The things kids say

I try not to use certain words and phrases around the kids, things like: that sucks, hate, stupid, etc. Last night at dinner, Alden asked me where my hot dog was (the kiddos got hot dogs, steak, and broccoli--Nick cooked), I told him I didn't get a hot dog and he said "that's a bummer" and gave me a slice of his. What a sweetie.

Little Diva

This morning Alden pulled out a hunk of Ruthie's hair, they were having some sort of argument. We separated them, I took Roo to the bedroom with me so I could finish drying my hair and getting dressed. I placated her by promising to brush her hair and let her put on a little makeup. Alden had to sit in timeout without his precious brown blankie from nana. This boy is ATTACHED to that dang blanket. Anyway, I brushed Roo's hair and put a bow in and I figured she forgot about the makeup promise. Not so. I should've known better. We were running late for story time, so I rushed us out the door. As soon as the other kids quieted and sat down so we could begin, Ruthie yelled out "Wait, I forgot my makeup!!" She was rather upset so I had to give her my clear Chapstick, whew. That girl, oy. She's already better at applying makeup than I am.

Ruth's Room

This is Roo's room, on the left you can see the pocket door to the bathroom! Her Tiny Highness has requested pink walls and pink carpet (so not happening!). Our big idea for her room is to do white beadboard with a nice molding, and paint the walls pink on top. I want to get a little decorative chandelier and maybe some kind of canopy over her bed. I feel bad that I have so many girly ideas but I'm lacking in the ideas for Alden's room. Ruthie is just so strong in who she is and she makes her desires known, Alden is more of an enigma for me.

Alden's Room

Alden has requested we paint his room dark blue, he also yelled something about "Lightning The Queen" and Mater when he was sprinting away from me at Lowe's. I'm not a big fan of character stuff, but I don't want to deny him something he genuinely likes. Maybe we'll do some Cars pillowcases or something easy, I don't want to have to redecorate every three years as his tastes change. One of the first things we will do is install a ceiling fan, I wanted to get something cutesy but decided a plain fan will look great with some removable embellishments, and when he outgrows his beloved Cars, we'll just take off the stickers and have a plain fan.
We went to look at carpet and Alden grabbed a square of the most hideous blue carpet I've ever seen, he insists on blue carpet. He WON'T be winning that battle.

One of the big things I'm looking forward to doing is a growth chart, I've seen some neat ideas online for actually painting a chart onto the bedroom wall. I kind of like the family idea though, and just using a doorframe to record everything. We moved a lot when I was a kid, so I never ever had anything like that.

Bathroom ideas

One of my *FAVORITE* things about the new house is the Jack and Jill bath that connects Ruth and Alden's rooms. I found some awesome Thing 1 and Thing 2 wall decals, isn't that such a great theme for twins? I'm totally excited. Damn I'm lame. I'm stuck on a paint color though, there aren't any windows in their bathroom, so I want a bright paint color to keep it feeling like a light space. I'm thinking a super bright aqua color so that the hair on the Things still stands out against the paint. This is going to be a super crafty creation, I have quite a few grand ideas.

The downstairs bath is probably going to be a fishy theme, just because that's what we have already and we won't need to buy anything.

I have no ideas yet for the master bath. I'm going to concentrate on the public areas first and save our bedroom and bath for last. So, it'll probably be decorated in about six years. Haha!

Mr. Convincing

Tonight as we put the kids to bed, Alden asked Nick to lay down with him. Nick said he had to go help me clean up because people were coming over, Alden told him I can clean by myself (apparently men stick together). Nick said "no, daddy needs to be nice and help mommy". Alden leaned in close and whispered "be naughty daddy, lay down". Hahaha!!! I'd much rather be snuggling with my little man than doing dishes!

Alden's newest thing is playing tricks. The other day in the car he asked where Ruthie was, I replied that she was in her carseat, and he said "No, that not Roo, that's just a stuffie", then laughed his head off. Of course I had to pretend that we left Ruthie at home and that made him laugh even harder. Little trickster.

Kitchen Ideas

After almost 3 years of living with a galley style kitchen that has ONE drawer, I'm so excited to finally be able to fully unpack and spread out. I have boxes and boxes of cooking tools, wineglasses, baking pans, etc. that have been sitting in the garage because there was no room in the kitchen. I also have quite a few ideas for my new space. It's currently very plain, white ceramic tile counters, plain oak cabinets, linoleum, etc. Our first order of business is a new refrigerator and range. Fortunately there is a gas line, yay! Our dream fridge is a french door behemoth, and I'm debating the merits of a double oven. It would be nice for cooking large meals and for parties, but I don't know if it's really worth the added expense.

Here are some pictures of the new digs, so you can see what I'm talking about, I swear these are the worst pictures on earth. The listing agent must have been in a hurry:






My big ideas are (in no particular order):
1. Butcher block on the island, with an 8-10" overhang into the living room, so we can use it as a breakfast bar.

2. Paint the cabinets white and put a beadboard insert in the door faces for a cottage look.

3. New light fixture, something funky.

4. Glass brick tile backsplash, I love the brightness of glass tile!

5. Solid surface countertops, maybe Silestone or one of the new acrylics, with a seamless integrated sink for easy cleaning.

6. New flooring, we are going to do laminate in the kitchen, living room and front formal dining room area. Our dog will thrash the carpets in no time, laminate is so easy to clean and the newer handscraped styles look wonderful.

7. I want to paint the panels on the pantry doors with magnetic paint on two, and chalkboard paint on the other two. The kiddos can play while I cook, and I can write notes when I need to re-stock!

8. Slide out shelves in a few of the cabinets, great for pots and pans!

9. New window coverings, the dirty aluminum blinds will do for now, but eventually we'll put up something a little nicer looking.

As you can see, I've been spending way too much time daydreaming about the new house!

Home Sweet Home......in 2 months

Adventures in homebuying

I DO NOT recommend bring your twin toddlers along when you are looking for a home.

1. Your daughter will need to pee, in a model home that has locks on the toilets.
2. Your son will want to jump on the model home's cardboard bed.
3. Both kids will try to eat the rubber grapes so nicely displayed on the model dining room table.
4. You'll walk into a foreclosure that is so freaking nasty you won't leave the foyer AND you will hold your kids the whole time in fear of disease.
5. You'll walk into a smelly house and your daughter will say "why you say this house stinky mama?" So much for under the breath muttering.
6. The dead gopher in a pool looks like poop to a 2 year old.

On #4, we walked into a house that looked beautiful from the front. Unfortunately the previous owner decided to graffiti XXX rated drawings on the walls, burn the newel post, drip something nasty and black all over the floors, and knock holes in the wall with a hammer. This place was so disgusting we held the kids the whole time, and after seeing the downstairs from the foyer, we ran away as quickly as we could. Another house smelled like someone had peed all over the carpets and locked the house up for a year. There were dead cockroaches all over the kitchen counters too. Lovely. My favorite house is the one that had the marijuana smoking lounge in the converted garage, and the kitchen had been remodeled.....but apparently the owners didn't actually use the kitchen to cook, they had taken out the countertop range and put in shelves..... oy.

Hello Kitty

Roo and I are sitting at the dining room table, eating Sees chocolates from the boxes my dad sent us (thanks dad, we will call you tonight!). She pulled all of the paper cup thingies out of her box and piled them on the table.

She says:
"I'm taking out the trash cuz I don't like to eat trash. Oscar the grouch does like to eat trash, but I don't". I grabbed her up and gave her a big hug, then I asked her if she loves me. She leans in for a kiss, but when I lean in, she licks my nose and says "I love soda".

I wish I had hidden cameras, she's sitting here in her bling tee that says Big Sister, wearing baggy Hello Kitty underpants, with a side ponytail. She's her own person, and I love it.