This is what happens when the gates come down! FREEDOM!
A full forty feet.
Well, not Tetris-full but full in the sense that we didn’t have to worry about filling it to the brim…but all floor space is gone. If we hadn’t put some stuff in the garage, we would have needed the 70′ pod.
After the floors are done, the pod will be used for storage to stage the house.
Daddy Cuddle
Tom was on the floor trying to take a quick nap so of course Katie had to join him. 🙂
I don’t recommend having to empty your entire first floor.
This isn’t fun. It’s a lot of work (I had to take a back pain pill) and it takes a lot of totes. At least the pod is big enough to not worry about space…though the big stuff gets loaded tomorrow.
40 Bags in 40 Days—Day 4
Today’s “bag” was an assortment of odds and ends…we’re clearing out the entire first floor to get ready to have laminate put in, so we’re emptying out closets and cupboards…which means kitchen gadgets, more shoes, winter stuff, decorations, etc.
The best part will be actually getting rid of this stuff (to Goodwill or whatnot) when we get home—since right now it’s all still in the garage. 🙂
She figured this out all on her own.
Then Owen wanted to help…which didn’t go over too well. 🙂
40 Bags in 40 Days—Day 3
An overflowing garbage bag of shoes I haven’t worn in at least six years (my pre-SAHM working years). Lots of heels… It was hard…even though I really need orthopedic shoes now (for my back) and I couldn’t wear any of those shoes even if I wanted to.
She’s definitely my daughter!
MONKEY TOES!
Relaxing with daddy
Relaxing with mama
I was trying to rest…
Owen sat nicely still while we watched TV…but Katie was another story.
Her chin digging into my shoulder/arm. 🙂
Momentary calm.
Why not have Charlie join the party?
Well as long as it’s comfy for you.
40 Bags in 40 Days—Day 2
Toys, part 1
While one kid is at school and the other is napping…three bags to donate.
On a side note: please, no more stuffed animals!
Wheeeeee! Wheeeeee!
Pentagon, here we come!
Well, Tom unofficially got orders—he’s (we’re) headed to the Pentagon no later than July 31! (By unofficially, I mean there’s no actual paperwork yet but he confirmed everything with his Monitor.) Cue my typical post-orders paralyzing panic attack thinking about trying to sell/rent our house, find a place to live, and move within four months. At least it’s summer so I won’t have to deal with school stuff right away.
It’s a much better job for him than the one he was thinking he wanted (he says it’s a phenomenal opportunity) and he’s very excited. Of course the commute will be the killer, depending on where we end up living. Hopefully we can find a happy medium between a nice house (I want a great kitchen!) for the right price and a decent commute. He does have to work in Quantico one day a week, so we will be looking for housing in Virginia (as opposed to, say, Maryland).
So, stay tuned for more…
40 Bags in 40 Days 2014 Decluttering Challenge
A friend posted a link to the 40 Bags in 40 Days 2014 Decluttering Challenge on Facebook…and considering we know we are moving soon, I figured it was perfect timing.
What is 40 Bags in 40 Days?
A forty day period in the spring (coinciding with the 40 days of Lent) where you focus on cleaning one area per day. In this one area you challenge yourself to declutter, simplify, decrapify, and get rid of things you don’t need. The goal is one bag a day but you can have more or less.
I want to be held accountable so I am going to be posting my daily results. The goal is one bag per day, but it’s not hard and fast (see site) as the main gist is to just get decluttered—one day might be a piece of furniture, one day might be three bags of clothes for donation, one day might be sorting through 10,000 emails, and one day might be skipped all together.
So without further ado, my day one:
Day 1—Pantry
One huge box of snacks to Tom’s office and one box of way outdated stuff tossed; the box to donate will come closer to moving day.
February pictures are online!
Katie vs. The Cheez Ball
I had set one out on my knee and she wanted it badly but refused to come back inside the gate.
I wondered what would win: Being captured but having a cheez ball…or being free with no snack.
She stood hovering over the gate threshold for a minute then took off toward the playroom. Aha! Freedom won. Except a minute later she came zooming in to grab the cheez ball and get out quick…but I caught her. So snacks won out over freedom—though she did whine a bit when her plan was foiled!
So, Owen is allergic to amoxicillin.
He woke up this morning with a rash covering his face and neck…
And upon further inspection, his torso and legs (though not as bad). A cough but no fever. So it was off to the sick clinic.
After a few questions and a quick body scan, the doc said it was an allergic reaction to the amoxicillin he just finished (for his ear infection). The doc said there are immediate reactions (which can be quite severe) and delayed reactions—which this was. It’s not contagious and will likely look worse before it gets better. If it’s itchy we can give him Benedryl but thus far it hasn’t been.
So he was excited he got to go to school!
And he has the distinction of having the first drug allergy.
Letters T & D
This should have been posted on 2/19 so I will move it there eventually.
This past week’s theme at school was the letters T & D—for teeth and dentist. So this was the project with marshmallows:
So, this arrived today.
Since we’re getting our floors redone and rooms painted while we’re out of town next week and the garage is full…we needed somewhere to put the entire first floor. Also, I’m guessing it will stay for a few months—since we’ll be moving this summer and want to sell the house, it will be beneficial to declutter the house and keep lots of stuff in there.
Katie words v3
I should have posted this a long time ago…so the list goes back at least a month or more.
Balloon (bayoon)
Banana (nanna)
Bite (when she wants another bite of banana)
Elmo (alno)
Owen (o-wee)
Please (peese)
Thank you (tay-kyoo)
New words:
A-B-C-D-E-F-G
Boppy (character from Doc McStuffins)
Cereal
Doc (character from Doc McStuffins)
Grape (Gape)
Juice
Minnie [Mouse]
Nap
Night night
Pants
Pills
Shoes
Sleeping
Snowing
Stuck
Swing
Thank you
Where’s [daddy, milk]?
You’re welcome
She’s also good at repeating when she wants to—today she repeated “I see you!” But she still refuses to say “Mama, ____ please!” She’ll repeat each word separately but not as a sentence.
First real daddy haircut!
Owen was getting pretty shaggy and I’m tired of spending $12 every other month so Tom took a go at it. It went pretty well!
Dr. Seuss Day
It’s his birthday today so the kids were asked to wear their favorite Dr. Seuss costume. I do things the easy way so he just wore his Thing 1 tee shirt and took his Cat in the Hat stuffed doll.
Owenisms 39
Me: How are your eyes this morning?
Owen: Good.
Me: Were they stuck shut this morning?
Owen: Yes.
Me: Did daddy help get them unstuck?
Owen: No, I just used my two fingers!
Owen: Mom, can my friends come over? I miss them.
Me: Sure, we can invite them over.
Owen: When are they coming?
Me: I don’t know—we haven’t invited them yet.
Owen: Check your phone!
Owen: Remember C3PO?
Me: Yes.
Owen: I love that guy.
Looking at a smashed car as we drove by.
Wow! Look at that car. It’s dead.
Owen has a very short thumbnail—we’re assuming he bit the nail while he was sucking his thumb—and it’s a little painful. He went to suck his thumb:
Oh. Wait! This one hurts. I’d better use the other one!
Terrible Twos are starting already
So she has a bit of attitude and this is what I get when I take something away or tell her no:
Nanny Alice, Day 4
Naptime project!
Alice said he completed 90% of it on his own!
Their final dinner:
Post-dinner bike ride!
Both kids were in bed when we rolled in about 7:30…and both got a good report overall! Katie has lots of attitude now and Owen had a few grouchy spots but nothing major. Neither missed us, which is a good thing! And Alice wasn’t waiting in the driveway (though she was packed to leave!)…so we consider it a major success!
HotAmi 2014, Day 2
Good morning!
We ran some errands then headed to our group lunch spot:
Waiting for drinks:
It sounded (and looked) better than it tasted:
The whole group:
Then it was back to the house for visiting, games (trivia, which my team came in fifth of five!), and fun! I missed pictures of the delicious catered Cuban dinner we had!
Cigars with Sheryl—a tradition!
Tom and Elle!
We knew we’d have an early morning so we said goodbyes around 11!
Nanny Alice, Day 3
Miss Alice surprised the kids with chocolate donuts and chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast!
Candyland while Katie was napping:
Katie swinging and singing her ABCs:
VIDEO COMING SOON! CHECK BACK!
HotAmi 2014, Day 1
Aside from my usual 4:45am potty trip, I slept in until 7:41! WOOHOO!
We went to our host’s house to carpool to a Cuban lunch:
Then we joined him on errands…which included Costco and Total Wine:
Then it was back to the house to visit and hang out before dinner.
And then Sheryl was having issues getting the iPad to take a picture so we were laughing. 🙂
On our way to meet for the “high end” dinner!
We were originally going to do the “budget” dinner…but then learned that a forum friend from California that I’ve really wanted to meet was going to be attending as a last-minute surprise so we switched. So we got to sit next to Brett and hear lots of Apple stories (super interesting to me)—he was a top engineer at Apple for many years and just recently retired. You know Siri? That was him. HDR on your phone? Him. AppleTV? His team. Just fascinating.
Our table of 17:
Recreating a photo from last year (substituting Katie for Nancy who couldn’t make it this year):
And another California peep, Darren:
After a nice dinner and dropping people off at hotels, it was back to the house to visit for just a tiny bit until we called it a night—the previous night was 12:30 and tonight was 11:30 and we were exhausted!
Nanny Alice, Day 2
Snacks before taking Owen to school! Miss Alice even did Katie’s hair—something she hadn’t done to a little girl’s hair in 10 years!
The view from her lap:
Today’s after-school snack: blueberry seas with goldfish jumping and pear sailboats with teddy Grahams. Too creative for this exhausted mama!
