House, pets, and taxes
We need to remodel our basement bathroom and get new carpet in the upstairs before we can get our house on the market. I called 3 different companies that do bathroom remodeling, one called me back and said he was too far away to make it work. The others haven't called me back yet, and it has been 4 business days. Yesterday I called the guy that did our kitchen to see if he did baths too...and he said sure! And he came out today and is putting together an estimate for us, and maybe can get started in the next couple of weeks!
It is so frustrating when you have money to give to people for doing work for you, and they don't want to call you back! UGH! At any rate, I am really excited to see what the estimate will be. I know it is going to look awesome because they have done a great job on everything so far.
We are trying to do this as cheap as we can, so I found a large vanity + countertop/sink + faucet on Craigslist for $35. I am hoping to pick that up in the next couple of days, and then we are going to use an old mirror that I had and just paint the frame and call it good. Can't beat $35 (plus maybe $10 for paint and another $10-15 for updated door and drawer pulls)! Considering you can buy a set brand new at Home Depot for $250 I think we will be doing OK. I'm not a huge fan of the color of the cabinet (it's natural oak), but we can possibly paint it or stain it or something. Or, you know, just leave it. Plus we have leftover tile from our kitchen project, and left over trim from our trim project, and we are going to do some demo ourselves. We are going to try to pay D and his friend to do some of it but we'll see if they actually want to do it or just get frustrated and give up.
M spent the night again last night. It went much better than last time. She actually knew what was going on and didn't seem so confused about stuff. She cried when I dropped her off at daycare. Actually she wrapped her legs around me and held tight with her arms so I had a difficult time getting disentangled! :( It was kind of sad, I'm not gonna lie. I get to pick her up this afternoon though so I can look forward to that!
In other news, D is apparently allergic to guinea pigs. So they took the pig back to Petco and exchanged it for a parakeet. And, bio mom is thinking of buying each of the little boys their own parakeets too. Just what every 2 and 4 year old need, a bird and a fish of their very own!
She also called me last night kind of mad because we had planned a trip in April over a weekend, so she would miss one visit but would be able to make it up. We just planned it in the last week or so, so it's not like we've been planning it for ages. We are only going because Brian's dad asked us to go, and the boys' "cousins" will be there too. She seems to think her rights are getting terminated in April (they aren't, at least not to my knowledge) so she wants to spend as much time with them as she can. Which I get that, but if the visit is getting made up then it is still the same amount of time!
Then she also asked me if I can make sure the boys wear "new" clothes on Saturday because they are going out to eat. Except that they go out to eat every visit...but anyway, I explained that I let the boys pick their own clothes but I will see if they will let me help them pick out something nice. The boys have "favorite" shirts they like to wear so they wear them over and over again while other clothes they have hardly ever get worn...I guess she must think they only have like 3 outfits. :)
Sometimes she just seems so weird!
ETA: Oh, the tax situation! I called the IRS to report fraud (that's what Turbo Tax said to do). The IRS said no, just go ahead and file our return on paper, we will get our refund back in 6-8 weeks, and then this fall they will send us and the person who claimed the kids a letter that says "Someone else has claimed these kids, if you did it in error go ahead and amend your return. If you did not do it in error, then do nothing." Then if nobody amends their return then it goes to an investigation unit and they figure out who had the right to claim the kids. So it sounds like a messy, drawn-out ordeal, but I don't think we'll have to really do anything since we are not the ones that made the mistake. We'll see I guess!
It is so frustrating when you have money to give to people for doing work for you, and they don't want to call you back! UGH! At any rate, I am really excited to see what the estimate will be. I know it is going to look awesome because they have done a great job on everything so far.
We are trying to do this as cheap as we can, so I found a large vanity + countertop/sink + faucet on Craigslist for $35. I am hoping to pick that up in the next couple of days, and then we are going to use an old mirror that I had and just paint the frame and call it good. Can't beat $35 (plus maybe $10 for paint and another $10-15 for updated door and drawer pulls)! Considering you can buy a set brand new at Home Depot for $250 I think we will be doing OK. I'm not a huge fan of the color of the cabinet (it's natural oak), but we can possibly paint it or stain it or something. Or, you know, just leave it. Plus we have leftover tile from our kitchen project, and left over trim from our trim project, and we are going to do some demo ourselves. We are going to try to pay D and his friend to do some of it but we'll see if they actually want to do it or just get frustrated and give up.
M spent the night again last night. It went much better than last time. She actually knew what was going on and didn't seem so confused about stuff. She cried when I dropped her off at daycare. Actually she wrapped her legs around me and held tight with her arms so I had a difficult time getting disentangled! :( It was kind of sad, I'm not gonna lie. I get to pick her up this afternoon though so I can look forward to that!
In other news, D is apparently allergic to guinea pigs. So they took the pig back to Petco and exchanged it for a parakeet. And, bio mom is thinking of buying each of the little boys their own parakeets too. Just what every 2 and 4 year old need, a bird and a fish of their very own!
She also called me last night kind of mad because we had planned a trip in April over a weekend, so she would miss one visit but would be able to make it up. We just planned it in the last week or so, so it's not like we've been planning it for ages. We are only going because Brian's dad asked us to go, and the boys' "cousins" will be there too. She seems to think her rights are getting terminated in April (they aren't, at least not to my knowledge) so she wants to spend as much time with them as she can. Which I get that, but if the visit is getting made up then it is still the same amount of time!
Then she also asked me if I can make sure the boys wear "new" clothes on Saturday because they are going out to eat. Except that they go out to eat every visit...but anyway, I explained that I let the boys pick their own clothes but I will see if they will let me help them pick out something nice. The boys have "favorite" shirts they like to wear so they wear them over and over again while other clothes they have hardly ever get worn...I guess she must think they only have like 3 outfits. :)
Sometimes she just seems so weird!
ETA: Oh, the tax situation! I called the IRS to report fraud (that's what Turbo Tax said to do). The IRS said no, just go ahead and file our return on paper, we will get our refund back in 6-8 weeks, and then this fall they will send us and the person who claimed the kids a letter that says "Someone else has claimed these kids, if you did it in error go ahead and amend your return. If you did not do it in error, then do nothing." Then if nobody amends their return then it goes to an investigation unit and they figure out who had the right to claim the kids. So it sounds like a messy, drawn-out ordeal, but I don't think we'll have to really do anything since we are not the ones that made the mistake. We'll see I guess!
Well that's cool about the refund! I've been waiting to get a letter back in the mail (I had to paper file this year) that says "someone else claimed them" but maybe I won't get anything until the fall...maybe it will be less complicated than I expected.
ReplyDeleteI’m confused… your allowed to claim foster kids on your taxes? I tried writing off just the daycare and I was told I wasn’t allowed to.
ReplyDeleteYes, you can claim foster kids if they have lived with you for more than 1/2 of the year (183 days). You can also claim their daycare expenses if YOU paid it and were not reimbursed. Our state pays for their daycare, but there is a small activity fee that the daycare charges, it's something like $12 per month, and we pay that out of our own pocket. We were able to claim the amount that we paid. It wasn't much but every bit helps! :)
DeleteSee http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p501.pdf, page 11, under Qualifying Child.