Five in Boise

This is the dining room/kitchen in the old house.  S worked his buns off putting in this new flooring in.  He had some help from a couple of friends but most of it he did on his own.  We also had someone come in and paint.  It is back to all white.  I miss the chocolate brown. 

We put the house on the market in November but really there has been no interest so we have decided to go ahead and rent.  Looks like we found some tenants and they should be moving in mid January.  So we are landlords, yikes! 

This Christmas was very relaxed for us.  S and A had to work in the afternoon.  So we all got up, opened gifts, had our traditional cinnamon rolls.  Played with all the new stuff.  Had an early dinner of prime rib.  After S and A went to work then E, C, and I went to a couple of movies.  We saw Bedtime Stories, cute, not great.  And then we saw Yes Man.  Which I really liked the storyline behind it as well as it being funny.

C rips into her stocking gifts.  The doll bed was from Santa.

E waits for the green light to go after her gifts from Santa.  She got lots of accessories to go with her Wii.

A got woken up early by his sisters and moved to the couch until mom and dad gave the go ahead.  Santa brought him a PSP.  It is pretty cool, it even plays movies. 

The beautiful snow coming down right outside our front door.  We have gotten more snow this month of December than we normally do all winter.  It is beautiful but not fun to drive around in.  I worry about A every time he heads out.  And S when he has to work in all of this.

I was finally able to get organized enough to take some pictures of the new house.  Keep in mind it is still a work in progress but so far we really love the extra space.  The kids are enjoying having some privacy and I really like the quietness. 

So here is the front of the house.  The house was built in 1969 and does not look very big from the outside.   There are a lot of mature plants, like rose bushes and holly.  The backyard has mature trees and C has already given climbing them a try. 

Here is the family room.  This is where we seem to be hanging out a lot.  There is a wood burning stove that keeps us real warm.  The rest of the house is kinda drafty and I have been afraid to turn the heat up too much in fear of what the heating bill will be.  So for the time being this is where we hang out. 

Here is A and E hanging out in the kitchen.  Notice that there is no frig.  It would not fit in the 1969 space that the house has for a frig.  So until we either make some alterations to the house or get a new frig we are taking trips to the garage for the frig.  The garage is the door on the right.  It is a good thing in a way because it makes it harder to snack.  You have to really want something to go out in the cold garage. 

Here is the front room, more of a formal living room, if we were to have one.  It has a gas fireplace but really puts off no heat.  Notice our kitty, Nellie in the corner. 

Here is E's room.  She loves the space and is looking forward to painting the room to match the curtains that are in the picture. 

This is my room (and S's).  We just got a new bedroom set and I really like it.  I didn't know if I would because I had a waterbed for so many years but we picked a good mattress.  I am noticing that all of our walls are blank but I guess that will come with time.

This is the downstairs family room.  I want this to eventually be the place that the kids hang out.  But so far it does not have a tv or video games or anything that would draw them there.  Plus it is cold.  Maybe by summer I can get it fixed up and the coolness will feel good.  It has a wood burning fireplace that I highly doubt we will use much, if at all.

Next is the utility room.  I know, why would anyone take a picture of the laundry room?  But truly it is one of my favorite rooms in the house.  I have plenty of space.  In the old house I had to pile laundry in the family room and then we had to listen to the washer and dryer while watching tv or while on the computer.  This one you can't see or hear anything.  Ahhhh.....  Plus there is room for a table, cabinets, all sorts of stuff I look forward to getting in the future.

This is a shot of C's room.  This is her first room to herself.  I thought she would be a little scared but she has really moved in.  She loves being able to stretch out without anyone telling her to keep to her side.  Plus she can't hear me calling her from upstairs so I can't even bug her.