- Bonifest is 'da BEST! -

Not even a tiny bit mad to be parishioners of the best church in town... We couldn't love St. B [and its celebrations!] any more!

Bonifest 2019...weeeeee!

Elly and Nona came down to ride rides with Harper...

...and she LOVED her first ever experience on the Ferris wheel!

St. B - the place to be!!! :)

- FIRST Trip to the Dentist! -

Despite packing up half of our house and taking over the entire waiting room just for dental cleanings x 3...

...this big 4-year-old survived adored her first trip to the dentist office! She has been brushing 'dem toofers diligently for the last few years, and it seems to have paid off!

Harper had her teeth counted and polished first; she got a perfect report before happily hopping out of the chair to pick out stickers, pencils, and of course an infamous goodie bag with toothbrush and floss inside.  Next it was Daddy's turn and thennnn Mommy's, and Harper stood a few inches from the exam chair the entire time asking questions and telling stories and, well, just yakking the sweet hygienist's ears off.

Scarlett stomped around the waiting room in excited anticipation for her turn [ha..ha..ha..jay to the kay], but alas the dentist decided not to waste his time examining a whole 4 teeth. ;) ;) 

Overall, success!  We scheduled our 6-month follow-ups x 3, and Harper already cannot wait to go back!

- Packing and moving [round 1] and cleaning ...and cleaning some more... -

...'cause we're bustin' outta here!

What is happeningggg?! Hmmm, well!  So we could effectively deep clean the "old house" without tons of toys and clutter in the way and then KEEP the house clean for listing/showing/selling, we decided it would be best to pack everything up and bail!  Brian's brother has a bachelor pad juuuust down the street, and it just so happens to be vacant.  He so very kindly opened his door to us so we could crash there for a few months during the transition.  Saving grace who?  Yep Uncle Gar, that's you! The kids love Uncle Garett's pad and settled in just fine:

...minus that Scarlett fell off her little setup here after snoozing atop it all night and had to downgrade to the Pack 'n Play the next night...

...but she lived to tell the story and came back with a smile on her face, so meh! No biggie.

More days than not, we traipsed back over to the "old house" to pack more junk and scrub EVERYTHING.  The kids have become pros at window washing [I finally taught them how to use the Norwex rags after several sessions/smearings with baby wipes...], and Harper stays close to Daddy telling him he's doing a great job with this and that and everything in between!

Oh, and then this: by some super-human act of God, Brian tore down the .E.N.T.I.R.E. deck and raised it again in 3 days... BY HIMSELF, at that!!! I literally could not believe my eyes. He was just planning to replace the staircase that had started rotting out, but he just kept going...and going...and going... 

Me: "I can't believe you just built that whole thing this weekend..."
Brian: ...so nonchalantly... "Well, somebody's gotta do it."

^^ Looks amazing, I must say!!!

After Mr. Fix-It was finished with all his projects and all the sawdust settled, we just had a few more things to do:  storm through the house for the final cleaning sesh and paint the living room wall!  Thanks, Mom, for your help! We are a power team; we rocked it!

Not sure I even believe this because it still seems so surreal, but this baby will be on the market NEXT WEEK!  

Wahhhhhh!

- Out of the mouth of babes: VOL VII -

I just found an iPhone note full of GOLD .....gold in the form of some long lost Harper-isms, that is! The list throws back to the days between Christmas and Easter, but the quotes are so cute! So #sorrynotsorry, I just cannot resist posting!!!

Rewind to December!

*****

One night when she got caught playing in her room after bedtime:
Brian:  "You know how I knew you were up out of your bed?"
Harper:  "How?"
Brian:  "Because I heard the elf scribbling your name on the bad list!"
Harper:  "...........But I didn't heard him saying I was naughty?"


The next day, while talking to Grammy on FaceTime:
"'Da elf didn't move today because Daddy didn't go to bed and he was naughty!  But maybe if Daddy is good tonight then the elf will fly to the North Pole and tell Santa that Daddy is a good boy!"


As we were finishing the final few Santa plates [on #35 of 38, to be exact!]:
"I fink Santa's tummy is gonna be RULLY full." 

As Scarlett was watching Harper stir her hot chocolate:
Harper:  "Noooo, Sissy... You can't have this because you are too small.  Babies can't have hot chocolate because they will spill it all over their shirts.  But Mommy, maybe when Sissy gets older we can give her some hot chocolate in a sippy cup?"
Me:  "Yes and babies can't have it because it has too much sugar and isn't healthy!" 
Harper:  "Yep.  That's right!" *chug chug*


After I put on a sweater/tunic:
"Mommy, your shirt is so long it's touching your butt!  It's ok though, you will grow in 'da it."


At bedtime:
"Wet me tell you a story.  On Sunnnnnnday, Daddy goed to 'da new house and he builded a roof on our house all by himself.  'Den he got RULLY firsty so he drinked two lemonades.  Our house is lookin' good, but it still has a lottttt of buildin' 'da do!"


At home after chickening out at her first haircut:
Harper:  "Wellllll, I DO want a haircut, but I jus' want you to cut it at home." 
Me:  "No, Mommy doesn't know how to do that.  We need to go to the salon." 
Harper:  "Welllllllllllllll, 'da s'lon is too scary."
Me:  "What?  Why's it scary?  Wasn't it fun to sit in that chair and wear the cool cape...?"
Harper:  "'Cause that lady with 'da scissors might cut my eyeballs out!"


As I was serving leftover chicken to the kids on Ash Wednesday:
"Well, Mommy, you can eat this!  It's not meat, it's JUST a bird, Mom..."

On the way to her first dentist appointment:
"I hope the dentist says I don't have a lot of scums on my teeth, I hope."


While driving past a church with a Jesus statue outside:
"Maybe someday we could go see the real Jesus and we will say, 'Thank you, Jesus, for making us and thank you for making us hel-fee [healthy]! Because we don't want to be sick or have a bee-sease [disease].'  Mommy, is that Jesus at Grammy's church the real one?"


As she was playing in the basement: 
"After Easter day you know what's gonna happen?!  .....*biggest smile ever*.....It's gonna be SANTA WEEK!" 


After seeing the Easter Bunny:
"Doesn't the Bunny Easter get sweaty in those hot clothes?  He didn't have any clothes on that I felt in there, actually..."

While visiting Daddy at the new house:
"Scarlett!  Don't you dare get outta 'dat chair 'else you will fall and get nails in your head!"


On Easter Eve:
"I hope the Easter Bunny doesn't try to tickle me when I'm sleeping! But I DO hope he leaves us some more little toys and LOTS of treats!"


After her brand new bouncy ball went rolling away down the street:
Grammy:  "Harper, don't ever run out in the parking lot or street after a ball, ok?  It's very dangerous, and we can always buy another ball." 
Harper:  "No Grammy! 'Cause that would be too 'pensive!"