Pumpkins, Costumes and Fall Stuff

It's OCTOBER. That means pumpkins, Halloween costumes, and all things fall weather. This past weekend we went to a local farm to get pumpkins. Really it was just an opportunity to let Caroline play on slides, pet the dogs (they are goats, but she thinks they are dogs), climb on farm equipment and generally run around like a wild child. And run she did. Oh, did I mention she insisted on wearing her "Let It Go" dress? It's an Elsa dress from Frozen that she rarely takes off. At least she permitted the jacket - it was cold!

We were taken aback at the cost of the pumpkins. Do they know we can get similar pumpkins for $4-$6 at Kroger??? But of course we Jonathan forked over the cash for the two pumpkins that spoke to us.

Sunday brought us gorgeous weather so we set up camp in the yard and carved the pumpkins. Sammy wanted in on the fun too (or really wanted the banana in Caroline's hand)

Maggie was the official pumpkin inspector

Caroline scooping the guts - notice the banana still securely in the other hand

This is the best I could do to get a picture of the girls with the pumpkins. BTW what is with all the pink?? I don't think they've ever been so pepto-bismal.

Maggie's already outtie

Evidently when our pumpkins spoke to us, Jonathan's said it was scary and mine said it was sad (or pooping, according to Caroline).

Fast approaching is Halloween. Caroline's request for costume has changed several times. At first she wanted to be a ghost. I don't know where she learned about ghosts, but it is her current obsession. Then, when shopping for costumes, she HAD TO HAVE a lady bug costume. Now, she wants to be a cat. And of course we have the aforementioned "let it go" dress that was handed down from a friend. It will be a beggars night decision.

As for Maggie, we are looking to dig up the spider costume that we used for Caroline when she was that age. If we can't find it, we'll head to the kids consignment store to find something quick. If that has to happen, I'll bet we'll end up with another option for Caroline too.

Birthday Cake Challenge - Year 5

The birthdays continue. This past weekend was Biscuits 30^th birthday!! And you all know what that means – Birthday Cake Challenge!

The birthday cake challenge started in 2009 – yep, 5 YEARS AGO – with the crepe cake.  

 Subsequent challenges have led us to the following tasty destinations:

This salty caramel chocolate goodness

The Rainbow cake - detailed here

Last year's Pavlova that I don't think I blogged about

This year biscuit sent me a recipe for a pineapple upside down cake. She must think I need a break because this only required me to follow a straightforward recipe. I even had a helper this year.

 

 

We made the cake and went to sing Happy Birthday and enjoy the cake.

 

 

It was good, but next time I’d probably search out a recipe that makes it in a cast iron skillet so the pineapple caramelizes and the sugar gets all crunchy on the outside edges. Next time, I’ll take your challenge and raise the bar.

Dear Maggie,

Oh my moo, you are so awesome. I am excitedly planning your first birthday, while simultaneously wondering where a YEAR went. While I do miss the snuggly, tiny infant you were, I’m really enjoying the toddler you are turning into. And who wouldn’t? You are such a happy baby. People are always commenting that they want to take you home. You have a light that shines and spreads joy. It is a guilty pleasure spending time with you. I’m soaking it all in before you tire of me and my patty-cake antics. Before I know it you’ll be rolling your eyes at me and stomping away.

The other day I got a glimpse of your future and it looked like a childhood that resembled my own – You were crawling furiously to catch up to your sister and your cousin. Hearing their giggles from the other room, you were determined. So determined in fact, you climbed that step into the kitchen like you had done it a hundred times before, quickly and adeptly, just to see what all the fuss was about.

Being the second born, I know. It’s hard always wanting to play with the big kids. I’m going to warn you now baby girl, you will get shut down, turned away and maybe ignored. But just like that step, you will conquer and be stronger because of it. And then there will be the times that Caroline plays with you and protects you. Those times will feel all the sweeter and will bond you two together, forever.  Sisters are a treasure. I should know, I have two of them!

There is this time of day that I love. It’s after you’ve eaten and your sister is settled into cartoons or a puzzle. I sneak away with you and your bottle to do our night-night routine. I change you into your PJs, not before I get in some good tickles, and we curl up in the rocker.  You kick and squirm as you eye the bottle. You even spit out your pacifier in preparation, only crying if I take too long and miss all your non-verbal cues. We rock together as you drink your nightly bottle. Sometimes you are so tired that once finished, you snuggle into my neck before transitioning to bed. If you aren’t too tired, then it is play time! I bounce you and nibble your neck until the room is filled with your laughter. It’s only about 15 minutes of the day, but it’s all ours.

I promise I will always look for ways to have one-on-one time with just you.

I love you.

The momma.

 

Happy Birthday Love

To my partner in crime,

Happy Birthday! It’s hard to remember what my life was like before you!

I hope you aren’t underwhelmed by your birthday this year. I fear it will get lost in the new house/old house drama. Please know how thankful I am that you are in my life. I know I’ve been the high maintenance one lately. Thank you for keeping me grounded.

It’s funny how our birthday celebrations have changed through the years. Birthdays are more fun with kids, don’t you think? While we may be less than thrilled about another candle on the cake, their excitement is contagious. I can’t wait to sing happy birthday to you with Caroline, a smiling Maggie happy to be a part of the festivities.     

This year you won’t be showered with gifts, trips and parties. Instead there will be cake, candles, singing and all your girls surrounding you on this special day.

We love you.

The Move

So we are OFFICIALLY in the new house. The address has been changed in all the required places and the kitchen is unpacked. There are boxes in every room. I know the majority of the boxes will remain untouched and continue to taunt me for years to come, but the KITCHEN IS UNPACKED.

So how is everyone handling it?

The cat’s first order was to pee on everything. He has now been banished to either the basement or outside. Since there are no feral neighborhood cats to fend off anymore, I think he’s quite happy.

The dog “ran away”. I use quotation marks because I think it was more of a casual meandering, smelling her way through the new neighborhood. No matter how casual it was on her part, we spent one long sleepless night exploring the neighborhood with flashlights. We didn’t find her. Instead, she found someone getting ready to leave for work at 4:45 AM!! They called us and Hubs hightailed it to pick her up.

The girls adjusted the best to the new house. It probably has something to do with our increased intake of fast food and more outside playtime.

My extrovert of a husband is socializing with all the neighbors and inviting everyone to tour our new castle. He’s generally enjoying the new digs.  

This girl? This routine, predictable, OCD, introvert? She is not handing it all so well. I’m like a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs, unable to get comfortable, relax and generally settle in. My anxiety is on overdrive. I’m contemplating medicating myself.

The list of what I want to do to the house is a mile long and I want to do it NOW. Conversely, I don’t want to spend all my valuable time doing house stuff and miss out on time with my baby girls. They are just growing too fast. I am paralyzed by enormity of it all.

Then there is the old house. The house we are trying to rent, but still doesn’t have a tenant. The house that can’t be ignored and needs cleaned, painted, maintained and PAID FOR.  Oh No, here comes the panic.

Please be kind to my family, they have a crazy woman to deal with right now.

Moving On

I had this long, lovely post written about the sadness I feel about leaving our first home. It was chock full of memories, with eloquent nods to how we laughed, cried, partied, remodeled and generally grew up in that house. I just needed to put a few finishing touches on it in the morning. So I closed my computer yesterday and headed home. 

Once home and through the door, it took an embarrassingly long time to ascertain what had happened, why all our belongings were splayed across every surface, cabinets open and drawers askew.  

The house was broken into and we were robbed.

There wasn’t much that the burglar perceived as valuable, just some prescription pills and a laptop. The TVs were still intact, an indication according to the police it was one person. Sadly, the most expensive item stolen was our sense of security.

So yeah….

Today I was still thinking about posting my thoughts, just editing them to emphasize to the crummy I guess the universe is trying to tell me something-

MOVE ALREADY!

House Hunting

So we I knew we would need a new house once I got pregnant. I had the wisp of an idea that maybe we’d buy and sell before the baby came. Like all my ideas, I romanticized it. We’d bring the new baby home and rock her to sleep in our new beautifully decorated home. There would be multiple bathrooms so we could easily potty train Caroline and life would be better.  BWA HA HA HA….

Well that idea daydream evaporated as we focused on other things. Fast forward to this Spring and I’m ready to make it a reality. 

So here is The Plan. The Plan is smart and executable and will get us to where we want to be.

Details of The Plan. We will prepare and list our house for sale. We will price it higher than market value to give us some time to hunt for the next house.  If someone loves our house so much that they are willing to pay the higher price, that would be a pretty good situation. Realistically this higher price would allow us to take time to shop for our forever home. You know the one, lots of space, in the perfect neighborhood with good school districts and no updates needed. All within our price range…. Once we found the forever home, we’d lower the price on the current one to sell it.

Sounds good right?

Ok, I know you see the holes in The Plan. As I type up The Plan, I realize how idealistic it was. I mean, nowhere do I consider how I will clean the dog-and-cat-hair-littered, overflowing-sink, laundry-landmine-covered, toy-explosion house for showings.  

The showing of the house, which means getting everyone including the dog, out of the house AND making sure it is in pristine condition.  One day I came home from work to do a surface clean and collect the dog prior to a showing. I was on my way out the door grabbing the dogs leash only to find a fresh pile of dog poop in the basement.

Then there is searching for our forever home. Sounds like fun right? It was until I realized how aggressive I was going to have to be to fight off all these other people with the same idea.  WTF people, how am I going to decide if it is the right house for me if I can't even GET IN TO SEE IT. Three houses literally went into contract as we were touring them. Another 4-6 only made it to the list of ‘must see’ when they went into contract. The urgency of the market meant we were often piling into the car on a weeknight and rushing around town, handing nuggets to the backseat passengers, and keeping them up LATE.

One such crazy excursion was when both girls got pinkeye. Only one got in to see the pediatrician.  I was leaving the next morning on a business trip the antibiotics for the second had to be secured pronto. During that madness I admit that I hauled two goopy-eyed kids through three houses prior to several desperate attempts to secure eye drops at both the minute-clinic and urgent care.

So how did The Plan actually get executed? 

Sale of the current house – Fail Change in direction

Luckily for me and my cleaning schedule, we only had about 6 showings. Unluckily (is that a word?) for the sale of our house, we only had about 6 showings.  So we are going to keep the house and rent it. We’d probably fail an inspection anyways. The Updated Plan is to rent out the current house. The Updated Plan will prove to be more lucrative, renters paying us money every month, making me a real estate mogul. There are no holes in The Updated Plan AT ALL. 

Purchase of the next house – pending.   

That’s all I’m going to say about that right now. I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop. 

Please be kind to me for the next month….