December 2012

 Relaxing on the couch

Brother and sisterly love

 Anthony 5.5 and Ava 2.5.

 Anthony showing his Aunts and Uncles the gingerbread house he made.

 Ava cuddling with her new dog Buster. She loves dogs and since we don't have one...this works.

My lego loving little boy. Anthony was excited to get more lego for his collection.

Life is busy!

I apologize for anyone who reads my blog, for not getting on it and updating it. I'm not sure why I didn't. I think partly from the stress of looking for a house, then moving and just being busy, working and chasing around two young kids. I hadn't even been online as often. I know I like to write here, not just for others but to keep a bit of a scrapbook of my life. One thing, I was told from another mom was to keep a notebook beside my bed and when the kids say something cute or funny write in it. I've done that, and I know as they get older we can look back on it together. I don't trust my memory for all the details. I will try really hard to post at least once a month. Life is busy, but life is good and I know this is something that I enjoy doing. I guess I have a lot of catching up to do.

Our New House

We bought our first house in November 2012, in Northridge. It took longer than we expected, but in the end it was worth the wait. We took possession just before Christmas on Dec.20th. It was pretty stressful, having three other offers and an "as-is" condition, meaning that we couldn't get a home inspection (against my better judgement). We saw the place on Sunday, and they took all offers on the Tuesday. We found out that same night. It is 48 years old, on a crescent, a decent size back yard and 4 bedrooms (one is Ed's music room or Daddy's office lol), finished basement, open kitchen area and decent size bedrooms. It needs a few updates (nothing we can't live with for now), but all in all, it just needed a good cleaning and lots of paint. The big things were all around 5 years ago, gas furnace, a/c, and roof. The previous owner was suffering from depression after his wife died a few years ago, so he hadn't done any cleaning. He moved into a nursing home.

We had to give two months notice at the apartment, so we lost a month's rent. Oh well, it gave us time to clean and paint. I know I'm lucky to have good parents. Thankfully, my dad is retired and quite handy, so he did most of the painting, and updating some of the electrical outlets. Ed and I helped out when we could during some of our Christmas holidays. All the closets needed a fresh coat of paint and Ava's closet needed an overhaul. The weekend we got the keys, my mom showed up with a box of cleaning supplies and was ready to help out. It came with all five working appliances. But they hadn't been cleaned in a long time. We went through 2 boxes of 18 sos pads to clean the stove and cupboards out. As we were busy scrubbing away, my mom said "I'm pretty sure they have a sale at bad boys for a new stove." I said, let's keep cleaning, we just bought a house. We knew we needed to get a couple new windows, including the big bay one and a patio. So, we didn't want to spend anymore money. Our move in date was January 20, 2013. Two months from the offer day, and one month from the first day we got the house.

Now that we've lived here for over six months now, we feel right at home. We love the neighbourhood. It is quite, but friendly and there are enough families near us, that play dates don't need to be planned. Anthony made quick friends with two brothers, age 8 and 5 that live right down the street. The first meeting in the late winter they were comparing and counting each others bruises on their legs.

We are within walking distance to the school and later on the high school. We found some walking trails along the river, and a nice bike path close by. We don't have a play set in the yard, but the playground is just around the corner and the kids love going there. In the winter time, we took them tobogganing on the hill at the school. In July, Anthony took swimming lessons at the Northridge pool (it was freezing cold) so maybe not next year. We like the wading pool on warmer days. It is about 5 mins drive from Masonville mall. About 10mins from downtown- depending on traffic.

Owning our own house feels like our money is going to an investment, unlike renting and watching the rent increase almost each year. I think this is a great place to raise our family.