Is That Your FINAL Answer?

FINALLY!  Oh, the waiting game, it's excruciatingly painful for this lady.    The other day, we finally got the job offer that Hubby has been waiting on.    This whole process began back in November, when we first went to Houston for an initial interview.  (Well, it was his interview, we went shopping, hehe.)    After weeks of "Well, I'm not sure we're ready to bring someone else on yet..." the company finally got too much of a workload to hold off any longer!    Hubby starts Monday as a full-time employee for them!  

Apparently the real estate market in Houston is fully operated by realtors.  Even rental houses.   So, we have an appointment with one on Monday to go view some rental homes in the area.    We know what kind of a house we want, we just have no idea which neighborhoods to look in.   Obviously school district isn't a major factor, but it does go to reason, the nicer the school district, the nicer the houses usually are.    So, we're looking the opposite direction.  Ha, just kidding.  But, seriously, my family leans well into the redneck side and we don't want to be in the middle of an HOA nightmare where we get fined for having our trash can visible.  Not that we've been there done that before.    ;-) 

My head is spinning from writing down MLS #s and looking at houses online.   My TO-DO list reads like this:
Saturday AM: Yardsale @ friend's house
Saturday PM: Friend's homeschool graduation
Sunday: Church, then Bday party afternooon
Monday: drive to Houston, check out houses, drive back.
Tuesday & on....   mail invoices, call insurance about paying midwife!!,  transfer magazine and mail to new address (if we have one yet), PACK, and PACK some more.
5K Walk/Run for Kirk!!
Finish details about Brisket Fundraiser for Kirk....
PACK some more!  

Oh, and you know what else I'm gonna do?  Leave out 10 outfits for each of my children and pack away the rest!  I'm tired of doing laundry!

Indecision....

I am taking a break from packing for a second.   Packing to move where exactly...?  We don't know yet.   All we really know is that we're planning to move out of this house into another one/something else.     We're chasing the carrot dangling from a stick that this Houston job has turned out to be.   It's still "out there" as a possibility and we don't know if or when it will come through.   In the meantime, our landlord has decided not to try and owner finance the house.   She agreed to let us just rent month-by-month until December, at which time she wants to put it on the market (or if it doesn't sell, it will be managed by a rental company).    We don't want to stay here and keep paying the amount of rent we pay until December however.     We have a VA certificate that could help us if we tried to finance, but this house has a lot of issues and the financing standards are very strict right now, especially for a VA loan or FHA, etc.   So, we aren't don't even want the headache of all that.       
So, while we try to wait on a word from the Lord, I am starting to pack.   Not knowing where you're going or how many rooms there are makes it a little bit tricky to pack in an organized fashion.  But, I can at least label the basics.  Toys, books, books, books, and dishes....    Time to get back at it!    Pray for some clarity!  Thanks! 

What's that? I left you hanging?

One of my friends noted that I was going on and on about all these changes...and then haven't blogged again in a while.  Hehe.  Well, I was mostly waiting for everything to be confirmed, and then somewhat waiting for MY TURN AT THE COMPUTER!   Sheesh.   (XMan is trying to persuade us to do a computer curriculum next year, I'm thinking "I don't know. That could cut into my Facebook time..."  HA, not really.....)

Anyway.  Someone else has also been a busy bee on the computer, printing out invoices and making bids on construction work...yep, Hubby is at it again!  He went full-time with our landscaping/construction business again the other week!    We've been praying about it for months, after our family time had dwindled down to next-to-nothing and his presence was being sorely missed on Sunday mornings at church.   (Especially in our pew, where I could've used extra hands to help keep wiggly bottoms still!)    He entertained a few other job options, but those didn't really work for us either.  So, he finally said, "That's enough! I'm just going to work for myself again!"   Ah, freedom.   For a neat post about men and their job choices, go here.   

The next big change we were waiting on was the status of this house.  The landlady was checking into owner financing it, because she & her new husband are moving overseas, and she doesn't want the house hanging around as a rental.   She told us she had to discuss it with her lawyer(?) and she would be getting back with us.  We called her about 8 times in the past 3 weeks trying to see what the verdict was...and finally heard back from her today.   Ugh.  A no go.   Her lawyer advised her against doing an owner finance, so she is willing to let us keep renting it, but she will be putting it on the market after we move.   Hm.  So, we are trying to lower our monthly expenses and the rent here is pretty high.    Hope she realizes the market is sloooooowwww in this area right now.    It's pretty frustrating that this house will most likely sit here, empty, waiting for a buyer, when we were willing to pay for it every month.   :-S 

We've been looking online and riding around checking out rental houses in the area.  When you have 4 kids, a dog, two work trailers, a TON of tools and books....you kind of need just the right house.    We've seen several options, but nothing was the right fit yet.   We're going to keep praying and looking...
So, anyway, that's a snippet of what's going on in our world right now.    There's more, but the kiddos are in bed & I want to be too!   :-) 

"House Hunting" Take #4,765

So..... it's beginning to feel like we might never, ever, ever, ever find a house ever! XMan even asked us yesterday if we were going to be homeless! Of course, Hubby and I cracked up, but we also passed a quick look between us that could only be interpreted as, "We're not, right??" The dream of living in the country will have to be postponed for a while longer. Financing and such just isn't working for us to be able to buy our own piece of earth. Over the past few months, we've looked at over 40 houses for rent, online and by driving around the area. We've called tons of people who don't appreciate the beauty of a Courtesy Call to let us know it's been rented, sold, etc. Basically, we were beginning to lose hope! We prayed together as a family the other night that God would please help us find a house with more room, and a big fenced-in backyard. XMan asked, "You can pray about a HOUSE??" When we assured him that God cared about our house and where we lived, he said, "Ok, well, I'm going to pray for room for my go-cart track!!!"



We're going to look at one more rental house this afternoon. I will let you know the results when we get back......


Hurray!!!! We finally found it!!! The house we went to go see is a 3BD/2Bath with an extra little room off the kitchen for the "office." It has a one car garage that we'll just use for storage and a workshop in the backyard. By the way, the backyard is HUGE and fenced in!!! XMan definitely has room for his go-cart. It's not out in the country, but it's in a quiet little neighborhood, and has nice big streets for walking. We can't wait to start moving our things over there and having the extra space! So, if you don't hear from me for a few days, it's because I am FINALLY PACKING TO MOVE!!

We're back!

Hey guys. Hope you had a good weekend. We had a whirlwind of a weekend! Saturday morning, Hubby and I got up and went to go get CPR qualified. When we we returned home at noon, we jumped in the car and headed out to DALE, TX, to go see our friends.
I don't know why we try and do these road trips in such a short amount of time!! We had a fun trip and saw the cutest puppies! We need to go when we have more time to just visit, though! I barely got to talk with Ally, because I was so nauseous the whole time! (Yes, STILL....) Next time, we'll have to spend a few days. The kids are glad to be out of the car! They are also exhausted and can't wait to go back to bed. Little Man fell asleep in his clothes and I couldn't even get him to wake up!!
So, that's all that's going on here. We aren't having a lot of luck on the House Hunting search. We might need to go back to renting again. If you care to, please say a prayer that we'll find something! Talk to you tomorrow!

Going on a trip...

Hey hey. We're completely exhausted from all the crazy house/land searching. So, we're going out of town to visit our buddies Kevin and Ally again. They also have the puppies that we want to see! (And hopefully pick our favorite one out!) I will "see" you guys on Monday!!

Country at Heart......Maybe.

Howdy y'all. So, I told you I would describe our adventures in House Hunting. I think "hunting" is the perfect term, because as soon as we spot something, it's usually gone! We have been driving all around our town and the surrounding areas looking for something else to live in. At this point, someTHING else is getting close, ha. RV park anyone? (Just kidding, Mother.)

Here's the thing. Hubby and I would both like to live out "in the country," so that our rambunctious boys have some fresh air and lots of room to play. They practically live outside, so I know they would appreciate the freedom of living outside of town. We live on a busy cut-through street and do not have a fence around the yard. So, I would appreciate being able to let them play and not have to worry about how close to the road they are.

We are also getting a DOG soon! This is our first one since our buddy Reagan died last year. The dog is a Great Pyrenees and they like having LOTS of room to play and roam. We would love to have other animals eventually. Goats, maybe a chicken or two, rabbits, whatever. The kids would love this, not to mention all the responsibility "opportunities." None of these really work out well with having a small-ish house in the middle of town.

So, we've been driving further out, looking for an acre or two. We found one cute little place, 1.57 acres, so we called them, and the next day - there was no sign! We called the people again and they never did call back. Hmm. We have found rentals that are wayyyy too expensive, we've found rentals that are wayyyyyy too run-down. We've found places to buy that are wayyyyy too expensive also.

Last week was really the turning point in our search, when we went to go see a little house about 3 minutes away. It was very cute, had 3 bedrooms, 1 1/2 baths, and a HUGE backyard. It was right on another busy street, and right in the middle of another nice neighborhood. It was also right at our price range and the man was very willing to work with us. Yet, when we got home, Hubby and I both agreed it wasn't the house for us. We have to be close enough to Hubby's work for him to get there quickly. No long 45 min. commutes allowed. But, we want to keep looking around the outskirts of town to find something with a little more elbow room.

What's funny about all this "living in the country" talk is that I am finding out how used to being near the grocery store I am! I have never had to make a monthly trip to SAMS Mart or to Costco. Right now, we actually live right across the highway from the grocery store! At the drop of a hat, we can be at church, at the mall, or at Wal-Mart. If I run out of milk, we can run across the street and get more! Living further out will definitely take some getting used to, but I think I could adjust soon enough! I hope so anyway!!

No, my head isn't buried in the toilet...

Hey guys. I am still here! I'm not getting better acquainted with our toilet, I promise. We've just had a hectic week. Little Man has some "unknown" virus, that is LIKE shingles and LIKE chicken pox. Hmmmm. But it actually isn't either one.... One of his church buddies has it too, so we know it's spreadable. Thankfully, the fever is gone, and he isn't so miserable anymore.

On top of that, we're still driving around looking at houses. We found one that we really like. It's in need of a little TLC, but it has 1.25 acres, so we would have lots of room to grow!! We haven't put any money down yet, but we keep going by to look at it!

The "morning sickness" has just started. I am just a little queasy right now. But, I read this post over at Life in a Shoe about eating beans/legumes to make the quesiness go away. I have been giving it a shot the past few days. I am not too creative with beans, so we'll have to find some new recipes, I guess!

Yes, that was a POSITIVE

Yeppers, we are preggo again!! So, the little bit of House Hunting we were doing, will now become a LOT of House Hunting! Our 2 bedroom rental is not quite roomy enough for three kids in the same room! I'll keep ya posted!!

***Okay, you know what? I posted that about the house hunting and then I got my "Above Rubies" magazine in the mail. With an article all about big families living in small houses! It made me think my comment sounded like grumblng, so I want to apologize for that. If we need to stay in our small house and find a way to make it work, I know God will provide for us. So, whether we stay here, or find an incredibly affordable good-sized house on 5 acres, with a riding lawn mower included, I will be content. :-)