My 100th Blog!!!

I noticed that one of my blogging friends just celebrated her 100th blog not too long ago, so I had to check out where I was at . . . 98

I should have reached 100 a while ago, but life just isn't normal. (Update at the end of this blog)

Happy, fun stuff first!!!

The boys and I have been enjoying the fall weather ... I'm just hoping that it sticks around for a while  :)

Walks are getting a lot easier. I really don't make him, he insists!

It takes a lot longer to get there, not because Emmitt walks slowly. It's because he has to stop and talk about everything he sees.

On this trip he was interested in the dry leaves falling to the ground, the ants walking across the sidewalk, the mulch around the base of the tree, the geese flying through the sky . . . . and the dog poop.

I love it, but also try to keep him moving along, because his big brother is on the bike way ahead.

He is getting pretty brave. I'm thinking it's time to try without training wheels ... maybe we'll give it a try before the snow starts falling.

The girls wanted to do some baking this weekend. We started off making pear bread. May sound like a strange choice, but when given nearly 100 pears that are all ripening at the same time ... now it's just the matter of using them before they go bad.

I made one loaf this week to try out the recipe and everyone devoured it.

So we made 6 more loaves this weekend. Here's the recipe if you are interested. (Pear bread link)

Notice ..... they were done before the Packer game started .....  yes, that was planned  :)

Zoe has been begging to make Cake Pops for months.

Today was the day!!! I don't have a recipe, it's so easy  :)

First make any kind of cake you want. (If you make fancy shaped cakes for your kids birthday parties, this is what you can do with all the extra pieces)

I don't have a picture of the crumbing part ... but you crumble the entire cake into crumbs.

Then add frosting until it's the consistency of play dough.

Roll it up into balls (make sure that they are compact so they don't fall apart, some of ours did)

Place in freezer for 15 minutes, but you don't want them to freeze ... if you need more time you can put them in the fridge.

 Dip lollipop stick into melted Candy Melts about a half inch and push into cake ball half way, don't push all the way through.

Dip and rock the cake pop in Candy Melts. Spin and tap slightly to remove extra chocolate. DO NOT SPIN OR STIR WHILE IN THE MELTS! The Cake pop will come right off the stick. (We lost a few ..... not to worry, they were eaten, still taste good minus the stick) Also, notice that we have chocolate, we like the baking chocolate chips, not fans of the Candy Melts, but the Candy Melts harden fast and come in lots of pretty colors.

 Yes, I see those fingers in her mouth. She washed her hands at least 10 times during this process. I think it's instinct for a child to lick chocolate off their fingers ..... really, can you blame her  :)

Then pass the coated pop off you your pushy assistant!

 And she will add the sprinkles  :)

And then admire them while they harden.

The best part, they are old enough to clean up after themselves after the fun is done. And I wasn't willing to help, the Packer game had already started......

 It'll take us a little bit of practice to make them look like the ones in the magazines. But trust me .... they taste just as good  :)

All in all . . . . great weekend.

GO BREWERS, GO BADGERS, GO PACKERS AND GO BREWERS AGAIN!!! 

What a great weekend to be a fan  :)

Now the depressing update. We are trying to buy a short sale house. We are 3 months into the process. The house we are trying to buy is owned by a couple that are going through a divorce. One of them has just filed bankruptcy. So now the house may have to go through bankruptcy courts before it can be sold. We are waiting to hear. But we are actively looking for a different property again. Thinking our best option now is to rent and maybe wait out the process on this house . . . or a different one.

I'm still hoping, but I want to be home for the holidays. Just have to find a home . . . . .

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 . . . . . . . .