Before pics of the house

The new (old) house that we bought "as is"

This is our new overwhelming project.  Yep, it really looks like that.  And believe me, it gets worse inside.

The original 1960 kitchen

We have a very long list of must dos for this house before it's ready to live in.  First, the exterior is getting a facelift - A new roof, new windows, and siding.  Oh, and we are making the house yellow with white trim and a black roof.  It will also get new exterior doors and a good grooming.

The Living Room

Next, the interior is getting all new hardwood flooring everywhere except the bathrooms.  The baths will get small mosaic floor tile.  The entire house will get repainted - ceilings, trim, walls, interior doors, closet interiors - everything. 

The guest/children's bathroom

The baths will get new fixtures and a good cleaning.  We will be adding new hardware on most of the doors, new closet systems to maximize storage, and a door into the back yard.

The playroom/schoolroom

We will be gutting the kitchen, running new electrical, adding new cabinets and counter tops, and purchasing appliances.

One of the bedrooms

The house will get mostly new light fixtures, outlets, and some updated molding as needed.  Whew, I'm just tired thinking about all of it!  But, when we finish we will have a cute home that will provide all of our needs for the next few years.  It will also be paid for.  We have a long list of other improvements that we are wanting to do, but they will have to wait.  Our main goal now is to get in and settled before the arrival of Lentz baby #4.

A new (old) house

Life is all about choices.  Some choices are simple and have little impact (like what to wear today). Other choices are huge, life altering decisions (like who to marry).  Lately, it seems we've had more than our share of the life-altering choices to make - having another baby, Scott going into full-time ministry, my choice to stay home with the littles.  It's these previous choices that have led to this new decision - moving to a new (old) home. 

We are downsizing, moving to the country, buying a fixer-upper, and making a life-altering choice.  We've been praying about this since Scott decided to go full time at the church.  We can afford our home but we can't really afford much else.  Our budget is extremely tight and we decided to try and reduce our monthly living expenses. 

When we started hunting for homes, I started praying for a very specific home.  I wanted a 4 bedroom, 2 bath home with a living room and a playroom, and a large yard in North Lee County.  And this was the biggest thing I wanted - I wanted it cheap enough that we could have no mortgage.  I know.  This was my "sun stand still" prayer. 

Now, God had blessed us tremendously over the last 15 years of marriage.  We have a nice chunk of equity in our current home and carry zero debt other than our mortgage.  No credit cards, no car payments, no student loans...that's all paid off.  But for us to continue to live debt free, we were either going to have to reduce our mortgage payment or earn more money.  We chose the somewhat radical step to live with less. 

We looked a lot of homes.  Small homes, old homes, new homes, homes in other areas - and after a while I was beginning to think that our home wasn't out there.  Then, we found this less than nice foreclosure that had a bit of possibility.  We walked through it and decided it would work.  It has 4 bedrooms although they are a bit small.  There are 2 baths although there is not really a master suite.  There is a living room, dining room and small kitchen.  There is also a utility room and a huge room that we can use as a school room.  It also has a large shop, huge yard and it's in Saltillo School district.  The downside is that it needs a ton of work.  The upside is that it has a great foundation and it was cheap enough that we will have some money to update it before we move in.  We won't be able to do everything we want right away, but we will be able to make it very comfy and cute and hopefully clutter-free.  

This will be our fifth move in 15 years.  More importantly, this will be our fourth home since Lyra Kate was born only four and a half years ago.  All three of our children have come home to a different house.  So will the new baby since we hope to move in by January.  We have much work to do over the next few months and we will still need to sell our current home, but hopefully within a year we will be completely debt free which is something when your our age.

I know this is may look like a step back to some people, but for us it really is a step forward.  We will have a home that suites our needs and no debt.  Anyway, I've always believed that a home is really made beautiful by the love you find inside it not by how it looks.

The end of an era

Lyra Kate in her first week of tennis lessons

There have been lots of changes around here lately.  This past June, Lyra Kate took her first sports lessons when she completed two weeks of tennis lessons.  This marked the end of an era here in the Land of Lentz.  What era am I referring to?  The era of quiet, slow weeks of being home inside our 4 walls.  I know, it doesn't sound like a big deal - but to me it was huge.  See, I've been holding back -  keeping all of us home, uncommitted to various activities for as long as I could.

Lyra Kate and her first day of Ballet

Childhood goes by so fast.  Before I know it, I'll be packing her up for college.  So, we've delayed getting involved in activities until this year.  She is only 4 and has many years left in childhood, but I still feel like we have shifted into a different time.  A time filled with soccer, ballet, recitals, and appointments.  A time of meeting new people, being in new situations, and trying new things.  I think these are all great and a necessary part of growing up, but I mourn the passage of the slow weeks at home where church and Kroger were are only outings in the week.

Lyra Kate on her first day of preschool lessons

So, we have added a few activities around here lately.  In August, we began Ballet and Tap lessons once a week.  She is really loving her class and can't wait to go each week.  We also began homeschool preschool lessons in September.  She is really enjoying those too.  She is very eager to learn.  We are also playing soccer this year.  This is challenging for Lyra Kate.  She is not aggressive.  She usually hangs back from the action during the games but she is improving.

Lyra Kate at her first soccer practice

So forgive me.  I know that this may seem like a silly thing to miss, but I really do miss when our life was activity free.  In a few more years, we will have multiple children in multiple activities and be impossibly "on the go!" For now, we will enjoy the newness of it all, as our little redhead takes her first steps into a big world.