We’ve Made An Offer

house front

patio with outdoorfireplace

another kitchen view

We’ve made an offer and it has been accepted – I think all docs have been signed until closing which isn’t until June 30th. I’m going to head to Omaha for a month after the kiddos are out of school while Don works his heart out here in Bartlesville. These next six weeks cannot pass quickly enough! I am so in love with this home — I’ve finally found everything I’ve ever asked for in a home: white trim, ranch, 4 bedrooms, farm sink, gas range, patio, good sized yard, fence, sprinkler system, all brick construction. Sigh. It will help justify the price tag. We hope this is our forever home. We really, really love this town.

Happy Mother’s Day & House Hunting

delights potholders

Happy Mother’s Day to all! These flowers are from the crochet-a-long on Ravelry, pattern created by Claudia “delights“. Her blog posts many colorful versions – what a great idea!

I have a few extra minutes to write today because the boys went to visit the Skiatook Branch of the church we belong to today without me. I missed the children singing to their mothers! …but, on the flip side, I have a few extra QUIET minutes to write. We have been house hunting for 2 and a half weeks. I have mixed emotions. We’ve run the gamut: downsizing, acreage, old home, new home, in Bartlesville, in Skiatook, etc. We have some important decisions to make — there are pros and cons to each choice and combination of choices. The kids are begging for an acreage but the best one we’ve found has a FANTASTIC acreage but a really, really old ranch house that would need to be entirely redone. We found a fantastic house on an acre but no livestock (I want chickens!). We’ve found a fantastic new home in town with a large yard and also another, downsized fantastic new-ish home in town that would have little resale value (it’s the only newish home in the neighborhood). Lots and lots of decisions to make. I’m grateful to be able to make these decisions: thankful for my kiddos, for my husband’s job and for being blessed with the world’s greatest mother.

Swimming in Houston

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Just look at my man with his boys. What a sight! Do they look mischievous or what?! All the kids want to do is swim. I go back and forth between wanting to buy a house with a pool…and not wanting to buy a house with a pool. The kids would love it but I want to be sure there’s enough room for a garden. Plus I’m constantly worried about someone drowning. The yards in Houston are TINY until you get out to the country. Many of the houses we’ve seen have no back yard at all after they’ve put in a pool (seriously – NO grass at all). I guess, to some people, that would be a plus! It takes Don about 20 minutes max to mow his Dad’s yard. It’s like a postage stamp compared to our yard in Gretna which took an hour or two to mow. Crazy! I like having a yard and I’m looking forward to having a patio I can walk out to from my kitchen. If there isn’t one, I will be putting one in. We haven’t found the right house for us yet but I am hoping it is out there and we will find it soon!

House Hunting in Houston

We found a country home we love but there’s one problem: it’s just too small! It’s the one affordable (if you think $244K is affordable) house among half a million dollar homes on acreages in Magnolia. My heart started pitter-pattering when we approached and as we went to the front porch, a baby deer scampered off into the backyard gated portion where it frantically tried to get out. The poor thing couldn’t find its way out of the gated acreage and scurried around the edge the entire time we were inside. I thought it might have a heart attack (can that happen to wildlife?!). So we explored the inside of the home which is just as charming as the outside – a sunroom, large master with closet but only 2 bedrooms upstairs. As we were leaving, mama deer was just on the other side of the fence trying to help her baby find her way out – how sweet is that?!