July 14, 2010

We are crazy busy around here these days but things are going well and we feel very blessed indeed. We made it through inspections and we are finishing up a few fix-it type things the buyers requested around the house. We have leased a house in a neighboring town. It is smaller than the one we are in by about 1,000 square feet but it is much bigger than the first house we considered leasing so I think it will do quite nicely. The husband saw it for the first time this evening and I think he was pleased as well. We spent some time going through the house and figuring out where we would put everything, what would have to go to storage and what could come out of storage. We have movers scheduled for one week from tomorrow, although we don't close until July 30th, so we have plenty of time to get this place cleaned up....and we will need it because the husband has a limited number of days off between now and closing.

The back yard at the rental house is not very big and it also slopes downwards away from the house. This might be a bit of a challenge for the swing set, jungle gym, swimming pool and sandbox. We may not be able to set the swimming pool up at all and, as much as I really want to bring the sandbox, I think the husband would rather not. So, we'll see. However it works out, we'll make it work, one way or another.

We are so looking forward to getting this move over with and not having to worry about maintaining this house, while we are working towards building the new one. It will be very nice to be able to just focus on the details of the new house and to also be able to put some focus on a little homeschooling.

The boys are doing pretty well with everything so far. The hardest days for them (and us) is when we are so busy that we don't have enough time for relaxing, reading and playing with them. They have been playing together very well though and they are also getting to the point where one might be playing with something in one room while the other is playing with something else in another room, totally by their own choice. They did that for a good amount of time this morning and it was so nice. I think it is really good for them and I am glad to see them start doing this.

We have talked a lot about the move so I think they have a good understanding of what to expect. Their new bedroom is much smaller than their current one though. It might be a bit of a challenge to fit all of their furniture in but I'm sure we can make it work.

We have decided to use a general contractor to help us build the new house. He is doing it on a cost-plus basis and we will also be assisting quite a bit. After seeing how helpful and important it has been to have the real estate agents helping us to sell our house, we decided (with much prodding from them) that we need a professional to help us build our new house. After discussing many of the details during our first meeting with the GC, the husband and I were both agreeing that this was the right decision. Actually, we have met with him before a couple of times. He is spending the first two weeks putting together a detailed cost estimate for us so we should be getting something back around the end of next week.

More to come. I'm so tired. Time for bed.