House Hunters

View of lower level coming down the stairs.  Laundry room on the right.



The Spike Suite

View from family room.

Well the big day came and went.  We had an appraiser come and evaluate our house.  It did not turn out as well as we had hoped, but in the end we will still be able refinance our loan, drop the private mortgage insurance, and we have accrued a lot of equity in the house since we bought it three years ago.  We also finished the basement which is nice because without the appraisal sitting over our heads we would not have pushed so hard to finish it.  As for the other house, we have rented it as of last week to a family who is building a house.  They are paying top dollar to have a short lease, through May.  So for the first time in over three years the rent is covering the mortgage.  Let's just hope that they, like everyone else on the planet, fall behind schedule and have to stay a few more months.  So things are back to normal again at our house.  It has taken me more then a week to get used to not having projects to work on during naptime.  I was so go, go, go that I find it hard to have nothing on my plate.  I am still training for the Bentonville Half Marathon on April 6th.  I feel ready for it but have had some problems with my knee the last two runs.  It is frustrating to feel up for the run endurance wise but held up by my knee.  I think after this half, I will stick to 10ks from now on.  I like the idea of doing more fun, creative running events.  I wish I could upload video on this thing cause Mae has been singing the most adorable versions of Itsy Bitsy Spider. 

Checking In

Max fell asleep in his closet.

Howdy to Caitlin in MA.  Didn't mean to startle you, I honestly thought it was a stranger reading my blog.  I always get a kick out of the fact that anyone chooses to read it at all.  My father now refuses to read it due to my extreme liberal leanings which are apparently splashed over every post of this blog.  I guess I dress the kids in blue too often.  Anyway... things are good here in Arkansas.  We finally finished the basement, or as the appraiser called it, "Our Lower Level!"  It would seem that because it has over 10% of the wall space as windows it is technically a lower level.  Snap for us.  We are still waiting around to find out how the house rated, but Jeff is optimistic.  Although Jeff is always optimistic about everything, which is one of the reasons I married him.  Jeff and I were called to teach the 15 year old Sunday School class at church.  Two weeks into it and we are having a great time.  I hope the kids feel the same way.  It is fun to teach these kids because I also taught them as 11 year olds in primary.  We start each class by taking away all their phones.  I am chugging along with my running.  I ran 9 miles by myself last Saturday.  It was hard but a relief.  I was really starting to question whether or not I was ready for the half marathon in April.  Now that I have that under my belt I feel I can easily pound out another 4 miles.  I debated squeezing out another mile to make it a braggable 10, but I decided the exhaustion I would have felt for the rest of the day wasn't worth it.  I am very excited for the race.  I started taking some pills for my acne which has gotten worse since I had children.  It's a little scary how awesome they are.  They are like little energy pills but without the anxiety.  I was joking to Jeff that this must be what normal people feel like, not being tired all the time.  Ironically I don't think they are helping with my skin much, but I'll take the energy over the skin.  The kids are good.  Max has been off all week and one week break is just the right amount of time.  Mae is potty trained!  I was shocked by how it happened all of the sudden.  Max took forever.  Spike is a grouchy guy, but I think he is just in that stage where he wants to communicate and doesn't know how.  So, I'll probably like him a year from now.

Those Cars Never Seem to Stop Coming

My freshman year of high school I was in show choir and one of our competition numbers was to the 70's song "Car Wash."  I think it was my favorite number; hence the lyrical reference with the title there.  Anyway....shout out to my talented brother-in-law Mark Alexander who has just taken over his grandfather, Algy's, (see they didn't make my nephew's name up,) garage.   This post is mostly for the benefit of my one Massachusetts reader.  I have no idea who you are, but someone in that state reads my blog whenever I have a new post.  Mark is amazing with cars, and best of all he is totally honest and hardworking.  No slacker there.  I have spent an exhaustive amount of time trying to convince him and my sister to move to Arkansas just so I can have his mechanical services at our beck and call, but alas no go.  Maybe I'm a little bit biased but I do love Arkansas.  I cannot fathom how anyone lives anywhere else, (except Hawaii.)  But you, my Billericia Massachusetts reader, go to Mark and get your car fixed cause someone should benefit from his awesomeness.



This is Liesl, she wants you to go to her dad's auto shop.

http://www.alexanderautomotiveservice.com/

Pooh Bear



His limit for pictures that day was 4.

I think all of my kids are cute, but nobody has worked this outfit like Spikey!

Safety First

I know what your all asking yourselves, "Good heavens!  If she lost 30 lbs before this, What did she look like before?"

I can't even begin to list what I hate about this picture.  If I had known it was gonna be picture time I would have at least put on something other then sleepy pants.   Anyway, this is just another step in the refinance plan.  Making the house look finished is so time consuming.  The previous owner installed this window but didn't exactly finish it.  (What Jeff and I are really bugged by is why he put in a window that opens in a space 20 feet up.  Who's gonna open that?)  We have just lived with it sitting there looking like it was just cut and installed the day before, for over three years.  Well nothing like a deadline, and the borrowing of a 30 ft ladder to get things crossed off a to do list.  The main problem was that the angle of the staircase made it impossible to get on the ladder without the addition of the second ladder.  All I could think of was an OSHA ladder safety video I had to watch at BYU.  It wasn't so instructive as much as it was a gag reel of idiots falling off of ladders. 

Pictures through Firefox

This is an excellent example of the "W" sitting that Mae does which is terrible for the hip bones and should not be allowed.

He asked Santa for Lego Batman 2 and got it.  Must be nice to be him.

With Jeff's help I was finally able to upload new pictures through his firefox browser.  Not quite sure what is wrong with Internet Explorer.  Anywho...we got or first ever offer on our house.  We couldn't swing it, but it was rewarding to know that someone not known to use thinks our house isn't a crap hole.  Jeff is a bit sad, and so am I, but it feels right to keep on our course of finding renters.  Jeff even pointed out that by this year we should start paying more of the principal with the monthly payments so we can either drop the price even more next year, or actually walk away without paying anything at closing.  So it is really all just a lesson in patience.

Cold

Our new computer set up has prevented me from blogging.  Both computers are now in somewhat uncomfortable locations to spend a significant amount of time.  So, hence the lack of posts.  When the temperatures rise and it is comfortable to be in the playroom again there will be more posts. 

Until then:  Mae started Sunbeams and looks adorable in her big metal chair.
                               Spikey started Nursery and did well.
                               Max has lost two teeth and is back in school (Hooray!)
                               Jeff and I are almost done with the basement of this house.  It kills me that all our hopes and planning for this house will be in the hands of one appraiser who can basically rate the house any way he wants.  It all comes down to whether or not the basement can be considered a part of the house if it isn't carpeted. 

                               I have started training for The Bentonville Half Marathon in April.  Ran my longest run of 7.5 miles on New Years day.  It wasn't to bad but I am not looking forward to 13 miles. 

                                We took the other house off the market and are now trying to find renters.  Yeah I don't really want to talk about it.  This must be a lesson in patience and humility from The Lord. 

So adios until the temperature in NWA gets above 50 degrees.

Blogger isn't letting me download any new photos right now so I thought I would post my first photo ever.  I look like I ate all the other babies in the hospital.