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. 

Getaway

The kids had a long weekend off from school on Feb 14-18th and Marci suggested us going over to my parents house to get our hair done by Sara and celebrate my Mom's birthday early before they leave for New Zealand. Kyle and I had to talk in Church on Sunday the 17th, but then after Church we came home, packed up and left after eating lunch. Kyle had to stay home for work so it was just me and the kids. We met Marci at North Bend and stopped in Ellensburg to see our Grandparents before getting to my parents. The weather was nice and the roads were bare and dry. Jeni and her kids came out on Monday. Sara and Zane came out Monday also to do hair for a lot of us, which was so nice of her. It's gotta be tiring. We had fun though being in the "hair salon" all day and talking and sharing stories. I'm grateful for my sisters and that we can have fun together.

Preston set these bowls out for cereal and they are ginormous bowls. haha. When my Mom got her new kitchen she moved the location of the normal bowls and Preston was just getting the bowls out from where they usually were. It was pretty funny. He would probably eat that much cereal though.

Sara, my Mom and I were trying to get a picture of Chelsea and Zane together. They were not cooperating together at all. It was annoying though because during the day Chelsea would hug Zane then take him down. Or she would take toys away from him or bug him. She was mean. Sara said usually Zane is the mean one so she was surprised he wasn't the mean one. He did get into the dirt in my Mom's potted plants. These little toddlers are busy. 

We celebrated my Mom's birthday early. She made chicken parmiagiana, french bread, Cesar salad and a chocolate chocholate chip bundt cake for dessert. It was all very good. All of us kids went in together and got her a binding machine (to bind papers and make them into books) and gave her some different sizes of binding combs. She loved it. Kevin and my Grandpa Bill were able to come out for dinner too. 

On Tuesday morning, my Mom made roll out sugar cookies with the kids. They had fun cutting the dough and helping my Mom. We were watching the pass conditions because it wasn't looking good. There was lots of snow and they had already closed the pass for avalanche control twice that morning. Marci had an appointment to get back for and we had ballet and Kate's basketball team pizza party to get back for. When we found out the pass was opened again we left right away. After eating BLT's on homemade bread of course. haha. 

These pictures show our driving conditions on our way home. It was snowing pretty hard and the roads weren't cleared very good. Lots of people were driving really really slow. Like slower than they needed to. This one car was going like 20 mph. It was funny. Marci drove and she was amazing. She's more confident in the snow and I gladly let her. We got over the pass fine and both got home in time for our things. They closed the pass soon after we made it over. It's a good thing we got through because it didn't reopen until later that night like after 10pm. We were blessed. 

Kate was awarded the "Best Team Player". The Coach said he could have given her any of the other awards because she was willing to do anything and was happy. She was excited to see her teammates again and we visited and ate pizza. 

I dropped my parent's off at the airport at the end of February. They flew to New Zealand and then they were going to Hawaii before coming back home in 2 1/2 weeks. My Dad served his mission in New Zealand 41 years ago and he has wanted to go back and visit. We were all encouraging them to go and so we are happy they get to go and do this. 

Games and Treats

 

While watching the ice skating from the Olympics in Sochi, Preston said, "Wow! She is a super skater. She is skating very good." It was adorable. They were in awe. 

Kate finished her basketball season and had so much fun (even with the rough games). She would sometimes bring the ball down the court and she always took the ball out. She learned a lot this year and is excited to keep playing next year. Her teacher, Miss Johnson, and her friend, Alyssa, came for her last game. She was so happy to have them there. It was so cute that her teacher came. How nice of her to come on a Saturday afternoon. 

After Kate's basketball game, (Kyle had to go to a Church priesthood meeting so he left the game early) I took the kids to Menchie's for a yummy treat. Kate forgot her coat at the gym so we had to run back up to downtown Everett to get her coat. Thank goodness it was still there. 

During the 2nd inspection we had on our house, (they are 3 hours long) we went and spent our time out of the house at a park. (Right before leaving the house it was crazy chaos getting the kids to hurry and get in the car b/c we needed to be gone before they came. And I had to hurry and change a poopy diaper on Chelsea and then I sprayed Lysol so it didn't stink like poop.) Then we went to the mall to play inside because it was getting cold. Thank goodness for groupons because we had coupons for Jamba Juice and pretzels. Yummy. The kids were loving it. We picked up Kate from school and it was pouring rain. We ended up going to Target and when we got done there they were done with the inspection. Good timing. 

The kids playing with hats. We have a pioneer, a Fancy Nancy, a cowgirl and a cowboy. I like when they play nice together. :)

Champions!

Kate painted this picture when they were learning about painting objects and I thought she did a good job. She loves all the extra fun classes they get in 3rd grade like art, PE, technology and music.

Kate got the Principal's Award. Which means she gets a certificate. haha. But we are proud of her for being a good student. We only hear good things about her from all her teachers and we couldn't be happier about that. She was excited to eat pizza with the principal for getting 75 AR points (reading tests). 

The Seahawks won the Superbowl!!!! They are Superbowl Champions!!!! We were so excited! It was a fun game to watch because they dominated the Denver Broncos. They had a huge parade in Seattle the Wednesday after they won, but we didn't go. We had some friends go though and they had a good time. We watched it from the warmth of our house...it was really cold that day. 

Russell Wilson, the quarterback

Final Score: Seahawks 43 to Broncos 8

The girls playing outside. Kate and the neighbor kids are big into playing 2 square. I even play with them sometimes. They say I'm good and hard to beat. haha. 

Playing with some friends- Wilson, Reagan and Anna Giles. They are our neighbors and in the same ward. They are great neighbors and we will really miss them. 

The stack of books that Chelsea ripped in a week. She likes to do things to get my attention. Grrr. 

I bought a new purse from Target with cmas money. It's bright orange and a fun color for spring.

Chelsea posing for me while I catch her naughtiness. She gets the baskets and dumps our the toys (doesn't play with them, just dumps them out) and then takes the liner out of the basket. It's so fun. Her smile and pose makes me laugh though. 

Lindsey posing for me so I can get a picture and Chelsea copying her.