Girly Mom Writes: Pink. Sparkles. Drama. Life: Page 2

Corn Maze!

By vicki on October 10, 2011

Conrad’s sister, her husband, and their 3 daughters were visiting over the weekend. Their girls range in age from 8 down to 3, so you can imagine the activity in this household when their girls and our girls are together.

Saturday afternoon, we decided to try out a local corn maze:

Bryn:

Trying to figure out which way to go next:

My sweet niece, Cara:

I think corn is pretty. Maybe it’s because I grew up surrounded by it. Reminds me of home:

The sun beat down on us while we were making our way through the cornfield. The littlest girls were pretty tired by the end:

And because we can’t expect the day to be perfect, I’m including this picture of Lydia and me dealing with her bloody nose. That was fun:

We came home and ate popsicles, made Chinese for dinner, then played a round of Settlers of Catan. Fun, fun day.

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By vicki on September 29, 2011

Pinterest is my new hobby. Are you addicted yet? Be careful with that link, or you’ll soon find yourself craving some Pin-Time. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

I’ve found photos that inspire me:

Recipes that tempt me (can’t wait to try these in my new kitchen. . .just a few more weeks!):

Random stuff that makes me laugh:

And pretty stuff that makes me wish I hadn’t spent all my birthday money already:

So, I’ve wasted an enormous amount of time pinning and pinning, but it’s also been a great way for me to relax in the evenings after my kids are in bed and I just need to chill. Because, honestly? Life has been a little stressful lately and I can use all the help I can get. And pinning is cheaper than therapy. Or Vodka.

Update on the house: we should close on the new house next week, which means we’ll move in late October or very early November. We haven’t had any offers on our current house yet. Trying not to freak out about that.

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Home.

By vicki on September 19, 2011

I’ve been thinking a lot about this idea of home. I grew up in the idyllic town of Pigeon, Michigan, and even though I haven’t lived there in nearly 20 years, I still think of it as home. Part of my heart will always belong to that little town and the community of people who helped raise me.

As an adult, I’ve lived in several states, and in many homes. Our first apartment was so tiny you could walk in the front door and see the whole place. A few years later, we were so excited to buy our first house. Little did we know that less than a year after that, we would bring home twin girls when they were just over 4 pounds each. When we discovered a third baby was on the way, we decided it was time to move yet again to accommodate the needs of our growing family.

Each home holds special memories for me, but in each case, I have worked very hard to not be attached to the house itself. Someone recently told me that a house is really just a tent, a dwelling place. The memories made inside that house are what make it a home. So it is with that in mind that I pack up our belongings and prepare to make another move. This house has its share of memories too, including bringing newborn Ellie home, but the good news is I get to take those memories with me to the next place.

The new house may be our home for many years to come, or maybe it’s just a quick stop on the way to somewhere else. I don’t know for sure. What I do know, is I’m thankful to be taking my family and our memories with me. And ultimately, this world is not my home, I’m just passing through. Have you heard that before? Yes, sometimes I need the reminder too.

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We bought a new house. Here’s why.

By vicki on September 13, 2011

So we bought a new house. If you’re surprised by that, well, that makes two of us!

Recently, it occurred to me that if we would sell our house and buy something at a lower price, we could cut our mortgage in half, freeing up our income to go toward other things, most notably student loans.

So we contacted a realtor and started looking around. We weren’t in any hurry about it. After all, we don’t have to start paying on Conrad’s student loans for another two and a half years. But, housing is really affordable right now, and the interest rates are crazy low, so we decided to see what’s out there. Well, we fell in love with a house that seems like a perfect fit for our family. We made an offer, they countered, we countered back, they countered again, and we accepted.

And then my already busy life went into full speed as I dug through every single closet, cabinet, and drawer in this house. One pile to Goodwill, one pile to the trash, and one pile to the new house. I still have a lot of work ahead of me as I continue to organize and pack up this house, then move everything across town and settle into our new home. I think it’s safe to say I’ll stay busy this fall. We are hoping to move by mid-October.

Now for the tricky part: we need to sell our house. And we need to sell it for a good price. For now, we own two houses. We really only want to own one. So, if you feel up to it, would you say a little prayer that this house sells quickly? Thanks.

I’m sure I’ll be writing much more as this process continues, and I hope to get some pictures to you as well. But for now, know that we are feeling happy and peaceful with this decision and we are excited to begin the next chapter!

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Perfectly Perfect Day

By vicki on August 29, 2011

On Friday, Conrad asked me if I wanted to go to Columbus with him to hang out while he did some research for a school project he’s working on. Sure thing. I love the Short North District of Columbus and it had been a while since I was there. We got the two older girls on the bus, packed up Ellie and headed to the city.

Our first stop was the Topiary Garden. I love this place. Conrad and I used to run in this park when we lived in Columbus many, many moons ago. Funny how different our experience was this time:

We took Ellie to the fish pond. She saw this giant fish and said, “Sure wish we could catch him and eat him up!”

Next we were off to do some shopping in the Short North. Conrad told me to pick something out for my birthday and he would wrap it up for me. I was happy to do just that, but apparently not happy enough to take any pictures of this part of the day.

At some point of the afternoon, he did make a few stops to get the info he needed for his project. I drank a coffee from Cup O’ Joe. . .Highlander Grogg with lots of cream, no sugar. Just the way I like it.

Eventually, we ended up here:

Singapore Noodles for him:

Pad Thai for me:

We shared with Ellie. She wasn’t nearly as enthusiastic as we were:

She was much more intrigued by the fact that there was a little bridge in the restaurant that went over a little pond full of fish. She thought that was pretty great:

We got back home in time to get B and L off the bus, but then we were right back out the door again. This time we were off to my sister’s house to celebrate the birthday of my favorite 1 year old: