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We went and bought a new vacuum today, since the old one pretty much gave out. I tried vacuuming after we took our tree down just after New Year's and I ended up having to basically pick up every single needle by hand since there was NO suction from the vacuum!! I knew it wasn't doing a great job but it had been doing decent enough for the time being.

So today after *ahem* 2 1/2 weeks of not vacuuming, mumble, mumble...(yeah, I know, pretty gross!), I busted out the awesome new vacuum. It's a Bissell Pet Hair Eraser bagless vacuum and it works so GREAT!!!!! I love it! It was not even half the price of my in-laws Dyson and I seriously think it works as good. I could not believe the look of the carpet and fresher smell after I got done in the living and dining rooms. I still have the bedrooms and playroom to do and am looking forward to how well it is going to get all the dog hair up from the playroom and the little rug in the laundry room where Buddy lays. To be honest, my boys have actually been pretty good about cleaning up food they drop and I've followed behind them and gotten most crumbs up, but this thing got every last crumb up!

Ok. Enough about the vacuum. Boring, huh? LOL. Such is the life of a stay at home mom sometimes. I get excited about new house-cleaning tools so I can do my job better, easier and faster. Next purchase I'd like to make is the Shark Steam mop and the other Shark Steam cleaner thing, the one you can use on all kinds of surfaces to deep clean without chemicals.

I found a great little shop that makes organic soaps and things and not terribly expensive. Back in October, E and I bought 2 bars of the soap and we just finished using up the last of the second bar. They were in the main bathroom and got used several times a day, with one in the shower for them to use also. Not only did they last forever, they smelled good and worked great. Even to the point of getting red/purple kool-aid mustaches off of Alex's with little to no scrubbing! Probably going to go over there this weekend and buy a few bars.

We are putting an offer on a house today. It's a short sale so we have to wait and see if the bank will accept our offer. It could take as long as several months and probably at least 45 days till we hear something.

Bad thing about the waiting is we have only about 6 weeks left on our lease. We can either do nothing and it automatically extends to the 13 month long option, giving us another 7 months to live here, or we can sign a new 6 month lease giving us exactly 6 months to live here, or a 3rd option of telling them we are moving out March 9th when the lease is up.

Option 3 is not happening.

Options 1 and 2 stink because we will be liable to pay for those months if we close on the house and move out, at least up until/if they rent the place out.

So we may end up paying for rent and a mortgage for a few months.

Which obviously stinks.

More about the house though. It's a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom manufactured home on a full basement, basically a ranch-style on a basement. It's approx. 1700 sq. ft. It has a 2 1/2 car attached garage. The basement is not finished but has glass block windows and a very high ceiling (re: 9-10 ft!) and will be getting finished hopefully fairly quickly, well a little at a time over the next couple of years. The boys will share a room and the 3rd bedroom will be a playroom for the time being till the basement is finished. It has a nice kitchen with a pantry closet, built-in microwave, and dishwasher. The living room is a little smaller than what we have now, but it has a coat closet (something we have been sorely lacking in every house we've lived in except 1) and a gas fireplace. The heat is a little different, it's electric baseboard with zoned heating, so no furnace at all just baseboard with a thermostat in every room. Whole house is electric, no gas which is fine with me. Master bedroom has an awesome bathroom with a jet tub and large stand-up shower, and separate room for the double sink/vanity. The computer will be in our room for the time being, but no biggie. The house has a well and septic tank and is on a dirt road but sits just a few hundred feet from a paved road which also happens to be the same road E's school is on!! So no switching schools and A would be able to go to full-day kindergarten! The yard is HUGE, 2 acres! with an above ground pool and small shed. There is also a sliding glass door in the dining room which leads to a composite, maintenance free deck. The garage has cabinets, countertop and a sink so Jason can work on the cars in a warm place and wash up out there! Really getting excited about it.