Bummed

We have to go to the apartment this weekend to finish cleaning up.
And to move our beds and dressers.
And other odds & ends.

I don't wanna go to the apartment.
I wanna stay in the new house.

I wanna work on our honey-do lists.
I want get the kids moved into their new rooms, finally.
[for some reason, they've been camping out in the loft]

I guess we'd better move fast and furious over the next two days so we can get back to our lovely new house.

Come on Husband, move fast!

:P

Declaring my Love

I love this house.
I love living in this house.
I love how this house smells.
I love this neighborhood.
I love the Dunkin' Donuts across the street [for the sweet tea, of course]
I love this part of town - even though it's different and so far away from my old part of town.
I love the feeling of putting down roots.
I love that the kids have been pretty much almost awesome about the move.
I love the kind people and fantastic customer service I've received.
I love that the football coach at Alex's new school welcomed him with open arms.
I love that Isabel had a great first day of school and that she looked darling in her uniform.
I love being in bed with the Husband at the end of a long day; the rest of the house quiet except for the two of us whispering about plans we have for this house -- our home.

Of course, I haven't yet made my first mortgage payment.
/sigh

I got it at Ross

Goooood Monday morning.
I cannot believe the weekend has come and gone.
I feel like we got a TON done... but that there is still much more to do.

We are officially in the house.
And it feels good.

It even felt good at 5am this morning when I walked downstairs and made a pot [ok, cup] of coffee for the Husband.  The smells were too delish.  The soft lights, the coffee brewing, and my apple cinnamon air freshener "spiffing"... it all felt so homey and beautiful.

=)

Isabel and I went out yesterday to buy her some clothes. Her new school requires her to wear a uniform.
After we hit up Target, we decided to check out Ross.

I am not normally a Ross shopper. In fact, besides this weekend, I've only been in a Ross two other times.
This time around, I was looking for an ornate picture frame for a project taking place in Nic's room.
I found it!

And I found these sweeties:

I love that they are very similar in shape, but different in texture.
I love the price; $11.99 and $9.99.
I do not love the color of the smaller one.

A quick trip to the Wal-Mart paint department resulted in some spray-paint  buying.
I chose the Jade for the large pitcher and and Bright Idea for the smaller pitcher.



After our shopping bonanza, Isabel, Alex and I put Nic down for a nap and got started on taping her room.
Who's idea was it to do horizontal stripes?
Really.

When the Husband got home from work, he immediately went in to get my work computer hooked up.
The office is no where near set up the way it will be when all is said and done, but I am so happy to have my laptop up and going.

Can you believe I ACTUALLY found a lamp shade
almost the same exact shade [get it?] of my walls?!

Final share for this post involves an announcement!
I got to take the PAPER off of the windows at the front door yesterday!!
How exciting is that??

For less than $20 total at Target, I dressed the two windows. And I did it by myself.
Well, that's only cuz a drill was not required.

I knew I wanted something that would block out most of the view from the outside looking in, but I didn't want to lose any of the morning light we get.  So, I went with a tan sheer. I love the look!

I am off to get Isabel to her new school and then to try and get Alex and Nic enrolled in theirs.
When that's all done I have some work [yes, real they-are-paying-me-to-do-it work] and then this afternoon, here's hoping the wind is much calmer than yesterday so that I can get my spray-paint on!

We are becoming our Mothers

For more than 30 years, pretty much the same group of 12 women (most related, others long time family friends) have gathered on the 2nd Wednesday of every month to play Bunco.

Every month...

with.out.fail.

Some of the daughters

[my cousins and I]

have been wanting to start our own Bunco group

for a while now.

Now that we are in our own homes,

with space,

and stuff...

We've decided to get going.

There are five of us that are related.

We needed to find seven additional friends.

It was hard to find seven people who could commit each month.

But we each sent out our own emails.

Of my three besties, only one could commit.

[no worries, I will pester the other two to sub sometime]

When we still didn't meet our quota...

we agreed that when all else fails...

FACEBOOK.

We have our 12 peeps now

and a few subs for when someone can't make it.

The criteria was simple.

They had to be FUN.

Cool.

Funny.

And willing to commit.

Oh. And they had to be able to roll

three dice at once.

That criteria list up there got me thinking...

So.

Question for you...

Who online, in the blog world, would YOU invite to join your

Bunco group?

If I could pick anyone, regardless of location...

I would have to say:

Suz [Day by Day with Suz]

Seriously... she would have us all in stitches.

And I would demand she bring Cocoa and Ozzie.

Yes, I would.

Ree [Pioneer Woman]

That's if she would give me the time of day.

That woman is so darn popular.

Bakerella [Bakerella]

Did I forget to mention we usually have food/treats

at these Bunco parties.

Who better to bring, really?

Plus, she seems like a doll!

Katie [All Bower Power]

Fun. Funny. Funner.

=D

Katy [Word to mi Madre]

Besides the fact that she can

dance dance dance

She is hysterical.

and finally...

Meg [Whatever]

Who doesn't love Meg?

So... those would be some of the ladies I'd want on my dream Bunco team.

Back to reality...

Our IRL first game is scheduled for October 6.

We are sooo very excited.

My Daughter, the Patriot

This limbo stuff sucks.
While we have a boatload of stuff to do/clean/get rid of at the apartment, none of us wants to live here anymore.

The husband and I made the executive decision to make some stuff happen this weekend.
As in, move as much as we can.

Really - the only thing holding me back is my office. Since I work from home, I need it moved over and set up before I can completely commit to the new house.

Mister's Honey-Do list just got a little bit longer.

With those plans under way (for the most part), I decided to ensure Isabel could start her new school earlier than planned.

We've decided to enroll Isabel in the charter school (currently K-8, soon to be K-12), that is directly behind our house. It's a beautiful campus, with small class sizes, and is geared toward excellence and patriotism.

Their mascot?

Wait. Wrong one.

Let's try that again.

That's the one.
Well, without all of the cursing and racial remarks, anyway.
I hope! Oh well, there's always the local middle school, if need be.

Anyway, moving on.

The moral to this story is that Isa will be starting her new school on Monday.
In a uniform.
=)

Oh. Alex too is being "traded"... He will no longer be a Padre - instead, he will be a Coyote.
And Nic....? We haven't firmed up his plans just yet. He may be a mommas boy for a little while yet.
We will see.

So... big changes for us this weekend!
Very exciting.

Feeling Tipsy: Boxed-Up Memories

I had a brilliant idea that I wanted to share [thus feeling "tip"sy. Get it?!]
LOL.
Okayyy.

I've watched hours upon hours of shows like Hoarders and Clean House.
We have a little pack-rat syndrome going on over here that I hate to admit.

But I refuse to let those behaviors follow us to the new house.

One of the hardest things to part from is something that triggers a memory.
I don't want to forget one ounce of my kids' childhoods. But I don't have the energy or the space to keep up with every single thing they create, bring home, or are awarded.

Up until now, I've tried keeping such items in boxes - a few things from each year.

I realize though, that because they are in boxes, I may only see [or recall] those memories once every few years [when we move, most likely]. Since we don't plan on moving again for a lonnnnnng time, I thought I had better come up with a plan.

Instead of keeping each item, I will instead ooooh and aaaahhh over it the moment my child brings said item to my attention, whether it be a report card or a sculpture, and immediately take 2 pictures of it. One of just the item, and one of the child with the item. That way I am documenting the item with the age and look of my child when they brought it home - a perfect memory captured forever.

At the end of each year, I plan to take all of the photos and create a Memory Book [like these here]. I think I will combine all of the kids "memories" to make it much easier to put together, but order four each time so that one day when my homies leave da crib, they can take their books with them. The fourth one will be for the husband and I.

I have a big box to go through... Just in the first few minutes of going through the box, look what I found:

 [artwork by Nic]

 [Isa circa pre-school]

[Alex's report card from the 5th grade]

[A scrapbook of sorts my Aunt Julie put together for Isa's 3rd birthday]

[Alex when he was 3. Or, as Nic thinks: him, now. Seriously, Nic thinks it's a picture of himself. Too cute.]

[One of Nic's preemie diapers. So small.]

[Artwork by Nic from this past week.]

Awwww - so much fun!

This idea really stemmed from the fact that I only want to take what's necessary to the new house. My goal is to have most everything moved in by this weekend. I am tired of travelling back and forth. And so is Nic.

What a whirlwind of a weekend...

Our weekend started on Friday; we were on a mission to finally secure our special order for blinds.
We decided that we needed to go with a darker (Walnut? Pecan? Peanut? Just kidding about Peanut. I think.) blind in the kitchen, family room, formal living room and formal dining room. For my office, I was okay with white 2" faux wood blinds. Everything else down here will be 2" [real] wood.

My parents came over on Saturday, bright and early to help finish up the painting.
Who am I kidding?!  My Dad did 95% of the painting and did a kick-ass job, if I do say so myself.
We would not have ever gotten the painting done as fast, or with such quality if it weren't for him. Thanks Dad!

Mom and I took a trip to Bed, Bath and Beyond, Cost Plus [World Market] and Super Target. We took Nic with us to help keep him occupied. Mom helped me find the most unbelievable curtain panels for the slider. Sliding doors remind me too much of apartment life, so I refused to put blinds there. I wanted panels that I could slide out of the way, if necessary.

We found the RIGHT colors - they match (inversely [is that a word?]) the fabric we will be using for the kitchen and family room valances.

The sweet husband installed the rod. Thanks, husband.

Here's a peak.

Once we saw how awesome the rods looked, and with my parents prodding, we went back to Target to pick up 4 more, to fit the rest of the windows for the back of the house. Oh, and Dad pointed out we really needed one more panel for the slider, so we went back to Cost Plus [World Market] and grabbed one up.

The fabric we have picked out, with the rods, and the wood blinds that will be delivered on Oct. 1 will really make our window treatments a complete fantastic package. There were a lot of decisions to be made, but in the end, we did it!

Dad had just a little more painting to do in my office... I think the green looks wunderbar. It's Sherwin-Williams Dancing Green.

Oh... look what got delivered today!

* * * *

I have this space just inside the entry way that needs something to house keys, mail, bags... anything we may be carrying in from the outside.

Now, it's just awkward...

We come in and have to carry our keys all the way to the back of the house.

Not cool.

So, I have this piece of furniture that my mom gave me a while back.

And with her blessing, I will be refinishing it.

I cleaned it up today and took off the drawer pulls.

There doesn't appear to be any writing on the wood,

so I don't really know the history behind it.

Mom and I agree that an antique white would be a great color for the piece in the space.

Now, I just need to bring the hand-sander from the other house

and then I can get started on this baby.

Here is the space.

On the right, just under the opening.

Do you have any suggestions on paint colors or techniques?

I'd love to hear them!

* * * *

So, our weekend is coming to an end.

I am blogging...

The husband, Alex and Isa are sitting at the kitchen table with me playing UNO.

Nic is taking a nap on the family room floor.

We will be closing up shop in a few hours and heading back to the apartment.

None of us wants to go.

I will take this as a good sign.

We made the right choice.

Buying this house.

Now (this time in our lives)

and

Here (this town).

We are blessed.

Thanks again, Mom and Dad, for your help and excitement.

 

DecorDating: Our Trash Treasure

Look we what we got done?!

These are our new garbage bins.

Under the counter.

Never to be in the way.

There are two.
Which is great.

Unless Alex forgets that there are two.

That would be bad.

Alex, this here is your reminder.

There are two!

He's gonna killll meeeeee

I didn't mean to.
It was an accident.
I promise.

IKEA, Bed, Bath & Beyond, and Hobby Lobby.
Today.

I told him that we would have to make a trip out to the new house tomorrow morning.
If we don't, we won't be able to take stuff over on Friday evening as planned.
The back of the van (with the seats flat) is packed to the gills.

Every thing was either clearance or 50% off.

Pinky swear.

Craft Sunday: School Paper Organizers

This week, Craft Sunday was on Monday.

I had some magazine holders (think wood-like material) from IKEA

laying around collecting... well... magazines.

I threw those out and decided they would be better

school paper organizers for my kitchen.

I took the magazine holder and laid it out on scrapbook paper

and then traced out the shape.

Once traced, I cut the pieces. One 12x12 sheet wrapped the entire box,

I just had to do a little manipulating.

I then took out my handy dandy Mod Podge and Mod-Podged my little heart out.

Once I attached the paper, I put it in front of a fan to dry.  Once dry (a few minutes, not too long) I Mod-Podged the outside of the paper.

After a few minutes in front of the fan, the Mod Podge was dry and I stuck on a cut-out in the shape of an "A" for Alex. 

There you have it.

Now, some might say it's a little girlie for a mature almost 15 year old boy.

But I will take a moment to remind "some" that it has to

work AND look good in MY kitchen.

So there.

I still have Isabel's and Nic's to complete.

Perhaps next Sunday.

So. Much. To. Tell.

So little time.

I cannot believe it's been 4 days since we got the keys to our house.
We've been to Home Depot and Lowes at least half a dozen times.
We've been to the grocery store for odds and ends more times than I count.
Today's trip to Sherwin Williams will count as the third. Evidently our walls soak up paint.
My dad and Marcos (and Alex) spent the day painting yesterday... we got a a few of the rooms upstairs almost done. Second coats seem like a must.

Not sure what we would have done without my Mom and Dad's help.
They have been WONDERFUL.

So... here are a few pics from the last few days...

[beautiful sunrise this morning - taken from my front door]

Alex's almost done painted room. It's a paint color called Software.

Isa's room. Sans the stripes.

Nic's room - taped but not yet painted.

This morning, at sunrise, I decided to sit upstairs in the loft and take in the beauty of my surroundings.

Everyone was asleep.

I heard a faint sound.

"mooom!"

Was I imagining it?

"mooom!"

There it was again.

Was Nic awake?

I took a better look outside...

Oh.

"Moo"ving on.

Guest bath, not complete but decent for guests.

Fabric for the kitchen...

Just a bit of a teaser.

Okay, that's it for now!
Off to buy more paint.

Possession

Not as in Paris...

that would be dumb.

As in, today we take possession of our house!

Nic woke up for 30 seconds this morning when I was waking Alex up to take him to the ortho.
He (Nic) smiled at me, eyes still half shut, and said "We get the keys to the new house today!" - and then he went right back to bed.

Speaking of ortho - Alex got the rest of his braces put on his top teeth and his expander taken out.
His bottom teeth are not so bad, so they are waiting to put the braces on those.

Well, I have my camera charged... and the van is almost packed (painting supplies, stuff, and more stuff) - I am sure I will have some time to post this weekend, since I will have helpers! :D

Happy Thursday!