Operation Sell Our House!

 The week after Max's birthday it was time to hit it hard getting our house ready to put on the market. 

 We dejunked the yard tossed our failing trampoline and delivered our slide to a friends house. Mer and I were proud of ourselves for successfully heaving the slide onto the roof of the car and securing it enough to drive across town without it flying off the roof. 

We packed up everything we could and took it to a storage unit. Which meant I had to give up almost all of my sewing supplies.

This little 10 X 5 space is now as full as we can get it. I'm surprised how much we fit into it.

I added another coat of stain to our worn out coffee table...

We changed our sitting room to a dining room and found a decent table on craigslist.

I also spent a day sewing a bunch of pillows an attempting to decorate our sparse living room. I think I went a little overboard with the turquoise but oh well, it'll do for now.

We also had the carpets cleaned in every single room and closet.  There was literally nothing on the floor that day. The carpet cleaner was here for 6 hours and came back the next day too.  These carpets have never been so clean. And our closets have never looked so empty. It's so nice!

I made a frame to go around each mirror in the bathrooms. They were a real pain but they look great and I got to buy myself a chops saw which I've been wanting for years. And look, the ugly towel rack is gone!

The kids worked so hard that week we had to go out for a little reward every once and a while.

And we squeezed in a trip to the beach too where we experience a rare occasion of pouring rain with no lightning. They actually stayed in the water during the storm which felt a little creepy to watch.

At the beginning of the next week the realtor came over and put a TON of fake houseplants all over the place and took official pictures for listing the house. It's like a little jungle in our living room. You can google our address if you want to see our listing and the pictures.

The pictures were taken on Monday and we were scheduled to leave for Colorado on Wednesday. We just had to keep our house perfect for 1 day. We thankfully had been invited to a birthday party at Disney's Ft Wilderness so we spent Tuesday swimming in Orlando, came home that night and packed, and left town at 5am the next day. Phew! It was crazy.

I kind of can't believe we pulled it all off. The house has been on the market for about 3 weeks. It's been seen 8 times. No offers, which is fine cause we don't know where we're going yet when it does sell. We are just taking it all one day at a time over here and doing our best to keep the house picked up in the mean time.

 More catch up posting to come tomorrow...

Max Turned 12 this summer...and the kids started school.

Sadly summer is over. School started this week! Luke 1st, Jack 3rd, Max 7th, Mer 9th.

Luke and Jack wanted me to do a scavenger hunt for their clothes on the first day again this year. It has become a fun tradition.

I stumped Jack with this tricky hiding place.

I don't know how but I have been so busy this week that it has taken me 5 days to get to posting on this blog. Sheesh! I have been taking long trips to the gym, keeping the house ready for showings(we had 3 on Thursday), visiting teaching, and driving kids around...A LOT of driving.  I use 1/4 tank of gas a day, it's crazy! Mer started seminary which starts at 6:45 am. She made it through her first week but she is exhausted and looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow.

I am sorely behind in blog posts so tonight I'm going to take a stab at catching up a little.  I'm sure it will take me a few days. When we last left off we were in early July amidst house prep and summer camps.  So I'm just going to start there.  Mer had a great time at Girls Camp.  I got to drive a car full of girls to and from the  Deseret Ranch. Which happens to be just 25 minutes from our house.







The day Mer cam home we celebrated Max's Birthday.  My biggest boy turned TWELVE!!

(looks like they all had a little too much sun this week)

Max is growing up and getting big.  He is a fun kid and getting to be really very responsible too.

I can't remember what they were laughing at, but I just love this picture.

He took a couple of friends with him fishing that morning and then played an awesome basketball game.

He opted for Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner which are deliciously messy.

See?

And Chocolate Oreo Ice Cream Pie 

Brothers! I love when Max smiles so his dimples show.

He also received the preisthood that Sunday. He has been passing the sacrament like a pro ever since.

We love you Max!

Oh and Max got braces a couple days after his birthday.  Here's the before and after.

He mainly needed them to make enough room for his last canine tooth to come in. It's just locked in where it is. I think he looks pretty good in braces. What do you think?

More catch up posting to come tomorrow...