Friday, February 27, 2009
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Things are calming down
Well, we've decided to stay put in our house and add on to the back. This addition will be a little over 900 square feet. It will be two bedrooms and a giant family room (part of which will eventually become a new bathroom), and a large storage closet. It will connect to the rest of the house through the dining room (which is currently a sliding glass door). We are very excited to have more space and especially that Kara will have a room to call her own. It is very nice to not have to worry about selling our house in this economy. Luckily, because of the economy, construction workers are hungry for work and material costs are down. We meet with our architect on Friday to draw up the final plans.
In other news, Kara is almost 6 months old and is now sitting up on her own to play with toys. She also likes to suck on her toes and lick her feet- it is very funny to see. She is so happy and generally content. It is so nice! She has such beautiful, large eyes- I love it.
Lindsey is potty training and doing VERY well. She even stays dry during naps and nighttime.
I will post pictures and more later- once I get things unpacked...
In other news, Kara is almost 6 months old and is now sitting up on her own to play with toys. She also likes to suck on her toes and lick her feet- it is very funny to see. She is so happy and generally content. It is so nice! She has such beautiful, large eyes- I love it.
Lindsey is potty training and doing VERY well. She even stays dry during naps and nighttime.
I will post pictures and more later- once I get things unpacked...
Saturday, February 14, 2009
House Hunting Drama
Boy, the past few weeks have been exhausting!! I have painted every room in our house except for the living room and one bathroom. We painted all of our baseboards white, all of the doors white, and now we're just touching up trim around the house. We boxed up about twenty boxes of stuff and put some furniture in the garage. We even had our master bathroom completely remodeled (new shower, floor, lighting, cabinet, and fixtures). All of this was on a crazy schedule to get our house ready to sell by next weekend. We were very interested in a house in our ward, saw it four different times, and just about put an offer down on it. BUT- we didn't. Larry and I didn't both feel good about it, so, as of yesterday, all of our efforts came to a screeching halt. At the same time that we were house hunting, we also had a couple bids to see about adding on to our house. On Monday, we are looking at some architectural plans. We both feel like maybe that is what will be best for our family. There just wasn't a house out there that met our needs.
I am feeling a little sad about it all. I was excited to move and have a change, but I think it's more important that Larry and I are unified in our decision and both feel good about it. I AM getting excited about designing a space that will help us function better in the house and neighborhood that we love, though. We are planning on adding about 900 square feet off of the back of our house, with a giant family room, 2 large bedrooms, and eventually, an additional bathroom. Our yard will still be big enough and the price seems right.
So, now I've got some boxes to unpack! At least the craziness of painting several hours each night will be relaxed and we can enjoy the fruits of our labors. Oh, and we don't have to try to sell our home in this crazy economy...
I am feeling a little sad about it all. I was excited to move and have a change, but I think it's more important that Larry and I are unified in our decision and both feel good about it. I AM getting excited about designing a space that will help us function better in the house and neighborhood that we love, though. We are planning on adding about 900 square feet off of the back of our house, with a giant family room, 2 large bedrooms, and eventually, an additional bathroom. Our yard will still be big enough and the price seems right.
So, now I've got some boxes to unpack! At least the craziness of painting several hours each night will be relaxed and we can enjoy the fruits of our labors. Oh, and we don't have to try to sell our home in this crazy economy...
Sunday, January 25, 2009
House Hunting and more...
These past few weeks have been really interesting around our house. Basically, Larry and I finally decided that now is the time to really get ready to sell our house and upgrade to a bigger house with more space for our family. We've been thinking about doing it for the past year or more, but it finally feels right. We have already looked at two homes of people that are planning on selling in the near future. They both let us have a walk-through- and both are what we are looking for and in our price range. Maybe Larry and I are just easy to please- It is exciting to think about a home where our children will grow up, become teenagers, and then leave the nest for college and missions. (After that, I want to move into the country).
We've already begun fixing up our house to sell with painting and hiring a contractor to remodel our master bath. I think this is also the only time that I've been excited to deep clean. Of course, I get to sort through everything we own too (which I love to do- I LOVE throwing things away). Larry and I also moved some things around last week to make our living possible for the next few months- we set up Kara's crib in our office and moved the bookshelf and other things that were in that space to other locations. We put the boys bunkbeds back together and moved them to the other side of the room and put the bookcase in there for the boys to store their toys. I was AMAZED at how hard it was to find different places to store the items that got displaced! We really DO need more room. I also cut down my college textbooks to just three. And I think I own less than a dozen novels and church books now. I think it's really freeing to get rid of stuff.
We've already begun fixing up our house to sell with painting and hiring a contractor to remodel our master bath. I think this is also the only time that I've been excited to deep clean. Of course, I get to sort through everything we own too (which I love to do- I LOVE throwing things away). Larry and I also moved some things around last week to make our living possible for the next few months- we set up Kara's crib in our office and moved the bookshelf and other things that were in that space to other locations. We put the boys bunkbeds back together and moved them to the other side of the room and put the bookcase in there for the boys to store their toys. I was AMAZED at how hard it was to find different places to store the items that got displaced! We really DO need more room. I also cut down my college textbooks to just three. And I think I own less than a dozen novels and church books now. I think it's really freeing to get rid of stuff.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Randomness
There has been a lot going on lately, so I thought I'd just share a few tidbits:
1. Larry and I got all motivated to paint our room after getting a new bedspread. After getting all the painting done- it appears that the paint color should have been called "Fry Sauce". It is a weird peachy-brown color. I guess we'll be painting again soon.
2. We had a contractor come out to see about fixing our bathroom and adding on to our house. I think we will fix the bathroom, but the add on probably won't make much sense. We're hoping to find a 5 bedroom home maybe this summer. We may even move just across the street- our neighbor took us on a walk-through of their house and they say they want a family with children to live there. I'm not sure they're ready to move, though...
3. Derek informed me that the kids and his teacher at school call him "the scientist".
4. Larry's work is getting VERY busy right now.
5. Miranda is all excited to start a 6 week basketball club with her friend next week.
6. I am back to the gym now that Kara is old enough to go to the childcare there. Yay!
7. We have been listening to books on tape with the kids at night. We recently heard, 'How to Eat Fried Worms', 'Frog and Toad', and we're now on 'Mr. Popper's Penguins'.
8. My mom and sister just recently came for a visit. We did lots of shopping, facials, and a trip to the Shanghai tunnels under Portland.
9. Spencer was in a Christmas program at his preschool. He did all the songs and actions just right. It was so cute.
10. Derek got a "real" camera after we returned his junky Clone War's one he got for his birthday. He likes to take pictures of everybody in our family.
11. Due to the snow storm, our recycling cart FINALLY got emptied this week! Four weeks of recycling materials accumulating around our house= one disgruntled mother!
12. Lindsey likes to eat raw carrots now. She begs me to open the frig so she can get the baby carrots out. The only other fruits of vegetables she likes are cooked potatoe chunks and cucumbers.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Snow Days
Our Christmas break started a little early this year with the biggest snow storm in Oregon in 40 years! We didn't have normal church for two weeks, and the kids missed a week of school. It kept us trapped at home most of the time, then we eventually ventured out with chains on the van tires. Don't worry- we still got to do all of the holiday stuff! Luckily, we were pretty much done with shopping and gift giving to neighbors and friends.
I just had to include this picture of our little darling! She has really been smiling at us a lot recently. It is so fun to see her more engaged with the other kids. She does laugh every once-in-a-while, but it is a rarity.
Here is Larry helping the kids to build a snowman on one of the first days of the storm. Unfortunatly, Miranda and Derek had outgrown most of their snowgear, so only Spencer was really able to stay out long. Lindsey stayed out for a long time even though she was practically frozen. The Snowman eventually looked like Gaba the Hut.
Derek thought it was hilarious to pick up the sheets of ice laying on top of the snow after a night of freezing rain, and throw them to see them shatter.
I found Spencer munching and licking this large sheet of ice. Lindsey also enjoyed eating the snow. Since we don't have a sled, Larry made one out of our cement mixing box (a large, plastic rectangle box) with a hole drilled in it with a cord tied to it. He pulled the kids up and down the street in it. It is so weird that they don't have enough plows, so they don't bother to do the residential roads- so they ended up having huge trenches. It took about 2 days of above-freezing temperatures to finally melt all the slush and ice away. Now we're just back to our lovely Oregon rain.
I just had to include this picture of our little darling! She has really been smiling at us a lot recently. It is so fun to see her more engaged with the other kids. She does laugh every once-in-a-while, but it is a rarity.
Here is Larry helping the kids to build a snowman on one of the first days of the storm. Unfortunatly, Miranda and Derek had outgrown most of their snowgear, so only Spencer was really able to stay out long. Lindsey stayed out for a long time even though she was practically frozen. The Snowman eventually looked like Gaba the Hut.
Derek thought it was hilarious to pick up the sheets of ice laying on top of the snow after a night of freezing rain, and throw them to see them shatter.
I found Spencer munching and licking this large sheet of ice. Lindsey also enjoyed eating the snow. Since we don't have a sled, Larry made one out of our cement mixing box (a large, plastic rectangle box) with a hole drilled in it with a cord tied to it. He pulled the kids up and down the street in it. It is so weird that they don't have enough plows, so they don't bother to do the residential roads- so they ended up having huge trenches. It took about 2 days of above-freezing temperatures to finally melt all the slush and ice away. Now we're just back to our lovely Oregon rain.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)