Our New House

First of all, thank you for all of your patience.
The perfectionist in me was battling with the realist about taking pictures :)

But before the pictures, here is the AMAZING story of our house journey.

At the end of June, our local hardware store was offering a great deal on kitchen counter tops. Since our kitchen had not been updated in the 6 years we had been living on Wandflower I was enticed.
We talked about the project, looked at our budget, and Rob left it up to me to decide.
We decide that it was NOT in our best interest to update our kitchen any more then what we had already (additional cabinets, tile floors, cabinet organization etc).
On top of that, we decided that it was finally time to put the house on the market. It was never intended to be our forever home and we had spoken often about moving.
So the following day we met with 2 realtors and selected whom we would use to list and hopefully sell our house. This was on July 1st.
That evening, we had dinner with my parents to celebrate their 34th Wedding anniversary. It was at dinner that we told them that we would be putting our house on the market and after our house sold, begin hunting for our next house. (It was very important to Rob and I that we not get ahead of ourselves and look before we sold and end up with 2 mortgages).
However, my mom just had to mention that there was a house down the road from them that we might want to consider- it had 5 bedrooms and an in ground pool. Not to mention being in the same neighborhood as my parents.
So as we left that night, we went and looked. It was a for sale by owner and was everything that my mom had mentioned. On paper, it was the ideal home for our family.
We contacted the couple, saw the house, and began the process of a contingent sale.
Meanwhile, a mere 3 hours after our house went on the market, we had a showing and that same couple would then 12 days later put in an offer and buy our home :)
But while we were very interested in the first house we saw... it was made very clear that it was not the perfect home for us. And while we could have made it work, God had better plans for us.
We reached a point where we had to prayerfully consider what was the best interest of our family and our finances. And we were certain that we needed to not continue with the purchase of the house that we saw even if it meant not living in that neighborhood or having a pool (Side note... at this point House #1 was the only one we had looked at)
But where one door closes, another door opens and that is exactly what happened.
Another house in the neighborhood became for sale... and that is the house we bought. (The neighbor has only 40 house,all of which were custom built. There are 2 cul de sacs and only one entrance, so there is no through traffic. Not to mention it was near my parents, close to Madison's school and near by to McDonalds and a park)
House #2 was the perfect fit for our family (on paper and in real life).

We signed the purchase agreement at the beginning of August and officially moved in September 14th.
Its been a busy few weeks of unpacking and settling (along with continuing to travel for business, school activities, church commitment and other various obligations) but from the moment we turned the key in the door it felt like home.

So as they say on the TV show Extreme Makeover Home Edition.
Welcome home Sparkman family. Welcome Home!

Please enjoy the tour of our new home.

This is the FROG (Family Room Over the Garage). It has its own stair case and is the perfect location for a home office, drum set and sewing room. Not to mention and ideal place for guest to stay (Hint Hint In person is always a better tour then in pictures :)

 This is the garage door and the stairs that lead to the FROG. It is also connected the hallway that has our downstairs bathroom/laundry room.

 This is our Fire Place room. No TV allowed! Its a great place to gather as a family to read or play games.

 From the Fireplace room you can enter the kitchen or head toward the bathroom/ garage

 The windows look out to our back patio and our POOL (sorry no pictures of it in this post but its AWESOME)

 Our Kitchen and a glimpse of the screen in back porch.

 This is standing in the doorway of the dining room and you can see the whole kitchen and fire place room.

 More cabinets and a look at the front door

 Front hallway. You can walk directly from the front door through the kitchen, out to the back patio and straight to the pool.

 Our dining room. The double door way leads into the living room at the front of the house.

 Front Living Room- minus couches (which are coming this month)

At the front door (standing in the doorway of the living room).
As you can see, its a great floor plan. Easy to walk from room to room (or laps as Cooper does).

 Straight up the stairs and to the right are the kids bedrooms.
The kids bathroom is on the left hand side, Lillian is straight ahead (with the green room and tree, Madison is the corner bedroom and Cooper next door to that).

 As we began talking to the kids about our new home and making a list of what we wanted in our new home. Lillian only had 3 things on her list.
1. A green bedroom (her room was green in our old house and I was prepared to paint, but her new room was already the same green :)
2. A swimming pool (Check- and she can see it from her room)
3. Her own parking spot (she wanted to be able to get her bike and police car out without needing help.  Its not photographed but her police care and big wheel are parked on the screen in porch and have their own parking spots)

 She also wanted a tree and lollipop flowers

 Madison loves her pink bedspread and doing her homework at Opi's desk.

 She even has a chair for reading (and her room would not be complete without Daddy monkey and garage sale puppy.

Cooper's room is next. Just like Madison's room, he faces the front yard. While he is still sleeping in his crib (and will for a while). His big boy bed (complete with a new quilt made by Mama is ready and waiting for him- or guests :)

A look down the hallway from the kids room. At the end of the hall (left at the top of the stairs). Is the master bedroom

 Standing in the doorway of the master bedroom.

 The master bedroom (definitely a decoration in progress).
The door in the corner is Rob's closet and the picture is taken from the doorway of the master bathroom. I have my own closet next to the double sink vanity and there is a HUGE linen closet in the bathroom)

Missing pictures...
the front of the house and the pool- Sorry!
A post for another day.

Blessings to all and please come visit soon :)