May Highlights

Our first whole month in our new house. May was full of birthdays and hosting as we finally had our own space to do it in. It was a nice break from the construction both inside and outside as we enjoyed the lovely spring weather, while knowing that outside construction could start up anytime.

One of Hazel's many flower soup creations.

Practicing handstands off the couch.

Watching out the window

Half way done replacing the stair treads was a good time to get a before and after in one picture.

Lots and lots of grass to pick up. Sound familiar? Brought back memories of our PG yard.

Hazel is 5! She sure if growing up fast, but she is still our sweet Hazel!

Testing out the living room's seating capacity. I think it passed the test :)

Jade found one of her favorite seats.

Tea party time with the birthday gift tea set from Nana, with Jade and her favorite new stuffed bunny from Oma.

The last of the kitchen cabinets got hung up!

We found some painted turtles at Cheam Wetlands and watched them for quite a while.

Hazel discovered that her new dress makes sparkles when it was in the sunlight.

Thankfully Hazel's little trampoline fall a few weeks earlier around her birthday did not make her afraid of the tramp. There was some concern that it may have been broken with how much she favored it, but thankfully it was just bruised and healed up with rest and time.

A family afternoon out at green point. It was very beautiful and we had a lovely time. Felt like our first real break after the move in and birthday rush.

Can't beat rocks and water!

Jade and her chicks.

Jade plays with the chicks and Hazel picks flowers for her bunnies.

 The first egg from the new layers.

Lots of flower blooming in the gardens. 

The girls had fun making up some bouquets

Another tea party!

Very full blooming gardens.

You can hardly notice we filled up the back of Nana's car with flowers to transplant.

Rounding up some run away chickens, the wind blew the screen "door" open a bit and about 10 chickens decided to see what freedom felt like. Thankfully we had some help rounding them up.

Cousin time!

Sunday pictures in new outfits from Nana.

We hiked up to Bridal falls with the church picnic group.

Playing in the creek with Aunty Stacy and few other girls around Hazels age.

 

Making the New House a Home

 It is so nice to have the time of transition finally closed off that started last March. We are living in our long awaited house and making it a home. We are settling into our own space and loving it very much already. Enjoying our own family time and views.

Testing out the new bath tub, the girls had a blast.

Warming up with some Aunty Corday snuggles afterwards.

First batch of bread and

Laundry out on the line adding to the homemaking feel.

Hazel has been enjoying the flowers and set her vase of flowers on the outside table

Walked for a few laps around the barn as the girls were getting cranky and they both feel asleep in the buggy for a much needed nap.

Enjoying the warm April weather with a picnic.

Our first harvest of rhubarb, I did not know the leaves could get that big!

Washed them up in the sink,

And then chopped them up outside while the girls played happily with the chalk.

Smelling the apple blossoms

The girls have very much enjoyed the carpeted space to tumble and play. 

Saying "Hi" to the new chicks that arrived.

Sitting out by the hobby barn watching the tractors and trucks harvest the grass kept the girls mesmerized for quite a while.

Very happy to be in our farmhouse, and enjoying farm life.

Moving Across the Driveway

Flooring got installed! A very exciting day! A little nervous as well to see it for the first time as you only see a sample piece and then hope it looks good across the whole house. But we are very happy with it.

Island, panty cabinets, stove and dish washer all got moved in. I believe the washing machine and dryer are in the front room as well. 

My first wall in the girls room done! (on the camera I don't think you can tell I did anything.....) But I got the job of filling all the brad nail holes on all the walls and ceiling of both of the upstairs rooms. I did some rough math and got to about 1,500 brad nail holes per room :P

Covering up the last of the yellow paint.

Very satisfying!

All done, holes filled and repainted with baseboards and door trim installed. Ready for carpet. (window trim and attic access to be done at a later date)

The carpet choice turned out lovely too, Hazel had so much fun rolling around and playing on the carpet. 

The guys worked quite a few late nights to get the fireplace done on time, it turned out lovely as well. It is just awaiting a mantel. 

The kitchen with all the appliances functioning and island installed. We have some work do to on the pantry/fridge wall yet. But that will be done after we move in. 

Front room, with the upright grand piano back in the one spot it fits. It is very very heavy so it is unlikely to move out of the house anytime soon, and we were interested to try and have a piano.

Stairs will be getting new treads and a railing yet. That will be on the top side of the to do list. There are still a few other things to do, a few more brad nail holes to fill on the trim, some more trim to install here and there, the bathroom needs some tile yet, the pantry wall need some drawers and two more cabinets hung up yet. But those get to be our evening projects for the next while. All the mandatory things are functioning in the house, and the day the trades were done hooking everything up we started cleaning and moving in!

Here is a video walk through of the downstairs. Not as show case set up as I would like, but realistic :)

In September we moved from Prince George to Chilliwack and slept in Mom and Dad Flokstra's house, thankful that the move part of the transition had gone well, but uncertain as to what was ahead and when we would be in our own home again. On April 16, sevenish months later we slept in our own house across the driveway for the first time. 

It had been a busy and eventful 7 months full of lots of learning and growth. Though many may say that the situation was not ideal, we all came out of it still liking each other and having connected with each other in ways that we would not have otherwise. 

My Flokstra bootcamp, as I like to call it, was pretty intense. But it taught me a lot of good survival skills for working with non scheduled work hours, quick changes of plans, large scale project thinking and co-hosting large groups of people while still taking it all in stride with motherhood. It has also equipped us all with knowledge of each other and how we work that I hope will make us all very nice neighbors.