A decision has been made . . .

 . . . and the ball is rolling. Now I just hope we can stay out of its' way and avoid being crushed!

While I was really unsure of our sanity, thinking about buying/selling/building in this market, we took the leap. And thus far, it looks like things are working out pretty well (knock wood, fingers/toes/eyes crossed).

We did a *bunch* of clean up and purge here, and put the house on the market. I was expecting a spring/summer full of following around the mess-makers constantly cleaning and clearing out with the girls for showings. Instead, we had our offer after just 10 days on the market! And so, we were under contract even before school let out. There has been the 'expected' craziness of inspections, etc, but so far it seems to be running according to plan.

Building is coming along too. I'm over the moon with the floorplan - maximizing the space we use (kitchen, girls' rooms), while eliminating spaces we don't (living room, sitting room in master). It also doesn't hurt my feelings that we're getting to choose all of the finishes - from cabinets to floors to brick and stone. All of that is a bit stressful too. We're hoping to be in this house for a long time (through the girls' college years, at least), so I definitely feel like there's a lot of pressure riding on getting these decisions right!

So . . . the floorplan:

We also eliminated the 2-story family room shown in the plan, in favor of a playroom (actually a 5th bedroom, since we added a closet and bath access).

I'll try to post a construction picture (we have a roof, and shingles, and most of our windows, etc) later, ideally with the girls in it too!

Speaking of the girls . . . they are SO excited for their new school! Both of them have repeatedly asked whether it's time to start school *yet* (moaned emphasis is ALL theirs). I love that we've been out of school for all of 3 weeks and they're ready to go back! Anna Claire actually started her 'back-to-school' countdown after just a week of summer break. That's my girl! Caroline has actually seen more of the school, since we enrolled her during the county-wide kindergarten enrollment time. She's had an orientation tour, story time in the library, climbed aboard a bus, and even a walk through the lunchline in the cafeteria. Anna Claire may not actually get into the building until their meet-and-greet time just before school starts. Thankfully she's incredibly adaptable, and her outgoing nature will make for an easy transtion, I expect.

As I'd said before, the new elementary school is much smaller than the old (public) school (not smaller than last year's teeny-tiny private school). It has a much more familial feel, and a substantial amount of history/tradition. I think they'll both love it in terms of community (as will I). I do still worry a bit about keeping up with Anna Claire's academics (seeing as she'll be starting 3rd grade having completed the entire standard curriculum already). She however, is determined that this is the right move for her. Who are we to argue? Not that I won't be monitoring closely though . . .. She will be in the gifted program again from the start (I clarified that she won't have to 'requalify' and will start from the 1st week), and her own personality of seeking out challenge will likely continue to serve her well. Not that Caroline won't present her own challenges, but they're at least a little more familiar to us now (reading before beginning kindergarten? We've been down this road before).

So, we have a busy 5 weeks of packing and moving ahead of us. Followed by 6 weeks in possibly close-quarters (my parents have graciously offered to let us stay there til construction is complete, the 1st week of September they're saying). It will be a challenging 3 months, but we are ALL looking forward to the end result!