Real Estate Update

We had the meeting today with the Thurston Howell type (read yesterday's post if you don't know what I'm talking about!)

and I guess it went pretty well?

He was a very nice man, but I was so terrified Pickle was going to break/ruin something that I had a hard time concentrating. There was a porcelain doll from the 1800s in plain sight--not a good toy for Pickle! Then at one point she flew into a rage because she couldn't stack the coasters on the coffee table to her liking. Also, there were a lot of chocolate cookies being served and I had visions of chocolate smears on his furniture and carpets! That didn't happen...I don't think?? At least I hope!

So we had a nice talk--Mr. Howell and Don have a lot in common--they went to the same schools for college and graduate school! Then he gave us a nice little tour around the house.

We didn't talk any business but I get the sense that he definitely wants more than we're asking and I don't know if he'll agree to our price. I will call the realtor tomorrow and try to find out what he's thinking.

So please keep crossing your fingers for us--I would love to get this done!!
Oh, and apparently Gooser really wants the other house. As soon as we got home he made this sign:

And I had to stop him from going outside and displaying it on our lawn!

Weird Negotiations

I wrote about a million years ago (back when I had no blog readers!) about how my husband and I were trying to decide if we should remodel or house or move. We have started the remodeling process--the architect has been working on drawings, etc. but we also found a (very expensive) house on the market that we like.

Months ago, we made a "lowball" offer on the house (to say lowball is laughable because it's still a ton of money) but the owner countered with a very high number and the negotioations didn't really go anywhere.

Over the past few months we have come up a little with our offer and he has come down a little in his asking price--but we still haven't been able to settle on anything.

A couple of weeks ago, I decided to stop by during an open house and talk to the realtor. I mentioned to her that I was considering writing a letter to the owner--kind of introducing ourselves and explaining why our offer was lower than his asking price (it needs work). I was afraid we were coming of as these faceless jerks and I wanted to look more "human" to him.

The realtor thought it was a good idea--so I wrote a nice letter--even including a pic of the kids! Plus, we upped our price somewhat.

Yesterday the owner of the house called me! He said he loved the letter and picture and he understood where we were coming from about the renovations that needed to be done. One of the things I had emphasized in the letter was that we respect and appreciate the architect (it's an historic house) and that we would always remain true to the original design--he seemed to respond well to that.

Anyway, he said he wanted to get together and meet with us! I think he's considering taking our price and wants to see if we're a nice family that will love and appreciate his house. So tomorrow is the big meeting--please wish us luck! We would love to have this house and I would much rather move and slowly do the renovations that house needs, rather than do the ginormous project we would have to do with our current house.

By the way, the owner of the house sounded exactly like Thurston Howell from Gilligan's Island! I can't wait to see what he looks like in person--but I'm totally expecting to see Mr. Howell!

I'll keep you updated!

Pickle In The Leaves

The fall colors have been so beautiful these past few days--they are definitely at their peak--so I took Pickle out for a quick photo shoot. She was wearing her pajamas and I threw on her boots, sweater and a fun vest. It's nearly impossible to get a decent pic of Pickle theses days--she never stops moving! But I gave it my best shot...
Maybe tomorrow I'll try to get some of Gooser?

My Giant Clown

By popular request, I give you my giant six foot tall clown painting:Totally not worth the wait, right?? But it's kind of cool. Here's a close-up:
To recap--I bought this painting about a million years ago in a hospital thrift store. It used to hang in a children's hospital but was taken down because it "scared the children." They also told me it was by a famous artist--but I Googled the artist's name tonight and it didn't come up with anything.

I've had this wrapped up for close to twenty years--but it's kind of fun to see it again! So the big question is--should I hang it back up (if I can find a big enough space that is)??

And you know what else? I actually have more clown paintings squirreled away in my basement. One of them is a really creepy clown--way too scary for Candid Carrie so I won't show it today! But please join Carrie and her Friday Foto Phun!!

Not The Clown Painting...

I know you're all just frantic to see the clown painting--LOL--but you're just going to have to wait one more day. I'll post the pic for Friday Foto Fiesta. The truth is that I haven't had time to drag myself back down to the basement. I wanted to to it today, but all kinds of crises erupted and I ran out of time. I didn't even have time to get Pickle dressed--she was in her pajamas all day!

So instead of the giant clown (which is most definitely NOT worth the wait by the way!!) I will show you a sweet Pickle pic taken the other day. She is a super affectionate baby and loves to give hugs all the time and say "I wuz you, Mommy." So heartwarming...

Here is a sweet Pickle hug:

And for those of you desperate for a clown fix, here's my dog, Cosmo, in a clown wig! Enjoy!

Voting With A Toddler! And Velveeta!!

I know, I know--the clown painting! Tomorrow for sure!

I went to vote today with Pickle--what a nightmare!!

Before I went to the polling place, I went for a walk with my friend so we could go to Starbucks and get our free coffee! Apparently, since Pickle experienced a new freedom on Halloween walking instead of stroller-riding--she's thinks she's "too cool" for the stroller and was not a happy camper on our walk.

Once we got to Starbucks, though, she was on Cloud Nine--dancing and prancing around and drinking her organic milk box. By the way--there are a couple of great new items on the Starbucks menu--one is a spinach/mushroom/feta cheese pastry thing (it has a fancy name I can't remember) and the other is a tortilla wrap with spinach, egg and sun-fried tomato. Both are delicious and make great breakfasts--just so you know!

So after my free coffee and spinach pastry, I headed over to vote with a most uncooperative Pickle.

She hated the voting room. HATED it. The second we walked in, she said "No like it!" and started crying. Meanwhile, I was juggling my wallet, her blanket (I didn't want to leave it in the stroller--because if it gets lost she'll never sleep again!) and assorted voting paraphernalia that had been thrust upon me.

Even though there was only one person in line ahead of me--the line was at a stand still. It was like people were moving in slow motion! I tried to ply Pickle with a complimentary Munchkin and an empty coffee cup--but she was having none of that!

Finally I made it through the check-in process--one of the ladies had gone off to the corner to talk to her mechanic (she went into explicit detail--she was getting her oil changed since she was going to be at the polling place all day). Great, lady! I'm glad to know that--now can I please vote!?

I opted for the touch screen because I thought it would be easier to do and keep my eye on Pickle. I was instructed to insert the card and not to remove it until the screen said "Thank you--remove your card."

So I was voting away--and Pickle REMOVED THE CARD!! The screen went haywire and said ERROR and instructed me to consult a polling official. Confusion ensued.

The "official" finally determined that I needed to redo my ballot in written form. I was so rattled--I'm not even sure who I voted for! Pickle tried to draw on my ballot and she spilled my wallet full of change. I got through it as fast as I could and, of course, there was another mix-up at the machine you feed the forms into.

Those people were SO happy to see me go!

You're welcome, Barack!!

Edited to add--Oops! I forgot to mention Candid Carrie's Amazing Velveeta recipe and giveaway!! I want to win!!! And I want to eat that dip...and so does Pickle!!

Bunny Love!

I know I said I was going to post a pic of my giant clown painting--but I will do that tomorrow. I want to do a little bunny talk today!

This is a cute story--I was holding the bunny the other night while I was watching t.v.--and he started purring!!! Purring like a cat! I thought I was hearing things--but he was seriously purring.

So I Googled it and found out that bunnies do purr "when extremely happy." Awwwww!

Isn't that cool? It made me feel great to know that the bunny is happy--but also I learned an interesting new fact!

Now a few bunny pics...
You can't see the bunny too well here--but it showcases my hair which has faded to a nice shade of pink!!
Tomorrow--the giant clown!!

Cleaning Frenzy

I'm semi-depressed that Halloween is over. This happens every year...First of all, Halloween being over means that it's officially "The Holidays" --which is great because I love Thanksgiving and Christmas--but it seems like time starts flying so fast through "The Holidays," then suddenly the end of the school year is in sight, then it's summer again and my kids are another year older.

I guess that's why I'm depressed--when a big production like Halloween is over, I get to thinking that next year Pickle will be so much more of a big girl and Gooser probably won't be into Batman and wearing the costume all the time. They just keep getting older!!!

So today I took down all the Halloween decorations and decided that I couldn't put any of them away until I completely reorganized and cleaned my storage room. It was a HUGE job and I ended up getting rid of tons of stuff I had been keeping for no reason--old car seats and baby swings, lots of old toys. I don't know why I hang on to some of these things--it's a habit I must break! It was an all-day project, but it's good because I really accomplished something. And now I can access all my Christmas stuff with ease!

In the midst of my cleaning frenzy, I came across this giant clown painting I had bought years and years ago. I bought it at a thrift store for a children's hospital and they had told me the painting used to hang in the hospital but "scared the children" so they got rid of it. Apparently it's by a famous artist--I should do some research!

The painting is ginormous--probably six feet high--and it's been in the storage room since we moved here because we couldn't find a good spot for it. Also, my "clown phase" had kind of waned when we moved--but since I started my blog, my clown phase is back in business. Do you think I should hang the painting up? I'll try to get a pic of it tomorrow--it's still wrapped up--but picture a humongous clown face. Kind of a melancholy clown.

I also found my box of doll parts and fake vintage teeth--I had been looking for that!!

If you haven't seen my Halloween recap--scroll down to yesterday's post...

Halloween Recap!

Okay--I feel like I have semi-recovered! We all slept until about 9 a.m. today--some of the kids slept even later! Now for the recap-and it might be long--so grab a bucket of candy and get comfortable.

First, the costumes. Pickle was a butterfly.

Actually, she had two costumes because I had bought another one, then found the butterfly which I thought was cuter. This was the original one: Scary Fairy.
Here's one more cute butterfly pic:
Gooser was--big surprise--Batman!!! But actually, it was a surprise, because he thought he was going to wear his regular old Batman costume that he wears every single day of his life, but I had secretly bought him The "Dark Knight" Batman and presented to to him on Halloween. He was SO excited!
Patrick was a fat clown. This is a cool costume that has a fan in it, so it puffs up!
And Teddy was an evil clown--all blood-splattered! You can't really tell in this pic--but I glued all kinds of bugs to his wig. I guess the love of clowns is in the genes!!
Andy was a gorilla. Poor kid was so hot--it was a pretty mild day.
Here's a group shot.
And a group shot gone wrong.
Trick or treating action shot! I thought Pickle would just stay in the stroller,but she wanted to be in on the candy--which meant I had to walk up to every house with her (lots of steps!) and was one of the reasons I was so exhausted last night. She had a great time though and I got a workout!
Here's Gooser and his cousin posing in front of a scary display--there was a fog machine for extra scariness!
Two clowns on a rock.
Gooser and his "girlfriend." He announced the other day that he wants to marry her "when he's a grown-up."
Teddy de-clowned and with his booty.
And, because it isn't enough work running ourselves ragged all day getting the kids into their costumes and trick-or-treating, my sister and I always have a party!It was good--we made a big pot of chili with lots of toppings: corn chips, sour cream, cheese, onions and oyster crackers. Plus we had my "famous"artichoke dip, the inevitable Lil' Smokies, fun little puffy hors d'oeuvres, cornbread muffins and chips and stuff.

Then, the piece de resistance: The Kitty Litter Cake from Noble Pig!

This cake was tons of fun to make and if your kids are into grossness--I highly recommend it! I loved crumbling up the cakes and my sister and I were laughing hysterically while making the cat poo out of Tootsie Rolls! Plus it tasted great! And you have to serve it with a pooper scooper!

Oh, and let's not forget my (also "famous") punch--Halloween edition!
My pumpkin ate too much of this:
And got sick!
Here's a nighttime shot:
And another creepy night picture:
I'll end on a cuter note--one more of Pickle!

And the final candy count:

Andy--325

Patrick--366 (he weighed his candy bag--13 pounds!!)

Teddy--200

Hope you all had fun Halloweens!!

Halloween Haze

Trick or treating and our Halloween party are over. I am covered with fake blood, grease paint and marshmallows and there might be a lolly pop stuck in my hair.

In short, I'm waaaay too tired to write any kind of intelligible post about our super fun but super exhausting Halloween.

I'm going to lower myself into the hottest, bubbliest tub I can handle and try to regain some feeling in my legs. Then I'm going to have some kind of a hot toddy and slip into a stupor.

THANK GOD Halloween was on Friday this year! In fact--I think we should all lobby to have Halloween permanently fall on a Friday. I honestly don't know what I would do if I had to get up early and get the kids ready for school.

So tomorrow, when I've recovered, I'll write a post with lots of pics (I got some good ones!) highlighting our fun.

Hope you all had a great Halloween!