Worth the wait!

Oh! I hate to admit it but my husband was right!

All this time I've been searching Craigslist for a playhouse for the girls, then I stopped looking for a while and this morning thought I'd just check....and there it was... the perfect playhouse...just 4 miles away!

I'd been asking my husband to drive 100 mile round trips for little playhouses and he kept hesitating and putting me off. Then this morning - there it was - a bigger than average playhouse, for sale by grandparents (so in really good condition as not used every day!) and just 15 minutes drive away!

I hate it when he's right - I'm very impulsive whereas he is the complete opposite (which often drives me crazy!!!) but in this case he was right to wait.

Well, when the girls saw it they were completely delighted and have played in it ALL DAY!

The picnic table we got previously looks great outside it too (although it has it's own table inside and the lady even threw in a couple of small plastic chairs for inside too!)

It looks for all the world like a little log cabin in the woods, as we have a meadow with trees and a creek at the bottom of our garden - it looks like they are camping up in the mountains!

I LOVE IT!! It's exactly what I pictured and what's more the girls love it too!

I look forward to them spending many happy hours playing in it....!

Friday!

...or 'lollipop Friday' as my girls call it! 

Not that they are deprived but I really try and limit candy.  So they look forward to Fridays as they know that's the day they'll get a lollipop!

It's not easy to avoid candy here though is it?

Even the bank and the liquor store have tubs of lollipops on the counter to keep the younger customers happy!

Pink Papaya

I'm so excited because people are starting to get their Pink Papaya orders and are contacting me to say how much they love the products!
I'm thrilled, because not only are they enjoying the spa I do but the products are actually exceeding their expectations!
The girls don't mind me going out at night, my husband is coping AND I get a bit of extra money! Not that I'm not busy enough but I've decided I need to create a monthly e-newsletter to send to my customers! I guess it will help my business and my writing skills (note to self - get assignment 2 of your children's writing course finished and emailed to your tutor!!)
The company has special offers each month so this will be the basis of my newsletter - so should be relatively easy - right??
The girls start ballet next week - I could use this time to do it! (I'm meant to be using this time for cleaning, grocery shopping and going to the gym!) No problem - we Moms can fit it all in!!

The tables have turned

I had an unusual experience the other night. I had been out doing a spa and came home to find the house in a mess! My husband was hurriedly washing the dinner dishes at 10pm but there were toys and clothes all over the floor!
Turns out a neighbor had invited him and the girls down to play for the evening, but it was bizarre to come home to such a mess (normally I tidy up before I leave then the girls go to bed so there's no time for much mess!)
It made me see what my husband sees when he comes home from work!
Try as I might to tidy up before he arrives there is generally some on-going mess while I cook dinner. He doesn't realise all the things I have done he just sees the things I haven't!
I admit I felt a bit irritated by the mess!!! "Huh, couldn't you even do the dishes while I was out?" I thought before I knew they had been out all evening. It was a strange feeling as I know as well as any Mom how hard it is to keep on top of the toy tidying! Just hope my husband appreciates being on the other side too and cuts me some slack when he comes home to a less than perfect house!

this neighborhood...

OK so I'm loving that we bought this house, in this neighborhood.

My husband and I were sitting on the porch swing seat after dinner and suddenly my girls were whisked away to play with the 'big girls' (7 year olds!) and my husband is whisked away for beers with 2 neighbors who are sharing beers in our next door neighbors garage (everyone has beer fridges in their garage here!)

Which leaves me here sipping wine alone on our swing seat - raising a glass to our neighbors across the street who are on their porch rocking chairs while the husband enjoys his cigar.

This is what the world should be like - except I know that beyond this wonderful neighborhood a different world exists. But for now I'm going to chill and enjoy the moment. Heck, I grew up playing 'Mummy' (Stephanie and Angela - where are they now???) to the little girls down the road and I love that my daughters are now those 'little girls' for others to share and play with. Glad my husband - who misses his 'local pub' in England so much, has got drinking buddies again (including another Englishman!!!)

Cheers! Sláinte! (Gaelic) Salud! (Spanish) A votre sante! (French)

Summer vacation's here!

Well that's the first year of preschool officially over and my time alone with my youngest over too. We've both enjoyed our mornings together but I know she's keen to move on to preschool next school year....
Can't seem to stop them growing.....
She'll be 3 in a couple of months and is Miss Independent and full of her own opinions about everything! She even managed to fully dress herself the other morning! I'm slowly being made redundant!!
I'm happy that they are starting their way in the world but sad too that those years when they were mine alone is coming to an end....
So I'm off to play with them now, while they still want me to!

Making hats

Today we will be decorating hats for tomorrows preschool end of year parade. Luckily my sister gave the girls some lovely straw hats previously so we'll be adding more flowers and ribbons to these.
Just read a frantic email from another preschool Mom whose daughter is refusing to decorate her hat!
The Mom is desperate to follow the teachers instruction and not look out of place or as if she didn't make an effort while the little one seems to have very strong ideas about what she wants to do!
Another Mom just phoned to ask advice as she has a son and a baseball cap but no clue how to decorate it. I'm sure the teacher didn't mean us to all get so stressed out over this! Luckily we all know each other well and will have a laugh about it on the day!