New House

Here is a rundown of each person's favorite aspects about the new house:

Joseph:

He enjoys playing hide and seek with the kids. They have a ton more hiding places around the house and love playing most nights. Joseph also likes the fact that the home sits much higher than our last house. During Harvey, the water got about 1/4 of the way up the front yard so that's great compared to our old house.

Casie:
The space. I really like two living spaces so the toys can be upstairs (for the most part until Tanner brings them down) and a nicer sitting area downstairs. It is great to send the kids upstairs to play after dinner for a little bit and not have them running around the kitchen as I clean. It's also nice to not be stepping around/over baby stuff. I like that we can do crafts at one table in the formal dining area and not have to worry about cleaning it all up before a mealtime. I really feel I've been more willing to do projects and play activities since moving.

I also love the location. We're on a cul-de-sac and at the end of the street is the path/trail system of the subdivision. At the end of the street is a small park to run around and play at and then if you take the trails about ten minutes, you end up at a bigger playground and the community pool/tennis/basketball courts. The HOA fees aren't bad at all considering you get to go swimming whenever you want. Definitely cheaper and safer than having a pool in your backyard. The street is really quiet and I don't have to worry too much when we're riding bikes and playing around. The elementary school is a few blocks from us and we just found out they started a dual language immersion program last year. We'll definitely be trying to get Ashton enrolled in that next year.

Our new formal living room furniture that finally arrived.

Ashton:
She likes the kid's craft room. We made the formal dining room into the craft room with an extra table and all the supplies so she is often hanging out in there creating her newest masterpiece.

Tanner:
The stairs. He loves them and plays on them all the time. He also loves the fish bathroom. I initially planned to paint that room quickly but the kids love it a lot. The previous owners kindly left the fish wind chime for us. Tanner also likes the local library because they have tablets. Ugh... I should just embrace it and be thankful we don't own a tablet and won't for many years to come.

Gemma:

I think Gemma appreciates the quieter house as in the kids play mostly upstairs and she sleeps downstairs. She suddenly started taking longer naps once we moved so I'm hopeful that's here to stay.

River:
River appears to be much happier here. We have a few tall trees in the backyard and she spends most of her day chasing birds and squirrels. At the old house, she'd want to come inside a bunch. Now, she's outside the majority of the day and doesn't want to come in. There's some more shade too, which helps.