old. Perfect fit for our "rental" house. Meeting this family, it was just one more time when we realized how small our world is. Turns out, they are really good friends with my childhood neighbor. 

After being in a plane from China to here and then in a car...their kids were very excited to be at the new house running around and exploring as much as they could. An empty rental house was probably just what they needed at this time. No toys...just each other and an empty space. 

As exciting as it is to finally meet the renters and feel good that you "think" you have good tenants...there is a fear when you go to rent your home wondering, hoping and praying that it will be in the same condition if not better when they move out. Also, this was our home for eight years...our home where so many firsts took place...so I did allow myself to reflect and take time to think about some of the major firsts that took place here...

• Easton turned one in this house as well as all his toddler firsts and first schools and more
• We found out we were expecting not only Preston but also Addison when we lived in this house
• Preston had all of his infant and toddler firsts in this house
• Addison had many infant firsts...up until seven months

So many  memories were made in this house...one that is standing out is when Easton decided to put his golf ball in the sub woofer...he proceeded to put his arm in to get it out and could not get his arm out...he was literally "Stuck." Which is what he was yelling to me as I took care of his brother upstairs. A memory that will be with us forever. 

Once again, we loaded the trailer with one more last load...and left our "rental" house for our Family Summer Adventure of 2014.