6.20.12 The Cleaning Has Begun - Day 17 70 DOS

We are so thankful for the Klement girls!  Sophia went to our apt. and played with Eleanor all day while we started painting the kitchen, closets, and watched Kiwi Carpets clean our carpets.  Then Olivia helped play with her at her house.  We love Kiwi because they don't use water - it is a little bit of cleaner and the heat friction from the machine that clean the carpets and they offer a 2 year warranty (if you tell them I referred you, you will get the 2 and not the one year) where they will come back as many times as you want and re-clean for $30 each time.  I negotiated them down to $311 which included both living areas, the formal dining area, stairs, closets, hallways, master, and 2 other bedrooms AND our sofa and love seat - I thought that was a pretty good deal!  I will note that just now when I went to the website to get the link, it said it was a dangerous website - it isn't but in case you are worried, just google kiwi carpets and you can get the number without going to their site.

I also can't let today go by without mentioning the first casualty of the move in - my nose :(  I was cleaning a light bulb (yes I am OCD and EVERYTHING needs to be cleaned...plus they were dusty) and I didn't think about the fact that vanity light bulbs get hot REALLY quickly and when my damp cloth touched it a piece of glass immediately shot off and cut a HUNK out of my face.  We went to the ER and what did they do?  Put superglue on my face.  SO I will now have to walk around without makeup waiting for this lovely "bandage" to dissolve.

Pictures to come...

6.18.12 Signing Our Lives Away! Day 15 70 DOS

It finally happened!  But first...I had an amazing morning/early afternoon in my Jeff Anderson Writing Training.  He is awesome and gave me so many tips on how to teach writing in the classroom.  He based the training off of his most recent book which you see to the side. I also was shown a new website I LOVE (thank you Marly) - goodreads!  It is an amazing way to see what your friends are reading and see their ratings on those things along with writing ratings on books you have read AND making a "to read" list.  I don't think mine will ever get shorter as I keep finding so many awesome books to read!  Friend me on goodreads so I can see what you are reading too!  Also, if you are an ELA teacher, check out Jeff Anderson's books - I have also read Everyday Editing and have Mechanically Inclined on my desk to read next!  He has some inventive approaches to teaching writing!

I left this informative conference excitedly and headed to the title office to SIGN the paperwork to get our new house!  It was so fun "signing our life away" and I will say that my stomach dropped when I saw the maturation date of the loan - 2042!  Oh dear!  Hopefully we will pay it off before then!  Otherwise, Andy and I will be 57 and 58 by the time we have a paid off house!  AGH!  Here is the corny pic I made our realtor take...we are so excited about tomorrow - we will actually receive the keys and can get in and get started working on everything!  Praise God that the home buying process has neared its end!

6.12.12 Fun Summer Day with Friends Day 9 - 70 DOS

It is always so exciting when Hallie and Annabelle come to town!  Eleanor talks about their arrival for days before and then talks about them the entire time they are here along with enjoying them.  Not only that, but my dear bosom friend and their mom, Amanda, and I get to pretend we are living out our HS dream of living in the same town and pushing our kids in strollers everywhere and them being the best of friends.  They still are precious together and of course the best of friends, we just sadly don't get to see them every day.

Today was an excitedly anticipated day.  Eleanor and I woke up and headed for our morning run, trip to feed her duckies, and play at Kid Country.  We were so lucky to get to meet Hallie and Annabelle there as well.  The girls played on the swings, slide, and "Choo Choo" and then were ready to go see the ducks.

We headed to the pond with a plethora of semi-moldy bread and the girls had a blast feeding the ducks.  After that, E and I ran home and met the Tantons at the apartment so Hallie could fulfill her request to play with Eleanor's dollhouse and I could shower.  The poor Tanton girls had a first-hand experience of the nastiness and dilapidation that is our apartment in its moving state.  They didn't seem to be too bothered.

We all piled into the Tanton-mobile, left the apt., we headed to Chic fil A  and Which Which to get lunch for the girls and ladies and then headed to the fountains at Castle Hills.  We went to this area to take Eleanor's 2 Year pics (I need to post them too!) and loved it! 

We enjoyed a picnic with the girls and then literally changed their clothes right there at the table and set them free to play in the water. 

Hallie was soaked from head to toe within seconds, E within a couple min. but poor Belle wasn't as into it.  She did get to enjoy some special time with her momma though!

 

These pictures make my heart melt - this is what Amanda and I looked forward to since we were in HS - having girls who were as close as we are!  God is so good!

The girls headed off to have ice cream to cap off the day!

 If you live in Dallas and want a fun free treat, here is how to get to these fountains.  Take the Hebron exit off 121 and go East.  The second light after Old Denton is Standridge.  Go left there and you will find yourself winding into Castle Hills.  Follow the road around through beautiful houses and just after you pass the elementary school, make a right onto Lady of the Lame.  You will see the shops of Castle Hills on your left once you have turned onto LoftheL.  Turn in and the fountains are up a couple stairs across from the ice cream shop.  Bring a picnic lunch to enjoy under the awesome spacious umbrellas, some sunscreen and bathing suits for your kids, a towel, and some money for an ice cream cone afterwards and you are set!  We also ate at Agave Azul in Flower Mound the other day and they have a miniature version of this that we will definitely have to try out!

What a blessing of a day it was to spend with my dear friend and her precious girls!  Hopefully we will be able to see them some more this week!  Stay tuned!

Grandma is here for surgery on her carotid artery.  If you read this, please keep her in your prayers - her surgery is tomorrow morning at 10.  Thank you!

In other news - this is what E is doing a lot of while I have been packing...

6.7.12 Fabric Hunting Day 4 - 70 DOS

SO I am a little behind...I also just learned that this thing doesn't post as the date when you started the draft of the post, it posts on the date you finally publish it.  It didn't used to do that which is frustrating bc I liked to have the time stamp on the post and be able to work on it for a couple of days.  Anyway, today (Thursday the 7th) was fun - Marmi, Eleanor, and I hopped in the car and braved the rain to look at fabric swatches.  We basically spent all day looking for ideas for Eleanor's big girl room and for living room and kitchen curtains.  Marmi and E stopped for a nap at our apt. while I met the painter at the house to go over colors.  I am excited about getting the nasty ceilings and splotchy walls fixed though I am learning this is going to be a room by room process.  As much as I want to - we can't do it all at once!

I learned after talking to our sweet decorator friend, Trish R. that white ceilings are not in and trim should be 50% of the color of your walls...who knew?  So much to learn!

I will post pics of fabric swatches and paint colors later once we have a more definitive.  We are getting excited about our new home!