Family Update {Personal}

This is my house.

And this is my home.

If you are friends with me in person or friends with me on facebook, you might have heard that my family is moving.  In about two weeks the truck is coming and they are headed to Florida for a few years.  Why?  My dad's job.  "The Office" fans will understand this analogy:  a company in Florida is like Dunder Mufflin and my dad's company is Sabre (making my dad the old lady with white hair and dogs.)  My parents and the youngest five kids are renting a cute, spacious, coastal house (complete with swimming pool, cul-de-sac and quick drive to the beach!).  I will be staying here in Maryland in our house, and my brother Tim will be attending Notre Dame College on basketball scholarship.

World, I'm going to miss them. It's exciting and wonderful that they get to go, but land-o'-lakes is it starting to hit me.  We've had a good time together in this house, and most likely it will never be the same again.  All nine of us, under one roof.  Just the nine of us, under one roof.  Yeah, it looks like that ship has sailed!  (Some of my fave blog posts about my family).

But we have had some wonderful times all together. 

Times like family birthday's at home, with just "us" (where we maybe lump a few of the summer birthday's together):

And we've had children's birthday extravaganza's (my mom goes above and beyond with kids parties... and my dad gets really into it once all the kids arrive):

We've had many a Christmas-time in this family room (mom finally stopped trying to get us to wear holiday pajamas so "the pictures would look cute" and settled for red + green anything.  I'm def wearing cheeseburger pants. But, hey, they ARE red)

Hahah oh early mornings. Hahah we look like something washed up on the shore of the Baltic Sea.  And I don't even know what that means, but I think it still fits.
We've had Easter-egg-hunt-times.  The kids all stand by the door, hair fluffied from naps, baskets in hand, ready to find some treasures.  They aren't allowed to peek outside, but they always do.  One year it actually was good they did, because they caught the neighbors dog eating the candy, so we had to shoo him away and calm the little people down. "We have plenty of candy for you, don't worry.  Dogs never get to do Easter egg hunts, so he wanted to be a part of the fun."


We've had loud times where someone's friends are still up and talking and laughing at 2 am, and the whole house can hear them... but we usually let them just be loud. 

We've had quiet times, where we watched TV with a little lady on our lap.

Or "boring" times of walking out to the driveway, buckling the kids in their carseats and heading out for errands.

On the same driveway we've had probably hundreds of basketball games, where dozens off boys from all over our area have come to join the fun.  It's been a rough ride, but all those pick-up games, with dad's watchful eye and not-always-wanted instruction, have paid off and now Tim is playing in college.

The driveway has also been home to too many of my "practice shoots" with the kids.

And same goes for the backyard:

As well as the front-yard:

Alright, and yes, the side-yard too:

We've had times that were supposed to be "bath and bedtime", but turned into "take pictures and make silly faces time."

Of course, "clean your room times" sometimes ended up being "hide from Kristen in the closet time."

(quickly followed by "get found by Kristen time."  That's what happens when you have a super-slueth older sister ;D)

Times for walks in the neighborhood,

as well as time for runs in the neighborhood.

Times where "Yes, mom, you have to be in a picture.  And yes, I'm probably going to blog it.  And no, you don't look bad.  You are beautiful."

There have been the times where letters were written on the back of bills and taped to my mirror. (ps.  I think we are wearing shoulder pads?  Or Lauren just thinks we have ridicuuuuulously large biceps.  Hm.)

And times where letters were written on proper scratch paper, probably used as a stall-bedtime-technique, but sweetly given to dad in the kitchen.

Kitchen-time is always food-time.  And we have had plenty of food time.

And plenty of around the table time.  ("Kristen, don't take a picture of us eating dinner." "But we'll want to remember it someday!" "I'm not looking." "I just don't want to be blogged!" - Guys, I was right.  Isn't this sentimental now?)

We've had fall afternoon's practicing soccer together...

...winter afternoons sledding together...

..as well as winter afternoons wishing we were young enough to not have to shovel...

We've had summer mornings where burnt little beauties make cereal forts for breakfast and as soon as they are done scamper outside for the whole day.   The return at night with dirt on their hands, popsicle gunk in their hair and smiles on their even-redder-faces. 

These times have been sweet and sour, long and short, laughter-filled and tear-filled, amazing and excruciating, refreshing and exhausting.  But they've been wonderful and God-given.

"For everything there is a season, and a time, for every matter under heaven.
He has made everything beautiful in its time." {ecc 3.}

It's been beautiful.
And now it's a new time.  I'm excited to see what is ahead.
:D