And apparently I spoke too soon....

This is a post I would really, really rather not write, because just thinking about it makes my stomach unhappy.  But as blogs can't be entirely happy news, here goes:

I posted earlier this month that we had a contract on our house. (again!). On the 6th of this month we had our home inspection.  The inspector was very very thorough,  spending about three hours going over our house, appliances, water heater, roof, attic, basement, etc...It made me a little nervous!  Thankfully, he only found a few minor issues, for instance one loose shingle. 

The next day, Kenneth was literally on his way to our realtors office with a signed, accepted offer on a house we liked in Erwin.  It was an older home and needed some updates, but had a huge fenced yard, great location, and -better yet- a great mortgage!

Before Kenneth could even get to the realtors office, she called him to let us know that (once again!!!) our buyer was backing out.  Yes, for the second time, a buyer backed out on us.  We were dumbfounded.  The buyer's realtor said the decision had nothing to do with the home inspection (duh!) but that the buyer was "financially unable to purchase".  Which doesnt make a lot of sense since she had a preapproval letter from her bank...

So, once again, I was devastated.  It didn't help that our realtor told us she'd never had this happen to anyone twice.  Great.  Aren't we the lucky ones.  And I was really angry at the buyer, because she had listed several things she wanted done to the home before closing, such as the porch painted, the t.v. wall mount taken down (and holes filled and painted!), front porch stained, etc.  So my husband has been coming home fron 12 hour shifts and working really hard to get all this done. 

This is one of those things I do not understand, a seemingly answered prayer that is suddenly taken away. And while I am still very frustrated and disappointed, I am trying to remember that all things work together for good for those that love the Lord and are called according to his purpose.  So somewhere, someday, I believe I will understand why this happened!

So, the house is still on the market.  I am trying to look at the bright side:  the porch is freshly stained and painted, the deck is freshly stained, the home is obviously sound as it as been inspected (twice!) in the last six months.

But it does tick me off every time I walk by the flat screen tv sitting on my sofa table, where I usually sit my fall decorations.

A good start

I'm happy to report that Bella's Kindergarten year is off to a good start!  We began school on Aug 3, and completed 21 school days for the month.  She is doing excellent with all her subjects thus far...my biggest difficulty has been getting her to make her bed without grumbling and complaining!

Since pretty much all of the material we've covered so far has been a review, she is zipping through her curriculum.  I've been doing 2 lessons a day in math and phonics on most days. Which gives us some wiggle room if we need to slow down once we get into harder material.  We are already about 14 days ahead, and when you take into account that our curriculum has only 170 days in it, while the state requires 180....well we've got lots of time for field trips and supplemental activities!

Our kindergarten year has definately been more of an adjustment for me than for Bella... The workbooks and materials we used last year required virtually no preparation.  This year I spend part of almost every day pulling the appropriate flashcards, gathering worksheets, cutting out game pieces, getting out art supplies, preparing the dry erase board, etc.  It takes a lot of time....but I really enjoy it!

Here are some pictures from our first month of Kindergarten!

The dry erase board, ready for the next mornings' phonics / handwriting
lessons!

Abby participates in art time, making egg carton caterpillars!

Sand art!

The girls inspect our "Closer Look" board, an idea I got from pinterest:
Petri dishes attached to a wooden board- fill with small objects
and give the kids magnifiying glasses!

My sweet Kindergartener!

Making Butt Caterpillars during art time!

SOLD!

After many, many months of being on the market, we finally got a contract on our house this past week! We are thrilled, but I have to admit it hasn't fully sunk in yet, and I don't think it will until I actually begin packing...which will need to be soon, as the movers will be here in approximately 19 days.
   I am tired just thinking about it.  But it will be a great opportunity to get rid of lots of things we don't need / use.  And Lord knows I won't miss the short-notice home showings so often bestowed upon us by the realtors- the last one was exactly 53 minutes. And yes, my husband and I can have our house swept, mopped, swiffered, vacuumed, dusted, de-cluttered, and Cloroxed from one end to the other in that time frame!  We are professionals at this point.
  Our closing is on the 28th of this month, so now we have to get through appraisals, inspections, etc. Then, Lord willing, we will  be homeless -temporarily- and on the lookout for our next home!