Salad Spinner!

Ever since we have been married, which will be seven years on Tuesday, I have used my washing machine as my salad spinner. My friends all think I am crazy when they see me do this, but this is what my mother always did to spin out all the water after rinsing the head of lettuce.....and I must say it works very well. My lettuce always stays more fresh when I get ALL the water out after rinsing. To my recollection in all my years doing this, this is the first time this has happened. I do remember catching it as the drum was filling up with water one time from the extra rinse button being left on, which is how this mess happened!

Let's just say this is some clean shredded lettuce!

House Hunting = New House

Our house hunting journey has come to an end, but I just wanted to journal about our experience just so I remember, so if you want to skip on down to the fun part, don't feel bad!

After traveling down 3 times to look at homes we have found the one! The first round we came away thinking we might build as we didn't find anything existing....there was literally 1 house in our price range, so we were looking into doing a modular home. Our second trip seemed a little more rewarding or at least knowing what direction to go. Our realtor.....very good I must say.... had the inside on some homes that he knew were coming on the market, but they allowed us to look anyways! We found a couple in the same neighborhood that were potentials. Then that same day after sitting down and crunching numbers for building we realized that we wouldn't be getting what we wanted for our price and with the stress of it all.....much relief!
The third trip was the winner....third times always a charm! We went down to look at another house that had came on the market and decided to also look at the other 2 that we liked again while we were there. It helped so much to go that second time....you just see more after you have thought about them. We decided after that it was between those same 2 that we had looked at before, both ranches..... one being an older, smaller home on a main road and the other bigger, newer (like 20+ yrs) and on a cul de sac road. SO you ask what is the dilemma.....well the older, smaller one had been redone and the kitchen was absolutely beautiful! The family that lived there had it decorated totally my style and I could just see myself in there. The other was very nice, clean, but just not my style of decorating....silly I know, but it is just hard to picture your life in someone else's home! In the end I came to my senses and got past all the surface things..... we decided that the newer, bigger one on the cul de sac would be a better fit for our family! Once again God showed us his power and we settled on an amazing price....we were a little nervous as she didn't even have it on the market yet. A little paint (well a lot.....like the whole house) and a couple boarders of wallpaper to remove and it will look just like my house! We are thrilled to have this part over with and to know where we will be living!

Aaron starts his new position June 22nd and then we won't be moving till the middle of July. It's starting to be so real and we just continue to pray for a buyer for our home here. We still continue to have several showings a week, but so far the right ones haven't either come along or made a decision.......we know God is working on this part too!

Here is just a couple pictures of our new home. Keep in mind this is not exactly how it will look once we move.....new colors....not as much furniture.... you get the drift!

Big driveway, but no sidewalks

Living Room- it's really big and all open

Kitchen- nice, but I would like to make a few changes .... starting with the blue walls

Master Bedroom

Back yard- it isn't exactly flat, but it has a really pretty view

Funny things kids say!

The other day we were at Target(love that place, but it is so dangerous) and the girls and I were looking at clothes and shoes and Mackenzie was in a begging mood and wanted these shoes she had picked out. I gave her the little speech about not getting everything you want.....you know the drill....and she was pretty disappointed. So we started down another isle and she goes...in tears, "Mom, it's getting pretty hard to be a little kid!" It was so hard to keep a straight face.....I tried to be sympathetic. The lady walking down the same isle got a kick out of it too!


Kate is expanding her vocabulary as well. The other day after she woke up from her nap I was cooking in the kitchen and I heard her saying "nack......nack!" I turned around and she was standing in front of the pantry holding up her hands saying "nack.....nack!" I couldn't believe it....she wanted a snack! I of course had no other choice but to rewarded her intelligence with a yummy snack!
Some of her other words are "Hi" to everyone, Bye, No, Up, and she makes a lot of beginning sounds to words like no..for nose, mo..for more, da (and shakes her hands) for all done, ou for out, u for up, and is starting to make animal sounds for cow, dog, kitty, and sheep! It just surprises me as Mackenzie hardly said mama and dada at 20 months and Kate just turned 15 mo. I had heard the if the second child had an older sister who talked a lot that they would talk later because the older one would do all the talking for them. That situation sure fit, but thankfully Kate isn't falling into it.

The Mom Song

Here is a Mother's Day tribute to all the Moms out there Go Fish style! I heard this song for the first time when I was at the Hearts At Home Conference and I thought it was pretty funny! It has quickly became one of Mackenzie's favorites....like I mean 10 times a day favorite...no joke!



Here are the lyrics if you didn't hear them!
Verse 1:
If you have a stroller, But your still a rock and roller
You're a mom
If your tired of doing dishes, And you know who Elmo's fish is
You're a mom
If you have a lot of fun, But your work is never done
You're a mom

Chorus:
You're the boss the driver, The ultimate survivor
A doctor, A cooker, Your man thinks your a looker
If you work all day, But you never get paid
You're a mom

Verse 2:
If you need a sick day, But instead your gonna play
You're a mom
If your first occupation feels like a sweet vacation
You're a mom
If you living room floor looks like a toy store
You're a mom

Verse 3:
If you mean the whole world to a little boy or girl
You're a mom
The Bible that you hold can shape these little souls
You're a mom
If you have the most important job in the world
Then you're a mom


Isn't it so true......we have the toughest job, but the most important job and don't let anyone make you feel any differently!!

Happy Mother's Day!- late (thanks for your help Holli)

Randoms

Here is just a few pics of what the girls have been up to lately!

Mackenzie was enjoying a fun dip and little sis decided she wanted some too. Mackenzie has always been very good about sharing her food/candy....we're still working on the toys! Mackenzie broke the stick in half and would feed Kate with her half. It was so funny.. Kate would sit there like a dog on it's hind legs begging for the next bite!


Finally Mackenzie just gave Kate the stick and let her get her own "dip!"


I had to get their green mouths......even though it was blue raspberry dip!

On Monday when we were out on a bike ride we stopped by some friends house who had each just gotten a little puppy!

Rocky.....it's a teacup something, I forgot already!

I was so impressed with Mackenzie.....normally she doesn't like small dogs, just my parents dog which is a big white lab! She kept wanting to hold them.......it helped that it was the size of a well I guess teacup!!!

Kate is really into dogs and just loved them. She would touch it, laugh and then run away! They were perfect size for her! The other little puppy was a white something or other and was a little bit more hyper for anyone to hold.

Here is a little video of our little dancer.....Kate! I wished I would have gotten a front veiw, but just take notice of her arm....it's her signature move!

A Clean House!

I have to say it is one of the most freeing feelings to have a clean house. Now let me start off by saying this is not normal for me, but I am really liking the change this whole "house for sale" thing is doing to me. If my husbands lucky maybe it'll stick once we move! Just about every day since our house has been on the market (just a little over a week ago) I have had to have the house in showing condition for something....a showing, open house, or the virtual tour guy. I'm getting the routine down with what needs to be done before we head out the door. It forces me to have the house completely ready.....beds made, dishes done, bathrooms spotless.....and even for myself ....getting a shower before noon! So now when I get a free moment....it's free with little guilt! I say little because there is always something I could be doing whether it's banking, meal planning or catching up with this here blog!

We have been very blessed to have had a lot of activity with people looking.... almost one every day so far with a few breather days in there! So far no offers have been made, but we know they're out there somewhere!

Biking!

I have found a new love.....biking! For my birthday Aaron got me a bike, well he didn't actually get it, but told me I could go and pick one out along with a trailer for Kate. The weather this weekend was just plain inviting so we decided Saturday night to go pick them out. Now purple isn't exactly my favorite color, but hey it's just a bike and a good price I might add. After going to 3 stores we finally found a trailer.....we're all set!

Sunday evening we decided to try them out, so while Aaron was putting the trailer together I threw together a little picnic dinner to take to the park.

Mackenzie did amazing....she kept up and rode the whole way there and back....it is probably like 5 "big" blocks away!

We haven't done a lot of picnics but I think we are going to do a lot more....they ate so much better than they normally do at home around the table......or maybe it was the fact that they were starving, after all it was like 7:30 by the time we got there!

On Monday night my brother came over with his bike and we decided to take a "real" bike ride. Since we were going on a longer trip we put Mackenzie in the trailer along with Kate.

Now I have to tell you.....I think the last time I seriously rode a bike was when I was 12 on our driveway at home. I can honestly say that I didn't think I would enjoy it as much as I did.....the wide open space, the breeze blowing through your hair;) I have to say the key is the right seat! I have tried several bikes and just sitting on it hurt my rear, let alone riding it just even a block. I knew I needed a comfortable seat and it makes ALL the difference. Just go to Walmart and get the wide gel seat for less then $20....it is worth every penny! (and sore rear)

Victory Day!

Saturday was Victory Day for Mackenzie's Gymnastics class. It is the "big" performance of the year complete with a dance routine, matching leotards and medals! Mackenzie's class "Mini Cardinals" did a dance rountine to "Perfect Day" from the soundtrack to Legally Blonde and have been practicing for weeks during class. For some reason she has not been that excited about the dance which I was really surprised at.......she loves to dance around at home and do hand motions with songs. Then they got to show us some of the things they have been working on throughout the semester......her class got to do the vault! It was so cute watching a bunch of 4-5 year olds dance around and be somewhat together with their moves!

Here are some pictures....sorry they are kind of blurry....again action shots don't work well with my camera. Mackenzie is the dark haired girl in the middle of the pictures with her hair half up in a big orange bow!



It is so much fun watching your child perform something you know they have worked hard at. She did so great with the cheorography and decided she liked the dance after all! Our friend got it on tape for us........maybe I'll post that when I get a copy!

Girlfriends!

This past weekend I got to have an overnight "girls night out".....or slumber party, whatever you want to call it! Several of us girls had birthdays this spring or soon coming up and since we never got to celebrate together we were going to make it up. Kari invited us to her parents house which was out of town (felt more like a vacation) and complete with a hot tub! Our amazing husbands kept the kids and allowed us to have our much needed girl time together! It is a different kind of conversation when you have a schedule and kids are running around. We left early on Friday and went to the store to get our last minute ingredients and headed out. We got there, settled in, started making the food and dug right in.

We made tons of comfort foods............our rule for the night was you couldn't talk about how the calories were affecting you (meaning diet!) So we just nibbled all night long.

It was so sweet......Kari and her mom Julie went into our rooms and gave us the royal 5 star treatment.....pulled our covers down, mint on the pillow, robe with bottle of water and our shampoo & conditioner!

Here's the group in our robes before heading into the Hot Tub!

It was so rejuvenating to have the night..all night...out with the girls! Thanks Kari and Julie for all you did to make it special! Can't wait to come back and do it again next year!