Bad day

Had a bad one with the kids... woke up at 5:30, never went back to sleep and fought all day with kids who got up at 6:45 instead of the usual 8 and 9. Mommy was cranky because she doesn't do well without sleep either, but the kids...I think I was speaking Chinese all day because they acted like they did not hear one word I said. I got tired of yelling and went to spanking. Do Not Pass GO, Do Not Collect $200. Do Not Call CPS Because You Said You Would Bash Your Daughters Face In. Right, I know. I didn't mean it and I was so mad I didn't know what I was saying. I couldn't reach her anyway. It just came out of my mouth. I'm not proud of my actions. I am proud of myself that when we got home, I laid down the law, doled out punishments just like I said I would (sometimes I threaten, but don't follow through), and then talked rationally, but firmly. After spanks aways come hugs. but not until they've had a few minutes to sink in :)
I still feel like crap. I feel ignored. I feel useless. I feel ineffective as a parent. I'm worn down, tired and tomorrow is going to start very soon and I'm not ready for it yet.

Ryan and I continued to paint this evening and as we were painting, Maddie and Ben were watching the BZZZ movie. That's Ben talk for The Bee movie. at the end, they sing "Here Comes The Sun. Maddie dances and sings, and felt a little better. This has been a long cold lonely winter. It does seem like years since it's been here, but it's coming and we'll all feel better with some sun shining on our faces.

I'm hoping tomorrow is a productive day. We want to move in next weekend, so we want to get as much done as possible. The hardwood floor guy is coming on Monday. I ripped up the carpet in the smallest bedroom and it already looks so good! I can't wait to be moved in. Ben can't either, apparently. Every time we leave in the evening, he complains about wanting to stay at the "Blue House". Our house is not blue. The paint was blue in the front room, but it's brown now. I think he misheard us say new house, but he's called it that since we went their the first time. I don't mind. I just am so happy that he is excited!

Painting Painting Painting

It's not so bad, except that I've got "helpers". We let Maddie help us prime, but Ryan is a paint Nazi (to put it nicely. He gets it from his mom) and he doesn't want to take the time to teach, he just wants them out.

Maddie's not bad, but Ben is another story. He grabbed a tiny roller and left the room being primed. Then he "helped" in the just-painted kids room and on the bathroom door, which was not being painted. I was in another room, So I cannot be blamed. Everything is fixable. The door washed off (thanks, Jim). Just adds more steps.

Then, I'm not sure about the colors I picked. I picked a bright green called "asparagus" for the kids to go along with some green in both of their blankets. I feel like I'm on the inside of a lime. I hope, with the blue carpet removed and the wood floor exposed, the furniture put back and stuff on the walls, it won't be so heinous. It's pretty bad right now.

The other color is called "burnt almond". It's kind of like a coffee with a lot of cream. I think it's too dark. I'm always second guessing myself. i just hope it's ok once we're done and our furniture is in place.

Everything has been going pretty smoothly. We borrowed some things from Ryan's mom for painting and she even gave us a few colors so we didn't have to buy as much. HUGE help. We're working really hard, but agreeing on everything, so it seems to be without the usual husband/wife (or is it just Ryan and Marie) stress and fighting. We're all so excited to move it, especially the kids. They don't want to go back to the condo each night, they want to stay there. Ben tells me thank you each time I tell him we're going to the "new house". Makes moving a whole lot easier when we're all in it together!

So much to do, so little time.

This past weekend we went with some friends to Boyne to hang out and go to the water park, Avalanche Bay. This is our second year, but this year we added a couple and their daughter. There were 8 adults and 5 kids, so the big people still outnumbered the little ones. We hung out on Friday, waiting for the Muellers to come, and Ben didn't feel good all day. He was feverish and lethargic. The he threw up in the evening after he had gone to sleep. Yuck. Lucky me, I woke up on water park day feeling crappy. I went for a while, but pretty much felt like crap, so I stayed in bed for round two. I'm so bummed I missed all the fun. Maddie went down all the big slides with Ryan and even the medium ones by herself! She went underwater, I watched her freak out a little, then realize it wasn't so bad, and she did it again! Ben was a little strange at first, he didn't even want to go in the water, but he loosened up and by the second round, they couldn't get him to come out! Last year he was a funny little fish who got mad at me when I went around the waterfall. I laid in bed, trying not to puke. Eh. We did have fun though, losta of Mario cart, a few card games, playing at the park, the flat tire on the way home. Yes, I said flat tire. Last year it was Jamie and Laura, who blew a tire near Saginaw and this year we're the big winners! Jamie and Laura were actually behind us, so they helped us out a little and had lunch with us while we waited for a new tire.

We are closing on our house tomorrow...I'm so nervous! We have everything set up and ready to go. I hope there isn't another setback. I've been calling everyone for quotes on carpet, floor refinishing, chimney cleaning, tree removal, cable, garbage...the list goes on and that's only what I did yesterday! I have to sit at the house from 12-4 on Friday to wait for the gas to be turned on. At least it's supposed to be 75! We can play in the yard! We have boxes all around us here, and I'm desperate just to get a few out of the way. A lady named Heather that works with Scott our realtor is coming Saturday to help us stage the condo, or at least tell us what to do when we're ready in a few weeks. I'm nervous about that, too, but hopefully we'll have some of this clutter out of the way!

Easter

Something exciting just happened. This won't be exciting to any of you, but for me, it's super cool. I have the realtor website for our house bookmarked and I look at it every so often, just to see it, and to remember the measurements of the rooms. I just clicked on it and it says

"No Property with that ID"

Whoa. It's not on the website anymore. I know we haven't closed, but AWESOME!

We had the usual busy day with family and church. It was fun and we all ate too much. Eh. I do not have any pictures because my camera is at the shop being fixed :( Sure, buy a new house, holiday, vacation? Broken camera. Bummer. My kidlets were very cute in their matching outfits. Not too matchy but enough. Maddie had her hair in ringlets :) Ben wore a little pink tie. They ran around like crazies, but that's what they're supposed to do on Easter.

messing around

I've had this blog for a while now and never really tried to spruce it up. I did and I hated it. Then I couldn't figure out how to UNDO what I had done! It was exasperating! I finally figured it out and got it right.

I love this picture of Bennett, it conveys my life story. "Huh?"

Scott, our friend/realtor, got some word on the house, but it is neither good nor bad. They came back and said, "Sure, lets close!" but they did not ok any of our fixes to the purchase agreement! So. What does that mean? I'm glad Scott is working so diligently with us, or we'd sure be up a creek by now!

The Proud New Owners of 11935 Barbara Ann

I feel like I'm going to hyperventilate. Last night, at quarter to 11 our friend/real estate agent Scott called us to say he JUST got an email saying we got the house. The other lady who was the agent for the house knew Friday, but didn't email Scott until SUNDAY NIGHT!

Now I'm in crazy mode, thinking about all the things that need to be done, things we want to do in the future, things we have to do to the condo to sell it.

I'm just so happy to have a yard! I want to say, "Go outside and play!" to my kids!

We're in for a lot of work, clean up and such, but since it's livable we won't have to do anything major to move in, just paint and flooring. OH MY GOSH! Thanks for everyone's prayers and good thoughts. I know it was my army who made this happen!