To Buy???

We finally resolved the inspection issues with our house...we're working on it this weekend with the help of my friend's husband Jason. He offered to come down and fix everything on the inspection report for FREE because he enjoys doing it and because my friend told him to help us.

How nice is that??? We're paying him of course.

The buyers realtor is paying someone to fix the stucco and remove the vines. We're not doing that because it's cosmetic...not required for the house to function properly. So everything is moving forward with our old house...we expect to be out of there on June 25.

Okay, so we had the inspection done on the new place. As expected, there is a laundry list of things that need to be fixed. We have to present this list to the sellers and depending on what they say, decide whether or not we're going to walk.

The first thing y'all should know is that this house is priced about $20,000 below what the other houses are selling for in that neighborhood. You should also know that we've looked at MANY houses (about 50) and NOTHING else fits our list of "wants and needs." Everything in our price range is crappy. The problem is that we aren't willing to go too far from the center of Denver so everything we've been looking at is junk. The old adage "buy the worst house in the best neighborhood" is really applying here...our new house has a bit of work in store for us but if we manage to do it, we could really be looking at a good house in a good neighborhood.

Here's the list:
*Needs new roof in the next 2 years
*Needs updated electrical
*Needs structural engineer to check why there's a slope in the dining room
*Possibly needs structural work done on the dining room...our inspector told us he thought it would be about a $5,000 fix
*Needs little things done like rehanging doors, exhaust fan replaced, windows pried open, screens replaced, lights checked, toilet re-installed, etc.
*Swamp cooler needs to be serviced (this one is a MUST for me)

So here's our options: we supply this list to the sellers and demand they fix all of it or we walk. Or we could offer to split the cost of everything with them. Or we could just fix it all ourselves...knowing we bought a "fixer".

If we walk...we'll certainly be homeless for a while. Our stuff would have to go into storage and we'd have to crash with someone...until we were able to get another house and god knows when that would be. How much would that suck with Maelin?

Our first step is getting the structural engineer out there and presenting the list to the sellers and see what they say. Do they just want to get out of it and hope some guy will come along and not care about all this stuff? Is that why they priced it lower than the comps in the neighborhood? Or do they realize we want the house and are willing to work with them to make the house right?

This is so stressful. We just have to wait and see.

Oh, and in the meantime, we'll be here painting and fixing our house. Stop by to say hi if you're around this weekend!

An Unexpected Gift

Teaching is a thankless profession. You work your tail off for these little people and the best thanks you can get is that maybe someday you hear they're doing great...going to college, successful, etc. That's all you really want.

One day, you may get a former student who comes back to visit who tells you how much they miss you or how great you were when they were in your classroom. That's really nice too.

Sometimes, if you're really lucky, you might get a parent or a student who thanks you during the year you actually had them in your class. That's the best thanks of all but it doesn't happen much. Especially in a low-income school district. The parents have other things to worry about than thanking their kids' teacher.

However, I received an amazing gift yesterday. It was from the parent of one of my students this year. I don't have to tell you how hard this past school year has been for me with Maelin and my depression and everything so this gift means even more because of that. I'll call this kid "Max"...

Max came to me from a school in Ft. Collins and he was reading WAY below grade level...at a level 10. Other kids in class were reading at an average of 65 so he was reading at a beginning 1st grade level and we were just starting 2nd grade. I talked to mom about it in Sept...she was shocked. Had no idea how far behind her son was and was determined to help him. I stayed after school one day in Sept and gave her all sorts of 1st grade materials and showed her how to use them with him at home.

We would conference over the year about how Max was doing...he would gain a little then get discouraged and stop trying. It was heartbreaking: he was a great kid and super smart but I think he was battling dyslexia and we don't diagnose that till about 4th grade so there really wasn't much we could do for him except keep working with him and encouraging him.

I had him in a separate reading group and I worked my tail off with him that year. By the end of the year, we had him reading at a level 56...still way below grade average but he made a year and a half worth of progress in one year.

Max and his mom gave me a hug on the last day and mom told me how appreciative she was for all I had done for him. I told her thanks...it was my job and keep working with him over the summer. She said she would.

Yesterday I got an email from mom. She told me she had entered me in a "Teacher of the Year" contest that a local restaurant was having. The grand prize is a trip to New York!

I was flabbergasted...no parent has EVER gone out of their way to do anything like that for me. That's not why teachers teach...

Anyway, even if I don't get the trip, this essay that she and Max wrote is worth 100 trips to me. It's amazing. It made me cry and made how hard and stressful this year was totally worth it. (I changed some names and features since this isn't a private blog...)

May 05, 2008
It gives me great pleasure to nominate Mrs. Mara for the 2008 trip to the “Big Apple” Award provided by McDonalds.

It has been said that, the mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires. Mrs. Mara is one of those inspirational teachers. She is not only inspirational to her students, but to parents like myself as well. I have been fortunate enough to work with Mrs. Mara as a parent, and have my own son in her second grade class this year.

Something that strikes me on a consistent basis about Mrs. Mara is her determination to learn. One example of this is that Mrs. Mara uses research based teaching strategies with her students on a daily basis, individualizing learning goals and practices so that all students may find success. She has inspired my son to read and learn about a variety of interesting material, such as inventions, various insects and going back in time through the decades.

As a parent, I have been inspired by Mrs. Mara. When we participated in a peer-coaching for my son’s reading, I acknowledged Mrs. Mara’s reading lessons several times. Her methods are amazing, not to mention practical. Her ability to assess exactly where her students are, to determine what they need, and to create supportive lessons to get them to the next level in learning is tremendous. She uses a variety of strategies to obtain clear academic results. She does all of this with students of many different language proficiencies in English and Spanish. Her ability to tap into their personal interests motivates them to achieve. I have used many of her strategies with my son at home. She is seen as a professional leader and should be used as a model among teachers at Apple Elementary.

The personal communication that Mrs. Mara has with each of her student’s families shows her commitment to her students and their families. She writes regular newsletters about classroom activities and her students to send home, makes personal phone calls, conferences with families many more times than is required, and makes sure that each family is connected to what is going on in the classroom. She seems to have limitless energy for her students and their families.

I could go on and on with examples of how this outstanding teacher goes above and beyond professional requirements, but her true gift to her students comes from her heart. Her ability to connect to each student is a rare talent. Students want to learn with Mrs. Mara. Her passion is contagious and impacts the entire learning community at Apple Elementary.

It would be fitting that she receives this trip.


By: JoLeen Davis and Max Davis

House Junk

We've been waiting and waiting to get anything started on our new house in Lakewood (see pics below) until we were sure the sale of our house is indeed going through.
We've had the inspection, the appraisal...so we should be good, right?

Wrong.

The buyer of our house wants everything fixed...and I'm not talking the things that DO need to be fixed. I'm talking about random weird things...like the phantom 2 tiles in the bathroom that she says are loose. The outside water faucet needs a new handle. She wants one of the missing screens replaced. She is asking our current neighbor why the units all don't have central air-conditioning? (didn't she read our inclusions before she made an offer?????)

Anyway we now have to repair the cracks in the stucco on the outside of the house. Those cracks have probably been there since 1930 but okay. She also wants us to paint the window sills and pull down all the pretty, eco-friendly vines that cover the house.

We told her no on the stucco and the vines but yes to everything else and she said she would "terminate the contract" and walk away.

What to do??

We are going to go ahead and fix it all for her even though we can't afford to. The problem is that if she walks, we have to list the house all over again and that would mean it would probably sell right when my school starts which would be horrible. She has us between a rock and a hard place so we're waiting till tomorrow to see how this all gets resolved.

Right now we think her realtor is going to pay for the stucco repair himself. Good. We'll see.

In the meantime, the inspection on our new house is scheduled for Friday afternoon. It's possible it may have some things wrong with it (just a feeling we have) so this is a big deal. Depending on what they say, we may or may not be homeless soon.

We'll keep you posted...

Disneyland with Mom

My mom is a Disneyland freak. That was the ONLY vacation we ever took when we were kids...I remember spending 5 STRAIGHT days there as kids...and we loved it. We know every inch of that place...we know where the bathrooms are, what restaurants are the best, the shortcuts to each ride, what each store has, etc.

I'm not too proud to admit that we love it just as much as adults. Maybe it's because we have such good memories of it as kids. Maybe because it's where we all came together as a family. Maybe because it really IS the "Happiest Place on Earth." Anyway my older brother has been known to skip down mainstreet when we first arrive...and that was just a few years ago! :-)

My mom and I went to Disneyland last weekend for just 2 days...she was there longer but I didn't want to leave Maelin for that long. She did great with Daddy without me and I had a fantastic time. We sat in the (hot!) sunshine and watched the parades, we rode the fun rides, we shopped and we ate crazy expensive park food. Disneyland is always fun.

Here's a few pictures of our trip...they make me want to go back and bring MaeMae!

I'm back...and with lots of news!

We're pregnant!!


Just kidding....that's actually probably the ONLY thing that isn't going to change soon.
I just got back from 2 days in Disneyland with my mom. It was a great time...a bit hot, but Disneyland is always fun and I'm so glad I got to spend so much time w/ my mom since she lives in Minnesota and I don't get to see her as much as I'd like to. Kevin stayed with baby Maelin and they had a good time without Mommy around! It was fun.

We have sold our house and we have found one we like and have made an offer on it and our offer was accepted!! Crazy. We close on our house on June 25 and we close on the new house on the 25th and move on the 26th. We had the appraisal of our house today so we have to wait and see how that went and we already had the inspection so we're almost done w/ our house...

We're still waiting for our stuff to be finished before we start all the inspections and things on the new house so I don't know for sure if we're actually going to get it or not. I'm very excited but a bit sad to leave Denver.

We decided to go for it and be officially middle-aged: we are leaving the hip, urban city and heading to the suburbs. We'll be in Lakewood: specifically Green Mountain which is 15 minutes west of the city right where the mountains start. Our neighborhood has great schools and is very hilly and pretty. Our new house has about 1850 sq feet (opposed to 988 now), has a garage, a huge climbing maple tree, a front porch, a covered back patio, a storage shed, a finished basement with an awesome laundry room, a dining room, 4 bedrooms and 2 baths, updated kitchen and bathrooms, a swamp cooler, a fireplace and hardwood floors. We are VERY excited. All this for less than $200,000.

It's so amazingly stressful right now...so many things have to fall into place for us to move on time and not be homeless but I'm keeping the faith that it's time for us to get MaeMae her own playroom (basement) and backyard. There is a little work we want to do eventually (change the kitchen cosmetically...it's not my taste but it's fine for now and knock down 2 weird walls in the basement) but it's totally pretty and livable as-is.

Keep your fingers crossed...we're crazy busy right now and now we really need to start packing!!

Inspection Tomorrow

We accepted her offer so our house is officially OFF the market and under contract! Very scary and stressful but exciting just the same.

Our inspection is tomorrow...we scheduled it quickly so we would know just how many things the buyer (T) is going to want us to change so we know now if our contract is going forward or if we or she is going to back out. Fun.

I'm leaving work early on Thursday afternoon to look at houses w/ Marcus and Kevin. We're going to start in Lakewood and work our way back to Denver from there. We really think we can get the most for our money out there...the houses are much bigger (ie: more than 1300 sq feet) than what you get in Denver for the same price.

Thursday is my LAST day with kids! It's crazy...I've been so busy at work and now I'm busy at home packing and painting and touching things up before the inspection. I leave on Saturday night for 2 nights in Disneyland w/ my mom so Kevin will be playing "Mr Mom" this weekend...that should be fun for him and MaeMae.

I'll keep you posted on how everything is going...it's crazy stressful knowing we're going to be homeless in about 40 days but I have faith that it will all work out!

Our First Real Offer

Okay, what to do?

We had another offer on the house last week...$217,000 which is even less than the first offer we had! We countered at $233,900 and they went up to $223,000 which is almost laughable. Our realtor told them to get in the same game as us and then call us back.

Today the first girl made another offer...originally she had offered $223,000 and then we didn't hear from her again but today she has resurfaced. I guess she decided she really liked our house and neighborhood and wanted to pay to live here.

She offered $233,900. We'd close on June 27th.

That means Kevin and I would have till June 27th to find a place, settle on that one and move. Sounds great, right?

We are still working out our mortgage so we aren't quite ready to move yet. Also, what happens if we can't find a place we like in time? One of Kevin's friends has a huge place down south (really south) and he's very kindly offered to let the three of us crash there if we need more time.

I think we're going to accept her offer and get the ball rolling on this but we're terrified. Change is always scary and there's so many unknowns here...we aren't even sure yet what neighborhoods we like!

I'll keep you posted...

Maelin's 1 Year Pictures

Hello everyone,
I had to make the trip to portrait innovations again for Maelin's portraits. I'm a little late this time because MaeMae has had a cold lately and I didn't want her pictures to have a red nose. Also...to be honest, I knew her hair has been growing like crazy lately and I wanted it to be as long as possible. :-)

Here are a few pictures of our darling girl at 12 months old. Can you believe how big she looks?