Wild Olive Tees Giveaway!

I already have a cool Wild Olive Tees button on my blog. (See the cute cardinal to the right?) But Wild Olive Tees is having a giveaway with their Transform Your Mind hoodies and I'm psyched! I just love their designs! So I'm adding the Transform Your Mind button as well. Its (another) fantastic design! Click the button and check our their giveaway blog post! I sure would like to be cuddled into that cozy, beautiful hoodie right about now!

What's Going On?

At this very moment, not much - and I like that. It won't last long. I need to get up now and help Princess Pea Pod clean her room so she and Bunny Lily can destroy it during their slumber party. I think its something moms do. It doesn't seem like such a disaster if I know they started from "clean." But I'm enjoying a few minutes curled up in the recliner with my sweet principessa first.

Last week there was a lot going on around here. We finally kicked that nast-ay old carpet to the curb (figuratively, of course!) That was an interesting undertaking!

First, my dear sweet hubby took down the columns I loved.

They had character, but I do agree they were a bit dated.

Hot Daddy & Princess Pea Pod did a great job of fixing the ceiling with a little teamwork.

Then we ripped up the old carpet and prepped for the new laminate floors.

We were not prepared to find a linoleum museum under our carpet.

There were some doozies! I didn't even get a picture of the old kitchen linoleum.

It was SO retro, and not-so chic!

And what about this golden nugget?

Grandpa suggested nailing the trim on the wall above where it belongs.

I'm glad Hot Daddy didn't follow those instructions precisely!

Then mid-project we had to stop and have a little surgery.

"Permanent" ear tubes and another snip-snip of the ol' adenoid.

We also got a monster snow that day.

The trip to the hospital was no joy-ride, but it paled in comparison to the trip home!

Monster snow is good for soothing sore throats too.

There were a couple rough days before the floor project resumed.

But our tough principessa loves to help with home improvement projects.

Our kid loves tools!

I dare ya to take that mallet from her!

Hot Daddy & Grandpa learned that our sneaky girl even hid the mallet

when she took a break.

Seriously... NO TOUCHIE!

The work got done, though. She loves getting to roller skate through the house.

I love not having gross old carpet!

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go clean a room so it can be destroyed.

From scratch!

Epic Slinky Fail

A couple years ago Princess Pea Pod got a Slinky in her stocking at Christmas. She thought it was super cool. What kid doesn't love the Slinky? We enjoyed watching her play with it, and we enjoyed playing when she put it down, until one day it coiled into The Slinky Knot. You know what that is. When you are playing with your nifty spring toy and BOIOIOIOING! its all knotted together in irreparable mess. There was no saving it. We said good-bye to the Slinky and vowed that there wouldn't be another until she was "old enough."

Saturday we decided to get started with one of the home improvements we've put off far too long. We didn't want our principessa home when we were pulling up the carpet, so she spent a little time with Granna &Papaw and then went off to the store with Grandma & Grandpa. She came home with... oh yes... a Slinky. About half an hour later, Grandpa was untangling the first Slinky Knot. It was no surprise when, the next day, she brought a second Slinky Knot to me. I fancy myself to be a knot slayer, but this one had me undone. I'm sure I made it worse. She took it to Daddy, who can do anything... and he couldn't improve the situation. We had The Interminable Slinky Knot. We're calling it the Epic Slinky Fail.
(Please forgive the cell phone quality photo. I took it with my phone.)

Not to be stymied, our pricipessa decided to hang on to hope that Grandpa can fix it the next time we see him. Apparently a Slinky Knot can still be fun. I found Princess Pea Pod and her friend LG slinging it like a jump rope this evening. Maybe its not such a fail after all!

Anticipation

It seems like we've been here before. Oh yes, LAST February we were saying "Don't put your ear on the speaker." "Move back from the tv." "Don't put your ear on the speaker." "Move back from the tv."

And we were hearing "Huh?" constantly! It was more than just not listening, our principessa failed her hearing test. Instead of fluid behind her eardrums, hers is the consistency of paste. It was time for tubes.

At that point she was three years old, going on four, and knew that things were very different from any experience she had before. Although we had told her a little about what would happen, she had no point of reference. So we took our sweet baby to the hospital and they poked and prodded, and put her in gown that left her little tushie to hang out in the cold. Things started to get real. She started to get upset, and we had to pretend like we weren't. Flash forward to recovery: she had tubes, her adenoid had been removed, she was doing so well they said they weren't going to send her home with anything for pain. Yay! Ok. But when the pain meds from the hospital wore off she was in too much pain to take Tylenol or take a sip of water. It was not a fun week of healing!

Fast forward to December, when we were back to see the doctor because she was having trouble hearing... again! The tubes had worked their way out, she failed her hearing test, she had paste behind the eardrum. So we tried six weeks of antibiotics, to no avail. It is February again, and we are scheduled to have tubes put in again. This time its highly unlikely that the adenoid will need any more attention, so we're praying for an easier recovery. The big glitch is that she is old enough now to remember that the last experience scarred her for life. At the mere mention of tubes or the hospital our now four year old, going on five years old, principessa becomes sullen, anxious, irate. We've talked about what we expect to happen, she has seen pictures of the eardrum and of the different tube types. She is a bit less anxious, but I would be lying if I said we aren't all anxious. And so I cling to this promise. What a relief that God knew we would face anxiety and offered the peace of this promise! He has got our backs; He is taking care of our principessa even when she is out of our hands. She's better off in His hands than mine, anyway!

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7