My Little Scholar.

• May
• 6

Thursday the 24th was a milestone day for us. My sweet little Ladybug started preschool!

Growing up, I never went to daycare or preschool. My sister and I were fortunate enough to have both grandmothers (and our grandfather) live in the same town with us. My parents were even more fortunate that they were willing to take turns keeping us during the day. If they couldn’t watch us, we just went to work with our parents, who had their own business. I loved staying with my grandmas. My Dad’s Mom taught me about quilting and patterns. My Mom’s Mom let us help with the garden (she always let us try to grow watermelons), and taught us to play dominoes. We cooked, played games and fed the birds. I have tons of memories of these ladies, which we often re-hash over family dinners.

I desperately want this for Ladybug. Unfortunately, her grandparents live 800 miles away. Dr. D and I are the only two people here in Michigan that care for Ladybug. While I don’t want to have her in Preschool 5 days a week (she’ll be going 5 days a week soon enough), I do need some time to myself. She has been talking about “going to school” for weeks now, so I started doing research on half-day programs.

Turns out “half-day” means 2-3 hrs. The perfect amount of time for her to start going to school.

Well…she has been to four sessions now, and she loves it. She likes her teachers, her friends, and the activities.  Most of all, she like the playground!  She looks forward to going back, though it’s terribly hard to get her out of bed in the mornings.  (She must not be a morning person.  I wonder who she could have gotten that from?)

Happily Miserable

• May
• 3

I’m tired.  My parents have been here for a week, so we have been on a big gorge-fest.  Who knew that eating could make you so tired?  Don’t get me wrong, I love being able to go to some of the nicer restaurants.  I just hate the bloated feeling that I have after stuffing my gut full of Hallah French Toast with Applewood Smoked Bacon.

Almost Home

• May
• 2

First off, thanks so much for all of your sweet emails and comments about the house. It means SO MUCH to me that you are interested enough to keep reading this blog!

And now for the big news….the sellers accepted the offer! We are under contract! Overall, we are pleased with the terms of the offer. They excluded the hot tub, but that’s fine. I doubt that we will replace it either.

Our next big hurdle is the inspection, which we will be getting within the next 10 business days. If that is clear, we will proceed to closing!

Is it too early to start picking out paint colors?

Wishing, Hoping, Thinking and Planning

• April
• 27

Ok.  Things have been a little light in the posting department this week because I’ve been busy.  Ladybug started Preschool on Thursday.  She did great, and I’ll write more on that in a later post.  Other than that, our week has been consumed with anticipation.

Will they accept our offer? Will they counter?  Will they just laugh in our faces and tell us that we are crazy?

That’s pretty much how the dialogue in my head has been running since Monday night.  Why is buying a house so much of a head trip?  I’m about to go out of my mind!

Today, we got our counter offer.  We have had some time to absorb the information that it contained (we got the disclosure today too), but we still have some questions.  Hopefully they will be answered quickly so we can either re-counter or reject.

I hope we can come to an agreement.  We are this close.  I don’t want to have to settle for another house that we don’t love.

We have Winners!

• April
• 25

I am truly overwhelmed by the number of responses that have poured in for the giveaways this week. I knew that the Sigg Bottles were hot items, but I had no idea that so many of you were “thinking” about buying them. There were very few duplicate entries, and almost all of you followed the instructions! I only had to delete a handful of entries, and that makes me very happy.

So, without any further delay, here are the winners!

NerdMom from NerdFamily won the Floral Sigg.

Julie from The Little Green House in the Town on the Prairie won the Black Sigg. (Check out this green blog, btw.)

And Deb over at Mom of 3 Girls won the Kid Sigg! Hehe. (Which girl gets to use it? )

Sorry Karen. You didn’t win anything over here. But you’re on vacation, so I don’t feel sorry for you one bit!

Bloggy Giveaway–Day 3!

• April
• 23

The Giveaway Carnival over at Bloggy Giveaways is STILL going on!

Monday, I put a Pretty Floral Sigg Water Bottle up for grabs. Tuesday there was the Manly Black Sigg.

Today, this is the one that I have!

This one is approxamately 10 ounces and very colorful! Hot air balloons and airplanes round out the design.

My daughter has one this size and she loves it!

Here’s How You Win:

• Leave a comment telling me your favorite “work out” song. I’m trying to compile a list of songs to use while exercising. (FYI, I’m looking for secular music.) EDITED TO ADD: PLEASE Choose another song besides “Physical” or “Eye of the Tiger”! Those are cop-outs!
• Subscribe to my feed in order to gain another entry. Just mention it in your comment.
• Comments will close and a winner will be selected at 9am CST on Friday, April 25th.
  

The Fine Print:

• The winner will be drawn using a random number generator.
• One Comment entry and One Subscriber entry per person, per giveaway, please.
• Duplicate Comments will be deleted.
• Drawing is open to bloggers and non bloggers alike.
• Open to US Shipping Addresses Only, however. Sorry.
• I will notify the winner on Friday, April 25th via email. Winner will have 4 Business days to contact me with a shipping address. If I’m not contacted within that time frame, I will go on to the next random comment.

Whew. That was a ton of information. Good Luck and Happy Commenting!

HEAD ON OVER TO DAY 1 AND DAY 2 FOR MORE GIVEAWAY GOODNESS!

Comments are closed now. Thanks for playing!

The House that Haunts Us.

• April
• 22

A year ago, our awesome realtor took us to look at this house. We had already been 10-15 homes in the area trying to get a sense about what was on the market. There are a few different floorplans here that we weren’t familiar with, not to mention the completely new concept of a large basement that functions as living space.

Fortunately for us, our realtor was able to quickly (and I mean SUPER FAST) learn what we liked and didn’t like. She was able to also get an idea of what our “dream” situation would be. Even more fortunate for us was the fact that she knew the people that lived in this house. How you ask? They were clients considering buying/selling with her!

After going in the house the first time, Dr. D and I were hooked. It is in wonderful condition (or so we think), it has tons of space for us and our junk, and it is in a nice little subdivision with sidewalks and mature trees.

And check out the deck. It has an awning that rolls out over it if you don’t want the sun!

And a HOT TUB!!!!

Aside from all of the posh outdoor features, the inside is pretty awesome too. The Master Bedroom has it’s own fireplace, and sitting room. Not to mention a closet that is big enough to be a nursery!

And then there’s the basement.

See the drawers? They are refrigerated drawers! There’s a sink to the left, and a dining area to the right.

While we were in the process of falling in love with the place, we knew that this house was out of our price range. We kept running the numbers in our head, unable to make them work at the price that the owners were wanting.

Unfortunately for us, we had already been in the house! We knew that it would be a great home for our family. Every time we would talk about things like getting new furniture or a new TV we would start hypothetically talking about where we would put that item in “the big house”.

A year has passed and we are still talking about this house. We drive by it occasionally. (Ok, not occasionally. More like constantly. I’m sure they think we are stalking them!) We have started eating and shopping in that area to get a feel for the community. I even drove over there this winter “just to see how they cleared the snow from the streets”.

The house has been haunting us. The fact that we knew that it would be perfect for us wasn’t helping. Neither was the fact that we had sold our house in Arkansas. We are just dying to move out of this place!!

So, we made an offer on it last night.

Yep. You read that correctly. I am so giddy with excitement that I can hardly contain myself today. The market here has gone so soft that we are (hopefully) going to be able to get the house at a much better price point for our budget than it was a year ago. It is still not “on the market” but they are actively seeking a bigger home (they just had their 4th little girl). We should know their answer by tomorrow.

While it is hard waiting, I have tons of paperwork and errands to help me pass the time. Ladybug starts preschool on Thursday!

It has been a super busy week so far, and it’s only Tuesday. Don’t forget to check out the Day 1, Day 2 and Day 3 Giveaways, and check back tomorrow for another one!

Bloggy Giveaway–Day 2!

• April
• 22

The Giveaway Carnival over at Bloggy Giveaways is STILL going on!

Yesterday I put a Pretty Floral Sigg Water Bottle up for grabs. Today, this is the one that I have!

It is black with a clean white geometric design and a texture that makes it easy to hold onto.

Seriously, I can’t tell you how much I love mine!

Here’s How You Win:

• Leave a comment telling me what you do to encourage yourself (and your family) to drink more water.
• Subscribe to my feed in order to gain another entry. Just mention it in your comment.
• Comments will close and a winner will be selected at 9am CST on Friday, April 25th.
  

The Fine Print:

• The winner will be drawn using a random number generator.
• One Comment entry and One Subscriber entry per person, please.
• Duplicate Comments will be deleted.
• Drawing is open to bloggers and non bloggers alike.
• Open to US Shipping Addresses Only, however. Sorry.
• I will notify the winner on Friday, April 25th via email. Winner will have 4 Business days to contact me with a shipping address. If I’m not contacted within that time frame, I will go on to the next random comment.

Whew. That was a ton of information. Good Luck and Happy Commenting!

HEAD ON OVER TO DAY 1 AND DAY 3 FOR MORE GIVEAWAY GOODNESS!

Comments are closed.  Thanks for playing!

Bloggy Giveaway–Day 1!

• April
• 21

It’s Time! It’s Time!! Melanie over at Bloggy Giveaways is hosting the Quarterly Bloggy Giveaway!

In honor of earth day, I am giving away some fantastic Sigg Water Bottles!

This is the one that I have up for grabs today! It is white with little pale pink flowers. We have recently started using these bottles, and I love mine! It is just one way that we are trying to cut back on the amount of waste that our family produces.

Here’s How You Win:

• Leave a comment telling me what steps you have made to become a more “green” household! (I’ll delete you if you don’t!)
• Subscribe to my feed in order to gain another entry. Just mention it in your comment.
• Comments will close and a winner will be selected at 9am CST on Friday, April 25th.
  

The Fine Print:

• The winner will be drawn using a random number generator.
• One Comment entry and One Subscriber entry per person, please.
• Duplicate Comments will be deleted.
• Drawing is open to bloggers and non bloggers alike.
• Open to US Shipping Addresses Only, however. Sorry.
• I will notify the winner on Friday, April 25th via email. Winner will have 4 Business days to contact me with a shipping address. If I’m not contacted within that time frame, I will go on to the next random comment.

Whew. That was a ton of information. Good Luck and Happy Commenting!

DON’T FORGET TO VISIT DAY 2 AND DAY 3 FOR MORE GIVEAWAYS!!!

Comments are closed.  Thanks for playing!

Story Night!

• April
• 17

It’s 6pm on a Thursday evening here at the Tree House. I’m sitting at the kitchen table writing, as last night’s pork loin is simmering away on the stove. (It was pretty bland the first time around, so I added tons of garlic, worcestershire and some ginger. We’ll see if it’s edible.) We are patiently waiting for Dr. D to arrive from his long day at the hospital. When he gets here, we’ll wolf down the meal so we can be out the door and at the library by 7pm.
See, Thursday night is no ordinary night around here. It’s story night at the library! Mamas and Papas and Uncles and Aunts* gather the kids around on “the carpet” to listen to one of our fabulous librarians tell a few stories. In between the stories, “Banjo Betsy” gets the kids up and moving with her witty kids songs. Yes, folks, she brings her banjo just about every week! The kids have a great time listening, dancing and singing, and the adults have a great time watching the antics that go on and on around there.

*Sorry. Couldn’t resist. Chicka Chicka Boom Boom is Ladybug’s favorite book right now. We all know it by heart!