All's Well That Ends Well

Mr. Golden Curls making a heart with his hands. I have no idea where he learned this but I think it's adorable!

Have I said yet how absolutely completely and utterly fantastic it is to have our family of four back together again? Because it is. The Bohemian and I are re-learning how to occupy the same space. We're both passionately opinionated, what do you expect from an artist and someone with a vocal performance degree in opera? And we both think we know the best way to do everything, which makes it hard to be around others. That's why we're lucky to have found each other, no one else would put up with us! Even with that it's more than wonderful and I'm daily reminded why The Bohemian is my perfect balance. And the boys are finally getting used to the fact that when he goes he's just going to work and he'll be back in the evening not a week or so. We have almost all of our possessions out of storage, tomorrow should complete that task. Then I'm going to kick major booty to get the house together so I can start kicking some major booty getting my etsy shop back together again!

For the past few days I've been reading a series of etsy articles from their blog, The Storque, on making over your shop. I've been taking notes and I'm ready to examine all of my listings with a critical eye while re-opening and revamping anything that could be better. I'm ready to get back to it, I even have a room that will be completely dedicated to my crafts ("Mine, all MINE!!!!!!!!) but if I start in on getting my shop up and running before the house is complete the house will never be complete. So house first. It's also time to start thinking about making and listing Christmas items! Hard to think about Christmas when it feels like 110 degrees outside with a massive humidity of why-the-heck-doesn't-it-just-rain-already!

"And To Your Left You'll See...

...the suburbanite in its natural habitat."


I have to say it's been pretty strange being the first to live on our street. It basically means we're neighborless and living on a construction site. The construction hasn't bothered me as much as I expected and of course the boys eat it up, they get to watch tractors and dump trucks all day! There are some houses when you first enter the neighborhood but then you go all the way up the street and there we are at the top of the hill. Then going down the hill there are about 10 houses in various stages of construction. What this has meant is that any time I take the boys to the front yard and driveway to play I feel like an advertisement for the neighborhood (they only sodded the front yard so it's the only place we have to play until that is remedied). There are constantly people driving by at 5 mph rubber necking to see if it might be a place they want to live, or maybe just being nosy.

Today we brought some more stuff to the house from storage, I took some boxes inside and when I went back for more there was a couple having a serious discussion right smack dab in the middle of my driveway! I was a little surprised but just said "Hello!" politely. "Hi." and they start back into their conversation. Then suddenly a light of realization "Oh, you're living here! I'm sorry! We've been looking at a house up the street." and off they go. Actually I think the random people have been kind of fun. We did get to meet our soon-to-be neighbor yesterday. I'm very excited because they have a 2 year old too, a girl but that's alright, it seems everyone we know has all girls.

Lil' Do It Your Selfer

As I was writing my last post the motherly thought "It's awfully quiet in there" occurred to me and I realized I'd just composed an entire post complete with pictures galore and links without interruption. As much as I didn't want to disturb my piece and quiet I thought it was probably time to check in on the little monkeys of terror. When I walked into their room all seemed, at first glance, to be good. Mr Golden Curls was nicely playing on the train table. Then I see Lil' Spitfire having climbed up on the changing table and about to climb from there to the top bunk. It took me a sec to realize he was not only in the nude but had a bum covered in poo! I quickly laid him down on the table and reached for the wipes..."what did you do with the wipes?" he points to the floor. I pick up the box of wipes, return it to its spot on the table and open it to find poo covered wipes crammed inside! "Did you try to change your own diaper?!" "Yea, I do it myself, I big!" I'm trying to contain a mix of disgust and laughter at this point, knowing that he was just trying to be big but also totally grossed out. "Where is the dirty diaper?" Again he points and I see it inside one of their crates full of toys "Oh, yuck! I know you were trying to do it yourself and be big, but next time lets leave this job to Mamma or Pappa." "Nope, I do it." "If you want to do this job kiddo then get yourself to the potty!" "No, I change my poo poo diaper." And all the while big brother is using our conversation as a chance to say poopy as many times as possible. Apparently at four he's already developing an affection for potty mouth. Mmmm, good times ahead!

We're Turning Japanese I Really Think So

If I didn't have 2 little ones to tote around town this might be my next car!

When my folks came to visit over the weekend they brought their new little toy along, much to our delight. About a year ago they got put on the list for a smart car and it finally came in last week. Is this little bugger adorable or what? It's not really Japanese, it's made by Mercedes, but doesn't it look like it just drove out of one of those cutsie Japanese cartoons? And the best part (and the reason they really got it) it's rated to get 41 mpg but my dad thinks he may actually be getting closer to 48 mpg! Not to mention the fact that it's much cheaper than alot of regular cars. That's some killer cash and earth saved! These cars are already creating a community of owners like the one experienced by antique VW owners. It also generates alot of buzz, everywhere my parents go they get ogled and conversations are sparked just sitting at a stop light. It seems they're also the first in their little Arkansas town to get one, making them local celebs. You can see an article on their car from their local paper here, along with all the snarky controversy in the comments section.

Everyone gets a turn to take a ride, one at a time, it's only a 2 seater.



Of course we had to do some comparison, their small car to ours


And the winner for shortest car is: the smart car by half a VW fender!


Both cars have their engines in the back

As you can imagine, the Smart car totally beat ours in the mpg department, but the VW does have a back seat, and a trunk!

Recovering From The Seven Year Itch

Monday was the Bohemian and I's 7 year wedding anniversary; year of copper, wool and the 7 year itch. Saying we've been married for 7 years never really seems to do our relationship justice since we dated (read: put up with eachother's college, seed-sowing shenanigans) for 6 years before getting married, and we're not even tired of eachother yet! As a joke my mom bought us some hydrocortisone cream ("a little something to relieve the seven year itch"). Little did she know when she bought the stuff I would actually be in need. No, don't worry no thoughts of straying, just seems I've somehow gotten myself in a bit of poison ivy somewhere. Not exactly sure where, wish I did so I could violently annihilate it, but it's taking over my body and itches so badly it hurts. I'm starting to fantasize about a good scratching with sandpaper! It started as a tiny spec on my hand but I must of changed clothes while I still had the poison on me because it quickly spread to...umm skip ahead if this may be tmi area...my entire bra area, yes my boobs are completely covered in poison ivy rash and this morning it started spreading to my face!

On a happier, ivy-free note, my parents were here this weekend and watched the wild monkeys so we could go on a date! So we headed out and spent way too much money eating way too much tasty food at the Olive Garden and then headed over to Lowes. I know you're thinking "Ohh, Lowes, how terribly romantic guys" but seriously when you have kids your ideas of fun change dramatically. The thought of being able to shop for our new mailbox project without:

"Golden Curls, put those address numbers back on their hooks!"

"Spitfire, the mailboxes aren't for climbing on!"

"Boys, no wrestling in the aisles!"

"You have to potty AGAIN?!"

the whole time is absolute heaven!

The Bohemain did good on gift giving. Gorgeous red placemats, stainless steele ice bucket, and wine racks that attach to the underside of the cabinets. I on the other hand couldn't find my gift idea and ended up telling him at lowes, "ok, image I hand you our wimpy little plastic level and it has a ribbon around it attached to a card that says something like 'thought it was time for an upgrade' and then something sweet and poetic about how you level me out or something and that's your gift, a new level" Yes I'm the romantic one in our relationship. So he ran over like a kid at a candy store to pick out a new level then went home and checked to see how level everything in our house is. The verdict, pretty darn level.

Rain Rain Go Away!

I was really excited that there was a gentle non-stop rain yesterday to water our new sod for us but today is supposed to be move-in day and it's still going. The upside is no watering with the sprinkler! We'll see how much we're able to accomplish on the moving.

08.08.08

These proved to be our lucky numbers and we FINALLY closed on a house yesterday! Yippee! We are now the proud new owners of a cookie cutter suburban home in a little yuppie gated subdivision and, against all I thought possible, I couldn't be happier! This morning we picked up some donuts, chocolate milk and Starbucks mochas and had a picnic breakfast on our kitchen floor. I also christened the kitchen floor by spilling coffee on it while trying to set the timer on the camera. The sad part is that I was more upset about losing the coffee than about spilling on my brand spankin' new floor!

I should use the timer more often, I never get a picture where everyone's looking at the camera at the same time!

I'm already scheming about how to cutesie up our nice but somewhat bland house

Hello suburbia! I feel like I'm on the set of Edward Scissor Hands while they're building for the scene where they show the neighborhood of his new family.

The back of the house needs some serious aesthetic help but we got the only flat yard in our part of the hood so yay!

And there are trees!

The boys make sure the wrestling is just as good here as at the old place

Some silly things in our new house that I'm way more excited about than I probably should be:

I have a new refridgerator!!! A nice spacious one that isn't tan with images of brown wheat inside of it with unidentifiable stains and rust on the outside! Don't get me wrong, I was thankful for the last one (thanks Sarah!). It was free at a time when we needed one and never could've bought one for ourselves and it has served us well.

Mmmm, did I mention I have a new spacious fridge?


dark cabinets, a garbage disposal (woohoo!), a window to the living room and a quirky outlet on the side of the counter

brand new windows that open and shut like a dream, hole-free screens in every window, vinyl flooring that looks like real tile, silver lighting fixtures and door knobs instead of gold and a view of trees in our backyard

Move in day is Monday!

The Secret Garden

I loved the book "The Secret Garden" when I was a little girl, ever since I've wanted one for myself. This week my wish has come true, I've had access to a secret garden every morning in our temporary house! I've been loving my morning routine with the boys: get up, get ready, go downstairs for breakfast as a whole family, explore the secret garden, ride bikes on the hidden driveway, go in for snacks and juice.

Our New Friend Tortilla

The Angels have had their six year old granddaughter staying with them since we took up residence here and the three kidlings have made fast friends. Lil' Spitfire can't pronounce her name but the first thing he's said every morning upon waking is "where's Tortilla?" So Tortilla it is. This evening we went down to the kitchen for post nap snacks and Tortilla's wonderful dad, who is a youth minister like the Bohemian, offered to take the boys along with his daughter to play at his church's nursery while he does choir. I don't think I've made a faster run for the diaper bag ever! This is the first obligation-free total break from the boys that I've had in awhile. I was so excited I grabbed some diet cokes and a bag of chips and reclused to the attic for a few hours of not knowing what to do with myself and loving it! Just goes to show, angels beget angels.

We also had a great first day at our new church. I think the fact that we've been there a few times helped the boys. After church we stood in the lobby chit chatting with some people and turned to see Lil' Spitfire sitting on the steps, donut in hand, surrounded by four very attentive older girls. I think he's gonna like it here!

And here are some pics of our first day as a reunited family.

"Weeee!" Lil' Spitfire's getting brave on the big kid swing

Mr. Golden Curls decided a few weeks ago to be a big ole toot about having his picture taken and ran away from me at the park to hide behind a tree. Gotcha!

This is me showing the boys how to "climb" a tree

The Bohemian Life Part VII

I can't believe I haven't melted from the heat and humidity but I'm still a solid mass and we have our entire family of four under one roof! Granted it's not yet our own roof, It's a super sweet house!

Here's what it took to get us here:

1. 6 months as a single, full-time Mamma to our 2 and 4 year old boys with all the trials and tribs that implies. And for my husband, 6 months of living in a nasty hole all alone without the family he loves in a strange town in a new job and of missing out on his boys.

2. a 24 ft U-Haul

3. an entire sweat-filled, heat stroke inducing, 100º day filling the truck from top to bottom, front to back with all our worldly possessions and scrubbing the house until it looked better than it ever had

4. a caravan including said U-Haul being driven by the Bohemian and occupied by Lil' Spitfire, Mr. Golden Curls, and Annie cat. a Suburban driven by my brother-in-law (aka. The Machine) and occupied by his wife, 3 of his 4 kiddos, a bunch of our junk and pulling our '72 VW bus, also filled with a bunch of our junk. me driving our '68 VW bug with our dog, Maya. and my mother-in-law driving our Saturn with my niece. Whew!

5. a four hour drive turned into a 6 hour drive that went well into the wee hours of the morning

6. unloading some things into our temporary abode and crashing out at 3am

(yes this really is our temporary housing)

7. 4 hours of sweat-filled, heat stroke inducing, 100º day to unload worldly possessions into a storage unit top to bottom, front to back. (ok, I can't claim this one, it belongs solely to the Bohemian and the Machine. Women and children headed next door to the air conditioned bowling alley)

8. several more hours of driving the truck around town depositing more precious worldly possessions in safer places and returning the truck

9. more time yesterday moving the stuff from the basement of our temporary abode to the attic where the boys sleep on one end of the attic and the Bohemian and I on the other. Don't worry, it's a finished/furnished attic. We are so thankful to the Angels who own this house and share it so generously.