Happy # 10 to Natalie!

We had a great party at the house yesterday! Natalie invited 6 girls from 3 different homeschool families from our coop. Then Aaron and I invited some old friends from our previous church who we haven't seen since July! We didn't tell the girls and they were so excited to see them get out of the car. It was a lot of fun! Happy Birthday Natalie! I love you!

Finally heard

Friday afternoon at 4pm, we finally heard from the bank about our house offer. After making an offer on Wednesday morning. They counteroffered at more than we could afford.
So we talked it over for a few minutes since the bank closed at 5 and our realtor called at 4:45 and made a new offer for us.
So now we wait again. Maybe our answer will come quickly this time (after waiting all weekend)

"puppycats"

I forgot to mention this yesterday.
We showed Seth the new kittens and he promptly called them puppycats. I thought that was cute.
We STILL have not heard from our realtor and the bank about our offer on Wednesday morning. The longer we wait the more I fear someone else will make a higher offer. Of course the bank is thinking the longer they wait the more likely someone will come with a higher offer. Especially with the weekend coming up where people can go look at houses. Sigh! I guess we will wait and see. I wonder how long a bank can sit on an offer without giving any feedback at all.

Still waiting on the bank...

Well, it is Thursday night and we are still waiting to see if the bank is going to accept the offer we made Wednesday morning. So frustrating.
Our realtor told us Wednesday that since it is a local bank, we should hear by the afternoon. That was yesterday morning. Then we got the news at 5pm last night, that one of the people that has to make the decision was out all day yesterday, so they would have us a counter offer asap this am. So I anxiously have been waiting all day to hear.
Finally at lunchtime, I texted our realtor "Are they trying to kill me with anticipation?" She texted back "I know, me too"
Then I texted her at 5 pm to ask if she had any updates. She finally texted me back a few hours later and said that we will hopefully hear tomorrow and that no one else had made an offer. That is good news.
What I worry about is if they don't accept our offer and then counter offer and we don't accept that offer and we make another offer, if we go with the history of how long it takes this bank to make a decision it will be way into next week. I just worry that someone else will come along and offer a lot more than us and poof, it's gone.
Of course, praying that if we are meant to be at this house, God will work it out and if not, that I will not be too disappointed.
I had been working on a grocery list today and was hoping to wait a few more days to go. But Aaron came home and said he was completely out of food for his lunches. So I decided to just go get it all. I called Mom to see if she wanted to ride with me to Aldi which is 20+ min. away. Aldi is so much cheaper than other stores, but it is far away. And they don't always have stuff I need... like rice milk etc. But if I have a list where Aldi should have it all, then I try to go there.
Mom came over and I told Aaron I would take one of the boys. He chose Seth to go with us. Seth was so good. I told Aaron "other than naming everything in the store, he did real well" He loves to ride in the cart. He seemed to enjoy it. He really is so sweet.
When he gets in trouble, he will come up to me, without prompting and say "sorry Mama " and hugs my leg.
Our cat Cotton has been hugely pregnant for a while now. I knew she was going to drop some babies soon. She is so lazy anyway. The other day Aaron came in and said she was sleeping standing up. And then he complained that she makes no effort to get out of your way if she is lying on the steps and you are trying to get in.
Well, yesterday and then today, she walked into the house. She has not done that at this new house. Today she walked in and started to go behind some boxes. I threw her out, thinking she might have been looking for a place for her kittens.
Then she stood at the door, meowing at us. So I went out and fixed a box. She jumped right in and had the first kitten less than 30 min. later.
Total of 4 and I can't believe that she didn't have more. I think this is the biggest I have ever seen her.

Still House Hunting

Finally, yesterday we found out that we did not get the house we made an offer on. Took them long enough. However, another foreclosure came open yesterday afternoon. We went and looked at it and loved it. We made an offer on it this morning.
Our realtor thought we would know something by this afternoon. However, at 5pm, she called and said that the bank was working on a counter offer and we would know something in the morning. So we will see.
This morning was bad. I was trying to work on paperwork for the realtor. I had asked the girls to watch the boys so I could get it done. Seth was on the little potty in the living room and Ethan was screaming and I kept hearing doors slam.
So I go look and the girls had all gone into their bedroom, closing Ethan and Seth out when they were supposed to be watching them.
I was about to come apart. I called Mom to complain. She had a doctor's appt this morning, so she called me back when she was done and offered to let me bring the kids over and have some time alone.
She also wanted to treat me to a pedicure.
So nice.
So I brought the kids over and went to the mall to go shopping. I think I have 3 short sleeve shirts that are not stained that I rotate wearing to church and these are getting old. Plus it was time for my twice annual shopping trip. I got a few things.
Then instead of a pedicure, I went to Walmart in town and got a hair cut. I like it.
More on the new house tomorrow hopefully.

Great Quote and Stress

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man
stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit
belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust
and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, and comes short again and
again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does
actually strive to do the deeds; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great
devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the
end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least
fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and
timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.President
Theodore Roosevelt

Ok, I saw this quote on someone else's blog tonight and thought it was great. Whew! What a year it has been. This is how overwhelmed I have been. A year ago today we met Ethan for the first time. A year ago yesterday, we met Seth. And it just now hit me.

What a whirlwind year.

March 2011 Took our entire family to Ethiopia. That in and of itself was a feat. Met our boys for the first time. Did not pass court because paperwork on the Ethiopian side was not there yet.

April 2011 Missing boys. Finally passed court on April 20. Officially became a mother of 5.

May 2011 I don't know the exact date, but by this time the well at our house had become so low that all we had enough to do was wash hands, drink it, and wash 1 load of dishes a day by hand.

June 2011 Went with sister in law and neice to pick up boys. Spent two nights in Dubai. Flew out to go to embassy to bring boys home. Spent 3 nights in Ethiopia then spent 36 miserable hours traveling to get home.

July 2011 Finally admitted to ourselves that we were not really welcome or embraced where we were attending church. I think we had lived in denial for a long time. No bulletin announcement that the boys were home. Nothing mentioned that we were proud parents again. So much more went on, but that is not for now. Just saying that it was a sad time and still is. Also finally made the very hard decision (for me) to put our house up for sale.

August 2011 Well finally went dry. BOOOO!!!! Now that we had 7 people living in the house, there was not one drop of water flowing through the pipes. Which means taking the kids 15 min. to Mom's for a bath whenever they need it. Filling a huge pot with rain water to heat up on stove to bathe when going to Mom's was too inconvenient. Hauling in and buying tons of gallons of water and paper products since the dishes either had to be taken to Mom's to wash or washed with boiled rain water. Filling up gallons and gallons of rain water into milk jugs to carry into the house and store in tubs for flushing toilets. Not to mention taking ALL of our laundry to Mom's every day. Never being able to just leave the house with 5 kids. Always making sure the laundry went with us. In and out with tons of clothes baskets, water jugs, etc.

September 2011 Other than 3 birthdays this month, I am not sure what all went on. It is a blurr, but I am sure the lugging of kids, water jugs and laundry kept me busy. No to mention homeschooling and soccer.

October 2011 Aaron goes out of town for 24 days. Makes extra money. We thought it would be worth it. I suppose it was. During this time, Soccer season was in full swing. Which meant me, alone driving all 5 kids to soccer fields 3 nights a week for either practice or games. Kids were on 3 separate teams this year. Yippee! Then the worst of the worst. Stomach virus, husband out of town, 5 kids, no water. Oh yes, that happened. Thankfully the boys were picked up and taken by mom until it went through us 4 girls and they never got it.

November 2011 Ethan turns 1! Thanksgiving and travelling to TN. Basketball starts.

December 2011 Seth turns 2. Christmas and all that entails. We finally move into a house that our friend is letting us rent for dirt cheap. However, even though I can now crawl out of bed and take a shower without dressing and driving to Mom's, it is costing us more money. I guess I didn't mention that on our adoption loans alone, our minimum payments add up to over $1000 a month. Basketball 3 nights a week and often on Saturdays.

January 2012 Utterly stressing out about bills. Trying to work as much as possible, while trying to get our homeschool in each day. We have now run out of savings and things are looking bleak. Miracle of miracles. We get an offer on our house. And we take it! What an awesome burden taken off our shoulders.

February 2012 Trying to potty train Seth. Why did I start this? Can't go back though and undo all that we have done. Looking around for a house

I look back at this past year and see that without God, I believe I might have imploded. I talk to Mom a lot about this. How stressed I am...

How I feel like I haven't been able to truly enjoy the boys since all this other stuff has been thrown at us.

How I feel like I haven't been able to truly enjoy much of anything when it really should have been a very joyful year.

Mom says it is a miracle I haven't completely lost it. I believe she is right because there are many days when I think I might.

But God ALWAYS reminds me of my blessings!

Thank you God for loving me so much every day!

Big Spill

We left the house today and came back to this huge mess. So depressing. I couldn't even deal with it right then. The girls have been helping clean it all afternoon off and on and there is still a huge mess to deal with.

I called the realtor today to see if she had heard anything about our offer. she said nothing. So maybe they are thinking about it. It really is a very low offer. I can only pray we get it at such a good deal. Hopefully we will hear either way tomorrow.