The Search is Over- April 28, 2011

We had the worst or the best luck finding a house for our big move, depending on your outlook.  We started early, making a list of potential houses in late November when Greg accepted the job.  While we knew we had "plenty of time" and it was "a buyer's market,"  we were eager to see where we would go.  We met with our new agent Mike, and he took us on a tour of several suburban areas.  We made lists, we researched, and we finally found the house . . . or so we thought.  The following houses are the ones on which we made offers, not just houses we were interested in buying.  It would take way to long to go through that list!

House:  The Doll House, a.k.a The Gingerbread House
Year built:  1890
Style:  Victorian
Location:  City
Who saw it:  All 5 of us
What I loved:  Original transom windows, stained glass, mail slot
What I hated:  Killer basement, no central a/c, tiny kitchen, no master bath
Did I care?  NO!  My love for it surpassed any concerns I had about my list of negatives
What went wrong:  We could not agree on a price.  They wanted about 6% more than two houses on that very street had gone for, and both had extras this house did not have.

House:  Miss Shirley's House, a.k.a the Foreclosure
Year built:  1896
Style:  Victorian
Location:  City
Who saw it:  Greg
What I loved:  The stove in the kitchen, mail slot, the yard & garage
What I hated:  Corner lot on a main road
Did I care?  Not sure.  I never saw the house, only pictures.  Greg says it is better this way.
What went wrong:  The bank accepted an offer the day before Greg saw it, making us all wonder why they let us see it.



House:  The Red Roof Inn
Year built:  1852
Style:  Farmhouse
Location:  County
Who saw it:  Greg, but then all of us after our first offer
What I loved:  kitchen sink, roof, carefully restored, laundry room
What I hated:  Daniel's "room," no mail slot, tiny dining room
Did I care? Yes. I had reservations about this house.
What went wrong:  They wanted to close July 1st, and I thought it was too small.



House:  Country Estate
Year buit:  1877
Style:  Farmhouse
Location:  County
Who saw it:  Greg and Kristen
What I loved:  At first, nothing, but in the end, everything, but especially the kithcen, dining room & master suite (the picture shows the side & part of the back of the house)
What I hated:  No mail slot, electric stove
Did I care? No, I loved it.
What went wrong:  They literally sold it out from underneath us in the middle of negotiations.


At this point, we went back to The Red Roof Inn, whose agent had called Mike several times while we were working on Country Estate.  Allegedly, her clients were willing to move mid-June.  After agreeing on on offer, they verbally accepted on a Friday, stating their relocation company had to sign the offer since they were selling the house to them.  On Monday, the letter was still unsigned, and the agent said they were waiting on another offer to come in Monday evening.  I wanted to immediately withdraw our offer, but Greg was much calmer, and we aggreed to give them until noon on Tuesday (it had been a full week since we started negotiations).  At noon, we said farewell to the Red Roof Inn, and I was not sad.

Meanwhile, The Doll House was still on the market, and we had a back-up house in the city that we liked.  He tried one last time to see if Sherwood wanted to sell (this was the first house we liked, but only Greg saw it and we never placed an offer on it since it was pulled from the market).  Sherwood was a no, The Doll House was still asking too much, and we were running out of time.  We decided to pay for an appraisal of the Doll House just to see what it was really worth, then, out of nowhere, a house we had wanted to see from our original list came back on the market on Friday, April 15th.  Greg couldn't be there to see it until Tuesday, but he and Mike went ready to make an offer.  The house was great, and our offer was accepted.  Now, the rest of the family needed to see it!  We had to wait until Thursday, April 28th, and it was torture, especialy since we arrived on Monday!  In the end, it is the perfect house for us.  It took us some time to find each other, but it was so worth the roller coaster!
 

House: Camp Bowden, North HQ
Year built: 1907
Style: Center Hall Colonial
Location: City
Who saw it: Greg (but we have all seen it now)
What I loved: Location, mail slot, the seller, scrapbook room, bulter's pantry, large dining room
What I hated: Tiny kitchen (I am going from about 40 linear feet of counter space to about 6, maybe less)
Did I care? Not one bit!
What went right: Everything!

April 26, 2011

Daniel loves to sit and watch the light rail "choo choo train" outside the hotel.  Since it is the second to last stop, he is often rewarded with a second train a few minutes later!

Jolee's Egg Hunt- April 24, 2011

Debbie's friend Jolee puts on an amazing egg hunt every Easter.  After a delicious potluck meal, the little ones (Daniel & Jolee's one year old grandson) had their own egg hunt in the front yard.  Then, the dads and the older teens hid probably more than 300 eggs in her backward.  Some eggs contained candy, and others contained numbers.  The numbers are the order from which prizes are selected from the prize table.  With about 150 prizes, everyone came home with quite a bit of loot!

Daniel

Sarah

Julia

Emily

TJ

  

Crepes- April 24, 2011

We spent the Easter weekend with Aunt Debbie & Uncle Scott.  We packed a whole lot of Easter fun into a few days, but it was so worth the exhaustion!  We arrived late Friday, as traffic was a nightmare for the kids and me, so Greg actually made it there before we did!  Debbie, Kate, Julia and I went to the Easter Vigil Mass, and Greg, Scott, TJ, Sarah & Emily went Sunday morning.  Before Mass, but not before the hillarious Easter Basket Scavenger Hunt, Sarah & Aunt Debbie made us all some delicious crepes!

Happy Easter!

April 23, 2011

When I finally gave Kate her present, about five weeks after her birthday, she did indeed love it.

April 22, 2011

Daniel was so excited when he spotted this snazzy Gamecocks outfit in the store, so of course, I had to indulge him.  I imagine he'll be in Gamecock withdrawal once we move north, so I have to support the habit now.  He does spot virtually every Gamecock sticker on I-95!  It is his favorite car game.

Easter Eggs at Aunt Kathe & Uncle Jeff's- April 20, 2011

Every year we head to Aunt Kathe's house for the decorating of the eggs.  While Aunt Kathe was make the best french fries ever, Sarah, Emily and Andrea did the eggs.  Nana and I took lots of pictures while Uncle Jeff & Daniel had some "male-bonding" with various cars, motorcycles (or motorbikes, as Daniel calls them), and other toys.

Egg Hunt- April 17, 2011

We headed to Papa's house for our annual Easter Egg Hunt. This was the first year Daniel seemed to understand the game. His eggs (green and blue) were on the deck, while Emily's eggs (orange and purple, of course) and Sarah's eggs (pink and yellow) were all over the yard. He would not hold the bucket, but Papa helped him with that.  Everyone had fun running around searching, and Emily was the first to find all of her eggs.  Daniel's favorite toy was the bouncy balloon ball!

Art- April 17, 2011

Sarah and her self-portrait at the mall.

Andrea's Prom- April 15, 2011

Andrea was so beautiful for her Senior Prom.  I posted more photos on facebook, but here are a few of my favorites

Emily's Concert- April 14, 2011

 Emily's chorus concert celebrated Broadway.  The kids did a great job under the direction of Ms. Canfield.  After the show, Emily, Bailey & Caroline had to have a picture with their chorus teacher!

Caroline, Emily, Celeste & Bailey

Emily & Cookie