Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Decluttering Frenzy

In major news around this house, Molly got a pig. (If my sister Amy read my blog, which she doesn't, she would have instant fulfillment of all her dreams from that statement. Think Ruthie Pig-face from Dan In Real Life--it's a never ending thing with her since we named Ruth, Ruth.)
This pig must be majorly succulent because it is already being eaten to shreds. Molly's eyes are gorgeous. The pig's eyes are...piggy.
She would only smile with the pig ear IN her mouth, and cried when I took it out.
Ruth wanted a picture taken of her new, FAVORITE, polka-dot pink shorts. A dream come true. 

We got this pig for Molly because she needed a stuffed animal all her own. We have taken our other kids to build-a-bear (actually, Ruthie inherited the one we got while dating) and they each go to bed with them. Molly started getting attached to Ruth's bear. If anyone REALLY knows Ruthie, you would know, you don't mess with her bear. So there was starting to be some contention. At Ikea we offered several choices to Molly, but when we handed her this pig to try out, she never let go. So that was that. And now when contention arises, at least I can yell "That is MOLLY'S pig!"
This is Molly's grip when anyone tries to take her pig. It's serious, yo.

K. That stink eye. Molly can REALLY glare, I tell ya what. Her facial expressions just crack me up all the time!


Big girl on campus walking around these parts. 
Oh that smile. I just love her. 

I sat there for a while pulling her lip down trying to show off all eight of her big teeth that fill up that mouth of hers, and then I snapped this one, where she conveniently pulled her own lip down for me!

She was crawling on her hands and knees, but then she stopped to watch me take the photo.
What else has been going on in our lives, you ask?
Sterling is prepping to take his second to LAST first year medical school test. Huzzah. 
In the meantime, since we decided not to move, I have been going a little declutter crazy over here. Turning closets into playrooms, dividing living rooms in half, you name it.

I got a little crazy about going through every single item we own, too. Since I won't have the opportunity to dejunk while packing for a move, I decided to dejunk anyway.
Has anyone been following the wardrobe capsule craze? Me either, but it has caught my eye a few times. I always dismiss it because I think 1)I'm not stylish enough with my clothes to make it worth my time to try and feel that way. 2) I don't have the money to do that right now, we're just poor struggling students, right?

Except, there is a truth to a lot of the capsule idea. I have two totes of clothes that are from high school and college, that even when I DO fit them, I still don't wear them because of how out-dated they are.Now, I didn't get all capsule crazy. I still have my close to ten hoodies (everyone collects something, right?!) and an entire tote of maternity clothes, pre maternity clothes, etc, and not all of them fit perfectly or I've worn always--but still think I might wear in the future. I do realize (my sister Kami was concerned about this today) that upon having more babies, my body might not bounce back to where I am and I will need those in-between sizes. But at the same time....a lot of times when I was at those sizes, I didn't wear them anyway. They are from high school or my first years of college. SEVEN-EIGHT years ago! (I am really, really old.) When I do need that size, I usually pick out a couple of things that I do have, and budget in one or two new items to add. 

So I got rid of a LOT of items. From me, from the girls totes, from my shoes, from our toys. I downsized.

After all that craziness, (two WAY too late nights) I am feeling very good about life. OH!
MY PVC PIPE FORT!
I got a little excited about kids forts one day. (Just ask my sister Andrea, who I called to share my excitement with since Sterling was studying.) Pinterest is a WEALTH of information. The very next morning we made a Home Depot trip, loaded ourselves up with pvc pipe and connectors and got right to making a fort. The kids have LOVED it and it has been a great new entertainment on these rainy days. Best part? I can pull it all apart and put it away, and in the future buy more pvc pipe so my bigger kids can make bigger creations!
Their fort. (ignore my fuzzy iPhone pictures. or rejoice with me that I have a phone that takes decent pictures. either way.) Isn't the fort AWESOME though!?!?!?! 
Our friend outside the kids' window that we watched for a solid ten minutes the other morning. I hope he sticks around because he eats mosquitoes. But the crazy, mangy, cats here that I hate eat the lizards. Sad. 

Remember I said we had the greatest cream cheese, pesto, tomato dinner EVER? This was it.
We had a typical Miami torrential down pour after swimming all morning this morning (in blazing sunshine) and so we went puddle jumping on the way home. Lots of fun!
Those two. They are crazy demons, but I love them! 
This is the massive puddle that always forms at the front of our complex. It's pretty sweet.

The end.

Oh, PS, these photos are brought to you by iCloud, which I just now figured out for the FIRST time!!!! Go me!

Monday, April 27, 2015

Summer Lovin', Happened So Fast!

It's hot, guys.
It was close to a hundred degrees on Sunday. Plus, 40% chance of rain. Which means the humidity is INSUFFERABLE, but not quite enough to actually rain and give any sort of relief. Although, bless the Miami breeze!

It's been a little while since we went swimming, due to a week long thunderstorm (I swear, Miami!) so the sunshine today, as well as our cabin fever, drove us outside. Because nothing says summer like FHE at 6pm poolside, right? 

Or maybe the ENTIRE watermelon (a small one, but still) that my kids ate for dinner said summer even more? On that same thread, it's too hot to cook again. We've resorted to things like chicken salad sandwiches for....multiple, ahem....meals. Tonight though, OH MY GOODNESS!!!! We had cream cheese, pesto, and sliced tomatoes on top of little baguettes. The pesto tasted really good. Different than I anticipated, since I couldn't find sorell in any of the stores (we got it last time from a farmer's market) and I resorted to making up my own recipe that included cilantro, which is a totally different taste. It turned out delicious though, nonetheless, and I felt very fancy eating my little baguette slices for dinner. My kids ate their bread with colby jack slices, but ya know, you win some you lose some. 

They'd been getting on each other's nerves all day long. They really needed a pool break to get all of that out of their system in a somewhat happier method, right?!?! (maybe that was just for my benefit.)
I spy.
THIS GIRL! Oh she is just at the most perfect stage right now! That baby soft skin, her snuggles, her smiles, her coos, her babbles, her facial expressions and crawling and standing and learning! I just love it all so, so much!

Will is back in Master Floater Extraordinaire mode. 
He spent about fifteen minutes like this, looking absolutely dead. No joke. I had to check on him a few times and make sure he responded.
Dad joined for FHE! (In Miami, when it's too hot to think, the best thing is to go to the pool, even for FHE.) And look at Ruth's crazy flip skills!


Love her plugged nose.

Sometimes a big brother just has to do what a big brother has to do. Luckily, Molly didn't mind too much.
Everybody jump!
Except Will didn't get the memo.

Again, Will didn't get the memo.
There we go.

That! That open-mouthed crazy grin is what I am always trying to catch on camera and she NEVER lets me. Such a cutie!

HAAAHAAAHAAAHAAA!
She is just the absolute cutest!
Okay, that swim diaper coming out of that swimsuited little bum might be the cutest thing ever. Molly is learning the 'bear crawl' to save her knees from the hard surfaces.
"Did you just take a picture of my bum, mom?"


On our way home we ran into our neighbor, Tiago (who I teach piano lessons to and we have almost weekly playdates with now) on his new ride. It's all Will can talk about now. 
FIRST DATE!
We sent little brother along to chaperone.
Supermodel smile, right there.
She even threw in the supermodel wave!
Someone let that girl behind the wheel.
Based on those faces? My kids should never drive. Ever. A little too much wickedness mixed in with that elated excitement, hahaaa!
All in all, it was a stupendous night.