The Koss' 4

How to Sell Your House in 4 Days Without Listing It.

2009-06-11T21:28:00.001-05:00

The following is our story of how God truly performed a miracle in our lives and has blessed us more than we can imagine. It all started about a year and a half ago when we found out I was pregnant with our second son Max, who is now 9 ½ months old. We live in a 2 bedroom townhome with a loft and were struggling to figure out how to accommodate our new addition in our limited space. We had talked about building the loft into a 3rd bedroom, but this would net us no more space and the loft was already full of furniture. The housing market was pretty rough at the time and we did not feel like the timing was right to sell. So, we converted the master closet into a “nursery” and bought an industrial clothing rack to hold our clothes, placed right in the middle of our bedroom. And, I started praying for a miracle. I wasn’t sure what was going to happen with our house or how long we would have to wait to sell, but I knew nothing would happen without God. I shared with the ladies at my MOMS table at church and they began praying alongside me. This past fall, August 2008, Max was born on the same day Steve started his MBA program and has quite enjoyed the comforts of his little closet nursery. But, as our oldest son is getting bigger, the crib he currently sleeps in is becoming a bit of a hazard. At 2 ½ he has yet to climb out, but has come close and it is time to make the transition to a big kid bed.

On June 3, I set up an appointment to meet with a local realtor to assess the current market for the sale of our home. During our appointment we were told that the average market time for home sales in our neighborhood was 6 months and only 3 homes have sold in the past 6 months. This same day, Steve opened a letter from a different realtor stating the following: “Dear Homeowner, I have a qualified buyer who is seeking to purchase either a 2 bedroom with loft or 3 bedroom home in your neighborhood. Please contact me if you would be interested in selling.” At first glance, we thought this was some sort of a gimmick. But, Steve had another realtor take a look at it and she thought it was legitimate.

On Thursday, June 4, Steve left this woman a message to call me and get some more information. When she called later that afternoon, we agreed to show our house to her clients on Friday afternoon. Friday was Steve’s regularly scheduled day off with his company’s compressed workweek for the summer. So, from 7:30pm Thursday night to 3:30 Friday afternoon, we worked our tails off to get our house “show ready.” This meant painting scuffed baseboards and all the marks on the main walls, decluttering even more from the shelves and our room, reorganizing furniture, and a bit of standard cleaning. On Saturday afternoon, we received a phone call asking if they could view the house again on Sunday after church. So, again, we spent the following afternoon into evening doing more cleaning, including washing windows, scrubbing out the bathtubs so they were sparkly white, washing doors, and Steve even took apart the outside lights to get them sparkly, too. All our efforts must have paid off because on Sunday afternoon, their realtor called with an offer.

Sunday, we were actually on our way to Iowa because Steve had a work commitment and I was tagging along to see old friends of ours. So, when we finished dinner with them and settled into the hotel, Steve and I began to put together our counteroffer. It was sent at about 11:30 on Sunday night and on Monday afternoon, I received a call saying that the clients had accepted our counter offer, and papers were signed when we returned from Iowa on Tuesday. Steve and I were flabbergasted and overwhelmed by the incredible timing of everything. Things moved so quickly that we were trying to get everything set up while out of town, but it all worked out. I like to think of all of this as Phase 1 of our miracle. We still need to work out the financing for closing and, more importantly, find a new home, by July 13. But, we feel that God handed us this opportunity and just asks that we continue to trust Him for what is yet to come.

To those of you who have prayed alongside us during the process, thank you for your support. It’s not over yet, and we are hopeful and expectant to see what else God has in store. This has truly been an experience of God’s mighty power, not our own efforts or something we could have orchestrated.

Spring is "almost" in the air...I think...

2009-04-28T19:40:00.002-05:00

So here is a little glimpse at what we've been up to this spring. And, the cute Easter photo for you, mom, to see...

Operation Status

2009-04-18T14:50:00.003-05:00

Okay, so it has been 3 weeks since commencing operation bride's maid dress. Not much is changing, leaving me searching for alternative options. So, since Max is now on the bottle, I decided to take my dental hygienist's advice and try a cleanse, or detox. She recommended one from Whole Foods and I picked it up the other day. Today is day 3 and the thing should definitely, definitely come with a warning. It should explicitly state that one should not plan on leaving the house for at least 3 hours every morning after taking the veggie tablets claiming to gently cleanse the colon. It has not made for a fun few days. Not sure if I'm going to finish, but I'm praying this helps. If only my knee was better and I could do this diet and exercise thing the healthy way!

Operation Bridesmaid Dress

2009-03-23T12:47:00.002-05:00

Here's the challenge. Seven months ago, I ordered a bridesmaid dress to be worn in May. Here is what I looked like 7 months ago...The dress still hasn't come in yet, but I ordered my "normal" size in it. I have no idea what my normal size is after 2 kids, but I am praying that the stupid thing fits when it finally shows up...Or I can find a really good girdle!

Time measured in laughter

2009-03-10T13:04:00.002-05:00

Okay, so as much "stuff" you put up with as a mom, it really is all worth it when you hear your kids laugh. Even if it is at 6:00am the morning after daylight saving, a smiling happy kid makes your frustration melt away and lifts your spirit. I have been blessed with 2 of the most amazing kids, ever! Seriously! They are the best kids and spending time with them is a blast. Sure, there are moments when I want to rip my hair out and gorge myself on M&M's. But, at the end of the day, when they are asleep, I have time to reflect on the things that get overlooked in the minutiae of everyday life. I am trying to enjoy each of my kids as they are and not get sucked in to the day to day frustrations. Here are some updated pics of my awesome kiddos! We'll try to get some better ones, like when Jed shakes his little baby booty to our fun dinner mix!

Happy Valentine's Day

2009-02-14T07:08:00.001-06:00

Spring is in the air!

2009-02-11T20:35:00.002-06:00

We got outside yesterday when it was an unseasonably warm 60 degrees! You can see the pond in the back is still frozen and there are still piles of snow, yet it was still warm enough for short sleeves! Crazy! Jed loved it.

Christmas Etc

2009-01-05T19:51:00.002-06:00

Once again Christmas has come and gone in an absolute whirlwind. What's left of it is toys scattered all over our living room, a few more pounds on Steve and I from too many cookies and treats, and wonderful memories of time spent with friends and family. Here are some snippets of our wonderful Christmas extravaganza...
Eew...Mommy Kisses!Playtime with cousin KayleeCookie baking with my sister Molly and my mom (we're making truffles and they are really messy!)The toy industry's crusade against parents.It's a good thing I have small fingers...And, Max sleeping in the bathtub while we had our friends from Michigan stay with us.

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow

2008-12-17T10:17:00.002-06:00

Well, after a slightly frustrating day including a rear-ending incident for Kate and near 2 hour commute home for Steve, we woke up to a beautifully snow covered world. I know I am a weirdo for actually loving winter in Chicago, but it probably is mainly due to the fact that 1) I don't commute to work, and 2) my mom would always get us up early after a good snow fall and take us sledding at Phillips Park. This was a winter snowfall tradition that she actually still maintains to this day. She called at 7:24am this morning to announce that she was out on the hills at 6am to ski. We converted to cross-country skiing as we got older. Anyway, last year I had gotten all of the necessary sledding accouterments for Jed to use this year so we would be ready to go at the first good snow. He was all bundled up with snow pants and his big puffy coat. His boots I found on clearance were just the right size. And, he was really excited to go play in the "no, no." Once Max was down for his morning nap, Jed and I bundled up and played in the "co, co no, no." That's Jed speak for cold snow. (We're working on completing words.) It was great to watch Jed try to climb back into his sled for more rides down the hill. Sorry, Steve, that you missed out on all our fun = )The snow was so deep that Jed had a hard time walking back up the hill. Plus, he had track side viewing of the trains.Time to come in. Jed tried to pull the sled all the way up...

Rock-a-baby

2008-12-09T07:17:00.002-06:00

Steve wants to make sure Max is well rounded in his hobbies.

Choo choo, car car

2008-11-18T19:40:00.002-06:00

Here are some photos of our big 2 year old's birthday party. I was feeling inspired by Food Network Challenge's cake competitions and decided to try my hand at using fondant. It was lots of fun and easier than trying to smooth out frosting. Our theme was loosely "Choo choo, Jed's 2!" The train on the cake actually moved! I was quite impressed with myself. Jed is all about things with "whee wheels."

Amazing 2 Year Old

2008-11-13T19:22:00.002-06:00

Well, this week we celebrated Jed's 2nd birthday. Wow has time flown by. Unfortunately I am still waiting on photos from the great event, but I will share them once I get them. It was a crazy weekend celebrating my Dad's 60th birthday and Maxton's baby dedication. But, it was wonderful to celebrate everything all together. Getting to my point for blogging tonight, though, is that Jed is much more attentive to our habits than I realized. We were having a rather hectic evening with getting the boys fed and Steve off to his group meeting. I came late to the dinner table and started to help Jed eat. Rather than taking the fork from me to take a bite, Jed grabbed my hand and then reached out to grab Steve's. He was indicating to us that we needed to pray for our dinner. In all of our hurrying to get everything else taken care of, we had forgotten to thank God for providing for us. The timing was uncanny in that I had just heard the state coordinator for Moms In Touch speak at our MOMS Meeting this morning. She talked about the importance of prayer in our lives and in that of our children. Even if it is just the habitual prayers that our children see us perform, they are still paying attention and we are instilling in them lifelong lessons. I was definitely blessed by my little 2 year old tonight in the midst of an otherwise chaotic evening.

Happy Boo Day - Delayed

2008-11-04T06:57:00.002-06:00

Okay, so I'm a bit behind with blogging, but wanted to make sure I blogged about the boys on Halloween. This was Max's first one and Jed's second. We decided that we would just stay around home this year instead of driving all over town to see both sets of grandparents like last year. So, most of the grandparents made it over to our house to see the kids. Steve's parents actually took Jed around for a little bit while I fed Max. Then, after we all had dinner, Steve and I took the boys back out for a little more fun. I was a little disappointed that there weren't more kids out, but apparently they all go across the street to the more expensive neighborhood where they give out whole candy bars. Jed still had a great time. He got the hang of it pretty early on, asking for "num nums" before we would even get to the door (trick-or-treat was a bit of a challenge for him to say). Then, he would get really excited if they let him choose his candy, sometimes grabbing a whole handful. People were really generous, though, because of the low turnout of kids. Jed made a killing in candy. Some of the houses gave Max some candy, too. He was asleep for most of our time out. Steve was quite the trooper carrying him the hold time. We decided it was more fun to do that than to bring the stroller. Once we got home, the boys got in their cute little matching pj's and, of course, we had to take more photos. And, wouldn't you know, they both slept super well. Max didn't wake up for a feeding until 2am (which is better than the usual 11pm) and Jed slept in until almost 9am (which is better than 7am). Sleeping in was sweet! Even if it meant 3 hours of sleep in a row instead of 2. Gotta love nursing! Hopefully I can get more sleep for this next big weekend.

Fall Favorites

2008-10-20T20:12:00.002-05:00

Fall is my favorite time of year. I can hardly wait for the heat of summer to fade and the leaves to start to change. It is so much fun to go to the apple orchard and pick fresh apples and pumpkins. This year, though, our attempts at getting to the orchard were over come by rain and our limited time schedule. So, Jewel Osco to the rescue for fresh Empire apples and a "Max-size" pumpkin. We went over to Steve's parents' house to carve up the pumpkin and enjoy a nice bonfire. It was a great night and the pumpkin seeds were terrific! I made up a batch of Chex Mix the next day and enjoyed looking out the window at the beautiful trees by the pond.
Jed was trying so hard to pick up the ginormous pumpkin. It was really cute!The pumpkin proved to be a problem even for Grandpa!It was really gooey inside. Gross!See, a Max-size pumpkin = ) My mom put my sister and I in pumpkins for our first fall seasons. I actually got stuck in mine and they had to cut it to get me out.
Jed's first bonfire with Grandpa Koss.

Are You Ready For Some Football?

2008-10-06T20:02:00.002-05:00

In honor of this year's football season, and the fact that Jed is now a big brother, my friend Britto had these great jerseys made up for the boys. Jed is Koss 1 and Max is Koss 2. While the numbers didn't make it into the brother photo, I chased Jed across the park and got a shot of #1. Maybe our boys will get some athleticism from Grandpa Koss, cause goodness knows they won't get it from me or Steve.

Arachnophobia

2008-09-24T20:56:00.002-05:00

Arachnophobia is something from which I have suffered since I was a kid. Sure, my friends and I enjoyed squirming through the early 90's movie glorifying these horrid creatures. But, I really can't stand them. Since living on my own, i.e. out of my dad's house, I have taken to enjoy killing them as I find them in my domicile. I yell at them and really give it to them good just to make sure they are dead. However, tonight I encountered something that I could not muster the courage to kill, especially barefoot in my pj's. I yelled for my fearless husband to please come to my rescue. I can't say that Steve was more than willing to come to my aid, but he had the cajones to take care of the problem. Seriously, this was the biggest spider either of us had encountered in a home in this country. The body alone was 1 inch long and almost 1/2 inch thick. The total width was close to 3 inches. Our number 1 question is, Where did it come from? How does something that large just appear in an upstairs bathroom not close to any doors or windows? Absolutely crazy and now I am totally squeamish and skiddish as I move throughout the house. Any idea what kind of a spider it could be? I decided that this was definitely blog-worhty. Well, I hope the rest of you can sleep soundly. I am going to try not to think about the studies that estimate how many spiders we swallow each year.

Brotherly Love

2008-09-23T15:13:00.002-05:00

Everyone has been asking how Jed is handling having a little brother. Well, Jed absolutely adores his baby brother. He asks about him when he wakes up and throughout the day. When Max is awake, Jed holds his arms out to hold him. So far, there is no animosity between the boys. We'll see how things go when Max is able to reach out and grab Jed's toys.

Never too early...

2008-09-03T20:00:00.002-05:00

...to encourage them in the right direction. We received this adorable blanket with the logo for Steve's company embroidered on it, along with a onesie Max will be able to wear when he gets a bit bigger. So, thanks, Stanley, for the great gifts. Max will wear them proudly.

Bath Time

2008-09-01T20:17:00.002-05:00

Max's first bath. He was not such a fan, even though we made it nice and warm. All nice and cozy and clean.

He's Here!

2008-08-23T20:55:00.004-05:00

Maxton Ryan was born at 20:55. Nice and healthy at 7-15lbs, 20 inches. Kate only had ~4 hours of labor and 10 minutes of pushing, much shorter and smoother than our experience with Jed. Everyone's doing well and we're very excited to add another one to the fold!

Nothin'!

2008-08-22T10:24:00.003-05:00

So, yet another due date of mine has come and gone with nothing to report. My uterus must be way to comfy for my kids to want to come out. Oh well. This gives us the flexibility to schedule an induction date around our new, crazy schedule since Steve started his MBA program last Saturday. We'll have an update soon with baby news, though, which is definitely a relief. We did a lot of hurry-up-and-wait prep work for the baby so I've had lots of time to relax and hang out with Jed. He's in for a big change, too, which will be interesting since he is becoming a 2 year old with personality and spunk. Enjoy your weekend and we will let you know when the baby is here = )

Embracing the Bump

2008-08-07T21:56:00.002-05:00

So, some have asked to see me embracing the bump. Here it is...not too bad for being 9 months pregnant = ) We are praying that this baby comes sooner rather than later, but are having to be patient as these things are out of our hands. Also, here is a funny picture of Jed who decided to wear his ties around the house after waking up with some pseudo rocker hair. Other than that, we are really just waiting for the new baby to join us. Waiting is no fun!

There's No Place Like Home

2008-07-24T22:08:00.003-05:00

Well, Steve and I returned a week ago from a week long vacation in Glen Arbor, Michigan, but it has taken almost that long to resume normal life. We went with Steve's parents and brothers and had a great time. The boys got to do all sorts of fun stuff like jet ski and kayak, both of which my doctor vetoed. Boo. Oh well. We did rent a pontoon boat for a couple of hours one day which I did get to participate in and it was a lot of fun. I didn't get to go tubing, but we got Jed out with Steve for a picture. Jed sort of overcame his fear of the water, but sitting on the shoreline was still a bit of a challenge because the water would get him unexpectedly. I was amused at his apprehension and tried to make him tough it out. After a week of sleeping in a very hard, very small, double bed, Steve and I could not wait to return to our nice cushy king bed that would accommodate all of the extra pillows and space I now take up in bed. Gotta love being pregnant! Here are just a couple of highlight pics from our trip.
This is what Jed saw every morning at breakfast and announced "Bo-boat!" with great excitement.Little daredevil kiddo, fully enjoying being in charge!We took a short trip up the road to visit a Maritime Museum and enjoy the shore of Lake Michigan. Jed refused to get near the water. Grandpa took a risk and put Jed in charge! Yikes!Oh yeah, the boys also got to go ATVing over the sand dunes. Yet another vetoed activity for the prego! Jed thought he might get a ride, but a picture is all he was allowed.

Independence Day

2008-07-07T13:30:00.002-05:00

Life is flying by and there are only 6 weeks left until our new little guy is expected to join us. It's hard to believe that it is already July, but we have been spending lots of time with friends and family and enjoying our first full summer home in 3 years. This past weekend was full of BBQ's and picnics, and keeping Jed up way too late at the Calvary Anniversary Picnic. I was talked into keeping him up to enjoy the outdoor concert and fireworks. He did great, but did not get to bed until almost 10pm, 3 full hours after his usual bedtime. Yikes! Oh well. I guess I need to loosen up a bit and enjoy these moments = ) Here are some snapshots from our weekend.

Jed swimming at friends, once we finally convinced him it was fun.
Jed and Steve in the petting zoo with Lindsay and Matthew Slezak.Jed on the Pony Ride.Jed on his new kiddie leash (Thanks, Toddling Twosome, for the great idea)Jed and Steve during the concert, which you can see really far into the background.This is the position Jed stayed in throughout the entire fireworks display. He was still awake, but a wee bit worried by all of the loud booms and pops.

It's All Happening At The Zoo

2008-06-02T10:57:00.004-05:00

This past week, before the weather heated up too much and the kids got out of school, my mom, sister, and I took the kids to Brookfield Zoo. We had beautiful, overcast weather and it only rained while we were in the dolphin show. The stroller dried off really quickly and we stayed comfortable during the whole day. It was such a busy day, too. Jed had a blast on the carousel, watching the dolphin show, and seeing the monkeys swinging through the trees. And, no one got crabby even without afternoon naps. Here are some snapshots of our day.Jed is completely in awe of the dolphins as they jump out of the water.We got to see the elephants ham it up for the crowds, showing of how they can play the harmonica and flap their ears.Jed is exhausted after a long day of fun!