Wednesday

Today we woke up knowing that Daddy would be home this evening. He is working in Fort McMurray and got off at noon for the drive home.

We did some house cleaning again today, played outside, and made a trip to Sobeys. The weather is absolutely gorgeous and it is soooo nice not to be couped up in the house with the kids.

We had some excitement with a mouse this morning. I was on the phone with my mom and I heard this frantic scurrying from our cat Koda. I thought it was awfully strange and when I turned around the explanation was right in front of me. Well Koda played with the mouse, let him go, caught him again, etc. Eventually he lost him for good. We were making lunch and the little bugger showed his face again. I know some people don't like traps but I think I may set one tonight.

Today we sent in a request on our new home purchase to change our possession date from July 6 to June 29. This will be a day after the possession date on our existing home which would work much easier. I hope to hear something by the end of the week as to weather or not they accept. This property is desired by many people and we jumped on it at the right time. There is a family waiting in the wings with an overlist offer with no conditions. We are so thankful to have aquired this piece of land for our new family home.

We got our new phone number for Bawlf. It will be quite easy to remember. I have also signed up a for a new email address. I could be without internet for a while until I set up satellite and my current email address is a Telus one.

Adam made it home just in time for Natashas' soccer game but just as we suspected she was totally uninterested in being there. We spoke with the coach and excused ourselves for the second game. Instead we cam home and sat outside in the sun while the kids played on the swings. We will have 4 full days with Daddy home until he heads back to work, and I get down to business packing.

I hope everyone had a nice Thursday.

Tuesday

Last night we had soccer and the weather was miserable! We came home and had some hot chocolate to warm up. Wednesdays' came should be much better with the forecast sitting at 25C

I got word from our mortage specialist that we can remove our financing condition on the acreage in Camrose. We will also remove the water condition today. That leaves us with one condition to remove being the septic system move. Once we get documentation of some sort we can remove that.

The financing was a big one and with that out of the way...the place is ours.

Today we have house cleaning to do in preparation for Adam's arrival tomorrow. I have changed all the sheets, and cleaned our second story. I still have laundry to do and the main level. I think I will conquer the basement tomorrow after the kids go to bed.

I also got my book order yesterday from Chapters. I ordered it late Thursday night and wasn't expecting it until later this week. What a wonderful surprise it was here yesterday. I started reading, and finished, Tuesdays With Morrie. What a wonderful book. It is an easy read and quite short but pack full life lessons and emotions. I love it and I am sad that I took so long to read it.

I haven't decided what my next book will be but I am deciding between "We are All the Same" and "The Glass Castle". Maybe I will flip a coin.

Anyway back to work...laundry is calling.

Monday

Many people would say that I am not organized. Yes sometimes when you look at my house I can understand that...but I am quite an organized person and like things done well in advance.

Today I started the relocation process. I called our utility providers and informed them of the move. Everything will be cut off on June 27, the day before possession. WHY? I can just see things coming up on that last day so I gave myself a day for possible "headaches"

I have also called our insurnce brokers but I am just waiting for a call back.

I think we have settled on Star Choice for satellite but I will wait for a bit to get that underway.

The other thing that will wait is the satellite internet.

I printed off a wonderful tick sheet from the Telus website that should help me with everything that needs to be done.

I would love to have coffee with Jane and pick your brain about acreage life. What would you have for the move? What didn't you have that you wished you did, etc?

I am excited!! Adam comes home in 2 days after a 15 day shift. This first shift was hard after having him at home for 7 weeks. The shifts never get easy but more routine. He will leave again on Monday for a 24 day shift leaving packing/moving almost solely on my shoulders (which doesn't bother me at all).

Our Weekend

With our house being sold on Friday is was nice to have a weekend to relax.

On Saturday we went out to Costco for a couple of purchases. We came home, had lunch and then headed out to Walmart to purchase a baby shower gift and a couple of other things for us.

At 4pm we headed west of Edmonton to attend a baby shower. It was about 50 minutes out but it was a very nice drive. They baby shower was nice. They served supper, the kids played outside, and then we did gifts. The mom has two boys and now her girl. When she found out it was a girl she went and bought pink everything. Now she said the colour is getting tiresome.

We left for home at 8pm and Ashley fell asleep on the drive. Natasha stayed up and cuddled with me when we got home.

Sunday was much of nothing really. The girls played outside lots. They watered my plants, helped cleaned the envoy, etc.

We had burgers and corn on the cob for supper and then some berry blizzard.

Sisters

Its funny how a simple after dinner treat can turn to a fight between sisters. After supper tonight I made a berry blizzard. We were all sitting at the table enjoying it and the following chain of events occured.

Mmmmmm....Ashley taking a big bite!

Natasha seems to love it too.

Ashley decides to dump some on the table and make a mess.

I got up to clean it up and Natasha says to me "That's ok mommy, I will do it"

Ashley decides " I made the mess I will clean it up"

After a little picture taking from me, I stepped in. Natasha was tired of cleaning and handed over the rag. Since there was no fight over it, Ashley quickly lost interest too.

Seafood Salad

So today we went to Sobeys to pick up some finishing touches for supper. I was walking to the till and noticed this seafood salad with whole octopuses. I thought to myself, what the hell, I like seafood, let's try some. I really didn't think either girls would be interested. Well Natasha saw the octopus and said she wanted to try some. Not only did she try it but she had to have a whole one...not just a piece. SHE LOVED IT! Here is Natasha's first octopus experience.

So Wonderfully Excited!

As you can see from the post below this...our house is SOLD! I finally feel like I can let myself be excited about the upcoming move to our acreage. I feel like I can start planning without the sinking feeling like I am jumping the gun.

I spoke with Adam tonight and we both feel like we sold our first house tonight but in turn bought our first home. Sure there will be an adjustment period...lots more yard work, tons of mosquitos, no more quick trips to the store, etc BUT it is something we both want. The changes we have to adjust too are nothing compared to what we feel we are gaining.

Now my list of things to do starts...one of them is maybe meeting an fellow blogger and acreage dweller for some tips and advice;-)

SOLD!!!

Condition Day!

Today is condition day on the sale of our existing home. At 9pm tonight we will know if our house is SOLD. They had two conditions; financing and inspection. They called this morning at 8:15 announcing they would be coming with an inspector at 9:30. So I rushed around cleaning up, showering, getting the girls up and dressed. Hopefully I will be posting a picture later as I flip the sign from FOR SALE to SOLD. Keep your fingers crossed readers!

Now I sit and wait. It is 4:50pm, only 4 hrs and 10 minutes to wait. ARG!!!

My Natasha Bear

Is there anything more peaceful than a sleeping child? Natasha always goes to bed fully clothed but somewhere along the way she wakes up naked. She is extremely hot blooded like her mom...always warm. Anyway I took these pictures before her nightly derobing.

Summer Brings....

Sure summer brings warm weather but what else does it bring for you? For me it brings wonderfully fresh berries, corn on the cob, weiner roasts, kite flying, sprinklers. Yesterday I bought corn on the cob at Sobeys and had it for supper. Honestly if I ate nothing for supper by 4 cobs of corn...I would be happy. As you can see by the picture my girls also love corn on the cob so I have to share. They are so much like theri mom with corn...they even love it uncooked LOL!

The First Sleepover!

Natasha had her first sleepover this past weekend. Her second cousin, Brynne from Saskatchewan was in town and spent one night at our place. These two see each other, maybe, 3 times a year but are best buds. They had a movie party in my bed and got to stay up late. The next morning they played outside before heading to Camrose.

Farley...Our New Addition!

This is our new family addition. His name is Farley, he is a golden retriever and he is 7 weeks old. So far he is loved with the exception of one person, Ashley. She is not so sure about this new "thing" in her house. We will see how the next few weeks are...

Any Visitors?

Not that I care because I will keep blogging regardless BUT....

DO I HAVE ANY READERS??? (other than my mom?)

"Our" Acreage!

Well if anyone doesn't know we have an offer in on an acreage outside of Camrose. It is a beautifully treed 14 acres with a lovely house. As soon as Adam and I saw it...we felt at home. Our house is currently pending an offer, with a condition day of Friday. Once Friday comes and goes (with conditions removed on our house) I can safely call "our" acreage home. I CAN'T WAIT!!!

This is a picture of the entrance to the property. You can just see the corner of the house.

This is a picture of a marsh on the property. It is on the far right side of the property line. We thought at first it was marshy because of all the rain...now 4 weeks later I am thinking it is a permanent fixture.

Warning

I got this poem from another blogger (Thanks It's My Blog!) and thought it was cute.
____________________________________________________________________________________

Warning

When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
With a red hat which doesn't go, and doesn't suit me.
And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
And satin sandals, and say we've no money for butter.
I shall sit down on the pavement when I'm tired
And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells
And run my stick along the public railings
And make up for the sobriety of my youth.
I shall go out in my slippers in the rain
And pick flowers in other people's gardens
And learn to spit.

You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat
And eat three pounds of sausages at a go
Or only bread and pickle for a week
And hoard pens and pencils and beermats and things in boxes.

But now we must have clothes that keep us dry
And pay our rent and not swear in the street
And set a good example for the children.
We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.

But maybe I ought to practice a little now?
So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised
When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.

Jenny Joseph

Offer Pending

There is an offer pending on our house! Some of my stress is leaving my shoulders!!!!! One step closer to our new home. One step closer to pure joy!

Summer Fun in MAY!!!!!

Keeping Sane!

I thought I would post something in effort of keeping from going crazy. This buying/selling of homes is silly (but needed yes) and stressful beyond words. This would be only our second move and if everything works....I will be out there for years and years! How my parents did this routine EVERY 2-3 years is beyone me...another way I totally admire them!







I am really starting to love photography. I have to thank the person I admire the most when it comes to photography....my mom. Hopefully if I start now my talent might resemble my moms someday!

Here's Hoping!!

Here is hoping everything goes through and WE will be calling this home in July. The picture really doesn't do the house or property justice!

Quick Update

To much going on to have a major post but:
1) We are trying to buy a house
2) We are trying to sell our house
3) Adam leaves again for work

Hopefully within the next couple of days I can release more information with good news!

Happy Anniversary to US!

Today is our 5th Anniversary! We are officially passed a major milestone according to my FIL a divorce lawyer. We were told that a vast majority of divorces happen within the first 5 years. These are what I recieved today.

First Soccer Practice

This was Natasha's first soccer practice. It was a little chaotic at first, trying to find the right field/team amoungst a sea of kids. Once we found it and the coaches things started falling into place. We and SHE was happy that she got a jersey...number 14. They had a slight practice and then had a practice "game". It was quite funny as it was a bunch of kids chasing after a ball. One little boy kept picking it up and holding it...cute. Today will be her first game! It is quite convienent for us as everything (practice and games) are within 3-4 mintues walking. It is funny, yet a little sad at the same time, that the coaches had to set quidelines for parents:
1) No swearing
2) No name calling
3) No booing
4) No singling out a player if a mistake is made