Emily and the other neighbors convinced Bryce to be the pitcher in their baseball game. I think we are all hoping for a lot more of these!
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Little Feet + Big Girl = NO FUN!
We have a new dilemma in our house: SHOES!
Emily has ridiculously small feet for her age. She is still considered infant size for shoes, which when you are a big girl, is a big deal.
Many of the current shoe styles out for older girls this summer have a small wedge heel and of course Emily yearns for these shoes!
Our current struggle is in the area of athletic shoes. She needs new shoes since she hasn't had this type of shoe in almost a year. While there are several cute styles out there, they seem to be the same old shoes just with a different color. I know athletic shoes aren't that big of a deal, but when you have pretty much the same shoes to pick from, it stinks. And around here there isn't a lot to pick from, which makes it even harder when you are surrounded by girls all day at school.
In a world of followers, I want Emily to be unique and individual from her friends; even if it is just a pair of shoes!
Emily has ridiculously small feet for her age. She is still considered infant size for shoes, which when you are a big girl, is a big deal.
Many of the current shoe styles out for older girls this summer have a small wedge heel and of course Emily yearns for these shoes!
Our current struggle is in the area of athletic shoes. She needs new shoes since she hasn't had this type of shoe in almost a year. While there are several cute styles out there, they seem to be the same old shoes just with a different color. I know athletic shoes aren't that big of a deal, but when you have pretty much the same shoes to pick from, it stinks. And around here there isn't a lot to pick from, which makes it even harder when you are surrounded by girls all day at school.
In a world of followers, I want Emily to be unique and individual from her friends; even if it is just a pair of shoes!
Friday, April 15, 2011
Extended Family
When you live away from your natural family, you tend to create friendships with others that are like your own family. I am lucky enough to have many people I would consider family that I am not actually related to. One of them is Emily's teacher from her time spent in the two year old room. Her name is Jen. Jen was expecting a baby at the same time that Emily was in her room. Emily grew extremely close to Jen in those months leading up to the birth of Jen's son, Pierce. Emily and Jen were inseparable and had inside secrets, including knowing the name of Jen's baby even though nobody else did, and an amazing relationship. I think Emily spent 90% of her days attached to Jen in one form or another. When Emily came out of the hospital in April 2009 she was a little messed up and Jen had taken a fall outside of work and broken her ankle. Jen was gone from work and Emily was lost without her. Even though Jen was gone for a little while Emily did OK, but when Jen returned to work it was hard for Emily to not have her Jen the way she was used to having her. Jen was confined to a chair most of the time, or sitting on the floor. If Jen was on the floor Emily was in Jen's lap; she even peed on Jen one day requiring her to hobble home to change her clothes. Jen never minded though because she loved Emily. Emily loved Jen and when Jen went on maternity leave Emily had another transition to make. She was lost again and in transition to move to the older 2 year old classroom. She transitioned fine and found comfort in her new teachers but we all knew it wasn't Jen. She missed Jen! Fast forward almost two years later and Emily and Jen still have that special connection, kind of like an auntie. But there is more to it than Emily and Jen. Jen's son, Pierce, and Emily have this weird and amazing connection. Emily absolutely adores Pierce and he follows her around. Emily asks about him frequently if he isn't at school in the morning with her, and if you knew Emily you would know she really has no time for little kids; she doesn't like them or babies. She doesn't mind him touching her stuff, she willingly gave him one of her dolls to keep at his house, and she calls him her little brother. It is almost as if they are siblings when they are together. Jen and I think they share some kind of special bond from when Emily was attached to Jen during her pregnancy. I love the idea of them knowing each other as they grow up. I love the idea of having Jen and Pierce as our extended family!
Saturday, April 9, 2011
3 Months In
Three months and a few weeks into the year and I have yet to write anything. Awesome. NOT! We are settled into the house as much as we can be. We still have unpacked boxes, but that goes along with the territory of an unfinished basement. We are looking forward to the next stage of this house which is yard work. Unlike the last house, we won't have sod. We will be putting in a sprinkler system and seeding. Before that though we have to bring in at least one truckload of dirt to build up the yard. Emily has adjusted really well to living in a new house and new town. Sometimes she talks about missing her friend Rayna, but I think that she is enjoying the kids outside out here who love to mother and take care of her outside. They have even taught her that mud can be fun! Emily has a couple of new obsessions: Tangled, the new Disney movie and changing her clothes at least 3 times a day. The movie is great but her clothing changes have resulted in a lot more laundry and some very messy drawers!! A few weeks back we decided that it was time for Emily to begin the process of stopping thumb sucking. We promised her a Leapster when she kicks the habit. So far in the last two weeks she has only sucked her thumb once. I would say she is doing really well and I am really proud of her!! Not much else is happening. The snow has melted and now the area is waiting for the Red River to Crest, sometime this weekend. No flood worries here though!
Saturday, January 15, 2011
New House
We officially became residents of Kindred on Dec. 29th. Closing was easy. Everything went really fast and we had our keys to the new house by noon that day.
We got everything moved in that day. Bryce and a few of his friends from work helped with the boxes and heavy stuff while I worked on putting as much odds and ends type stuff in the van and running back and forth. I remember that was my job as well when we moved into the twinhome...last time I had a Saturn car; this time I had a minivan. I prefer the van. In total the guys made two round trips and I made three. We got everything we could that day except for wall art, vacuums, and brooms.
Our first night in the house was fun. We had pizza for supper - isn't that a rule for moving into a new house?! Bryce got the TV in the master bedroom running and I got 8 boxes, all of which were kitchen boxes, unpacked.
During our first night we got rain. Then snow. Then wind. Then my in-laws. They were brave enough to make the (normally)2.5 hour drive from Bismarck in a really nasty blizzard...which actually took 4 hours! It was awesome having them here. My mother-in-law, Joann, brought the boxes in and helped organize Emily's room. Joann also made some of the most delicious meatloaf ever and I hope to attempt her recipe sometime soon!
The blizzard that we endured that first weekend here allowed for most of the unpacking to get done by about Saturday afternoon. We celebrated that night by playing dice and getting some surprise visitors all the way from Bismarck. My cousin Holly and her husband Mitch were on their way to Fargo to make their flight to Florida. Since the interstate was closed they ended up driving on Highways and ended up passing through Kindred. Luckily I convinced them to stay the night and we played some more dice. Holly and I pretty much kicked everyone else's butt. It was a lot of fun.
Since we have moved in we have hung most of the artwork, hung blinds in Emily's room, and relaxed in our new space. We still have more to do but as everyone knows a house is a work in progress!
We got everything moved in that day. Bryce and a few of his friends from work helped with the boxes and heavy stuff while I worked on putting as much odds and ends type stuff in the van and running back and forth. I remember that was my job as well when we moved into the twinhome...last time I had a Saturn car; this time I had a minivan. I prefer the van. In total the guys made two round trips and I made three. We got everything we could that day except for wall art, vacuums, and brooms.
Our first night in the house was fun. We had pizza for supper - isn't that a rule for moving into a new house?! Bryce got the TV in the master bedroom running and I got 8 boxes, all of which were kitchen boxes, unpacked.
During our first night we got rain. Then snow. Then wind. Then my in-laws. They were brave enough to make the (normally)2.5 hour drive from Bismarck in a really nasty blizzard...which actually took 4 hours! It was awesome having them here. My mother-in-law, Joann, brought the boxes in and helped organize Emily's room. Joann also made some of the most delicious meatloaf ever and I hope to attempt her recipe sometime soon!
The blizzard that we endured that first weekend here allowed for most of the unpacking to get done by about Saturday afternoon. We celebrated that night by playing dice and getting some surprise visitors all the way from Bismarck. My cousin Holly and her husband Mitch were on their way to Fargo to make their flight to Florida. Since the interstate was closed they ended up driving on Highways and ended up passing through Kindred. Luckily I convinced them to stay the night and we played some more dice. Holly and I pretty much kicked everyone else's butt. It was a lot of fun.
Since we have moved in we have hung most of the artwork, hung blinds in Emily's room, and relaxed in our new space. We still have more to do but as everyone knows a house is a work in progress!
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Gifting
It's the time of year I love but also dread: Christmas shopping. I love shopping and I do have most people, like my family, under control. It's the other people I dread.
The "other people" are Emily's teacher for preschool and dance and my Secret Santa. What do you get the Secret Santa who doesn't really say much on the paper they filled out? A gift card just says I couldn't figure it out.
The teacher part is really hard to figure out. Emily's dance teacher will probably end up with lotion because I don't know her all that well. I know she dances and drinks Coke after classes, but other than that I have no idea!
Emily's preschool teacher is even more difficult! Not only is she Em's teacher, she is also a very good friend of mine. I know some of her likes and dislikes but I also know she is particular. Shopping for a teacher is hard, because even though I am a teacher I know the kinds of typical teacher gifts that "rock" and the kind that just plain old "suck".
I will probably wander around the mall today looking for the perfect gifts. I just hope I don't jump out the nearest high window during my search! HAHA! :)
The "other people" are Emily's teacher for preschool and dance and my Secret Santa. What do you get the Secret Santa who doesn't really say much on the paper they filled out? A gift card just says I couldn't figure it out.
The teacher part is really hard to figure out. Emily's dance teacher will probably end up with lotion because I don't know her all that well. I know she dances and drinks Coke after classes, but other than that I have no idea!
Emily's preschool teacher is even more difficult! Not only is she Em's teacher, she is also a very good friend of mine. I know some of her likes and dislikes but I also know she is particular. Shopping for a teacher is hard, because even though I am a teacher I know the kinds of typical teacher gifts that "rock" and the kind that just plain old "suck".
I will probably wander around the mall today looking for the perfect gifts. I just hope I don't jump out the nearest high window during my search! HAHA! :)
Friday, December 10, 2010
An Offer
Yesterday we recieved our first offer for the purchase of our house. While it should have been very exciting, it was not. It was in fact the opposite. It was offensive.
Our house is listed for $139,900. The market is slow because of the time of year so, we knew going into yesterday that the offer coming in was "low". How low we didn't know. I was prepared for a low of $135,000, even $130,000. I was not prepared for the offer of $119,000. That is less than what we paid for the house 7 years ago. I was shocked that someone would even offer that low!
We countered back with $138,500. The replied back with $126,800. Our realtor told their realtor that until they had a realistic offer we would not entertain any further offers. Today they offered $130,00. We countered back with $136,500. They countered back with $136,500 plus our couch downstairs couch and our dining room furniture. We countered back $137,000 and the furniture.
SOLD!
After their trying to get something for nothing, I wonder if it would be appropriate to leave them a house warming gift of a dead plant?
Our house is listed for $139,900. The market is slow because of the time of year so, we knew going into yesterday that the offer coming in was "low". How low we didn't know. I was prepared for a low of $135,000, even $130,000. I was not prepared for the offer of $119,000. That is less than what we paid for the house 7 years ago. I was shocked that someone would even offer that low!
We countered back with $138,500. The replied back with $126,800. Our realtor told their realtor that until they had a realistic offer we would not entertain any further offers. Today they offered $130,00. We countered back with $136,500. They countered back with $136,500 plus our couch downstairs couch and our dining room furniture. We countered back $137,000 and the furniture.
SOLD!
After their trying to get something for nothing, I wonder if it would be appropriate to leave them a house warming gift of a dead plant?
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