One Week to Go

In one week from now (evening) we (the kids and I) will have said goodbye to our house, our neighborhood, our village, our lives in the north east. We are going to begin our journey by staying in Ohio for a few days while Daddy and his friend pack up, clean up and close up our house. 

We decided it would be easier to remove the kids... rather than us sleeping on the couches in our last night at the house. 

I've been preparing them here and there. 

This week we did a lot of fun things. Im trying to keep our routine normal. I cant sit in the house and pack boxes and organize while they are around.. Its near impossible most days.

We did some crafts at the park (below) We are constantly outside. I cant get them to come in sometimes. Thats a good sign for moving south.

And during the evenings.. thats when I usually get more packing, and moving done.

We've been at it for a while, so its mostly last minute things that I've been procrastinating doing. 

Samantha is ready and I am so proud of her. She has been totally on board with moving and big changes coming. She came into the kitchen like this, and said "Mom, Im ready to move to North Carolina"... my heart almost melted. She brightens my days and continues to amaze me. And she's gonna be six in 3 days.. 6. Someone hold me.

There's been a little cold front here .. so swimming has been out of the question this week. So instead we have been running errands, picking out some birthday goodies with some of her gift cards she received, and more parks and playdates. 

We started moving boxes and totes into the garage, just so I could feel like I am making some progress, and so we can breathe in here. The truck comes next week, so I am trying to be as ready as we can be. 

We have parties to go to the next two days in a row, and then Sam turns 6 on Sunday so technically another party that day too.. I dont want her to feel slighted, so Im doing all the fancy birthday stuff I normally do every year. She deserves it, my sweet girl.

The days are going by soooo fast and I just hope

 I have enough time to remember to do everything before next week.

So at night I sit here with my cheese tray and my thoughts and document what this crazy wonderful life is like right now. The end result is going to be worth all this weirdness around here. Bare cupboards, walls, empty shelves, almost no toys, all my favorite things packed away, pre-packed wardrobe for the next two weeks plus, eating what we have in the refrigerator, deciding what to keep and what to toss, saying goodbye to friends and family, .... Carolina awaits, and I know we cant wait either.

For Sale and SOLD !!!

Soooo. March was the last time I blogged.

But for good reason. 

We had a ton going on (behind the scenes)

It was stressful, scary, emotionally draining, nerve wracking, prayer-filled, exciting, and many more emotions that I cant think of but there were many more.

Since just after we came to Buffalo nearly 5.5 years ago.. we quickly scheduled a vacation to NC during our second year here. We missed it. We took Sam down in 2010. She loved the beach and we realized we missed it too. 

After Andrew arrived on the scene in 2012... we went back again for a visit in 2013. 

We actually stayed in our old condo complex.. so it was like living there again for a few days.

This time .. coming home ... I remember was hard. Something didnt feel right about leaving and I remember telling Mathew.. I dont think I want to visit again.. Its too hard.. I want to go back.

So we went through two miserable and frigid, neverending winters here... and we tried to ask for a transfer and prayed and prayed something would happen.

There was no hope in sight.. but again.. Its not MY plan... It was GOD's. As soon as I let go and prayed about what we wanted... and REALLY learned how to pray deeply and the right way... things began to happen. It was amazing.

Long story short.. we put our house up for sale May 11th.

It sold after 1 day of showings.

I sought out advice from a friend of mine on staging the house.. 

She pointed me in the right direction and gave me some amazing ideas.

Thank you Lis! 

I really got into it... Made this little arrangement with twine and yarn balls.. 

And a few trips to Homegoods much to my husband's dismay (at the time)... NOT NOW! hahaha

The house was looking amazing.

And thankfully with 2 little ones.. we only had to keep it clean for 1-2 days! 

We had 12 people total after 2 days of viewings .. and we had 4 offers to review that Monday after the weekend was over. My jaw literally dropped as we were reviewing offers and letters from interested buyers.

I quickly reminded my husband that the Homegoods adventures were for a good cause at this point.

So here we are entering June, 

and things have moved very quickly and smoothly so far (fingers crossed)

Its surreal seeing a sold sign on our front lawn.

The dining room is quickly filling up with boxes.. and I'd say about 1/3 of the house is packed.. minus big furniture and some toys.

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I am really trying to be organized and label each box with contents & labels.

But as I posted this picture below on instagram yesterday... I said... I know at the end it will be a big cluster of every last plate, towel, pen, toy and other stuff thrown into boxes as we clear out 

We are super excited and I will write more later as for how the kids are handling the news, where we are going to live and the big move date .. Were about 5-6 weeks away from it... 

Baths, Babies and Beyond

So we've been havin fun at Grammy's lately..



Hangin in the tub...



Continuing our obsession with balls...

Just hangin out and loving the wonderful weather. Samantha is obsessed with the vaccuum, and now the summer is here and we've found a new favorite thing, the lawnmower. She knows Grammy takes her to watch Uncle cut the lawn lately, so EVERY time now Grammy picks her up and she says "bbrrrrrrr" .. which means lawnmower in SJM terms. I took some lawnmower watching pics today.. we'll be posting them soon!



Samantha is finally crawling.. yea.. I said what's the point now, she's already almost walking on her own, but it seems to get her from A to B a little faster, and safer.. She already had her first bruise on her forehead.

And we've been spending a lot of time in the car



doing errands for her upcoming birthday bash,


and getting supplies and stuff for the house. So she's learning to love her carseat these days..



last night we had a family trip to Bed Bath and Beyond to look at these



but Samantha was more interested in these....


and is quite the busy body.. Daddy had his hands full, while Mommy did a little window shopping and measuring...



And at the end of the day today we FINALLY found out that we close on our new house next week! ....ahhhh I hope all goes well. Seems like it has taken forever .. and I cannot wait to get things moving.

I've been busy working on SJM's birthday gifts, birthday chair, birthday decor items, menu, and cleaning out Grammy's house a little before we have everyone over..

Sheesh.. Im pooped!

Family Vacation in the Finger Lakes!

This past weekend Mathew, Samantha and Momma decided it was time we get away just the three of us for the weekend. We havent been away just us 3 since we left North Carolina in November 2009. So we headed up to Mark and Lori's Lake house in Lake Honeyoe, NY.



We left just after Daddy got home from work, loaded up the car, and it was a quick 1.5 hr drive. We got in and got settled, and daddy fired up the grill & we ate Strip Steaks, Potatoes & Corn on the Cob! We havent been eating a lot of red meat in probably the last 4 months, so this was a treat! Samantha loves steak! ha!

Saturday we woke up and had a nice breakfast - eggs, sage sausage and bagels and juice.. again Sam loved the meat.. haha.. Samantha was pooped! So she took a LONG nap, and then when she woke up, we headed to a few antique shops in the surrounding area. Most of the antiques were really expensive, except a few things here and there.. but you need some time to look, which we were limited to with the lil bubba in tow.. but overall she did so well, everytime she saw an antique doll/baby/stuffed animal she'd shreik and get all excited.. I felt bad, cause there was NO way she could touch anything around her. So it was a lot of quick stops/looks

We found an antique copper tea kettle or $15.. Mathew and I love copper accents.. and we are already brainstorming on what to do with our kitchen, it needs a lil polish, but overall its in pretty good shape!... oh and I needed these small english plates- they were only $3.. And I also got a vintage dictionary for $2.00!



After antiquing.. we headed to Canadaigua.. about 10 miles north of where we were. There was a cute lil Main Street shopping area, so we busted out the stroller and went for a stroll. The stores were very cute.. children's clothes,kitchen stuff, decor, antiques (of course), a soap store (nothing in comparison to Out of Eden .. my FAVORITE NC store of all time.. *tear)






And there was a Salvation Army Thrift store.. I LOVE IT.. I take after my Grandpa Sam..(another post story for another day) .. But he would take me there when I was really little.. and ever since I've been a thrift store/garage sale addict.

Anyways.. I found an old milk glass container, perhaps for an herb in the kitchen or paint brushes in my craft room (coming soon!)... and a cheese dome, to be used for anything really.. these two were $1 each! - I think the thrill of the hunt, finding something and the awesome deals is why I like it so much. Why would you pay for something in a store that costs WAY WAY too much?



After our little country drive, we headed back towards the Lake House. Sam was a hot mess in the car.. I knew she was getting loopy and tired.. but she was hysterical! Not crabby...



She passed out when we got home, and Daddy and I just relaxed and layed on the couch.. something we dont do very often.. Dinner was Burgers, Fries, and Steamed Broccoli, and before dinner Samantha decided she'd like to start walking now..



It was so funny.. She was getting so excited that she could MOVE by herself .. since crawling was never her thing... She was laughing hysterically and was closing her eyes.. almost like she was excited/scared.. aww..







She took maybe 5-6 steps before we had to catch her, but Im sure it wont be long now.. Now that she knows she is getting there, her need for mobility has shifted into overdrive. So lots of walking around the house/yard these days. I only hold 1 of her hands now to make her practice balance.

Sunday morning we cleaned up everything and headed back to Buffalo.
But we couldnt leave without a few lake pictures!



look at these two.. can you tell she's her father's daughter or what?...



It was a much needed nice vacation for the 3 of us, just away from all the house talk, internet, tv (which we still watched a little).. and we just took time to enjoy being a family.. we realized we need to go on more vacations!

We had a wonderful weekend, and we didnt realize how close the lake is! And Rochester too, which we definately will be visiting in the future.

Thanks so much Mark and Lori! Your lake house is a beautiful place, we will be back!

While The Da-Da's Away

Daddy is in Syracuse for some computer trainin' for an overnight, so Sam and I headed out for dinner tonight with Grammy and Uncle ( As I think these will be their names)

We gave Samantha her first Buffalo Hot Dog Expeirence.. can you guess??



Teds! - She sat so nicely at the table while we scarfed down our dogs, fries and onion rings.. of course she had her share too..

She was opening and closing her little hoodie at the dinner table.. everytime we said OPEN....she would open, and CLOSE.. haha



Momma's eyes were closed.. but Sam looks cute! haah..



I never realized how nice it is to not bring her "sippy cup".. straw cup everywhere we go.. she loves drinking from a straw ... very convenient.. thank you Samantha less for Momma's cluttered brain to remember.



Then we came home, and she too TWO STEPS BY HERSELF!!!!!! I couldnt beleive it. I've been starting to hold just ONE hand while she's walking.. and she is learning to balance herself pretty well lately .. with the occaisonal BOOM, and she screams her head off.. but its a work in progress.


I did catch a shot at the two latest arrivals ...


Here they come.. the two front teeth!!

And of course Momma has SEVERAL craft projects goin on.. this sign.. which I plan on transferring to wood some day turned out pretty good dont ya think?






More pics to come on the "other blog" .. but most of them are gifts for people, so I dont want to post em before the recipient gets em! ha!

Momma's Day Weekend Re-Cap

Im a bit late with the Momma's Day stuff.
It was a good first "official" Mother's Day!

We woke up, went to church.. where it was SNOWING during Mass.. yes.. thats right. Snowing! Last week it was 76 and sunny.. this Sunday .. snow? Thats Buffalo for ya.

So it was pretty cold. We just went to church as a family, went to the market for some veggies and stuff, and then WalMart run for some soup supplies. We made a list of soups we want to make this week, we're attempting to go a little more vegetarian.. not so much meat eating anymore.. and I dont really miss the meat anyways!

Here is the soup I made for Mom's Day - French Onion mmmmmmmm....


One thing I was so excited to find at WalMart even.. was this...


I am a peanut butter conoisseur.. I have always loved peanut butter, and when I was pregnant with Samantha, it just shifted my cravings into overdrive.. I was a pb freak when I was pregnant.. This pb is awesome! and they have little sample packets too at Walmart.. hmm who woulda thought?

Anyways.. Busy last couple days with some house stuff.. but Sam has been such a good girl.. Not sleeping well at ALL .. because her upper teeth are coming through.. she just cut one last night and I felt the razor sharp edge .. eeks.. I hope she continues nursing without biting.. otherwise its Organic Milk a few weeks earlier for her! haha..



We turned her car seat around this past weekend.. so now she can see us driving, and look out her own window.. i think she likes it...