Christmas is coming once the camera cord likes the computer again...

hang tight!

getting settled

life has been like a tornado over the past 5 days...finishing packing, moving, shuffling kids around as we unpacked, having jason's mom here to help unpack before christmas, UNPACKING and feeling like the boxes multiplied in transit because there is no way we had all this stuff at the last house - wait we didn't, we had a storage unit, christmas with the slopsema side, christmas program at swee's old preschool, seing santa, making peppermint bark with grandma pat, lil man learning he can climb up and into the dryer - trying to get swee's clean undies out - dragging blankie around the house like he's linus, and saying goodbye to some great friends. wow, can't believe that was all crammed into such a short period of time.

please cut me some slack if i didn't get a christmas card to you this year - i promise to do better next year!

i don't advise doing it...

owning TWO homes that is. as of 1:30 p.m. today we are the proud or crazy, i haven't decided which yet, owner of two homes. we are relieved that all went well on the first closing because even as i was driving there today it didn't look very promising. the gas had been turned off in the house since august and it has been below - way below- freezing around this part of the world. the gas was to be turned on tomorrow but we changes it to today to make sure the furnace worked and the pipes hadn't frozen. as i was heading north my realtor called to ask if the gas company had arrived yet so the gentleman could go and un-winterize the house but he wouldn't turn the water on until the furnace was up and working. i was supposed to do a walk through on the house before closing but the thermostat had to be replaced and so the furnace and de-winterizing wouldn't be completed before our scheduled closing time. so we closed on the house before we knew the furnace worked and there weren't any leaks. as it was jason found a pipe leaking in the basement but the contractor was willing to come back and fix it. the furnace did work so when we took some items over to the house it was 45 degrees in the house - very brisk but we got a brand new thermostat out of the deal. we are so glad to have this finished today! now just two more nights in the old house and no more day trips up north for me! YEAH!

also while in i was up north i:

-took swee to meet his new preschool teachers and to see his new school

-took priss to see her new school, get a tour of it, and for her to be assigned to a class

-picked up christmas items that had been shipped there to lessen the number that would need to be transported during the move

-ordered cupcakes to take to priss's school on friday as a good bye gesture to her class and teacher

crazy day but so productive!

doubt crept in...

and trust rushed it out. over the past week we have had the privilege of having extreme highs and equally extreme lows. we found out the house we are selling is closing 2 weeks earlier than expected and the one we are buying, no closing date in sight. causing us to be close to being HOMELESS. it was our understanding that we would be closing dec. 15th on our new home and the 29th on our old home. this apple cart was completely overturned when the dates switched. after spending what has felt like millions of minutes on the phone, forgetting about the house and at times what is going on around me, i as of today have a tentative closing date of the 15th at 1 p.m. this is following a phone call to the loan processor, the timeshare company (that has caused all the issues because of incorrect information provided by them to the mortgage company) and then a credit bureau that i believe is located in cali. i am now a completely ANNOYING client with more people than i care to admit. so much so that we are certain that our name will get around and no one will want to deal with us in the future. i have decided that i am never moving again and that my grandchildren one day will visit me in the home we have purchased/are purchasing.

thanks to a lot of prayer and realizing just how capable heavenly father is the doubt left and the trust moved right back in where it was always lingering in the shadows.

our life in a nutshell 15 days before christmas this year!