One Proud Momma

Occasionally I like to post a list of new things we are doing around here, so here goes.

1. The kids are starting to do chores and right now they like them (I'll have to remind them of this in a few years).  They argue over who gets to help.  Sean helps his daddy feed the dogs and take out the trash.  Julia clears the table and makes her bed every day.

2. Laura is speaking in full sentences!!

3. Sean is going through the terrible 3's (and Mommy is not handling it well).

4. Julia is really developing her reading skills and is super ready to read.

5. All 3 of the need to work on their table manners.

6. Laura asked to pee pee on the potty yesterday, and she did!!!  Let the potty training commence.

7. Julia & I are going to camp next week, she can't wait.

8. Laura is finally losing her monster appetite and eating like a little delicate flower.

9. Julia is losing that little little girl look (sniff sniff).

10.  Julia can almost swim (finally), Sean is (finally) loving the water.  And Laura will randomly jump in the pool without any warning whatsoever :-0.  Gotta watch her like a hawk around the pool.

Remodel

In 2004, shortly before we got married Scott and I bought our first home.  Luckily he and I were in agreement about the type of home we wanted to own, older in an established neighborhood.  We wanted something we could put our own stamp on, not something new and cookie cutter.  This is the adorable 3-bedroom we found, built in 1958.

Previous owners had made it nice and pretty with paint (except for the wallpaper), but still could use lots of work.  See below ugly linoleum floors & hideous wallpaper.


These were 2 of the first things to go.  We actually had to remove 2 layers of wallpaper and retexture the dining room walls.  Then we pulled up the linoleum and put down tile in the kitchen and laminate in the dining.  We also replaced the dishwasher.  We did much more to the kitchen, but that will come in a later post.


I think that I got the desire to remodel from my parents, who remodeled an entire house from the ground up and from the inside out.  However, my hubby and I have a couple of crippling issues.  He is color blind and I have no sense of decorating.  We are also horrible about the finishing touches.  So what this means is that we have a 1/2 to 3/4 finished home.  We keep at it though and this brings me to where we find ourselves today.  We had vowed not to start anymore projects, but our master bathroom shower walls started caving in a couple of weeks ago which has forced us into a bathroom remodel.  He says that he is taking it back to the studs which means color choices, tile choices, etc.  I feel frozen with fear as to where to start.  I will plug ahead and hopefully not end up with something I hate! :-0

Any ideas would be muchly appreciated.

Me and my Shadow

I just couldn't resist singing this to Scott last night.  I have been wondering when Sean was finally going to start identifying with and shadowing his daddy instead of his big sister.  Last week Scott and I went out of town and the kids stayed with Scott's dad and step-mom.  Sean got 3 days of attention from his Papa.  Every time we would call he would be off to the store or off to get dinner with Papa.  Now ever since we got back Sean has been daddy this and daddy that.  He tells him, "I love helping you Daddy" and "it makes me happy when I help you Daddy".  Boy if that's not enough to melt your heart, I don't know what is.

We also buzzed both of their heads last week.  I guess I should refer to them now as the Buzz Boys!  :-)  I must say that my little buddy couldn't have a better role model than his Daddy.

I must admit . . .

that I have NOT started on my 31 days to clean and have already burned at least a week or more.  Hmm, maybe this is why I can't keep a clean house in the first place?

My excuse is that my hubby and I were out of town half of last week and have been spending time with family since we got back.  Now it's Monday again and I must get back to it (so to speak).  This is maybe never an easy task, made even more difficult by the fact that I was up most of the night with a feverish little one.  I think a nap is definitely in order today (laugh, laugh).  I guess that was my welcome back to cold hard reality. . . or maybe God's way of slowing me down for some needed rest?  He do work in mysterious ways.

A Clean House

Okay, so I have decided that a totally clean house is overrated and near impossible with 3 small children.  However, as a self-professed sufferer from OCD, this has been a very difficult statement for me to say and to live.  In fact, to be completely honest, I still struggle with it every minute of every day.  Secretly I would like for my house to look like those houses in those decorating magazine pictures, but that is just not realistic.  All this being said, I am still on a quest to find a happy medium between the serene calm of those magazine homes and the utter chaos of mine.  

Enter this new book I discovered yesterday . . . 31 Days to Clean-Having a Martha House in the Mary Way by Sarah Mae.  I bought it for my Kindle and started yesterday.  Stay tuned to see how it goes!  

Any thoughts on how you keep your house under control??  Let me know!

A litte bit of this and little bit of that

So Sean has been struggling to make good choices these past few days.  His behavior has taken a complete turn around.  Oftentimes when this happens he is having allergy problems, which sometimes results in an ear or throat infection.  This evening we were in the car leaving Double Daves and I just asked him if his ears were bothering him or anything else.  He replied, "Yes, Mommy."  I asked him what is was.  He paused and answered, "It's the bees and flies, they are bothering me."  Not really the answer I was searching for.

Laura has become very attached to me in the past couple of days. [You can see how all this might be driving me crazy.]  So, anyway this evening everyone wanted to sit with me on the couch.  Laura was getting very angry that Julia & Sean were there.  She kept pushing them and hugging me while saying "My mommy!"  Then, of course not to be outdone, the others start arguing with her.  [You can see how all this might be driving me crazy.]

All this after I didn't get much sleep last night because Julia wet the bed (which never happens anymore), in my bed & then fell off the bed on her head onto the hardwood floor.  So I am on the bathroom floor holding her soaked with pee while she cries and I worry that she has a concussion. [You can see how all this might be driving me crazy.]  She seemed fine after a few minutes as well as today.  Although she has been complaining that her head is hurting.

So glad hubby is on his way home from the airport, as we speak!!

Camping

So our camping trip was a great success.  The kids were great and we all had a wonderful time.  This was mostly due to all the great friends we had there willing to lend a helping hand, as well as their awesome teenagers who loved playing with the kids and didn't mind watching them when we needed.

 

Cake

This is Julia's birthday cake I made, Putt Putt Princess.  Yes, I am little behind on my pictures (since these are from April) but I am trying to get up to date.

Possibly another one of my lofty goals?!?