The Little Mermaid

We started out the day at the park. We were ready for a fun day and we had our picnic basket packed. We sat down to our lunch and dark, ominous storm clouds rolled in. It didn't take us long to pack everything up and find a new location for the picnic. We decided to just go to the mall so the kids could finish eating and still spend the time together. We parked in the garage since it was already pouring and were just walking into the mall when I saw a nice bench next to the large fountain and I decided that would be the perfect place to continue our picnic.

The "big girls" sat facing the fountain while Jennie and I sat facing the other way to feed the babies.

I had one little mishap, while I was cutting our apple a chunk flew over my shoulder and into the fountain. I cracked up.

Jennie and I reminded the girls to scoot back so they wouldn't fall in and at one point I made a dive because I thought that Kendall was going in. But it was a false alarm. I returned to my job of feeding Kate

Can you guess what happened next?

Poor little lady. She kept saying two things: 1) Why did I fall in the water!? and 2) People saw me! Now that we are home and dry she thinks it is funny though so all is good.

Keeping Busy **Edited to add more pictures

I've been trying to keep the girls busy this week. I'm wanting to cram in as much fun as possible before we have the stress of the "big move". We went to Noah's Ark the other day with Jennie, Anna, and Noah. Kate had so much fun it was ridiculous. We haven't been since she started walking and as soon as I put her feet on the ground she was off and running with her arms waving in the air and screaming like a maniac, she was estactic. She just ran from one thing to the next and made herself at home by getting really close to any other kid and playing with whatever they were playing with, then looking up and smiling at them really big. Luckily they didn't seem to mind. It is very clear that her personality is different from Kendall's!

Kendall and I have been doing a lot of art projects lately. I had all the supplies out today trying to sort them a little. Once we're in the new house I want to get shoebox size plastic containers to sort each thing into. That way only one medium will be out at a time...easier to stay focused and to clean up.

Last night after bath we played dress up.

This afternoon we're meeting Karin, Bailey, and Toby at the pool to catch up and play. We have another showing of our house tonight. Actually we have some progress on the house selling and the house purchasing front. But I'll wait until things are more finalized to post about it because the news tends to shift with each passing hour!

Great Day

We had a great day. The girls were so good, we got groceries and played outside in the sprinkler for a long time. They both took great naps and I mopped the hardwood floors and cleaned the bathrooms. Lots of fun. Kendall went on a bit of a potty protest while I was out of town (poor Gram) but she's back to her old self now, phew.

There is drama surrounding the house hunting that I don't want to even talk about. I may possibly have the worse luck when it comes to finding a house though. Anyway, not going to let that spoil my day, here are some of my favorites from the day.

How long do you think she'll be happy to let her sister drive? Actually, it took about 3 minutes then she wanted the wheel herself. Only a small preview of what is to come I'm sure.

For Brian

Isn't it fun to spin in circles?

I got home yesterday after spending a few very long days searching for the perfect new home. We saw about 25 houses in two days (18 of them in one day). We started negotiations on a house and actually walked away from it today just because we couldn't feel positive that it was the best decision for our family. I was bummed a bit today but we are thinking more strongly about the house that we saw first when we went up one month ago! Brian is going back to look at it again tomorrow.

I didn't really feel up to blogging but Brian mentioned that he missed his girls and that he was hoping for some new pictures on the blog. I understand what it feels like to miss these little monsters so bad that your heart hurts so as soon as he said that I popped the camera card into the computer. These are for you B. We miss you too.

Lots of pictures, I have to make up for not posting!

Dancing a little jig with Great Gram


I didn't intentionally match Brian, seriously.

In our hotel
Kate at the rehearsal dinner.

I love this picture of Susan and Kim, it is a little blurry though.

Last weekend we drove up to Chicago for Kim's wedding. We had the best time and everything was absolutely beautiful. Kendall was the flower girl and she did an awesome job, we had actually been a little worried because she has a tendency to be a bit introverted and shy but she had no problem at all. Brian was one of the groomsman and luckily Mike's (Brian's brother) girlfriend Nicole sat with me at the wedding and she helped SO much, I don't know how I would have kept the two monkeys quiet without her! She is great.

This is Brian's brother Mike. I have on more than one occasion mistaken him for Brian.

At times the drive was a bit too much for the girls but we kept our sense of humor about it. Brian got a serious case of the giggles during Kendall's melt down. Now that is chaos: one kid crying, one dad laughing, one mom snapping pictures, and one baby looking on in confusion.

Next week Susan is flying up to watch the girls while Brian and I go up to look and hopefully make an offer on a house. I sent a list of MLS numbers to our realtor, we are looking at 22 houses! I know that is crazy but it's over a couple of days. This way when we make an offer we will feel confident that is the best house available (since we have seen them all, ha).(Kate's new crayons, she may be a bit too young still, she tries to eat them)

Our house is being shown tonight, say some prayers. Unfortunately it is being shown from 7:30-8:30, way past bedtime but whatever it takes!

Did you know that Kate is training for the Olympics....for soccer?

Cut and Paste

We're experiencing the Great House Search and I'm finding that I want to cut and paste houses together: this exterior of this house with floor layout from this house placed in the 'town' of this house with this houses price. Oh if it were so simple. I really love old houses they have such character and feel so warm to me but their choppy room divisions aren't logical for day to day living. Newer houses have open floor plans that would allow me to keep my eyes on the girls while I was cooking in the kitchen or working at my desk. Right now there are three houses that we love (and another that we loved until we heard about some water damage and the need for more updating then we were hoping for). Here are bits and pieces of each of the houses that we like.

This house with the exterior view was high on the list but then we heard about water damage in the basement, carpet that needed replaced....not ideal since we aren't living there long enough.

I love all the hardwood floors and fireplaces! I can't wait to go back up to inspect these more closely. Sorry for the few and far between posts! We're playing and park-ing and picnic-ing and perfecting the house for a buyer (wow, check out that alliteration). Oh, we're also loving on some pals too. The other day I was leaving Chick-fil-a and I started thinking about when Lorie and I went there right after Kendall was born and we couldn't stop staring at her and we just talked and laughed. The memory made me sad so I called Lorie then I started blubbering on the phone. We're going to miss them!! Poor Kendall doesn't quite realize that her "new house" is so far away from the woman that she asks to see 57 times each day!

Freshy Breathy

Today Kendall had her first dentist appointment. The girls 'played' video games in the waiting room and then Kendall climbed up in the special seat, put on blue sparkly shades, and watched the TV on the ceiling. She was a champ.

Later she showed us that she knows how to read....alright, alright is more like 'memorize'. But I LOVE it! (I'm attempting to upload the video but it's big....I'll keep trying).

I'm experiencing the stress of being in limbo, a lame duck. I feel like we're drawing out the good-byes and I have to stay on top of the girls all the time so that the house stays clean in case someone wants to see it, I'm dreading that Brian may be living up there while we're here for awhile...yadda yadda yadda, just makes me a little melancholy. Life is good, I can't really complain I just don't like limbo. Officially the house is barely on the market, the pictures aren't even on the Internet yet so this is only the beginning.