The house recap

As I mentioned in my Old Married Couple post, a house popped up on the market that we had to see. This house is one we eye-balled a few years back and talked about the perfect location, etc. It's in our development and seemed to have everything from the outside we were looking for. The for sale sign went up so of course we made an appointment to go see it.

It was for sale by owner so they requested no Realtors come with us. It was the first time I had been to look at a house without a realtor and we felt very odd not having her there. But, we went anyway. The house was great. Had everything we were looking for. Larger yard, 3 car front load garage, deck, patio, fence, sprinkler system, larger bedrooms, finished basement, theater room. Everything on our hit list. And- since we hang out with our neighbors all the time- we wouldn't have to move too far from them. The cons? The kitchen was just basic. In my "dream home" it would have been larger, with dark cabinetry and double oven (for all my cooking that I "think" I do). Could I live there happily? Absolutely. The other con? The price tag. They had it listed $35K more than the most expensive house that sold over the last year and a half. And, it's not even the biggest floor plan in the development. I certainly do not want to be the most expensive house... Well- I pointed out to the seller how much of a difference the price was compared to the market and recent sales. He sent me an email yesterday telling me they did their research and dropped the price $15K. Still too high. So- we sent them an email after speaking to three realtor friends and basically said we wouldn't be able to offer anything near what they were asking.

In reality, the interest rates are low, but we would still take a hit on our own house selling and at least in three years, we would have more of a down payment to work with and could get my house with my dream kitchen. Now, if they want to come back to us about $50K cheaper, we could have a deal. Until then, I will happily stay put...and maybe redo our living room.

Rainy Day Parade

I love my neighborhood. The kids are all the same age and play so nicely together. On Sunday, it rained and they all thought it was hilarious to play with umbrellas. I thought so too...

My baby grew up...no more crib. :(

Well, it was inevitable. My last baby decided she was a big girl and no more cribs. I wish I would have known she would have been done with it when she was, I didnt even take a picture of her in it for the last time. As mentioned before, Quinlin would not sleep in her bed, so we finally bit the bullet this past weekend and got her the new big girl bed. We were slightly nervous that we would buy it and she wouldn't sleep in it, but it worked out perfectly. She loved it!

We set up her room, which is tiny and not perfect, but at least the bed is in place. I haven't figured out how to arrange it yet to maximize the space, but the full size bed takes up so much of the room. I may need to switch around the dresser or something and see what we can do. But- for now, it's there and she loves it.

 

Such a big girl... ((tear))

Father's Day Recap

Father's Day started on Friday for us. Sean went to do the school drop off with us and had Doughnuts with Dad in Owen's classroom. We walked in and were greeted by drawings of what the kids thought their daddies looked like.

Owen's is so funny compared to the other drawings... I love it.

Quinlin gave Sean this little tie...

And Owen made Sean this shirt, which he proudly wore to the store.... in public.

 And Owen gave this little card...

And even spelled his own name.



Also, so I dont forget, I gave him a bocce set to play with the neighbors. We went to one of Sean's favorite stores

The kids had a blast looking for fishing stuff. We left there and mattress shopped as we couldn't let the old married couple continue to sleep in the same bed. We found one after a few stops that I loved and we were able to get them to come down in price as well. Since Sean used to be in the business of mattresses, there is no getting anything past him!So- the rest of father's day consisted of getting Q's new bed together and room set up.

The Old Married Couple

I think we may have created a monster... or we are in process of creating one. Last Saturday, Quinlin did not want to nap for some reason. So- I asked her if she wanted to sleep in Owen's bed. She did and gladly went to sleep. Owen got up, went to nap in her crib for all of 5 minutes and then laid down with Sean. Well, Quinlin happily slept for about 2 hours and came out of her room upon waking up. We didn't think anything of it really.

We went out that night for a group night out (Bar Louie and the new Casino) and came home and our babysitter Danielle told us that Quinlin wanted to sleep with Owen and ended up falling asleep in his bed. Ok. No problem. We came upstairs and I moved a sleeping Quinlin to her crib. Well, the next night, Sunday, Quinlin cried and cried until we let her lay with Owen. And ever since, when we say bedtime, she runs into his room. Owen is so sweet and offers for her to sleep with him, doesn't seem to mind at all and it actually is really cute to hear the giggles down the hall in the evening.

Sean and I go to bed and ask each other "did you check on the old married couple?" or "what is the old married couple doing down there?". We have gotten used to it a bit. And of course, desperately need to buy her a big girl bed of her very own.

Now the problem.... we are staying put in our house a few more years, but a home has popped up on the market that we have always eyed...so? what to do? wait it out in case we have to put our house on the market? Her room with a full size bed is very small, it obviously looks bigger with her crib in there...Decisions, decisions. My hope is whoever were to buy my house would look as the 4th bedroom as a smaller room anyway to use down the road, so maybe since we have the other good size bedrooms it isn't a big deal. I guess we'll know this weekend and decide whether or not to just buy the bed and assume to adjust the room to look as big as possible.

In the meantime, I hope when she does finally get her big bed that she'll actually use it. I know she has enjoyed this time with her brother and he has as well.

Wordless- Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

I'll try not to spend it all in one place. 

Thank you Pinterest- Teacher Gifts

I searched all over pinterest this year for a gift I could give Owen's pre-school teachers for the end of the year. I tend to get the teachers a gift card of sorts once Quinlin graduates their classrooms, as it is too expensive to do both for all of the teachers between the two of them (about 8 total). So, when Owen started graduating classrooms, I didn't do much and when Quinlin would graduate, I would include a card thanking them for their love of both Owen and Quinlin.

This was the first end of a school year though, as Owen has graduated from 3's pre-school. He will stay with one teacher through the summer (regular daycare) and his main teacher will work in the office on lesson plans for the following school year. So I wanted to do a little something to show my appreciation. In my search, I found an easy thank you gift that I hope they will love.

Thank you to 2 silly monkeys blog for the idea and printables!

I purchased two mason jars, 3 bags of peanut m&m's and ribbon. And the jars were on sale for $1. Score!

 The ribbon- that looks like m&m's

The notes to attach. I love what it said: Green is for the inspiration you give each day. Blue is for the patience in showing kids the way. Orange is for your warmth and caring style. Yellow is for the way you make everybody smile. Red is for all the lives you've touched this year.

I filled the jars, and realized 3 bags weren't enough. :(

 So I found more m&m's and completed the filling process. Then I just added the ribbon and voila- they are done!

I just love how they turned out. I included Owen's last name on the cards since there were two Owen's in his class, otherwise, I would have taken a better picture of the finished project.

Yay pinterest!

Wordless Wednesday- twinkle toes

We will never be able to pass one of these again... I think he's hooked and will beg us each time we are at the mall...

And the video to see "twinkle toes" in action

And my three loves

Just feeding the fishing habit...

Sean has always dreamed of owning a boat. As in, every day would search the craigslist ads for boats for sale, go to local boating dealerships and look at them.... obsessed. We had decided we would get one, but didn't really have the space so decided to put it on hold for a while. Well, a few weeks passed and Sean spotted a boat for sale about 2 hours away that fit the space requirements that he needed and had all the features he was looking for. So- he drove one Sunday morning to take a look at it and fell in love. It was the perfect size to fit in our garage, came with a trailer and lots of extra features and was big enough if our entire family wanted to go out fishing one day. So- he put a deposit down and went back a week later with cash in hand ready to pick up our new vehicle.

He brought it home and the kids were so excited to see it and climb all over it!

Secretly, I may be a little excited too...