I finally (FINALLY!) got all my stuff tagged and loaded in the car yesterday afternoon. Gretchen was a saint and let my kids be at her house while I dropped off my ball and chain stuff to the consignment sale.

I pulled up and the doors were locked and lights off. I may or may not have screamed a little in my head. Thankfully she was able to pull up the website and direct me to the new location. The sale is huge, y’all. Huge. (I BETTER MAKE SOME MONEY ON THIS STUPID STUFF OR I’LL BE MAD!)

We had supper with them (thank you thank you thank you) and then I crashed on Madeline’s bed when we got home. I think I dozed a few times while reading them their bedtime books. (If it’s possible to fall asleep while reading aloud.)

It gave me a little bit of a second wind and I somehow managed to clean the house up a bit after the kids were asleep. Andy’s folks drove here yesterday to help us finish up the kitchen. (Squee!) The old countertops are currently sitting outside in my front yard. Good riddance!

So, yeah. BIG WEEK.

It’s supposed to rain again this week, but for now, it’s wonderful.

(And, as always, we enjoyed pudgy, pink-cheeked babies.)

I just wanted to say (and remind myself) that I KNOW I still haven’t made all the return visits from the delurker day, and I WILL get to it eventually. In-laws are coming next week for the final stage of the kitchen renovation (countertops came in this week!) and with this kids’ sale and some other things going on, it’s just a little bit crazy right now. Bear with me!

Today I’m pulling out the stops and going through our attic. Drop off for a local children’s consignment sale starts tomorrow and I decided last minute to try to sell some stuff. They even take maternity. (Great way to make a few bucks.)

We eat supper at church on Wednesdays so I’m off that hook for tonight. Yippee!

The backstory.

What goes around comes around.

(And also, he shaved right after that photo. In case you were worried.)

(PS- I asked him if he was thinking about becoming an Olympic swimmer again.)

My dad was here last weekend, had two speaking engagements and squeezed in some family time, too.  I’m sure the highlight of his trip was the very distinct honor and privilege of taking Andy and me out to breakfast Saturday morning. ;)

(Note to self: next time be prepared to wait a spell.  People like to go out to breakfast on Saturday mornings, apparently.)

We missed seeing him yesterday before his flight because we had lunch with our shepherding group after church.  And I realized again that this four-kid thing?  Really is hard sometimes!  I felt pulled in a million directions – watching my three (active!) big kids while preparing my dish and nursing my baby… (or just trying to keep my head from spinning off).  It’s just a season, it’s just a season…

***

I allowed the girls to sleep together last night (although at some point Adelaide went back to her own bed) and this morning Madeline told me she had read a book to Adelaide but she had to hurry because she didn’t want me to find out she was being sneaky (her words).  I had to stifle a laugh when she came out with that.  And then we had a little discussion about how Jesus sees everything even when mommy isn’t there.  I also thought it interesting that she brought it up.  (Usually Drew’s the one that tells on himself.)

***

Alright, my blogging time is up, back to the Monday grind!  (After an afternoon pick-me-up cup of coffee, first.)

It’s not that I’m ungrateful for the new vacuum you recently bestowed upon us, especially since we had only filed a warranty claim on our old hose. I appreciate the gesture, really.

But here’s the thing: I would never in a million years have bought this piece of crap new model. Why, you ask?

The reasons I bought the original Cyclonic Upright: THE PUSH BUTTON-RETRACTABLE CORD. This is worth its weight in gold. I despise the manual cord-winding on the new model.

The hose right on the front with a touch-button release and brush bristles built in, no attachments necessary. The hose even pulled out seven or so feet. (The new model? Came with about 4 separate attachments. They don’t even really store well on board. And the new hose falls out of the machine randomly and so you think you’re vacuuming but you’re really not. Frustrating and annoying.)

The old one lays almost flat; I could almost vacuum under my bed. This new model barely goes past a right angle before the front lifts off the floor. The whole thing is much more cheaply made (and also? is over a $100 less than the one I paid for. Yeah.), and the wheels are plastic and look like they’ll break easily. The old model was sturdier.

And the little details…the old model had an on/off button right on the main handle. The new on switch is on the bottom and tucked in very inconveniently, which causes me irritation right from the start.

The old model had automatic height adjustment for carpet pile height and hard floors; this one you have to stop and turn a dial when moving from carpet to hardwood (which I will have to do constantly in this house of hardwoods and rugs). Also, the old one you just step on the front anywhere and the handle is released; this one you have to step on an actual button. Generally inconvenient.

So, all that to say, I’m very very very disappointed you discontinued such a great vacuum and replaced it with such junk. Bad move, Dirt Devil, bad move.

For now we’re vacuuming with our old beloved Cyclone, spit-shined and fixed up with electrical tape. You can have your piece of junk warranty model back.

-Moriah, an unsatisfied homekeeper

Madeline has been BEGGING me to allow her to hold Arianna while walking around. I always say no.

Here’s the thing, Madeline is c-l-u-m-s-y. And still too little herself. Her arms aren’t strong or long enough for Arianna’s bulk and weight.

But I did agree she could try to hold the baby in my sling and that actually proved to be a good solution. It looked funny though, I just HAD to snap a few photos:

Alternate title: Sisterwearing!

And also? The park was packed. Spring fever, anyone?

On Saturday I hit up Walmart with my Mer-inspired meal plan list and stocked up. We’ve been coasting on little (and therefore frequent) grocery store trips since well before Arianna was born. It was high time to get some sort of routine and meal planning done, if only for my sanity (and okay, my checkbook… I tend to spend way less this way).

My sister needed to pick up her phone, so it worked great to take her to the sprint store and then she played with the kids in the car while I did my shopping alone. (Which is always a treat, you know.)

Last night she babysat and Andy and I (+baby) went to his co-worker/friend’s birthday dinner out at a very scenic restaurant. It was a pretty big group of friends from work and it was fun for me to spend a little time with people I usually only see in passing or as they’re bringing me a glass of iced tea.

Plus it’s always fun to wear fancy shoes and be out with Andy.

(And not cook dinner.)

Like this dress… which will actually be paired with a long-sleeved tee and black leggings (and not, you know, jammies):

It occurred to me only very recently to dress my girls differently ON PURPOSE. Their personalities are so different, so why not dress them to fit each girl’s personality? (Madeline’s hand-me-downs haven’t really worked for Adelaide, anyway.)

And since Adelaide is quite the quirky kid (more on that in a later post; it’s still simmering), I’ve had a lot of fun making her a bunch of unique dresses. I loved the 1950’s dresses on this fabric. (Sidenote to Brite, this one I lined.)

***

Drew’s at school and Andy has the girls helping him do yard work outside this morning, so I actually have time to sit here and blog! He (meaning Drew) got his first G.I. Joe yesterday. He calls it his “big boy toy.”

It dawned on me last week that he still mostly just has his toddler toys and was very obviously getting bored (and therefore naughty). Any other “big boy toy” recommendations you have for me?

(You know, that don’t have small pieces that I would inevitably step on in the middle of the night…)

(Although, here’s the honest truth, Gretchen and I looked at each other afterwards and decided we felt like the lamest mothers ever.)

From her website: “Behavior Boosters is a book series designed to encourage anyone involved with children to motivate positive behavior using fun and simple ideas.

–Ashley Goertemiller, Author & Speaker

It’s a great resource, be sure to check it out!

Our Valentine’s weekend started out with a BANG: Adelaide spilled an entire carton of milk all over our couch and carpet. Yeah. Lakes of milk. (And I hadn’t had my coffee yet.)

Madeline had gotten it out to put a little in her oatmeal and I’m not sure how it happened, but probably Adelaide just bumped it. Anyway, I was very glad it was almond milk and not cow’s. Our living room now smells a little vanilla-y.

(And yes, I do allow them to eat at the coffee table. Bringing a whole carton of milk in there? Not so much.)

I must admit it wasn’t my proudest moment discovering my living room doused in milk. Drew and Madeline were crying but Adelaide (this is SO Adelaide) huffed and goes, “why you not bein’ my best friend?!” I bust out laughing. Leave it to her to provide the comic relief.

I was also very glad Andy was willing to finish cleaning it up. We were trying to get ready to make it to a tea party.

Which was very fun and very girl-y.

The bedhead continues.

(Until I was old enough to want the store-bought version that all my friends had.  Handmade wasn’t so, um, appreciated back then.)

You know where this is going, right?

I had this brilliant idea to make my kids’ valentines for their classes this year.  Madeline’s party is today so yesterday I finished gathering the supplies.  Well, turns out Wrigley’s doesn’t sell the 5 packs of gum anymore with the individual papers on them.  I searched high and low.  (Which means I checked Walmart, two different Walgreens, and a CVS.)  The only spearmint gum I could find were the 15 packs that have foil-wrapped pieces.

I finally settled for doublemint because it was the only one with an arrow on it that I could find in the little 5-pack.  BUT IT’S GREEN.  This isn’t St. Patrick’s Day!  Argh. 

Okay, letting go of my perfectionism…

After we got home from church last night and the kids were in bed, I started gluing doilies to the red SQUARES I had cut out earlier.  (I would have taken the time to cut out hearts but I figured these are preschoolers – they wouldn’t notice either way – and saved myself the trouble.)

Note to self: glue stick is incompatible with fragile paper doilies.  And also?  The glue pushes through all the holes.  Messy and no good.

Finally I used my scrapbooking glue roller tool thingy and very gently and carefully got those doilies on the paper.

Next up, gum.  I ripped open the first pack and sat and stared at it for a sec, processing…  THEY WERE NOT INDIVIDUALLY PAPERED!!!  ONLY FOIL!!!  I did all that store-searching for nothing.  They (meaning Wrigley’s) didn’t even have the decency to put an arrow on the foil.  Only an etched picture of a man and a trash can.  (What’s that all about?)

At this point I wanted to hurl the whole project across the room.  I settled for drawing an arrow on each FOIL-WRAPPED PIECE OF GUM with a Sharpie.  (Which had to be done very carefully, I might add, since Sharpie tends to rip foil-plated paper.)

All that to say, next year we’ll probably be buying Valentines.

I finished the dining room paint last night. We had several cracks repaired and there was also some, um, artwork that needed to be painted over. It’s rainy and gray here today, a perfect opportunity to finally paint my kitchen.

But I need to don my jammies first…

The drywaller finished up on Saturday morning, and the kitchen is all primed and ready for paint! I haven’t pulled it down from the attic yet; still crossing my fingers it hasn’t dried out. (I’m using leftover paint from when my mom and I stripped the wallpaper in the dining room four-ish years ago.) But still, getting closer!!!

I ran some errands with the kids in the freezing cold on Saturday and then Sarah had us over for supper and playtime after naps. It sort of felt like a daycare, what with the eight (EIGHT!) kids between the two of us. It was a busy and fun day but our house is still trashed, and here it is Monday.

I also made two dresses for Adelaide this weekend (SO CUTE!), and a skirt for Madeline with the extras. I still need a few things for finishing touches and then I’ll post some photos.

On a totally un-related note (except for the fact that she’ll wear one of the dresses to the Valentine’s Tea we’re invited to on Saturday), what are some fun things you like to do with your kids for Valentine’s Day?