Snow Day

My children are seeing the benefits of living in a cold climate. Because of the holiday on Monday, my kids already had a four-day weekend. Now it looks like they may have another one. With 8 inches of snow expected today, school has already been canceled and we all assume it will be canceled tomorrow as well. We went to the library and loaded up on books and movies. Erin and I went to Trader Joes and loaded up on snacks. The base hasn't shut down yet but Mario isn't feeling well so he's calling in sick. Unfortunately, I traded volunteer days with someone so I could be home with the family on Monday. So I have to go into the hospital all morning. But the snow shouldn't be too bad until after I get home at noon.

Nebraska has some perks (besides the friendly people.) There are days when I go to wake up the boys for school and they don't want to get up. They ask me if it snowed hoping for a snow day. But days like today when they could sleep in, they are up by 6 am. Ugh!

I'm excited for this extra family time. Hopefully the kids will get along as well as they all did last weekend. It was probably the most enjoyable weekend we have had in a long time because they didn't fight at all.

The Market

The boys are doing Economics for their Social Studies unit this month.  They each had jobs and got paid for them (in fake money of course.)  They learned about starting a business, advertising their business, etc.  So they spent the last month learning terms like Income, Budget, Interest, Scarcity, Competition, Import & Export, Supply and Demand, and Opportunity Cost.  They were each asked to start their own business whether it would be to sell something they make or a service like face painting or doing nails.  We helped the boys decide on a business.  Zach chose to make bean hearts like the one he made for me in first grade.  I love it and have had it hanging in my kitchen for the last couple years.  I thought it would be a perfect gift for kids to give to their moms.  Nathan decided to make stress balls which double as juggling balls.  The one stipulation from the teacher was that they were to be made from materials we have at the house.  If we had to purchase something, it could be no more than $5.

They had their market Friday afternoon.  The teachers invited parents to come and even gave us each $20 to spend.  Each of the kids could spend the money they have been earning from their jobs in school.  It was really a great idea and the boys loved it.  They begged me to allow Erin to come to the market also.  So I checked her out of school an hour early and we went.  I love that the kids like to support each other in their activities.

Beach House

Mario's been dreaming of retiring in Venice, Florida for several years now.  When he's having a bad day at work, he likes to picture himself retired in Florida by the beach.  That mental picture helps him get through the rough days.  Well, now he no longer has to imagine that home.  He knows exactly what it looks like and exactly where it is located-2 miles from Manasota Beach.

We are now in the middle of purchasing our second home.  We've only bought once before and that was in O'Fallon, IL when we were stationed at Scott.  We had the home less than two years because Mario was accepted into Naval Post Graduate School and we were forced to move.  Buying and selling within two years wasn't a lot of fun and we decided that unless forced to (due to bad rental market, etc) we wouldn't buy again until Mario retired from the Air Force.  That all changed when we went to Florida for Christmas (and spent our first winter in cold Nebraska.)  Home prices are on the rise in Florida again.  So we (mostly Mario) decided that we need to put our conservative, no risk ways behind us and jump into the real estate market.  That's easy for so many people, especially my own parents and siblings.  Between them, they've owned too many houses to count.  Mario and I are nothing like them and we like NO risk. But after fasting and praying, I came on board.  I did a lot of the home research and found one that I thought we would love, even if it was tens of thousands of dollars more than I wanted to spend on my retirement home.  I learned that you really do have to pay for the location.  Location, location, location...That's what I always hear realtors talk about on television.  So, we are giving up the larger home a half hour from the beach for a smaller home that is within running distance of the beach.  I think we'll be happy with the trade off.

There are many things to love about the home...By the way, have I mentioned that Mario and I haven't physically seen the house yet?  The last house we bought, we had my parents house hunt for us because we lived in Hawaii.  This time I found the house online so I asked my sister (a realtor) and my parents to go check it out for us.  People think we are crazy for relying on others to house hunt for us.  But I trust them and they did a great job last time, even if my dad wanted to go $40,000 over my budget.  Glad we made him stick to it then.  Hope we don't regret not sticking with a tighter budget this time around.

Anyway, about the things to love about the home.  It is in a deed restricted neighborhood so all the lawns look nice.  It has a pool with a nice cage and deck area.  Many Florida homes have great rooms.  I am not a big fan of those.  I really like the separate living room and family room.  This home has the rooms separated.  Hooray!  The master bathroom is much nicer than my bathroom here in Omaha since it has the separate bath and shower.  Did I mention it's only 2 miles to a really nice beach?!  Now to the things, not to love...the kitchen.  It's not big!  When I dreamt about my dream house, it was going to have a large kitchen with two ovens and lots of counter space.  Nope, this house doesn't have any of it. But, I guess I can't have it all and still be within a couple miles of the beach.

Our plan is to rent it out until we retire, in 5-7 years.  Mario really wants to do 20 and get out.  But I tell him not to close any doors.  He may change his mind down the road.  So hopefully we can have the home paid off by time he does retire from the Air Force so we don't have any debt hanging over our head.  I guess that's why I am so nervous about buying.  I hate debt!  I had never planned on borrowing another cent my whole life.  But I guess it's better to buy now while houses are still affordable and have a renter pay our mortgage each month.

Nice landscaping

Small kitchen

I like the breakfast area

So excited to have a pool!

Nathan's Dragon Story

Zach's 100 Book

For the 100th day of school, Zach had to fill in his own answers to a 100's book.  Unfortunately Nate was at a Hal Seminar that day so he didn't get to fill one out.  Darn, I always love his answers too.  Here's some of my favorite excerpts from Zach's book:

"If I had 100 Jolly Ranchers, I would eat them all up before my brother gets them."
"If I had 100 legs, I would run in the olympics and win a gold medal."
"If I had 100 friends, I would invite all of them to my birthday and get 100 presents."
"If I could have 100 of anything, I would have 100 thousand bills because they are so useful."