I just got back from a birthday party at Chuck E Cheese's. The moment the kids were invited I cringed. That place is every parent's nightmare, and yet somehow, it seems to be the "it" place for birthday parties (still). I thought these went out of fashion when the Pump it Ups and Houses of Bounce came into existence. Today I learned that I TOTALLY stand corrected.

I knew we were in trouble when we had to circle the parking lot multiple times to find a spot. Once we found a spot we were greeted by a line that went out the door--just to get in! Are you serious?! Once again, my spidey senses were telling me to RUN the heck out of there--to fake some kind of injury or ailment and drag my screaming children back to the car and to the safety of my cave-like apartment. But no, we waited, and waited, and waited. BTW, love how the red ropes and the teenage, pimple-ridden bouncer at the front of the line are meant to make you feel like you're getting into some posh Hollywood night club. They even have a clip board with a VIP list! I noticed how they sneered when I told them that the party we were attending was not "Chuck E. sanctioned," and was merely being held at a few booths in the outer limits of their exclusive VIP birthday lounge.

After they gave us our hand stamps to make us parents feel safe that no one will be able to walk out with our children--though there were a few times today I would have turned the other way had someone volunteered to take my sugar-laden children home with them--we proceeded to look for our party. We found it and both of my adorable children took off running in opposite directions. Good thing we had hand stamps! Never mind the pervs that could be lurking around eyeing my children, and pretending to be another frazzled parent. I panic in places like this! There is so much stinkin' sensory overload, and way too many funky smells around.

Lola would only resurface when she needed more tokens--and I only gave her one at a time--my way of keeping tabs on her. Noah was a different story all together. He wandered from game to game--asking for tokens at each one. He would insert the token, push a couple of buttons and then walk away while the game was still going. He also would sneak up behind kids while they were completely engrossed in their games and swipe their tickets, or join them in tossing balls or sit on their little ride--total free-loader and thief--made me proud.

Back to my ranting: there were lines for ALL the games--ALL. What is this place? Disneyland? There were also quite a few of these games that ate our tokens! Seriously lost quite a few, and I just felt like a fool looking for an employee in the sea of people to fetch me my lost token. I'm a grown woman for crying out loud! Not to mention that the minute you stepped away from a game there was someone right behind you waiting to take a turn. And speaking of being a grown woman--You would not believe the number of adults that were walking around flashing their wads of tickets, or playing these games--like with an intense, serious look on their face and all. I noticed this the last time I went to Chuck E Cheese's out in L.A. too. Some people take their ticket winning way too seriously and will beat you down if you even eye their monstrous pile of tickets funny. Really? This is how they choose to spend their time/money?It's the same feeling I get when I go to an amusement park and see grown men walking around flaunting their massive stuffed animals (that probably came from some sweat shop in China). News flash: There is no pride in you spending some ridiculous amount of money to win some cheap toy that is probably full of lead (cause you know how those Chinese are) and will most likely end up in a thrift store someday.

And don't even get me started on their pizza...If I ever run into that mouse in a dark alley he better run! I'm just saying...

Casa de Mitchell

So, we haven't officially gotten word back from the bank, but I'm just too excited to wait any longer! Besides, word from our lender is that the whole process is "looking phenomenal." We are getting close to closing this deal, and I'm gonna take a chance and trust God that things will turn out as they should (a.k.a. I get my house). A couple of things to keep in mind: 1) the house is not officially ours, but with a "phenomenal" outlook, how can it not be? and 2) The stuff in the pics belongs to the family currently living in the home. So, without further ado, I present, our little Ranchito de Mitchell I ain't too blog savvy, so let me fill you in on what you've seen above:

1. The outside of the house (obviously). It's on a corner lot, and I dare you to tell me it's not a cute lil' house!

2. Then there was the front room, or what some people refer to as the "formal living room." Ya'll better not expect to hang out here unless you're the president (well, maybe not even him) or some foreign dignitary.

3. Next is the family room. Cozy and comfy. Me likey.

4. Then you see the kitchen. Somewhat small--and the biggest reason we rejected this house the first time we saw it, but we've been able to figure out how to add counter space and make the seating less of a space-eater. Just wait till we show you!

This is the eating area. I'm not a big fan of eat-in kitchens, but there is definite room for expansion, and if we turn out to fall in love with the place and refuse to move ever, we will add on to this here cute lil' area.

The master bedroom, in all it's glory

One of the small bedrooms

The third bedroom--this will be the toy room until the kids get old enough to start hating each others guts.

Then you have the a-mazing backyard. This is my most favorite part, hands down. The covered patio is great and the amount of space the kids will have to run and play in is unbelievable! There is also a raised garden, a sand pit, and a giant throne hidden among the trees.

So, there it is. It grows on me a little bit more every time I glance at these pics. We can't wait to start packing and make this little house our own!

Jackpot!

So, you may have heard that we found a house we really liked--well, let me back up...we have found a lot of houses we really liked. We viewed 62 houses (some of them more than once) and placed offers on 5. We had a lot of rejections/outbidding-ness, and I was starting to get a little down--okay a WHOLE LOTTA down. Don't believe me? Ask my husband, my realtor, and my close friends who (on more than one occasion) have seen me break down and cry like a baby.

After my latest meltdown I came home and did a lot of pondering and praying, and kept getting the feeling that we should go back to see a house we had dismissed as being too small the first time around. It has the coolest backyard with tons of trees and a covered patio, but at 1300 square feet I just felt it wasn't big enough. The square footage of the lot is insane. The house itself, is little, but sufficient for our needs. So we made our poor realtor take us back for another look and Curran and I both felt that this was our home. The offer was accepted and we have had the paperwork submitted for the loan and have already taken care of the inspection.

I learned a lot through this whole house hunting process. I wont go into all the lessons learned, but I realized that I started to get a little caught up in the excitement and was looking for more house than was necessary. Then I thought back to those days, that seem so long ago now, before the idea of buying our first home even crossed our minds, and how insistent I was on having a big backyard and a little home. Little home = less for Carol to clean. I wanted something cozy and cute, and by golly I think we have found it!

I was postponing the posting of pictures because my biggest fear is that I will get ahead of myself and then find out that the financing fell through, aaaand since I waited so long, the pictures on all the real estate sites have been taken down since the house is officially under contract...sorry, or as Noah says: "wowwy." Guess this just means you'll have to come visit or be one of the lucky few to get an invite to the sweet house warming party I'm already planning in this giant noggin of mine!!

P.S. the pic is of an actual mailbox we saw at one of the many homes we viewed. The fish box was by far the coolest part of the whole house, or hole of a house, better stated.