Trying to sell is hard!

Trying to sell a house is hard work! It's exhausting actually. Especially when you don't have the cleanest family in the neighborhood world. I'm hoping this process of HAVING to keep the house clean will help the boys to be tidier than Wes and I have been are.

We have had several good showings that have even included a second look. You'd think that we would have figured out how to keep the house ready to be shown at a moments notice, but no! I think the floors constantly need to be swept and there is ALWAYS something that needs to be put away. I'm pretty sure I currently have 2 loads of laundry jammed into the dryer together because I haven't had a chance to fold/put them away yet.

Every time we get notice of a showing, we have to race home, do our little mad rush cleaning dance and then take our dog over to my parent's house. For some reason people aren't big on your dog being there and them possibly attacking them or running away on them. LOL!

We are under contract to purchase a house, but it has been delayed in closing since the middle of March, so in hindsight it's good we haven't sold because we wouldn't have a place to live (other than moving in with my parents....that's a entirely separate post of it's own when you work 40+ hours a week together too!)  I have faith though that the right people are out there and they will buy it just at the right time. God always provides and hasn't let us down yet.

Moral of the story, one day our house will sell and one day we will own a different house. God's timely will be perfect whenever it happens and I'm not going to worry. I might have to rush like a crazy person to keep cleaning up for showings, but I'm not going to worry!

Creativity or Not

I so wish I was a creative person. Fact is, I'm not and as far as I can remember, I've never been.

I found out about Pinterest oh about a year ago. I'm addicted. By addicted I mean to pinning things not actually doing them :O That would take work, that would take time, that would take following through. Ha! Me, actually do one of them? It's just laughable!!!

Okay, truth, I have made some of the recipes I've pinned. My family has to eat somehow! I so long to be someone that can just throw items together and make a creation that I can pin myself and take full credit for. Guess I'll just have up wait on my mom to make something and I will take credit for it! (She doesn't blog, I'm not so sure she even reads blogs. Lol)

Here is one of my success stories from Pinterest. Brownie cookies aka Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie n’ Oreo Fudge Brownie Bar......these were made with chocolate chip cookies on the bottom, Double Stuffed Oreos in the middle, and brownies on top. Delicious and rich! For the hubs' b-day next month I'm making them a bit different because he loves peanut butter. So, he's getting peanut butter cookies on the bottom, Reese's in the middle and brownies on top. Can't wait!!!!!!

Until next time, follow me on Pinterest and see if I find something YOU can make for me :)

(See my original post here)

Blog Party? Did someone say Party?

Blog Party....hmmmm it has the word party in it so it can't be that hard, right??

I've never participated in a Blog Party before, so I'm excited yet oh so nervous about this!

Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Tiffany, a wife of almost 9 years,

a mom for 6 years,

a daughter, and a full time security sales person. I also sell Thirty-One.

I've got a LOUD laugh and personality that I just can't help. My friends tell me they love it, but deep down they are probably saying, "whoa girl, calm yourself." :) I love shopping and singing and most of all hanging out with my family. I really enjoy coffee and sweets. Oh I'm a sucker for anything sweet....it's my big downfall really.

I blog about life. What happens with my family, the things I'd like to do, the things I'd like to make, and my friends. My sister friends are an incredible part of my life and I'm so grateful to have each one of them. Check out their blogs (they really are awesome!!!) Elizabeth, Alisha, and Allison.

The Moon Matters

What is it about a full moon that makes people go crazy? I mean really. There's got to be something inside of us that just can't handle the scientific things that happen with it. 

Yesterday Clayton had a bad day and by this I mean he just couldn't get his act together to get ready for school. He was whiny, cranky and so tender-hearted. He couldn't get out of bed. He couldn't get dressed. He couldn't decide on what to eat for breakfast. Finally, something clicked inside of him and he got in the car and walked into school. He came home from school and watched some wrestling with his daddy. I thought all was good. Until he walked in the kitchen and discovered we were eating something new for dinner. Apparently I make the most disgusting dinners he's ever had. (This is becoming more of an occurrence.) He cried and tried everything possible to not eat his dinner. This went on for just over 45 minutes! Yes people I said 45 minutes!!!!!! He finally gave in, once again, and ate his dinner. Originally he only had to eat one bite, but by the time 45 minutes passed he had to eat all 4 bites I had given him. 

Today.....wow! What a difficult day he had. He got to go to the office this morning. He did all he could to mess with his brother and drive him up the wall, along with everyone else in the office. He came back to the office after school......boy ate 3 fried eggs, two whole boiled eggs made into deviled eggs, grilled cheese sandwich, a 100 calorie fudge striped cookie pack, mixed berry juice AND strawberry chocolate milk!!! When it was time for gymnastics, he didn't want to leave, not without a fight anyways. Once at home, it's time for dinner....he decides his belly hurts too much and goes and lays down in bed and doesn't eat dinner, his favorite, Mac & Cheese and baked cod fillets. Man this kid doesn't feel good. Yet once bedtime comes, it's a no-go, again.......

Carson has been clingy and emotional, more than normal for an almost 21 month old. Our sitter even noticed that he cries anytime she leaves the room......

Seriously, there should be something we can put over their heads or their eyes or something to stop this ding dang reaction to the full moon!

If you have suggestions or thoughts, I'm open to just about anything. I'm currently trying a glass of wine, for myself that is :)

Menu Planning

I hate to admit this, but I completely and totally suck I'm really bad at meal planning. My family can go weeks if I'm not careful on frozen chicken strips, mac & cheese, spaghetti, and other easy to throw together at the last minute meals.

I hate that I'm this way. I certainly didn't grow up like this. My mom always planned out our meals and had an idea of what she was going to do....at least until I go into high school and then I wasn't home, so why bother planning meals for just 2! My parents were always awesome cooks. They can throw together a meal with the simplest ingredients and you'd think you were eating from a world class chef. Amazing cooks I tell you!

Then you have me....Oh crap it's 4:30, I'm at work and I have to feed these people who live in my house! Good thing there's frozen chicken nuggets and boxed mac & cheese at home! I'm so tired of that and I really want to be more like my parents were with meals when I was growing up (not like they are now because they go out almost every night and split an appetizer as their dinner!). The first step in being able to get creative in the kitchen (at least in my eyes) is to be able to plan dinner out!

So, I talked with my friends and one of them, Elizabeth, suggest a menu planning app that she used to use all the time. Menu Planner. This thing is AWESOME for me! I can import recipes from the internet, add in my own (not many there!! YET!), I can track the canned goods in my pantry, the items in my fridge etc. LOVE IT!!!! I went through last month I went through and put in all meals for every day of the month for March. This was good in theory. 

My problem.....opening and using said app. Seems like an easy concept, but when you race out the door in the mornings to get kids to school and "day care", get myself to work at a reasonable time and then work all day, it's easy to forget something as simple as laying out dinner. I have to get better at this. My friends hold me accountable....you need to get better because reminding me at 3 isn't too helpful since I'm at work! I kid, I kid....not really, but you know :P  

I made a decision over the weekend to fix new recipes this week. So far I'm 2 for 2. We'll see how the rest of the week works out :)

Here's my meal list for this week: (we do have a veggie at every meal, I'm just not listing it.)

Monday

Monterey Chicken Tortilla Casserole

Chips and Queso

Tuesday

Philly Cheese Steak Sloppy Joes

Roasted Potatoes

Wednesday

Baked Cod Fillets

Mac & Cheese

Thursday

Slow Cooker Asian Glazed Chicken

Rice

Friday

Leftovers  (I hate throwing out good food!)

Saturday

Hot Dogs with Pushcart Onion Sauce

Potato Salad or Cole Slaw

Hello Again

So we meet again blogosphere!

It's been well over a year since I last logged in. A lot can happen in a year. Last time we talked we had decided to not move and redo parts of our house. Yeah, well that changed again! Our house is currently listed for sale and we are in the middle of purchasing a home on roughly 2.5 acres.

We took some time and decided we really needed to take the leap of faith now, before Clayton is with his friends for several years and has an even harder time moving away from them. If you know him, you know he doesn't like change and he needs to know what is going on every step of the way. My experience has been that you wait until you absolutely HAVE to tell a young kid what is going on with such a decision. With Clay, he needs to know what's going on. Otherwise he doesn't feel safe, he feels out of control of the situation and his anxiety kicks in and we have problems. Like getting out of the car and walking into school on his own because he worries what's going on with me or with his daddy.

Clay has lost 2 teeth since starting Kindergarten this year and Carson has gained all of his ;) We got rid of the ding dang binkie aka pacifier almost a month ago now and he's doing wonderful without it. Talking up a storm now! his most recent change is his awesome interest in the potty. He goes every time before he gets in and when he gets out of the bath. Our sitter is even helping him go during the day while she has him.

As for Wes and I, we are still working as normal.....although my longing to work from home is even greater these days. Maybe one day, just not yet. 

If been a long time, so I don't want to "over do it!" with this post :) LOL I'll be back soon, Promise!!!!

Day of ideas

Not that long ago, like a couple months ago, we had considered selling our house and moving to another area. Mainly for school purposes, but we absolutely love the Elementary School, so we will just try to transfer somewhere once we get closer to Middle School for Clayton, that's a topic for another day though. I wasn't willing to give up square footage and get a higher house payment. So, that idea is out. We thought we wanted to get some land (acre to 2 acres) but due to cost and location, we've now decided against that too. So, it looks like we will be in this house until the end of time now! It actually is great to me. I grew up in this neighborhood, our house is perfectly sized for us, if not bigger than what we really need, and the house payment doesn't go up except due to taxes and insurance!

Since we are going to be here now for.ev.er., we've decided we want our house to be the way we want it to be and not the way it has to be. We want to do lots of different things to the house and upgrade certain areas, beginning with the bathrooms. Don't get me wrong, we aren't doing it all at once, but we now have a list of things to get done!

So, today Wes and I ventured out to the Home and Garden Show. We were looking for a few specific things/ideas for our house. We need estimates on new windows, which we found a couple of companies to talk with. We need ideas for our master bath/vanity/closet area, no such luck there.

BUT we did find some stuff that we hadn't even thought about! We saw a stow away bed, aka a Murphy Bed. It would actually work out perfect for our guest bedroom. We can keep the bed stored and out of the way when no one is here, which we never do, I just can't imagine not having a spare bed just in case ;) That's how my mama raised me though! Always be prepared.....of course that was our girl scout motto too. Anyway, as I was previously saying. We can store the bed away and use the room for an office and maybe put an elliptical in there one day! I really love this idea! We've decided though that we don't want to buy one from a big company and have already found some different ways to build/make one out of IKEA products that will be much cheaper. This is what we are thinking.

The other thing we found is a better way to handle our pantry.

Pull out shelves....why did we not think of this before???? Actually, to give credit to Wes, I think he said last year at this same show that we needed to look into something like this. I'm not sure yet if we will just get a quote from a company on these or if we are going to try and once again hit up IKEA and attempt the project ourselves....or should I say, we buy the materials and have our new re-modeler/Mr. Fix It guy do it!