New Place and Stuff

Ok, so here's the picture of the new house. And by the time we're through with it, hopefully, it will look completely different. The new windows arrived yesterday. (Yay, they came early!) And they are gorgeous! That big front window is going to be replaced by a bay window. The windows are going in on Monday so I will have new pics then.

The only thing about all of this is that I need to start packing. Packing is not fun. I don't know anyone who likes to pack all of their belongings into boxes and move them to another location to unpack them all. However, I will have help with this move. Many friends are already asking to help me pack, praise the Lord!

This morning my 4 year old was carrying around a stuffed lamb and letting me know that she didn't want to leave it behind and that she wanted it to go with us to the new house. I let her know that yes the lamb will go with us and as I turned thought to myself but many of your other stuffed animals and toys may not.

I remember when I was a kid my dad giving me a certain amount of boxes to pack my stuff from my room into when we were moving. And if it didn't fit we didn't take it. Miraculously, I was able to fit all of my prized possessions into the allotted boxes.

I met a lady at a local festival who was very bitter at her father for making her and her brother get rid of all of their stuffed animals due to a family move across country where every box shipped cost the family money. And he wasn't going to pay to have a box of stuffed animals shipped across country. As she shared her story with me I was surprised at how upset she was over this event in her childhood. I've had my fair share of stuffed animals and toys and as a kid would have hated to get rid of them but if my parents did it would have been shed some tears and then forget about it. Maybe bring it up as a guilt trip around Christmastime in the future to score some extra goodies or sympathies but that's about it. ; )

Remembering that lady makes me see what a Stuff Driven Society we are. Have you ever seen those Tshirts "He who has the most stuff wins". We love our stuff. We buy storage spaces to store stuff into that we don't have room for in our garage. Here's an example I found below.
When I start the packing process I am looking forward to getting rid of all the stuff that I have collected over the short time I have been married. Well, I think I've put enough "stuff" into this post. ha ha

New House!

Yay! We got a new house, well, sort of. I haven't been here in awhile due to the new tasks that have come with our acquisition. We signed the papers in July and have been working on the house to make it move in ready ever since. I'll get some pics up later tonight. I am so excited though because today I think I finally see the light at the end of the tunnel!

Back Again and Oatmeal

First of all, I am back after a short hiatus (first definition) from my blog due to the new addition to the family. I am glad to be back. I've only been gone for two and a half months but it feels like a year or two.

Second, how do you make oatmeal taste good? Just recently I found a recipe for making oatmeal in your crock pot overnight. The overnight part didn't work out too well. After one night try and one day try I finally found that I can make it in an hour and a half with one cup Old-fashioned oatmeal and 2 cups water on high. I've done it twice now and I have to say it works out very nicely I can get up and put all the ingredients in the crock pot, turn it on, and then I do my morning devotions. It is ready by the time I'm done and the girls are up and ready for breakfast.

However, it does not taste good at all. Now before you say anything, the first time I made it I added chopped apples, cinnamon, and nutmeg ~ mmmmm... doesn't that sound yummy? It sure smelled yummy too! However, the only taste was in the chopped apples. Today I added more cinnamon and nutmeg (no apples) and this time sugar. It still tasted about the same. I remembered my dad liked to eat his oatmeal with milk but that just made it taste like glue.

I have not given up. I found another recipe that adds some butter and brown sugar along with some other things. I am going to try this for tomorrow and see how it is. If anyone has any tips or advice to give I am all ears!

(If nothing pans out I have found a Cream of Wheat recipe for the crock pot and I will be moving on to that. I LOVE Cream of Wheat!)

All Cleaned Up

YAY! It's now Celebration Station instead of Procrastination Station. I did it. The carpets are now clean! I can't believe the transformation. I'm sorry now that I didn't take any before pictures of how bad it was. The gentleman who cleaned our carpets did a great job and got out a lot of spots that I thought would never come out. The only problem is now I am paranoid and I do not want to get this carpet like it was. So I am keeping on top of the girls and making sure they keep all stain related items at the table. I have a feeling though that my biggest mess maker is not any of the females that live in this house. So I'll be keeping a closer eye on him as well. LOL

I just love that feeling of accomplishment and the free feeling as if a burden has been lifted. The house even looks cleaner with a clean carpet. I am not going to put down my area rugs until tomorrow morning just to make sure it all dries good. It was raining here today so the air is very damp. Not great for trying to dry your carpets.

Because of this I spent the day out today. I am ready to fall over though. I am definitely going to bed early tonight. Have a great night everyone.

Finished Projects

I finally finished my first project in crocheting. I made a poncho for my 3 year old and she loves it. She wears it whenever she goes out. It was really easy to make it took me awhile just because I put off finishing it. I may go ahead and make one for my 1 year old as well.

With the left over yarn I made a hat for my new little one. It was also very easy to make however it took me a few tries to get the round and size just right. One of the ladies in my church wants one for herself. So I may try and make one for her because she has been such a great friend.

Family Time with the Elephant Seals

Mondays are our family days so we decided to take the girls to see the Elephant Seals. We had a lot of fun. The drive was beautiful up the coast and the girls were great on the trip. According to the Friends of the Elephant Seal website the beach was full of female and young juvenile seals. Of course as I was running out the door, I forgot my camera so I got no pictures of the girls and the seals. The pictures above as you can tell by the datestamp are pictures I took when my husband and I took a drive on Hwy 1. There were not as many elephant seals as there were on Monday. My 1 year old was having a blast copying their sounds and my 3 year old kept wanting to go and play on the beach. I love taking trips to different places with my family. I wonder where we will go next Monday.

Smart Habits Saturday

Yay! I'm back to SHS after missing out for a month I think due to my new addition. I have some new habits that I would like to work on.

1. Have dinner ready every night possible.
(I love to cook but getting going is my downfall.)
2. Keep the girls on a schedule.
(When you live by a schedule especially with little ones it makes it so much easier to live and to enjoy the day.)

Compared to my old habits this is a very short list. But I know it is going to be a challenge. Good luck to the rest of you with your Smart Habits Saturday!