A Whirlwind Weekend

This past weekend we looked at over 20 houses in three days. Yeah, that is a lot. In fact it is so many that they are all starting to run together. When the realtor emails an update about a property I usually have no clue what she is talking about and have to look the property up to refresh my memory. It is like a light bulb that then goes off and I say, oh I remember that is the one with xyz that I did NOT like. However, let's face it I did not like just about EVERY house that we saw. Either the house was to small and the yard was perfect or the house was great with a tiny yard or, or, or...the list goes on.

BTW, thank goodness for awesome family! They are so awesome that they kept our kids Friday evening and all day Saturday (even though it was my brother-in-law's birthday) so that we would not have to drag the kids through that many houses. On Sunday, we did not want to burden them with our children again, so we did drag them with us and thankfully they did surprisingly well.

We did see a few promising ones, most of which were in foreclosure so we would be getting a great deal on them. The one that I liked the most was perfect on the inside. It met all of my criteria, had everything that I have ever wanted in a house except a finished basement. The yard was a bit on the small side and was not fenced in. I keep telling myself those two things are easily fixable. We do not need a finished basement because the house is so big that we can just use the basement as extra storage and then eventually finish it. The yard, well it does not have to be fenced in...we have never had a fenced in yard and it can easily be fenced in. I keep telling myself that over and over. Truly I am in love with the house and I can easily look past those two imperfections, but am I settling? Is there a house out there with an awesome backyard just waiting for me? Will it still have my garden tub, wood floors, fireplace, etc.?

I just do not know what to do. Oh internet, please help me. Tell me if I am being too picky, or if I should keep looking. Will I be settling if we buy this house even though I do love the actual house? While you're at it could you find me that perfect house and sell it to me at a reasonable price?

Yikes Mommy!

As overheard this morning after breakfast. Tater is on the couch in some weird position with her leg up by her face. (We all know how flexible our kids are.)

Tater: "Yikes Mommy! You know what? I have reawwy wong hair on my weg!"

Me: Sort of a stunned silence, thinking that it will stay long for many, many years. " Yes, you do! Isn't that cool?"

9 to 5

Or Monday through Friday of being a "single" Mommy. You know, no reinforcements coming in at the end of the day. Just me and the kiddos all day and all night. This marks the second week of Tony working all week and it actually has not been that bad. I mean seriously I survived two deployments and loads of training activities, I can handle five days (and nights) with the kids...can't I?

Actually we are so busy right now that the days have been flying by. The kids seem to be handling it well. Hannah is such a busy body that I'm not even sure she realizes Daddy is gone half the time. She understands that he is working in Columbus where Riah-roo lives and that we will see him on the weekend. She also enjoys talking to him on the phone and telling him about the excitement of her day. Today it was feeding the horses carrots at Vacation Bible School a*k*a Arkfest.

Zander on the other hand doesn't really understand. In the morning, Daddy has been the one to get Zander up the past few weeks. So Wednesday of last week when I went to get Zander out of bed this is the conversation that we had:

Zand: "No Mommy! 'Ere's Daddy?" (Said in his sweet little baby voice with his hands in a shrug position.)
Me: "Daddy's at work, he'll be home on Friday, only two more days!"

That was the end of it he happily came to me. Then Daddy was home for the weekend and Zander was so happy to see him. Then Monday morning came and we had this conversation:

Zand: "No Mommy! 'Ere's Daddy?" (Said with same sweet voice and hands out in a shrug position.)
Me: "He had to go back to work baby, he'll"
Zand: Interrupting "No work!" (No more sweet voice.)

If only it was that simple sweetie. So, this weekend we are packing up and heading down to visit Daddy and spend a fun filled weekend looking at houses. I do not think it is going to be pretty. I have a pretty specific list and I'm not really willing to budge on most of it. So wish me some happy house hunting this weekend.


On another note, I think my son is a genius. No really he is! He is only 21 months old and has quite the extensive vocabulary. Not to mention he is saying short sentences. I started counting his words the other day and stopped at 60!!! 60 words, holy cow. I know that he says more than 60, I just stopped there because I felt like it could go on forever. So yah, he's a genius in the making. Of course Hannah is a genius as well. Didn't you know? My spawn, they are all geniuses!

Another Slacker Blogger

Well I do have a good reason for not posting this week so maybe we could hold off on that title for a little bit longer. My power cord died on Sunday, which means I was out of battery by Monday. Oh, and Tony started his new job on Monday, so with him gone it was a bit hard to find any time to myself! I know, I know. I could have went out and bought new power cord...but that would have just been too easy. So, hubby and I are headed out today to buy one.

I do have a whole list of things to blog about so stay tuned. However, I am going to back date them for historical reasons. Haha! No really, I started this blog for family and friends to keep track of Tater when we had moved out of state and also as sort of a journal to keep track of important events. Which is why I like to have some of them dated on the right dates. Anyway, I am working on the birthday pictures now!

Happy Anniversary Babe!!

I cannot believe that today marks SEVEN years!! I guess we have almost made it past the seven year itch. We have been married for seven years, and it does not seem like it has been that long. (That is a good thing right?) Who would have that seven years ago that we would be where we are today? I love you sweetie and I hope that the next seven years fly by with just as much fun and excitement....well maybe a little less excitement like say fewer moves.

A Party Suited for a Princess

We had Hannah's FOURTH birthday party Saturday. (Seriously, I cannot believe that Hannah is four!!) For weeks upon weeks Hannah was set on having a polka-dot party. I was all set for that because it would have been so easy to decorate and plan. I found cute generic polka-dot plates and napkins and making the cake would have been a breeze. Not to mention how easy it would have been to decorate. However when it came time to by the invitations, Hannah came with me to the store. After filling our cart full of polka-dots, we were leaving the aisle and guess what she saw? Tinker Bell! So after a little hard work and creativity we had a Tink party.

The cake and cupcakes Mommy made.

Party decorations

We had the party at Grandma's house because she has so much fun stuff for all of the kids. Hannah had so many family and friends there that she did not know what to do! All of her cousins were there, her friends Reece and Owen were there and Knoah and Kaela came!

It was so much fun and the kids all seemed to have a great time. Now, I leave you with a ton of pictures that I will have to label later because Daddy is telling me that he needs his puter to do homework.

Her big thing is to say: "Three is gone now and I'm four!"

Four

Happy Birthday "Baby" Girl!! Wow! I cannot believe that you are already four! Where has time gone? It does not seem possible. I clearly remember just bringing a little peanut who was swimming in preemie clothes, home from the hospital just yesterday. Has it already been four years?


At four years old you are still a cross between a "baby" and a big girl. I would love to keep that baby in you as long as possible. I just love your personality and how you are always singing and dancing. Even if there is no music you just make up your own. Whenever people meet you, they are always asking if you are a dancer because you dance so much! When we went on vacation this year, the first thing you did at the ocean was to dance in the waves. You are learning so much and can even write your own name! You can draw shapes and people and you love to paint. Another favorite activity of yours is to cut paper. You will sit and cut shapes for hours.


This past year we have moved back to Ohio and you have transitioned so well. You love being close to your grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. In fact almost every weekend you spend the night with Grandma Cath. You also took your first dance class this year and had your first recital. You were the cutest little dancer I have ever seen and we were so proud of how good you did. We also attended our first LPA convention! We had so much fun and I foresee many years of LPA events in our future. This summer you have turned into quite the swimmer. You are so brave; you will jump off the side of the pool and go under, you love to wear 'noculars and swim under the water and you love to perform you tricks for us.

Tater, you are such a sweet girl. You have such a gentle and fun loving spirit with a little spunk mixed in. You have quite the personality with such determination that I do not think that you will ever meet a challenge in your life that you will not face head on. I hope that you continue to grow in the Lord and love those around you. Keep the spunk girl, keep the spunk!

OBX

We just returned from a week at the beautiful Outer Banks, NC. We stayed on Corolla Beach with Bologna's family and a great time was had by all. I have been pretty busy getting ready for a certain little girl's fourth birthday party, so this is just a little preview of our time at the beach. Enjoy!

P.S. I was very tempted to find Nathan and Patricia's church and show up on Sunday, but I thought that might come across as being a bit stalkerish. Maybe next year!