2016 :: 19/52

it was rainy and chilly Monday-Wednesday this week, and cloudy/windy on Thursday.

Wednesday morning I found a new house for sale online in the neighborhood we were looking for so I sent it to Al (he was still in green bay for training til Friday night). He liked it so Trevor and I drove by it to see about the yard and neighborhood. I liked it a lot so I got a hold of the neighbs' realtor, Jill, and was able to get in to see it at 1130am that morning. the listing was actually Jill's listing from the selling side too. before we got to the showing, Al said if I liked it to go ahead and put an offer in and possibly even offer more than it's listed for since that's how houses have been selling in ec. Trevor and I went to the showing and really liked the house. it's a little older, 1962, so there's some little things about it, but it was the layout that we want (ranch rambler), 2 car garage, 1/2 acre lot (the backyard is a double lot), big basement with lots of storage, half the backyard is fenced in with a swingset, has central air, everything we wanted. after chatting with Jill about the house (she knew the seller from high school) and knowing there were 12 other showings that day and the next on it, after talking with Al while in the house, we decided to put an offer in. it was priced at $154,900 so we offered $160k with a $1000 credit to the closing costs. it was a lot to think about and decide without Al there, but he was ok with seeing the pictures.

the sellers are moving to Owatonna on a job promotion. they hand built a bar in the basement (not a selling point for us, i'll probably use it as my sewing area), they painted it modern, comes with all appliances. in texting with Jill throughout the day, I learned there were at least 5 other offers on the house and they were going to make their decision that night. if our offer was picked, it meant more commission for Jill and less commission that the sellers had to pay, so we knew we had that on our side. Jill was meeting with the sellers at 8pm, and at 915 I got the call that they accepted our offer! we're buying a house! and did it all in 1 day.... without Al here. yikes! excited but nervous!

Thursday and Friday we went over to jenny's house as she was having a garage sale. we bought her couch and 2 recliners. Trevor played with kali and kourt on Thursday and the girls plus cam and chloe on Friday. Al got back from training just at supper time.

Saturday morning I ran to a couple garage sales first thing after breakfast and found 2 chair bar stools for us and a cool toy shelf for trevor. then mom came down and we went garage saling some more; it was cold and windy. we drove by the new house and found a huge table 4 houses down for free; it'll be a great crafting table! it folds down to be pretty small. Saturday for supper, we went to the neighb's for brats/hot dogs and some fixin's as well as wine and rhubarb crisp.

sunday morning Al finally got to see in our house! he likes it! mom, Jodi and tyler came with too. makes me feel a bit better now that they've seen it and like it! the back yard is even bigger than I remember/thought! after seeing the house, we drove up to mom's for nap time, finally got to play outside (sun came out), and then I had softball at 7. Al, mom and T came to watch. we won, and I finally hit well!

Monday morning, Al, Trevor and I went to the Minnesota zoo again. it was a beautiful day! we did the outside loop and then hit a couple animals/play spots we didn't get to the first time. Trevor also had his first carousel ride and of course, rode on the giraffe. :) we grabbed lunch on the way home and Trevor went down for nap right when we got home.

 playing with ribbons :)

 mini ribbons

 this is our new backyard, comes with swing set

our land goes all the way back to the white fence

 "buppy bankie"

 he's been taking forever to fall asleep so he's out when I need to go in and wake him

 toy shelf I found at a garage sale for T

huge table for free 

 found a bike with training wheels for Trevor for $2

 sea otters at the Minnesota zoo

 wado momma (water, waterfall)

 

 

2016 :: 18/52

Trevor: counts now "1, 2, 3, 8" :) or "1, 2, 3, 5", still working on that last 2 year molar, taking a long time to fall asleep this week, says ouside (outside), he's talking a lot more now and regularly puts multiple words together,

Monday after playing outside in the morning, he did not nap. he had poop in his diaper when I got him out of bed at 330, so i'm hoping it was just that why he didn't nap. we went for our walk, played outside, had supper, had cam & chloe over to do a craft for mother's day, ran a couple errands and then when we got back, the neighb's were going for a walk. so I put Trevor in his pajamas since it was 715 and we did a short walk with matt, Jodi, and the kids. once home we read books, brushed teeth, T got to see Al quick and then he went to bed & was out right away. then we tried out our new patio furniture with matt and Jodi and had drinks & snacks on the patio. we were in bed by 11 and it's always fun to hang out with Al and the neighb's.

Tuesday we played outside in the morning, went for our walk right before lunch since it was gonna rain then lunch and nap. after nap we played outside again since it didn't rain until later. then T and I just stayed in and got some inside stuff done including a bunch of crafts.

Wednesday morning it was nice out but windy. it was May the 4th be with you day, or star wars day! Jodi and I took the kids on a walk over to a garage sale (we didn't find anything to buy), we had 2 kids in the beastly sit & stand stroller, 2 kids in the wagon, and Cam on his bike. it was a good walk and we got a workout pushing/pulling the kids into the wind.

Thursday was cinco de mayo; we played outside in the morning then had a Mexican picnic supper with Jodi and the kids outside. the kids played outside until 8 pm (when Al and Matt got home). after the kids were in bed, we had a drink outside with the neighb's.

Friday morning Al finally was off work. it was so hot! it got up to 80 degrees by noon. we attended a birthday party next door for our friend jenny's daughter Kourtlyn (her 2nd birthday). Jenny's friend Katrina came too with her 2 boys: so many kiddos! we played outside, did some little games and had a pizza picnic. after nap all 3 of us headed up to the cities (mom was up in silver bay). we played outside at mom's until bedtime.

Saturday morning we went to the Minnesota zoo; it was a beautiful day for the zoo! we did the whole outside loop and 2 of the 3 inside loops. we were done by 1115 so we went back to mom's for lunch and nap. after nap, we went over to manda and johnny's house to play outside and have dinner and drinks. it was fun! trevor was excited to see Eva and Elouise! and then mark, lin and kate came over as well as some parents/kids from Eva and Kate's class: kate, tom, Olivia, and henry. we left about 915 and Trevor still took an hour to fall asleep...

sunday morning was mother's day; Al made us breakfast and then headed back to eau Claire to pack for his week long training in green bay. trevor and I went and got me a fancy coffee and then found a park to play at. during nap, mom came back from G.Gs house so we played outside, had dinner outside, and took a walk with her. softball was cancelled because the other team didn't have enough players. :( I mowed mom's lawn. we drove back to eau Claire Monday morning, played outside with the kids, went for a pre-lunch walk, had lunch, then nap.

the force is strong with this young jedi :)

he likes when dada does "power bombs" with him onto the couch

 cinco de mayo picnic supper

sitting with jodi 

at the birthday party 

 treasure hunt

 birthday party pizza picnic

playing in the water table at nana's house

 Minnesota zoo. "bea-o"

camels 

 pigs

 turtle

 alligators

 red panda napping

 T gave me a great mother's day gift: he willingly snuggled with me for like 10 whole minutes!! he usually doesn't sit still or snuggle for that long unless he's sick

 who's standing on momma? ME!