Clear the Air

Things are finally starting to feel more normal. Hallelujah! I am getting back into a routine - my Type A-ness just demands a routine. I am back to making my meal schedules, laundry is under control, and the house doesn't quite look like it has been hit by a tornado.

But I have a problem. I have to overcome some bad habits that I've created during these past few months. It started back when we put the house on the market. In order to keep the house looking good - I had to skip some of my heavy-duty cleaning in order to do general pick-up so frequently. Then, in the process of moving, I threw my hands in the air and gave up trying to keep things clean, and then after we moved and were still unpacking, I figured, why bother right now - what's the point?

Well the point is now that I have a dirty bathroom. I'm eeked out by my own bathroom. So I need to get my hands out the air and back on the scrub brush.

Ok, I really wasn't going to go on a diatribe on my cleanliness here, but I guess I needed to confess in order to clear the air... or should I say CLEAN the air.

But I'm working on these bad habits. I did some cleaning today in our living area. I also disposed of the pile of stuff that had been lingering in the corner for weeks. (The pre-move Sara would never let things linger for weeks.) We had a garage sale at my mom's house a couple weeks back and I brought back a box of some stuff that didn't sell, and a box of stuff I filched from my uncle, along with some random things like signs, tape and stickers. So I finally grew tired of looking at it, and cleared it out today. I gave myself a good pat on the back.

And just for fun, I'm going to share my garage sale signs that I threw out today. I had several people comment on them. I had fun with them.

The Cat is Out of the Bag.... or House

So I have to admit something that I have been having a little bit of guilt about the past few days.

We recently had a household squabble. There was some shrieking. Some hiding. I kept the kids close to me.

And then...

Mr. D threw out the cat.

Her new home is outside our front door.

And I feel a little guilty because I didn't do much to stop it. I just watched, and to be honest, deep down, I'm rather glad.

Poor Kitters.

See, this cat isn't a real people-person kind of cat. She hides most of the time, isn't very friendly, and frankly, isn't even nice looking. She doesn't have the proper hygiene skills that a cat should have - she gets matted, dirty, and I have to wipe her bottom. Seriously, I have enough bottoms to wipe without adding on a cat's.

We had an incident a few weeks ago that involved pee-pee in Paul's room, poo in the office, and well, an unhappy Mr. and Mrs. D. The cat had been wearing its welcome thin the past few months. Okay, really, the past few years. Basically since I've had kids. I could tolerate her before the kids. But now, she's just in my way. Buying food and litter just aggravates me, and I generally kept her around cause I didn't know what else to do with her.

Well, now, I guess Mr. D solved that for me. However, I still feel a twinge of guilt when I see her sitting in the front planter.

But at the same time, she doesn't seem to be that perturbed. Maybe this is a good thing for her. You know, some fresh air, dirt in her paws, she can wipe her bottom in the planter rather than in my baby's room!

Yes, I think this is a good thing for her...It sure is for us!

The End of the Fish Party

Okay, so seriously, this is it in regards to fish party nonsense. I promise. However, I did get all the pictures from the party loaded and I just wanted to share a few more. And then we'll move on to more exciting topics, like, cleaning up my office, organizing closets and how I've been line-drying all my clothes lately. I think my neighbors are probably thrilled seeing Mr. D's tightie-whities hanging out to dry. Or better yet, Paul's diapers. Nice. See, this has been out of necessity rather than a big environnmental or cost efficiency move on my party. Our dryer broke down the day before the "fish party."

Fish party...Oh yeah... pictures.

Here you go. And maybe things were more interesting when I was just talking about the party. I know I've really hit a fascinating topic when I brought up underwear.

The birthday girl!


Our "Ocean Oasis"



My Seashell Candies


Cake Time!
Ocean Cake

Fish Cake


Next, time for presents. One of the favorites was a bride/princess dress-up kit. Here is Princess Grace

The princess opening more packages


And, last but not least...
The Family

Fish Recap

So I know, everyone is waiting on pins and needles for the "fish party" recap. I know friends, I have left you hanging. But here's the thing, I don't have all my pictures yet to really thoroughly give the proper recap this event deserves. See, I was so busy being the proper hostess, baking off fish sticks, and keeping the "ocean water" punch filled, that I passed off picture-taking duty to a friend, who takes much better pictures than me anyhow. Well, my friend took them on her camera, and still has them. I have a handful of pictures on my camera, but nothing too outstanding.

But the party. The party went really well. Grace had a blast, and that's what matters the most. We set up a little "ocean oasis" in the corner of the backyard with Grace's new birthday pool and some other water activities that we have. The kids had fun playing in the water.



Meanwhile, I was prepping lunch, which consisted of, yes, you guessed it... fish! We had grilled pacific snapper (and chicken for non-fishie people), fish sticks, as well as all the other lunch-type items. My cakes turned out good. I made one shaped like a fish and the other was an ocean-scene. The ocean cake was prettier, but the chocolate fish cake tasted better!

I had fun decorating up the house with fish, nets and streamers. We did get the live goldfish for the tables outside. Unfortunately, the heat and the fish didn't quite work out. As I was told, "You have a sleeping fish outside.... permanently sleeping." After that the other fish came inside to hang out. By the food. I found that a little ironic as I served up fish sticks next to him.

All in all, we had an "ocean of fun!"
I promise to post better pictures when I get them from my friend. I am anxious myself to see them! Okay, so maybe I'm the only one waiting on pins and needles.

Happy Birthday Grace

As of 12:34am this morning, I became the mama of a 3 year old. Today we celebrated Miss Grace's birthday. Of course, the REAL celebration is this weekend at that fish party I've mentioned. (sigh, still so much to do). But, we did have a nice day hanging out with Grace.

We first went to Party City and bought her a $.50 pinwheel. That was all it took for a bit of happiness. Actually, she had been given one last weekend at a birthday party, and yesterday it blew out the car window. So, we told her we would get her a new one today.

Then we went shopping. Well, shopping for mom and dad. :) Kohl's was right next door, so now mom and dad have new duds for the fish party. Hey, the kids have new outfits, why not us!

We headed home and I threw together a quick dinner.

And then Grace opened one of her birthday presents.

What is it?

A pool! With fish on it! (what a coincidence!)


Then after dinner we went out and got frozen yogurt.

Yum!


Well, except for Paul, who got to eat green beans and rice!


And ran around the fountain.



After the sticky treat,

we headed home to the bath. And I let Grace play with the bathtub jets for a little while.

Look out - the bubbles are taking over!


All in all, it was a nice day. I think Grace was a little confused that she was three today, and not three at the party coming up. She told us no for a while that she wasn't three yet.

But then I guessed if she figured gifts and treats were part of the deal, she would go along with it.

Happy Birthday Grace!

Stop Mocking Me

My to-do list is mocking me. It is busy laughing at me cause it is getting the best of me, gosh darn it.

I had great hopes for today. Today on the to-do list I was going to take Paul to his 9-month appt. (nine months! already!?), come home, put some of the junk stuff away in the office, now that Mr. D has installed some nifty shelves for me in the closet. Then I was going to make my shell candy for the "fish party" that is coming up, make dinner, write up my shopping lists for both general groceries as well as party food ingredients.

Well,I had ambitious plans. I dabbled in all these things, but really didn't accomplish all that much. A couple boxes put away (still many more piled up around me as I speak), half a grocery list written, a few trays of candies made, and I only managed to get Paul to his appointment - didn't bring him home. Just kidding. But I was late to the appointment...that will support my to-do list mocking.

Yes, remember that small-scale party I am hosting for my daughter. I have a problem. I am admitting it now. I can't do small-scale very well. Incapable. I surrender. In this super-size culture, I want to "Go Big." Bring on the molded candies, two different cakes (one shaped like a fish, the other decorated like the ocean), streamers, murals of fish on the walls. Don't stop now. I am going out to buy little fish to put on the tables. Real fish. Again, I admit it. Problem.

But it's so much fun and I get so excited. Then I talk to my friends who fuel my ideas. Heck, my husband suggested live fish. See, its not just me.

But yeah, I have a lot do before Sunday. I'll get those to-do's whipped into shape!

Six Weeks Later....

Boxes, Boats, and Birthdays... OH MY!

So its been six weeks. Six weeks of unpacking, rearranging, vacationing, budgeting, and planning. I'm not sure even where to begin in describing our activities ranging from my ongoing battle with the internet provider (finally resolved - approximately 12 calls later) to our crazy boat trip where we lost the entire tire from the trailer! Yes, the tire fell completely off while traveling on a major highway. In between those times we unpacked a few boxes and tried to make this house a home. Oh, and I took care of two kids who were trying to adjust.

So here it is in a nutshell.

Obviously, to begin, we moved.


The move went very smoothly. The house is great. Fortunately for my sanity, it is not a fixer-upper like our last place. Of course there are still things we want to fix and need to do still, but it is inhabitable.

A week after we moved, we took a vacation. It was preplanned - we wouldn't have picked this timing per say. However, it was great. If anyone recalls, last year we took this same trip. But this time, we stayed in the motel on the marina. 110% improvement over the skeezy motel. (which still make me shudder to think of). We had a great time on the boat with our friends and their 4 kids. Yes, we had 4 adults and 6 children (all 4 and under!).





We not only survived, but had a good time, excepting our tire blowout on Mr. D's truck along the way.

Just wait though, the aforementioned tire loss is yet to come.

We came back home. Unpacked a bit. Had company for father's day. It was just my family. I told them to ignore the boxes. They were kind enough to do so.




We unpacked some more.

Then we planned a two-day back-to-back boat trip with friends (two separate groups of friends). Day one boat trip didn't quite come to fruition - see the tire loss mentioned above.

Good news though. We did find the tire... on the opposite side of the freeway on the very far lane. It was crazy, and a story that would take me longer than I have energy to type tonight. But we did do the day two trip and had a good time.


We celebrated the 4th of July. We went to a local park with some friends from church. Snacked, danced to the band, and watched the fireworks. Grace and I enjoyed them by ourselves because we were separated due to a late potty run. It's okay, we enjoyed them nonetheless.




And I've unpacked some more. Painted. Hung draperies....

And decided that we should hold Grace's 3rd birthday party here in a couple weeks. It was going to be small-scale. (Note "going"). It was just family, but then there was that friend to ask, and that friend, oh them, oh, and their 4 kids... etc. Its okay though. I keep telling myself that. I have to because I swore up and down to Mr. D that I wouldn't be stressed so that he was comfortable with this party.

But how cute is this on the invitation (which of course had to be hand-made)
"All the fishes of the sea are celebrating that Grace is three!"

Grace is so excited for her "fish party" as she keeps saying. I can't let her down. So this weekend is party planning focused because the following Sunday is fish party day.

So that's what I've been up to. Whew, and boy am I over formatting all these pictures too!