Seriously, You DON'T Want to Know!

My kids usually do amazingly well at staying out of trouble while I'm in the shower. There is the occasional hurt feelings or fight over a toy, but for the most part, we get through that 10-15 minutes without incident. . . . Well, not so much today.



Toward the end of my shower, I could hear my little Brianna crying outside the door. I told her I would just be a minute, and continued to rinse, etc. She is not one to just cry and cry, so when there was no sign of her calming down, I got a bit worried. I hurried and finished, dried off, threw the towel around me and opened the door to find: Brianna standing near her diaper, in a puddle, with poop all down her legs. She immediately stopped crying and said, "I oh", which in Brianna-ese means "shower, please".

Well I bathed her for the second time, and put her down for her nap. While I was busy drying my hair, Ben appears at my door. Naked from the waist down, and holding his underwear out with two fingers, he announces, "I had a juicy toot." Indeed he had.

Eye, yi, yi, here's to hoping that your day wasn't quite as "poopy" as mine!!

Life Is a Series of Hello's and Goodbye's

I'm sitting here, at a loss for words. I don't know exactly what to say. We just returned from a successful house hunting trip out West. We are under contract to buy a home there, and are under contract to sell a home here. I'm on the threshold of MAJOR changes in my and my family's world; but somehow, I feel neither here nor there. I'm stuck somewhere in the middle -- tying up loose ends here, getting things set up and arranged for out there -- all while diligently ignoring the rollercoaster of emotions that is playing through my heart.
If I were to pay attention to the rollercoaster of emotions, it would be comprised of a sense of loss and sadness for the wonderful people we will be leaving here; anxiety and fear of the unknown; excitement and anticipation for our new adventure; worry for how my kids will do with all of the changes; concern for the drive across the country (30 hours in a car with 2 year old and a 6 year old??); and on and on. Whew! Good thing I'm ignoring all of that, because GEEZ, that would be exhausting to deal with!!

So, in my series of hello's and goodbye's, today I bid a fond adieu to my beloved current home, and soon I will say a hearty hello to my new home!

We actually close on both houses the same day, June 30th, and hope to be on the road by that evening!

My "Mid-West" Home

When we bought this baby, she was full of potential! She had original carpet/paint/cabinetry, etc. And, oh, the wall-paper -- ugh! We called the shag carpet color 'vomit', because . . . well, I guess that's self-explanatory. The main bathroom was sooooo dark, that we (and the home inspector) failed to see how water damaged the floor was. Needless to say, we did A LOT of fixing up on this home, and made it totally ours. We have loved it and we will miss it!

We will miss our swingset, and the way things just grow and grow here (whether you want them to, or not.)
We will ESPECIALLY miss our couch! The man who bought our home, decided that he wanted EVERY little thing that the home inspector found fixed or replaced. That added up pretty quickly. However, if we were willing to give him our couch (our beloved, super comfy, perfect for our family, and did I mention loved? couch), he wouldn't make us do any of the repairs, etc. (We've been in mourning over our couch since we signed the deal.)
And we have loved our kitchen. Small, but very nice.
Oh, ya, did I mention he wanted our refrigerator, too??

When he asked for my glider-rocker as well, I put my foot down!!

Goodbye, dear Mid-Western Home!!

Hello New Home in the West!!!

Our beautiful new home is situated on the corner of a small cul de sac.

James' favorite feature is that it is located 100 yards from a great paved trail that leads all through a State park with rivers and lakes. He can't wait to take Ben fishing!!

I think I could get used to this kitchen/dining area;
And this classy family room (connected to dining area);
And this master bedroom!
Yup, I think this will be a great place to raise our kids!


Hello and Goodbye.