Back Seat Driver

Today, I took the girls out and when ran a bunch of errands. I needed to go to Lowes to get some stuff for the house and the girls wanted to look at Halloween stuff at Walmart, Party City, and Target.

Well, was driving out of neighborhood and Presley asked where we were going first. I told her that we were going to Lowes then to eat then we'll go Halloween shopping.

She said, "No, I want to go to Target first."
I said, "No, I am driving so we are going to Lowes first."
Then she threw her arms up and said," Well, I am back seat driving, so we are going to Target first! Go west!" (she reads the compass on the rear view mirror)

OOOOOHHH those bossy back seat drivers!

I told her that she's going to get premature wrinkles since she keeps crinkling her brows at me!

The Destroyer and the Mermaids

Maggie Belle is a destroyer of all cute and cuddly things! She goes through toys like they are going out of style! I thought dogs liked to cuddle stuffed toys. Not Maggie! She likes to get in there and pull all the stuffing out!

Here's her latest collection of torn up toys!

This poor bear is only 1 day old. Now it's head has been ripped from it's poor body.

This poor squirrel is missing the stuffing in it's tail. And it's little ears have been nibbled off.

Caught in the act!

The girls wonder why I tell them to keep their toys off the floor.

And today, I took the girls "window shopping" for a Halloween costume.

We LOVE Halloween. I think it has to be one of my favorite days of the year.

Anyways, they both want to be Arial too. Which might not be so bad since their costumes will be a little different due to their sizes. So we'll see. You never know, they may change their mind when the time comes to actually buy them.

I usually make their costumes, but this year I have to much going on! No time. But the ones they want are cute. I am so glad the girls share John's and my love for Halloween costumes!

What A Beautiful Day!

Yesterday was an absolute GORGEOUS day here!

Perfect weather! So we took advantage of it and the girls spent a little over 3 hours outside playing. I sat in the chair catching up on some articles in my Parenting magazines while they collected fairy grass, played with sidewalk chalk, kicked balls, blew bubbles, played with Maggie, and drew at their picnic table.

Maggie played her barking & yelping game with with Ivan's dog. That lasted forever! She looks like she is giving me her famous "stink eye". She's such a beauty!

We also made some Chocolate Chip Banana Bread earlier in the day. We had some of the perfect banana bread bananas. The only thing that wasn't right was that I had packed away all the loaf pans and I had to bake it in a cake pan. It cooked just fine in a shorter amount of time. And it was DELICIOUS!

I love days like this! Presley practiced cracking eggs and making a big egg white mess, Juliet practiced measuring sugar and tasting it. They helped to pour the vanilla and milk. And when they went outside, I heard giggles,giggles, and more giggles. Love it! Can't wait for more beautiful fall days!

After 26 Houses, Still No Luck!

We have seen a total of 26 houses in Trophy Club, Plano, Carrollton, and Grapevine. We still haven't found the "ONE". We have looked at nice ones that don't need much work and we have looked at ones that need a ton of work! One common thing I have seen in most is that the kitchens are so out dated! Most need all new things. I look at my house now. We are selling our house with a dishwasher with a stainless steel tub and a glass top stove with a convection oven. The appliances are less than 2 years old. I have yet to find anything like that. I hate having to leave my stuff behind with the house. I think I mostly hate having to buy it all again just with in a couple of years of each other. I also REALLY dislike how much these people are asking for their homes......when clearly, they are no way worth it. Most of the homes, even though "updated" (to their standards, not ours), need an additional $15,000 - $30,000 worth of work after moving in.

I really wished we could wait until after November to buy. I wonder if when the $8,000 1st buyers thing goes away if that will make a big difference in what is available. Or at least how quickly they are taken off the market. There have been about 10 homes that we have been on our way to see and they call to say we can't see them any more...someone got to them first. That's super frustrating! It may have been the "ONE".

I dunno! We have an apartment set up already. But it's so far from John's work. I LOVE the complex. They have a dog park, a kid's park, theater, pools, etc. Our apartment comes with a yard and a garage. BUT it's so far! It would cost John over $300 a month in tolls and gas. Then we have found some apartment in west Plano (much closer to John's work & right around Willowbend Mall) but they don't have the good stuff. And then John's boss remembered that they have an apartment that is so close to his work that they use for their corporate housing. Anyways, it's month to month. So If we just need an apartment for 3 months, we could rent that one. I haven't seen it, but it's so super freakin' cheap! Kim is going to take John to look at it next week for our back up.

So again, I don't know...we are just taking this house hunt one day at a time and really trying hard not to become overwhelmed, depressed, and a crabby patty (as the girls would say).

Here are some homes we saw over the last 2 days. And one we went to see 2 times.

Early Morn Drive House, Plano
Sq. Ft.: 2,324 Lot Size: 7,841 Sq. Ft.
4 bedroom, 2.5 bathrooms, 2 living area...detached garage
Okay, I loved this house. Having the 4 of us in it made us realize that we need a house this size! The stairs kinda scared me. Some things were off, but nothing that couldn't be fixed over time. That we know of anyways. There were some concerning foundation questions. The floor in the kitchen felt like it had a dip in it. There were some cracks in the walls and outside brick.
But I loved this house. We saw it two different days. I love it, but did not allow myself to get attached to it. Yet....

Foyer

Dining

family room, dining through that door. This room had no over head lighting. We'd have to go in a wire that.

Kitchen...needed to be gutted and redone.


Formal living

Wet bar, laundry is to the left through that door and kitchen straight ahead.

detached garage. not a big fan of that. needs a lot of work. Looks like the ceiling was going to fall in!


Master bath...the vanity was in the master bedroom. the bathroom already had a vanity and shower and toilet. Something would have to be done about that!

All the bedrooms were upstairs. That was nice, but stairs scare me. Especially since the girls still get up in the middle of the night.


OK, I have to go get some stuff done. I still have 4 houses to post.


To be continued.....

Trophy Club & Grapevine Didn't Work Out Either

Okay, I am beginning to believe that our perfect home doesn't exist. We are even beginning to expand the area in which we are looking. Still no luck. And we are trying to reconsider Carrollton. It is a great location for us, but we have to be careful what schools the girls go to. The good ones seem to be few and far between.

We have also starting to visit apartments too. Not too happy about that, but we have to be ready! We are starting to run out of time! The thing about apartments that we have learned is that they don't have 3 month leases anymore. Now they have 7, 13, 18 month leases. That's the average anyways. So John said we may be able to stay at his corporate housing apartment if we need to for a couple of months. It's month to month. We really don't want to stay off the market for too long because our loan and stuff is already set up. I'd hate to loose our rate and stuff.

So anyways, here are some homes that we saw last Thursday...or was it Wednesday...hmmm, can't remember anymore.

Anyways, here they are:

Spring Creek House, Trophy Club

Lot: 0.23 Acres Sq. Feet: 2252
4 bedroom, 2 living area, 2 bathrooms

This house was great, but the lot was so small for this huge house and there was an electrical pole right smack in the middle of the back yard. We left and came back and walked around the property, we realized lots of work this house would need. it had sagging brick, water damage, needed a new roof....possible huge money pit!

front door, formal living and dining to the left

Kitchen, breakfast area, and family room

back yard...see the pole!

Lots of ceiling cracks

Crooked Creek House, Trophy Club

Sq. Ft.: 1,784 Lot Size: 10,454 Sq. Ft.

3 bedroom, 2 bathroom

This house was nice. We liked it much better through the online pictures.

It was a corner lot and the master bathroom would be shared with the rest of the house. There again, not great for resale value.

Creek Courts Home, Trophy Club

Sq. Ft.: 1,982 (did not feel this big at all!)

3 bedroom and 2 bathroom

The kitchen was dark and small and closed in. I'd feel like I was cooking in a closet! I really didn't like this house....so I kinda just stoppped taking pictures.

Again, the kid's bedrooms are in the front of the house. Why do builders think this is a good idea?

Edgemere Court House, Trophy Club

3 bedroom, 2 bathroom

Sq. Ft.: 1,840 Lot Size: 14,810 Sq. Ft

I loved this lot! Gorgeous! But it was missing some fence...like it was never built.

Living and formal dining (they had turned into an office)

Kitchen and breakfast area

Both kid's rooms were upstairs with a bathroom and that was it for up there. Not a big fan of that.

The master. It had one closet and the master bathroom would have to be shared with the rest of the house. Our realtor told us that would not be good on the resale value. I could see why!

Great lot, just not the house for us!

Brookside Drive, Grapevine

3 bedroom, 2 bathroom

Sq. Ft.: 1,848 Lot Size: 9,148 Sq. Ft.

We found out when we got here that this house was a foreclosure. Looks like they tried to start doing stuff to fix the house up but then just stopped and up and left.

Kitchen, the floor had lots of water damage.

Unfinished master bathroom

Tiny court yard that leads to the backyard

Part of the backyard

Small pool

Other half of the yard

Just wasn't the house for us. I am sure it will make some one happy.

Crestside House, Carrollton

3 bedroom, 2 bath

Sq. Ft.: 1,820 Lot Size: 8,276 Sq. Ft.

This house was nice, but way to small for us. It was almost our house. But on a little larger scale. So I don't want to move out of my house just to move back into my house. If I am selling my house, I want something different!

Living room & Dining

Dining

Kitchen, needed updating! As with nearly every house I have walked into.

I don't know if you can tell in the picture below, but the floor has a ripple in it. They swear there are no foundation issues, but that ripple looks like the start of something I don't even want to mess with!

This is the master. A fireplace in the master! Total waste if you ask me. I like my wall space and that just takes up a wall! John thought that maybe he could wall it up them turn the firebox around and open the fireplace up to the outside, but.....I don't think so. I'd rather just let someone else have the house. Sorry....that's the "dream killer" coming out in me.

Master bath. One closet! Have you seen how many clothes John owns???? He has more shoes than I do! The tub and shower was gross too.

Kid's room in the front. That's a no no!

Other room that they turned into a library. It would have to be turned back into a bedroom.

Guest bath.

It has had a descent size yard. the decking needs to be pulled up and redone.