New Casa…

I think it’s safe to say this is our new home.  Our offer has been accepted and the first inspection (second one soon b/c utilities weren’t on  at the time of the first!!) gave good results. Here’s the tour I can give with the photos I have…we were so overwhelmed we forgot to take pics of some rooms!!!

Here’s the front. Notice the plush rock yard!!  Several of the plants and bushes are actually very pretty, however with no drip system on right now most of them are dying and will certainly be dead by mid July!!

A closer look at the front.  The big windows will be the boy’s bedroom and the smaller window in the spare room.

Walk along the garage to the front door.  Two windows into the garage and one in the den.  Nine foot front door is green and matches the shutters, but they need repainted.  I’m thinking brown…

Ready for a wreath and a welcome sign!

Standing in the entry.  Large windows to the right.  Kitchen through the arched door way.  Arched “nook” is in the dining area.

Dining area with french doors leading out to a side “patio”.

Shot from the living area.  Front door to the left of this photo.  Stairs going up.  Den through archway.  Doors in the hall are to the garage, hall bath and storage area that goes under the stairs.

Closer look at hall.

Half bath downstairs.

   

Kitchen!! Yeah!!!  Doesn’t have as large of pantry I was hoping for but all the space under the island is storage!!  We have new appliances on order.  To the left is the living, dining, den area.  To the right is the largest patio doors I’ve ever seen that lead out to the back yard.

Closer look at the kitchen area.

This is what I call the undecided room.  It is connected to the kitchen.  The photo was taken standing by the bar.  I’d like to to be a smaller tv room with a loveseat, chair or something.  (above fireplace is wired for a tv) To have the kids in the same room with me while I’m cooking is ideal.  Matt thinks dining which the floor lends itself to with kids.

I know a fireplace in AZ!?!? :)

Now back through living and up the stairs…

At the top of the stairs is a loft which will probably be used as a second living room/playroom.

Standing in the second smaller loft area (scrapbooking space) taking a photo toward the top of the stairs and the loft pictured above.  Down the hall on the right is toward the front of the house and has a linen closet, laundry room, hall bath and 2 other bedrooms. To the left is Emma’s bedroom door and then further to the left is the master bed/bath.

The master.  Windows overlooking the backyard.  Arched door on the right leads to the master bath.

My only picture of the master bath!! HA!  That’s Matt and our realtor.  Matt is looking at his first home improvement project!!  EVERY.SINGLE.HOUSE down there has a little cheapy mirrored medicine cabinet right next to the monster vanity mirror!?!?!  It has a full set of cabinets under the vanity…plenty of space for medicine to NOT need the little inset cabinet!! Luckily the mirror is broke on the cabinet so it needs replacing!! ;)

The master bath has a double vanity, soaker tub, shower, walk in closet and potty room. There’s a window facing the back of the house and the south side of the house.

Overlooking the back yard from the master bedroom. Half pool - half “grass”.

View from the master.  Backyard, preserve lot behind us and the mountains are the “Stout Family Mountains” according to Emma!!

Spare room- only w/out a walk in closet...but has a nice BIG mirrored closet doors ;)

Boys’ room closet.

Boys room…hard to get an idea of the room with nothing in it…

Back downstairs.  Patio that runs the length of the house. Patio doors into kitchen.  Windows further down are in the “fireplace” room.

“Grassy” patch on one side of the yard.  Hopefully we can squeeze a swing set of some sort on there…

Matt’s requirement…

My requirement…a fence/gate with lock…

A view from the back corner of the yard.

Wellp that’s it until Matt is back out there next week and can get some pics of what we forgot! (laundry room, hall bath, garage, south side of the house, Emma’s room…)                      

Hurry Up and Wait!!

So the waiting game begins.  We found the house we think is for us.  However, it’s different when dealing with bank owned properties, so we won’t really know much until the middle of this week.

The house is THE house I found a few weeks back and wanted to buy sight unseen w/out Matt’s permission.  I knew I loved what I saw in pics, but Matt was unsure.  The first day of hunting took us to 4 houses and of those 4 it was our favorite.  So, in true important decision shopping (i.e. Wedding dress…usually one of the first ones you try on is THE one, but you torture yourself by trying on 20 more!) we looked at 15 more houses on Wednesday.

Thursday was left open for a visit to QT, testing some morning driving traffic and researching towns and schools. Thursday night we picked 2 houses to re-look at and 3 houses to see for the first time.  House one and two were busts.  House 4 was our #2 pick.  House 5 was one we hadn’t seen before and Matt liked…well maybe loved.  House 6…the final house of the day was THE house.  I’m proud to say w/out any major swaying on my part Matt loved it and decided is was just the house for us.  We discussed an offer and headed back to the hotel to wait for the realtor to email us the offer document. 

In the mean time we crunch numbers and I log on the computer.  On a whim decide to look at any new listings or updates on our realtor website.  GUESS-WHAT!?!?!  They had dropped the price on the home!! This kind of stuff never.ever.ever happens to us!!  I call the realtor so giddy he could probably not understand me.  THEN I log into my email and there is a response from a gal I met on a forum online a month ago.  I had emailed her about the very neighborhood THE house was in.  She had nothing but wonderful things to say about the neighborhood and wanted to know when we’d be moving to give us a proper welcome!! Wow!!! How very nice!

So the downer…the official offer will not be submitted until Monday AM.  Our realtor was worried if the listing realtor found out there was an offer he might tell perspective buyers of the weekend thus they would make their offer higher than the banks asking price and there fore higher than our offer.  Very common practice in the market in AZ.  Our realtor is confident that with us putting a higher % down and using conventional financing we would look like a more stable buyer than many others that might put offers on.  We can only hope!!

I’ll share pics and the story on why our realtor thought we were crazy to buy in that area once we officially have an offer accepted.  Let’s pray it is b/c Matt and I don’t agree on houses #2 or #3…pray for speed through all the buying process.  The bank wants 30 days to close…and that’s about ALL the time we got!!

As an update Mimi survived the stay with the kids…poor lady was put through the ringer I’m sure!!  I’m grateful that she as well as my in laws are here when we need a place for our kids and fur-kid!! Thanks!!!

So I remember…

Hoping I’m not breaking any copyright laws here.  I received this on an email and it really spoke to me in my marriage and as I’ve watched others in their marriage.  So, I post it here so I know where to find it when I need a reminder and maybe it will speak to you as well!

Let’s look at three steps to invite your husband into greater romance. Through these steps, you can  provide your husband the safety and encouragement he needs to set foot upon the path of a more romantic marriage.

1. Trust instead of control. Do you struggle with a desire to control those around you? Most women, including myself, wrestle with control issues. The desire to control our husbands is a result of sin. God told Eve in the Garden of Eden, “You will bear children with intense pain and suffering. And though your desire will be for your husband, he will be your master” (Genesis 3:16, emphasis added). The Hebrew word, tesuqah, translated here as desire, means the “desire to overcome or defeat another.”

To get a sense of whether you have control issues in your marriage, ask yourself: Do I correct my husband? Do I instruct my husband? Do I try to improve my husband?”

I have been guilty of all three!

When you correct your husband, you’re saying, “You didn’t do it right.” When you instruct your husband, you’re saying, “You don’t know how to do it.” When you try to improve your husband, you’re saying, “You didn’t do it well enough.”

We justify our actions by telling ourselves that we’re just trying to help, but our motive may have more to do with control than help. Control is often rooted in fear. Some women try to control their husbands out of fear that they won’t get what they want. Others fear their husbands’ actions will reflect badly upon them if they don’t step in to help. At the root of this fear is selfishness, and selfishness does not serve as an invitation to romance. Philippians 2:3 says, “Don’t be selfish; don’t live to make a good impression on others.”

What is there about the nature of control that blocks romance and intimacy? The best way to answer this question is with another question. Do you want to get close to a controlling person? No, of course not. It’s impossible to experience intimacy when controls are placed on you. Your husband feels the same way. It’s time to trust God and let go of control.

Controlling, instructing, and improving your husband carry him back to his boyhood, and little boys do not walk the path of romance. Trusting your husband will invite him to romance.

2. Respect instead of demean. In my twenties, whenever I blew out my birthday candles, I wished for the same thing: I wanted to respect my husband more. I had read it in the Bible, which instructs each husband to “love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband” (Ephesians 5:33). Unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy any consistency on this point. While the candle smoke wafted upward, I sat back, crossed my arms, and waited for Tom to do something that I could fully respect.

What was wrong? I thought I needed Tom to inspire me to take the action of respect. Instead, I needed to obey God and take the first step toward respect. It has been said that it is easier to act yourself into a new way of thinking than to think yourself into a new way of acting. We would be wise to adopt Nike’s motto and “Just do it!”

We live on a small farm, and the term “pecking order” has taken on new meaning for me since we added chickens to our stock. We observed that the dominant chickens chose a chicken to chase and peck. Every time she went near the feeder, they chased her all over the coop—keeping her from the food she needed for survival.

It didn’t take long to determine which chicken was at the bottom of the pecking order. It was the one with missing feathers and patches of puffy, bloody skin. When one of our chickens looked like this, it was only a matter of time before we found her dead on the floor of the coop.

Ever hear the term “hen-pecked husband”? A hen-pecked husband is usually at the bottom of the pecking order in the home. When you emasculate your husband to this condition, you reduce him to a state that is no longer respectable. You have become your own worst enemy because you truly want a respectable husband. Once again, you thought you were helping elevate your husband to higher and higher levels of manhood, but, in reality, you were diminishing him. His place is now at the bottom of the pecking order of your home, and he isn’t able to get what he needs for survival: respect.

What does respect have to do with romance? When a man is confident in your opinion of him, he can relax with you. He can drop his walls and let you in. He knows that with you, he is safe. He will be valued and respected. And where there is safety, romance can grow.

3. Appreciate instead of criticize. It is often easier to be dissatisfied instead of appreciative. When stressed, do you focus on appreciation or dissatisfaction? Your choice could make the difference between romance and remorse.

What does your husband do (or not do) that causes you disdain? Is it his paycheck?  Is it how he performs tasks for you? Is it what he gives you or how he surprises you?

If a man feels unappreciated—if he feels your continual dissatisfaction—he may give up trying to please you and look for other opportunities that will satisfy his need for appreciation. Are you willing to risk this when the desire of most good men is to satisfy their wives?

As most women have experienced, the male ego is fragile. Your husband may come off with bravado, but inside he’s looking for your affirmation and appreciation. Most men can’t live without it and will seek validation wherever they can find it. Let your words of appreciation be something your husband can rely on.

Keep a running list of his positive traits and actions. It will help you in those moments when you are annoyed with, irritated by, or wanting to blame your husband; simply running through that list will remind you how much more there is to him than his aggravating tendency to come home late.

Focusing on the negatives will leave you dissatisfied. Appreciating your man will invite him to romance.

Adapted from Beautiful Womanhood by Sandy Ralya. Published by Creekside Publishing. Copyright ©2009 by Beautiful Womanhood. Used with permission.

Kindergarten Program

**I found this in my blog drafts…forgot to hit publish, so this is from May 17th!!**

Emma’s school held an end of the year Kindergarten program last week.  She was excited for weeks learning the songs and singing parts of them for me.  We were lucky to get front row seats…although I think we were a bit close for Emma’s taste! :)

They started with the longest song ever…”Who Let the “A” out a, a, a Who Let the “B” out b, b, b, Who Let the “C” out c, c, c, Who Let the …. You’ve got the idea…Emma was the “Z” :)

Here’s some video of her 2 favorite songs…

This one she said would make me cry…for some reason the sound and video are off…

 

This was one Emma loved to perform…

I feel so sad her first year is over.  I don’t feel I took advantage of the time.  I have so many little learning games and activities that she literally out grew this year!! YIKES! I was warned time flies once they hit school years!

Arizona

Hey kiddos (& anyone else that cares what we’re up to in AZ)!!  Here’s what mommy & daddy have been doing all week…

Flying over the Kansas clouds…so pretty and puffy! Daddy had the window seat!!

Kansas from the sky…

The airline we got on in Colorado puts a picture of an animal on each of their planes…

We got a cheetah plane!!!  On that plane was a off duty pilot from Phoenix that was so nice and filled us in on where to live/not to live and shared some great places to eat!!

Flying over the snowy mountains of Colorado… 

Past the mountains of Colorado…flying over the mountains was much easier than driving through them!!

Look at the fields in Colorado!!  They are in the shape of circles!!

Approaching the airport in Phoenix.  Here’s one of the first mountains.  From the air they look like big piles of dirt that have been swept together.

These are cacti!!!  So strange to drive down the road and see them!  Don’t touch!! Ouch!!

This is the view from our hotel.  We’re on the top floor!!

Here’s where we’re staying…since I know you LOVE hotels!!  The arrow shows our room! Daddy will save the key for your collection!

Here’s when you know you’re in the middle of the desert.  Mrs. GPS didn’t even know what to tell us…she couldn’t even find the roads!!

Daddy turned around b/c all we could see was dirt and weeds…and we NEEDED gas!!

We were excited in our driving to see a tractor!! Reminded us of Kansas!  There’s actually more fields here than we ever imagined!!

Here’s a picture of Daddy’s new work place.  To the right of the picture is a HUGE corn field!!  He has pretty view of the field and mountains from his office!

Outside our hotel (allll week) has been a car show of Studebaker cars.  OOOOLLLLD ones, sporty ones, colorful ones, not so fixed up ones and even a golf cart that looked like one.  I think Uncle Adam and Papa would have had fun looking.  More and more cars (and old people ;) ) show up each day. This was Daddy’s favorite.

 

Tonight there was also a biker rally near the hotel in West Park I think it’s called.  A shopping & eating area in walking distance from the hotel. We went to see a movie.  Mommy actually got to pick the movie….and I must admit it wasn’t very good!

 

There was a big sign advertising the new movie we need to see soon…thought Aidan would like to see it! :)

 

Tomorrow we revisit these 2 houses and look at 3 other new ones.  Then it’s decision day to figure out where we will live!!

This one is in a neat neighborhood with a school for you near by!  The neighbors next door have 2 kids and a baby on the way!!  This one has the space we need…an amazing mountain view in the back…and well…some other special things in the back yard you guys will LOVE.  Not the best picture to show the huge front door and porch…

There’s also this one.  Very, very nice on the inside.  Not as great of view…and noting in the backyard until daddy gets here and works his magic…

Not sure about the other 3….2 are in areas we’ve not looked at yet.  Prayers and prayers that we chose the right house.

We miss you very, VERY badly!! I hope you are all doing well for Mimi!!  She’s probably tuckered out by now so take it easy on her!  Can’t wait to see you all on Sunday morning!!  Take care and love you bunches!!

9 months of change

I never imagined that just 9 short months after having Isaac and starting Emma in Kindergarten that on her last day of school we’d be listing our house to sell in preparation for a move!! Crazy change that only God could have done in my heart to bring us where we are!!

Below is my big girl on her first and last day of Kindergarten!!  Not a lot of change physically except a little bit of baby cheeks are gone, but TONS of change in her “personality”.  She knows more little recess rhymes and chants to jump rope or “patty-cake” to.  She is reading.  She learned some songs…that we’d rather her not know.  Escaped Kindergarten w/out Santa, Tooth Fairy, and Easter Bunny being exposed and no learning of any “4 letter words”.  She’s a total teacher pleaser and LOVED her two teachers- AM Ms. Beckwith and PM Ms. Brookes.  She never pulled a card even once…well there was this one time, but it didn’t go on her “record”. When I asked her last night what her favorite part of school was I was NOT surprised when she said “when we did arts and crafts”.  That’s my Ms. artsy Emma!

It is a bit sad to think she will be leaving her little friends behind.  Avery in particular.  They are close little friends!  They were all the other knew when starting school and enjoyed their time together at birthdays, play dates and recess.  It was a typical little girl relationship that was filled with  a bit of “love/hate”.  Drama city.  I often wondered what Avery’s mother and I would be in for 10 years down the road.  She’s been very brave (more brave than I!) about the move and making new friends!!  We’re looking hard to find a great school!

To think that on her first day of Kindergarten Isaac looked like this…

and is now doing THIS… (lighting not good…yes it’s Emma reading in the background!)

You blink and nine months are gone, then a year, then two years and next thing you know we’ll be getting her cap and gown…the graduation kind…not THE gown…Matt can’t handle discussing that!! :)

Now to see what the next 9 months hold…

FORevaaaaaaa

That’s how long it’s been since I updated my blog.  I go and dump earth shattering news and then vanish!!  And the title also shares with you how long it seems to take to get info and get "the ball rolling”.  So, here’s what I’ve been up to…

- MOPS: has ended.  My “reign” as MOPS coordinator has come to an end.  It’s very sad for me.  I truly believe in the ministry and have enjoyed meeting moms and watching them grow. BUT I’m SUPER excited that God has provided many new and willing leaders to take over!

-Bible Study:  My late Tues night study grew from like 5 of us to almost 30!! Crazy.  I hadn’t planned on attending, but I was convinced by 2 friends that I MUST do the study!  I had to be convinced as the 6 week study was starting about 6 weeks ago as my world was crumbling.  Boy am I glad I did!  I must admit the homework I’ve not given as much time to, but the videos are amazing and speak to me each week.

-Matt’s last board meeting:  Matt’s roles in the church have come to an abrupt end.  There was one short month between our accepting the job and he leaving each week for training.

- I’ve struggled watching friends and family I love struggle with the emotions our decision has surfaced.  This has been a real lesson in how much our friends love us and accepting our family can be!! It’s sad that it’s in my coming absence that I now see the deep importance of time spend with family and friends.

- I apologize for my lack of updates on all “this”.  I’ve hesitated so many times posting updates because it could be very confusing to the reader…one day I’m on top the world seeing God’s hand all over this…and then there’s other days where I’m shocked, scared and fearful and blinded to any purpose or positive effects this could possible hold. But most importantly even in my deepest moments of fear I imagine/dream of telling Matt to stop the entire process and retract his acceptance of the job…but strangely enough that just doesn’t feel right.

- I’ve apologizing to Matt for my up and downs…wishing I was that wife he could say things about like “she’s handled it with such ease, she’s been super supportive and is very excited, her lack of stress makes this easier for me, and she’s so willing to deal with the relo details like it’s nothing!”

-Our little Kindergartner had her end of the year program.  She has 2 1/2 days left.  Where did the year go?  I’m not old enough to have a 1st grader!?!?!?

-Starting May 19th Matt is gone more than he’s home it seems.  What training he’s been to has him pumped up and ready to start.   He’s had nothing but positive comments about not only the job, but the people he’s working/training with.

-We finally have our AZ trip scheduled.  My mom has been gracious or crazy enough to take on our kiddos.  We’re hoping the 4 1/2 days spent in AZ will result in us finding our future home!  We I have been doing LOTS of looking online and have a realtor working with us now too.

-The house is close to hitting the market later this week.  My poor mother will probably bear the brunt of showings as she will be here the week following being listed!! Yikes! So, do you know anyone looking for a 4 bdrm house set up for kiddos!!???

- Hope to spend some of my down time on our AZ trip to prep for VBS!!  I’m in charge of the preschool program and have lots of ideas I need to get started on!!

- Another end for me is closing my daycare this week.  I am super busy this week so I think that will help me be distracted from the reality of that!  I’ve been so blessed in my 5 years of caring for kiddos!  My oldest child in my care will enter Kind. in the fall…I’ve had her since she was 9 months old.  All the others (3,2, 1.5) I’ve had since birth!  It also brings on the reality that we are now a single income family.  I’ve NEVER not worked in our married life and always worked one job with babysitting on the side since I was…oh I have no idea….throwing a newspaper, babysitting, working at the nursing home, PCA in college, and then my dream of teaching.

So the ball is rolling.  First inspector today, another on Wednesday, appraiser or 2 later this week.  First legal docs signed and sent in.  More coming tomorrow.  Lots of little things to do and one biggie to finish house painting!! Should pick realtor this week and get a sign in the yard!! Yeah!!!

9 Months & 3 Years

NINE MONTHS-

Stats- 25 lbs 3 oz.

.: What You’re Wearing- 18 months in separates, 24 if a one piece outfit, shoes not sure w/ your fat little foot!

.: Firsts- crawling everywhere FAST, pulling up, walking along furniture and even standing alone for short times, fishing trip, MO trip to see Great Papa Brennan.

.: From Head To Toe- your hair has grown so much in the last month and the humidity makes the curls even better!  Daddy calls it hippy hair and demands a cut…but Mama & Gma say no! Has one tooth and working hard on the other. Got some allergies & goopy eye.

.: Loves- laughing, getting into the cabinet with books, push cars back and forth, following mama, magnets on the fridge, swinging, racing to the stairs before the gate is put up, climbing,

.: Dislikes- all the falls involved in trying to be mobile, sleeping long periods of time

.: Eating- same as before although you’ve been eating a bit less due to allergies I think, bottle every 4-5 hours, cereal and fruit for bfast, jar of veggie & fruit for lunch and supper, likes puffs, cheerios, biter biscuits, wagon wheels, etc

.: Sleeping- goes to sleep about 8 or 9, wakes about 11 goes back down quick, eats about 1:30 and sleeps until 7ish

Going to miss these curls…not sure the dry AZ weather will make his hair like this…

It was a super looong month.  So many events, so many changes…it hit me the other day there will be only one more “month” post before we’ll be on our way west :(  One thing is certain in the business of the next 6 weeks…you’ll continue to grow, change and probably start walking! Yikes!

THREE YEARS-

Hard to believe our “big guy” is a big 3 year old! I look at this picture and see how much he has thinned in the face and kinda lost that “baby look or baby face”.  Where did it go?  When did that disappear and how did I missed it!?!?!  We had a great weekend celebrating his birthday.  Started the weekend in Topeka/Melvern celebrating with the Brennan and Burnett fams.  After church today we celebrated at home with Matt’s family. 

He was spoiled with lots of Cars, Dragons, Diego & “Starblightyear” which translates to Buz0zlight year.  Movies, PJS,  cars, trucks, jeeps, Buzzlight year jet pack & dart gun, Big wheel bicycle, little people dinosaurs to add to our collection of Little People, stuffed Buzz, kite & bubbles!!  Lots of fun to keep him busy!

Even last week if you asked him how old he was he’d say “four”.  I worked on showing 3 with his fingers…he got frustrated and when I’d ask how old he was he’d hold his hand toward me and say…”you do it mommy!”

My Day

Mother’s day that is.  My one goal this year was to get pictures- I’m only talking snapshots here- of me with my kids.  I had been reviewing pictures to submit for a slideshow at church the week prior and realized I have like NO pictures of me and my kids, my mom or MIL with my kids!!?!?!?  Tons of daddy & grandpa pics!  Time for the men to get behind the cameras!! :)

Well I failed at that one mission.  It was a mad dash to get out the door to church for baby dedication…our church does it each year on Mother’s Day.  This year was Isaac’s turn.  Went to lunch after church and the kids were undressing and changing before it occurred to me we had not taken pictures!!! GRR!

The MIL and I headed to Newton Outlet.  She had something to exchange and I’m always up to a Carter’s shopping trip.  I got outfits for the boy’s 9 month & 3 year pics we’ll have next week.  Got a nightgown for Emma b/c that’s all they have in her size :(  I love Carters…hate that most of the options for her size are “mini” teenage looks.

I was surprised with these from the kids…

Hope everyone had a very Happy Mother’s day where you took a moment to appreciate the mother’s in your life and those little blessings that call us mommy!