New Neighbors

I mentioned it a while ago, but Kari & Jonathan bought the house across the street! We just couldn't get enough of each, it was an arduous 4-minute drive, so we took it to the next level, and now their home is a stone's throw away - literally; I could definitely break some windows from my front porch.

Me at my mailbox, Kari by hers. Hi, Kari!

 

 As it is, my baby monitor reaches across the street so I'm able to lay Ethan down for a nap, cross the street to hang out, and then throw rocks at him when I hear him wake up! The new house is an awesome situation for them for a number of reasons - slightly more square footage, nice big & updated kitchen, 4 bedrooms, more open layout for entertaining & keeping track of kids, excellent price translating to lower mortgage, and COOL NEIGHBORS. Truth be told, though, the neighbors (those darn Jacobs!) were one of the biggest drawbacks - just how sick of each other will we become? It's only been 10 days, but so far the answer is "not at all!" I love love LOVE being able to waltz across the street to borrow, or return, something (I've already lost count of how many time's I've done this. It's in the hundreds); my kids love love LOVE being able to waltz over to play, even if it's only for a few minutes; Amelia love love LOVES to waltz over here for a popsicle and then head back home (I'm being used!); and we've already used each other a few times in a pinch to watch kids for an errand or emergency where we would have previously just toughed it out. We're also trying out a new "less-cooking, less-chaos" arrangement where twice a week, one night each, we double our dinner and cook for both families while the other person watches the kids! I'm very excited about it, it's nice to not have to cook dinner but equally nice to cook a nice dinner without kids around. Our second plan to put into place is door signs we can hang up when we want to be unavailable, because there are certainly those times, and then the kids can see before they even head out the door that their cousins are unavailable due to naps, cranky days, quiet time, etc. So that's our new life, our new neighbors, and a whole new level of awesomeness.