Home tour

As part of our "get the home ready" for the big for sale sign in the yard (May 13th is the day!!) I took some pictures of the house for our listing. Some of these pictures you may have seen before, I have done "photo tour" link ups in the past. Most of the pictures were taken by me, the ones that look like a "fish eye" were from my very talented friend Amy Aiello Photograpy, she did a photo tour of my home a few years back when we wanted to sell, but since I have changed some things, I wanted to update most of the pictures!

Back entry way, this is how we enter the home 100% of the time.

Kitchen, was completely gutted and remodeled when we bought the house

Downstairs bath. I believe it once served as a pantry. When we bought the house, there was a full size tub and shower in it, but I wanted it gone, so the room appeared bigger.

Dining room (staged as you may remember from recent posts!)

I can not wait to get a new comforter set! This one is U G L Y !

Acilia's room

Miles' room

"Bonus room" which was listed as a 4th bedroom when we bought the house.

Upstairs bath

Hubby put a stackable washer/dryer in my upstairs bath, I will admit, I won't like if  our next house doesn't have this option!

Staging

As you know, I've been wanting to sell our house for atleast 5 years, I've spent most of that time preparing it for sale, so now, that the time is here, there isn't all that much to do. (THANK THE GOOD LORD!!) I had decided that we would not be bringing our dining room set when we move, so when that SOLD my husband suggested we should probably put *something* in the room, so it's not completely empty. As much as I was enjoying the empty room, I knew he was right. So I set out to find something to put in the room, I was looking for accent furniture of some sort, I struggled a bit because I didn't want to buy anything that would match this house, because I am not sure how we will be decorating the next house and I didn't want to buy furniture that we wouldn't use for more than a few months. I have a favorite consignment boutique that sells housewares, so I thought it would be a good idea to look in there. Lo and behold, I found something! A little table with two chairs set. It doesn't match the house, yet it doesn't NOT match either and I've made it work I believe! :)

Now that our dining room isn't bare, I decided to move into the family room. That room was mostly decorated, but it needed a little toy clean up (we stashed toys behind the couch and that had to go!) The toys are cleared and I moved the couch away from the wall. There is a new wall hanging behind the couch and now I thought it would be nice to put a floor lamp between the wall and the couch. Ambiance right?

What's great is that the items I have purchased to "stage" the house, can easily be used in the future, because it's all neutral enough! And, better yet, it didn't break the bank! The Table and Chairs set was only $164. The shop marked it down while I was there!! (SCORE!) and the lamp was only $80 from Homegoods, where most other floor lamps I saw there were $200! (SCORE!!)

Stay tuned for the day we put the sign up in the yard!! I can't wait!!

Ups and downs

Life has many ups and downs. One day, one hour, one minute could be filled with joy, then like a light switch, it can change for the worse.

Easter was wonderful this year, not for any special reason, just because it was nice to see family and see the joy on my kids' faces and church, it always delivers wonderment for me!

And then comes the "down". I remember I am still me, completely and utterly imperfect. Most days I am cool with the fact that I am not perfect, because I am not a perfectionist, however there are things about myself that no matter how hard I try to change them, I fall short and end up feeling as though I am "pretending" and that is the exact opposite of the "authentic person" I want to be.  There is this thing that gets in the way, it's called emotions. Yes, I feel and notice a lot of good around me, but I tend to get caught up in the fact that life is not all good and not everyone is in the same place in their journey as I am, and I on good days, I am understanding of that fact. On bad days, I can't comprehend it and I start to think that it's *my* problem and I then fall into a spiral of thought and emotion. This morning is an emotional day, no one would know it looking at me, I still have that optimistic smile, however inside I am questioning myself and what I can do differently to navigate through this crazy thing called "life". Ultimately I want to be the best I can be, and I have so many aspirations and at times I get so overwhelmed by what I *want* to do, that I turn into a lazy bug that is paralyzed into doing nothing more than sitting at my computer. The good news is, I am not in denial about it :) I *know* these things and I *know* I want to change, and I think we can all agree, that's the first step right? 

Family dinner time

I grew up with family dinners. We all came to the table at dinner time and my mom served a meal for us. It was a given. So, imagine my surprise when we moved into a home, as a family and I was the "mom" who was supposed to put the meals together for us to all enjoy together at the dinner table together to talk about our day. I never considered the amount of pressure that act which is known to be imperative for a healthy family unit could put on my shoulders. I mentioned in my last post, what I think about our family dining set, and the absolute joy I had to see it go! And when we bought this house, the eat in kitchen that once was, has been replaced with a large island with two bar stools. Two bars stools for a family of 4 and a dining room that is not cohesive to daily life spells disaster for "family dinner time" add to that the fact that my husband is self employed and is gone most nights when dinner is served, and momma has to get creative! Last year, we were doing family dinners once a week. It was something that I worked hard to achieve each week on Sunday. Sort of the "Fresh start" to a new week send off. I will be blunt and honest here when I say, it SUCKS to cook for my kids! I never thought I would have picky kids. Afterall, I knew all the "tricks" for getting kids to eat. They were great eaters as babies, and for the most part still are, but when I say that my kids are opposites in the taste bud department, it's an understatement! Acilia LOVES veggies, infact when she was about 3, her dinners consisted of heaping bowls of veggies! Miles on the other hand is quite choosey about the veggies he will eat, yet he LOVES fruit. Acilia doesn't like her food to touch, so I could take all of the ingredients she loves and put them together to try to get creative, and she won't eat the meal, however, if they were all served separate she would gobble them up! Miles isn't too crazy about meat, but BOTH kids love pasta. Hubby and I like just about anything, but it's pointless in my mind to make a big dinner, when hubby isn't home and my kid's won't eat it.

One more reason why I am yearning to move. This past weekend we went on a short little vacay and in the villa that we stayed in, was a beautiful eat in kitchen! It was my mission for all of us to sit together at the table for each of our meals and just enjoy each other's company. The pressure of cooking was off because we were eating our meals from restaurants, and we were all able to just sit and talk and it was G R E A T! It got me super excited about the eat in kitchen I am coveting in our new house and even though my husband's schedule won't change, our dinner time habit of eating anywhere in the house will most definitely change! We are all in for a rude but necessary awakening and I can't wait!
Since I am in the dreamy mode, I will share a few pics of eat in kitchens that I am drooling over!

SOLD!

We have this gorgeous antique dining room furniture set. It's been in our home since before we moved in. We bought with the house, if that makes more sense. It was one of those sets that was sort of "made for the house" but not by any means really my style. I lived with it for 8 years, but I did tell hubby we would not be relocating this set with us when we move. So, it went up for sale. It's been up for sale for a few months, I had many interested parties, but when it came time to actually come get it, things always fell through. I even had a few people ask if I would separate it. At first I was not keen on that idea, but after it wasn't selling, I thought, why not? So, I listed each part of the set separately and guess what, I got an inquiry for the whole set! Ironic right? :) They planned to come today, but I wasn't too hopeful that it would actually go! It was a delightful "business exchange" they brought their 6 year old son and Miles entertained him with Legos!

First they moved everything to the porch. I had to laugh because the man that came asked if my hubby was home. My poor husband, each and every time I sell something, he ends up getting weaseled into helping the buyer carry it out! Even when he was on dialysis, he was asked to help!! I told him hubby wasn't home and I am sure that's not what he wanted to hear, but I jokingly assured him that my hubby was probably thankful not to be there! :) I then did my wife duty and texted my husband and told him not to rush home, or he might get stuck moving furniture AGAIN! :) All of this furniture moving really gave me a feel for moving day, OH I CAN'T WAIT!! And, in the meantime, I get to enjoy an EMPTY ROOM!! The kids were enjoying the open space too!! Acilia did about 50 cartwheels and Miles was making circles!

Sweet joys!

Coach appreciation

Acilia just finished up her Poms season and the coach went above and beyond! I wanted to do something special for her. This coach was always bringing treats for the girls for their hard work and when I started looking for inspiration for a gift, I found some "candy related sayings". That helped move along the project, I then decided since there are 11 girls on the squad, I would get one piece of candy to represent each girl and we would make a list of "encouraging words" in a candy theme. (The words that we used, were found on various websites that are devoted to finding phrases that go along with candy names! Fun stuff!)

I put together this arrangement and I love how it turned out! It was EASY too! I found a basket, placed styrofoam in the bottom, took wooden skewers and hot glued the candy to each stick. Got some Easter basket grass and I did add the little flowers that can be used in a plant or outdoors too. I love using baskets as a gift because they can be used for many other things! I will also be collecting money from the parents on the squad and we will put some cash in the card to show our appreciation with a good old fashioned cash!

The sheet I printed to go along with it says:

2, 4, 6, 8...Who do we appreciate!

"You are a STAR coach" (Goes with Starburst)

"You've been SWEET" (Goes with Sweet tarts)

"Thank you for making lemonade out of LEMONS" (Goes with Lemon Heads, and this means a lot because this season was completely unorganized, without our coach, we would have fallen apart, but she dealt with all of the craziness like a pro and she really showed great dedication!)

"Many & Many thanks for all you did" (Goes with M&M's)

"We appreciate you BEARY much" (Goes with Gummy Bears)

"We wouldn't trade you for 100 Grand" (Goes with 100 Grand"

"Your coaching is RED HOT" (Goes with Red Hots)

"You are a LIFESAVER" (Goes with Lifesavers, and again relates to the crazy season!)

"Thank you for picking up the PIECES this season" (Goes with Reeses Pieces)

"Thank you for your EXTRA hard work" (Goes with Extra gum)

"You worked hard, so enJOY" (Goes with Almond Joy)

Soooo close

This winter was a mild one, so they say. Yes we still had 70 degree days in DECEMBER, however, once February hits, all winters feel the same, LONG, miserable, and worst of all GRAY! The amount of gray days in February in the midwest pretty much takes over the amount of sunshine we see all year. Yesterday and the day before, were FULL sun days and I couldn't help but wonder before that, when was the last time I saw the sun that bright. It was just what I needed. As I sit here typing this, it's gray again and we have a 7 day forecast of rain and cloud cover. But, it's MARCH. Do you know what that means? It means we are in the home stretch of winter and nearing the signs that spring is near! I looked out my window yesterday as the snow was steadily dripping away and I noticed the start of buds on the trees that will soon form those luscious green leaves of life that I love so much! The meltdown of winter is undesirable at best, mud, black dirty snow appears that's been hidden under the white blanket from the last snow fall. It's the like the transformation of a butterfly. The chrysalis is not pretty, but what emerges is worth the wait! I can't wait to see blooming flowers shoot up from the ground and the sun and the leaves and blossoming trees! Oh yes, we are sooooo close!

 Last week Hyacinths and tulips appeared in the stores! I had to pick up one of each to keep my house "cheerful" until the "real" flowers appear outside! When Miles was born, Al ordered a beautiful flower arrangement with Hyacinths in it, the smell of it reminds me so much of that precious time in our life :)

My kids and I have been home bound all week. Monday started out normal, then when Acilia came out of school at the end of the day with glassy eyes, I knew something was up. Later that night, a fever had emerged, and I knew we had on our hands a mini crisis, considering she has had perfect attendance so far this year. Tuesday was a freebie day. School was cancelled due to a "blizzard" (I use that term loosely considering I am one of those that believes the meteorologists are not God and they don't know how much snow will fall, they can only estimate and estimates are not always even close to accurate.) Acilia's school had called a snow day Monday night, in anticipation, so I couldn't help but giggle when we woke up Tuesday morning to NO SNOW. It hadn't started yet, however, the snow did start to fall mid morning and it fell and fell and fell until a measurable 7 inches in my yard. It was gorgeous. I knew deep down this would be our last snow fall, so I tried to enjoy it and push aside the fact that it's March and this is NOT spring weather! Tuesday played out and Acilia was still sporting a low grade fever, I knew Wednesday would be a sick day as well. So I called her in. I continued to call her in all week because her fever did not break until Thursday night. Which is precisely when MILES started in with a fever. Needless to say, it's been a low key week. It's been nice not to be slave to the alarm clock every morning and I am looking forward to another "break" in two weeks when spring break comes in and I am thinking, this low key week wasn't so bad!

Thursday we did venture out to play in the snow. I felt like we needed to really enjoy the snow while it lasts and soak in the sun that had appeared so gloriously in the sky!! The best form of vitamin D :) We have a little hill right across the street from our house, it's like our personal sledding hill :)

Her eyes are closed because clearly she is not used to having the sun in her eyes either! Ha ha ...but look a heart shaped snow ball :)

Franko even got to try the sled with me :)

Notice Miles eyes are closed too! Ha ha! I told you we aren't used to the sun :)

After being out for a little while, Acilia started to get tired. I told her to lay on the snow hill and close her eyes, to soak up the sun. *Almost* like laying on the grass on a summer day :)

I am calling it, this is the last time they will wear their snow clothes this winter!!
(That's me hopeful because both of them have a hole in their snow pants and I am hoping not to have to sew them!
HA !)