time to chill

He kind of looks like one of the dwarfs from Snow White... but he isn't quite as handy...

I have been doing so stinkin' much cleaning lately, it seems like I might surely die from inhaling Lysol kitchen cleaner or from the cuts on my hands that are so dried out from all the cleaning/washing. I am relieved the people who came through our house twice are gone, I am hoping to relax tonight...

for sale by owner

Doesn't this look like a house you'd like to own?

We have had to list our house ourselves since we fired our last realtor and let me just tell you it is hard work. Wow, I cannot tell you how much we have had to do this last week or so. Today we have our first showing and I am a nervous wreck. Completely. Totally. I don't know why, this is our same house we've had on the market for a year but now that we are responsible for the marketing it feels like more pressure somehow. Please keep us in your thoughts as the people come through today. I have been praying to St. Joseph like crazy. It's not so much that I want to move but I am ready to move on, does that make sense? This year of finding an agent, firing two of them, keeping my house "show ready", not having pictures of my kids on the walls, packing up my trinkets, loading up the car for open houses and showings is starting to take its toll on me. I am beginning to feel like a real curmudgeon, and that is not my personality at all. Listing "for sale by owner" is kind of our last hope, the last thing we can do to get this thing sold. Keep your fingers (and toes) crossed for us.

**update**

Holy cow! Our potential buyers are coming back tomorrow for a second look. Pretty please keep us in your thoughts...

Dayton Dragons

Oh my goodness, we had such a fun night last night.

We went to a Dayton Dragons minor league baseball game. We have been before and we love it. The venue is much smaller than a major league game and it is very family friendly. As we were walking in, one of the workers stopped us and asked us to have Tanner participate in a "Toddler Race" in between innings. They do lots of silly skits throughout the game and they are very funny and entertaining. So of course, we said, yes. We went down to meet the Dragons guys and they took us on the field and Tanner got to "race" two other babies on a big mat, and guess what?! He won! Woo! Well, he mostly cried (it was very cold last night- we were totally dressed in about 50 layers) and wandered around trying to find me. The other babies were falling and toddling like they were supposed to do but Tanner officially broke the crepe paper finish line. So he was declared winner. He got to keep his t-shirt and bragging rights.

On the way back inside the dugout (oh yeah, that's how we roll) we saw Ken Griffey Sr. I almost crapped my pants! I am a lifelong Cincinnati Reds fan, and to meet him and be two feet away from him was a big unexpected surprise. Not to mention I was freaking out being on the field, under the stadium, in the DUGOUT! It was minor league but I didn't care, it was so much bigger than I thought it would be. When I was a kid, I wanted to be a bat girl for the Reds so much. OMG, I love basketball, especially my Wildcats, but baseball was my childhood love and since having kids I haven't been able to go to many games but the love hasn't died. If anything, last night was a good reminder to me, to go to more games and take the kids with me to share the love. I kept telling Zoe and Parker how lucky they were to be having the experience and they were so like whatever. I hope someday they recall last night fondly.

My only regret was not having my camera, we were going to use Paul's phone but seriously, we were so excited, we couldn't think straight. CBS news was there taping a segment on the team because they sell out consistently (for the last 11 years) and it is considered to be one of the top family outings in the nation. So I am hoping Tanner will make his national tv debut on the Sunday show. If you watch, and it shows the race, he was the one crying in the red shirt.

April Get-Organized Challenge

Hi y'all! I am finally getting around to beginning my April Get-Organized Challenge, I'm only a week late. (We'll blame it on us having to fire our last realtor and get our stuff ready so we can sell our home ourselves, more on that later)

So for April I am challenging myself and you to clean up the kitchen. I always do a good cleaning of my kitchen in the spring which usually entails scrubbing the cabinets with Murphy's Oil, degrunging the silverware drawer, uncrusting the fridge, sorting the freezer to find out what that mystery thing is wrapped in foil. I choose spring because once summer hits, well, we are outside, then fall comes and it is back to school time, then winter which brings baking and holiday madness, so you get the idea, now's as good a time as ever.

I will admit that I am not going to totally overhaul every cabinet and drawer because honestly, they don't all need it. I have done a good job of keeping most of them clutter free and pretty well organized, but there are a few that need attention.

First, these. One of the things we saw in a model home before building this one that I fell in love with. I had visions of displaying all my Longabergers and pretty stuff. Then we moved in and I found them to be a weird size. Too small for most Longabergers, too shallow for most plates/pretty stuff and if you rearrange the shelves they look bad behind the glass doors. SO, I plan on purging a bunch of stuff from here, a lot of hand-me-downs that I don't use and stuff that won't fit in one of the teeny houses we will have to get when we move. AND I do hope to show off my beloved Longabergers better, while I can. I am pretty sure when we move, I will have about three total cabinets in my entire kitchen. Ho hum, tearing up, moving on.

This is my silverware drawer, except I don't have real silver, but who cares? It's not terrible, just needs resorted and decrumbed. And I guess I should put away those teeny baby spoons, Tanner is sort of past those...
This is my "junk" drawer. It is the only place in the house where things that don't have a spot go. It is usually not this bad but Zoe loves to get tape and staplers out of here (I keep a bare minimal amount of office supplies in here so I don't have to run up to my desk) and she is not the best one at putting things back in their proper place. Let me add, she has her own supplies and we have more supplies in our art cabinet but these are "easier" for her to get, so she says. As with most junk drawers, it is a catch-all and it just needs sorted and cleaned out at least once a year or so.

My tupperware cabinet, except I only have one real Tupperware piece, the rest are all cheapos from the grocery store. I do love Tupperware though, wish people still had parties like they used to, I would totally stock up. It is a complete mess, Tanner loves it in here, like all babies do. It also houses a lot of Zoe's baking things (Easy Bake Oven) that she uses like once every three months or so (that is about all I can take of the messes created by these toys). These will be stored elsewhere, very soon.

This is my spice/baking stuff lazy Susan. It is a mess of all messes. Tanner has discovered it and he loves taking everything out and pouring salt into nice mounds on the floor. I have been grabbing things and shoving them back in here at the end of the day so now it looks like a hurricane hit. I am not sure what to do with this, I really like having my spices here because it is right where I prep and cook, plus these cabinets are dumb, they don't hold much of anything due to their round design. So I will probably purge a lot and scrub up the spilled stuff and relocate some things to the big pantry. I have visions of matching jars and containers with labels a'la Martha style, but I probably won't spend the money on those right now.
Well wish me luck, I will try to keep you posted. I hope you are inspired to dump a drawer and resort it or get rid of those old chipped glasses or label something, it is so refreshing and nice to have completed.

watchin' my weight Wednesday

Yummy yogurt cheeks!

I have really been doing a lot of self-teaching/researching/reading/thinking about food for the past year since I started Weight Watchers. I know things that I didn't know before and it has really had an effect on our family. We are buying mostly organic produce, dairy, and meat (if it is available) and we are eating other organic products as we try them and like them. I am positive it is making us healthier. I am considering joining one of those CSAs (where you get produce directly from a local farmer), I am using my bread making machine at least once a week and we are all eating way more fruits and veggies then ever before.

But you know what I read (sorry can't remember where) that really struck a cord with me? It was in regards to choosing what to eat, it said something like, "if you won't feed it to a baby or eat it while you are pregnant, do you really think you should eat it?" Wow! Simple, easy, memorable, and true.

Of course, I think M&M's are exempt because all my kids had them during their time cooking in my oven and as their first real candy, I just can't resist those little chubby toddler fingers grabbing for a teeny chocolatey treat and no matter how healthy we are striving to be, we won't give them up. So on that note, I am going to go move around, all this Easter candy is soooo... tempting.

Spring things

Ok, so this hat is a bit too small... but isn't he just the cutest!? Don't you just love how his finger is poised to ring the bell? He loves to ring the bell, so fun.

Today:

I wore flip flops for the first time since last year.

I made it to spinning at 5:30 even though I was up late (until midnight) screaming at the NCAA final game, seriously, I could go on forever about how mad I am that Duke (can't believe I just typed that name on my blog!) won...

Parker gave me a dandelion, "just cos I love you mommy" he said.

Our trees have flowers on them.

My tulips are blooming.

I plan on doing about 10 loads of laundry, oh yeah, we have that much.

I sorted out my old coupons and ready to add new ones to the binder.

I listed our house on Craigslist myself, screw those nasty realtors.

I might make it to the grocery today, need produce, baaaaaaad.

I finished switching the kid's closets from winter to summer clothes.

I ate PB & J for breakfast on toast, yummo.

It is going to be 83 degrees, yes!

I found three new recipes I want to make this week, hence, need to go to the grocery.

I am feeling happy.

Another thing to share... totally random...

I heard my alarm go off this morning when I was right in the middle of a dream. In my dream, I was at a party for 5K runners. (Whatever, they don't have those, I don't think!) An old boyfriend was there and he was telling me how I messed up his whole life by not staying with him, blah blah. (Just a note, I haven't thought of said boy for about 20 years or so, weird!) Then, this is the kicker, Alice Cooper, yes, him, came up to me wearing spandex shorts no less, and said, "you're lookin' good kiddo, keep it up." Then he gave me a football player butt smack, you know, like the kind they do after they huddle. If you are a dream analyzer, that one should keep you busy for a while.

Happy Easter

If anyone has a trick to getting more than one child to look "right" in a posed picture, please share. I have learned to embrace flawed posed photos. That's life, right?! I mean, Tanner has a big bruise on his cheek while he is holding his snack cup, Parker only smiles if I say "you have stinky feet" and Zoe, well she thinks she should be the ONLY person ever captured on film, center of the shot of course. And they are not even dressed in cute Easter pastels, oh well, like I said, that's life!

Happy Easter from me and my bunnies!