February 28, 2009
February 24, 2009
Big Boy Shoes
Tie shoes! Kaels feet are getting so big that our most obvious option now are TIE shoes! He picked these and wants to wear them ALL the time. Had to talk him out of wearing them to sleep. They slept on his headboard instead.
February 23, 2009
Guess Who's Reading?
February 22, 2009
Random Writing
Raegan signs all of her artwork now. She no longer asks "what letter next", she just does it. She can sign Kael's name as well, but only does so on drawings she isn't fond of.........
February 19, 2009
High Praise, Indeed
For my birthday Matt got me a MarioCart game for our Wii console. It's a driving game, complete with a steering wheel. It's been a fun pass time lately playing that game with the kids as my own private cheering squad. Well today, in an attempt to butter me up for more snack, ( and also because dang it, it's true ) Raegan offered the highest possible praise for her Mama.
"Mama, I love you. I love you very much, and you're a better driver then Daddy!"
I've been saying it for years, darling.
"Mama, I love you. I love you very much, and you're a better driver then Daddy!"
I've been saying it for years, darling.
Awwwwwwwwwww
February 18, 2009
Passing
February 15, 2009
February 14, 2009
February 12, 2009
February 10, 2009
Pickling in a Brine Of Our Own Creation
It started with this, a home purchase tax credit. A credit of as much as $15,000 ( or 10% of the purchase price, whichever is less) to anyone buying a primary residence during a one-year period. That is ten percent of your purchase price, handed back to you in a big fatty fat lump sum come tax time next year. That's free money for doing what most Americans want to do anyway; fulfill the American dream and become home owners.
It led to this, a listing on Craigslist for a property just down the street from us, for sale for just pennies on the dollar from it's previous listing price.
Which brought us to her, who showed us this, literally across the street and with a desperate owner who will take a good $20k less then listing price, and gave us the contact information for this guy who apparently works magic as he crunched some numbers and gave us a big fat thumbs up.
Which lead to thoughts like this.
But the brine of the pickle that we're in, it is thick and pungent. And while normally I like pickles, some might even say love pickles, I'm not so fond of them when it's a pickle standing between me and the American Dream.
When I was 19 years old my then boyfriend (now husband) and I took some advice and bought our first home; a condo in Tacoma. A condo that we absolutely couldn't afford. At all. And when roommates were flighty we were left with a long commute, a big bill, and no way to pay it. So again we took some advice and sold that same said condo. Trouble is, HOW we sold it. We had only lived there a year and the market wasn't booming in any sense of the word. So when someone pointed us towards a creative financier/home buyer who could give us cash NOW we jumped on the opportunity. Long story short, this man paid us $1,200 for our condo, we signed over all rights to him ( including the "right" to make the mortgage payments), and got the hell out of there. Sounds easy, right? Not so much. See, we signed the house over to him. He finds a long term lease person with credit issues and "sells" the house to them on a lease-purchase. After a few years, ( "three to five years on average") that persons lease comes due and they get a mortgage, with their years of payments as good credit, and buy that house from our buyer. He makes a pile of money, they become new home owners, our name is taken off of the mortgage. Sounds great, we got the thumbs up from our advisers, so off we went about our lives, giving it no more thought. Well that was stupid.
Yesterday we applied and were qualified for a home loan. Holy crap on a cracker, was I surprised at what we could afford! We could do it! Be home owners! Get out of this rental rut and take that next real adult step, now, when we're ready to do it! But wait. Turns out we still have a mortgage in our name. The Tacoma condo. An FHA mortgage, the kind of loan you can only have one of at a time. The only kind of mortgage loan that you can get for no money down. And it turns out, the only kind of loan on the market that we can't qualify for while also being the only loan on the market we can afford. All other loans require at least 10% down payment. By the time we've got 10%, the house will be gone. I'm sure the FHA won't take an IOU for the 10% promised by the government if we buy the house in the first place. Which means we're screwed, for the next 22 years possibly ( if he decides he's just never going to flip that mortgage, which is likely considering new investigations find that man being sued by the State of Washington for foreclosure/mortgage fraud and our home purchase was one of the few legally done and therfore the one buying his breakfast.)
And it's all our own fault. Yes, we were following advice of others. We were young and stupid. But ultimately it was our decision both to sell in this questionable manner, and to buy in the first place. No one MADE us sign the paperwork, we did it all on our own. And now look what happened. Good chance we'll not be home owners for a nice long while, it will take us years to accomplish that American Dream. It's a bitter pill to swallow because we've been working very hard, spending very carefully, acting very responsibly, for the past few years just to get to the safe starting place we're at now. And it turns out that we can't even utilize it. Turns out our starting place is actually several years in front of us and our goal was several years shy. All because of a pickle created when I was 19. GAH.
All of this is to say RAEGAN. When your old enough to be making these decisions, DON'T LISTEN TO WORD I SAY. Read through, HIRE an attorney to read through, take your time, weigh your pros and cons, and make that decision all on your own, fully informed. DON'T rely on me or your father to be voices of wisdom. We're probably full of crap. IF what we say ends up being wise, know that it was your thorough analyzation of the situation that made it so, not any smarts on our part.
Rant over. Off to eat some pickles.
It led to this, a listing on Craigslist for a property just down the street from us, for sale for just pennies on the dollar from it's previous listing price.
Which brought us to her, who showed us this, literally across the street and with a desperate owner who will take a good $20k less then listing price, and gave us the contact information for this guy who apparently works magic as he crunched some numbers and gave us a big fat thumbs up.
Which lead to thoughts like this.
But the brine of the pickle that we're in, it is thick and pungent. And while normally I like pickles, some might even say love pickles, I'm not so fond of them when it's a pickle standing between me and the American Dream.
When I was 19 years old my then boyfriend (now husband) and I took some advice and bought our first home; a condo in Tacoma. A condo that we absolutely couldn't afford. At all. And when roommates were flighty we were left with a long commute, a big bill, and no way to pay it. So again we took some advice and sold that same said condo. Trouble is, HOW we sold it. We had only lived there a year and the market wasn't booming in any sense of the word. So when someone pointed us towards a creative financier/home buyer who could give us cash NOW we jumped on the opportunity. Long story short, this man paid us $1,200 for our condo, we signed over all rights to him ( including the "right" to make the mortgage payments), and got the hell out of there. Sounds easy, right? Not so much. See, we signed the house over to him. He finds a long term lease person with credit issues and "sells" the house to them on a lease-purchase. After a few years, ( "three to five years on average") that persons lease comes due and they get a mortgage, with their years of payments as good credit, and buy that house from our buyer. He makes a pile of money, they become new home owners, our name is taken off of the mortgage. Sounds great, we got the thumbs up from our advisers, so off we went about our lives, giving it no more thought. Well that was stupid.
Yesterday we applied and were qualified for a home loan. Holy crap on a cracker, was I surprised at what we could afford! We could do it! Be home owners! Get out of this rental rut and take that next real adult step, now, when we're ready to do it! But wait. Turns out we still have a mortgage in our name. The Tacoma condo. An FHA mortgage, the kind of loan you can only have one of at a time. The only kind of mortgage loan that you can get for no money down. And it turns out, the only kind of loan on the market that we can't qualify for while also being the only loan on the market we can afford. All other loans require at least 10% down payment. By the time we've got 10%, the house will be gone. I'm sure the FHA won't take an IOU for the 10% promised by the government if we buy the house in the first place. Which means we're screwed, for the next 22 years possibly ( if he decides he's just never going to flip that mortgage, which is likely considering new investigations find that man being sued by the State of Washington for foreclosure/mortgage fraud and our home purchase was one of the few legally done and therfore the one buying his breakfast.)
And it's all our own fault. Yes, we were following advice of others. We were young and stupid. But ultimately it was our decision both to sell in this questionable manner, and to buy in the first place. No one MADE us sign the paperwork, we did it all on our own. And now look what happened. Good chance we'll not be home owners for a nice long while, it will take us years to accomplish that American Dream. It's a bitter pill to swallow because we've been working very hard, spending very carefully, acting very responsibly, for the past few years just to get to the safe starting place we're at now. And it turns out that we can't even utilize it. Turns out our starting place is actually several years in front of us and our goal was several years shy. All because of a pickle created when I was 19. GAH.
All of this is to say RAEGAN. When your old enough to be making these decisions, DON'T LISTEN TO WORD I SAY. Read through, HIRE an attorney to read through, take your time, weigh your pros and cons, and make that decision all on your own, fully informed. DON'T rely on me or your father to be voices of wisdom. We're probably full of crap. IF what we say ends up being wise, know that it was your thorough analyzation of the situation that made it so, not any smarts on our part.
Rant over. Off to eat some pickles.
February 09, 2009
February 08, 2009
So, We Got a New Dog
He acts like Muppet.... he sure SMELLS like Muppet.........and he comes to the name "Muppet".............................. but this sure isn't who I expected to be picking up from the groomers today!
Easy Peasy Cheesy Soup
1 cup milk
1 can drained corn
1 can drained/rinsed black beans
1/2 can diced tomatoes
1 pound velveeta cheese
Dump together in sauce pan. Melt together. Eat with a gusto.
1 can drained corn
1 can drained/rinsed black beans
1/2 can diced tomatoes
1 pound velveeta cheese
Dump together in sauce pan. Melt together. Eat with a gusto.
February 06, 2009
Two Minutes Ago
Raegan: Mom! I'm a big girl and I'm helping! I changed Kael's diaper!
me: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Further investigation found that she had indeed changed a super poopy diaper. Wiped and everything. New diaper applied. YAY for being helpful, and little heeby jeeby !!!! for the whole body sanctity/age weirdness. "Personal areas" were re established, praise offered with further advice to please, leave her brothers bottom alone.
me: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Further investigation found that she had indeed changed a super poopy diaper. Wiped and everything. New diaper applied. YAY for being helpful, and little heeby jeeby !!!! for the whole body sanctity/age weirdness. "Personal areas" were re established, praise offered with further advice to please, leave her brothers bottom alone.
February 05, 2009
And Then Muppet Crapped All Over the Back Of The Durango
February 01, 2009
And then he got a bath.
We came home from a long afternoon at a fab and food filled Superbowl party sans Raegan today. My little darling is now old enough to attend Superbowl parties without Mommie, thankyouverymuch. Kael's partial nap and the parental willingness to put up with half-tired boy shenanigans collided and Matt, Kael and I made an early exit. Muppet, fanciful bag of fur that he is, got to spend the day home alone. Which is fine as we've made great headway on the whole not peeing in the house argument. Our only issue with that hairy man is his incessant need to drink from the toilet, which must be curbed if we're going to keep my carpets pee-free. So usually, we've got all bathroom doors closed tightly to stop any bowl cleaning on his part while we're away. Alas, today wasn't our day. We came home to find ALL THREE toilets devoid of so much as a drop of water. And yet, not a drop of the sweet stuff on the floor. Go Muppet!
Now if we could just get Raegan to actually flush her fancy number twos before leaving the house for Superbowl parties all day...........
Now if we could just get Raegan to actually flush her fancy number twos before leaving the house for Superbowl parties all day...........
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