Archive for December 2011

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Ahoy Down There!

We have a situation going on with our down comforter. Through the years all of the feathers have migrated south, which leaves us cold for the winter. 

We have tried shaking, beating, and batting them back to where they belong but nothing. We flipped it so now the bottom is at the top which means we have the feathers from 40 geese concentrated around our necks. It's nice to have a little warmth back but now it's like sleeping with a life preserver on. I can't sleep with all the puffiness around my neck. 

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In other news, the paint selection is now in progress. I have 3 giant paint decks at the house but also felt the need to make a trip to Home Depot at 7:30 last night for more samples. The kids love a little late-night paint shopping.


If anyone has the perfect all over paint color please let me know. 

Today? Grocery shopping and Momming. 

Happy Thursday!

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Christmas is Over.

I'm somewhere in the middle of can't believing Christmas is already over and celebrating that Christmas is finally over. 

That being said, I couldn't get the Christmas decorations down fast enough. I'm beyond ready to start doing house stuff.

Here's a quick rundown:

The one thing that was done differently this year was that my dad made cocoa and toast for everyone on Christmas Eve morning.

(I don't know the origin of cocoa and toast but it's a childhood favorite of our family. It's best with toast that's almost burnt, too much butter and you dip the toast in the cocoa.)



The kids did more drinking than dipping, but they'll learn.

After that it was our usual party on Christmas Eve. The men are in charge of the food and they did a great job with everything. 

Cookies and milk were left out and The Night before Christmas was read.


Christmas Day was a blur. Santa came. Presents were opened. 


Naps were taken.


We had a great Christmas. Hope everyone did too.

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Packing it in

Our first move was made with a 5 month old and me going through postpartum depression.

Our next move was made with an almost 3 year old and me less than 3 weeks away from my due date with baby #2.

This past move was made 18 days before Christmas. 

It seems that we move at the most inopportune times.

Nonetheless, we're trying to make the most of the time that we have left before Christmas. 

We've made gingerbread houses, baked cookies, seen Santa, driven around and looked at lights at night, and we have a few decorations out amongst unpacked boxes.

I made my last last trip to Target yesterday and am nervously awaiting packages to be delivered so that I can get everything wrapped. 

On with the pictures:
  
A little breakdown of what's going on:

A few from the past 2 weeks:


We left a bottle of champagne for the buyers of our house.

Justin's birthday cupcakes.

The kids making a list for Santa.

Vance putting the star on the tree.

Vaughn with her tree.

Vance with his tree. Yes his room is that pink. It's first on our list to be painted.

Happy Wednesday! 

Friday, December 16, 2011

Pimp My Stocking

Last year this was our stocking situation:

StockingGate?
As a refresher, I had been working on Vance's stocking even before becoming pregnant with Vaughn and had finally finished it. (It took well over two years to make. The stocking. Not Vaughn.) 

Vaughn was too little last year to notice she was getting the shaft, but everyone else who entered the house commented on it.

I agree, it looks pretty pathetic.

Fast forward to this year. I've looked for stocking kits to start on one for Vaughn but haven't found any that I like. I almost ordered her one that I only half liked to be done with it but never did. 

While unpacking the Christmas decorations this year I found this:


Oh, yeah. I had forgotten that I bought it after the Holidays last year at Target for a dollar. Guess I figured it would be a good place holder. 

Vaughn is old enough to notice things year, but interestingly hasn't questioned why Vance's stocking is all pimped out and hers isn't. She immediately loved it. I'm guessing the pinkness has something to do with it. 

It's with extreme guilt that I started to pimp Vaughn's stocking out last night. I stitched her name on top and today will continue to add beads, buttons, and whatever sparkly bits she can find in my sewing stuff.  


I'll try to live up to Xzibit's awesomeness today. I'll let you know how it goes. 

Source:Blackvibes

This has nothing to do with the story but last night I dreamt that Travis Barker bought us a new playset for the backyard. Such a nice guy. 

Have a great Friday!

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Told You So

2 days ago my rice told me this:


Which is clearly a sign that I need to go to Target.

*******

Yesterday Vance told me that our visit with Santa and the real reindeer didn't count. 

Son, your whole family climbed into a sleigh that was parked outside of a Dairy Queen on a busy street and had their picture taken with Santa, a reindeer, and a backdrop of a wintery village.

IT COUNTS. 

*******

This morning I told Justin that I can't live with the yellow much longer.(The majority of the house is painted yellow.) I'm not a yellow person, nor am I a red person which so happens to be the color of the dining room. Now that I think of it the powder room is sage green which means this house is like a hot dog.

It's ketchup and mustard and relish on the main floor.

Unfortunately, Vance's room is hot pink, so his has to be the first room that gets painted. And have you heard that Christmas is  almost here? Guess I should start my shopping and find a way to live with the yellow for a bit longer. 

Happy Tuesday everyone!


Monday, December 12, 2011

It's Justin's Day!

One day, in the car, I was 10 to 12 minutes into a story about Cat Stevens. 


When I was done I started to correct myself. "No, that's not his name...it's..."


Justin spoke up, "Bob Seeger".


"Yes, that's it."




***************


Happy Birthday to the only person that knows what I'm talking about even when I don't know what I'm talking about. 

Friday, December 09, 2011

Our Garage is Full of Furniture

Today I will focus on the positives:

  • That we're in the house and not on the fence anymore.
  • Vance had a great first day at his new school yesterday.
  • I met neighbors and everyone seems so nice. They actually came out of their houses to say hi, which is the exact opposite of our old neighborhood. One lady gave me a hug. (I'd like some of whatever she's on, but I think she's just one of those "high on life people".)
  • Our mailman is even nice. He introduced himself to me, which to date is the first mail person that's ever done that.  
  • That today the TV guys are coming to hook up the, you guessed it, the TV. 
And not-so much the negatives:
  • That the Christmas tree is still not up.
  • That there's boxes everywhere.
  • That we couldn't fit a lot of our furniture down into the basement because of how the stairs turn. (Total bummer)
All about making lemonade today!

Wednesday, December 07, 2011

We haven't moved & here's why


I'm gonna cut right to the chase... 

We haven't moved in yet. 


***************

Here was the plan:


Movers pack us up on Thursday. We stay at a hotel that night. Close first thing Friday morning. Movers start unpacking right after. We had all of our appointments lined up. Justin had taken off work. Vance was to start school on Monday. Everything was perfectly planned.  


Here's what really happened:


Movers did pack us up on Thursday. We did stay at a hotel that night. We did go to close on Friday morning...and walked out 4 hours later homeless. With only two changes of clothes packed.  Instead of moving into our new house we moved in to my parents house. Again. Instead of unpacking boxes we spent the rest of the day on the phone canceling installation appointments.


Here's why this happened:


There was a glitch in our buyer's paperwork. Not with the funding, as most would assume, but the appraiser had forgotten to write down the lot dimension of the house on the initial paperwork. It was corrected and resubmitted but it was flagged for "quality assurance" by their lender. (Kinda like being at the airport and being selected for random searching.) Because they (the buyers of our house) were using a large bank it took extra time to fix.


This is our 4th house and we've never had anything like this happen. All realtors involved have never had anything like this happen. I still can't believe it. 


Here's what we have been doing:


We took a family picture with Santa and a real reindeer. We took a drive and saw Eagles on the River Road. I took the kids to the children's museum yesterday. Justin has been going to work in jeans and tennis shoes because all his work clothes are in the moving van. We've been taking turns adding ice to the coolers that have the contents of our refrigerator in them.
  
We've been trying to make the best of this nightmare of a situation. I'm not going to lie, there's been crying and down times. I braced myself for the worse - having to move back in to our old house. The kids have been a mess and are out of sorts. Vaughn melted the other day, crying and yelling that she "just wanted to go home". We're all feeling it. 


However, today is the day!


The paperwork finally went through late Monday afternoon. We closed yesterday and the movers are coming today! 


It's Moving Day! For real!

 

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