Birth order issues sort themselves out...

When you are the youngest of three children, by virtue of the birth order, you are automatically gifted a gene that helps you come out swinging.  

Life is less frolicking in the swiss alps while singing in harmony with your siblings....

and more balancing precariously on a wood block while reciting Wax on...Wax off.


You have to be on your toes constantly and prepared for anything


Danger is popping out of every corner


One can never be too prepared.


That is why he is adamant on learning how to balance himself in an upright position.  The older siblings are less frightening when you can see them coming at you.


Well that's not true - the older siblings are still just as scary even when you are in an upright position...




Rome wasn't built in a day buddy...


He also needs to bulk up so he has the energy to fend off danger





And after much training and practice 


He claims the VICTORY!!!!



PS - If you could spare a prayer or two for the speedy sale of our home we would appreciate it greatly (and my liver thanks you)

In which I suffer a bad case of Verbal Diarrhea


A huge shout-out to the family who asked to see the house a second time.  Thanks for the notice of 2 hours on my birthday while Jason was at work.  And pat yourselves on the back for realizing that the bedrooms are STILL too small.  You mean they didn't get bigger since the last visit?  How curious!  Next time you could try to top yourselves by calling to schedule a showing during naptime.  Or better yet - maybe around 2 or 3 am?  Tonight?  Great.  But only if you promise not to buy my house again.

A big thanks to the realtor who showed up at noon without contacting our real estate agent.  No no PLEASE!  Help yourself!  Come on in and make yourself at home.  The kids are napping and I just got the baby to sleep.  But we would love to play 52 card pick-up and get the house presentable so you can take 2 completely uninterested people through the house.  Oh the smell?  No, it doesn't come with the house.  But why don't I carry the trash can to my car and store it in there while you go through.  That way, the poo smell doesn't distract you.  It's okay.  We'll just open the windows in this sweltering heat.

But truly I love the showings.  Shoving three small children in a 6 foot by 4 foot space for 2 hours so you can walk through my house is a joyful event.  Shall I pour you a top shelf gimlet whilst you peruse my belongings?  Perhaps you would like to "chat" about the shortcomings of my house while you stand on my front porch 15 minutes past your appointment time.  We'll just hang out in the van together.  I have nothing better to do.  The kids can eat dinner next week.  


Oh what was that?  There is no master bathroom?  OOHHHH THE HORROR!!

You mean you have to share a toilet?  

With other...people??

Well then I get it.  Now please get the hell out of my house.


I am fairly certain that I am so far away from learning whatever lesson God is trying to teach me in humility or patience that this house might never sell.  But I have mastered one method of coping.

Stress eating....

I feel much better now that I'm wasted on gin and potato chips...

A birthday to remember

Last year I celebrated my 30th birthday.  On my birthday, I was in Maryland, pregnant with my 3rd and taking care of the other two kids while my husband was in Texas for the priestly ordination of our friend Father Bernhard!  
This was taken at Father's ordination in Tyler, Texas.  Jason is to the left of Father and in front of him is our other friend Eric.  The three of them will be reunited at the Cathedral in Tyler where they will be working!  

*Disclaimer: We couldn't afford to all fly down to Texas.  I forced Jason to buy the ticket and attend the ordination knowing that I wouldn't be able to join him.  And most importantly, Father Bernhard is the reason we are picking up and moving to Tyler, Texas!  Jason was offered a job working at the Cathedral in Tyler where Father Bernhard currently works.

Needless to say, I have had fun jabbing Jason every now and then for bailing on my 30th birthday to party with his friends all weekend while I spent the my birthday in full morning sickness mode trying to chase a 3 and 1-1/2 year old.

The joke was on me though. Jason has been working for weeks to coordinate a surprise birthday party for me with some of my absolute closest friends!


However, last week while cleaning and staging our house, Jason threw out there, "Hey, what about throwing a going away party for us here at our house now that it looks so great?"

And I threw him a big-eyed stare and asked, "You seriously want to let a bunch of people mess up our house now that we have it perfect?????"

And then he started to get nervous about the surprise party...

that he offered to throw at our house...

And he decided that with three small children, we have enough surprises in our life...


And he decided to let me in on the surprise so that I could "approve" the party in our house.  

Little Men: Take note of the wisdom of your father

So with the house already clean, we got to preparing a feast!

Jason prepared his famous Texas Brisket that receives rave reviews every time he makes it!  It is a labor of love that starts the previous night and was proclaimed to be better than the award winning brisket of a local restaurant!

We also had a whole sockeye salmon that I wanted to cook on my birthday to share since it was 5 lbs of goodness!  But we were a little overwhelmed with trying to prepare this huge fish.  So, when the brisket was finished, we decided to just throw it on the grill for a mesquite smoked salmon.


All you do is salt the cavity, puncture the fish all the way through in a few spots to let the smoke ooze into it, and leave it for a couple hours to take in all the smokey flavor.  

It. Was. Amazing! 

And I'm not sure if I should be worried or flattered that everyone spent their hard-earned money on all this booze for the party ;)  


We put a decent dent in it...but we're not young'uns anymore and had to act responsibly


To top off the party booze, we stuck with the same theme for my presents :)

Jason has noticed my obsession with drinking out of a mason jar and found me the most appropriate gift ever


It's the Redneck Wine Glass!!!!  And don't worry - he got me 2 of these bad boys so you can drink out of it the next time you come visit me :)


And the wine was from my friend Stacy - also a mother of three small children!

And the mini bottles of liquor from Karen - they are for the long drive to Texas :)


And something to carry my mini-bottles of liquor: 

How spoiled am I???  Thank you Jennie!  (But I do have to share it with another little lady)


The party was amazing, and I am even more reminded of how much I am going to miss my friends and family here in Maryland.  I was thinking about the group of friends who Jason invited and realized that in this small group, my entire life is covered from birth to current day: Starting with my little brother up through my phase as a mom.

The phases are:
Little brother: Birth through preschool
Kim: Preschool through 7th grade
Michelle: 8th grade through 11th grade
Lindsay: 12th grade
Jennie: 19 years old - Restaurant waitresses
Jennifer: 21 years old - desk job in corporate hell :)
Jason: 24 years old - college
Stacy: Now - Life as a mom of little kids




How cool is that?!  I'm proud of my crew and can't even process leaving them.  
Texas has some big shoes to fill...

And lastly - my birthday miracle story:

When Jason graduated college, my mom gave him a beautiful leather briefcase.  He left it in his car with a lot of paperwork and books and some young good-for-nothings came through our neighborhood vehicles and took what they wanted.  The briefcase didn't have any valuables in it, but cannot be replaced and we were really upset about it.

This morning, on my actual birthday, the Sheriff pulled up with the briefcase in her backseat.

I'll just call this one a birthday present from my mom :)

A big thank you to everyone who was able to come for the party and also thank you for all the gifts.  I love you guys :)  

It was a fantastic night!

Nomadic lifestyle

1.Nomad58 up24 down
1. Offensive slang for a homeless person; often paired with 'dirty' (ex. "you dirty nomad").
2. One who does not have a place within society, a group of friends, sports team etc... and as such, is prone to stealing, begging and imposing themselves in inappropriate places.
"Look at all the dirty nomads in the shelter"
"Why should I give that dirty nomad money, he's just going to spend it all on drugs and alcohol"
"Taylor is such a nomad, no one wants him here at all"


We are all going crazy


...5 days living as nomads...


How can we be expected to keep this up????

I can do one of two things:

1) Keep my house in perfect condition until it sells by dragging my children out of the house all day in 100 degree heat.  Or,

2) Yell at them not to touch anything in the house just in case someone wants to do a walk-through of the house at any random hour of the day.

Neither of these are acceptable.  So, I'll add this one

3) Carry a spray bottle in one hand and a vacuum in the other.  And eat lots of stress-relieving junk food.

My sister generously opened the doors to her home (as did a couple of my friends!) and we have been camped out there for a couple days.




But it has been 5 days and I just want to go HOME!!!  

We have had a couple showings and just have to pray that someone overlooks the lack of a master bath and the odd "hallway" shape of our main floor.  We know that if they don't like the house, it's not because of us.  We made this place SHINE!!  We had one interested party, but no bids yet.

And in other important news - check out my ridiculously happy and pudgy baby :)







Almost there!!

The finish line is in sight!!!!




Our house is 2 touch-ups and a toy pick-up away from being listed!  We have worked every day for a week and a half straight to get the house in perfect shape to sell.  It's a free for all around here!  I have been so busy that I will find the kids passed out at random times in random spots of the house.







Our area was hit by a huge and damaging storm a few days ago.  Possibly the best feature of our house is underground power lines.  We never lose power!!!!

My sister always loses power and is always the last to have her power restored.  So I picked up a few nephews and a niece to save them from the heat!  But we made them work for it...






It wasn't all work though :)


Unfortunately, the real work starts now!!  I have to keep this house in perfect condition from today until the day it sells.

I am praying hard that it sells...today :)

We have had so much help from friends and family that I am flabbergasted that people try to do this kind of thing alone.  Military families??  How do you do it???

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Update: IT IS LISTED!!!!!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...