31 Days and Counting

I have finally begun the official countdown to closing day. It seems like the time has just crawled by since we sold our house on January 20 and bought the new one on January 24. We are anxiously waiting to get settled into our new home. I am including some pictures we took of the house while we were there for the inspection.

This is the front of our new home.

This picture is taken from the dining room looking at the front door.

Here's the kitchen.

The breakfast area of the kitchen

This is the view you see of the back yard when sitting at the breakfast table. It was snowing the day we were there for the inspection!

We have a corner fireplace in the living room. (Finally, I will have a place to hang stockings for Christmas!!)

The packing is coming along nicely. I really am enjoying that part. I have been cleaning out drawers and closets and making regular runs to Goodwill. I am also in the middle of getting some of the spring clothes Allison has outgrown ready to consign. (I'm not enjoying that!)

We are researching refrigerators and a washer and dryer set to purchase for our new home. If you have any great suggestions for these, please let us know. We have found some we like, but would love to have any additional input from friends on appliances you love or hate!

Lauren has pretty much memorized her new address and talks constantly about starting Kindergarten at Brickey Elementary in August. Both girls are ready to move in and have a bonus room to play in. I'm sure we're in for a few sleepless nights before we move in and after we move in while the girls get adjusted to a new room, but we are more than ready for that time to come.

Next week I have a scheduled appointment every day of the week, so I guess that will help pass the time quickly. I don't really like to wish my life away, but in this case, I'm ready for closing day!

Fun in the Snow

What a great Saturday we had here at our house. Lauren was so excited to see how much snow we got overnight and was ready to get out and build our own "Frosty". (She has been watching the movie Frosty and Frosty Returns a whole lot lately) I was a little afraid we might not get to go out because when we got up this morning Bill noticed that the thermostat in the hallway read 65 degrees and it was set at 68 degrees. The fan was blowing but the compressor was not running. Oh know!!!! Fortunately it was nothing major. The breaker had just tripped so Bill was able to get it fixed before we got too cold!
After our traditional Saturday morning breakfast of pancakes and sausage, we got bundled up and headed outside to enjoy the snow. We do not own a sled, but we tried a few things we had laying around the garage to let the girls try sledding. The snow was very wet and they couldn't really get going down the small hill at the side of our house. So on to building our snowman. The wet snow was great for packing.
Below is a picture of Bill rolling a snow ball. It got really big, but it was shaped more like a tire....it was flat!

So they started over with a smaller ball of snow and ended up with a smaller snowman. The girls were quite pleased with their "Frosty".

Allison, Frosty, and Lauren


Here is a video of Lauren and Allison singing Frosty the Snowman.


Allison enjoying the snow.

Lauren enjoying the snow.

Cute little smile.

Their favorite thing to do was to eat the snow!

Lauren eating the snow.

This afternoon Lauren went to a birthday party at Bounce USA. The roads were fine when we drove to the party, but they were very slick when we left at about 5:30. I was so happy to make it back home and up the hill safely.

An Awesome Week

One week ago today Dottie, our real estate agent called and said that a person who looked at our house the day before was going to write a contract on either our house or another one. We had heard several times from her that our house was second on some one's list. I tried not to get too excited. She called later that day and said the guy chose our house. He made an offer and we countered the offer last Wednesday and the guy accepted our counter! What a great answer to many prayers. We were really excited because we had decided on a house that we really liked in the area we really wanted to be in. Dottie called about the house in Summerhall Subdivision and someone had already put a contract on the house. What a major let down after riding on such a high from selling the house.
Back to square one. Allison and I looked at houses in the pouring rain on Thursday and then Bill and I looked at more on Friday. We went back to look at another house in Summerhall that we looked at before and after narrowing our search to that house and one other we were really interested in, we decided to put an offer on the one in Summerhall on Saturday. Dottie called Bill Sunday evening during our H2H meeting and told us the owner accepted our offer......without countering!!! Another amazing answer to prayers! I was so happy that we found out with our friends at H2H. It was nice to share our news with our friends.
We had an inspection on our house today and have scheduled the inspection on the home we plan to buy on Friday. Barring any unforeseen problems we will be closing on our new house on Friday, March 26, 2010.
Needless to say we have had a whirlwind week with very little sleep. Allison is cutting two 2-year molars and is not sleeping well. And Bill and I are waking up in the night and having a hard time going back to sleep. With all the excitement of a new house, when we wake up...we can't go back to sleep easily. Hopefully that will change soon. But in the mean time, we'll just enjoy the excitement of selling our house and buying a new home......and start packing!!!

A First We Were NOT Eager to See

Allison sleeping in her crib

The picture above is the last picture I took of Allison sleeping in her crib. We had her twin bed set up in her room for over a month before she started sleeping in it. She would talk about sleeping in a big girl bed, but when it came time to either nap or go to bed at night, she wanted to get in the crib. We were happy to keep her in the crib as long as she wanted to stay there.

On October 1st she slept in her twin bed for the first time! She was sick that night and I thought if she couldn't sleep and I needed to be with her, it would be easier if she was in the twin bed. Well, she slept all night that night and has continued to sleep in her twin bed every night since then. The amazing thing was that until today, she never got out of twin bed when she woke up. Whether it was nap time or in the morning, she never got out of the bed until someone went in to get her. Now sometimes she would cry for me when she woke up, but most days she would wake up singing, or just calling out Mommy! Sometimes she would call out Lauren!! But she never got up until we went in to get her.

During nap time today I was on the computer and I heard a door open. I thought it was Lauren's door because she was in quiet time. I thought she was coming in my room to tell me she needed to go to the bathroom or ask if she could come out. When I looked up from the computer, I was shocked to see Allison standing beside me instead of Lauren!

I guess three months of staying in the bed is something to enjoy. Hopefully today was just a fluke and she'll continue to stay put until we get her. That's a nice thought......don't really think it will happen though!:)

Allison's first night sleeping in her twin bed.

Happy New Year

I know I am getting old, but it really does seem like just yesterday we were getting ready to ring in the year 2000! And in less than an hour we'll be ringing in 2010!
We spent this New Year's Eve with Cindy, Mike, Will and Sam. (We have a little tradition in the making here.....two years and counting:) We went bowling and then came back to our house for pizza, salad, cheese dip and chips, Puppy Chow, Chocolate and Butterscotch pies! It doesn't get much better than that.

Bill, Lauren, Mike and Sam

Bill, Lauren, Cindy and Sam

Allison bowling....I love her face in this picture

Allison, Cindy and Will

Sam's turn to bowl

Sam and Lauren


During the year 2010 we hope to get our house sold and find the perfect home for us settle into. I can't believe that Lauren will start Kindergarten in the year 2010. Allison will start preschool in the 3 year old class and I am hoping to maybe teach at that preschool with my good friend Cindy.

I am looking forward to what God has in store for our family this year. Happy New Year!!!

A Few Christmas Pictures

Here are a few pictures from our Christmas celebrations. These first few pictures are of Christmas Eve celebrating with Bill's side of the family.
Uncle Jared getting ready to try on the Santa hat.

Allison, Lauren and Parker on Christmas Eve.

Lauren and Allison opening presents on Christmas Eve.

Allison gets some new floor puzzles.

Lauren with her new baby doll from Aunt Jen and Uncle Dave.

Parker and his new bulldozer. He sure loved it!

Waking up Christmas morning at our house

For Christmas Lauren asked Santa Claus to bring her a scooter, a baby doll, and new clothes. She never asks for a lot. Allison asked Santa to bring her a new baby doll with hair and new clothes.

Opening presents on Christmas morning.

Lauren gets her favorite book Pinkilicious from Santa. She wants to check out that book every time we go to the library, so I thought it would be nice to have her own copy!

Allison wanted a skirt for Christmas. Lauren has been wearing her skirts while playing dress up and the only skirts Allison had were for summer.

Lauren with her new hat and gloves.

Allison opening a present from our neighbor Mrs. Maxine.

Lauren with her scooter! She loves scooting around the kitchen.

Christmas Day at my Mom and Dad's House

Allison get the book Martha Doesn't Say Sorry from Granny and Pawpaw.

Lauren gets the book Purplicious from Granny and Pawpaw.

Lauren with her new clothes.

Lauren gets a third book, Goldilicious from Uncle Bill.

Allison posing with her scarf and mittens.

Lauren posing with her scarf and sweater.

Lauren helping Daddy open his new pants.

Let the Celebrations Begin

Well tomorrow will begin the Christmas celebrations for our family. We are cooking dinner for Bill's family tomorrow evening (Christmas Eve). Bill received a 21 pound turkey from his work and he is in charge of cooking that big bird! I think he is quite excited about the task. His mom is making the dressing and green beans, Jen is making Broccoli Casserole and I'll finish out the traditional dinner with mashed potatoes and rolls. I am also making Banana Pudding. I told Bill that is not very Christmasy, but it is his brother's favorite dessert so I will make it because my sweet husband asked for it.
I have enjoyed making all the goodies of the season. I tried a few new ones that I have not made before. Tonight I made Puppy Chow for the first time. I think that may become a regular for us. I have made two batches of sausage balls, one that Bill took to work last week and then a batch for us this morning. I made Peppermint Bark and homemade hot chocolate for teacher gifts. The girls and I baked sugar cookies and Christmas M&M cookies. And I have made several batches of Holiday pretzels. (Those are one of my personal favorites!)
On Christmas Day after we have our family Christmas we will go up to my parents and spend a couple of days with them. On December 26th Bill and I will celebrate our 6th wedding anniversary.
This year we have really enjoyed the Christmas season with our beautiful girls. I think from the time we saw Santa arrive in Knoxville at West Town Mall we have been celebrating all the fun of the season. The girls actually wanted to sit on Santa's lap and tell him what they wanted for Christmas this year. We got a great picture of that first.
Lauren's favorite Christmas book and movie has been How the Grinch Stole Christmas. The first time I read the book to her she was very disturbed by how mean the Grinch was but was happy with the outcome of the book. However, the next night after reading the book, in Lauren's prayer before bedtime, she prayed that no one would take our Christmas presents.
Allison knows the words to more Christmas songs than I can count. That sweet angel amazes me with her singing. She is just like Lauren in that she wakes up in the mornings singing in her bed. There is nothing more precious than hearing that sweet voice in the mornings.
I truly feel that if I did not open one Christmas present this year, that this would be a perfect Christmas with all that we have enjoyed so far. I do look forward to seeing the girls on Christmas morning because they have been so excited for Santa to come.
So I'll cherish these next few days and enjoy my family and all the blessings God gives me each and every day.
Merry Christmas!