We'll see!

So Steve called me at work about 1 pm and said that a realtor had called him b/c he had buyer interested in our house and they wanted to come look at it at 5:30! Yikes, we don't get home until almost 5 and NO, we had not kept our house clean from this weekend (I know, it's been 2 days....don't judge). Presley had gymnastics at 5:15 so we all got home and cleaned (it's amazing what Steve can get done in 30 minutes! Now I know what he is capable of and will be expecting record breaking cleaning around here more often!). P and I went to gymnastics, she did good again. Even getting into some trouble with another girl b/c they wouldn't sit still (so proud)!

making sure that I'm watching!

making sure the other girls are watching

We got home about 6:30 and they were still looking at the house! P and I played outside and they finally left about 7! An hour and a half of looking at the house? Are you serious? Does it normally take people that long or do we have a crazy on our hands? Sounds like she could be a little demanding and a pain in the ass. But the realtor said he has other potential buyers and would like to bring them by b/c we have the house priced right. So I guess that is good.....however, we still have no place to go if we did sell it! LOL!

Weekend fun

Friday night we went out to dinner with the family and then we went home and started cleaning. We got a call Friday afternoon that a lady wanted to come look at our house, however she hasn't called back yet....but we have a clean house now!
Saturday was so nice out for Iowa in March, we spent the afternoon outside enjoying the nice weather and even met Jackie and Ava at the park for an hour!
It is so good for her to run off her energy outside!
Today we did our normal shopping and then played inside since it was kind of rainy. Presley loves to wrestle with daddy! She takes it very seriously, but they paused for a quick, cute pic.


We made cookies so she could load them up with sprinkles. She won't eat them b/c they have frosting on them (WEIRD child!), so I guess that leaves more for me! (We won't talk about my sugar addiction right now. It's out of control, like a drug....I want sugar all the time!)
We'll have another busy week, Holly starts her new job downtown! In the same building as me, but a different department. I hope she likes it, I think this company will give her many opportunities to grow, learn and work her way up the corporate ladder! :)
Friday I get to leave for Chicago and have fun with my girls Holly, Nicky and Angie! Can't wait, should be a great time!

Books

Two more books complete! I am on a roll with 6 books so far this year!!
1) Is Everyone Hanging out Without Me? One of the writers of The Office wrote this book. I personally am NOT an Office fan, but this book was funny! Easy to read and good for a quick laugh.
2) Hunger Games. GREAT! If you think the previews to the movie look good, this is way better than I had expected. I thought it was going to be hard to follow or difficult to read, wrong! It was detailed, easy to follow, interesting and intense! I'm going to start the second book tonight b/c I'm hooked!

Five Question Friday

1. Are you looking forward to the time change this weekend? Yes and no. Yes b/c it means the days will be getting longer and summer is almost here! No b/c Presley won't want to go to bed as early.

2. Are you getting the new iPad/would you want a iPad? There is another 'new' one? I mean really, how many versions do we need? How about when you have it perfected and there won't be another 'new' one....then I'll buy one.

3. If money was not a problem, what is the one thing you would splurge on? Probably more traveling. Presley will finally get to go on her first airplane ride this summer to Houston! We have always driven, but figured this one time (with one kid) we can afford to fly. But being able to take long, tropical vacations as a family...a little Disneyworld trip...that's what I want. I'll save my pennies.

4. How did you and the Mr. (or Mrs.) meet? Von Maur. I was the asst mgr of shoes and Steve was one of the lucky sales people in shoes. It was definietly a love/hate relationship while we worked together. I would NEVER recommend that you work with your spouse in a fast-paced commission environment!

5. Summer is right around the corner. Bikini or one-piece? Yikes, with the way my weight is increasing I'm thinking my tankini will be in order this summer. Not that I'm ever in a swim suit that often anyway.....I'm happy in my capris (no shorts) and a tank top all summer long.

This and that

- I'm finally beginning to feel normal after having this cold for a week! Monday I went to work feeling like doo-d00 and then I got the email with my merit increase for this year. 0%. What? Really? Please explain. ** breakdown by me**. I worked my butt off, was the top producer all year, got the highest rating I could for the year....and I get 0%? Exactly how does that work? Finally, after talking with our site manager today it was explained in further detail. The fact that I did get a mid-year raise and a promotion during 2011, was a much larger increase than if I would've only rec'd a year end raise. I guess, whatever. I shouldn't complain, I know that. There are people that haven't rec'd a raise in years. I have a job, I should be thankful.
- Presley went to gymnastics again Tuesday night. Another successful night, she participated the whole time. She gets so proud of herself! I love it!
- Today she had her first dentist appointment! I was very nervous, we never know how she will react to things. She sat in the chair, hesitantly....opened her mouth and let the dentist count her teeth! They said next time they'll do more actual cleaning but the first visit is to see how her teeth are doing and get her used to the tools and stuff. It was short and sweet and she did great!
- Does anyone else find it ironic that for years we wanted to have the smallest cell phones possible? So they would fit in your pocket. And now we all have these big, smart phones that we carry around with us. Heck, people carry their Ipads around with them!....so much for convenience!
- If anyone needs any home improvements done, my brother-in-law is looking for some side jobs to do. Right now he is retiling Holly's kitchen floor! Let me know!
- I love donuts. Just saying.

Another week gone by

So this Tuesday I took P to gymnastics while Steve worked on some house stuff. They did the trampoline first, and normally they do it last...so P was in! Most weeks they have 2 teachers helping with the kids and this week Tawny helped. Presley loved her! Tawny gave P attention and made sure that she participated in everything! I hope Tawny helps more often b/c Presley did the whole hour of gymnastics! Occasionally running over to me saying 'Mama, I did it!', so cute! I hope this continues over the next month, but I won't get my hopes up. (on a side note: 10 girls between the ages of 3-6 are really loud and annoying)
We did put a For Sale sign in our yard this week. The house on the corner near us put a sign in their yard and we thought maybe we could use some of their marketing for our house! LOL! Our house is no where near ready for a showing and we have no idea where we would move...but we'll figure it out when the time comes.

We took our annual Mall Of America trip this weekend! It's a fairly cheap way for us to get away for a short family vacation. We left DSM about 12:30 Friday afternoon, perfect timing for Presley to nap on the drive up! We got there about 4 pm and went to IKEA, they always have pretty cool and cheap stuff there. Then we found our hotel, the Comfort Inn.....this is the third year we have stayed there (out of the 5 years we have gone). It's close to IKEA and the mall, it's dated but it is cheap, has a pool, a good free breakfast and there is an Outback restaurant connected to it so it works perfect for us.
We checked into our hotel, went to dinner at Outback and then Steve and Presley got ready to go swimming. I watched and took a couple pictures.

I've been fighting this cold so I was exhausted by 8:30 and Presley was hyped up and not ready for bed. She watched a movie on the laptop and then cuddled up with me about 9:30. This was the first time she had slept in a bed with nothing preventing her from falling off....so I didn't sleep that good, worrying about her. At one point, I turned over and only saw her legs on the bed! She had fallen off and was trying to hold herself up with her hands on the ground! I'm hoping she had just fallen when I noticed and that she wasn't laying like that for a long time!

We got up, ate a nice breakfast, got to the mall about 9:45 and started our shopping! We never buy THAT much there. We did spend about $200 and at stores that we don't have here in DSM! They have the Nickelodeon area (formally Camp Snoopy), I remember last year we had no idea who any of the characters were.....that has changed! We knew almost all of them this year (Backyardigans, The Wonder Pets, Dora, Fresh Beat Band)! Presley was pretty good all day, we made a good $8 purchase for some Princess figurines at the Disney store and they kept her occupied! Overall it was a great 24 hours away!

Five Question Friday

1. Where is your favorite vacation spot and why? We do love Okoboji, we go there every year for Steve's family vacation. It is relaxing, quiet (if you ignore the 11 kids), there is no schedule.
Of course, if we could afford all-inclusive resorts every year I would travel somewhere tropical in a heart beat.

2. What is your biggest guilty pleasure? I love a nice cold diet mountain dew, york peppermint patties, mint chocolate chip ice cream....this list really could go on and on with food. But I also love reality TV. LOVE IT! Not necessarily the trashy shows (The Bachelor, Jersey Shore, Housewifes of EVERY county). I'm more into American Idol, The Biggest Loser, The Voice, So You Think You Can Dance...those types of non-trashy reality shows! LOL

3. What is your favorite fashion trend right now? Or, in the past? I'm liking the boots over the skinny jeans thing, right now. However, work is going back to business casual and spring is coming....so I'm not sure how much longer I'll be able to do this.

4. What are your spring break plans? I don't even know when Spring Break is. For us, we always take a trip to the Mall of America usually every March. Go to IKEA, swim at the hotel pool, do some shopping with our tax refund.

5. What baby names do you hate? Hate is a strong word. There are names I wouldn't use. I'm not big on gender neutral names and it seems more girls are getting boys names these days. And some people think Presley is a boys name but I think Preston is the boy version of this name!
And when people take a name and jack it all up by changing the spelling of it. Like Jessica being Jessyca or Presley being Prezley. It just makes it look like you didn't know how to spell the name, not like you're being creative...in my opinion.
(No Lyndsi, this doesn't apply to you! LOL! ) I don't want to offend anyone, I'm sure there are people out there that don't like Presley as a name, and you are entitled to your opinion...it is wrong, but it is your opinion. :)