Tree Trimming and Happy Christmas Smiles

Our Christmas tree is in the storage pod, so the girls didn't have a real tree to trim with beautiful Christmas ornaments this year. So we went out and bought the girls a tiny pre-lit fiber optic tree, but it just wasn't the same. So my mom, Grandma to the rescue, let us come over and help out trimming her and dad's tree. The girls had a wonderful time trimming the tree with Aiden, Ryley and Aunt Kimmy! We listened to Christmas music and the girls rushed grandma to get ornament after ornament. They were so cute! When they were done, they couldn't stop touching the ornaments! Grandma's ornaments are just too much fun for little ones with small hands! She has the best ornaments, always has!!!

Before trimming the tree...

After trimming the tree....


Oh nearly forgot....after tree trimming the kiddos did team work in wrapping a few gifts for grandma!


After trimming the tree & wrapping the presents at Grandma's house, we ran out to Frisco to pick up the kid's annual Christmas pictures. They came out beautifully!!!!!

I am getting into the Christmas spirit now! How can I not with all of these happy beautiful smiles! It just makes my heart happy!

My Lil' Slice Of Heaven!

The girls and I had a great visit today with Liza. She came all the way out to my house of gloom to take a peek at our "new to us" house and to visit with the girls and I. The girls and I walked her up to the park to show her how close it is....it's a perk of living here. I think the girl's internal thermometer is broke....they could have played out there for hours! BUT us big girls were done after about a minute though.

OH...and yesterday was my 1st REAL trip to the grocery store, and boy oh boy, I was like a kid in a candy store! I spent well over $100...I splurged a little on the stuff we haven't had in a while. Like some christmas mugs so I can drink my hot chocolate and hot apple cider out of, cinnamon sticks for my cider, cookies (peppermint oreo's (which by the way are so GROSS!) and some of the good old fashion - never let ya down butter danish cookies) to go with our warm drinks. I got some special edition holiday ginger pop tarts...which were also not that great. But the girls LOVED them! Oh shoot...I'll just take a pic of the goodies I bought....Vitamin waters, cokes, milk, BUTTER, CHEESE, corn dogs, chicken, meat, pork, sausage!!!!!

I am cooking again!!!!!! YAY!!!!


Did I mention that we already had to have our fridge repaired since it coming out of storage this past Sunday? The fan was jarred so I had to pay $60 to have some man unscrew a few screws and flick the fan to get it going again! THEN, 2 days ago out ac/heater messes up. It iced over! Apparently it was low on freon. That was another $60.

I had forgotten all the joys of year of purchasing a new pre-owned home.

And this afternoon, I had my little slice of heaven! The girls napped and I had me some hot apple cider, danish butter cookies, and some wonderful peace & quiet!!! YUM!!!!! The little things make me so happy!

Stats...

I forgot to post Presley's 5 year check up stats!

Her baby book is all packed away in a box in the storage pod, so I am posting it here so I can refer back to it just in case I loose this little sheet of yellow paper with her stats on it as we get settled in.

Height: 41 3/4 inches (50%)
Weight: 36 pounds (25%)
BMI: 14.3 (20%)

I still can't believe she is 5! Today as I washed dishes, she was standing near me begging for me to let her wash dishes. I told her no because she was too little. She yelled at me with her teenager voice and said, "NO I AM NOT! LOOK AT ME!" And I did just that. I looked at her and lo and behold she's not to little. Granted she was on her little tippy toes, but she could reach the sink and so I let her wash her fork on her own. What a big girl she has become!

Wasn't just yesterday that I brought her home from the hospital??????

This was my little Presley the day we got to bring her home. All pretty in pink!

That was her then, this is her now. whewwww!!!!!!

Absolutely amazing!

Slowly But Surely

We are slowly, very slowly, but surely getting back on track. It's been so long since I've blogged! I have so much catching up to do. I don't even know where to begin! So...I suppose I'll start with December 1st and work my way backwards as we move forwards...if that makes any since at all.

12-01-09
I go to storage and load up the car with anything I can shove in the trunk and the passenger seat. Since Presley's birthday party, all of her toys have taken over the play room and she's not too happy when Juliet starts playing with them. So on this trip to the storage, the 1st thing I grabbed was the big old green collapsible toy box FULL of toys for Juliet to play with. That thing was so heavy! Also with the toy box we were sure to bring home all of the girls dress up clothes and school work.

As you can see....Juliet missed playing dress up and forgot how to wear lip gloss.

She was so funny and proud of herself for doing such a beautiful job of applying her make up.

12-02-09
Today was the day of the dreaded trip to the doctors office for Presley. It was for her 5 year well check up. Those well check ups usually come with shots...BUT none for her this year! She's all up to date! She was so happy for that! But not so happy that she is still 4 pounds away from that big girl booster seat! She's been wanting out of the "baby" car seat for a year now...but she's still too light for it. Maybe next summer she can get her booster seat.

Anyways, the doc said she was in perfect health and all that we need to do is take a couple of trips to the ER parking lot and try some peanut butter crackers before she starts school next year. I agreed, but how do you pick a day to feed your child something that could potentially make her sick. But I know it has to be done....

Oh, I nearly forgot...IT SNOWED! It was fantastic and fun! But Unfortunately it was short lived. It snowed for about 1/2 an hour then it was washed away from the rain. Then it was just COLD and RAINY! That was not so much fun.

So later after the snow and the doctors office, when John got home, we ate dinner at Ci Ci's and went down to Uncle Robert's shop to pick up John's Subaru. While we were, the girls got to meet the bearded dragon. And OH Presley LOVED him! It's Richard's pet that Robert is taking care of for a while. He was a sweetie too. Juliet didn't care much for him outside of the tank...but loved to peak at him when he was in that tank!

After that we headed home to put the girls to bed. By girls, I mean Presley and Juliet. BUT Miss Maggie Belle wanted to sleep with Presley so bad! She's been giving me such a hard time about going to her crate. She makes it really hard to, being all cute and stuff! So I have started letting the girls fall asleep with her and I'll put her in her crate before I go to bed.

12-04-09
And today...my level of patience isn't too high, so I kicked the girls outside for a while to let them run and yell and do all of that necessary kid stuff. It keeps us all sane!

After outside playtime in the cold, we decorated out itty bitty tree with ribbons and candy canes.
We didn't anticipate it taking so long for us to really be able to "live" in this house. So I packed our Christmas stuff in the storage pod. And we probably won't be ready to have the pod dropped off until later in December. So we ran up to Walmart the other day and bought the girls a little 3 foot tree. We could tell them not having their own stuff is getting to them. Poor Piper tells me everyday that she wants to go home. The other day, she packed her suitcase with toys and headed to the door and said, "let's go home." She doesn't get it yet that we LIVE here and we aren't going back to the old house. She probably thinks we are just visiting some one's crappy old house. I am sure though things will get better when their rooms are done.

Here's our little tree.

And after lunch, Presley works on her Thank You cards. She does about one a day. Like most things....slowly but surely she'll get them all written and mailed out.

That pretty much is what we've been up to lately. Just trying out best to make this old house our new cozy home.

SOLD!!!!!!!!!!

Well, me trying to sabotage the home buyers yesterday didn't work. They went and signed on the dotted line this morning and we did the same this afternoon.

When we were walking out to the parking lot, I told John that we have NO where to go now. No house, no apartment, no hotel, no nothing. It would be a great time to pack up our stuff and head to Minnesota to be with Brian and Tiffy! That is so tempting, you have no idea! A change of pace. A new environment. If John's job had an opportunity for us to move up there right now, we would in a heart beat! Man, that would be so nice!

I cannot believe it....we sold our house. Why is this so weird for me.

So, about the other house. We drew up another amendment and she came down to the appraised amount. So maybe we'll get the house after all. If we went ahead with the contract all that extra money would have to come out of the budget to fix the house up. Now it won't have to. Which is cool. But we are still back to the dogs and tree.

TREE: it was a retarded old Bradford Pear Tree. Those things always split. So we'll keep the 1/2 that still remains to shade the house and hope that it heals nicely. And unlike them, we'll keep it trimmed to prevent any more breakage.

THE DARN DOGS: John is going to put up a fence from the length of the front of the house to the end of the drive way and somehow wrap it up into a dog run to prevent it from falling over and stuff. Their yard is right beside the driveway. So the kids would be fine in the backyard. Getting to and from the car is what was scaring me with Maggie and the girls.

So tomorrow, when I wake up, I am calling and getting permits for the new fence to be built AND I am calling to see if those people rent or own. If the rent, maybe the lanlords don't know they have dogs like that. Either way renters or owners....I am going to ask them how large their insurance policy is.....because they could potentially have a HUGE lawsuit on their hands. Granted no amount of money is worth risking my kids health, but it may make them think twice about allowing those dogs to stay there.

I will do what ever it takes to keep my kids and dog safe.....those dogs need to recognize that I am from OAK CLIFF! (I kinda rolled my neck as I said that...felt so ghetto bitchy....)!

So, I don't know....do we want the house? It's a great one for flipping. The houses over there go for over $100 a square foot. She wants out and is letting us have it for dirt cheap! Coppell has great schools, it's .4 miles to the elementary. I am going to walk the girls to school! It's one block from the playground and duck pond. And it's on a cauldesac! Great loaction! 10 minutes from John's job. He'll use 1 tank a month!

I need to quit drinking my wine so I can focus!

Okay.....

So we close on our house that we are selling tomorrow at 2 p.m..

The buyers had their final walk through today.
Can I tell you that I think I secretly tried to sabotage it. Is that bad? It has to be bad!
I mean, we are selling to get the girls into a good school, but I hate having to give up my house, my yard, my nice open kitchen, the cleanliness of my house, the already doneness of my house, did I mention I don't want to give up my BIG backyard????

So anyways, They call via the calling service and ask for a 4-5 time slot. I told them no but said they could come between 5-6. Well, they ended up showing at 415. I WAS HOT! I wasn't totally 100% rude, but I was about 45% rude. I told them they had to wait outside (it was raining) until I was ready to leave the house. Just a side note: I had let Maggie out 20 minutes later so she could do her business. Well, she must have finished early and had time to get all muddy and enjoy the rain some! I was so mad at her! So I think since I can't beat my dog, I kinda took it out on their agent. I told her, "I told them you could NOT be here at 4. 5 today would be the only time that was good." Anyways, I had to bathe Maggie after her muddy adventure. So the house wreaked of dirty washed dog. There was Maggie hair all over my bathroom after she shook from nose to tail. I just left it, along with the wet towels.

I didn't vacuum either. I was hoping a dirty messed up carpet would turn them off...kinda.

I didn't mop either. The kitchen tile was a mess. I haven't mopped since the Scentsy party.

I know, I am awful, aren't I! I also exposed the wall in my master closet. It was never cosmetically touched up after our washer fiasco last year. Just some of that wall board was nailed up. They didn't even notice.

Sadly....I think....they still want my house. Sniff sniff!


****AND****


John and I are having second thoughts about the Coppell home!

What gives!

If you know us and what we have been missing in this current house is TREES! We want trees in our yard. Well yesterday, we drove by the Coppell home for the heck of it and saw that one tree was cut in half in the front yard! It looks so ugly! That is huge for us! Wouldn't you tell us???? You'd think they'd have to, right????? Well, then we drove down the alley. And we saw the dogs that the neighbors have that we had forgotten about. The are HUGE pits! They have a chain link fence and those dogs JUMP IT! I had forgotten about when the inspector said that when he was outside, one of those dogs came after him while he was on the side of the house.

HELLO.......I have Maggie, Presley, and Piper! And what if I have them all with me trying to get in the car and the jump the fence to get Maggie, or Piper, or Presley???????? That terrifies me!

And it didn't appraise for what we needed it to either. The appraisal also had mention of a small crack in the foundation which leads to more issues with our bank. So, we disputed their appraisers appraisal and are waiting for feedback. And the seller isn't willing to renegotiate the contract. So what are we to do? The extra money that will be needed at closing will have to come out of our budget to demo and fix up our new fixer upper!

I am dumbfounded at the moment.........And my mind is in limbo.

I felt feelings of melancholy after watching the girls from the kitchen window as I cooked dinner. I don't think they realize that this is probably the last week they get to play in that big backyard. It'll be a while before I would feel comfortable for them to play in the back yard of the new house.

Having to say good-bye to our backyard is no fun!

I love watching their uninterrupted imaginations at work! Presley was collecting grass for a fairy house. And Juliet was helping.

I haven't laid in the grass in such a long time. Seeing Juliet just lay back in the grass and look up at the sky through the tree limbs & watch her big sister was so sweet.

Then Juliet would get up and start twirling and singing...la la la la la.

They play so great together! I love it!

Moving Week!!!!!

John took vacation last week, since we were suppose to be moving out of this house. BUT that didn't happen. Which kinda worked out for the better if you ask me. The buyers didn't have all their paper work in order, so we have to move the closing date up to the 22nd. Which is much closer to the closing date on our other house. That means less time in a hotel room with 2 very active girls and a very outdoor loving dog!

So we just spent the week continuing to pack and stuff since we already had the moving pod delivered. So that means less work for when we actually do have to be out of here. Also means that we are living simple. Our house is pretty empty. The girls now have laundry baskets acting as dressers, limited toys/books/crafts/etc., no bed frames, John and I store our clothes in our suitcases (we a have a few clothes hung up), my pantry is bare! I only buy food for a couple of days now. I don't want to have to let any food go bad just in case something goes wrong in the new house that we can't store our refrigerated groceries. Actually, today is the 1st day I have gone shopping in about 3 weeks. And we've been eating out alot this past week since we have been so busy packing and stuff. Anyways, life is simple right now. It's really nice too. No clutter & the girls are loving it too. They have been jumping on the mattresses & running circles in the empty master (we moved our bed into their sleeping room & they are now sleeping in the toy room). They have just been having a grand ole time!

We started with this big old mess last Monday. I didn't think it was possible to make that huge stack of boxes disappear.

We had to load all those boxes into the tiny pick up truck then drive it around front to load it in the moving pod. We probably took 50 trips this way. The girls had a ton of fun helping us do that too!

The girls helped and helped and helped. Presley's our little muscle woman!

John is so proud of his bike collection.

The garage is looking pretty clear! Unbelievable! I can't believe we own enough crap to fill it up! And after we got this cleaned out, we emptied the attic and filled the garage up again! Now we have to go through that mess!

Presley taking a break in my childhood rocking chair.

The girls having a lil' fun.

Tuesday, we got the girls their Halloween costumes. These two are obsessed with Halloween! Presley is so bummed that we aren't having our Halloween party this year too. Anyways, Presley is Wonder Woman. We even went to JoAnne's Fabric and got her a Golden Lasso Of Truth! And Juliet is Super Girl.

So here are a few pics from a day in the life of a Superhero!
They eat breakfast....

They jump on mattresses. This always make me nervous! She can't see beyond all that hair!

They get boo boos from jumping on mattresses and hitting little Super Girl's head. This didn't hold her back for long. She was back to jumping in about 2 seconds.

Superheros need to take a break from playing and need to refuel with cartoons!

They even take potty breaks and read a book (and it's not even upside down!)!

And finally they nap!

Those two wore those costumes for 2 days! We finally convinced them on Thursday to shed their superhero persona's and go have a nice Kobe Steak dinner with their Mops and Pops! This was such an awesome dinner! It always satisfies! They had their 1st Shirley Temples and plum ice cream.

Friday the girls were dropped off at their Grandma Ragan's so John and I could get some real work done. We nearly got that pod full! After picking up the girls, we took them for a breakfast dinner at Cafe' Brazil in OC. It's always yummy! And Breakfast for dinner is always a hit with Presley!

Saturday was a totally lazy day! We kinda packed a few boxes here and there, we watched the Jungle Book with the girls, napped, and that evening we went to the Coppell Oak Fest. We wanted to check out what the city where we will be living does. And it was pretty impressive! I think we are going to like living in Coppell.

For a quarter, the kids got to make a test tube of Sandy Candy.

They got to color on beach balls.

We took a train ride around the pond. The line was about an hour wait. They had a ton of stuff for the kids to do while us mom's waited in line. The got to jump in bouncy houses, they had clowns, magicians, hula hoops, bubbles, and tons more! And it was all free! YAY!!!! It was so cold that night too & Pops forgot his jacket and had to bundle up in hello kitty and holly hobby blankies all night.

Finally the train ride. Presley was mad at me for not letting her ride by herself. See Maggie taught her the stink eye!

And the girls got their faces painted!

After the Oak Fest, we went to Starbucks foe some hot chocolate! This Starbucks had a chalk board for the kids to play with. Pretty cool!

And Sunday, I wasn't feeling so hot. I did what I could, I packed a little and mowed the yard. And I watched some lame old Steven Seagal movies on TV. That night, John took the girls out for dinner and desert so I could rest up. They came home with huge smiles on their faces! They love have daughter daddy time!

Well we had a great week. Kinda sad moments though. When I was packing up our stuff, I felt like I was packing up all my memories too. There is a story behind nearly everything we own and to see all of that stuff in boxes out in the pod is sad. But it'll be unpacked soon enough! Right?!?!?