Just RK

This past Saturday we ripped our carpet out of the living room and hallway. We spent the day pulling hundreds of staples and prying up tack strips. After a couple days of subfloor only, with the girls banned from anything but passing thru with shoes on, my parents came Monday to assist with laying new floors. Things moved slower than we expected,  but we don't know mush about the installation process. Or we didn't then... But now they're in,  they look great, and we are finishing baseboards and door trim. Because of course I wanted to do that new too... M has been pretty amazing and diligent in getting done. He took off the whole week to work on it, and with the help of hundreds of dollars worth of tools,  saws,  and compressors borrowed from friends, we are almost done. Soon the piano and two storage cabinets can be removed from the kitchen. What,  your piano isn't in your kitchen? Yes, it's chaos to have no place but a pathway to be in the kitchen. We are...

(To see some video that went along with the above picture, click here . )

I know I’m busy.  I know it’s been a little out of hand lately.  I’m cutting back, and I’ve been cancelling things.  I’m letting others do things I’d rather do myself, but it’s just not feasible. But today I realized that this evening is my only non-booked evening until November 17.  Not one for the next 3 weeks.  And every day in that span also has AT LEAST one event during the day… not counting the normal drop off and pick up from school.  Many evenings are doubly booked, M  will have the girls one place while I host a meeting in another, for example, or back-to-back events, like one for dinner and one following that one. That’s crazy. And that’s AFTER I’ve thinned out a lot.  And tonight… what will I do?  Well, I desperately need to hit the grocery shopping circuit. But that may just have to wait.  My house has NEVER been as chaotic as it is right now. Piles everywhere, storage that needs to be stored, tons of things that need...

This is my kitchen floor. It’s clean. The fact that I’m proud enough of it to take a picture and post it… pathetic. Yes, it’s that rare. And it’s almost midnight. But I got it done.  The kitchen is “clean” in my new normal way. That happens occasionally. But for me to actually clear the floor space and sweep and mop the floor. Twice.  Because I’m sure it needed that second pass. That’s something. Now, tomorrow it’s on to tackling the piles of clothes in the girls’ room.

There are a lot of things that I want to remember someday down the line, when my girls are too big for baths, too cool for cuddles, and too chic to chat with me about everything that’s in their little heads.  One of those simple things is the fun they have in the bath together.  They are all about whatever they can do together. Alike. With each other.  And I don’t want to forget that. I don’t want them to forget it either.  So pictures like this will definitely be brought out to remind them of their camaraderie when they are sick to death of each other in about 8 years.  I can’t wait to see their eyes roll when these pictures show up at just the right moment. 

I have been avoiding posting, I think.  I didn’t really consciously think of it that way, but it’s probably true. Because really…how do I catch up with all I’ve missed in life lately? Don’t worry!  Nothing’s going wrong. There’s not any new horrible news.  We’re chugging right along, just really busy.  It’s just that the girls are at the stages where there’s a lot going on. I’d like to discuss so many things that they are experiencing, that I am experiencing with them, and there are many questions I’d love to ask of all the wisdom that is (or used to be?) out there in my lovely readers. I kind of fear that everyone’s moved on, and really, I don’t blame ya! So I hope to have the time and motivation soon to dig back into the past few months and talk about some things that have been happening around our house.  In the meantime, there are a few little things that I can think of now… gotta love a bullet list, right?  I always like ‘em, anyway, when YOU guy...

The girls are home.  I went and met up with my parents and youngest sis yesterday at the halfway point of our liking (Mexican restaurant, of course!) to pick them up.  I had lovely company along for the ride, as well, and that always makes a little road trip more enjoyable. As expected, KiKi flipped her little lid and wouldn’t have anything to do with me for a while after I arrived.  She clung to Grammy and wouldn’t look at me.  The pic here is from right before we left, an hour into her warming up process, which is about how long it often takes. This is common with her… whoever has just arrived home is feared, completely avoided, and glared at, if they are so lucky as to get her eyes at all their direction.  I’m not sure how her little brain works, but she’s at least consistent.  When M comes in from work, Kinlee will run the other direction, usually straight to me and plead for me to hold her and not let Daddy get her.  The same response ha...

A few weeks ago, I did my weekend routine on Saturday or Sunday…straightening all the rooms, vacuuming, general clean up, readying the house for another chaotic week.  As you may have learned in my previous post , cleaning is not the top priority in our house.  This is no secret.  Family interactions are priority. Relaxing is important. Clutter is common. (Piles, Sara??) Dirty is not ok though.  That doesn’t mean sometimes it doesn’t exist, just that it’s on my list, even if I haven’t gotten there yet.  Anyway……….  as I was running the vacuum, it annoyed me, as it has every time I’ve used it for a very long time, that it doesn’t pick up very well. At all.  I gripe about my carpet all the time, and we even looked into replacing it all just last month.  But it’s not in the financial plan right now, so I’m trying to make the best of it.  I try to vacuum frequently, feeling like that’s better than nothing. I finally stopped in frustration, ti...

The bathroom is clean. Like with chemicals and scrubbers and all that. So if you need one and you're in the area, stop on by. (The floor isn't finished..that'll have to wait for naptime.) I'm not even going to pretend. Doesn't happen often. Pretty much only when we're hosting friends or family for the evening or something like that. So today is successful because my living room and bathroom are clean. They aren't just "straightened" in quick fix style. The kitchen is next. But it's different. It's clean at least once a day only to be destroyed several more times a day. But if I have happy, healthy girls who love hanging out with their Mommy and "taking up" my time, the rest can wait.

Whew. What a week. Pardon me while I slump into the couch and put my feet up. It’s been a wild one around here. And it looks like life is going to be far from dull for a while. Where to begin… Well, my husband got a new job, after a flurry of craziness for 72 hours between the interview and the final offer that was accepted.  In that space of time were literally dozens of phone calls, jumping for joy halted promptly by sinking sensations and cruel reality.  There are still many details to figure out, but an agreement was able to be reached and he is very excited.  I’m pleased he has found a place that seems very promising in the “I won’t dread this job every day” category.  He can’t wait to get started. We’ve sent over 30 resumes in the past several months.  He’s been to interviews that were great and with promising follow-up, but then weird things kept happening that prevented a final agreement in each case.   He was getting more frustrated at h...

They’re all down. Sleeping soundly. Including the dog. Don’t anyone make a move. The blog has once again fallen quiet from neglect, but that’s the way things go.  Life gets busy, days fly by, little girls demand to have books read and want to go to the store.  Kinlee has come to whine, “No, Mom! I don’t want to go home!” as soon as we turn by a landmark building near our house.  Poor thing.  But we’re here and we’re well.  We’ve decided to add to our family vicariously by letting a little one we’ll call Kidlet come over and spend some days with us each week.  So far so good. Kidlet’s quite a charmer and seems to be fitting in very well. Shhhhh. Just checked again. Three snoozing cuties. Plus the dog, still. Having an extra has brought out the little mommy in Kinlee.  She has taken her status as “The Informer” to a new level, alerting me to each (perceived) need.  Be it a binky that has fallen out of the mouth or the fact that KiKi is sure ...

If  you’re in the Midwest, or the other areas that are getting ready for this big winter storm at our doorstep, you’ve probably prepared for being home tomorrow and Wednesday.  At least I hope so.  If you’re in the StL area or most of MO, you’re seeing the first round show up this morning. My light post in the front is already showing the freezing rain in action… 10:45am I’m going to try to remember to take some pics every hour or so to see how the icicles grow.  They already have since this picture was taken.  In fact…. hold one moment please… Here ya go. Up to the minute… 11:15am.  See how the little cute frozen drops are longer? This is a better angle with the tree behind.  So fun. (IF you get to be inside, thank goodness for that!) We get a little pause in the action this afternoon, then the big punch comes. More sleet followed right behind by a big load of snow. No better combination than that to bring our city to a ha...

K: Mom, I don’t have a button in my belly. RK: Well, you do have one button, you just don’t have two like Braska. K: I want to have two buttons. Where is my other button? --------- K: Mom, I need you to open the cab’net. It’s too hard for me. RK: I’ll help you in just a minute. K: I want you to help me now, please. I don’t want you in a minute. --------- K: Snoopy is a good dog. And Blue is a good puppy. RK: Yes, honey, they are. K: I love Snoopy, Mom. RK: That’s good, KiKi. Snoopy is pretty cool. K: Belle is a good dog, too, Mom. RK: Yes, KiKi, Belle is a good dog. K: I love Belle, Mom. She’s a good dog. -------- When singing any song in the car or around the house, if Braska starts to chime in too… K: Braska’s singing my song, Mom. I don’t want her to sing my song. RK: It’s not your song, Kinlee, we can all sing the song. Braska can sing and Mommy can sing and KiKi can sing. All together. K: We can sing all together. Everybody sing the song? RK: Yes, it’s everybody’s song. K: I don’t...

Ok, that might be a fib… but wouldn’t that be SO nice?!? I do kind of FEEL like I have a new kitchen, because my “eat in” kitchen that has never been used that way because we’ve not had a functional arrangement that included a table and chairs for more than a year, almost 2 actually, has the ability to host a family of 4 for dinner.  How novel! This was my goal to get done while M was out of town for a couple of days. The girls like it, they like to be able to climb into the chairs, and we did a test run of coloring to initiate the table back to real use. There are pictures of what the kitchen/”waiting room” used to look like in this post . This table has been with us for over 10 years.  And it was purchased for $10. With the chairs.  Not a bad deal at all. Granted, there are a few extra screws in the chairs to hold them together and keep them more reliably stable.  It’s not really all that appealing to look at, but it holds items and four people, and tha...

Curious. Snoop. Nosey. Maybe so. I admit that I like to know how people live. What they do. Where they go. Just normal stuff through the day. I’m curious about these things. Not like in a creepy kind of way, but I’m a people watcher. I like public places partially for the ability to just observe people. I’m the one who always checks out the background of other bloggers’ pictures, just trying to get a peek at their house, or their office. I’m just curious like that. It makes me feel like I know a person better to know a bit about their house. So to start off what I hope will be a little string of posts… ahem, hint hint …I’ll share where we live. Along with a bit of commentary of some interesting (?) things that I only noticed when I looked at the pictures after I uploaded them. **Remember, you can click on the pictures to make them bigger.** Here’s our house. All 800ish square feet of the main floor. 3 bedrooms, 1 bath. Kitchen, living room. That’s it. There is a partially finis...

I take a lot of pictures on my phone, some video, and it lives there, unless I send it to one of a couple of people who might enjoy it and can receive those messages.  So when I noticed some cute ones tonight, I thought I’d share. Did some shopping at a local warehouse boutique…also known as Rachel’s storage unit.  I just thought the stacks  of Crate & Barrel boxes (this was only one of at least 3) were too funny.  Wedding presents unopened because they have no place to put them yet.  Next on the checklist for them, buy a house.  BUT I found an entertainment center and got a GREAT deal! I had a whim and acted on it. That’s not always wise in my experience, but we’ll see how this one goes.  I put Kinlee’s bed in Braska’s room and made Kinlee’s room a playroom.  I quickly realized that 9 x10 is not that much space for so many toys, but they are loving it.  A further toy purging is to follow very soon. Pretty self ex...

E-mealz . I just heard about this today from a friend of a friend, so I've been sharing it with a few people who I thought would find it especially helpful. But I thought I'd just throw it out there. It looks like it could be a pretty great tool to lessen mealtime stress and spending! In summary, it's a website that will give you a meal plan (with recipes) each week along with a grocery list for that meal plan based on the store you choose (there are a few specifically and then generic ones too) and using the sales for that particular time! How cool is that?!? And they have an Aldi list, too, which averages around $30 a week to feed two people. $30!! (They have family plans too.) It costs $5 a month to subscribe, but it's pretty clear to see that it pays for itself pretty quickly. They also have specialty plans, for particular diets and such, like one that gives the Weight Watchers points for the meals. All in all, it sounds like something very interesting, and I...

We got back last night from Arkansas where we had a family reunion this weekend. It was a very long trip, and we’re glad to be home, but it was a nice visit. More on that soon. We got home last night after 9 hours on the road to walk into a house that was 89 degrees. In the house. 89 degrees. At almost 11 pm. Seriously… I just kept shaking my head. Unbelievable. And it wasn’t cooler outside, so opening up would have been no help. (Plus I can’t sleep with windows open…not safe in my book.) After a little investigation, the breaker was flipped, and when it was corrected, the compressor outside is definitely very sick. M slept in the basement, the girls and I stayed upstairs since they were beyond ready for bed when we got in. But none of the three of us females slept very well. Even with ceiling fans on high, it was so hot. Thankfully, this morning early it was a little cooler, so I opened up and kicked on the attic fan. The girls are rarely allowed to be in diaper-only fashion, ...

This weekend isn't going as I'd wanted. I've been very frustrated. Maybe I'll write more about it later, maybe not. Is it wrong to have Rocky Road ice cream for breakfast?? Ok, I didn't, but I considered it. The girls are doing great at Grammy's, not even a peep out of KiKi, the Mommy-needer. M is in C-U, he'll be home later today. I didn't publicize that I was home alone because I can be paranoid like that. I have had a weekend of complete solitude and I still didn't get the things done I wanted to... that means it's not that they're here. It's me. And that's not any fun to realize. I suppose I best start making a plan to figure out what's up in this head of mine that's keeping me so stuck. I admit, though, that the quiet has been nice. And I did get a few small things done... not enough though. I hope to finish a couple more today before M gets here. Right now the house is WAY worse than when I started. The long sofa is stan...

It's Thursday. I've not been out of the house since Sunday afternoon. Like not even to the garage. Not even to get the mail. I need to go to the store...badly. Maybe I'll get to it this afternoon. I guess I have to, actually. Tomorrow is Braska's birthday and some of the fam is coming by for cake and ice cream. We've been out of milk for two days. Pathetic. I've been fighting off a cold with a nasty lingering cough for a week now. Thankfully Braska hasn't had anything more than a runny nose here or there for an hour or so. She's been great about playing this week, but she's getting bored, I think, and we've read all her books a zillion times. This kid could read books all day! Surprise, surprise...just like her dad once again. At least Kinlee's been behaving. Doing her jigs throughout the day. That is, except in the morning when I'm hacking up a lung. She does not care for such things at all. But can you blame her. What must...