We will NOT be homeless....hopefully

Well, after seeing eight houses last week, we have found one. This happened to be the last one we saw, and it was nice that it was. We don't have plans to be in this house forever, so Eric did some compromising. I really wanted somewhat of a neighborhood for the boys. Dane is LOVING riding his bike now, and in Lowell we just don't have anywhere for him to ride it (except around the living room, which he actually enjoys!). We can take the kids for walks, but they have to be in the wagon because all the roads are quite busy. I would love some neighbor kids for them to play with, and also for us to become friends with. We have hopes of building in Allegan/Otsego someday, so Eric is perfectly fine with a neighborhood for now. Grandpa Jorgensen will only be about 10 minutes away, and he has 40 acres, so we can always go over there if we need to stretch our legs.

Of the first six houses, some were nice, and some not so nice. There was a foreclosure that we saw, and we were VERY TEMPTED. I mean really tempted. The layout was very cute, and the whole basement could be finished to double the square footage of the house. It wasn't in terrible shape, but it would certainly need some work and improvments. If we were at a different point in our lives, we probably would've done it. But after Eric has totally redone the house that we are in right now, we just didn't think that it would be right for us. We would constanly feel like we should be doing something to the house rather than just relaxing and enjoying the kids.

The few houses that we saw after that were not for us. We were getting kind of frustrated, partly because we wanted the foreclosure, but knew it wasn't the right time. All the houses we looked at were fairly close to busy roads, althought they were in subdivisions. The first thing we noticed when we walked outside of all of them was the road noise. We live on a busy street now, and so that is something that we didn't want no matter what.

Then we arrived at Pinnacle Court. We had looked at this house online, and kind of thought is was too good to be true. So, we prepared ourselves for something worse than what we saw. It is in a quiet 30 house neighborhood across from Pine lake in Plainwell. It is new construction, with a beautiful view of the lake from the front room and kitchen. Very quiet and peaceful. The lot sizes are pretty nice, and the back of the house is wooded. There is deeded lake access with a cute little beach. After the realtor left, Eric and I walked around the neighborhood, and we felt like we were in the movie Funny Farm when they were trying to sell their house and they said "cue the deer". The houses were all very nice, and we saw a ton of "Big Sweeties" (our term for big lovable dogs - labs, golden retrievers, Saint Bernards, etc.). It felt like it was meant to be.

They have accepted our offer, and we have an inspection on Friday. If that goes well, we are good to go. We will be much closer to the Benn family, the VanDuine's, and probaly even the Oliver's. Not to mention much of Eric's family. We are very excited, and thankful that it all went as well as it did. We will keep you updated and post pictures when we can.

My brain looks good!

I had a MRI a few weeks ago (every two years I have one) and went to see WONDERFUL Dr. Rawal in Jackson. Per his report and the radiologists report, everything looks the same as my previous MRI. It has now been 13 years since my brain tumor, so hopefully I will never have a problem again. Although I get nervous each time I have to go, I am so glad when it's over and I get the good news. Dr. Rawal wants me to have another MRI in 2 years (which I have been doing for the past 10 years). I will be happy to oblige!

Good Inspection....

The buyers had their inspection of our house yesterday, and everything went well! We were hopeful that it would, but you never know. Today I had to order well and septic inspections as well as a termite inspection. The well inspection will probably take a few weeks to get back, but it sounds like we are going ahead and making plans with the title company for closing on this house.

Eric and I are going down to Plainwell/Otsego tonight to look at 7 houses. Hopefully we will find one or two that we really like, and go from there.

I forgot what it was like to move - cancelling this and that, changing addresses (well, once we know where we are going!!). I know that there is a lot of work ahead, but we are excited. Dane said he is very happy about a new house. He has told Daddy that he should get a new yellow tractor and a new TV. He didn't say anything about me getting something new. I guess the house is my new gift. I'll take it!

The beach and Old Fort Erie

On our last day of vacation, we went to the beach and to Old Fort Erie. Dane didn't have much to do with the water at first, he was more interested in playing in the sand. Then he kept filling buckets with sand and dumping them in the water. All of a sudden, he was running and splashing around! We were very glad to see that, because last year he was very scared of the water. He was a big ham for the camera too!

I could not get Abel to look at me, this was the best shot I was going to get!
He was much happier in the stroller than he was in the water!

After the beach, we found a park and had a picnic lunch. We let the boys play on the playground for a while, and then we headed to Old Fort Erie. It was neat to see, and Dane seemed to enjoy it. We were in the fort where the soldiers slept, and Eric found this old wool vest hanging on one of the beds. We had Dane put it on and sit on the bed for a great photo op.

Abel rode in the backpack the whole time. It was really his naptime, so he was much happier being carried.
I love how Abel was peering over Eric's shoulder!
Here is Dane in another part of the fort - the supply room.
We were all alone in the room, and Dane was having a great time looking around. Then, somone who works there (all dressed up in period garb) came in and asked if he wanted to get dressed up. He very shyly said yes, which surprised me. He got dressed, with lots of my help, and then turned VERY shy. This was the picture I got of him after a minute of trying to get him to smile!

Maid of the Mist

Here we are on the Maid of the Mist. On the first day there, Dane kept seeing the "blue boats" going towards the falls, and he said he wanted to ride on one. We kept telling him how fun it would be, so he wouldn't change his mind when we got there. He was all about putting the raincoat on as we waited in line. I put mine on a little too early, and was VERY HOT!! We went towards the back of the boat, hoping we wouldn't get too wet. Abel was asleep in his backpack, and we didn't want to wake the beast!

You can see that Abel didn't really care if he saw the Falls close up or not, he was tired!

We hadn't gotten wet at this point. The falls you see behind Eric and Dane are the American Falls, and we were headed to the Canadian, or Horseshoe Falls.

Here is a very excited Dane after we got misted by the Falls.
Below is a view looking back after we left the Falls. The black spot at the base of the Falls is another Maid of the Mist boat.
Isn't he adorable?
And the monkey on my back is too!

Journey Behind the Falls

We went on a tour called Journey Behind the Falls. There was a viewing platform that was literally right next to the bottom of the falls. If you went out there, you got wet. Eric and Dane went out and had a good time. Although I would've, Abel didn't want anything to do with the poncho. He screamed when I tried to put it on him, so we just stayed by the doors. I had a pretty good view from there, so I didn't really miss anything. I was surprised at how well Dane did. I thought he would be more scared, but he was very brave!

Below is a picture of Eric, Dane, and Abel looking through one of the portals. It is right behind them in the picture. You could see the water rushing down through these. Where we were standing was actually right behind the falls. That was pretty cool.

This is just a very cute picture of Dane in his poncho. He has been such a ham for pictures lately.

White Water Walk

Next we went on the White Water Walk. It was a boardwalk that was downriver from the falls where the class 6 rapids are. You can't really see them in the picture, but they were crazy!
I guess you can see them better in this picture. I can't imagine anyone wanting to go through these rapids!

Butterfly Conservatory

Dane loves to watch the butterflies in the backyard, so we thought he would enjoy the butterfly conservatory. He really did, and so did Abel. Apparently I did too, because I don't have that many pictures. Below is a good one of a butterfly.

If you look on Abel's hat, you can see that a butterfly landed on there. It stayed there for quite a while. He never even knew it was there.
Here is another one of the butterfly on the bill of his hat. One landed on Eric's shoulder later on, but I wasn't quick enough to capture it!

Our first day at Niagara

Here are a few pictures of our first day at Niagara Falls. We spent the morning just walking around and checking everything out. Dane didn't like the falls at first, but soon he enjoyed watching them. He didn't want to leave!

Niagara Falls

We had a wonderful time camping in Niagara Falls. The boys loved being outdoors 24/7. There was a train that went by our campground several times a day (and at night too) - and Dane loved seeing "Thomas" go by. One night he even sat up in bed and said "Daddy, it's Thomas".

We saw lots of stuff - the Falls, Maid of the Mist, Journey Behind the Falls, White Water Walk and ate at the Rainforest Cafe. We went to the pool and to the beach - Dane is getting much braver in the water this year. Abel was a little timid at first, but seemed to warm up to it. We also saw lots of "Gentlemen's Clubs", bingo halls, and lots of guys wearing capris. Kind of weird. Eric did have to "run out" once for milk and firewood. He did return with those things, and I don't think he was gone long enough to visit a club or play bingo. He didn't return with capris on either.

Among all this action, there was some action going on back in Lowell. Pending the buyers inspection (which is next week) - WE SOLD OUR HOUSE! We were on the phone everyday with our realtor, who happened to be on vacation too! She warned us that if we both went away at the same time, something would probably happen. We are so excited that it did, but we were certainly not prepared for it to happen this soon. The buyers wanted to take possession the middle of August, but we got that pushed back to September 1. Needless to say, we will probably be "homeless" for a few weeks, if not more. We hope to find a house in the next few weeks, but by the time we offer, have inspections, and the sellers can vacate we are probably not going to be able to move until mid September, if that. We will probably stay in Jackson (I'm coming back home, Mom and Dad!) - at least me and the boys. Eric will probably be in the middle of moving his office down to Kalamazoo, or still working up here in GR, so he will probably be staying multiple places. We aren't worried, it will all work out. The hardest part was selling the house, and hopefully everything goes well with that.

I will post some pictures of our vacation later - I just had a free moment while the boys were sleeping, so I thought I would give everyone a quick update!

Vacation

Today we are leaving for Niagara Falls for a week of camping. It's taken a lot to get everything packed up, but we are headed out this morning. I will post pictures when we get back!

Brains

Dane was taking a nap in our bed today, and I was at the computer in our room. He was sleeping, and then I heard his sweet little voice say "Mommy" - as I turned around, he was pointing to his head and said "my brain's in there". Then he asked if my brain was in my head, if Moose's brain was in his head, and if Abel's brain was in his head. I told him yes to all three.

Then he asked, "Mommy, does Daddy have a brain?".

Our Little Firecrackers - Literally!

On the Fourth of July, Eric surprised us with tickets to the Grand Rapids Whitecaps game (minor league baseball) which had fireworks afterward. We were going to see the fireworks somewhere, and we had been talking about going to a Whitecaps game sometime. We thought this would be a fun thing to do.

We got lawn seats, thinking that would be better for the boys. We found a spot, and the boys were pretty good for about 20 minutes. Abel was just quietly sitting on the blanket checking out everyone around him. Then they got brave, and braver, and braver. They kept trying to see how far they could get away from us before we came to get them. We let Daddy watch a few minutes of the game while I tried to take them to the play area for a few minutes, but that just stressed me out. There were tons of kids playing there, and there was no way I could watch both of them. So, off we went back to our lawn seats.

Abel and I went to get some popcorn and a Melting Moments (two cookies that aren't fully baked with ice cream in between -AWESOME - one of the reasons I like to go to the games). We thought that this would occupy them for a little bit. It worked for a few minutes.

After I took this picture, I realized that's when Eric was ready to go.



Eric and I then saw some parents set up their kids with sidewalk chalk on the sidewalk behind me. The parents left, who knows where they were sitting. People were trying to walk around them while the kids were oblivious to them. I then realized that someone had spilled their juice box all over the blanket, and I was sitting in it. That's when I had enough. We were there long enough for Daddy to have a beer and Mommy to have her ice cream. We were done.

I think it was in the fifth inning, and we packed up the kids and headed home. As I was giving the boys a quick bath, Eric went to Meijers to get some fireworks, and set up chairs in the backyard. Here they are after their baths and ready to see fireworks!

FIREWORKS!!!!
Daddy's little helper

After everyone was tucked into bed that night, we realized that it was probably a good thing that we left the game and just did our own fireworks in the backyard. I'm sure the boys had a much better time watching Daddy light the fireworks and then run from them before they went off!

Waterfront house, anyone?

We did it!! We put our house up for sale last week and now it's just a waiting game. It hasn't been listed online yet because of the holiday, but hopefully this week it will be. The night after we had the realtor come over and put the sign up, she called me with 5 minutes notice that she was bringing someone by from out of town. I was in the middle of cooking dinner, it was pouring rain outside, and the boys were wound up. Moose had to endure the rain for 10 minutes while they were here, otherwise they would have gotten his kisses and wiggling tail! I was frantically trying to light candles and put things away in the 5 minutes I had to prepare. Luckily, the house was pretty clean from the night before, and we had been gone all afternoon so there wasn't much of a mess. I don't think anything will come of these people seeing the house, it didn't seem like their cup of tea - and yes, I was here the whole time.

So now, we'll just wait and see what happens. We are hopeful that it will sell in a few months, but we know that the housing market isn't that great right now for sellers. We'll keep you posted!

We have looked at a bunch of houses online, and there are some we are interested in seeing. We have a few busy weeks ahead of us, so we probably won't start looking until August. Keep your fingers crossed for us!

Abel, aka Aunt Erin

The other night, Abel saw our camera and just started saying "cheese, cheese, cheese". So, I just had to take a bunch of pictures of him. I can totally see his Aunt Erin in him, especially his mouth.

Out in the back yard...

Here are some pictures of the boys out in the backyard taking a break and walking down by the river.

Trucks

When Grandma and Grandpa Clark (Eric's mom and stepdad) came to visit in May, they brought some cool wooden trucks for the boys that Grandpa TC made and Grandma painted. The boys love playing with them. As you can see in the pictures below, Dane likes to drive them normal, and Abel likes to ride on the semi truck and push himself with his feet. These two are all boy, but they sure are different than each other!

Abel also likes to hide things in the semi.