Our fifth bid is for...

this baby. (Hard to believe we've put in five bids.) Anyways, this house is out in the sticks (the wayyyyyy southwest) but we've found that we can get more house for less bucks out there. So we're meeting up with Bev at church tomorrow to sign the bid papers. I know I've said this before, but Bev thinks we have a great shot at this one.

It's a beautiful house on the inside: 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, split wing, with an office (aka playroom), and I love the kitchen. I didn't take my camera when we went to see it so I have no pics of the inside to share.

So stay tuned. We'll see what happens next...

All on his own

My four year old (well he's nearly five - in about 6 weeks) did this all by himself during snack time. He bit the pretzels to make the letters then arranged the letters to spell a word...all while I was busy with other things. And he asked no questions...no help.









Little smarty pants. Why he chose to spell 'fat' I'll never know.

All brown

My thumbs, that is.

"Care instructions: Basil is tough, don't worry too much about it. Keep the soil lightly moist, and expose your plant to as much light as you can. As long as you leave the bottom two leafs on a stem, the stem will continue to branch and grow new basil Bon Appetit!"


What the heck?!?

Oh, and did I mention that my cacti are dead too?

I give up.

The best house yet!

UPDATE: We can't afford the house of beauty. Well, we could IF it was in Ventura or Santa Barbara counties since those counties have a $15,000 forgivable grant for first time home buyers. But I suppose if the house were in one of those counties, then the price tag would be well over $179k, ya think?

We'll know tomorrow, hopefully, if we are able to afford this house. It's a house that we'll probably never move out of. Unless, of course, the Lord tarries and the kids move out. The pics are out of order, of course. :)

Front of the house.


Front porch


Staircase


Back patio


Back fence.


The breakfast nook. The kitchen is on the left, family room behind and the dining area is through that door. Oh, and the wall on the right doesn't go all the way to the ceiling. I thought that was different and kinda cool!


kitchen


Here's a great view of that wall I was telling you about. Kitchen is on the left, staircase on the right.


upstairs bedroom #1


the jack & jill bathroom shower. I love that shower wall! It goes about 3/4 of the length of the shower. It rocks!


Upstairs bedroom #2


Part of the master bath


Downstairs bedroom - I love the chandelier.


Backyard view from the big kitchen window.


I like the artwork on the walls in the family room.


This is the front porch. So cute!


This is the front door and living room. I was standing in the dining area.


There's a door connecting the dining area to the kitchen. I was standing in the doorway. The kitchen is on the right. The family room is straight ahead. Through that doorway behind Jeremiah is the downtairs bathroom as well as the only downstairs bedroom.


the raised grilling area is on the right.


I seriously can't believe they don't want more money for this house! But we can only afford it if the rumor of gov't funding is true. We heard that for first time home buyers, they gov't (I think it's the gov't anyway...they seem to have lots of money to give away) pays for a 20% down payment. It that gets paid for, then our monthly payments would be less than $1,000/month (I think).

I'm excited and nervous and I don't want to get my hopes up cause I will be sooooo sad if we don't get this house. If God is cool with us living here, then we'll get it. If we can't afford it, then we'll find something else.

Another day, another bid

UPDATE: We were the 2nd highest bid. Which means we're the back up bid in case the highest and best bid falls through for some reason. Oh well...
PRAISE THE LORD anyways!

At least that's how it seems.


Here's our newest desire:

Our realtor is really excited about this one. Just between you and me, I think this is the first house that she thinks we actually have a chance of getting. lol

We'll see.

I have to change

With the blessing of baby number 3, hey there Nate!, comes changes I have to make to keep my sanity. Here's my list:

1. I remember my fabulous friend Tara saying once, a long while ago, that she has to get her car washed weekly in order for it to stay clean. I didn't exactly know what she meant then but I sure do now.
The kids and I went to the car wash today and it wasn't necessarily for the outside of the car. I took a kitchen size trash bag with me to put all the stuff that needs to go INSIDE my home and I filled that bag up with: about a zillion shoes, a few pair of socks, toys, toys, toys, a sweatshirt, a windbreaker, and pens.
I think I'm going to have to be like Tara and cruz thru (he he, get it?) the car wash weekly just to get me to clean out the stuff from the inside.

2. I have to change my laundry routine. At least the putting away of laundry. I used to bring in the basket of clean laundry, sort and organize it all, then put things away. No longer do I get to do this since it seems as if I'm constantly getting interrupted by children. So now I take my basket of clean laundry, pull out one item, put it away, pull out one item, put it away, pull out one item, put it back because I have to break up a fight or change a poopy diaper, or (fill in the blank), come back. Repeat.
Doing laundry this way leaves me feeling less frustrated since I don't have piles of clean clothes scattered EVERYWHERE from kids jumping on my bed or from me or my hubby shoving them off the bed so we can sleep.

3. I've noticed when my coupon binder is on the verge of disorganization or when my car is messy or when my home is super messy (notice I said 'super' messy since it is just messy most of the time), then my healthy eating habits fly out the window (as evidence of my non-weight loss this week). It took me a lot of thinking and soul searching to come up with that revelation. I can be so dense when it comes to common sense stuff in life (not my fortay).

Well that's my short list for now. And with just these few minor changes, I have a bit more peace in my life.

So what things have you had to change in order to keep peace in your family as it grows?

Date Night vs MOPS

Fridays have become the official date night for my hubby and me, thank you Papa and Bana for being willing to watch ALL the kids for us!!!

But this Friday is my MOPS' groups Moms' Night Out at Moo Creamery.

So I mentioned this to Pascual, then added,
"but if you want to take me out on a date, then I'll go with you instead."

"I wasn't expecting that", he replied.

OMG, that is so sad that I've got him conditioned to take second fiddle to MOPS. That shouldn't be! Time to sit and think and re-prioritize the things in my life!

Don't get me wrong, I have loved me some MOPS, but it WILL NOT take top dollar to the man I vowed my life to. Cause I REALLY LOVE ME SOME PASCUAL!!!