Vandalism + Dad= STRESS

It has been a while, and in that time things have been rather hectic and stressful.

The boys are in the swing of school and doing well. There were a few adjustments to be made, but I think we are headed in the right direction. They are also dipping their hand in sports, with Jake doing a cross country club and Tyler doing flag football. I have to admit that being so busy during the week is not my favorite thing, but it will all end at the beginning of October, so it's really only a month-6 weeks of chaos!

The new house is almost done. We close on it 1 week from tomorrow. We were out there this weekend and discovered the inside vandalized with motor oil all over the walls and carpet. Come to find out, there were 6 houses total and we got lucky that our issues are not worse. They are working really hard to finish it up. We were supposed to have our final walk on Friday, but due to carpet getting installed, we now have it Monday morning. We are so close I can almost taste it.

Monday morning my dad went into the hospital. He is very, very ill again. They went in and put in another stent in his bile duct, but that procedure allowed the dr. to look and make a more accurate diagnosis. That diagnosis is that the cancer is spreading and growing fast. It has more than doubled in the last 7 weeks. He said he has a few weeks to maybe a couple of months, but it is over. The cancer has won. Dad will not make it. The question is how long will he be here. And of course, we don't have that answer. I have been able to realize that feeling you hear about, where family simply releases their loved one and tells them it's okay to go.  I am at the place where I am at peace with this. He is so sick and if he doesn't improve enough to have a few good days, then I pray this is quick for him.

This week has been rather stressful, as you can see. I woke up this morning with the start of a cold. Normally this would be a simple annoyance, but right now this is major, as I cannot go be with dad if I am sick. So I am headed out to buy Zicam.

While dad has fought for 19 months now, and his death is not a "surprise" necessarily, this has been a hard week for me and my brother Mark.  With death so close, it is sometimes overwhelming. I am just thankful that when he goes, I know where he is going- into the arms of Jesus. He will be whole. He will be happy. The sad thing is that he won't be here to be those things with us. 

I will keep you all posted. Thank you for your prayers. 

Everyone is Happy Today!!

Today was the BIG DAY!! School started for both boys. They were so excited! I was so excited! Everyone was happy. The only bummer is that it is raining, so that means no outside recess, but they will get over that! Everyone was ready. Summer was fun, but both boys said yesterday they couldn't wait to get back to school.

For 10 1/2 years I have been a stay-at-home mom. I would not trade that for the world. There are days I would trade, days I'd like to forget, but I would never change the past 10 1/2 years. Staying home was a choice Matt and I made even before we were married. I didn't even think I would do anything else but raise the kids. That doesn't mean it was always my first choice for me, personally, but having kids means you don't get to be selfish all of the time. It takes sacrifice, work, dedication...but let me just say, I am more than ready to have my days back! Tyler is in school full days this year, so for the first time in a long time, I have from 7:45-3:30 to myself. I am sure that time will get filled with lots of things, but right now sitting in this quiet house and knowing I need to clean it, but also knowing the boys won't be here until 3:30 sure feels good!!

Camping Pictures

Here are the pictures of our camping trip that were promised.  Matt decided to go overboard and put them in video format.

Quick disclaimer from Matt.

***These pictures are not in any special order and are simply a montage of our family vacation.  At 4-1/2 minutes long, it may be a bit more than you care to see unless you're close friends or family.  Additionally, iMovie needs to have more transition effects available and I got bored with the simple cross-dissolve, sorry.  I did get carried away a bit taking pictures of scenery, but am now considering opening up an account in iStock to post my pictures - just kidding... sort of.  Finally, no comments on John Denver.  The song was just too appropriate not to use and I kind of like it.***

Camping

We are back from our last summer trip.  We took the boys and went camping in Rocky Mountain National Park. We met up with my dad and step-mom. It was hot, but still a good time. Camping is not my #1 vacation, but it is good family time. We hiked, went to a few Ranger programs, played ladder golf, Blitz, Sorry....all in all, it was a good time.

It was also nice to spend some time with my dad. I realized this weekend that he is very good at acting like he is feeling okay over the phone, but in person it is a different story. It was hard, at times, to see him. He is sick and it doesn't seem like he is getting any better. We had some good chats with my step-mom, but dad wasn't much for talking. He had no energy. He was just a shell of the person I knew as my dad. That is very hard to take in. I have no idea how long he will be here with us. I am surprised he is still here now. But I feel like it will be sooner than later. So I was more than grateful for this past weekend. I might not have that again, like we did.

I will post some camping pictures in a little bit. Right now I have no idea where the camera is.

Pictures

It is dry-walled and being textured as I type. The photos are just of misc. rooms in the house.

The one to left is in the dining room, with the arches. The bottom picture is also of the dining room.

The pics at the very bottom are of the family room, fireplace/entertainment area, kitchen, and master bed and bath.

We Have a Closing Date!

The house is coming along, and so is our summer! We found out this weekend we have a close date of 08/28/08. It would have been nice to have gotten in sooner, but I am not complaining. I am glad we can get in before Sept 1 so we don't have to rent the rental house for an additional month. It will make it a tight time-frame, since Matt is headed to Chicago on Sept 2, but it will all work out.  I am heading out this afternoon to take pictures. This week they should be painting the outside, texturing the inside and putting trim and door jams up.

We are leaving Thursday morning for our annual camping trip up to Rocky Mountain National Park. I am not a camper, but I do enjoy this annual trip. There is something about being away from phones, tv, computers and just enjoying nature and spending time together as a family. The boys (all 3!) are so excited. We will be there 4 nights. We get back on Monday and school starts Friday, August 8th.

I think the boys have had a good summer. Being in the rental house hasn't been the best, but we have all survived. It will make getting into the new house even better! 

I will post some pictures later today from the house. 

Home At Last!

We are home from our great vacation. We had a great time.  Boating, lots of tubing, shopping, a water park, movies...a very nice trip. We also got to spend time with some favorite friends from Mount Pleasant. 

The boys also had fun at church camp (Jake) and a trip alone to Nana and Papa's (Tyler).  We are home until the 30th, when we head up to Rocky Mountain National Park for a short camping trip. School starts August 8th. I think it is fair to say that we have survived summer, and can cruise through these last 2 1/2 weeks. 

The house is coming along. I have to admit I was hoping more would be done while we were away, but it wasn't. And there was probably more done that it looks like. Matt keeps reminding me that it had to go through inspection before more could be done on the inside. They have it roofed, the front and back patios are poured, and all of the insulation is blown and rolled. All of the sheet rock was dropped in all of the rooms, and my guess is that they will start on that today. Progress is being made, and I am learning to be patient. I have to remind myself that they have made amazing progress in a short amount of time.

That is it for now. Have a great week!!

Big News

Okay- last time we blogged it was about the house. We did our frame walk today and it looks good. While we are on vacation, starting tomorrow-the 21st, it should get drywalled, roofed and the rest of the cement outside done.

Jake is at church camp this week and Tyler is at Matt's parents' house for the week. I get Jake from camp tomorrow and then Matt, Jake and I fly to Kansas City to go to the lake for 10 days! We are so ready to take a break. I realize we just went to Mexico, but after living in a rental house with no space and 1% of our things readily available, it is time for all of us to get away.

But the big news in our life as of Saturday, July 5th, is that I am going to be an aunt!! My brother and sister-in-law are expecting and I am so thrilled for them!! It seems like maybe a March due date, but we don't know for sure. It is so exciting, as this will be the first niece or nephew for me or Matt. The other great thing is that we are right here, a few miles from them, and will get to walk through this whole process with them. We can be there to support them, laugh with them, and be a part of the baby's life. So congrats to them!!! We love you guys and are so happy for you!

It's Coming Along

Well, it has been 2 weeks since we last updated you on the house. A lot has taken place and it is so exciting. I never knew I could get so excited about wood, screws and plumbing! 

In the last 2 weeks our house has gone from one or two exterior walls to having almost everything on the outside done, including siding, windows and doors. The inside is framed out, the HVAC is almost complete and the plumbing is done. This week they will run electrical and then we go in for our pre-drywall inspection before we head to vacation.  What will be so fun is to come back from vacation and see what has been done.

This whole process has been so great and fun to go through. Matt always said he wanted to build a house because he thought it would be fun. I didn't place much value in those words since he thinks a lot of things are "fun" that I don't think are. This has been! We have been very blessed to work with a great company and a great guy named Micah, who is always looking out for us. 

So enjoy the latest on the house. We will see you in a few weeks. I will probably be blogging this week, but it won't be house related...you have to tune in and check it out. 

House Update

This is Matt (not Deann) - I've hijacked her blog so show you this video.  Actually, our agreement was that I would shoot and edit pictures / video to show the progress of our new house being built and she would blog about it, but she's not holding up her end of the bargain and I got tired of waiting for her to blog about this video.

Don't give her too hard of a time about slacking, she's busy making me taco salad for dinner and I'm hungry and don't want her to take away my food as punishment for giving her a hard time.

So here is our first installment of the progress in the form of a Vlog (video log).

Enjoy!

My Colorado Rockie!

Tyler had his very first t-ball game last night. What a great time! He is on the Colorado Rockies team, which he thinks is way cool!

Being the great dad that Matt is, he took a few of the video pieces he taped and made a mini-movie with them, just a couple of minutes. 

We had a very happy boy last night. And of course a very happy mom, dad and grandma. He really is a slugger, and LOVES playing, even if in the middle of an inning he yells over to me to let me know Baxter, the dog, is eating grass! You gotta love 6 year olds!

A bunch of stuff!

Since I haven't blogged in a while, I feel like there is so much to tell you. So maybe I will do this in 2 parts, so I don't overwhelm (or bore) you!

1) We are in the rental house for the summer and we got the old house sold and closed on! What a nice relief. The rental house is small, but we will manage. We are very blessed with what God has given us, so this is a gentle reminder of that.

2) Puerto Vallarta was so much fun, and so relaxing. It was exactly what we needed after the last few months. The funny thing is that we booked this trip long before the house was on the market or that we knew we would be moving. Just another confirmation that God knows what is best for us! There are a few stories for that, but really need to wait until I put pictures with them. Let's just say one involves me, water aerobics, and my new 80 year old friend named Michael!

3) Tyler has started t-ball, and loves it! He has told anyone who will listen to him, that he HAS to play t-ball b/c his mom is MAKING him. Now that he has had 3 practices he loves it and is really, really good at it. His first game is this Thursday.

4) Jake is with Matt's parents right now, having a much needed break from Tyler and getting to do some fun things. We have ventured to the pool a few times, but it really has not been warm enough with the horrible winds we have had. I am believing this will change, SOON.

5) The most exciting news is on the house. We had our construction meeting yesterday. We love the construction foreman. Great guy totally willing to work with us on small things that most people probably don't ask about. The garage and basement floors are poured, and today they are starting to frame!! I cannot wait to see walls go up! By the end of June the outside framing will be done and they will be heading inside. They told us yesterday we will definitely be in the new house in August some time. So now I am believing for the middle of August so I can go to Chicago with Matt for a week. He will definitely be going, since it's for work, but I will only go if we aren't just in the house for a few days!

We have tons of pictures of the lot, the cement, and today the framing. I will have Matt post those things either tonight or tomorrow, for all to see. 

As usual, summer is flying by. Hope you all are having a great summer yourselves. 

End of the Road!

Considering it has been almost a month since I last blogged, I think it is fair to say we have been swamped! I don't have time right now to blog for long, but did want to update you all on what has been going on.

A week from today, May 27th, we close on the house we live in now. We will be moving this week to a rental house for 3 months, while they finish our new home. All has gone well with all of the transitions, thus far, and hopefully will through August.

The kids are finishing up school this week. Tyler had field day yesterday, Jake had his mock trial and field day yesterday, and today is the big science fair contest! Tomorrow is Tyler's choir concert, and then I think we are good to go for the summer. Tyler starts t-ball next week. Swim lessons, vacations, camps...

Matt and I leave May 30th for Puerto Vallarta!! While my life is crazy right now, going to Mexico will come at a great time. We will have moved all of our things, sold the house, and can literally relax. We also celebrate our 14th anniversary on the 28th.

We have pictures of the land, the hole, and all sorts of things. Since Matt is the one in charge of posting those things, it will all have to wait until we are back from Mexico. He is too detailed, and posting things could end up taking him hours he doesn't have until we are back!!

So we are busy, but come June we will have more time and energy to update you on all of the things in our lives. Have a great Memorial Day. See you back here in a few weeks.

SOLD

We got an offer on our house yesterday. We accepted. Closing date is May 26th. This is the sequence of events over the last few weeks:

Sometime about 6 weeks ago: I had a weird dream that our house sold and I was dealing with a man from Chicago. (you'll understand more of this later)

Monday, April 14th: John Laing Homes calls and tells us they will not honor our contingency and that build time is 10 months out from when we close on the house we are in. Too long!

Tuesday April 15th: I go for my morning walk and pray, and feel peace that it will work out, and that I need to go look at other houses.

Thursday April 17th: I go look at houses with my realtor, realize there isn't much out there to buy that is what we want, but go look at a different builder and find a house I love.

Sunday April 20th: Go back out to the model and really start deciding that this might be the house for us.

Wednesday April 23rd: Reserve the lot with Capital Pacific. We have until Sunday to decide if we want to sign a contract.

Thursday April 24th: Realize that there is no immediate pressure to sell the house, so for the first time since we listed it, I relax.

Saturday April 26th: Wake up at 8am to a call saying we have a showing in 2 hours. We get an offer. We accept. We also find out that our realtor knows someone who needs a renter for their house for 3 months this summer, which fits perfectly into our time frame of needing a rental.

Sunday April 27th: Sign a contract with Capital Pacific. We realize Micah, the CP guy we are working with is from Chicago! (weird, I know)

The fun begins. They start on our house in the next week or two. Matt and I get to go pick out of all our "things" for the new house within a week or two. FUN!!! The house will be done by the end of August. School will just be starting, so it should work out perfectly! And through it all I have realized how much God had His hand in all of this.

Jack

There is a little boy named Jack who is sick. He has cancer. I stumbled upon the blog his parents keep up, and ever since have felt drawn to a little boy and a family I do not know. I read the blog regularly. www.jackbrownappeal.org I have shed tears over the pain he and his family go through. They are from England, but are in the US trying to save Jack's life. And today I got out of my comfort zone and followed the Holy Spirit's leading....

As I read the blog today, realizing I had already read the latest post from last week, my heart moved in a way I had not experienced. I felt so drawn to Yvonne, his mother. My heart broke for the whole family. And then, after much debate with myself, I sent his mother an email. I know, is seems so weird, and I felt it was. Who writes a long, heart felt email to someone they have never met or talked to before? I kept it short and simple, reminding her that God is the healer and miracle worker. I told her I was praying for her, and that as a mother, my heart broke for her.

To my pleasant surprise, she emailed me back shortly after I sent it!! I hadn't expected a response, so getting one was amazing. She told me that there have been a few others, like myself, who had written her but didn't know her, but that they just felt led to do so. She credited one particular lady with helping her grow closer to God. And while I won't share her whole email, as it is personal, I did want to share the last little bit with you, to encourage you to follow the Holy Spirit's leading, to open your heart up to the possibility of doing something out of the ordinary.

"Sometimes yes, I get very, very down... especially on days like today when Jack is in pain and just wants cuddles until he falls asleep. Then when I get a chance to look at my email and find one from you... well it makes it all very much easier to bear. I see your email as yet another sign from God, not to get discouraged. You have absolutely no idea how much you have uplifted me Deann, thank you."

God is so good. He is the great comforter. And we are on this earth to be the physical form of His love for people, maybe even strangers.

Obstacles can be for a reason!

My last post informed you all of the latest with our builder. I was very unsettled about the whole situation. I took time to pray about it and felt led to go look at already existing houses as well as some other builders in the community we want to live in. So my realtor and I went out last Thursday and looked. I am so glad we did this, for a number of reasons.

1) I realized that I don't want to move to a different house, unless it can be out at Banning Lewis Ranch.
2) I realized that we are priced very right, and that our house really is upgraded and beautiful compared to what is out there.
3) I went out to a new builder that I bypassed when I was originally looking at BLR.
4) I was able to see that maybe God had used this experience with the new house as a way of getting me to stop and listen.

God always has the best for us. He knows the desires of our hearts and wants to give us those. He has always been faithful to Matt and I, ALWAYS! Even during those times when we sit back and wonder when He would show up and intervene, he always does. The reality is that He is already there, just waiting for us to turn to Him.

What I found at the new builder, Capital Pacific Homes, is a house very similar to the John Laing we were going to build. It has a lot I like better, and a few things I don't. We figure unless we custom build a house we won't ever have a house that is exactly perfect to what we want. This house is in a much better location. Front views of Pikes Peak, on a cul-de-sac, backing to a greenbelt and trails. Price is about the same, maybe a little cheaper. All in all, I really like it. The best part of it all is that they will take our contingency for at least 90 days, and in the mean time build our house. If all goes well we could be in our new home in August or September. With John Laing we are looking at 10 months from when we close and move out of the home we are in now.

We are now faced with a decision. Which house do we build. I firmly believe that God had his hand in all of this, and by have an obstacle put in our path, we were able to find something that works better for us, in almost every way. I'll keep you updated.

Major Obstacle

Well, we have hit a potential snag in the plans, and I must say how disappointed I am. Yesterday we got a call from the builder, letting us know that John Laing Homes had changed their policy, and would not be doing contingent contracts anymore. They will allow us to have our contract for 30 more days, but will cancel it if we don't have an offer on the house. They also said that they would not start building the new house until we had sold our current home. We were originally told that we could go all the way to drywall before we had to have the house sold.

So I have started rethinking what the best choice for us is. The best scenario is to get an offer on the house within 30-45 days. If that occurs I think everything will still proceed as planned. If not, we will have lots of things to think about. If we still list the house, which will be in the prime season, and sell it but have no contract to build, we run the risk of losing our lot and not being able to build what we want. I was walking and praying early this morning and thought we could always look at buying an already existing home, but one that has what we want. The boys got into the school on their own, without us needing to live out there.

Lots to think about. I am a planner, so I am trying to get all the different possibilities figured out. Maybe I should just pray and believe that we will know what to do, and let God do the rest. But it is a frustration and disappointment. So let's all put forth our effort and prayers that a buyer for the house will come in within the next month or so.

Time is Changing

Matt's dad, Rick, retired at the end of February after decades of straightening people's teeth. This past weekend he had a retirement dinner to honor his staff. Matt, his sister Elizabeth and I all went back to surprise him. And it worked!! It had been months of secret emails, secret phone calls, frustrations...but I think it was worth it. He had no clue. And if you knew him, you would know how miraculous this was!

He is one of the most giving people I know, and never wants the attention on him. (I am sure he is not happy with me right now!) We wanted to do something for him, but didn't feel like anything we could do would ever show him how much we love, respect, honor and appreciate him. That is when we decided to just be there for him this weekend. I am so glad we did.

I understand more than I once did about kids and parenting. One thing I don't understand yet is how it feels to have your kids home, once they don't live with you anymore. But seeing and hearing how happy he was that his kids were home made me realize we had chosen our gift to him wisely. I pray I can be the kind of parent to my boys that makes them want to come home and be with us after they have their own families.

The sad part is the house Matt grew up in, since he was 18 months old, is now sold to someone else. So we surprised Rick this weekend, we celebrated, and we said goodbye to an integral part of Matt's memories, and mine as well. I have been around long enough that it was sad for me, too. But everything has a season. We are thrilled for his parents and this new journey they are now on. But I am ever so grateful that memories are stored in our hearts and minds, and not within 4 walls.

So congrats to my father-in-law. I couldn't have asked for a better example for Matt, on being husband and provider for our family. I couldn't have asked for a better father-in-law, even if he wallpapers totally wrong!!! :)

No news- other than a boy turns 6!

We have made it 1/2 through the first week of spring break. That's right- they get 2 weeks, not 1. We also made it through the big day yesterday, of Tyler turning 6. He had one friend over, we went to lunch, bowled, had ice cream and then they played. Nothing over the top, but he loved every minute of it. We have a rule in our house, every other year they can have a bigger party, and on the off year they can have something smaller, with a friend or two. It seems to have worked out well. They understand it and never seem to mind. Enough with all of these parents who end up spending hundred of $$ on the birthday party alone, not to mention the gifts.

Nothing new on the house. Still waiting on ours to sell, but that's about it. They break ground on the new house in a few weeks. We get to go to the design studio in a few weeks. That will be very fun, at least I think it will. I told Matt we could do a test experiment and have people vote on the different choices we have to put in the house, and see what kind of house our family and friends would pick for us. Then I realized I might have 5 readers, so it probably isn't worth it. I think the DYI channel does something like this, called Blog Cabin.

Matt leaves Monday for Washington DC. He goes every year, and really enjoys it. So it is mom and the boys for the week. We will do some fun things, and I will work some, for the sanity! :)

For some reason I am simply shocked that it is almost April! Times seems to go by so quickly. We are 6 weeks away from going on a work trip to Durango, just Matt and I. We are 2 months out from heading to Puerto Vallarta for 5 days! That also means the boys are out of school in 2 months. Then we head into summer. Where does the time go?

Battle of the Mind

I have spent the last week working around the clock to get our house on the market. Cleaning, reorganizing, painting...and now it's on the market. We have already had 2 showings, with one a good possibility.

I said in my previous post that God has always blessed us when it comes to real estate. We have almost doubled our down payment, by making money from the sale of previous homes. Selling houses is an easy thing for us to do, since we have done it too many times to count!

So I found myself today fighting off thoughts that were of no good to me. Thoughts of "what if it doesn't sell?" and others like that. The good news is that I caught myself. The ridiculous thing is that I was having them at all. Maybe I could have that thought in 4 months if we have no offers or showings, but now? All of this, even after we showed the house twice when it was only on the market 1 day. One of the showings put us on their short list.

So my question today is why the mind is so hard to control? Why, when I am firm in my faith and belief that God will provide and take care of it all, do I find myself having absurd thoughts? When I really think about it, I truly do not doubt God and His power. I know He is my provider. I believe in tithing, sowing and reaping, faith...so why do these thoughts come? How do I stop them?

A side note: my husband is swamped. But as soon as he has time, we will get the new blog up and going about the house. Until then you can read here for any updates. It will be 4 weeks before they start digging. We don't get to go to the design studio for a month, so things will be pretty quiet regarding the house for a while. But I will post more...I have a boy turning 6, 2 weeks of spring break coming up...stories for sure!