Looks like we are going to try and close on both houses the 10th of January. We finally received a fully ratified contract on the new house Wed. afternoon. Not 100% sure we will pull it off, but, we are going to give it our best shot to try and get in the new place the same day as we are out of the old one.
Our current home passed the home inspection, radon, and termite inspection with flying colors. Our new home passed the termite inspection, has a few minor repairs to be made (2 plugs don't work, they put a vent right next to a return and the thermostat, so, we will want to move the vent, there is a small leak under the kitchen sink, and, we will want to redirect the drain pipes in the back yard to make sure the water is heading away from the house)and it will need it's passive radon system changed to an active one because the radon is a little high (We are hoping they will be willing to fix that one, but, it is being sold, as is, so, not likely).
I have been busy with the packing and picking out new curtains and lamps. New appliances were ordered yesterday, for the kitchen. Everything is still coming together okay, so, now it is on to vacation prep and, hopefully, some relaxation before the rest of the moving craziness starts up again.
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Friday, December 16, 2011
Our house selling journey.
Felt the need to share this. Maybe it will bring understanding to a friend or family member, or, maybe it is just beneficial for me to write it down. So, let me go back for a moment to 8 years ago. We were newlyweds expecting our 1st baby. Jim wanted to buy a house, I said, ok, but, I am only moving if it is right. The acceptable location in our price range, Winchester. But, nothing up there was the right fit. And, then, one day this brand new house in Strasburg showed up online. It was surely too far away and at the tippy top of our price range, but, we went to look anyway. And, as we stood outside the lot with only a basement to be seen, we knew it was the one. We made the offer and beat out 3 other offers by a day. And, God has blessed us. There have been many benefits for us to be where we are, but, that doesn't mean there haven't been any drawbacks. The most on-going drawback has been the 1 hour commute, there have been so many occasions when we needed Jim here, but, he was always an hour away. We hoped this wouldn't matter as much when he finished school, but, it still remains and in some ways is getting worse. Jim started mentioning moving over a year ago, but, there were lots of good things going on for us out here and I kept saying "not yet"
That was until the Sunday this past spring when I stood on the front porch saying good-bye to him as he headed off to another church meeting, (we had him home for a total of 1 hour that day) and he said to me "you knew this was going to happen didn't you?" "Knew what was going to happen?" I said. I don't remember the exact response, but, the gist was that he would have callings and those callings would involve him being away from us. After he drove off, I pondered our brief conversation. "Knew it would happen?" Well, NO, I didn't know it would happen, or at least I didn't really know how it would affect me and our kids when it happened. At that moment, I knew we had reached the point where something had to give. And, I also know that refusing church callings was probably not going to be one of them, nor was it likely he could cut his hours down at work. But, there was all that time wasted traveling, that was something that we could change; and, from that day on, I was on his side, let's sell. He was eager to start immediately, I saw our busy summer and said let's wait, I felt much better about waiting until after the 1st of the year. In September, school started, and for the 1st time I found myself disappointed with the teachers and the new curriculum, so, when he suggested we talk to a realtor "just to get an idea of what we need to get ready", it turned into us pushing up listing the house from January to mid October.
We were only able to appreciate how truly brutal the market is, when we found ourselves stuck in the middle of it, but, we left ourselves stuck in the muck with the fairly firm belief that this was what we were meant to do. 2 months into the process, when the price had been lowered and things were going slow, the questions began to arise of whether or not it was really worth this, how were we going to make certain decisions when we have been living in the limbo of, will it sell or when will it sell? and how long should we hold out and how low is too low to go?
Unsure of whether this was just a test from God, if our timing was a little off, or if we somehow read the promptings totally wrong, I decided to take advantage of Fast Sunday and try to earn some added insight or reassurance against the dismal scene and booing we were getting from our fellow church members upset that we were trying to leave. And, the response was so immediate, that it took me off guard. 8:15 Sunday morning came a call to view the house at 12:30pm. We scrambled to get the house ready before church, we hung out after meetings for a while and made use of part of the time waiting and got our tithing settlement done. And, God even held off the hunger pains and light-headedness that I am usually wracked with when I try to fast. We passed the remainder of the day with no word. And, I just took it as a sign that we should keep plucking along with this.
That was until Monday morning, the next call came, they wanted to see it again. So, I grabbed the kids off the bus in the afternoon and we hung out at the park while they looked, 50 min. later, we came back, they were still there, so, we made a trip to Food Lion. Came home for dinner, went out to see Christmas lights for FHE, and then came back and got the kids ready for bed. Then, the call came. They want to buy the house. A moment passed of shock and anticipation, and then the price was named. The offer was $15,000 dollars lower then our current price. My heart sank. I said it was too low, still promised to review the contract anyway, she reminded me we could make a counter offer, the call ended and I broke the news to Jim.
The next 24 hours really sucked. We were both disappointed at the price. I was now conflicted that this was really the prompting I thought it was. We got the kids to bed and began more earnestly hashing out the numbers of our expenses and the house prices where we were looking to go and how much we could afford based on those numbers. It wasn't going to be what we had wanted it to be, but, we could drop the price a little more and still manage to make it work. We countered at $5000 less than our asking price (which was now $15,000 lower than where we started, but, still $10,000 higher than they wanted) and then we waited til morning for the response. We barely slept. It came around mid day. Another counter offer. They had only come up $5000 from their original offer and now they wanted the curtains and the shed. We agreed to concede on those items, but, wanted to hold our ground on the price, until that is, Jim went to tell this to the realtor and he caved to her argument that we would be seen as too rigid and they would walk away. And, there went another $2000. And, I only learned of it after the change was already in. I was even more upset, the bottom had been reached, and now I was a bit upset with Jim too. I scolded for me not getting a say, told him this was it, no more, they could accept it or walk away. And, they accepted it. There was a mix of feelings of fatigue and defeat as we signed the papers that night, but, underlying there was also a relief that it was over and we could move on.
The next morning we were still tired, but, by 9:30am, I was feeling better and acceptance hit and we were both okay with it. We began looking forward to the houses we were going to see in Winchester on Wed. night. Surely, one of those would be the one, right? Wrong. On Saturday we expanded the search to Stephen's City. We liked these much better, but, this really wasn't close enough to work, was it? And, of the 2 we liked one was too pricey and the other was a little pricey and a foreclosure, the realtor had told us we wouldn't likely get a contract on a foreclosure until we had money in hand from our house and that would leave us in homeless limbo for a while (which was unappealing). We had her check anyway, just in case, but, we needed to explore more options. On Sunday, it was back to Winchester. Still nothing in Winchester really fit. We had explored every house we thought might work and the only door that opened for us was the foreclosure in Stephen's City. Their realtor came back with a maybe they would take an offer contingent on our home sale, since it was going to be a cash sale. So, riding on a maybe and a lot of prayers, we submitted our offer at $10,000 below their asking price. And, they accepted it. Unfortunately not at $10,000 below their price, but, it was, at least, $5000 below their price. And, we finally feel excited! God opened the door for us and we beat the odds.
I cannot say this has been a pleasant process that I wish to repeat any time soon, and we are certainly a little sad to let our home we've loved go at such a low price, and it has not been fun to be booed for the last 2 months by our friends who are upset at us leaving and only sort of understand, especially when they here our new place is only 10 or 15 min. closer to work not 30 like we were wanting, and I bet we will have days we are annoyed with the HOA. But, just like 8yrs. ago, when we stood outside this house and knew it was for us. We know this new move and this new house are for us and he will bless us in so many ways, just like he has these past 8 yrs and I am eager for it.
That was until the Sunday this past spring when I stood on the front porch saying good-bye to him as he headed off to another church meeting, (we had him home for a total of 1 hour that day) and he said to me "you knew this was going to happen didn't you?" "Knew what was going to happen?" I said. I don't remember the exact response, but, the gist was that he would have callings and those callings would involve him being away from us. After he drove off, I pondered our brief conversation. "Knew it would happen?" Well, NO, I didn't know it would happen, or at least I didn't really know how it would affect me and our kids when it happened. At that moment, I knew we had reached the point where something had to give. And, I also know that refusing church callings was probably not going to be one of them, nor was it likely he could cut his hours down at work. But, there was all that time wasted traveling, that was something that we could change; and, from that day on, I was on his side, let's sell. He was eager to start immediately, I saw our busy summer and said let's wait, I felt much better about waiting until after the 1st of the year. In September, school started, and for the 1st time I found myself disappointed with the teachers and the new curriculum, so, when he suggested we talk to a realtor "just to get an idea of what we need to get ready", it turned into us pushing up listing the house from January to mid October.
We were only able to appreciate how truly brutal the market is, when we found ourselves stuck in the middle of it, but, we left ourselves stuck in the muck with the fairly firm belief that this was what we were meant to do. 2 months into the process, when the price had been lowered and things were going slow, the questions began to arise of whether or not it was really worth this, how were we going to make certain decisions when we have been living in the limbo of, will it sell or when will it sell? and how long should we hold out and how low is too low to go?
Unsure of whether this was just a test from God, if our timing was a little off, or if we somehow read the promptings totally wrong, I decided to take advantage of Fast Sunday and try to earn some added insight or reassurance against the dismal scene and booing we were getting from our fellow church members upset that we were trying to leave. And, the response was so immediate, that it took me off guard. 8:15 Sunday morning came a call to view the house at 12:30pm. We scrambled to get the house ready before church, we hung out after meetings for a while and made use of part of the time waiting and got our tithing settlement done. And, God even held off the hunger pains and light-headedness that I am usually wracked with when I try to fast. We passed the remainder of the day with no word. And, I just took it as a sign that we should keep plucking along with this.
That was until Monday morning, the next call came, they wanted to see it again. So, I grabbed the kids off the bus in the afternoon and we hung out at the park while they looked, 50 min. later, we came back, they were still there, so, we made a trip to Food Lion. Came home for dinner, went out to see Christmas lights for FHE, and then came back and got the kids ready for bed. Then, the call came. They want to buy the house. A moment passed of shock and anticipation, and then the price was named. The offer was $15,000 dollars lower then our current price. My heart sank. I said it was too low, still promised to review the contract anyway, she reminded me we could make a counter offer, the call ended and I broke the news to Jim.
The next 24 hours really sucked. We were both disappointed at the price. I was now conflicted that this was really the prompting I thought it was. We got the kids to bed and began more earnestly hashing out the numbers of our expenses and the house prices where we were looking to go and how much we could afford based on those numbers. It wasn't going to be what we had wanted it to be, but, we could drop the price a little more and still manage to make it work. We countered at $5000 less than our asking price (which was now $15,000 lower than where we started, but, still $10,000 higher than they wanted) and then we waited til morning for the response. We barely slept. It came around mid day. Another counter offer. They had only come up $5000 from their original offer and now they wanted the curtains and the shed. We agreed to concede on those items, but, wanted to hold our ground on the price, until that is, Jim went to tell this to the realtor and he caved to her argument that we would be seen as too rigid and they would walk away. And, there went another $2000. And, I only learned of it after the change was already in. I was even more upset, the bottom had been reached, and now I was a bit upset with Jim too. I scolded for me not getting a say, told him this was it, no more, they could accept it or walk away. And, they accepted it. There was a mix of feelings of fatigue and defeat as we signed the papers that night, but, underlying there was also a relief that it was over and we could move on.
The next morning we were still tired, but, by 9:30am, I was feeling better and acceptance hit and we were both okay with it. We began looking forward to the houses we were going to see in Winchester on Wed. night. Surely, one of those would be the one, right? Wrong. On Saturday we expanded the search to Stephen's City. We liked these much better, but, this really wasn't close enough to work, was it? And, of the 2 we liked one was too pricey and the other was a little pricey and a foreclosure, the realtor had told us we wouldn't likely get a contract on a foreclosure until we had money in hand from our house and that would leave us in homeless limbo for a while (which was unappealing). We had her check anyway, just in case, but, we needed to explore more options. On Sunday, it was back to Winchester. Still nothing in Winchester really fit. We had explored every house we thought might work and the only door that opened for us was the foreclosure in Stephen's City. Their realtor came back with a maybe they would take an offer contingent on our home sale, since it was going to be a cash sale. So, riding on a maybe and a lot of prayers, we submitted our offer at $10,000 below their asking price. And, they accepted it. Unfortunately not at $10,000 below their price, but, it was, at least, $5000 below their price. And, we finally feel excited! God opened the door for us and we beat the odds.
I cannot say this has been a pleasant process that I wish to repeat any time soon, and we are certainly a little sad to let our home we've loved go at such a low price, and it has not been fun to be booed for the last 2 months by our friends who are upset at us leaving and only sort of understand, especially when they here our new place is only 10 or 15 min. closer to work not 30 like we were wanting, and I bet we will have days we are annoyed with the HOA. But, just like 8yrs. ago, when we stood outside this house and knew it was for us. We know this new move and this new house are for us and he will bless us in so many ways, just like he has these past 8 yrs and I am eager for it.
Monday, October 17, 2011
HOUSE FOR SALE
In an effort to try and cut Jim's hour long commute in half, we have decided to try and sell our home. It has been a nice home, but, we would really like to have Jim around more (and, I won't lie, a garage would be nice too to have a better spot for our furniture making hobby). So, we've cleaned it up a bit and put some things into storage. We are praying for a buyer in this difficult housing market. The posting went up about a week ago, no one has checked it out yet. We are putting our trust out there that God thinks this will be good for us too, and will help it work out. So, now we just gotta keep it up and wait and see. Sigh, waiting isn't much fun!
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Summer vacation 2011
We've had a busy summer this year. The 3rd week of June we took a family vacation to Pennsylvania (a page of pics is up on our main site for the trip). We left after church on Father's Day and traveled to our hotel in Paradise, PA. Now we can truly say we have vactioned in paradise, ha ha. We got settled in, ordered a pizza, then went for a swim in the hotel pool that evening.
The next day we headed out to Strasburg, PA. It was a lucky coincidence that Thomas the Tank Engine was at the Strasburg Railroad that week, so, we took the kids for a Day out with Thomas. We did this a few years back and Jamie was so tired and grumpy he couldn't enjoy it properly. We are happy to report that it all went much better this time. They all 3 had fun, and, now Morgan is almost as fascinated with "choo choo"s as his older brother.
After we finished up with all the activities at the railroad, we headed on over to the Toy Train Museum just up the road. That was also a success. Seems I missed forgot to get pictures, but, the older 2 kids and Mom also got in a round of miniature golf in Lancaster in the evening.
The next 2 days after that were spent at Dutch Wonderland in Lancaster, PA. I wanted to be sure we got in the Dutch Wonderland trip before they were too old to enjoy it. It was a good year to go. Jamie would have been too tall for some rides next year and Morgan was big enough to enjoy enough rides to keep him happy. They all had fun and I think Mom and Dad even had a little fun too. Corinne is going to be Mommy's roller coaster buddy when she is bigger, she road their coaster 5 times while we were there. Dad and the older 2 played in the water park portion of it the 2nd afternoon while Mom stayed at the hotel with Morgan for some much needed nap time.
The next day was our final day in PA, the comfort of staying in a suite may have kept our sanity, but, it also ate up more of our budget, so, we checked out of the hotel and drove over to Hershey, PA to take the kids on the Hershey Chocolate World tour. We then snagged up a big bag of chocolate in the store and head back home. It was Thursday, so, that gave us plenty of time to mellow out before getting back to real life.
The 4th of July weekend some friends invited us to their firework party. Basically, a large scale show of the small fireworks. Then, we lit off our own fireworks Sunday evening at home. Then, Monday there was a patriotic music presentation at the church and we tried to watch the fireworks in Woodstock with all our church friends, but, they were postponed due to rain. However, we didn't miss out. We made it home to Strasburg just in time to watch those fireworks. It was a good show, they sprung for a couple of cubes and smiley faces this year. We were by no means lacking in fireworks. But, the kids disagreed and we headed out to Woodstock again on Saturday for the postponed show. And, let me just say it was not a good year for fireworks in Woodstock. Shortly before dark the sirens went off and the emergency vehicles went flying down the road. Turns out, a man on the interstate over-corrected shortly before the Woodstock exit and ran his car into the deep ditch on the side of the road. He was thrown from the car and had to be sent by helicopter to the hospital, his passenger, another man, was also eventually flown out over 45 min. later after they freed his arm from under the vehicle. So, with all this helicopter activity they couldn't be lighting off fireworks right next to them. That meant the show was delayed once again. Our family gave up at 10 pm and drove home, others stayed and the show didn't begin until nearly 11pm. Made for an interesting day at church the next day with all those sleepy kids.
So, same day as the postponed Woodstock fireworks, we celebrated Miss Corinne's 5th birthday. She was a lucky girl this year and was granted her wish for a party at the Stony Creek Roller Rink (I'm sure I will get those pics up at some point). She and her friends had lots of fun and Grandma, Great-Grandma, Papa, and Aunt Heather even drove all the way out as well.
Next up was a trip to the beach. (I'm sure I will get pictures of that up at some point, too) We have never taken them before and Corinne has been asking to go for months. So, since we already took our vacation for the year, and since Mommy is not a big beach goer, we did a short 1 night stay trip to Virginia Beach. They loved it! We spent 2 hours on the beach Friday afternoon and then another 2 hours on the beach Saturday morning, then, ate lunch at a Mexican place on the boardwalk, and headed home. There was a little bit of sunburning, but, not bad. The worst of the aftermath was a bad blister that left Mom hobbling for a couple of days. Corinne is already asking us when we are going back.
And, summer is still not over. Next up, this weekend we will have a mini family reunion and meet a young cousin of Jenny's for the first time. There will be a family dinner and manicures for all the girls in the family. The week after that, our little man Morgan turns 2. And, the week after that the older 2 kids are signed up for swim lessons. This summer has been fun and flying by fast.
The next day we headed out to Strasburg, PA. It was a lucky coincidence that Thomas the Tank Engine was at the Strasburg Railroad that week, so, we took the kids for a Day out with Thomas. We did this a few years back and Jamie was so tired and grumpy he couldn't enjoy it properly. We are happy to report that it all went much better this time. They all 3 had fun, and, now Morgan is almost as fascinated with "choo choo"s as his older brother.
After we finished up with all the activities at the railroad, we headed on over to the Toy Train Museum just up the road. That was also a success. Seems I missed forgot to get pictures, but, the older 2 kids and Mom also got in a round of miniature golf in Lancaster in the evening.The next 2 days after that were spent at Dutch Wonderland in Lancaster, PA. I wanted to be sure we got in the Dutch Wonderland trip before they were too old to enjoy it. It was a good year to go. Jamie would have been too tall for some rides next year and Morgan was big enough to enjoy enough rides to keep him happy. They all had fun and I think Mom and Dad even had a little fun too. Corinne is going to be Mommy's roller coaster buddy when she is bigger, she road their coaster 5 times while we were there. Dad and the older 2 played in the water park portion of it the 2nd afternoon while Mom stayed at the hotel with Morgan for some much needed nap time.
The next day was our final day in PA, the comfort of staying in a suite may have kept our sanity, but, it also ate up more of our budget, so, we checked out of the hotel and drove over to Hershey, PA to take the kids on the Hershey Chocolate World tour. We then snagged up a big bag of chocolate in the store and head back home. It was Thursday, so, that gave us plenty of time to mellow out before getting back to real life.
The 4th of July weekend some friends invited us to their firework party. Basically, a large scale show of the small fireworks. Then, we lit off our own fireworks Sunday evening at home. Then, Monday there was a patriotic music presentation at the church and we tried to watch the fireworks in Woodstock with all our church friends, but, they were postponed due to rain. However, we didn't miss out. We made it home to Strasburg just in time to watch those fireworks. It was a good show, they sprung for a couple of cubes and smiley faces this year. We were by no means lacking in fireworks. But, the kids disagreed and we headed out to Woodstock again on Saturday for the postponed show. And, let me just say it was not a good year for fireworks in Woodstock. Shortly before dark the sirens went off and the emergency vehicles went flying down the road. Turns out, a man on the interstate over-corrected shortly before the Woodstock exit and ran his car into the deep ditch on the side of the road. He was thrown from the car and had to be sent by helicopter to the hospital, his passenger, another man, was also eventually flown out over 45 min. later after they freed his arm from under the vehicle. So, with all this helicopter activity they couldn't be lighting off fireworks right next to them. That meant the show was delayed once again. Our family gave up at 10 pm and drove home, others stayed and the show didn't begin until nearly 11pm. Made for an interesting day at church the next day with all those sleepy kids.
So, same day as the postponed Woodstock fireworks, we celebrated Miss Corinne's 5th birthday. She was a lucky girl this year and was granted her wish for a party at the Stony Creek Roller Rink (I'm sure I will get those pics up at some point). She and her friends had lots of fun and Grandma, Great-Grandma, Papa, and Aunt Heather even drove all the way out as well.
Next up was a trip to the beach. (I'm sure I will get pictures of that up at some point, too) We have never taken them before and Corinne has been asking to go for months. So, since we already took our vacation for the year, and since Mommy is not a big beach goer, we did a short 1 night stay trip to Virginia Beach. They loved it! We spent 2 hours on the beach Friday afternoon and then another 2 hours on the beach Saturday morning, then, ate lunch at a Mexican place on the boardwalk, and headed home. There was a little bit of sunburning, but, not bad. The worst of the aftermath was a bad blister that left Mom hobbling for a couple of days. Corinne is already asking us when we are going back.
And, summer is still not over. Next up, this weekend we will have a mini family reunion and meet a young cousin of Jenny's for the first time. There will be a family dinner and manicures for all the girls in the family. The week after that, our little man Morgan turns 2. And, the week after that the older 2 kids are signed up for swim lessons. This summer has been fun and flying by fast.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Update on life May 2011
Been so busy I can't even remember what all to post. Let's see what I can remember.
Jim - Just finished his last surveying class last week. Next up he will possibly take a PE prep class in the fall to get ready to take the exam in the spring. After that he will likely begin preparing for the surveying exam. It never seems to end. But, he will be a full fledged engineer next spring as long as he passes the PE.
Jenny (a.k.a me) - I finally got myself to the dentist for a cleaning only to find out I had an inactive abscess and a broken filling. Ended up repairing the filling and having the wisdom tooth pulled that had the abscess under it. Thank heavens for the Health Savings account we have now. Didn't have to spend so much as a dime out of pocket. Been doing a lot of running around for other things too. Jamie's IEP, signing up Corinne for Kindergarten and getting her shots, starting up Morgan with a bit of speech assistance, friends have been in to visit from Utah, made a cake for the Relief Society birthday activity, the usual preschool back and forth, and the list goes on.
Jamie - Jamie had his 1st trip to the orthodontist, he did quite well. It was recommended he get a tooth pulled that hadn't fallen out, but, the adult tooth was already in behind it. So, I finally got around to setting up the appt. only to turn around and cancel it because the tooth is finally loose. We are glad we should be able to avoid the tooth pulling and let the tooth fall out on it's own. He is almost done with 1st grade and seems to be finishing it out well. His last report card had all good marks on it. He has also been displaying some more independence of late by getting his own breakfast by himself every morning.
Corinne - Like I mentioned before, Miss Corinne has been gearing up for the big K. We signed her up in March and she got her shots at the end of April. She was a real champ and never shed a single tear, which is impressive for her. Her last day of preschool is the 27th of May. It will be nice not to have to make the drive to Woodstock 3 days a week next year.
Morgan - is now 21 months old. My baby is growing up so fast. He is so big he already looks like a 2 yr. old running around. He is cute and affectionate and frequently driving us crazy with his independent ways. He is at or above age level in every way but one. He just hasn't put much effort into speaking yet. He prefers to tug on us, scream at us to communicate. So, the Pediatrician recommended we work with the Infant and Toddler Connection. They handle speech services for the under 3 crowd. They work with children that have at least a 25% delay in 1 or more areas of development. Morgan's delay in expressive language qualified him for assistance. We have had a lady come work with him and I twice now. She should be coming twice a month for a while. We shall see if it helps or not. Rest assured we are not worried about him talking, we're just willing to give this a try and see if it will shorten the length of the frustrating can't communicate with words phase.
Jim - Just finished his last surveying class last week. Next up he will possibly take a PE prep class in the fall to get ready to take the exam in the spring. After that he will likely begin preparing for the surveying exam. It never seems to end. But, he will be a full fledged engineer next spring as long as he passes the PE.
Jenny (a.k.a me) - I finally got myself to the dentist for a cleaning only to find out I had an inactive abscess and a broken filling. Ended up repairing the filling and having the wisdom tooth pulled that had the abscess under it. Thank heavens for the Health Savings account we have now. Didn't have to spend so much as a dime out of pocket. Been doing a lot of running around for other things too. Jamie's IEP, signing up Corinne for Kindergarten and getting her shots, starting up Morgan with a bit of speech assistance, friends have been in to visit from Utah, made a cake for the Relief Society birthday activity, the usual preschool back and forth, and the list goes on.
Jamie - Jamie had his 1st trip to the orthodontist, he did quite well. It was recommended he get a tooth pulled that hadn't fallen out, but, the adult tooth was already in behind it. So, I finally got around to setting up the appt. only to turn around and cancel it because the tooth is finally loose. We are glad we should be able to avoid the tooth pulling and let the tooth fall out on it's own. He is almost done with 1st grade and seems to be finishing it out well. His last report card had all good marks on it. He has also been displaying some more independence of late by getting his own breakfast by himself every morning.
Corinne - Like I mentioned before, Miss Corinne has been gearing up for the big K. We signed her up in March and she got her shots at the end of April. She was a real champ and never shed a single tear, which is impressive for her. Her last day of preschool is the 27th of May. It will be nice not to have to make the drive to Woodstock 3 days a week next year.
Morgan - is now 21 months old. My baby is growing up so fast. He is so big he already looks like a 2 yr. old running around. He is cute and affectionate and frequently driving us crazy with his independent ways. He is at or above age level in every way but one. He just hasn't put much effort into speaking yet. He prefers to tug on us, scream at us to communicate. So, the Pediatrician recommended we work with the Infant and Toddler Connection. They handle speech services for the under 3 crowd. They work with children that have at least a 25% delay in 1 or more areas of development. Morgan's delay in expressive language qualified him for assistance. We have had a lady come work with him and I twice now. She should be coming twice a month for a while. We shall see if it helps or not. Rest assured we are not worried about him talking, we're just willing to give this a try and see if it will shorten the length of the frustrating can't communicate with words phase.
Friday, March 11, 2011
A published artist
So, a few months back my kids were begging me to let them send in a picture and win one of the monthly prizes in the magazines they get (or should I say mazagine, cause that is what Corinne still calls it). Anyway, I said, sure, why not, as long as they made the effort to draw a good picture and not scribble. So, they did and I sent them. After a while, we all forgot about them, that is until yesterday.
Yesterday, in the mail, there was a manila envelope. I wasn't expecting anything, not only was I surprised to see a package, but, even more surprised to see that it was addressed to Corinne. Sure enough, her's was one of the winning entries for this month's magazine issue. Inside the envelope was this month's Sparkle World magazine, in it a page with her picture on a page with the other winning pictures, and the Strawberry Shortcake book she won for being selected.
Needless to say, she was excited. We showed her Daddy, Grandma and Papa, and her teachers at preschool. She read and hugged her new book for over an hour after she got it. It was such a fun surprise! Never did I expect one of them would actually win.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Responses Are In
Ok, Ok, so, it seems some of you all are still checking out our site. Thanks for the responses. I will keep plucking along with it.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Update February 2011
I would like to take a poll. Does anyone read this blog. Or would you read this if I actually started posting to it?
In case anyone takes the time to stop and read this, thanks for stopping by and showing interest. Life keeps rolling along. I am trying to remember things that might be of interest since the last post. I guess most notable were the major holidays that occurred. Thanksgiving was spent at the Chamberlin house like usual. The Christmas season involved taking a trip to see the lights at the DC Temple (some pics of that are on the December picture page of our site), Jim and I hosted the annual couples Christmas party this year, and we managed to attend 1 or 2 other Christmas parties as well. Jim's Christmas bonus went to the purchase of his long desire projector, he has had us down there every night watching shows or playing games on it ever since. Christmas day started at home, we bought an Xbox this year to go with the projector, so, the kids were initially disappointed by so few presents under our tree, but, our big present instead of a bunch of little ones hasn't disappointed in the long run, they love the Xbox. And, their disappointment for quantity didn't last long that day anyway. After gifts were done at our house, we headed to Grandma and Papa's house. There are always more gifts at Grandma's house than we can keep up with. Jim and I have also been honing our furniture making skills, we have built a new cabinet since Christmas to hold the sub-woofer and all our movies. It also serves as a place to set the Kinect sensor when we play Xbox.
Last post, Jamie had just turned 7. He is getting so big. I think he will have outgrown his Mommy by the time he is 10 or 11. He still really likes school and riding the bus. However, he went through a rough patch starting around the beginning of November and lasting until around mid January where he was really pushing his boundaries at home and at school. His teachers started having difficulty getting him to do his work and he was becoming more and more disruptive to the class. It was getting so bad that Santa nearly didn't leave anything for him this time around.The worst day of it he actually became physical and, not only had to be picked up from school, but, also refused to leave the school and had to be escorted from the building by both vice principals. It was a relief that he finally started getting back on track not long after that. There is a strike system they use with him now where he loses recess if he doesn't get his work done before he reaches 3 strikes, if he makes it to 3 his work comes home to do and, if the work comes home, he loses Xbox time for the day. We are grateful that he has so many teachers and aides that are willing to keep working with him. As difficult as he is sometimes, it is still so inspiring to see all the hurdles he has overcome and how he doesn't seem to get resentful despite some difficult disciplining that we have had to put him through in overcoming those behavioral challenges.
Next, I move on to our Princess. Miss Corinne remains a cute and funny and overly dramatic little lady. The tears come at the drop of a hat sometimes, like the other day she became upset over being told to hold her head still so I could get the barrette in her hair. She still says some of the strangest things sometimes in her constant endeavors to communicate every random thought that enters her mind, a recent example is when she told me she wanted to do something "yesterday tomorrow". She is doing well in preschool and has recently been learning how to make her bed.
Last but not least, I shall mention a bit about how it is going with our Mr. Morgan. He has been growing by leaps and bounds, it is hard to believe that we could produce a kid that is probably going to be even taller than his brother. He is very cute and good natured for the most part, however, he also has a very stubborn side. His independent nature is both cute and frustrating for us. I shall offer up a few examples. Up until about a week ago, he adamently has refused to let us help feed him (what a mess that has made at feeding time). He has never let us help brush his teeth, and when we pushed the issue, he began to refuse to do it all together, so, now we try and get in a swipe or 2 where we can and let him do the rest and hope and pray he doesn't end up with lots of cavities. He always wants to do everything that us bigger people do, the high chair has been packed away because he wanted to be at the table, sippie cups are rarely used because they are not grown up enough (even if he is still too young to not spill), he insists on trying to talk/play with the real phones, he tries to hold the railing and walk up the stairs instead of crawling up, and he is very put out that we don't let him play Xbox with us (but, the line must be drawn somewhere, we are holding our ground on that one for now). He is really coming along with all the physical learning, we just wish wish he would put some of that drive of his into talking, no interest in that one yet, he understands much of what we say, just doesn't want to try and say it himself.
Ok, well, I think that catches things up sufficiently, please leave a response so I know that our blog has been seen, if not we just may be calling it quits for a while. Thanks.
In case anyone takes the time to stop and read this, thanks for stopping by and showing interest. Life keeps rolling along. I am trying to remember things that might be of interest since the last post. I guess most notable were the major holidays that occurred. Thanksgiving was spent at the Chamberlin house like usual. The Christmas season involved taking a trip to see the lights at the DC Temple (some pics of that are on the December picture page of our site), Jim and I hosted the annual couples Christmas party this year, and we managed to attend 1 or 2 other Christmas parties as well. Jim's Christmas bonus went to the purchase of his long desire projector, he has had us down there every night watching shows or playing games on it ever since. Christmas day started at home, we bought an Xbox this year to go with the projector, so, the kids were initially disappointed by so few presents under our tree, but, our big present instead of a bunch of little ones hasn't disappointed in the long run, they love the Xbox. And, their disappointment for quantity didn't last long that day anyway. After gifts were done at our house, we headed to Grandma and Papa's house. There are always more gifts at Grandma's house than we can keep up with. Jim and I have also been honing our furniture making skills, we have built a new cabinet since Christmas to hold the sub-woofer and all our movies. It also serves as a place to set the Kinect sensor when we play Xbox.
Last post, Jamie had just turned 7. He is getting so big. I think he will have outgrown his Mommy by the time he is 10 or 11. He still really likes school and riding the bus. However, he went through a rough patch starting around the beginning of November and lasting until around mid January where he was really pushing his boundaries at home and at school. His teachers started having difficulty getting him to do his work and he was becoming more and more disruptive to the class. It was getting so bad that Santa nearly didn't leave anything for him this time around.The worst day of it he actually became physical and, not only had to be picked up from school, but, also refused to leave the school and had to be escorted from the building by both vice principals. It was a relief that he finally started getting back on track not long after that. There is a strike system they use with him now where he loses recess if he doesn't get his work done before he reaches 3 strikes, if he makes it to 3 his work comes home to do and, if the work comes home, he loses Xbox time for the day. We are grateful that he has so many teachers and aides that are willing to keep working with him. As difficult as he is sometimes, it is still so inspiring to see all the hurdles he has overcome and how he doesn't seem to get resentful despite some difficult disciplining that we have had to put him through in overcoming those behavioral challenges.
Next, I move on to our Princess. Miss Corinne remains a cute and funny and overly dramatic little lady. The tears come at the drop of a hat sometimes, like the other day she became upset over being told to hold her head still so I could get the barrette in her hair. She still says some of the strangest things sometimes in her constant endeavors to communicate every random thought that enters her mind, a recent example is when she told me she wanted to do something "yesterday tomorrow". She is doing well in preschool and has recently been learning how to make her bed.
Last but not least, I shall mention a bit about how it is going with our Mr. Morgan. He has been growing by leaps and bounds, it is hard to believe that we could produce a kid that is probably going to be even taller than his brother. He is very cute and good natured for the most part, however, he also has a very stubborn side. His independent nature is both cute and frustrating for us. I shall offer up a few examples. Up until about a week ago, he adamently has refused to let us help feed him (what a mess that has made at feeding time). He has never let us help brush his teeth, and when we pushed the issue, he began to refuse to do it all together, so, now we try and get in a swipe or 2 where we can and let him do the rest and hope and pray he doesn't end up with lots of cavities. He always wants to do everything that us bigger people do, the high chair has been packed away because he wanted to be at the table, sippie cups are rarely used because they are not grown up enough (even if he is still too young to not spill), he insists on trying to talk/play with the real phones, he tries to hold the railing and walk up the stairs instead of crawling up, and he is very put out that we don't let him play Xbox with us (but, the line must be drawn somewhere, we are holding our ground on that one for now). He is really coming along with all the physical learning, we just wish wish he would put some of that drive of his into talking, no interest in that one yet, he understands much of what we say, just doesn't want to try and say it himself.
Ok, well, I think that catches things up sufficiently, please leave a response so I know that our blog has been seen, if not we just may be calling it quits for a while. Thanks.
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