whew!

well, we are FINALLY in our house.

but.....

totally living in chaos! i'll be ready to post in a bit. its craaazy around here!

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a note goodbye

moving is such a pain.. really. i hate it. and worse than moving once? oh. moving twice..

thats right. when you are homeless for 2 weeks it feels like moving twice. but at least we were able to sell. and thats a good thing.

so to honor our home of the past 4 years i've composed a list:

Things I'll Miss:

my AMAZING kitchen. (i spend a LOT of time there)
my little garden full of tomatoes, peppers, and cilantro
the flower beds that are finally filling in and looking awesome. (score for the new owner)
living by the best neighbors ever. who watched my kids. and fed them. and fed me.
being able to run to Christina's house when i've run out of something.
which happens more often than you would believe.
my kitchen
my gargantuan bedroom
12 foot ceilings
the walk in pantry
granite countertops
my sweeeeet stainless steel deep sink
did i mention the kitchen?

the kids are tired of packing and cleaning and moving, i can tell.
i've had to promise them a million different things, once we are in the new house.

like, "yes, jonas, we'll ride bikes. but we have to wait til we are in the new house. your bike is in storage." "oh sure! we can make rocket ship cookies. once we move in, promise!" "sorry mia, Cinderella is packed up! but you kept Belle out until we get settled."

but, the time is here! can you believe it? it was just yesterday that people were walking through my house.. and then someone wanted it.. and now, i'm leaving it.

we moved in when jonas was a baby. and now he's FOUR!

but, the new house will be bigger. with more room to grow. and i'll find things to love about the new house.

like, maybe the quarter acre yard.
or the three car garage for somebody's home gym.

and it's only 3 miles away.

so if i run out of something in the middle of a recipe and really, REALLY need it, i know where some great neighbors are.

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green?

so i got a whole lotta this in my Bountiful basket.

first, i didnt even know what it was. i had to do various google searches. i found out its collard greens.

second, i've never eaten collard greens in my life, let alone cooked them.

sooooo... any ideas? recipes? i know they are big in the south.. so i'd love some input. i dont want them to go to waste!

**edited** okay, so it might be swiss chard... any other ideas?

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because it's funny

i laughed out loud.

and i laugh out loud, every time i see it.

(i know you did too..)

they were learning about spiders. and this was his spider hat.

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tasty tasty

a few weeks back (i'm a bit behind. and lazy) mangoes were on sale for like 50 cents. 50 CENTS!!! really.

so i bought like 20 of them. and they were good too! ripe. juicy. delicious.

but what does one do with 20 ready to use immediately mangoes?

well. i froze some. and we ate the rest. in various forms.

mmmmmm.....

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dolly

we are big on teaching life skills around here.

like mothering.
and caring for infants.

good thing we dont use live subjects.

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comfy?

it was after lunch.

he was done. she wasnt.
i was in the other room.
she was finishing her sandwich.
he was playing in his room.

it was quiet.

REALLY quiet.

parents know what silence means.

only two things.

that can't be comfortable. not even remotely...

but sure enough.

she was asleep.

(laughs)

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hello hot stuff.

oh. the awesomeness that is my neighbor. enjoy.

(you'll be back together before you know it.
and until then, you can sleep with these under your pillow.)

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i want to make this!

isnt this owl adorable? its supposed to just sit there, but i think it would be a great pillow for a certain crib in my house. *wink wink*

if only the price of the designer fabric didnt make me want to vomit.

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on my 'to do' list

photo: smitten kitchen

homemade pop tarts! mmmm. dont these look awesome? and much healthier. one day, when i get around to it..

http://smittenkitchen.com/2010/04/homemade-pop-tarts/

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lady bug

i made this for layla, but i dont think she likes it much. maybe when she is a little older.
it turned out pretty cute.

i used this tutorial but used the minky/furry fabric for the bottom.
and sewed the body together first, rather than using a blanket stitch.
oh, and i added some krinkle paper (ie. an empty costco wipes package) inside the wings to make noise.

not bad, eh?

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purple people eater

so layla got thrush and we've been battling it for about 2 months. not to fun on my end considering im still breastfeeding. getting a yeast infection in your ta ta's is not fun. at her 4 month appt yesterday they coated her mouth with this dye that is supposed to take care of it and it looked so funny!

and i finally decided to put her crib up. since we only have 2 bedrooms and the other 2 are already sharing a room, we left her in the bassinet as long as possible. but seeming as how she is as long as the bassinet itself, i thought it was time. hopefully our house will sell soon so that she can have some space to herself!

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ick

why does dried oatmeal turn into cement? its so gross.

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little lady

this is miss four months old.
she enjoys eating, sleeping, filling her britches, and bright shiny objects.
her spare time is filled with giving raspberries and eating her hands.

lets all give her a hearty welcome.

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blech...

washing the blinds by hand has got to be the absolute worst household chore.

seriously.

if only my fairy-godmother-cleaning-lady would come and rescue me.

sigh

and just because it looks boring without a picture.
here's yours truly.

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welcome. welcome.

the newest member of our extended family. my brother's cute new little man.. awwww.

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oh, yes i did..

this turned out SO cute. made this one for mia and am planning a matching one for layla..
girl stuff is so cute!!

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goofball.

usually, this is what i get...

but today, i was lucky.. and she gave me a little bit of this..
(along the same lines as the first)

but then i got this and i almost peed my pants.

and lastly this one. i wanted to cry. she's just so cute.

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a letter of thanks

Dear miscreants,

thank you.

i whole heartedly appreciate the way you gave purpose to my life this past saturday. for you see, i had no concrete plans to do anything. because you were so giving of your spray paint and minimal artistic abilities, i was able to dedicate a good half hour to washing my fence, BY HAND. well, lets be honest. more like scraping my fence, with my fingernails and a wash rag.

perhaps it was my own fault for installing the fence and interfering with your trespassing upon my property and surveying my home for valuables. i have indeed made the temptation too great and a vinyl fence is such an apt canvas. who could pass it up?

although i must say, if there had been a bit more effort or creative genius involved, i might have even left your "art" up a bit longer, but the lackluster effort and lazy scrawl of "AS" along my fence line just wasn't what i was looking for in my neighborhood art gallery. i'm sure the 7 seconds you dedicated to my fence was well spent in your eyes.

again, a heartfelt thank you for singling us out. we are ever grateful you bestowed your mediocre talents upon us.

love,

me

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rewind

REWIND:

i'm slow. i know.. easter was last weekend. eh. better late than never, right?

we dyed our eggs earlier in the week using good old fashioned food coloring. none of those fancy schmancy egg kits around here. no sireee. we are cheap and easy. food coloring and crayons.

i like to keep it classy.

and its not egg dying if you dont have a few broken and cracked ones right? especially with little hands that just cant wait to help.

voila!

FAST FORWARD:

went to grandma's for the egg hunt and dinner. mmmm... dinner.

our hooligans dressed up like bunnies. or bunny hooligans.

mia immediately opened every egg. we tried to coax her into finding more, but she was very content with the first one. we finally got through to her.

dont you love our high tech easter baskets? i was too cheap to buy any. and my MIL made these cute ones.
but i did get a few on the after easter sale for next year. i'm such a good mom!

it was all fun and games until someone's bunny sack tore.

OH THE HORROR!
seriously.

he RAN in the house, inconsolable and wouldnt stop crying.

until i told him we could fix it. with tape.

see? i wouldnt lie.

he's such a tender heart.

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