UN-decorating

It's kinda like UN-packing. Not nearly as much fun as packing... the fun is over and now reality is setting in. 

But that's life when you move alot, right?  So.... y'all remember G's room.  My pride and joy and my first taste of really decorating my own child's room and getting into it!  (Hey, they say second children are neglected... there aren't as many pics of them, they get less alone time with parents... but G scored in the room dept!  Sissy's nursery was boring compared to this!)

I spent an hour and a half on Tues night working on 'bringing down the boat' and other decals 

I have to say, I was totally impressed with how well the walls looked once I pulled down all the vinyl.  Totally recommend it for decorating and will definitely do it again.  All you do is take a hair dryer to the decal, warm it up, then pull it off.  (I may have been a little impatient anxious at first and didn't heat the decals up enough.  mr. fix-it had to do a little paint touch up!  But I caught on quick and the rest was perfect!)

Did I ever tell you that the pirate ship was 2 pieces?  Ahh, the memories of putting that up.  I supervised, 8+ months pregnant, while Mr. Fix-It and both Mr. and Mrs. Everything all worked to put up the 6 foot pirate ship!  I totally cried half the time I was pulling it down...

Those of you that have been around Our Semi-Homemade Life awhile will remember this pic of baby G.

This is what's left of It's a Pirate's Life for Me!  Nothing but shriveled up vinyl all over the floor.  Did I mention how long it took?  And that I burnt my fingers?  And that I think I aged my hair dryer considerably?  ;)

Part of my Tues decal destroying was the monogram and a few of the birds in Big Sis's room.  Finished the last 6 birds tonight!

UN-decorating.  It's like a sweet trip down memory lane.... there is laughter, there are tears... I ended up talking to a friend after the boat came down and she offered a moment of silence.  LOL!  Then she said... Now that the ship has sailed, bring on the trucks!  Yep, I'm working on a vintage truck theme as one idea for G's next room.  Will share it soon!

And on that note... The Semi-Homemades go unplugged this weekend, so enjoy your holiday!  We'll be without internet (gasp!) in the summer house until Tues.  Boo!  Tomorrow evening we will officially live at the Summer House (just send our mail there!)  ;)  Happy Memorial Day, y'all!!
xoxo,

The One Where WE MOVE! Well, kinda...

The Semi-Homemades move into the summer house, but only partially.  They watch as the movers take everything to the summer house that they'll need.  Except their beds, which stay at the house.  Two loads go to storage, with the balance scheduled for the next week.  Elaine wonders where her mind has gone... and guesses it's in 1 of 3 locations, like everything else:  in the house, at the apartment... or lost in storage.

Yep, we're in 3 places right now and I think I've plain lost my mind!  We've started setting up the summer house and our first night there will be Friday night.  So... remember that surprise mr. fix-it was working on?  Well, this is Big Sis's reaction when she saw it:

Did you guess it?  He had the painters come in and paint Big Sis's room the exact pink of her Preppy Room at home.  He had them paint G-man's room that beautiful navy that G-man is used to in his Pirate Nursery. He knew both kiddos had been experiencing some anxiety, and he wanted them to feel at home.  Isn't he just the best? :)

See?  It worked!  G walked right in and started throwing the toys out of the toybox.  JUST like at home.

And look at Sissy's room.  It almost doesn't even look like an apartment anymore!

Then, as a surprise to me, he even did OUR ROOM!  Awwww... (Maybe he picked up on the anxiety I've started to have, just in the last few days?)  It's time to start thinking Father's Day gifts because this man has outdone himself!

While last weekend isn't necessarily one I'd want to repeat over and over... we DID manage to have some fun, especially with the moms here.  This is Big Sis with her grandmother (my mom!) 

 

And Mr. Fix-It's mom getting some love!

This was the cutest thing.... G-man was watching Princess and the Frog with Sissy and he sat in his rocker (which is mr. fix-it's dad's rocker!)... admist the boxes... with his sippy.... and rocked.  Just made us think of all the precious memories we've made in this house!

The One Where It GETS REAL

The Semi-Homemades embark on the first leg of their moving journey.  They encounter twists and turns along the way, which they are sure will become funny to them.  At some point.

So, it's really happening!  The guys just left with all the furniture (except our beds!) that we'll need at the summer house!  And there's another crew in my garage right this minute... loading it for storage.  Thank goodness the moms are here... they have the kiddos out on a bike ride!

Mr. Fix-It just commented that it's getting real now, and he's so right.... He got to go to the Byron Nelson yesterday (something he's always wanted to do, since we moved here 7 yrs ago!).... and he might have had a little too much fun with Mr. Everything and my brother there... so the day ended in a late night trip for me to Irving to pick up my boys.... (thank goodness they knew not to drive!).... but if he's paying for it now, he's not letting it show.  :)

Okay, gotta get back to it!  And don't worry about me... if it gets too stressful, Mrs. Everything dropped off some medicine for me (any guesses on what this is?  Yep!  Firefly!!).... what a friend!  ;)

The One Where We GET THE LOT!

The Semi-Homemades are nearly beside themselves with this land roller coaster... and debating on giving it up and running away to live at the beach permanently.  They get the call on Tuesday with the counter offer, and forward progress is made.

We accepted the counter!!  And now maybe I can start sleeping at night again! ;)  We broke the news to the kids over dinner (which was pancakes - we're trying to eat our way thru the pantry so we don't have to move lots of food, lol!)  And then.... because we were celebrating....

\\

we might have had a little ice cream.....

okay, maybe alot of ice cream... split between two messy kids....

and then once they went to bed, we might have (FINALLY!) gotten to break out the champagne Mr. Fix-It bought 2 wks ago!  (Check out those bags under my eyes - yikes!)

My mom and mom-in-law drove down today to join me for a Packing Party!  We're going to spend the next 2 days packing the rest of the house while the kids are at school.  Sat most our stuff goes to the summer house... and by next Friday, we'll be living there (and most our stuff will be in storage!)

Whew!  What a relief to have THE lot we wanted, at a great price, so we can get started building.  I'm not kidding when I say I've been losing sleep over it... and so has Big Sis, apparently.  She's always adjusted so well to any kind of change (moving, potty training, transitioning from crib to bed), so we figured she wouldn't skip a beat with this move.  WRONG.

After waking up in the night Sat, crying and panicking.... she refused to go to bed on Sun, after I had taken down and packed all wall hangings in her room.  This isn't my room - it isn't pretty, momma.... that's what she was crying.  Broke my heart to see her so upset.  I rehung 3 canvas paintings done by a friend and she went to sleep.

Mr. Fix-It and I have been worrying alot about her for a week or so... she's been out of character... So, today Mr. Fix-It asked me if I could arrange to be at the summer house for a short time on Friday, for a surprise.  Any guesses what he's up to?  :)

Stay tuned to check out the Semi-Homemade floor plan!

Surprised & Delighted

It's no secret that I like my 'bucks.  I go once a week (unless it's a stressful wk, then twice!), to the same one, thru the driveway with the kids.  They call it the 'coffee store' and they love the woman that works the drive-thru.

Today when they said hi..... she waved and greeted them and said to me:

Today we're surprising and delighting our customers.  I'd like to give you this for the kids - have a great day!

And inside was all this:

The Starbucks Snack-Fulls - with organic apple slices (presliced apples have been my OBSESSION!), Annie's Grahams, string cheese and raisins.  And can I just tell you?  Those crackers were yummy!  ;)  I told the kids I wanted one thing and they could pick it... they wanted the cheese and raisins.

Starbucks, you did it... I was surprised AND delighted!  (And I was having a morning where I definitely needed a delight, if you know what I mean!)

The One Where We SOLD THE HOUSE

The Semi-Homemades return from Vegas, just in time to sell their house.  They're blown away - they've always been proud of the house that Mr. Fix-It built, but can't believe it sold in a month on the market!  Chaos ensues as they have to locate temporary housing, negotiate on land for the next Semi-Homemade house, and figure out how to find time to pack an entire house while still working insane hours and taking care of two precious kiddos.

Okay, so yes... WE SOLD THE HOUSE!  Can you believe it?  Feels like we've been on a roller coaster... it's gone kinda like this:

April 18 - sold the house
April 19 - re-submitted an offer on that 'perfect lot' we'd found - only to find out it had JUST gone under contract.  Now not so sure we wanted to sell our house (not having anywhere to go!), we decided to hold off on signing papers on the sell of our house. 
April 20 - signed the papers.  Spent every night that week, looking at land. 
April 22 - put an offer in on a new lot in a neighborhood we've always loved.  Negotiations lasted days.  They didn't work out.
April 30 - put an offer on ANOTHER lot. 
May 12 - FINALLY got the counter offer.  We're dealing with a foreclosure and the speed (or lack thereof!) of these negotiations are killing.me.  We put our counter offer in late that night, and...  we're still waiting.  I was hoping to have good news by today - mr. fix-it even bought some champagne (that we might break out this weekend anyway!)  It's in an area we hadn't previously considered... it's further out.  But the neighborhood is amazing and it just so happens that the Everythings are residents of this same town. 

The combination of having our permanent residence totally in the air... combined with some work-related stuff.... and trying to pack our entire house ourselves (we didn't pack a thing the last time we moved - loved that!)... and you can imagine that I haven't slept in weeks.

We spent all last weekend packing.  And I have to say, I'm impressed at what we got done. ;)  We'll pack all this weekend, too.  Then my mom and mom-in-law are driving down the next week for a Packing Party!  I'm taking 2 days off and we'll finish the rest of the house and move into our apartment next week.  Funny story... Big Sis started asking questions about what we were packing... for ex, are we packing the ceiling?  no.  Are we packing my bed?  Yes, and it'll go to the place we'll live this summer.  But your dresser will not... So, it won't go to the summer house, momma?  And THAT is how our apartment became known as the summer house.  Yep, we're fancy like that... ;)

And as we started packing last weekend, I started getting sad... this is the first house (and you know we've had too many houses!) that felt like a true home... that we connected with, on a deeper level.  I was sad when we left the house we brought Big Sis home from the hospital... but this house makes me even more sad.  It'll be hard to leave:

~G-man's first room - love that pirate nursery!

~the living room where we do "streaker" every night after baths.  mr. fix-it and I chase nekkid Big Sis and G-man around and around the couch.... yelling Streaker!!.... until we catch them and fall to the floor, shrieking and giggling!

~the staircase where Big Sis and I race each other upstairs to bed every night

~the backyard that's seen it all - G-man's pirate birthday party, s'more's makin', summer BBQs

~the dining room that was the center of Big Sis's Nutcracker Sweet birthday when Santa visited!

~the home where I experienced my 2nd pregnancy... and then bringing home precious baby #2!

~the kitchen where I've hosted numerous parties, cooked it up for many holidays, where Big Sis and I make chocolate chip cookies

~and the Movie Room - home of all our family movie nights!

Goodbye, sweet home.  And so... Moving 2010 is underway!  And the rest of the year promises to be full of interesting episodes, as the Semi-Homemades move into an apartment... mr. fix-it builds our new house... I design new rooms for Sissy and G-man... and more!  As soon as we get off this land-seeking roller coaster, it's all fun from there!

Happy weekend!

Cheap Summer Stuff you Need!

Just a few (cheap!) things I'm loving right now that just say SUMMER!  :)

My beach-y read:  Raising the Perfect Child Through Guilt and Manipulation

Seriously, when I read the title, I knew I had to read it, lol.  And the recommendation came from a blogger who cracks me up (Liz at Mable's House), so it was a done deal.  You'll learn super important lessons like how to form your "team" and How to Scare the Crap Out of Your Child (But in a Positive Way.)  Seriously, I've already taken some of the advice to heart... like using everyday situations to guilt my kiddos into behaving.  Just kidding.  Kinda.  This book is just for fun.  (But hey, if you happen to find some of it helpful in raising your kids, I won't tell!)

This book is funny - and I'm looking at it right now on Amazon and it's only $6 - wow! 

The sweet smell of summer:  Bath & Body came out with their Summer Vanillas right before the big trip to Vegas.  I had an amazing coupon (AND a giftcard from Christmas!) so I bought all 3.  Except now I wish I would have just bought 3 of the Vanilla Lemon.  Can't get enough of it!  And I've got the girls at work addicted, too.  (Hey, if I'm gonna hang out with them, they need to smell good, right?)

A drink with an umbrella:  Ahhhh.... the latest yummy drink craze (at least around here!)  I don't even like sweet team (which I know is a blasphemy down here in TX!), but this stuff?  Mmm.... I love Sweet Tea Vodka mixed with just about ANY flavor of Crystal Light (because what's the good in all this running if I'm drinking tons of calories, right?)  Mrs. Everything and I soooo enjoyed it last Friday night that we didn't notice (until it was too late!) that our darling children had been pouring buckets of sand onto each other's head in the sandbox.  Four shampoos into the weekend and I was STILL finding some sand!

Spa day at work:  And then lastly... this is random, but it's the small things at work, sometimes, that get you through.  And I promise... even if work is going terribly wrong... if I've got this yummy cranberry chicken for lunch, at least I know I'll manage to have 10 min where things are going right! ;) 

I promise I'm working on a big blog that explains at least SOME of my mysterious ways lately, lol!  I'm hoping to have a little more information... but either way, I hope to finish it up by end of week. 

Today was supposed to be Jury Duty Day for me.. my first ever!  But when I checked my status online last night, I was dismissed before I even came!  I'm wondering how you get to be my age (lol!) and have never even showed up for jury duty!! :)  Happy Wednesday!

Happy Mom's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all you mommas out there!!!

Seriously, I could get used to this.... tacos & margaritas at the Everythings on Fri, lunch with MY momma on Sat, sushi for dinner last night, pancakes for breakfast today, flowers, gifts and artwork from the kids.  All in celebration of ME for mother's day!  Awww....

I think the kids' fav part was giving me what they'd made me at school.  G-man had the biggest grin when he gave me this:

And every 5 seconds since Fri, Big Sis has asked me if it's Sunday yet.... because her teacher said our moms couldn't open these til Sunday! ;)  It was this huge package with this card on the front, and a sweet poem and her hand written name on the inside...

And then her sillhouette and name.  This is my absolute FAVORITE preschool gift I've ever gotten!  And when I told Sissy that, she just beamed...

Happy Mother's day, from the Semi-Homemades!

Is it time for a drink yet?

This may or may not be what Sissy (that's what G-man has been callin' her!) and G-man are getting their momma for Mother's day.  :)

Or this one!    Which do I love more?  The hammered glass?  The fleur de lis??  Ohmigosh, how do you choose?

Speaking of drinks, I had a drink from the 'Bucks this morning, courtesy of my dearest friend Mrs. Everything.  She knows I've been a little... anxious?  Or alot anxious, whatever.  So she dropped the sweetest card in my mailbox (complete with Proverbs 3:5-6, love it!) and the giftcard.  Awww.... what a friend!

Then mr. fix-it got in on the "cheer up" activities today with this list, which he emailed me:

Yeah, it's been crazy lately, but we have tons to be thankful for.
1) we both have good jobs
2) we are still in love after 8 years of marriage
3) we have the cutest and most amazing kids ever
4) we have a great family
5) we both like our extended families ;)
6) we are healty
7) we are financially sound
Lots more, but that's just what I thought of in a couple minutes.  I love you.  Keep yo head up.

Awwww.... I love the gansta speak at the end, especially.  :)

So, I know I haven't said much lately except that it's been crazy.... and I know I haven't blogged latelty AT.ALL.  Sorry!  In April I only blogged HALF of my average (which is 20 blogs/month. Yes, I crunch numbers for a living so I know these things.)  Anyway, I hope to be able to spill it all really soon.  Maybe this weekend!  And I'm hoping to actually know more by then, too.  Thanks for your patience, muah!  May will likely be a little void of semi-homemade goodness... but lots of projects in store for June!

*** For those of you who have asked, those drink dispensers are both from Dillard's!

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Teachers are the Sunshine - it's Teacher Appreciation time!

Y'all know how much the Semi-Homemades love our teachers!  And this week is Teacher Appreciation at school - woo hoo!  Tomorrow, each kiddo is bringing a flower for their teacher.  By the end of the day, each teacher will have a vase with a beautiful and unique bouquet!

I grabbed these tulips tonight.... added the tags below.... and some tulle (duh!).... and ended up with a turq and red design with a thanks from Big Sis and G-man!

If you want to see any of our past Semi-Homemade Teacher gifts, check 'em out here!

And be sure to visit Joy at Mommas Kinda Crafty - she's featuring lots of ideas, including the Semi-Homemade Smore's Kit I did last summer!  Enjoy!  And appreciate those teachers - they rock!