All Moved In!

Well, moving day was last week and even though we don't have everything over from the new house (it doesn't close until the end of the month),  we are officially living in the new one.  My dad and uncle came up to help (huge thank you to both of them) and the moving seemed endless, but it was worth it.  The new house is wonderful - we are loving it already!  On Saturday we had a few people over for a little impromptu birthday party in lieu of the dinner we originally had planned (the kids were with So-So - big thank you for that, too), and then on Sunday we enjoyed decent weather for a change and played basketball, a little golf, and Katie drove her toy jeep around the driveway for hours.  It is fabulous to have the space for the kids to play outside without me having to be out there to guard the road.  The view is better snow-covered, but much more fun as grass!

We also used moving as an opportunity to get the kids into separate bedrooms.  Katie was a big help putting her new bed together and was proud to sleep in her own big girl room.  She wants her own space (and has for a while), but when it comes to bedtime she wants to have Tyler to talk to.  They have been talking across the hall a bit right before they go to sleep, but it isn't as bad as I expected - knock on wood!

Tyler has had a little trouble adjusting (he slept on the floor in Katie's room two nights ago), but they are getting better sleep and getting used to it!  He is happy to have all of his switch and go dinos in his room now, though, and he has become a little reader and likes that he can settle in and read a little bit in the evenings without Katie bothering him.  They are actually sleeping too well lately, but that is probably a result of the time change.  They have been difficult to wake up the last couple of days which doesn't help since we are further away from school than we were before (not much, though) and we don't exactly know where everything is kept yet (backpacks, snacks, shoes, etc.).  We will get used to it, probably on Friday when we leave for Spring Break and they won't have school again for two weeks and a day!  All of the snow and ice messed with the days they officially have off, but our plans could not be changed so we are heading out anyway!

We are about the get even busier (I did not think that was possible - the last month has been insane).  Soccer has started for both kids (actually missing their first games for Disney), and baseball practice has started for Tyler, plus my tennis season starts in a week (playing on Sundays only this year and hoping to get to play at least a few times even though Lance has to work and I will need to figure out something for the kiddos), and work ramps up as usual for both of us in the Spring.  This stuff is fun busy, though, and I am very glad to have the packing and moving, utilities, bills, address change, what did we forget busyness almost over with.  Fingers crossed that the old house closes as hoped at the end of the month so we aren't adding to the tasks having to put our house back on the market!

School's Out!

Well, we had quite the ice storm here this week and school has been out the entire time (and even cancelled Monday, too).  Since the weather was genuinely too bad to get to work most of that time (I went Friday, and probably could have Thursday, but I am a wimp and freaked out when I slipped in the neighborhood) - we actually had real snow days.  Usually, schools are closed but work is still on and there isn't as much play time.  This time we got to go sledding three different days, played lots of games, watched some movies, ate crockpot meals (and thankfully had power), and got to sleep in a little bit.  Tyler is dreading going back to school and thanked us for hanging out with him all week - he thinks it was a week designed just for his fun! 

Sledding the first day was pretty good, the second day was way too icy, and the third and fourth days were perfect.  We broke out the radio flyers the 3rd and 4th days after way too close of a call with Katie on ice day.  She had bailed out like she was supposed to a few other times down the hill, and decided that it hurt and then refused to fall to stop when she went down another time straight toward a creek filled with debris.  She literally went through the only area of the creek that was clear, caught air, and finally slowed down on the other side. 

This is her, "I conquered the creek" pose!  

Tyler was a little daredevil, but after a couple of ice scrapes he was also thrilled to discover that you could steer the radio flyers!

They both loved it, but like all of us - didn't relish toting the sled back up the hill after a couple of times down! 

Our basketball games were cancelled this weekend, and we only have one weekend to go.  Good thing, though, because I am feeling pretty overwhelmed.  We close on the house and move a week from tomorrow (eek).  The buyers are supposed to close at the end of March and that means lots to do in the meantime (inspections, appraisals, getting everything out). Not to mention Spring Break (Disney!) is right around the corner, soccer starts early March and baseball in late March, plus I keep thinking about new things I need to do once we move (school, address, billing stuff).  So much that I am not really sad to see basketball season end since I am glad to have one less responsibility.  It has been a fun season (better than expected) with my girls, and a learning experience (mostly about how intense coaches can be even when kids are only 6) for Tyler's team - but Katie scored six points in the last game and Tyler seems to be having fun, so all in all a good experience! 

Contract!

Well, we have a contract on our house!  It isn't the best situation to be in since the buyers have a house to sell, but they offered full-price so if it works out it will be worth it.  We were at the point where we were going to have to buy the other one first anyway, or lose it, so if the buyer's end up not being able to close we will put the house back on (repainted and after we move out) in the Spring and hopefully have a bigger buyer pool.  Of course we had an agent call the day after we got the house under contract and said her buyers wanted to make an offer and that they could close quick and had nothing to sell.  We had been in communication with her before, though, and she knew an offer was imminent and wasn't willing to move quicker so I think it was more of a case of "want what you can't have."  Fingers crossed that the buyers house sells and we get to enjoy this view at our new house (with our house sold) sooner than later!

The kids are excited about the new place, they love the basketball goal and the play areas, but they are sad at the prospect of changing schools.  We will definitely leave them at their current school for the remainder of the school year, but not sure what we are going to do next year.  On one hand I love their current school and they do too, and we know the teachers and administration and rules and school culture, and it really is a good school.  On the other hand, the new school will be the kids that they also go to middle school with and who live nearby, it is supposed to be a great school too,  and junior high starts in 6th grade in the new district and 5th in the current so they will have to go to that elementary eventually at some point and I think that it might be easier on the kids to not be the 5th grade new kids.  We will likely switch them for next year, and hope that they meet some other kids their age at the pool this year that can help them adjust. 

Basketball season has been an experience so far.  It is very hard to coach your own child, I think, but I definitely have a great group of parents and kids (which helps, tremendously) and we are having fun and actually winning some games!  Tyler's team is a different story.  They are being outplayed every game, and his coach is trying desperately to win and thus doesn't give the boys equal playing time.  I think it is important, at this age, to encourage all players to learn the game and fundamentals and to have fun.  You have no clue, I don't think, at this age who has talent and who is going to be a "good" basketball player.  Unfortunately, Tyler's coach doesn't see it that way and he has identified his good players and his bad and makes it obvious at game time.  We will stick with this team this season since Tyler doesn't seem to notice or care, but we will definitely request NOT to have this same coach next year.  I think early coaches and early teachers are similar.  Your first teachers inspire you to love school, to be confident in your academic abilities, and really shape what kind of student you will be.  Similarly, first coaches teach you why and how to love the game, try to identify strengths and work on weaknesses, and encourage lifelong talents and interests.  I wish Tyler's coach would recognize the influence that he has, and I try to remember that when I am working with my team.  Don't get me wrong, I am NEVER coaching again, but all in all it hasn't been as bad as expected! 
A pic of my two basketball players.  I can't take them of Katie when I am coaching, and keep forgetting my phone when with Tyler - so this is actually pre-game (8:00 game for Tyler this morning - way too early on a Saturday)!

8....0

Well, our house has now been on the market for 8 days and we have had 8 showings - 0 offers  :(.  We have limited time to sell due to the seller of the house we have under contract requiring that we close on that house by March 2nd or lose the contract.  Looking like we are not going to move after all.  It makes me sad, because I really like that house and it does seem perfect for what we want and how we want to raise the kiddos, but I truly do like our house and neighborhood and school (even if it seems that we are the only ones) so I have to keep telling myself that everything will work out as it should.  The feedback on the house has been brutal.  Yesterday, when I came home, the towel on the oven had been trapped in the door making it obvious that someone had opened the oven.  I didn't think anything of it until Lance talked to the agent later and was told that he thought it looked like we didn't really want to sell the house.  When Lance asked for specifics the agent said things like - the inside of the oven is dirty, there is a garden hose under the deck, and there were men's clothes in the closet of the room that looked like it was for a little girl.  REALLY, really?!?  Some of the other feedback we have taken to heart and some there is nothing we can do about it - lookers/potential buyers have said the floorplan is too open AND others said not open enough, one wanted a master bedroom downstairs and another wanted a bigger yard, one said that it was too "Pottery Barn," and another said we should remove personal pictures (we did that one).  The most common feedback has been buyers desire to be in a bigger neighborhood with more amenities (we love our neighborhood and there really are lots of kids, the school park in walking distance, and is really convenient without feeling like you are in a big neighborhood - but we don't have a pool and park and walking trails like the others on the market).  The fact is that besides the things we cannot change, I find it hard to believe that even if the oven had been clean, or if all trace of children living in the home had been removed - that would have made this the house for any of these buyers.  We know that if we were able to move out and "stage" the house it would sell better, but that isn't really an option.  We could definitely paint to freshen things up a bit - but guaranteed that the first feedback after painting would be negative about the paint colors or fumes - ha!  Fingers crossed that someone comes along soon that understands that a family does live here, can overlook the toys arranged on the shelves or stashed in closets, wants to be in our neighborhood and likes the house, and knows that this isn't HGTV!

Basketball season has started for both kids!  I will try to get pictures this weekend.  We are having fun, but we definitely aren't the best two teams.  I have seen improvement just in the last two games, though, with my girls and I think it will be a great season!

So Much Fun!

We had an awesome holiday spending time together on a farm for our Christmas celebration with my mom's side of the family.  We played "Dirty Santa," sat by the outdoor fire, and went to an amazing lights show at Callaway Gardens (ALL of us)!  Leaving time came too soon, but we did manage to get a family picture and we even got one of our little family (which is really hard to get these days). 

Before Christmas we found time to make gingerbread houses with So So and the Nashville cousin! 

Christmas day was wonderful.  Present opening time was really fun this year since the kids could read the boxes to know what was in it and really be excited that Santa "remembered."  They loved their gifts, but also really enjoyed the days off of school (and us working) to play with toys new and old (Lance's grandfather made blocks for his children and eventually Lance and his brothers to play with and they were passed down to the kids this year and they played with them nonstop)!  We had a blast at So So's on Christmas Eve and with more of Lance's family on Christmas Day.  Despite suffering a real loss this year and really missing Ray Ray, this holiday was certainly one to be remembered - so fun and not even done!  This week we go to Gatlinburg (and our first visit to Dollywood) to spend some time with my Dad and family.  Should be even more fun times! 

Our other big, exciting happening in December was Tyler's loose tooth finally falling out.  Since then he has lost another and has yet another loose one, but that top one held on for a while and it was pretty big news when he could finally wait for a visit from the Tooth Fairy! 

We are waiting for them to finally go to sleep (yes, it IS almost 11:00 - hopefully we can get back on a schedule once school starts - even though we do make them go to bed at a reasonable hour, unfortunately can't make them go to sleep) so we can make sure the Tooth Fairy visits again tonight.

We decided against letting Katie join the gymnastics "pre-team" she was invited to - just too much commitment at this point.  Basketball starts soon and soccer will follow right behind that and we will see if she has any interest in anything other than gymnastics before we let it take up so much of our time and attention.  Competitive gymnastics can be very expensive and time consuming and we aren't opposed to it eventually if it is what she loves, but for now we think she should be exposed to other things in case she likes them more.  They both really loved the basketball camps they did over break and we would love to have a basketball goal at our house for them to play on - which was just one teeny, tiny reason we also made an offer on a house today - eek!    We were really nervous earlier in the day just after the offer was submitted but since we haven't heard back at all (it is for sale by owner before going on the market) we are thinking it isn't good news.  He had multiple people interested in the house and even though it is a great house for us and the first one to prompt us to make an offer since buying this one 7 years ago, we know that if it doesn't work out we are fine right where we are, too!  We really do like our house and neighborhood, but there were so many pluses in favor of this one for what we want and where we would like to be when the kids get older, that we had to give it a go.  If it doesn't work out I will probably be very glad that we don't have to keep the house in shape to show with two royal mess-makers, not to mention the hassle of packing and moving, and new school districts, etc., etc....

Christmas!

Well, it has been a while for an update but for good reason - we have been busy, busy, busy!  We had a great Thanksgiving - traveled to Alabama to see my family, and spent Thanksgiving Day with Lance's family.  After our Thanksgiving meal the kids spent time with their Uncle Matthew and So So playing charades and going on a scavenger hunt with a candy prize orchestrated by Matt that they thought was just "awesome!"

We also went to see The Rockettes with So So in early December.  It was a fantastic show and the kids had a blast!

The Rockettes show was on the same day as our annual visit with Santa as part of the Mandy Johnson Photography event.  I thought their outfits were cute, although white kind of washes them out so the pictures weren't as good as in other years - but I still love them!  Katie always gets so shy and want say a word to Santa, and Tyler always starts telling Santa he wants all of these random things that he has never mentioned before!  It is a fun way to do the Santa visit!

After that the kids both came down with a sickness, but it hit Tyler worst of all.  He missed three days of school and had scary high temperatures along with an ear infection, but they both seem to be on the mend just in time for our Christmas celebration with my family this upcoming weekend.  Should be fun, even if the weather is being uncooperative (raining and cold - but no snow).

We are on the countdown to Christmas Eve around our house - the kids are so excited!  We (meaning mostly Tyler) are also anxiously awaiting the loss of Tyler's first front tooth.  It is very, very loose and I thought it would fall out when he was playing with it incessantly while home sick - we'll have to see if it will be missing in our family picture to be taken this weekend!  

Overscheduled?

We are definitely in activity overload right now!  Katie was moved up another level in gymnastics and after talking to a former gymnast/friend that was watching the girls in class yesterday - she said to be prepared for them to ask Katie to join the pre-team which means practice two nights a week at minimum.  We are going to see how basketball, and then soccer goes to see which she likes better.  She is so competitive though (I wonder where she gets that), that I bet this achievement level thing will motivate her to want to stick with gymnastics even if it isn't her favorite.  She was as proud as a peacock yesterday when the coaches told me in front of the whole class that she needed to move up. She likes gymnastics, but she is so active and physical that I really think a sport with more constant movement and activity will be better for her. It will be her call, though, and she really did have fun at her basketball clinic last week (even if she did do a few round-offs before practicing lay-ups), and games are sure to be even more exciting for her (she really liked the competition of soccer games).  

In the meantime, it seems like everything is happening NOW and I just can't get my little brain around it all.  Work is so busy for me that I feel like I am going in a million directions.  Basketball season starts for both of them next week, sign ups are happening for soccer and baseball and Tyler has chosen baseball, but really wants to play soccer too, which means Katie thinks she should be allowed to play softball AND soccer (we are debating since they do overlap and will likely be a scheduling nightmare and the Spring is when Lance and I actually get to play our sports too).  Summer camp sign ups are also happening in December and we haven't decided if we are going to let them do an overnight camp this year, if we are going to do day camp like last year, if we are going to try to do sports camps instead, etc.  I hate having to decide now, but if we don't - we don't get in!

It also looks like I am going to be a basketball coach for a team of six and seven year old girls.  It has been so long since I have done much of anything with a basketball that I am kind of nervous, but they needed a coach for Katie's team and our neighbor is the league coordinator and I couldn't say no.  Lance is going to help, but he will primarily be watching Tyler during Katie's (our) games and getting Tyler to his games and practices if they conflict.  I ended up running some of Tyler's soccer practices last year and it wasn't too bad, but I don't like being responsible for teaching fundamentals!  Since none of the other parents on the team stepped up when they put out a call for help, though, I don't think they get to complain too much!  The kids went to a basketball clinic last weekend, and are going to another this weekend and I will for sure be watching the drills they do more closely this week!  I am sure all will be fine, but Katie actually listening to me as her coach may be another story - ha!  

I know that it isn't imperative that they do all of these activities, especially when we have all we can handle with school work for the two of them each week, but Lance and I both really loved sports and it seems like they do too, and I think it is good for them to be active and involved in something other than homework and television watching!   I recognize, though, that the most daunting thing of it all, besides trying to schedule and get to everything, is the staggering expense.  If all of these things were more affordable the decision would be easy - we would absolutely find a way to get them to activities they enjoy and send them to camps that will teach life and outdoor skills that they can't get anywhere else.  But, if Katie actually does want to really concentrate on gymnastics we will be looking at astronomical costs that I just don't know are feasible, compounded by life stuff that seems to crop up at the worst times.  My broken seatbelt (that is in the back seat and used by the kids so has to be fixed ASAP) and windshield in my car, rotting back door on the house that had to be fixed, a growth and cold spurt that meant all new clothes and shoes for both kiddos, etc., etc.,  makes it hard to commit to extracurricular activities and especially ridiculously expensive summer camps so far in advance.

Maybe I am just chafing at the notion that all of these organizations won't allow me to procrastinate, though  :).  Just like I had good intentions to buy Christmas presents well in advance to defray December expenses (and now have exactly 0 gifts), and intended to buy winter school clothes in a size up when they were on sale and never did it, I am sure that if they didn't have deadlines so far in advance I would be even more frantic and stressed when I actually got around to planning out the rest of the school year and summer.  I must admit that it will be kind of a relief to know in January what the Spring and Summer holds, for the most part, in terms of activities and childcare for the kids.   It will likely give extra motivation to both of us at work, too - knowing that our commissions and paychecks are already committed  :)!