My Husband is Ted.

Ted's house from Stacia on Vimeo.

Welcome to my life.  Except for the hobo.  Well actually, there was before we started working on it, so I guess that too! lol  Can you tell we've been binge-watching How I Met Your Mother episodes on Netflix? ;)  

Good news is, at the end of the episode, he explains to his kids that the story is about the house they've lived in their whole lives, so there's that at least.  A light at the end of the tunnel?  Maybe?  Before I retire?  We'll see.  I just couldn't help but compare poor Ted's idealistic vision of a run down falling apart house to that of my Mathew's.  Along with all those around him who think he's completely nuts! lol  Good thing he's cute! :)  (You Mathew, not Ted. lol)

While I've got your attention, I guess I should mention an update on our Kansas drama.  Mathew went to KC last week & had his deposition in our case against Nationwide Insurance.  

Ain't it the truth.

Longest three days of my life.  I absolutely hated having to let him go through that alone.  But #1, the kids had to go to school & we couldn't afford to all go anyway, and #2, I turn into a a blubbering idiot every time I even remotely discuss what we went through with that ordeal anymore, so I'm greatful that he's so much stronger than me.  Almost seven hours of interrogation without a break and it was all done.  He says he thinks it all went as well as it could have & he feels like he said everything he needed to say.  And now we wait some more.  Now they'll complete the depositions of the adjusters & those involved on the other side, & we'll see where it goes from there.  We won't find out until then if they need to speak to me too.  Praying hard that they don't because I think I may lose my mind.   We're hopeful that the whole ordeal will be finally behind us before the year is out.  If not, we'll go to trial if need be. 

Pretty sure you couldn't've helped us, Geico dude, but you're funny anyway!

Ear Piercing, Tea Parties, & Girlieness

For many many months, our little girl has been planning her "when I'm five & I'm a big girl" day.  She decided, all on her own, that she wanted to have her ears pierced, & we were pretty excited with her!  Matt & I planned on that day when we were pregnant with her, & didn't know for sure when that day would come.  But as soon as she said it, we went with it!  There's not a lot of shopping malls around rural Vermont, so we had to make a day of it.  So we threw in some extra girl time & got our nails done too! ;)  We were going to get her first hair cut too, but our hairdresser couldn't make it work for Saturday, & that was enough cue for me to chicken out. lol  So that one will wait for... I don't know how long.  Oh well! ;)

So we took an hour & a half drive to the mall & Natalie started out very excited.  But on the way she got more & more anxious....  Ruh roh.  "Will it hurt, Mommy?"  "Do they use needles?"  "What will it feel like?"  "Mommy I'm scared!"  Oy!  The boys tried to help & tried to tell her about the "little guns" they use & I put a stop to that one RIGHT away! Not helping! lol  So once we got her to Claire's she was sufficiently freaked out. 

Yes, we laugh as our children have tantrums.  I've told you.  We're awesome parents! ;)

Marking her ears.  "Woman, what ARE you doing to me!?!"

She literally did not even so much as *flinch* from this position.  (I know, because Matt left his finger on the button for the camera & captured every nanosecond. lol)  She didn't feel a thing!  And she refuses to admit it! Ha ha!

Kisses from Mommy & a lollipop & everything is right with the world again.

And now she has joined the ranks of millions of women who have beautifully adorned earlobes.  Way to go princess! :)

Afterward, we made one more stop in the mall, & we both got our nails done together.  Not an expense I spend on myself very often at all, but worth it to have a little girl time with my sweetie pie!

She picked purple, naturally.

This girl was very patient with her!  So sweet. :)

We went back & forth on whether or not to have a party for her.  This was her first year in school, so really up until a few weeks ago she didn't have friends her own age to speak of.  But she's never really had a birthday party before (we had family over in Kansas for her first birthday, but that's all she's ever had).  And her little class of seven kids are just SO darn cute.  We thought it would be fun to have them over.  Besides, five is a BIG deal! :)  I remember thinking how grown up I was when I turned five.  So we decided to go for it & have a little tea party! 

Now let me warn you, with weapons such as Etsy & Pinterest now at our fingertips, there is no longer any such thing as a "little" tea party!! lol  I had SO much fun planning this thing I can't even tell you. 
First, we stopped at our local thrift shop & picked up a tea set & dishes for a whopping $4.  (and yes, Mackelmore played in my head the *entire* time).  I went to a couple of dollar stores too & went to town with decorations & favors.  When it was all said & done, including party favors from Oriental Trading Co, I probably only spent about $60 on the whole party.  But it will certainly be a party she & her friends will remember for a while I'm sure! :) 

Favor Boxes for her friends.  Each sticker says "Thank you for coming to my Tea Party.  Your friend, Natalie."  Matching the invitations, naturally.  ;)

Teacup & Teapot lollipops :)  I'm dying from the cuteness!

The table, all set & ready for her guests!  Complete with flowers from our garden

Each kiddo had their own "teapot" place setting that doubled as a fan they could take home with them.

Butterfly & flower-shaped sandwiches, veggies, fruit & cookies for tea.

Each guest got to make their own hat & decorate it with their choice of ribbon & flowers.  These girls are too cute!

My sweet little Natalie all dolled up :)

Even daddy helped serve tea

Yummy!

I think they had fun being fancy!

Teacup relay race... epic fail.  These five-year-olds took one look at me & said, "Lady!  You're crazy!" lol  Oh well.  It was a cute idea anyway!

But "Pass the Teapot" was more their speed!  (Think "Hot Potato" but with a plastic teapot!)  Fun!

Presents from her friends

Her cake: She asked for Doc McStuffins!  Sure, why not! :)

And we rounded out the party with a couple of tea party books, courtesy of Fancy Nancy & Sofia the First.

I think she had a great birthday!

Little House Update

I'm throwing together this quick house post now - because I've been promising for a while now & have had NO time.  And because I know in a couple of days I'll have a super fun fifth birthday post to share about Miss Natalie.  So here it is in my post-night shift stupor!  (Good Lord what would I do without Dunkin pumpkin coffee!)  

So, house stuff. Honestly, not as much to update as I would hope. Mathew went back to work about a month ago - turns out if you just work on your house for two years instead of earning any income, you tend to run out of money! ;). He's jumped in to that full force, in typical Mathew style, and has really enjoyed productivity again. I'm glad he's happy & that we may have a bit of relief on the horizon soon from our chronically empty bank accounts, but as much as he wishes it weren't so, it's impossible for him to be in two places at once!  So now we have this catch 22 situation: we can't keep fixing up the house without money... But we can't fix the house while he's always out earning it!  Sigh. It'll get there eventually. It'll just be a slower process even than it has been so far. (He'll try to tell you otherwise, but we both know better).  He does get there when he can.  A few hours here & there. 

Having said all that though, it seems that his regained confidence has helped him be so much more productive when he is able to be there.  Almost all of the electrical wire is pulled throughout the house. We just need outlets & switches (details, people! ;)).

Someday this will be our room.  You can see the wiring done at least :)

He's got the radiant heat placed in two rooms & is working on flowing the tubing through the ceiling for the upstairs.

Heating through the mud room

Heat in the weight room

Heat going in on the ceiling for the upstairs.  See why it's such a PITA??

And!  A couple of weeks ago I got to be there for a really big step: concrete!  (Which means I stood there and took pictures while the guys got dirty & did all the work.  I'm so helpful.  ;))  The back room, which will become our weight room, and the side porch (four seasons room... mud room... porch... I can't decide what to call it...) both needed a *major* overhaul. They've had dirt floors this whole time. Well they were built up with sand over the summer, & a couple of weeks ago, after the heat was installed, the concrete was poured!  Floors!  What a novel idea! ;). Before long they'll be tiled, but for now that's pretty huge. 

Mud room... Done!

Weight room has never looked this nice! :)

I'm not going to go over the list of what still needs to be done to be at our move-in point. It's long & depressing. But we'll get there. And once we start checking off the list it *should* go fairly quickly from there. Time will tell. Some day we'll look back on this whole ordeal & just laugh at what crazy people we were. ;)  In the mean time, forgive me as I whine a little.