Top 10 things I did today instead of packing...

10. Took long bath. A clean packer is an efficient packer.

9. Went shopping for furniture. Just say yes to green micro-suade couches.

8. Checked my work email to verify that world had stopped spinning without me there.

7. Made detailed plan of attack concerning what to pack first.

6. Read through that mail I have been meaning to get to.

5. Headed up to work to gather more boxes. One can't chance running out.

4. Fretted about how much we need to pack while deciding what to eat for lunch. Mmmm...burgers.

3. Thought about furniture layouts for each of the new rooms. I don't want to arrive at the new house unprepared.

2. Reevaluated packing plan as obviously said plan was not working.

1. Blog.

Why do today what one can put off until 3am this morning when you can't even see straight and just start scooping crap into boxes?

If ever there was a time for packing elves to be real, I am fairly certain that time is now.

Quote of the Week

Now it seems the crooks charge twenty to thirty thousand dollars for a fake Ferrari body attached to an old Pontiac chassis, but here's how you sniff out a fake: take a pocketknife and scrape off some of the paint on the hood just behind the ornament. If it's a real Ferrari... someone will kick your ass. - Stephen Colbert

No real story here...

Just a boy and his backpacks.

Attempt 1 to leave the house with monkey on back.

Attempt 2 to leave the house after switching over all the contents because he wanted to use Thomas. Why? "Cause I do".

Here's the big news...

WE ARE HOMEOWNERS!!! Can you believe it? It was official last Friday and yes, I promised you this news many days ago (Thanks Keysha) but what a week it has been. We decided that it would be best to get a few projects out of the way at the house and then move in this coming weekend. If I only had known was a toll those few projects would take. Okay, well the original projects didn't take a toll, it was more the side projects. The projects that began with the phrase, "How hard can it be?".

Step 1: Paint

For the kitchen, that is all it took. Anything is better than purple...

Before

After

Step 2: Architecture.

I have always envisioned living in a older house and having a dining room with a chair rail. I just love this room.

Before

After

Step 3: Tile.

Yeah, this is one of those "How hard can it be?"s. I hated the cracks in the tile and figured that it surely can't be that hard to just take them off and stick some new ones on. I mean, I've seen it on all those home shows. Throw down some grout, stick on a tile, wait a little bit and wipe it down. No sweat. Well, what they don't tell you is the hard part isn't getting them on, the hard part is getting the old ones off. Me and my chisel spent more than 6 hours trying to pry tile off cement. Ross took over when the delirium set in. The original plan was only to remove the worst tiles and only ones without holes. With Ross at the helm, there was a little deviation. By the time I came back in to check, those few tiles had become ten. And yes, those ten included the tiles with holes for the faucet and handles. Cue drilling in tile. Now, you will notice that they aren't straight and hardly even, but they aren't cracked and are still on the wall and considering it's my first foray into tiling...I'll take it.

Before

After

John had his own tiling experience with stick tiles in the downstairs bath. Why they went with black and white in a brown bathroom, I really don't know.

Before

After

After my tiling, all it took was some paint and new fixtures to create a space I love. What we lack in counter space we make up for in style. Well, minus the holes in the tile where I removed the old towel rack but for now they will just have to fall under "character".

Before

After

Joshy and Ben joined us at the house on Monday. Joshy helped John paint the chair rail and watched as he measured the length for each piece and wrote it in his notebook. I was cleaning in the play room and caught Joshy sitting on the stairs, mimicking his daddy. It was incredibly precious.

Ben was a happy boy as usual. We got him a sun hat for his time outside and couldn't help but swoon over how cute he was.

What warmed my heart the most was watching John and Joshy run in the sprinklers. I feel like I finally live in the neighborhood I always wanted, in a house I love. A home where sunlight pours through the windows and Joshy can run outside.

We move in this Saturday and not too surprisingly, haven't even begun to pack. So that makes tomorrow a long day of sorting and packing but the plan is to purge too. I am trying to go with the "If I haven't used it in 2 years" rule and figure the boxes I still haven't unpacked from when we moved here 5 years ago are probably safe to go. Of course there are exceptions like Mr. Cow and the Bible reading on record John gave me as his first gift but the pantry from the apartment we found in the garage still taped up with who knows what inside should probably be the first to go. I am so thankful for all the people who have helped in so many different ways. This is a fresh start for us and I am more excited than words can express.

Hurts So Good

I am sore in muscles I didn't even know I had. My knees are bruised, I can't turn my head and my feet are swollen. But never before have I felt so great about feeling so bad. I've cleaned and scrubbed and primer'd for 10 hours, only to look forward to the same today. I cleaned behind toilets, scrubbed grime from screws. Sanitized, washed down, polished and dusted. Here is the thing...

I HAD A BLAST.

Those who know me best can attest to the shock. I usually avoid cleaning like the plague and prefer clutter to missing sleep, passing on building moon sand castles with Joshy or vegging with John to watch the movie I have been dying to see. So, why the change? Well, you will have to wait till tomorrow, but it is big news indeed.

Bath Time

Bath time is the perfect time to highlight the difference between Baby Joshy and Baby Ben. Joshy was always very keen to show us how he was feeling. He was never a fan of water...even less of water on his face. Even now we have to practically bribe him to let us wash his hair and I don't even want to go into trying to get him in a pool. So, when Ben came along, I naturally expected the same bath time woes. Imagine my surprise when this mellow little boy was more than happy to be doused, dunked and soaked through and through. He just lays on his magic bath pillow, arms over head and smiles as we wash his adorable chub. I have no clue what to do with a boy who doesn't fear water or sun (yes, John and Joshy...I am talking to you.).

Quote of the Week

The man who is swimming against the stream knows the strenth of it. - Woodrow Wilson

Need Sleep, Will Travel

At 8:00 he starts here, snug with Tummy Gummy in his bed.

By 10:00 we find him here, smack dab in the middle of ours.

I've got a new appreciation for "stationary" and "caged".

Let's close this thing already!

It has been quite the week as we work towards finally closing on our house. There has been roof drama left and right and I have learned so many lessons that can only come through going through the house buying process your first time. There is the lesson that if someone shows you a house you don't have to formally ask them for them to apparently become your realtor. The lesson that when you buy a house from a company, they are less motivated to sell than a family who is trying to get a new house of their own. A company owned by a lawyer? Prepare to haggle your life away. The lesson that when the seller gets to pick the roofer, you get Bob the Roofing Guy who is a Better Business Bureau complaint waiting to happen. In fact, let's just dwell here for a moment. Last Friday we picked out shingles, which Monday were told were out of stock. Monday night we take the entire family up to the house to pick from the samples left inside that turned out to not be there. What was there was a toilet minus working water and a three year old who had "brown poo poo coming now". As we fished the poo out of the toilet with a coffee cup I decided next time, the grass might be a better idea...civilized or no. Tuesday the shingles are dropped off at John's work, Tuesday night the roofer is called. Wednesday...where is the roofer? Who knows. We were meant to do the final walk through tonight but with the roof not being done, it has been pushed till tomorrow, after 2:30, when the magical elves finish our roof in record time. Throw in a misplaced closing check (finally found!) and a power outage at our home and it has been a long day to cap off the long week. It felt good to finally wind down, listening to Ben coo and Joshy and Jess carry on a conversation about if there were both boy and girl cheerleaders. When asked if he wanted to be a cheerleader, Joshy adamantly said NO! So, asked what he did want to be when he grew up, he thought and then said, "A Lion". A respectable profession indeed.

Jump Now and Never Look Back

Nothing beats jumping to a conclusion that turns out to be 100% correct and getting everyone in your vicinity all fired up about this injustice laid upon you. At least I am assuming, as I have never quite experienced it. No, I am the person who is a veritable expert at jumping quickly and efficiently to the wrong conclusion. That paper I was meant to mail that is still sitting at the bottom of my pile of papers was already sent, so stop asking. The shirt I never took out of my gym bag was obviously stuffed somewhere by someone and they need to find it...now. The car that's parked impressively close to my door due to my apparent inability to park between the lines when in a hurry, is clearly the fault of some fool who can not manage to choose a spot with enough room for his oversized truck. How is it possible that my first thoughts are almost always the wrong thought? Furthermore, how does the knowledge of that not keep me from fuming at the word written in all caps clearly indicating that the writer is trying to say I'm a MORON who is incapable of reading key words that are not capitalized. Red and capitalized...even worse. WORSE. I am starting to feel like there is some sort of life lesson here. Good thing I am too busy fuming at whoever left the full glass on the counter in the bathroom that I just knocked over (that looks vaguely familiar to the glass of tea I "misplaced" last night) to really dwell on it.

Shhhh...I'm Hunting Wabbits.

My dear husband has decided that this is the year he will learn to hunt. He has tried to convince me that he needs to be prepared for when the civilized world ends and we have to forage for our food. I politely reminded him that if something catastrophic enough to return the entire country to a primitive society occurred, we would probably not have survived or wouldn't want to eat the animals that did. Still, he has decided that this fall, he will partake in the male tradition of sitting for hours in quiet waiting for the lone bird or deer to wander by. At first he suggested hunting rabbit or squirrel. I laughed and said, "What do you plan on doing with a squirrel you kill?" Then it hit me, "Oh, don't say eat it, don't say eat it". Yeah, he was going to eat it. I quickly informed him that we are NOT the Clampets and if he ever ate a squirrel, I would never kiss him again. In fact, sleeping in the same room would become questionable. On second thought, Bunnies are also out. I refuse to skin or cook Thumper. So it looks like bird hunting it will be. The man who won't let me buy chicken products that aren't "Fully Cooked" is going to be filleting his own wild quail. Right. Still, I am trying to be the encouraging wife and not squash the dream. So, today he went with Ross to the gun show and came back with his very first shotgun and tales of the amazing deal he received. It was of course the last gun on the last table on the last round they made. Well, would you expect any less drama? He is so excited and it is hard to not have a shred of that excitement rub off. I guess it is now official so keep tuned, I am sure we will have some interesting stories this fall.

En Garde

These last few weeks, Joshy has been learning to sword fight from John, who apparently is a fencing extraordinaire. I can not vouch for this expertise but I have been told, several times, that on his first try he was able to disarm a fellow who had been fencing for 10 years and that disarming, in fact, became his trademark. That little bit of fencing trivia can help explain the "I'm here to stalk your children" mask he is wearing. Well that and the fact that Joshy is "learning" or in other words, prone to have a stray swing from time to time. Joshy has learned to block and charge and that you have to be gentle when fighting with mama. I'm all for sword fighting; smashed fingers...not so much.
The other day, Joshy had asked to play with dada's sword and thinking he meant the little wooden sword he uses, John said sure and then came out to the living room to check on Ben and me. The next thing I know, I look over and Joshy is walking into the living room preceded by a foil three times his size. Yeah, that was an emergency room visit waiting to happen.
Most of all, Joshy is learning that even wooden swords hurt, even when it is an accident. These tears were due to him dropping his sword on his bare feet. Perhaps shoes would have been a good idea. I believe the saying goes, "Good decisions comes from experience and experience from bad decisions". I haven't had much experience with sword fighting 3 year olds but have a hunch I will have all sorts of experience coming my way.

Love Music, Love to Laugh, The Rest is Self Explanatory

Watch out...

Joshy is 1/2 John and 1/2 me and 1/2 Aunt Jessie. He has John's, for lack of a better word, weirdness and love of the goofy, my imagination and Jessie's volume. For as long as I can remember, Joshua has been big on goodbyes and those goodbyes normally turn into quite a production. We have had to implement "Last hug, Last kiss" as it was hard to say no to a little boy with big tears asking for his 13th hug and kiss. He would always surprise us with his quick adaptation to the phrases he heard us say, such as "See you next Wednesday" or "Be safe". From John he has picked up "Peace out" and "See ya later". From Jessie, screaming all of the above at the top of his lungs. Still, it is the scary dog that once roamed our neighborhood that spawned the latest, and my personal favorite, phase of goodbyes. One morning the dog had decided to roam around our front yard and while he didn't seem vicious in the least, we were trying to convey to Joshua that you don't just walk up to animals you don't know. As John left for work that morning, Joshy bid him to "Watch out for scary dogs". This, of course, made us smile and we started to give him the same warning as we left each morning. As time has gone on, our potential threats have increased. Joshua now cautions us to watch out for robots or as he says "Bots" and storms as this is the first Oklahoma tornado season in which he is very aware of the thunder and lightening outside his window. We watch out for ninjas and pirates and ninja pirates too. The next time you see him, make sure you know what he needs to watch out for because he will already know what's out to get you.

Quote of the Week

“If trees could scream, would we be so cavalier about cutting them down? We might, if they screamed all the time, for no good reason.” -Jack Handy

A Night of Rest

Last night my sister kept Joshy overnight and so I went into the night thinking that we wouldn't get any more rest than usual but there would be some good one on one Ben time and that would be worth it. I had no idea how wrong I was. The thing that became crystal clear about cubby bear is that the boy likes to sleep. He went to bed at 9:00 and then woke up at 4:00 for a bottle and then went back down until 8:30. 8:30!! As it turns out, we are not exhausted because we have a newborn, we are exhausted because we have a 3 year old who finds his way into mama and dada's bed every night and is ready to go at 5:00am each morning. If Joshy sleeps in till 6:00 am, that makes for a VERY good day. Thank you John Nathan for providing Joshy with this wonderful trait. The constant why questions, yeah, that is all me.