Spring Break in Minnesota

We enjoyed spring break in Minnesota, but I didn't have the camera so blurry iPhone pictures will have to do. We spent most of the break in Golden Valley with Philip, Sue, and Mari. It was a grand time. Ella Bean loved playing with Mari and Sue. Although it was funny because she could never remember Sue's name so she referred to her as "that lady".

Some highlights where:

- An afternoon in Mankato with my folks (It would have been nice to stay longer, but we wanted to spend as much time as possible with Philip and both the girls had icky colds.)

- Meeting little Everett (My cousin's baby. He was super cute and so little!)

- Dinner with the Klaber-Nathan family (Ella LOVED playing with my cousin Julia. She really likes playing with the "big girls".)

- A date with Philip! (We went to Water for Elephants and ate dinner out. It was a good movie, not great, but good.)

- A trip to Coma Zoo with grandpa, aunt Maureen, and cousin Sean (Bean loved the polar bear the best.)

- A wonderful 90 minute massage thanks to Sue (Her friend Ellien is a gifted massage therapist. She's got magical hands!)

Hannah got her own seat on our Minneapolis to Atlanta flight. It was wonderful. She sat like such a big girl and loved eating off the tray. (I choose to not think about all the germs on the tray because it entertained her for an hour and was worth it!)

Bean enjoyed playing in the play area at the Humphrey Terminal. I love the Humphrey Terminal. It's not busy at all and has a great place for kids to play. (In this picture she is flying the airplane.)

Hannah going up the stairs in the play area. She is a little monkey!

I love this picture! It's Taffy, Penny, and Bode on the sofa at Sue's house. They all get along so well. Taffy is the cheese to Bode's macaroni. They are so happy together. I have never seen Bode play with other dogs until now. Bode and Taffy run around the yard together. They hunt squires together. They sleep on the sofa together. I think it will be hard on them when Bode and Philip move out in June. They are such good friends.

Deep or Not So Deep Thoughts... House Lust

So I am currently re-reading the book, Affluenza: The All-Consuming Epidemic. I've read it before... a couple times and I always pull more bits of food for thought from it. The last couple days I have been pondering house lust, or more specifically, my own house lust. We are selling our home in North Carolina and moving back to Minnesota. We will be renting for least least a year, but Philbert and I enjoy looking at houses online. It's a hobby of sorts.

I rationalize my thoughts on what I believe I need/really desire in a home. Four bedrooms - so the girls have their own rooms and we have a guest room or room for a third kiddo. A dedicated craft/sewing space - I love to sew and desire a place where I can create. A front porch - I want to sit on a swing and read to the girls like I used to do at my Oma's house in Duluth. A open floor plan - We like to entertain and often crowd in our kitchen at our current house. A finished basement - for a family room so the TV can be hidden away for infrequent viewing. Bedrooms on a second floor - I like the idea of the family sleeping space being separate. The list goes on and on...

But I don't really need all these things. My girls currently share a bedroom and it's not an issue. My sewing room/guest room/office is really a blessing. It works. I don't need a front porch to read books to my girls on nice days. We can read lots of places. So what if we crowd in the kitchen, the last I checked no one has declined an offer to join us due to the lack of an open floor plan. Really our home we have right now works for us and hopefully at some point we can find a similar home in Minnesota that works for us. I'm not going to go broke paying my mortgage just so I can have a breakfast room, playroom, sewing room... you get the pictures. It's not what matters in the grand sceme of things.

So what do I really need in a house you ask? I need somewhere my family can call home. I need a little yard for the dog. I need it to be in neighborhood that is a community with folks out and about who connect with each other. I need it to be close to where we work and where we play. That's what I need.

The four bedrooms, open floor plan, sewing room, finished basement and breakfast room... not such a big deal.