Sunday, September 29, 2013

Snow Coats

It's getting chilly here in the nights now. Chilly meaning 60-65 degrees (15-18C)...so quite comfortable, I would say. Kenna says she is just "one touch too cold" in the mornings.

Well, we have moved lots of stuff in, but I have not gotten out their winter clothes and sweaters yet.

But I do have the coats in the closet...
This is awesome, right?! :-)
Nothing says fall like flip flops and winter jackets, that's for sure:-) We go pick up Sonny & May each morning, just driving a few mins down the road to meet their mom on her way to work - and it's just "one touch" too cold for some people. So we rock the jackets with our shorts:-)

Cuteness

Ok, with guns like these around...we are sooo well protected! :-)

These two are doing so well with school! Only a month in, and they are doing great with their writing, and their number and letter recognition/sounds. They impress me...and they're too cute.
Listening to a story - I read to them from the couch, and they listen...

And they get a little bored...

and they copy each other with their wiggles

It's pretty funny, and totally cute. At least they are learning something;-)

Sweet Apple Caramel Cupcakes

Today we hosted a group of people at our new Willow house for the first time! We had some of the people from our ABS (Adult Bible Study) over, as part of the "Grace Gatherings" the church has every month or so. It was really fun actually make a meal for a bunch of people, and entertain in a comfortable space (loving that screened in porch!) Anyway, since it's started getting chilly here, in the evenings, I wanted a recipe that would scream "fall"...my make it up as you go creation!!
I used a Duncan Hines Caramel cake mix, I made my regular buttercream (1/2 C butter, 4 C icing sugar, 1 t vanilla, 3-4T milk)...only I did about 1 1/2 t vanilla, for a little stronger flavor there. Then I sprinkled Pampered Chefs Sweet Apple Sprinkle over all, and topped it off with a "fall themed" Sixlet (small chocolate crunchy candy).
It was all stuff I has in my cupboards, but it did have a delicious, sweet, fall-time feel to it. Yummy success!

Thursday, September 26, 2013

Problem, Solved!

We have mental problems. To which most of you likely say, what else is new? Haha. Both Brian and I are seriously challenged in the "where did I put that" category. I've lost Christmas presents "hiding" them. He's lost his keys (or locked them in his truck), daily, since 1997, or thereabouts. We can't even blame the kids...and unfortunately they suffer from the poor genetics of their parents:-)

Remotes. We lose them. Usually it's the kids that do, but sometimes its the grownups too. Then we got a Roku device. A charming little thing with NO buttons or manual operation options. A teeny little remote is needed, and is the only thing that can work - no universal thingy ma bob.

We've lost and found that little remote so many times, I finally devised a way to keep it from happening anymore.
I tied it to the remote basket, with enough "cord" to be able to still operate the remote

I also made it super easy to un-tether, so grownups can still use it normally from across the room, but kids can't drag it off or lose it between couch cushions
How to:
Open up the battery compartment, and lay a flat piece of ribbon across the opening. Then shut the battery closer thingy. Using a flat thin piece of ribbon should allow this to close easily, and not impede normal function at all (don't want the thing to pop loose)

Tie it in a knot, to create a circle

Attach whatever you have. I've used a variety of things I had around the house. This is a binder ring. A key ring would work, or a carabineer (sp?) works.

Attach one to the other, I use a carabineer to tethered to the "remote basket" (where they all belong and *should* always be located when not in use), and can easily unclip the remote(s) as needed.

Guess what? I haven't a missing remote since doing this about 5 months ago. I promise! The younger kids are not able to un-attach them, and the older kids are not allowed to, so no one wanders off with a remote for any reason!
So, there is my creative tip of the day to help you re-gain a piece of your lost sanity. If missing remotes contributes to that, anyway:-)

Monday, September 23, 2013

Pictures

They made their own pizzas and declared they tasted better than the ones I make:-)

We have triplets!! Brian's phone, his work phone, and my phone, are all identical!! Kinda funny:-)

Playing soccer on the porch

My fave

Grey made a bird feeder

Don't step on one of these gumballs in bare feet!

Thorny bush

Upgrade #1

We've officially made our first improvement to the Willow house...it's not a very exciting one, but...it was a 20 minute project that actually took 20 minutes! So not used to that! When we went to replace a light fixture in Hugo...we discovered the house was not grounded etc. Every project seems to turn into something bigger than expected. So it was just nice to have something quick and easy actually be quick and easy:-)

Problem: Master bedroom had a fan, with no over head lighting. We like overhead lighting! Who doesn't? Lamps are soooo lame. We replaced the fan with a new one...
The old bedroom fan...

We will install the old bedroom fan in the screened in porch area...because that fan is looking pretty sad:-) We'll have to invest in an outdoor fan that won't be affected by moisture in the air, but until then, the old bedroom will work well as a "new" replacement out there.

The pro, always hard at work

New fan, installed...and lights! yay!! We choose this fan for a variety of factors - it will be the one we choose to replace all the indoor fans in the house, eventually. There is pretty much one in every room, and they are all very old/dated.
Next up?...after a really steamy shower we tested the wall paper in the bathroom. Seems like it will come down pretty easily. No more wallpaper in the bathrooms!!

Saturday, September 21, 2013

Fall is Coming

"Especially when the fall comes to Burlington" - Have you ever heard our not-love story? It's actually far more interesting than our true-love story. Maybe we'll have to write it sometime. It's about like we are - awesome, funny, dramatic and perhaps slightly misunderstood. Or maybe that's how we used to be back then. Now that we'd shed our youthful ways, we're just awesome and funny:-D

Well, fall is coming - and this song is just so fitting. It was Brian's song, back in the "not" days. I had never even heard the song, until the "true" days and he let me in on the secret. Just in case its not obvious *I* am the Canadian Rose...and I try to keep cinnamon gum on hand, just in case - ha ha;-*

Friday, September 20, 2013

Soccer Practice

It's Grey's first year to play! He is on a team with lots of his friends, including Sonny!

He sorta likes it, sorta doesn't

The 3's & 4's - it's such an adorable age to start playing!

Brooks. Of course, he's all over soccer season!

Kenna and Brooks are on the same team again, I held Kenna back with the 5 & 6 year olds, so I wouldn't have 3 kids on 3 teams - my dedication as a Mom is a little suspect, perhaps. And given how crazy our fall has ended up being with the move, I think it was the right decision. She is not an enthusiastic soccer player, so I felt she could gain some skills by still being on the "younger" team.

Ardyn, distracting Kenna from playing with her cuteness:-) The kids really miss having her everyday, and I think she misses us too!

Monday, September 16, 2013

Weekend Update!

We moved! We are now officially out of Hugo house, and into Willow - although certain things remain at Hugo - we're still working on getting it all taken care of - like our big tv still hangs on the wall at Hugo:-) And a few bedframes need to be taken apart so they can meet up with their partnered mattress on the floor:-) But it's coming along famously.

Phone - my 2 year old phone would no longer accept a charge. Thankfully, it's free upgrade time, and I got a great new phone for a penny! Yay! My number did not change.

Address - If you want our new home address, let me know! I'll send out an email to family, and probably put it on facebook too.

Instagram - Up to the minute updates about our days! If you've missed a bunch, click on the pics to see them all/ones you've missed. They are captioned too, so you get an idea of what is going on. No worries, I'll still be posting "real pics" here too.

The wildlife that made me move: Here is a funny story for you. Last week, I was HARASSED by wild creatures. I have never seen a snake here (alive) in 9 years, and last week, there was one on my PORCH twice in ONE DAY. It was a "harmless" one, which is to say it was not poisonous, but it's existence harms me very much. On the inside. Ever since the snake scare, I've been a little jumpy to sudden movements and such...

On Friday, we had the garage door open, and the front door open, loading boxes into the van. Well, a squirrel walked right inside the house, like he owned the place. Brian tried to get him out, and he would not budge. He was terrified. So we left, and left all the doors open, thinking he'd find his way out.

No.

Check out the instagram pics on the side bar for proof. Lord, have mercy. My nerves are shot at this point, and it was at that moment that "that's it, we're moving" entered my vocabulary. Never before have I been more excited to vacant any premises. We set live traps, and he actually ate all the bait and didn't get trapped!!

He finally got caught trying to get more food out of the trap on Saturday. But basically, I was mentally resigned to the fact that everything still left in Hugo house belonged to the squirrel now. I was determined to start over from scratch if need be. Wild woodland creatures, LEAVE ME ALONE!

I am pretty darn sure these things only ever happen to me....WHHHHHYYYYYY?

So the squirrel saga is over, thankfully. I'm keeping all the doors shut now, for sure!

That was our weekend, in a nutshell...no pun intended:-)

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Packing

Well, packing & unpacking is happening! Although no big furniture yet, just all stuff I can pack up and fit in the van:-)
Some things moved into the school room

We've got a table (it's from Ikea, it folds down), and a microwave cart thing in the kitchen

We have our oooold little tv in the school room, so the kids can watch a movie while we work. They are great helpers!

Closet in school room. Needs some organization, re-arranging, but everything is basically in there that needs to be. That is craft stuff:-)

Front closet! Ready to go with winter coats, spring jackets, and bins for their "stuff" - hats, etc

They love to play in the backyard!!

Unpacking boxes I've had in storage for yeeears. These magazines are from 99 -01. I was telling Brian I found my Macleans with Mario Lemieux on it, and he says "What is Macleans?" haha!! It's like a Canadian "Time". I only even used to buy ones that covered important world events.

The only "décor" over there so far!

First Tooth!

About two weeks ago Brooks lost his first tooth. His dramatic first tooth losing story isn't too dramatic...for being Brooks, and being afraid of everything, including the pain of losing the tooth. His new tooth grew completely up behind the loose one, and he wouldn't let anyone touch it. He wouldn't even show us how wiggly it was or anything, so I ignored it. But the new tooth was really showing, and I knew it had to be hanging by a thread, and I cautioned him not to swallow it by accident.

At church, 2 Wednesdays ago, I picked him up from his class and his teacher told me of the drama. His tooth. It was bleeding a little and he was complaining about how much it hurt, so they ran water on it, and it seems to be fine now...

I rolled my eyes. Poor things, having to go to all those lengths for the dumb wussy kids tooth!

Right as the teacher finished the tale, I said "Let me see it" - "DON'T touch it", he said.

"I won't, I just need to look at it"

So he opened his mouth and with cat like reflexes, I jabbed my fingers in there and plucked out the tooth in an instant. He looked completely shocked, and so did his teacher!

"There. Didn't even hurt, did it?" He had to admit it did not, and there was not even a sniffle from him. When I took it out, I could tell it was basically not even attached anymore, and laying totally sideways.

So there's the story - of the tooth I pulled out when I promised I wouldn't touch, only look:-)

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Simple Lives

When someone says "simple living" I get a mental picture...what that word means to me. To me, actually, it means - my childhood. We lived in the country and played outside, we had no tv, no video games/nintendo systems - no computers until they were "invented" and no internet...because it was years from being popularized in homes. I think I was probably about 21 when we got internet, and we never had cable tv, we watched everything over the air. We made all our meals from scratch, we gardened, and canned everything. We played outside. We pretty much spent all our free time playing outside, or with our playmobil. We had wild imaginations:-)

Anyway, what does simple living mean to me NOW - how do we keep things easy and simple? Things just seem more hustle & bustle, don't they? There is soo much to do - how do scale it back and pretend we're living 40 years ago?

I don't think there really is much merit in pretending it IS 40 years ago...we have to be present in our current age to have any effectiveness in it, but that doesn't mean we have to give way to every whim of materialism and stretch our selves thin with busyness that doesn't even give us the result we want, in the end.

Get priorities straight - Kids need...nothing. Honestly, and truly, they need nothing aside from the basics. Which is something, granted. What kids need is love, food, caring, education - the normal stuff of life. What they don't need is ballet, gymnastics, violin, piano, drums, tap dancing, xbox, Wii, Playstation, Leap Frog...the list goes on. Pare it all back, and see what you are left with. It might be really bored kids, since you took away all the activities:-)

So, for us - personal decisions alone, based on what we can handle, afford, and still keep ourselves simply...sane.

These are not hard and fast rules - but the generalization has rarely, if ever, found it's exception in our home.

We prioritize 4 activities outside the home - Church, Sports, Education & Music. - within those activities, I have boundaries set - nobody does an activity that everyone can't do. While I realize boys "can do" ballet...yah, no. So yes, that means it's a bummer for Kenna - she'll never be a ballerina. And actually, I've known countless girls who have gone to ballet, tirelessly, and NONE of them are ballerinas either. So that tells me...she'll live, and quiet happily, without the experience. We keep EVERY EVENING of the week OPEN except for Wednesday night. Bedtime is strictly at 7pm, always has been, and will continue to be so for a looooong time. So if something encroaches upon that "unwritten rule" chances are, it's a no-go as a consistent activity.

SPORTS: I never took tap dancing, and wouldn't you know it - it's never come up. I did, however, learn how to play baseball, and that has proved more than useful over the years. So my rule is this: If everyone can't do it, no one does. This frees us up quite a bit in both time & money- in our area, we do 1 sport per season (soccer = fall, basketball = winter, baseball = spring, swimming = summer). Please don't get me wrong, I have nothing against dancing or activities of that nature. But for us, we 1) don't have the time without getting stressed, and 2) can't afford it.

CHURCH - we do the Wednesday night Awana program, and this is the only "late night" the kids have in the week. 

EDUCATION - We participate in a homeschool co-op that meats every other Friday/14 times per year. They teach science, art and do P.E. As the kids age and we have the opportunities available to us, I am sure we will be pursuing more things of this nature - day time classes, field trips, etc.

MUSIC - The kids take music lessons once per week.

We have a few pieces of technology - a Wii, a Kindle Fire, a laptop, and a TV (& Dvd player). No one has their own anything. They must play together and watch together. Sometimes everyone is bummed that the "babies" want to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse again, or that the boys want to play Wii sports instead of watch a show. (Sometimes Moms are bummed that football is on *again* and sometimes Dads are bummed that the "feel good Canadian dramas" are on *again* too). But it's good for a kid (or a Mom, or a Dad:-) to not get what they want. It really is. It's also good for them to "give up" to others, take turns, share, and be gracious. I like how easy it is to foster proper attitudes with regards to those things, when there are no options otherwise. There is no choice not to share. So sharing it is. We make it work out, and lovingly so. My kids are enthralled with things like Nintendo DS, and play them while at friends houses. I don't mind that one bit...while I should think we'll never own any, as I don't see those types of toys fitting in well with our family dynamic, though it bears repeating, I have nothing against these items. I feel like with the children I've been given (which are really the only ones I am concerned about, largely), and the way they are wired, those types of toys don't appear to easily encourage the attitude of togetherness.

Maybe that's where it's at...togetherness. Things are simple when we are together. God put us all together, and we like each other. Maybe not naturally. What is that expression? You can't choose your family...:-D

But you know what does wonders for your soul and gives you all kinds of confidence? Knowing that there are people in your corner, who like you. Who would give up something they love for you, even if they really don't want to - they'll do it because you belong to them. I think we are very blessed to have been given hearts of love toward each other, by God. So in our family, liking each other does not come too hard at all, but that might not always be the case in families, though I think it not an excuse. Love is always a choice, and sometimes it's a hard one, even in loving families. But God is able to love. God is love. So guess what? In Him, we are able to make that choice too.

I'm happy to see that my kids enjoy each other, easily. I think they've come to realize they will putting others wishes ahead of their own for years to come, and they're getting used to that idea, with joy.

I'm glad they play out side a lot. I'm glad they have inside jokes, stories, and vivid imaginations. I hope that they remain a bit different in this society, and can pursue their dreams knowing a whole herd of people have their backs. That they can be stress free, in a world that frets over everything. That they can live simply, while still being relevant. My thoughts for the evening. Blessings.

Monday, September 9, 2013

Willow House Tour - video

Here is a quick walk through tour of the Willow House. This video was taken before I realized that while some of the rooms have no overhead lighting - all the closets have lights in them! Duh! Sorry for some of the dark patches here! When you are watching you can start to visualize some of the changes we will plan to do - taking down walls - to make the kitchen bigger, and to make a "great room" instead of the formal living, dining and family rooms. So the walls between the green living room and the yellow & paneling family room will come down, as well as the walls between the den, kitchen and dining room...then some will be put back in different places...all of that is just in the dreaming/planning stages now, but this is what we have to work with!

First Day

This past Friday was the first day of our new school co-op! The two older ones are taking Art, Science & PE, and the preschoolers are doing a little program for that age (3-5), and May (and all the other under 3's) get to play! The first day was a really big success. I was running around like a crazy person - having to leave the house at 8:30, with lunches packed, backpack equipped with books, pencils, etc...not something I am really used to doing! I'll be better next time. The co-op is every other Friday from 9-12:30.
Ready to go to school!
This is a weird pic - but just to note - it now takes 1 dozen eggs to feed 5 children at lunch time. Yikes. Can't wait 'til they're all teens! (Or maybe I can!!)
 
So we've been a little busy! Packing, moving stuff to the other house...today Brian took out the Hugo garage door to replace it with a new one (old one's wood was rotting out at the bottom). Pics to come! Getting Hugo house ready for renting, taking care of details. I bought a washer, dryer, and vacuum off facebook garage sale pages. Got great deals, which I am really happy about!
 
Time for a craft or two? Haha!! This is something I had in my stash, ready to go. Some very kind people at the hospital job (the one that Brian was at for days without coming home) generously gave our family gifts...gift cards, movie tickets etc. for some family time together. It was so thoughtful of them to be appreciative of his work and his time away from his family. A little thank you card for them.
 

Thursday, September 5, 2013

Star Wars

The kids have been increasingly interested in Star Wars, thanks to some friends and a themed birthday party, and an Angry Birds game. So I decided I'd watch them with them...so far we've done 1, 2, 3, & 4. So we still have 2 left to go...thanks to Uncle Dale who owns them all! Here are a few hilarious quotes from their first Star Wars experience...
************

Kenna: None of the things in this movie even exist at all, except the people

Kenna: Mom, If Obiwan lets Darth Vader kill him, is that suicide, or just murder?

Kenna: This movie is like, hilarious! Luke is saving his sister and he doesn't even know what he's doing!
Brooks: Well, his step sister
Grey: No, his actual same one

Kenna: I wish Anakin could stay a boy, he was so cute

Brooks: Do you wish we had robots like that around here?

Kenna: Oh, they love Jesus, he said "May the Lord be with you"!
Mom: Force. He said "May the force be with you"
Brooks: What even is the force?

Brooks: Luke Skywalker looks just way differenter than I thought he would, I thought he'd look more like yellow bird
(Thank you Angry Birds, Star Wars edition)

Brooks: Are there any other super heroes we haven't seen yet?
Kenna: No, I think we know them all now, except Jabba the Hut, but he's a bad guy anyway, right?

insisting that I read the words at the beginning of the movie
Brooks: What are you even talking about?

Brooks: Why is the green guy so short?

Mom: What do you think of her hair?
Kenna: Impossible to do!

Brooks: Why would Anakin choose the bad side?

Brooks: I can tell every thing that are the bad like, stuff. That like, flat ship, you know, the flat one?...
Mom: the Death Star?
Brooks: No! No! The flat ship. It's a bad one.

Brooks:...so Dark Vader...
Mom: DarTH, it's DarTH Vader & DarTH Maul.
Brooks: I think it's Dark
Mom: It's not, it's Darth
Brooks: How do you know?
Mom: Because I have ears

Grey: Waving around a light sabre (aka a stick)...I'm Kin-obewan-kinobi!
Brooks: I'm the guy that drives the ship!
Mom: Hans Solo
Brooks: Yah, Can Solo! You know, I always bring these in the house but then he throws them, which is awkward...
Brooks: Hey! I just stole Dark Vader's sword!
Grey: Just frow it at my feet, and I'll be dead!

Brooks: If fear leads to anger, and anger leads to hate, and hate leads to suffering, than what does suffering lead to?

Sunday, September 1, 2013

Announcement!

Alright people. We have some news to share...:-D Can you guess what it is?


We're moving. There's a story here, and isn't there always?

Well, lets start off with the biggest news first, and then you can read on for the details, if you want them. We bought a house.

I'll give you a pic, and then you can read on for the crazy story...
This is the house - We'll call it the Willow house. We closed on this home this past Wednesday. It's 1900sq ft, 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, on about a 1/2 acre, with a little lake/pond.



Story time - We've been house hunting for awhile now, like, about a year. That has added to our busy-ness, most definitely. I haven't posted anything about it, because there was nothing significant to tell. But it's been a long time coming. Brian has spent HOURS upon hours (like, hundreds of them) looking at foreclosures, auctions and short sales online. We've gone to see tons of houses in person, and we've put offers on probably about 12 of them. Nothing has worked out until now - let me just say, doing all of this is like a full time job. It's very time consuming, and kinda hard too - mining out the gems (great area, great school districts, valued higher than sale cost + repairs/improvements). Brian has basically turned pro in this department - he can find the deals and the not-deals. He knows the costs and time tables of repairs. He knows what is important and not, etc. He's learned a lot through this process, and has mined out some optimal homes! (Some of which we adored and are bummed out that they didn't work out:-) Our real estate agent, and friend, Cathy is amazing, truly she is. We found her by accident, online, when we were house hunting for our Hugo house nine years ago. And she was one of the best things that's ever happened to us! She is wonderful all around, and extremely knowledgeable. You won't get a bad deal with her in charge. So we not only have a great agent, but a great friend. Together, they make a great team, Cathy & Brian - house hunters extraordinaire:-)
A joke, and a congratulatory gift for closing on the Willow house - during the closing process, Brian's last name was mistaken for Darla by the lawyer, and so they had a document sent over to us for Mr. Brian Darla, starting out Dear Mr. Darla. haha!!

So how is this feasible and why are we doing it? Well, you know we couldn't afford to buy another house on our own - but Brian has been offered the opportunity to buy an undervalued home, and fix it up, from an investor. Any profits from eventual sale of home will be split between investor (for supplying the money up-front), and Brian (for doing all the work involved). That's the why & how - we're doing it to make some money, someday, {this is the goal}.

The crazy side-story that isn't over yet -
This is house number #2 - We'll call it the Unser house. We are in the process of negotiating on this house. It's 2100sq ft, 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and has a detached double car garage with a full 2nd story above it
We were only intending to do one house at a time, not two - but both were great deals and came about in very unique ways, we were scheduled to close on Unser house on Sept 17th (pending home inspections etc)...and honestly the inspections didn't go as well as we'd hoped. Everything is fixable...but it necessitates us lowering our offering price, and so we'll have to see if the bank will accept that, based on the findings of the inspections. (This is a foreclosure). So, there is a very real chance that we won't get this house at all - we'll have to keep you posted!

There are a lot of moving parts, and different scenarios at play here, depending on if we get both homes, or just the Willow one.

So moving forward - we're keeping our Hugo (current) house, and will continue to rent out the upper floor, and will now rent out the main floor also. And we still have our other cute little rental, we'll call that one Nott, so we can keep it all straight, hah! Although I will miss Hugo house greatly (more on this in another post), moving affords us the chance for - a little extra space (Hugo main floor is about 1100sq ft, 3 bdrms, 1 bath), income from the rental while we fix up both Unser and Willow, and it puts us quite close to our church, which is something we desired also. Yes, we're moving to Chesapeake!!

The plans: there is nothing "wrong" with Willow house, it is not current or modern (pink wallpaper, some wood paneling in rooms, etc), but in fine shape generally. It is a perfect rental, and so we will rent it out for now.

Unser house...aka the Crap House. It will need more attention and work, right off the bat. We will live in this one. We call it the crap house, as there is literally poop on the carpet! I don't think I've ever seen carpet so nasty, and trust me, it'll be gone before we move in!

(If we don't get Unser, then we move into Willow)

Hugo house - we will finish up the kitchen remodel and a few other things, and we'll rent it out also - that will leave us living in 1 house while managing either 3 or 4 rentals (Hugo house, Hugo apt, Nott & Willow being the 4th if that works out).
Like we don't have anything else to do, har har.

I should probably learn how to use power tools. Then I'd be more helpful all around:-) I will continue to watch Sonny & May everyday, but will no longer watch Ardyn & new baby Alice...because the move takes us out of the way, convenience wise, to care for them.

Stay tuned for updates under the Renovations label. Whenever we make something prettier, I'll post before & afters!

And I know you're dying for the pics! I will label them Willow or Unser, so you can keep it straight. Twin houses are confusing, I know:-) Remember, Unser is not yet a done deal, but Willow is already officially ours - and we've already moved some boxes in!

Willow House - The little lake (I might peronsally consider it more of a pond, although it's touted as a lake), makes for a very scenic and serene back yard. Apparently, there's fishing!

Willow House - My hairy hooligans

Willow House - Kitchen

Willow House - living room, and dining room behind that

Willow house - den or family room

Willow house - screened in porch
Unser house - the "barn". It's a double garage, with a full 2nd story above it. This is perfect for a workshop, which will be very much needed, given all the work we'll be doing on houses!

Unser house - aka, the Crap House. It doesn't look too bad in the pics, but it's bad. Absolutely not habitable in it's current state. There will be a bit of demo going on  immediately, if close on this house.

Unser house - Other side of kitchen

Unser House - This is the "finished garage" you can see the big window from the front of the house

Unser house - a very big backyard! and fully fenced!

Unser house - living room and the dining room behind that. Interestingly enough, outside of Unser being a little bit larger than Willow - they have IDENTICAL layouts to them. It's kinda funny!

One of the bedrooms. That is mold on the wall, yes. The inspections show that once the drywall is torn out and replaced, mold issue will be resolved. It is not pervasive/under the house etc, just on the surface in this room.
So, we'll update once we know more about Unser house, and pray for our sanity as we work through all the craziness that is dealing with lots of houses, decisions, fixes, repairs, etc!