Dear 2001 Crystal Shore Drive

Dear Home,

Tomorrow we will part ways.  You've been sold to a new family.  We hope they love you as much as we have loved you.  Right now I should be packing but I thought taking a moment to journal about what you've meant to us was appropriate.

In 2007 David and I were expecting our first child.  On a sunny Saturday morning in July we found you.  You needed a lot of work but we knew you were the house we would call home.  We, along with many family members (whom we are eternally grateful for) put in hundreds of hours of labor love into you and created a comfy, cozy and beautiful place to live.  You have been a perfect first home for our growing family.

Your front door welcomed many family and friends but two of the most important people you welcomed were Blaine and Hannah.  Blaine came to live under your roof in 2008 and Hannah Grace followed in 2010.

Yes, you're just a house and we all know that "things" don't matter but we have loved living here and we will miss you.

- The Lyon Family

P.S. I would have liked you a lot more if you had more cabinet space in your kitchen!  :)

(Now, back to packing.)

Blaine in 2008

Hannah Grace in 2010

You are SOLD in 2012

David and I, back in the day, when we moved in.
Pregnant with Blaine here and married just over a year.

The Lyon family in 2011.

 

Back to Normal?

I am headed back to our kids, on a plane from Colorado to Michigan, and I’m really looking forward to seeing them.  I brought presents for them but I don’t think that compares with the bunny (yes, a bunny!) that my dad brought home for them yesterday.  Oh, Papa - you make it hard for Mama and Daddy to be cool. 

A lot happened in the last few days.  We had a wonderful time and I think it was a perfect balance of relaxation, work, and preparing for our move.  We ate out, lounged on the couch in front of the TV, drove around our new city and into the foothills, found a rental house, visited preschools and worked on various details for the next month.  Phew!  David will travel to Michigan at the end of this week for the holiday weekend and then we will only be together on the weekends for the entire month of June because D will be working Monday through Friday in Boulder.  I don’t think I have totally grasped what that means – I think I’d like to remain in denial for a little longer J 

Right now we’re working under the assumption that the current buyer for our house works out.  Of course, if they don’t, it’s back to square one.  That would be a setback, but not the end of the world.  We will go ahead and move at the end of June regardless so we can all be together again.  David plans to fly back to Austin on June 21^st, pack up Tug and a few things and then make the drive to Colorado with his truck.  The movers come on June 22^nd or 23^rd to pack and move us and then it takes approximately 7 days for our stuff to arrive in Broomfield (our new hometown!)  Our lease begins on July 1^st so in a perfect world our items would arrive when we can move in J  Keeping our fingers crossed on that one.

It doesn’t look like we’ll be ‘back to normal’ until July 1^st then—WOW—that seems like a long time from now.  It will be especially difficult for the kids since David will be gone all those weeks but we can’t think of a better solution that works for us financially.

I really, really loved Colorado and the area where we will be living, working and playing.  I thought Austin was a health-conscious, outdoors-loving, kid-friendly city but was blown away by what I experienced in the Boulder area.  Everywhere you turned there was a park, playground, running trail, hiking trail, or open space.  It was wild!  We saw three sensory parks (parks that have special equipment for kids with sensory needs, like Blaine has) in the short time we were there.  Everything was green and lush and beautiful and the mountains in the background were breathtaking.  The shopping centers were excellent and nearly every restaurant we went to had gluten-free options.  Dogs are a big deal, in Boulder especially, and you see many dogs relaxing with their owners at the tables outside of the restaurants.  Boulder really reminded me of Ann Arbor except that there were these amazing hills right there!  Yesterday, my third day there I finally saw one police car.  It was weird because I hadn’t seen one all weekend.  Apparently the crime is very low there.

I am so glad I had the opportunity to visit before moving because I really didn’t think I would ever want to live anywhere except Austin.  But coming to Colorado this weekend made me realize that I will love it here and this will be a perfect place for our family.

But it wasn’t all perfect – there was one thing that was really, really hard for me.  It was COLD on Saturday and nearly every night.  Brrr!  It made me dread the winter which I know will be much colder than this weekend.  I’m anticipating that a large portion of our budget this year will be going towards warm clothing, down comforters, and ski gear J

See the mountains?  This is an open space about 2 miles from our house.

Me way above sea level!

We think these are prarie dogs.  They're everywhere!

Our house in Broomfield, CO

Dinner in Boulder

Boulder

Sit Down and Relax…

This might take a while.

Though we’ve been quiet here on our blog our lives haven’t been such. The madness started over three weeks ago when we started the work on our house. The Realtor came in and told us our house was in great condition but it still needed a little work. Two weeks, one garage sale, several ATM visits, and a lot of labor later and we were done. “The Stager”, Brenda, really did an amazing job showing us how to prepare our house and get it ready for showings. I had no idea these people even existed but what a difference it made. We didn’t want to sell the house after everything we did to make it so beautiful!

I can only view the last several weeks (actually months) like a complex jigsaw puzzle. Thinking about all that needed to be done, prioritizing everyone’s needs, and then maintaining some sense of normalcy for the kids was overwhelming at times. I can’t remember a time in my life when so many different, but equally important things, demanded our attention. Yet the pieces just fell in place. God has taken care of every detail so beautifully that there hasn’t been a day gone by that I haven’t sat in awe at His provision, protection and care. Three weeks ago we were told that our house would be competing against growing competition, we would be paying money at closing and that it could be on the market for a long time.

After we finished the work our Realtor looked at the house again and told us we should raise the selling price. We agreed. It was listed late on a Tuesday afternoon. Wednesday morning (not even 18 hours after we listed) I was shopping with Hannah when our Realtor called. An offer had been made on the house. A family that had looked at 40 houses prior to ours fell in love when they walked in. They had several requests for items that were not originally in the listing so we raised the price (again) to account for the items they wanted and they accepted. We’re told that the hard work begins now (inspector coming, etc.) but we feel really good about what has happened and we’re told that we might walk away with a little cash instead of paying. After the house was officially done we packed our bags and headed north to Plano, TX where we spent some very special time with Mimi, Pops, Nana and Ray. We had a wonderful weekend and the kids were showered with love from everyone. Saturday was a great day for Blaine especially because we went to the Fort Worth Zoo (which is ranked as one of the top 5 zoos in the country.) It was spectacular and so big we didn’t get to see everything. That didn’t matter though because Blaine was able to see his favorite animals – the cheetah and the sharks. Hannah’s favorite part was being carried around by Pops the whole time and sleeping in the stroller. And then Sunday was Mother’s Day. We had a lovely brunch with Pops' side of the family and ended the evening with Mimi’s famous cooking and some wonderful family time. Mmmm. Thanks Mimi, Pops, Nana and Ray for loving on us all weekend.

Monday morning came bright and early as the kids and I caught a 6:15 AM (yes, I said 6:15 AM) flight out of Dallas to Michigan. David was headed back to Austin to fly with his new boss to Boulder for his first week of work after dropping us off. I asked the woman at the ticket counter if I could get an escort pass for David so he could help us all back to the gate and she agreed. What a huge help it turned out to be. We were a bit rushed at the gate though so our goodbye to Daddy was cut short and I had to peel a sobbing boy off of David as we boarded the plane. Blaine was crying and yelling, “Daddy, I want you to come with us. I don’t want you to go.” I felt so sad that I started crying too but quickly realized that if all three of us were crying that wouldn’t be good. So I maintained my composure and whisked our little ones onto the plane. I dreaded the flight for a long time but it ended up not being terrible at all.

Blaine was a champ and Hannah Grace was, well, Hannah Grace. She is still young enough to be a lap child so in order to save several hundred dollars I decided to not get Hannah a seat. Luckily our first flight was not full so she got her own seat. I had enough fruit snacks and books and movies to keep her happy for about an hour. Blaine also had a DVD player which can keep him content for about two hours. Our second flight was not as awesome. HG was fidgety and bossy and the man sitting next to us had nowhere else to go because the flight was completely full (poor guy!). He said he didn’t mind… though I find it hard to believe that he didn’t care about Hannah pinching his arm hair, throwing fruit snacks in his lap and trying to share her Ba-Ba (pacifier) with him. He was a good sport though. There was also a sweet couple behind us that played peek-a-boo with Hannah the last half of our flight.

When we arrived in Detroit I breathed a sigh of relief. We made it! Blaine led the way off the plane, his cute little carry-on right behind him, to our stroller which was waiting for us. I strapped Hannah in the seat and she started coughing, which led to gagging which led to vomiting. This wasn’t just a little spit up, this was the real deal. Poor darling started crying and threw up some more – soaking her clothes. I ran to the airplane and asked for napkins as Blaine ran excitedly away from me to find GG and Papa. A nice Southwest employee stopped him and sent him back down the jetway to me. Reason #89 why I don’t eat McDonalds and why my children don’t and shouldn’t! Especially a McDonalds at the airport – Ew!

We found baggage claim and GG and Papa. After changing Hannah we were on our way. Monday was a lazy day because we were all tired from getting up at 4:15 AM. Everyone went to bed early and took long naps the next day. Much of Tuesday was spent emailing with our Realtor and getting the house listed. You know how that story ends. (Thank you God!) Wednesday and Thursday I was glued to the computer lining up rental properties for us to visit this weekend while both David and I are in Boulder. I think we have 7 total to look at right now.

I barely talked to David this week so we’re both looking forward to being together this weekend. In fact, I’m en route to Denver right now. I have never left Blaine (4 years old) or HG overnight with anyone. Of course we have went on some dates but the longest I think we’ve been away has been a half day. This trip out to Boulder is really important, not just so we can find a house and get a feeling for the different areas but also to get some time alone and have some adult time. Blaine has been glued to Papa for the entire week. Papa happens to like many things that Blaine does: being outside from sunrise to sunset, play in the dirt and in the forest, fish, and sit by the campfire – so Blaine has been in heaven. I haven’t been able to get the dirt scrubbed off that boy at night sine we’ve been in MI.

David seems to be enjoying his new role and company. I am so proud of him for going for this position and so excited that they were able to see what he could offer and jumped at the opportunity to hire him. For the first time in my life I won’t be working and David will be the primary breadwinner. It’s a bit scary but it also feels like this is where we both belong right now. I started working at the age of 14 and worked all through high school and college. Nearly 20 years in the work force – the last four years I’ve been a stay-at-work mom (I was fortunate enough to bring the kids to work with me.) I have always loved my work outside the home but I also see the value of work inside the home. I’m certain that at some point in the future I will want to do something part time on the side but for now my focus will be on the kids and getting us settled in Colorado. On the way to the airport Hannah kept telling Mom and I that she lived in “Colohado” and when I told her that I was going to look for a house with Daddy she smiled. Then I told her that I was going to find her a big bedroom. Her big beautiful eyes got big and she opened her mouth like she was shocked. She said, “Big room – Hannah room!” Then she kept saying “Colohado” and “Hannah room.”

Let’s see, I think that about does it for the update. I’ve only called home to check on the kids twice since I’ve been gone (4 hours) –and I think that’s pretty good! At some point I think my parents will probably stop answering the phone. :)  My dad is competing in a fishing tournament in the morning and my mom has a 5K so Cousin Leslie and Great Grandma Crower are double teaming the kiddos. I’ve also asked Leslie to make sure GG and Papa are following the four page instruction sheet I left for the kids (just kidding…) :)

Here are some pictures from the last week.  (I'm sure you'll be able to tell... but Blaine took the first few.)

 

Check!

We can check one huge thing off of our check list - the garage sale!  What an ordeal that was.  We worked all week to get ready, were up at 5:15 am the morning of the sale and by 8:00 am we thought we had made a big mistake.  We had four people come in the first hour so we thought we were going to be left with a ton of junk to haul away but then... it got crazy busy.  We sold so much stuff and the rest went to Goodwill.  We were happy with what we made - all of which is going straight back into the house which we hope will be ready for the photographer by the end of this week and listed by Monday. (Yipee!)

We also had our first "farewell" dinner with a good friend on Saturday night.  Lisa, who has helped us care for our children (and our dog) for a few years, joined us in our own personal he!! which we like to call, "Dinner-Out-With-Our-Children" at The Cheesecake Factory.  I don't think Lisa will ever have children after eating dinner out with us.  We will miss you Ms. Lisa!

Today we had another special afternoon with the Pembertons, our BFF family.  How we will do without them, I don't know.  It was nice to take this whole day off (Sunday as a day of rest - imagine that!?) and rest our bodies and minds and laugh a little with our friends.  The kids had so much fun running around the sprinkler park and playing in the sand pit.  Hannah and William and Blaine and Siri = The cutest kids ever!  We need more pictures of them together (this one is from last month, before Easter.)

We are really looking forward to having the house done and getting up to Boulder to look for a rental.  We are also trying to squeeze a trip in to Michigan and do a "Farewell Austin" photo shoot with the photographer that took pictures of our family before HG was born.  I figure that I am already overwhelmed, why not throw in a few more stressors?! :)

Give Me The Bird

If you ask any parent what the worst part of parenting is I am pretty sure that 9 out of 10 will say the lack of sleep.  Actually, I think I slept more in the first 28 years of my life than I have in the last 4 years so if you ask me I will definitely tell you that the lack of sleep is brutal.  But they're my kids and I love them to pieces so in the grand scheme of things it's not too terrible.  Don't get me wrong, I'd love to sleep through the night and even sleep in for like a month straight but I know that's not going to happen for a long time, so I'm ok with it (well, kinda ok.) 

But I'll tell you one thing you don't want to experience:  Jessica Lyon in the middle of the night awakened by something other than her sweet, loving, and needy children.  It is not pretty.  And for the last two weeks D. and I have been awakened in the middle of the night by a bird.  A BIRD!  In the middle of the freakin' night!

Around midnight, nearly every single night, a (stupid) bird starts singing right outside our window.  He does his thing for nearly 3 hours. every.  single.  night.

The first night he woke us up I felt bad for him.  I thought maybe it was a baby bird or a hurt bird but then it went on and on and on and on and my feelings of empathy turned to what some might call rage.  He won't stop.  David went out to scare him away (in his whitey tighties) but he only flew off and came back. 

Mimi was here this weekend and also heard the bird so when she was doing some research for us she found this and it is too hilarious to not pass along - I think you'll enjoy it as well.  Click here to read the post.

When the bird wakes me up I go through so many emotions - David is quite entertained by my roller coaster.  I ask the bird questions (like it can hear me/understand me) and I curse (I admit it!) and I yell into my pillow, I breathe and sigh deeply and I plead with David to make it go away.  Perhaps I could just pray about it since I'm pretty sure God could take care of this problem but the bird wakes me up and I just can't handle that.

The really great nights are the ones where my bird friend is calling for a mate, the refrigerator is doing some high-pitched squealing (that is also really happening), and both kids are screaming for us.

I'd better get to bed - only a few more hours until the music begins!

Thankful

We flew by the seat of our pants last week which I guess is no different than any other week except last week included this little holiday called Thanksgiving!  Our original plan was to stay home and not battle the other holiday travelers.  I was going to make Thanksgiving dinner and we were going to have a quiet four day weekend at home.  Of course none of this ended up happening but everything worked out in the end and we had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Keith ended up staying in Houston longer than expected and we decided that we would go see him in Houston if he hadn't been discharged by Wednesday (the day before Thanksgiving.)  Wednesday afternoon came and he hadn't yet been released (not to mention I had not purchased one item for our Thanksgiving dinner...) so we packed up for an overnight trip and headed to Houston.  The stress over it about put me over the edge but we had a lot of angels come together and take care of some of the planning.

And Thanksgiving dinner? Well, we were grateful for an invitation to David's Aunt Barbara and Uncle Perry's house (who live north of Houston) for dinner.  We couldn't have asked for a better day.  My in-laws and brother-in-law were also at Thanksgiving dinner and they took care of the kids while we drove downtown to see Keith at MD Anderson Cancer Center.  We were also able to visit with Ray, David's grandmother's husband, who just had double bypass surgery.  Both were doing quite well especially given that they had to be in the hospital on Thanksgiving.

After visiting we headed back to Conroe where we had quite the meal.  Many thanks (again and again) to our wonderful family who took care of us on Thanksgiving and allowed us to go be with Keith during this difficult time.  The meal was fantastic and I am sure I ate my weeks worth of calories in one sitting! And Uncle Matt kept his favorite nephew busy most of the day with playing and dinosaur videos on his phone.  (Thank you everyone!)

We arrived home safely on Thanksgiving evening around 11:00 pm and the kids went straight to bed.  Friday brought a day of fishing for the boys and one of my favorite activities... decorating for Christmas :)  As I put the tree up I remembered how much I love the smell and imperfections of a fresh-cut Christmas tree. But one thing separates a real tree from a fake one and these six little letters make me do the happy dance: Pre-lit.  That's right, our pre-lit artificial tree makes me so happy.  I threw that baby together in five minutes flat, plugged it in and voila - a Christmas tree!  It's the simple things in life. 

Hannah admiring the tree

She loves picking out the ornaments with "babies" on them.

Excited!

I'm pretty proud of myself because I am nearly done with our Christmas shopping.  The kids presents are hiding in our spare bedroom and I have attempted putting everyone else's gifts under the tree.  Of course this means that the kids are fascinated with the gifts and Blaine has asked at least five times since yesterday what is in each box.  So, if Blaine tells you what we got you - it's not true! :)  Hannah is mostly obsessed with the "balls" (ornaments) and has only taken two off.  But none are shattered... yet. 

Speaking of obsessed, check this out:

Yes, that is our daughter with TWO ba-bas in her mouth.  Breaking this habit is going to be hard!

In other news, we are extremely proud of Blaine today.  The YMCA we belong to has a water slide and a water obstacle course (on the weekends) but kids have to pass a swim test to be able to use these features.  Blaine has wanted to do these things since we joined one year ago.  To pass the test kids have to be able to swim from one end of the pool to the other by themselves.  Last night when David took Blaine to the pool he passed!   YAY!  He was thrilled and we spent most of today at the pool to celebrate.  Nice job, buddy.

This is part of the pool.  Blaine swam from one end to the other by himself!

See the yellow slide back there... That is B's new best friend.

Given all that happened yesterday, it was probably one of my favorite days ever.  Why?

1. Michigan Football.  Not only Michigan football... but the Michigan, OSU game... and the boys whooped 'em!  Hail!

2. Christmas decorating.

3. Wrapping Christmas presents.

4.  Baking.

5.  It rained, Y'all.  It rained for almost 4 hours straight.  This had to be the highlight of my day.

And the kids thought I was totally crazy screaming at the TV while the game was on.  Hannah was yelling "Gooo Booo" ("Go Blue" for you Texans) and Blaine was (of course) fascinated with the players tackling each other and asked me, "Mama, did you play that game when you went to that school?"  To which I replied, "No, baby, Mama was too busy going to class."  LOL!

Other than all of that, it really was a low-key weekend.


Those Things

Hannah and I are just here, all alone, missing our boys. 

We didn't have any fun today.  We didn't even get out of our jammies.  We just sat around the house all day and watched the clock, waiting for tomorrow to come.

Well... maybe that's exaggerating a bit.  We have missed them but we're being super productive and we're having a good and relaxing time.

Blaine and David are having a great time.  Here are some pictures they've sent me.

I've been getting a bunch of organizing done that has been put off since, well, forever ago.  You know those things that you always think, "I should do that."  or "I'll do that when I have a whole weekend..." Those things.  I went through both kids' memory boxes, which were disasters, and then got some new boxes for all of the artwork we have coming home.  When Blaine is old enough to read this I hope he won't be mad that I threw away a bunch of his stuff.  I kept the first, second, third, fourth and five items of the same kind of art that came home and then anything more than that got tossed.  How many triangles painted blue can a mom keep for heavens sake?

After all of the organization (which made my day) I finished decorating Blaine's room. I think he'll be excited to have some dinosaurs on his walls and to finally have his Kung Fu Panda 2 poster up.   Hannah's room got a little revamp.  I was tempted to move her changing table out since we use it so little now but she is still in diapers so I think it can stay a bit longer.  The biggest change is she now has two dressers (and a closet full) of clothes.  I moved Blaine's old dresser into her room since he has new furniture.

You should have seen this closet before I organized it.  Scary.  And now it's not.

If you've actually read this far and were as fascinated with my fall cleaning and organizing as I am, then you're awesome.

Thank you for appreciating me!  

Just Ordinary

I sit here stumped about what to write about.  We have a busy week ahead so I've been busy preparing for that this afternoon.  Plus I was up half the night last night worried sick about David who is now sleeping soundly next to me but 24 hours ago (Saturday 7:00pm through Sunday 8:00am) he was in a kayak on a lake in the dark having a really good time fishing in an evening tournament (which he placed 4th in.) I called him at 4:30 am when I got up to use the restroom and then after not hearing from him for over 4 hours I was practically picking out his casket.  And we wonder why Blaine always thinks the worst of things!  He surely didn't get that from me.  Perhaps I over-react? Hmmmm :)  He was getting some shut-eye in his boat and then was busy catching more hog-bass (as Blaine calls them) when I called.  Glad he's home safe and sound.

I spent the better part of the weekend moving furniture around and finally have the front room/play room the way we want it.  We also got a new dining set (goodbye folding chairs!) and Blaine's new full-size mattress came in.  Unfortunately his new bed frame and dresser are not due to arrive for another month so his bed is on the ground but he could really care less.  He said he loves rolling around on it and figured out that he can also sleep sideways, which is a bonus in his mind.

Tomorrow brings an O.T. (Occupational Therapy) evaluation which we hope will help us put some more of the pieces of the puzzle together regarding some of Blaine's behaviors.  He will likely have standing appointments with the O.T. after this evaluation for a while.  We also have a G.I. (gasteroenterology) appointment on Tuesday to figure out what's going on with his poor irritable belly.  Then of course gymnastics (which he informed us he doesn't "like anymore") and our last swim class of the season at Emler.  His swimming skills have improved so much this past summer - he is now able to swim over 15 feet by himself and he can swim underwater for 10 seconds without coming up for air.  His "big arms" (what they teach him at swim class) are just now getting more consistent and in sync with his kicking feet.  For a long time he was kicking and not doing big arms or he was doing his big arms and not kicking.  He can back float like a pro though.  (Better than his Mama anyway!)

Hannah has some weird bite on the back of her leg which we are monitoring.  I was bitten by a brown recluse spider years ago which then got infected by staph and it was a whole terrible experience that I have tried to forget but also want everyone in my family to avoid, so this bite makes me nervous.  We have a doctors appointment in the morning just in case it doesn't get better.  One funny thing that happened with Hannah and her brother today was good enough to write about (and remember.)  Blaine got in HG's face and yelled and then sort of hit her face with his face (imagine a headbutt).  She cried at first and then her eyes got really big, she screamed back in his face (some baby obscenities, I'm sure), and then pushed his face away in a sort of slapping motion.  Normally this kind of behavior would be totally unacceptable to us but it's the first time she's "fought back" and the whole scene really shocked us.  Blaine was a bit stunned but after a short whimper-fest he ran away and then we laughed because we knew that the epic battle between Brother and Sister has officially begun.  We know she will no longer back down or sit down and cry when he annoys her.  She's a fighter and won't let him push her around anymore.  You Go Girl!  Now, you remember this when you start dating.  I am hoping that Blaine is protecting her by that point too.

Apparently I had a lot more to say than I imagined.

Have a great week :)

A New Project

We've done a little bit of everything this weekend - including starting a new house project!  We decided to update Blaine's room (which he is very excited about) a while back but are just now finding some time to make it happen.  Here is the bedroom set we picked out - the only differences are we're not getting the trundle, the bed will be larger (a full), and we're not getting the mirror.

We took everything out of his room and started painting on Saturday.  It was so weird being in there painting again.  I was reminiscing (and surprisingly not crying at the same time) about painting it before when I was five months pregnant with our Mister.  We had just moved into this house and whe had no idea that he was a Mister, hence the unisex green color we painted his room originally, and we certainly didn't anticipate being in love with another human as much as we are with him (and HG, of course.)  So much has changed over the last four years - David and I are really grateful. 

Back to the goods: we're about 3/4 of the way done with painting.  We used a silver-grey color on the top 2/3 of the walls and a dark blue on the bottom 1/3.  It's really sharp - I just love it!  And it is all boy.  Plus I think it will look really great with his new furniture when it arrives next month.  Every time he goes in to check out the progress he grins ear to ear and says "I love my new room!  I love my new room!"  And that's with blue painter's tape up everywhere.  I can't wait to see how he likes it when it is finished.

Besides that project we spent much of the weekend being together and catching up from the week since D was gone for three days.  On Saturday we went to the YMCA for our weekly family workout, which was probably the highlight of Blaine's day because he got to play with his BFF, Siri, for about an hour in the Kids Gym. 

Hannah has been using utensils more and more these days and I was able to catch some of it on video.  Blaine also makes an appearance - you are about to get schooled on his new dinosaurs. 

That's right folks...

We're big time now.

We've joined the ranks of cool.

Cool people with a cool HE (high efficiency) washer and dryer set.  Oh yeah baby.  Check 'em out.

(And thanks to our friend Jason for helping to deliver them and my super strong and able husband for hooking them up.)

I think I might go ahead and wash everything in our closets now and steam them.  Oh, did I say steam?  Yes, I did. We're even more cool like that with a steam dryer.

And the best part of the whole deal is we got a huge box that Blaine has and will spend countless hours in pretending it's his own house.

Oh, Joy

One of the greatest joys in life (for me) is a clean house.  I love walking on a freshly cleaned floor with my bare feet, smelling the furniture polish, and enjoying a shower without inhaling more mold and mildew than any one person should at any given time.  The only thing better than a clean house is a clean house that I did not have to clean!

And that, my friends, is what I came home to today.  D had the house cleaned by a cleaning crew for my birthday.  What a joyous afternoon and evening it's been.  For those of you that have your house cleaned regularly by someone other than yourself... how blessed you are!  What a huge pain in my butt it is keeping a clean house.  Really, I don't mind cleaning, but I would really rather have someone else do it.  It eats up so much precious time!

Thank you D, for this awesome gift.  I am sure between the four of us and Tug it will be dirty and gross by Sunday... but for today, it's perfect and that's all that matters.  (And yes, I might sleep on the clean floor tonight.  It's that nice.)

Martha Lyon

I have never put myself in the same class as Martha Stewart and in fact I think most of my decorating choices should probably be on some "What Not To Do" reality show... but I am quite proud of myself for pulling together some things this weekend. I've been meaning to do these few things for a long time and just now got to it.

And then I found (finally) a new quilt for the guest bedroom. I also got new pillows. David asked if the Queen of Shebah was coming to visit. Nope. I just like to spend your money.

And she is just too darn cute.

Pictures worth a thousand words (and a few of my own)

Hannah reaching for me to save her.

A new mobile for Hannah. We never had one for Blaine because he would never lay down. HG on the other hand appreciates these floating and singing butterflies.

See... she's totally pumped about the mobile. Or maybe she's cheering for her Michigan Wolverines!

Awww. Angel Bug! Love you.