Need a cute house that's great for entertaining?

Hello, all! We've been away from our blogging because there's some good stuff happening around here. We have been preparing to sell our house for a couple of months now. The plan was to put it on the market in April but we actually ended up putting a sign up on Sunday night. It's been a blur of activity--cleaning, staging, taking photos of the house--since then but it's all worth it.

Saturday when driving around, Mike and I noticed that a house I have loved for years had a for sale sign in front of it. The owner happened to be outside so I asked Mike if we could go in so I could see if the inside was as pretty as the outside. And it was. So pretty that I don't think we'd have to do anything to it to move in. On Sunday, we took Mike's parents to see it, did some number crunching and discussing, and made an offer. The owners of the house accepted the offer, much to our delight. As a matter of fact, I am so delighted that I don't even want to link the house, if that makes any sense. I guess I don't want to jinx it or something. Kind of like how when I first met Mike, I refused to let my friends make any marriage jokes.

All of this is, unfortunately, contingent on the sale of our house. Although we are preparing to sign a contract, they will still be taking offers until we are actually able to sign the real papers. I have a couple of requests:

1. Please pray for us. And although I do want this house to sell so that we can have our dream home, more than anything, I want us to make the right choices. I guess pray that our way is clear and our hearts open to whatever path God has for us. Also that we get through this selling ordeal with grace and integrity with each other, potential buyers, and the people we will eventually buy from. And, last, please pray for our safety as we have people in and our of our house.

2. Please spread the word about our house. :) If you know anyone who is looking for a starter home, this house has been well loved by us for 6 years...in some ways, I hate to leave it. We have almost completely updated everything from cabinets to floors. This is a great neighborhood, perfect for couples, small families, and empty nesters. Here are some links:

3070ultragreenlane.com

realtor.com

Thanks so much for your thoughts and prayers! It's been fun sharing our lives with you for the last 3 years--I can't wait to see where we end up next!

In her own words-ish

Mama: Hey, Autumn, what did you do last Saturday?


Autumn: I go to Angelee's birthday party! I love parties.


Mama: Oh, yeah? What did you do there?

Autumn: I play mouse! Is little. Yes. And in a ball. And it ran. And I pet it.


Mama: What else did you do?

Autumn: I ride horse and hold on with my boots. I fall down and I get up. I love neigh. And I share.


I see beebee! I love beebees. It's cute. Yeah.


I give Angelee a brella. I love my brella. It's Tink.


I play b'loon with Stephan. I have a b'loon. It's a butterfly.


Mama: So what did you do when you left?

Autumn: I hug Angelee.


Mama: So was it so fun?

Autumn: Yes.

Mama: What do you say?

Autumn: Saaaaayyyy please!

Mama: No, silly. Say "thank you, Angelee, for inviting me to your party!"

Autumn: Thank you for party, Angelee!

A Plethora of Pets*

This is Biscuit.


Biscuit is named after a doggie in a book that Autumn reads on the potty at Mama Lainey and P'd's house. One morning a few weeks ago, Autumn woke up and showed me this little tiger and said, "what's name? Biscuit!" And so it's been Biscuit ever since. Before that, I had called Biscuit the "it's not a tiger it's a kitty cat" because for some reason, whenever I talked about her tiger Autumn would totally say that to me in a "duh, mom," kind of voice.


Yesterday, Mike was making our bed and he found Biscuit. Autumn had napped in there since a neighbor was mowing the grass really loudly near her room. Mike said, "hey, I think you need to look at Biscuit." Turns out Biscuit had a hole and was leaking the little round stuffing bits so I performed some major surgery and now Biscuit is good as new. It's funny...I still have the first doll I ever repaired on my own. I must have been about 7 or 8 and sewed together the neck of a mouse that my grandfather gave me not long before he passed away. It was an odd thing to remember that and to now be repairing my own little one's dolls. :) Anyway, Biscuit is all ready to be dragged and carried and snuggled.


Biscuit is the most recent in a series of dolls that Autumn has started naming on her own. First there was Beebee which was really just the way Autumn pronounced the word baby but it somehow morphed into the doll's name even after she started saying baby mostly correctly. I love watching Autumn feed Beebee and put her to bed. Before school Monday, Autumn tucked Beebee into her baby bed and said, "don't worry, I'll be back."


These guys have been around since before Autumn was born so it was pretty cool to watch her while she decided what she was going to call them. Here we have Baa, Two Baa (who used to be Baa Two but I have been soundly corrected as to the new name), and Bear. I'm not sure how she tells Baa and Two Baa apart but apparently she seems to. Right now Two Baa is in bed with her but Baa is in the car.


This is Mama Sheep. I have no idea why. There aren't any lambs and no papa sheep but apparently Mama Sheep is mama to all the dolls? Maybe Mama Sheep looks like me? I don't know but it cracked me up when she first started talking about needing Mama Sheep.


This is the last of the animals that Autumn has officially named. Mike's parents took Autumn to the store and let her pick out a Valentine stuffed animal. For whatever reason, out of everything she could have gotten, Autumn got a cow. When she came home, Mama Lainey told me to ask Autumn what the cow's name was. Autumn promptly responded, "it's Moo!" And so, Moo became part of the Colley family, too.


I guess names are starting to mean something to Autumn right now. I should get this on tape but she knows all of our names, too. As in, mine, Mike's, and her grandparents. It's pretty cool..."what's mama's name?" "Shawaze!" Haha. Our little miss is such a big girl!


(*a cookie to anyone who gets the warcraft reference, lol.)

Valerie's Baby Shower

But first...this is for Penny and Michael. :D


So, anyway, my side of the family is going to be a little more girly in a couple months because my sister is having an as-yet-unnamed girl in April! One of her friends gave her a shower last weekend.


I had to teach aikido on Saturday so I ended class a touch early so I would be able to get my uniform folded (seriously, it takes longer than one might think) and I could get out of there. I was 20 minutes late anyway. Why? My mom got lost. After two tries of calling her and trying to get her to pull over so I could retrieve her (one time she was all, "I saw some cars turning right and followed them." Wait, what? How do you even know where those cars are going?), I found her and we made to the party. Funny enough, my mom did the exact same thing before one of my showers! Mike's mom had go get her that time. Anyway, technically my mom is already a grandma and I'm already an aunt but we wore these buttons:


It was a very shower-y shower complete with presents,


juice,


and friends. Here's my mom with Mrs. Janis who was our youth pastor in high school. In the background is the super cute diaper cake that Liz's sister made for Valerie.


Autumn and Liz got some quality time...Autumn was showing Liz her booboos and her pretty nails, haha.


The ladies of my family. Even the unborn one. :)


And, now. For my pièce de résistance...Valerie's party shoes:

:D

Of course, I had to make Valerie a few things. Since they aren't choosing a name until after the baby is born, I decided to hold off on any labels or bag tags although Christy and I do have something special planned. :D I gave her some regular gifts but I also included some baby leg warmers. I don't remember how I found the original baby legs but they are so, so awesome. It was great to be able to just throw a onesie and these legwarmers on Autumn. Or to use them instead of pantyhose or as an extra layer, depending on the season. Made for easy diaper changes, for sure. And even better? Autumn can still wear all of her leg warmers, both store bought and mama-made.


I also made her a diaper clutch with this rock star fabric I bought as soon as I found out Valerie was having a baby. I've found that the diaper clutch is nicest for holding diapers, wipes, and the changing pad and I can just put the clutch into whatever big bag I am carrying. So when I need to do a change when we're out, I can leave my big bag with Mike and just carry the clutch. Of course, now that Autumn is potty trained, I use mine to carry a "just in case" pullup and wipes case that I can carry or put in her backpack or into whatever bag I'm carrying. Eventually I'm guessing it'll become just a bag that either I carry or Autumn carries--which is one of the reasons I chose this pattern. It's so versatile.


I've got one order for a houndstooth diaper clutch. :D If anyone's interested in a clutch (which comes with a changing pad and optional matching wipes case), let me know. I'm not selling them on my site yet but if you'd like one for yourself or for a gift, I'd be willing to do a special order for not much more than cost of materials since I am still practicing and I can't guarantee you'll get it in 2 days. This one was my best yet...I solved a couple of problems I've had making past ones (Michelle, I wish I could do yours over!) so I'm guessing it'll only get better from here!


So, that's all! If anyone wants to see all the photos from the shower, click here!

Dancing Fairy Princesses, Horses, and Helicopters...oh, my!

Last Tuesday, we had a super fun day of partying! Autumn's friend Ella-Maria turned 3 and her mom Annalise (who teaches ballet to the girls) planned a fairy princess tea party! The festivities started with some fairy princess dust.


Once they were all glittery and lovely(-er), our little fairy princesses had a fairy princess dance class!


Autumn takes a bit to warm up so she's usually the one who hangs out in the back and doesn't do what she's supposed to be doing. :)


This is Ella, the birthday girl. I loved this picture because she looks so happy to be dancing!


This is Allie. Her sister is Lydia who is several months younger than Autumn and just as tall! Allie looks like such a pro here!


Autumn's fairy princess solo dance involved a lot of flips and posing and very little actual dancing!


Of course, we moms have just as much fun as the girls usually. On the left is Christy and on the right is Annalise who is expecting another little fairy princess soon! Maria and her daughter Julia weren't able to make it so I'll have to get some fun photos of them soon.


After dancing, our little princesses had a tea party! This is Lydia. She and Autumn are in the same Sunday School class now which is so fun.


Annalise set the table with princess cups and plates and spoons. The girls had cookies and cupcakes and tea with milk and sugar cubes!


I mean, seriously, how sweet and grown up looking is this? Also, Annalise totally made Autumn's week by putting sunglasses and lip gloss at each place setting!


And the fun didn't stop there! Later that night, we all met up with some of Ella's other friends at Chuck E. Cheese. Autumn had never been before so I wasn't sure what to expect. She had an absolute blast! She rode the horse and this merry go round.


She danced in front of the camera with the other dance class girls and flew the helicopter.


And she played on a see-saw with a mouse and took a ride in the coach with her friends!


This is her "please more?" face. :) I have an iron constitution so I was able to resist the urge to buy more tokens.


We ended the night with a happy birthday song.


And Annalise made Autumn's night again with a lollipop and some bubbles to take home with her!


Thanks so much, Annalise and Ella-Maria! It was so much fun!

jaws...

Da dum...


da dum...


da dum da dum dadum...


::SCREAMS::


Whew.


...da dum...


(apparently, Jaws has come up here before: a role reversal)