Minnesota is Heaven, But Virginia is Home

Holy crapola, what a week this has been. OK, you all know from FB that I jumped the gun and went running around the streets of Larchmont with a megaphone shouting about my new house.  And called everyone and almost started ordering blinds. And you all know that I went ahead and took those pretty pictures of our current home...yes those in that last post and that I listed the house on Craigslist and had new renters within mere hours of posting?  Yeah, because I like being on the ball, right?  Always prepared, always a step ahead. THEN.  Then, I found out that putting earnest money down on a house does not = we are buying that house FOR SURE. Oops.  Big, big oops.  Here, I had gone ahead and rented the house out from under us without being absolutely sure that we had a new house to move into. There's being one step ahead and there's being stupid.  I was stupid. On Monday, I met with my realtor and the contractor at the house and we went thro...

So--a few of you may have heard by now, but we bought a HOUSE.  There aren't enough exclamation points to properly convey my immense excitement over this development! Anyway--we have a lease on our current home until December, and while our landlord is a great guy, he did say that I would need to find a renter to replace us in order to be released from our lease. Yesterday I put this series of photos on Craigslist and within an hour, I had a call, had showed it and they were applying for it! I thought I'd keep the pictures for posterity's sake--I really do love this little house... I got "Minnesota is Heaven Volume III" in the mail from Blurb and I want these pictures to be in Volume IV. New front room carpet and new roman shades. The playroom, oddly split by the stairs, for some reason...  The rest of the playroom The boys will have separate rooms in the new house--a very important thing for my almost-9-...

  Friday morning gift-opening sesson--of course, heavily "assisted" by her brothers!

February 16, 2006--One day old.  In some mysterious crevice of this computer are her brand new, in the delivery room pictures, but I can't seem to locate them this morning.  One day old will have to do! Grandma and Grandpa made it to Japan!  I am thrilled that they got to visit at least one of my babies in the hospital.  It's a little lonely when you're very far from home and your extended family isn't there to celebrate your babies in the hospital.  Look at her sweet, round little head, aww! I always liked this one of three generations of women. She got a lot of snuggle time in her first two weeks.     I still remember how happy it made me to buy her pretty little pink things--I kept this tiny sleeper.  A snapshot of a newly formed family of four.  The Four De Fors.  1 - Newport  2 - Stuttgart (how I miss the curls)    3 - Stuttgart    Josiah helped her u...

It's 2:30 and the school nurse hasn't called all day.  So...the kids have been sick.  Off and on, off and on.  Just when I thought it was off, oh no--wait--it was back on.  Got ya, Mom!  Oh, norovirus, you so funny!  Nice joke! Make no mistake, the kids were miserable, but just miserable enough to make life miserable for me.  Hey, can I be 100% honest?  I love my kids and would throw myself under a train for them, but...(looking around to make sure I'm alone)...I LIKE it when they go to school and get out of my hair for the better part of the day. Shame on me, right?  Shouldn't every moment with my children be like a wonderful fairytale that I never want to end? Uh, no.  No, it's not. What makes me laugh is that every once in awhile, actually a lot in awhile, I think about homeschooling them.  Seriously.  I know that sentence, of all the humor I'm aiming for in this entry, will make you all laugh the most.  E...