Last week, the kids and I had a playdate at a nearby school park in Manchester Park (Elkhorn Schools). It was so nice! It seriously put our school park to shame. The homes in the area are quite nice and a few were for sale. Knowing me, you know I had to stop and pick up a couple flyers! I liked a couple so much that I showed them to Chris after I took the kids back to the park with him. We decided just to take a peek at the houses. No, these homes were not in the areas we wanted to move to, but we thought perhaps that was the problem. Were we just looking in the wrong places?
The homes were okay...but they were not what we were looking for. However, it got Chris and I back in the mood to move (or did we not ever get out of the mood to begin with?). The agent we are working with is super cool and understands our major and minor hesitations. Alivia is starting school in 1 week! How stressful would that be for her to move mid year? However, we would really like to get into our next home and get situated asap. We have been told that it may actually be worse for kids to move after a year of school, they are adjusted and have made friends. We have gotten the moving bug and the only cure is to move we are afraid.
With that said, we loaded up the kids and set out with our real estate agent to look at some of the homes on our fav list. We narrowed down the list to 3-4 homes that we would possibly make an offer on if our home sold. Amazingly enough, we ruled out a lot by just walking inside! We know what we want! We found 4 homes - all with jack n jill baths, 2 that back to trees and the other 2 with nice yards with nice trees & landscaping. Only one has a finished basement, however. We like a couple homes by Chris' work and one in SW Omaha that is FSBO best. If we decide to move forward, we will list our home with a listing agent, possibily this week.
We realize, it will be difficult for Alivia to start school and then start a new school. COME ON! With that said, we have been told it can be more difficult to have a child start 1st grade in a new school after making friends. Chris and I were initially saying we would wait until before Asher started school. If we did that, we would be pulling 2 kids out of school and away from their friends. When we are looking at homes, we look at the home and the school as a package. We have eliminated homes because of the school!
Homes we narrowed to:
HOME 1 : In Whitehawk, the owners have moved out. The inside is completed really nice, similar to how Chris and I would finish it. It backs to a narrow row of trees. The outside needs some TLC since it has been vacent for some time. Far away from Chris' work. Millard schools
HOME 2: Also in Whitehawk. Does not have a finish basement, and it is not a walk out, but the home is finished nicely with really nice landscaped yard. It looks at the Whitehawk Lake. Again, far away from Chris' work. Elkhorn schools.
HOME 3: In Shadow Lake near Chris' work. It is too small though with only 2500 finished sq feet on the first 2 floors. I think there are other homes in Shadow Lake that will fit our needs better. New Bell Elementary right up the street.
Home 4: Here is the topper, the one we would possibly bit on first. It is located in Lakewood Villages REALLY close to Chris' work. With that said, we have seen other home with similar sq feet that are not as pricey. This home was built by a builder who went bankrupt. The real estate agent that worked with the builder had a vested interest in the home, bought it up and finished it. She set the price high so she could hopefully regain some of her losses. It is nice, but hardly worth the price tag. The homes in the area have sold for far less that this one! The school is right up the street, and the home backs to a forest! It is worth a shot - but is a long shot.
When I asked Chris what he wanted to do, he sheepishly responded, "Whatever you decide is fine with me." My decision then is whatever Chris says. Ha! Now...what will we decide? Perhaps the question should be, Will we ever decide?
Today Alivia and Addison got their haircuts. We went to see Miss Jamie (who Chris, Grandma Bet and I go to) because they had giftcards from their Easter Baskets to use.
Alivia wanted her hair cut short, to her shoulders, where Addison kept telling me she did not want it cut. Alivia got a little bob where Addison kept some length but got a lot cut off. They both sat nicely through their haircuts. Asher, on the other hand, was crazy. I believe Jamie, who is single without kids, described him as the tazmanian devil!
Now we have only check marks on our back to school check list! Yeah, now for the week of rest (and potty training!).
As mentioned, the van had a flat tire at the zoo. There were hundreds of people that walked past us as we attempted to change the tire. The problem, the car was on a slope and the van kept slipping off the jack! We had the emergency brake on, too. After getting the tire all ready to come off, it seemed really stuck on there. All of a sudden, the car moved, dropping unto the tire getting it unstuck! However, we were scared to put up the car again on the jack because it kept slipping. Then, low and behold, a young man from Council Bluffs stopped with another jack to help! Wow! Nice people do exist! With 2 jacks, the boys were able to get the job done and the kids could stop playing in the dirt.
Chris and I knew that the van was due for new tires. I was actually planning on making the calls on Thursday. I was, however, dragging my feet because I knew it would cost nearly $600 in addition to the nearly $500 we had to pay for license plates yet this month. It we are going to spend $1100, I was hoping it would be for something cool - not plates and rubber! But, you have to do what you have to do.
I made a few phone calls on Thursday morning between potty training and selling little girl clothes. I made sure to ask, "Now, this includes EVERYTHING, right?" with each place I called. We checked with consumer reports, so were comparing the same tire with every store.
In the end, we took the van to Jensen Tire with the dummy tire now nearly flat, and the kids and I walked home. Gotta love living so close to a Jensen Tire! Additionally, they did not include everything, of course, calling and asking for $70 more for alignment! At least I know where I will NOT be taking the Camry for tires when they are due for tires.
At least we can mark "Buying Tires" off the list. "Buying something fun" will just have to wait.
Wednesday, August 5, the entire family went to the zoo member appreciation day after Chris came home from work. Typically, the kids and I have gone first thing in the morning, missing out on the big member events (and the crowds!). The zoo has special animal feedings and educational things that you can see. With that said, everyone goes to these areas causing it nearly impossibly to see anything. They had what we call jumpy jumps, but they only had 3 for all those people. Addison jumped in one, liking it so much that she cried when we decided to leave.
We visited the tigers, the bears, the gorillas, the fish, the monkeys and the birds just to name a few. We intentionally avoided all the crowded buildings with the exception of the aquarium. To close out our visit, we packed up and went to the car to find a flat tire. Oh, what fun! Luckily we were parked in the shade! After that was all fixed up, we treated the kids to Zestos!
Although our August visit to the zoo was fun, we will definitely skip member's day events in the future. If anything, I will go in the morning with the little kids. There are just too many people to be able to enjoy the animals!
I have been dragging my feet knowing that I needed to start potty training Asher while the weather is nice out. Our method of potty training is having the kids go naked from the waist down so they can really feel when they have to or do go potty. The girls wore dresses, Asher just wears his big t-shirts (but he wears underwear outside as he is too busy outside playing and can not go completely naked!).
Anyway, I was trying to wait until next week or even the week Alivia starts kindergarten to start potty training. It is best if we are at home for 7 days straight until the kids get the hang of what to do. Well, Asher had his mind made up - he wants to start now! Or, perhaps I should say, he needs to be potty trained now!!
The evidence. Below are some images that may be disturbing (so I have kept them to the neighborhood only) but illistrate why I am sure he is ready NOW. This is what I woke up to this morning at 7AM! He was quiet and I just peeked into his room to see if he was awake. Um, yes, he was awake all right! He did the same thing yesterday afternoon when he was supposed to be napping. I kept telling him to be quiet (he can hear EVERYTHING I do in the kitchen and is typically yelling, "Mama!" with every move I make. Anyway, I finally went into his room to rock him and uncovered images similar to these below. UGH!
For me, it is really difficult to give up the adorable little clothes that our kids once wore. Seriously, I still have most of Asher's baby clothes because I can not bear to part with them yet. For me, the opposite of a pack rat, this is hard for me to do. I have put away his clothes in places where I can not see them so it does not bother me that I am keeping them, for now.
With that said, I have given up a lot of the girls' clothes and continue to do so. Many of the clothes have been worn by 2 kids, so it is easier for me to part with them. With that said, as I put them all in a basket to see, tears welled up in my eyes. Our babies are getting so big! I know this is a good thing...but it really is so sad how quickly time passes. If you really do stop and slow down, they are grown up! Chris even thought it was sad as he looked at all the clothes that Addison wore last winter and a few of her summer 24 month things. Many of these items were bought exclusively for Addison, too, so were in like new condition. I was just trying to clear our some of the items that were too small to make room for the 2Ts that still fit and move in some smaller size 3 items for the fall.
So, I loaded up the kiddos to take the items to Once upon a child. In this basket were maybe 12 sweatshirt/pant outfits from the Gap, Gymboree, old navy and a couple from Dillards that were quite cute, a few pant/top outfits from Childrens place, 10 capri pants/tops from Gymboree, Macys, Gap, 10 pairs of PJs from the Gap, 5 skorts from the different places that I can't recall now but they were all super cute and in mint condition. I had a few sweatershirts/sweaters from Gap and Old Navy. There were maybe 2 items that were not name brand (Dora shirt and just a white shirt that I kept in the diaper bag). This was quite nice stuff. I had listed the items on Craigslist for $65, but thought perhaps I was giving it away because it was a lot of stuff! What do you think Once upon a Child would give me? Well, I looked around the store on the first trip to see what things were marked: Pants $10, YUCKY pjs $4.50 (May as well buy new! These were awful looking!). The items were not cheap is all I am saying. The amount for my motherload?: $16 and some odd cents!!! I smiled, pointed out my basketful of clothes, and politely asked the woman to give me all my items back. I did not give her any comments and walked out.
Today, a woman from Craigslist and her cute daughter picked up the motherload of clothes and gave me $65.
I am still upset to see it go. But, it makes me feel better that a nice person and her little girl got the value of clothes that did us a lot of good and helped keep out little girls adorable as they should be. I'm glad I take a lot of pictures so I have pictures of them wearing all these beautiful things!
As for Once Upon A Child? I will never, never return to that store. WHAT A JOKE! They are robbing mommy's to pay themselves. Enough said!
Without even trying, the decision was made for us on where Alivia will be going to school. She will beginning kindergarten August 17 at Standing Bear Elementary. SVDP never called me back, so they made the decision easy.
Alivia received her teacher assignment yesterday, so today we walked to the school to find her room and take a tour. Her classroom is not far inside of the door. Alivia and Addison both peeked inside. We walked around a bit looking at the cafeteria and the gym before playing on the playground a bit (the playground is pretty sad when compared to the other area school playgrounds). We hope we are making the right decision on staying in our home as it is effecting our children's education, too.
In the mean time, we are trying to have as much fun, soaking up as much summer as we can until Alivia goes to school. Yesterday we had a morning playdate, took a nap, then went on a unsuccessful shopping trip for shoes before meeting friends at a park to play until dinner. Everyday this week we have fun things planned. Next week will be our week of rest. There is a parents night next week followed by safe walk to school night where Alivia will be able to meet her teacher and see the inside of her classroom. We are hoping she will meet some new friends that live near us (which is a good thing about going to school right up the street! We can walk to and from and she will have friends near by! Yeah!).
I am having a bit of the "Alivia is going to school blues." I feel the impending doom of her being away from 8:50-3:45 every day! Seriously! That is a long time! It is like she has a full time job! We will so miss our talkative little Alivia. For most of the summer, Alivia and I had our time together during Addi and Asher's nap time. She is a special little girl. Chris and I both worry about how she will do in Kindergarten. She is doing fine academically and likes to draw, write, and work in her workbook. She is, however, very sensitive and shy (like both of her parents) and that will be her challenge area. The first few weeks will be difficult on her, we are sure. They will also be difficult on Addison, Asher, Daddy and especially Mommy!
Gotta run! I want to hug and squeeze little Alivia all day while I can!
Now that the housing hunt is unfortunately over...here were the homes on our fav list, in no particular order:
1. LOCATION 1: This home was one of 2 in COUNCIL BLUFFS! Yes, your read that right. The house is fab though! It is situation on the top of a hill in Loess Hills (and did you know the soil there is unlike any other - well, other than in China! My Dad told me that and I LOL!). We were driving by the bluffs once and Chris said he wanted to live WAY UP THERE and pointed to the bluff way up high. Well, when I saw this house and the next one - I knew he would just LOVE IT! This house was perfect. The location, well, not so perfect. 1, in CB. 2. Little backyard with a large but weird side yard. Where would we put the pool? It does back to trees. Has been on the market a long time and builder is ready to negotiate! I think it started at $335 and has been at $299,900 for A LONG time (it has been on the market something like 18 months). We figured we could get a deal on this one. New construction (but was a model home first).
2. LOCATION 2 Second home in CB. Okay, this one was PERFECT! It had a great flat backyard and the inside even had a finished basement!! YEAH! The garage was HUGEand the house had a total of 3754 finished sq feet. The view was of the Omaha City skyline - and you can not get that view just anywhere! LOVE THIS HOUSE. We perhaps would have been bidding on this house first if our home sold. The downsides: In CB, not really close to any retail stores or grocery stores and the outside of the school the kids would go to was not nice looking. St Alberts in CB is $3000 a year per child, more when they reach the higher grades! YIKES! The taxes were lower though. Trees beyond the yard (a forest!) and home is situated on a cultisac. Just listed in May, inside is not finished. The inside has some beyond ugly but expensive features that I would make sure were changed! Same home builder as House #1. Has dropped a little in price, however, from 399,900 to the current list price. The house down the street is listed for $419 and is 2 years old. New construction, obviously, and not finished.
3. LOCATION 3 This home is situation in Lakewood Villages, practically right acrossed the street from Chris' work. It was not finished when we looked at it, but had potential. We were not sure if their was room for a pool in the backyard though. It backs to trees (see the connection in these homes...back to trees or something for fewer neighbors!). New school nearby. New construction, unfinished basement, high taxes (like 8 grand when the final tax bill comes in).
4. LOCATION 4 A Ranch! We did not see the inside of the house, but drove around it. It looked nice, but we were unsure of the bedroom set up and if there was enough space for our family in this home. It was also quite far on 370 to Chris' work. Backs to a fountain, pond (NICE!). Gretna schools. Lived in, high taxes.
5. LOCATION 5 Never saw this home in person. Backs to trees in nice neighborhood. Lived in, higher taxes I think.
6. LOCATION 6 Back to Lakewood Villages acrossed from Chris' work. Drove by it. Has dropped A LOT in price!! I think it started at $379! Looks nice - no finished basement though. Not sure on the room for a pool in the backyard either. Lived in, higher taxes.
7. LOCATION 7 Portal Ridge in La Vista. This is where we found the first home to get the home selling ball rolling (in Oct of 2008). This home I think may be build by a builder we have heard bad things about (BARR HOMES) and it is not a walk out - which I really want. Jack and Jill back is a plus!
8. LOCATION 8 This home we have not seen, do not know the area. Unfinished basement, unsure of backyard. Sounds nice. New. However, typically if the backyard is not shown - it is not a good thing. New construction.
9. LOCATION 9: This is the only home we have left on the FAV list in Shadow Lake. LOVE Shadow Lake area. They have a really nice school opening in a couple weeks. However, taxes here are crazy!! LIke $9000 a year crazy! Like this house, but seems small, not a walk out. New Construction.
Most of these homes have been on the market a very long time and have just sat there. Some of the homes on my fav list did sell, but these remain. I am sad to walk away from our fav list...but we have to give up at some point for the sake of our sanity and our kids. When Chris put our home up for sale, at least I said it is in the hands of God &/or fate. Well, as God or Fate shall have it - it is meant to be. Moving onward - or nowhere. :)
After initially thinking Alivia would for sure be going to public school, we are now pondering our options.
Options, in no particular order.
1. Standing Bear:
PROS: Public OPS school. We have heard a lot of positive feedback about this school from neighbors as well as people wanting to move to the area to go to the school. It is also free for the most part(well, we pay for it in our taxes, of course). Small class size: 20 or fewer kids per teacher plus a helper. This school is also within walking distance of our home.
CONS: Neighbor kids go there. There are 3 five year olds on our street who are not kind to us that could be in Alivia's class. That would make it hard on her. The next door neighbor would definitely not be nice to her in person, where the other kids are probably more oblivious to adult stuff going on. Alivia...well she is kind to everyone! The lack of Christian influence is difficult for us, only because we are not happy about NONGOD everything has become in public schools. School hours are from 8:50-3:50 which I think are so late!
2. St Vincent de Paul:
PROS: She will go Mass and have Catholic influence in her education. Uniforms will be nice and not nice at the same time. They are only good for school...so any money spend on clothes is really a waste because they can not be worn anywhere but at school (and I assume get quite worn looking in a year). Good education. Class hours are better.
CONS: $2000 or more a year per child and we may eventually have 3 kiddos in school there (not to mention all the little extra fees they appear to charge through the year), not as close to home - can not walk there. Class size of 30 kids! YIKES! That is a lot come from 7 other kids in Alivia's preschool class. Also, Alivia's babysitter, who is quite shy, told us that the kids were not nice to her and she would not recommend SVDP because of that. She thought it was difficult for shy kids in such large classes with more spoiled kids. Mind you, she is 17 - but she is a smart little 17 year old and we do trust her opinion (or I would not have asked her). I also think the babysitter and Alivia are a lot alike as far as their personalities, shyness, etc. Oh, then there is the main thing...we don't even know if Alivia can get into SVDP yet because they have not called me back yet. So, we may have only have 1 option.
So, we will see what we decide. Any opinions?
Tonight I removed all of our FSBO signs from our yard and the directional signs leading to our home. It was a very hard day for us as this difficult challenge came to an unfortunate end. We do not know how long we will stay. At this point, we are thinking we will stay 4 more years at least. Or, maybe we will just pay off the mortgage in less than 10 and stay forever! So, we do have plans to do some minor to major updating and adding on to our home to make it work for our family of 5. We also want to do things to provide more privacy so we can enjoy our home without feeling like we are being watched so much. Chris says as soon as we get it fixed the way we want it, then we will move. Ha! he is so funny!
So stayed tuned...
...Before and After pictures of our updates to come!!
Oh, so sad to say July is over. It was the last full month with all the kiddos at home. So, we tried to make the most of it by having as much fun as possible! We took 892 pictures of all the things we did in July!
We took a bike ride around Zorinsky with Addi and Asher as Alivia stayed with Grandma Kathy and Grandpa Bob, we visited the Childrens Museum, crossed the Bob Kerrey Pede Bridge, went to the splash park, visited the zoo and the Fontenelle Forest's Dino Quest. We took a family vacation for a week to the Lake of the Ozarks with Grandma Bet and Grandpa Bill - what fun! We celebrated Addison turning 3 and Asher 20 months. We continued our daily walks and bike rides, now advancing so Alivia and Addison can both walk up to a mile!
Next month will be a busy month as Alivia will start kindergarten! Until then...Happy August!
We have had some issues appear and happen in our yard over the last couple of years. Let's see:
* Dead birds: Last summer, we had probably 15 or more dead birds over the course of the summer appear near the border to our neighbors. Never seen them place the birds in our yard - but one would have to wonder after a bit.
* Dead grass. Last summer when we returned from vacation, there were HUGE dead spots in our lawn where "someone" had clearly applied round up to it, killing our lawn. It was so bad that Chris had to rip in up and resod it. No, he was not happy about this.
* Hot Dogs: We returned from vacation this year, and sent the kids out into the back yard to play. Within moments, Asher had picked up a hotdog covered in ants and had it in his mouth!!! I grabbed it from him and threw away. Then I found another one, covered in ants, and I picked it up and threw it back into the neighbors side. I believe it landed on their patio, possibly right where it came from and should have stayed!
* Dog **** or poop: Yes, the lovely topper to this story, dog poop was found near the fence. How was it found? I mowed over it and then stepped into it. Seriously, I was mad! Against Chris' wishes, I went to the door to have a heart to heart (okay just a heart to human because these people clearly do not have hearts) with the neighbors. They, of course, either did not come to the door or were not home. I showered up and returned to their home, assuming now they would be home. Nope, still not home. Well, I returned the **** safe in sound into their yard (but most of it I had already threw away in the trash in the garage - so they only got a little poop back!).
Okay, seriously, how old are they anyway? We may not have proof to any of this, but you do not need to be a private investigator to figure these things out. Let's just say, I am working on getting proof for next time. Believe me, if I catch so much of a turd being planted into our yard, a man in blue will be going to their door instead of this witch!
Our family loves zucchini bread! The zucchini at the store looks horrible. So, we checked out the Farmer's Market at Village Point this morning. Last year we went and it was so fun! This year, Asher wanted to eat everything, crying nearly the entire time forcing us to leave. We did get amazing sweet corn and a HUGE zucchini. Can't wait to make more bread!
Last night Chris and I went on a date to see a movie. This is my first movie in the theater since the Dark night! We decided, finally, on seeing the Ugly Truth. It was a funny movie, but Chris and I would rate it a C. Definitely a rental. We stopped by Old Chicago to get a quick pizza to take home before it stormed. Of course, we arrived home just as the storm set in, Asher and Addison both got up. We ended up eating cold pizza and hot beer. I guess next time we will just eat in the restaurant.
We love date nights now that we are finally out taking them. We took 2 nights out in July actually (3 if you count our canoe ride at the Lake). We got Chris' parents to watch the kiddos early in July and our babysitter last night. Now...what will we do on our next date...and when? I can't wait!
