{girls’ room}

This room was a lot of fun. I showed you a sneak peek of something I did for this room, so it’s fun to show you the finished product. (Also completed while my mom was here!)

For some reason it was really hard to get a lighter shot of this first view, even though it was sunny and in the middle of the day. I tried to lighten it the best I could, just imagine that it’s actually brighter in the room.

Dress ups!

(The missing drawer is out being repaired since it fell apart.)

I’ve always loved these fairies, they were in the girls’ room at the old house and they were the one thing I kept:

And, presenting the PINK CLOSET! (Andy teases me this is the reason I bought the house. Which may or may not be the case.)

I’m a little hesitant to share these except I get asked about their clothes all the time. And it IS my pet hobby. :)

(There’s more in the laundry, yikes.)  This closet is soo cool – it slopes down on either side along the roofline. Perfect for playing and hiding out.

Also the only area in the house we put carpeting in. Arianna sets up her baby beds back there and plays in peace. So funny.

So there you have it! My The girls’ room!

{boys’ room}

I am FINALLY ready to start sharing photos of our house. My mom was here for a long visit and so I was able to do some projects that otherwise wouldn’t have been done. (Stripes in the boys’ room being one of them.)

Their room is almost complete; I only need a couple more things, like a lamp.  Drew’s been begging for one. I also have some flat wire airplanes that I’m going to hang from the ceiling.  And maybe add a couple more things on the walls, we’ll see.

Most of Drew’s furniture was from Nanny. There is another twin bed hiding in the closet, saved for Ethan.

I should have removed those huge storage tubs, what an eyesore. They are broken anyway and are gonna be tossed. Oh well.

Drew’s big dresser and nightstand were also from Nanny. I love that.

As you can see, there are two closets in here. They are sort of cut-outs into the attic, with very sloped ceilings. Fun little places to hide and play. The entire upstairs floor has a sort of loft feeling.

The girls’ room is pretty much done as well, I’ll try to share it soon!

pink cheeks

She ALWAYS looks as if she snuck into my makeup. So cute.

baby teeth

How can this girl be big enough to lose her first tooth?!

BOY

Disregard the curls, the girly handed-down bib, and the pink bowl, this kid is all boy!

(And BTW, he loved the vegetarian chili we had tonight, as you can see.)

my little sister got married

Last Friday we drove 12 hours down to Florida for my sister’s wedding weekend. We stayed at the Lighthouse; my parents rented three Coast Guard cottages for us, them, my grandparents, aunts, and the bridal wedding party. Whirlwind trip, we drove home Monday.

These are all photos I took, and I tried to choose ones for this post that together give an overall picture of her wedding…

My three little flower girls, right before we went up to the dressing room to get ready.

(One of) my beautiful sister(s):

These were during the photo session, pre-ceremony:

(Later on, there was a cocktail hour on this terrace while the wedding party was busy with post-ceremony photos.  Apparently there was a fabulous mocha punch I missed out on.)

My mom:

Looking down from the terrace:

Right after the ceremony & the beginning of family photos, Cassandra & Shane with my parents:

The Dad/Daughter dance, she chose this – fitting, no?

Candy bar for party favors:

Arianna, making sure we were watching and then running off to dance:

Arianna was a maniac – danced 1.5 hours nonstop.

Into the getaway car, and sparklers! (I LOVE her bouquet in this one!)

And, the very second we buckled her carseat:

OUT.

{this girl}

The other day on the phone, my friend Lisa says to me, “so the big news today is Madeline got glasses??”

Me: “What?”

“Yeah! That was the first thing Charlie said when he climbed into the car: ‘Madeline got new glasses!’ She wore them all day!”

I knew instantly what she was talking about:

Those would be my sister’s FAKE play glasses Madeline SNUCK into her school bag. And apparently wore all day. What a riot!

My mom and I had gone through the girls’ college stuff from storage while she was here, and Madeline swiped them from the Goodwill pile. She sported them all day Wednesday (my kids don’t go to school on Wednesdays), even at Target, but I had drawn the line at church that night. But I had NO IDEA she had tucked them inside her backpack!

(I asked her teacher about it later. She said Madeline had told her they were fake and only wore them during breaks and was ‘very mature’ about it. hahaha)

Goober.

the other side

You don’t even want to know.

Suffice it to say, yes, we’re in our new house. We finally have useful things like internet and baby gates. These two months have been some of the hardest of my life, with lots of tears shed – but it can only get better from here, right?

Also, my Nanny passed away on October 1st, in her sleep. It wasn’t a surprise and she was 89. She led a remarkable life and it would take me all day to write about all the things she did and places she went. Vangie and I took our baby boys and flew to WA for the funeral service. It was such a great trip, I’m so very thankful I was able to go, to be there. Andy’s folks drove down to help him with the other kids while I was gone.

I stayed with Dolly and that was awesome and just what I needed. A little mini-vacation smack-dab in the middle of moving! (Yeah, and when I saw my house when I got back I was sorta wishing I had stayed!)

My parents rented a moving truck and have been driving cross-country delivering the furniture and other items all of us cousins chose to keep of Nanny’s. The burial is in St. Louis (she’ll be buried next to Papa) tomorrow, and then they will drive here. It’s at a military cemetery and each burial is only allotted 30 minutes, so I decided not to undertake another trip since I was able to go to her service. I’m beyond excited my mom will be here soon to help me make sense of the utter chaos that is my half-unpacked house.

It’s going to be a slow process, I know. It’s more space and we still need several things to complete various rooms. And there’s still five little people that need clothes and food. But hopefully soon I can share a couple of pictures and projects that are being done now. After I dig out my camera cord, which is somewhere.

Sorry about the long silence. I just didn’t have the energy or motivation to come here and discuss the misery that is moving with 5 small children. So on to better things!

one to remember

We moved yesterday.

Several friends warned me how chaotic and stressful in-town moves can be. Generally you take van loads of apple boxes, dump them at the new place, and then rinse and repeat a few hundred times. Leave the sorting for later when you’re exhausted and can’t find the coffee pot.

Since all of our stuff was going in storage, it wasn’t like that. Saturday we moved the furniture and boxes (even beds!) to storage and that went really fast. Everything is labeled. We slept on blow-up mattresses and tried to just keep our lives moving along.

Yesterday the storm hit, just as we were beginning to load the last wave of our stuff into the moving truck. Like, literally. My neighbor texted me the area’s tornado warning. We loaded all the stuff we need to keep with us in the pouring down rain – shoes splashing in the mud, water soaking our clothes. Andy was at work; it was just me and my mom and I wondered several times how on earth we were going to get everything done, just the two of us.

He came home to take the last load of trash to the dump, but since the moving truck has commercial plates, they turned him away. I think he almost had a nervous breakdown right then and there. We still had all that trash and he still had work to do. (Note to self, don’t schedule clients the day you move.) So on top of getting all the closets packed up, kitchen cleared out, house cleaned, we had to deal with mounds – MOUNDS, I TELL YOU – of trash.

I had this moment of panic, thankful my kids were being cared for and safe, we couldn’t stop to find dinner, Andy calling to remind me to be at the apartment not too late so to be courteous to our hosts. I almost called a hotel and may have shed a few tears. We decided to basically drop everything, pick the kids up, go set up beds at the apartment, and my mom and Andy would come back and finish up what was left.

I had to back that dang moving truck down my own steep driveway in the pitch dark, pouring rain. And also? It was out of gas.

But you know what? We got to the apartment without a wreck, Andy met us there, we put the kiddies to bed, I FINALLY got a shower, and we were able to get things functional. My mom and Andy finished the old house, left the key in it (don’t mind the huge trash pile out front!), came home and we slept. Andy got up early this morning and caught a flight to a conference in Texas. And I’m very very thankful my mom is still here and I’m not the only person here over the age of eight.

So. The trash. After school drop-off this morning I borrowed my former neighbor’s truck to load everything and finally took it to the dump. We also returned the moving van. Yay! I still have to cancel our utility accounts and stuff like that, but we’ve finally found a resting place between homes. Lots of tough spots, but we made it through!

update, and why it’s quiet here

We’re packing! My mom is here to help since she’s practically a professional mover (y’all know I grew up moving around with the Air Force?) and she’s the energizer bunny. Love her. It’s a dang good thing, too, because I was completely knocked off my feet with a random virus and have been in bed the last day & a half. So awful.

We’re planning on being completely out of this house by Monday night. We should have a place to stay until the floors in the new house are done (can’t put anything on them for a week after sealing). And we’ll get a POD for our stuff in the meantime. It’s nice not to have to stress about those details but there is a LOT to do. So I’m just warning you upfront that it will be quiet around here.

I did take a few pics of the kids’ first day of school last week. I’ll try to put those up. Sometime. ;)

peek

This fabric looked so pretty hanging down, I decided to snap a quick picture. This is a little sneak peek into a project I’m doing for the girls’ new room.

We did the pink n’ green thing for a long while so I’m changing it up in our new house. I think this is the only photo I’m gonna post until the whole room is done. Heh.

And the house is coming along really nicely and pretty quickly. Andy keeps stopping in over there and always has new iphone photos to show me. We picked out the washer/dryer on Thursday. TOP LOADER.

September!!

pulling {and pushing back}

Five little people, each tugging me in a different direction. Husband with his own needs (love, dinner, and clean underwear), and a house (or two) that is always pulling on me. Dishes and laundry get their own category; not to mention groceries, friends, church, God.

It’s really no wonder I feel soo stretched, always juggling and often dropping. I am only two hands, one person. Clearly I can’t do everything or even try. I’m trying to re-direct, focus on things that I’ve been wanting to do but never seem to have the time and energy for. The dishes and cooking and laundry will all get done because they have to.

So here’s me pushing back today. I have clean hair, painted toes. I’ve been wanting to share these beach photos from a month ago and so I am.

Today.

some things I’ve been loving (and not so loving)

We took the kids to Six Flags White Water last weekend in Atlanta and it was whirlwind fun.  I blinked and we were back home.  I had forgotten that Drew tends to be afraid of rides and he chickened out at the last second on this one with Andy and Josiah. Madeline rode with them, she was all over that.

Liz and I took the kids later, same ride, and I grabbed his wrist and off we went before he even knew what was happening or could back out.  He did great and LOVED it.  I think it was a breakthrough moment; he realized he survived and it was big time fun. After that he went on all the slides and was completely fine. Way to face your fears, Drew!

And also – FUNNEL CAKE.

So now we’re home, back to preparing to move. I made some serious headway in the attic a couple of days ago and took a van-load to the drop off donation box. The weather has been GORGEOUS so the attic actually isn’t overbaked and too hot to be in – HUGE BLESSING. Still miles and miles to go in there.

Okay, a coupla things I’ve been meaning to share. My cousin Vangie loaned me this book, which I enjoyed so much: The Sisters: Saga of the Mitford Family. (History majors unite!) It’s a load of pages but kept me company for a good long while.

Next, Meredith blogged about her “miracle cream” a while back and I’m really thankful I decided to try it at this point in my life. I thought when I weaned Ethan I would feel great and that was SO the opposite. How I felt changed over the course of the month so I thought it most likely had something to do with the female cycle. This cream is seriously amazing. Love it, recommend it to every woman. Seriously. Read her full post here.

**********

Okay, the above was written earlier this week. And then my laptop died. It’s currently getting a new hard drive at the mac store hospital. I’m using Andy’s and his settings are different and driving me crazy. Not loving being without my computer for several days straight. I’m also not gonna love the bill.

Our appraisal is tomorrow so one more frenzied cleaning run and it’s over. We’ve had repair men here all week and isn’t it funny how you get your house perfect and then leave it? Whatever, bring on the new. You know, in fifty million years when the new house is ready. ;)

T minus 28

This week has been so busy I wasn’t sure if I was coming or going.  I think Andy got a little annoyed with the laundry situation (meaning lack thereof) and I finally got around to it I think Thursday night.  My philosophy is if you run out of underwear, go buy some more. ;)

The inspection went well, no major issues and we have agreed to all the small repairs they asked for.  The termite letter was clear, etc.  It’s been so smooth sailing I’m just waiting for SOMEthing to go wrong.  Can’t help it!  I need to get over to the new house and measure window sizes and stuff.  (And check up on Steve’s progress, ha!)  I figured I would whip up some window coverings before we start packing.  Although I really need to be going through our attic.

I went up there the other day and told Andy afterwards, we need an entire moving truck JUST for what’s in the attic.  I think I might just drag it all out to the front yard and email the neighbors to come and freecycle it.  My children’s consignment stuff is still labeled from last year, and drop off starts next week.  Which is really good timing, yes?

We won’t have a ton of storage at the new house, but definitely enough.  The kids’ closets are REALLY fun.  More like bonus rooms than closets.  In the girls’ room especially, it’s like a little hideout playroom.  Love.  I’m considering painting it pink and putting fluffy rugs in there so it’s cozy to play in.  And two FULL closet bars.  Which you know they (I) need.  ;)

Okay, better get moving on today.

Couple of Things

Winner for the Veggie Tales Penniless Princess dvd is Athena! I will be in contact with you girl!

Soo, apparently we’re not fake-selling our house, they want to buy it! We’re fine with either way, kinda thought we’d keep it as a rental but this is super great too. Their home inspection is tomorrow. I need to wrap my head around the fact that we are MOVING in a MONTH! And school will be just getting underway around then also. BUSY. (Mom? Are you coming?)

It’s a little bittersweet. We’ve had FIVE babies in this house, lots of memories! And we’ve done soo much work on it over the years and I LOVE the tile in the bathroom. But it’s time to go. We need more space desperately and it will be nice to be closer to our church and Andy’s office (even if we’re moving away from the kids’ school; guess we can’t have everything).

And I’m also happy for the buyers – they are expecting their first and it’s kinda like seeing ourselves 9 years ago. This is such a great house for a new family.

We’re just not a new family anymore. ;)

The Penniless Princess & a Giveaway

My kids haven’t had a whole lot of experience with Veggie Tales other than various church nurseries and rainy days at preschool. Big Idea Studios sent us a copy of the new dvd The Penniless Princess, (based on The Little Princess, by Frances Hodgson Burnett) to review and an extra copy to give to a reader!

We’ve always loved that story and the kids love anything animated, so it was a win-win situation. They’ve already watched it enough times to know the theme song by heart, so clearly they enjoyed it. It’s a cute little video. The devotion book that was sent along with the dvd is wonderful; the girls have already asked me to read it to them several times.

The Penniless Princess is set to be released on August 14. Win a copy of the dvd simply by leaving a comment on this post, tell me something special about your daughter or grandaughter or other little girl in your life. I will leave the comments open for a couple of days and use a random number generator to choose the winner. US and Canada only, please.

I’m on a bloggy roll

Tonight I took Madeline to the first of two friend birthday parties she has this week. I don’t know what it is, but taking a child to a friend’s party brings out the WORST in my other kids. I sort of have a love/hate relationship with the American idea of a birthday party. I LOVE them on one hand, making special memories and celebrating a life. And, hello, cake.

But. They involve a high level of stress, at least for me. And, fallen like everything else on this earth, often can include a high dose of the not-so-lovely; envy, greed, selfishness, unthankfulness, boastfulness, etc. I haven’t figured out how to best reconcile all that yet. And my kids typically don’t do an overly great job of being happy for others while NOT thinking about themselves. Sometimes it’s just easier to avoid those hot situations. But yes; work to do, work to do.  Some of that is better with age and maturity.

Anyway, we stopped at the store after dropping her off and I let the other kids pick out a dessert. I REALLY wanted fresh parmesan for our pasta. Over vacation, our friends introduced us to this kale and spinach ravioli and my kids loved it. (I had picked up a couple of trays of it at costco yesterday, check it out if you can!)

Usually our quick foods are just that – quick, and decidedly not healthy. I love that this is a quick meal and jam-packed with vitamins but doesn’t taste like it. It pretty much just tastes like noodles and red sauce. Yum.

Oh! Andy did show our house today. I texted my friend Gretchen afterwards that I was going to fake-sell my house every day. I had two laundry-bins of junk hiding in the attic, but it’s nice to have all the clutter in one place.

I’m guessing he didn’t mention the girls’ little friend they found this morning:

Sooo Madeline.

But then there’s Ari, who clunked around in my heels all day.

Yeah.  More my style. ;)

midsummer

Andy warned me this week would be really busy for him just coming back from vacation. He had two closings today, as well as a few showings and other meetings. The kids and I decided to save Costco for this evening after naps since Andy couldn’t eat with us. We took our time and browsed…bought a flat of peaches, sat in the display armchairs, pushed buttons in the toy aisle, played hide-and-seek, and had food court pizza for dinner. (It’s surprisingly awesome.)

I feel the need to stay busy with the kids on the days that I’ve got them by myself ALL day. Even if we just pop into Target or do happy hour at Sonic, one thing I’ve learned this summer is changing the scenery, even for just a bit, does us all good and can re-set the tone from hot and cranky to peaceful and fun.

I laughed a little to myself tonight, reading Rebecca’s post about too much angry birds and oreos and no reading and writing. Nail, meet head. Honestly I feel like the summer heat has fried my brain just a little bit. We have been LIVING in the water, any form of it – pool, beach, fountains, spraypark, hose, you name it. What is a book?

I guess I shouldn’t feel guilty, it’s summer BREAK. I did start fresh in the storybook Bible to the kids last night and reminded myself how much we all love it. Read together tonight, too.

It’s a start, yes?