What do you do when your cousins are moving to Maine? Have a sleepover with them on a school night!

My baby sister is moving to Maine! We are all sooooo sad about it! No more visits to their house, about 45 minutes away, to play with cousins that are same or similar ages, which is almost as exciting as Disneyland. I can’t use a visit to these cousins as a reward or bribe any more with my kids. My 4 youngest kids match up either exactly the same year or the next year in age with her 4 oldest. They love to play together! Even when she just had a toddler and a baby, we would go over there and she would do the funnest things with my big kids, like have an art lesson with my daughter or do tie-dye shirts with all the kids. We are so sad!  Boo-hoo! Of all the places to move to, they are moving the furthest away that they possibly could and still be in the contiguous U.S! Sigh.

My sister is a good sport and let my kids have a sleepover on a school night as one last hurrah before the big move. So here are some pictures from that.

 

 

Grandpa and Grandma brought pizza over and we had a party!

 

This is my little guy with his cousins, Miss Q and Miss B.

 

Here’s my son, formerly known as Cowboy (he doesn’t want to be called that anymore as he is out of his cowboy phase) with his cousin, Miss H. who is the same age. They remind me of Flossie and Freddie Bobbsey, and of my older daughter and her boy cousin, who were also towheads and the same age. If you don’t know who Flossie and Freddie Bobbsey are, you must be younger than 40. Just Google it.

Miss Q is the cutest, happiest little girl. I don’t think I have ever seen her in a bad mood.

As I drove away last week from their house after picking the kids up, I felt so melancholy. That was my last time of driving away from their house. No more trips to see my sis and get inspired by her artsy, homemaking ways. She is an illustrator, an “ar- TEEST” (emphasis on the last syllable) so I always come away visually fed after seeing the way she decorates her home. For example, check out her masterpieces below. She painted little figures, one for each person in her cute little family, out of pebbles.

 

 

She makes work of art out of rocks for her fridge magnets! That’s just one teensy example of how amazingly talented she is. Having six little kids 12 and under hasn’t left her much time for anything else, but in the past month she has managed to paint some walls in her home to spruce it up a bit. It was fun to see the new things she has done to decorate and stage the home for selling.

 

 

 

She added this butcher block in her tiny kitchen to add more counter space.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love her scissors storage idea! Hang them on hooks right over the kitchen sink, and you will always know where they are!

 

This is her front yard. It definitely shows the touch or an artist living there, with the evenly spaced alternating bushes and the lovely, non-chain link fence.

Not only have I always left her home visually well-fed, but socially and spiritually as well, since we are sisters and have similar passions and goals. We share a love for books, babies, food, family, and the gospel. I am going to miss them so much! Thank goodness for skype and Facebook and phones. Farewell to you and your darling Utah home, my dear sister, brother-in-law, and nieces and nephews. We look forward to seeing you some morning in Maine!