My Favorite Room

So it was mentioned that I gave up my favorite room in the house to give my kids a playroom. It used to be MY sun room. MY office. My quiet little sanctuary. The place I could peer outside in any season and see nature's beauty.

I guess the thrill wore off when it got too hard to get out of the papasan chair really quick if the kids stopped playing nicely (a better sounding way of saying beating each other up). I found myself not going out there much. So I figured maybe I could get them to keep their toys out of the family room if they had a room of their own. "Maybe this will work!", I said to myself. So I moved all of my stuff out and their stuff in. Voila playroom.

As you may have seen in yesterday's post though, their toys don't always stay in THEIR playroom. Sometimes they travel here...

and of course sometimes here...
and even, strangely enough, here...
but rarely, if ever, do they travel here...
because this is "Mommy's room".
Mommy keeps this one room pristine. Oh don't get me wrong. It's not "just for company". It's not just a "looking at" room aka the living room. Why do they call in a living room by the way if you don't really "LIVE" in it? I mean you have the family room where you can be messy and eat and really LIVE. Then you have the living room where, well...you relegate it to just hoity toity company. We don't have one of those. No, "Mommy's room" is where Mommy goes to read, do homework, pay bills, and to get away from the ever present tv. It's also where Mommy goes to read to the kids and I'm not the only one who likes the quietness I can assure you.

Just ask my pillow flattener...
My pillow squasher likes me to think she's hiding from the kids but I know deep down she just wants to squash my pillows because she likes to watch me waste time re-fluffing.
Because she just simply CAN NOT REST until they are sufficiently...
SQUASHED!

Oh I Love Saturdays!

Mmmmm. Saturda-aaays. Is there anything better? The day when you get to sleep in two hours later--sometimes. The day when you aren't rushing off somewhere. Can you see the beauty? So my husband just left to go to the warehouse store and here I sit. With time on my hands. Safe in my comfy chair that is mine and mine alone. Really. As long as I sit here I can pretend I don't have anything to do.

I mean, afterall, I don't have back-to-back parties to attend. Grocery shopping can wait. I have no external lunch plans. I can stay home all day long and...

straighten the bookshelf...

or maybe pick up some clothes or put away a few airplanes.

Hmm, or maybe I should just...

straighten

the playroom? Or well, maybe the kitchen table?

Wow, all of this and there are three loads of laundry left to wash, dry and fold. Does anyone else feel as tired as me? But hey! See the waffle in that last picture? I told you people eat here sometimes!!! Happy Saturday to everyone. Off to make the house livable again.

Thank you God

It's Friday. The last day of the first week of school. Yeeeeeeehaaaw!!!!!!

Did anyone else besides me have a hard time trying to get a kid back into the rhythm of a homework routine? My daughter has always loved school. Granted this is only year three for her she loves to learn. Normally.

This week it has been like pulling teeth to get her to start her homework much less concentrate on it. Am I alone? Am I crazy to have the feeling that summer vacation ended as soon as it started? I'm finding myself dreading the school year. I'm already tired thinking of next week's homework, and the next, and next.

Off to work I go...

This sky greeted me Saturday morning.


This one greeted me Sunday morning...


Today, this one...

There's something really wrong with getting up this early. Isn't there?

Things In My Kitchen I Can't Explain

I was in my kitchen this evening making dinner. I started looking around at the bizarre things and thought to myself, "how did this get here and why?" Don't get me wrong. I don't think any of these items and their placements have been bonded for less than, oh, three weeks. It's just that I look at them and wonder, "hmmm, should I stop everything and take care of them now?" Let's take a little tour shall we?

On the ledge over my sink...
Now, granted I have small children so the scissors need to be kept out of reach of small children but I what I can't explain is the Polly Pocket Go Go boot you see in the bottom left corner.

Yep. That really is a Polly Pocket Go Go boot. Gee I wonder where the other one is. Surely not in the neatly labeled Polly Pocket container in my daughter's bedroom. That would just be too bizarre. Moving on...

Angel in a shot glass. Pondering that for just 3 seconds tells me there is something really really really wrong about that. First why a shot glass when we don't do shots in my house? Why an angel IN the shot glass when angels surely shouldn't be found at the bottom of a shot glass at all. Or would that follow the beer goggle affect? Where everything seems more angelic after a shot? I don't think this is going anywhere safe so let's keep moving.

Screws and a burned out light bulb from a microwave oven that was installed Christmas Eve. Hmm. Certainly there is a good reason to keep the burned out light bulb, of a replaced microwave oven, that found it's final resting place in the county dump, on or about December 26th of last year. (Equally good reason for keeping the screws I'm sure) --and there has to be a perfectly good reason why they were so important as not to be banished to the junk drawer with the 40 other oddly sized screws? Let's go on.

Oops. Right. I do sort of know what this is here for. Note to my blog readers. TERRO Ant Killer Spray...bad for ants..nonplussing for fruit flies. Sorry Ace man you let me down this time.

Okay, for you non Pampered Chef folks. What you see is a collection of PP stoneware scrapers. Really. One is good. Two is okay. But SIX? Overkill man. Just OVEKILL.

Yes, I KNOW they are clean but they still clearly have no business being on my fancy stand on the middle of my island. Are they trying to escape a flood? LOL. No seriously. I WISH they were. They were a bribe to get the future pilot to start GOING on the potty. Alas here they sit. Unsoaked. Unscathed. Untouched by little human parts. Why oh why did that guy in the documentary have to talk about the pilot poop suits?

Yes. We've been here before. It just seems to be a never ending cycle. I take them off. He puts them back. I take them off. He puts them back. I give up.

Pilot Love Tested

Today started so smoothly. My daughter got up for the first day of school all on her own. Shining bright. Her little brother woke up in an equally good mood. We got the daughter off to school, walked the dog, and headed out to run errands. On the way to the grocery store the future pilot decided he wanted to go to his favorite restaurant--which happens to be positioned near the airport. Now you have to understand this is the kid who doesn't like to eat so when he announces he wants pizza AND macaroni and cheese life halts and we eat!

We get the non perishables at the grocery store and head to the restaurant. I thought, "How nice. Just me and the future pilot out for a relaxing lunch." We are seated and the only patrons--as it was quite early in the day still. All was well as we ordered drinks and our meals. Well, that is until he decided to lick the top of the grated cheese dispenser. I could NOT believe he did that! Of course I scolded him. I told him that wasn't acceptable and that WE don't do that. I was quite composed when I did it. I didn't yell like I would have at home. And still he headed straight under the table and covered his face. Hmmm...maybe he's working on something--still not potty trained you see. Of course after the food came and I still could not coax him out from hiding I knew something else was wrong. Somehow I had managed to hurt his feelings. Without yelling or spanking or any other thing I had hurt his feelings. And...and there he was becoming a hermit under the table.

Tell me, please. What do you do in that kind of situation? Without making a total scene how do you let them know it's not okay to just lay on the floor, and that you've just bought macaroni and cheese AND pizza because he announced he was THAT hungry?

(Oh and for those of you who are wondering if you should ever sprinkle cheese from one of those dispensers again, I DID tell the waiter that it should be replaced--on account of the licking.)

Lazy? Or Crazy?

So we buy dog crates, and dog beds and blankets and even designate a coveted spot on the couch for our dear young dong. But...

This is where she likes to hang out when Daddy's home...
When Daddy isn't home, and when the youngest two don't have her in a headlock or holed up in the bathroom or, well we'll stop there. This is where she likes to hang out...
Now I love the dog. I really do. And yes I was told I was crazy to have a room with white furniture in a house with cats, dogs, and children aka crumb droppers, chocolate drizzlers, hand wipers, paw printers. It was just that I really really finally WANTED something that was chic and stylish and well, so not fitting for a "family" look. I probably wouldn't mind so much but I have to re-fluff the chair back cushion every time she gets up. I feel like maybe I should be leaving a mint there. Or looking for an envelope with my tip in it.

To LilSis...a memoir

My little sister loves dragonflies. I'm not sure if it's because she saw the movie with Michelle Pfeiffer but I know she really likes them a lot. She moved fa-aar away almost a year ago and I miss her a lot. It's kind of a little silly maybe but every time I see a dragonfly now I think of her, and pretend it's her--sharing whatever is going on in my life. I only wish I had a camera to snap each and every one just so I could capture her (I mean the dragonfly) and show her how much "I" think of her at those times.

Last Saturday when I was here... I saw ...
Then when I was here...

One of these...
Even when I was here...
This guy showed up...
No no no. Not Kevin Costner!!! Another dragonfly.

It seems no matter where I go. There they are. And they always make me smile. So for all of you with sisters close by. Give them a hug. Chances are it will leave you feeling blessed.

Table = Runway????

Sometimes my kitchen table looks like this. Sometimes I serve food here and people actually eat there. In my old place this table seemed perpetually covered by mail, or crafts, or something else. It seems like we rarely dine here. Lately though, and I mean probably for the last month it has taken on a whole new purpose...



God bless my future pilot. :)

So goes the search...

We looked at some really beautiful places over the weekend. Places that fit the slower pace of life we are searching for. It started with a second phone call to one of the realtors we had tried to contact while in town. The places we called to inquire about were both under contract. They told us we could still see them if we liked. Being the nosy house hunter I am I fell in. It was quite a drive over to meet the realtors. They were pleasant, not at all pushy. We talked for a bit and then they asked if we'd like to see any of the places. Of course we did.

We drove past a place called Party Hardy at Krazy Katies. That kind of cracked me up. I could just imagine telling people to "just turn past Party Hardy at Krazy Katies--no stopping now."

So we get midway down a gravel road as I'm saying to myself, "Hmmm, wonder how we'll get the kids out to the school bus?" but then up a car lengths hill and to the right we see this...


From that same spot looking to the left is this...

and in between the two were these shots...

I was in heaven. I thought please fall through contract please fall through. Then we went to check out the house a little closer.

What a beeeeeeautiful front porch! Dont'cha think? Complete with a ramp. Great for moving bulky furniture (and for us when we grow old). Oh my heart is a thumping.


See that there two TWO car garage? Surely now I would be able to park my car in it. Because remember that view when we first came in???...

Surely THAT is big enough for a few tractors. Oh a garage. For me! How nice. I took a few pictures of the interior. The place is just studs for now. Ready for someone to put on the finishing touches.

Alas thanks to a retired colonel and his family we will not be calling this home. They found it first and oh how blessed they are. Sob sob sob.

We went to two other places that were in much this same condition. Brand spanking new inside. Ready for my designing touches. Though we visited them as well I won't post them here. Oh my heart is breaking. Just breaking. Longing for the long awaited country peace.

Amazing Contrast

So I was walking with the kids one evening last month and shot these pictures. I actually view the farm scene just about annually and can never leave without taking a picture. It really hasn't changed in the ten plus years I have been snapping the picture but to me it just never fades in beauty.


My kids actually saw this before I did. I can't explain it. This part of the country is largely untouched by chemical sprays and the like. The contrast to me was just awesome. The thing that really tickled me though was that even my kids were able to recognize it's uniqueness.

HOME

So, my favorite first born moved home back in May after being on his own for two years. He needed to spread his wings a bit and experience independence. I'm okay with that, though it broke my heart for him to go. He's really grown and I'm proud of him. He's had a steady job for two years and decided last month, in addition to working, to enroll in a few college classes for the fall. I didn't even push him. How cool is that?

He's 20 and has two younger siblings. My favorite daughter (6) and my future pilot (3). Living on the upper level forever won't work because well...how will he get any peace to do homework with such a lively pair constantly poking at him? We've worked out a sweet deal. I buy materials and he performs the intensive labor to finish the basement. I'm really amazed at the work he has done. I'd hire him again. I really would.


He's really done a lot of figuring on how he wants things...

Cool built-ins!!! Don't you think? He had to maneuver around some dicey pipes and instead of wasting space decided to regain a bit of that buy throwing in some shelves. Wow!

Pay no attention... I mean ZERO attention to the walk-in closet that is larger than mine. I'm still trying not to be jealous. You don't suppose he'd swap rooms with me do you? :)



Taping and mudding and more mudding. AND MORE mudding and then MORE mudding. Oh and sanding. I think mudding and sanding was his favorite part. :) Not really. He nearly suffocated under it all. There sure was a lot of dust...well at least one of us had fun. Hee hee.



WE HAVE PAINT!!! Can you tell he's a sea creature? I'm so tempted to sneak down and paint some Sponge Bob's on the walls. Maybe Patrick. Maybe a few snails, some seaweed. Oh come on! I'm teasing! Maybe just a teensy tiny air bubble? I mean really where's your sense of adventure folks? Exciting isn't it?