Amy Scott's Thoughts

There is no need for a witty title to this blog! Let’s just tell it as it is! Our house is officially sold! We got a call on Wednesday evening saying that we would need to sign papers on Thursday morning. We went over to the house after church that night and picked up a few of the things we had left for showings like floor mats, hand soap, hand towels, etc. We got one last chance to say good bye. This time for good. I remember heading over on a Sunday in October to clean the house and say good bye. Little did I know at that time that I would be back to the house many times, re-cleaning it and checking on it. What an unexpected ride. The process with the final buyer has gone smoothly. The inspection was waived, the appraisal came in right at our agreed upon price and we closed early. Praise the Lord!!! Such goodness and blessing! Thursday morning we signed our papers and dropped the keys off at the real estate office. Friday, we got the call the buyer had signed his documents and our check was ready to pick up. The transaction was complete! We are thankful, so thankful to have this part of the process of behind us. Now will be contacting Adair on Monday to get the ball rolling with them. These are exciting times!

Other than house news…

We were supposed to take an Amtrak ride from Centralia to Olympia yesterday as a fun family outing, but a mudslide cancelled the trains for the day. It was a bummer because Owen knew about the planned trip and was super sad when we told him we couldn’t go. We did visit the train station and exchanged our tickets for next week.

We got to see Aunt Andrea and cousins, Brinley and Colton the last couple of days. Owen got to stay up late two nights in a row watching Brinley’s favorite movies. They all played so sweet together and Graham loves hugs from Brinley. They are truly buddies!

Today is my amazing husband’s birthday! He has to work this morning and early afternoon, but I am looking forward to a family celebration with him this evening. Owen has big plans to help me decorate a cake. I’m sure that will be a great photo opportunity. Stay tuned!

And there you have it folks! I’m so happy to share this fantastic news with you! I’ll keep you posted as the property morphs from a wide open piece of land to our new home!

Every week, I think “Wow, so much has happened. How am I going to find the time and energy to blog about it all?” Right after I posted my last blog, we took off for to Portland to go to the Oregon Zoo. We were gifted a year-long membership there this Christmas. It was a beautiful day to activate our membership and enjoy our first of many free visits to the zoo. Fridays are a big family day for us since it’s Jeremy’s day off. I love Fridays. They are my favorite day of the week. I am envision many more Fridays spent as a family visiting the zoo.

The Saturday after our zoo trip, Jeremy and Owen came down with the flu. Owen threw up three times in the night and two times on Sunday morning. By Sunday night, Owen was feeling a lot better, but I was worn out after only getting about 2 hours of sleep that night. On Monday, I came down with the flu bug as well. Gotta love being a family that shares. Graham was the only one who didn’t catch it. I wonder if that has anything to do with the fact that he got the flu shot on the Thursday before. I also wonder if you can spread the flu by getting a flu shot. Just some interesting observations.

Our weekend and week was a quiet one thanks to the flu germs. Our Super Bowl weekend was also fairly quiet. We enjoyed an evening at home munching on a few the boys’ favorite snacks. The kids enjoyed Doritos. Jeremy fried mozzarella sticks. I took a bubble bath. Not a bad way to spend an evening. Even if the Patriots did win…

The exciting news I have to share is that our house is under contract again. We had a big snow storm Sunday into Monday dropping 9 inches of heavy snow in the area. Jeremy spent Monday morning helping to unbury the neighbor’s work truck from a fallen tree and cleared other fallen trees off the road so vehicles could get by. We also got the call that we had received an offer on the house and that our agent would come by that afternoon to give us the details. He was brave man for driving in such crazy weather. We made some small counters to the offer and we found out on Tuesday evening that the buyer accepted our counter offer. I am reserved about this offer because it’s a VA loan which are super tricky. VA loans tend to ask you to fix everything that is found wrong in the home inspection, which we aren’t in a place where we could probably do that (depending on what they find).  Also the closing date is set for April 7th which seems like FOREVER away, so we put a tagline in the paperwork that said “or sooner” to that date. These two things have me feeling a bit cautious and skeptical. The home inspection has the power to blow the deal up. The nice thing is the inspection should be in the next two weeks, so at least we’ll know quickly if things aren’t going to pan out. Weeks is better than months. If things do go through, waiting until April to close is going to be a challenge for me. I’m ready to move forward. This house is stalling our ability to build on our property and after months of waiting on failed contracts, I am super motivated to get to closing. I will jump for joy and click my heels once the paperwork is officially signed. I’m praying that things work out and that this is “it”. Please be praying with us. Any prayer support we receive is greatly appreciated!

My MOPS group is doing a 28 day challenge as a part of our curriculum this year. Since February has 28 days, it seemed to fit well with this month. A part of the challenge is to do a truth or dare each day that is laid in our MOPS books. We’ve been sharing our truths and dares on our closed member Facebook page. It’s a been a neat experience to do this together. A part of the challenge is to do one big thing during the month. I had a hard time coming up with my “thing” and then it dawned on me. My house has been such a burden. I wanted to turn my burden into a blessing. Tomorrow night I will be hosting mom’s night out in my empty house. We’ll do pizza and games and use the house for a fun getaway for the moms in my group. I’m always looking for ways to stretch myself with hospitality and I’m ready for my house to be associated with something “fun” instead of associated with the biggest hold up in my life. I’m looking forward to tomorrow evening and I’m praying that it is a great night of connection. God can use anything for his glory and I’m believing my house is included in that.

That’s the update for now. Like I said before, the home inspection will be in the next two weeks, so I’m sure that I will have more news to share in the near future. Thank you for your prayers. I’ll keep you posted!

I’m so done with colds and croup. Graham started to perk up by Friday, but Owen and I were a few days behind everyone so the bug held on longer with us. As of Christmas Eve, Owen and I were still sporting low grade fevers. On Christmas day both boys were fever free, but Owen had slightly less energy than normal. I’m the last real hold out with the bug. I looked and sounded awful on Christmas day. It didn’t stop me from celebrating. Yesterday was the first day I didn’t feel too bad. My stamina isn’t 100% and I’m draining some lovely colored snot. Overall, though, I’m on my way toward being healthy again… Or so I hope. Having this yucky bug over the Christmas holiday was a bit of a bummer. Our family still managed to have a fun holiday despite the germs. I’m grateful that we are on the mend so we can fully enjoy our final Christmas celebration with Jeremy’s immediate family on Thursday!

Our holiday weekend looked a little something like this… Friday I delivered meals to two MOPS moms with new babies. I tried my best to sanitize and be quick with my deliveries. I didn’t want to spread the plague in households with such little newborns present. Saturday, Jeremy went to the Christmas Eve gatherings at our church. We did our family Christmas that morning. The boys opened their gifts and we had a yummy breakfast of baked french toast! Christmas Eve was a slower day for the boys and I to rest and play. That evening we went over to Jeremy’s cousin’s house for a family gathering. I walked away with Play Doh from the $5 gift exchange. Not to shabby since Play Doh time is a daily thing in our household. Christmas day was spent in Puyallup with my family eating good and opening gifts. Yesterday we kept up our Christmas tradition of going shopping the day after Christmas. We had a few returns to make and some Christmas cash to spend. Jeremy got some movies, I got the latest season of Once Upon a Time. The boys got more pieces for their Thomas train set, some games, books, water bottles and clothes.  Owen has been loving the games and wants to play all the time. Graham is truly turning into a train table lover. He is often found in Owen’s room pushing trains around the track.

I guess the one last final update is our house is officially back on the market. Our previous buyer is still interested in the home, so we’ll see if she secures new funding and submits another offer. We spent a little time on Friday tidying things up around the front yard and turning the heaters up so it isn’t the arctic for potential showings. There haven’t been any showings yet, but the holiday season will probably means things start off slowly. My goal in the next week or so is to go over there to wipe things down and vacuum. The house has been empty for 2 months and I don’t want it to feel dusty and musty. I joked with Jeremy that if we have enough time before a showing, I might even go over and make a batch of cookies in the oven just to warm up the house and make it smell homey. It’s sad to see our little house empty and on the market waiting for a new family, but I am trusting that God’s got this. This whole situation is growing faith in our family. Even though the timeline has been challenging for me, I know that God is with me. He knows my thoughts and emotions. He knows and he cares. I am loved and I don’t have to stress, I just have to trust.

I hope that this blog finds you all happy after a wonderful holiday spent with family and friends. This Christmas season has held so many ups and downs for me, but the true reason we celebrate and have joy is Jesus! I am so thankful for my Savior. His unconditional love never ceases to amaze me. I hope that this Christmas that same love warms your heart as well. Merry Christmas!

Not so long ago I posted that the song in my head was “All I Want for Christmas is My House to Sell” and now that song has changed to the Kit Kat tagline. Gimme a Break! This last week has been a rough one. Graham came down with a bug a week ago. This was a major bummer because he had been sick a good part of November/December. He was well for about a week before diving back into illness. Owen started to get sick Sunday afternoon and well… then Nana and I followed suit. There was been a lot of fevers, snot and coughs around this house. Today we decided to take the boys into the doctor to get checked out and it turns out they have croup. Oh goodie. The doctor gave them each an oral steroid and told us we should see improvement soon. If not, we’ll be back to the doctor’s on Christmas Eve. Here’s hoping that doesn’t happen.

Now back to the house update. If you remember, we were suppose to close on December 21st or sooner… And that’s today. And we didn’t close. I won’t go into the details, but one underwriter has determined to not fund the loan for our buyer. His decision is based on personal opinion and no matter what documentation has been shown to him, he won’t change his mind. Our buyer has asked for 24 hours before we re-list the house. We are all skeptical at what she’ll be able to accomplish in that period of time. Our guess is our house will be back on the market soon. While I know God is in control and that he’s got this, that doesn’t mean I’m happy with this development. Through all the ups and downs and extensions and delays, I really thought we were going to close this week. I am disappointed and frustrated.  I’m trying to walk the balance of feeling my emotions and acknowledging them while not being controlled by them. There are a lot of thoughts and feelings swirling around in me. My anchor and hope still remains in a God who sees the big picture when I only see a speck.

The one “bright” spot in this week (and I mean bright) is Jeremy and a team of volunteers have been working on giving our main kids classroom a face lift. Vibrant colors have been added to the walls and plans for new staging and decor are also in the works. Thanks to Nana being home with the boys, I was able to put in a couple of hours on Monday and Tuesday to help with the painting parties. I do enjoy the times where I can get out of Mommy mode and be productive in a different way than parenting. In this case, I got to paint many walls and see the transformation happen before my eyes. The only downside to my productive week has been being hit hard by the plague in our house today.

To consolidate this update – the house hasn’t sold yet and will most likely be back on the market soon, 4 out of 6 family members under our roof are hacking up a lung, but on the bright side, Jeremy is making great progress on a big project at work and it was fun to join him for part of the week. Last Saturday, was our first Christmas celebration with my immediate family. We have 3 more gatherings to look forward to in the coming week. Hopefully, we will be over this bug and in the Christmas spirit regardless of circumstances beyond our control. God is good and I am determined to have a Merry Christmas!

 

November finished up with a MOPS outing to Lattin’s Cider Mill and our house still not closing. Over the weekend, we contemplated the very serious option of putting our house back on the market. But… it seems like the buyer’s lender has since been in contact with our agent and things look hopeful. We should know by the end of the week if official paperwork is headed our way. I will admit that all these dates start to mean nothing to me since they come and go without news or action. However, I am trying to remain hopeful as the deal with our current buyer hangs on by a thread. I really don’t want to relist our house, so I’m praying we can still pull this off. If things really do pan out, our new closing date will be on or before December 21st. The tune “All I Want for Christmas is My House to Sell” rattles around in my brain.

December has treated us well so far apart from the ups and downs with our home.  Owen got a Play Doh Advent calendar from my mom and Jeremy & I got him an Advent calendar that has a chocolate a day. It’s been fun watching him get excited to open a new compartment each morning and receive a special treat. However, our Play Doh play time has tripled thanks to all new and exciting things to play with.

Friday, our family did a little Christmas shopping and Jeremy got supplies for the kid’s choir weekend. It was a big day, but nice to be out and about as a family. As we were making our way home on the freeway, our back right tire went flat. It was scary, but God was good and there was no damage done to the vehicle. Because our van is still pretty new to us, we had to call for a tow and the gentleman who gave us a tow showed Jeremy how to access our spare tire. My dad rescued the boys and I from the side of the freeway and took us home with a quick stop at the church to drop off some sound equipment for the drama rehearsal that night. Jeremy made it to the church for the practice once he was able to get a new tire on the van.

Saturday was a day around the house for the boys and I while Jeremy worked on kid’s choir commitments. Sunday was the big performance. Owen’s class has been practicing two songs to sing as the opening act of the kid’s musical. Last year Owen just stood on stage by Jeremy. He didn’t have a clue what to do. This year, Owen knew the words to the songs. He sang and danced and got the audience laughing more than once. Must be a PK (pastor’s kid) thing. They know how to ham it up.

Jeremy planned to take Monday off as a comp day for the weekend. We woke up Monday morning to snow, so Jeremy’s comp day also turned in the perfect snow day. Jeremy and Owen were outside in the snow before the sun was even up! Graham and I later joined them for a walk in the snow. Later I made cookies for MOPS while snowflakes fell outside the window and Owen introduced Jeremy to his new obsession, The Polar Express.

Tuesday was our MOPS Christmas party and I was the guest speaker. I was able to get some thoughts written down at the end of the last week and I practiced a bit this weekend. I wasn’t as practiced up as the last time I spoke, but it still turned out okay. My message was about how you are loved and God is good. I went through some of the struggles of my last year and how God’s love and goodness has been the firm foundation that has kept me going. Once I wrap up this post, I plan on posting my notes in another blog entry. It takes less than 15 minutes to read if you are interested in what I shared. I also have a video of me speaking on my Facebook page. One of the ladies at my table recorded my message for a friend who couldn’t make because her preemie is in the hospital.

And that brings us today… For my class tonight at church we’ll be doing our Gingerbread House Decorating Contest. This is always a favorite and a highlight of the Christmas season for me. We added to the 4th graders to my class because of the small group of 5th/6th graders. This will be our first week with the 4th graders. I’m praying it goes well. This a fun time of year for them to join since next week will also be our Christmas party. So much good stuff to enjoy!

As always, I will keep you posted on the house situation. We went to check on the house Sunday with the boys. They ran around through the empty great room yelling because of the echo. I’m very much hoping that I will soon to able to post more definite news instead of just “hopes”. Until then we’ll just keep enjoying the Christmas season and all the holiday cheer!