Crazy Lives of the Gilleo Five: Our Birdhouse and All Our Peeps!

Christmas in August....yes it was quite the joy to watch the boys hunker down and watch the movers bring in all their stuff. With each and every box that had one of their names on it or the "T" word, it wasn't even out of the hands of the movers and it was being ripped open and torn through! I had the bright idea of letting the movers stick all the boxes of toys in the front entry way! Yeah it wasn't long before that room looked like hurricane Igor, and World War Ten had collided. I knew it was going to be more work cleaning up the toys than it would have been just unpacking them, but I didn't care! They were so excited to have their stuff and they were playing with toys that hadn't been touched in months! Not to mention they were staying out of the movers way which helped decrease the time it took to unload our stuff from the truck. Yes, my husband is getting older and isn't able to have a whole house unpacked in 12 hours like he used to be able to. That and the fact that it seems with each move we have made in the last 10 years we have added one more family member which means more JUNK! So yes, this house was not fully unpacked for 3 days YES you read it right a whole 48 hours! Those of you who know my husband on a very personal level know that this DROVE him nuts!

Needless to say what a great feeling it is to have all of our stuff and all of it unpacked and in its proper place. Our "birdhouse" is now a nice comfy home for the next 21 months! Enjoy the little tour of our home! This is our front yard/patio! We had the gazebo up long before our futniture ever arrived, but we are so glad we bought one while the BX had one! We spend quite a few evenings after the kids go to bed (or before) enjoying friendship and Vino (wine) on the patio!! I prefer after the kids go to bed then it is nice and quiet outside!

To the right is a picture of our wonderful security! Yes the gate and the concrete wall are about 2 feet tall so don't attempt to climb over!!? Next to the american mailbox, is a small box with a buzzer and camera. When the buzzer is pushed it beeps inside where we have a screen and a phone. I can see who is buzzing to be let in and I can also communicate without having to open the door! This was a fun toy for the kids, but has since lost its coolness! Thank goodness! Yeah some kind of serious or not so serious security!

This is the front entryway that was under mounds of toys! Cleans up nice. Our dinning room...office...and living room are all one long room. As you can see we have lots of wall space to fill up! I am hoping to get my hands on some nice Italian paintings before we have to move!

Then we have the kitchen and the lack of storage space. We have one little section devoted to "FOOD" items, and the rest is all dishes and kitchen neccesities! The lack of storage has been a huge challenge, and dent in the budget! Oh well we will have lots of Italian bought items to take back to the states with us. Then we have (DRUMROLL).......our very OVERSIZED back yard! :) Clark enjoys not having a huge yard to have to upkeep, and there is a very nice neighbor boy who comes over and mowes the yard for a few euro!

If you go downstairs you will go to the garage and our OVERSIZED laundry room. Which stores our ity bity teeny tiny washer and dryer! Let's just say an hour and 45 minutes to wash 3-4 bath towels is craziness!! There is lots of storage space in the laundry room! :)