Easter and 4th Buyer

While my Mom had my kids for a couple days during Spring Break Chelsea created quite the mess. She kept my Mom on her toes. My Mom texted me these pictures. I loved Chelsea's face in the first picture. 

She dumped dry noodles all over the floor.

She threw a plate on the kitchen floor and it shattered. I believe this happened while the missionaries were there for dinner. Never a dull moment with Chelsea around! Recently, when the sister missionaries were over  for dinner at our house, Chelsea pulled over my favorite real plant in the kitchen and 2 huge branches broke off. I was super duper sad! 

Preston has been on a roll with losing teeth lately so he bought this playdoh set from the dollar store with his $1 he got. He made snails and had his own snail race like on the movie Turbo. So cute.

We tried out the new park near the house we have an offer on. It's called Cougar Park and has a big zip line. So fun! I got Preston dark framed glasses when we had to update his lens prescription. I was hoping they weren't too big for his face, but we like them a lot better.  

While we were at this park (on April 12th- Happy Birthday to my Dad!) we got a call from Stacey, our Realtor. She said we got a cash offer!!!!!! We couldn't believe it! The offer was a lot lower than our asking price, but higher than they originally offered to Stacey. She told them no way and then they came back with this offer which was better than the first one, but still lower than asking. We countered back mid way and waited to see what they would say. Well, fast forward 2 long days of waiting (I thought they didn't want it anymore because they didn't respond back before the deadline! I was stressed about it.) but they said they wouldn't go any higher. They wanted an inspection still and could close soon. Well, there was some back and forth stuff over the course of the week. I thought the deal was long gone a couple times because the buyer's Realtor was a new guy and didn't know what he was doing. It was annoying. I didn't know if I should pack or what! It was crazy. We had gone forward with the inspection of the HUD house we had an offer on knowing that we might lose that money for the inspection if we didn't get a buyer for our house, but it was a risk we were willing to take. We split up the inspection into 2 parts. Kyle did half of the inspection while I was at my parent's house with the kids over Spring Break. Then we did the other half of the inspection a few weeks later once we were under contract with this new buyer (our 4th buyer!). This buyer had her son come look at the house and he was all for it so he lent her the money she needed so she could do all cash (she was trying to figure out how to get a little loan through a bank so that's why it was taking so long to hear back from them, and here I thought they were backing out!). Well, we signed mutual acceptance on April 21st and closed on April 30th. Only 10 days later!!!! It was insanely fast. At times, I thought we should have put it off for a week, but Stacey our Realtor thought we should do it to get it done and over with. 10 days is so fast! The buyers were going to waive the inspection at one point, but then decided to do it on the very last day they could. So I had to leave the house and then that night we signed our papers. I was nervous something would happen where they would back out. I was holding my breath the whole 10 days. I wouldn't believe we sold our house until after closing. Seriously. We had been burned too many times through this process. On Wed April 30th we got word that they closed on our old house in the morning then in the afternoon we heard they closed on the new house. It was a done deal! We were new home owners with a huge mortgage. ha! 

The girls matching one day and being cute with one another.

The Girl's Club!

The Boy's Club (he added more boys on his picture as reinforcement, haha)

We went to Mukilteo Beach one afternoon, probably to get out of the house for some reason, and Kate was all nervous about moving and meeting new friends. Well, she climbs this big trunk and meets this girl her age that is up on top and then doesn't want to leave when we say it's time to go. I don't think she'll have a problem making new friends. ha!

We didn't go home for Easter with everything going on (well and we were thinking we were going to be moving this weekend, but that didn't happen). There was a ward breakfast and easter egg hunt the Saturday before Easter. The weather cooperated and rained after we finished. The kids had fun running around on the little bit of grass there is. 

Happy Easter!

Chelsea (22 mo's), Lindsey (3 1/2), Kate (almost 9) and Preston (6 1/2)

3rd Time is Not the Charm

Sad news again. Our 3rd buyer backed out. This is getting to be like Groundhog's Day! We found out on April 4th that the buyers didn't get lending approved (because of how it was constructed, partly manufactured and partly stick built, but titled and deeded as stick built with real property, but the lender wouldn't approve the loan unless they had 20% down) so they had to back out. Our realtor tried to appeal it in and show documentation, but the lender didn't accept that so we found out on Monday it was not going to work out. We re-listed it on Monday and started doing showings again. It was the kids' spring break and we had gone over to my parent's house for General Conference the first weekend of April so the kids stayed with them on Monday and Tuesday. Before we knew it was not going to work out, I had decided to come back with Kyle and was planning on packing up more, but after hearing that the buyers had to back out for sure it was a real let down. I was devastated and in shock. I couldn't believe it was happening again and I was worried we would lose the house we wanted to buy. But our realtor said that since it was a govt owned house we could stay under contract. If it wasn't then we would have to give it up. I'm so glad it's a HUD house now! Phew! Now to find another buyer in our time frame of needing to close on the HUD house because we have to sell this one first before we can buy the new one. 

Instead of packing I cleaned and it stayed clean because no kids were here which was SO nice! But it sure was lonely and boring without them! I realized I'm glad I'm a Mom even with all the craziness kids create because what would I do (I'd have to work for sure) and where would I go. Everywhere I go it's for the kids and pretty much everything I do is for the kids. I'm thankful I am a Mom. Kyle and I took advantage of no kids and went out to dinner and a movie. It was nice. I went shopping to spend my birthday money and met up with Tawnya Valentine and her kids who were visiting from UT for spring break. I headed back over to my parent's on Wednesday morning and stayed there for the week. Originally, I was going to meet my Mom on Wednesday morning on Snoqualmie pass to get the kids, but she suggested I just come over while we have showings. It was a great idea because then I didn't have to worry about keeping the house spotless and leaving for the showings. We had lots of interest and several showings throughout the week which we were glad about. While at my parent's we went and visited Sara and saw her new house. They had just moved into a house that needed some remodel work and it was fun to see it. It's a cute home and my Mom and her did a great job painting everything. We headed back on Friday afternoon. The kids were excited to see the neighbor kids and Kyle, but at first they didn't want to leave Grandpa and Grandma's house. haha. 

Packing and Early Easter Egg Hunt

We sold our house and bought a house for real! It actually worked out this time. :) I am SO far behind on blogging so I am going to catch up! Before and after moving has been crazy to say the least. I want to document our crazy life during this huge transition for our family. At times (most times) I was barely hanging on. It's been the most stressful process EVER! Moving and buying a house are ranked as a huge stressor/change in someone's life and marriage. Well, we were selling and buying a house at the same time so I think it was doubly stressful. My kids were driving me nuts on many occasions as I tried to deal with the stress of it all. There were times I handled it better than others. I look back on this whole process and see how it all worked out and realize that Heavenly Father helped us a lot. It wasn't smooth like I would have liked it, but it all worked out in the end. (That was my mantra through this process... "it will all work out".) At times I didn't think it would, but it did. This along with other experiences in my life will help strengthen my faith as we go through future challenges. I just need to do better at handling them well through the bitter end.

As we were packing our old house we were getting closed in with boxes. My friend from Church, Sue Orchard, works at Bed, Bath and Beyond and she got us lots of boxes. That was so nice of her to get them for us because they worked out perfectly. We ended up getting more from our realtor towards the end of packing.  

The girls entertaining themselves. Chelsea was really challenging during this move. She kept getting into everything she wasn't supposed to get into. It was so frustrating! I get so focused on packing or doing something so when she messes it up I have a hard time dealing with that. 

We went home for General Conference weekend at the beginning of April and did our Easter egg hunt then with the cousins since we were going to be moving Easter weekend (didn't happen). Melanie and her kids and Dee Ann came out on Sunday afternoon. We visited and the kids played then we made waffles for dinner. My Mom kept my kids so I could go back and pack. We didn't know if the deal with the 3rd buyer was really off the table at this point because we were trying to appeal to the lender (in a way). So Kyle and I went back on our own. I ended up coming back to Mattawa on Wednesday morning once we knew the deal was off with the buyers and we had to relist our house. So I hung out at my Mom's house and we visited Sara and her new house. It was nice to be away from the stress of having to show a house with 4 little kids and nap schedules. It worked out good that it was during spring break. 

Chelsea was funny because she would pick up a couple eggs then get on the gator and ride it for a bit then get off and walk around. She wasn't too interested in filling up her basket with eggs. I forgot their baskets at home so they got to use ice cream buckets. haha. 

Everyone was helping each other find their golden egg (with money and trinkets inside!).

Most of the grandkids. Jeff and Sadie weren't there. Neither was Marci. We actually did the hunt in the morning after breakfast and before the first session of conference on Sunday because Paige was sick. Her and Hailey ended up being sick for a couple days. So we hurried and did the hunt so Jeni and Kevin could go home. We were sad they had to leave early.  

Homes

I haven't posted much about selling our house on facebook because things were changing so much. I posted when we got our first buyer, then they backed out. I decided to not really post about it until it was more final. It's a good thing because we got a 2nd buyer and they backed out soon after due to our condos not being approved for VA loans. So then we put it back on the market and got 3 offers after two days. We chose one of them and with that offer they waived the inspection so that was huge. We didn't have to go through another inspection, even though we already did everything the other two buyers had asked for. But it was fine to get those things done (furnace serviced and a couple roof areas fixed). We were nervous about the appraisal because no other condos in our development have sold at normal price (others have been short sale or foreclosure). Well, we got word back that the appraisal came in and we were good to go! Woo hoo!!! We were very happy about that. The buyers gave us a late closing date so we could have more time to find a house. We are set to close on April 21st, but that can be changed to earlier if needed. A friend and neighbor told me that at the HOA meeting a few other homeowners were talking about the sale of our house and they didn't think we would get what we were asking for even though they knew we had multiple offers. Well, my friend told me she hopes it closes and sells to prove them wrong! It looks like it will!

On Saturday, Kyle and I started packing in the office. My friend from Church, Sue Orchard, works at Bed Bath and Beyond so she brought me a bunch of boxes. So nice of her. We got busy and pretty much packed the office in the afternoon. This is weird packing up my house. We haven't moved for 9 years! We have accumulated a lot of stuff after 4 kids. I told Kyle we'll need two trucks. haha! He doesn't think so. He also is a master packer because he worked at UPS in college. 

Last weekend, we found a house! It was the weekend following my birthday weekend so on March 22nd. We went to look at a house that had just come on the market. After looking through the house we were telling our realtor about this other house. It was a HUD foreclosure house that we wanted to look at. Her eyes lit up when we said HUD and she was emphatic that we go look at it. So we did. And we loved it. It needs some TLC like carpets cleaned, paint and the backyard needs help. But we see the potential, it has nice finishes and the house is so big. We also went to a new development to look at new construction as well for another option. We decided we wanted to put an offer on the HUD house so our realtor put it in that night. We knew we wouldn't hear until Monday. Well, Monday morning my realtor calls me and says they accepted our offer! She was surprised because she didn't think they would accept our offer since it was a lot lower than asking. And we were surprised they accepted it too! Crazy!!! We had to sign papers right away so I met up with her at a random Bartell's then she had Kyle meet her at her office later that day. I had to get a money order for the earnest money. I got it from Walmart before going to meet her. Well, the next day she texts me saying it can't be a money order (she had told me a money order would work so she apologized) and it needed to be a cashier's check. I was babysitting kids so I loaded them up, put Frozen in the DVD player and went to meet her at our bank in Mill Creek. I went in to get a cashiers check (while my realtor waited by the car with the kids) and they didn't have enough room to write everything on the line that was needed...what a process. haha. We finally figured something out that would work and then I had to hurry back home to get the the kids back to my house because my friends were there waiting to pick them up. We still don't have an inspection date or an official close date. We are waiting to get a signed contract back and utilities turned on. But Kyle and I are antsy to know if the deal with go through and hoping the inspection goes okay. If so, we will actually have somewhere to move to! yipee! We are excited and praying everything works out.

The kids and I went on a walk up the hill the other day when it was beautiful out. Chelsea wanted to sit on the post so they all did and it was a good time for a picture. :) They are all getting so big, especially Kate. I'm grateful to be their Mom.

Happy Birthday to Me and More

Preston was Star of the Week at the beginning of March and they get to fill out this poster and color it. Preston loved filling it out and started doing it without my help. He likes school and is doing well reading. He's at a 2nd grade level right now. He likes Mrs. Hooper (kindergarten teacher Kate had too) and gets sad when he has to miss school. We've had some days where he's gotten a warning stamp b/c of touching/pushing other people or not following rules, but for the most part he's doing good. 

Preston's smile before...

And after losing 2 front teeth!!! They have been loose for a while and a couple weeks ago he fell and hit his mouth making them more lose. I took a kleenex and yanked them out. I don't mind doing it. :) I hate loose wiggly teeth that hang there. I told him he looks funny without his missing teeth and he said, "I don't think I look funny." haha. 

When I pull out the camera others always want to get their picture taken too. Lindsey and Chelsea, my little sidekicks during the morning. Chelsea always pulls her ponytail out so I wonder why I even fix her hair. 

Happy Birthday to me!

My birthday was on a Sunday this year. I made pasta with meat sauce and alfredo sauce, cesar salad, breadsticks and cookie cake. We invited Tom & Angie Harward and Jeff & Paige Harward (they are brothers) over for dinner and to play games. We played scattergories and visited. It was fun. The day before didn't start off too fun though. 

On Saturday, the day before, I was very discouraged about house stuff and not finding anything for us to buy. (We had put an offer on a house a week earlier and there were 8 other offers on the house, but it was assigned to not very good schools so I was a basket case mess worrying about it. I didn't feel good about it, but the house and yard were amazing! Like magazine worthy. So it was odd when I felt relieved that we didn't get that house. It wasn't meant to be and I was okay with it.) I wondered why we were even moving and wondered if it was going to be worth it because I liked my life the way it was. I don't want to settle for something and all the houses we have looked at aren't what we really want. I also was upset about the idea of having to move twice, like to a rental then to a house. I was in a bad mood and Kyle told me to go do something on my own. He was sick of my attitude! So I ended up leaving in the morning and went to the Temple. I was glad I went. Then after the Temple I went and met up with Marci at Southcenter. We ate at Chipotle (yum) and went shopping to Nordstrom Rack, DSW and Old Navy. I vented to her and she gave me some good advice and listened to me. I'm grateful for sisters. When I got back home Kyle and I discussed things and were fine. We were going on a date that night so our babysitter came and we left to go to PF Chang's. It was fun. We met up with Kayla & Ethan Giles and Jenn & David Mize. Then after dinner we went to the Mize's house where more friends came and we played a game and ate yummy treats. It was a lot of fun. Jenn planned it which was so nice of her. The day ended much better than it started! And on Sunday, a sister missionary spoke in Church about putting our Faith in Jesus Christ even when things seem hard or it's the unknown. It was exactly what I needed to hear. I felt better about things and knew that I just needed to put my big girl panties on and deal with having to potentially move twice if that's what happened. And understand that things will turn out fine. They always have and it will be okay. 

Chelsea climbs out of her crib all the time. When Kate went to bed one night, she told us that Chelsea was in bed with Lindsey. I ran up to get a picture. So cute. One week she crawled out of her crib every night and would get onto Lindsey's bed and fall asleep with her. I move her back to her crib before I go to bed. We probably will move Chelsea to a big girl bed soon anyway. 

Preston had his annual eye exam at Children's Hospital. It's always a long wait. I swear the doctors don't care how long you wait! Ugh. They had free playing cards so I played one handed solitaire and thank goodness for smart phones to pass the time. The cell service isn't great though so it's hit and miss. Preston was good. He cooperated when the doctor wanted to check his eyes. My friend was watching the other kids and Kate was in school. It was very nice not having to deal with the younger kids since it took 4 hours for the appt!!! The doctor increased Preston's prescription in both eyes. On the good eye he didn't even have a prescription before, but the doctor felt like it became a little nearsighted. He also mentioned that he didn't think his vision in the bad eye would get any better or worse if we continued with patching every other day for 4 hours (I've been bad lately and probably only patch 2x/week). So now I'm really bad about patching since he told me that. Basically, he didn't think I needed to keep patching, but he couldn't promise anything. I'll probably still try to do 2x/week at least. You have until the age of 8 when your eye stops developing so that's what we were thinking we'd patch until. 

I wanted to include a picture of Chelsea's masterpiece while she was supposed to be napping. She pulled all of Lindsey's clothes out of her drawer. The other morning, she got some nail polish off the top of the computer armoire and unscrewed the lid and painted the couch, iPad, pillow, pajamas and carpet. I got it off everything except the pillow and pajamas. She's a climber!

"Shrek the Musical" High School Version

Kate and I went down to Puyallup to watch Shrek the Musical at Marci's High School she teaches at. They did such a good job! We were very impressed. The costumes, orchestra, set props and acting/singing were all SO good. We took a tour of Marci's school afterwards which was fun b/c they had a marine biology room where we got to see fish and we got a tour of the student store that Marci is in charge of. Then, we went to dinner at a yummy pizza/pasta place before going to Marci's house to chill for a bit before heading home. Thanks Marci for a fun evening!

Kate with a princess

Me with Pinocchio who was hilarious. She was a girl and changed her voice to be really nasally and whiny sounding. It was awesome! She did a good job. Her nose actually grew longer because a teacher's family member made the nose so you slid something on the side and the nose grew. 

Marci and Kate with the girls who made up the dragon in the play. Fun night.