Busy Day and We Aren't Done Yet

Today has been a good, productive day.  I started by getting Caden and Jaelyn to school with a tub filled with plants I dug up out of our yard.  I took Allie to her follow-up ENT appointment next.  I'm kind of on the fence about that.  Her sleep study showed elevated levels of CO2 about 20% of the time, but the pulminologist correlated that to her restless sleep.  Dr. S is going to follow-up with our pediatrician and the pulminologist to make sure we don't need to follow-up with any other specialist.  There are no specialists where we are going in Missouri so that could cause orders issues.

I was so excited to see Jaelyn's class out working on their garden when I dropped Allie off so I borrowed a pair of gloves and jumped right in with the planting.  That was fun.  I took all perennials so in years to come, Mrs. D can see our black eyed susans, lilies and shasta daisies and think of Jaelyn.

I made it to the outbound counseling session and filled out all the paperwork to schedule the movers.  That was a feat in itself.  I'm spare the details, let's just say I'm not impressed with the office staff.  While I was at the base I wandered into the exchange and found a really cute bathing suit.  The first one I tried on fit.  Amazing.  I'm ready for the beach and Big Kahuna's in Florida!

Next, I picked up the pottery we painted on Saturday and made it home in time to get the kids off the bus.  We've done homework, read our books and Jaelyn is currently directing "music class."  I have a "concert" videoed that I'll post soon.

Next up is dinner and then Girl Scouts at the Estuary Center.  There's an elusive geocache on a hiking trail that Caden and I are going to hunt for while we wait out the meeting.  I'm sure I'm going to crash just as soon as I get the kids to bed, an hour later than normal!

Our New Playground

Our school playgrounds have been closed since before Christmas.  They started tearing them down in March and opened the new playgrounds today.  Amazing is the only word I can think of to describe them.  The kids convinced me to take them to play after dinner.  We had so much fun checking all the new stuff out.

No Belts No More

The kids had their first Tae Kwon Do testing on Saturday.  They were worried about being able to recite their student creed, but thankfully, they didn't have to recite it individually.  By saying it with the group, they were all able to say it.  The most exciting thing was that Jaelyn and Allie got to break their first boards.  That was a hoot.  Allie brought hers home and wrote "The great Allie broke me" on her board.  Silly girl.  They received their white belts and certificates today in class.  I'm sad that we are just barely getting started and we have to leave.  Their instructor, Matthew, is such a great encouraging teacher.  We close on our house and drive out of Maryland one month from today.  I hope we can find a great place in MO to take lessons so the kids can continue.

I love that Jaelyn smiles through every move.  She'll never scare anyone.

Caden is serious about his moves.

And you know Allie...she's just out to have fun, no matter what.

Her Newest Challenge

Jaelyn is such a logical, spacial thinker.  She started putting together puzzles when she was 3.  She was beating me at Sequence at 5.  She sometimes struggles in math with basic facts, but give her a probability question and she can tell you the answer immediately.  She started playing Sudoku on my phone yesterday.  I played with her for just a few minutes, explaining the logic behind each number as I went and then she was on her own.  She completed a medium puzzle with minimal help from me and was able to explain why each number went where. I'm impressed!

The Clowns' New Costumes

We were bored this afternoon.  Can you tell?  The kids got new clown outfits.  I especially love Caden's new mustache and Jaelyn's "Fascinator Hat."  Yes, we finally got swept away in all things royal.  I also like Allie's Pinky Dinky Do make over. 

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