T.G.I.F.!!

Cuddles and Patches are just awesome -- tons of fun for all of us! One little surprise, though ... we took a second look and discovered that they are both boys! :) But's it's all good. They are very playful and love to climb. They are also doing great at using the litter box, thankfully. Lexi and Britt (our older cats) are not thrilled. Lots of hissing and growling the couple of times we've tried to introduce them. Ah, but they'll come around.

Well, I couldn't be happier that it's finally Friday. Have a great weekend!

New family members ... meow!

Well, last night we added two new kittens to our house full of animals! We already have two dogs and two cats, a mouse and a fish, but who’s counting? J One of Greg’s coworkers’ cat had four kittens about six weeks ago, and we decided to let the girls both get one. They have been very excited these last several weeks. We went ahead and told them about the kittens right away so they’ve had to be patient for quite a while. I’m happy to say that they handled it very well. So last night was the big night we got to go pick up our new family members. They are sweet little things that actually like to be held! Makaley’s especially is going to be a real lap cat – just what I’ve always wanted! Hopefully she’ll share him with me …

Makaley’s cat is a little boy, whom she named Cuddles. A very appropriate name, I must say, he’s so snuggly. And Greg said that when we went to visit them a few weeks back, he came up and cuddled with Makaley’s leg. He is orange and white. Our older cat Britten is an orange tabby and also a boy. So the boys match in color. I hope they will get along, but that remains to be seen. We are keeping them separated for the time being. Susannah’s baby is a little girl, whom she named Patches. She is gray, white and tan – very unusual colors! The other two cats from this litter are both rather skittish and not too sociable, but our two are both happy and friendly. As you can imagine, the kids had a blast last night. They really had fun and played in the back bedroom all night long! And then this morning, they bounded out of bed and dressed themselves (the girls, anyway). I wonder how long I can look forward to that?

Well, I got some adorable pictures last night that I will post this afternoon, along with some birthday snapshots. So until then …

Happy Birthday, Greyson!

I'll try to make this one a bit shorter, but I just wanted to say that today is Greyson's 3rd birthday! We had his Blue's Clues birthday party on Saturday evening at the base park. The weather just could not have been any better either. It was marvelous! The kids wore themselves out playing on the playground, and the adults got to visit. We did this last year and grilled hamburgers and hot dogs, but this year we took an easier route and just brought pizza. And I think if we do it again, we like the pizza idea. :) We started around 5:30 and I couldn't believe when I next looked at my watch and it was 7:45! After the party, I got to hold my friend Kelly's 2-month old baby Annaliese. That was definitely a highlight for me! Since my baby has suddenly transformed into a little boy the last few months and left babyhood behind, I have noticed that I really get excited about the opportunity to hold someone else's tiny baby. And I'm happy to say, that thrill no longer comes along with the desire to have another of my own. I'm finally content, what do you know!

Have a great day!

Well, we had quite the weekend! On Friday, we went to an auction for a house we were interested in here in Waukomis. We didn't think our chances were very good for winning it, but nevertheless, we pre-qualified for a loan and made preparations, just in case. This house is sitting on 1.4 acres of land and surrounded by the remaining 78.6 owned by this family. They took bids for the house & that 1.4 acres. Then they took bids for the 78.6 acres alone. They added those two winning bids together and then took bids on the whole property. They wanted to sell it in the way that would bring the most money, obviously, so it would be sold either the two tracts separately or the whole property as one. We actually won the bid for the house alone, which made us hopeful, but we lost as soon as the first bid on the entire property came in. :) We were disappointed. But then ... the man who was in the lead bidding on the whole thing approached us and asked if we'd be interested in buying the house from him! He only wanted the land, I guess, but had to buy the house to get it. So we happily agreed and now are trying to let it sink in that we will soon have a new home!

This house is significantly bigger than where we are right now. It's brick and set off a good ways from the road. Inside, it has 1783 square feet, plus a very large 2-car garage and a huge storm shelter under the garage -- indoor access! There are three BIG bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, one with a tub & shower, one with just a shower. But wow, more than one person could shower at the same time?!? There's a fireplace, lots of windows (which I love) and a great-sized kitchen with plenty of cabinet space and a built-in dishwasher. The kitchen and dining room are basically one big room, and there is a bay window in the dining area. Oh, there is also a built-in china hutch! It's not too big, but imagine that: I can display my nice dishes! The hutch part is above a shelf-like surface that has drawers underneath for silverware, I guess. I could be wrong about it being built-in, but I don't think it was a movable piece of furniture. Off of the south end of the kitchen/dining room is a little hallway leading to the garage. The washer and dryer go there (I can't remember if it's an indention or an actual laundry closet you can close), and there's even a little open closet area right across for all the necessary supplies! The living room and kitchen are parallel to each other and the bedrooms are off of a hallway at the north end of the living room. In the living room, there are built-in bookcases or knick-knack shelves flanking the fireplace. Pretty cool! The fireplace is a modest size, which is perfect for us. It closes all the way up, too, and has blowers to get the air out. Safer for the kids, so I'm happy about that!

The front porch is pretty big, actually long would probably describe it better. There are flower beds already bordered all along the sidewalk that Greg and the girls will enjoy replanting, I'm sure! There are two especially pretty trees (no idea what kind) in the front and several others scattered around the yard. There's a good-sized patio in the back and doors to get ouside from the garage and the house. Won't that be nice! Right now we have to go through the garage to get into the back yard. There is a tiny shed in the back, but Greg will miss the nice one he and his dad built here. He is planning to transplant our swingset, which will be a lot of work. But he will put it in cement there, which will be nice.

This house was built in the mid-80's, if I remember correctly. It's not perfect, but close enough for me! We are already thinking about how we might actually want to invite people over now. We close on May 19th, but I doubt we'll be moving in right away. Whenever they give us access to the house, we want to paint the rooms before we bring anything over. That's something we always talked about doing here but never got around to. It's so much work to move everything out and back in!! As for our current house, our friend and neighbor, Tricia, has been looking for a home to rent for her daycare and location-wise, you just can't beat the house right across the street! So that's the plan for now.

I'll try to post some pictures for your viewing pleasure. :) Thanks for reading my blog. This is great! I can rattle on and on and not feel like I'm driving anyone crazy. If you don't want to hear it, you can just stop reading and I'll never know! I don't have to feel guilty at all for talking excessively -- as long as I don't put the housework off too long :)

Okay, here it is, my first post. Woo-hoo! Shouldn't there be a drum roll or something? Well, this has been a wild day so far. Actually, no, things have settled down. It was just the start of the morning that was crazy. I woke up at 8:00. School starts at 8:05 so you can see where I'm going with this. I had to scurry around like crazy, getting myself and everyone else ready and making phone calls canceling with Greyson's regular sitter and making arrangements with another one. I had to take Greyson somewhere else today because his regular sitter lives too far away for me to have made it there and then to work without being way, way late. Fortunately, my wonderful neighbor and good friend across the street happens to have a daycare of her own and is always willing to bail me out when necessary. So I got everyone ready as soon as possible -- and without much stress, I might add; that extra sleep did us all good! -- walked Greyson across the street and then dropped the s off at school. Then I hurried to work and was (surpisingly) only about five minutes late. All that stress and then I just sat. That is my job, by the way. I sit and monitor test takers to make sure they don't try to cheat. You know, I've never caught anyone cheating in my almost six years of doing this. Sometimes I worry that that may mean I'm not watching closely enough. The previous proctor said he had caught several. Hmmm ...

So anyway, there you go. My first post. I think I like this! So until next time ... ~Jennifer :)