Just a bit stressed about the entire saga

So I know its been a while since I have posted. I have been super busy not only with the kiddos but with house hunting. Forget the sewing because that has been oh so limited that my machines think I hate them right now.
Just to give an update as to the housing saga which has been very long and drawn out. We have looked at so many houses lately that its hard to know and remember which was which but we are trying hard. The first one we looked at that was in Nevada that had all the pretty gardens and the perfect location got an offer on it that was not from us. Not only did it get an offer but it is now pending for more than we were comfortable spending on it.
Today we looked at one that the house honestly needed a lot of work and updating but would have worked great for us...other than an outside air quality issue.....it was right next door to a hog farm. Not exactly how I want my clothes smelling when I hang them on the line.
So we are now back at the beginning trying to figure out what to do. The house in St. Anthony really is an awesome fit for us as a family. 4 bedrooms on the 1st floor, plus the upstairs has a bedroom, a room to make another bathroom, as if 2 in the house is not enough, plus an attic space that could easily be used to make the already large bedroom even bigger. The outside is set up nicely for us as well, but the problem is the entrance to the basement is outside. We are going to go back this weekend and take another look and see about that and be sure we are happy with it. At that point we are going to talk to the mortgage broker and see about a purchase agreement for the end of July or sometime in August and hopefully get our offer in. I am so ready to be done with this process and find a house that we will love and be happy in.

Ok so I promise to try to update more often now, its hard but I will do my best.

Just an update on the housing saga

Well we got ahold of the mortgage broker and got that ball rolling. I went and talked to her and we are doing a bit of credit repair, tho it isn't much it will bring out score up a lot and lower the amount that we will have to spend in the long run, so that is totally worth it to me.
So right now we are basically in a holding pattern. She did tell us that if we found a house we really wanted to put an offer in on, that we could do a long purchase agreement to push it til after the next month or two was up and things were where we needed them to be. Which it is huge since its the difference of 5.5% interest and 2-3000 in closing costs or 6.5% and 5000 in closing costs, so we shall wait it out.
So in the mean time we are looking around, I am going to call the realitor tomorrow and see about looking at a couple more houses and see what we think of those and keep looking, I really hope we can find that PERFECT house, I don't want to have to do this again!
So keep us in your thoughts and we shall make this work!

The house search saga continues

So today we went and looked at another house. This one had a small amount of land more and then the house had some features we were really excited about as well. One of them was a BRAND NEW corn furnace and duct work. Plus there was an addition that housed 3 bedrooms and a bathroom. So at 9:30 this am we went to look at it. This was a very cute and homey house. I loved the way the kitchen was and the fact that it had a very nice open floor plan. Add to that the fact that it was listed at a 4 bedroom when in fact it was more of a 5 bedroom 2 bath house. All of us could have had a bedroom with ease and all on the first floor, a huge plus for me. However, the location was a turn off for us and the buildings outside were not nearly as nice as the first place that we looked at. Add to that the fact that to get into the basement you had to enter from outside and there really was not much space left after after they put in the 2 furnaces and the water heater.
So from there we returned the first house we had looked at to have a better look at the basement and just walk through again. The house by Nevada is one that I really do love. No the kitchen is not perfect, nor is it a huge kitchen as I have always wanted but this house has so much character that I have to look past this. There is plenty of room in the house, the porches are wonderful and we love the location. It is less than 15 minutes for Shane to be to work and it is in our ideal school district for the kids. Those are huge selling points for us. Add to that the buildings are in much better shape, plus you don't have to leave the house to get to the basement.
So tomorrow I am going to give a call to the mortgage broker and try to get that ball rolling and we are going to talk to the realtor and offer them 120,000 with the contingencies of financing and an inspection. We also want to put a rider on there that the yellow garden shed must stay with the house. I want it for a playhouse for the kids to have. So that is where we currently stand on the house sage. It won't be too long before we know more and I will update then.

SWAP stuff

So I have pictures of the patterns and fabrics I am going to use for the SWAP other than the fabrics that I have yet to purchase.
I have been busy tracing patterns today to get this going. The kids have really got to let me get some sewing done soon or I will never have it completed before the deadline of June 12th that is for sure.
But I wanted to share with you all what I would be making
I am making the shirt from this pattern and also a pair of pants that is included but I forgot to photo the other side of the pattern, they are a capri style pants that will be great for early fall

This top is just too cute, I can't wait to see it on Araya

Some stretch trousers for her that should work great, actually going to make her 2 pairs of these, one each of black and blue

These will be made from Bamboo Velour that will be dyed up by me for her. These look so comfy I can't wait to make them up for me as well

A pretty simple long sleeve tshirt pattern but I am going to embellish it for her, she will be thrilled

Its sorta hard to see but this is an adorable long skirt that I will make from cord fabric, hope she likes it as much as I do

A simple hooded jacket (as simple as something with a zipper can be that is) but its the style that she enjoys wearing. Not sure if I will get a sweater knit or a sweatshirt knit to make it from yet

I have loved this outfit since I started getting these magazines and it just is so not the style that Araya likes to wear, but I think that if I add enough bling to the top she will wear it, I am going to make it from Bamboo Velour as well, so she will have a very soft outfit there

This is for the leggings that are very hard to see but they work so well under dress's that I have to make them, plus she can wear them with the shirts as well, so they are very nice to have around, I plan to use lingerie elastic at the bottoms of them to dress them up a bit for her

And then a dress that I have loved for some time as well. Very cute with small details that I think will bring a lot to her wardrobe.

Now you all have to realize that of these patterns there is only one that I have ever done before and that is the leggings pattern. There is lots of things I have not done for techniques here as well but the one that I am most worried about is the zipper so be sure to wish me lots of luck!!!
And now for the fabrics
The wovens

cord

denim

Knits



There are several that are not shown as I don't have them yet and the bamboo velour is still on the roll, I need to get it cut off and dyed up so that its ready to go when I am!

Sewing nightgowns for the girls

So it was that time of year, the weathers getting nicer, fleece is not needed just to stay comfortable and the girls needed nightgowns. So I decided that this year I would make them as they really should be pretty simple. For these I took a t-shirt pattern, added length and some embellishments and there ya go.
First up is one for Araya that I actually made from a nightgown that was 10 sizes too big for me yet still cute and brand new.

Next is one for Nevaeh that is from my favorite fabric ever. I love Toile fabric especially in reds and I wanted to use this for something fun but was scared she was getting too old for a t-shirt from it. So here is what I did, I added lace to the bottom to dress it up and I just love this nighty.

The next one I had a very hard time deciding if it should be a nightgown or a dress. I used flowered rick rack that is so cute, and I added lingerie elastic to the arm holes to keep it sleeveless.

And the last one that I have completed is from another fabric that I just loved but didn't have a lot of it. I added ribbon to the middle to give it some detail and love how it turned out.

The reason for my days

I had to share these photos of my kiddos. They are good at making me smile even when they are into trouble so it is fun to share.
Now what is more fun than playing in the sand? Especially when grandpa brings the dump truck and leaves a ton or two at your house?????
The girls love the sand pile and play in it each day that is not rainy!
Then is that not some adorable sister love? This is Arayas preschool and Nevaehs 2 year picture
And then here is Carter!

About the house....

Well we went to look at the house today and I have to say that the outside and yard areas of this acreage are a dream. It even has a small building that would make the perfect playhouse for the kids and a small fenced in area for the kids to be able to go outside and play when I was trying to sew or whatever. So from that part of it, its perfect. Now for the downer side of it.
The kitchen is smaller than I would like and has close to NO cupboards. There is work that will eventually need to be done but all in all it would be able to walk in and live which is a must in the price range we are looking at. It has gorgeous hardwood floors, original trim work and some gorgeous build-ins. There are technically 4 bedrooms but one would not be able to be used as a bedroom really as you have to walk through it to get to the upstairs bedroom. There is a nice glassed sunporch that would likely become the home of my sewing room until we were able to upgrade a building that I have dubbed the future sewing studio. And man would it ever be an awesome studio. I could have all my machines set up, my fabrics could all have homes and its out by the garden and the apple trees and grape vines. What could be a better place to have a sewing studio. I am sure I would get lots of inspiration from nature out there.
BUT before that could happen there would need to be some work done on the floor and we would have to make sure that it was tight from weather OH and we would need to add a way to heat and cool it. The cooling is easy we have a window a/c but Im not sure what to do for heat as I don't want my fabric to smell terrible either.
We also discovered that even tho this is the home of the highest spot in Iowa there was water in the basement. Now we are not talking about just a wet floor, no Shane stepped in and there was close to 4 inches of water on the floor. Now granted the owners have never put a sump pump in so it should be a rather easy fix, that was still not what we wanted to see when one of the things we DON"T like about where we currently are is the WATER issues. So we shall just have to see on that.
On Sunday we are going to go look at another acreage, it has 2.8 acres of land and a 4 bedroom 2 bath house on it as well. And it is priced about 30,000 less than the other one. So that is a plus but its quite a bit farther from work for Shane too. Right now he can be to work in less than 15 minutes if he needs to be and this would be between 25 and 30 minutes to get to work. That being said we can live with that as its still less distance than he was when we lived in MN.
So that is where we currently stand on the house.
The realtor is going to bring us the name and number of the mortgage broker so that we can get ahold of her and start working on the stuff to see what we can even do as far as a mortgage goes. That will be nice to know even if these houses don't pan out, we will at least we will know what we are getting into when we do find that PERFECT house!!!