Miss Baby = Sweetness!

A few nights ago when putting Miss Baby to bed, she was leaning against me w/her head at my shoulder when she leaned a little away from me to look at me...she had such a serious face...then she leaned over and tried to give me a kiss for the first time...on the lips....ha ha...it was the sweetest thing. I encouraged her to kiss my cheek, she looked again at me very seriously and tried again for my mouth - she is a most incredibly sweet little girl!

She tried again today, this time for my cheek - an open lipped slobbery kiss from the sweetest little baby you can imagine.  Sigh.

Tonight when I put her to bed, as I laid her into the crib, I said "night night" - tonight, she replied "night night" with a precious smile. What a doll. A few nights back she was lying on the bed in her room as I changed her diaper and got her pjs on when CKB came in to say goodnight - as he left, I told her to tell Daddy "night night" - as he was closing the door, she said "night night" and waved in that adorable backward wave way that babies do when they're little.....our hearts were mush and continue to be so most of the time around this precious little girl!

Wonderful memories!

Gone Fishin'

Last Saturday we finally made good on our promise to take the children fishing.

After picking up a few supplies the evening before at our friendly, neighborhood Wal-mart, we embarked fairly early Saturday morning to a State Park for our fishing expedition. We haven't visited this State Park before and while we only went to a tiny section of it, we enjoyed our visit and plan to return again.

We found a "Kid Fishing Pond" for 16 and under w/parent assistance allowed in the area and thought it was the perfect spot to give the children a try at fishing that day. This was not the first experience they'd had with fishing, but it has been a little while.

Miss Baby doesn't look too happy here - maybe she knows *she* isn't going to be fishing today...poor girl!

Preparations ensued....

Miss Baby was entertained....

...and soon they were off and fishing...

Miss E ....

Miss A on the pier wondering when her fish would come in...

Mr. E getting some last minute coaching from his Daddy...

and Mr. A who fishes with much style....here's the windup.....

Often returning for help w/tangled lines or to get a new worm...yes, I helped put the worms on...as a mother of 5, it doesn't pay to be squeamish!

Here they are on the pier - I walked around to the other side w/Miss Baby in the stroller....

After a while here on the pier and surrounding areas, we moved to the other side of the pond....that's when the excitement started!

Fish # 1 was caught by...uh...Miss Baby, yes, that's right, because parents are only to assist, remember? And, well, I was assisting her....

Don't worry, it was too small to keep anyway!

Then, shortly thereafter, fish #2 was caught by Miss A!

Again, too small to keep, but what a thrill for Miss A to catch her first fish ever! Yay!

Then, as we were getting ready to leave.....fish #3 to a VERY excited Mr. E! His first fish to catch ever!

Does his Daddy look proud or what? :) Great job, Mr. E! Too small to keep, but that's ok :)

Then we began the walk back to the car and what's this? Wild blackberries? Hooray! We paused for a few mn. here.....

Picked a few for Miss Baby to enjoy - everyone else picked a few on their own :)

and then the rest of the walk back to the parking lot/van....(imagine music from "The Andy Griffith Show" here)

The ride home was pretty quiet....

Leaving the park....

and, finally, back at home - Miss Baby was glad to be released from the stroller/carseat....

All in all, a fantastic day w/the children. 2 of the 5 caught their own fish for the first time - yay! Everyone enjoyed the day...it wasn't TOO hot even though it was very hot...shade helped a lot...the girls got to pet a horse in the parking lot when we trekked up to the bathrooms...wild blackberries...no one else out there for most of the time we were there...and only one mishap w/a hook that thankfully wasn't too bad. Whew! I think we'll be going again soon...but this time....not only will I bring the sunscreen (no one got a sunburn!), but I will be getting some bug spray...we brought home one thing we didn't intend.....CHIGGERS. Soooo glad I didn't let Miss Baby out of the stroller while we were out there - I can't stand the thought of her being eaten up by those horrid bugs. I guess the children moved around more than CKB and I because we got the worst of them, but that's ok.  :) It was a great day :)

Did you know...it's National Iced Tea Day?

Who knew?

Now, enjoy this little diddy....some day I'll figure out why it's being chopped off on the right and I can't get it to resize - ugh.

Baby girl

Our baby girl is looking so big these days - she was playing on the floor w/Miss A and the kittens this morning and it hit me that I need to just keep my camera on hand ALL the time because she (and all the children, for that matter!) are growing up before my eyes....boo hoo!

Here's our precious little Miss!

Still looking....

The search continues for bath mats that will work in the girls' bathroom - we're looking for PINK to match the shower curtain as closely as possible - no larger than 30" wide (or 1 bath runner that's 60" wide)....seen any?

Here are a few things I've run across and considered...

http://www.kohls.com/kohlsStore/landingpages/bridalregistry/bath/bathrugs/print/PRD~621611/SONOMA+life+++style+Floral+Bath+Rug.jsp#

Not sure if the flower motif would go w/the shower curtain very well though....

http://www.kohls.com/kohlsStore/landingpages/bridalregistry/bath/bathrugs/print/PRD~642702/Concentric+Bath+Rug.jsp#

this is a bit brighter/more hot pink than I had in mind, but it's 20x30.... (but the price...ouch! I need 2 of them!)


http://www1.macys.com/catalog/product/index.ognc?ID=394302&CategoryID=46986

again, not the shade of pink, but the right size....argh!

then there was this one (sorry the others are all links, but I couldn't get the images to allow me to get a direct link to pull in the pictures!)

Not pink, but kind of the same theme....might be too much - which is why I was looking for solid pink....sigh.

So, I continue to search...and wonder....why on earth does the following even exist...?????

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B002UVBMAO/ref=asc_df_B002UVBMAO674873?smid=A3AKI07PAUNSNQ&tag=pgkitchen-mp-21&linkCode=asn&creative=7974&creativeASIN=B002UVBMAO

Decorating Begins!

I am not quite sure how it happened, except maybe a product of necessity - what am I talking about? Well, the decorating of this new house, of course!

The girls' bathroom needed a shower curtain and therefore it appears to be the first room in the house to be decorated in any sort of way....

Here is the shower curtain:

Now, that is not a picture of it in their bathroom, but a picture from the Wal-mart website.

So...now the next task at hand is to get bathmats - the girls have a double sink that measures approx. 60" wide. I looked at Wal-mart today and the only bath mats in any of the brands they carry come in 2 sizes - 21" x 34" and 34" x 40" - neither of these will work. A shame because they had the perfect color(s). Sigh.

So, I came home w/groceries instead of the bath mats we went hoping to procure today and I began searching online for options - my first stop was Bed, Bath and Beyond's site - didn't find much there and nothing in other sizes either - started to be concerned that we would not be able to find anything w/a max width of 30" and that whatever we got was going to look ridiculous b/c it wouldn't fit. I guess I was easily discouraged - SHAME ON ME - continued looking, for some reason I had a tab open on my browser for Macy's, you know I go there *all* the time, ha ha, and I looked there and was happy to find some mats that were 30" wide - HOPE REKINDLED - and now I have been searching on a lot of different sites and there are OPTIONS - hooray - MAYBE TOO MANY!  So, I will let you know when I decide on something.

I have NEVER truly done much decorating and have a bit of a spirit of fear about this - I want it to look nice, I don't want it to be overdone, I want it to look like someone who knew what they were doing, did it....anyone who has ooodles of free time and wants to offer up ideas/thoughts/suggestions, they are all welcome - thanks!

Anyway....we'll see how it all turns out....and if I ever get to the rest of the house - at this rate, one small bathroom is taking a bit longer than I expected, but then when you go shopping w/5 helpers, sometimes one store takes so long, you can't bear to go to another - especially in the TX heat that has beset us!

Kitty Update!

 The  crew and I took the kittens to the vet this morning - checkup went fine - both are boys. Poor Merry, having to go through life w/everyone thinking his name is "Mary" - oh well - maybe we'll just call him Meriadoc Brandybuck all the time.....nah.

Both weigh under 3 lbs. - weird to think about!

Both look great healthwise, had fleas - oh joy, now I itch every time I think about it, but they were given some sort of pill at the vet that was supposed to kill any fleas living on them, also have Frontline for preventative and bought some spray to hopefully make sure we don't have a big problem erupting in the house - sigh - I plan to spray it around tomorrow before we leave for piano - you're supposed to "leave the area for 1 hr. after application" -fun!

They both have worms - LOVE-LY - so I get to give them some medicine for 3 days a week each of the next 4 weeks....now how is a person who can't even remember to take vitamins supposed to remember that? Oh well, we'll do our best and the children will remind me - they're young and have a more elastic brain/memory than their dear ol' mama.

The vet we went to was ok...might try another one for the booster shots, but will see how things go w/the weigh ins each week for 4 weeks...did I not mention that? I have to take them in each Monday to check their weights so their dosage on the wormer medication can be adjusted.....fun!

All in all, things went well. The kittens are doing fine - the children enjoyed seeing the goats and birds and toad and fish and...well, you get the picture...it *was* a veterinarian's office after all....today and now the kittens are in their room and the children are all in bed.

It doesn't get much better than this....

Last night after putting Miss Baby to bed, I came by the boys' room to say goodnight and as I walked in, I could hear CKB was telling a story to them, I didn't catch what it was about until I'd gotten almost to Mr. A's bed and was saying a quick goodnight so I wouldn't interrupt whatever tale CKB was in the middle of.

As I approached Mr. A's bed, I heard "Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego" from CKB, then he paused while I said goodnight to the boys quickly -

I thought he was telling them more from his story he's made up for the boys that involves knights and dragons and such, but instead he was telling them the account of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

After giving Mr. A a kiss and hug, I was walking toward Mr. E to tell him goodnight, when Mr. A impatiently said "What happened next, Daddy???"

:)

I thought to myself, it doesn't get much better than this :) The boys were completely absorbed in hearing an account from the Bible, not asking for stories of dragon slayers, not talking about video games, but listening and learning from their Daddy about the deliverance of those 3 men - it doesn't get much better than this :)


Daniel 3

1	Nebuchadnez'zar the king made an image of gold, whose height was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof six cubits: he set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon.
2	Then Nebuchadnez'zar the king sent to gather together the princes, the governors, and the captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counselors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, to come to the dedication of the image which Nebuchadnez'zar the king had set up.
3	Then the princes, the governors, and captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counselors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, were gathered together unto the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnez'zar the king had set up; and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnez'zar had set up.
4	Then a herald cried aloud, To you it is commanded, O people, nations, and languages,
5	that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of music, ye fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnez'zar the king hath set up:
6	and whoso falleth not down and worshippeth shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.
7	Therefore at that time, when all the people heard the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and all kinds of music, all the people, the nations, and the languages, fell down and worshipped the golden image that Nebuchadnez'zar the king had set up.
8	¶ Wherefore at that time certain Chalde'ans came near, and accused the Jews.
9	They spake and said to the king Nebuchadnez'zar, O king, live for ever.
10	Thou, O king, hast made a decree, that every man that shall hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of music, shall fall down and worship the golden image:
11	and whoso falleth not down and worshippeth, that he should be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.
12	There are certain Jews whom thou hast set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed'nego; these men, O king, have not regarded thee: they serve not thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.
13	¶ Then Nebuchadnez'zar in his rage and fury commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed'nego. Then they brought these men before the king.
14	Nebuchadnez'zar spake and said unto them, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed'nego? do not ye serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up?
15	Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of music, ye fall down and worship the image which I have made; well: but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?
16	¶ Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed'nego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnez'zar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter.
17	If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.
18	But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.
19	¶ Then was Nebuchadnez'zar full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed'nego: therefore he spake, and commanded that they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it was wont to be heated.
20	And he commanded the most mighty men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed'nego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace.
21	Then these men were bound in their coats, their hose, and their hats, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.
22	Therefore because the king's commandment was urgent, and the furnace exceeding hot, the flame of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed'nego.
23	And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed'nego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.
24	¶ Then Nebuchadnez'zar the king was astonished, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counselors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king.
25	He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.
26	¶ Then Nebuchadnez'zar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, and spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed'nego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth, and come hither. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed'nego, came forth of the midst of the fire.
27	And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king's counselors, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was a hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them.
28	Then Nebuchadnez'zar spake, and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed'nego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king's word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God.
29	Therefore I make a decree, That every people, nation, and language, which speak any thing amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed'nego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill; because there is no other God that can deliver after this sort.
30	Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed'nego, in the province of Babylon.

Moving isn't everything these days - what's been going on w/us....

Well, the move is still on - sort of....everything is out of the old house, but we're not done there yet, unfortunately.

The cleaning crew came and cleaned inside the house - in the process somehow the baby gate on the hallway ended up off the wall and in the garage leaving a chunk missing from the wall...um....hello? The gates were there when we moved in and we intended to leave them right where we found them (and used them a lot in the past 3 years). So, I have that little issue to deal w/with the cleaning folks as well as the fact that they did not clean the attached garage, which should have been included in the cleaning. I'm waiting on a call to tell me what day they plan to go back out and take care of that. Fun.

The day after the cleaning crew was there, the carpet folks came - grape slush stain - annihilated - hooray! The carpet looks fabulous - better than when we moved in which is amazing - I am sooo thankful for this - the crazy house had carpet under the dining room table - think 5 children - wet fruit loops coming in contact w/light beige carpet.....ketchup spills....you name it, it happened. Yay for the carpet people - totally worth the money.

The yard guy did his thing last week and should be back next week for an extra mowing just to make sure things look good for our final exit. The heat is starting to take its toll though - the yard was looking great about 2 weeks ago and today when I went by, I saw some burnt areas - sigh - scheduled the sprinkler to run and took off.

I will be going back tomorrow to set out the recycling bin that is full of cardboard boxes and replace a few lightbulbs that have gone out in the past few weeks during the moving process and leaving the extras there. Also, weeding the flower bed and spreading the one bag of mulch we had left over there around and that's IT - I'm soooo tired of fooling w/that house at this point. If we get any of our deposit back, great, if we don't, well, I can't say it's not from trying to do our best to leave the house in as good a shape as we were able to.

Now, on to more cheery things - the new house.....is a mess.  :) I've been spending so much time going back and forth to the old house to do things that nothing has been getting done at the new house - FRUSTRATING - but soon, soon, we'll be done w/the old house and I can get working on the new one. I did buy a shower curtain for the girls' bathroom - that's something, right?  :) And today at Walmart the girls and I decided on the rest of the color scheme for their bathroom - now, to implement it! Sometime....and the boys' bathroom...and the hall bathroom and ours....well, they'll wait for a bit I guess....

Even more fun - I found out last night that the local library was having a book sale - so I added that to our list of things to do today and we went - got library cards while we were there and perused the sale - we found some goodies and brought home a bag of books for a whopping $5 - fantastic! The girls were thrilled to find some Boxcar Children books - a few piano books, also a few Nancy Drew, and some American Girl books as well - the boys picked up some as well and I got some books for school - never can have too many books, we say!

So, that's the long and short of it for us the past few days....what's been going on w/you?

Mr. A is 4 years old!

Mr. A is now 4 - where does the time go to? When we moved from So. TX, he was just a tiny baby - I can't believe it's been 4 years already.

He is a BUNDLE of energy...has a great deal of lung power, ie, VOLUME and doesn't let any of his older siblings push him around. He is a MESS, but a good one. He is ALL boy and ALL sweetness. He is a delight to us all - Happy Birthday My Sweet Boy!

The cake...and no, I can't take credit for this one - the bakery at Target fixed it up for us...

 Mr. A checking things out from one angle.....

 ...and then the other.....

 Mr. A:  "Looks good, thanks Mama and Daddy!"

 Time to blow out the candles...candle....hey, we just moved, I was glad to remember to get a candle at the store! I won't even tell you how we got it lit without matches...ahem.

 Miss Baby enjoying some cake!

 Whoa, an Iron Man mask! (the children have not seen Iron Man 1 or 2, but the mask looked pretty cool at the store, and, well, here 'tis!)  Doesn't Mr. A look....less than frightening?  :)

 Mr. A - "neat, Bumblebee!"
Miss A - "ha ha ha ha"

Hmm, not to take away from Mr. A here, but what IS Miss A laughing and pointing at?

 OH MY!

 Now THAT is a bit scarey.....I don't remember Iron Man having a beard...and...glasses...ahem.

 Aren't these expressions PRICELESS???????

 Mr. A: "Whoa!!!  An RC RC!"

(We can't wait for Toy Story 3)

 Ta-da! Birthday present time is over, TIME TO PLAY!
Now, what about that basketball....for some reason when we asked Mr. A what he'd like for his bday, he just popped off with "a basketball" - uh....o.k.
And that little red/black thing on the table....his VERY OWN wallet :) He wanted to be just like his Daddy and big brother :) Sweet!

 HAPPY BIRTHDAY MR. A!!!!

Well, since you're obviously on pins and needles re: my laundry room attraction...

I posted the other day re: why my laundry room has been so full lately...of company....and here's the reason why.....

In a fit of insanity....or something....we brought home these 2 little sweeties last weekend.


Since I never went to vet school, I do not pretend to be sure if they are boys or girls, but maintain that they are, indeed, boys or girls....or one of each....whatever, the vet can tell me for sure....I have my suspicions.

They are named:

Orange - Merry

Black tabby - Pippin

and no, NO ONE here likes the LOTR Trilogy. Nope, no one.

Since they entered the house, and later the confines of the laundry room to be sure they were on their P's and Q's re: litter box 101, it's been a very popular place.

Now, if only I could get the children to do a load of laundry w/every visit....but then they'd have to be tall enough to get the clothes out of the washer...and I'd have to trust them to treat stains properly...and....well...nevermind.

I'm a hypocrite, hear me ROAR!

O.K. I think...maybe...perhaps...possibly...I'm going to (gulp) sign up on.....Facebook....

Ok, Ok, get off the floor and back into your chair....geesh, I could hear the thud all the way over here!

Yes, I know, I have long talked of my dislike, nay, disdain of said venue, moaned and groaned about how no one really communicates any more, EXCEPT on Facebook....been upset to find out information about close kindred that was posted to the world on Facebook and never told to me by said kinsmen, but then who am I.....hmm, getting too philosophical here....back to it.....said I would N-E-V-E-R get on Facebook.....and now....for reasons that I will keep to myself, because come on, you have to keep some things to yourself, right? I am considering.....thinking about.....might....sign onto Facebook. So....all you Facebookites, share your tips and tricks to get me up to speed on how it all works and I'll be grateful because you know I don't like things to be too difficult and good grief, it's not like I have tons of time on my hands....

Sigh.

I don't know what will come of it. Probably nothing. I will have 0 friends, to be sure, no one will want to 'be my friend" - I will no doubt.....diminish, and go into the West, and remain CAB.

I've never had so much company in the laundry room before....

Can you guess why?

Where have we been?

Well, here, there, and yonder, but tonight we will head out to a local church building for the girls to have their Spring Piano Recital!

Miss E has the honor of being selected to play "The Star Spangled Banner" to open the recital.

Miss A is a few pieces down from the beginning with her "Harmonica Medley" consisting of "O When the Saints" and "America".

She is self-taught on the harmonica and her teacher graciously agreed to let Miss A play at the piano recital!

Miss E is playing 2 pieces that she composed - "Spooky Attic" and "Waltzing Fairies" - then another later on by Bach, "Minuet",  and toward the end of the program, "Minuet in G Major" by Bach also.

Miss A is also playing a piece she composed, "Quiet Moonlight" and then later in the program will play "Sonatina for a Wooly Worm" by Samuel A. Ward.

The girls will be giving short speeches preceding each of their pieces to share a bit about the composers. They have been practicing them the past few days and I think they are going to do very well.

I soooooo wish I knew what I did w/the video camera when I packed up the house last week. I should've known. Thankfully the piano teacher's husband is supposed to be videoing it - I hope it won't be long 'til we get a copy!

In other news, we're mostly moved in - we are certainly moved in as far as living in the new house, but we do still have some things at the old house, mostly stuff in the garage and back yard. We might be able to go and get the rest tomorrow, Saturday, but it will depend on if we can find anyone to help CKB lift the heavy stuff from the back. We'll see.

That's all I have time for right now - we've been busy, are busy, and no doubt will continue to BE busy! What have you been up to?

Camping Out - what else do you do the first night in a new house?

As we'd promised the children, we camped out in the new house the night of closing.

And, what else do you do in an empty house? Bring along the laptop and a movie to watch before bed!
Miss Baby was already asleep in her pack 'n play when this picture was taken - camping out is one of the children's favorite activities...we'll see how they like real camping when we finally get around to planning a trip to do so!

And, just so you know....camping out...on the floor...is for young children...not grown adults....and, well, even with a brand new air mattress it isn't that comfortable - I think we got a dud, it was deflating throughout the night - oh, my poor back/neck/shoulders....well, you get the picture. Needless to say, we slept in the old house last night and it was sooo good to be back in my own bed! No more sleeping at the new house until the beds are moved over!

Closing Day on the House - everything's an adventure!

Well, I finally broke down and asked a friend w/3 children of her own and one due in July if she'd be so incredibly fabulous and kind as to watch my 5 as well for a few hours while I went to the closing. She very graciously agreed - I owe her BIG!

I headed off to the closing and got there right on time - an hour drive - CKB had just pulled in the parking lot before I did, perfect timing :)

We headed into the building where our realtor was waiting for us. She is a very sweet lady who has persevered with us for a couple of years while we looked and looked off and on, changed our minds a few times about what we wanted to look at, revised our real estate searches, etc. etc. etc. and finally it was coming to fruition - all her hard work would finally pay off, literally, and she even brought us a gift for our new home - what a sweet gesture!

Closing, or as I like to think of it as "How to Ruin Your Lovely Signature in Just Under an Hour" - took....just under an hour.  :)

Since I'd allowed for it to take 2 hours with my very kind friend, plus an hour's drive time there and an hour back, I felt comfortable grabbing a quick bite to eat w/CKB to celebrate and it was lunchtime after all. We went to a restaurant just down the street that was touted as being "very nice" by our closing person...not sure what her title was, but she was not the person we'd been working with to get the paperwork done all along.

She was right, it was a very nice place and we enjoyed a fantastic lunch. We don't often eat a quiet meal, just the two of us and since we planned to celebrate w/the children later in the day, we didn't feel tooooo guilty :)

We finished lunch in just under an hour as well and CKB headed back to work as I headed back to the house, intending to swing by and get the keys to the house on the way. Well, the best laid plans, right? I got a flat tire as I was driving along....oh joy....I pulled off on the side of the very busy road I was traveling down and got out the air compressor/pump/whatever it is and commenced airing up the tire intending to go down to the next turn and get some Fix a Flat so I could get home. 5 - 10 - 15 mn. later and the tire was not inflating. Fabulous. I called and talked to CKB about it and then called roadside assistance - estimate 30 mn. 'til someone would be there. Fun. Called my friend at the house and told her what was going on - turns out she needed to be somewhere at 3:45.....yikes....told her I hoped to be back on the road soon and how incredibly sorry I was for the delay. Tow truck guy showed up in about 10 mn. and changed the tire quickly, aired up the spare, and I was on my way.

Now lest you think I just call roadside assistance any old time, I will take this opportunity to inform you that my Dad taught me how to change a tire way back when and I would've done it myself if it wasn't for a couple of factors...1. I couldn't get the lugnuts off - they were too tight...ahem...and 2. People were flying down this highway/road at over 60 miles an hour right alongside the shoulder where I was parked and I didn't relish the thought of becoming a human pancake.

'nuf said

So....back on the road, racing home at a riveting 50 mph because I don't want the donut to explode and finally get home, in the nick of time for said friend and her 3 child crew to head out and get to where they needed to be just in time.

WHEW.

CKB got the keys on his way home, we met him at the new house and the rest will be in another post.  :)

Shopping for a new refrigerator - a day long journey

Well, we spent the better part of the day shopping for a new fridge and finally found the one we wanted.

We started at Lowe's and looked at the french door top/freezer bottom type.
Then looked at the side by sides briefly before looking at the freezer on top, fridge on bottom, standard type.

We compared sizes, noting that the side by side generally gave us more cubic feet, but I questioned whether or not we truly were gaining anything since they all pretty much had the ice maker in them w/the water/ice dispenser and that seemed to take up a ton of space (like the one we have currently).

We looked at the french door on top/freezer on bottom some more and decided against them - a few reasons why:

1. price
2. the children are young (9, 8, 6, 4, 1) and in the interest of self-sufficiency at times they need to be able to access things in the fridge - if the fridge is up top/high they can't reach most everything in there.
3. I didn't like how much I had to lean over to get things in the freezer area.

So....after looking, we left and went to Best Buy to compare models, etc. Very disappointed w/the selection there, didn't stay long. Also, a delivery fee on top of the price of the fridge.

Then, we went to Home Depot. Started feeling like we were getting closer to a decision, but I confess, I started waffling a little and leaning back toward the side by side again - the in door water dispenser/ice dispenser IS nice. BUT, we do have a water cooler thingamajig that you put the 5 or 3 gallon jugs of water on top of and then can get hot, room temp or cold water from....the water line on the back of our side by side was destroyed when we moved 3 years ago and we got the water cooler then - so we could still use it and just wouldn't have the crushed ice option. Just about decided on a freezer top/fridge bottom, but weren't sure so we decided one more stop.

Went to the SEARS appliance center (mind you, these are all either in the same shopping center or on the opposite side of the road in another center, so we weren't traveling far - thank goodness, BUT were taking 5 children in/out of each of these places and probably had about 5 potty trips all together - I so need to find a nanny/sitter/etc. that I can count on being there when I need her!).

So, in SEARS, we were pretty much leaning toward a freezer top/fridge bottom - had the salesman see when they could get it for us - found out it would be an additional $35 for the ice maker and then $65 more for delivery which impacted the price considerably - guy said they could get it to us in a week, we really were hoping for Tuesday - we close on our house Monday and are very much ready to be in it already! We decided to take one more look back at Lowe's at one that was very similar to the one we had looked at in SEARS.

Got back to Lowe's - looked at said fridge, salesman came up to see if we had questions - asked about delivery - FREE. He told us that the one we were looking at was actually being clearanced out - he'd been looking into it for a guy earlier that day - and it would be 10% off. That sounded good. We had looked online before arriving at the store that morning and seen a coupon for 10% off for moving and asked if it'd be possible to use that since I hadn't printed it out - he said, let me see. He came back, said "How about we just make it 20% off?"

Guess what's to be delivered at our new house on Tuesday?

So, we ended up going with the freezer on top/ fridge on bottom.

Here's why -

1. price
2. ease of access for children
3. wider shelves - I usually buy about 4 gallons of milk at a time and was hard pressed to fit them and juice and whatever other drink we might like to have on hand on those narrow shelves in the side by side.
4. Don't really *need* the on door ice/water dispenser - it will have an ice maker inside and we have the water cooler. No crushed ice for me, but that's ok.

Did anyone actually read this? :) Maybe in another 10 years, if this one conks out, we'll consider the freezer at the bottom model since the children will be taller then ;)




What style fridge do you have and what do you like/dislike about it?

 

Flip flops or sandals?

Such a dilemna - I see so many cute pairs of flip flops (I even finally let the girls get a pair - of course everywhere we go they are constantly stopping because the flip flops are flying off their feet - I knew that would happen....), but I just can't bring myself to get any. I have tried them before, and my big toe and its neighbor have had to stand up for the skin between and "Just say no!" - they hurt!

I honestly don't know how folks can wear them....but I see them EV-ERY-WHERE - so I guess other folks just have tougher feet or enjoy foot pain...or something!

Anyway, it came up again yesterday when I went sandal shopping and I just thought y'all would want to know ;)

Times...they are a changin'

Sigh. Today I sold our double stroller. We hardly ever used it when I got it about 6 years ago and with our move coming up, it was time. The girl who bought it has a 5 mo. old and her Mom watches a 1 year old as well. I hope they will get a lot of use out of it.

My babies are growing up...sniff sniff.

Monday, Monday...

We got word yesterday that we should be able to close on the new house on Monday! Hurray! Now, we'll see if that pans out, still a few details to work out, like finding a sitter for the children Monday, making sure CKB can get off work for a few hours, etc. etc. Nothing is ever simple :)

Dancing with the Stars

If you're a fan of this show, well, this probably isn't the blog post for you so just go on and leave right now before you get your dander up or whatever that expression is....

The other night, we were getting the children ready for bed and before heading out of the den, Miss Baby flipped the tv on - since we were planning to watch something when we came back, we just left it on. After getting Miss Baby in bed, I came back in the den only to find "Dancing with the Stars" was coming to an end. I do not watch this show, nor have the slightest interest in it and quite frankly couldn't even tell who the "stars" were when they panned over the "contestants" that night.

I will say this about the show however....it is a shame that one woman in particular, I have no idea what her name is/was, felt it necessary to display practically her entire body to the world on national tv in the most ridiculous get up that could even deign to be described as a "dress" that I think I've ever seen. And it didn't appear that this past week was the only outfit she'd worn of the type as apparently she and her partner were leaving the show and they showed short clips from shows past and just about every other outfit was extremely revealing as well.

What has happened to modesty? Do people even think when they look in the mirror any more about how they appear? What their clothing says to those who see them?

Anyway, lesson learned - don't just leave the tv on - you never know what might come on, even a primetime network channel which used to be a lot safer of a thing to watch. I'm very glad the children were in their rooms and didn't wander in and see the "half naked" woman on tv. I can only imagine the questions and comments that would've ensued from seeing such a display.

Vacuuming - what a delight!

Today we have someone coming out from the rental company to peruse the property and put the lockbox on the front door. Thus begins the unpleasant time. Any day of the week, just about any time of day, someone could be coming to see the house. We will get a "courtesy call" with as much notice as possible - maybe a couple of hours, maybe not even that much, before said people show up.

Then, I have to decide, to leave or not to leave. I detest having people in the house w/o us here. As Miss A said this morning - what if they steal something? Well, that's the risk we take. I soooo look forward to owning our own home again. Of course, whenever we would sell that home, we'd have to go through this again, just for selling, but still.

Being here is a pain because I feel self-conscious about the state of the house - all the "stuff" - etc.
Leaving, I worry about what's going on here while we're away.

When we were looking for a house and going to see one, one of the children started to go toward the toys in the house we were looking at. We told said child not to touch, that those were not our toys. The realtor showing us the house, contradicted us and said "Oh, it's ok, go ahead and play" - uh...no, I don't think so.

So....anyway. I spent part of the morning vacuuming the entire house and cleaning a bathroom....now to clean off the table from breakfast and put up laundry from the den. Miss Baby is napping now and as soon as those 2 things are done, and she wakes up, we are leaving and I'm going to try not to worry about this person coming into the house.

Can we please have our closing date and move already? Please?  :) Soon, I hope.

Just for fun - Homeschoolers "I Will Survive"

This made me chuckle - we're taking a semi-break today and yesterday from everything but History, Geography, Literature, and Art and found this video from some homeschool Moms funny - enjoy!

Here's the direct link in case too much of it is being chopped off on the right - this was the smallest size for embedding it and still some of it is "off the screen" on the right.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIOogqa-5GA

...and busier

I got a call yesterday from the rental company saying a lady would be coming out Wednesday, tomorrow, to view the property and take pictures so they could get the house on the market again (the lease is up the end of May and their goal is to have someone move in the mn. we leave).

Oh joy.

I asked if she had pictures from BEFORE we moved in that she could use because we've already started going through stuff and packing a little and there was a lot of stuff and it wasn't exactly neat. She said, yes, but since it'd been 3 years, they needed to take some new ones too - well, whatever, I warned her. And yes, THREE YEARS????? I can hardly believe we've been here in this house for 3 years, that was never the plan, but anyway!

As for closing on the new house - still waiting for "the call" with the date. Soon, soon, I hope.

So.....plans changed yesterday - cancelled dinner for tonight and am rescheduling (thankful for understanding dinner guests!) - night is the only time I can get much of anything done and we needed both last night and tonight to "tidy up" before "the visit" tomorrow.

Accomplishments from last night.....front hall, dining room, hall desk area, boys' room.

Today - hoping to get the kitchen straightened up, vacuum areas that were tidied up last night (didn't want to wake Miss Baby last night w/the vacuum) - also the den.

Today - also the girls will be working on their room....probably all day :)   (while trying to accomplish the impossible of not allowing new messes to be created by any of the children -  HA HA HA HA HA HA)

Tonight - CKB here - work on our room and then try to relax about the whole thing and not worry about it any more.

Doesn't that all sound like so much fun?

Busier week than usual...and packing must begin sometime

This will prove to be a little bit of a busier week than usual for us. We have dr. appointments, company coming for dinner, and a fun outing toward the end of the week, not to mention piano lessons and all the regular things we must do each day around here. On top of all of that, somewhere along the way some packing needs to be happening so it all doesn't have to be done at the last minute! Oh yes, and spreading some "weed 'n feed" onto the yard to try and combat all the new weeds that have sprouted in the yard since we are "supposed to leave the yard better than it was when we moved in" - uh huh - it was a disaster when we moved in and the weeds currently growing are an improvement over what it looked like, but somehow I don't think that'll matter to the rental company, they'll just be looking for a "nice yard" - so....we spread stuff on the yard and hope for some improvement over the course of the next month!

Today's goal - pack up all of the school stuff that we don't need for the remainder of the school "year" and tidy up for company tomorrow! Also, put out weed killer/turf builder. Fun fun!

What's on your plate for today?

UPDATE - lawn has been treated - yeehaw- something accomplished!

Cleaning for 4 hours every day - no way.....but wait...

A few years back, I think it was, I saw part of an episode of "The Wife Swap" - now, while I do not like the premise of this show AT ALL, I was intrigued by the promo that showed this woman cleaning and cleaning for FOUR HOURS EVERY DAY....uh....huh.

I wondered what on earth she was doing for 4 hours EVERY DAY and this turned out to be a woman who did NOT have anyone at home w/her all day (like us homeschool mamas or moms of wee ones not yet going off to public schools)......I was amazed....wondering what on earth she could possibly have to do for cleaning that required 4 hours....EVERY DAY....did I mention the show said she did this EVERY DAY????

I watched in amazement as she cleaned where there appeared to be nothing to clean....and thought her insane and changed the channel.

Today......I thought to myself that maybe, just maybe, JUST maybe, if *I* cleaned our house for 4 hours every day, MAYBE it'd BE clean. But, guess what? After ONE day of cleaning for what seems to have been the better part of the day.....it's still not clean and...ahem....I packed half a box. We're supposed to close in about 2 weeks on the new house and this house is a big, huge, clutter-filled mess....at least to my eyes...and since I'm here all the time...looking at said mess....well, that's what it is.

I have never claimed to be a perfect housekeeper, not by a long shot. I look at magazine pictures of "rooms" and think, wow, what a pretty room.....but then CKB reminds me that noone really lives there. Yeah, yeah, I know. I see tv shows w/pretty, neat houses and think, wow, I wish our house could look like that....but do I really? I trip over countless toys and wish the children would pick up SOMETHING without me telling them to.....repeatedly.....sometimes distractedly......resulting in a higher pitch to my telling....some of you would call it screaming, but I'm a Southern lady and well, I don't do that...ahem.......but then I think it won't be any time at all and my babies won't be babies any more and the toys will be gone.....and I think it's not that bad....really, it's not.......

Yet, still, I long for some sense of order....a place for everything and everything in its place....w/o me always being the one to put it there.....

Will it ever happen? Probably not.....   Will I ever learn to live with it? I don't know.....

We live here. Allllll the time. Not just in the mornings and after work/school.....alll the time.....the house will look lived in....it has to...it can't do anything but look lived in.....and so we go on.....messes are made....some get cleaned up....some wait for another day...month....monthS....ahem......

And so it is and probably ever shall be......

But I still wish sometimes it could just stay clean/tidy for a little while...WITHOUT me attempting to clean for 4 hours every day....because, well, we all know THAT just isn't going to happen....

Those are my ramblings after a day of trying to get something done around here....funny thing is all the other stuff still has to get done whilst trying to do all this organizing/cleaning/etc....like laundry, meals, dishes, caring for the children.....it's a wonder I get *anything* done.....ah well.  I suppose, when it comes down to it, and it's time to move...if we have to, we'll just throw everything in the truck and deal w/it later.....whenever that is.  :)

Stove it, please

No, that's not a typo...

Miss A wanted to know if today I would "stove" her leftover food from last night so she could have it at lunch.

I smiled at this and corrected her - telling her that I would "heat it up" or "warm it up" or "microwave it"  ....

Hmm....microwave it....stove it......ahhhhhhhhh.

Yes, honey, I'll stove it for you :)  English is indeed a funny language sometimes!

1st walk through on house!

Today is a long awaited day! The house is finished (we got to peek in last weekend and it was done then!) and we have our first walk-through with the builder today! He'll go over every nook and cranny of the house with us and then we'll note anything we see that needs a little TLC to get it up to snuff, so to speak :)

They'll make any needed repairs, etc. and then we'll be scheduled for a 2nd walk-through very soon!

Here's hopin' there isn't much that needs to be done!

Paddle to the Sea - a recent History read in Tapestry of Grace Year 2 Unit 3 Week 26

We recently read "Paddle to the Sea" by Holling Clancy Holling in our Tapestry of Grace curriculum.

I was excited to find out there is a short film based on it and we watched it tonight. The children all enjoyed it and Miss Baby even watched :) This link will take you to the page showing information about the book and below that the link to download the movie and watch it. Enjoy!

PaddleToTheSea

Now, if anyone knows of a film based on "Pipe, Paddle, and Song" - please let me know! The children are asking for that now!

For what it's worth - more scary stuff - SpongeBob

It occurred to me, after posting about Pufnstuf, that I would say the same thing " just plain scary " about a LOT of the things billed as children's fare in today's world. SpongeBob comes to mind...there are many others.

anyway.....