I've been TAGGED! I feel so honored - because that means that someone - at least one time - actually read my blog! Bloggity-blog-blog! That makes me happy! And...by the way...it wasn't just anyone who tagged me...it was THE Heather Ann... gardener, cook, ridiculously awesome movie-night planner, downtown-workin', digi-scrappin' Goddess, photographer, decorator, adorable kid-maker, cute haircut wearer, Kaboodlin', cupcake maker EXTRAORDINAIRE!

Ok - here goes:

Four jobs I've held:

Activities Director at a campgrounds (I also cleaned rental cabin toilets - bluk)

Cutco Knife Sales Person (what a scam...ad said "marketing" and I believed 'em...good knives though)

Program Coordinator for the county's DUI 1st & 2nd offender education program

Customer Service Rep for Yellow Freight (now Yellow Transportation)

Four movies I could watch over and over:

School of Rock!!!!!

Office Space

Annie

Elf

Four places I've lived:

Freeport, IL
Sheridan, IL
Norway, IL
Riverwoods, IL

Four TV Shows I Like:

The Office

Brothers & Sisters

Boston Legal

The Bachelor/Bachelorette (can't help it...like a train wreck)

Four People Who Email Me Regularly:

Mark
Stacy
My Brother, Jason
Flylady (doesn't she know I quit? I failed...dropped out....all it does is make me feel bad 'cuz I've done so many 15-minutes and my house is STILL a disaster. hmph...someday.)

Four Things You Do Almost Every Day Without Fail:

Laundry
Sing
Lose my patience (sad to type that...but YOU try Lauren for a whole day!)
Read Blogs and/or Blog

Four Favorite Foods:

Potatoes....any way, shape or form - love 'em!
Scotcheroos!
Pizza (sausage, cheese, mushrooms....the fresh kind)
Did I already say potatoes? Oh, darn...well then....nothin' beats a good cheeseburger

Four Places I'd Rather Be:

Already sold, moved and unpacked and settled into our next home

In Bed...asleep....for more than 6 hours in a row

Somewhere where Spring actually means temps over 55 degrees, please

At a 5-star, all-inclusive resort overlooking an AMAZING ocean beach...the kind with a swim-up bar.

Four People I'm Tagging:

Krista
IowaMom
The fabulous lady over at More Than Enough - she saves me so much time and MONEY!
Laura who also motivates me to clean out cupboards, plan meals and buy more baskets!!!

Thanks so much for inviting me to play, Heather!

It's Hell being the only boy...and the youngest to boot. (I think Grant & his uncle Jason as well as his 2nd cousin, Kyle are going to get along great...kindred spirits those guys.)

Grant - 8 months

Yesterday Grant was 8 months old. I'll spare you the "I can't believe that much time has passed" mantra....but seriously! He's really a fun baby these days as his personality continues to develop and his skill set grows. He can play "patty-cake," he can "crawl" (more like a forward movement with his arms and a pull motion while his back legs drag behind. looks hard). He is trying to pull himself up to a stand in his crib (time to lower the mattress!). He fake coughs and thinks it is a game.

He is eating Fruit Puffs, hasn't met a baby food he doesn't like, is taking 3-4 bottles a day - ranging from 5 - 7 oz. He usually takes 2-3 naps a day. A mini power nap shortly after he wakes up (hey - wouldn't it be just as easy to just STAY asleep a little longer???) He loves both of his sisters, although that middle one - she loves - and I mean LOVES to take things away from him, tell him "no, no Buddy....you can't have that." Poor baby.

Let's see - what else is Grant up to....We're working on waving and "so big" but no luck yet. Still no "Ma Ma" yet either...unless it just happens to slip out in between babbles. He sits up like a champ - refuses to sit and play with his thousands of toys though - just has to drag off into forbidden territories. I can see how this is going to go once he's REALLY mobile. eek!

He talks a lot - and oh! He SINGS! If you are singing or if the radio is on....he starts to sing! hilarious! I think he really thinks he's great, too. Look out David Cook! (never commented about that by the way - was NOT happy. Sure, Cook is talented...but I just don't like it...can't put my finger on it. I voted for Archuletta 12 times).

Back to Grant....he loves bouncing, he loves dancing and rough-housing (is that how you spell that?). He loves his family and he loves his reflection in the mirror (just like his little narcissistic siblings - ha).

When Lauren was a baby I got her portrait taken each month through 1 year. I usually just went in with my free 8x10 coupon - maybe bought one additional sheet and went on my merry way. It was a fun way to document the first year because they just change so much! I tried this with Grant too....but I missed 2 months....and now I've missed 7 months. Such it is when you are the third child I guess. I don't love him any less though!!!

I enjoy him more and more every day - it is so fun watching him turn into a little boy slowly....but surely.

The Official start of summer brought much tragedy to a portion of my state. Tornados are just part of springtime in the Midwest, but rarely have I seen it take out a town like this. Mostly you think that sort of thing is reserved for Kansas and Oklahoma....but not Iowa. A sad, sad story. Our thoughts are with that town today.

On a happier note - pools opened this weekend around here. Although the humidity inspires a dip in the pool, the temps aren't quite up there enough to equal warm enough waters for the little kids....but that didn't stop us from letting them tromparound the house in their swimsuits. Lauren has been swimming and pretend diving on the carpet and Grant just looks too darn cute - a little man in his big boy swim trunks. Too cute!

As for me - still haven't ordered a swimsuit....have to do that soon. Here's the winner of the pick my swimsuit event (if it is still available, that is). Thank you to everyone who posted their opinion!!:

MUCH cuter are the kid's suits (Lauren's came from Target and Grant's suit is by Old Navy....from a garage sale....50 cents....hat from Children's Place - clearanced for $3.99). And here they are...my faux-bathing beauties:


Mark & I are going to try to catch THIS MOVIE today - what's a holiday without a little entertainment, right? Then it is back to work....getting things ready to list the house again....SO MUCH WORK! (sigh).

Mark took the day off of work yesterday to make a long holiday weekend. Bailey had school, so it was just the four of us. We headed to the nice mall in town to let the little ankle-biters burn off some energy...I mean...to spend some enjoyable quality time with our little angels.

Lauren LOVES anything if there are other kids there...or as she calls them..."my friends." She only cried once when another kid accidentally stepped on her foot. Otherwise it was a VERY enjoyable morning for her. She giggled, she climbed, she ran, she hopped, she hid from us - pure delight.

Even Grant had a great time!

He squawked at the other kids (thinking they could understand what he was saying, no doubt). It was fun to watch him bounce up and down, smile at HIS "friends" and just see that glint in his eye that said "I'm a big kid too!"

We had a lot of fun together and brought home two VERY tired kids. A good start to a busy holiday weekend.

I've had three children and never...NEVER have I nested like this. I swear - if I didn't know it was absolutely not possible I'd swear I was ready to go into labor the way I've been digging into cupboards and cabinets - like a crazy woman about to give birth! I blame Laura over at org junkie....she'll motivate ya, I tell ya!

Before:


After:

Blogging about Bailey....

Just in case there is someone out there (besides me) that is keeping track of my blog posts - making sure I'm posting equally about all three of the kids....let me tell you why I come up short on posts about Bailey. SHE HATES IT! See? Just typing that much is going to make her mad if she reads this. Sure, she likes that I'm proud of her and everything...but heaven forbid if I post the wrong picture. Like this:

or this:

or this:

Would it be too much to ask to - you know - SMILE for a picture? What's with EVERY picture being a goofy face? Or the faux gangsta look? (LOL - that'll send her through the roof too....her Mom just said "gangsta"....how totally embarrassing! ) And the self-portraits? I've seen tons of her friends doing that too - no idea why. I guess she should enjoy it now...because someday....like when she's older....she'll hate pics of herself. (unless miraculously she escapes that normal woman-behavior).

Anyway - just wanted to post that I love Bailey just as much as the other two monkeys...it is just hard to post without embarrassing her. She'll be 13 this summer (WHAT?! A TEEN?#$!~) So embrace it, I say! =-)

Sweet & Innocent? YOU be the judge:

Bathtime fun

I was so excited to finally get a picture of the two little ones in the tub together! I recently found an adorable yellow frame that is matted and perfectly matches the yellow in the bathroom rug/shower curtain/hand towels....it was $1 at a garage sale (score!) SO....I"m going to print this puppy and hang it up in kids' bathroom! Don't ya just love my photo editing skills, by the way? I try...really I do...but that's the best I could do. At least I'm covering him up.

Prayers for Steven Curtis Chapman and his family.

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How many bottles of cleaner, cleanser, polish, etc. does it take to still have a messy house? A little ridiculous - but now that I"ve actually cleaned and organized this area - maybe I'll be able to SEE what I have and not buy something new? I should have taken a picture BEFORE I pulled everything outta there - it was bad, folks.....bad.



BEFORE:



AFTER:

The Case for Blogging Daily

I should blog EVERY day...because when I wait a few days - entirely too much content and it overwhelms me. I'll post pictures - they tell a better story anyway. Here's the weekend recap:

Friday night we received a last-minute invitation to grill out with acquaintances. Not caring we wouldn't know anyone else there - we went...because it was a beautiful night and because I needed to get out of the house and because I didn't want to cook. The kids had fun - Bailey found a group of girls to pal around with, Lauren found made an instant friend ("He's my BEST Friend")

and Grant just smiled in the stroller - til he was tired and then he just closed his eyes (have I mentioned how I LOVE this boy?!) They started a fire in the fire pit - Lauren kept trying to get a little too close for my comfort

and then we left to take Bailey to a sleepover. (I swear - hardly ever see her anymore - sniff, sniff). Then once the kids were in bed, Mark & I watched this movie. Good...but scary. A little to Saw-like in parts for me.

Saturday was a day filled with running errands, a few dumb garage sales (someone had a really worn out Casey's travel mug marked $2 - whatever), playing outside and enjoying the nice weather. Bailey babysat Saturday night. (Maybe I should rent her room out).

Sunday was amazing. PERFECT weather! We were church-skippers but really enjoyed relaxing and spending time together as a family. We sipped coffee, read the paper - a nice time.

But the relaxing ended by 10 a.m. when we decided to tackle some yard work. Lauren was a big helper! She really loves "helping."

We've had a flower bed in the back yard since we moved in...it had perennials in it and a little picket fence/chicken wire around it. It has been completely neglected for over 3 years. Yesterday I tackled it. Mark took the fence/chicken wire down so we can now actually SEE what's in there (thanks, honey!). Unfortunately, now that I could see what was in there - wasn't a pretty sight. Dandelions, Creeping Charlie and the Brown-eyed Susans had taken over the bed. So....lots of weed pulling and now it is all cleaned up (I'll take a picture once I move a couple plants around)....but here is the before: (nightmare!) I can't wait to show you how empty it is now that there are no weeds in there! I also moved the gazing ball - looks so much better in its new home. =-)

My parents stopped over to bring me some Lily bulbs they had for me - so I planted them and then we grilled out with them. They had fun enjoying the kids - and Grandma brought an AWESOME bubble machine.

8 hours later on Sunday we called it quits in the yard. Today - SORE! Sad to be old and out of shape - hate that. But that kind of work is so gratifying....you're exhausted in the end - but you can SEE the fruits of your labor.

Ok - now we're off to the races on Monday - estimates for windows, siding repair, deck, front porch.....just the things we think might make the home more attractive when we decide to try to sell it again.