To quote The Others, "This house is ours. This house is ours."

We did it!  We bought the house we have been renting and closed on June 23, 2014. It's a relief and a bit of an anti-climax.  It's anti-climactic because we've been living here.  There's no moving or fresh start. And it's funny: I've had all this guilt about moving Maddie from school to school to school, but she's disappointed that we're staying because she would prefer to change schools again.  She's never made a real best friend, so I understand.  But, while the other house we considered did have a backyard (something this house lacks), this house has better schools and it's a much nicer house in a much nicer neighborhood.  In the other house we considered, young master Beckett would have been in an open loft for a couple of years, or he would have shared a room with Fin.

Still, the relief of having our own house to do with as we please that can be as long-term as we wish is the relief.  Fin still quizzes me occasionally, out of the blue. "Is this our house?" 

"Yes."

"Is this Fin's and Beckett's and Mommy's and Daddy's and Maddie's and Fin's and Beckett's and Mommy's house?"

"Yes."

"Are we in our house?"

"Yes."

"Oh."

That's one conversation, not an example of several.

We had the house painted before we closed.  We had to hurry to make sure the owners would pay for it, and we had to use HOA approved colors.  I thought I was choosing different colors.  It did NOT turn out as I'd hoped. Sigh.

But, years ago the house had a bridge that extended from the deck and back stairs that spanned across the little creek that runs behind the house.  The bridge lead to the park behind the house, but it washed away during a 500-year flood that shook the region back in 2009.  While we rented the house, the back stairs were blocked off by some haphazard ropes meant to stop anyone from crossing.  As part of the closing agreement, we had that rebuilt.  The kids and I used it today to wander over to the park and have a picnic.  It actually made things quite a bit easier than the previous method of simply walking around the front and side of our house to the park.

Yahoo!