October 29

Something really exciting happened today.

Really exciting.

And I got out my camera to take pictures, and realized that I had left my memory card at home. Oops. I took photos on my phone, but they just don't do it justice. So I'll just have to tell you and not show you pictures. OK?

We made an offer on a house.

Now, don't get too excited. There are lots of obstacles.

First, it's a foreclosure. That means the whole offer-to-contract-to-sale phase will take much longer than a normal home sale.

Second, it's a foreclosure. That means there are lots of things wrong with the house. But we had a roofing company, a home builder, and a basement crack company all visit to provide insight; everyone confirmed that the problems in the house are largely cosmetic and it should be liveable as we slowly but surely make it prettier.

Third, we still own our current home. We're still holding out hope that we may sell it, but given the realities of this economy, we realize that we're unlikely to sell the house for what we want. So our revised plan is to keep our current home and rent it out. That means we need to find tennants. If (when?) the bank accepts our offer on this new home and we get a set closing date, we will intensify our search for renters.

But this new home? It's kind of perfect. Not perfect in an oh-my-goodness-it's-my-dream-home way, because there are lots of things I would change, but perfect in an I-could-see-us-growing-old-here way. The neighborhood is a-mazing, the school district is great, it has a community pool and playground, it's close to one of our favorite parks, it has a big front porch, it's brick, it has a fireplace and hardwood floors, there are mature trees, there's room to expand....

So. Join us in praying that God's will would be done and that He would use this situation to bring glory and honor to Himself. Pray that the bank will accept our offer (quickly), that we can find good tenants/sell our home, and that it will all work together for good.

Sorry there are no pictures - I wish I could have documented Caleb running up and down the hallway, shouting, "Oh! Look at dat!" or him grabbing my hand and saying, "Let's go see over dere!" And there was the moment when I had Daisy propped up on one of the built-in shelves like a little doll. Or when I sat on the hardwood floor in the front room to nurse Daisy and looked out the huge wall of windows to the tree-lined street. The sunlight turned orange and red and yellow as it filtered through the leaves on the trees, and everything was golden and beautiful and perfect.

Pray this will be ours? (But pray also and more for what God has for us - we are willing to wait for what He wants for us.)

OK. Enough about that. The kids. Pictures.

We started carving pumpkins today. Really, we just did the messy hollowing-out part. Caleb was completely uninterested, and Daisy was napping.

But Chris and I like to carve pumpkins, so it's ok.

Red shirt.

Did I mention that the Cardinals won the World Series last night? Because they did. And I don't want to brag or anything, but I believe that my children are directly responsible for the win. Their baseball jammies and diapers really did the trick, I think.

Chewing on a foam number 8 from the bathtub. Goodnight, Miss Daisy!