House Plans

As you all know, we have been staying with my in-laws since we arrived in the States the first of March. We have been continually looking for our own house, and we have recently found 3 we liked. We took my in-laws to view our top choices over the weekend, to help us narrow it down. Well, we did narrow it down, and tonight we signed an contract, offering a bid on the house. The sellers have until the 31st to decide if they'll accept it or not. So, by Thursday evening we should know whether or not we'll be moving there.


The house itself is on the bigger side- about 2900 square feet. It sits on a small, 1/4 acre lot but it is in a development next to John Rudy Park, so that is nice. It has a grown tree line in the backyard, and though there are a lot of houses in the neighborhood, it seems rather quiet. The location is good, despite being a little further north than anticipated, it is only 10 minutes to the highway and mall, restaurants, etc. We are quite pleased with it overall and look forward to knowing the result of our offer.

My Darling Children

Aren't they adorable? They are just as sweet as can be, and they love each other so much. They are best of friends and most times get along. Yes, they definately have sibling moments, but they can hardly stand to be without the other!

These pics are from yesterday, after MawMaw got them a new outift. They love it! Ariel's dress is just adorable, and Nathaniel really likes his tiger shirt and cool new hat-- even if it's too big and might be mistaken as a 21st century girls' hat. ha! He loves it anyway. But he still insists on sleeping in his tan hat everynight.

Since the family party, we have been busy looking for a house and trying to stay cool. July summers in America are truly hot summer weather, and after being in such a mild climate as Germany for 2 years, I knew it'd be a hard adjustment. I now enjoy air conditioning much more than I used to, and I am hard pressed to get the kids to go outside and play at all- even in the mornings before it's too hot. But they think that 80 degrees with high humidity at 8 am is too hot and uncomfortable to be out and about in, even with a kiddie pool to play in. Luckily, they love to swim and Aunt Lori lets us come over whenever we want to go swim in her big pool. So, we've been going 2-3 times a week.



This morning I got them into the car and we went to Boiling Springs to the Children's Lake to feed the ducks a loaf of bread. It was a lovely morning and we had fun, but soon Ariel's grown up attitude marred the morning so we went home, and she was sent to her room for an hour by herself. Afterwards she seemed to think that she could be nicer, and did so. But I'll have to get back down to the lake both this summer and in the fall for some great photo opportunities with historical places around the small lake.



The kids have been using the camera as of late, and these pics show how much fun they've been having. Ariel has also been making a habit of calling Grandma everyday since she fully committed her number to memory.

Blogging Mania

No, I haven't forgotten you, my faithful readers. lol No, I just haven't felt like posting. So, let's bring everyone up to date.

On July 12, we hosted Grandma Rowe's birthday here at my in-law's house. We had a great time. Of course, somehow I got to be the lucky one grilling all the food. It took me an hour and 45 minutes to grill chicken, bratwurst, hot dogs, veggies and kielbasa for 40 people. I was toasty, to say the least. The grill was 450 degrees, and the temperature outside was 100 degrees. Ah, well, at least everyone liked the food and there was more than enough for everyone to take some home too.

The pictures posted are what Aunt Terry took of the family. Yes, she is a professional, so that is why everyone smiled so pretty for her- they knew they'd come out great!

hot dog days of summer

Well, July is here already and the 4th done and over with. We celebrated the day with family and enjoyed the relaxed time. Not much is planned for the month. Tomorrow Ariel goes in for her school physical at the peditrician's. Saturday we will be hosting a birthday party here for Great-Grandma. There will be a few out of town guests, so it'll be nice to see them all. Not much else is going on. Lots of playing indoors and going to swim. Staying up late and just having slow, happy days.