Scenes from the last day

Master Bedroom

Master Bedroom Fireplace (I'm gonna miss this girl!)

The Baby's Room
(I'm going to pretend that the new owners aren't going to paint right over my periwinkle stripes and letters, stenciled with the love...and free time...of a first time Mommy).

Family Room
(so many wonderful memories of family gatherings here!)

The flotsam and jetsam of a boy's life - hiding under the bureau.

Movers and Packers
Armed with Sharpies and fueled by Sugar!

My hiding spot! 
The appliances aren't coming with us, so all the little doodads that I don't want them to pack are hiding in here!

The staging area in the garage

This is a well oiled operation

Living Room
The kids have been having a ball with all the baby gear that was stashed in the attic!  I found the big one sitting in the swing this morning and was sad to tell him that he's over the weight limit! 

I wish these guys could organize my house for me when I get to Chicagoland!
It's like Tetris for grownups.

And at the end of it all, my Black Eyed Susans are blooming for the first time since we planted them last summer with the hydrangeas. Life will go on. For us in Chicagoland, and for 48 Edgewater Drive.

After we snuggled in my bed last night, reading some bedtime stories about moving, I said out loud,

"This was a good house."  It wasn't an easy house. Wasn't a pretty house at first either. Wasn't a house I loved for a very long time. But 8 years and many memories later, I can look back with love and say that this was HOME. The house we brought our babies home to, the house we became hard core DIYers in, the house we became real, live grownups in, the house where we weathered many storms in (figurative ones yes, but also real storms, that threatened to flood the heck out of the place and made us lose our marbles!), this is the house where we learned to be a family in.

So that now, we can take all the lessons we've learned and memories we've made and move on to the next chapter with our hearts full and our heads high. No crying here (yet). Just loads of love and curiosity to see what the adventure holds.

Chicagoland, here we come!