It really is hip to be square

Look at me, 3 posts in one week! I just have so much to share, because I've been a busy beaver blogger. We are switching around the kids bedrooms, which affects 3 rooms: moving, cleaning, and--of course--redecorating. It's not as easy as switching seats at the theater, let's just say that. Shnookie 1 is moving to the guest room in the basement, which leaves his room open for Shnookie 3 to leave her younger sister's room. Basically, all 4 kids will now have their own rooms. Too bad we don't have just one more room to put Hubby in, and then *I* could have my own room! HaHa JK

So now that I've explained all that, here's the photo I wanted to share, which has absolutely nothing to do with any bedrooms! It's all connected in my brain, though, because I've been shopping, shopping online for all this redecorating stuff. Packages arriving every day...HURRAY! I have wanted to get some floor tiles from FLOR.com for-ev-er, and I finally did it!

This is our little entry hall from the garage. It gets A LOT of traffic, so every rug I've ever put there gets destroyed or else slides around so much (even with carpet pads) that it's incredibly hazardous--or fun, depending on how you look at it.

Enter FLOR tiles! They're 19 inch squares of carpet that stay put, are eco-friendly, AND they can be WASHED OFF IN THE SINK!! On top of that, you can mix n match and make all sorts of patterns. (You don't want to know how long I spent playing with different combinations on-line! I really had way too much fun than is normal.) I want to put them under my kitchen table and in the hardwood floor bedroom, but I thought I'd better start small. Check it out at www.FLOR.com if you haven't already. Tell them Erin sent you, and......they'll have no idea what you're talking about.

How's your Spring going???

Yesterday. April 24th. 2:00 p.m. My front yard.


APRIL 24th, PEOPLE!!!! I am so not sending Mother Nature a Christmas card this year.

REMEMBER! You asked for this!

I had a couple of requests to know how the kids managed while Hubby and I went to New Orleans. This is me responding to my public: The kids did GREAT! It appears, however, that the dog was deeply traumatized. He was tense and clingy (in a huge dog sort of way) for the first week we were back--wouldn't let us out of his sight, got really so-frantically-glad-to-see-you hyper when we'd walk in, etc. That part was tolerable, even kind of cute sometimes. Not even remotely tolerable was the two times he went outside, ate his own poo and then threw it up on my family room carpet. I'm all for expressing your feelings, but this form is not my favorite. In fact, I have never had the dry heaves so bad in my life. I could not even go near the room. So, AREN'T YOU SO GLAD YOU ASKED??

And to hopefully erase that image before you leave me, let me reiterate that the kids all seem more than fine--no feces regurgitation that I've noticed. (Oh, oops--erase that image too.) We were really proud of them with how they took care of each other, followed the schedule, and even cleaned the house before we came home! They are better at the whole domestic thing than I am, and I'm not one bit offended.

New Orleans: The Slideshow

Look who downloaded her photos! Lucky you!!

Us in a horse-drawn carriage just as we're starting the most amazing tour of the French Quarter. Seeing this pic, I'm definitely re-thinking those shades. Hmmm.

Lance with his new golden best friend. (Yes, he's real. And the golden guy too. hee)

Lance's maternal side hails from New Orleans (his mother was born and raised there.) HOWEVER, I did not see in proof of that. What I DID see was this. I will be returning with all of my relatives to claim our original homestead.

Jackson Square with the St. Louis Cathedral, at night. (Okay, this photo may have been Photoshopped a little.)

And finally, I thought you might like to see our new winter home. If you look closely, you'll see me up in the balcony sipping a mint julep.

Ya'll come back now, Ya hear?

Here I am, in the Big Easy!! (Do NOT read that without the 'in.') Hubby had to go to New Orleans for a conference, so he invited me along. The kids are all at home, being watched after by a bazillion people (it takes a village!). THANK YOU everyone!! I seriously almost didn't make it--it was just one thing after another going wrong, all the way to the second I walked onto the plane. Really--you'd think I'd get a clue and give up, but I was pretty determined. (Remember--I'm VERY GOOD at being gone, and you don't want to waste that kind of talent.)

Probably the worst thing that happened was that the girl who'd agreed to stay nights with the kids wouldn't return my phone calls. Finally, less than 2 days before we were supposed to take off, she still hadn't responded, and Hubby pointed out that maybe we really didn't WANT our kids in the care of someone who is avoiding us. Even through my have-to-get-out-of-here mania I could see some wisdom in that. So I stopped pressing redial. And hubby took pity on me, got on the phone, and had us the ultimate Mary Poppins within an hour. Her name is Allison, she's the daughter of a dear friend of ours, and my girls are totally in love with her. THANK YOU ALLISON!! I was so grateful to her that I offered to give her one of our kids, to which she emphatically replied, "NO, realllllly, that won't be necessary." Responsible AND smart--what a girl.

I am totally in love with New Orleans, and not just because it's 80 degrees here and snowing at home. No, my love is much deeper than that. For one thing, the food is beyond yummy. Hubby and I went to a place last night to have seafood and chips, and I think I ate through the whole Mississippi. DELISH! You really must try it--Cafe Mesparo's--when you're in the neighborhood.

Now for my funny story (it only took me 3 paragraphs to get to it): We're at Cafe Mesparo's, waiting for our food at our little table, and our attention turns to the three squeeze bottles of condiments displayed prominently in the middle. (Did I mention that Cafe Mesparo's is not exactly a pretentious place?) We're wondering "What is in those?" So I lean over and sniff the opening of condiment #1. No smell. So Hubby squeezes it a little for me and a poof of mayo air reaches my nose. Mystery solved. On to #2. Again, the poof of air, which tells us it's yellow mustard. Great system. So I lean over condiment #3, breathe in, and SPLAT!, Hubby's little squeeze launches a huge explosive blob of dijon mustard all over my face and upper body. After the split second of total shock and urge to shove the bottle up his nose, I start laughing hysterically. As I'm wiping little gritty mustard seeds out of my eyes, of course.

Oddly, that may be my favorite moment of the New Orleans adventure. I suppose it could've happened anywhere, but it didn't. I'll never look at Grey Poupon the same way.

Fool Me Once...and I'll fall for it over and over and over

I gotta tell ya, I was really dragging on April Fools Day. However, with my pursuit of "Mother of the Year" in full swing, I had no choice but to come up with a prank to play on my kids. So off to FamilyFun.com I went (cuz that's what award-winning moms do, knowing as they do that thinking for yourself is a waste of time). I liked this fake dad one a lot (who wouldn't? He always listens, never criticizes and almost never farts. I think I'm in love.). Hubby was out-of-town, so it seemed like the perfect time to confuse my kids for life. So I stuffed hubby's clothes and rigged a newspaper sheet with cardboard and tape. Like thus:

Okay, so our chairs don't have high armrests like the ones at Family Fun. Which made it hard to get everything tall enough to really imitate Hubby's height. Not that I didn't try--I have the five miles of wasted packing tape to prove it.

So one by one the kids come trickling in from school. Each has the exact same reaction, stopping dead in their tracks, uttering a "What the?", and then hesitantly approaching it in an arc to peek behind the paper. Then they turn to see me snickering and start laughing. And guess who each one of them thought it was? Not Hubby, but Grandma Dixie. I can see that. Plus, she's so hard-of-hearing, that she doesn't hear people enter a room, which is much like this fake.

The kids had fun inviting their friends all over and fooling them. Shnookie 2 even yelled loudly at it "Grandma! Look! So-and-so is here! GRANDMA!!" Good times. We just left it there for a few days, and it would freak each of us out EVERY time we came around the corner. (Oh my, that sounds even lamer when actually written down! Yes, we're just that stupid.)