Standiford Family

Today was just beautiful outside even if part of the day was gray.  The temperature made it to the 60s.  Yesterday and today I wore sandals.  Kade won the argument and wore sandals to school today.  My toes have been naked for several weeks now.  I was very happy to paint them and show them off.

I love this polish color.  It’s called “Blackberry Baby”.

This afternoon Mickey did some cleaning in the yard and garage while Mat and Kade played outside.  Meg worked more on the presentation part of her science project.  It’s almost done.

We had another showing today.  Our house really likes all the attention it’s getting.  (As of right now, we have two more this week.)  I have needed to come up with somewhere to take the kids on occasion.  (It’s not quite park weather yet, too much mud.)  For that I turned to our favorite place, at least one of them.  (By “our”, I mean me and the kids.)  That is the library.

(Kade’s trying to figure out which Beast Quest book he needs.)

Kade and I visited there this afternoon for a little while before meeting Mickey for a quick lunch and our own viewing of a house.  I’m sure the library will get old soon for those of us that go 3-5 times a week but I can really relax there among all those books.  Our library was re-built and re-opened last year.  They have nice cozy spots to cuddle up with your kids to read.  They also have a fireplace with leather couches nearby for the adults to sink into.  There is even a little snack area with vending machines.  It’s like a home away from home.

Kade is learning to be a handyman like his dad.  Today Amanda and Chris moved into their first house.  Mickey helped with the loading and unloading of the truck and the kids and I showed up later to help unpack and clean.  It was decided that the locks needed to be changed.  The men went off to buy the supplies.  Kade was right there in the middle of things for the first door.  He was thrilled he was allowed to use the tools.  I’m sure he’ll need a refresher course for the next locks he changes.

The girls were no slouches.  They were running things up and down the stairs, vacuuming, and chowing down on red vines until they needed a movie break.  I unpacked most of the kitchen.  Pictures of these events were taken but did not turn out clear so Kade gets to star in another potd.  Good thing he’s cute.  You gotta love that expression of total concentration.

This afternoon Mattey and Kade went out to play while Mickey did some clean up work in the garage.  The reds enjoyed themselves tromping around in the mud and and swinging in the almost 40 degree weather.  The sunshine is SO nice.  (The fun ended when Mat threw a snowball in Kade’s face.)

Has Spring come early?  I doubt it.  We’ll probably get a few more inches of snow before Spring really settles in but I’ll keep my fingers crossed.

An experiment gone WRONG!

Today started out just like any other Saturday.  I got to sleep in a little.  The kids were up watching tv or playing the computer.  Mickey made a run to Lowes.  Then he took Meg to a softball practice.  (Yes, already, and yes, it was indoors.)  Megan also needed to finish up a little work on her science experiment.  Mickey helped her with it.  I was still lounging in bed (one of the perks of having a great husband) when Meg comes to the door asking where the air freshener is.  I asked why.  Oh, the popcorn burned.  Right after that I could smell it.  I got up and I could see the smoke filling the entire house.  (This is really good when your house is on the market.)  I went to the kitchen to see what the damage was.  Just really smokey.  The windows were already open.  I lit a candle hoping that would help with the smell.  I got a fan to blow the smoke out.  After most of the smoke was gone I got out some Febreze and sprayed that stuff everywhere.  It’s now about 10 hours later and the smell is still here, although I’m getting used to it.  How do you get the burn smell out of the house?  We have a ton of realtors coming through on Tuesday and another showing on Wednesday.

Tonight I had a date with my mom.  We went to see “New Moon“.  I’m not going to comment on the movie since I don’t have many nice things to say, although it was better than the first, only a little.  It was nice to spend time with my mom and give her something different to do.  Thanks for going with me, Mom.

(Sorry, not the best picture.  It was dark and I don’t know how to work the little camera as well as the big one.  But you get the idea.)

Meanwhile, at home, Mickey got the kids to bed and then Chris came over to play games.  They really get into killing people.  Good thing it’s not real.

Kade had his date with Mickey today.  Mickey really needed a haircut and Kade kind of needed one too.  After stopping for some lunch they went to the barber shop.  Kade got his hair cut by Mike.  Today he got it spiked.  Afterwards Mike used the “dassager” on Kade’s back.  It’s his favorite part of the visit.

For the second part of the date Kade went to Strikes and Spares to race the go-karts.  He “raced other people and one was behind and three was in front of me”.  This was his third time going and it’s now his most favorite thing to do.  I’ll have to go next time to watch this kid in action.  Maybe we’ll get some video.

Tonight Mickey and I (really just me but he agreed to it) decided we needed to pamper ourselves a little.  We’ve been working hard at fixing up the house and doing our normal full time jobs.  After the kids were in bed we sat down to watch an episode of NCIS:  Los Angeles and ….

…soak our feet.  It was very relaxing.

A few weeks ago I was thinking about all the stuff I do around the house and especially what I do for the kids.  (I was probably having a mini pity party.)  I realized that I have to get the kids up and out the door 6 days a week by myself.  I mentioned this (complained) to Mickey.  I told him I didn’t think it was fair that I had to do that and I still had to put them to bed every other night.  He agreed with me and now he’s putting the kids to bed 6 nights a week by himself.

I love it!  After prayer and hugs and kisses I can disappear into the office or where ever and do whatever I want.  Life is a little less stressful at night.  The only thing that could make it better is if I had a big tub to soak in.

Tonight Mickey treated me to another Broadway Rocks! show.  (Here’s last year’s.)  It was AMAZING!!!  The symphony orchestra was fantastic but the singing was even better.  I don’t know if I can say anything else about it but WOW!  And I can’t wait for next year.

Thanks mom for keeping the kids and getting them in bed.