Raising Cubs in a Campground

It's in sight! After the longest month of my life (well, except for when I was in and out of the hospital during Julia's pregnancy) we are so close to being done with the move. Brian took the day off of work today and it made all the difference. If I'd had to make the last two trips out to the house with kids in tow I think they'd be scarred for life from the trauma of my short fuse and inability to give them the attention they need. Instead, Brian is at home cleaning the house while the kids nap and I'm at the house bringing out what better be the 2nd from last load. Tonight Brian will bring out the freezer, the washing machine (thank you Craigslist ), and Sam's birthday tree (which he'll drop off at his parent's house where it will be reside) Because I like the randomness of numbers and it will serve to capture the essence of my life right now and because it will be fast so I can get back to work.... 140 - the number of miles I've driven back...

UPDATE: I've added 2 pictures. Can you see them? The first one is of me in the library and the second is of the playroom. Someday I hope to upgrade from the cheapo white curtain rod, but for now they work. In fact, most will stay. It's the ones that the curtains are tab-tops that I want to upgrade so the rod isn't visible. I made great strides today in getting window treatments up. The windows are very tall and let in a ton of light which I hated to block out. My solution was to use cafe curtains in the kitchen, laundry room, and both bathrooms. That way for most of the day we won't have to use lights in those rooms, but we'll still have the privacy we need. Thanks for your suggestion Kelly! I'd completely forgotten about L.N.T! I might have to check that store out for the few windows I have left. I'm out at the new house tonight getting things as settled as I can before our first day here on Thursday. Moving back out to the country and living in...

sorry I can't get the pictures to show up. :( My internet connection has been spotty. Here's some of my finds at the area garage sales from the past two days. How did I manage to get any shopping done while watching the kids and running my own sale? One word: Help. Help from Wendy (Brianna's mom), who covered the sale for a bit this morning while I power shopped, help from Sharon ( SIL ), and help from my middle sister, Katie. THANK YOU ladies!!! I remember last year someone requesting a photo of things I bought so here are a few. Isaac and Maisie can you spot the items I found for each of you? Step2 toy high chair - $1 5 Gap sweaters - 50 cents each Four dollar Gap wool coat for Julia 8 pair of pants for Sam - 1 dollar each crocs - $2 jogging stroller - $13 looks brand new 2 Minnesota Twins jerseys - 50 cents gymboree tights - $1 4 pair of shorts - 25 cents each leather footstool - $20 dryer - $30 Gymboree pj's - 50 cents large area rug - $15 white bead-bo...

...because the words I have to say about the relevance of this shovel make me want to scream. Have I mentioned I'm in the middle of a garage sale and I move in two days? Julia insisted on carrying this shovel with her at the new house yesterday. Her accessorizing as Merranda calls it, has turned into having something special to call her own whenever her brother is playing with something on his own. The day Sam went fishing it was her water bottle. Yesterday when this photo was taken, Uncle Gary was pushing Sam around on his bike. Lately she's been sleeping with multiple stuffed animals because she doesn't want to be without her special toys (Baa, Ducky, Puppy, and B-bear)

Julia had to wear mismatched shoes last night because our dog keeps running off with shoes in his excitement over someone coming into the house. It bad enough they are two different shades of pink... but the worst part was they were two right feet. Don't worry JoJo , Mommy is bound to embarrass you a lot worse when you're older! Good thing Uncle Gary was there to take your mind off your troubles.

You're driving my customers away. Literally. At least 30 cars have slowed down and then passed us by and it's only 11am. Sigh....

...I didn't have enough on my plate this morning caring for three children while suffering from a terrible head cold after a fitful night sleep on the couch (Brian's sick too and snoring liking a bear.) Anyway, as if I didn't have enough to deal with, I decided at the last second to open my garage sale a day early all on my own. The rumor is that snow is on its way for Friday. S.N.O.W! For Pete's sake!!! Today it was sunny and 77 - perfect for selling stuff even if I had to keep an eye on the munchkins at the same time. Brianna's dad arrived in time for me to feed the kids lunch and put everyone down for naps. Then he and I rearranged everything so it will fit in the garage. I am sooo thankful we sold enough last weekend that things fit good this week. As tired as I am tonight after a really long day, I'm excited for the bargains I'll find when I do a little shopping of my own first thing in the morning. I did a little shopping already and scored ...

Driving past a lake over the weekend Sam asked, "Is that our lake Mommy?" "No, it's not." "Oh. Is it Kieran's lake?" "Sorry, that isn't Kieran's lake either." Oh, the joy of living in the land of 10,000 lakes!

I look at the face staring back at me in this photograph and am overcome with love. Sam is so grown up at 3 1/2 yet is still my baby boy in so many ways. He has a great imagination and memory, he loves to have books read to him, play with play dough, snuggle before bed, sing songs in the car, play trains, trucks, and airplanes. I love you Sammy Sam! Half birthdays at our house are about giving each child a special day and for Sam what makes his day special is cake. and unlimited pushes on the swings. and because he's a great big brother - he shared his cake with the rest of us.

ring, ring... Hello? Recorded voice: Your auto warranty is about to expire. (This is where I've always hung up before. This time I decided to wait for a person so I can get my name off their stupid list.) Recorded voice continues: Please hold for a live person. What? As apposed to a dead person? Ugh. I hate solicitation calls!!! I stayed on hold until a person came on the line.. Live person: Hello. Can I have the make, model, and year of your vehicle? Me: Actually I want to have my name removed from your list. Is that something you can do or do I need to speak to someone else? Click. That's the first time I've been hung up on by a solicitor. I used caller id to call them back, poised to give them a piece of my mind. Recorded voice: I'm sorry. The number you have reached has been disconnected. Then how in the world are they able to call me!?!?

...and not just in my head. My "to do" list is a mile long and now the kids and I have colds to contend with as well. Before Sunday I need to: secure a moving truck figure out the gear we'll need in order to camp out here for 4 nights pack our dishes pack all our clothes take down curtains and curtain rods remove nails from the wall take cribs apart take our bed apart cancel our utilities set up new utility accounts get a new phone number line up people to help us move (Brian's job) find a babysitter for Thursday's garage sale find someone to run the sale on Thursday for 3 hours find a babysitter for Friday's sale Get my house picked up before daycare on Tuesday and Wednesday Work Tuesday and Wednesday run another 3 day garage sale wrap up some loose ends with my Usborne business Move 6 years worth of stuff to the new house sign Sam up for a different preschool By next Thursday: dye curtains for our new bedroom get curtains hung so the bedrooms are dark at bed...

I haven't been posting much this week because of our garage sale. Spending three days in the driveway freezing my bum has produced a few humorous moments I thought get written down before I forget. We're moving to the country a week from tomorrow so these are our last sales for a while. Every year there's always a hot ticket item and this year was no different. Wendy's teddy bear collection has been snapped up by 3 year old boys all the way up to 65 year old women (that particular woman purchased 12 of them!). A different year it was my old trophies that the neighborhood girls pooled their pennies to acquire every last one from my modest collection. Why anyone would want a trophy with MY name on it is beyond me, but I have a sneaky suspicion it was the gold horse on top that was the draw more than the name on the plaque. Part of the fun of having a garage sale (after clearing out clutter and making money) is the people watching. Some of the shenanigans leave me s...

The first of my two garage sales this month doesn't start until tomorrow, but by last night I had already sold $48 worth of items. (Ya gotta love advertising on CraigsList!) The weather is suppose to be pretty decent, the kids and I already put up all the signs around town, and if all goes well I might even be able to skip the sale next week and stay focused on moving. (two weeks from tomorrow!!) Before I forget I have to mention what happened on our 2 mile trek to post signs this morning.... We passed a grouping of trees in various stages of decay. All were still standing, but dead. One was completely stripped of its bark. When Sam asked me what that stuff was on the ground I took the opportunity to give him a mini botany lesson. "That's bark. It goes on the outside of the tree like this (pointing to an intact tree)." I picked up a big piece of bark from the pile he had been pointing too; held it up to the bare tree and said, "See how it protects the in...

For the first time in six months it's warm enough to open the windows. 'Bout time!

Last week when we walked to the park for the first time Julia was not happy to be in the swing. Twice I tried putting her in and both times she begged to get out. It made me worry how I was going to manage this summer with Sam always wanting to swing and Julia only wanting to slide down the slides. Sam's not old enough to pump yet so I thought I'd have to do lots of running back and forth between the kids when we walk to the playgrounds. Sunday we walked to the playground closest to our new house and discovered that there isn't a baby swing. Neither Julia nor I am very pleased about that. And then there was today.... The park (here by our current home) has baby swings and she loved swinging.... What a relief!

Aren't these "kites" fun?! Grandma Rena got them for the kids and today was a perfect day to fly them. We have a regular kite, but it is way, way way to windy to try to fly it. I would be too afraid that it would come shooting down to the ground like an arrow with the wind gusting the way it has all day. It's almost midnight and the windows are still rattling.

Watching Sam and Julia become the best of friends brings Brian and I such joy. He and I will look over their heads sometimes and smile at each other as the two of them work together to construct a train track or build a tower. The kids like to hold hands and spin in circles when we have family dance time in the living room. Those giggles are priceless. They are happy to hold hands (most of the time) when we're going for a walk. Hand holding is over as soon as Julia sees a potential friend. "HI!!!!!" she shrieks across the field and runs to meet a neighbor girl. All is fine and dandy. The girl was friendly and we all wandered closer to where her dad was waiting near her house. And then it when downhill. Conor managed to get out of the house and found us 100 yards from home. So there I was with a 30 pound toddler who wouldn't come home willingly and a 40 pound dog without a collar to securely return home. Thankfully the dad of the little girl had a leash we...

...that Brian's boss offered to pay our $500 deductible to get the van fixed. ...that Brian's co-worker has been giving him a ride for the past seven months without getting anything in return (except some cookies from me once in a while) ...that Brian's dad spent 4 days working on a house he doesn't even live in just so we can have nice hardwood floors ...that my mother-in-law and sister-in-law have been babysitting more than usual so we can handle the logistics of moving/refinishing the floors. ...that my sister-in-law's friend thought of us when she heard about the caretaker position/house Thank you isn't even a drop in the bucket, yet what else can I say? What nice thing has someone done for you?

When a stray dog wanders into your yard don't let it in your house where your unsuspecting family is eating lunch. Pretty obvious right? If only life were that simple. A dog I've never seen before got too close to our yard for our dog's comfort so I rushed out to get Conor back into the house. Conor was so worked up about the trespasser that he snarled at the dog and in the process got his nose scratched. The other dog (a boxer) got spooked and ran into our house (through the open patio door) before I could get Conor under control and back inside. It was a crazy and scary couple of minutes with a random dog wandering around my home. Sam was crying. I was yelling. Julia was safe in a chair. Brian did his best to get the dog out while I tried to keep Conor from getting blood all over the place. Turns out she was a very friendly dog who crisscrossed the neighborhood in the back of a police cruiser while the officer tried to track down her owner. I was perplexed when h...

You are not going to believe this. I don't believe it and I saw it with my own eyes! I was packing a box of things to take to the new house when the kids required my attention in the other room. Upon returning to my spot on the floor in the office I spied our remaining goldfish on the floor. The floor for Pete's sake! How long had she been there? How close was she to landing on my head? WHAT HAPPENED? Near as I can tell, Mary jumped out of her bowl and fell 5 feet. It didn't look good. I screamed for a good two minutes before regaining enough composure to get the scoop and try to pick her up. It wasn't working so I used a paper towel to coax her lifeless body into the net. I have no idea what possessed me to dip the net in the water, but that's what I did. Immediately she started squirming her way out of the net and is currently swimming around her bowl like nothing happened. Now I have to get her a new bowlmate so she can share her harrowing tale with...

I knew that the floors that my father-in-law has been working on for THREE STRAIGHT DAYS have been vastly improved looking at the before photos...well... I'm floored.

Our refrigerator may be bare because I haven't had a moment to shop, but that didn't stop us from making a batch of pancakes the other night. Sam wasn't thrilled about sharing his chef duties with his sister, but Julia thought it was fun to participate. For the record her first attempt at cooking turned out yummy! I'm thinking breakfast in bed for Mother's Day?

Our refrigerator may be bare because I haven't had a moment to shop, but that didn't stop us from making a batch of pancakes the other night. Sam wasn't thrilled about sharing his chef duties with his sister, but Julia thought it was fun to participate. For the record her first attempt at cooking turned out yummy! I'm thinking breakfast in bed for Mother's Day?