Maybe a few napkins?
Not so many cups
Free in a cereal box
And it glows!
Let's not forget the kiwi spoon
It sure is fun sorting and cleaning out cupboards for packing.
8.16.2008
Plastic Anyone?
Maybe a few napkins?
Not so many cups
Free in a cereal box
And it glows!
Let's not forget the kiwi spoon
It sure is fun sorting and cleaning out cupboards for packing.
8.15.2008
PhotoStory Friday: Lawn Mower
Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek
I came home yesterday afternoon, only to find a young, new lawn mower at our house. Not only was he there, he was mowing my
Usually our boys mow (occasionally, hubs still does), but they missed out on this one. Although their technique is a little different. They really haven't developed a taste for
This guy? He loves it. And we don't pay him. Although he leaves little tips for us on occasion.
8.14.2008
I'm Packing
I suspected that I may still have been sleeping. Surely this phone call came in a dream, right? Our realtor called to say we are . . .
Then I realized that I was actually awake. And had been for a number few hours. This was the real deal.
Wow! How exciting is that? Of course, there are still a few more things to get past, but God's brought us this far. In fact, He's done some pretty amazing things in regards to this house.
If you haven't been along for the ride, let me back up just a bit, so you can grasp how totally cool this is.
Our utilities became WAY too expensive last winter. And we werefreezing very cold. Since I homeschool the boys, we're at home most of the time. Freezing did not make for a very pleasant learning environment. We already kept the thermostat fairly low and tried to dress warmly, but apparently that wasn't enough. After the annoyingly large bill, we dropped the thermostat to 59-60 degrees. Only when we just couldn't stand it, or company was coming over, did we turn it up. Well, then, and for a short time in the morning so that we could actually warm up enough to get moving out of a sound sleep.
So we made the monumental decision that ought to move before the next winter rolled around. After a couple of conversations here and there, we ended up getting approved to buy a house - January 22nd to be exact.
Since that time, we've looked at house, and looked at houses, and looked at houses. We even made offers on some houses - six, to be specific. We actually looked at the house we currently have under contract 2-3 months ago. But the day we wanted to take a look, it went under contract (with someone else, obviously). We continued with our looking process. The middle of last month, this one came up again. I called our realtor and found out that the previous potential buyers found another place and backed out of the deal. So we went to look.
Other than this house not being in our first choice of area to live (it's our second. And it's just over a mile from my sister and her family), it fit everything else we wanted. The right amount of rooms, size of garage and yard, and a good, works-for-us floor plan. So we made on offer. Number seven. The number of completion, Biblically speaking. On July l6th. Well, this house is owned by a bank, having already gone through the foreclosure procedure. It's been vacant for at least a year. There's some cleaning and minor things to be done, but it definitely has some good things going on, like newer vinyl windows, newer furnace, and a/c. Ceiling fans in the three upstairs bedrooms and in the dining room. Newer pergo in the living room/dining room.
Making an offer to a bank is very different from trying to buy from a private party. First of all, they don't respond within the somewhat standard 24-hour period. More like 3-5 days, business days, that is. So factor in weekends. The week after we offered, they agreed (verbally), but wanted to add a couple of things on an addendum. We decided we could live with those things, so we signed an addendum. And waited.
Then they wanted something else changed. So we did. And then we waited. Then it was one more thing. Because we did this so many time, I'm not sure if that was the last "one more thing" or if there was one more. Regardless, we signed one last addendum last week and decided that this would be the last-ditch effort. This was just getting silly.
Yesterday I got the call from our realtor that we've been waiting and waiting to hear - "You are under contract." Amazing, but true. That's not to say we're home-free (actually, that'd be opposite of what we want to be - we want to be home-ful, or something like that). There are still a couple of hurdles to get over, but with offer #7 and almost seven months later, we've gotten further than the rest. And honestly, this house fits better than the other six.
The other cool thing? We were going to pay to have the furnace serviced, but the way it worked out, the bank paid for it. How sweet is that? God's provision is so awesome. So the furnace was serviced today and it's in great shape. The A/C is good. The water heater needs a valve or else the entire thing needs to be replaced. There's a water softener that needs to be removed (leaking terribly and the water here isn't at all hard). The house also needs a new roof (we already knew that). So if they'll take care of those things, we're good to go.
If this had been a quick and easy answer from the selling party, our closing date was originally slated for tomorrow. But that's okay. God's timing is perfect. Better than what we think might be good. So we'll trust Him to continue to put this together.
In the meantime? I'm packing.
Disclaimer: That's not our house up there. I wish that were the setting, but the house is teeny tiny.
U N D E R
C O N T R A C T!!
Then I realized that I was actually awake. And had been for a Wow! How exciting is that? Of course, there are still a few more things to get past, but God's brought us this far. In fact, He's done some pretty amazing things in regards to this house.
If you haven't been along for the ride, let me back up just a bit, so you can grasp how totally cool this is.
Our utilities became WAY too expensive last winter. And we were
So we made the monumental decision that ought to move before the next winter rolled around. After a couple of conversations here and there, we ended up getting approved to buy a house - January 22nd to be exact.
Since that time, we've looked at house, and looked at houses, and looked at houses. We even made offers on some houses - six, to be specific. We actually looked at the house we currently have under contract 2-3 months ago. But the day we wanted to take a look, it went under contract (with someone else, obviously). We continued with our looking process. The middle of last month, this one came up again. I called our realtor and found out that the previous potential buyers found another place and backed out of the deal. So we went to look.
Other than this house not being in our first choice of area to live (it's our second. And it's just over a mile from my sister and her family), it fit everything else we wanted. The right amount of rooms, size of garage and yard, and a good, works-for-us floor plan. So we made on offer. Number seven. The number of completion, Biblically speaking. On July l6th. Well, this house is owned by a bank, having already gone through the foreclosure procedure. It's been vacant for at least a year. There's some cleaning and minor things to be done, but it definitely has some good things going on, like newer vinyl windows, newer furnace, and a/c. Ceiling fans in the three upstairs bedrooms and in the dining room. Newer pergo in the living room/dining room.
Making an offer to a bank is very different from trying to buy from a private party. First of all, they don't respond within the somewhat standard 24-hour period. More like 3-5 days, business days, that is. So factor in weekends. The week after we offered, they agreed (verbally), but wanted to add a couple of things on an addendum. We decided we could live with those things, so we signed an addendum. And waited.
Then they wanted something else changed. So we did. And then we waited. Then it was one more thing. Because we did this so many time, I'm not sure if that was the last "one more thing" or if there was one more. Regardless, we signed one last addendum last week and decided that this would be the last-ditch effort. This was just getting silly.
Yesterday I got the call from our realtor that we've been waiting and waiting to hear - "You are under contract." Amazing, but true. That's not to say we're home-free (actually, that'd be opposite of what we want to be - we want to be home-ful, or something like that). There are still a couple of hurdles to get over, but with offer #7 and almost seven months later, we've gotten further than the rest. And honestly, this house fits better than the other six.
The other cool thing? We were going to pay to have the furnace serviced, but the way it worked out, the bank paid for it. How sweet is that? God's provision is so awesome. So the furnace was serviced today and it's in great shape. The A/C is good. The water heater needs a valve or else the entire thing needs to be replaced. There's a water softener that needs to be removed (leaking terribly and the water here isn't at all hard). The house also needs a new roof (we already knew that). So if they'll take care of those things, we're good to go.
If this had been a quick and easy answer from the selling party, our closing date was originally slated for tomorrow. But that's okay. God's timing is perfect. Better than what we think might be good. So we'll trust Him to continue to put this together.
In the meantime? I'm packing.
Disclaimer: That's not our house up there. I wish that were the setting, but the house is teeny tiny.
8.11.2008
Homeschool Stuff
I had the opportunity to review The Schoolhouse Planner and it goes above and beyond my expectations of a homeschool planner. Actually, it's more of a comprehensive, organize everything type of planner. You can read my review, plus enter the giveaway for a FREE COPY at the Homeschool Blog Awards. But don't wait too long. The giveaway is only open through tomorrow, Tuesday, August 12th.
You can also find my article, Snippets of Time, in the latest issue of the Heart of the Matter here. It's a quick read that will help you tackle some of those never-get-to-it tasks. As ever, there are some other great homeschool articles in this issue.As for homeschool here in bunnyville, this is my planning week. I had my ideas of what curriculum we'd be using, but the money never came together for some of it. Plus I realized that I'd pretty much been mapping it out on my own . . . without prayer. Big mistake. God already knows what He has planned for our homeschool this year, and I need to get on board with His direction.
I participated in Heart of the Matter's online conference, pulled out a variety of information that I already have to peruse, and have been praying about this year. We'll be starting next week, in conjunction with most of the area schools. Not that we're required to follow their schedule, but the boys have friends who attend various schools, so it's nice for them to be available when their friends are.
I'm looking forward to this year and getting back to some structure in our home. Plus I kind of miss not really learning things. Isn't that funny? I'm ready to go back to school! Ha! Ha!
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