sissy-boy homeland was a beeeUtiful store in which I could afford nothing. but I enjoyed browsing this store sans boys!! Our time in Maastricht was also very rainy and cold so we bustled through the city, went into a couple of shops and grabbed lunch before heading back to Brussels to warm up! We didn’t take many pictures there because of the rain. On our way home we stopped at the Floralia Brussels tulip gardens. If you live in the area I would definitely recommend it!  But i also have to give a shout out for Dallas Blooms in the Dallas Arboretum! We have such fond memories there and I must say they could definitely compete with any of these Euro displays! We hit it on the first weekend so many things had yet to bloom but it was still so pretty.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

home again, home again clippity clop!

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For 6 months now Owen and I pack up on Wednesday morning and head to a mommy and me swim class with some friends. I wanted to do something with Owen on our morning together while Jackson was at school and I wanted it to be out of the house and away from my other distractions. I wanted him to feel like I was really focusing on him for a bit.

Our swim mornings started out with 2 little boys enjoying milk and bread together, along with their bedhead. While the mommies chat away.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We reluctantly broke up the fun 2nd breakfast time and headed out to Heimburg about 20 minutes from us. They have a nice indoor pool and a wonderful baby class. The teacher is so creative. Miss Lisa (pronounced more like Liesel from the Sound of Music only without the “l” at the end. follow me?)  was super sweet and patient with the kids and tolerated lots of mom chatting.  Owen’s favorite activity what when she would give each child a plastic watering pail and one child would hold a clear umbrella over their head while the others showered him. Each week she had something new to show them. I don’t know if Owen learned a bit but he sure had fun!

 

 

 

 

 

 

forgive the foggy lens…the pool was so warm my lens wouldn’t clear…some people add these special effects! these are our steamy shots in the pool!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

after swim class the boys would hop in and out of the lockers while we gathered our things.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And we would round them up, walk coral them out to the car, and hope the whole way home that we could successfully keep them awake so that they wouldn’t spoil their naps. Owen was very successful in thwarting my no sleep plans. he typically crashed within minutes of his snack.

Now I realize this all sounds so fun and innocent, so what could be the drama around going to swim class….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

this just about sums to up! Swim class in Switzerland has been quite the cultural experience with nudity. Luckily Owen and I have found a little dressing room so I can be confident about my lack of confidence. Sheesh. My friend Nina and I giggle our way through the locker room as people very slowly shower and dress and lather lotion and dry their hair without a teeny tiny glimmer of feeling immodest. Now I am not talking about the typical American locker room experience where you turn your back, change your clothes quickly but make every effort to almost stay clothes while you maneuver the switch. You know where everyone is completely aware of everyone changing but no one looking and chatting. I am talking about people chatting and talking and taking their time….no one’s back turned!  I oscillate between feeling like it’s totally crazy and really kind of refreshing that people appear to have healthy self images and don’t feel like they have to be perfect to be seen. The refreshing part has yet to infuse confidence into me but I can see how it might be a good thing. for them! As I slipped my shoes off most weeks Owen stood wide eyed and mouth open as these women young and old got dressed. He had never seen such a sight. I decided that no matter how much Jackson would love a swim class as well it just was not worth it here. Not worth the risk of being sent out of Switzerland because my 4 year old could just not filter such an experience!!

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Well, my lips have been relatively sealed.

To recap for those who have not had to keep up with the house hunting drama, here ya go….

We met our Realtor in early January while we were in the US, primarily just to meet her in person and to get some preliminary ideas of where we would be looking for a new home.  We thought we had a price range in mind but over the following weeks we ran the numbers over and over and decided we just did not want to be maxing out our budget. We have worked so hard to save for a home and it felt silly to save but then put it all into the house and then feel like we were scraping by each month. We wanted to be in an area with great schools, family friendly neighborhood, etc but everything was at least $100k more than we could spend.  So we actually offered on a house in an area with so-so schools and ended up withdrawing our offer. There were complications with the seller, i.e his house was on the market for months and he couldn’t decide if he really wanted to sell it.  So we moved on. Only the market has not been so slow this year and there are been so few nice homes within our price range! We initially thought we would be buying closer to March or April but with the market being so painfully slow and with so few homes that were even a reasonable possibility our agent really encouraged us to go ahead and make a move sooner rather than later. We had hoped initially for Seth or myself to be able to get back, tour houses and then offer but with the market so limited houses are being snapped up within a couple of days making it impossible to make the trip before making a decision. So we worked backwards knowing we could get out at inspection.

A couple of weeks ago as we scoured the list again a foreclosure caught Seth’s eye. It was one I had put on the “discard list” in the system. His thought was that it was in a wonderful area with wonderful schools but needs a lot of work. We could get it for less because it was a foreclosure and used some of our savings to make it our own. The metro is expanding out our way so we also knew that the house was much more likely to appreciate.

So we offered quite confidently because the banks agent had been quite open about what the bank was looking for. BUT, although they had been slow on offers, an hour before ours another offer came in. And within the next 12 hours 2 more came in. So the next day we learned we were competing with 3 other offers. The bank sent out an addendum asking for our “Highest and Best” offer. It was all a bit tricky because we were in the mountains with intermittent internet. We put in our highest and best and got word the next day that they had chosen our offer to negotiate with. We were pretty stunned. When we learned there were 4 offers we were sure we had little chance.  So then we began with their counter, our counter back, followed by another 3 days of waiting for their answer. On Wednesday we were starting to wonder if we should go back to their counter. Our realtor pursued up-ing our price but then decided to wait. On Wednesday night of last week our realtor called at midnight to tell us they had accepted our counter.

So, on Monday Seth flew back to the US for inspection and will be there for a couple of days meeting with various people to get estimates on work being done, setting up lawn care until we arrive in July, going to Jackson’s new school to get the big kindergarten packet, etc. The inspection was yesterday morning. There were no major red flags so we don’t have any major concerns. The house needs lots and lots of work but we are hoping to spruce it up and make it home.  There is some quirkiness that we are trying to work out like…say our queen bed barely fitting in the make shift master bedroom…but my husband assures me that it will all work out. If my side of the bed is pressed against a wall with no exit except for to climb over him does that mean I am exempt from night time response duty?! Yep, I think so. Push that bed against the wall. I will take sweet sleep over a bedside table any day. No really, the space will be a complication but we are working with a contractor to figure out how the heck we can miraculously push out some walls.  Because I am all about keeping it real here I will be honest and say that this process has been less than fun. For those of you that know me well our lifestyle of moving so much takes it’s toll on me. I have been dreaming of a home of our own for a long time. This house is a huge blessing and I feel very fortunate to have found it but at this point I haven’t felt a ton of warm fuzzies. Dealing with the stress of arranging for other people to look at homes for us and relying on a zillion other opinions to make what feels like a very personal decision has been humbling at best.  So I see so much potential in this house but there is nothing that makes my heart giddy at this point….most likely more due to the fact that I have never even stepped foot in it. I look forward to being in it and making it our own.  (Many people have mentioned their concern about us not having space for our furniture from this ginormous house, no worries. You should all know me well enough to know I have already made a plan for arranging and selling it. No good and useful furniture will go to waste in this move rest assured

We will be doing tons of improvements on the house so you can look forward to lots of “before and after” pictures. We are hoping to have most of the bigger stuff done before we move in. We will have a few weeks to work on it before our things arrive from Bern so we are going to try to take advantage of that wait time. We want to do lots ourselves but we are willing to have help on things we don’t have experience with!!  Obviously we know nothing is for sure until the keys are in our hands. But at this point things are progressing and we are waiting for the April 6th closing. Stay tuned!

Oh yea, and it is in Herndon, Virginia so we will be close to lots of friends and family. And a Chickfila. And a Wegman’s with childcare. I will be joining Community Bible Study and MOPs with Owen. And Jackson will be embarking on his kindergarten adventure (I am so not ready for this one!!!!)  And Seth will be starting a new job with Foreign Aide Department that he is really excited about. These things make me feel excited and anticipate this new chapter in the Kolb family adventures!

 

 

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I mean Happy Monday! I was thinking this morning how I used to dread Mondays, particularly when I was a student or working outside of the home. but now, I really rely on my Mondays to get things back in order. By Sunday night I just feel like the house is in shambles, the laundry is piled up, the boys are worn out from extra weekend excitement, the kitchen is a mess and it looks as if I haven’t cleaned in weeks. On Monday mornings Jackson is in preschool and Owen and I have the house to ourselves. He oscillates between being extra needy without Jackson around and being much more independent enjoying every precious share-free moment.   I try to find a balance between my “reclaiming the house” and spending special one-on-one time with Owen. It’s amazing how changing the sheets, starting a few loads of laundry, wiping the kitchen counters and tidying can help the place feel much less chaotic. And it’s equally amazing how a couple of hours apart for the boys can give them both some space to learn and grow and also help them to miss each other!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

talking on his banana phone

Oh yes, and today is also a birthday celebration in our house! Seth is turning the big 3-3 today. When Jackson comes home he and I will spend some time baking a birthday treat. I am cooking one of Seth’s favorite meals and I am sure Jackson and Owen will sing Happy Birthday as many times as we will let them.  The rest of the evening will be spent with everyone getting over their sugar high and Jackson discussing how long it really is until it is his birthday. It’s tough that all of our birthdays are sandwiched kind of together between December and February and he has to wait until late July. Oh to be a social boy who loves to plan the next party….I just cannot imagine where he got that from.  Last night when he asked about his birthday I told him the moving men coming to pack out stuff would be his cue…but that is still a long way off.

We have enjoyed the coziness of snowy days but we are ready for some warmth, the ability to take walks and just generally ready for the cabin fever to pass. We have gone through the gamut of puppet shows, building forts, turning the playroom upside down and we are just plain ready for Spring.  BUT we know we still have a while to go! It feels like a February for sure!

every great show needs a good audience

 

Coming soon I have some recipes to share and a post on toddler sleep…because we have been living in a toddler sleep nightmare….don’t be deceived by the word nightmare,  we are barely sleeping. It has improved enough that I am almost ready to share.

 

 

 

 

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