Here it is... our first "home."

I'll make this brief because I should be packing but needed a break. So we're in the middle of the long and at times overwhelming process of renovating our new home so we can move into it. Now you see, this will make our tenth move in the almost six years of marriage. This is the first time we feel like we are moving into our "home". Very big deal for us. (I should capitalize that to emphasize just how significant it is to us) VERY BIG DEAL FOR US. (There, that's better.) We purchased our townhome as a short sale. It was left as is. Now it was not as horrendous as you might imagine, or like I might exaggerate at times. However, since this was our new house we really wanted to make it "Our Home" by adding our touch. Since we've purchased our home we've ripped out the carpet on all three levels, and removed the lynolium (ugh!) in the kitchen and bathroom, primed THE ENTIRE HOUSE, then PAINTED the ENTIRE house and baseboards, put new wood flooring in the kitchen and dinning room, tiled the entry, front closet and front bathroom, installed new lighting, new door handles, and blinds, and we are patiently (hm huh?) waiting for our new carpet to be installed on Thursday so we can move in of Saturday. Needless to say, this has been a lot of work! However, some people don't know that I use to watch Bob Villa with my Daddy-o on Saturday mornings growing up, AND I am a die hard fan of HGTV. So this has basically been a dream come true. Now I know what you are thinking, cause I would be thinking the same thing. Okay, so you can talk (type) a lot of work, WHERE's the pictures? I promise there will be pictures coming. Probably next week sometime. I've got a lot of packing and unpacking to do.

A Mother's Day Story....

Okay, so I love funny stories. I got this forward a while back...I mean a while back, like a long time ago. Normally I just delete those forwards right after my mother sends it to me. (Yes, my beloved mother is the woman that almost single handedly keeps forwards like the below going. Really? Don't we all want to believe if you forward on a message to 15 people you would earn a laptop or have something amazing appear on your screen. Gosh, I just love my mom! I really do! If you've met my mother you'd love her too!) This forward was pretty good though, and since it's Mother's Day just around the corner I thought I'd share so, enjoy!


So, we had this great 10 year old cat named Jack who just recently died. Jack was a great cat and the kids would carry him around and sit on him and nothing ever bothered him. He used to hang out and nap all day long on this mat in our bathroom.
Well we have 3 kids and at the time of this story they were 4 years old, 3 years old and 1 year old. The middle one is Eli. Eli really loves chapstick. LOVES it. He kept asking to use my chapstick and then losing it. So finally one day I showed him where in the bathroom I keep my chapstick and how he could use it whenever he wanted to but he needed to put it right back in the drawer when he was done.
Last year on Mother's Day, we were having the typical rush around and try to get ready for Church with everyone crying and carrying on. My two boys are fighting over the toy in the cereal box. I am trying to nurse my little one at the same time I am putting on my make-up. Everything is a mess and everyone has long forgotten that this is a wonderful day to honor me and the amazing job that is motherhood.
We finally have the older one and the baby loaded in the car and I am looking for Eli. I have searched everywhere and I finally round the corner to go into the bathroom. And there was Eli. He was applying my chapstick very carefully to Jack's . . . rear end. Eli looked right into my eyes and said 'chapped.' Now if you have a cat, you know that he is right--their little butts do look pretty chapped. And, frankly, Jack didn't seem to mind.
And the only question to really ask at that point was whether it was the FIRST time Eli had done that to the cat's behind or the hundredth.

And THAT is my favorite Mother's Day moment ever because it reminds us that no matter how hard we try to civilize these glorious little creatures, there will always be that day when you realize they've been using your chapstick on the cat's butt.

Man, my lips feel dry! How about yours?