Bella Bean

                               This is my Bella Bean who has an annoying disorder DTM (Diploid Triploid Mosaicism) and still manages a fantastic smile :) I have been working on her page ---> its over there somewhere. So far a fun recounting of what I have done to her room to turn it into the best jungle room a kid could have. Not to worry I will put a description of DTM somewhere in that page, I am still figuring out how to organize this jumble of projects and someday some tutorials so it doesn't read like my crazy Jenny mind. You are welcome.

The Six-Legged Octopus

                                    All over the internet I have seen these lovely knit softies, so of course I had to give it a try! Now you have to understand I don't knit, I bought those I Taught Myself to Knit and I Taught Myself to Crochet kits and I am sure they are still sitting in their packages. So on to trying the looms. I picked up a set of the Knifty Knitter round looms and the oval looms and commenced to making some hats for the babies. And wow did the first couple turn out sooooo bad! After trying a couple more times and ending up with some expectable looking hats I was determined to give an awesome cuddle buddy a try. 

Now to decide what to make...

                                   I love sea creatures so maybe a whale or a jellyfish? I landed on a more simple looking octopus and starting laying out a plan which on this one meant I just started making parts. I started with the red loom from the set its the 7.5" loom to make the head/ body. To prevent tiny from being able to pull the stuffing out between the stitches (? I don't have any idea what you call them. I don't actually knit, remember?) I lined the inside with batting (not the crafty kind, the natural cotton), then stuffed with plain old ploy stuffing and closed up the bottom of the body.

Now on to the legs...

                                  So I had intended on making an eight legged octopus, I swear! I was having to mush fun making these long legs and stuffing them that I ran out of room for the las two :) I used the tiny peach loom, it's sold separately to make pom-poms if memory serves me, and lined with the batting followed by poly stuffing just like the body. I stitched each leg on in a circular pattern around the the base of the body and finished off with two funny eyes. 

Colors and yarn...

                                  If you managed to make it this far I am sure you are just dying to know what yarn I used. A little while back Joann's had a sale on Sugar'n Cream yarn and it had such wonderful colors!! So a couple followed me home and so they sat there staring at me just begging to be made into something fabulous. How could I deny them? I picked out hot green for the body and swimming pool for the legs and eyes, it's thinner yarn (medium 4) so I doubled up when I was knitting to make it a little thicker. I made this little guy quite awhile ago and had it all neatly written in one of my billions of notebooks, which of course I have no idea where it is right now so I am doing this from memory. I can remember this kinda of thing, but ask me where my keys are... and... well... you get the idea. Not a clue, I am pretty sure they have legs when I am not looking. Back to the amount used... I use approximately one and a half rolls (?) of the Hot Green for the body and two to three of the Swimming Pool for the legs and eyes.

And that is my tiny's six-legged octopus and how he came to have six legs.

baby pillow

how cute is this?!

The Front.

Now the back.

Oh, this pillow is just devine!

The weird thing

So this is the weird thing below the front porch. Any ideas? I think it is some sort of drainage pipe.

How big is this driveway!!!!!!!! The bush and set of trees in front of the truck are the front of the property.


What is this?

More back of house.

The back and right side of the house. Check out the back porch!!!

Back of the house, the bay window is where the kitchen is.

Damage to the back porch from wood rot.

More Pics Again

Hey i am going to build a window... haha just kidding!

Neat real wooden shutters and they close!

More Pics

More pics of the front, here you can see both dogwoods. The gross black stuff you see is all over the front porch.

House pics

Here is the detached garage with the finished room.

This is the front of the house, it will look much bigger once the bushes are cleared out. We are keeping the dogwoods in front.

House Again!

We had our offer accepted and now we are waiting on the FHA assessor to tell us all that is wrong with the house.

The plumbing in the bathroom in the detached garage started leaking after water pressure was restored. A waterfall was seen in the garage after the shower was turned on so we had hoped it was just a nasty leak from a pipe behind the shower. The listing realitor sent out someone to check it and by then the bathroom had continued, or water was turned back on, leak flooding the upstairs and soaking through the ceiling. When it was all done it was now about $5100 to fix the floor, ceiling, and stairs had to be replaced.

the house

well i managed to fry my computer this week. blown power source as well as now needing a new mother board. yea!!!

Monday night i noticed that the house has a new lower price so i email our agent to resubmit our previous offer. on Tuesday we get the call that our offer came in right before another offer and since they both came in after business hours that we had to submit our best offers by noon on wed. so after two hours of pacing and talking to the agent we submitted our final offer and started the wait.

wed no word.... on Thursday we find out that our offer is accepted!!!!!!!

once the house is inspected we can talk about a move in day!!!!!

Retro Lemons

Miss Evie is very proud of this top, she has been asking for something since she saw the fabric at the store. So today she finished her breakfast super fast so she could wear it!!

My new top

So after about a year I am finally getting myself together to restart my store. I closed my old store on ebay and I really like the blog name so I am getting pics ready to list in my new Etsy store.

Here are some pics of my first top. I am still trying to decide on which ones to use.

Some fun pics of Izzy (and Evie) in her strawberry dress and her poodle dress. She is now 10lbs 13oz.

House Continued...

Ok, so I was talking about the house I found.

The porch was a mess and oh, did i mention the first stair is loose, too? If it's all about first impressions, ouch. So he opens the front door to the largest foyer I have ever seen. I walk across stunning hardwoods to the railing of a deep walnut colored banister and look over almost two story windows. The first half of the staircase ends at the back door to the house surrounded by the huge windows which opens up to a small porch and a nice backyard that backs up to a golf course. Continuing down the stairs are the three bedrooms and two baths. The master bath is interesting looking with a step up as you enter the bathroom. Easily overlooked with the his and her walk in closets.

So back up stairs where the top floor is split into four rooms two on either side of the foyer. As you come up the stairs to the left is another room with a closet and a bathroom that could be the fourth bedroom. Next to the room is a another room maybe the living room? Cross the foyer into the formal dinning room and walk through the door to the kitchen. I love this kitchen! Tile floor with a bay window overlooking the backyard. One wall has a built in microwave and oven. The kitchen is huge I think it is the size of our kitchen and dinning room right now.

Once I was done staring at the kitchen we went over to the two car detached garage. Upstairs in the garage is a finished room complete with a bathroom. The driveway has a semi circle driveway, I have always loved those big driveways.

So I found it before it originally hit the market and our agent looked up what the last contract on the house was for which turned out to be in our price range. We started the whole find a lender thing and settled on a bank with a local branch. Once we signed the application we impatiently waited for the decision. Ok I think I was the one that was impatient. So the house is listed before we are approved and it is listed for $70,000 more than the last contract and almost $8,000 higher than what it was appraised for in 2005. The housing market has not stabilized here and there is some damage to the house as well as in a buyers market a house almost has to updated to keep up with the comparables in this area. The kitchen and all of the bathrooms are outdated. <- Yes I have been watching too much HGTV.

We put in an offer anyway with the hopes that they really wanted to get rid of it. Our offer was $100,000 less than the list price they countered $7,000 below list price; there were two counter offered ending with them still at $7,000 below list there last counter offer was higher than their previous one.

I had been told most foreclosures are lowered every 30days. We wait until the 30 day mark and Fannie Mae does lower the price $40,000 so I am thinking they are ready to deal. We offer $44,900 below their list and they respond if we didn't except the offer the last time why would we consider it now? I write a letter trying to appeal to their 'we help put families in homes' statement with the same offer and they counter $7,000 below their list. I think I am starting to see a pattern here. Two more weeks and it hits the next 30 day mark. Still no offers from anyone but us.


I feel like I am playing chess with them and I am getting pretty good at being patient...

Caitie's Prom Dress

my baby sister in her big girl dress :) my parents just emailed these pics. nice date stamp :0

Our First House... Hopefully

What better way to start blogging than with our first house experience. So this is how it all started...

Our lease was coming up soon so I got the usual pre-new lease itch to see what was on the market. A pretty two story house, with an amazing double porch, down the street was for sale. I decide what the heck, it's in a area I can't afford anyway might as well take a look. <- I hope my realtor doesn't read this. An thus, we meet Bobby the best agent we have had so far. So I take a look at the house which is absolutely gorgeous inside and out with a fenced in back yard, too!

Well, I have seen it now time to go sign my new lease, right? If only it had been that simple, but no. Right down from there is a house set on a corner lot with a goofy tin roof. For some reason I really notice the house this time as I wait for a break in the traffic. It has an empty look to it so I call Bobby to see if he knows anything about it. Turns out it is in the process of being foreclosed, but is not available right now.

So I quietly stalk my house for some signs that is will finally enter the market. At last! A paper tapped to the front door stating it was finally completely owned by Fannie Mae. So as soon as we can see it I take the grand tour. MMmm yummy mold or mildew or something all over the outside of the house under the porch roof and around the door. Oh, good my search is over I can go back to my comfy apartment dweller existence.