PINK!

We have a pink problem here and she goes by the name of Lucy. That girl is just a pink fanatic! I'm not sure where this obsession came from. I mean, yes, she has plenty of pink in her wardobe, but there are lots of other colors present as well. Her room is BEIGE and her bedding is BLUE. So, I know it isn't just a result of my pushiness (though, yes, I do love pink and her next room WILL be pink).

It is reported that last weekend she played Go Fish with Grandma & the boys. Apparently she had a card with a pink fish in her hands and she WOULD NOT give it up. No way no how was that girl going to give the pink fish up.

Today I was rocking her and told her she had pretty brown eyes. Then I asked her what color my eyes were. Her answer? Pink eyes! I told her, that no, my eyes were brown, too. And then she clarified, "my want pink eyes". (Note: for some reason the word "I" and their name has been replaced with the word "my" by my children, so we hear a lot of "my likes that" or "my wants that") I told her she couldn't have pink eyes, which resulted in a major fit before naptime. Sigh...what am I gonna do with this girl?

I'm not upset about this development. I mean, really, I love all things pink and girly. However, it gets frustrating when she refuses to wear anything but pink socks, even when she is wearing purple and orange!

Saying Goodbye!

To my scrap booking/card making hobby, that is. I finally had to force myself to make a choice: either I can scrapbook or I can exercise, but I don't have time on a daily basis for both. I chose exercising for many reasons, but mostly because I really enjoy it (and, well, I really enjoy being thin) and it is good for me. My consolation is that I get to keep my knitting stuff -- since I can take it with me when I'm otherwise doing things that are non-productive (like riding in a car) I can justify keeping the hobby.

A few months ago I had purged a lot of my stamping stuff on Ebay, but only stuff I didn't use anymore. A few weeks ago I got drastic with the clean out. I had an indecent amount of extra paper in my office. As in, I had AT LEAST an extra pack of every color of paper that Stampin' Up makes (or used to make anyway -- 48 colors + all the neutrals). So, every pack of unopened paper went. I thinned my stamp collection by 1/2. And I got rid of about 1/3 of my stamp pads. I listed them on Craigslist and have been happy to get rid of most of the sequestered items -- the rest are sitting in boxes waiting to go, but they will NOT go back in my cupboards. I'm in the process of finishing Lucy's 1 year album. And when that is done, the rest of the lot is going (well, almost everything -- I'm keeping some crafting basics for the kids).

I'm kind of torn between relief and sadness. I really enjoy paper crafting. I also really was stressing about having all that stuff and not using it. And it is GREAT to get it out of here and free up the space (and get some of the cash back in my pocket).

So, goodbye stamps and paper and punches and ink! May you bring hours of entertainment to the next person (and surely many grumblings from their husbands)!

The devil lives here!

And he goes by the name of Ross. Seriously, that boy is just a HANDFUL! Anyway, I was snapping pictures the other day and this is what he greeted me with:

Lovely, isn't he? This is one to save for those moments in life when I want to embarrass him!

Critters!

So, it has been a long time since I posted -- too long. My apologies -- there isn't much point in keeping a blog if I'm not going to post on it. I have my reasons, which range from not having enough time (but then, who does have enough time?) to irritations with the world on a whole. Anyway...I want to try to do better.

So, I'm going to get back on track by telling you the tale of our critter problems. It has been a few weeks -- maybe a month or more since this happened -- but the story needs told. One day I walked into the kids bathroom to see something green on the shower wall. Now, the kids bathroom is very white and bright -- white tub and surround, white shower curtains, white trim and very pale beige walls. So, a neon green object on the wall stands out. I look, expecting to see something of the kids glued to the wall, only to find a tree frog (such as the one pictures below that I found in my flower bed) clinging to the wall. Okay, how on EARTH did a frog get in my kids bathroom?!?! The window doesn't even open!!!


So, what to do? I can deal with furry critters, but I DON'T DO AMPHIBIANS!!! I briefly considered calling Jeremy and telling him he HAD to come home over his lunch to take care of this. Then I thought again, since I'm pretty sure he would have said no anyway. Ok, so who do I call? Yup, you guessed it, poor Betty got a call. The first thing she asked me was how much Jose I had consumed that morning. And she asked me that again after she peeked around the bathroom and couldn't find it. Once we found it hidden on the window sill, she finally believed that I wasn't skunk drunk at 11:00 in the morning. So, luckily, Betty got it outside for me. But a few hours later, I look out my front door to see it clinging to the side of the house at eye level right by the door. Poor thing...I got my broom out and played a game of hockey-frog until it was out in the street (I don't think I killed it, but it was pretty sad looking by the time I was finished).

Jeremy almost always gets up about 20 minutes before I do. On good days, I get up once he's in the shower, so that I'm ready to get in when he gets out. About a week after the above incident, I did just this. As I was opening the door to the bathroom, Jeremy says to me (from the shower), in a very serious voice, "Michelle, stop. There is a frog on the window." Now, just so you know...Jeremy likes critters even less than I do. So, I backed out of the room and shut to the door. Crap! How are these things getting in? There isn't a window that opens in our bathroom either!

These things were too big to have come in through the exhaust vents. My only conclusion, after having read dozens of blog posts with similar problems, is that they were coming up the drain of the tub. So, we keep our drains closed now, which is slightly annoying because we have a perpetual puddle of stagnant water in our tubs. And I check under the toilet seats, and behind the toilet and around the windows, etc. before I do anything else in the bathroom!

And somewhere in the middle of these two incidents, I went out to my garage one day (actually, Lucy puked on the garage floor and I went out to clean it up) to hear a funny skittering sound. I look around and note that the noise is coming from an empty box on the floor (we're getting ready to put a bunch of stuff in storage before we put the house on the market, so I've been hoarding boxes). I look in the box to find a mouse. A little thing -- a creepy, ugly little thing. Sorry, but I don't like mice AT ALL -- or rodents of any sort for that matter. Luckily, the box was really tall, so it had apparently crawled up the spare car seat on the floor and fell in, but couldn't get out. Now, normally I have NO compassion for critters in my house. I don't usually let critters escape alive. But, since this thing was already contained in the box, I picked it up, carried it out to the road and down the street a little before letting it out. Wanna know that little ~!@# did? It ran back up the street, straight up my driveway and back to the same corner it started in. Gah!!! It was WAR now. I put rat poison down...I haven't seen the mouse again, but most of the rat poison was eaten.

The worst thing was that we had THREE spare car seats sitting on the floor of the garage, all of which had obvious signs of mouse habitation. One ended up in the trash (it was too old really anyway), but the other two had to be taken apart and cleaned. I really HATE having to wash car seats.

So, apparently my home is just a bit to inviting...I need to find the critter welcome mat that is apparently hidden somewhere and remove it!

I've been stewing about this for a few weeks now...

...and it has finally gotten the better of me, so now I'm going to "speak".

When we were visiting Ohio a few weeks ago, our arrival was greeted with the report that my family had been informed I was expecting another child. Um, no, I'm not pregnant, thank you very much.

I had a rather long rant on this subject typed up, but deleted it because, well, it was angry and nasty and, though well deserved, sure to cause hurt feeling somewhere. So, I'll just say, I'm really upset about this. And, no, I'm not pregnant.

My little goons!

Since all I can seem to muster today is a post centering around pictures, I suppose it is better than nothing! I think stress is hurting my ability to think clearly, so articulate and well thought out posts are apparently on hold for a while.

Anyhoo...here are a few recent shots of the kids.

Ross, being an absolute goon in Ohio:

Hannah at her soccer game in Archbold (and, yes, they really were playing on a soccer field and not in a soybean field):Lucy sporting her latest accessories (I'm addicted to knee socks right now):

Reid getting ready for the Buckeye game (poor kid was really sick this day, too):

My little cheerleader:

And, you know, I really should get a new shot of me for my blog header. Hmmm...maybe not until after my next visit to the colorist -- y'all might be frightened of my hair the way it stands now!

Since my sister said it was okay...

...I thought I would post some pics of my niece.

These were taken last weekend when Laney was just shy of 6 weeks old:

Hannah and Lucy love their little cousin!




Isn't she the sweetest little thing?

And these were taken in September when she was about 3 weeks old:

Ah, yes, Aunt Michelle showed up and insisted on bows. Doesn't she look thrilled?

I'm totally bummed that it could be a really long time before I see Laney again, even though I totally understand the difficult logistics of trips (I'm soooooo not trying to guilt Val & Steve into visiting more often). I never understood what the hullabaloo was about us moving away, but then everyone that I knew was grown and pretty set in their ways (well, except Hannah, but we see her frequently despite the distance). But now I get it...Laney is little and changing and I don't know her yet. She'll be a different person the next time I see her. And my kids are little and constantly changing...family & friends miss out on all kinds of stuff when we're away. Still doesn't change that things are the way they are (the way they need to be, for us at least), but I get "it" a bit better now. Miss you already, Laney Lou (I've already saddled the poor girl with a nickname -- my two little Lous -- Lucy Lou & Laney Lou)!