Oh, friends, I have so many stories I could share from our past month of moving. I wish I could fully articulate all that the Lord has done and all that He is doing. There have been mounds of blessings like here, here, and here. Then there’s the plain out stupid, ridiculousness like when the tree fell (the Lord still answered my prayer with that one), and when I flushed 4 .lbs of burnt noodles down the new garbage disposal and stopped up our kitchen sink for 3-days. This meant I wasn’t using my wonderful new dishwasher. I’ve been washing dishes in my nice new master bedroom soaking tub! 

Thoughts for today, “My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him.” Psalm 62:1

So before I get too deep into sharing the blessings and the mishaps of this moving journey (I’ll share a few of those next week), let me share the actual new house tour first today on YouTube:

Large Family House Tour

As I share in the video we bought a stone-faced cape cod on just under 13-acres of forest. We’ve moved gently over several weeks (gently, minus the mishaps, that is!). Here’s a recap of our move thus far:

Moving Week One: 

The first week we moved we focused on getting everything we needed into the new house. I decorated and worked on making it feel like home. Everything that I still needed to process for either keeping, donating or trashing went into the garage for later. You can see more pictures from week one of our move with the Large Family Moving Update here if you’re interested. 

 

Hope you had a wonderful Easter weekend with your family. We worked hard on Saturday and had a day of rest on Sunday. Can you spot little Daniel walking amongst the daffodils?

A photo posted by The Encouraging Homeschool Mom (@jamerrillstewart) on Mar 27, 2016 at 6:46pm PDT

Moving Weeks Two, Three, and Four:

Then the following three weeks we worked on major renovation projects to our beloved old farm house. We had taken it off the market so we could move gently and knock out major projects without the pressure of house showings. During this time we also got our chickens moved and worked on getting settled into the new house routines. It was also during this time we had the tree fall for a little extra excitement.  

 

Praising the Lord yet again for His mercy. I heard this tree making odd sounds yesterday. I prayed the Lord would gently set the tree down by the garage if it had to come down before the tree man could get here. Woke up this morning and here it is right by the garage. Rejoicing it didn’t go through the garage or van. God is good all the time! #praiseHim A photo posted by The Encouraging Homeschool Mom (@jamerrillstewart) on Mar 29, 2016 at 12:34pm PDT

 

It took a lot of team work and creativity, but we finally got my chicken coop moved to the new house! Thank you so much to all my big guys for making it happen. ??????? #backyardchickens

A photo posted by The Encouraging Homeschool Mom (@jamerrillstewart) on Apr 6, 2016 at 8:39am PDT

 

Starting to feel settled in the new house after weeks of projects at the old house. The younger kids (ages 9 and under) are getting the hang of doing their laundry and running the dishwasher at the new place. The older boys are resting up from moving the chicken coop with their dad. Next up they’re installing the chicken yard. Go family teamwork ? A photo posted by The Encouraging Homeschool Mom (@jamerrillstewart) on Apr 6, 2016 at 9:53am PDT

 

Yesterday my hubby and big boys got our chicken kennel up. Naomi and Liam enjoyed some chicken holding that helped the hens feel settled in. They must be happy because they’ve laid several eggs since their move. ???? #backyardchickens #farmfresheggs

A photo posted by The Encouraging Homeschool Mom (@jamerrillstewart) on Apr 8, 2016 at 6:35am PDT

Moving Week Five:

I worked on slowly weeding down the garage overflow until now I gladly report it is completely finished – yay! By week five we also started going on longer hikes around our property.   

 

Not sure exactly where to start so I’m going to just start ?? #dothenextthing #moving A photo posted by The Encouraging Homeschool Mom (@jamerrillstewart) on Apr 10, 2016 at 9:24am PDT

 

YOUTUBE UPDATE: No videos in over a month, gah! This move has been such a huge family endeavor as moving usually is. The dust has *almost* settled. This week we started taking a hour and a half hike around our property each morning crossing streams, waterfalls, and taking adventure where we find it ? All that to say I’m feeling settled enough to start sharing on YouTube again ?? I filmed a new house tour two (or three?) weeks ago. When I went to get the video uploaded and edited I couldn’t find my SD card adaptor. After days of looking I finally gave up and bought a new one. I’m also filming a grocery haul today and hope to start next week with a new house tour video followed by a new grocery haul vlog, and we’ll go from there — thanks for sticking around, friends ?❤️❤️❤️ A photo posted by The Encouraging Homeschool Mom (@jamerrillstewart) on Apr 14, 2016 at 7:33am PDT

 

 

Gabriel gave Daniel a much needed life lesson today on how to blow Dandelion seeds ? Besides that we enjoyed a 4 hour wilderness/survival training class with our #homeschool group led by a search and rescue expert. Lots of learning for one day. Pass the afternoon cup of tea or coffee ☕️ How was your #homeschooling day, friend? #homeschoolmom #homeschoolmomlife #letthemplay #shenandoahvalley

A photo posted by The Encouraging Homeschool Mom (@jamerrillstewart) on Apr 18, 2016 at 12:41pm PDT

 

 

Finding Our New Normal

We’ve recently enjoyed a few glimpses of life getting back to what normal is going to be for us. Now that the dust has settled with the move I feel like I can start sharing on YouTube again and hopefully soon tell you more about my noodles (yes, click it. you’ll feel better about yourself if you do, lol!)

Click here to watch the full house tour on YouTube! I’ll have another new post and video up this Thursday. Until then follow the fun on Facebook and Instagram! Also if you need homeschool freebies and tons of family deals my FreeHomeschoolDeals.com site is always rocking those out 24/7/365 😀

 

2017 UPDATE:

Brand new in 2017 I shared the upstairs house tour if you’re interested! I share the boy’s room, girl’s room, upstairs bathroom, storage, and more. xoxo