Phillips Phamily Phive: Finding Home

Showing posts with label Finding Home. Show all posts

Florida Ice

Our sweet little town puts up an ice rink in the park each winter. The tent goes up in October for Fashion Week and stays up through January. Last year the girls were DYING to go ice skating.

We never made it.

Suffice it to say that as soon as that tent went up THIS YEAR, the familiar chorus of "Mommy, remember last year when you said..." began.

And I knew it could no longer be avoided.

Helping HJ get her skates on

AE getting her bearings

Ready to go!

Super excited to start

And here's how it went down:

Mama skating while carrying an extra 40 pounds around the ice:

Hardest thing I've done in a while! I worked up a sweat while The Daddy had to exit the tent with this little one:

Seems every time I came around the rink, he would begin to cry. It feels so good to be loved!

Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, (you know where this is going...)

Sunday we went to the Magic Kingdom.

Monday we chilled at home.

Tuesday we picked out new hardwood flooring:

Hickory. Distressed. Rustic. Pretty.

The Crazy Dog will only make these more beautiful!

Wednesday we chilled at home.

Thursday we ate turkey:

The Daddy came back in town for the Thanksgiving Feast:

Mama made it, too:

This is Miss Allison:

Art gallery via the 4-year-old kids:

This is Miss Melanie:

Can you tell AE LOVES school and her teachers?

Friday we did a walk through while the girls played in the yard.

HJ having fun by the BIG oak!

On our way to the closing:

Today we met up with the contractor and gave our blessing to begin demo on the AWESOME and ORIGINAL parquet floors.

Then we headed to Sherwin Williams and Benjamin Moore to pick up some paint samples. I have no idea where these chips will send me. The looney bin, I suppose. However, I did get a little help from my friends on Twitter and Facebook. Good for something, that social media!

I also got help from these two ladies because I'm looking for a beautiful blue: The Nester and Katie Harrington. Go see them. Beauty abounds.

Playing Catch Up

Usually when I'm not saying much, I don't have nice things to say.

It's been a little quiet around here, but I'm ready to be cheery again!

The Daddy and I met with our contractor, building supplier and architect this week. I feel confident that this house and this neighborhood will be a great home for our family. I'm trying to get over myself and my visions of WHAT I THOUGHT our new home would be like.

I was WRONG.

We close next Friday. It will probably be another 2-3 weeks before we can move in. Hopefully the flooring and doors will get done, and we can move all our "patiently-awaiting-in-storage" belongings into our new home.

Needless to say, my mind is going a mile a minute about how to arrange furniture, what new furniture we need, what fabrics to choose, what can I make, what can I paint, what can I this and that and EVERYTHING under the sun. I haven't begun to lose sleep over this, but I need to chill out and wait until we are in the house before I, uh, we make any big decisions.

I DID purchase 10 yards of fabric from Joann this week. Originally $39.99 per yard. When The Daddy came home on Tuesday, I asked him if he wanted to see what $400 of fabric looked like?

He looked and said, "But what did you pay?"

Because he knows me so well. I would NEVER spend $400 on fabric. Unless I was getting 400 yards.

I spent $30.

{Insert happy dance here.}

Not sure what we're going to do with it, but...it was $30. The bedroom and dining room are possibilities.

In other news, HJ spent a lot of the week peeing in panties. We had a week of unsuccessful potty introduction~can't say training because SHE LEARNED NOTHING BUT WHAT WET PANTIES FEEL LIKE.

We'll give it another go next month.

I also registered AE for her new school. Yes, her third school this year. The school the girls are at is too far from our new home, so come January, expect ANOTHER first day of school post.

HJ will stay home with me instead of going to school. We will bond. We will learn new things. We will love each other and spend lots of time together.

AE's new school didn't have any openings for HJ, but we'll be set for next year as this school is DIFFICULT TO GET INTO. It's been open for 55 years. Many students' parents went to school there. IT IS A GREAT SCHOOL, and I can't wait to get them settled in there. In the Fall. Sigh.

It got cool this week, specifically Thursday when I needed a scarf. Highs in the 60s, folks!

This Saturday, we met our friends from Nashville down at the Disney Beach Resort and got to take advantage of the pool. In November. I'm not going to lie; it was nice.

The Daddy also picked up some FREE tickets to Disney, so we joined our friends over at the Magic Kingdom for a full day of entertainment. The Daddy had his acting debut! Belle selected him at her story time to play The Beast.

Here she is pointing out The Daddy as her choice for The Beast!

The Daddy in his costume.

The Daddy dancing with Belle! Should I be jealous?

Now, he's a prince!

The "cast" taking a bow.

The girls got to meet Belle afterwords.

Great smiles!

HJ rode her first roller coaster! Evidently we failed to check and see if she was tall enough last time. Ooops!

AE rode Thunder Mountain twice and we were THE MOST HORRIBLE PARENTS and took them on The Haunted Mansion ride. No nightmares last night, though. I think we're in the clear!

Cinderella made a wish and her Fairy Godmother granted it. She lit the castle up with white Christmas lights! All while we ate hot dogs and fries.

It was really cool to see how the park had changed in just two weeks from the last time we were there. At Halloween, it was decked out in pumpkins and harvest glory. NOW it is all ready for Christmas!

Today we're spending the day at home to recover from a nap-less weekend. Pray for us!

Central Florida, We Have a Winner!

So, we have a contract on the ranch house I told you about way back then!

Searching through the online tax records, I found this before picture:

See the date?

Here she is today:

Much cuter, don'tcha think?

We are scheduled to close on the 20th of this month, and we can't wait to get started on our renovations.

Here's a list:

Add a little peak over the front door to break up the roof line
Add a pergola/trellis over the garage door
Add window boxes
New flooring (except kitchen and bathrooms)
New interior doors
Add bathroom and closet to bonus room to make a new master suite

We're hoping we can get the flooring and doors done first, so we can get moved in. We'll likely live in the current master while the rest of the renovations are being done. The bonus room is on the other side of the house, so hopefully that plan will work out. Once the renovations are done, we'll have the original master suite ready for guests!

I was feeling a little hesitant about this BIG purchase, but as time goes by, I'm feeling more and more like we've made the right decision. We even know one of our neighbors already! One of The Daddy's co-workers lives just down the street, and I've heard his wife would love to have a walking partner! Yea!

Yes, we have found a home.

Head over to Our Suburban Cottage to see how AnNicole and a whole bunch of other folks met their houses!

EDITED TO ADD: Come and see our current renovation project HERE!

See all the houses we DIDN'T pick!

Weekend Update

Friday afternoon, we got the word from the contractor on the number$ for the addition we would do to our little ranch-in-waiting. Remember?

So we put in an offer.

The sellers have countered our original offer and we're drawing the figurative "line in the sand." We'll see what happens. Soon, I hope!

In other news, I got my hair cut and colored. I think my stylist looked EXACTLY like Gwen Stefani, pink banana clip, tattoos and nose ring especially. She totally rocked the look. I told her to do whatever would take away the gray and make me look more like a Florida resident.

Here's what I think I look like:

The Daddy took the girls to a park while I got beautified(?) and we met at Chick-fil-A for lunch. After lunch, I headed for my massage. Oh. I never told you! The Daddy gave me a gift certificate when we moved. The night we arrived, I found an envelope waiting for me with a sweet note and token for my surviving three weeks without him. Nice!

Today we tried another new church. I realize I haven't told you anything about the first church we tried. We're going to give it a while before we decide, especially since we don't know where we'll end up living.

After lunch with friends and their kids, we headed up to a pumpkin patch. NOT REALLY A PUMPKIN PATCH, FOLKS. But, it was the closest to what we do did in Georgia. It was a challenge to find Fall-ish clothes for the mid-80s weather.

Hey, guys!

A Cinderella pumpkin, please!

Mama liked the bumpy ones:

HJ picked a little one:

The Daddy thought this one was cool:

And these little ones had too much fun!

I'll keep you posted on the house, but I'm trying not to get my hopes up. Looking forward to a great week when Nana and Papa come to visit which means we get to wear our ballerina costumes and go to Disney!!!

We Went on a Second Date Today...

Here's the rancher...

and a better view...

Lots of renovations done by the current owner.

We met with the contractor to see about making the bonus room into a master suite. Our next hurdle will be seeing if the city will let us add on a closet and full bath to the bonus room.

I went to three other houses today, but none are real contenders.

So that's where we're at...today.

Keep Trying, Keep Trying, Don't Give Up, Never Give Up

Anyone recognize those lyrics from a popular kids' show?

Did I tell you that my FAVORITE house (#3, below) is out of the picture? Seems that the floor joists would need to be taller, eliminating the precious head room one needs to be able to stand up in a room. THUS, the attic conversion can not happen. My heart is broken.

Goodbye for now, sweet home sweet home! I'll see you in 20 years when my babies have flown the nest!

The other homes have been eliminated because of small backyards, ugly paint next door and a desire to NOT be house-poor.

I should have another crop soon.

We looked at more houses today, and tomorrow we're going back to one we saw today. This 1950s rancher would need a half-bath changed into a full in order for it to work for us. We're meeting with the contractor and seeing a few others in the same area. Will it be our new home?

Check back after this commercial break! (That means tomorrow, folks.)

Also, if you recognize the lyrics in the title, YOU COULD BE A MOM LIKE ME!

A Few More Details....

The hardest part about all of this is separating emotion from the practicality of what we NEED. I want a HOME. I don't want to move again any time soon. I want a HOME.

Can we be patient? Can we agree? We'll see.

This is what the streets look like in our favorite neighborhood, brick-lined and the oaks are dripping with Spanish moss. I love the shade. I love the historic feel. I love that a lake borders a third of the neighborhood. I love that it is near downtown without being close to any of the negatives of downtown. I love that the schools are A-rated and within walking distance.

I LOVE #3:

and we met with a contractor yesterday over there to find out the possibilities of finishing the upstairs to add a bathroom and large bedroom with a playroom for the girls. He's meeting with an architect sometime soon to make some plans and tell us how much it would cost. We also discussed tearing down the garage and rebuilding one with a guest suite over it.

The look on the contractor's face was classic while we were discussing all that we wanted to do. He said he liked the project and it's more FUN when they are more challenging. Either that or he was seeing $$$$$$$$$$$$!

Remember what I said about one house being cute, but the next needing TLC?

This is house #5. Cute.

THIS house is located next to #5. Not cute.

Uhhhhhhhhhhh, reminds me of our honey moon in Costa Rica.

The paint is NOT part of the Halloween decoration, though it IS very scary!

Next week while the girls are in school, I'm going to drive around and take pictures of all the Halloween decorations. It is AMAZING. So many houses have huge displays. Scary displays. Cute and festive displays. I've heard Christmas time is even bigger and better!

Just another thing that's different about living in Florida, but I like it!

And This Is Where Suzanne Whang Should Step In and Tell Me What To Do!

The housing situation here in Florida is interesting. Different. NOT what I'm used to seeing. Lots of foreclosures, short sales and homes that have been on the market a LOOOOONNNNNNNG time.

Think that would make it easier? No.

One problem for me is that one house is nice and the next one needs some serious TLC.

Another problem is I'm really confused about what we really NEED.

I'm so desperate for help that I looked up HGTV's website to find out where they are currently filming new episodes of House Hunters AND renovation shows. Nothing in our area. Darn. I was really hoping to be able to invite Genevieve or Candice over for some HELP!

Ok. So 3 houses. No? How about 5? Hmmmmmmm. Which one should we pick?

House #1