http://www.pleonast.com/user/batidw recent pleonast.com entries by user batidw en-us http://www.pleonast.com/user/batidw?l=5&entryID=564843 We are scheduled to close on our current house on 8-29, and then we will pay rent for a week to allow time to buy our next house and move. We plan to close on our new house on 9-3, which just happens to be Emily's first day of preschool and Drew's 3rd birthday. Aaaaahhh! That's going to be a very busy day! After the closing, Mike will go back to work, and I hope to be able to go to the new house and do some cleaning. My parents are planning to be here, so hopefully Mom can help me clean while Dad keeps the kids occupied. Then we'll move in the next day. I'm excited about the move and ready for it to be over, but I am also sad about leaving our current home. This was our first house, and we brought all three of our babies home from the hospital to this house. I think I would feel better about moving if a family had bought the house, but we found out that the buyers are investors. So the house will be occupied by renters, instead of someone who really likes the house and will... 2008-08-20 http://www.pleonast.com/user/batidw?l=5&entryID=558937 For those who don't read Mike's blog, we almost have a contract on our house - we are just working on negotiating a rent-back period. We put an offer on a house this morning and are negotiating with the owners. It looks promising that we will be able to get that house. Keep us in your prayers that both contracts will work out. I have a very busy month ahead. Once the contracts are signed, I will begin packing up the house. I start teaching Drew's Bible class the first of September, so I need to get ready for that. Emily's first day of preschool is September 3 (she will be going for a half day, three days a week). September 3rd is also Drew's birthday, so I need to plan for that. On August 22, I will be taking Emily and Drew to a surprise show - I haven't even told them about it yet and will probably wait until that day to tell them. Here's a hint - popular entertainers from Australia. I'm excited about going; it will be the first time the kids have been to an event like th... 2008-08-05 http://www.pleonast.com/user/batidw?l=5&entryID=555393 I know I said my next entry would have pictures of our recent trip, but I want to brag on Mike instead. Yesterday, I had a wedding shower I was planning to go to in the morning, so Mike decided to take all three kids to a nature park, have a picnic lunch, and then visit his sister and see her new house. He figured that would give me time to go to the wedding shower and then have some time by myself at home. Sounds great, right? Call me crazy, but I didn't like that idea. I told him that his plans for the day sounded more fun than a wedding shower, and asked if I could skip the shower and join them instead. He said that would be great, but that I could go to the shower and then we would leave when I got home. So that's what we did. Mike even fixed a picnic lunch for all of us! We had a great time. I really appreciate Mike for coming up with the initial plan to give me time alone, for letting me join them, and also for fixing lunch. 2008-07-27 http://www.pleonast.com/user/batidw?l=5&entryID=552075 I saw this on another blog and thought it was very good: It is easier to build a child then to repair an adult. Help me praise more than criticize, encourage more than nag, Discipline first, not rush to punish, and model good behavior rather than simply demand it. Help me break the habit of automatically saying “No”, when I could just as easily say “Yes,” and to remember a hug given before it’s asked for is ten times more valuable! Help me ask myself, “Will this matter in 20 years?” Then enable me to let go of those things that won’t, so I can Have the energy for those that will. Help me earn their respect as I lead a life consistent with the principles I value. Lord, give me the courage to teach them right from wrong and help them discover their own special destinies. Help me to freely join in their silliness, share in their laughter, delight in their joys and keep their confidences. Remind me daily to draw upon your strength to heal their wounds and comfort their... 2008-07-19 http://www.pleonast.com/user/batidw?l=5&entryID=545194 The kids and I are in Lexington. Emily is participating in Camp Hooray this week - my mom is having a camp at her house for her grandkids that are potty-trained, so she has three kids in her camp this year. While Emily is in camp, Drew, Katelyn and I are currently staying with my brother, Neal, and his family. Tomorrow we are heading to Indiana to visit my other brother, Wayne, and his family. They have lived in Indiana for at least two years now, and I have never been to their home, so I figured it was a good time to go visit. We are staying until Thursday and then heading back to Lexington. Mike will join us at the end of the week. I'm enjoying spending time with my family. I'm also enjoying not having to keep a house clean. Our house has had about 14 showings in the 4-5 weeks it has been on the market. Other than someone who complained of a strong(spice?) scent in our house - I think it was toilet bowl cleaner!- all the comments have been positive regarding the condition... 2008-06-30 http://www.pleonast.com/user/batidw?l=5&entryID=535020 The day after we put our house on the market, we left for our vacation to Idaho to visit my grandma. We hadn't been to see her for four years, but I can't say I was excited about taking the trip. I didn't think it would be much fun travelling with the kids, but they did very well with the long trip. Mike had assured me all along that it wouldn't be as bad as I expected, and he turned out to be right. We had a very nice time, and I am so happy that Mike planned the trip for us. Thank you! Mike has posted the details about the trip and a slideshow. Here's a few more pictures from the trip: Swinging - one of Emily's favorite things to do outside. Spiderweb at the Pocatello Zoo. I think this was the kids favorite part of the zoo. Scenery at the Pocatello Zoo - one of my favorite things about the zoo. Looking at the falls on the Snake River. Preparing bouquets - on Memorial Day, we went to three cemeteries and put flowers on family graves. Scenery at Craters of the Moon ... 2008-06-03 http://www.pleonast.com/user/batidw?l=5&entryID=525107 We have decided to put our house on the market. We are staying in the Raleigh area, just felt that it was time to upgrade to a larger house. Our realtor says the market is perfect for us. There are not a lot of starter homes available so she anticipates our house selling fairly quickly. There are also not a lot of buyers for the size of house we are looking at, so we should have a lot of options. Mike has been looking on the internet and has found quite a few homes we like just one town over (and still in the same county). Our goal is to put it on the market on May 19, which means I have two weeks to get it ready. I'm finding it very difficult to de-clutter the house and still take care of my family. A couple of people have offered to come stay with the kids while I work on the house. Hopefully I can get a lot done while they are here. Prayers are appreciated - I'm getting a little stressed about everything I need to do! 2008-05-06 http://www.pleonast.com/user/batidw?l=5&entryID=514258 Mike's office achieved a high level of sales last year, so the owners treated the employees and their families to a weekend in Williamsburg. Mike's parents enjoy vacationing in Williamsburg, so they went as well and stayed in their condo. They joined us on Saturday for sight-seeing. If Mike and I had gone by ourselves, we would have gone to Colonial Williamsburg, but I didn't think the kids would enjoy that. So we went to the Virginia Living Museum, which is home to several native animals of Virginia (all of whom have been injured and would not survive in the wild), reptiles, and lots of fish. Emily and Drew really enjoyed seeing the otter swim, and Emily said she would like to be an otter. Drew enjoyed running on the boardwalk, climbing on the benches, and splashing in the puddles (fortunately they were very small puddles). While we were outside looking at the animals, I think Emily was most interested in the bugs. She showed me an ant in her hand that looked like it was tryi... 2008-04-08 http://www.pleonast.com/user/batidw?l=5&entryID=504614 "See my tongue!" The Kids "Can I play too?" Next step, crawling! Playing Restaurant Yummy Fingers 2008-03-14 http://www.pleonast.com/user/batidw?l=5&entryID=499451 can a 4-year-old and 2-year-old make when left alone for about 10-15 minutes? Answer: When Katelyn woke up from her nap, the kids were playing in the living room with stuffed animals, so I decided to check my email while Katelyn nursed. I was just thinking that I should go check on the kids when Emily came upstairs and announced that she had made supper for me. I was hoping that she had made supper in her play kitchen, but I had a sneaking suspicion that wasn't the case. The pictures tell the rest of the story. I don't think the mess would have been as bad if Drew hadn't decided to use the colander as his bowl. I now have a very clean counter, and most of my cookbooks have pink bottoms. FYI - Formula 409 does a great job of cleaning red Koolaid off of white countertop. 2008-03-02