I lied.

I said I wasn't going to buy anything for this space and well, I broke down, I couldn't help myself and I bought something. But, it was all for a good cause aka a pretty, with lots of potential dresser that will totally have a home in our new home. It was for sale (at a very..very reasonable price) at one of my favorite stores for just the longest time. I always would look at it and touch it when I would go there, but at the time I just had no place for it in my house. 

This past weekend, Jack and I went to check out this lovely store (the owner gives kids old-fashioned candy sticks..tuti fruiti, ring a bell), so I could get my fix before moving away. Well, it just happens that this dresser was still there and I now have a place for it (for now...staging purposes, remember) in my house. Is this fate? I think so ladies! I snatched it right up. I think its pretty just the way it is, but I have other plans, big plans. It does need a little work on the inside to make it a bit more sturdy and one of the drawers is not sitting right...so that also needs to be taken care of. So, anyway here she is....

How tacky...someone left the price tag on. Sorry, I was being lazy.

 

 And here is what I hope she becomes....

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Wish me luck.

Highlights.

1. Pat came home to be with us.

2. We had a house showing and we parked our car around the corner to stalk the potential buyers (well, it was just about nap time for O, so we didn't want to be far from home) They were only here for eight minutes, we haven't heard anything and so we conclude, 'another one bites the dust'. 

3. Jack has two new friends, who happen to be a shark and a dolphin. The shark's name is Sharky-Darky and the dolphin's name is Tortoise. He talked about them all through breakfast yesterday morning.

4. Owen no longer needs his crib. He has gotten himself out of the crib in the morning and after naps for the past three days. But... I am not ready for him to no longer need his crib. Oh boy!

5. Pat and I went on a date last night. We had dinner together (just the two of us) and we actually had a conversation for well over an hour. It was wonderful. After dinner, we saw the movie True Grit...we both thought it was a really good movie...excellent acting. 

6. Jack and I had some alone time yesterday. During a quiet moment, I brought up the whole topic of moving. I talked to him about changing preschools, not living in this house anymore, getting a new room, making new friends, being closer to grandmas and grandpa, etc. He seemed interested in what I was saying, so then I asked him, "Jack, do you have any questions about all of this or anything you would like to know?" He looked at me all serious and said, "Yes mommy, I have a question....where does potty come from?" WaaaWaaaWaaaaaa....that went well.

7. We are watching the Super Bowl in our pajamas and the boys are sound asleep in their beds. In my opinion, the Black-Eyed Peas half-time show was the best one I have seen... since this one.

8. Glee.

10.

 Disclaimer....I apologize in advance if this post is totally random, a bit whiny (who am I kidding, a lot whiny) and extremely wordy. Numbers 1-3 will explain why!

1. I have been a single mother now for roughly nine days. Nine days people! I'm so ready for Pat to come home today...ugh! I need a parenting partner (to make it one on one instead of two on one), I need a breather (a break from the demands), I need my husband and I need a visit to the spa (ahh, sounds wonderful) And the boys, oh the boys...they need their daddy. Mommies just don't play the same as daddies.

This is what happens when you can't leave your house for 24 hours...window markers.

2. We had a blizzard hit Kalamazoo on Wednesday. A blizzard, that's actually what it was categorized as in the news. I guess I had never heard of it called anything but a winter storm (at least from what I remember) and I grew up in Northwest Wisconsin. My single mother status does not go well with a blizzard (that gave us 15 inches of snow) or the city that is virtually shut down due to this blizzard. But, sweet neighbors that understand my situation and help snow plow my driveway (out of their own goodwill) sure do! Love good, helpful neighbors!

3. I have snow-blowed/shoveled my driveway about 6-8 times in the last nine days. I actually don't mind doing it as it is refreshing being outside and its actually good exercise. As I have said on here one million times, Jack loves being out in the snow and he exerts lots of energy playing and shoveling. 

Here lies the problem, Owen hates it outside in the winter. And I mean hates it. Within 5-10 minutes, he starts whining and whimpering and within another 5-10 minutes it turns into full blown crying for me to take him "home" because he wants "hot coco". I'm not sure what to do about this as I feel I am being pulled in two different directions. The thing is, he gets super frustrated when he can't grab and hold onto things (and be just like Jack) so he takes off his mittens and then his hands get cold and then he cries and cries and cries. It's torture for all of us. I guess its time to get Owen his own pair of L-Bow Mittens because we are going to keep going outside..its a must with these boys.

4. Speaking of playing outside. While Owen napped yesterday, Jack and I went outside to have some uninterrupted play-time in the snow. Jack was wearing this striped hat..it has turned out to be a winter wardrobe staple for my boys. I love this hat so much due to its cuteness, longevity and the fact that both boys wear it.

Gosh, looking at these pictures makes my throat tighten up with emotion.

5. Being cooped up in the house for the past few days has not been good on my psyche. I have been trying to remember what Eckart Tolle told me, "Realize deeply that the present moment is all you have. Make the NOW the primary focus of your life." So smart that man...easier said then done though Mr. Tolle.  Pat is currently reading this book so we have been talking about his concepts and new ways of thinking a lot. Maybe it will help to reprogram my brain so I am able to make it through the rest of the winter/move out of house/selling of house/temporary living/building a house/move into house/change in life/change in routine...all with two little boys. Hmmm? Can't hurt, I guess.

6. Boredom Buster...Art! I saw this and thought it would be easy-peasy for my boys.

It was easy and lasted a good 10 minutes. Jack quickly moved on to something way more exciting and creative, squirting/smearing glue onto paper. I try.

 7. Another Boredom Buster...fishing for dogs.

All you need is a tape measure, a dog biscuit, a dog (or 3) and two silly little boys.

Tie the dog biscuit onto the end of the tape measure and send it down...the dogs will come a sniffn'.

8. In an effort to take a shower, I asked the boys to play in Owen's crib together (you know, to confine my toddler). Let me first just say, that Jack has never learned how to climb out of a crib, ever..in 4 years and Owen had not tried either. Well, as I stepped out of the shower, Jack and Owen came walking into my bathroom, "Hi Mommy", they said. WHAT?!? Yep, they taught each other how to climb out of the crib...great, awesome, perfect. Then this morning as I was just waking up, I could hear Owen talking and calling for me, but the next thing I know...Owen is walking into my room, saying, "Hi Mommy!".

So, although I am glad he has figured out a safe way (he showed me just how he gets out) to get out of his crib, I find this to be such a huge bummer because this Momma is not ready for the big-boy bed transition. In this house, we do this transition, Supernanny Style and its painful...gut wrenching painful. However, I must say that it works and its amazingly worth it in the end. I guess I will have to see how the next few days go!?!

9. Here is some home decor eye candy that has been making me drool....

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Totally Kidding. 

I saw these today at a thrift store. Seriously, who would put these in their house other than Barbie.

10. A Boredom Buster for me...dreaming about our new home. I thought I would share a picture of what our new house will look like, so here she is, give or take a few things (as this is not the exact house)....

My Sunday Night.

Boys asleep...check

Shower...check

Kitchen cleaned...check

Fold laundry...check (well, it is never really a firm check)

Put away laundry...check

Watch mindless television (The Kardashians, anyone?)...check

Having my sweet, lover dog Beasley lay on me while I fold laundry and watch tv...priceless!

His demeanor and actions our family, makes us think that he is unbelievably grateful that we rescued him...grateful that he now has a home with humans that love him. And when he lays with me like this, amongst the many other things he does, I am so happy that we did.

A Room Flip...Again. For Staging Purposes.

One of the major things that attracted me to our current home two years ago was this small room off our entryway. It has french doors that open into the family room and it has a large window with a decent size window bench. I guess it was supposed to be a dining room or maybe an office, either of which might have been great for us, had it been just us. Now add two growing children and their even faster growing supply of toys and this makes a great space for a playroom. And this is exactly what we did, we made it their playroom. It's worked out perfect that past few years for the boys and for me (and my sanity). Despite the fact that this space has shelving units and organized/labeled cubbies, it usually (every minute of the day the boys are awake) looks just like this. And this just happens to be on a good day.

We pick up when we can, and to be honest if some nights I just don't have the gusto to do that, I simply close the doors and forget about it until the morning. Now, this is an easy way to live if you happen to be a normal, settled, not moving, don't have your house on the market, won't get a call at any moment for a house showing family. This we are clearly not. After two showings and a third one approaching, I decided this space needed a flip, for two reasons. (1.) The toys...I needed to regain control of them and (2.) I wanted a potential buyer to have their own thoughts on what this space could be for them and/or their family (as in, it needed to be a fresh palatte). So, during Owen's nap-time yesterday, Jack and I went to work. I pulled out all the toys, the train table, the books and took down the swing.

Ahhhh! Better already, right? 

I boxed up a bunch of toys (and all those darn puzzles that O loves to pull down and dump, everywhere...those needed to go go for now), actually two big bins worth that I now have stored in my front closet, just in case, we are all in need of some fresh, haven't seen in awhile toys. I also stored the better toys (aka the boys play with a lot and for longer periods of time) in our coffee table/chest or brought to our basement (another play zone).

Moving on....

These two sweeties then helped me clean the walls, the trim and the baseboards. With two boys who love to ram their trucks, cars, skateboards, trikes and plasma cars into the walls (cause it's fun, I guess?), we had a lot of scrubbing to do.

Owen helped scrub the walls with me along with intermittent breaks to suck on his rag.

And J walked around pointing out all the dirty spots. I guess I like this angle for taking pics?!?

Let me just say, Magic Erasers are amazing!!

Now I needed to stage it a bit, so I brought up a table and chairs that I already had. This set is very special to me as this was the first table Pat and I had when we were first married. We ate so many meals together at this table...just the two of us. Good memories. The rug used to be in my family room under/in front of the couch.

Ahhh....much better!

Another bonus, it gives J a racetrack to zoom around on.

Sorry about these pics, it has been gloomy and gray here for the past few days. 

And I don't know how to take pics in gloomy and gray.

This window bench, my mom and I made when she was here over Thanksgiving. I followed this tutorial, which was rather simple. Every now and then, I find one of the boys laying on the bench reading a book...very cute in my eyes.

I still need to take down the artwork displays, but that means then I need to patch holes and repaint. I need more of that gusto before I take that on. I am trying to use what I already have in an effort to not spend money and honestly, it just seems plain ole' silly to buy stuff when we are moving. I need to go look in my uber messy, filled to the brim basement storage to see if I have any artwork that would fit in this space.

But, I think this will work for now....

 

 

63 days.

We have 63 days until April, which means 63 more days of winter (around these parts, March is still very much considered winter). We have no plans to fly south for a snow break this year. My little puppies get so sick of being inside all the time. They need to be ran and have fresh air blown in their faces. They need to feel the warm sun on their skin without layers of clothes covering them up. 63 more days, ugh! Thank goodness we have this bouncy castle, so my little puppies can bounce off their energy. They have needed it lately.

Eight I's....

1. I am thinking about my dear friend Ann. We became friends in nursing school and spent endless hours together studying, laughing, writing papers, studying, eating, crying and studying.  She lost her husband to Cancer last week after a rather sudden diagnosis and short battle  They were a wonderful couple who I have always and will always hold very dear in my heart. Thinking of you Ann. 

2. I made these...

Baked Creamy Chicken Taquitos

 They were soooo good! We had them as our main dish with a side salad. Pat, the boys and I devoured them....I might have had three, they were so yummy! I will definitely be making these again.

3. I am reading this....

My favorite mail day is when I get this shinny, delicious magazine just for me.

4. I captured this....

It was post nap with a big bowl of M&M's sitting right next to him.

Owen liked..he liked a lot.

5. I want to make these....

 

Becky Bakes

A chocolate chip cookie stuffed with an Oreo.

Need I say more?

 And while I'm baking and stuffing, I want to make these too....

my baking addiction

A chocolate chip cookie stuffed a Rolo.

6. I am dreaming of.....

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Beautiful Kitchens.

7. I am making a few of these in red for Valentine's Day.....

 

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8. I am organizing, purging, staging, cleaning and constantly picking up because we are....

 

After living in Michigan for two years, we are moving back to the Twin Cities area. Thank goodness! We are so excited to be back where we are from, near our family & friends, and in our comfort zone. After moving 5 times (4 different States) in the last 6 years, we are ready to put down roots and settle down in a place we love. Although we have created amazing memories on this journey, we are ready for our forever home (god, I hope so). So, if I start talking about sinks, knobs, pulls, barn doors, or carpet on here, I hope you understand...it's starting to get into my blood ;)