Moments: Goodbye Hazelwood Manor.

Sad but true, we bid adeu to our beloved Hazelwood Home of 4 years. And although we are looking forward to our next season of life in our new house, parting with *this* house is bittersweet. I feel like so much has happened in our family since moving in....my mindset, faith, friendships, self-awareness, priorities are so changed. I truly feel like a different person. I put my heart into re-decorating the interiors, making it a 'forever' home that grandbabies would come to visit. And yet life doesn't quite work out the way we plan, now, does it? When I'm feeling a bit ovewhelmed by the loss of our Hazelwood home, I balance the emotion with memories of the yard that needed thousands of dollars of work, the paper-thin windows, the way I couldn't position my bedroom furniture in any other way than it was, and the sheer hugeness of it.

We've downsized a bit, not much, but enough for us to realize how much crap we own and don't use. I waste entirely too much energy trying to figure out where to store it, whether we should keep it with the 'rainy day' mentality, and where I should ultimately dump it, putting it out of it's misery. I'm still trying to persue a simpler lifestyle, less gadgets, less time worrying over mere things, more time with the people in my life I love. Kinda hard right now.....seeing as there's still boxes stacked everywhere. But I'm determined.

Please remind me of this as I plot and plan all the things I want to do with this new dwelling. Already my mind is spinning out of control with paint ideas, furniture ideas, wall removal ideas. None of which we have money for, and all of which I promised my dh could wait until we were 'settled'.....but settled means different things to different folks, no?

I've decided to breathe deep each day, ignore the wallpaper, and be thankful we can afford such a wonderful house. Any ideas what to rename this blog? Our new street name doesn't exactly flow the way Hazelwood did. I'm leaning toward "The Cul-de-sac Chronicles". Yay or nay?

PS. Here is a picture of the knight in shining armor who helped us move the aforementioned crap in not one but two 26 ft truck loads. He is the son of a moving man, and has the shirt to prove it. He packed our stuff with the greatest of ease....just like Tetras, says he. Thank you Thank you Thank you Mr. N for your cheerful attitude, expertise, and unrelenting perserverance in moving our family from point A to point B. We truly couldn't have done it without you!

Musings: These beauties are mine????

Yeah, ok, I'll admit it. I'm stunned everytime I see my girls in a picture. I'm stunned at how grown up they are, at how pretty they are, and how happy they seem. Sure, pictures never tell the whole story, but I revel in these snapshots of my babies, just as I did when they really were babies.

So here are my three princesses enjoying a girls' night at M's new apartment ...yes, she's officially flown the coop and is playing house on her own with my cast off furniture. Kinda the designer 'early parent's attic' motif. It works. (...and come on now, how many of us have fond memories of feathering our first nest with decades old pieces from supportive family and friends anxious to rid themselves of eyesores and yet feel good about 'recycling' for a good cause...pondering how a navy blue plaid couch and fiberboard bookshelves should sit just so on the wall and how the red shag carpet remnant adds the perfect touch of warmth?)

For funsies I dug up some older photos my hubby scanned into the 'puter.

Here's a shot of the three girls with their big brother circa '99:

And another shot of the two olders with their papa circa '93:

Here is Baby G in a collage in '94 (K is in the tub, and C is celebrating birthday no. 8 on his shared birthday with dad who's turning a ripe 28 *grin*)

The whole gang, adding B and Baby S in '01:

*sigh* Time flies.