The Many Faces Of Ellie

1. Baby Elmo blowing rasberries

2. Random act of cuteness

3. Pirates of the caribean: Jack sparo and the Curse of Flowered Nuk

4. Larry Bud Melman, The former Character from The David Letterman Show

5. Year of the Rat... or mouse....Minnie Mouse and her flowered nuk.

6. The Glass slipper fits Cinderelllie. She found her Prince Charming and they are off to the castle to live happily ever after. If you look closely you can see the the barefooted "Wicked Step Sister" crawling away in discust that the glass slipper did not fit her.

A Pack Rat In Pig Tails

Abbey like purses. Abbey likes junk. She likes plastic jewels, pink sparkles, and necklaces. This is all fine and dandy if all the junk is contained to one container. My problem is, she likes to transport her junk. This is where the purse or purses come in handy. They are a delivery vehicle for all the junk to be moved from one end of my house to another, turning it into a sparkly war zone.

The transportation of junk from one end of my house to another is not limited to toys. The other day, while whipping up a box of rice a roni, the box went missing. I checked the garbage, and could not find the box. I thought I was loosing my mind. Later that night I found the box, in a purse in Abbey's room. Upon interrogation of my daughter, I came to conclusion that she was cooking dinner for her baby in her bedroom.

I fully expected that Cari, and Ellie would acquire "pack rat syndrome" at some point in their lives. I just never expected it so soon with Cari. She just learned to walk mid September for that matter. This morning, she started stuffing toys in purses. Oh, the horror.

What can i say, "it is my problem, not their's." How I adore these little girls in pink.

Power, Corruption, and Lies

Power corruption and lies is what sums up the past few weeks as we try to buy a house. After an "accepted offer" we got word that the home was not sell able in the price range it was listed for. The listing agent has been no help either. Both Mark and I finally told her "MOVE OVER, THERE'S A NEW SHERIFF IN TOWN." There is currently an unfavorable letter in the works that will be sent via certified mail to the president of the real estate company representing the listing agent. Mark has taken over working with the bank who technically owns the house, and we are working on a final deal. Then the listing agent had the audacity to ask us today, Saturday, if we wouldn't mind moving the closing to November 9 because it is going to be a lot of work for her to close as scheduled. YES I DO MIND!!! AND I DON'T CARE WHAT HAPPENS, WE WILL BE SLEEPING THERE ON FRIDAY!!!! SO GET TO WORK!!

We would love all our friends and family to stop by our new house after next Friday, if all goes well. We can go into all the gooey details of this real estate game that has gone into overtime. We will whip up some margaritas on the Jimmy Buffett Margaritaville Margarita machine, and start up a pot of my queso dip. Look forward to seeing you all.

I'll leave you with a few pics of what may be our new house. Check out the size of that laundry room! And while the master bed and bath are still pink, the owners did paint the yellow family room and kitchen white.

It's Not Really A Goodbye.

Saturday was the going away party for our dear friends M and C. And a sort of bitter sweet I'll seen you soon to the very best bunch of friends a girl could have. We have shared the joys and challenges of raising our babies together. I will miss them all greatly, but I am sure they will bd down to shop at Mayfair on occasion. There might even be another girl's weekend. In Charlotte this time.

It was also the first time Mark and I went out without the kids since Ellie was born. Our intentions were to be home by 11, but once the Rock Band for Wii was turned on there was no stopping us. I forget sometime that I can listen, to music as long and as loud as humanly possible. I think we made it to bed by 2am.

Waiting For The Bus

The girls are all in bed by 7:45pm most nights, but Abbey and Ellie are up EARLY. I don't do mornings very well before I have coffee in me. Today was an unusually good morning for me, so Abbey and I did a little shoe project before the bus came. Cari is usually not up before Abbey leaves for school, but this morning all the girls got to wait for the bus with their big sister. ........Just a side note.... Cari loves the school bus, and she also likes air planes.

These entries to the blog today may seem like "much to do about nothing," but all the girls were exceptionally cute and sweet today. (except for Abbey's melt down in Target) I just wanted to remember that some of the best things are the little stuff.

"Don't Cry Ellie! I'll Share my puffs with you."

Although it wouldn't be a day in our life without one of the girls smacking the other with a toy or something, they get along pretty well. It is amazing how sweet Cari is with Ellie most of the time. While she is not even eight months older than Ellie, she definitely is the "big Sister."

All Packed Up With No where To Go

For those of you who don't know, we close on the sale of our house in 2 weeks. Everyone I talk to asks me how it is going. I am not a true pack rat, so throwing things away is not a problem. But, Abbey is. Every time I try to throw out an old cup or bowl she is the first to take it out of the garbage and explain why I can not throw it out. On a good note, she goes to school mornings, so I do my tossing then. Ellie usually sleeps mornings, so it was only Cari I had to contend with. And she was happy to "help" me pack. I did love the Kootchie Koo I got while trying to get the glasses from the top shelf.

Now, thanks to a series of events, out of our control, the offer that was originally accepted by the owners of the home may be no good. The question is, will we have a house to go to?......STAY TUNED.......

In Loving Memory of Suzanne Marie

I may have lost several pregnancies, but I never lost a child I held in my arms. Please take a moment and remember Suzanne Marie in honor of her journey to Heaven two and a half years ago. Her short life taught me to Cherish each day as though it was my last.

I love you Suzanne.

http://namesinthesand.blogspot.com/search?q=suzanne+marie+wisniewski

Compassion

An unscripted moment in time.

Abbey playing Little Miss Muffet

Little Miss Muffet.
Sat on her Stool.
Eating her curds away.
Along came a spider.
And scared her right away.

Trick or Treat

Mark's big brother and family have a camp site at Jelly Stone Park, about 20 minutes from our house. I am not a camping person. I do not sleep outdoors, but I will make a day or evening trip to the grounds for a campfire and good burgers. This happened to the last weekend that Jelly Stone Park is open for the year. It was an unusually warm weekend in October, so we headed on up to the camp ground for one last bit of summer fun in Autumn. They were also celebrating Halloween at Jelly Stone. The girls got to put on their costumes and go trick or treating a bit early. Abbey had more candy than I care to talk about. Her lips and tongue were still blue when we got home. Cari loved her sucker, and for a mom who doesn't like to camp, I had a pretty good time too.

Astronauts like Disney Princesses too

As a busy mom I am good at doing laundry, folding laundry, but I do admit that I am not good at putting it away. Quite often multiple baskets of FOLDED laundry can sit in a bedroom for weeks. As I type, there is a basket of folded laundry that has been sitting in a corner of Abbey's room since Sunday. I don't fret over clutter as long as it is contained. The biggest issue is how quickly a four year old can undo a basket of folded laundry. As I have pointed out, Abbey takes great pride in dressing herself, and I'm not talking about just in the morning either. Anytime of the day she will be wearing a costume or changing her clothing into something more comfortable. And when there is a basket of folded laundry on the floor, it gives her quite the pallet for artistic creativity. I have two choices: Get grumpy, or just role with it. So today, rather than kill her spirit, I just went along with her and this is what our conversation was.

MOM: "Abbey, why are you in your jammies at noon?"

ABBEY: "Their not Jammies, mommy, their my space suit. I'm an astronaut and I'm going to the moon."

MOM: "Is that your space jacket?" I said while pointing to her princess sweatshirt.

ABBEY: "NO mom." It's just my blue sweatshirt. I need it 'cause it's cold in space. Did you know that?"

MOM: "Yes Abbey." I have heard that it's cold in space. Good thinking. You don't want to get cold."

At this point Abbey went back in her bedroom for a moment or two, until she called me in.

ABBEY: "Mommy, I need space shoes to keep my feet warm." Did I mention that her space shoes are exactly 2 1/2 sizes too small for her. I have tried to pack them away on several occaisions, but they always seem to make their way back in Abbey's room?

Later, Abbey curled up on the couch, with her Hello Kitty blanket, I mean in her space ship, and blasted off into space. And that thing on her head is her Nana deedee space helmet.

When Abbey was done playing I didn't know if i would die laughing, or cry because of the mess she made.

A cloudy day for Little Miss Sunshine

Ellie has been nicknamed Little Miss Sunshine due to her never ending smile. It is rare that she even cries or fusses. If she does become fussy it is with good reason. A hungry tummy, a tired body, a stinky diaper, or something hurts her. The other day Ellie was not a happy camper. A combination of the purple bags under eyes and the faucet of drool coming from her mouth were a fine indicator that Ellie was teething. All it took was a good dose of ibuprofen, and a nap in daddy's arms to clear the clouds for Little Miss Sunshine. UPDATE: Those teeth still haven't poked through, but the sun is shining.

Fashion Week In Paris...Fashion at Home

It is currently fashion week in Paris. I love watching updates of what will be in style. Some of it makes sense. Some of it I don't find appealing or understand for that matter. Like this little creation by British fashion designer John Galliano during his spring-summer 2009 ready-to-wear collection presented in Paris over the weekend. Who in their right mind would actually step outside thinking they look good in something like unless they were four years old, or part of a not so conventional profession?

This now brings me to discussing the fashion of a four year old. Abbey is currently at the stage where she likes to dress herself. Tiaras tutus and fairy dust are a must in her style. Sometimes I just have to put my foot down and force her to change her clothes. What can I say, Cinderella attire ( cheap taffeta and plastic high heals) just won't do when we go grocery shopping. Our little family of five draw enough attention when we go places, I can only imagine what it would be like if Abbey wore her dress up clothes.

This morning, Mark went to run some errands and took Abbey and Cari with him. I told Abbey to go get dressed and she came out in her purple ballet dress, pink tennis shoes and black sweatshirt. And a dishonorable mention for her favorite accessory. That brown, raspy old security blanket (NANA DEEDEE) she brings with her everywhere. I shook my head in disbelief at the creation Little Miss Abbey picked out. Oh the horror!! I then took a large gulp of lukewarm coffee, and thought that there are worse battles to fight for. I sent her back in room to put some leggings on (IT'S COLD HERE) and put her in her car seat.

SCORE: Child 1. Mom 0.

We're Going Home

It will be seven years since we bought our house. We brought three babies home, and met a lot of wonderful people in our community. some who I am sure will be friends for life. Despite this, this area has never felt like home. Mark has been commuting for 2.5 years now to the Milwaukee area with hopes that when the opportunity presented itself we would head home. One thing lead to another and M and C decided to move to North Carolina just in time to miss the Wisconsin winters. Once they put their house for sale it got us thinking that it is time to attempt to sell our house. We put our house on the market with little optimism that it would sell. Well, four days later we recieved a reasonable offer, a closing date at the end of October, but no place to go. Not even a community picked out. Well, lots of stress and lots of heart to hearts later, Mark and I picked a community and now have an accepted offer on a house. I love the big bedrooms, the large kitchen ( not the layout), and an awesome laundry room with a stationary tub. I do not love the pink master bedroom, or the mauve counter tops in the bathroom. Nothing a little paint, knocking out a few walls, and a complete kitchen remodel won't take care of. Oh, and since M and C will be taking their Jimmy Buffet Margaritaville Margarita Machine with them to North Carolina, Mark and I will need one of those too. It is good to be going home after all these years.