Progress

We are now the proud owners of a pit in the ground (or on the side of a hill?) Here is the lot a few days before they started digging. These were taken about two weeks ago.


The "sidewalk" at the back of the lot is a path that runs through our neighborhood. And then, to get a feel for really how sloped it is, here's a shot from the back of the lot up to the front. In all of it's Northwestern fog glory. On a side note, I am in serious love with all this fog. Feels cozy and moody, all at the same time. Hmm...maybe it's a metaphor for me ;).


And, here's the digger sitting in front of the lot, waiting to be put to use.


The house next to us is just a few weeks ahead of ours, so it's fun to see the progress and know where we'll be in just a few weeks.

A week ago, we then had ourselves a dug out hillside. These were taken on Christmas Eve.





And finally, as of this weekend, we have concrete footers for the foundation.





I know these aren't the most glamorous of house shots, but I think it will be fun to have pictures of where we've come from - a little house journal of sorts. Today I drove by and they have the forms up on the footings. Can I get three cheers for foundation walls?!?

Hoppy New Year!

Wishing you and yours a hippety-hoppity new year!!

Housing Update

Well, it's been quite a while since I've been on here. I've logged on a few times, but gave up because I'm not sure what exactly to say. Biggest problem? I don't have any darn pictures to put up. Who wants to read a bunch of words without pictures? But I got a gentle reminder tonight from a dear friend in Chicago, asking me to update, so here we go!

About 10 days after we moved here, we came home to a notice of foreclosure taped to our front door. Yep, our landlord was not paying his mortgage, and the notice let us know the house would be going to auction in September and we'd be out 60 days later. Of course, our landlord was telling us that was an old notice and that the home was protected under his bankruptcy. Well, he wasn't about to start telling the truth then, so for the next 4 months we lived in total uncertainty. We kind of unpacked, never knowing if we would have to pack back up in 60 days to move to another rental. It made feeling settled here very difficult.

In order to understand our rights in all of this, we ended up hiring our own attorney. Jeff seemed to be in constant contact with our attorney, the bank attorney, and our landlord's attorney. Really, we were just trying to figure out if we had some rights to continue our lease if the house was sold. Finally, the auction of the home came on November 18th. Our attorney let us know that when it was sold, we would indeed have to be out in 60 days. Moving over the holidays...anyone jealous? Jeff went to the auction that morning, on the courthouse steps. (really, just like in the movies) Unexpectedly, the bank bought the house back at auction, and the bank rep turned to Jeff and said, "You may as well rent from us through the terms of your lease."

We were so thrilled to not be homeless! It had proved impossible to find another rental within our school and church boundaries, so we were truly thrilled to hear we wouldn't have to move! The very next day we had all the locks changed on the house and really felt settled for the first time since setting foot in WA.

We really thought we were doing the most responsible thing by renting. But, it has actually been a nightmare. So, we actively started looking for a home of our own. One we can pay the mortgage on every month, and not worry about being kicked out of!

Well, one thing's for sure, those basements of the Midwest and East Coast sure have spoiled us! Nothing here has basements, and it just kills me. I can't figure out where all the kid "stuff" is supposed to go. My kids spent so much time in our basement family room and I haven't been able to get used to them using our main family room so much. So, we were on the hunt for a house with a basement. Here, the only way to get that is to buy a house on a hill with a walk out basement. There haven't been too many of those to pick from, so we made a surprising (at least to me) choice...we've decided to build one!

This building thing is so new to us. We're excited about it, though. We are so happy to have a basement, once again. However, our lot is so steep, it'll feel like we live in a tree house. I don't think we'll barely have much of a back yard, however, we asked the kids if they wanted a basement or a backyard and basement won the vote. It sure hasn't rained much since we've lived here, however, we hear once it starts it doesn't quit. So, I think we'll get much more use out of a basement than a backyard, anyways.

I never thought I'd build a house. It's never even appealed to me. However, I think I'm excited about the process. The house should be done by June, which is the exact time our lease is up, so the timing should work out perfectly.

As far as what else has been happening for us? I'll save that for another post. Not because there's anything super exciting to report. Just because I have a feeling this post is long enough at this point.

Boy

How did he get this old? Really, though...how?

And, a shout out to my Grandpa Cox, who reads my blog! Who knew? Hi Grandpa! Thanks for checking in on us!

Quarterback

Jackson has found himself as our team quarterback this fall. He has somewhat a love/hate relationship with the whole thing, but I think it's been good for him. We haven't managed to get any great pictures, yet, but this is a video that someone else got of his best pass so far this year.

This video, and Vimeo account, does not belong to me, so please don't comment on the video. If you have something to say, please say it here on the blog!

New School, New Year

First day of school for the big kids. You can tell how thrilled Addie is that her playmates are leaving her.

The kiddos have been in school for three weeks now, so I suppose it's time to get the pictures posted! There was a lot of anxiety going into the first day of school. New school, teachers, friends, everything! There was probably more anxiety on my part than theirs!


Jackson has done wonderfully. Jeff and I joke that, these days if you're Jackson Clark - life is good. He has really found his groove here and has been finding friends easily. He still misses "home" but is happy every day.


Delaney has been a bit slower to adjust, but she's finding her way. We have yet to find that one friend who is always sweet and kind, but she is making friends and also comes home happy every day.

Addie attempting to make a "P" with her hands, for preschool.

Addie has been loving preschool. She loves her new backpack and comes home everyday with some pearl of wisdom from her teacher, Miss Jana.


The latest? A few days ago Addie was singing along with the Thomas the Tank Engine theme song, when the DVD was playing in the car. She was singing it much louder and with more confidence than she'd ever done before. I told her how great she sounded and she said,

"Miss Jana says to sing it like you're proud!"

The Coast

Since we've lived up here, in the Northwest, we've only had one rainy day and three cloudy days. And they all came this week. Crazy thing about this part of the country is that it rains all winter, but it's a drought in the summer. So, we figured if we were going to the Coast, now was the time!

We packed us all into the Jeep for the roadtrip. Crazy with 5 people for a 90 minute drive, but what's the Jeep good for if not having it at the beach???


The scenery absolutely did not disappoint. There are major rock formations jutting out of the ocean. It reminded us a lot of Hawaii.


However, the water is so cold, it hurts your feet. The first morning we were there, Jackson wanted to boogie board (not yet knowing just how cold it was). So, $20 later he had himself a boogie board that ended up being the worst $20 spent all year. No way could he go all the way in the water. In fact, those who were in the water were in dry suits and boots. Crazy!

So, they had lots of fun digging, building sand castles, and getting their feet wet.


Just to prove how cold the water is--here are the kids posing next to the ocean for a pic.


Delaney could only stand being that close to the water for 60 seconds and then...


Everything about the coast was gorgeous, though. It reminded me so much of our annual trips to Nantucket, growing up.

The gray, weathered siding and white trim...


The abundance of huge, varying Hydrangea plants...





It kind of made me homesick for the east coast. And then I realize, I left there once and was incredibly sad about it. But then there was a whole new wonderful waiting for me in the next place. And the next place. And the next place. Again this summer, we left somewhere wonderful. We left people and places and it makes us homesick all the time. However, there is a whole new wonderful here. I'm sure of it. We're right on the very brink of realizing the wonderful adventures that await us here.

And I just can't wait.