Weekly Update #1

May 14th - May 20th, 2016

So I'm going to try to keep a log of what we do each week from now to the end of the year.  Only 6 months right?!  

Well, last week Saturday we went to North Shore for a friend's birthday.  It was a bust due to the rain.  We made the decision to wait until after nap time to head up there... and we paid for it.  We were cold and wet, but we made the best of it.

Later that evening we went straight to Aloha Stadium for Campbell High's graduation.  Kids grow too quickly!!  Both of these girls were like 8 or 9 when I moved here.  Yikes!  Congrats girls.  Best of luck in life's next chapter...

Danielle.  Literally one of the very first kids I met in Hawaii 9 years ago.
She was running wild with her brothers in their backyard at Camp Timberline :)

Breeana.  Jordan's niece who I've watched grow up as well.  She gives the best foot rubs :)

Sunday was spent in Makaha with family friends and a little beach time at Yoks.  On Monday, we checked out Green World Coffee in Wahiawa for the first time.  Fun play time and yummy coffee with friends! Then, we hosted Pool Party Potluck on Tuesday at our house for MOMS Club.  On Thursday, we went hiking in Moanalua Valley with Toddler Treks, and called for birds.

Discovered an old chimney.

Got rained on.

Explored an uprooted tree.

Called the birds.

Double babies.

Emma's hiking feet.  Makes me proud :)

Then Mommy got a new phone, Lily got a mattress, and we played Catan with friends on Friday night.  Oh, and we moved the girls into the same room with each other... and shampooed all the carpets. Whew...

First night together :)

Spring Break Pipe Dreams

I have Spring Break coming up this week, and I'm very excited to relax and do some things I enjoy.  It may be the last full week I have all to myself before I enter the wonderful new chapter of motherhood. I just hope I have enough energy.  Here's what's on my list so far:

"Must" Do's:
-Grade 40 Lord of the Flies Essays
-Grade 26 Bridge to Terabithia Projects
-Grade 19 Presentations on Ancient Greece/Rome
-Plan my new unit
-Create new seating charts
-Breathe...

"Really Want To" Do's:
-Clean the windows in both upstairs bedrooms (wash the jalousies)
-Do a little cleaning inside the house (vacuum, dust, sweep, disinfect)
-Hang curtains in the guest room
-Sew closet coverings for both rooms (hopefully I can borrow Esther's sewing machine!)
-Work on baby room and registry
-Shop for some maternity shorts

"Maybe" Do's:
-Take a trip to Fabric Mart or Walmart
-Find material for baby room decor
-Find material and recover couch pillows (blues & tans)
-Make headboard for our master bedroom... doubt it.
-Look for a low, broad dresser for the nursery
-Pack the hospital bag :)

"Hopefully" Do's:
-Sit by the pool
-Read a good book
-Go to a movie
-Relax at the beach
-Spend time with friends over a good meal
-Bake some fun & yummy Spring treats

We'll see if I can actually make a dent in this list.  Like I said, they might be Pipe Dreams, but at least I have some goals!  Have a wonderful weekend :)

God's Hand on Our Home, part 3

Through this entire process, there always seemed to be clear markers.  If the door was closed, we tried another.  If it was cracked, we slowly pushed our way through to see what was on the other side.  Mike and I were curious if we’d qualify for a conventional loan at Navy Federal, the place that denied us not less than a year ago.  We talked about the possibility and went for it.  Why not?  Against Linda’s better judgment, we decided to apply for a parallel loan with Navy Federal while still trying to meet the FHA loan requirements.  Our loan officer at Navy Federal was on top of her game.  Soon, with Mike’s efficiency and persistence, we surpassed the point where we had been with the FHA loan.  This conventional loan, if we were approved, would be a much better route.  We would have to put zero down (compared to 3.5% with FHA), we would have a better interest rate, more flexibility to do the work ourselves after closing, and it just seemed better all the way around. 

The last step for approval involved getting the house appraised.  We didn’t know when the appraiser would do the inspection, but we REALLY wanted to get in there and clean.  Our hope was to make it look decent and presentable so that it would get appraised higher than our offering price.  We pestered Linda to ask the seller if we could get permission to clean before the appraisal.  The seller was worried about liability, so he was very hesitant to allow us on the property without Linda present.  We told Linda we’d sign any papers necessary if we could just get in there and clean.

On April 1, 2013 we got two emails.  One said that an appraiser was set to come out the next morning.  The other said that if we signed a form, we could have access to the house and start cleaning.  I was on a three day field trip with the 7th graders at Kualoa Ranch.  It was Monday afternoon, and I was hiking up the Hakipu’u Ahupua’a, so I literally had to sprint back to camp.  

A view of Chinaman's Hat from the hike

In the valley

At the waterfront, relaxing

Sunrise... this is what I had to leave to go and clean...

I borrowed my friend’s car (bless her), got a speeding ticket coming down from H-3, and had to be back at the Regional Park by 8:00pm when they locked the gate.  On the way to the house I had to stop by American Title and Escrow to sign a notarized paper that gave us permission to clean.  After that, I went to Walmart and purchased cleaning supplies.  Thankfully, we had some help from some friends of ours that night.  Although we weren’t supposed to have anyone else there, they were such a blessing.  The girls went to town on the kitchen and moldy bathrooms while the boys cleared the jungle from the pool!  We worked on making it look presentable for the next day's inspection/appraisal.  All in a day's work!