Moving Day Is Approaching Fast!

Well, so far everything is right on schedule. We're still looking at closing on our home Monday afternoon. The new owners of this house won't be moving in until a week later, so we will have six days to get everything moved. I am excited about this, but at the same time a little sad. Part of that sadness is due to the fact that I really love my home. If I could take this house and move it out to the country, I'd be thrilled. However, the majority of my sadness comes from the fact that I'm going to miss seeing the kids do things in this home.

I'm going to miss the place where we brought our children home for the first time.

I'm going to miss seeing Sam and Sarah play outside in the "jungle" (a small cave-like space where two trees sit close to our privacy fence) while they sing, "Snakes and monkeys in the trees..come along there's more to see..Congo, Congo, boom boom boom.."

I'm going to miss seeing Sam wave to the neighbor's Jeep Liberty as they drive away. Then he says, "Ohhh..Jeep goes back to work. Bye Jeep."

So, this time is a little bittersweet. But, you know, almost everything else I can think of can continue at our new home. Actually, it's probably pretty possible that the kids will discover a new "jungle" somewhere on our 30 acres! When I think.."Oh, I'm going to miss the way that Sarah pushes a chair up to the counter to help me cook." Well, she's still going to do that in our new kitchen. Drew is still going to pull all my pots and pans out of the cabinets. Sam is still going to pace around the fence at our new home just like he does the privacy fence here.

So, here are some more pictures to keep me in the right frame of mind. Here's why we're moving:

An orchard to grow our own apples, peaches, pears, grapes, pecans, walnuts, and hazelnuts.
A nearby garden that already has blueberries, asparagus, strawberries, and blackberries.

A barn with working chicken coop.A woodstove to heat our entire home.

So, while I may miss seeing Sam wave to the neighbors, it's worth the trade-off to have this lifestyle. I want the kids to experience caring for the animals, tending to the garden, and helping harvest the fruit from our orchard. I want the reassurance that comes with knowing where our food came from. As sad as I get over this transition..I am so very, very excited and convinced that we are doing the right thing for our family.