New Makeup for Mommy

Today, I spent my bithday $ on new Jane Iredale makeup; seen  here.  I got the liquid minerals, powder spf, and circle/delete concealer.  I got these at a local spa, but would also love the sample palettes with eyeshadow/blush/lipstick on the website.  It's been a long while since I got new, quality makeup.  But honestly, with the frequency that I have to replace drugstore makeup, I'm not sure that I'm saving that much money by going cheap.  My mom used this for a while after a spa visit and I tried it on and loved how airy it felt.  So I'll let you know how I like it over the long run.  Pre-boys, I was a makeup/skincare junky.  Some women are clothes/jewelry junkies, but not me.  I guess wearing scrubs a couple of days a week takes the fun out of the wardrobe world for me.  The boys, young as they are, do not understand these girly purchases of mine.  Why in the world would I not buy myself the latest megatoy?  They looked at me as if I had just written a formal letter to Santa requesting only socks and underwear for Christmas.  The hubby partially understands these ' for me and only me' purchases.  They are good for the parenting soul.

Prepping for Sale

We're working tirelessly to meet our deadline of for-sale sign in yard by Easter.  As you can see by the pictures, we are in full prep-mode.  We have officially begun to cross into the territory where this is no longer feeling like our home anymore.  Taking the pictures of the boys down in the hallway was an extremely emotional process for me. Taking steps like that make me feel like I'm flailing in the wind.  I take extreme comfort in being 'settled' in a home.  Knowing that we are probably at least 1.5 years away from finally 'settling' makes me extremely uncomfortable.  I'm finding comfort, though, in simplifying our life by downsizing our 'stuff', which makes cleaning and 'showing' a house easier.  I'm also looking forward to when all the work is over and we can spend the next few months focusing on baseball and weekend adventures and planning and dreaming of our new home and staying away from this desolate one as much as possible to keep from constant cleanup.  I think that the warming of the spring days would also be extremely helpful with my spirits.  It's not a slight downer that it's spring break in the south and we're outside with coats and hats on.  Moving with kiddos means that things like double ear infections and sleepless nights and discipline and making -time-for-1on1-time and grocery budgets continues even when you're tired  and feel like using the tv as a babysitter. And the tooth-fairy doesn't take a day off, either.

New-Old House

Been a little distracted by dreams of this house, lately. We need a new home that will hold a family of 5+??? We love our area and school district...but, we've always loved this 1913 foursquare that my husband's grandmother owned. What to do? Say, honey, why don't we just hire an architect, make a few changes for the modern family (aka more than 1 bathroom), and create a beautiful new replica of this sentimental home to raise our boys in? I can assure you that the to-do list for this project is massive!!! Step 1: Do I have any takers on a beautiful 3 bd/2bath with glorious greatroom on 6 acres of beautiful pastureland seen here??

I must admit that we southerners feel a need to take multiple views of our homes and yards whenever it snows and these pics are rather misleading regarding our normal climate.  We are working diligently at 'staging' our home for quick sale (dreaming, I know) this spring.  And then there's the matter of balancing those boys in the midst of all this change...it should be an adventure.  Will post updates and moments of insanity as they occur!