Falling down

I know I haven't written for a while and its not for lack of things to talk about. Its just that whenever I think about it I am either home and frustrated with a falling down house or just starting to fall asleep. When I am frustrated I don't want to blog because I hate complaining and when I'm tired its because well, I'm tired.

Silver Antiqued Ornaments

Years ago I saw directions for silvering glass ornaments in Martha Stewart Living and since I love mercury glass our tree has since been decorated with silvered ornaments. Three moves, four kids later we need more ornament (they reflect the light beautifully.) I went to the Martha Stewart website and could not find the directions anywhere; luckily I remember how I did it last time (I think.)

You need a box of glass, not shatterproof, ornaments, ammonia, water, a glass measuring cup, and a small funnel (if you have it.) Carefully remove the ornaments from the divider and take out the clip in the top. Place the ornaments back in the divider facing top up. (Ammonia is a chemical and the instructions on the back should be read and followed.)
Fill half of your glass measuring cup with ammonia and half with water, you need a 50/50 mixture.
Fill the ornaments with the ammonia/water mix and leave overnight.
The next day pour out the chemical and rinse carefully under cool water. you may want to place a paper towel in the sink to catch any paint that comes off the outside of the ornament. You should have a nice cloudy effect that resembles an antique ornament. Not all ornaments work and each ornament has a different effect.
This year I used Walmart brand silver ornaments, I realized they are already silver, but I wanted antiqued. I used the silver ornaments because the clip was silver and not gold. Thrift store ornaments work great because it doesn't matter if they are scratched. See the cloudy, not overly shiny, uneven silver color? That is what I love.
Every ornament reacts differently, this is a try at your own risk project, but for around $2 a dozen I'm okay with that. And sometimes the ones that don't work out have a nice effect.

Do not swerve

The other day I was instructed as to what to do if I hit an animal. I remember when I was a kid my dad would tell a joke about a man who hit a cat. You know, "No what did the cat look like before you hit him?" I have forever been afraid of hitting anything, bird, cat, dog, and especially deer.

Apparently in rural Texas it is not if, but when. (And judging by the number of stray dogs, cats, and chickens, I am not surprised.

So here is what I was told to do when I hit an animal:

1. Once you know you are going to hit it take your foot off the gas, but do not put it on the brake.

2. Make sure your hands are at ten and two and do not swerve. The hit is inevitable at this point, so don't make it worse by rolling your car.

3. Hold tight to the wheel and try to maintain control. Obviously the size of the animal will affect your ability to maintain control.

So now I am officially terrified of hitting anything. Did I mention I have to drive for everything? The girl's school is 15-20 minutes away and we see deer almost everyday.

Gift Wrap Party Planning

During the holidays it is always difficult to get together with friends. My favorite way is to have a gift wrapping party. The party starts after bedtime, so we aren't taking time away from families and we are wrapping presents, a chore that should never be done alone.

The secret is to keep it simple. I send out an invitation by email (its all about easy), supply tape and scissors and set up stations. We have a supplies station...

and a hot chocolate station.
I move the furniture back so we can wrap on the floor, put in some Christmas music, and that's it. Everyone brings a bag of treats to keep us going and we wrap presents into the wee hours. The conversation is great, the preparation is minimal, and at the end of the party I've even accomplished something. It doesn't get much better.

Over at A Little Great today.

Our New Home

The last couple of weeks have been a blur. We arrived at our new house late after two long days of driving. Evan had gone ahead with the truck, so we had beds set up when we arrived, but the house wasn't quite what we had hoped. We learned the hard way that it had been vacant for three years and the owner had been unable to check on it.

The heater/air conditioning didn't work, the oven didn't work, the dishwasher, refrigerator, some of the electricity (which isn't grounded), the hot water in the master bathroom, all didn't work. Some things are getting fixed, some we are learning to deal with. Evan rewired the cable so we could have TV and internet, however the first internet box the cable company gave us was broken so our internet was patchy. (The kids put on a concert to make me smile.)

So with that, I thought I would share the best, worst, and funniest things about our new home.

The best is definitely the tree in front. All the trees on the property are beautiful, but this tree is amazing. Every time I tell someone where we live they say, "Oh, the house with the tree." It is a city landmark and hundreds of years old. The kids asked why there are trees in the middle of the road, to which I say, "The trees were here first, the roads were built around them."

Oh, and the chandelier is pretty amazing too. However cleaning it is not.

The worst thing was the carpet, but it got cleaned, so it is a little better. It is still disintegrating though and that clogs my vacuum. Now the worst I think is the oven, at best it cooks inconsistently, at worst it burns. Thanksgiving was a treat. We ended up cooking our turkey on the grill.

The funniest is the bidet. And that's saying a lot once you see

all

the
wallpaper.

We have had some of the funniest moments concerning the bidet. When we were getting our carpets cleaned we moved a lot of things into the bathroom (which is bigger than Maisy's old bedroom.) Jack came running in, "Mom, dad put a box on the bidet and that is gross!"

The Sound of Silence

I lost my cell phone. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. One week, no cell phone, kind of quiet. But now I have a cell phone again, its an iPhone. I seldom see it, my kids have it all the time. I blame Angry Birds and Cut the Rope. If you called or texted me last week I'm sorry, I didn't get the message, I was enjoying the quiet.

Halloween

Halloween was fun, but kind of crazy. I just barely got their costumes finished in time for the church party.

Jack was a dinosaur and his costume was down to the wire.
Ella was a pirate princess. (Thank goodness for reusable costume pieces.)
Sadie was a Venetian Carnival Queen.
And Maisy was a butterfly twice and Tinkerbell for her school party.
And here is our tired, little butterfly after trick-or-treating.
Ella was all smiles over the amount of candy.
And Jack was ready for scaring, too bad he's too cute to scare anyone.

More (unexpected) Progress

I just got back from Maisy's IEP and I am dumbfounded. I knew Maisy is smarter than we give her credit, I knew that she has been making amazing progress, I had no idea how smart or how much progress.

Maisy can identify her entire uppercase alphabet, as well as numbers 1-9 100% of the time. The only time she identifies incorrectly she is doing it on purpose. She will get a little smirk on her face and then pick out the wrong letter or number and laugh like she is the funniest girl ever; and you know what, I think she is.

Huge Progress

Have I mentioned that I love Maisy's physical therapist? She was Maisy's first PT when we moved here and we were both excited to see each other when Maisy started at her new school.

Last week Maisy had been practicing getting on the swing by herself. I saw her observing the other kids and then when they went off to other things, she tried herself.
After lots of practice over the course of the next two days she finally got it.
She also has figured out the scooter and loves to scoot up and down the sidewalk.

Then today she was sitting on the floor and stood up. Just like that she went from sitting to standing without the help of a wall or furniture. And all this is from a little girl who took her first tentative steps just six months ago.

Collection Jars

My kids are collectors (they get it honest) and many collections have gathered around our house. After a recent trip to the beach brought home collections of shells, rocks, and sea glass, we really needed to corral our treasures.

I had been saving spaghetti jars for some time and they seemed like the perfect size. I spray painted the lids, filled them up, and lined them up on a shelf.
My husband is unsure of glass in a kids room, but so far all is well. We keep them up on a shelf and they are fun to look at and enjoy.

The Most Importanest

In the car today, just Ella and me, Ella asked, "Why do I still have to ride in a booster seat?"

Me: "Well, when Maisy was in the hospital I saw so many bad things and I want to keep you safe. Plus I really don't want to visit another of my kids in the hospital."

Ella: "Especially your most importantest."

I laugh.

Ella: "What? I AM your most importantest."

Me, still laughing: "You are."

Ella: "Yes, why are you laughing?"

Ella, a few minutes later: "Its not funny, its true."

The Return of Pipsqueak

Pipsqueak came home today. He was discovered hiding out in an envelope cupboard next to the computer. Sadie said that she must have left her there two weeks ago when she was looking for an envelope. I think Pipsqueak was staying there to enjoy the order of all the nice boxes of envelopes lined up by size, as compared to the disorder of Sadie and Ella's room. (Pipsqueak is only a stuffed mouse, no animals were harmed in the playing out of this saga.)

An answer to prayers.

Maisy turned six last week. I think it has to have been the best birthday ever. Past birthdays have been tearful and overwhelming, but this year was wonderful. When she got home from school we had the room filled with balloons and family. She was so excited.

She looks so good walking and smiling, with balloons in her hands.
She opened her presents,
tried to blow out the candles,
and cheered when we sang Happy Birthday.
It was wonderful! It seems such a short time ago that we were sitting in a hospital room praying this day would come. Now my sweet little girl that was vent dependent is an amazing inspiration. Her enthusiasm and excitement touch all our lives. While it seems just yesterday that we were fighting for her life I can't imagine my life without her. I'm a better mother, friend, person for having loved Maisy.

Lamp Makeover

We have had these lamps since we first got married. For years they served us well as bedside lamps in our little apartment in South Carolina, but the shades had melted on the inside and they were really outdated. So, a move later and they had been replaced and discovered a new home on a shelf in my closet.

After painting our family room, I decided we needed to improve the lighting. Instead of running out and buying new lamps I decided to try painting these old ones. Using a little inspiration, I got out some flat white spray paint and added a touch of black paint here and there. Some new lamp shades and I have beautiful new lighting for the mantle.
The cost of the shades and paint was much lower than new lights would have been and look how pretty it looks at night.

A little video...

just for a smile.

Change

Growing up I lived in fourteen different houses in two different states, seven different towns. Then I went away to school and moved around a lot. Once Evan and I got married we moved again and again. Three different states and six homes, a new baby with each major move.

However, we have lived in this house for five years. Jack was born here, Maisy grew strong here. Sadie, Ella, and Maisy have had first days of kindergarten at this house. We have painted and built, planted and nurtured, created dreams and hosted parties, all in this house.

Now we are getting ready for a move and I am not handling the change well. I love my little house, I love my little life. I love walking my older girls to school and pushing Maisy on the swing. I love the breeze that blows through with the sound of kids laughing. We have family and friends here. This is our home.

Evan accepted a job in Texas and I'm more than a little scared. Change is hard, change is new and unknown. I'm not ready to leave what we have here, the people, the memories, the life. I know that change is inevitable. I just need to hold on to right now for a little longer...