Happy Halloween!!

For some reason, kids in Iowa (or is it just central Iowa?) trick-or-treat the night BEFORE Halloween. They call it "Beggar's Night." Also wierd? They make kids tell jokes to get their candy. (What-Ev!) Tonight we decided to take the kids out to our new neighborhood to trick-or-treat. We thought it would be a good opportunity to meet some of our soon-to-be neighbors and a chance for Bailey to hand out candy to lots of kids. (Our current neighborhood doesn't have many trick-or-treaters). She met a friend from school who lives around the corner and they tried to dress up like "nerds."

It was FABULOUS! First of all, the weather - AWESOME! Definitely still in the 60's after-dark. Amazing! And lots of kids - and not just Lauren & Grant's age, either! At one point there were about 5 middle schoolers on the front porch with Bailey....awesome!

And the parents were great too. So friendly! Everyone was very welcoming to us - I even received a couple informal invites to neighborhood Bunco (never played....but don't care...I'll go!).

Lauren loved the kids - and REALLY loved the candy (which is safely hidden away - WAY up high).

Here's Mark taking our little Tigger around the Cul-de-Sac.
(umm..yeah...that's our dirt yard there....SOD ENVY!)

3-4 weeks to go...and we're more excited than ever.
Happy Halloween!

Help me choose a paint color for the kitchen! I honestly don't have time to paint before we move....but it will be more difficult to do once counters and appliances are in there, so I better do it now. Here's the kitchen cabinet colors:

And here's the short-list of colors:

(SW - Fired Brick) (don't worry - this isn't really grey in-person - it is green. "Meadow Trail") actually it looks more like this:

That's all I have so far - just a brick red and a sage-ish green. Other suggestions? And then how far do I take that color? Do I paint the eat-in-kitchen area the same as the family room....or the same as the kitchen? Here's a picture showing how the eat-in-kitchen area is sort of connected to the kitchen area. And then a picture of how it morphs into the family room.

and here's the family room color I'm thinking about, (looks more goldish-tan in real-life), which I think will tie-in well whether I pick the reddish color OR the greenish color.

HELP! Tell me what you think.

Progress...

Well, we're making progress on the new house! Yesterday the garage door opener was installed, the furnace was hooked up, the fireplace is working, the lights are on, the plumb work is well under way and the grading and haul-away has begun on the yard. The floors have been screwed down and the mail box will be framed up soon. We've put deposits down/ordered the wood flooring, the countertops, the sinks, the carpeting and tile. Shwew! Soon it will really begin to take shape and I can't wait!

I'd post pictures of these things - but I dropped my camera (lesson in always using the wrist strap) and broke it. =-( PAINFUL! I can borrow Bailey's camera - but just haven't yet. Soon I'll take pictures of the progress being made.

On the current home front - I continue to pack, sort, donate, etc. On today's list to pack is half of our towels and framed pictures/art. Slowly....but surely.

Kids are all doing well. Tonight Lauren will go to dance class in her Halloween costume (Tigger). She is excited to bounce on her tail. hmmm....hate to break it to her, but....

Grant is in need of a winter coat, but I just haven't had time to go shop for one. he also needs a hat/mittens. In the meantime, he does at least have a fairly hefty fall coat that we're making do with.

Bailey is busy with school work and show choir stuff. Mark studied science with her last night for an hour & a half. We'll see how that went, since today is the test. She's taking a H.S. science class and isn't doing her best so far. This is the first year she's really had to try....and it is an adjustment for her.

On the funny-front. Lauren said that something was really "Meat" the other day. ha! She meant "neat"...like "cool"....too funny.

More later...with pics! I still have to open up the CD of Grant's 1-year pictures to show you! I just haven't had time - crazy, crazy times here.

TupperBeware...

So I'm cleaning out the food storage container cupboard in preparation of our hopefully someday pending move.....and I see that several of my Tupperware containers are either stained (and I've tried everything to get the discoloration out) or corroded (probably from the microwave?). I remembered that Tupperware is a good ole-fashioned USA company....with a lifetime warranty on their products. I remembered that I had a couple containers crack in the past and they were awesome about sending me new ones - no charge.

So, I thought I'd call Tupperware about these 5 bowls. I mean - you pay a premium for Tupperware - you sort of expect good service, right? Because if it weren't a good product/company then we'd just buy all Ziploc or Glad, right?

Well, I was told that Tupperware only covers chipping, breaking, cracking or something else - melting? Anyway - I'm outta luck, basically. Here that, Glad & Ziploc? I'm comin' your way...cuz it feels a lot easier throwing away a $1 container than it does a $15 container! Oh well, that's five bowls/lids that I don't have to pack and move.

So Tupper-BEWARE! A lifetime warranty is not what you think it is. Here's their policy in case you are wondering.

It's been two weeks since I've posted. I'm sure by now I've lost the one or two readers I had. =-( Life has been so crazy around here. We entered a purchase agreement on a new house, began picking out new flooring, countertops, bath fixtures, appliances, etc. (which all took time), collected quotes from installers....and then waited....and waited...and waited to close. First we waited on the title search. Finally that came back last Friday. We thought closing would be any day after that. We were wrong. Then we thought the latest it could be was the deadline for close in our contract...which was Wednesday. Wrong again.

Apparently the seller has a bit of a situation that needs to be resolved first. We have an agreement that it will be resolved promptly so we can close. We thought maybe it would be as soon as yesterday - nope. Maybe today? Nope...banker out of town today. (thanks for telling us in advance). Guess next week?

So - we are behind schedule before we've even begun. nice. We've already had to reschedule Mid-American twice....had to reschedule the sod/grading guy....the plumber....ugh.

So in the meantime I'm trying to pack the things we don't HAVE to use in the next month or so....but it would sure be a lot more motivating to do so if we had the closing behind us.

I'll try to blog more often now - I've missed my blog-therapy. I NEED my blog-therapy!

I also have to take pictures of the things I need to sell before we move (an oak armoir/dresser, a scanner, a micro-fiber chair, etc.). I also have several car-loads for Goodwill. So glad they moved it 800 miles from my home. So convenient now. NOT.

If anyone is reading this - thanks for sticking with me. I'm sorry I have been MIA. I'll do better.

Grant....The First Year

Twelve months. Seems like a long time, right? But with each baby the months fly by at a faster speed than before. When he was born, September 27, 2007 via a scheduled c-section, I remember thinking he'd be my last baby. I told myself that I would slow down and enjoy each and every moment because I knew how fast it passed with my girls. But here we are....a year after his birth....and I'm stunned at how it slipped right through my fingers. Sure, I tried to enjoy it all - the way he'd smile up at me while he fed, or the first smiles through a face covered with rice cereal. The first recognition that his limbs actually belonged to him and that he might be able to control them someday, or the sleepy head rested quietly, peacefully between my neck and my shoulder. Hmmmm - such sweet memories of my smallest baby.

I've blinked and a year has passed. He turned ONE last Saturday. He doesn't sit still to snuggle with his Mommy nearly as often. He feeds himself. He pushes away so he can get DOWN and do whatever it is HE wants to do. He has an opinion now! (The nerve!). Twelve little months and so many changes. Of course it is exciting to watch him reach each new milestone....but all of the "firsts" he's already achieved and left behind - will I remember them? That's my big fear I guess. I don't want to forget a single minute of it! (Ok - maybe the gas pains that had him screaming for HOURS when he was just a couple months old...but that's it).

And perhaps because he is my last child - my youngest....my last crack at getting this Mommy thing right...maybe that's why I want to hang on to it just a little bit longer. Now, don't worry - I'm not unhealthy about this. I've switched him to a sippy cup and whole milk, switched his car seat to forward-facing and everything else I'm supposed to do. I'm not still squeezing him into blanket sleepers or anything. I'm normal....I'm just a little sad that it flew by so quickly.

He's an amazing little guy, that Grant. SO smiley! And doesn't that smile just light up the room? Melt your heart? Expose a devious plan? I love ALL my kids - I do! They are all so special to me - so smart, so fun, so CUTE....But there's just something about that little man of mine that just melts my heart! I never thought I'd understand that dynamic - but all it took was the nurses lying him in my arms for the first time - looking down into his brand-new face - and I was hooked. H-O-O-K-E-D, I tell ya! And 12 months later I still am.

Here's what he's doing at ONE:

Today he is crawling at LIGHTNING speed, feeding himself, drinking from a sippy cup, playing peek-a-boo, dancing (bouncing to music), clapping, shaking his head "no," patty-cake, "so-big," playing with cars/trucks and making a "VVVVVVVV" sound as he pushes them across the room, throwing a pretty good hissy-fit, blowing kisses, hugging, throwing his arms up when we say "Touchdown!" and saying "Bye-bye," "Hi," "Ma-Ma," "Da-Da," Whasat" and walking behind push-toys and along furniture.

(Birthday cake-eating pics/movie/post coming soon)