Floors

So.. to make us happier with staying here.. we decided to take out the carpet in the living/dining room. At our own expense. It was much harder and took much longer than we expected but it is done. We are now working on unpacking all the boxes and re-arranging the bedrooms. I will put up after pictures soon.

Staying

Well.. since the house we really wanted didn't work out and we didn't find anything we really wanted, we have decided to stay. Yes, there are many things about this house and this neighborhood that we dont like, but, why contract ourselves into staying somewhere we don't love..

And it is financially beneficial to stay put for a while. It is possible by next year we would be able to get traditional financing to buy a home. This means I am unpacking instead of packing but.. I have enough changing this year. I am actually ok with this.

No pool practically in the backyard does disappoint though.. I guess I will have to look for that when it does come time to buy...

Long Day

As Mike was leaving a bit before 8 this morning he noticed the tire was half flat. He assured me that if I left right away and filled it, it would make it to walmart where we bought the tire with roadside. So I woke up Elie threw everyone in the van and headed to QT. We got air and a few doughnuts and some V8 since I hadn't given everyone a chance to eat. We head to walmart.

Of course the tire didn't make it... so there I am on the left side of the highway. Luckily only half of an hour later motorist assist came buy (Thank G-d for those guys!!!) and changed the ruined tire for the doughnut. We got to walmart around 1030.. about an hour later they called me on the intercom and let me know that the tire was ruined (duh) but we didn't buy it there. I called Mike who was sure he DID. A half hour later they found the tire purchase in their system but.. no roadside. SO... now it is noon and I end buying fast food. Mike calls around and the people with the cheapest tire are actually right by our house~! So we drove back across town and paid for a new tire WITH roadside.. and finally made it home around 330...

Finally heard from the owner that our house offer was rejected (for various crazy reasons) so we have to decide what to do about that

Oh and everything in the deep freezer was thawed so I had to STUFF the small freezer.. I dont know if the kids left the door open this morning or if it stopped working but really did it have to be today?

I then had a dentist appointment at 530 across town so I finally got home from my day around 7 and wanted to go to bed then....

Six Point Eight

We went for Nathaniel's 18mo checkup today. He is 21.5lbs and 31inches. He is a bit low on the weight and the doctor suggested we add some healthy fats to his diet like whole milk and olive oil. But the stat that we were looking for, that is unique to us, is 6.8, his current lead count. He spiked at over 15 when we were still living in the house that caused the problem. The fact that it has gone down so much in less than a year combined with the fact that he is showing no developmental issues is great. Of course we will never know for sure. Anything he ever does just a bit slower than his peers will give us pause. What if he had never been exposed? I think it is shameful that landlords are allowed to rent places laden with lead paint. Especially considering the government has programs to aid those who cant afford it with lead abatement. It should be illegal no exceptions to rent homes that are poisonous to the residents.

OW!

Nathaniel learned the word OW! Unfortunately, he says it when hes hurting you. LOL he will walk up, pull Elie's hair and say ow. Now to teach him not to do it:)

New Car?

Mike got an offer on his car. Not as much as he wanted but I guess we need to be more realistic. So, we took a family trip to the auction yesterday. Mike picked up a 96 minivan for cheap. He is going to seal the deal with his car- kind of sad we have had that car almost as long as we have been married, but we will never really have the money to restore it. He is going to have a mechanic check out the van so we can decide weather to licence it and make it the 2nd family car or sell it, get the money back and try the auction again. Its always a gamble there but our new car is working out very well

The City Museum

We joined a new home school group recently. We had our first field trip Friday to the city museum, which although pricey was lots of fun. There were tunnels, giant slides, big ball pits,a magic show, craft rooms...
Eliana and I took a rag doll making class but we seem to have lost our dolls:( Now that we know how we will be looking for new scraps and trying to make more.
The new group seems full of friendly people and has lots to do. Once again this year we are facing the full calender and how to trim down outings to make sure we get enough school done. Ironic isn't it, that the objection to homeschool is classically "socialization". We have so many activities I can't possibly do them all.