He's Trying To Kill Me

If I fall over dead, don't be suprised. It will be from weakening of my arterial walls, or a stroke, or something else stress induced.

Harrison does these things, things he knows he's not suposed to do, but he doesn't know why he does them. And it isn't here or there, now and again, on occasion, it's just about everyday. Everyday there is another, "I don't know", coming from his lips. Everyday I'm trying to understand why he just did whatever it was he just did, that he knew he wasn't suposed to do, but did it anyway.

I could give many examples, the list goes on and on. But just today for example. Sophia got to take a bubble bath in our big tub in the master bath. Harrison wanted to take a bath too. But he's sick. He's sick with a hacking cough. A cough that makes him cough so much he ends up gagging. So I didn't want him in the tub, all wet, and eventually shivering because he won't get out until the water is stone cold and he's therefore shivering. And trying to get him out of the tub before the water is stone cold and he's all shivery, is just more than I want to put up with right now. And I know, I know, I'm the mom. Take charge and all that. Well, I did. I said "no", to the bath, and I even went so far as to tell him why no bath. So why did he squirt Neutrogena Rainbath Gel into his hair after I told him no bath? Why did he come to me, and the first words out of his mouth were, "I put bath gel in my hair, and I don't know why"? I'm thinking it was his sneaky attempt to get a bath anyway. If he put bath gel in his hair, I'd have to rinse it out, right? Rinsing it out would occur in the bathtub, right? Wrong! I stuck his head under the faucet, making sure to only rinse the top of his soapy head. Not that that will teach him. These I don't know moments have been repeated. Numerously.

"I don't know". Those are my trigger words these days.

That Ain't Oil

Nope, it's water. Our builder sent pictures of our well being dug. What better gift for Valentine's Day than progress?

Why My Mom Is Da Bomb

Late yesterday I noticed a package left on our porch. It was the package my mom said she was sending us for Vince's birthday and for Valentine's Day. Inside the package was goodies for everyone!

1) For Vince's birthday, she sent a gift card to Roy's. Yuumm, Roy's. Thank you from the both of us, since I'm sure I'll be the one that gets to go with.

2) Also in the package was handmade Valentine's aprons for me and each of the kids. My and Sophia's aprons match with cupids and hearts, but someone had to take the picture. Harrison's apron has puppies and little paw prints. The babies have conversation hearts, one trimmed out in pink (Annamaria chose that one), and the other in purple. So cute!
I love how Francesca is looking at her whisk like, "What the heck is this thing, and what I'm I suposed to do with it?" And yes, the kids are in their PJ's, it was still early when I took the picture. So we're all outfitted for our Valentine cookie baking. And "thank you" Aunt Sue for the extra apron, a spare always comes in handy. ( A cute puzzle fabric one.)

3) And as if my new apron wasn't enough, there was a Starbucks gift card tucked into my apron pocket. Finding it just made me giddy all over. Of course Vince had to roll his eyes. He just doesn't understand, black coffee drinker that he is.

4) A generous contribution check towards Sophia's orthodontic needs. The kids needs some help. Much appreciated.

5) A pair of cords my grandma picked up at the $5.00 store for $2.50. Too small for her, too big for my mom. And while they're not typically anything I'd pick out for myself, they fit. So who am I to refuse a free pair of new pants? Thanks.

It was like a mini-Christmas.

Thank you Grandma Dee Dee. We love you!

Infant Water Safety

O-kay, so apparently this is not new news.
I have been living in a cave in the far reaches outside of civilization.
Admittedly, I don't watch the news, it's usually too depressing and overly dramatic for my taste, so maybe that is why I missed this. But even so, I'm embarrassed to admit that I have four children and none of them know how to swim.
I have memories of swimming for as far back as my memory goes, but I grew up with a pool in our backyard. Still no excuse, my children are not strangers to water. Therefore I will be contacting one of these instructors immediately.

So just in case you've been living in a cave as well, check out this link. It's amazing.

http://www.childdrowningprevention.com/index.html

Then go to www.infantswim.com

Two Weeks

I realized that at first glance my title may be misleading. It may lead one to jump to wild conclusions even. So, just for clarity, no I am not two weeks pregnant, so just calm down. Don’t get excited.

Vince called me this morning, outside of his normal calling routine, to tell me Chris from Salt Creek (our builders) had just called him. She just wanted to let him know, that they’ll be doing the soil testing which should take two weeks. In the meantime they’ll be setting up the stakes to mark the foundation of the house. Once the soil test results come back, ground breaking will begin, and she said the process should just fly from there.

It was all good news. She was just keeping us updated. So why was it, when Vince told me Chris just called, did I stiffen? Clench up a bit even? I held my breath until he was done telling me what he wanted to tell me. It then took me a moment or two to process the information. It then took me another moment or two to realize that the information wasn’t bad. It was good even. They’ll be breaking ground in two weeks. Two weeks! So what bothers me is that I immediately went to the place where something must be wrong. Oh, what is it now?

Over the past year or two we’ve been through a bunch of crappy happenings. So now I’m just expecting it, the crappy happenings that is. But Vince is employed, we’re practically debt free (until we purchase this house anyway), everyone is healthy, etc., etc. But I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop. I’m expecting this house of cards to come a tumbling down. For the sh*t to hit the fan. I can’t just seem to relax, and enjoy the good times while they are here. Because I know, this too shall pass. Just like the crappiness passing, the happiness will pass. That’s life, right? It ebbs and flows, the happiness and the crappiness. You’ve got to take the good with the bad. For every sunshine, a little rain must fall. How many more clichés can I come up with?

It’s my ability, no tendency, to cling to the negative that bothers me. So, how does one become a half-full type person? Is it something you’re either born, or is it something you can learn? I heard a person say, “I believe if you just focus on the positive, all the negative stuff will just go away”. I immediately thought, “Wow, way to live in denial”.

Well either way, in two weeks I should be able to post pictures of more than brush and dirt.

Tumblina

Look who took a tumble down the stairs . . .

No loss of consciousness or abnormal pupils. But there was much finger pointing, and even an accusation of pushing. I guess I should be more upset than this, but since she is the third child of mine that has now displayed a bump reminiscent of a rhino horn, I'm chalking it up to just part of being a child. At least it is when you have a mother that someone should have called CPS about years ago.

Looks like 2008 is going to be another year without the Mother of the Year award. And so early on too.

Our New Home

Well? What do you think? Gorgeous, no? Yea, I know, looks like a bunch of scrub, except for that one stubby Cedar in the front. But soon, hopefully very soon, there will be a house in there somewhere. And the farther back on the lot you walk, the taller and older the trees get.

Sunday, Vince and I decided to take a drive out to our lot and let the kids run around and get used to our new location. Since we were unceremoniously bumped from Lot 49, we thought we let the kids (and us) investigate our new location. I think I'm going to like the change. I already mentioned the lack of headlights, and neighbor in the back, but Lot 69 has more trees, and room to roam.

The first thing we came across was kind of gruesome. Well, not as gruesome as it could have been, but still. Gick.

We walked to the back of our backyard and did a little investigating.

Vince tried recapturing his youth, and climbed a tree.

The kids had a great time playing, and looked like they were at the beach digging around. Francesca even ate a little dirt. Ugh!

So far, we're the only house on the street, even though we're not actually there yet. We heard there is a family building across the street from us, but from the looks of things, they've gotten about as far as we have. So, so far there isn't much to see.

Facing our lot looking left is our one neighbor, way over there. And actually there isn't anyone there yet, the house is still for sale.
Those are the people who's backyard will butt up against the front part of our side yard. Whoever they may turn out to be.

And Chris, our builder, called Vince today to give him our new address. We're no longer Lot 69. We're now 1*% Antler Ridge Court. (No I'm not posting my address on the internet.) Teasingly, I told Vince I didn't like it. 1*% just didn't sit well with me, they'd have to change it. He asked, "What do you want it to be? Number 4 Privet Drive?" How cool would that be? "What's your address? Oh. Mine is Number 4 Privet Drive". Call the county, see if they'll change it. And if you have no idea what I'm talking about, you're just not as big a geek as I am.

Good-Bye Lot 49

Oh yea Lena, thanks for asking. I hope your chair is comfy, this is going to be a long one.

Sunday came and went without any word from either our realtor or our builder. I was feeling pretty alright with the situation. Giving myself the old, "everything happens for a reason". Or as my friend Alayne told me, "You just weren't meant to have that lot". Whatever, apparently there are a quite a few things I'm just not meant to have, things that I think I really, really want. Gah.

But anyway, Monday Vince got the call from our builder telling him that yes, the lot sold. And no, there wasn't anything we could do about it. She told him something about our request to hold the property being verbal, and the other people having an actual contract on paper before ours, blah, blah, blah. So yes, TTMW did act without integrity, honor, or any sense of decency, but no, there wasn't anything we could do about it legal or otherwise. Other than hide outside her office, rush her when we see her heading out to her car, and bitch slapping her. But that probably would lead to some other legal action, of which I want no part. Once I got the official news, I was so angry. Not sure at who to be angry, but angry anyway. Close to tears angry. My beautiful one-acre, outside corner, pie-shaped, heavily treed lot - gone.

So Vince called me around 3:00pm on Monday with the news. I started looking at the plat map we had trying to figure out what our options were. The lots I liked were too sloped and would takes a lot of money to backfill them to even get them ready to build on. I really liked lot 67 and lot 66, but they were very, very slopey. "Down in the holler", as Vince would say. Some other lots that looked great on paper were under these huge power lines. All I could think was EMF's and brain tumors. The others were already taken. I did not like what I was seeing.

Vince wanted to take immediate action and get out and look at lot 69, the other lot he was considering. To take advantage of the quickly waning daylight, I woke napping babies, ditched Sophia's residual school work, grabbed some juice, cocoa, graham crackers and two packs of whole-wheat saltines (those things are strangely popular around here), and packed up the kids for the one and one-half hour drive out to Azle to look at the other lot, the more expensive lot. The more expensive lot that we were offered for the same money, much to our builder’s surprise because she said the owner hasn't accepted a $0.01 less than asking price on anything else so far. I'm thinking he knows his realtor acted out of line and was trying to appease us. Oh, and we're dealing directly with him now. TTMW got cut out of the deal. I guess there is a little justice in the world.

So I begrudgingly took off to Fort Worth to meet Vince at work so we could go to Azle together. The whole time I’m thinking, “Fine, I’ll pretend I’m a reasonable person. I’ll go, and I’ll look, and I’ll even pretend I’m considering it, but I’m not going to like it. It’s long and skinny. And three other lots back up on it’s left. I don’t care if it’s bigger, I don’t care if we’re “getting a deal”. It’s not my lot, I’m not going to like it, I don’t want it." I was wondering how long I was going to have to walk around to make this look convincing.

We got to the development with about fifteen minutes of daylight left. I asked Vince if he would mind if I got out of the car and walked around the lot to get a feel for it. See, I’m good at pretending to be a reasonable person. It was cold, and had rained earlier that day, but I trudged on. I found a bit of a path on the left side of the lot, the side that three other people’s backyards will back up to, and I started walking. I walked, and walked, and lost sight of the car. I kept walking, and walking, and finally saw, way back there, a stake in the ground with pink ties on it marking the back property line of the lot. Wow, the lot was deep. And the back left corner met the back right corner of the lot we originally came to see that brought us to the Deer Creek Development in the first place. And I loved lot 73. Loved it! It was pie shaped even. But the house was just too small for us. Then I realized that on the three lots that back up to the side, you can’t even see the houses. The houses, or I should say house because only lot 70 has a structure on it so far, are built way in the front of the property. I mean who wants to pay for all that concrete for an extra long driveway? Concrete is expensive these days. So I started thinking, “Who cares about the three neighbors on one side, if the neighbors are way over there?. And wow this lot goes back forever, and the trees.” There were so many trees, more than on lot 49. I kept expecting a deer to step out in front of me or something. I kept hearing little scurrying noises, and a twig snap now and then. I know deer don’t scurry, but it was kind of unnerving and I’m not an outdoorsy kind of person, but I thought the kids would dig it.

Starting to feel my stubbornness ebb, I walked back to the front of the lot, to the only place where I could actually walk the width of the lot without going through forest, to see just how narrow the lot was. 125 feet was too narrow on paper. I didn't like the look of it. But in person, 125 feet didn’t seem too narrow. Not as narrow as I thought it would anyway. Especially with there not being a house directly on the left. Those backyards butting up to the left of the property turned out to be a good thing, space wise anyway. Then I started thinking about the placement of the lot in relation to the street. Lot 49 was at the end of the street where it turned to end in a cul-de-sac. So while there would not be many people driving past the house, those few who did would have their headlights shining straight into our house. Not good. Plus there was the fact that even though I liked the pie shape of the lot, it wasn't very deep and there was a house built just beyond the back property line that wasn't part of the Deer Ridge development, and was therefore older and let's just say, less attractive. Geez, when did I get so snobby? So maybe I was just trying to talk myself out of something I could no longer have, but I began to appreciate that lot 69 was so deep, it wouldn't matter what was behind our back property line, because I wouldn't be able to see it anyway. And since lot 69 is after the turn to a cul-de-sac and on the inside corner, that meant no bright headlines shining into our house.

So short story long, we're going with lot 69. And while it is narrower than I would like, I think it's going to work well for us. And if I had all the money in the world, I would have liked to have had lot 67. But I just can't see paying $24K for a lot, then putting another $30 into it, just to get it ready to build on. I mean, if we had money like that, I'd probably build my 6,000 sq. ft. home in the Rolins Hills Estates, just down the road, where a one acre lot goes for $100K. But, they have an equestrian center. So, don't you think it's worth it?

Problems Already?

First, some facts:
Our builders = Salt Creek Custom Homes
Salt Creek Custom Homes = Chris and Jim (Or maybe it's Tim. I know, that's terrible, but I'm terrible with names, and I just can't seem to get it straight).
Our development = Deer Creek Estates
Deer Creek Estates = 1 acre minimum lots, in a gated community, in Azle Texas
Deer Creek Estates Real Estate Rep = That Trouble Making Woman (TTMW) or otherwise called "that Bee-auch"
Azle Texas = 16 miles NW of Fort Worth

Now, for my story:
Last Saturday, us and Chris, met at the title company to sign all the paperwork, contracts, and turn over our earnest money. All the "t's" were crossed, and all the "i's" were dotted, and we were all very excited. After signing our life away, we even drove over to "our lot" and let the kids run around and have a good old time collecting bits of dried up flowers, twigs, and hide behind trees. They had a blast. They returned to the car all pink cheeked and happy. But a day or two ago Vince got a call from Chris to let us know of a "potential problem". The week before everything was signed, Chris called, and had to leave a message for, TTMW to let her know that we were interested in building on Lot 49. Chris told her everything would be signed the following weekend, and would she please put that lot on hold. Then this week when Chris contacted TTMW to get the property purchased for us, the Bee-auch informed her that she already wrote a contract on that lot just that week. Our lot was sold right out from under us. Yea, I'd call that a potential problem alright. Now Chris thinks that this agent is just messing with her, apparently they have a "history", and this agent is less than pleasant to deal with. So either TTMW is messing with Chris, and therefore also us, or she worked her hardest to make sure she sold the lot Chris asked her to hold. Just to spite her, Chris believes. So Chris contacted the property owner, who is in California for the week, and explained to him the situation. There was another lot Vince was considering, but it was $4K more, so he and our builders decided on the one we just lost, maybe. I say "maybe" because the owner will be back in Texas at the end of this week, and I guess he'll get things straightened out and we'll have more info by Sunday. But the one thing that was resolved was that if Lot 49 is gone, Salt Creek and the Deer Creek Estates owner agrees to each eat $2K, and we could have the other lot for the same price. While I should be grateful, it just doesn't seem like Salt Creek should have to eat anything. I like them, and it doesn't sound to me like they did anything wrong. Now the other lot is 1.48 acres, compared to Lot 49's 1.00 acre. And I know it's not the end of the world, there are plenty of other lots to be had. There are even plenty of other developments to be had. But I liked Lot 49. It was bluntly pie shaped, and had lots of pretty trees, and would have had a great view from upstairs. I talked myself in to it, and let myself get excited. So is this going to be the first of many glitches? I mean, ground hasn't even been broken yet. Or is this just one of those things? And while I'm still of the opinion that trying to sell a house is much more stressful and emotionally straining, and I thank God daily that we sold our house, and we're not trying to sell something in this market (honestly we really did get out just in time), it's turning out that trying to buy/build a house is no walk in the park either. Where's the joy? *Sigh*

Welcome Home

Today Vince had the honor of doing something I've been wanting to do for a while. As a group, the veterans from his work went over to the DFW Airport, and got to welcome home our service men and women from Iraq. I'm not talking about supporting the war, the politicians, the Iraqi people, etc., etc. I'm talking about supporting the men and women who leave their homes, their families, and the safety of their country. They put their personal beliefs and safety aside, put their lives on the line, and do the job they signed on to do. Their sacrifice is great, and they deserve our respect and our gratitude. No matter how you feel about this war, for or against, I can't think of a better way to spend an hour or two. I read about this somewhere, that DFW is one of the most heavily visited airports for doing this.

Today 121 soldiers, sailors, and one marine came home to the DFW area. I asked if they looked happy to be greeted, and Vince said they did. Happy, surprised, even embarrassed. Being the big baby that I am, I couldn't even listen to him tell me about it without tearing up. Vince said he kept it together, but really had a hard time when he saw one soldier meet his baby daughter for the first time. A little blond, round cheeked three month old. The thing that bothered Vince was that he noticed this new father had a small knapsack, which meant he would be returning to the middle East after only two weeks R&R. I would have been bawling. Vince said the families line up first, the veterans form a line up against the wall and get to shake the hand of each service man/woman who comes off the plane. Then groups of children and everyone else get to greet them. Vince also said there were the "Greeting Grannies", in their hand knitted patriotic sweaters, who give each one a hug, and are there everyday we have service people coming home.

Then Vince told me after everyone debarked, his group went to Gate 14. Gate 14 is where our servicemen are waiting for flights to go back. I asked him how they seemed, and he said they seemed anxious, almost eager. Like they couldn't wait to get back. They have a sense of duty, and have brothers waiting for their return, they have a job to do. He said he knew how they felt.

Welcome Home and Thank You!

Chatty Kathy

I think the fact that I just spent two and a half hours on the phone with a friend screams for my need for some adult interaction. Not that kind of "adult interaction", Vince would be more than happy to oblige. Just some good ol' -sit down with your friends and chat- interaction. And the two and half hours was on my cell phone. Ugh! Good thing Vince just upgraded our Verizon account. And all because Sophia left her sweater at the baptism party and my friend wanted to let me know she had it. Poor thing, she didn't know what she was getting herself into. I bet quite a bit of time will pass before she dare call me again.

Man, Why You Gotta Hate?

The house hunting is over.
We're having a house built.
The contracts are before us, the costs are in, the financing is all lined up. And when it's all said and done, I'm getting what I want, and Vince is getting what he wants. We're having a five bedroom, 3 1/2 bathroom house built on a one acre lot, in a very nice gated, yet rural area that is a forty minute commute for Vince.
We're getting to pick out the brick/stone, the flooring, the paint colors, lighting fixtures, appliances, the cabinets, the granite, etc, etc. The builders have pushed out walls, converted rooms, and pretty much done what we've wanted to make us happy.
The new year is here, Vince is doing well at work, the kids are happy and healthy, the sun is shining, the birds are singing, and all is right in our world. It's a time for celebration. And yet. And yet.
We attended a baptism yesterday for one of our friends newest additions, and even people we've met through these friends wanted the latest news on our house quest. One of the people there was our realtor, so maybe that made the topic fresh on their minds. We did not bring the subject up.
Everyone there knows what we've been through what with all our stuff being stolen, it taking so long for Vince to find work, being screwed by AAA, and I think they all were just genuinely happy for us. All but one couple. And the thing that bothers me, the thing that boggles my mind, is that this couple is one of our original "friends". A couple we knew from California. A couple we've knows for five years. And nothing, absolutely nothing, positive can come out of their mouths when the topic is us building a house.
When the topic first came up about us thinking about just having something built, her response was that it would take at least nine months, and most likely a year. I told her the builders said they could have a house completed for us in four months. She almost laughed at that, then went on to tell me that when she was having her house built it must have sat there for weeks, just waiting for the inspector to come by before work could be continued. Then when something wasn't right, the whole process would start all over again, and weeks would pass before the inspector would come out again. I dropped the subject. That was over a month ago.
The second time she asked if we had found a house, and that's always how it goes, the question is never positive or supportive, it's always, "So, have you found a house yet?" I told her we found a custom home builder in the area that we liked, but I was afraid the spec house was too small. Her response was, "Oh yea, you need a bigger house than that. You'll be miserable." Now maybe that was her trying to be supportive, but it didn't come across that way.
Then yesterday, one of the women at the baptism luncheon asked when the builders would start breaking ground. With my realtor/friend standing right there, I responded that I thought it took about four weeks to get the paperwork/permits lined up once we signed off on everything and groundbreaking begun. Then the house was supposed to be done 120 days from the time ground breaking started. The husband half of the "friends", piped up about how we have to be careful because his neighbors lot sat there empty for five weeks, without any activity, because someone didn't pull the right permits. Before I could say a word, our realtor jumped in telling him that we were having a "custom" home built, and it's not at all the same thing. He responded that they had a "..." custom home built, and it took almost a year for their house to be built. She retorted that we're not dealing with a mass produced home builder in a subdivision. We dealing with a private custom home builder who only builds one, maybe two, houses at a time, and they are on the building site at all times. Those mass produced builders aren't even in their trailers most of the time, etc, etc. She shut him down fast.
Now a huge part of me was grateful that she was there to back us up, because honestly I'm sick and tired of being made to feel that everything we have/do is inferior.
Then another part of me was angry. Why are some people like this? Why can't they just be happy for someone else? Why is everything a threat? A competition? He has stated that he wouldn't work for twice what Vince makes, that's just too little money. We don't drive $70K cars, our kids don't attend private school, we don't go on extravagant vacations every year or so. Why can't we just have this one thing? And why can't they just be happy for us that we've reached an agreement between what will work for Vince, what will work for me, and what will work for our budget. We're not snobby. This is not about "having a house built". We'd be perfectly happy buying a house that was already built, even an older house, as long as it would suit our family. The problem was that we weren't finding that. We lived in a 1972 ranch style house for eight years that was a constant construction zone it needed so much work. Why should we buy something that's not going to work for us, when we can have one built that will? And if it does end up taking nine months, at least we'll have what we want at the end of those nine months. We're not going to buy something now, just to buy something now. Not even in this market. These are our "friends"?
Then a part of me is sad. Obviously we wouldn't have wasted five years with these people if they truly were terrible people. They're not terrible people. They're usually pleasant to be around, very social, nice to our kids. And because of them, we've made friends with couples here in Texas that we've met through them.
Vince keeps telling me to stop trying to understand crazy. You just can't understand crazy.

2007 Year End Wrap Up

I know my blog has been more about food than anything else lately, but I swear, if I keep it up I won't have to cook in 2008. My fridge is packed. It is actually making a sort of grunting groaning noise, I think it is in protest of being over packed. It's full with leftover catfish soup from Christmas Eve (which I'm now throwing out - old fish scares me), prime rib from Christmas, Chicken Satay, Wontons, Springrolls and Silver Wrapped Chicken from tonight, plus there is the ham and collard greens for tomorrow. It's a small miracle I'm not pushing 200 lbs. at this point. Oh, and there's all the leftover Christmas cookies still haunting me.

Francesca is now walking, actually she has been since December 14th. At fifteen months she's our latest walker, but she's also our most reserved, almost timid child, so I guess we should not be surprised. Today she tripped and landed smack on the corner of the bathroom cabinet. I should have taken a picture but I was too busy helping Vince get some ibuprofen in her. She's got a nice blue and purple rhino horn sticking out of her forehead. Other than that, she's been doing fine.This picture was taken right when she first starting walking, not since her deforming accident.

I tried to get a cute picture of the kids in front of the tree, but Francesca wouldn't cooperate. So I told her she was getting a lump of coal in her stocking.

Christmas morning we did our usual thing and made the kids get dressed and go to Mass first, because we're mean like that. Then we came home, got back into our PJ's, then opened gifts. Our Christmas was nice, but it's just not the same being away from my family, namely my mom and grandma. But that's what I get for moving half way across the country. I had a little better luck with the photo in front of the tree thing, I'm sure mostly because Vince was there to help.

Actually, I think Vince took this picture, I was still getting ready for Mass. Francesca looks like she's eyeing the packages and just biding her time. Everyone looked so nice though, and Annamaria wants to wear her Christmas dress everyday now. We've finally found something to distract her from that freaking Tinkerbell costume that she's outgrown but insists on wearing . . . every. . . single. . . day!

So it's 10:30pm on New Year's Eve. The kids are asleep, the house is quiet, and my stomach is full from our Asian Finger Food Feast. Time for PJ's and the couch. Hope everyone had a very merry Christmas, and has a great New Year!

Christmas Cookies 2007: Day Six

All done, and just in time to put a cookie tray together to bring to our Pizza Night/Christmas Party.

Snowballs

Tender, buttery, pecan laden cookies, rolled in powdered sugar. Just don't inhale while taking a bite, or you'll end up choking on the sugar.

Candy Cane Sandwich Cookies

The recipe said to be careful not to overbake the cookies, or they will be too hard. Well, I baked them for the minimum amount of time, eleven minutes, and when you bite into one all the peppermint creme squishes out the other side. Yummy, but messy. I'll try making these again, and just reduce the cooking time.

And the final product . . .

The Christmas Cookie Tray

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Cookies 2007: Day Five

I felt like a slacker the other day, only getting one batch of cookies finished. So yesterday I was able to get three done, and get back on track. And only one day to go.

Marble Icebox Cookies

These are tender and simple. I think they're what the chubs of cookie dough in the refrigerated section of the grocery store are supposed to be, but just aren't.

Gingerbread Men

Vince loves gingerbread but I've never made it before. He took one bite and said it was the best gingerbread he's ever had. Right on. And they were fun to decorate too.

Snowman Sugar Cookies

Simple and lightly sweetened so it can take the extra sweetness from the frosting. I thought they came out cute, but one batch only turned out sixteen cookies.

Christmas Cookies 2007: Day Four

Ugh, still sick.

Chocolate Cherry Thumbprints

Soft, fudgy, pretty yummy I think. Again with the not really being able to taste too well. But the kids loved them.

Christmas Cookies 2007: Day Three / Happy Birthday Sophia!

I'm sick. Sick and miserable. I feel like that claymation kid in the Kleenex commercial who's nose jumps off his face and hides when he tries to wipe it. And to make matter worse, today is Sophia's 9th birthday. Such a bummer for her.

I was planning on making gingerbread men and snowman shaped sugar cookies for the kids to decorate for a little birthday/Christmas fun, but so far I haven't been up to any baking. Vince went ahead and went to work this morning, he had a project that had to be completed today, or else eight days worth of work would have been for nothing. But luckily he was able to leave as soon as he was done, and got back home by ten or eleven this morning. I'm not even sure what time it was, I was back in bed after getting the babies taken care of this morning. So after a bit more bed time, I dragged my sorry butt out of bed and took Sophia to the mall.

Vince and I were planning on taking her to Roy's, our favorite special occasion restaurant, for her birthday dinner. But she wanted to go to Build-A-Bear Workshop. And since I can't really taste anything anyway, it would have been a waste of great food and a lot of money to go ahead and go to Roy's. And it's her birthday after all, so Build-A-Bear it was. She had a great time, and really took her sweet time on which animal to pick. Much to my discomfort, but she finally chose. She ended up with a kind of Christmas-fairy-kitty. And her name is Christie. Christie the Christmas Kitty. I think it's funny how kids give animals human names.

So I totally slacked on the birthday cake, and just ended up buying her a cheesecake from the Cheesecake factory. But honestly, how could anyone complain about a cheesecake from the Cheesecake factory? I think that fulfills my birthday cake dreams, even if a cheesecake isn't technically a cake. And since cake decorating is not my forte, anything I could have come up with would not look quite so nice.
See, I'm trying to ease my guilt over being a slacker mom on my oldest daughter's birthday.

So we came home, and Sophia got to unveil her gift, a new bicycle. She's out riding it right now, so I think she was pleased. Again, easing the guilt. And not to completely let her down today, I am making her a special dinner that she requested . . . juicy, juicy steak, cheesy potatoes, and sauteed green beans.

To on to the Christmas cookies . . .

Honey Caramel Hazelnut Bars

I think these are good, but again, can't really taste anything, so I may be fooling myself. Vince's favorite nuts are hazelnuts, and he said they're good, so I'll have to take his word on it.

Chocolate Caramel Macadamia Nut Shortbread Bars

These are good. I make them last year when my taste buds were working just fine, so I know these are worth the calories. Actually they're better than just good, they're pretty amazing.
Obviously, photography is not my forte either.

Let's see if I can get myself in the kitchen today, and get back on the cookie track.

Christmas Cookies 2007: Day Two

A quick post before heading off to the first doctor's appointment of the day.

Ooey Gooey Karo Krispers

Obviously not ooey nor gooey. I set them in the fridge to get the chocolate top to set and ended up leaving them in the fridge overnight. Therefore they are more like hard and brittle Karo Krispers, practially shattered when I tried to cut into them this morning. I'll leave them on the counter to warm up a bit and see what they do. I've never made these before, so the jury is still out.

Nanimo Bars

My favorite! I'm sure these can be made any time of year, but since I'll eat the entire tray myself, I limit these to Christmas time only. And of course I have to make a double batch to be sure I get my share. Of course just before baking for the day, Vince called and said he wanted a batch to bring to his Christmas thing at work on Friday. So since I'm already making a double batch, do I just give him half? Of course not. This calls for triple batch making.

** They're actually very easy to make. Good luck Lena and Greg. ***

Christmas Cookies 2007: Day One

I've planned to make twelve types of cookies for the twelve days of Christmas, but in only six days. Seeing that we have two different doctors appointments scheduled for tomorrow, and Thursday is Sophia's 9th birthday, it may be a stretch, but I'm going to try to keep in mind that this is suposed to be fun. It would help if the babies would actually go to sleep at nap time, but so far I've had little cooperation.

Actually, yesterday was Day One but I never got around to posting anything.

Pineapple Jam Jewels

These are yummy. Tender and buttery. I have made them before and will definetly make again.

Holiday Wreath Jumbles

I think these are more cute than yummy. Just a plain sugar type cookie with colored powdered frosting decoration. I think the kids will think they're neat, but I'll save my calories for something else.

Today's (Day Two) cookies are still setting up, so I'll have to post those tomorrow.

In house news . . . Vince has decided that my big dream house isn't on a big enough lot, and I've decided that four bedrooms and only one living area isn't a big enough house regardless of the one acre of yard. So we're in the process of working with a couple of custom home builders to see if we can afford to build what we want. We shall see.

A Tale of Two, No Wait, Three Houses

Our first trip out with our real estate agent for some serious house hunting left me disappointed at our options. So the next Saturday, we tried again. And at the end of the day, felt we had a couple of very viable options. This is the problem. I want a house. A nice house. A nice big house, so that when I'm stuck at home with the kids all day, there is enough room for us to get away from each other with out driving each other crazy. Vince wants land. Lots of land. Land lots of land with the starry sky's above. Don't fence him in. Remember Green Acres? Yep, that's us. Our task was not an easy one.

So last Saturday, house #1, we looked at a house that Vince was most interested in. Luckily it reeked of dog urine, and was so small even Vince couldn't deny it. It was located on a street called Hardback Court. All I had to do was call it Brokeback Court, and he said he couldn't live there now. He's just too easy sometimes.

On to house #2. Another smaller house on an acre of land, but new and with a swimming pool, so I was ready to give it a look. Nope, too small, no trees, and a questionable area.

On to house #3. Basically I forced Vince into looking at this house. He had no interest, but we were in the area, it was six minutes away from house #2, so how could he say no? Still a smaller house than I wanted, listed at 2,636 sq. ft., but new and on 1 1/2 acres at the end of a cul-de-sac, and heavily wooded. It was beautiful. Not laid out like I'd like, smaller than I wanted, but very high end. Four bedrooms, three bathrooms, but only one living area and one dining area. Great neighborhood, which will be gated, and all lots are a minimum of an acre. The kids had such a good time running around that property, they were elated. Sophia was running around, her cheeks were all pink and rosy. It was a happy sight. And there were deer tracks. Lot's of them, all over the backyard. And the fact that it was like being on the edge of a forest won Vince over. Oh, that and the enormous 23x30 garage. So the house is smaller than I want, but there is room to add on if we feel the need and the neighborhood can't be beat. That's the Antler Ridge house. You can see that house here.

Then on to house #4. Basically the house of my dreams. 4100 sq. ft. Five bedrooms, three and a half bathrooms, a living room, a family room, a study, a dining room, a game room, and a media room. There is even an exercise room off the master bath. And the master closet was bigger than some bedrooms I've seen. I'm telling you, the only thing I could find wrong with this house was the fact that it didn't have double ovens. Then there was the yard. The yard was fine. Not huge, but definitely better than what we have now. There is room for the kids to play. No, it's no acre and a half, and it's not wooded, but o-kay. It's only a 9,000 sq. ft. lot, but look at the house! And we couldn't reach out the window and touch our neighbors house, so while the houses were closer than we would like, they weren't ridiculously close. That's the Glenwood house. You can see that house here.

Ah, decisions, decisions. So getting back into the car, Vince asks me "O-kay, if you had to make an offer on a house right now, which one would it be?" I hate it when he does that to me. I'm not a snap decision maker. I don't like being put on the spot. So I thought a couple of minutes, the inner turmoil building. Do I choose what I want? Do I choose what my husband wants? Do I choose what I think would be best for my kids? My kids of course. But what would be better for my kids? A bigger house? Do my kids care what size house they live in? And how did I get so high and mighty that I think I need a 4,100 sq. ft. house? Why can't I get the Glenwood house in the Antler Ridge area? Am I asking too much? Apparently. Do my kids want more room to run and play? Is that what is more important to my children? Running and playing seem pretty important to kids. Do they even know what they want, and would they verbalize it if they could? Ugh! So I said I'd make a low ball offer on the Antler Ridge house and if it was meant to be , it was meant to be. If not, I thought the Glenwood house would be a great second choice. Vince agreed. We had a decision.

So while we're getting our pre-qual stuff worked out, and our agent is doing a little homework on the area for us, I'm thinking more and more about the Antler Ridge house. It really is the kind of neighborhood I wanted, but the house just seems so small. 2,636 sq. ft. The house we're currently in is supposed to be about 2,450 sq. ft. and I swear it has more room. We have four bedrooms, two and a half bedrooms. A family room, a game room, and a room at the front of the house that is supposed to be a formal dining but we use it as our homeschooling room. I just couldn't figure out where all that extra square footage was supposed to be. So our agent e-mailed the listing agent about the square footage, and he got kind of snippy.

My inner turmoil still going on. I wanted to go look at the Antler Ridge house and the property again, so Sunday after Mass we made another trek out there. It's no short trip, it's currently 1 1/2 hours from where we live now, but only 30 minutes from where Vince works. So his commute will improve greatly.

The property was still great, but the house was still small. We're talking back and forth on how we could extend this wall, or build out over the garage, etc, etc. So as we're leaving we decide to drive around the neighborhood, because there are still a lot of lots of land for sale. Just before it got dark, we came across a house that was still being built. Pretty much done, but not quite. Vince asked if I wanted to see it inside, but I thought it must be locked, how could we get in it. Well there wasn't even a lock on the front door yet. So we went in, and it was a lot like the Antler Ridge house, but a little bigger. 2,814 sq. ft. Laid out a little better. And it had a formal dining, and a study, but still only one living area. It's only on a one acre lot, but still, one acre. And I think the house won't feel so cramped. That's the Deer Chase house. No link for this house, it's not even on the market yet. So now we have a meeting with the builders on Sunday to see if we could afford to build what I want on a lot that Vince wants. Or should we just go with what is already built, and we'll make it work for us.

So wish us luck, keep us in your prayers, do whatever it is you do to send someone good vibes. I just want to make the right decision, whatever that decision may be.

But I do have to say, with all the inner turmoil and complaining I'm doing, I'm feeling like I'm not liking myself very much right now. Nothing has been stolen, Vince is employed and just got a raise, and everyone is healthy. We're just trying to buy a house. Which is what we've been waiting to do for a year now. I need to focus on being grateful, not conflicted. So shut up already!