The post-Christmas journey home

The kids on the way back to New Jersey after 5 days at Mimi's house...they seem a little tired, don't they? And yes - that's all their loot from Santa, Mimi & Papaw!

a little morning zen

The morning was a bit stressful so the kids & I took a few deep breaths on the drive to school. And they took it a step further ... These two make me giggle even when I'm stressed!

How you do this

I'm not even sure what to make of this ... Marina entertaining us - or whatever you want to call it!

Dylan's favorite foods

I'm way overdue on posting anything ... so thought I'd start with a simple list of Dylan's favorite foods. Remember ... he's 5 years old.

1. Seared Tuna 
2. Crab Cakes
3. Salmon
4. Crab Legs
5. Grilled Shrimp
6. Portobella Mushroom & Spinach Salad
7. Caprese Salad
8. Sugar Snap Peas
9. California Rolls
10. Protein Bars

It looks like it should be my favorite list ... not Dylan's!!

C'mon Irene!

Life is strange!! We leave St. Simons Island - which is where hurricanes are somewhat expected, and we move to New Jersey (or currently in North Wilmington, DE) and get a hurricane. Crazy, right?

We were VERY fortunate and the storm lost strength by the time it reached us - we had minimal flooding, a few trees down and a couple of tornadoes in our area, but the Jaynes crew remained safe and dry! And well fed!! I cooked like a maniac on Friday on Saturday thinking we'd lose power any moment so basically all we've done is eat our way through this storm.

We did well - even Bryan who can't handle being cooped up for more than an hour or two. We REALLY wanted to go to a movie this afternoon but the theater was closed. I thought Bryan was going to cry!! However, we found a park that wasn't covered in mud so everyone was happy. Whew!

Here's one quick photo as the storm was just settling in (Friday) and a video of this kids this afternoon (Sunday) as we were running outside for the first time in 2 days!

sorry ... I can't figure out how to rotate the video! 

About 30 minutes after we went inside a bunch of these tree limbs came down.

We're hoping everyone else recovers quickly from Irene and so thankful we were so lucky!

Someone stole our house ...

Ok, maybe they didn't steal our house ... I guess they just took what was originally theirs. SO ANNOYING when people do that, isn't it?

It's a long story, but in a nutshell the house we bought had been built by another family on the contingency they sell their home. It didn't sell so the builder put the house on the market. We made an offer and it was accepted. Then - after we'd fallen in love - we found out the original family had a 72 hour right-of-first-refusal to make magic with their finances and complete the deal on the property. Say what??? We should have walked at that point, but didn't, we continued to fall more in love. The builder agent convinced us the house would be ours. However, at hour 71 - literally - the original buyers came through with their deal and we lost the house.

Insert loud BOOOOO here.

So, now we're working furiously to figure things out ... we're suffering from major house-search fatigue (this is the 2nd house we lost ... definitely not a buyer's market up here!). We are hoping to rent and give ourselves a little reprieve from the house hunt, get adjusted and not rush into a house. Then continue to look (when we're not so pressured), build, etc. Now we're having trouble getting a rental available when we want it ... apparently we're quite demanding!

That's the latest housing update. If we were to stay in this apartment (which is not going to happen) Dylan's school district would begin on Tuesday - less than 36 hours from when I'm typing this!) If we move to Swedesboro then he'll start on the 6th of September. We're not registered anywhere and mama needs a BREAK! So, fingers crossed the housing gods shine on us this week!!!

The gypsies have landed!!

We've been staying in a furnished condo in northern Wilmington, DE for the last 2 months. It's been great - like an extended vacation - but we're ready to get settled and start making 'home'. It took us 4 or 5 weeks to figure out what area we wanted to settle in and make home, but we finally decided that New Jersey - and close to Bryan's office - is going to e best for us. We probably looked at 20-25 houses in the last 3-4 weeks but finally decided on this on ... and we are THRILLED! New construction, 4 Bedrooms, playroom and an office! More space than we'll even know what to do with (especially coming from our summer condo!)

Supposed to close on September 16 ... can't get here fast enough!!

HOME SWEET HOME!!!

Entry Way

Family Room

Kitchen

Kitchen desk area (it has an office, too - I'm in heaven!)

Dining Room

Entry way

Living Room

This house is BEGGING for us to move in ... and for sod!

Sod please .... pretty please????

Master Bath

Dylan's Room

Kids' Bathroom - no more fighting over the sink!

One happy Bryan!