My Little Helper has finally arrived

Oh, little child grocery helper, I have been dreaming of you since July of 2005.  Oh yes, way back in July 2005, I so casually invoked the idea of the little child helper and the grocery toting assistance you'd bring, never realizing that - to get to the stage of little child helper - I would have to get through the stage of lugging the little child non-helper around first.  But now, safely through the first 2.5 years of life and just 4.5 short years after I dreamed of my little child helper, you have arrived!

Let's take a journey ... a journey back in time.  A journey back to a time where I fell victim to a potentially beautiful house, a great price, and the whisperings of my husband who was in love with the previously mentioned house.  A journey back to 2005, when Saunders and I were living in our first house.  Very cute, very serviceable, very close to our jobs, but also small and getting rapidly filled with our junk.  How would we ever fit a baby's junk in there, too?  We did not know.

Then, we realized that this house - which had previously been under contract - had come back on the market unexpectedly.

Needed a lot of cosmetic work inside, and the backyard looked like a movie scene from war-torn Bosnia, but ... big house, big yard, desperate investors looking to sell quickly, good deal.

Now, we were not really looking for a house - we thought we'd wait until summer 2006 to move - but we'd had a few things on our list that we wanted in our next house after living in our first home for two years.  Here were our ideas.

Katie:

*Sit-down vanity in the bathroom (hated putting on my makeup standing up at the first house)

*Walk-in kitchen (hated carrying groceries up the small flight of steps - 5 steps -at the first house)

*Lots 'o bedrooms for lots 'o children

*Big kitchen

*Formal dining room

Saunders:

*Established trees in a big yard

*Basement with poker room/den for his friends to hang out in

*Big enough house that we wouldn't have to move for a long time

Now, when Saunders walked into this new house, he absolutely fell in love with it.  He loved everything about it - and what he did not love, he had plans to fix.  He loved the big rooms, big doorways, lots of trees in the yard, basement area perfect for poker ... all of it.  I admit - I liked it, too.  It has lots 'o bedrooms for lots 'o children.  However, it did not have a sit-down vanity, which we said we would install within the first year (um, no, we have not).  Also, I would be going from five steps walk up to fourteen steps walk up in the garage-to-kitchen department.  Hmmm, not really a walk-in kitchen.

Well, I fell prey to the potential of the house, the great buy, and Saunders's desperate Precious Moments eyed-face, and I thought two things:

"Maybe walking up all these steps all the time will help me lose weight" (Sadly not true, by the way.)

"I'll soon have a little child grocery helper to help me carry bags up all these steps, and it will be fine!"  (Also, not true.  I guess I didn't think about the time needed to convince my husband we were ready for a child, then the time needed to bear the child, and then the time needed let the child grow up into a person who was capable of carrying a bag of groceries up 14 stairs.)

So, I lugged groceries up those steps for a year as a not-pregnant woman, and then for nine months as a pregnant woman, hating my own compromises the whole time ... especially in light of not having a sit-down vanity.  :)  Then, I added the challenge of hauling a quickly-growing baby in a carrier up the steps for a few months, then a squirmy toddler for a few months, then holding the hand of a fledgling walker as she tottered and almost toppled down the steps for about a year, while also carrying groceries.  Those steps have been the bane of my existence in this home for over four years.

Finally, this summer, I reached the point where Katie Anne could stay upstairs and be trusted not to fall down the steps or impale herself on sharp objects while I carried up more groceries.  That was a nice point in time, and it made my life much easier.  She would even unload bags into the low cabinets, and that brought me a great deal of joy.

However, all that has changed ... because folks, there's a new little grocery helper in town!

 

These are pictures of my child carrying in TWO 2-Liter Coke Zeros.  I am not kidding.  This kid is the ultimate little grocery helper.  All this month, she's been helping me carry things in from the car - and unlike previous adventures in "toddler helping", this is really helping.  And, she loves it.  She asks to help carry bags and things in when we get home.  She gets mad if I won't let her help.  She wants to make multiple trips up and down, up and down those fool steps.  She carried those two Cokes in that bag from the garage all the way to the kitchen - no joke.  The only reason I gave her that bag was because I'd told her everything left in the car was too heavy for her to carry, but she did not believe me.  She kept insisting she could do it because, as she said, "I'm a big girl and I'm real strong."  Well, I was trying to prove my point, but that little woman is stubborn!  (Wonder where she gets that?!?)  She had to sit the bag on each step, stand above it, and pull it up like some pitiful mountain climber.  I felt so bad about it and tried and tried to take it away from her, but no - she insisted!  I was so guilt-ridden to see my kid working so hard and yet so happy that she was doing it that I almost cried - and I of course ran for the camera!  (But not while she was on the steps ... I was too afraid she'd lose her balance and fall.  I may use child labor, but I do supervise.)

I've finally got the little helper I told myself would come way back in 2005!

The dream has finally been realized!

Hooray!

The Annual Ladybug Migration

November is a special month for the ladybug...

It means it is time for the annual ladybug migration!

Apparently, according to my research and this interesting article, ladybugs are more active between mid-October and mid-November because cooling temperatures drive them to find homes for the winter.  Ladybug flights are heaviest on sunny days following a period of cooler weather, when temperatures return to at least the mid-60s, so the last few days have been just perfect for ladybugs.  They do congregate near the sides of warm buildings and will come inside if given the chance!

Our neighborhood must be some kind of ladybug magnet.  I remember several years growing up here (I live one street over from my parents' house) when ladybugs would get into our house in the fall.  I even remember one year (maybe my freshman year in high school?) that our neighbors, the Segars, had a house full of ladybugs... literally, the ceiling in their foyer was absolutely crawling with ladybugs.  They probably had thousands of ladybugs in their foyer alone.  (Our current ladybug population is nothing like that, thank goodness.) I think we had a little bit of a ladybug problem three years ago during the first fall that we lived in this house.  But, the last few days in our house have looked like a ladybug winter retreat!

I just finished walking through the basement with the shop vac, sucking up ladybugs (mostly dead ones).  I do hate to kill ladybugs because I really like them a lot, but I don't have any choice in this situation!  I probably vacuumed up thirty or more of them!  Saunders picked six little dead ladybugs off one dog bed beside a window just a few minutes ago...  I guess they were drawn to the window and fell down on the dog bed when they died.  When I sat down to do a blog post, I had to get a paper towel and pick up two on the coffee table!  Katie Anne keeps saying, "I see another little ladybug... bring me a piece of toilet paper."  (Yes, she'll pick them up with a little square of toilet paper, squash them, and throw them away herself.  She's quite the exterminator and isn't afraid of any bugs except bees.)  I've even seen the annual migration of ladybugs described as

"The Cutest Plague Ever".

:)

Of course, they are cute, but this many ladybugs does start to get annoying.

According to the article, this process is completely natural, harmless, and - if you are chosen by the ladybugs as a potential homesite - there isn't much you can do.  Vacuuming is suggested as the best remedy.  Sealing cracks and weatherproofing is also suggested, but the article says that even that won't solve all your problems... ladybugs are tiny and apparently quite crafty when it comes to getting into small crevices.  Also, I think us opening and closing the doors all the time to let the dogs in and out isn't doing us any favors... most of the ladybugs are congregated around the two doors that the dogs use most.  

The good news is that ladybugs don't do anything wrong.  They don't breed indoors, don't transmit any diseases, aren't interested in eating your food or invading your pantry, don't chew on wood or clothing or destroy anything, and they don't bite.  Also, they don't want to live in your house - they fully plan to move out as soon as the weather warms up.  Many cultures consider ladybugs to be lucky or a harbinger of good things to come.  They are cheerful-looking, tiny, and cute... but I still wish they were not in my house!  I do feel so bad about killing them because they are sweet little house guests who mean no harm.  Hopefully, our ladybug migration will only last a week or two more!

Laundry Room Problem - Solved!

Let me start this post by saying - Don't get me wrong. I love my laundry room. Love it. It is one of the reasons I wanted this house three years ago. It is very big and spacious, right off the kitchen, with a bright cheery window, a nice tile floor, and the best part... the cabinet custom-built specifically to hold laundry baskets. Six baskets, to be precise, and the nice big countertop that goes over the cabinet is wonderful. As soon as I saw this organizer's dream cabinet, I knew that the laundry room was one of the best rooms in this house, hands down.


However, this laundry room comes with a special set of problems. With the addition of Katie Anne and her laundry, these problems have only multiplied.

Problem #1: No place to hang clothes after they come out of the dryer, which means they hang in doorways while waiting to be put away.
Problem #2: What comes along with no place to hang clothes? No place for hangers. Hanging them on the edge of the baskets KILLS me.

Problem #3: No storage. All my laundry stuff sits on top of the countertop... along with dog stuff, sunscreen and bug spray for quick out-the-deck-door jaunts, and other miscellaneous items. So, I can't even use the countertop for the intended purpose of folding or ironing clothes.

This week, I've reached another storage crossroads... the kitchen cabinets have reached mass capacity. My recent Pampered Chef purchases have pushed them over the edge, and we've got spillage of kitchen products onto the counter, which again KILLS me. As I tried in vain to reorganize the kitchen cabinets last week, I realized that my cabinets are filled with many items that are only used very rarely, like holiday plates, party chip-and-dip sets, and random appliances like an air popcorn machine. These are not things I want to get rid of because I do use them from time to time, but they definitely don't need to be at arm's reach at a moment's notice.

So, I thought in the words of Vanilla Ice, "If there was a problem - Yo, I'll solve it. Check out the hook while my DJ revolves it." In this case, the hook was ...
Shelving in the laundry room! In an ideal world, this would be closed cabinets to hide the unsavory storage of random items. However, Closetmaid shelving was about $125 for the whole she-bang, and that wouldn't buy one closed cabinet. So, Closetmaid works just fine! Also, I kind of have a fear of bugs like spiders hiding in the back of infrequently-used closed cabinets, and I don't have to worry about that with the wire shelving.

Last weekend, Saunders and I measured and bought all the goodies for the project. But, then Saunders had to go out of town for a few days for a Leadership Bartow retreat, and I not only had to face all the laundry room problems but also the problem of my dining room table being covered with Home Depot bags full of Closetmaid parts and giant wire shelving laying all over the basement floor - waaaah! So, my dad came over and helped me install the shelving - well, mostly he did it and I was a helper. Part time. The other part of the time, I was shopping with my mom. Thanks, Dad! :)

It looks super! I haven't got it set up the way I want it yet... we've had a busy weekend so far with shopping this morning, Saunders coming back in from Athens this afternoon, and then the two of us going to a wedding reception tonight. But, I have big dreams for making space in the kitchen cabinets and returning to the world of beautiful, organized, laundry room bliss! Hooray!

This is what I've been waiting for ...

One of the things I dislike doing most in our house is unloading groceries... the drive-under garage (and subsequent walk up the big flight of stairs from the basement to the kitchen level) is the one of the biggest annoyances I've got with the house. I've said ever since we moved in that I couldn't wait until I had a kid old enough to help me lug all those groceries to the kitchen and unload them. Ladies and gentleman, almost four years after moving in, that day has arrived ...

The Bee Master

The scene ...The bee killer lies in wait, his watchful eyes trained on his prey ...

He attacks!
The evil villian lives to fight another day ...
The epic battle between man and carpenter bee continues!

Now We're Cookin!

On Sunday, Christmas came a little bit late... we got our new microwave! Saunders and I did not exchange gifts this year- just stockings. Instead, we agreed to get each other a new microwave. Our microwave was the only pre-renovation appliance left in our house, and it was a little funky... stains that wouldn't come clean regardless of cleaning products applied, light underneath didn't work, vent for stove didn't work, and it had been dying a slow death until about August, when it officially went kaput.

So, we grabbed the dorm/college apartment/classroom little microwave that my mom bought used ten years ago... a hard working little appliance, but let me stress - little. That little guy's been taking up room on the counter top all fall and barely being able to heat up frozen veggies... you had to double whatever time the directions called for when microwaving things. So, this has not been a want - this is a need!

Well, things got busy and we didn't get it bought before Christmas. But, it is a good thing we didn't, because we were able to use some store credit we got during the holidays at Best Buy AND we got a great post-New Year sale... so this lovely, big microwave (retails at $299) only cost us $74! Can you believe it?!

It is wonderful... clean, shiny, microwaves just right, has a light, and vents over the stove! Our SteamFresh broccoli came out perfectly with dinner. I'm so pumped about the new deal-ish-ious microwave!

Out with the old... in with the new! At this point, the old one's in the box and the new one's wrapped up on the floor.

Our old crusty microwave, ready for removal. Boo- so nasty! Gives me the creeps!
Handy Manny! Saunders removed the old microwave all by himself.

When we realized that A) touching the old greasy microwave made me freak out, so I wasn't much help and B) we needed an electric screwdriver to do it right, we called in the cavalry... aka Dad.

Working hard, or hardly working? You decide. Haha- just kidding! They did a great job.

Ohh, a little slice of appliance heaven!

New Living Room

Well, I mentioned in the Katie Anne's cleaning post that we were redoing our living room. Over the course of the last few weeks (long story... long wait for delivery), we've bought and had a new sofa delivered. We knew the couches we bought when we moved here wouldn't last forever because we were almost out of decorating money when we bought the cheapest option that would still look okay. Between lots of use, two dogs, my sweaty hands, and one kid, three years was all they had in them. Here's a picture of the old couches and arrangement.
We really wanted to lighten up the color and get something other than green, and we thought a sectional would work in this crazy living room with all its doors and windows. So, we picked out a buttery yellow-tan sectional.

It took two trips of trucks from the furniture store, a day of house sitting by Granddad and another day by Doc and VJ, and lots of angry phone calls to the store by Saunders, but all the pieces of the sectional finally arrived last week. We liked it when we saw it (we were in Athens when the last piece arrived), but we didn't LOVE it like we thought we would. Hmm... maybe it was the room arrangement? Here's some in-progress pictures (the chaise hadn't come in yet).

So, we totally rearranged the living room. Saunders earned a Boy Scout Handy Badge for single-handedly moving the cable outlet to the other side of the room! My parents brought "The Mayflower" as we call it... it is an old hutch that's been in our family forever that I've always loved and that's finally mine! We took out one end table and the top to our tv armoire... that's going to be repurposed as a bar in the basement, and Saunders wants to upsize our tv eventually. We moved everything around, and we are thrilled with the new arrangement. Why didn't we do this before? Here's the new view!


It looks so much bigger and so much better, and there's a ton more room for Katie Anne to run and play. She loves running all around the room and pushing her little vacuum, scooters, and little corn popper toy all over the floor. Everyone who's seen it said we should have done this long ago! Obviously, we aren't totally done... I've got a little touch-up painting to do where the tv rubbed against the wall, and I've got to hang some pictures over the couch and finish decorating the Mayflower, but we're close to being done. We are very happy with the changes!