I'm gonna miss that sound...

The kids are napping...Lilly will be home from school any moment, and I'm trying to check my email one last time and finish packing before I head out the door in a few hours...

Molly is just a few feet away, snoozing in her car seat, still with her adorable pink bunny hat on...she's been content there since we got home from Jason's 'surprise' going away party at work today.


And then I hear it....just her big sigh...while still asleep...those big baby, sighs of contentment. And I'm going to miss it while I'm gone.

Oye. It's good to have a break from the kidlets sometimes...but a week is an eternity, too.

See you when I get back!

Headed to California!

Well, I've been told that if I don't post...people won't read. If you post it, they will come... So - time to post again!

I'm headed to Anaheim, CA on Friday night (well, a few hours into Saturday, anyway!) for the world's largest craft and hobby trade show...miles and miles of aisles and aisles devoted to crafting and craft products. Everyone from Crayola to the smallest scrapbooking company is there - hocking their wares to me and buyers from all the major retailers...it's a great time - crazy, but great!

The hardest part of course, is being away from the kids! This will be my longests stretch without Molly...so I guess I better post some pictures of her here, so I can check them with my internet access from the hotel! Enjoy!

At 7 months, Molly is teething, and consequently sticks ANYTHING in her mouth - this is Maya's favorite baby "GiGi" with her hand in Molly's mouth!


And, of course, Lilly loves the 'big sister' role, so here's a great shot of her feeding Ms. Molls.

And then there's Porter, who on this day, was TOTALLY captivated by the Backyardigans! He's not usually the kid that is enthralled with the dancing and the singing, but as you can clearly see...today he was!






Now, here's Miss Maya...a great picture of her from Christmas sporting one of her new 'princess wigs'.





Well, I guess that will have to do me while I'm away...well, that, and the fact that I'll be spending two days at Disney!

House for Sale...

Well, we had a showing yesterday...spent ALL day just clearing up the 'little' stuff that was around (see Hurricane Christmas post!). When it came time for the showing, I packed up Maya, Porter and Molly (during nap time, no less) and headed into town to drive thru for some food (since I didn't eat breakfast or lunch yet)! I drive back to the house, now about 10 minutes after the 'showing time' and see that they haven't arrived yet...so I park in the driveway of a nearby house that's also for sale (new construction that's been on the market for a year and a half) and watch for them to arrive while I eat and the kids are watching a movie. I see the SUV pull in...okay, great. I wait about 15 minutes and head back to the house to catch a glimpse of the car, and I notice it was already gone. Well, I think to myself, that wasn't long enough to see the house, so maybe it wasn't them and I obviously missed the car leaving while I was eating.

I pull into my driveway and decide to run in and see if the other realtor has left the tell-tale business card on the kitchen counter to indicate that they were here. I don't even get that far...I'm locked out. Guess they were here. They toured the house in about 10 minutes. I spent FIVE hours picking up and cleaning and trying to follow kids around to keep it clean. TEN MINUTES.

I realize that everyone that looks is a potential buyer. BUT - it should take longer than 10 minutes to walk through my house. I didn't eat. The kids didn't get naps (which has LOADS of ramifications!). But I never turn down a showing. I felt like those buyers and that agent didn't respect my time or that of my family. We have pictures of just about every room online, as well as room dimensions. You can drive by and pick up an info sheet. TEN MINUTES??!?!?!? Why bother.

So, thanks to my friends Joy and Amy for going out with me last night, and my dear babysitter Erica for giving up another few hours on a Friday to help keep me sane. There has got to be a better way to sell houses.

Hurricane Christmas

So, here it is...what my 'red room' looked like this morning:


The tree was still half lit with blue lights, gifts were strewn everywhere, oye. Hurricane Christmas left a path of destruction, and this was the last room for me to tackle - TODAY! I spent hours...and then Erica (the WONDERFUL woman who cleans my house, among other things!) also cleaned it....and now, it's back to normal:


Now, keeping in mind that normal still means it's got baby stuff everywhere, books, trucks, little bikes, well, you know - stuff you find in a house that has four kids! But, at least NOW I can WALK! I made a promise to my realtor today that I WOULD have an open house in the next few weeks...it just couldn't be THIS week. How does one explain Hurricane Christmas??

One Kidney Wonder

Well, today was Jason's big V *snip - snip* day! We are so happy with our family of four kids, we're done! (or at least our natural born kids! I'd still consider 'importing' one at some point!) Anyway, throughout this 'ordeal' we've discovered that Jason only has one kidney!

Apparently, during Jason's consultation, the doctor was unable to find the 'tubing' that you cut during this procedure on one side. This is an indicator of the tubing being missing, which is also an indicator of a kidney missing, which is an indicator of being a carrier for Cystic Fibrosis! So...at the ripe old age of 32, Jason discovered via renal ultrasound, that he is a one kidney wonder!

So what does this mean for the big V? It means he only had to have one side done. Yes, we got a discount ;)

How does one explain to your young children why their daddy has as bag of frozen peas in his pants?

Here I go!

I'm taking the plunge...not sure why...not sure who's going to read, but I'm doing it anyway! I'll be moving in the next 6 months or so, so maybe this will be a great way for my friends to keep track of me...And I'll share my life's adventures...I mean, after all, I am a SAHM of four kids ages 7 and under! YIKES!

For now, I've 'commissioned' my fancy blog header...so bare with this one for awhile.

Hope you'll come back soon.

cmcb