we're back. and we've moved. i am lovin' the new digs like you would not believe. Tatum hasn't stopped smiling since we first showed her the back yard and I'm pretty sure both kids would burst into tears if we pulled up to the townhouse ever again.
the space is awesome. our moving help was even more awesome. i was beginning to freak out that we weren't going to have enough help but as we were pulling away in a caravan of 6 SUV's, trucks and station wagons, complete with 3 LOADED trailers i was humbled to tears that we would have that many people love us enough to come help us move in 90 degree heat. we got possession at 9am and by 2pm were sending people home with their bellies full of pizza.
the first night i had a breakdown. the man who used to live here smoked but we were told "only in the basement, by a window, with a fan blowing out the window." but i turned on the a/c that evening and was overwhelmed with the smell of .... not quite smoke it was more like foofer cigarellos. when we looked at the house i noticed a kind of smell but our realtor didn't notice it. then at inspection we asked her to unplug her foofers 2 days prior and again i asked the realtor and again she couldn't smell it. then i asked the inspector, he's a friend of mine from when i worked with m'lady, and he couldn't smell it either. i was shocked. but because i was the only one convinced and paul was only half convinced i didn't make a big deal about it. until move in night. we were heading out to dinner and i couldn't get out of the house fast enough terrified of what we had just bought. we did some research while we were at dinner and came home and began tackling unpacking boxes. the backyard neighbors left their dog out to screech/bark for 20 minutes straight. i really started worrying about what we had just bought. feeling totally duped on all sides i went to bed with bleach soaked fingertips exhausted, but still hopeful.
i'm happy to say that we've been in the house 10 days now and the smell is completely gone. my mother-in-law helped me bleach down our bedroom walls and karyssa's bedroom walls and the hallway upstairs. asher's room was finally tackled last weekend. it took me all morning to pull all the screws out of the shelving and rods that had been installed ALL the way around the room. i had to replaster the walls in some spots, oil primer them, tint primer them, trim them, paint the ceiling with killz ceiling paint and finally, paint the walls. it's a whole new room in there. it looks so refreshing. i'll get some pictures up soon. i don't have a good before pic because it was so full of clothes you really couldn't see the forest for the trees in there.
the basement was our biggest project. i bleached the ceiling (it's unfinished) with a sponge mop and we've killzed 2 of the walls but got delirious with fumes and had to stop. the main floor has been bleached on the floors only, we've also cleaned the carpets (that will soon be replaced with hard wood floors) and the kitchen has been bleached from top to bottom. ugh. that thing was only surface clean and that grosses me out. the built in shelves around the fireplace have been cleaned and somewhat arranged but i'm a little stuck until we get the basement finished so we can set up the desk so we can get the office stuff unloaded and off the shelves. the upstairs closet has been totally reshelved since the old stuff smelled so bad like a cheap hotel i couldn't even put a toothbrush in there with clear conscience.
it's coming along.
last night karyssa and i began baking, sort of. i let her stay up late since asher was cranky and now they have seperate bedrooms and can go to bed whenever they want to. she helped me make cookie dough balls and today i made ice cream with goat milk and only egg yolks and no whites so asher can FINALLY enjoy some ice cream. it's pretty tasty but still quite mushy so i'm hoping it finishes freezing in the freezer that stands open 50% of the time because it's on the bottom and asher can open it and it's become his #1 hobby. *sigh* and time outs are an absolute game for him so now he's started getting time outs in the pack n play. cute little stinker.
Showing posts with label house. Show all posts
Showing posts with label house. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Friday, June 10, 2011
We HaVe A dAtE!!!!!
i've had a lot on my mind the last couple days since wednesday we decided to put an offer in on the flip-flop house and yesterday we came to agreement and are offically under contract. i am so excited and i'm a bit surprised at myself because we so weren't fans of that house the first time we looked at it. i think it's because i had my heart SO set on the fix-up house. but then with the sewer backing up and going back in there and feeling it's delapidatedness and thinking of all that work and all of our savings depleted the math just didn't add up no matter how hard we tried to force it.
we started questioning ourselves the other night after seeing both houses and i said "if we got the flip-flop house, would we ever look at the fix-up house and wonder what could have been?" we both like the idea of the sweat equity but both firmly answered ourselves with "no." and if we got the fix-up house i think we always would have said "i wonder how much money we would have now if we had bought the flip-flop house." and the math only ends up to be about $150 more. which is odd and amazing considering what we would be giving up for that $150 savings a month.
this morning asher woke up with a tiny cry at 5:30 and then paul's alarm went off and i woke up thinking "what color should we paint asher's room?" heehee. right now it's bright red. santa red. and it has closet rods all the way around the 12' x 12' room. and the closet is all shelves, which is actually pretty usable since he has about 3 things that i hang up and no dresser. BUT the red has got to go. we love that color-our kitchen in florida is currently that color but for a baby's bedroom it's a bit angry. we'll need to take down the clothes rods and patch in the holes and primer it and then....green? vibrant green or calm green? or brown? khaki or chocolate? or blue? slate or baby? but then the foster bedroom is a slate blue color and i LOVE it. our friends brian & christina have a slate blue kitchen and it is the most beautiful color of blue. seriously both paul and i have loved that color since we saw their kitchen and it's the closest i've ever seen to that color since. so it will not change one iota. and karyssa's room is already a pale lavender color which is exactly what we wanted. purple means royalty. which she is. and green means healing, blue means peace and brown means stabilizing but also a lazy person and repressed personality. um...i think brown is out.
and the best part is we don't have to wait months and months for a bank to decide our fate. i am so excited.
in cute kid news: they have been doing the cutest things lately i just have to share. on wednesday i took karyssa to see "how to train your dragon" and numerous times i had to remind karyssa we weren't the only ones in the theater as she was standing in her chair with both fists in the air screaming "WOOHOO!" or "THEY'RE FLYING!! MOMMY!! THEY'RE FLYING!!" and "HE DID IT!!" each at the top of her lungs. but seriously how do you not find joy in that. adorable. love that baby girl. she had so much fun she cried all the way home. last night we went to sears to return a microwave that we had gotten in preparation for the fix-up house and karyssa saw the theater door again. she has a CRAZY memory map in her head. and she began to sob all over again. we went in, did our business and came out and again she recognized where we were and started crying all over again. she is so funny!! here she is in her seat at the theater.
asher is getting so smart. when paul puts his shoes on asher goes to the shoe basket and picks out his shoes. not any random shoes-HIS shoes-and takes them to paul to put on him so he can go with him. aaaaaawweee! he LOVES his daddy. and i mean LOVES him.
he's been squealing lately and it is so loud it makes my ears ring. i have sensitive ears anyway but with him squealing all afternoon OMG! i can't handle it. he gets a finger thump on the head but i'm not sure he's connecting "every time i squeal i get thumped on the head" because it's not enough to hurt him, just enough to surprise him out of squealing. love those babies.
and here's just a cute one of the little man doing what the little man does:
we started questioning ourselves the other night after seeing both houses and i said "if we got the flip-flop house, would we ever look at the fix-up house and wonder what could have been?" we both like the idea of the sweat equity but both firmly answered ourselves with "no." and if we got the fix-up house i think we always would have said "i wonder how much money we would have now if we had bought the flip-flop house." and the math only ends up to be about $150 more. which is odd and amazing considering what we would be giving up for that $150 savings a month.
this morning asher woke up with a tiny cry at 5:30 and then paul's alarm went off and i woke up thinking "what color should we paint asher's room?" heehee. right now it's bright red. santa red. and it has closet rods all the way around the 12' x 12' room. and the closet is all shelves, which is actually pretty usable since he has about 3 things that i hang up and no dresser. BUT the red has got to go. we love that color-our kitchen in florida is currently that color but for a baby's bedroom it's a bit angry. we'll need to take down the clothes rods and patch in the holes and primer it and then....green? vibrant green or calm green? or brown? khaki or chocolate? or blue? slate or baby? but then the foster bedroom is a slate blue color and i LOVE it. our friends brian & christina have a slate blue kitchen and it is the most beautiful color of blue. seriously both paul and i have loved that color since we saw their kitchen and it's the closest i've ever seen to that color since. so it will not change one iota. and karyssa's room is already a pale lavender color which is exactly what we wanted. purple means royalty. which she is. and green means healing, blue means peace and brown means stabilizing but also a lazy person and repressed personality. um...i think brown is out.
and the best part is we don't have to wait months and months for a bank to decide our fate. i am so excited.
in cute kid news: they have been doing the cutest things lately i just have to share. on wednesday i took karyssa to see "how to train your dragon" and numerous times i had to remind karyssa we weren't the only ones in the theater as she was standing in her chair with both fists in the air screaming "WOOHOO!" or "THEY'RE FLYING!! MOMMY!! THEY'RE FLYING!!" and "HE DID IT!!" each at the top of her lungs. but seriously how do you not find joy in that. adorable. love that baby girl. she had so much fun she cried all the way home. last night we went to sears to return a microwave that we had gotten in preparation for the fix-up house and karyssa saw the theater door again. she has a CRAZY memory map in her head. and she began to sob all over again. we went in, did our business and came out and again she recognized where we were and started crying all over again. she is so funny!! here she is in her seat at the theater.
asher is getting so smart. when paul puts his shoes on asher goes to the shoe basket and picks out his shoes. not any random shoes-HIS shoes-and takes them to paul to put on him so he can go with him. aaaaaawweee! he LOVES his daddy. and i mean LOVES him.
he's been squealing lately and it is so loud it makes my ears ring. i have sensitive ears anyway but with him squealing all afternoon OMG! i can't handle it. he gets a finger thump on the head but i'm not sure he's connecting "every time i squeal i get thumped on the head" because it's not enough to hurt him, just enough to surprise him out of squealing. love those babies. 
and here's just a cute one of the little man doing what the little man does:
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
craptastic!!
the plot thickens with this dang house issue.
our realtor called and said the other realtor called her and told her to do an amend/extend changing the sales price and submit it to the bank. aaaaaaaaand...fyi...the kids (adult kids) went back to the house to get some of the last few items left and the sewer had backed up into the basement.
ok-there are a lot of puns for this but my automatic first response was "are you $h!++!ng me?!" seriously what else can go wrong with this house? and do we want to stick around and find out?
so we scheduled a 2nd showing for the flip-flop house for 5:30 and decided to go look at the sewer damage afterwards since the houses are 2 streets apart.
at 4:40 i'm doing the dishes and asher walks in from playing in the kiddie pool on the front porch with sand in his armpit. or is it dirt..wait...what's on his hand? then it hit me. oh gawd please be dirt! oh no, you guessed it. poop! and not his own poop! i've mentioned we gave up on potty training...well poop still happens and now that she knows what it feels like when it's coming she can target practice better than before when she wore diapers. UGH! UGH! UGH!
into the tub they went at 4:45!!!!! at 5:10 when i'm lotioning and potioning them up and drying their hair and trying to wash all the baby oil out of their hair AGAIN (i have to add tons of baby oil to their baths because of asher's eczema) it hit me: i've gotta have dinner ready for the minute we get back or the kids will go bonkers hungry! or we could pick up carry out. ugh! but the dining budget is so tight i can't stand having to cook over the weekend. so down to the kitchen i went and put empenadas in the oven with the timer thing. man that timer thing saves my life at least once a week. then out the door we hussled with snack cups and sippy cups and baby oil slicked hair. who cares? i figured she could just go with the fresh-out-of-the-tub look this time.
somehow we made it at 5:22.
and somehow this time i liked the house. i don't know. it may be because i've had months, literally 3 at this point, to get used to the first house that maybe i just couldn't make the house flip-flop in my head. paul met us there and looked again to see what our harley options are and he feels like we have a little more hope than he felt the other day when we looked at it. and the whole house radio was still playing, and still makes me giggle, but hey-i could listen to slacker and steve every afternoon while i make dinner. that's not all bad. maybe we could upgrade it someday. soooooo all this to say after a total crap filled day maybe we have found our future home. time will tell. i'm in no hurry to do anything tonight, er, uh, this morning, but clearly i can't sleep. it's 12:19am and i'm watching the videos i took of the house and looking at maps and over analyzing as only i do best. well, my friend jill is the best over analyzer i've ever met but i'm coming a close 2nd on all this house shopping business.
our realtor called and said the other realtor called her and told her to do an amend/extend changing the sales price and submit it to the bank. aaaaaaaaand...fyi...the kids (adult kids) went back to the house to get some of the last few items left and the sewer had backed up into the basement.
ok-there are a lot of puns for this but my automatic first response was "are you $h!++!ng me?!" seriously what else can go wrong with this house? and do we want to stick around and find out?
so we scheduled a 2nd showing for the flip-flop house for 5:30 and decided to go look at the sewer damage afterwards since the houses are 2 streets apart.
at 4:40 i'm doing the dishes and asher walks in from playing in the kiddie pool on the front porch with sand in his armpit. or is it dirt..wait...what's on his hand? then it hit me. oh gawd please be dirt! oh no, you guessed it. poop! and not his own poop! i've mentioned we gave up on potty training...well poop still happens and now that she knows what it feels like when it's coming she can target practice better than before when she wore diapers. UGH! UGH! UGH!
into the tub they went at 4:45!!!!! at 5:10 when i'm lotioning and potioning them up and drying their hair and trying to wash all the baby oil out of their hair AGAIN (i have to add tons of baby oil to their baths because of asher's eczema) it hit me: i've gotta have dinner ready for the minute we get back or the kids will go bonkers hungry! or we could pick up carry out. ugh! but the dining budget is so tight i can't stand having to cook over the weekend. so down to the kitchen i went and put empenadas in the oven with the timer thing. man that timer thing saves my life at least once a week. then out the door we hussled with snack cups and sippy cups and baby oil slicked hair. who cares? i figured she could just go with the fresh-out-of-the-tub look this time.
somehow we made it at 5:22.
and somehow this time i liked the house. i don't know. it may be because i've had months, literally 3 at this point, to get used to the first house that maybe i just couldn't make the house flip-flop in my head. paul met us there and looked again to see what our harley options are and he feels like we have a little more hope than he felt the other day when we looked at it. and the whole house radio was still playing, and still makes me giggle, but hey-i could listen to slacker and steve every afternoon while i make dinner. that's not all bad. maybe we could upgrade it someday. soooooo all this to say after a total crap filled day maybe we have found our future home. time will tell. i'm in no hurry to do anything tonight, er, uh, this morning, but clearly i can't sleep. it's 12:19am and i'm watching the videos i took of the house and looking at maps and over analyzing as only i do best. well, my friend jill is the best over analyzer i've ever met but i'm coming a close 2nd on all this house shopping business.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
the house situation. the foster world. and other misc crap on my mind.
sooooo the house saga continues. we went to look at this other house that is the EXACT same house as the one we love and want to buy. it's just the flip-flopped version of it.
it's a really nice house. she's done some nice upgrades.
and then there's other parts about it that are.....well....just not things we would do. they aren't bad things. there's a whole house radio that she had set to light jazz while we where there. and it's the old 70's kind. i have no idea how it's still working but it is. like standing in an elevator for 30-45 minutes. there are speakers ALL over the house. the front porch, the back porch, every bathroom, the hallway, her bedroom...i mean all the heck over the house. and the wood floors that she laid down are pergo-ish kind of floors. very nice. wilsonart i think the listing called them. but we are more real hardwood kind of people. the kitchen is impeccable. spotless. clean white cabinets. we like a little bit of color. and the thing is everything is very nice-no point in replacing any of it. it's gonna be perfect. for someone else. and it may still be perfect for us. the only problem is we have a harley, a pick up truck and now the volvo wagon. (say volvo in a snobby voice.) and there's a cement pad in the back corner of the yard, on the opposite side from the garage, so it's not like we could pull the harley around the garage...we'd have to pull it around the other side of the house...it just doesn't work. and it's not on a corner lot so we would lose a lot of yard. a LOT of yard. and we need that space to make the harley work since the garage is too tight.
so...going back to the first house...there are a couple different loan options, neither of which lend themselves to making the fixes and the payment reasonable enough to justify it.
and i just keep thinking i want to be excited about it. why spend all of our savings and buy a house we're not excited about? this is the only time in our lives that we are gonna have this big of a wad of cash to put towards a house. i want it to be right!!!
anyway-enough about things in life that don't matter.
the foster world is sucking mud. they say it's "in the best interest of the child" but the need a caveat of "if the budget allows."
all the decisions in boulder county are being made based on the almighty dollar. and you would be hard pressed to find a foster mom that wouldn't give up the monthly stipend, the whole whopping $300 to spend willy nilly however you need {roll eyes}, if it meant their foster child could stay with them and be safe than to go to a birth parent or family member who has no idea or abilities to care for them. i don't care how thick they sayings say blood is. the love of a foster parent is far stronger than that blood. the same blood that allowed that child to get in harms way. they cannot take a child away from birth family unless they are in danger of death. which means the people these kids are coming from have put them so far out into harms way that they could have died. it is illegal for them to take them for anything less. and yet they are the same people the county fights to put the kids back with.
the boys we had in february are being split up. i've been sick to my stomach when i think about it ever since i got the email. apparently they have different birth dads. so instead of leaving them together in the loving foster home that they have with all the stability and therapies in place that they need to be successful in life they are going to rip one boy out and leave the other boy in the foster home. unless they can find some deadbeat that's blood related and then by god they might as well rip him out of his security too. they don't even split up dogs at the humane society when they are "brothers" how can they do this to real live human children? how are they not a package deal. and i just think back when they transitioned from our house to their new foster home and how i promised, the case worker for the boys promised, the case worker for me promised that they would always stay together because they are brothers and nobody would ever split them up.
oh except for the same people that made that promise because we found your sperm donor. give me a fucking break. i'm so pissed i just want to stand up and scream but who would listen? who can i scream at? he's the biological dad-he's blood. that must make him qualified. right? nevermind the fact that he has so many other children that this will be overwhelming to even the most educated, level-headed parent.
and then there's my friend who has been watching her foster daughter for months even though she went back to her #1 birth mom over a year ago. social services decided to close the case and the other day lovebug's mom called and said she was taking her to stay with her sister for the summer. hours away where she'll have no other support, not that she has any here, but at least lovebug has somewhere to go when her mom is unable to function for months at a time.
how can it be that all of these babies are left to fend for themselves in their best interest. that's what WE are here for. that's why there ARE foster parents out there. and i get it, there are some crappy foster parents. there are some real scary people out there. but the foster parents i have met are not those people. and maybe somewhere in boulder county there is a deadbeat foster parent, but they don't come to support groups. they aren't in my circle or any of my foster-friends circles because none of us have met them. i know fostering pays good money. when i left my real estate career i bumped into a woman from my old office. and either she thought i made pennies for pay or she thinks fostering is a lucrative business but she said "and it's about the same pay right?" i was so shocked. my mind said "or an eighth of it...something like that." but i really said "oh no! fostering doesn't pay that much."
anyway-i've derailed.
all of this to say if you pray please pray for miracles for lovebug and our foster boys.
i do realize how blessed we are that we were able to go all the way through to adoption with both of our children. it brings tears to my eyes in 2 ways...one: that we are so blessed and i do not, even for a day, take that for granted. and two: for my foster friends still in the roller coaster. my thoughts are with you continually.
it's a really nice house. she's done some nice upgrades.
and then there's other parts about it that are.....well....just not things we would do. they aren't bad things. there's a whole house radio that she had set to light jazz while we where there. and it's the old 70's kind. i have no idea how it's still working but it is. like standing in an elevator for 30-45 minutes. there are speakers ALL over the house. the front porch, the back porch, every bathroom, the hallway, her bedroom...i mean all the heck over the house. and the wood floors that she laid down are pergo-ish kind of floors. very nice. wilsonart i think the listing called them. but we are more real hardwood kind of people. the kitchen is impeccable. spotless. clean white cabinets. we like a little bit of color. and the thing is everything is very nice-no point in replacing any of it. it's gonna be perfect. for someone else. and it may still be perfect for us. the only problem is we have a harley, a pick up truck and now the volvo wagon. (say volvo in a snobby voice.) and there's a cement pad in the back corner of the yard, on the opposite side from the garage, so it's not like we could pull the harley around the garage...we'd have to pull it around the other side of the house...it just doesn't work. and it's not on a corner lot so we would lose a lot of yard. a LOT of yard. and we need that space to make the harley work since the garage is too tight.
so...going back to the first house...there are a couple different loan options, neither of which lend themselves to making the fixes and the payment reasonable enough to justify it.
and i just keep thinking i want to be excited about it. why spend all of our savings and buy a house we're not excited about? this is the only time in our lives that we are gonna have this big of a wad of cash to put towards a house. i want it to be right!!!
anyway-enough about things in life that don't matter.
the foster world is sucking mud. they say it's "in the best interest of the child" but the need a caveat of "if the budget allows."
all the decisions in boulder county are being made based on the almighty dollar. and you would be hard pressed to find a foster mom that wouldn't give up the monthly stipend, the whole whopping $300 to spend willy nilly however you need {roll eyes}, if it meant their foster child could stay with them and be safe than to go to a birth parent or family member who has no idea or abilities to care for them. i don't care how thick they sayings say blood is. the love of a foster parent is far stronger than that blood. the same blood that allowed that child to get in harms way. they cannot take a child away from birth family unless they are in danger of death. which means the people these kids are coming from have put them so far out into harms way that they could have died. it is illegal for them to take them for anything less. and yet they are the same people the county fights to put the kids back with.
the boys we had in february are being split up. i've been sick to my stomach when i think about it ever since i got the email. apparently they have different birth dads. so instead of leaving them together in the loving foster home that they have with all the stability and therapies in place that they need to be successful in life they are going to rip one boy out and leave the other boy in the foster home. unless they can find some deadbeat that's blood related and then by god they might as well rip him out of his security too. they don't even split up dogs at the humane society when they are "brothers" how can they do this to real live human children? how are they not a package deal. and i just think back when they transitioned from our house to their new foster home and how i promised, the case worker for the boys promised, the case worker for me promised that they would always stay together because they are brothers and nobody would ever split them up.
oh except for the same people that made that promise because we found your sperm donor. give me a fucking break. i'm so pissed i just want to stand up and scream but who would listen? who can i scream at? he's the biological dad-he's blood. that must make him qualified. right? nevermind the fact that he has so many other children that this will be overwhelming to even the most educated, level-headed parent.
and then there's my friend who has been watching her foster daughter for months even though she went back to her #1 birth mom over a year ago. social services decided to close the case and the other day lovebug's mom called and said she was taking her to stay with her sister for the summer. hours away where she'll have no other support, not that she has any here, but at least lovebug has somewhere to go when her mom is unable to function for months at a time.
how can it be that all of these babies are left to fend for themselves in their best interest. that's what WE are here for. that's why there ARE foster parents out there. and i get it, there are some crappy foster parents. there are some real scary people out there. but the foster parents i have met are not those people. and maybe somewhere in boulder county there is a deadbeat foster parent, but they don't come to support groups. they aren't in my circle or any of my foster-friends circles because none of us have met them. i know fostering pays good money. when i left my real estate career i bumped into a woman from my old office. and either she thought i made pennies for pay or she thinks fostering is a lucrative business but she said "and it's about the same pay right?" i was so shocked. my mind said "or an eighth of it...something like that." but i really said "oh no! fostering doesn't pay that much."
anyway-i've derailed.
all of this to say if you pray please pray for miracles for lovebug and our foster boys.
i do realize how blessed we are that we were able to go all the way through to adoption with both of our children. it brings tears to my eyes in 2 ways...one: that we are so blessed and i do not, even for a day, take that for granted. and two: for my foster friends still in the roller coaster. my thoughts are with you continually.
Friday, June 3, 2011
work with me or shove it!
overnight a house came into our price range that is the EXACT same house but flip flopped in the EXACT same neighborhood with nice siding, yard, flooring, kitchen, etc etc etc just quiiiiite a bit more. it's still in our price range, technically but it's at the VERY top.
after talking to the lender and looking at pics and mulling it over last night paul and i are ready to move on.
i think blogging about it helped me sort out exactly the facts. it's not that we're throwing in the towel completely on the first house, but heck, if there's another option out there in our price range why not consider it.
i know i won't get back the inspection money or the appraisal money but i'd rather lose $1,000 to find out it's the wrong house than $200,000 and still have all those problems on my plate.
i'm biting my nails and waiting for our realtor to call us back to see how quickly we can see this 2nd house.
i've fallen in love before, i can fall in love again.
after talking to the lender and looking at pics and mulling it over last night paul and i are ready to move on.
i think blogging about it helped me sort out exactly the facts. it's not that we're throwing in the towel completely on the first house, but heck, if there's another option out there in our price range why not consider it.
i know i won't get back the inspection money or the appraisal money but i'd rather lose $1,000 to find out it's the wrong house than $200,000 and still have all those problems on my plate.
i'm biting my nails and waiting for our realtor to call us back to see how quickly we can see this 2nd house.
i've fallen in love before, i can fall in love again.
Thursday, June 2, 2011
dammit! studies show cussing is good for your heart.
so i mentioned that we're buying a house. aaaaaaaand we hit a snag. it's not that the house reeks so bad of pot that i have to keep the kids in the back yard, or the fact that the front porch has a crack in it 4 inches deep that runs the entire length of the porch, or the fact that the radon came in just over what is acceptable, or the fact that the basement bedroom seems to be inhabited by an amazon woman with a fetish for cfm heels and finds no need to put away the jug of vaseline she seems to store on her bed, or the fact that the carpet in the entire house has to be replaced because of nasty cats. i hate cats. i don't mind other people's cats but as far as i'm concerned i will never say "my cat" in this lifetime. or the fact that the hvac needs a total upgrade, or the fact that the kitchen is on its last leg. seriously-i'm starting to wonder what, exactly, it is about this house that makes us want to move in tomorrow.
but the real reason why we've hit a snag is because it says on the sellers property disclosure that there was something with the sewer in 2010 so when the inspector suggested we get a separate sewer inspection we did it. but they couldn't get through the pipe. hmmm. curious. the sellers have to have the pipe cleaned out so we can do it again. that means $215 for the first scope, $130 for the cleanout, and $165 for the first guy to come back and rescope it. grrrrr! now i'm pissed. if nothing else, at least take care of your own poop for crying out loud.
i found someone else to clean it out for $125 AND scope it for $125. way cheaper than the other option. today he came and cleaned it out and got a little further than the first guy buuut still can't get through.
ps-the pipes are the old clay pipes. which means where the sidewalk has been marked to replace this week because of sinking is probably exactly where the pipes seem to have a blockage. aka-crushed. so the water, i think, is still following the cavity where the pipe used to be. it's still getting out to the street but not the right way.
that made us go inside and ask the grown son who lives there what happened to that sewer thing on the disclosure? this is what we were told: "we had this huge party and the next morning we woke up and a cast iron pipe had burst in the basement and there was sewage spewing into the basement." seriously?? so i clarified home owner's insurance covered it? "no...we had to have these people come in and chemically wash it down and replace the carpet and everything."
i have all kinds of theories of what's happened between there and here but that's a whole 'nother blog post.
needless to say our closing for next friday is off. i've called everyone to notify them to hold off until we know further. but this is almost a deal breaker for me. i'm fine with it. i'm bummed. i'm hoping it's still gonna come together...but the light that was at the end of my tunnel for getting into the house and having all the extra space etc is now sooooooooo much further away i can hardly think about it. and my new neighbor, whom i lovingly call foghorn, gets louder by the day.
but the real reason why we've hit a snag is because it says on the sellers property disclosure that there was something with the sewer in 2010 so when the inspector suggested we get a separate sewer inspection we did it. but they couldn't get through the pipe. hmmm. curious. the sellers have to have the pipe cleaned out so we can do it again. that means $215 for the first scope, $130 for the cleanout, and $165 for the first guy to come back and rescope it. grrrrr! now i'm pissed. if nothing else, at least take care of your own poop for crying out loud.
i found someone else to clean it out for $125 AND scope it for $125. way cheaper than the other option. today he came and cleaned it out and got a little further than the first guy buuut still can't get through.
ps-the pipes are the old clay pipes. which means where the sidewalk has been marked to replace this week because of sinking is probably exactly where the pipes seem to have a blockage. aka-crushed. so the water, i think, is still following the cavity where the pipe used to be. it's still getting out to the street but not the right way.
that made us go inside and ask the grown son who lives there what happened to that sewer thing on the disclosure? this is what we were told: "we had this huge party and the next morning we woke up and a cast iron pipe had burst in the basement and there was sewage spewing into the basement." seriously?? so i clarified home owner's insurance covered it? "no...we had to have these people come in and chemically wash it down and replace the carpet and everything."
i have all kinds of theories of what's happened between there and here but that's a whole 'nother blog post.
needless to say our closing for next friday is off. i've called everyone to notify them to hold off until we know further. but this is almost a deal breaker for me. i'm fine with it. i'm bummed. i'm hoping it's still gonna come together...but the light that was at the end of my tunnel for getting into the house and having all the extra space etc is now sooooooooo much further away i can hardly think about it. and my new neighbor, whom i lovingly call foghorn, gets louder by the day.
rounding the corner....d'oh!
this morning karyssa came running past me "potty...mom...potty!" i said "great! let me know when you're done and you can have some candy." then she went into the bathroom and i heard a tinkle tinkle tinkle. i walked in to help her wipe only to find her dora seat on the toilet and her standing next to it tinkling on the floor. and it was her first morning pee-let me tell you that tiny thing can hold some pee!!! *sigh* good thing i'm taking my new stance of potty-training-can-wait.
neither one of us have said anything about the candy but i'm letting her enjoy a cup of coffee with me. i put about a tablespoon of decaf in her little toy mug.
neither one of us have said anything about the candy but i'm letting her enjoy a cup of coffee with me. i put about a tablespoon of decaf in her little toy mug.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
the familiar feeling of loss
i know what some of you are thinking. where did she go? she was blogging every day and now she's gone again!
well...i've been busy.
we are buying a house. after 3 years of living in the same place (longer than we've lived anywhere in our married life) we're ready to buy a house and put down, *gasp* dare i say it, roots!
after looking and looking for months we found a house we loved. we put an offer in and it's a short sale. we waited FOREVER for the lender to sign off. they finally came back and so began our inspection and appraisal and paperwork and then another inspection for the sewer. i farmed the kids out to friends and spent 3 hours at the inspection but it went longer than we planned. i decided to go pick up karyssa to let her spend some time in the house to help her get used to the idea and understand what all the packing and boxes meant. um. turns out that was a mistake. she's been potty trained since we had the boys here this february...until...friday when i took her over to the house and showed her what room will be hers and explained. we thought she understood because she asks to drive "by house" or "buy house" every time we're on that side of town but now i'm wondering if she truly understood what we meant.
to karyssa, this place is home. it's safe. it's what she knows. and i kind of suspect she still remembers where she lived before she came here. and i'm not sure if she's in a panic about what the new house means. i explain to her that mommy and daddy and asher are coming too. and she adds "patuh?" (tatum, the dog.) yes, tatum is coming too. i pack boxes where she can see me. i've taken down our pictures. i talk about when we're in the new house and we can get a wading pool and a swing set....but i think for her moving into the new house is a loss of everything familiar all over again. when she came to us, even though our house was "better" than what she'd been in it was a new place, new bed, new room, new parents, new rules, new foods, new smells, and in all that new was a loss for her. much like people who lose everything in a fire, for her it was a loss of her place, a loss of her bed, a loss of her room, a loss of her parents, a loss of the rules she knew, a loss of smells she knew. *sigh* needless to say she's been peeing and pooping in her pants consistently since friday. poor baby. asher couldn't care less. if he thinks all 4 of us are together at taco bell we're home. not karyssa. she gets it. she's older and she's experienced this kind of major change before.
we've had talks about potty training, where to go, what the move will mean etc but i am going to just put her back into diapers and let her know it's ok to take a break from potty training. it's not forever, we'll get back to task after we get into the house and get unpacked and it's our new familiar. in the meantime i have to remember that for karyssa this feeling is not a new one but it doesn't make it any less scary to expect the feeling of loss.
well...i've been busy.
we are buying a house. after 3 years of living in the same place (longer than we've lived anywhere in our married life) we're ready to buy a house and put down, *gasp* dare i say it, roots!
after looking and looking for months we found a house we loved. we put an offer in and it's a short sale. we waited FOREVER for the lender to sign off. they finally came back and so began our inspection and appraisal and paperwork and then another inspection for the sewer. i farmed the kids out to friends and spent 3 hours at the inspection but it went longer than we planned. i decided to go pick up karyssa to let her spend some time in the house to help her get used to the idea and understand what all the packing and boxes meant. um. turns out that was a mistake. she's been potty trained since we had the boys here this february...until...friday when i took her over to the house and showed her what room will be hers and explained. we thought she understood because she asks to drive "by house" or "buy house" every time we're on that side of town but now i'm wondering if she truly understood what we meant.
to karyssa, this place is home. it's safe. it's what she knows. and i kind of suspect she still remembers where she lived before she came here. and i'm not sure if she's in a panic about what the new house means. i explain to her that mommy and daddy and asher are coming too. and she adds "patuh?" (tatum, the dog.) yes, tatum is coming too. i pack boxes where she can see me. i've taken down our pictures. i talk about when we're in the new house and we can get a wading pool and a swing set....but i think for her moving into the new house is a loss of everything familiar all over again. when she came to us, even though our house was "better" than what she'd been in it was a new place, new bed, new room, new parents, new rules, new foods, new smells, and in all that new was a loss for her. much like people who lose everything in a fire, for her it was a loss of her place, a loss of her bed, a loss of her room, a loss of her parents, a loss of the rules she knew, a loss of smells she knew. *sigh* needless to say she's been peeing and pooping in her pants consistently since friday. poor baby. asher couldn't care less. if he thinks all 4 of us are together at taco bell we're home. not karyssa. she gets it. she's older and she's experienced this kind of major change before.
we've had talks about potty training, where to go, what the move will mean etc but i am going to just put her back into diapers and let her know it's ok to take a break from potty training. it's not forever, we'll get back to task after we get into the house and get unpacked and it's our new familiar. in the meantime i have to remember that for karyssa this feeling is not a new one but it doesn't make it any less scary to expect the feeling of loss.
Saturday, April 30, 2011
the ups, the downs, the weekend
my husband is training for his first marathon. i'm so excited for him and proud of him. he wanted to last year but with the addition of asher we just did not have the extra minutes in a weekend for him to do the runs. so sadly it got pushed off. well this year he vowed again that he was going to do it and i am determined not to push his goals off for another year. my husband is in shape all the time. even when he's at his fattest he's skinnier than most people. which means, if he's training for a marathon i can not let myself go, even for a minute. and i love eating chocolate. love it!
which leads me to this morning. i woke up before the kids-that never happens. i had energy-that never happens. i rolled over and said "mind if i go running?" i knew he wanted to go running today. he told me last night. and we have a double running stroller so we can go together-but let me tell you-it's one thing pushing a double running stroller, it's another doing it in high altitude, going uphill. (we live at the bottom of the hill no matter which direction you go.) he said he didn't mind. within 7 minutes i had brushed my teeth and was out the door with my running shoes on. i ran 4 1/2 miles in 45 minutes, got home, and fed the kids breakfast. paul was still getting ready to go running. he moves really slow on saturday mornings because "it's the weekend". and for me, the weekend is all about getting the stuff done i can't do during the week because i'm keeping up with the kids, wearing them out, getting them home for lunch, into bed for nap time, getting the house clean, laundry done, dinner made, grocery shopping. all of the things that go unnoticed literally every other minute of the week. he doesn't believe me that 30 minutes late on a lunch/nap schedule is a big deal. i assure you, it is! which led to more frustration. we got the kids down for naps and i hit the door to get my errands done.
and the neighborhood next door was having a garage sale. it's a really nice neighborhood. most houses go for $500,000 to $800,000. which means they've got nice stuff in those garage sales.
i scored these bad boys, all 4 for $50 (one sells for $40):
i'd show you how they look around the bar except we don't have the bar yet. give me a month or two.
and this bad boy for $5:
that will hide all of these secrets:
AND not pinch fingers. huge score. i love saving money, but best of all, i LOVE repurposing stuff and not buying things brand new and sending perfectly good stuff to the dump. LOVE it. my sister-in-law, jenn, is an amazing recycler. i seriously think she's eliminating the carbon footprint for at least 10 people all by herself. i wish i could be a smidgeon as good at it as she is.
and while i was getting those pictures off the camera i found these to tide you over for a while. asher eating a snack with all 5 of his teeth.
and karyssa taking a bubble bath. special treat around these parts because of asher's eczema. We're working on "smile" with out squinting her entire face.
which leads me to this morning. i woke up before the kids-that never happens. i had energy-that never happens. i rolled over and said "mind if i go running?" i knew he wanted to go running today. he told me last night. and we have a double running stroller so we can go together-but let me tell you-it's one thing pushing a double running stroller, it's another doing it in high altitude, going uphill. (we live at the bottom of the hill no matter which direction you go.) he said he didn't mind. within 7 minutes i had brushed my teeth and was out the door with my running shoes on. i ran 4 1/2 miles in 45 minutes, got home, and fed the kids breakfast. paul was still getting ready to go running. he moves really slow on saturday mornings because "it's the weekend". and for me, the weekend is all about getting the stuff done i can't do during the week because i'm keeping up with the kids, wearing them out, getting them home for lunch, into bed for nap time, getting the house clean, laundry done, dinner made, grocery shopping. all of the things that go unnoticed literally every other minute of the week. he doesn't believe me that 30 minutes late on a lunch/nap schedule is a big deal. i assure you, it is! which led to more frustration. we got the kids down for naps and i hit the door to get my errands done.
and the neighborhood next door was having a garage sale. it's a really nice neighborhood. most houses go for $500,000 to $800,000. which means they've got nice stuff in those garage sales.
i scored these bad boys, all 4 for $50 (one sells for $40):
i'd show you how they look around the bar except we don't have the bar yet. give me a month or two.
and this bad boy for $5:
that will hide all of these secrets:
AND not pinch fingers. huge score. i love saving money, but best of all, i LOVE repurposing stuff and not buying things brand new and sending perfectly good stuff to the dump. LOVE it. my sister-in-law, jenn, is an amazing recycler. i seriously think she's eliminating the carbon footprint for at least 10 people all by herself. i wish i could be a smidgeon as good at it as she is.
and while i was getting those pictures off the camera i found these to tide you over for a while. asher eating a snack with all 5 of his teeth.
and karyssa taking a bubble bath. special treat around these parts because of asher's eczema. We're working on "smile" with out squinting her entire face.
Friday, April 29, 2011
obnoxious...and then cute
sooo....we have these new neighbors across the street and every day while my kids are napping she goes out onto her front porch and talks on her cell phone. why i don't know. probably because she doesn't want to wake her own kids from their naps. i'm telling you, i have had just about enough of it. and she has one of those voices that carries miles even when she's whispering. ANNOYING!!!!!
in other news asher has been putting things into things lately. it's so cute because he's mastered pulling everything out of things in the last month and just this week he's started putting things in. i love to see his little mind at work. he's also become a MASTER at climbing. he can climb anything and is starting to become, god help me, more fearless than karyssa. not sure what i'm gonna do with 2 fearless babes.
karyssa loves playing tag or hide and seek. if she can't get you to chase her she'll ask for hide. and we count to ten so she's started trying. but it's more like "one...two...ten...eight...hive...heven....mumble mumble not here come!!!" adorable. this morning i was hiding behind the shower curtain and she had a hard time finding me. i had to start talking so she'd come into the bathroom and investigate more. then she saw my feet and pulled the curtain back reeaaaalll slow and squealed with delight that i was there. she has started getting afraid of the dark. everything dark has a "monkey" in it. right after the incident at the zoo where the gorilla came face to face with her in a fit of glory the show "between the lions" read a book about a crazy monkey that got out of the zoo and followed this little boy home. then the little boy figured out the monkey wanted to become friends, but not until after running out of his room scared of the monkey. karyssa didn't get the end-her mind stopped at the part where the little boy ran away scared of the crazy monkey. and why not. 100% of her monkey experience has ended in wet pants. *sigh* so now EVERYTHING has a monkey that is scary.
in other news asher has been putting things into things lately. it's so cute because he's mastered pulling everything out of things in the last month and just this week he's started putting things in. i love to see his little mind at work. he's also become a MASTER at climbing. he can climb anything and is starting to become, god help me, more fearless than karyssa. not sure what i'm gonna do with 2 fearless babes.
karyssa loves playing tag or hide and seek. if she can't get you to chase her she'll ask for hide. and we count to ten so she's started trying. but it's more like "one...two...ten...eight...hive...heven....mumble mumble not here come!!!" adorable. this morning i was hiding behind the shower curtain and she had a hard time finding me. i had to start talking so she'd come into the bathroom and investigate more. then she saw my feet and pulled the curtain back reeaaaalll slow and squealed with delight that i was there. she has started getting afraid of the dark. everything dark has a "monkey" in it. right after the incident at the zoo where the gorilla came face to face with her in a fit of glory the show "between the lions" read a book about a crazy monkey that got out of the zoo and followed this little boy home. then the little boy figured out the monkey wanted to become friends, but not until after running out of his room scared of the monkey. karyssa didn't get the end-her mind stopped at the part where the little boy ran away scared of the crazy monkey. and why not. 100% of her monkey experience has ended in wet pants. *sigh* so now EVERYTHING has a monkey that is scary.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
does it have to pour EVERY time it rains?
we're house shopping. it is so. much. fun. and i am not being sarcastic. i LOVE looking at houses and layouts and decorating styles and colors and back yards and neighborhoods. ugh! every time we pull up in a neighborhood and our realtor starts to look for the address i say "it's the third one on the left" or "this one right here." ha! she keeps commenting on how much we've done our homework. little does she know we are LOVING the homework. i check the sex offender registry, check the school ratings, then i physically drive by the houses at LEAST 3 times before we even go inside so i can decide if i really want to stare at the house across the street for the next twenty years. ha! LOVE house shopping.
don't love when we finally put an offer on a house we LOVE LOVE LOVE only to have them accept another offer. i'm telling myself the other buyers were cash buyers willing to pay full price. but i DO love that it means i get to house shop some more. and boy was i disappointed. so we looked. we got close. we revisited. we went back to other houses. we went to more houses. THEN a house popped up that was EVERYTHING we wanted. big yard. 5 bedrooms. potential to move and expand....by the way, we LOVE tearing down walls, redoing kitchens, carpeting and hardwooding and painting. UGH! love it!
so we put in an offer on a house but it's a short sale so now we gotta wait forEVER and a day...or 60 days, something like that. maybe by late may we'll know something.
but that was yesterday. today i had to take asher to children's for an evaluation on his throat. they aren't sure why he can't swallow water without choking. or aspirating as they all love to say. i hate that word aspirating...it's so....medical. and not in a good way, not in a cure way...in a problem way. *sigh* so i took him down to the children's hospital and sat down in the waiting room trying not to think about the fact that we were at children's and people don't go to children's for a cold...they go to children's because their kids are really sick. and my baby is not really sick. at least that's what i'd like to believe. but as we're sitting there waiting for the same doctors that are going to see the boy next to us with the trach tube and the girl in the next section over is bald from chemo it makes me reconsider how not-sick my baby truly is. i went to the bathroom and cried for a minute. then he was seen by 3 doctors, a couple specialists and a few more people that i'm not sure what their role was. i think it was a nurse and an assistant. tomorrow we go back for a few little procedures and a 24 hour stay. i was exhausted tonight when i got home. karyssa didn't nap today, we think, because every time she was checked on she was in a new spot with more items in her hands she shouldn't be playing with-typical karyssa fashion.
now i'm home, the kids are in bed, and i'm trying to decide if i should have chocolate cake or salad for dinner. and the place we're renting is on the market and has it's first showing tomorrow afternoon so i gotta leave it clean on our way out at 5:00 in the morning!!!
and all i can think is "thank god we don't have to deal with the house stuff for 60 more days".
don't love when we finally put an offer on a house we LOVE LOVE LOVE only to have them accept another offer. i'm telling myself the other buyers were cash buyers willing to pay full price. but i DO love that it means i get to house shop some more. and boy was i disappointed. so we looked. we got close. we revisited. we went back to other houses. we went to more houses. THEN a house popped up that was EVERYTHING we wanted. big yard. 5 bedrooms. potential to move and expand....by the way, we LOVE tearing down walls, redoing kitchens, carpeting and hardwooding and painting. UGH! love it!
so we put in an offer on a house but it's a short sale so now we gotta wait forEVER and a day...or 60 days, something like that. maybe by late may we'll know something.
but that was yesterday. today i had to take asher to children's for an evaluation on his throat. they aren't sure why he can't swallow water without choking. or aspirating as they all love to say. i hate that word aspirating...it's so....medical. and not in a good way, not in a cure way...in a problem way. *sigh* so i took him down to the children's hospital and sat down in the waiting room trying not to think about the fact that we were at children's and people don't go to children's for a cold...they go to children's because their kids are really sick. and my baby is not really sick. at least that's what i'd like to believe. but as we're sitting there waiting for the same doctors that are going to see the boy next to us with the trach tube and the girl in the next section over is bald from chemo it makes me reconsider how not-sick my baby truly is. i went to the bathroom and cried for a minute. then he was seen by 3 doctors, a couple specialists and a few more people that i'm not sure what their role was. i think it was a nurse and an assistant. tomorrow we go back for a few little procedures and a 24 hour stay. i was exhausted tonight when i got home. karyssa didn't nap today, we think, because every time she was checked on she was in a new spot with more items in her hands she shouldn't be playing with-typical karyssa fashion.
now i'm home, the kids are in bed, and i'm trying to decide if i should have chocolate cake or salad for dinner. and the place we're renting is on the market and has it's first showing tomorrow afternoon so i gotta leave it clean on our way out at 5:00 in the morning!!!
and all i can think is "thank god we don't have to deal with the house stuff for 60 more days".
Sunday, September 13, 2009
ROAR!
tonight i called the cops on our neighbors. i've never done that before in my life. well, actually once i did on that neighbor in denver who had video gaming parties at 2:00am. i called the cops on him. tonight we got together with some neighbors and grilled out. afterwords we took our pooches to the open space to play. it's so cute to see them. then on the way back another neighbor's dog came barreling out at us. first he went after tatum to which tatum turned to all fangs. then he went after chuckie who is a chijuajua. he's built more like a polish sausage-but he's a chijuajua by breed. THEN he went after sweet pea's feet. THAT'S when i screamed bloody murder so loud and long that i had to take two breaths. i came right back inside and checked for tears in her pajamas. she was so scared she was crying-she'd never heard me scream like that before, especially not right in her ear. i settled down and gave her a bottle and put her to bed and thought "that's it, i'm calling the HOA." then i thought-what are they gonna do? send her a letter? i had been pushed to far. this has happened with tucker before, but only with tatum, no babies. i don't do well when i'm pushed too far. much like what happened here. so i decided i was calling animal control but not like a weenie. i was going to do it right. i was first going to tell her that i was calling and the reason is-as a foster mom, my job is to protect my kids. and if sweet pea had gotten bit i would be in big trouble. i asked paul if i was being over the top. he said no. he ALWAYS brings me down to earth so when he said no i realized i had every right to be as pissed as i was. i put my sweater on and headed out. only to find tucker standing in the middle of the street between me and my neighbors house. i RAN back inside and called animal control. i explained everything right down to the part where i was going back out to tell her why i was going to call them. the cops showed up. took all my notes and went over there to talk to her. she felt really bad and actually already had him on craigs list. there's a link to his ad if you're interested in a crazy chocolate lab with a cute face.
so the cops came back over to me and asked if i wanted to press charges which of course i do not. but then told me she'd like to talk. !! to me? right now?? yes! she was on her porch waiting! so i went over there and she's in tears. i felt so bad. but not so bad that i regretted it. the cops told her to call the lab rescue or the humane society but she had to do something. they then told me that if she doesn't do something within a month to call them back. all in all it ended in me hugging the neighbor and telling her i didn't want to add anymore stress to her life but as a foster mom i HAVE to protect my kids and i don't want to lose my baby! how WEIRD was my night?!
so the cops came back over to me and asked if i wanted to press charges which of course i do not. but then told me she'd like to talk. !! to me? right now?? yes! she was on her porch waiting! so i went over there and she's in tears. i felt so bad. but not so bad that i regretted it. the cops told her to call the lab rescue or the humane society but she had to do something. they then told me that if she doesn't do something within a month to call them back. all in all it ended in me hugging the neighbor and telling her i didn't want to add anymore stress to her life but as a foster mom i HAVE to protect my kids and i don't want to lose my baby! how WEIRD was my night?!
Friday, July 3, 2009
Cherry Creek Arts Festival
Today we went down to the Cherry Creek Arts Festival. I have waited to go to this since last year when we went hiking instead of going. A few years ago I went with a friend from work and saw this artist. I love her work. I told myself then, when Paul was a student, that some day I would buy one of her pictures. They are so cute and creative and make you think about how big the world really is even though it seems to get smaller and smaller every day. Anyhow-this is my favorite picture of all of them. I want to get it to hang up in my dining room. It's such a great picture to see when you start your day.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
SNOW DAY!!!
I have been wanting a snow day ALL winter. And finally we got it! After I went to work. HA! They kept telling us this last week "tomorrow's the day-we're gonna get a foot of snow tomorrow" and then I wake up and NOTHING. No snow. Last night when they said it I didn't even hope. Until we woke up and sure enough there was about 3 or 4 inches on the ground. Woohoo! Wasn't a foot, but it covered most of the new spring grass. I got up, took Tatum running because she loves the snow. Went to work and then bam it came down! And came down and came down and came down. Finally at 11:30 we realized we all needed to start heading home. Paul came up from work to pick me up in the pick up because my little civic couldn't make it back home. It took him 2 hours to get the 15 miles up to get me.
We came home and I made some cookies and I have some left over chili from the other day that I can heat up for dinner. Here are some pictures.
This is the look Tatum gave me AFTER her 2 mile romp in the snow when she realized the snowballs were sticking to her legs.
Here is a picture of our front porch and Paul scooping out the snow. I LoVe SnOw!!!!
Daddy's so wonderful. He picks the snowballs out of Tatum's legs so she can sit down again.
In other news M'Lady's dad passed away last night. I feel like a real big meanie now after getting into it with her on Monday and then this. Jeesh. What a jerk I turned out to be. But she has been MUCH nicer to me ever since AND she's been available by phone to me. Which is hUgE. And I realized that I was wearing the same exact outfit when I got into the big to-do with the son. Maybe that outfit makes my inner super-hero come out. I may have to watch out when I wear that turtleneck.
We came home and I made some cookies and I have some left over chili from the other day that I can heat up for dinner. Here are some pictures.
This is the look Tatum gave me AFTER her 2 mile romp in the snow when she realized the snowballs were sticking to her legs.
Here is a picture of our front porch and Paul scooping out the snow. I LoVe SnOw!!!!
Daddy's so wonderful. He picks the snowballs out of Tatum's legs so she can sit down again.
In other news M'Lady's dad passed away last night. I feel like a real big meanie now after getting into it with her on Monday and then this. Jeesh. What a jerk I turned out to be. But she has been MUCH nicer to me ever since AND she's been available by phone to me. Which is hUgE. And I realized that I was wearing the same exact outfit when I got into the big to-do with the son. Maybe that outfit makes my inner super-hero come out. I may have to watch out when I wear that turtleneck.
Friday, March 6, 2009
Toys and Stuff and my finished quilt
Ok so I've told you about all the cool toys and stuff. Here's the boy bunk bed with the new crayon pillow that matches PERFECTLY the quilt I've been making since September. Isn't it crazy how well it matches? 
And here's the desk WITH toys on it...ready to go for kids.
And the cradle full of stuffed animals, Tatum just realized today that they were all individual toys that she should be able to play with.
And here's the Barbie Oven that talks...with a bucket full of dishes in there...
And best of all in Tatum's mind is the baby that talks. I put him on the bottom bunk because he's more special than the other toys.
This morning I was getting ready and could hear someone squealing or screeching, couldn't quite figure out what it was...until I walked out into the hallway and noticed the boy baby was missing from the bed. I ran downstairs to salvage what was left of what i was sure Tatum had torn to bits and he was laying in front of the tv, in one piece, with his hat across the room. Clearly he had been shaken like crazy. And Tatum walked away from him like "well, look who I found...what EVER is he doing down here?!" Little booger.
And here's the desk WITH toys on it...ready to go for kids.
And the cradle full of stuffed animals, Tatum just realized today that they were all individual toys that she should be able to play with.
And here's the Barbie Oven that talks...with a bucket full of dishes in there...
And best of all in Tatum's mind is the baby that talks. I put him on the bottom bunk because he's more special than the other toys.
This morning I was getting ready and could hear someone squealing or screeching, couldn't quite figure out what it was...until I walked out into the hallway and noticed the boy baby was missing from the bed. I ran downstairs to salvage what was left of what i was sure Tatum had torn to bits and he was laying in front of the tv, in one piece, with his hat across the room. Clearly he had been shaken like crazy. And Tatum walked away from him like "well, look who I found...what EVER is he doing down here?!" Little booger.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
in an effort to update
ok-i'm going to try to keep you posted day-by-day instead of week-by-week. i know i've been slacking lately and it's pathetic really. my days are getting so busy that by the end of the week when i have time i've forgotten most of what i was going to say.
so today i trimmed off the edges of my quilt and started putting the binding on. it looks awesome. and i love it with the raggedy ann and andy sheets that are on that bed, however, paul has informed me those sheets aren't very "boyish". so we'll see how long those sheets last. i keep telling myself "after this quilt i'm taking a break". and then i find yet another pattern i'm just dying to put together. do you think i could put quilt tops together and sell them to people who want to do the quilting? i like the quilting part but not as much as the piecing together part. i can throw a quilt together in a weekend, usually. this quilt took me a whole week. so i told myself "no more!" and then i found some super cute patterns i'm DYING to do for my neices that i need to make quilts for. i am not ready to give up that self-made tradition. and i found the cutest cutest patterns for each one. so...we'll see how long i can hold out and not make another quilt. because then it sits in the basket waiting to be quilted giving me guilt when i watch tv. that's when i get most of my quilting done because i'm just sitting there. other than the office there's really no show where you have to SEE the people's acting. it's all just lines. but the office, you miss one awkward camera glance and you've missed some serious plot. man i love that show. derailed-sorry. anyhow. tonight a friend from work, linda, i think she's a left over hippy. i just love her. she gets on these religious kicks and they crack me up. this year she has decided she's not celebrating holidays. i'm not quite sure i follow her logic but she's adimant about it. man-i'm a train wreck tonight...back on track-she has a storage unit full of toys she has to clean out. and i have a cleaned out house that needs toys. so wah-lah! we're helping each other out tonight and i'm gonna go empty out her toys for her. yippee!!! now foster kids will want to stay for something more than cool bunk beds! she gave us so much stuff we are beyond blessed. i am humbled, once again, by the way God chooses to provide. it's little things. i wanted a little step stool. nothing fancy or major, just a little something for brushing teeth. she had one. i was looking at some more blankets, just in case, but i'd really like a blue blanket that would match the boy bed, but gosh, i hate spending money on it. she gave me one. and it looks like a down comforter, but it's blue. and not baby blue. it's like stormy sky blue. baby block bible. puzzles with the alphebet. learning toys. alphebet flash cards. a barbie kitchen that talks. AND it not only talks, it says "for nutrition help, press one. for fitness tips, press 3....etc" and a baby doll that talks and best of all it says "i love you." something these kids might or might not have heard and have trouble with. a children's book, about the size of a golden book called "does god see me". hello!? do these kids need to know that or WHAT?! let me think what else...a cradle and so many stuffed animals i can hardly cram them all in there. a couple pairs of pants that are neutral, some girl pajamas. a bucket full of cars and boy toys, and a bucket full of dishes and girl toys. just enough baby toys that it didn't freak me out. a baby doll stroller. a baby stroller. a toddler stroller. an ecta-sketch and one of those sketch toys that has the little slide bar that clears the board. a mr. potato head. seriously-i can't even think of it all. so much stuff and things EXACTLY what i've had my eye on but just can't spend the money on because i just don't know who to prepare for.
ok-i've been bleaching toys and washing clothes and stuffed animals for 4 hours now. i gotta go to bed. thanks to all of you that have been praying for god to provide. it's working.
so today i trimmed off the edges of my quilt and started putting the binding on. it looks awesome. and i love it with the raggedy ann and andy sheets that are on that bed, however, paul has informed me those sheets aren't very "boyish". so we'll see how long those sheets last. i keep telling myself "after this quilt i'm taking a break". and then i find yet another pattern i'm just dying to put together. do you think i could put quilt tops together and sell them to people who want to do the quilting? i like the quilting part but not as much as the piecing together part. i can throw a quilt together in a weekend, usually. this quilt took me a whole week. so i told myself "no more!" and then i found some super cute patterns i'm DYING to do for my neices that i need to make quilts for. i am not ready to give up that self-made tradition. and i found the cutest cutest patterns for each one. so...we'll see how long i can hold out and not make another quilt. because then it sits in the basket waiting to be quilted giving me guilt when i watch tv. that's when i get most of my quilting done because i'm just sitting there. other than the office there's really no show where you have to SEE the people's acting. it's all just lines. but the office, you miss one awkward camera glance and you've missed some serious plot. man i love that show. derailed-sorry. anyhow. tonight a friend from work, linda, i think she's a left over hippy. i just love her. she gets on these religious kicks and they crack me up. this year she has decided she's not celebrating holidays. i'm not quite sure i follow her logic but she's adimant about it. man-i'm a train wreck tonight...back on track-she has a storage unit full of toys she has to clean out. and i have a cleaned out house that needs toys. so wah-lah! we're helping each other out tonight and i'm gonna go empty out her toys for her. yippee!!! now foster kids will want to stay for something more than cool bunk beds! she gave us so much stuff we are beyond blessed. i am humbled, once again, by the way God chooses to provide. it's little things. i wanted a little step stool. nothing fancy or major, just a little something for brushing teeth. she had one. i was looking at some more blankets, just in case, but i'd really like a blue blanket that would match the boy bed, but gosh, i hate spending money on it. she gave me one. and it looks like a down comforter, but it's blue. and not baby blue. it's like stormy sky blue. baby block bible. puzzles with the alphebet. learning toys. alphebet flash cards. a barbie kitchen that talks. AND it not only talks, it says "for nutrition help, press one. for fitness tips, press 3....etc" and a baby doll that talks and best of all it says "i love you." something these kids might or might not have heard and have trouble with. a children's book, about the size of a golden book called "does god see me". hello!? do these kids need to know that or WHAT?! let me think what else...a cradle and so many stuffed animals i can hardly cram them all in there. a couple pairs of pants that are neutral, some girl pajamas. a bucket full of cars and boy toys, and a bucket full of dishes and girl toys. just enough baby toys that it didn't freak me out. a baby doll stroller. a baby stroller. a toddler stroller. an ecta-sketch and one of those sketch toys that has the little slide bar that clears the board. a mr. potato head. seriously-i can't even think of it all. so much stuff and things EXACTLY what i've had my eye on but just can't spend the money on because i just don't know who to prepare for.
ok-i've been bleaching toys and washing clothes and stuffed animals for 4 hours now. i gotta go to bed. thanks to all of you that have been praying for god to provide. it's working.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
another thing off the checklist
yesterday we had CPR class and learned the new 2 breaths, 30 chest pumps, 5 times. and baby heimlich is 5 beats to the back, 5 pumps to the chest. i gotta write it down quick or i forget. then we went to see Hotel for Dogs. it actually made me cry more than once. the kids are foster kids and...well...i don't want to spoil it if you're going to see it but there was a part where the kids were going to maybe be split up and that made the floodgates open.
we also got mattresses today. thank GOODNESS! i got the beds made up - now i just have to finish the yellow/orange border and the 2nd bed is done. however, i used raggedy anne and andy sheets for the boy bed and paul informed me that he doesn't think those are boy enough. i may need to get new sheets. but i'll wait until we have our placement because if we end up with all girls it doesn't matter what boy sheets i get. my first quilt is this pink one. it finally has a purpose. i made it 8 years ago and have never really used it other than when guests come. it's been another weekend of errands.
in other news. i have an interview tuesday morning at the company i used to work for. unfortunately, it's an hour, about an hour and a half during commuting time, away from where we live. and because we are really needing to stay in our county for the foster situation...it just may not work. i'm still going to go and see if they even make me an offer. maybe i'm over qualified for what they are looking for. i don't know. i'd LOVE to get back into a big corporation but i'm just not sure that's going to be a realistic option. *sigh* pray for me if you think about it.
we also got mattresses today. thank GOODNESS! i got the beds made up - now i just have to finish the yellow/orange border and the 2nd bed is done. however, i used raggedy anne and andy sheets for the boy bed and paul informed me that he doesn't think those are boy enough. i may need to get new sheets. but i'll wait until we have our placement because if we end up with all girls it doesn't matter what boy sheets i get. my first quilt is this pink one. it finally has a purpose. i made it 8 years ago and have never really used it other than when guests come. it's been another weekend of errands.
in other news. i have an interview tuesday morning at the company i used to work for. unfortunately, it's an hour, about an hour and a half during commuting time, away from where we live. and because we are really needing to stay in our county for the foster situation...it just may not work. i'm still going to go and see if they even make me an offer. maybe i'm over qualified for what they are looking for. i don't know. i'd LOVE to get back into a big corporation but i'm just not sure that's going to be a realistic option. *sigh* pray for me if you think about it.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
pictures of stuff
i've been working my tail off finishing up the quilt. i just need to finish the diagonal orange and yellow border and then i can put the binding on. probably one full day (sunday maybe) and i'll be done. woohoo! then on to other projects. here's what i'm doing on the purple border. my friend shweta brought me back that fabric from india. i LOVE it on this quilt.
and then there's the fireplace screen i got today for $0.
and lastly...dun-dun-duuuuuunnnnn!!! baby seats. in MY house. it is making things feel more real. and that much more scary.
provisions
ok so get this. i'm not a super spiritual person. i try to be. i'm just not. doesn't mean i'm going to a lesser heaven-so don't go there-i know some of you just did. anyhow-i've really been holding out on buying a bunch of the stuff we need for foster certification because i just want to see how god will provide. so today i emailed our homestudy worker to see if we need the fireplace screen that is required. in my mind they are talking about wood fireplaces that could have sparks fly out. but appearantly, since our gas fireplace gets hot on the metal parts it means us too. so i look on craigslist and wah-lah...there's a fireplace screen FREE, 10 days ago. bummer! but i think-what they hey-it's still listed. so today on my lunch hour i drove over there and sure-n-dug there it was sitting right up next to the fence on the curb! 10 DAYS! so i snagged it. and tonight after work paul is going down to lakewood to buy a baby seat and a toddler seat for the car for a whopping $35. i checked the recall list and they aren't on there. so yippy, right? and then there's a woman trying to get rid of her highchair...$10!!!! what the?! so paul's gonna go get that after the car seats. so for a whopping $45 today we are gonna get 2 car seats, a highchair and a fireplace screen. now we just need those twin mattresses. i know they're coming from somewhere i just KNOW it.
**Edited to say the lady with the highchair didn't come through but the car seats are awesome. We made out like bandits on that front. It's weird to have baby seats in our house.**
**Edited to say the lady with the highchair didn't come through but the car seats are awesome. We made out like bandits on that front. It's weird to have baby seats in our house.**
Sunday, February 8, 2009
the proof
here are some pictures. not sure how this one got so crooked...when we were in florida i bought this desk and dresser at salvation army. i loved the knobs. and then fixed it up for our future kids. i had no idea i'd need them for ready made kids so quickly.
and here's the other direction....never mind the mess in the hallway, we're getting there.
and another view of the crib. it's still intimidating me.
and the new family room, it seriously feels like we added a whole new floor.
the new office...
and finally, i know it looks like a mess to you, but to me it looks like a sanctuary for creativity. i'm so excited to have a real spot for sewing and crafty stuff.
actually-here's a better photo...now you can see the way paul hung the snowboards and ladder up on the wall.
and here's how we hung the camping gear and i put a curtain up to hide all of the boxes. looks homey huh?
and here's the other direction....never mind the mess in the hallway, we're getting there.
and another view of the crib. it's still intimidating me.
and the new family room, it seriously feels like we added a whole new floor.
the new office...
and finally, i know it looks like a mess to you, but to me it looks like a sanctuary for creativity. i'm so excited to have a real spot for sewing and crafty stuff.
actually-here's a better photo...now you can see the way paul hung the snowboards and ladder up on the wall.
and here's how we hung the camping gear and i put a curtain up to hide all of the boxes. looks homey huh?
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