Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Paul was happy to leave the snowy winters of Colorado but I really like snow. Especially December snow. We had our first snow storm of the season this weekend. (Paul was not able to escape completely; we get a few snow storms in the winter)
So, here is what happened....

• hot chocolate consumed
• sledding occurred
• movie watching commenced
• and dancing around the Christmas tree ensued

Happy Thanksgiving!

Fall has come and gone. I can't believe it is Thanksgiving already. We have a lot to be thankful for around here. We are very blessed and are grateful for all of our family and friends this time of year. If you notice in my post below the dining room is ready for guests....who wants to eat turkey with us next year?

The picture is from the fall foliage in my backyard.

Other things my peeps have been up to

We have stopped unpacking for a couple of special occasions..... Take a look.
And yes, those are power tools that Jack and Lily use to carve pumpkins. We did find that toad in our front yard. High brown belts were awarded!

Moving in update....

You probably thought that we had disappeared in the sea of boxes in our garage. But not to worry! We have conquered and the garage is now ready for parking. We are still in the process of getting settled but since I posted the before pictures quite some time ago I thought I would post some almost after pictures. A BIG thanks to Paul's parents who thought they were coming to vacation and ended up participating in our work-camp. And you thought I was joking when I asked for volunteers.

A moving update for anyone wishing they could move and wants to live vicariously through me

We unloaded on Sat. night and after our last box was out of truck all we had to do was go back to our rental to pick up Paul's truck. We picked up a pizza along the way and headed over. Much to our dismay my car died while backing out of the driveway. And when I say died I mean dead!! So, we were stuck in the car for 2 hours waiting for a tow. Luckily we had some pizza or it could have been mutiny from our kids.

We unpacked the kitchen first to get ready for our new appliances. We were so excited to get back to normal eating. Jack was begging me for a casserole after weeks of sandwiches. Well, the oven has a defective part and will take a week to get it fixed. But everything else works so life in the kitchen is getting normal.

The main floor of the house was painted on Sat. and the rest will be done next Sat. The colors came out great. But the carpet will not arrive until Oct. 30th so we have not brought in the majority of our furniture yet. Just bare bones around here.

Here are some promised pics of the BEFORE condition of the house. Just try to see potential....
I will post some more when we have some progress.

Jack and Lily seem to be adjusting well to their new school. Jack is in a class with 14 boys and 7 girls so he is fitting in just fine. Lily's complaint the first day was that the girls were fighting over who could be her best friend. They have early morning clubs at school: jogging, jumping rope and cup stacking. So, they are out the door by 7:10 a.m. That has been an adjustment for me! I am used to school starting at 9:00.

All in all we are very blessed.

We are in.

We moved in on Friday. We have enlisted the kids in a kiddie work camp washing down doors, baseboards and cupboards. We have some work ahead of us but it is feeling more like home all the time. I am in love with the lot and the woods in the back yard. If I can find the camera in the sea of boxes I will definitely post some.
If anybody has the itch to paint rooms, pull up carpet, organize storage give me a call. You are more than welcome around here.

Ladies and Gentlemen..... we have a winner!

So, after many months of looking we have found a house. We are just waiting on a couple of paperwork issues and then we will close.
It has been a long process that has reminded me a lot of dating. We have gone on more first dates than I can count (showings), kissed a couple (put in contracts), had a crush that never went anywhere (short sale), a little heartache over a break-up (lost a bidding war) but in the end I hope we have found our prince. This particular prince still needs some TLC so I will post some before and after pics later. Wish us luck.