Houses

A few weekends ago, I was blessed to have both daughters, their sweet husbands and adorable babies spend the weekend with me. I was absolutley ecstatic! It was wonderful. Dillan joined the crowd, as did Gina and her two. We sat cramped in the living room, laughing and visiting and watching the kids (all but Tristin) run through the house like they were race cars at the Daytona 500! Around and around they went...from the living room to the front hall to the hall to the kitchen to the dining room and then back to the living room! It reminded me of the days of my youth, when my sister, Lisa and I would race through Mother and Daddy's house while we chased my older sister's, (Barbara) two older sons...my nephews. They were only a few years younger than Lisa and I. We loved the chase! It's one of my favorite memories...later my younger nephews and nieces, and then my kids made the same chase through the house while the adults played cards or dominoes around the kitchen table. Denver, Averi and Maddie also love the chase! It was exhillerating...to say the least! That night, I realized we needed an extra bedroom...so we let Hillary and Dennis sleep in our room and Donald graciously bedded down on the twin bed in the sunroom. I took my place in the recliner with Tristen (I get night duty when he's here! It's wonderful to rock and let him sleep on my chest!) until he awoke at 2:00 and Cari fed him and took him to bed with her and Kevin. I crawled into the twin bed and we slept til the sun began casting sunbeams in through the french doors. I decided we needed a new house...a bigger house...I wanted everyone to have their own room and to have a place to be comfortable. We had looked at a "hogantic" house and I decided we needed to look again and just take the plunge. It has a beautiful yard with massive oak trees and two acres of yard...four bedrooms, three bathrooms, two living areas...my mind raced. I could just see the Christmas tree in the corner of the living room! The kitchen was big...there would be no "butt bumping" as I cooked...there were two bathtubs (my house has zero bathtubs) for the grandkids to bath in...and for me to relax in. The only problem was....our house was not even on the market...but they would do a lease purchase and give us 6 months to sell our house. However, after much contemplation and a long visit with Cari....we decided it was just too risky to jump into the bigger home. What if we don't sell this house and we have to move back after 6 months....eeeeeeeeeeekkkkk! We'll stay in this home, where we are cozy and quite happy! Donald and I talked about it and I think a big weight was taken off our shoulders. He had literally developed fever blisters worrying about it! And that's what is so great....we can discuss and focus on what we really need. I think we both got the cart before the horse! Anyway, he called the realtor and told them we had changed our mind and they were very nice about it. We will just work on our current home...putting in a bathtub and maybe enlarging the kitchen at some point. We're also going to buy a sleeper sofa to put in the sunroom for an extra bed! I've lived in several houses in the past few years and I've turned them all into my "home"....I really don't need lots of fancy stuff to make it a home (however I would like a bathtub!).....I think it's just the love you put into a house that makes it a home...bathtub or not!!!!!