built to last

april 12

2020-04-12T07:30:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was a good day. Let me tell you about it.

I got up early and worked, as usual. My work productivity has definitely decreased. lol. I sit down and will do a listing, browse around for 10 minutes, do another listing, repeat. It's kind of awful. Sometimes I get in a streak and can just finish my listings and be done and I love that. Thankfully, I've still been having some sales every day. I have plenty of inventory thanks to my kids resale event being cancelled, my cache of athletic wear for my annual athletic wear sale (might happen later this summer, who knows?), and a huge tote of stuff my sister gave me.

After work I started sewing some masks, trying another pattern on the CDC website. I've been looking for 2 patterns...one that feels extra safe that you can add a filter to, and one that sews up quickly so I can make a bunch and donate. I ordered 40 yards of fold over elastic on ebay for $30, shipped, and it came really fast. If you're curious, this pattern is my favorite so far: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QrW4zIjMwY&t=1s.

Nick got up first and we just hung out, sewing and playing video games, until noon. Then we showered and ate lunch because there was going to be a parade at 1:00! So exciting!! :)

Our local EMS, Fire Dept, PD and teachers and staff put on a parade for us and drove all through the streets of our little town to wave and honk and spread some joy. It turned out to be way more emotional than I thought...it was just the sweetest. Ruby watched from her bedroom window, lol, but Nick and I were out there. While we waited for them to get to our neighborhood, we made a quick sign.

After the parade I drove to pick up an outdoor storage bin I bought at our local goodwill online! Yay!! Haha, had to support them! (I miss thrifting!!) They have contact free pick up and are posting some new items every day.

Then I picked up Chipotle for the fam, sat in the parking lot and filled Easter eggs, and stopped at Target. It was my 2nd time in Target since this started and WHAT A ZOO. Of course, it was the day before Easter but it was just crazy. So many people (at least half or more) without masks and so many people ignoring social distancing. My friend had a really good experience at Target last week so I must have just picked an awful time to go. (obviously. eye rolling at myself...I knew better.)

I came home, we ate, and I sewed a little more. I had to quit though after I burnt my hand, broke a needle, broke my thread about 100 times and could hardly see straight. Hoping I can figure my ish out today.

WTF?

2020-03-19T09:18:00.001-05:00

Oh geez, this is crazy, right? :)

I hope you are all doing well and not going too crazy, yet. I am OKAY and that is all I am looking for these days. Yesterday I had a mini panic attack after seeing all these people posting about their kids and their great ideas and schooling and schedules and I was like...blink...blink...um...

So. I am giving myself grace. I am not afraid to be home with my kids all day...I (usually) love it. But I am not super organized yet. I am trying to keep us kind to each other (and ourselves!) , fed and outside when we can be.

We are now in the middle of a few rainy days but before that we've already had 2 walks together. So thankful for that.

Here are some pics:

xoxo

tybee island, ga

2019-07-13T07:18:00.002-05:00

We tried a bunch of new restaurants this year and really liked a couple of them. The Sandfly in Savannah had really good BBQ and is located in a cool vintage diner car. Everyone liked it but Ruby because she hates BBQ. Sorry, girl.

Our favorite dinner this trip was at Bubba Gumbo's. It's in this kind of dumpy little marina area with all of these little shacks and the wait was really long and it was super hot out but somehow we all had fun and the food was amazing. We waited over an hour (kitchen problems) for our food and James said afterwards that it was worth it. There was also a cat there for Nick to pet so he was happy.

Patrick and I each had blackened mahi mahi. James had fried flounder and Ruby and Nick had burgers. :)

One bad, horrible but funny place we ate was Paula Deen's Creek House! Thought it would be good! Bland food, forgot the remoulade, and our server had on a dirty shirt and a messy top knot and gave us the hang loose sign when he got to our table. I should have looked because I bet he had bare feet! The best part of that meal was for sure the memories. We all did the hang loose symbol a lot for the rest of the trips and I made "shit creek" jokes every time we drove by, which was a lot.

My favorite Icee of the trip (I only had one) was an alcohol free pina colada one. The night before we left James really wanted to vacuum all of the sand out of the van and I wasn't going to argue. We drove to a Mobil station and he got to work. It was super hot, of course, so I went in and got him a coke icee and me the pina colada one. It was sosososososo good. Ahhhhhh. Perfection. Also, James washed out our beach bag and everything inside of it and set it all out to dry in the sun. love that kid.

_________________________________________________

My ankle & foot are slowly healing.

xoxo

more tybee

2019-07-11T07:32:00.001-05:00

The house we rented this year was pretty small but had just enough room. There was also a large screened in back porch and an outdoor shower that we loved. The boys slept on these bunk beds in a little alcove:

James actually smiled for some pictures because I told Katie I would send her some while we were gone. :) (Katie is his girlfriend.)

It was SUPER hot while we were there but it worked out well. We were a short walk to Mid Beach and a short drive to North Beach and the water was amazing. Most days we went to the beach in the morning, went home, ate, slept, hung out, did a little shopping, ate and then went back to the beach in the evening.

********

Yesterday right before I had to leave to take Nick to a double header baseball game, I missed the last step while going downstairs and fell. oh geez. I hurt my ankle pretty bad but could thankfully walk. I was laying there hollering in pain, looked up and all 3 kids are above me. lol. It was pretty cute. So glad it wasn't worse! I drove him an hour to the game, sat through 2 tough games, and got us home. Today I have it wrapped and am not going to do much until his (sob) game tonight.

Patrick is doing what was supposed to be some relatively easy work in our upstairs bathroom. HAHAHAHA. He was going to install Pergo flooring but ended up having to remove the existing flooring and the sub flooring. And then grind down what felt like 1000000 staples. Then he decided that our existing walls were too crappy to paint so he pulled down all the sheetrock, too. I think this is a pretty common story. It's like "If you give a moose a muffin" for husbands.

xoxo

Tybee, Take 4

2019-07-10T07:21:00.001-05:00

All I really wanted from our vacation this year was to be TOGETHER. The school year was so busy and I've spent a lot of time this last year thanking God for every minute I spent with my kids when they were younger. Lots of little pangs of sadness along with it. I think I was mourning the end of an era...even though it's not really over yet. Patrick and I really feel how fast it is going...how little time we have with all 3 of them still at home.

side note: Summer, in itself, has been an unexpected surprise. They are all here! A lot! James is working and has a girlfriend and the other 2 have stuff going on but overall, they are home a lot. And I love it. It seems obvious when I type it out but I hadn't realized how happy it would make me.

ANYWAYS. Our 4th trip to Tybee was wonderful. Everyone wanted to go there (well...I accepted it because they all did) so everyone had fun and that was the main goal. A fun trip with 2 teens and a 9 year old...what a gift!

I'll add a couple of pics and sign off for now. I am supposed to be working. :)

These were from our first night on the way down, in Clarksville, TN. I just love seeing them together.

I am such a sap!!!

xoxo

1 year

2018-08-28T07:37:00.000-05:00

Since it has been over a year since I posted, and I am actively trying to avoid working, I thought I'd write a quick post. ;)

Hello! I hope everyone is doing well! I am good aside from being incredibly unmotivated this morning.

I feel stuck this week. There are a handful of days left of summer break and I am not sure how to fill them. It doesn't help that sprinkled in the mix are a vet appointments, cross country practices, football practice, and a middle school and high school orientation. Yikes. It has been like that all month...a lot to keep track of and leaving us with few days that are just "ours." Today Ruby and I are going to Target before her and James have to go to Cross Country practice. Yay! :) She wants a Starbucks drink, which I will buy her, and some Squishies, which I will not. Her and James need new underwear. Exciting!!

The kids are all good. James is 14.5. He is so funny and still very sweet to me a lot of the time, which I am thankful for. He is mainly interested in playing online games but also loves to read and has been watching the Harry Potter movies every night with Ruby and Nick. He likes hanging out with his friends but also loves to be home. He can also be a little turd (acting like a 3 year old) one minute and can talk to me like a reasonable adult the next. I am just trying to roll with it and be thankful that he is not yet driving. :)

Ruby is 12 and is also very funny. She and I have a pretty good relationship except when we get ticked off at each other. lol. She can come across as shy but is also an extrovert and likes to have plans more often than my boys do. Thankfully, she can also spend hours making slime, watching youtube videos, rearranging her room and reading.

Nick is 8 and is a typical 8 year old...pretty easy. He loves his brother and sister and also hanging out with Brennan. (Remember Ruby's friend Brennan?? He hangs out with Nick all the time now. :) )

****I had to go look...here is a Brennan story from 2009:

OH! And one funny Ruby thing as I have been sooooo bad at writing these down lately. She played over at Brennan's house for a while yesterday after dinner and this was when she got home:

S: Did you and Brennan have fun, honey?
R: yeah.
S: What did you do?
R: We pretended we were dead.

HAHAHAHAHA!!

Oh man. Ok, back to Nick. Nick still loves me very much, which I am thankful for. :) He loves to jump on the trampoline, ride his bike, play video games, read and sleep on our bedroom floor. haha.

Oh yeah, all of my kids are readers!! That makes me SO happy. One mission accomplished.

Patrick is doing well but not loving his job. Not sure where this will go but I'm praying for something to change here. We just celebrated 23 years of marriage on Sunday. ❤ He is really such a sweet man and I am thankful for him nearly every day. hahahahah! (likewise, I'm sure.)

I am good! I have some goals for this year but they are still coming into focus. I still love my job and sell on Poshmark now as well as my old love, Ebay. I love Instagram, mainly because of all the resellers I follow on there. It's fun to connect with people who get it. I know what I do still seems kind of random to a lot of people. :)

Today is just one of those days. I think I am mainly TIRED. As an introvert, not having much time to myself for 3 months is exhausting. I'm thankful for these times with my kids because I see how they pass (hello, 14 year old who usually no longer wants to go on hikes) but they are still tiring. Also, I'm 47 now.

WHAT???

xoxoxo

oh, here's a pic from one hike James actually wanted to go on:

the end is near

2017-08-23T21:07:00.001-05:00

Flag football has started up...a sure sign that summer is coming to a close.

It has been a busy week filled with appointments and phone calls and registration and the eclipse and another camping trip. Tomorrow we are headed for Duluth.

I'll be back soon. I've been having fun over here lately and have missed it this week.

xoxo

hiking with my big kids

2017-08-19T07:57:00.004-05:00

Patrick had his wisdom teeth pulled in July (poor bunny) and had some time off to recover. On his final day at home I left Nick with him and took James and Ruby up to Devil's Lake. It was so fun to have a day with just the two of them!

They are both old enough that I didn't have to worry about them near the edges as much as I would have with Nick. Of course, they tried to push it a little but overall they did really well with the boundaries I gave them.

We hiked for a few hours and then swam for a bit before heading home. James said he never wanted to see rocks or water again. :) They both loved it.

I want to remember to plan a day like this again next year. It was so fun.

xoxo

one of my favorite summer scores

2017-08-18T07:36:00.000-05:00

I was at a garage sale in May and found the round log holder you can see in the back corner for $1.00! I was so happy! I had been wanting something to hold firewood on our patio and this was perfect.

I was even happier when I saw that Crate & Barrel has a smaller version for $129.00. (BOOM) lol.

(side note: I used to hate using LOL but I have come around. I only use it if I do genuinely LOL, though.) (For the record, a LOL in my head counts.)

If you've never read it, here is the story of our patio. It is still the best thing we've ever done to our house.

xoxo

rushton rubber face score

2017-08-17T07:28:00.000-05:00

My mom found this vintage Rushton rubber face bear at the Dig. She paid around .60 for it.

It sold for $425.00!!!! You can see the listing here.

Yay, mom!!! It was bigger than the average Rushton bear which is why it was so valuable (it was also in awesome condition) but most Rushton animals (or, shudder, HOBOS) are worth something.

xoxo

the easiest lunch & the best seasoning

2017-08-16T07:24:00.001-05:00

I didn't think to take the picture until everyone had already dug it, but isn't this just the prettiest lunch?

I considered very fortunate to have ripe avocados and hard boiled eggs on hand. It felt like a total mom win. haha!

The "dip" in that bowl is just whipped greek cream cheese with the Everything but the Bagel seasoning from Trader Joe's. That seasoning is the best!! If you don't live near a Trader Joe's, someone is, of course, selling it on Ebay. :)

xoxo

camping, day two

2017-08-15T09:58:00.001-05:00

My mom & sister had to go back after one night but I was considering staying over another night. It is so much work for just one night! But then I woke up that morning and was ready to be done. haha! Nick had been cold during the night and after a lot of cuddling, sharing both my sleeping bag and sweatshirt, he finally settled in at the end of my cot. It was the strangest, longest night and I didn't want to do it again. The end.

Not really! After a chill morning by the fire (with coffee) we packed up and left for Parfrey's Glen for a hike before we headed home. I love it there and it was fun to be back. (I would like to add here that James was such a big help to me! Patrick wasn't there for set up or take down and it was really nice to have another pair of hands.) (Ruby and Nick helped by playing at the playground! :) )

the culprit:

James and Nick slept so late that morning...

It was a great day and it was also so fun to be heading home! We stopped and got pizzas and ice cream on the way, that was fun, too. After eating, I power napped for 15 minutes and then took Nick to his first flag football practice. He loves flag football.

xoxo

devil's lake camping

2017-08-14T07:36:00.000-05:00

Last week we camped for a night with my sister and her family and our mom. Patrick had to work so he came up after and spent the night with us.

We like to camp at Nordic Pines campground. It's right across the highway from Devil's Lake and if you go during the week, it's never been crowded. (for instance, there was one other guy on our side of the campground. just how we like it! :) )

We got up there around 11:30, set up camp and spent the rest of the day at Devil's Lake.

Ronan and the kids having a water fight:

James, digging a hole:

Nick was quite proud of these:

Tumbled Rock Trail is always a favorite:

The best part:

My mom said she wished there was a swing so James rigged one up for her. He used a log and Andrea & Ronan's slack line.

xoxoxo

the strangest summer

2017-08-13T08:02:00.000-05:00

This has been the strangest summer.

All summer I have been waiting to feel like one of our "normal" summers...it's been odd. I think it's because we never really got into a daily routine at home. We definitely had lots of days at home but practically every one of them was different and that is so unsettling to me. :) I haven't worked much and have used my favorite morning hours, where I normally love to work, to walk with my friends. I have loved that time but it threw me off in a lot of ways. I have also tried to sleep in here and there which is unusual for me. I have to admit, it does feel good.

We did have summer school & swimming lessons at the beginning of the summer. That definitely lent some structure but lots of driving around town came with it. There haven't been regular bedtimes at all. We've had 1-3 kids on our bedroom floor many nights. There have been lots of sleep overs, both here and away. There is a big detour through town. James and Ruby did a ton of reading but none of them signed up for the summer reading program. I'm not mowing the lawn anymore, James is. My big kids both go off on their bikes with their friends...to the pool, to get shaved ice, just off on their own. I sometimes leave them all home alone while I run to Target or the grocery store. It's just all been so different! (added as I re-read this: it's obviously a summer of change & growth for our family. It's both heart-filling and heart-breaking.)

We have also done most of our activities & nights away during the week, leaving our weekends open/at home. I have kind of loved this but it is opposite of what most people do so it can leave me feeling like a sadsack if I go on social media. (I try to avoid facebook most weekends...it's too full of everyone doing all the fun stuff. Even if we had a week full of fun stuff it can make me feel bad. I am SO dumb in this way (insecure) but at least I recognize it now. :) )

I think aside from the free-flowing days, it has also been strange because my kids are getting older. This year it's mainly James (13) that has some strong opinions about what he does and doesn't want to do. We have handled it pretty well, I think. I have definitely let him skip some activities and he has weighed in with things he would like to do with us and we have tried to do those. A few times, he just had to come with, you know? And he always has fun. I love those moments when we are away from home with just each other...that is when you play catch with your sister or build something with your brother or run off together. 💚

It is August 13th and although there have been moments, I am not quite ready for school to start yet. This is unheard of for me. haha! Normally I am craving fall weather and routine and quiet and the rest of it.

I am so grateful for this crazy, off kilter summer.

xoxo

little amerricka

2017-08-12T08:40:00.001-05:00

I was planning on staying home yesterday. I spent some time working in the morning and was having Ruby help me with my Half Pint resale prep. (it's coming so fast!) For some reason, I suddenly remembered I had purchased Little Amerricka groupons and when I checked them, sure enough, they were about to expire.

OH NO!!!

jk. :) But I do hate missing a groupon.

I quickly finished my ebay shipping, gathered the children (including one extremely tired 13 year old who had just gotten back from a sleepover) and we headed to Marshall, WI.

It was kind of chilly which was actually really nice. Most years it is sweltering.

James wasn't super into it. He mainly wanted to mini golf and then spent some time reading in the van. Ruby, Nick and I went on the Tilt A Whirl and I almost lost my cookies. I am pretty sure I will never go on that ride again. :) Kind of sad as it was always my favorite. #old

We got a treat and went on some low key rides and then went and got James to golf with us again.

I love hanging out with them.

It was kind of a random trip but I'm glad we went.

Last night we had fireworks here in town and the children all lost their minds and ran around like crazy. I walked down to the park with my neighbor and when we got back Patrick had the house all cleaned up and our bed ready for me to just crawl into. It was the best.

xoxo

chicago, day two, aka IKEA

2017-08-10T16:51:00.000-05:00

Our second day in Chicago was mainly spent at Ikea. James and Ruby hadn't been there since they were pretty small and it was SO different being there with them now.

They wanted everything!! :)

They both got new bedroom furniture last winter so they didn't need much (James got an office chair) but they loved looking at it all and seeing how they set all the rooms up, etc. For James, having a space of his own doesn't seem quite as far off so I think he particularly enjoyed it.

I didn't really get a chance to look at much because they talked to me NONSTOP. Oh well, I was there not too long ago. I can't wait until one opens up near Milwaukee...no tolls!

We had stayed at a nearby hotel, cannot remember where right now, and the tub didn't drain in one of the rooms and there were some lights burnt out. My mom told the manager on the way out, just so he could get it fixed, and he ended up comping the whole room! Even the $19 movie we had rented for the kids the night before! Even my $10 (GASP) bottle of beer! He didn't say anything except apologize at the time, we found out when we got home.

Thanks, Mom.

xoxo

chicago, day one

2017-08-09T08:29:00.000-05:00

I recently took the kids to Chicago for a night with my mom and my sister and her family. Our main goal was the Maggie Daley Park because our kids had loved it last time we were there.

We did go to the playground, and it is still awesome, but it was SO hot that day. We ended up walking around, going to Navy Pier and then on a river tour. It ended up being a really fun day, despite the heat. I think the kids will always remember the long walk back to Millenium Park through rush hour traffic. :)

Can you see the excitement in their faces?? hahaha!! It was so hot. James was not loving this but he dug deep and made some really good choices about his attitude that day. I was proud of him. I know he ended up having some fun.

I let Ruby order her first Starbucks drink with coffee in it.

Not pictured but I don't want to forget: We stopped and listened to some men drumming on the street. Afterwards 2 of them got in a fight and one kicked their donation bucket over and their money flew everywhere. They were hollering and swearing up a storm. I told my kids to GET MOVING as I didn't want them in the middle of a big fight. My mom didn't hear the fight, just saw the bucket go flying. She, being the sweet grandma she is, stopped to help the young men. I wasn't sure what to do and I know her actions helped diffuse the situation. They stopped fighting and started helping her get the money and thanking her, then they turned and asked if the kids were alright. I was thankful we could leave the situation laughing instead of feeling afraid.

xoxo

tie dye

2017-08-08T08:11:00.000-05:00

My sister brought her boys over one day to tie dye! Yay! I love tie dying and hadn't done it forever. We did it on a big old ripped tarp that we had and just threw everything away afterwards.

The next day we brought the kids (minus James) to the zoo (and Trader Joe's!) and they were so proud to wear their shirts.

I wanted to document this watch that Nick has taken to wearing this summer. It is an old broken ladies wrist watch that he wanted me to buy for him at the thrift store one day. He loves it. :)

xoxo

port washington

2017-08-08T06:33:00.000-05:00

We took a day trip to Port Washington last month. I brought the kids there for the first time a couple of years ago and have wanted to go back ever since. It is a small city on Lake Michigan and is just beautiful. It reminds me of home combined with the East Coast. :)

Art Deco lighthouse:

James was kind of bored until we got to the beach. He started digging and ended up with this huge hole. I found the board for them and they played here for a long time. I had left my phone in the van and they wanted pictures so badly they walked back for it. (It was a long ways.)

It was a pretty perfect day.

xoxo

tieks tieks tieks (tieks)

2017-08-07T08:47:00.000-05:00

I just wanted to share one of my best finds this summer. One day, at Goodwill, I found 1,2,3,4 pairs of Tieks! The 3 solid color ones were $3.99 and the leopard ones were $12.99. This is the first time I had ever found a pair of these and I couldn't believe it.

Although, of course, I could. Patrick was getting ready to have all 4 wisdom teeth pulled and we needed some money. So, thank you, God.

(and Goodwill. and the rich woman with size 11 feet.)

I sold all 4 pairs the same day I listed them and for $149 each.

xoxo

shelves & cat naps

2017-08-06T09:00:00.000-05:00

Patrick bought me a bunch of plastic shelves for in the basement and put them together last night while I was fast asleep. ❤

There are 2 more of these for my shipping supplies and they are so much nicer than what I had...an old purple metal shelf balancing on drywall compound buckets. ha!!

It will be so fun to get down there and get it all organized. happy sigh.

In other news, Ruby was copying Milo the other day. He likes to lay right in the middle of the kitchen floor when I am making dinner. He knows his food is coming soon and can't possibly wait anywhere else. :)

He has started leaving us small, dead animals. We are proud of him for his kitty-ness but it is still sad.

xoxo

beach party

2017-08-05T09:00:00.000-05:00

Earlier in the week we went to the Fireman's Park Beach Party in Verona for our 4th year. Our first time was an accident, which I wrote about here. We've been back every year since then and the kids keep loving it. (we do, too.)

James' friend came with us and we met my sister and Wendy there.

Jacob and Eli are in the orange & striped trunks, Nick is 3 kids over:

Isn't this just a happy scene?

Nick and a friend from school waiting to joust:

Nick going off the diving board:

James & his friend talking to a sand castle judge. They came in 4th. :)

And the balloon toss:

xoxo

8/4/2017

2017-08-04T11:28:00.000-05:00

Hey there,

The other day I took Ruby and Nick to have lunch, get haircuts and pick out backpacks. Nick chose Pizza Ranch for lunch...he had been asking to go back for 2 months. :) He loves to eat meat on a bone.

I love these kinds of days with my kids. Just doing random stuff, together. I keep thinking to myself how blessed I've been to have all these days with them, all these years. They've piled up so quickly. You might notice that James was not with us. He chose to go to his friends house, which I totally get. He is growing up, they all are!

I guess that is the point, right??

so thankful.

xoxo

if you give your daughter a wardrobe

2017-01-25T06:58:00.003-06:00

she's going to want a bed to go with it.

It all started because Ruby wanted a new dresser, specifically, a wardrobe.

When the kids were babies I got them nice dressers at Target...nice for me. They were roomy and lightweight. They were Sterlite. :) (and, after googling them, they aren't made anymore but some Amazon sellers have them and have priced accordingly. gulp. I paid around $60, I think?)

Fast forward 10 years and my little girl isn't feeling the plastic dresser anymore. (I, on the other hand, still love them. They are 10 and 12 years old and going strong!)

She's actually been saying this for a while so I've been saving for it and told her I'd go to Ikea after Christmas. Then she asked for a matching bed, please, and James was down for a new dresser, too.

We ended up selling Ruby's old Ikea bed and that covered most of the cost of her new one. She also ended up getting a nice wardrobe. James got a dresser, said he didn't want a bed. (now he also wants a bed, naturally.) I also thought, hey, I've wanted a bed for YEARS. So I got one. On Amazon? yes. And I love it!

So this started this big ball of taking beds apart, selling on facebook and craigslist (hashtag nightmare), sorting through every toy and dresser in the house, going to ikea, putting all the ikea furniture together, moving other dressers around, new curtains, re-organizing all of my ebay inventory storage, painting dressers*, putting Amazon bed together, moving big sections of the basement around, painting our bedroom* and oh, buying a new to us TV.

*still not done

This was all last week. There were also 2 days off and 2 days I had to be at school for other commitments and then early release on Friday. I was so looking forward to this being a normal week with a break from the organizing and everything else (kids). ha. Monday I did get to work all day. Yesterday morning James was in the spelling bee (3rd place!! Yay, James. He did so well, I love watching his process.) and then Nick had a ENT appt. Today school was just cancelled. hahahahahha.

whatever.

Turns out Nick's adenoids are HUGE. Like, really big. The photo below shows "enlarged" adenoids. I call bullshit. Nick's are like 3 times that size. Not even kidding. The doc couldn't see around them.

They are recommending surgery to remove them which really stinks BUT I am hoping the benefits will be great. Poor Nick with his nasally little voice and reduced nasal breathing. Who knew??? (His speech teacher suggested I take him to get checked. No one else has ever wondered why he has always sounded like he had a cold...even me! We just thought it was speech related. She discovered that when she had him speak without using certain letters, he sounded totally different. Pretty impressed with her.) These hulking adenoids definitely affect his speech, breathing, sleep and more.

Before I go, I would also like to mention how envious I was of Ruby and her new wardrobe and organizers. She spent the whole day in there going through all of her clothes, getting rid of stuff and sorting everything else. She has little baskets for her socks, etc. It took ALL I HAD not to jump in and help her but I didn't. She gets it. She feels it. She is a natural at organizing.

James, on the other hand, grabbed everything from his old dresser and smooshed it into his new one. Including taking the pile that was on top of the old one and plopping it onto the new one. He is such a 13 year old boy. (I love 13 year old boys.)

I love seeing how they all are so different. Through all of this, Nick doesn't care at all. He said he doesn't want anything new, not even curtains. He cried when I switched his dresser to a bigger one. :) (but he did come around.)

So, that was my last week.

xoxoxo

p.s. none of these links are affiliate links because I don't have my shit together. xoxo

taking stock, mid-January

2017-01-13T10:19:00.005-06:00

I am going to join (copy) Maggie who joined her friend in filling this list out, to catch everyone up on just about everything.

Making : We just got a new sheet set and never use the top sheet, I normally donate them. On the other hand, we never have enough matching pillowcases for all of our bed pillows. (we have 5) (do you see where this is going?) Today I realized I could take that flat sheet and make MANY more matching pillowcases. I am so excited!!

Cooking : We are making paninis like crazy. I am the Panini Queenie. We had them for dinner last night and will probably have them again for lunch tomorrow. Breakfast paninis, dessert paninis, standard paninis. We love them all. Cranberry mustard is a game changer.

Drinking : coffee.

Reading: The Memory of Lemon (I love books involving food, particularly cake.)

Trawling: Thrift stores, always. Earlier this week I went through the clothing racks at Goodwill, which I normally do not do. I found All Saints, Johnny Was and Commune de Paris...brands I don't normally find. It was an hour well spent.

Wanting: storage totes for my summer clothes that actually fit under our bed.

Looking: in all of our closets to find stuff to get rid of.

Deciding: on Spring Break plans. Or, at least starting to think about them.

Listening: to Joyce Meyer podcasts. I really love her.

Buying: I have to get groceries today. Trying to find the joy in that. :)

Watching: Alone on History Channel. We love it!!

Marvelling: at how quickly the day goes.

Cringing: that we still have our outdoor Christmas decorations up.

Needing: to wash our van.

Questioning: If I should start paint a dresser in mid-January.

Smelling: um, nothing. My nose is almost constantly plugged. I'm a little worried about it.

Wearing: pajamas.

Selling: Not much! It's been a slow ebay week but I am plugging along on my listings...I'm over half way through my monthly goal and it's just the 13th. (I know that is only a day or two ahead of schedule but I'll take it. :) )

xoxo

p.s. Patrick is giving Milo a late night snack and he isn't waking me up in the morning. This is BIG NEWS. So happy!!