The Reality is: I'm Messy

It seems like our house is always in a state of disaster. Literally, every room is a mess! I have tried some "Fly Lady" techniques in the past, but nothing seems to stick. I'm going to start a new system next week where I do one to two chores a day and then repeat them weekly. The thing is that can't include laundry and kitchen cleaning in that because it has to be done daily. Anyways, I'll let you know how it goes...maybe this times the charm! Send me some encouragement or tips that help you keep a tidy house~ I'd love to hear them!

The Here and Now

With well over a year since the last post, I figure there is no need to do a recap. Too much has happened and I could never fit it in a single post anyways. So I'm starting fresh with what we are up to right now. Here's the low down:

The boys are getting cuter everyday. Everett is just 9 months and True is 2.5.  True is a very happy little boy who has loads of energy. He really is a lot of fun. And he is getting into that goofy little boy stage which I love. He's really into building train tracks for his trains, building with blocks, doing puzzles, and reading books. Oh- and jumping. He's very good at jumping!

Everett is entering into the dreaded walking stage. I hate it because it pretty much means he always wants to be standing or on the move and because it comes with lots of falls. I trained myself not to gasp when True was learning to walk and am having to brush up on my skills! Everett has been a fairly difficult baby. He seems to cry a lot and basically want me all the time. He doesn't sleep or eat well, but we are trying to make some changes to his habits/routine and hopefully that will help.

Alan has started a nursing program that will last 2 years. He seems to enjoy it for the most part, but I think he is mainly just looking forward to being done and starting work. Me too! His schedule isn't too bad, but it is still an adjustment for us since we are used to him being home/working from home a lot over the last several years.

As for me, I am trying to catch up on laundry (or just fold the piles mounded up in the living room!), make more foods from scratch, teach True good manners along with some other stuff, decorate our new house on a budget, and plan a garden for this summer. I have a very, very long "to-do" list and can't seem to get much scratched off. I'm hoping the blog helps make me a little more accountable.

Well, here's some random pics from the last few months. I hope to post again soon. Gotta go feed a baby!

aaaaaaaaaaaaaa

That's pretty much how i feel. We have less than 2 weeks till we leave- we are moving back to good ole BG! And there is so much to do! Moving is pain enough, but an international move between opposite climates with a vacation in the middle is really a pain!  And man, are we going to need that vacation!! Things are "hotting up" over here and not just the temp. It is so busy. There are multiple things going on every day of this weekend and the removal company is coming monday to take the stuff we are shipping. Next week is major cleaning and more get togethers, etc culminating in some friends wedding. Should be a lot of fun and a little stress too! Anyways, enough of the rant (not like it's helping get things done around here!)

There's been lots of fancy dress things lately- a farewell party for some friends (sun and sea theme) and a bollywood bridal shower. I'll put lots of pics up and you can see what we've been up to over the last couple months!


Here's a little glow in the dark skeleton outfit that MomAnita sent. More of this one in a minute.

 A visit to the beach. True's really going to miss his best pal, Tilly!

 On a trip to Bunbury True got to play in the cabinet with all the pots- he loved it! But it was so loud I was tempted to shut him in it!

 Going for a cushion ride with daddy, while eating apple. Don't all the books say not to do that?!?

 Nice and clean!

 On facebook...jk!

Here';s a bunch from the bollywood shower. I decorated a cake to look like henna. I think it turned out alright.

 Here's melaine, tif, jen, and me dressed for the ocasion. you can't tell but we've got on loads of gold bangles and bindis. It was so much fun!

 For one of the games we got in groups and had to performa bollywood bridal dance. I taught the groups some basic moves...can you believe that! And don't worry lauren- my classic move with the leg kick wasn't one of them!

 We recently went to a pig pickin with some friends. Lindsey has worked out a spit and alan always helps him. Usually we do lamb- this was the first pig. And it was delicious!!!

This is our moms group at the sea and sun party. From left to right it's Chelsea and chloe, Ava, Jess, and charli, me and true, Jemmica, Vicki and Payton, and Melaine and Tilly.  i made true a lobster costume but can't find any of the pics. He was adorable so i'll have to find them later!

And here's Ghost Rider!

Alan and I keep  saying how we can't wait for all the grandparents to be around true. he really is so much fun! That's it for now! gotta go!

Oh- and I'm gonna need a new name for the blog- I'm open to suggestions!

Bath Time Fun

Alan loves taking baths so here's a few pictures. Just kidding!! Isn't it funny how adorable we think regular activities are when they are done by babies?! Well, True does love a bath. We have been pretty notorious for letting him go many days without a bath, but I've recently been bathing him a bit more. He tends to get more baths in sumer because he always has sunscreen on. So here's a few pics of him enjoying his bath!

These pictures are of True with his bubble beard. He has started this thing where he tries to eat or lick the bubbles. I'm not exactly sure what he's doing but he always comes up with this little beard!

You can really see his pink cheeks in this next photo. He's cutting at least 3 molars right now which is what i chalk it up to.

Splashin!

He also loves to drink from his cups that are in the tub. He's so cute!

And many aussies seem to have missed the memo that rat tails are out of style- not that i think they were ever really "in style"!- but here's true sporting his!

xo
jeanie

Minute to Win It!

So there's a new game show on tv called Minute to Win It. I don't know if it's australian, american, or what. Or if it's even new, but it is new to me. Anyways, the idea is a contestant has to do a specific task within 60 seconds in order to win an increasing amount of prize money. They get three tries before they are eliminated.

So a while back eddie planned a MTWI party. And it was so much fun! Of course I had to be a contestant- i love games! The way it worked or the party was that each contestant had up to three minutes to complete a task and the person with the best time won. Let's just say my lack of coordination didn't help much but I did manage to win a couple individual tasks. There are some great pics, though!

The Task: You must shoot rubber bands and knock all the cans off the chair. I learned that I cannot shoot rubber bands without them first hitting my thubs and fngers. My fingers were purple and throbbing by the end of the 3 minutes! And I onl knocked one can! But the pyramid is pretty cool and I bet no one else could do that if they wanted to!

(Here's Sarah, Melaine, and Tif)

Just seeing this next picture makes me laugh! The task: Swinging a tennis ball in a pair of panty hose from your head you must knock over 6 water bottles. Alan won this one!

The task: You must roll the ping pong ball down a tape measure into shot glasses at  three different distances. I think I won this one but I may have cheated. Nothing has been confirmed or denied. 

Alicia watched true for me. She's the best!

The task: You must throw the full water bottle so that it lands upright on the table. Although I claim that this is impossible, several people were able to do it.

Hardly amused by the whole thing! 

The Task: In one hand you hold three empty cans and in the other you hold three full cans. You them must combine the stacks and switch the empty and full cans to the opposite hands. You can't set them down or drop them. I won this one too!

The Task: Using only your facial muscles, you must move the oreo from your forehead to you mouth. This one was hillarious! I couldn't do it and just desperately wanted my three minutes to be over.  This is Andrew- the guy who lives with us but doesn't really.

The task: You must move 2 m&m's from a bowl and place them onto a straw using only the suction through a straw. Pretty tricky! Alan did this super fast- he may have won it.

The Task: Stack the reams of paper like dominoes so that they ring the bell at the end.

The Task: Blow off all the cards except the very last one. I'm cracking up because I took a big breath and blew really hard and absolutely NOTHING happened! I got it on the next try though!

The task: Bring 3 m&m's to your mouth on a pencil "elevator" hooked over your ears!

I have to say it was a total blast! I know it was a lot of work to put it together, but it was so fun. I want to have another one sometime- great church event, too!

In other news, we just went camping over the weekend so I will post about that soon. And just busy with work here and trying to get ready for the big move! December will be here before we know it! Love you all! xo jeanie