Friday, June 3rd

I'm marking my calendar.  It's a big day in our household.  It's the day we will officially be debt free with our credit score intact!  That's right.  We have a contract on our house.  It's not what we wanted for our house, but after looking at the market history and comparison houses, it's a fair market price.  I'm just thankful we have the money that we can pay to sell our house  (how sad is that?) and walk away.  There are so many people who aren't as fortunate as us. 

The home inspection is tentatively May 6th, so pray for that please.  After closing, we will withdraw the kids from our beloved elementary school, pack a trailer and head to Florida to play until it's time to move to Missouri.  It's definitely going to be bittersweet.  We have roots here for the first time ever really.  We have friends and school and places and activities.  We are attached.  It's going to be hard to say good-bye.

In the military, there's an expression, "Home is where the Army sends you."  I'm actually starting to look forward to getting to Missouri so we can make it our new home and put down roots again!  I guess in itself is a praise if you've read any of my other posts about Ft. Lost in the Woods of Misery.

The Grass is Always Greener

When you fertilize.

Good job , Dan.  I don't think our grass has been this pretty before.  We've put a lot of hard work into our yard and I'm going to miss it.  I've loved being able to watch the plants I started as seeds grow and multiply.  We've never really been able to do that before.  I have real sentimental attachments to a lot of my plants.  I'll leave behind hostas and lilies from a friend and plants that we bought on the last chance table at Lowes that we nurtured back to health.  I even have plants from my mom's yard.

Offer #2 and Possibly #3

I woke up to an email from our realtor with a "rough offer" from people who had seen our house twice.  There was no official paperwork, just an amount in an email and a question if we'd even consider it.  Unfortunately, it was 5K less than the first ridiculous offer.  I also got an email feedback from our showing last night saying they would be making an offer today.  This is really insane.  I'm hoping the third time is the charm and it'll be an offer we can realistically consider.  We also have a showing scheduled for tonight.  UGGHHH...this is no fun whatsoever!

Where Did Spring Break Go?

It seems Spring Break was here and then gone.  I guess the fact that it was five days, and two of those were a weekend, explains it.  We didn't do too much.  As a matter of fact, I had to look at the pictures I took to even remember what we did.  Thursday, I took the kids to Mariner Point Park to ride scooters.  It wasn't the greatest of days for me as Jaelyn was being a toot, but the kids seemed to have fun.

Monday, we bowled and had lunch with Krissy and her boys.  Now, that was a lot of fun.

I love their ball stand for the little kids...the cutest dragon!

As you can see, the score was pretty close, but Caden came out on top.

Caden and his best friend, Nathan.  We will MISS Krissy's family!

Girl Scout Spa Day

Recently, I got to take the girls to a spa day!

Allie was so excited because she's heard all about Serenity and my escapes with Miss Jennifer.

This spa wasn't exactly like Serenity.  An older girl scout organized the event to earn her silver patch???  I think that's right.  I'm learning about GS as I go since I didn't make it past one campout as a child.  Anyway, it was a huge event.  They started the girls out with some light aerobics.

Jaelyn was thrilled to see her two best friends, Allison and Heather, there.

After the aerobics, the girls rotated through different stations.  They made bath salts and oatmeal bath.

I love these intent faces and they learn about the oatmeal bath recipe.

They did some arts and crafts and made bracelets and barrets.

They even got their nails done.

The event wrapped up with a little yoga.

It was a fun day and I'm glad I got to spend it with the girls!  Allie is still insisting that she wants a massage...She can't wait till she turns 16 so she can go to Serenity with me!

The House Saga Continues

Our realtor still hasn't heard back from the other realtor.  These people have apparently never heard of something called common courtesy.  So you don't want to accept our counter offer...fine...but would you show us some respect and give us a reply.  Seriously....anyway, we have a showing this afternoon and another tomorrow evening.  I let things go just a tad this weekend; so today has been all about getting things perfect again.  I like things clean, neat and organized, but even this level of perfection is starting to get old for me.

PS Have I mentioned Dan's in Idaho?  I had use Google to place Idaho on a map (sorry to all my North Western US friends).  Dan left yesterday.  His classes/conference/whatever you want to call it starts today.  The schedule looks insane for three weeks solid.  At least it means I have a little less laundry to keep up with.  Oh and I have to cut the grass myself.  Dan is not allowed to ever fertilize our grass again because with all this rain, it's growing like, well, grass! I shouldn't have to cut it every 4 days.

There's Nothing More Frustrating

Than a 449 piece puzzle...Except maybe waiting for your realtor to call you back with a counter offer or an acceptance.

Hurry Up and Wait: The Frustration of Negotiating

Well, it happened. We got an offer on our house Friday night.  I never expected we'd get an offer this soon.  We were so excited until we learned the details. Unfortunately, it was a low offer, but they have secured financing. We countered Saturday morning  with a slightly lower price than list and with a new closing date or the option of closing and renting back.  They want to close in May.  There's no way!  We'd have to stay in a hotel for 3 weeks for the kids to finish school.  Now we wait to hear back. Of course, it had to be over the weekend and  on a holiday weekend to boot.  It's driving me insane. In order to distract myself, I've been "puzzling" as Joanie would say. So far, I've put together two 500 piece puzzles and one 300 piece puzzle. 

Say a little extra prayer...okay?

House Update

No offers yet, but we've had lots of interest.  We ended up with three showings yesterday.  One of them was a second showing for the people who came Tuesday night.  They've also asked for the disclosure statements on the house so they are definitely interested.  One of the three showings also rated our house (there's a cool site that we can see the showings and feedback from everyone) and said they are very interested and will be making a decision next week.  Today, we have BRAC transfers from New Jersey coming specifically to see our house.  Their realtor previewed it Wednesday and told them they needed to come now because it wouldn't be on the market long, at least that's what my realtor told me.  So, all in all, we are hopeful we might be looking at offers next week!

It's Happening

Our house was listed on Monday in MLS.  The sign went up yesterday.  At 6:45 last night, the phone rang.  Someone wanted to show our house from 7-8.  We had decided that 7 was as late as we'd go so I told them no and then felt immediately horrible....like sick to my stomach horrible.  As I was kissing the girls goodnight at 7:30, the phone rang again.  There was a realtor 5 minutes from our house who wanted 10 minutes to show it.  We got the kids up.  They put on coats and shoes.  I grabbed Zac and we ran out the door.  We drove around looking at houses until 8 and Caden fell asleep in the car.  This morning, I had a realtor come preview the house for out of town clients.  AND we have someone coming back for a second showing on Friday.  I'm not sure if it's the people from last night or the out of town people.  It's enough to make me all frazzled with excitement.  Dan leaves Monday for Idaho and I'm sure he's going to miss out on all the negotiating fun!  Pray!

The Little Things

Little things have made me happy today and I thought I'd share.  Do you have something you use everyday that you just hate.  I have hated my soap dispenser for dish detergent for years.  It was cheap, ugly plastic and it leaked.  I replaced it a few weeks ago, but the new one was just as bad.  I can't tell you how many times a day I press that soap dispenser.  I deserve to have something pretty that works and doesn't leave me frustrated.  I was wandering around Target today and found this soap dispenser.  I can't believe I paid what I did for it, but I love it.  It's so easy to use.  It makes me want to wash dishes just so I can use it.  My dish detergent even smells better coming out of it :p.

My flower on the counter was starting to look sad so I replaced it too with this very inexpensive orchid.  Isn't it beautiful?

 It's the little things, remember???

A L-O-N-G Night at the Sleep Center

Allie had her follow-up sleep study last night.  She knew what to expect this time which made it worse.  She was not at all excited about it, but she willingly let the nurse hook her up to all the tubes and wires.

We turned out the lights about 9:30 and with the help of Melatonin, Allie went to sleep.  She was so restless though.  The nurse had to come in repeatedly to retape wires and rewrap her head.  Allie actually slept through most of it.  I, on the other hand, woke up every time the door opened.  5:15 couldn't have come soon enough.  We were both ready to go home!

We have an appointment with the pediatric ENT in two weeks to get the results.  Our hope and prayer is that the tonsillectomy fixed the high CO2 problem; otherwise, we'll be referred to a pulminologist to do further testing.

The Final Check

Stain the Deck

One Small Adjustment

The realtors came yesterday and we signed all the paperwork.  It's a relief to have that done and know we are one step closer.  They both said our house looks great.  They are happy with the changes I made and had no suggestions.

Kiley, thank you for your comment about the boxes.  I had thought about making a dust ruffle for Caden's bed, but it got lost somewhere in my jumbled brain.  In under an hour, I used an extra sheet and some sticky velcro to make him a dust ruffle and hide the toy boxes under his bed.  It looks so much better!

Life is Good When the Sun is Shining

It Is Finished!

There are still little things I keep seeing that need to be touched up, but I'm done.  I'm finished.  The End!  

Here are pictures of the rest of the house.

Jaelyn has been instructred that she cannot climb the columns anymore.  I cleaned the hand prints off the ceiling and I'm not doing it again.

So, maybe the wall and not the flowers should have been the focus, but aren't they pretty.  Dan and the kids gave them to me for my birthday.

I rearranged.  I'm still not happy with the bookcase above the TV.  It needs rearranging and accessories, but I'm not digging anymore out.

Our basement bathroom...This used to be my most disliked room in the house.  It was a blue (the color of the curtain) dungeon.  I hated it.  It's beautiful now and I'd gladly take showers in it, but no one is going to touch it because I don't want to have to clean it again.

I didn't do too much in our room.  I just took down kid pictures and moved the rocking chair out.

I found a bunch of springy daffodils on sale at Joanns.  They are the perfect finishing touch.

I had to paint over my kitty cat paw prints, but I got to keep up my puppy dog tail towel hooks.

The girls rool is still very busy.  I might remove their flower stickers from the walls.

The realtors come tomorrow to take pictures.  I'm not sure when it'll actually be listed.  We have to decide if we want to show it before we finish the deck.  It's been pressure washed, but three days of sunshine are proving to be elusive!

Almost Ready for Listing

I needed a break so I took some pictures.  I had to move stuff around so it doesn't look quite this good yet, but it's almost there.  It's just the details now...

Anyone want to buy a house in Abingdon, MD???  Just let me know!

To Do List Update

We have been working like crazy around here.  I thought I'd redo my check list with only what needs to be done now.  You'll notice it's much shorter!

Caden's room -

• paint trim

The girls' room -

• paint trim

Hall Bathroom -

• paint trim
• CLEAN

Hallways -

•  paint trim

Master bedroom and bath -

• paint trim

Living room -  

• touch up moldings

Kitchen/dining room -

• paint trim
• clean bugs out of light fixture

Foyer bathroom -

• paint trim
• get rid of pee smell - little boys standing and non-glued together hardwood floors don't match

Craft/Computer Room -

• paint trim

Deck -

• Stain deck - the weather is not cooperating.  We've cleaned it.  We just need 3 days of sunshine for it to dry out before we can stain it.

Yard 

• buy fern
• finish edging

Basement guest room -

Basement family room - 

• stage  
• paint molding (especially bathroom door)

Basement bathroom - 

• paint trim

Basement storage closets -

Misc Stuff

• clean, clean, clean!!!!
• buy light bulbs for basement

Williamsburg - Spring 2011

We had a great trip to Williamsburg last weekend.  We drove down on Thursday night, froze for 4 hours on Friday at Busch Garden, and then spent the rest of the weekend at Wolf Lodge.  We got into Busch Gardens for free with their Salute to the Heroes program so we didn't mind leaving before the day was out.  The kids all got to ride roller coasters so they were happy.  At Wolf Lodge, we stayed in a "Kid's Cabin" room which made me very happy.  The kids had their own room with a twin bed, bunk beds and a TV.  Dan and I had our own area with a fire place.  I loved it. 

I'm skipping the little details and opting for a bunch of pictures instead.  As soon as the for sale sign goes up, I'll have time to blog again, but there's too much work to do now.

It was sooo cold.

Allie danced the polka in the beer garden in Germany.