THE COST OF HOUSING IN BELLINGHAM. I COULDN'T AFFORD TO BUY A FIXER UPPER.

Christine and I took Daisy for a walk this evening. We walked through one of the developments up the hill from us. Christine took one of the info sheets on one of the houses for sale. I know the cost of housing in Bellingham is INSANE, but I wasn't expecting this house to be $326k. It's an average 3 bedroom two story house on a postage stamp lot. There is nothing that makes this house special. There is no view of the water, the mountains or the city. The view is of other houses and trees. A few years ago I was reading an article in Sunset Magazine. The title was, "The top ten cities to live in, in the U.S." Bellingham made the list. I know that people are moving here in swarms. The article said that Bellingham is an outdoor enthusiasts dream. I guess because Bellingham has it all. I never thought about it before I read the article, but it's true. We have the ocean for sailing, fishing, kayaking, diving or swimming. Nearby is Mt. Baker for skiing, hiking and camping. The lakes for boating, skiing, fishing and swimming. Oh yeah, and the inter-urban trail and many others for biking. You can do just about anything here. We also have some of the cleanest air in the U.S. My neighbors get upset when they see an article about Bellingham in a magazine. They don't like Bellingham being advertised as such a great place to live because they say that everyone will want to live here. Developers can't keep up with the housing demands. It all means that the cost of housing is not likely to go down, at least not in my lifetime. It makes it impossible for the average family to own their own home. It seems so unfair, but I guess that's the price you pay to live here in Bellingham.

We all love our swing set. Sometimes my girls don't realize how lucky they are.

click on pic to enlarge When it's not raining, outside is the place to be. Christine has several friends that live in apartments. They have no yard so they don't have swing sets or pools. It's part of the reason they love to come to our house. The other part is because they think Christine has a cool mom. I think she does too. I'm bragging just a little, but I do love doing things with the kids. A few of the parents I know could really care less about spending time with their kids. It really does break my heart.

MY MVP!

Our awesome basketball hoop. Chistine says she's outgrown this one. Yeah, I think I have too. She's been asking for the real portable hoop. She is amazing for a 9 year old. Half the time she beats me. Oh and you can see the grass that the girls dug up to plant flowers for me. It looks so nice now. They did a great job.

THE BARNYARD. CLICK ON PICTURES TO ENLARGE

-The garage (Ashley calls it the barn) - Home of 26 rabbits, 2 guinea pigs and 50 + birds. These animals are her project, but she is always asking for help. This next weekend she plans on building 8 cages that are 12 feet long for her birds. Of course she will need help, and building bird cages is exactly what I wanted to do all weekend. I just can't wait to get started! I'm kidding. She has spent close to $600.00 on the materials to make them. I say spending that much money on animals is insane. She needs to be saving that money for college. Maybe I'll post some pictures of the very expensive bird cages when they're done.

No pictures of the fish. We have a 30 gallon tank with a mix of fruit tetras, cat fish and more. -The Bunnies- A few of the rabbits. The grey ones on the left and in the picture with Ashley are Standard Chinchillas. The babies in the basket and the puff ball are Jersey Woolies. Nicole had Netherland Dwarfs, but she's not interested in rabbits anymore. Boys are number one on her list. She's too young! Ashley has other breeds but she doesn't raise them. She has a rabbit rescue and takes in rabbits that people no longer want. Daisy, our black lab. She is 7 years old and has been with us the longest. She is the BEST dog. I love taking her for walks, but sometimes she gets a little too excited and starts dragging me behind. -Sweet girl- -Quail and Chuckers-

That Cat!

Christine and Striker. We could not keep that cat out of our Christmas tree. When we saw the tree shaking we knew he was up to no good. He just liked to sit up there and look around. If he does it this Christmas our tree will be on it's side most of the time. He also liked chewing on the cords. Nothing like baby proofing your house for the cat.

Ashley's quail. She raises them and sells their eggs on the internet. I can't believe how many people e-mail her every day wanting to buy eggs. People from all over the country. I've gone to the post office a few times to pick up birds that she bought from someone in Indiana.

MOTHERS DAY

I'm not sure what it's going to be, but they have been digging now for two days. It was all grass before. Ashley has been asking me what I want for mothers day for the last week. I keep telling her that I don't need anything. I told her the only thing I could think of was flowers to plant. She told Christine she would pay her to help. I think it was like 15 cents an hour. Ashley and Christine usually go to their dad's house Sunday afternoons /evenings, but they wanted to stay home and spend the day with mom. I think it's great because for the last 4 years they have spent most of mothers day with their dad. I will post the after pictures when they are done. I hope it's not one of those start a project and finish it a year later jobs, we have enough of those going on around here. Anyway, this is the first year that they have done something for me for mothers day. They usually make me a card, but last year Ashley said she couldn't find the time to make one. I was a little bummed out about it. Maybe she's trying to make up for it this year. I'm excited to see what it looks like when it's done. Oh yeah, that is a clothes line on our porch. I usually hang everything out to dry, but I went to use the dryer about a month ago and it decided it was just too tired. Goodbye dryer. It's fine with me because I love hanging clothes on the line and very rarely did I use the dryer. Sometimes the girls complain about their jeans being so stiff from drying on the line. Toughen up girls. Hanging clothes and mowing the lawn are my favorite outside chores.

LAST TRIP TO GRANDMA'S HOUSE BEFORE SHE MOVED. MY CAR IS TRAINED TO TURN LEFT INTO THE PARKING LOT OF THE MOTEL.

Coloring Easter eggs My mom and her husband are completely moved out now. This was our last trip in April before they moved. They made the big move across the highway. Their property is right behind where we kept our horses for years. From their property you can look across and see the motel. How strange is that? I can't explain how it felt looking across the highway at my old house. We were there before Easter so we had an Easter egg hunt and the kids got Easter baskets from the Easter Bunny. I felt bad because Ashley didn't get to go with us. She had her break the week before so she was in school when we left. I know she wanted to go to grandma's one last time before they moved. A little story about the Easter Bunny. We brought Ashley back her Easter basket that we had made her. It was just like the others. The day before Easter we came home late. I don't usually leave so late in the day, but this time we did. Anyway, we got home around 10:00 and I had planned on hiding Ashley's basket outside so she could find it Easter morning. Just a few minutes after we got home Christine said, "mom I need to go to bed right now because if I don't the Easter Bunny will never come. " I said "well the Easter bunny brought you a basket at grandma's." She said that grandma had given the baskets to them and that the Easter bunny only comes on Easter. So I think to myself now what. I didn't have any basket planned for her and I would have to get everyone a basket for the next morning. Everything was closed except for the grocery stores, so at 12:30 I went to the store and bought baskets and the stuff to put in them. I came home and was putting candy in them and I thought to myself, "what if Christine comes out when I'm putting together Easter baskets?" I worry about the same thing on Christmas Eve when Santa comes. I finished and put the baskets in the back door. I would have hid them outside but the raccoons would have carried them away or made a mess of everything when they ate the candy. Not 5 seconds after I shut the door ,out came Christine, "mommy I had a bad dream." That was close. The next morning she's up bright and early to search for her basket. We all go outside and the first place she looks is in the back door. Sure enough she had found them. She turned to me and said, "mom why does the Easter Bunny always hide our baskets in the back door?" She says it's not any fun because she knows where they will be and she wanted to hunt for them. I told her that the Easter Bunny was probably worried about the raccoons taking their baskets, "Yeah," she says, "your right." So, this year they got double Easter baskets and candy. The Easter bunny is broke. I hope she believes in the Easter Bunny and Santa for years to come. Oh yeah, the Easter Bunny got to bed at 1:30 on Easter morning. I should be used to it by now. All those late night and middle of the night medicine runs for kids that get sick. We did have a good Easter and the girls had tons of candy. Easter baskets for Dakota, Christine and Nicole Christine loves feeding the chickens at grandma's Making molasses candy like they did on Little House on the Prairie. They had to substitute ice cubes for snow.

ASHLEY'S FIRST CAR -SHE GOT IT IN APRIL.

She's a lucky girl. I had to work for my first car. My choices were to either work for a car or continue to drive our Dodge Dart with the sweet vinyl top!!!! I chose to work for it, and I'm sure all of you would have done the same. Yep, that Dodge Dart was a beauty. NOT! Who is paying her car insurance and gas, her exceptionally nice mother. She just keeps getting more expensive by the hour. O.K., no more complaining. The nice thing about her having a car is that we no longer have to share mine. I was taking her to school every day. She has a break inbetween classes and she always wants to come home. I was picking her up at school and then taking her back because I needed the car. Plus all her other activities. That girl is busy all the time with meetings to go to, school, friends, shopping. I don't have to take her anywhere anymore. The first time she drove to Seattle alone I was worried. She has given me reason several times to fear for my life. She has been going to Everett, Monroe, Kent and pretty much anywhere she wants to go. She is burning through the fuel that's for sure. I'm not sure how much longer I can pay for her gas and insurance. I need to give her a little more responsibilty. My parents made me pay for my gas and insurance. I'm keeping my fingers crossed in hopes that she won't wipe someone out. She did a number on my front bumper about a year ago. I told her that the brake is not the gas and vice versa. It's good to know these things. :) Everyone have a good day!

KIM, JOSIE, MELANIE THEN -1984 AND NOW- 2006

WHERE DID THE TIME GO? (22 YEARS TO BE EXACT) WE HAD SO MUCH FUN TOGETHER! Click on picture for a larger view.