Visiting Our (hopefully) Future Home

I contacted our realtor this week requesting to go through the home we've been patiently waiting two months for.

This was brought on partly because I was vacuuming my sister's house with my sister's vacuum and I actually had the thought go through my head "I miss my vacuum."

Pathetic, right?!?

I figured that was a sign that I was losing a bit of hope.

Also, the girls have been a little extra emotional lately, and I was hoping to get them excited.

So yesterday, we went to meet our realtor at "our home". On the way there, he called and said he was running late.

We decided to visit the playground just down the street. It'll be nice having it so close.

So we got in 20 minutes late and walked into the home where a lady was sitting in her family room with her 3 year old daughter and big black ugly dog saying "You have 10 minutes."

What a bummer!

We felt like we had to whisper when we wanted to get the kids excited. We had to rush when we wanted the kids to soak it all in and realize what we were waiting for.

I wanted to visualize my life there, with my children there, with my stuff there.

Silly, probably ... but that's what my mind needed.

And I didn't get it.

I want to see it again. I don't want to be rushed.  I want to visualize paint colors. I want to visualize furniture placement. I want to open drawers to see how much space I'll have. I want the kids to be able to pick out their rooms.

But now I'll have to wait for the third party inspection.

It could be a week away . . . or months away, there is no way to know.

And I really, really want to know.

It was disappointing to see how much dirtier the house was this time.

I know that my mind was disappointed because I dreamt that I hired SteamMagic to clean the carpets before we moved in. That's all I remember of the dream, but I think a little "MerryMaids" would also be needed. (The maid will be me.)

It was nice to see neighbors out, pool party a couple of houses down, and a couple girls around Zoe's age. The house was still huge, with lots of storage, big rooms and walk-in closets everywhere. There was a pantry and a toy room and a first floor laundry and a breakfast bar. There was a master bath and a 3 season porch and a deck and huge ceilings in the basement. There was a 3 car garage and a fireplace and lots of cabinets in the kitchen.

Don't get me wrong, I am still very excited about this house.

But, you know when you want something to go a certain way and you've thought about how it's going to go . . . and it doesn't . . . it disappointing.

It is still the home I dream about living in . . . someday.

The highlights came from Cameron once again. I think it's the age, because he understands but not fully.

When we got to the house, the dog was barking inside and he said "We get a dog!" We got to the backyard and he said "Swingset!" (but it wasn't in our yard) And then he took a good look at the backyard and said "No Pool!  :(  "  (our old pool will definitely be missed)

The hard part about this whole thing, the house may never be ours. The bank could say no. Something could go wrong with the paperwork. We could be held in limbo longer than we are willing to wait.

I am still hoping. And hoping something will happen soon . . . . . . . .

Audrey Catch-up

So . . . since we've last talked

Audrey turned 8.

We didn't get to have our big poolside party bash that was typical for her August birthday.

So I made it up to her with 3 homemade ice cream cakes  :)

Of course, there were still presents . . . 

Alice in Wonderland tote (she LOVES the movie!!!)

A book that she can design her own looks (because now she wants to be a fashion designer :)

And a small comment "I want curly hair like the neighbors" got her these curlers . . .

. . . and turns out, she LOVES the curls  :)

We also went to Great America, minus the twins.

Last year, Audrey was pretty timid about what she would ride on. 

This year, she rode the Wizzer! (as did Cameron) Audrey loved it. Didn't really question it until she was seatbelted into my lap. "Is it faster then the little rollercoasters?" "Yes" "A lot faster?" " . . . yes" "Does it go upsidedown?" "No" "Promise?" "Yes" "Okay . . ."

I talked her through it alittle. I let her know what to expect. And she giggled through the whole ride  :)

Cameron on the other hand, didn't cry or anything, but wasn't too happy that we took him on it.

We kind of did the same thing to him on the Log Run.

Last year, Audrey pleaded with KC to let her off as they reached the top, which KC replied, "This is the only way off" as they plummeted down the slide and got drenched in the big splash.

She again LOVE it, but Cam "I don't like the fast part where the water splashed in my face".

But again, he had no tears . . . he needs to learn to question and not trust his parents so willingly . . . he he!!!

I did completely destroy my camera during the day, but it wasn't dropped . . . it was submerged in Root Beer. Don't ask. I will be upgrading soon.

The most exciting moment of the day was when Audrey backed up to the height requirements for the swings and was tall enough. She's been waiting to ride the swings for a couple of heartbreaking years now  :)

And these are just a few of the pictures that show what a sweetheart Audrey is to Cameron.

She can complain about him all she wants . . . but that is love  :)

I just wanted to end this by sharing Audrey's first day of school facts. I always love looking at these.

First off, the poor kid has no idea what her address is, or phone number. I should teach her it, even if it is temporary.

My Favorite Things:

Book: Dr. Suess

Food: Taco, nodles, pears

TV Show: Ant Farm

Game: Sorry

Color: Blue

Animal: Hippo

My Collections: Rocks

What I like to do inside: games

What I like to do outside: play with friends

How I am different from other people: I have a big family

What I want to do when I grow up: teacher

The most special thing about me: I can do silly things

Words That Best Describe Me: great, funny, fantastic, fun, creative, cool, nice, pretty, silly, awesome

Things I Hope to Learn This Year: sience and math

Things I'm Most Proud of: I have 3 brothers and 1 sister. I have a big family.

I love that she knows she's pretty and silly and nice and awesome. It's great to see that she thinks highly of herself  :)  I love that everyone probably put dogs, cats and birds as their favorite animals, and she loves her hippos :) And what a relief that she is proud of her big family, which is extra big these days!

This kid makes me smile. I LOVE YOU AUDREY  :)

A New Beginning :)

The girls made it through their first half day of school  :)

Audrey had a few emotional "episodes".  In the past week she's had many upset stomachs, which is completely normal for her at the beginning of a school year. This year I was actually expecting much worse, but I think a little maturity has crept into my baby girl.

There were tears this morning, but they were short lived. And the hair that was bothering her, which could have quickly become a total meltdown, was fixed by a couple of Olivia's clips that matched her outfit perfectly  :)

They both love the curlers, which of course they both needed put in their hair for their first day.

A girl has to look her best, and this morning, they were both beautiful  :)

I did get a little attitude from my big 5th grader, but it didn't stop me, I just kept taking pictures and demanding a nicer smile! He He  :)

Even daddy had a little fun with the pictures.

 What a goofball!

 A kid at heart ... I should have sent him to school with them  :)

New faces along with the new year. These are a couple of the new neighbors that have be-friended the girls.

 I was really worried about this part. Here I thought that this would be the part someone had to peel Audrey off one of my legs ... but what is that?!? Audrey's competitive nature came out instead of fear, and she was the first on the bus  :)

 I've never had a bus pull away from me with my children on it before.  All I was hoping for was smiling faces when that same bus returned my children.

Yay!!! Girls came home happy. Audrey made a new friend "Catherine" and Zoe made a new friend "the tall blonde girl". LOL!

Here's to a new school, new friends and new experiences!

By in way, if you are wondering ... I didn't get them in the new neighborhood school, but it's okay, we'll figure that one out when we get our new home ... nothing new on the house either, just a holding pattern .... yes, it totally sucks but we can't do anything to make them hurry up  :(   All we can do is pray that someone stumbles across our papers at the banks and decides to take a look at them .......