Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Showing off

Ok so the boys got their haircut last night, so here's some pics just to show them off.
Ok what kind of smile is THAT, Zachary?
Joshua LOVES his new haircut. He begged me to take pictures so that they always cut it this way!
Too too cute!! He just HAD to wear his new Bee Shirt that Grammy gave him, and its matching shorts despite the chilly chilly morning!

FINALLY!


Ok folks, I promise this is the last you will hear about my bedroom until we make our great move west and I post pictures of my new home, but...


IT'S FINALLY COMPLETE...and oh so comfy!!


Sunday, March 22, 2009

The End of Family Fun Weekend

The weekend wrapped up with a birthday party for my nephew Garrett. He turned 3 this week! We had Ice Cream Cone cupcakes and tons of fun. We were even given a chance to "visit" with Jason who is still stationed at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, TX. He "spent time with us" via cell phone!

A few pictures to help you get the feel!

It was great. By the time the party wrapped up I had also wrapped up the baby quilt I've been working on all weekend. I'll leave you with a picture and a question... What do you think??



Thanks Elizabeth for being a great "model"!


Saturday, March 21, 2009

VBS Training, Grandma's 90th, and Too Much Pooh!

So it's been another action packed day in the Family Fun Weekend Event! The day started with some AWESOME VBS training at the Carlisle Baptist Church. Fun was had by all, but especially by me as they had Russ write and perform (twice!) a rock and roll rendition of some verses in Peter. I got some video of it, but it's too large to upload and I don't (yet) know how to pare it down.


Anyway, then it was back to the in-laws to sew some more on that baby quilt I'm making. Here's what it looks like so far!




Not your typical pastel baby quilt, but I hope the new mommy likes it anyway. I however, think I will be scarred for life because of ALL THE POOH I'm seeing. TOO MUCH POOH!

So that leaves one very awesome birthday party for one very awesome 90 year old lady, my grandmother, Adelaide Crider. I'll say this: fun, fun, and hilariously funny. I'll let the rest be said in pictures.

My grandmother was so happy to see everyone!






The ultra-cool pictural family tree that my cousins made for her. We all contributed to the pictures, but the real geniuses that worked it all out were Sarah and Emily.





All her children, all her grandchildren, and all her great-grandchildren!
It was a great time of family and celebration. I had so much fun!

Friday, March 20, 2009

Family Fun Weekend

It's a Family Fun Weekend. The Sis-in-law is here with her three little people (all roughly the same ages as my little people) for a birthday party for her littlest one, and there is a 90th birthday party for my grandmother tomorrow night.

The fun started tonight with dinner and a relaxing evening just sitting around the table talking and enjoying each other's company. While I chatted, I started working on that other baby quilt from a while back. It took me some time to play detective and learn what fabric theme to use, as they don't know what gender their baby is. A Winnie-the-Pooh themed baby quilt should be done by the end of the weekend (or shortly thereafter since her last day at work with us is Wednesday! I really need to learn NOT to cut these so close!)

The children laughed, the puppies played, and the grown ups chatted over sodas. It was lovely. I'm really looking forward to the rest of my weekend!

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

The Day I've Waited For... Part IV "A Small Glimmer of Hope"

Forward progress for the first time in days, I just received the voice message "The switch of boxsprings has been approved, please return our call to arrange delivery."

Phew. Some hope after a long long road...

Saturday, March 14, 2009

The Day I've Waited For...Part III "Hurry Up and Wait"

So Russ called last night and paid with a credit card for a new set of split queen boxsprings, right? Wrong. The lady never got it done. So when I appeared at the store today demanding my invoice there was no invoice, but there was one very angry manager.

So now it's 12 hours until church and well beyond any reasonable time for them to come pick up the trash. It's not happening. It has not happened despite 2 reasonably nice days to pick it up and now...it's RAINING. Russ goes BACK to the store again and Angry Manager says "Oh no. I don't care if it is soaked to dripping they WILL take that mattress away for you. They have used up ALL their chances."

Gee I hope that makes Monday go in my favor! Oh and since the invoice wasn't written...we're now sleeping on the floor for one MORE night. Hoping for Wednesday delivery now.

Friday, March 13, 2009

The Day I've Waited For... Part II "The Flaw in the Plan"

Ok, when I left off the old bed was in my bedroom, and the new bed was on the back porch. Well slightly more than 36 hours later, it's a near total reversal. The update is that my King size mattress and its 2 twin boxsprings are on the back porch waiting for the removal service that I have now paid for, but hasn't yet arrived. The new headboard, footboard, and rails are in my room and fully assembled, the mattress sits on the floor in the middle of it all, and the queen sized boxspring sits in the Youth Sunday School rooms next door a testament to the drama that has unfolded.


The story inbetween goes like this. The bed company arrived with all the new bedding sans orders to remove the old. Enter babbling woman mode, and I sent them away saying repetitively "I don't know what to do. There's no where to put the new bed. I don't know what to tell you." So my new bed sat outside in boxes.


Russ arrived home at 3:30pm. By this point I had managed to get the 2 twin boxsprings out of the house without much difficulty, but no manner of fighting, cajoling, pushing, pulling or shoving would convince that king size mattress that it was out of my life for good. Maybe it knew something that I didn't. Russ helped me fold it in half, bungee cord it, and shove it down the stairs as a king sized mattress burrito. We then started unpacking and prepping the new bed for installation in our room.


By 4pm I was at the bottom of the stairs in anxious anticipation of my new and glorious bed, but by 4:20pm I was terrified that I had made a terrible mistake. We couldn't get the headboard up the stairs. It was too large and cumbersome to make it around the weird little angles and up the narrow steep stairs. Finally around 4:30 we twisted it the only way we had left, pushed up a few of our dropped ceiling tiles, and made it!!


After the headboard the footboard was a cake-walk, well with the exception that being a solid piece of wood, we think it MIGHT just have been heavier than the headboard. A little maneuvering later we had installed all the side rails, and bottom supports and felt that we had earned a trip out to dinner. We thought we'd also stop and ask the mattress company if there was anyway to remedy the removal glitch and come back for the mattress, 2 boxsprings and trash from the new bed. After the woman twisted my words around enough to make a saint angry, she charged us another $50 for "Recycling fees" and said they'd pick up all the trash today (Friday the 13th, I should have KNOWN better!!!!)


So then we come home from grabbing a fast Wendy's meal and make our first attempt to get the queen sized mattress and boxspring upstairs. It's now about 8pm. An hour later, many fights, many many MANY tears, and 3 bruises on my tired body, the boxspring will not make it. There isn't any way. I'm so tired and upset that Russ and I decide to take out the bottom supports, lay the mattress (which we squished up the stairs) on the floor and go to sleep.


Friday the 13th....

I get up (around noon) check my facebook, and lo and behold my dear friend Julie says, "Hey Steph, what about a split queen boxspring?" A what? I know they make a split KING but a split QUEEN? NO I had NO IDEA!! So I call the mattress store again, "Sure we have those. It will cost you $100 to switch the boxsprings out and another $65 delivery fee." You're kidding right, Nope! So Russ calls back after I yell and scream and stomp my feet awhile, and he pays it! They tell him that it will be delivered tomorrow (Saturday the 14th) "Oh and Ma'am" he says, "will they PLEASE pick up the trash and mattress tomorrow too please?" She replies "Absolutely" and an hour later she calls to say that there is this "little known rule. Switches require management approval at the warehouse and he's gone for the week. We can't get it approved until Monday, so we can't deliver until Tuesday next week."


So ... I'm still sleeping on the floor... inside the frame of my gorgeous new bed...with all the trash on my backporch...a boxspring in the Youth Sunday School room ... and church meets in about 36 hours. Great.

Thursday, March 12, 2009

The Day I've Waited For...

So it's the day I have waited for!! My new beautiful queen size sleigh bed arrives today. I woke up early to receive the phone call stating "we will be there between 9am and noon" ... wait, a three hour window?? You don't know when you're coming? Ok no big deal.

So now I'm home here with Alexander waiting with tremendous anticipation for the truck to arrive. At 10am it finally comes!!! They pull up to the back door, get out, and open the truck! I am SO very happy!! But wait! They start unloading and heading toward the house!! This isn't right. I calmly say, "You're not going to have any where to put that until the king size bedding is removed." Then it all unfolds in just minutes....I paid for the bed, the mattress and boxspring, delivery and set-up. I did not pay for removal of the old bedding. How was I supposed to sleep last night, wake up after Russ left for the day, and still remove my king size?? This is insane. So my new bed sits inside its cardboard boxes on my back porch, the mattresses are inside the church's Sunday School half of our house, and I'm on the phone with people who might be able to help me.

Update to follow.....I hope!

Monday, March 2, 2009

Stalking the prey

We're all seated at one of those fine eating establishments that gives each child a bag with his or her food in it accompanied by an inexpensive toy. I have told my youngest not once, not twice, (not even sure how many times it truly was) that he could not have his toy until all his consumables had been devoured when I noticed that he had disappeared. I then see a small (apparently disembodied) hand come up and over the table on my side tapping around where his toy had just been. Noticing this event I handed the toy to Daddy on the other side of the table. Eventually a little brown haired head appeared to peek around at the table and see where the prey had moved to. He then (very silently) tucked back under the table and the hand reappeared patting down the other side of the table. Of course Daddy and I had moved it yet again, by this time all 4 of us sitting at the table are in such riotous laughter that we cannot even scold the little tiger for his stalking action. We simply blurt out between laughs "sit down and eat" and life resumes.

Sunday, March 1, 2009

It's March 1

So I realized today that it is March 1st. That may seem to most of you to be very obvious, but it is very dramatic to me, because it means that we only have 4 months until we wanted to make our move to Louisville, Kentucky.

4 months to downsize, 4 months to pack, 4 months to clean...4 very, very short months.

I am now terrified. I think I will go resume my rocking in the corner now, at least until I figure out how in the world this is all going to work...