Pumpkining

There's nothing like slamming the end of the week with some heavy treat or treating (I don't like tricks) festivities to dull the agonizing hullabaloo that comes with home inspections while trying to sell your house.  Take it from me.  Butterfingers help, man.  They really, really do.

Candy and orange Oreos aside, I'm not a big fan of Halloween.  The candy is a good time, and I like getting creative with homemade costumes, but the whole fear/horror/blood&guts scene is not my favorite game. We're planning on down-playing Halloween with our kiddos, avoiding the wicked stuff and sticking to the Seasame Street costumes and candy. We're stoked that our community has family-friendly events like "Trunk or Treat" to offer a safe and fun alternative to some of the gore and grime that's out there around Halloween.  At Trunk or Treat, volunteers dress up and decorate the trunks of their cars, filling a church parking lot with wall to wall trunks full of candy.  Kids walk around and trick or treat at each car, scoring themselves a load of candy by the end of the night.  It. is. awesome.

Newbie and I went Trunk or Treating Wednesday evening with one of my friends and her littles.  We had a ball, but I'll wait to post pics til the grandparents see Newbie's costume live this weekend.  Newbie was a trooper out in the cold, going from trunk to trunk in the church parking lot collecting all matter of caloric goodness.  THANK GOODNESS the boy can't dig his six chompers (yes, he still only has six!) into the chocolate fun size candy bars yet because that means Momma has herself a good little stash-o-chocolate to confide in when the going gets tough.  I may or may not have spent Wednesday evening with the Hubs catching up on The Biggest Loser with my head half shoved into Newbie's plastic pumpkin candy bucket.  The end.

We tossed in some more fall fun tonight when Daddy got home from work: we dove into the pumpkins that have been waiting on the porch for such a time as this.  Newbie was excited to be doing a fun family something out on the porch, the Hubs was excited to be playing with a knife, and I was excited that I had a Halloween epiphany called "Carve your pumpkin on a disposable tablecloth and spare yourself all kinds of goopy mess".  Brilliant. 

 

(Are you digging our "elephant" pumpkin? And yes, those are velour pants...fashion violation #18 of the day since I'm a trillion lightyears behind on laundry.)

We had a ball and are scarfing down roasted pumpkin seeds to compliment the SweetTarts and LaffyTaffy this evening while we enjoy a little World Series Blogging Party (aka- the Series is on [GO RANGERS], and the Hubs is deeply engrossed while I give the TV the occasional nod in between downloading pictures and checking out Pinterest. It's the only way to fly).

Happy Weekending!

(Thanks for the card, Mutte!  He clapped was totally into the stickers on the envelop and clapped when he got it out and realized ELMO was on the front! =))

Newbie the Cyclone

What is it like having a busy toddler?

Yeah, its kinda like that.

PS- In other news, we are feeling MUCH better all the way around the block over here.  Although my stomach is still in turmoil over all the house-stuff we have going on right now.  Nothing to report- just lots of things up in the air.  ALSO, I am considering breaking out the Christmas music because I've been feeling the need to snuggle down with a warm cup of hot chocolate and some chestnuts roasting on an open fire.  Maybe.  Maybe?  

Twofer Tuesday

Two things.

Number one: There are all kinds of things going on in our housing experience.  Things change so fast when looking for a house to put an offer on...all I can say after four days of looking and loving is SOMEBODY PLEASE PASS THE OREO BLIZZARD.  Two big prayer requests this week: first of all, we have an inspection on our house tomorrow at noon. [insert hyperventilation here] I cannot describe the angst involved in having the buyer come through and pick out all the things that could possibly be wrong with your house.  OUCH.  The Hubs is not worried, however, nothing is set in stone on the sale for another three weeks when the papers are signed, so its all up in the air at this point.  Prayers for an ultra smooth inspection tomorrow would be so, so appreciated.  Thankyou thankyou thankyou! On the other side of the coin, we are deep in the search for another house and would just appreciate prayers that we would be wise and discerning, and that any offers we put down would be successful. Also, if you could pray the Dairy Queen would open up before its planned February re-open date, it would be helpful.  I kid.  Not really. (Yes, our DQ closes for a few months a year.  WHAT the WHAT?) There's no homeowner stress that cannot be at least somewhat put to rest with a little prayer and Oreo Blizzards, my friends. Thank you a billion times over for praying as we make our way through the Crazytown that is buying and selling in the housing market.

Number two: Have you seen this?!  I ran into it online yesterday and after sending the website to several friends, realized it was just too good not to pass along to my bloggy buddies as well.  Check it:
*Don't forget to mute or pause music at the bottom of my blog to get the full experience. =)

Y'all.  They are doing a CHRISTMAS TOUR. I am so there.  Check out the tour dates on their website and see if you can't get your buns to one of them this December.  I think it is going to be the best Christmas concert of the season, and I'm seeing Broadway's rendition of Irving Berlin's White Christmas this year, so that's really saying something. =)

Happy, happy Tuesday!

The Week the Croup Wouldn't Die

Good NIGHT.  If we could kick the Croup, we might actually be able to do something productive around here.  Last week Newbie was down and out with the Croup, I had a horrendous cold, and now we've passed that stuff on to the Hubs while Newbie battles some slight intestinal warfare, and I hold my breath and wonder just how many dirty diapers we are going to have to face today.  Whew.  What a week! 

Unfortunately, it's looking like we're on Week 2 of this yucky sick run because Newbie still isn't himself, and I'm still hacking up a lunch every half an hour.  We aren't contagious anymore according to the doc, but nobody wants to hear a momma and baby hack their way through the playground or Target- you know what I mean?  So we're land-locked.  Boo! We've been trying to process getting an offer on our house and everything that means for our family through the fog of a head cold, and it ain't easy.  But we are coherent enough to know that we're really excited! 

Despite battling through the colds, we have managed to squeeze in some fun stuff.  You know, when we weren't watching Toy Story 2 or slurping tomato soup. Now introducing what has become a classic Monday week/weekend in review:

Early last week the Hubs pulled out the rake and made a pile of leaves for Newbie.  Hello, October!  He loved running through the leaves, but was not a fan of jumping into the pile, nor lying in the pile.  So he did a lot of drive-by's, and he loved helping Daddy with the rake.

 

 

I can't remember when, but one day last week I made edible raw cookie dough and it has possibly changed our lives forever.  The Hubs is even asking for it, and that skinny man never requests sugar.

Sometime after the cookie dough revolution, Funny Bones and I spent the day hanging out with Grandma and ate dinner at her house with Grandpa.  We had fun shopping at Lowe's and checking out some new family pictures Miss Trudy took of the crew a few weeks ago. Newbie was really working it for the camera, because in all of the images Miss Trudy showed us, I could have eaten that boy up with a spoon. Gray sweater and blue jeans, gel in the hair, and big blue eyes looking up at the camera?  Swoon. 

 

 

 

(Every time we go to Grandma's, he finds himself in the mirror and waves at his reflection.  Too cute!)

There was a schmattering of coloring time last week because when you're sick, markers can really make things a little bit better.

We even finger-painted on Friday to celebrate the offer we got on the house.  The finger paints don't come out unless its a big occasion because they are always a BIG mess.  I wish I was all "whatever, lets just have fun and create!" when it comes to finger painting, but the truth is, that stuff would end up all over my blinds and carpet and the fridge and Newbie's nose and Opie if I just willy-nillied the experience.  So we save it for something special.  Like Offer Day!

Saturday morning the Hubs ran in his first race- a 5K.  He rocked it, coming in second in his age group and making an awesome time.  It was freezing outside, and since Newbie was still coughing, we dropped the Hubs off at the race, ran Newbie over to Grandad's, then I drove back just in time to see the Hubs walking around post- finish line.  BUMMER!  Word on the street is, he slid across the finish line on his stomach, in a grand celebration of finishing his first race...and I missed it!  But he had the grass and mud stains to prove he made a great finish.  Opie- in all his crazy-eyed glory- came along to celebrate with his master.

 

(What.a.stud.)

 

And now for the crazy eyes....

 

BAM.  Told ya. 

Saturday afternoon the Hubs and I took off with our realtor to do some house shopping.  We were really overwhelmed, and realized after walking through a few houses that we might have to play the waiting game for a while.  We're hoping some other stuff pops up on the market because we weren't really digging much of what we saw on Saturday.  In the meantime, Newbie enjoyed some chicken noodle soup with G-Mama and Grandad and rumor has it he even got to play in the Beep for a little while.  Lucky duck!  This afternoon we're commencing House Shopping: Take 2 and hoping for the best!

Yesterday the Hubs was really under the weather, so I took off for small group and left him and Newbie at home.  When I got back, I found these pictures on the camera.  Looks like Daddy-O and Little Man had some fun watching the All Blacks play in the rugby world cup!

 

I have big ambitions of getting a ton of laundry done today and possibly even some vacuuming.  But I'm telling you right now: when you know you have to be out of your house in five weeks, you start to really question the point in vacuuming.  And dusting.  And cleaning in general.  I'm just keeping it real, folks.  I'm not sure when this place is going to see another scrub down.  I was hoping to vacuum today, but judging by the general grogginess that has begun to set in from the cold, there just aren't any promises.  

One thing I can promise: It's chicken noodle soup and grilled cheese for lunch today.  Minus the cheese for Newbie because everybody knows cheese is not on the stomach warfare BRAT diet. (Bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast) I figured we'd mix it up a bit with some chicken noodle soup because toddler cannot live on toast and applesauce alone, and the menu hasn't wavered from that much in the past 24 hours.

Here's to a week of happy and health and edible raw cookie dough.  Check out the raw cookie dough revolution here or just toss all of these into a bowl and mix 'em together:
 1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
4 to 6 tablespoons water

*When I make it, I microwave the butter for 30 seconds and veto the 4-6 tablespoons water.

Your thighs may regret it, but your heart won't. Amen.

Happy Monday!

A BIG DEAL

Today the Hubs and I have a date. 

Yesterday morning he called to tell me that we received an OFFER ON OUR HOUSE!!!  Then he asked me out to go HOUSE SHOPPING today!

I will give thanks to you, LORD, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds. Psalm 9:1

The first words out of my mouth as I zipped up Newbie's jammies on the changing table were "Praise Jesus!" and those are the same words of gratitude I've been whispering since.  I looked right down at my little man and said, "Baby!  It's Daddy!  He said we can get a new house!" Newbie picked up on my excitement and smiled from his head down to his toes then kicked his legs and wiggled all over the place.  Not even the one year old could contain himself at this news! 

My heart is just overflowing with thankfulness and excitement. We are so, so thankful someone has put an offer up!  There are a couple things that need to happen before we sign the papers in a few weeks, but our realtor says it looks solid and its time to look for what we want to move into.  WHAT?!

[insert squeals and butterflies in the belly]

After 7 months on the market this year and several months on two years before, we just can't believe this is actually happening.  Its ACTUALLY HAPPENING!

(I'm up at 5:45 this morning because this whole house thing is more exciting than Santa Claus, and I couldn't sleep.  I'm sitting in the corner of my bedroom pounding away with a tap-tap-tap on the keyboard, and the Hubs just popped out of bed and said "Oh my gosh!  Are you OK?!?  I thought you were CHET!" Apparently if you're in a deep sleep, laptops can sound a lot like rebel squirrels having a hoedown in the attic.Yes, Chet has been back in all his glory the past few weeks.  Reason #54,603 we are ready to move.)

Where was I?

MOVING!

I can't begin to describe how many people have been saturating our house in prayer and asking God to move some mountains so we can pack up the family circus and move.  Even my realtor expressed how much her and her husband have been praying for our house to sell.  They've closed on 45 houses in the past 15 weeks, and they were praying ours would be the next. 

Guess what, y'all!  IT WAS! 

Thank you so much to those of you who have been praying our house would sell!  Please keep them coming as we need the transition from offer to papers to go smoothly, as our realtor thinks it will.  I appreciate so much every single one of you that has come up to me over the past 7 months and said you are praying for our house- it means the world to us, and we feel so encouraged and loved and grateful!

Today we're hitching up and heading out bright and early.  The Hubs is running a 5K this morning (no big thang for my iron man) and then we're picking up donuts, taking Newbie to Grandad's (he's making a slow recovery from the Croup, but slept through the night last night which means we're getting there!) and then hitting the road with our realtor for the afternoon. 

And I get to do it all with this stud:

(Yes, that's an engagement pic circa 2007- by http://www.trudyholtzphotography of course! And yes, we feel like newlyweds all over again because this is just WAY too much fun!)

Can't wait. We've been talking about our "the house must have" list since he got home from work yesterday, and neither one of us can talk fast enough or smile big enough.  We are so giddy and full of anticipation. 

 

(image created by http://www.trudyholtzphotography.com)

I hope you all have a fabulous Saturday and a blessed Sunday tomorrow. 

Happy Weekending!

 (One more because I just couldn't help myself...http://www.trudyholtzphotography.com)

PS- Check out who's back!  Miss A posted yesterday with some precious pictures of her new family of four.  I was honored to make her post with a cameo hospital newborn snuggle shot! =) 

We've got the Croup

Newbie's been a little bit off the past few days, and yesterday afternoon, while we were walking through Lowe's with Grandma (Newbie LOVES going into Lowe's), out of nowhere he became as hoarse as he could be, and was making us laugh because he was making noises just to hear his funny voice. 

A few hours later he was hacking like he'd been smoking 50 packs a day, and I knew we were in for a long night.  Sure enough, little man was in bed with us by 2 and was still barking away this morning.  I called our doctor only to find that he and all of his assistants were entirely booked for the day.  That is not the news a mama bear wants to hear at 9 o'clock in the morning with a sick baby barking from the high chair.  Since they were full, it was off to the ER for us bright and early today. It felt a little overkill to head to the ER, but the nurse on the phone said we really needed to get him in today and get that crazy cough checked out.  So off we went.

Our nurses at the ER were so helpful and caring. The first thing one of them did was bring in two super fun toys to keep Newbie busy and distracted. Its my firm belief that a nurse can really make or break your ER experience.  (A big thank-you to the nurses out there who come in with a smile and a caring demeanor- you are making such a big difference!) Once we got settled, the doctor came in and knew what Newbie had just as soon as she heard his hoarse little seal bark and had us taken care of and in and out of there in no time.  Newbie got to enjoy a few stories with Daddy and a yummy red slurpee before we left.

 (We never leave home without a Clifford book.  Ever.)

Now we're back home, Newbie snuggled up in cozy sweats and waffle-knit shirt after a warm bath.  We're camping out on the couch, and I'm learning that a little Elmo sure goes a long way when coupled with some warm orange juice and a binkie on stand-by.

It was really humbling seeing my little guy dressed in a hospital gown this morning.  I found myself swelling with gratitude that he is a healthy little boy, and my heart squeezing in prayer for the little kiddos who spend many of their days in those hospital gowns and the mommas and daddies who hold their hands. 

We are so thankful for good health today.  We'll be praying for the little ones who are still at the hospital before we munch on our grilled cheese and soup at lunchtime, and we'd like to invite you to do the same. Would you join us?

Wishing you all a happy and healthy Wednesday.

This

This is what my house looks like when Daddy's home in the morning:

This is what Newbie does when I'm making lunch:

 

This is the Hubs and I pre-Friday date night:

This is a family shot in matching college football attire:

This is what we did on Newbie's grandma's birthday (Hi, Great Grandma!):

This is what we do at G-Mama's house when Newbie has a freak out:

 

 This is the birthday girl with her Birthday pumpkin pie:

 

This is what happens when you let Newbie sit too close to the Cool Whip:

This is my bro-in-law playing Pokemon like its a really normal thing to do:

This is Newbie pumpin' the jams in Grandad's JEEP:

This is what Opie looks like when I hold a treat by the camera lens:

This is one of the many things I love about fall:

This is a cop-out post where I throw in all the pictures I've neglected to post or acknowledge over the past two weeks.  =) 

Happy Tuesday!

Weekending with a Walk-A-Thon

I've been behind on blogging updates lately, and I'm blaming it all on the molasses cookies on my counter and the incredible energy of this little boy:

(He. is. BUSY.)

I'd also like to blame the fun that keeps happening in my neck of the woods...it continues to push back things like "Happy 18 months, Newbie!" posts and giveaways because I've got to get all caught up on the exciting hullabaloo over here.

This weekend's hullabaloo?

A Walk-A-Thon to help support our sweet little friend- she has Spinal Muscular Atrophy and Saturday's walk was in support of getting her some equipment that will help her rock and roll with her friends.  Aunt Corndog nannied for this little lady a few years ago, and she was a flower girl in the famed Zoo Wedding.  Her and her family hold a special place in our hearts, and we were thrilled to get out and walk with them on Saturday.

 

(Can you spy Newbie in the background?)

(The Hubs had to work Saturday afternoon so he didn't make it...boo!)

 It was a blustery day, the leaves chattering away in the branches above with each gusty push of the wind and crunching below as our shoes ground them into the pavement.  I love a good walk with the stroller on a windy, chilly fall day- there's just something about the crispy sound of leaves snapping and popping with each turn of the stroller's wheels that warms me from the tip of my toes to my wind-bitten ears.  I think its got something to do with pushing tiny doll strollers and then others' strollers for years while I nannied and now having my very own leaf-crunching stroller to push. 

Newbie was a trooper, all bundled up in his new hat and mittens.

 He rode along for most of the ride, but hopped out a few times to stretch his legs and to give leaf crunching a try.

This little guy is such a big bundle of energy- it was a real workout getting him to follow the crowd and the path.  He was far more interested in gathering leaves and making a break for the playground. Once G-Mama found his hand, he did a pretty good job following the leader.

 

 After a good mile, we began to fall behind.  I'd like to blame it on Mimzy the Pug, but I think it had more to do with Newbie's frequent double takes on various leaves and acorns he found on the ground.  Or my scarf flying out of its place in the stroller and Uncle J having to chase after it for me.  Its hard to say.

As we were bringing up the caboose, I looked up to see a crowd of people blazing the leaf-sprinkled trail ahead of us. A stream of walkers spread out in front of us- so many, many friends of that sweet family- all come together to show their love and support.  Seeing such a wave of support and encouragement was inspiring. The kind of inspiration that tightens your throat and puts a sting in your eyes. Its a powerful thing when we love others well.

 

We were so blessed to love on this family a little bit Saturday afternoon.

Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. 

1 John 4:11-12

I hope you find an opportunity (or seven) to love someone well this week.  You will be richly blessed!

Happy Monday! =)