We Have a Sleeping Area

One of our requirements when we bought our house was that we have an area for guests. We love having guests, and want them to feel welcome when they stay here. Our guest area is in our finished basement, which also has it's own 3/4 bathroom. Our basement is a partial basement, though, which means it's about 200 square feet, or as big as a medium sized living room. Small for a basement around here (the first house we put an offer on has a 1,000 square foot basement!), but a nice bonus none-the-less. Since we only had enough furniture for our previous, 1300 square foot house, nothing has been down there except kiddo toys. And, really, the kids love having their toys there, and so do we (our house looks so much cleaner)!

Lately, though, I've been anxious about getting some furniture for the living room and some sort of sleeping piece for the basement. We've been here almost 6 months and I've been fine without them, and now I'm anxious? Go figure.... But thanks to my friend Phyllis, who recently moved to Colorado, I was introduced to the wonders of the daybed. I've known about them for years, and knew that they came with trundles. What I didn't know was that some trundles can expand upwards, putting the two mattresses at the same level. Viola! A king sized (or close to it) bed. When not in use, the trundle can fold back under the bed, making the day bed more like a sofa. Not only do we get a sofa in the basement, but our guests get a mattress. Of course, we still have our aerobed and other camping airbed, so we can accommodate several people at one time.

Currently, this is what our basement looks like (usually without Brandon having a picnic on the bed):

But now when you come, you get this (minus all of us on the bed, and with sheets and blankets, of course). You also get the basement to yourself, which is nice when you want a little privacy, and you get your own bathroom.
Or, we can break the twin beds apart, if you prefer sleeping alone. I have lots of blankets:
However, if you look the other way, you still see this (minus the one-legged Caitlin):
I still haven't managed to get the fully presentable house. I sometimes wonder if that's possible with little kids. Or with kids of any age. (???) But my house is comfy, and you're always welcome. The basement is cool in the summer, too, so it will be the "in" place to stay!

House Pics

Okay, I'm procrastinating. I need to finish packing, but I'm taking a break. I managed to take a few pics of our place, now that it's unpacked and cleaned. I haven't done a lot of decorating, and some of the walls still seem stark to me. The original owners did a nice job with the beige paint in the living room and upstairs landing and hallway. The master bedroom is green. Green green green. I'll be painting over that in spring, when I can open the windows without feeling the arctic chill! It's a shame, too, since it's a good paint job and a nice color. But I like olive, and all my stuff is olive, not green. The rest of the house is white. And stark. I'd like to paint it a creamy yellow to warm it up a little. It's really hard to get that cozy house feeling that I like when the walls are white and the entire downstairs is hardwood.

We even have a basement!Right now it's the kids playroom. That wasn't the original intention, but chilly temperatures, a couple days of snow, and a winter wonderland backyard changed all that! The basement isn't real big (this house is pretty small for this area of Colorado. I think we have a starter home), but it works! We hope to get a bed or sleeper couch down there soon for guests. For now we have a comfy Aerobed and warm blankets and comforters. We love guests, so call us if you're going to be in town. We'll move the kid toys aside, and you get the basement and bathroom all to yourself!

I guess I should go back to packing now. Or at least addressing the few Christmas cards that I haven't sent out yet.

Where Everybody Knows Your House.....

We moved into our new house just about 2 months ago. I think I'm finally finished unpacking. That wasn't too hard, though, as this house is bigger than anywhere we've lived before. But still, those final, finishing touches always take forever, don't they?

When people at our church ask us where we live, we give the city, and the closest cross streets. Occasionally the street name. When we don't give the street name, someone always pipes up that they had a friend that lived on "_____" street. Our street! Our street is not very long, and only has a handful of houses on it. It's a nice street, but really nothing special. Very cookie cutter. But, out of all the streets in all the local towns, why does everyone seem to know our particular street?

Now we know.

As it turns out, the original owners of our house, who owned it for about 10 years, went to our current church. They were in ministry, and so many people also knew them from their ministry (Campus Crusade for Christ? I can't remember). They moved back East 3 years ago, and sold their house to smoker-boy, the owner we bought the house from. A family we talked to on Sunday mentioned how their good friends, who they are still in contact with, lived on our street. When they mentioned the name, I thought (out loud, of course), "wait, they owned our house!". And sure enough, they did. The family had been to the house, and even mentioned the nice tan-colored walls we have in the living room and upstairs. So crazy. But now we know why everyone knows our street. Most likely they all know our house, too. Small world.

Oh, Humidifier!

Today we had our humidifier worked on. We got the manual switch changed to automatic one. No one wants to run down to the basement daily to change the switch based on the outside temperature. Especially here, where it can vary greatly from day to day.

It's a nice concept, the whole-house humidifier. We need to keep the auto fan on for a couple of days to get the humidity levels up. I guess the walls and hardwood will absorb a lot of the initial moisture. After Saturday, when we turn the auto fan off, the humidifier will come on whenever the heater comes on. Heat and moist air. Feels like Washington DC? Not really. I haven't even noticed the humidity levels rising. I keep hoping that it will "automagically" (thanks, Anni!) make my skin moist and clear. Or that it will make my hands soft instead of dry and flaky. And that I will be able to wear my contacts all day without major eye-aches. But no such luck. It has made the house warmer at a lower temperature, though. Of course, the insulation also makes 25 degree days like today bearable!

The fact that we even need a whole-house humidifier is just odd. I remember speaking with my friend Kris's brother-in-law before we moved here. He's a California guy who now lives in Denver. He said that it would be well worth the money to have one. He also told me that he goes through lots of chapstick and lotion, especially in the winter, which I'm finding out that we are doing as well. I haven't had the itchy skin that some friends have told me they had while living here, but I have oily skin normally (except on my dry, cracked hands, of course!). Here I have normal skin. This must be the type of weather that my skin has been preparing for all my life, 'cause it has spent years producing excess oil that I don't need! Both kids have dry patches on their faces which require me to sneak into their rooms before I go to bed and put UnPetroleum Jelly or hydrocortisone cream on their cheeks! The things we do as moms......

So far the auto switch on the humidifier is working. The fan has been blowing moisture in the air. The windows got some condensation, so we turned it down a bit. We'll see how it goes. Sadly, I am looking forward to visiting the humidity in California. A state which never seemed humid until now.

Office Furniture

We bought a desk today. I realized that's not exciting news for most of you (but there are a few of you out there are strange, and you may just be shaking with excitement!). We have to keep Brandon calm these days. If he gets excited or worked up the lovely croup cough comes up. We figured that going to a furniture store was not going to get him worked up in the least bit. We had to get out of the house - the fact that his sister kept playing with his trains was causing Brandon great trauma. Life cannot possibly get worse than that! To keep our sanity, we headed out. To a housebound mom with a sick kid, getting out of the house is very exciting!

Before we moved to Colorado we sold our computer armoire. It was nice and kept everything in one place, but was an absolute behemoth to move! In fact, we were going to sell it to our friends next door, but couldn't get it into their condo! That's how difficult it could be. So, we sold it and kept the money for a new desk. Then we got to our rental. Ha Ha Ha! That house was awful! It was a split level, and for no apparent reason. The kitchen was upstairs! There were 20 steps leading down from the main living area to the backyard, and the deck and stairs shook the whole time you were walking down. The last thing we wanted to do there was bring in more furniture! So we set up a card table and a utility cart, and that was our desk.


It worked fine as long as you were the only one in the room. We hated when the kids were down there, as everything was out in the open. But they loved it. They loved to go down the the room of danger, complete with a huge, nasty fireplace and killer hearth, to check their e-mail ('cause they think they have accounts!).
We've dealt with our shaky card table system, complete with a folding chair, for the last 6 months. Today we spent the cash and got a desk and matching filing cabinet. Looks something like this:

It gets delivered Wednesday. No more card table! I can't wait! Maybe after we are "desked" I'll even decorate the office......

Look! Two Cars!

Finally!!

And look! Shelves in the basement closet!

Garage Work

I got a couple of hours alone in the garage today. Finally, it's looking like a place that we can park two cars! Only one currently fits, but we might make it to two before winter if I can get a couple more hours. I know, I know... the garage is usually the man's domain. But not in our house. Brian did a lot out there, but I'm the one with the organizational skills, so I do most of the arranging and setting up. I'm very proud of myself that I managed to put my gorilla shelves together. It really shouldn't have been a big deal, except that I've never done it before! My dad put them up, with Brandon's help, of course, a few weeks after Caitlin was born. Scott and Brian took them down before we moved in May. So that leaves me with zero experience. It was pretty easy, though, once I had a clue what all holes meant. No screws. Just hammering with the rubber mallet (aka the "behaviour modification device", as my friend Erin calls it). Now I need to do the other set in the basement for storage purposes. It's great to have the room, but does no good if everything's scattered about.

So now the only things left in the garage are china and books. Our kitchen here, though larger in size than in California, isn't big enough house our china. Maybe I can get a china cabinet soon? Brian, are you listening? I'd like to have the china accessible so I can use it. What's the point of having it if you don't use it? I'm still wondering how a kitchen as small as our one at the Offenbach house held so much stuff. It's ridiculous how much we've purged since deciding to move! We have too much stuff, but I still don't understand how we fit everything in that kitchen! It must have been the amazing expandable kitchen! I found a few of my fall decorations in the garage (yay!), as well as a stash of Brandon's outside trucks. It's almost there! Once we get a desk for the office I'll feel like we're done. The card table just isn't cutting it anymore!

Moving Fatigue

I have a serious case of "Moving Fatigue". I'm not sure it's an actual syndrome, but it feels like it. I am tired of trying to find stuff that I know I own, and tired of wasting my time looking for things I probably purged but can't remember if I did. Since we didn't unpack everything at our previous house, I can't remember what I got rid of and what I still own. I kept wanting to go through those boxes for things I missed, but told myself not to. It would just create more work. Plus, as much as I wanted to get them out, I could live without the blender or the cheese slicer for a few months.

I don't have to worry about the kitchen, the kids rooms, or most of my room (there's still a pile, but I'm working on it). The family room is set up, but the living room still has a few boxes in it. We have no furniture for that room, so it's not like the boxes are in the way or anything. Now that we have most of the basics taken care of, I'm in the mood to decorate. I'm not even talking about fun stuff - like painting or creative ideas - I'm just talking about pulling out the fall home decor that I've been pulling out for years. And I can't find anything! I've found the Christmas stuff, and some Halloween stuff (although that was by accident), but not the fall stuff. Where oh where is my stuff? Where is my gorgeous white glass pumpkin? I've searched and searched for a small glass vase that I use to use for fake foliage, but can't find it anywhere. And now I'm tired of looking. I'm fatigued. I need a nap. I'm tired of packing, moving, and unpacking. I didn't use to mind it that much, but the kid factor has changed my mind. I have so little time to myself that stuff gets left. I'll start something, get interrupted, and discover my pile/opened box/half-hung wall shelf at 10:00, when I really should be going to bed. Then I really have no energy to take care of it! If "Moving Fatigue" isn't categorized as a real problem people deal with, it should be!

Raking Leaves

Brian mowed the lawn last weekend. It looked fabulous. He drained the sprinkler system today, since the temperature is 33 degrees. It reached a whopping 54 degrees today. Tomorrow is suppose to be 70. I know I talk about the weather a lot, but it's just so weird. Back to my point - Brian mowed our lawn last week. Our little neighborhood is one of tract houses. Two-story, relatively new, nice tract housing, but tract none-the-less. Our HOA has certain rules and regulations (which I have not taken any time to sit down and read), and the big, general one is "keep it nice".
On Thursday, our tree decided it was time to dump half the leaves! Our lawn was covered! Man, it all looked so nice on Wednesday. We were the total conformist family on the block. Then came Thursday. Now we're the crappy lawn family. Can we remember to get lawn and leaf bags at the store? Of course not! I forgot at Wal-Mart. Brian forgot at Safeway. All within 2 hours. I'll probably forget tomorrow when I'm at the store as well!

I've included a few pics of our lawn for your enjoyment. If you haven't bothered to clean up your front lawn, you can now feel a little bit better about yourselves! Both kids wanted to get in on the action. Brandon is trying to handle the huge rake, and Caitlin thinks she is raking with her little broom!

A Shout Out to Roy and Donna

In my feeble attempt to set up our new home, I need to thank two people. First, I need to thank Roy. I knew Roy way back in the days of 20/20 - the singles group where Brian and I met. Roy was a friend, and also very handy. He helped me to change some light fixtures in the first apartment Brian and I lived in when we got married, and hang stuff on the walls. We talked about life and love, and he told me all about the wonderful woman he was dating. He later married her, and they have a cute little family now. Roy also wanted a new cordless drill, but couldn't justify getting a new drill when his old Makita worked just fine. I mentioned my need of a power drill, and lo and behold, received a used, but well maintained Makita drill as a (surprise) bridal shower gift. I use that drill all the time. It has become part of me (I'm actually getting sick of the sight of it since I see it so often these days). I have been the drilling queen - taking down things in our rental and hanging shelves and curtain rods in the new house like they are going out of style! Without that drill I would not be nearly as far as I am! Nor would I be in good spirits. So, thanks, Roy, for the drill. I think of you whenever I use it.

Secondly, I would like to say thanks to Donna, my mother-in-law. Many moons ago she gave Brian a Black and Decker laser level stud finder for Christmas. You know, the kind where you can not only find the studs in the wall for your heavy items, but line up the holes for your nails or screws, and your shelves go up perfectly? I'm not sure Brian has ever used it, but I have found it to be invaluable. Since receving that gift, I have never had to re-hang anything due to to it being crooked. I wanted to hang up a shelf in the kids bathroom the other day, since they don't have a medicine cabinet. The thought of the Tylenol and toothpaste being within Caitlin's grasp just didn't sit well with me! I knew what box the stud finder was in, and I searched for it for an hour in our box-filled garage just so I wouldn't have to estimate where to put the drywall studs. I hate redoing things! I finally found it, and not only do we have a high shelf in the bathroom, but we also have curtain rods and curtains in all the the bedrooms, and the living room. Yay! I'm hoping that Caitlin will sleep in tomorrow morning, but I know that's just a dream. Rain, shine, snow, wind - Caitlin wakes up at 7:15 on the dot! Anyway, thanks Donna for the stud finder laser level. I couldn't live without it. Okay, I could, but my life would be far more crooked!

We Are Moved

We are officially moved into our new house. I'm sitting here at the table, amidst the chaos that is my house , checking up on stuff on the internet. I have no idea what is really going on in the world. This is what I do know....

My kids need to go to bed

Although we had a late dinner of Old Chicago pizza, we are sitting here eating the Trader Joe's Peanut Butter filled pretzels. We need to lay off the pretzels. After all, they are imported!

Bunnies. No one tells you about all the wild bunnies in Colorado. There are 2 in our yard as we speak. Did you know that bunnies can take a nap in such a way that they look dead? I've gone out a couple of times to remove "dead bunnies" from our back yard, only to have them magically resurrect themselves and hop away. But seriously, the last thing I need Brandon or Caitlin to find in the back yard is a dead bunny. Caitlin brought me a dead bird that she found under the slide a couple of weeks ago, and I had a small conniption.

I know where my bed is. And the kids beds. And my underwear. But not my shoes.

We have lots of ingredients in the cupboards, but not a lot of food.

I have not been this tired since pregnancy and/or the first couple of weeks home with a newborn.

I need a nap, and it's almost bedtime.

Life is better with TiVo. Brandon was revelling at the new "Little Einsteins" episodes that his dad recorded for him the other day.

I am beginning to hate the sight of cardboard.

I may not be posting for a while. I'm still around though, and will be back soon!

So Far....

Our house has been de-odorized.
The ducts have been cleaned.
New carpet has been installed upstairs.
The cleaning service should be finishing up right about now.

Tomorrow......
steam-cleaning of the basement (part of the odor removal service)

Thursday.......
directv installation (yeah! TiVo!)
maybe something else, but I can't remember

Friday....
we move in!

I can't wait! Not only am I excited to be done with our rental house, but I am excited to move into my own house. I am also excited that this "going between two houses all time" lifestyle that we've been living will soon be done. It's exhausting. Even Brandon asked when we could be done going back and forth. Soon, honey. Soon.

On Leaving our Current House

We have given our notice at our rental house. Our official last day is the 31st of October. We'll be out of here before then, though. However, with Brian gone on business trips for 5 weeks in a row it will be nice to have a couple weeks after the move to clean and do the little things without stressing about getting it all done the day after the move!It's a little difficult to get stuff done with the kids around. Women from my MOPS group have offered to watch them while I get set up in the new place and clean the old place. I may have to take them up on that offer. It'll be the only alone time I'll get for a while.

Brian and I were almost giddy about telling our landlords that we are leaving. We don't hate this place. We just have a strong dislike for it. When things were looking slim in the house-hunting world we decided that yes, we could live here through the winter if necessary. Neither one of us was excited about that, though. We've lived in worse places before. It just gets complicated when you throw kids into that mix.

Things I am looking forward to (besides the fact it is our house):
• All of the bedrooms on the same floor.
• A guest room in the finished basement, complete with a 3/4 bathroom.
• A backyard that's level with the main level of the house.
• The fact that I'll be able to see the kids in the backyard while in the kitchen (great for starting dinner).
• A bedroom that fits all our bedroom furniture, not just the bed and one dresser.
• Real closets. I'm tired of using the coat closet for my clothes.
• A bathtub/shower combo for my main showering place.
• A coat closet with a flat floor (ours is slanted due to the stairwell).
• Screens on the windows (only 3 windows in our entire house have screens).
• A kitchen that really holds our stuff.
• New carpet.
• Hardwood floors – especially by the entry ways.
• Storage. Our current rental is ill equipped storage-wise.

Things I will not miss:
• The 6 inch clearance between me and the wall when I get out of bed (or in my case, the sliding glass door) . My right elbow has been bruised since we moved here
• Our teeny tiny bathroom shower. Our box shower is not made for real people. It is made for short, skinny supermodels
• The world’s ugliest fireplace in the “family room” downstairs (which houses our dressers and desk), that takes up a quarter of the room and doesn’t even work!!!! (There's a hole cut into the chimney in the living room (upstairs) to house a TV. Our entertainment center is covering that large hole)
• The screen door on our sliding glass door that doesn’t work. I want one that opens and shuts, instead of falls off and has to be put back in the door frame every time we go outside
• We have 3 screens in our entire house. Each screen has at least one hole. I've covered them with clear packing tape to keep out the yellow jackets. How white trash of me.
• A bathtub with a slow leak. Brandon is always accusing me or Caitlin of letting the water out.
• Windows that are hard to open, and even harder to shut!
• Our kid unfriendly back yard, full of jagged rocks, un-mortered bricks, and loose flagstone. Caitlin’s legs and arms are constantly scrapped up and bruised from falling in our rough yard. She hit the back of her head on a brick the other day and has a big knot and a small bruise underneath her hair.
• The back yard play structure. It's great for Brandon, but Caitlin just hurts herself. She loves the slide, though. It doesn't help that if you fall off the right side, you hit bricks, and then fall down another 3 or 4 feet on to jagged rocks and woody bushes. If you fall off the left side you hit a brick wall. The play structure is less of a problem than where the thing is located!
• Downstairs flooring of rough stone. Seriously – it should be on a patio, outside!
• A dishwasher that is the noisiest one ever made. You can’t run it overnight because it will wake you up! Even if you’re on a different floor! Even if you reset it to go off again in a couple of hours!
• Neighbors that yell at each other, or their dogs, all the time.
• Our large pasty-white neighbor that insists on going shirtless when outside. NOOOOO!!!!
• The neighbor dogs that constantly run to the edge of their own back yards to bark at the dogs at the 4 neighboring back yards at any given moment. This is especially concentrated around 4:30, when we're most likely to be in the back yard. They also like to howl for half an hour after the train whistle blows.
• The train whistle blowing for 10 minutes at 2:00 in the morning. How do I know it's a 2:00 am? Or midnight? Or 5:00 am? Because the stupid thing wakes me up almost every night! Still! After 5 months!

I shouldn't be so harsh. There are a few things I'll miss. Like the big trees outside. The attic fan. The window seats. Our neighbors across the street. The 2 minute commute to Brandon's preschool.

This neighborhood is very blue collar. We're more white collar folks, and honestly just don't have much in common with most of our neighbors. I think our new place will be a better fit. The new town is very family friendly, and has lots of families with young kids (which, incidentally, is one of its selling points!). We'll live walking distance to the community park when most of the events are held. I'll be less than 2 miles from the mall/shopping center where I do most of my shopping. It will also be closer to Boulder, which is better for Brian's commute and for church. I'm happy we are moving. We knew we wanted to buy a place from the first day we moved into the area, and now it's happened. I think that is partly why we have issues with our rental - we knew we wouldn't be here very long. But then again, there's just the issues with the rental place. It would have been nice to be better informed. I still remember how I felt when we first saw the place. Now it will be available for someone else. I hope someone else moves in here soon after we're gone. It wouldn't be so bad if we didn't have kids.

Homeowners Today

After a lengthy, almost 1 1/2 hour closing, we are homeowners. Oddly enough, we are homeowners and landlords at the same time, as the former owners will not be out of the house until Tuesday. It's all fine and good. It's not like we were going to move in this weekend. Heck, we haven't even started packing.

The morning started off well. We got ready at home without fuss or delay from the kids (easier when daddy's home, too), and dropped them off at a friends house around 9:30. The real estate office was a mere mile or so from my friends house, so we got there fairly early. We walked down the hall and found the suite. The office was dark, and the door locked! Hmmm. Not the beginning that I had imagined. We walked to the front of the complex and waiting in the bright, sunny, and completely empty waiting area. Our agent showed up a little before 10:00, and said "Are you ready?" Uh, yeah, but the office is dark and door is locked. She looked very surprised. We waited a few more minutes, and decided to go check again, just in case someone came via a backdoor or something. Nope. Still empty. Still dark. So we waited some more. About 5 minutes later we heard hurried footsteps, which we assumed was the other agent. It was our financier. And still we waited. Five minutes later a man walked down the hall. We weren't waiting for him, but he was able to open up the office. A few minutes later the owner and other agent came in, and five minutes after that the closer came. Amazing! We were going to start around 10:00, but in reality started around 10:15! After sitting in a very tiny conference room with 6 other people for over an hour and a half, signing more papers than anyone really should, and needing to use the fax machine down the hall in another company's office (since the one in the real estate office wasn't working), we are finally homeowners! It's all rather anti-climactic, since the previous owner will still be there. But Tuesday, it's all ours, baby! Then the odor-removal service comes in for a few days (Stink, Inc. - great name, huh?), and then carpet is replaced on the 8th. Somewhere in there we need to fix wires, get a radon mitigation system, fix a window , fix a carbon-monoxide leak, and have the whole place cleaned! We are scheduled to move on the 12th. Brian comes home from a trip, sets up the TiVo, moves, and then leaves again for another trip! Such is the month of October for us.

The whole house thing has been odd. Most houses in the bay area sell for over asking price. Here, not so much. Houses almost always sell for under asking. We had a large choice of houses we could afford, which is a nice change. However, there are a lot of odd houses here. In a previous post I wrote about the plethora of bad houses we saw. Lots of bi-levels and tri-levels. Housing in California tends to be more generic, more tract. There is a crapload of housing here that must have been very architecturally cool in 1975, but not since then. Especially in Louisville! It is continually ranked as one of the best places to raise your family in the US. Good thing Architectural Digest doesn't rank it, or it would be near the end. There are normal houses there, but they're not as prevalent as the ugly ones. The preservation rate of '70's style housing is quite high here!

The closing was odd as well. We didn't have any issues getting a loan, and one with a good rate. Our credit scores are good, so all the stuff I read about how hard it is to get a loan didn't apply. I was stressing out for nothing! Of course, our loan is much less than anything we would have gotten in the bay area, so I can't compare. On the way out from the actual closing our agent told us it was the longest and most disorganized closing she'd ever been to. Everyone was late, and the closer was the last to arrive! It was all legal, and I thought everyone was nice, so it didn't bother me too much. Very very glad we didn't have the kids with us, though. What a mess that would have been!

So now we are homeowners. How odd. I think I might want to have a glass of wine tonight and celebrate. Oh wait.... that requires me to g0 to a liquor store with the kids in tow. Maybe I'll have a glass of iced tea. Woo hoo! We are living the good life now!

Home Owners Tomorrow!

We're closing on our house tomorrow. Happy, but anxious. I got the biggest cashiers check of my life today. I'll miss my savings, but this is what we've been saving for! I'll update more soon.

Recent Stuff

I know, I know, I haven't blogged for a few days! I tend to remember things at times inappropriate to do anything about them (like I think about blogging while driving in the car, or about calling a friend in MN when I'm getting ready for bed). I have caught a cold, and am dealing with that, which makes me not want to do anything. I use to go through my sinus issues/colds in October, which is when the weather gets cold in northern California. I'm doing it a month earlier here. Fall fell in Colorado a few days ago. Last week it was 87. Today averaged 52 degrees. Somewhere in there it hit 59, according to Brian's outdoor thermometer, but I don't think that lasted long. There was hail in Boulder, but just rain here.

• We close on our house in just 3 days. Although I don't think anything will derail this, I still won't say that we own the house until the deal is done. We know the owner is purchasing a new place, so we're very positive about this. He even gave us his lawnmower, since he's downsizing and won't need it in his new place. Sweet! Thank you!


• I have started MOPS and a women's Bible Study group. So far so good. I hate the drive to Boulder in slow morning traffic, but that's the only downside. It will be better from the new place.


• We bought Brandon a story book Bible the other day. He just loves it, and wants to read many many stories each night. Both Brian and I are tired at the end of the day, and don't want to read endless stories, but we don't want to suppress his thirst for Bible stories! I bought the Bible to expand on the stories he learns at church and school, so I need to follow through.


• I got Caitlin a little storybook Bible at the thrift store the other day. It's in great condition, and was a dollar! Brandon won't share his, and it's driving her nuts. I'm getting tired of the fighting and complaining!


• Still raining here. I turned on the heater earlier, and put the down comforter on the bed today. As I type, the thermometer says its 46 degrees outside.


• I've discovered that both kids love whole milk maple yogurt mixed with milk and put into a sippy cup with a straw. Brandon is a big fan of the Danimals drinkable yogurt, but one of the first ingredients is corn syrup. Bleah! Haven't bought it for a while. This isn't easier, but it's so much healthier!


• Brian just ordered his first pair of shoes online. Yeah, Brian!


• Our move date is October 12th. As of right now, we haven't packed one single solitary item.


• Brian will be out of town the week of our move. He comes home the evening of the 10th. He goes to the new house and sets up the TiVo (we got a new HD ready one), and the internet connection. We move the 12th. He leaves again the 13th. If you don't hear much from me that week you'll know why.


• Caitlin's new word today - Rain. The torrential downpour caused her to look outside and proclaim the weather. Her word last week - Blue. Short for blueberry. Usually used when she wants more blueberries, but has eaten enough for 10 children

That's about it for now. I'm tired, and off to bed.

Updates

There has not been much going on at the P-4 household in the last few days. I've had a terrible headache, caused by sinuses. So.Much.Fun. When I move my head to the left or right the world takes a little while to catch up! The pain is very similar to migraine pain, but I don't have the migraine nausea. The light sensitivity is enough to kill me sometimes. My house looks like a cave today, with all the curtains drawn! I'm so tired of not feeling well, and not being myself. I've been off since we moved - which means it's been over 4 months of being completely out of sync!

The house stuff is moving along well. We submitted our report on what needs to be fixed, based on the house inspectors recommendations, and the owner signed off on it without countering. Very nice. Of course, we were careful about what needed to be fixed, and only pointed out the major issues. We were told that no house is perfect, and we know that. However, we do have to do a lot of work on our end to make the house inhabitable, which ultimately ends up being money out of our pocket up front. We weren't willing to compromise more than a little bit on these repairs. It's a load off my mind that we can move forward. We will just be credited the costs, so more work on our part, but at least we'll have the cash to cover it! The owner will be renting back the place for a few days, but we'll be able to start the work that needs to be done during the first week of October. I can't believe we close in two weeks. Crazy!

Brandon is enjoying preschool. He tells me every day how much he likes his preschool, which really makes me happy. He just adores his teachers, and has become friends with a little boy named Eli. We are going to Chuck-E-Cheese on Sunday for Brandon's 4th birthday, and Eli and his family are joining us. I really thought we'd know more kids after being here for 4 months, but we don't. Moving in May got us here just in time to miss out on all the school-year routines that seem to abound everywhere. Everything was winding down. I'm glad things are getting back in line, and that Brandon has made a friend.

Caitlin is growing up in leaps and bounds! She regularly says 2-word sentences, like "Bye bye Daddy", and does a few 3-word sentences as well. She has learned to say school, and gets very excited when we go to Brandon's school. It was cold and rainy at the beginning of week (went from 60 to 88, and we're back in the 60's again! 85 tomorrow.....), so Brandon's class was playing in the gym instead of the play yard when we arrived to pick him up. Caitlin got so offended that we weren't going to the play yard! It was annoying and funny all at the same time. But he wasn't there, so what was I suppose to do? She's still a major klutz, but is getting a little better. Once we're moved I think I'll look into some sort of gym class for her. I know she's only 19 1/2 months, but she's so much klutzier than her peers!

That's all from the P-4 household for today. Hopefully I'll be more inspired next week to write more!

More House Stuff

This post is for all of you who have asked me how house stuff is going. So far, so good. The inspection came back favorable, but with a few things that need to be fixed. We have sent in our proposal for those things, which include installing a radon mitigation system, fixing a carbon monoxide leak in the fireplace, and having a roofer fix a few small things in the roof (that could turn into big things if not fixed. We are really hoping that the owner agrees to these things, since the radon issue is a deal breaker. Radon is an issue here in general, not just isolated to our house, so radon mitigation systems are common. We are asking God for guidance should the owner not agree, and are also praying that this is where He wants us to be. Please pray that we will not be anxious. I am! Thanks!

Off to MOPS.....

We Did It

We bought a house last week. Our first house. Wow. Our offer was accepted, and that's where we are currently. I don't even know what to blog about it. Click here to see the pictures (with the current owner's stuff, of course). It's a traditional 2-story house, which is not all that easy to find around here. Some bad architects were let loose in the 70's and 80's, went nuts and built far too many bi, tri and 4 level houses around here. So not interested in those! The house has a living room, a family room, a kitchen/eating area, 4 upstairs bedrooms, a small basement with it's own nice bathroom, and an attached two car garage. For now the basement will be used as a guest suite. If nothing else, it's private! We've looked at a lot of houses, and I am housed-out! Some were small, some were huge. This one, even though it's in a "starter home" neighborhood, seems right. It's a good size for us, in a good location, and the town has lots of families with young children. It's about 7 miles from our current place, and will be closer to Brian's work.

It's been a pretty overwhelming week to say the least. We had to get over a few hurdles before everything was said and done. The owner of the house is a smoker. Bleah! Who wants that? We originally looked at this house in July, and had dismissed because of the smell. I'm pretty sensitive to smells anyway, and get headaches easily. After seeing it again and deciding we liked the house, we had an odor removal company do an inspection to see if the smoke odor was removable. The owner has only lived there a few years, so we were hoping things could be changed. The upside - the company is confident that all odor can be removed. The downside - it's going to cost a lot. The house is over 2,000 square feet, so it will take them 4 days to do all that needs to be done! They'll clean all surfaces, rugs, air ducts, ozonate the place, etc. We wanted to be in charge of that part of the deal, so we factored the cost of the service out of the price of the house. We didn't want smoker-boy house owner to get some cheap service on his own dime that would only do a so-so job. At first smoker-boy wasn't willing to come down to our offer. But, hello, you're the one who wrecked the house in the first place! Voluntarily! On your own! Yes, I understand that smoking is an addiction, but it's still gross and disgusting. Our agent talked to his agent, and we were able to meet closer to the middle, and got it for a fair price. Right now we're in the process of getting all our paperwork together for the mortgage lending company. That's a lot of work, too. I was sick last week, and am still not fully recovered. All I really want to do is sleep. At a hotel. Away from my children. Mostly the little girl that I now referring to as Velcro, since she is clingy and only wants all mommy, all the time.

Anyway, that's really about it from the P-4 household. Our offer was accepted on Friday, and that's where we are. Tuesday we give all the info the the mortgage lender, and on Wednesday (I think) we have the inspection. Closing is sometime at the end of the month. We really have nothing to worry about, but I'm still in anxious mode. Our credit scores are very high, and the house is in good shape. Other than the smoking, smoker-boy took good care of everything. We'll have it cleaned, and most likely recarpet the upstairs. The downstairs is all hardwood floors. We're debating on carpeting the family room, since we're always rolling around on the floor with the kids. 1,000 square feet of hardwood can be pretty hard on the knees. At some point we'll need to get some furniture for the front room, but that can wait. We'll need a desk for the office first! I'm not looking forward to the move, but nothing can be as bad as packing it all up to move here! Plus, I'm looking forward to getting out of our weird rental house. I'll miss the big trees and the green golf course down the street, but I really won't miss this house, or the fact that the kitchen is on the second floor! I hate grocery shopping these days. Lugging it all upstairs will soon become a thing of the past! And I, for one, am looking forward to it!