Flashback Friday: Farewell, House on the Hill 2007-2013

Saylor's Room

Boys' Room

Once a nursery, turned a playroom

Bonus Room/ School Room

Thank you for the memories.

Throwback Thursday: Spring 2013

Forward: I'm going to be "throwing back" and "flashing back" for a while, I guess. Bear with me. This post is Part Deux to this other Throwback Thursday post. 

The Davidson Spring back in 2013 was a little crazy-ish because we were not living in our home, though we still owned it. We were in the middle of prepping it to put back on the market. We had new countertops installed, had our floors professionally cleaned, put a special finish on our retaining wall (finally!!), had a drainage system installed in the backyard and then had it re-sodded, had most rooms repainted, and totally rearranged several rooms. I don't know if it was the fact that there were changes, or if those changes were particularly perfect, but I liked the new arrangement a lot.

We were blessed to be able to stay at a guest house where our good friends, the Rackleys, had stayed while on furlough from Africa. Some household repairs we did ourselves, so it was nice to be able to go back "home" somewhere else when we were done working for the day. No, not nice. Awesome! This may be the only picture of "us" living in the guest house. But I love it.

We certainly did our fair share of relaxing out at the "Rackley House." You know you are relaxing when you make time for jigsaw puzzles!

Sadly, my camera didn't come out very often. But, I swear, it did come out. I distinctly remember taking GOBS of pictures of Gabriel becoming a soccer star before our very eyes and also GOBS of Easter pictures among the blooming daffodils on Wye Mountain, but I have no idea what happened to those pictures. No. idea. I'm convinced we somehow lost a memory card in our multiple moves. And it breaks. my. heart. It's awful. SO VERY awful!! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaccccckkkkk!!!!

SOME of our spring activities were preserved, however.

For instance, we were passionately involved with seeing some new raw milk legislation passed by both the House and the Senate. We actually visited the Capitol a couple of times. So exciting!!

We even got invited to sit in the VIP section of the Senate. No lie! A huge thank you to our friend, Senator David Sanders!!!! We owe you for the seats AND the support!

And the Arkansas State Senate begins its sessions with prayer. Love that!

Gabriel started playing soccer for the first time ever. And he was utterly amazing!! (But this is the only picture I could find. Boo!) Doesn't he just LOOK the part?? Noah played some, too, though I don't know where ANY pictures are!! (Double boo!!)

We had a sweet, impromptu visit with cousins at the park near our guest house. It afforded us an opportunity to exchange Christmas gifts because we didn't get to see each other for the holidays.

Noah finished his first year of Scouting during which he had to complete almost two years' worth of activities and requirements in order to finish the Webelos Cub Scout book and become a Boy Scout with the rest of the boys his age.

Here he is receiving his Arrow of Light.

This is the Crossover Ceremony, in which he went from being a Cub Scout to a Boy Scout.

We caught a Travs baseball game or two.

We had a fun play date at the park with another special homeschool family.

And occasionally we'd stop by our own home to check on things, dust, etc. And when we would, it was such a sweet treat to catch our neighbors at home. How we love soccer with these two boys!

Noah turned eleven during all of this, too. (Whoa.)

We enjoyed the peace and quiet and just being outdoors at the guest house. Noah can always be counted on to find some fascinating critter.

But by May, we had moved back "home home" because our house had sold. (Yay!) The kids were so glad to be back. For one thing, they had missed their toys!

You might've thought we'd be busy packing, but we were gun-shy and decided to wait until we closed and had the check in our hand before packing even the first box. So we simply enjoyed our spring. Noah, the creature-whisperer, rescued this bird after it stunned itself with a kamikaze dive into our kitchen window. It sat there on his gloved hand for the longest time before it came to its senses and flew off.

Atticus went back to school (Mother's Day Out) for the last couple of weeks of school after being home full time since December. He just wanted to be able to see his friends one last time.

I can't help it. Thumb-sucking is the cutest.

Last day of school. We love you, Mrs. T!

Then Gabriel had himself a birthday as well! He turned 6 during our last several days at home, so we squeezed in a special dinner at his favorite pizza place, Larry's.

Then we got to work. We had only five days to pack, by the way!! (No lie.)

These silly kids of mine had a blast rediscovering old baby toys they vaguely remembered playing with a long time ago.

And by the end of May we had to be completely moved out of the house. We put most of our stuff in Pods and rented a storage unit. My parents had been up to help us get the house emptied, so they took Saylor back with them for a visit, but the rest of us camped out on our bedroom floor during our last night at home. We didn't get much sleep. At what age does it become impossible to sleep on a floor with anything close to what could be called "comfort?" I don't know, but we obviously passed that age long ago.

Gabe poses in his first-ever bedroom.

It was Atticus's first-ever bedroom, too. These boys shared their babyhood here. Heart-wrenching!

When it was time to pull out, however, we had no place to go. Quite literally.

We ended up in a hotel for the first couple of nights, just so we could regroup. Then we went to stay with Poppy in Conway. For three whole months!! We just didn't know where we were headed next. Every few days we would make the trek back to Little Rock to run errands, see friends, do what we like to do, view properties, etc.

We visited the library.

Spent time by (and IN) Poppy's pool.

Enjoyed the outdoors and each other.

We even occasionally dressed like a redneck. (Ahem...)

We can go the other way, too, and be all highbrow and what not. Photographic proof: Noah with his beloved ceviche. Fancy schmancy! Okay. Ignore the fact that he was (quite happily) overdue for a haircut. Focus on the sophisticated food. ;)

So our summer was not too much different than it would have been otherwise, except that we were looking for a house. (fun, fun)