lunar boots

I stopped at Whole Foods this morning for a quick bite to eat and I walked past these funny little boots for babes. After further inspection I decided they are really quite cool. They are made of EVA material, lightweight and rubbery feeling. Our Petite Artiste is going to a very messy, dirty preschool next year (same on Miss O attended) and rubber boots is part of the dress code. They get muddy, dirty and wet almost daily so finding cheap rain boots on the clearance rack is something I keep my eye out for. But then I spotted these...good for rain, snow, mud and everyday use. Awesome!!

You can find them at iplaybabywear.

grace in small things: part 15 of 365

1. facebook

2. daylight staying out past 5:30pm

3. Valentine dressed girls

4. scottie dogs snuggled by your feet

5. lazy afternoons

two steps back

What is wrong with me? I have no idea!! I seem to be two steps behind everything I do lately. Sometimes I am on a blog roll and posts coming pouring out with ease. But sometimes, recently, I struggle just to get myself out of bed and kids to school on time, let alone post something. My mind is stale and I'm barely hanging on to all the things I need to get done.

Our routine has changed drastically as well. I no longer get to leave the dishes lay where they sit and pull clothes out of an unfolded laundry pile from the couch. Our mornings are a flurry of making beds, poofing pillows, doing dishes, cleaning sinks, vacuuming floors, fluffing, dusting, wiping and cleaning the house just in case an agent calls to show the house. I love having the house clean 24/7 but it does add an extra element of stress.

Did I mention our refrigerator broke a week ago? Yup, it did. We literally have been living without a fridge for a week. We have some milk and miscellaneous items in a cooler in the garage but that is it. No cold stuff. It's been a pain. We wavered on buying a used model off craigslist and dealing with all that includes, but decided to just call the fridge repair person...he or she comes tomorrow sometime between eight o'clock in the morning and five o'clock in the evening. Lovely!

Kid crafts, school parties and third birthday preparations have been occupying the majority of my brain capacity lately as well...I must admit. I signed on to be a party parent in Miss O's class and Valentine's Day and the 100th day of school required my attention. Luckily the class party was today and the shirts I made for the 100th day of school are done and delivered. Now, all the sudden I feel very tired.

Another time suck I have grown very found of is Facebook!! I love it!! I talk to my long lost friends, dear friends a long ways away and friends close by alike. It is fabulous!

Good news!! Miss O got a full day kindergarten spot and our Petite Artiste was switched from PM preschool to AM preschool. I am over the moon about how my schedule for next year is shaping up. What will I do with all that alone time I have no idea. The possibilities are exciting!!

holla

Someone once told me years ago that friendships are relationships you have to work at. I disagree! True, long lasting friendships shouldn't be hard and something you have to work on all the time. How exhausting is that?! Friendships should be easy, carefree and comfortable like putting on your favorite jammies at the end of a hard day. Friendships should cause you to smile and be happy. Friendships should hold together no matter how far away you live from each other. You should be able to fall into easy conversation and laughter no matter how long it's been since you've last talked. Memories of your last togetherness should be able to carry you to the next. It's a soft shoulder to lean on, an adventure to be had, a cosmo in hand and laugh a minute.

That is what friendship is to me.

Thank you Kelly!

ladybug, ladybug

It's not such an unknown fact that I DON'T like ladybugs. I really, really don't like ladybugs. And, anytime I reveal this little quirk of my personality people usually look at me in shock and horror. "How can you not like ladybugs?" is the usual question I'm asked. Don't get me wrong, I think they are cute and all. Little cartoon drawings and embroidered clothing is downright adorable. But the actual "BUG" I do not like. I do not like at all.

It all started when I was a freshman in college. My parents and I moved into a very, very, very old farmhouse. And that particular year, there was a very unusual and gigantic infestation of ladybugs. They were everywhere!! It was so bad that one of the side wall of a white barn down on the farm was literally red being covered by millions and millions of ladybugs.

Just days after moving into the old farmhouse, I was the first to take a shower in the bathroom (not original to the house) with no ventilation and makeshift shower walls. The steam from the shower quickly filled up the bathroom and woke up thousands of ladybugs hibernating between the shower stall and wall. They started crawling up to the ceiling and the water condensation would make them lose their grip causing them to drop down in the shower and on me. I tried to rinse my hair in between falling ladybugs but there were just too many and they were falling too fast. I bolted out of the shower with soapy hair and screamed for my mom. I don't remember the resolution of the predicament...I just remember the grossness of the situation. The amount of ladybugs in that house was a constant battle. We would wake up in the morning with ladybugs in our sheets and on our pillows. They were in our closets and in our dresser drawers. We would often crunch them under toe. (I know: gross!!) We would vacuum them up with a shop vac constantly.

A little known fact about ladybugs is that they stink!!! Ladybugs excrete some of their blood as a defense. It is yellow and smells bad. Really, really bad. It smells sort of like dirty socks and baby throw up and yellow mustard ... all together. And when you are vacuuming up millions of bugs all trying to protect themselves by excreting stinky, yellow stuff, it makes for a very unpleasant experience had by all.

What's worse, I attended college in a very old building. And when ladybugs were having their little infestation party down on the farm, they were also throwing a kegger at the local college. I couldn't get away from those friggin' beetles. And let me remind you, they are beetles!! Not cute little pets that grant you good luck. But stinky insects that evolve from black and orange larva. They are transgender critters is what they are. Stinky insects dressed up in pretty clothes...strutting around in red and polka-dot cloaks. Think of it like this. Those little hamsters and gerbils at the pet store are cute and furry. They way their little whiskers wiggle when they smell the air is so adorable. But they are still a rodent and if they were living in the walls of your home, you would call an exterminator to get rid of them right?? I feel the same way about ladybugs.

missing: little irish blogger

I feel like it's been so long since I've log into blogger that I almost forgot my password. A snowball effect recently happened around here...it started with the listing of our home for sale. All belongings and extra clutter were packed into boxes and hauled off to storage. My laptop has a nice little hiding place in a basket and I lost my desk/work space to the demise of staging. I spend every morning vacuuming, making beds, cleaning up little messes and hiding laundry instead of my usual blogging and surfing the internet.

Then one morning after all my chores were done, I pulled my laptop out, plugged it in, turned it on, poured myself a nice cup of coffee, and sat it down next to my computer. At which time, my very active petite artiste dumped something or got some sort of chemical out that made me run leaving my unattended cup of coffee and laptop sitting together. I'm sure you can paint a picture in your mind of what happened next. As I was cleaning up mess, my little artiste decided to help her self to a cup of joe and spilled it on my laptop. I've felt completely lost without my email and picture posting and zune downloading. It's oh so terribly sad.

It hasn't slowed my facebook time down though. I LOVE facebook. Recently people have been coming out of woodwork. Long lost friends from high school and part time jobs. Friends that live too far away to see on a daily basis. Cousins I haven't seen in years. It's downright friggin' awesome!

Some heartbreaking news came by way of having the house we thought we were going to put an offer down on slipped through our fingers last week. We had found a house in a great location hitting most of our needs and desires. It had been on the market since June of 2008. We though we would be okay to wait until we had an offer on our house to put an offer on that house. But some buyers from December took an old counter-offer, changed the dates, and agreed to buy it. Poof! Like that it was gone. So we are still on track with selling our house but now back to square one house hunting. Our list of criteria is pretty picky but we are confident something is out there that will meet our needs. We have a potential buyer coming through today and his agent is pretty confident he will put an offer down. We are crossing our fingers but not holding our breath.

The weather has been blissfully sunshiney. It also has been staying lighter out past five o'clock. Not much but enough to notice the change is coming. Both does wonders for my mood. I'm trying to arrange a girls weekend with my dear friend, Kelly, to San Diego late spring/early summer if we can both find cheap airline tickets. I value her friendship more then she'll ever know.

Miss O woke up with croup last night having a hard time getting air in. For a minute it scared me and I almost took her to the ER. But then I got my head about me and pulled out all the croupy tricks. She went back to sleep in our bed and woke up sounding horrible with loads of energy. She missed her field trip today and I feel terrible for her. She was looking forward to it.

In other news: a big shout out is in order for my long time mate from down under. Congratulations Karin of the birth of baby Callan...he is adorable!!

grace in small things: part 14 of 365

1. BubbleYum Bubblegum

2. the Elliptical

3. Strawberry Shortcake

4. Target's dollar bins

5. JET

grace in small things: part 13 of 365

1. quiet

2. Facebook (and finding long lost friends)

3. the seaside

4. Olivia

5. snow melts

grace in small things: part 12 of 365

1. Ingrid Michaelson (Be Ok)

2. Hot Pockets (egg/bacon/cheese)

3. Sun-shiney days

4. Crazy (20 mph sign holding) lady on school corner

5. Friends who catch me staring at said crazy lady

for sale

We finally listed our house for sale on Friday. It's been a whirlwind of cleaning and de-cluttering for weeks now. Our lovely agent had a stager visit us last week. In which I basically followed her around house from room to room making mental notes of assignments for picture placements and adding to my accessories shopping list. Then a photographer came through the next day snapping pictures of our home looking as good as it ever has. And let me tell you, it's never looked this good the entire six-ish years we've lived here. Why is it you don't truly feel moved into your house until you get ready to sell it??

grace in small things: part 11 of 365

1. food on a stick

2. freshly laundered sheets

3. a clean, clutter-free home

4. a cleaning hubster

5. self dressing toddlers

grace in small things: part 10 of 365

1. driving car in complete silence

2. shopping without kids

3. green stop lights

4. clearance sales

5. stores that are open late

grace in small things: part 9 of 365

1. new president

2. cold side of pillows

3. clean fridge

4. milk deliveries

5. whites being washed with bleach

subliminal message

Can you see it?

What about now??

No?!

How about now?

"BUY ME"

We found a house we like after many, many, many months (maybe even years) of looking and waiting. We had been on the fence about actually trying to sell our house and move ever since the housing market went south.

Then a couple weeks ago we saw a house, that we'd seen before, but now it was better. It meets most of our criteria. Not all, but most. So we decided to finally do it.

I've been packing and cleaning and donating and throwing like a mad woman. From morning until I fall dead on the couch, I run around getting ready to list our house for sale. Truthfully, I'm a little sad. We've put so much sweat equity into this house that I hated at first, but grew to love and am now feeling sentimental about. We remolded, stripped wallpaper, painted, decorated and grew our family here. Although I am excited about the blank slate a new house presents me with, I must admit I wish I could somehow hang onto this house as well.

We have a stager coming tomorrow and I'm nervous but excited. Then a photographer comes on Thursday with our realtor. She'll also bring listing papers and then it will become all too real. We go "LIVE" on Friday. And we will officially be up for sale. In which I'll wake up in a panic every morning probably yelling about picking up dirty clothes, making beds, flushing toilets and not leaving toothpaste in the sink. I'm sure I'll be a joy to live with!

grace in small things: part 8 of 365

1. etsy

2. clean laundry

3. diet coke

4. sales on things I need

5. teapots