Sometimes You Just Need a Cupcake

Or 4.

Sad thing is that the above picture actually represents quite a bit of restraint on my part.  As the daughter of a man who preaches, "If it's worth doing, it's worth doing to excess," I am all about going above and beyond the scope of normal....especially when it comes to foodstuffs.  And it's a way better deal to get a 1/2 dozen because it's the cost of only 5 cupcakes.  That's a FREE cupcake, people.

But...

I only bought 4.  Because I recognize that we sure didn't need to eat 6.  Go me.  Model of restraint!   ;-)

HAPPY FRIDAY!

PS:  If you're bored, feel free to guess the 4 flavors for funsies.  Interactive Friday, anyone?! (and yes, the one on the left fell over a bit on the car ride home.  But I'm still totally digging the creative use of plastic cups as holders!)

Round and Round

Okay, maybe a roller coaster would be a better image to represent what this real estate adventure has been of late, but we'll just go with what we have:

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  (Although I think his carousel ride was probably more fun!)

Nutshell version:  got a contract late Saturday night.  Yee-haw!  House sold in 2 weeks?  AWESOME.  Kids and I left our visit with A&A early to get back to town to spend all afternoon looking at what was on the market for us to consider buying.  Found a house we really liked.  Filled out all paperwork for counter-offer to our prospective buyers (which had been verbally presented to their realtor with no apparent issues) and the contract on the house we wanted, to be submitted once the other contract was signed by our peeps.

It was a long and incredibly exhausting (both emotionally and physically) day.

Then we found out Monday morning that, upon crunching the numbers on the counter-offer, the peeps realized they had gotten way out of their financial comfort zone and needed a much cheaper abode.  So no contract.   Which meant no other contract.   Which, all in all, meant very disappointed Kentobeans.

Back to keeping the house clean we go.   We had to be out of the house for a showing from noon-2 pm on Tuesday so we had quite the mall adventure as you can see from B's happy face pictured above.  This morning is 10:30-12:30 which is even less ideal as far as juggling preschool drop-off with our usual trip home and Miss C's morning naptime.  I'm pondering pushing her in a stroller around the 'hood and spying!!

Real estate is not for the faint-of-heart, that's for sure!

Bald Kids and a Toothbrush

(I'm a little concerned that she is actually MORE bald than he was....which was pretty darn bald!)

EDITED TO ADD:   Oh, no! I just realized from a comment that this photo might be confusing!  (Probably because both kids are pasty and bald.)  The top pic IS Brooks, at 15 mos.  The bottom pic was taken yesterday and C is only 14 months, but happened to be in the same exact spot so I dug out the old one of B.

Meet Babydoll

No, not THIS one:

  THIS one:

I recently decided that, after 14 months of being doll-less, the little miss might like a littler friend to love.  I am waiting until Miss C can name her, so in the meantime, she is simply "Babydoll" as in, "Oh, Babydoll, what silly thing are you doing now?"

Are you telling secrets?

Or popping into pictures?

Brother thinks you're pretty cool, too-- but not as cool as the assorted scented objects he gathered around their house and sniffed over...and over...and over:

Biggest breakthrough of our not-even-24-hour-visit:  the B-man bonded with The Boods (aka Buddha)!  He announced several times that he was "going to pet Buddha now!"

I'm not sure why Anne and Adam always have it rain when we go for a visit, but we still managed to have a fabulous time!  Can't wait to hang out again soon!

Blanket of Blossoms

Our big tree has been doing some seriously beautiful flowering:



But then it rained.

Or should I say SNOWED?


PS: congrats to loyal reader Emily2 (and boys) on the arrival of Maggie yesterday!

Snuggle Puppies

Happy Friday!

Drill Master

Fire trucks?  Cool!

Fire drills?  Not so much.

When I picked up B from preschool last Thursday, the teacher announced that all the kids were a bit shaken up by the fire drill that had taken place that morning.  Indeed, he was very reserved and hesitant on the entire way out of the building and home-- apparently, fire drills are pretty nerve-wracking for the young set.

On Tuesday, I had just walked into the classroom when the fire alarm went off.  Poor B burst into tears immediately.  It turned out that a kid had pulled the alarm, but we all needed to follow procedure and, since I hadn't yet picked up his folder or signed him out, we found ourselves in the fenced-in playground with all the full-day children and teachers.   Again, B continued to talk about how much he doesn't like fire drills and, even last night, got really quiet while eating his dinner and told me he was thinking about the fire drills.

Tuesday evening, we met up with the BG at a burger place for a fundraiser for his former school's Science department (look at that commitment!), and B requested that his daddy drive the kids back home afterward.  When we arrived at the house, he jumped out of the car to tell me that they'd talked about drills all the way home:  lockdown drills, tornado drills, etc.  He also memorized the speech that is apparently played over the loudspeaker at the BG's school with the alarm:



Oh, Brooksie. Such a wonderfully odd bird you are!

Twisty Tuesday?

 How else do you explain this kid sleeping...

 ...and this one squawking?

Thankfully, after all the crying died down, the little one finally went back to sleep.  (Mama doesn't give in.  She gets her 2 hours of alone time!) 

And, in case you're curious, here's what the lower walls in B's room looked like before the soothing paint job pictured in the top photo!  (This was the most recent shot of the paneling I could find on the blog-- sorry for the reminder of B's sweaty phase!  Ha!)

And, yes, we totally talked when getting dressed about how well B matched his bed!

Their "Cheese" Faces May Need Work...

...but they sure are some funny 4 year-olds!

Thank Goodness For Jason's Deli, and Other Tales From the Field

Would it have been amazingly awesome to sell the house in the first week? Of course! But even if a wee little part of me dared to think it might happen, I didn't really expect it. So, 10 days in, I'm still feeling good. We've had some really positive feedback and, frankly, I can totally understand why buying one's first house (as this is likely to be for the next owner) is a decision that can't be made quickly!

Because of the strong feedback, we went out looking Saturday for potential Kentobean abodes. A few thoughts:

1) Someone (who will remain nameless but knows who she is! ;-) referred to me recently as an overachiever in this whole process. I'm just gonna go ahead and take that as a compliment because, now that I've seen other houses, MAN did we do a great job of de-cluttering and de-personalizing!! Some of the junk these people still had out was comical.

2) One house's stuff proved to be a fun game for us, though. We had noticed in the listing photos that these people had our exact same hutch. When we started looking through their house, we realized there were so many other similarities: same rustic star on wall, same sippy cups in cabinet, and letters above the crib that read BROOKS. Was it a sign?? We'll have to see...!!

3) We looked at a house that had no backyard, no basement (standard for this part of the country), and no garage. Did I mention it was the highest-priced property, too??! What the heck? Where would we send the children when we need some silence??!! ;-)

4) The homeowners were still there at one place we looked. Listen, I get it--schedules are hard. But we've had 15 showings in 9 days; I have 2 much younger (read: less self-sufficient) kids, and I've left the house every time. You can probably do better than wandering around the deck while we're walking through!

5) Houses here are really expensive. And likely may still not have a pantry, an entryway, or a garage.

While we'd love to ratchet up the excitement with something actually developing, we remain assured that it will all unfold in perfect timing. In the meantime, the clean house has left me with all kinds of free time--I even read a book last week!

'Course, this process is also likely to leave me with an expanded waistline with all the dinner eating-out during late afternoon/evening showings. I am completely guilty of occasionally "needing" a McDonald's or Taco Bell fix, but I'm sure glad there's a giant salad bar o' veggies at Jason's Deli to balance it out. (We may or may not have eaten there twice in the last 5 days!) I figure a few pounds here or there is a decent price to pay for selling a house...right??!!

Speaking of food, big shout-outs (shouts-out?) to my eating partners this weekend who vastly improved our usual fast-casual routine: Kathy, loved catching up with you over gourmet burger and cake Friday, and Birthday Twin, I'm gonna be prepared to get a video of that flaming cheese the next time we indulge in tasty Greek mezze!

Playtime

A bunch of the neighborhood gang met up at a nearby park for some afternoon playtime yesterday. B spent most of his time on the run but posed long enough for a quick shot:

Wait, you say. Look at that little striped creature making a break for it in the background!

Yup. Girl's a piece of work:

When she wasn't trying to escape, climbing up a slide, or watching the other kids, she was probably loving on sweet neighbor Jen. I thought I was bummed to be moving away from such a wonderful friend, but I'm beginning to think my kiddos will miss her even more!!

HAPPY FRIDAY!!

The Goings-On

How is it already mid-March?! And how is it 75 degrees here all week? (Um, we'll take it!)

I didn't snap any pics yesterday, so yes, this post is a disappointment for many of you!  :-)  The kiddies and I spent the morning at a neighbor's house with her 2 kids while she had an appointment, and spent the end of the day toodling around doing drive-by(e?)s of houses currently on the market in our general price range/desired locations. Despite the on-and-off whining from the backseat, it was a productive excursion since I was able to cross 2 off the list immediately. One house didn't even have a driveway!! WHAT??

We had to combine our explorations with dinner out since 2 realtors had made appointments for showings in the 5:30-6:45 range. Since the little miss generally goes to bed before 6:30, these daylight-savings-induced evening showings are not ideal!! (But we'll take those, too!).

We pulled up at about 6:52 and I noticed the front door was still open and there was at least one extra car in front. So we parked a few houses down and waited to see who was looking at our little abode!! I thought about getting the kids out (it was just me: the BG didn't get home until 9:45 after two meetings) and wandering around like we were neighbors out for a walk, but eventually decided against it!! ;-)

In any case, between the beautiful weather and people at least seemingly interested in checking out our place, I don't have too many complaints. Well, except for the realtor who knocked on the door at 11:15 Tuesday morning and said his clients would be here in 5 minutes....but the centralized showing service had neglected to call and tell me. Yeah, that was some quick scurrying around to hide the morning clutter--and I plucked a napping baby out of her crib, too!!! But you know what?! It wasn't that bad after all!! Hooray for a practically-empty house!!

"Excuse Me?"

"Are you really telling me this isn't MY bike?"

"PS:  HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY DEAREST AUNTIE LINDSAY!!!!"

Hey, Tall Daddy...

...Quit boxing me out, yo!  I got places to go, things to do, people to see!!

First Weekend Report

So far, Project "House on Market" isn't too bad.  (Of course, I'm only 3 days into it...) After an exceedingly stressful 6-week period of decluttering this rat's nest, the notion of keeping it in showable-state now--even with 2 kids underfoot--isn't so daunting.  After all, there's practically nothing left in the house to mess up!

Things were so last-minute last week (owing in large part to a sketchy painter) that the sign didn't even go into the ground until Saturday afternoon.  But no matter-- we still had 4 showings that day and 2 yesterday!  Pretty exciting stuff, although apparently no one was just dying to snatch it up on the spot!  I'm eager to get some feedback.  Hopefully it won't make me cry.   ;-)

We had to be out of the house for a 3-hour chunk on Saturday and enjoyed a delightful family time of lunch, errands, and general wandering-around-town.  Yesterday's showings were mid-morning and mid-afternoon so we came home in the middle for naps.  Someone has gotten increasingly less interested in snoozing and prefers to (shocker!) recite books pulled from the shelves in his room.   I had a 3 pm appointment with the mortgage broker and, when I left, he was incredibly far from sleeping.   Since the 2nd showing of the day was at 3:30, I suggested to the BG that he might as well go down and get the "put all the books back in their place" process going.   Not 15 minutes after I walked out the door, he sent me this pic:

Hmmm.  Guess someone was tired after all.   I found out later that the waking-up weapon of choice was his own little sister, who had no trouble at all whacking him on the face repeatedly.  I'm telling you-- that girl is a BRUTE.

As a side note, they aren't kidding about things being much stricter with what you have to provide in order to get a mortgage these days.  You have to account for any deposit into your banking account that isn't clearly delineated as a paycheck so they can make sure you're not putting money into the account that you borrowed from another institution.   I imagine she was thrilled to read my list of random check deposits, like birthday money and ebates rewards!

It's A Girl!

You know, if the little miss would wear anything in her hair, she probably wouldn't get comments about her perceived boy-ness all the time!!   This coordinating headband is the first thing in a long time that she didn't pull right out; pretty sure it's because it was on the tight side!!

Happy Friday!

PS: The sign should arrive today--the house is officially in the system! Should be popping up on all the various websites soon. Most of you know our address so pull a Sheils and look it up if you want (or contact me and I'll send you a link). I actually have a few comments to make about some of the posted house pics (there are 25, so if you see fewer than that, the site hasn't been fully updated) but we'll save those for another day...! :-)

Sunny Stripes

The weather in Dallas last week was perfect.  Not too hot and not too cold-- just right for hanging out in the backyard.

The girls:

The laying on of hands:

The jabbering at the world:

And the playtime with the oddball who didn't get the stripes memo:

No One Said It Would Be Easy

In the span of about 30 minutes yesterday morning, I had a major scare that my phone had taken a spin in the washing machine, got a call from the painter (with whom I'd talked to twice while I was gone to ensure we'd have a Tuesday o' painting) that he'd have to reschedule until today, and opened a crazy bill for $644 for C's 12-month appointment because our insurance said her "authorization had expired."  Um, authorization for turning one?!

Thankfully, Mr. Sticky Fingers had already taken my phone into the living room from my bed before I scooped up the sheets to dump in the washer; the painting schedule doesn't really matter (much), and, after several phone calls, I think we got the insurance confusion worked out.  But I could do without that kind of drama.

I have my fingers crossed that, while you read this, our brown paneling downstairs is being painted a lovely shade of cream.  With a few things moved back into place, some cleaning, and lots of positive thinking--our little box should hopefully be on the market within the week.  Whether I'll still be here or rather in the loony bin remains to be seen...

(The BG tells me not to worry so much, but I truthfully have NO idea how to follow such a direction. So that's me you hear heaving with anxiety over in the corner!)

I can pretty much guarantee that the rest of this week will be full of last-minute tasks and very few photographic opportunities, so how perfect that I have all kinds of photos from last week that I haven't shared yet!!    :-)

Today:  The High Chair.   (which, seriously-- I know it was good enough for us when we were younger, but MAN, those chairs don't restrain.  If we weren't trying to keep Camille from standing up, we were having to keep her from putting both legs on the side of the strap and sliding on through!!)

Her brother thought it was fun to have some of his dinners (after sister had gone to bed) in "her" chair!

I want to make sure you notice that super cool churn behind the chair!!  I've probably posted about this before, but that was always at my grandmother's house and now it's at Grammie's waiting to make its voyage to our abode someday....along with the closet full of wedding presents that are still there, 10.5 years later!!  

Made It Home!

But too tired to write anything after our long afternoon and evening of (very smooth) flights.  See you tomorrow!!

Making the Rounds

Whew!   We've been busy around here catching up with lots of fun friends.   Friday, we spent the morning at Lindsay's where we got to meet baby Blake:

 The other kiddies had lots of fun playing together, too!!

 Rach (who also gave birth on January 3rd along with Linds), couldn't join us for that playdate, so she and I met up last night for a visit:

 Baby Dawson's bevvie wasn't quite as tasty as ours:

Of the 10 friends in my wedding party,  5 live in Dallas.  For the first time in years (ever?), I was able to see all of them on one trip.  Sweet Barrett met me for breakfast yesterday:

We head home later today but not until the Brookster gets one more trip to his beloved Arboretum.   We sure have loved spending time here with Grammie, Opa, the garage door opener, and all the donuts!!!  Don't mind B's less-than-excited face-- he's been asking if we could move to the backyard so we could "pinecone every now and then!"

Meet Our Teenage Girl

(you thought it was gonna be a pic of the other child, didn't you??!!)

Fun Fact:  The Keatons had that same phone on Family Ties.  I always thought that was SO cool.

HAPPY FRIDAY!

PS:  A BIG shout-out to my favorite birthday twin, Carrie, who is spending the morning with the BG as his featured "Career Day" speaker at school!!   Oh, how I wish I could be a fly on the wall!!   Can't wait to get all the scoop!!!  Thanks so much for helping him out, Homey!

Is It Annoying to Be Friends With Me??!!!

I meant to ask this crazy gang that question last night when they kept teasing me for having a "memory like velcro" and randomly announcing tidbits that I felt the entire table needed to know. I would apologize for being really into people-centered information, but I'm not actually sorry about it! :-)
 

It's always so nice to reconnect with old friends.  I hadn't seen two of these lovely ladies in lots of years, but we all just chitty-chatted as if we'd just run into each other between classes in the Student Union Building.  (Wait, am I the only person who chose classes largely based on their schedule vis a vis hanging out in the SUB?  Yes?!)

And that was the 2nd fun thing I got to do yesterday!  (Well, 3rd if you count my curl-inducing haircut-- ha!)  The kiddos and I drove up to Judy's house for a lunchtime playdate.  Just another advertisement for internet communication:  Judy and I, while both Zetas, never really ran in the same circles (our chapter had more than 200 girls after the new pledge class joined each year) but have formed quite the fab friendship through blogs, FB, and email over the last couple of years.  It was such a treat to get to spend some quality time catching up:

Look at all these little people!

C had no problem hanging with those 3 guys-- check out that grin!