And So We Begin Again

 So, we cancelled our offer on the house we planned to purchase.  When we did the home inspection, there was water dripping from the living room ceiling onto the carpet.  To make a long story short, the listing was notified of the problem, assured us it would be fixed, then had someone go and paint over the water stain.  We completely lost confidence in everyone we were dealing with on that end and decided it was unwise for us to continue in that purchase.  If they were willing to paint over a water stain and claim that they fixed the problem, we were very worried that there were other problems lurking and were simply painted or carpeted over.  So, our Realtor submitted the cancellation this afternoon and we made an offer on a different house!  Our offer was accepted tonight so escrow starts Friday.  We are in a 25-day escrow, so hopefully we can move out of our home without having to rent back from our new buyer for too long.  We are SO thankful that the Lord made it abundantly clear that the other house was not a wise choice and that He kept this other house on the market in the meantime.

Front of the house...I'm such a great photographer, cutting off the top

Entry

Living Room looking into Family Room

Kate testing out the Family Room

Kitchen

Kitchen with door leading to Laundry Room

Kids' Bathroom

Upstairs Linen Closet

Master Bedroom with Balcony

Master Bathroom

Master Closet

Master Closet

Balcony off Master Bedroom

Upstairs Hallway

Side Yard

Backyard/Patio

Cute Munchkins

Kate can barely wait to get into the bathtub lately. As soon as I start the bath water, she desparately tries to hurl herself head-first into the water. Clearly she has no plan beyond just getting in the water. She's also newly fascinated by her belly button...which you'll see below.

Saturday Afternoon

Everybody's excited to have Dad home today. After a few hours of homework, he worked with Grant on the computer...and of course Kate wanted to be in her favorite spot on his lap. One last (semi)-relaxing Saturday before we have to start the real packing.

A Few Qutoes

I was cleaning out the cupboards last night and found a chocolate cake mix, so of course I had to make cupcakes so we wouldn't have to pack that pesky cake mix box...

Grant: I love chocolate cupcakes! Want to make cookies after this?

Me: Cookies? What kind of cookies do you want?

Grant: Sugar...and chocolate. And more cupcakes. We could make it into a factory!

Grant: Mom, what's seaweed?

Me: It's a plant that grows in the ocean.

Grant: Kate-Kate...seaweed is a plant. It grows in the ocean!

(He is constantly trying to teach Kate about whatever he can think of.)

"This is my police car...this guy's going in the clinker!"

"Mom, remember a long time ago in a galaxy far away...I went to the office with you and I was such a good boy?"

New House

Here are some pictures of the house we're purchasing. I'm so excited to have a backyard so the kids can play. We're praying that everything goes smoothly and we can move within the next month.

Miss Kate

Kate has started pulling herself up on furniture and even a little bit of crusing. If you hold her hands, she'll try to take a few steps, but they're still very Frankenstein-esque. She's at such a fun stage!

We've also learned that she is LOUD. She squeals almost in a scream when she's really happy and she is not shy about letting you know when she's NOT happy. It's a little tricky in public--you have to keep her happy but not TOO happy (unless we provide everyone else with earplugs). But overall she is such a sweet, even tempered, lovable little girl. We are so blessed.

Our Little Snuggle Bunnies

We officially have 2 little ones who love to snuggle. Nate was trying to get his homework reading done the other night, and Kate was distraught. We couldn't quite figure out what she needed and then Nate put her on the couch with him. She immediately snuggled up next to him and was happy as a clam (at least I think clams are happy).

Later, after the kids were in bed Grant made is way back downstairs for a little more Mommy time. He wanted me to scratch his back and sing to him...and he fell asleep almost immediately. I'm so happy we have little snugglers!

My Little Karate Kid

Look who earned his karate uniform last night! He was so happy. One of the highlights of my week is watching him in karate class. We're so thankful that he's loving it!