If only...

I could hide my head in the sand and just wait for it all to just go away.

It was a Monday!

Both babysitters were sick! So it became "take Lulu to work day!"

Lu was a hit, marching into the daycare with her sunglasses and cowboy bag. My speech kiddos were enchanted, Lu was great and played with her toys and even watched a video with the daycare kids.

It was kind of like "one of these things is not like the others" watching her sit with all the cute little daycare kids-my blondie stuck out among all their black hair!!

Then we were off to the dentist! We have an AWESOME pediatric dentist! It's worth the 1/2 hour drive! Miss M got a sparkly dental bill of health!

and it was Lulu's first time for an exam and she did fabulous! She watched her video and was coaxed into a cleaning by our lovely hygienist!

And finally, we spent the afternoon in the leasing office getting a different apartment in the same complex where we are. It will give us a lot more space and get us away from our current neighbors, and hopefully the downstairs neighbors won't have as much trouble with noise IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DAY!

Snippets from the Iphone: A Case Study

Subject: feet

Photographer: Miss M

There were dozens, dozens! of the above shot!



So, first, it took a lot to post pictures of my feet here. I hate feet. I think they're ugly. I think it's weird that Miss M's toes are curvy and I'm jealous that W got to wear shoes in his shot and I didn't. Oh well.
Miss M's new favorite pasttime is taking my phone and taking HUNDREDS of photos with it. I'm sure there will be more of these posts to come. Enjoy :)

Suzuki

I said goodbye to my old friend on Monday. In the end, she died a massive, rusty death (but boy does she shine in pictures-made me second guess things! :)

But by now, the gas tank door is gone, the trunk is rusted shut, the back window doesn't roll down, the air conditioner is shot, the back wiper doesn't work, the battery dies all the time (it was a stressful drive all the way to Lonoke county worrying it would die at any moment with me and two sweaty babies in the car!), the key was stuck in the ignition, and it shook driving over 70 mph. gotta love it!

She really was a good car.

I bought her after my freshman year at USU. My Oldsmobile boat couldn't handle the terror that was Sardine Canyon in the winters. She was used but just barely and in great shape. She was the perfect first car for me. And she was mine. All mine!

It's amazing the memories that are tied to a car.

-she drove back and forth from Utah to Arkansas to Minnesota, more times than I can count!

-she made the infamous, packed-in-the-car-with-screaming-baby-Christian-and-Harry-Potter-playing-on-the-tape-deck-Thanksgiving trip! (me, Jake, Joe, MMae, Christian PACKED into this car, baggage was regulated due to space and Christian screamed the whole last four hours of bumper to bumper traffic!)

-she took me and two girlfriends to SoCal for the best Spring Break ever!!

-the back seatbelt was officially ruined after the massive teriyaki spill transporting food for the Asian cookout the year that I was the Asian American Student Council president

-she ended my streak of car wrecks-I had major issues with where the Oldsmobile started and ended and how close she could get to other cars!

Cleaning her out, I found the best tape collection ever!

-Roxanne's Joyride, Ace of Base, Wishing on a Star, Sister Janet's Stay With Me, Mix #3 (a collection of the third song of a bunch of Joe's albums), Tiff's saucy mix that was supposed to inspire a flirtier me, Janet Jackson, Paula Abdul, as well as my obsession with Tori Amos

So, she is off to auction at W's work so we don't have to pay insurance on her anymore and we don't have to have her sitting in the parking lot anymore. It really was cruel to make someone drive her in the beastly Arkansas summers anyway!

overheard while playing

gobbly, gobbly... i'm just saying gobbly!

and then giggled at her funny self

have I mentioned how much I love my Lu?

Unwelcome

If you're sick of my living situation woes, scroll on. I gotta vent!

I came home this afternoon to a big GREEN sticker-that does not come off very easily, mind you-on our second car. It has been deemed "illegally parked" because it is "not in acceptable condition" because it "hasn't moved in several months." Now, in all honesty, the Suzuki truly hasn't moved in months. However, what do they care? Its registration is current, it's not an eyesore, and there are no assigned parking places here=it's not taking up anyone's space.

Here's the crux of the matter. Our neighbors who hate us? He works for the complex as a maintenance guy. I have avoided officially complaining solely because he has always been so nice to fix our closet doors and dishwasher in the past. His wife has always not liked us though! But honestly, it all feels way too complicated and fishy with all of these problems all of a sudden when he's part of the company. ugh.

So, for anyone keeping track:

1) The neighbor walked into my apartment, all the way into my bedroom to tell me to control my toddler at 10:30 in the morning two weeks ago!

2) Two weeks ago, we got a noise violation in our door THE DAY AFTER THE NEIGHBOR WALKED INTO MY BEDROOM! It said we were noisy after hours. You know us, send the kids to bed at 7 and party it up, baby!

3) We got charged a plumbing bill last week because our neighbor's sink clogged. NOT our sink, theirs!

4) Completely fed up already, I finally officially complained when last Friday night, booming bass music continued past 11:30 at night, waking up Miss M (quiet hours start at 10pm). I am pretty sure that's when they declared full out war on us!

5) Our car has now been deemed not good enough for the parking lot.

I am feeling absolutely harassed at this point!!!!

Luckily, the car will be jumped back to life this afternoon and shipped off to auction at W's work. that's an easy solution. Finding an apartment in Miss M's school zone is the tougher job!!

Wednesday Target Day

There's nothing better than snacks at Target after story time.

Lu sat in the windowsill and I got my phone out.

I told her to look out the window.


She proceeded to strike a pose.
Barbie's Fashion Fairytale movie has taught her well!
She is ready for her close up!

waiting for the sun

I had to study my bank account and visa bills in depth to prepare our paperwork for the possibility of a short sale of our home.

Boy, is that eye opening!

Our house finally went on the market over a week ago. It's a good house in a great neighborhood with amazing schools. EVERYthing is at your fingertips in this area! There has to be a little growing family that wants to love it like we did!

No offers, but two showings in one week is more traffic than last time!

I have faith that we will be taken care of. I have faith that we are doing the right thing. I'm trying so hard not to curl into a paralyzed ball of fear and keep that faith and it is really testing me!!!!!!

speaking Southern

I love that in the south...

you can be fixin' to do something

no one is ashamed of their dedication to spirituality...i mention on facebook that our house needs to sell quick and girlfriends of all religions are "sending up prayers"

when I leave one of my daycares where I do speech therapy, they always wish me to "have a blessed day"-what a lovely sentiment!

it's a compliment when I smile at my little pigpen and tell her she's a "mess" and random old ladies will come up to me and tell me she looks like an angel

i obviously have my "hands full" with two girls

no-sock season starts in March-woo hoo!

Daffodils bloom in February

I love hearing "hey girl"

March Square for 12squared

This month is my sweet friend Amy's square.

She gave us each a swatch of the bold floral print in the center. Then we worked around it and followed her pattern for a modified log cabin.

This is my "current" finished product. I love it but some people think the blue is a bit off. However, after comparing my mostly red square to Teriney's mostly blue square, they will look awesome paired together. Hopefully Amy will like it too!

shhh....

We ran away for the weekend!

Story Time Wednesdays

I love my story time Wednesdays!

They usually start like this: two sweet heads, fighting over my lap. I won't lie, I love that Ru adores me.

About the time the girls are getting down to their art projects, Sol is trying to escape with books and Ms. Beth's animals!

And then we always end at Target for snacks, strolling and bit of shopping. I love my Wednesdays!

Fancy Feet

What I learned in PreK this week? They celebrate Mardi Gras at school! Who knew! Only in the south, maybe? Who cares? She got a fun mask out of the deal!

Last week we learned that they also celebrate Dr. Seuss! All week! Friday was Fancy Feet day for the Foot Book. We thought and thought and finally decided to give her fancy Sunday shoes some fancy flower power! (and of course then she had to accessorize!)

The fashion show was so cute! The kids went all out strutting their stuff!
Lulu even strolled the red carpet!

This is the face of "mom, stop taking pictures!"
My little "Barbie-Fashion FairyTale" trained Diva!

...And now for something completely different!

Sorry for all the blues and gloom!

thank you thank you, for all the sweet comments and love!

Boy, we need a little sunshine around here!

So, I'm hoping to skip town!

Hubby might be working down the road from us for a few days and I think I may just tag along.

Spend some quality time here.

And while Dad works, take the girls here!
Now to find a good fabric store, easy directions to the outlets and I'm set!

Memphis mini-cation, you're just what I need!!!

home

Our home in Minnesota went on the market this week. It's a dismal situation with a dismal market. We are losing a lot of money renting, but our house has lost almost half its value in the last three years. Dismal. It has become a continual burden and stress in our lives. Our best hope and prayer is for a short sale. It's what we are fasting and praying for.

Yes, we need more space but obviously we can't up our rent too much with the house still a burden. And our lease is up at the end of May so we have to decide by the beginning of April.

March is a big month for us. We need the house to sell so we can get a bigger place where we can breathe without neighbors getting mad at us for living our lives.

If you pray or fast, we'd love our little home situation to be added to your list. We need all the help we can get.

just what i needed

So, last Friday, I was finally getting going at around 10. W took Miss M to school and apparently he forgot to lock the door which I always assume he does. No longer!

I sat Lu down with a movie and showered. Lu likes to give play-by-plays. She goes back and forth and tells me bits about what she's doing, asks me questions, etc. So, around 10:30, I'm drying my hair in my underwear and I hear, Hello! I turn around and in my filthy cluttered bedroom is the neighbor from down stairs' teenage daughter standing IN MY BEDROOM!!!! I screamed and ducked behind my bathroom door but luckily didn't feel in much danger because she was in a bathrobe as well.

I looked for Lu though and demanded to know who she was. She insisted that someone had said come in. I said, you mean, my TWO YEAR OLD????? She said she was from downstairs and that her mom had sent her up there to tell me she'd just gotten home from the hospital, had a migraine and would I please CONTROL MY CHILD? At 10:30 in the morning, when she was just running back and forth between the living room and bedroom. All 35 lbs. of her that of course makes quite a ruckus, you know!

I wish I had been fully dressed so badly! I think I would have had the wherewithal then to PUT her in her place about inviting herself in, the total illegality and inappropriateness of coming all the way into my bedroom and the fact that they shouldn't be in a downstairs apartment if they can't handle a two year old running out in the MIDDLE OF THE DAY!!

We came home today to a note in the door saying that we were in violation of our lease which states that quiet hours are 10pm to 6am. yeah, when we're asleep!!!!! The people downstairs have been known to have screaming matches when their teenagers get home in the middle of the night, loud booming bass after 10pm and have WE EVER COMPLAINED?

You better believe I did tonight! Unfortunately the dad is one of the maintenance guys and very very nice so she said she'd talk to him and I think they know his wife is a problem but STILL! We need more space so this is just ammo to get the heck out of here!

Goal Setting: March

1. Read from the Book of Mormon EVERYday. Did this! I'm so thankful for the blessings that come from daily reading!

2. Pray EVERY morning. I should have qualified this one-I prayed twice a day each day. Sometimes, I was saying a prayer in my car on the way to work or even on the way home, but I remembered and so the habit is forming!!

3. Actually take my donations to Savers/GoodWill. My good husband W took these away last week!

4. Cook 3x/week but only eat out 1x/week. (leftovers and thank heavens for Tobler Sunday dinners!) did well with this until this last week after a long busy busy month and I was pooped!

5. Make the darn stockings! big FAT FAIL! it will continue to wait on the project waiting list! :)

6. Assemble pinwheel quilt-depending on when the last pieces arrive! assembled, half quilted-taking a breather after the traumatic tension problems with machine quilting earlier this month!

7. Smile more!

8. Actually do something with the filing box! :) Step one: purge unnecessary papers. Shred City here we come! W, take a deep breath!

9. Fix my bedskirt and brainstorm what I want my bed to really look like while I do it! Brainstorming for a goal is an easily accomplished goal but I am halfway to fixing the bedskirt! :)

10. Walk 3x/week at a good cardio pace.

hmmm...same as last month but i feel more accomplished.

I am so proud of my first two goals though. I needed these! I need the scriptures and dedicated prayer in my life! I sleep better, I function better and goal number 7 to smile more is much easier!!!!

On to March!

1. Continue to read my Book of Mormon EVERYday.

2. Pray twice a day.

3. Cook 3x/week. Make a menu plan for the month.

4. Get the Minnesota house on the market and assemble papers for short sale. ugh.

5. Sew spring skirts for my girlies!

6. Finish quilting pinwheels.

7. Purge papers.

8. Walk 3x/week.

9. Read two books.

10. Make throw pillows...more on this soon!