Thanksgiving at "Mah Maws"

We spent the weekend at Grandma W's house (whom Amelia christened "Mah-Maw"), and had a great time. I got to see lots of friends and kiddos and eat way too much fabulous food. It was our first Thanksgiving dinner in 3 years and boy was it delicious! My favorite foods in the entire world have to be my mom's stuffing, mashed potatoes, and broccoli casserole. Sean made his delicious homemade gravy this year too! I attempted to make a blueberry breakfast bread, and pumpkin pie, although I think I'm best at just helping out with small tasks! Amelia ate everything with much gusto, except for the asparagus... oh well. I think my favorite part of the holiday was just watching Amelia and Grandma, and her Uncles interact and play. This is such a fun age (16 mths today!) and she is such a joy to be around.

Still no word on when we'll close on the house, but we're hoping by the end of this week. We were able to get the keys and have started painting a few rooms. They look great so far!

Grandma W's tree faces:)

She loves taking dogs for their walks! Here she is walking Grandma's "sausage" dog, Harley.

The Waiting Game

Well, we had hoped to be settling into a new house by now, but instead we are waiting, somewhat patiently, to get official approval from the seller's bank on our offer. We looked at a beautiful house the first weekend we moved back, and put an offer on it a few days later. It is an old (1918) Arts and Crafts, Foursquare home, and may be from one of the Sears kits (which I think is super cool). It is in our favorite Norfolk neighborhood with great parks, schools and playgrounds within walking distance. It is actually one street down from our old house! It has a new (intimidating) kitchen and lots of space for visitors! I keep daydreaming about paint colors and family gatherings and I'm getting tired of waiting!

It turns out the owners are in financial trouble and had to do a "short sale" which is basically a way to avoid foreclosure. All indications are that the bank will accept the offer and everything will go through, but it takes so much longer dealing with banks. We've been told we'll get a formal decision by next week and can close as soon as possible afterwards. Keep your fingers crossed!

Hopefully I'll have some pictures of the new house up soon, but I don't want to jinx anything (too much!) In the meantime, here is my latest favorite photo of Mia and her crazy hair :)

Playing Around

After seeing lots of pretty blog backgrounds on friend's websites, I've decided to play around a little. I'll probably be changing the background a lot over the next few days, just for fun. Boy, this blogging can be addictive. Good thing Mia is a long napper lately:)

Oh What A Night!

I'm so proud of our country right now. Huge voter turnout, enormous participation from the younger generation, gracious, moving speeches from all sides, and an amazing, inspiring new president!!