...the house.

So I've been neglecting to tell my blog world about...the house. What house? Well we put an offer on a house way back in January. Can it really have been that long ago? That's why I haven't said anything yet, it's a long process. The home was listed as a short sale, along with just about every other house on the market right now. We still don't know if we're going to get it but since I think about it night and day I figured it was time to blog about it. I'm sorry I haven't shared my not so secret secret with you yet but I had my reasons.
You know when you were young and you were in a new relationship and you really liked the guy? Yet you didn't want to admit how much you liked the guy because it would hurt much more if you broke up? That's how I feel about this house. We didn't want to get our hopes up because we don't want to be crushed if we don't get it. It's to late to protect ourselves though...we're in love. I have already mentally decorated it and Alan has already mentally remodeled it. Yes, it will need extensive remodeling! Just how we like them.
Lot's of friends and family are in on our secret now. They seem as excited as we are. I get asked every day by someone if I've heard any news on the house yet. In two months there hasn't been much news to tell. We have jumped our first few hurdles though. The first being that our offer beat out the other offer that was on the table and the sellers took the home off the market. Meaning? No one else has a chance to buy it out from under us. Second hurdle, the home was going into foreclosure. It has an auction date set for the middle of March. We were biting our nails and saying our prayers that the bank would put the auction on hold to consider our offer. They put the auction on hold with only a few days to spare...phewwww. The next auction date was set for April 3rd. So now we wait for the bank to do an appraisal and decided if it's in their best interest to sell the home to us (and loose $125,000) or to continue with the foreclosure and try to recoup their money. So we sit and we wait...
Why would we put ourselves through all this? Because, we're in love. The house may be ugly right now but we can see the beauty behind the ugly. Our own personal Johnny Lingo I guess, it's our 10 cow house. It's 5 bedrooms and a bonus room, 2,700+ sq ft and it sits on a level 1.5 acres. That is more than we have hoped for since moving back from Georgia. We didn't think we would ever be able to have a home big enough to fit our family, let alone on land. So we are willing to wait as long as it takes, but if we don't get it...I promise my heart will be broken. Without further ado here is the "dirty house" as Tate calls it.

We plan to add an addition to the left side of the house which will be a large family room.

I will kick my kids out this door and into this yard never to be seen again...or until dinner time anyway.

The kitchen which will be completely redone and actually moved to the room behind it.

Bonus room. You can tell by looking at Tanner that there is no heat in the house.

Top of the stairs.

This will be Taylor's room, Tanners is identical.

So it's obviously dated and in need of some tender loving care. I can't think of anyone better to do the job than Alan and I. Now that the cat is out of the bag, I'll keep you "posted" on any new developments. If we don't get it you can cry a river with me.

Are You Kidding Me???!!!

Seriously...It's March 9th and we live in western Washington. Why on earth did we wake up to this?




Thankfully the kids went to school...on time. They didn't believe me when I told them school wasn't canceled. They really do think I'm an idiot. You should hear the way they question me..."Mom I really think you should check again, there's no way we have school today". 10 minutes later..."are you sure you checked the right website?"...10 more minutes "I just can't believe it, why would we have school, look outside". All of this is said with an "I know better than you" attitude. Oh the joys of motherhood. I've made it through 31 years just to be informed how dumb I am by an 8 and 10 year old!
By the way, the dog was hilarious out there this morning. He was making snowballs with his nose and then attacking them. He would run and jump off the deck so he could land in the piles of snow. SO CUTE!

Back to the 80's...

It was Alan and my turn to go back in time to the 80's. Our good friend Jake turned 30 and his wife threw a surprise 80's birthday party for him. It was at the Super Jump Party Zone which was hysterical. No kids, just a bunch of crazy looking grown ups playing for hours. I was the designated picture taker for the night so I spent most of the time behind the lens. Alan on the other hand spent the night running obstacle courses, boxing and wresting with anyone who was brave enough to take him on. He is a big, crazy fool! Sarah, Jake's wife said she was glad that Alan came because he was the entertainment for the night. Some of you may have had the opportunity to see Alan at his best (craziest) and some of you have not yet had that experience. I can promise you it is a sight to see!!! I was red faced with embarrassment more than once last night. He's just such a big kid at heart, he plays hard, has energy to spare, no shame, he's a daredevil and he loves to tease. Anyway, we had a great time. Happy Birthday Jake, we love you!!! Sarah, I'm sorry about the birthday present, I had nothing to do with it.

Rubber Ducky...

This is Lula's silly face, she thinks she's pretty funny. Try making this face and breathing in and out really load and you'll get the idea.

I know I post millions of pictures of Tallula but can you really blame me? She's so stinken cute. I tried my hardest to resist the urge to bust out my camera at bathtime today but I couldn't stop myself. I'm sorry, I have an obsession...Lula and my camera. It's a combination you'll just have to endure if you plan to keep stocking my blog.