The Not So Dreamy House

Ok.. So remember this house..




Yes the one I thought sounded perfect. Well.. it's not.

We went to go look at it on Sunday, the agent by chance actually lived in the community, so she was there as soon as she could be.

First off, let me tell you a little about the community.

Ok one word.. AMAZING.

You drive through these iron arches that read "The Plantation". Then you drive past houses and houses.. the most amazing houses you have ever seen. They are all on 1 acre lots, and they are all HUGE. Each one looks different, like it was made for that particular family.

Beautiful.

As you round the bend, you see a private park area. It has a jungle gym, swings, picnic tables, poles for volleyball nets, cages for batting.. just a mini park area for all residents.

Then you come to a T intersection. If you go right, you go down to the private boat docks. There are about 8 slots and a launching area. Nice.. very nice. If you take the T to the left.. you hit the jackpot.. the biggest and most beautiful houses in the neighborhood. They all back up to the bay.

Of course.. the house we wanted.. was on this street.. the beautiful.. rich.. street.

As we approached the house.. we held our breaths.. then released as we looked up and saw it...

It was not as beautiful as we though. It wasn't bad, but in as good of shape as we would have wished.

The gutters needed some adjustments, the grass was wild and overgrown, the sidewalk was cracked, and two of the columns on the front porch were missing. These were just things that we saw right away. Repairable.. if the house was worth it. But still.. Strike 1.

After calling the agent, we found out that this house was a short sell, which means the bank owns it. Great.. strike 2. They would want us to buy it right away, and we have another house to sell. Not good.

Finally, the agent arrived and we got the golden key to look at the house. The entry way wasn't grand, but still beautiful. Carpet downstairs was good; bookshelves were a bonus. The half bath was recently redone.. and redone beautifully.. I couldn't have done it better. Kitchen.. beautiful - check!... Breakfast area - Loved it! - check!... Dining room was good.. Laundry room doors were placed weird, but do able. Garage was a dream for the family. Two cars fit in the main slot and it had a mini garage built onto the back for ATV's and lawnmowers.... John was in heaven. Then the master bedroom came... Disaster... oh sweet disaster... The carpet had all kinds of stains in it, but yea.. replaceable.. Master bedroom closet was a dream. The bathroom was not... white tile.. for miles and miles.. old, cheap, white tile. Yuck. The shower was so small.. my left butt cheek.. MIGHT fit in it. Then the agent came in and informed us that there had been a ton of problems in the master bath and that it had flooded before, along with the master bedroom.. STRIKE 3!! We are OUTTA here!! I could see the water spots in the carpet... I could see the bowing of the walls and the baseboards.. I could see the nasty looking attempts to patch everything.. not good. I was finished.

Joshua loved the stairs, so we ventured up to see what was in store. Up here, it was very evident that ALL the carpet would need replacing.

The first bedroom was cute.. nice size.. built in benches that serve as toy boxes, but a very small closet, very small. This would make a nice play room though.

Second room was a office, complete with a giant desk.. not bad.

Third room was huge, had better closets, but looked kinda girly.

Forth room was large as well, had a good closet, but was oddly shaped. It had a bench seat, which was really cool, but I didn't like the fact that you had full access to the attic through here. Still... it could have work...

If I hadn't seen the master bedroom or bathroom.

So.. it wasn't for us.. we decided that for the money we would have to put into it to get it fixed, there were several other houses that were newer and not in 'as bad' condition as this one.

I will continue to troll the HAR website and look at floorplans until I do find the one for us.

Seven On Sundays

Here are sights from Sunday this week...












1. Watching Bob the Builder in his robe.
2. He is all ready to go to church. He tries to bring a million toys with him.
3. The mess he made before church.
4. The new cars his daddy bought him at Toys R Us.
5. I hit the Jackpot at Old Navy!! 8 Tops, 3 Pants, 2 Jackets, Socks for $65.. not bad.. retails for almost $200. Got a great savings!
6. Playing Batman and Robin before bed.
7. I lay books on his bed at night hoping he will read them.. tonight.. I caught him looking at them. He loves to read, but its rare that I can catch a picture.

The Sickly Weekend

Ugh.. so this weekend totally sucks. I feel like death twice over.. or at least what I think it would feel like.

I started a new medication.. and it is not going well. The doctor's say I have to give it time...... so I am.

No.. I am not super sick or anything, this is just a regular medication that I have to take daily and my body is not responding well to the adjustments in hormones it's making.

Thankfully, my mother and father were so willing to help out and have taken Joshua for the day so that I can rest. This medicine makes me nauseous and fatigued. I have slept most of the day.. and watched TV while folding clothes the rest of the day. If Joshua were here... I have a feeling it would be a lot worse. My mother is amazing with him though, and I know she loves him very much. She has more patience than I do with him because I am still learning.

Hopefully I will be feeling better soon... I have a lot I would love to blog about... until then.. I'm off to get more rest.

The Dream House

I found it.. at least I believe I did.. I really LOVE this house. We haven't been to see the inside of it yet.. but from it's listing, it sounds like a dream come true. We aren't really in the market for a new house.. well we are.. but getting ours sold is going to be a huge hassle because the market is not good for sellers right now.

John will tell you that some nights I live on the HAR website where I can browse through dozens and dozens of houses. I talk to him all the time about all the dreams I have. Heck... last week I posted a dream floorplan I would love to build.

Yes.. I am a dreamer..

Anyways.. if we couldn't build.. and if we could buy this now.. it is my dream home. It's 3200+ square feet and the price is right. With 4 bedrooms and a office we have plenty of growing room.

Without further ado.. my dream house of the week... haha...



Love the living room... HATE the light fixture.. it would totally have to go. Nothing brass in my house.




Love the classy dark wood.. love the see through cabinets..



Light fixtures have to go.. those shades have to go.. new seat cusions because I am not digging the maroon...



Light fixture and curtains have to go...




All in all.. so far I only see cosmetic things. I wish they had more pictures posted because I am afraid if we do schedule a showing.. I will want it with a passion. And when I want.. I get.. I am just not sure we are ready.

The Nakedness

I swear we don't walk around the house naked.

Well, not all the time.

Just kidding, but seriously, why does the 2 year old just want to skip clothes all together?

I get that we are trying to potty train. I really do. And I know all the books say its easier to not have bottoms on for a fast pull down when needed. But none of the books warned me that my child might get use to the nakedness and not ever want to put clothes on.

This was my problem this morning.

You see, Joshua's actual bedtime is 8 p.m., or it's suppose to be. After all the, "mommy I want milk", "I want a yunchble (lunchable)", and "I need a banana."... well his real bedtime is more like 9 thirtyish... it's ridiculous! Plain and simple.. ridiculous!

We have tried everything we can. But John and I get to the point that we are so tired and so frustrated, we have no idea what to do. It's a vicious cycle of him testing our limits every single night.

Then comes morning..

And little Joshua does NOT want to get up.. let me repeat... NOT want to get up. Yes, the kid will get up at 6 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday, so that mommy and daddy can't sleep in... but if it's a school day.. forget it!! He is 2 years old and already does this.. I'm scared. I see a fog horn in the future just to get him out of bed.

This morning.. like every other.. he doesn't want to get out of bed. We have our usual tug of war with the covers.... we have a tug of war trying to get our jammies off. Seriously... it's a freaking work out. I should be a lot skinner by the amount of sweat that comes off of me in the mornings fighting him.. but no.. my butt is still the same size.

Finally.. no clothes.. no over night diaper... nakedness...

Time for the clothes!

"I'm not wearing clothes!"

"You need to wear clothes."

"I can't like clothes!"

"Well, I can't like the fact that you don't want to put on clothes."

"NOOOOO!"

By this time.. I am trying to wrestle the clothes on him.. I get the socks on.. SCORE!!

No wait..

While I was getting the pull up ready, he took off the socks and threw them on the ground.

Sigh.. defeat.. but wait.. I have another plan.

"Ok, well I guess your going to have to go to school naked, is that what you want?"

"Yea"

"You want all your friends to see you naked?"

"Yea"

"Ok, fine by me."

At this point, I am packing everything in the car and getting ready to leave. Last thing to pack... the little boy.

I scoop up the butt naked boy and tell him we are going to the car. He says, "ok." I open the door to the freezing cold.. its 35 degrees outside. I take a step.. then two.. then I am getting to the end of our breezeway, where you can really feel the wind.

The neighbors are looking.. they are looking hard.. they are thinking that it's time to send me to the padded room.. I know they are judging, but my plan will work...

wait...

wait for it...

"Mama?"

"Yes?"

"I want pants."

"You do?"

"I want pants. I want my pants, and I want my jacket."

Score!!!

The nakedness has gone away and is now replaced by a pullup, wind pants, shirt, socks, shoes and jacket. No more nakedness!

The victory was mine, for today at least.. tomorrow is another day and another battle with the two year old.

The Dream Room

Since Fall of 2000 I have dreamed of my very own scraproom. The kind that is so organized, but fully stocked of anything you could ever ask for. My room. My heaven. My escape. My creation.

Today I was browsing and came across a few photos of dream rooms I would love. When we build our new house, it WILL have a scraproom, just for me.



I love this one.. although I am not so into the colors. I would love like a turquoise and black or green and black. But isn't it pretty!! I like how everything is put away. I am a little OCD at times and hate messes, so this would cover everything nicely and give me enough room to work without leaving a big mess.



This next scraproom is my dream one. I found this one just surfing the web. Not sure where it comes from, but whoever own this.. is one lucky gal.




I even LOVE the colors of this one. One day.. I will get my scraproom, but until then.. its nice to look and dream.

The Day Of Appointments

So Today was a eventful day.. In the rain.. Yuck. Seriously.. I DO love rain. I love for it to rain on a Sunday, when we are all cozy and warm inside our house. I don't like it raining when I am trying to run errands. I think I changed clothes 3 times yesterday before it was all said and done.



Yes.. that is rain on the ranch. Not snow! Oh how I would LOVE for it to be snow though.

My day started out with appointments.. Appointment for me to get my eyes checked.... I swear, they rip you off because you have to buy designer glasses, they don't carry anything else at my insurance approved places. So I looked through the Versace, DKNY, and Gucci glasses.. and decided on a modest pair of Rampage glasses.

Glasses.. CHECK!!

Next appointment was for my car. It needed a oil change bad... and when I say bad.. it was really bad.. I was like way to many miles over. My light wasn't flashing and screaming at me yet, which makes me surprised, but it was time. I was in and out in 20 minutes.

Oil change.. CHECK!!

Next appointment was for Joshua's surgery. We had to see the Ear, Nose and Throat nurse so that we can get everything squared away for Joshua's surgery on February first. Got our debt settled with them, and everything is good to go.

Paid for Doctor.. CHECK!!

Next Appointment was to register for the Hospital. This one did not go so well. By this point, no nap had been taken and we had a mini meltdown. He did not want to go to the bathroom. I had to carry him, kicking and screaming. I swear people thought I was abusing him, but all I really wanted him to do... was go to the bathroom. Last time I check, that was NOT torture.

Registered for Hospital.. CHECK!!

Last Appointment.. thankfully.. was the blood work. This turned out to be the worst. Joshua normally can handle needles.. he is not afraid.. he is SUPER JAWAH!! .. Not today though.. he cried like you wouldn't believe. I think this is the first time I have ever heard him cry from a needle. Afterwards though, he graciously got his stickers and lolly pop before announcing to everyone that he has a boo-boo.

Blood Work.. CHECK!!

Crazy rain and appointments all day.. CHECK!!

Glad the day is over. Off to get a bite to eat at a new restaurant in Winnie call Senor Toro's. Before leaving Joshua had to pack Granna's purse full of toys so that he would have something to do while waiting on the food.



While at the restaurant, he decides that his cars need to be fixed, but that he needs to get a closer look. So, he goes to get Granna's 'asses' as he calls them. All the cars were fixed in just a few minutes. He is a great mechanic!




Without the rain, and the temper tantrum.. today was a pretty good day for The Smith's.


Oh.. I do want to share a blonde joke that happened for real today. We were getting into a elevator, when a blonde lady followed in behind us. My mom let Joshua punch the number 3 since we were going to the third floor. Then my mom turned to asked the lady which floor she needed. The lady replied, first floor, please press 1. My mom looked puzzled for a second and said, "Maam, this is the first floor." The lady turned a deep shade of red as the doors closed in on us and just replied, "Oh I need to go to suite 180, but I guess I will ride up with you guys." Silly Crazy!! hehe.

Seven On Sundays

1. My sleeping Angel.
2. Optumis Prime... or 'Optis Pime' as Joshua says it. Mommy & Daddy watching Hawaii 5-0 in the background.
3. It was so cold today, we had to light the fireplace. I am aware that we dont have any logs.. we have look and looked for them, but around here, you can only buy them in a huge kit, and we don't need the whole kit.
4. Joshua trying to figure out how to put Bumblebee.. or 'Bumbbee' as he says it.
5. Pinic in the living room since it was too cold outside. Ignore my clothes hanging up, today was also laundry day.
6. Joshua standing on the fire truck at Landon's party. He had a blast, but was so scared the fire truck was going to take off.
7. The fire fighters let Joshua play with the water hose and put out a pretend fire. Joshua was so excited and smiled from ear to ear the whole time.

The Day Of Birthday's

Today was a event filled day. We started out with a ride around the block on the Kubota to go visit Mandy at her house. Being as the whole block from my parents house includes all their pasture fields... we went through so much mud and cow patties, it made me queezy.. but we made it!! In the freezing cold. Joshua, had a blast. He loves riding the Kubota RTV.. it was one of the best investments Grandpa could of made in Joshua's eyes. I forgot my camera for the ride, but once we got to the shop and Mandy and Ryan's house, Joshua had to sit on every tractor and visit the pig before heading home.

Once home, Joshua decided he wanted a snack. He looked around and found a popcorn tin. He loves himself some popcorn! However.. he decided to get a bowl and pour the popcorn straight from the tin into the bowl. He tipped the tin over.. and this is what happened....





Joshua did try help cleaning up, but it then became a game to him and he was just pushing popcorn all over the floor. So.. I gave him another job.. helping Granna cook...



Luckily, it was time for Olivia's party, so we headed over to their house. Joshua had a blast, and Olivia loved all her presents.





Joshua became the first customer at his cousin Hannah's Beauty Shop.. and I had to laugh out loud as I caught this on camera...



He looks like he is in the torture chamber.


After the party, we went back home for Uncle Ryan's Birthday party. Here are a few shots of his party. It wasn't quite as funny as Hannah's Beauty Parlor, but we always have a blast with friends and family.







This cow actually belonged to my grandfather, who passed away in 2006. It was one of my brothers favorite toys when going over to visit my grandparents, so my grandmother decided to pass it down to Ryan.

All in all.. it was a great day.. filled with birthday parties, and we had a blast!

The Two And A Half Year Old

It's official. I have a two and half year old. I don't really know how that differs from a two year old.. he talks more.. he demands more.. he helps himself to the refrigerator when no one is looking. I guess that is really the only difference.

He is making strides in the potty training department. Today at school he stayed in his big boy 'panties', as he calls them, all day long. He only had one accident at the end of the day. So, I would say he is doing pretty good.

After his surgery on the first of the month, we are really going to start potty training hard and heavy. I can't wait because not having to run out every few days for pull ups is going to be great!

Since we have a full day tomorrow, we decided to go to Granna and Papa's for the night. Joshua found all the new toys that Granna bought for him.




After dinner, Joshua wanted to see the baby kittens. He was so excited to see them and play with them. He kept saying, "aww how Coout". Olive is the only one that has a name right now because she is the only one that we can tell apart from the others. She has some brown on her coat and a little of white around one paw.



After Joshua almost stepping on the kittens a few times, the whole family intervened and decided to help Joshua play with the kittens... after all.. there are four of them.



Joshua then decided that they needed to learn all about Hot Wheels and Cars. He neatly lined up the cars to show them off.



And finally he decided that Olive needed a ride on his 18 wheeler. Olive lasted about 10 seconds before she decided that truck driving was definitely not in her future.




He is asleep now in the bed next to me, and I just keep thinking how lucky I am to have such a wonderful little boy that is so full of life. These past 6 months have been really hard.. I know I have yelled and stomped my feet a few times... and yes.. I would have loved them to be a little easier. However, God has blessed us with such an amazing boy and I thank him every day for bringing Joshua into our lives.

The Best Kid Furniture

Seriously.. how cute would this be in Joshua's room???







I am in love!!! Too bad .. it's from a Russian maker, who only has stores in Russia.. go figure!! I am not a big fan of IKEA.. but this furniture is suppose to have price tags similar to IKEA.. but is WAY more adorable.

Look!! I love this one...




Ok Russian guy.. come to America!!

Here is the website for more cute stuff...

http://www.akossta.ru/collections/dedal/milena.html

The Meatballs and The Boy

"A boy is trust with dirt on it's face, beauty with a cut on it's finger, wisdom with bubble gum in it's hair, and the hope of the future with a frog in it's pocket. Wonder. Dream. Play. Explore. Find. Discover."

Today was Winnie the Pooh day at school. The kids were suppose to dress up as a character or wear Winnie the Pooh gear. Being as my 2 year old is as tall as a 4 year old, we had to have a shirt especially made for him. It was cute and he looked adorable that morning. I was ready to load him up in the car.. when it happened.

He threw a fit... dum dum dum.... typical. He didn't want to wear jeans, he wanted to wear 'Mater' pants. I tried to explain to him that he couldn't wear any cartoon pants to school because those are sleep pants. He didn't buy it. I took him and showed him the drawer of pants that he could pick from. He wasn't happy, but he found some that decently matched. .. a little.. maybe.. what kid doesn't match every now and then.

Off to school. .... I sent him clean.. a tiny bit mismatched.. but clean.. with a T-shirt that fit him. And this is what comes home to me.....



Looks like a PreK mug shot right?? hahaha... All I could do is look him up and down and ask.. "What happened to your shirt?"

He had one answer for me..... "MEATBALLS".

I say.. "Meatballs?" ... he shakes his head and says again.. "Meatballs".

I asked if he got attacked by them.. he replies with a simple.. "Yes"

Meatballs attached my son today.

I am still unsure why his neck is so stretched out.. maybe the meatballs attempted to pull off his clothing.. weird.

Apparently that is not all that attacked him. I have no idea where he got that scratch on his face, nor does he. He keeps saying that Pooh Bear did it.. doubtful because I know Toy Story is real and all.. but I just don't believe sweet Pooh is capable of clawing a face.

He did get his first battle scar of PreK today though.. for real. No unknown scratches.. no falling on the floor and hitting his head himself.. or tripping. Someone was upset with him for playing with a toy that they wanted... instead of patiently waiting.. apparently they thought Joshua's arm looked tasty.. maybe they thought it was a six inch sub... pfft.. meatball sub... haha.... but.. they decided to bite him. He has a perfect little set of teeth embedded around his elbow. He will tell you who did it.. I don't want to point any fingers.... but Luna.. he is saying its you.

The rest of the school day went great according to his teacher. He brought home a star covered in glitter and told me that it was his princess star. Announcing he was a princess got a few dirty glances from his daddy... but he will live.



The day as a whole.. was a pretty good day. Now if I can only figure out how to keep Joshua from putting mulch in his pockets.. it would be even better. But for now.. it's our crazy, beautiful life.

Ps. This picture is too funny!!!

Seven On Sundays

Sundays are generally our days to relax.. kick off our shoes.. wear sweats.. do the laundry.. clean up around the house.. watch some tv.. prepare for the next week.

I want to try to start taking seven pictures ever Sunday to give you a insight to the life of The Smith's. Here are the 7 from this week...



























1. Joshua playing with his Garage.
2. Mommy's sad attempt at drawing a picture of Garfield.
3. Hallee loves to play bejeweled.
4. Joshua loves Daddy.
5. The mess a two year old can make.
6. Hudson loves playing monster truck.
7. Veggietales was introduced to Joshua today.