I should really start taking notice that Heavenly Father is warning me that a phone call from the realtor is coming when I get the bug to clean the boys' room. Each time (And I'm not exaggerating here, EVERY TIME) I clean their room, I get a phone call 3 hours later from the realtor wanting to show the house the next day.
Yep, happened again today.
This time I wasn't just cleaning, but I was packing and decluttering because the D.I. truck is coming on Saturday and there are some things that just don't belong in my hosue anymore. So I'm trying to get through everything before then. And in the process I cleaned the boys' room. Sigh.
And so the kids came home from school, I got the phone call as I was going through the "shoe bin" (you know, the bin of hand me down shoes that everyone with multiple children has) to see if there were any shoes that were worthy of D.I. or if I just missed some sizes along the way.
"Could Dave come by to show the house tomorrow at 2:15?"
"Ummmm. (Thinking frantically that there's no school tomorrow and how in the world am I going to get the house clean with all 5 tornadoes in the house.) Sure."
"Great. See you then!"

Oh. Crud.
So after many bribes of movie night, magical munchy popcorn and extra warm fuzzies, the kids were all chipping in to help out.
As they picked up and put things away, I got out my scrub brush and got to work on the basement stairs. Those were in desperate need for some TLC and they were GROSS.
And then I made my way into the kitchen and started at the top.
The top that I can't reach because the walls are so high.
It's obvious they were too high for the previous tenants because there was a nice line of tanish-gray at the very top.
Well, that just wouldn't do.
So I got out my Bona mop (LOVE that thing), saturated the pad with cleaner and mopped my walls.
I mopped my walls.
That is honestly the first time I've said that.  And I promise it won't be the last.
Now my walls are all shiny, my rags are soaking in bleach water and the kids are all gearing up for movie night.
I like that method of cleaning. I think I'll do it with each of the rooms. It's fast AND effective.
Sweet.
Now, what to do about the chickens in my sun room....

Grand Duchess not so pleased about sitting on the potty that she just picked out.

Grand Duchess throwing a piece of paper at me for making her sit on the potty.

Grand Duchess realizing it isn't as bad as it seems.

Her reward should she be successful.

Her potty.

It may be a bitter sweet part of my life. I guess it is with all the milestones of the last child.  Let me rethink that. Nope, not bitter sweet. Just sweet. I'm really happy that she's about to take this step. I don't want to have this drag out for weeks, either. With all my kids I just let them choose when they wanted to do it. Needless to say, that was a hard road. Some of them waited until they were almost 4 - and I can't have that again.  I've got this overwhelming feeling that we need to do this. Some might call it perspiration, some might say inspiration. I say who cares, let's do this thing!

SO...

I'll be checking out from the library (hopefully they have it) the Potty training in a day book. I have a few friends who swear by it and a majority of the reviews have been positive. This is EXACTLY what I'm looking for. Yes, with Popeye home, I can dedicate a WHOLE day to helping Grand Duchess figure this out.

Wish her luck, because as you can tell from the pictures above, she might not be as gung ho about it as she was in the store.

GOOOOOAAAAAL!

When I was a little girl I played peewee soccer. My parents tell me that I while I "played" full-back I would sit in the grass with my girlfriend, pick flowers and watch the butterflies (and ball) fly by.
Part of my memory remembers that - but it may be just from the story being told so many times.
At any rate, I never became the soccer star that I 'wanted' to be.
In fact, as time went on, I continued to play soccer - but always as full-back.
My dad, being the wonderful money conscious parent that he is, always told me, "If you score a goal I'll take you to ice cream".
Yeah, I didn't put two and two together until a couple of years ago when the boys started playing soccer. Seriously it took me THAT long to realize that FULL-BACKS DON'T SCORE GOALS.
So now this year Optimus Prime and Princess Monkey Eyes are both playing soccer. Granted, it snows here 9 of the 12 months of the year, so it's indoor soccer.  I told my kids the same thing that my dad told me.
And tonight my Full-Back children got moved to the Forward position and they BOTH scored their first goals! Optimus Prime scored first for his team and Princess Monkey Eyes scored the winning goal for hers.
Optimus Prime opted for a dollar instead of Arctic Circle's Finest whereas Princess M.E. wanted the chilly treat.
I was so proud!  No, I AM so proud.
And I gladly shelled out the money for it because it was their firsts.
But if it keeps going this way, I may be poor by the end of the season.  And if that's the case, I may have to beg for them to be put into full-back position again.

April Fool's Success!!!

I have a friend that gave me the ammo to fool all of my family!
She altered an ultrasound picture for me to show twins, seven weeks along, with my name on it. I had her leave the inaccurate due date (June 2009) to see if anyone noticed.
No one did. :)
My MIL was THRILLED to be having twins enter the family, my mom was excited and even resigned herself to come and help out when they are born. The kids were ecstatic hoping for one sex or the other.
I felt bad telling my MIL that it was a joke.  She called me a Poop. The kids were mad at me for pranking them (I had told them only one joke per person that day). Everyone else took it good naturedly.
Here's the pic.

Awesome, right?
So, did you prank anyone?  Did you get pranked?

I was sending an email to my sister this morning. So many times I wanted to use certain words to describe something but it had been so long since typing them (and having friends with the same last names spelled a LITTLE differently doesn't help) that seeing it written down confuses me. So I had to use other words instead so as not to look stupid.  But I felt stupid.
And then it happened again with my facebook status.
Oy.
I think tonight's before-bed-light-reading will be the dictionary.

Do you ever feel like you're getting older?
I'm getting gray hair. Blech.
My skin isn't as tight as it used to be. And I'm not talking about the icky muffin top that will probably never go away. I'm talking about the Relief Society Under Arms, the fine wrinkley lines under my eyes, and the fact that my boobs (such as they are) and butt are no longer up where they used to be.
And I am NOT old.
I still think of myself as 29 - sometimes younger. But 33 is not old.
Why oh why does my body insist on aging faster than I want it to?

Here's the low-down.
My internet stopped working. Thus I haven't been able to update here for QUITE some time.
Here's a tip: if you live in an area where storms and snow is a given 9 of the 12 months of the year, don't get satellite internet service.
We've since changed. Hurrah!
So I FINALLY got my check from Santander. It took another 3 or so weeks - but the sqeaky wheel definitely worked. I'm thrilled that I can now cut ties with that company.
I turned the whopping 33 this past week. Had a wonderful birthday luncheon with some awesome girlies and Popeye bought me a new laptop to work on my business. The kids didn't clean the house. I remember every year my mom would ask us for her birthday for a clean house. I now understand where she was coming from. :)
I was invited to participate in another craft fair this weekend. We're having a little Spring Boutique where I'll be introducing my "spring line".  I'm sharing a table with another girl - she's selling twirly skirts. Our hope is that people will want a cute twirly skirt and a matching hat for their kids. I think it will go well.  So right when I'm done updating here, I'll be working on another new creation to show people.
My fingers are on fire. :)
Last week Popeye got fixed. Awww, poor baby got a little cut felt like he was kicked in the groin all day. I inadvertently reminded him that I can sympathize to a point because having a tear double the size of an incision and then having to pee on that tear every two hours was way more easy than what he had to go through. But whatever.
All in all. No more kids. And I am so happy.
A week or so ago I went to see Sara. That was so wonderful. She let me sleep in, drove me all over and was so patient while I spent my money. It was a great time of rejuvination and I was able to come home refreshed and ready to be Mom again.  I look forward to my next "near meltdown" and need for a getaway.
Hmmmm - Popeye's home for good now. He started work "officially" on the 21st. Right now he has to have another trooper ride along with him (even though he has more experience than his trainer) but, again, whatever. :) It will only last a month before he's on his own. But it's good to have him home.
We have a date night on Friday. I think we'll go see "I am number 4" and go to dinner. Yeah, that sounds good.
Anyway. It's getting late and I have a new pattern to create.
It's good to be back. I'll try to update more now that my internet is reliable and my computer is uber fast.
Did I mention I'm so happy???
Hope you all enjoyed a wonderful first day of spring.
The snow is melting and today I wore flip flops and showed off my beautiful toes (still lookin' sharp from my pedi with Sara)! YES!!!