New Skills

Madeleine has a new fascination with the toilet. She's in the bathroom ALL THE TIME! (And, let me tell you, the word "privacy" is certainly not in her vocabulary.) She spends so much time in the loo I decided to let her try out Isabelle's old potty seat. She thinks it's grand. Nice and comfy, great view, and toilet paper within easy reach. I know she's only 18 months old but why not try a little potty training?

Here she is on her new throne! How fun she thinks it is to run through the house shouting, "Potty! Potty! Potty!"

We've even had several successful, well...you know. :)
But, just when we think Mensa will be calling our little genius any day now she goes and does something like this:

No, her big sister didn't do this to her this time. Maddy saw the recycle basket, contemplated removing all the paper and then proceeded to put the basket on her head. This kept her entertained for a good half hour. Einstein did this too, right?

What?!

We actually sold our house! It took almost three years (if you count the stop in the middle to adopt Madeleine), one failed offer and practically giving our current house away but it's finally happened. Now, I am being cautiously optimistic because deals can always fall through at the last minute but hopefully on June 4th we'll sign papers on our brand new home! We are so excited to possibly, hopefully, maybe be moving into a neighborhood we've wanted to live in for a long time and we are definitely ready to bid adieu to the teenage hooligans we're surrounded by now.

This is it! We're almost doubling the size of our current house so there will even be room for visitors to stay without kicking Isabelle out of her room. We really wanted to be settled somewhere before Isabelle started kindergarten and we're coming in just under the wire. The house has everything we wanted including a bonus room to do bonusy-type things in.

One of the biggest reasons we wanted to move was so the girls would have a backyard to play in. We have a play set in our backyard now but there is absolutely no room to do anything else. There's also practically no front yard and our street really isn't safe enough to ride bikes. Now we'll have 1/2 acre and a nice quiet cul-de-sac to play on!

Just visiting the house was fun for Isabelle the day we made the offer. Yes, that is a fire pit so we are camp-out ready!

Anyone up for a relay race?

I hope I haven't jinxed us by announcing our news. Everybody please keep your fingers and toes crossed that we actually close on this house! We would feel so lucky to actually have everything work out this time.

P.S. I do have one dirty little secret. Shhhh. Don't tell Jason! Our house has been on the market for nine months straight this time around. That means every night we clean the house before going to bed and every morning beds need to be made and breakfast dishes washed before running out of the house to work and school. We're usually pretty tidy but to never even leave a scrap of paper out has been a bit challenging with two wee ones. Now that the house has sold we don't really need to do this anymore but Jason doesn't realize that yet and I think I'll bide my time before I tell him. It's really been nice to never have to beg him to put his dirty socks away! I know, I'm a terrible person. Boo to me.

A Day Out

A few weeks ago we were so excited to see my friend Brenda perform with the Seattle Women's Chorus at their FREE children's concert. We'd been trying all season to get out and see one of their shows but we kept having scheduling conflicts. It was worth the wait though because we were able to see the men and women perform, as well as children from Village Theatre's Kidstage.

It was Madeleine's first theater experience and she loved it!
However, we did need to remind her that public exhibitionism is really a no-no - even though we do live in Seattle.

Isabelle always likes to people watch from the balcony of McCaw Hall.

After the show we took the girls out for dinner to one of their favorite restaurants - The Spaghetti Factory!

Madeleine took her time perusing the menu...

...and Isabelle gobbled up every bite.

Why is The Spaghetti Factory such a favorite? Every meal comes with ice cream of course!