Who's the Sucker?

I thought and I am sure all of you thought that the sucker was indeed me! I didn't say anything to that silly real estate agent of ours when she continually disappointed us. I never said anything about her non-existent advertising in the paper or that we figured no one would ever come to our open houses because no one would know about them? Why on earth would I be such a sucker? When it came down to selling OUR house. We should want nothing better than the BEST out there. An aggressive, ADVERTISING agent who is going to SELL our house. Well, when it came down to a long conversation with Liam we both decided it was time to let our said agent go and find someone else. I was letting HIM do the dirty work -- (I am far to nice for that ;) )and I was calling a new potential agent. I called said agent and she even came over and told us her thoughts on advertising and her marketing strategies. Marketing strategies? Are agents suppose to talk about these things too? What on earth were we thinking with our last agent? She barely spook at all about a marketing plan no logistics. After a great hour with her we decided we would take the house off the market and re-list with the new agent. She is young, new, aggressive and she works under a huge real estate agent in the Kingston area who have a great team -- so, not only would one agent be selling our house, but more like five agents! Sounds great right? So Liam calls our agent to tell her the great (scratch that) sad news and of course she is questioning our decision. Liam being his honest self, told her what was on his mind and that we would indeed cancel the agreement and she should bring the paperwork by the next night for signing. When she told him she had potential people interested in the house he never asked her why she hadn't told us before now he just let it go. So yesterday (the signing papers day), She calls Liam and tells him that indeed there is a couple from Montreal coming to Kingston this weekend who wants to look at OUR house! So Liam tells her alright and we STILL have that un-advertising agent that I have spoken about frequently in the past! So who's the sucker now? LIAM? or maybe still me because in all fairness it is only a few more days and she could potentially sell our house right? Maybe what she needed was a little reality check? Lets hope these people are really interested -- if not we say goodbye to said agent on Sunday. Ahhh.

Sorry for the long winded post. I needed to get all that out :)

Tearless Tuesday

This week I am thankful for:

humidifiers

healing kiddos

faith

patience

smell of sun kissed skin

sunny days

prayer

What are you thankful for?

You all know this weekly meme is in honor of beautiful Tuesday Whitt who lost her battle with cancer at the young age of two. I continue to pray for Tuesdays family that they will continue to have strength to get through this difficult time and that they will lean on Him and continue to trust. If you want to send some loving words, prayers or if you want to take part in Tuesdays Blog Party. Visit HERE. There is going to be an auction and all you have to do is donate one dollar to the Tuesday Whitt memorial fund to be eligible to win something. There will be many items to win! Lets kick cancers butt for Tuesday!!

This Was a Terribly Hard Decision

This was a terribly hard decision and here is why I had so much trouble choosing...

Did I make the right choice? Life altering decisions! LOL

i heart faces -- Reflections

At i heart face this week the theme is reflection. This was VERY fun and I had such a hard time trying to choose which pictures to enter! I know I am no professional but I enjoy taking pictures and if cute is my only outcome I can live with that :)

Tessa was very cooperative for her photo shoot and I got some great shots of her. Some looking at her own reflection and some looking at the reflection of me. Here is what I ended up picking after MUCH consideration, many hours and opinions!

After spending some time outside with the girls today here is the picture I decided on for the adult entry. I am not fond of posting pictures of myself but when I happen to be hiding behind the camera it isn't too bad :) Esspecially when it is only the reflection seen. I know you cannot actually see my face but it is there just hiding behind the camera :)

Head on over to i heart faces this week and check out all the other awesome entries and send them some comment love. I know I will :)

Non-Bloggy Members Comments

I know there are a number of family members out there following And Then There Are There who would love to leave a comment and have not been able to. I think I have figured out how you could comment and have changed the settings so that now you can. SO --Leave me some love -- would love to hear from all of you. When you message let me know who you are ie: Mom, Grandad, etc. Thanks again and happy commenting! Love to you all XO

Note: When you want to comment click on anonymous then sign your name at the bottom of the comment so I know who you are :)

I am Only Human

I am only human.

Humans get angry.

Humans get angry with other people.

Other people today happen to be said real estate agent from previous post.

She has a sinus infection?

One hour and 10 minutes before said open house starts?

There is no one to cover it?

She is sorry because I probably worked really hard to get the house ready for said open house.

No kidding I worked hard!

It is hard keeping and cleaning a house with 5 people living it.

Especially when three of those five people are kids!

Two of which who like to make a mess and not clean it up -- they are also only human...

She called home instead of the regular contact number.

Was she hoping no one would answer?

I think so...

Why do I feel guilty for being mad?

Why did I keep my calm when she canceled said open house?

She is only human too -- just a very unlikeable one right now.

Vote Please

Let me know what you think about the new background. I have always gone pink and brown because that is me but it was getting a bit old to me. Which do you all like better? Comment below or e-mail me. Thanks!

Another Rewind -- Our Friend .... Fred

I found Fred in the laundry room on a pair of Lilly's pants last week while moving laundry. I got a little grossed out and then Lilly reminded me that caterpillars are so cute. LOL "Look how sweet he is Mom!" "Awww! Your so sweet!" "Can I touch him?". We took Fred outside to get a better look at him. I carried him out on the pants I found him on and refused to touch him the whole time. Lilly and Abigail both held Fred much to my disgust (which I never did show to them of course). We thought it would be a good idea to let Fred go onto the tree in our front yard for a chance at survival. Lets hope he found a good place to do his change-into-a-butterfly-stuff and found some good eats to make him fatten up (although he looked pretty fat already). Here are some pictures from that day. Isn't he sweet? YUCK!

At first Abigail was almost as disgusted by Fred as I was! "Get him off of me!"

Then she decided to give him another chance and thought he was as cute as Lilly thought he was.

" Aww! Fred you are so sweet!"

"Here is your new home Freddy!"

Have a good life. Just imagine what kind of chance you might have had if Lilly wasn't there when I found you in that laundry room! LOL

Sunny, Windy and a Tiny Bit Cold

But, well worth the fresh air we muchly needed. All of us! We spent a good hour plus outside in the backyard and even Charlie was ecstatic about it! She loves a little outdoors company! You know... while she eats sticks! Eating sticks just isn't the same without company :)

Abigail had some new adventures today. A swing on the big girl swing and she drove the jeep-a-majigger (don't know the technical name for it) all by herself! I was mighty proud -- but then of course trying to get a good picture out of her is near impossible. She avoids the camera like the plague!

Lilly did her usual climbing, sliding, singing and driving. And Tessa and I nuzzled up together for some self portraits which indeed need some super editing before I post them because of my HUGE sick inflicted bags under my eyes screaming "Hello there! I am going to take up all of Natalie's face today so that when you look at this picture I am all that you see!" I will post befores and afters later so you can see what I mean! LOL

Here are some pictures from our much needed hour plus adventure. I know I have taken too many pictures yet again but it becomes impossible almost to decide what I should post and what I shouldn't :)

We are all feeling a tiny bit better today. Abigail seems like she is back to herself, Lilly never really did get sick (knock on wood), Liam is almost better and I am coughing like a mad man but bringing up what needs to be brought up and Tessa's cough and runny nose are indeed diminishing. Thank goodness for humidifiers. Hope everyone else is managing to stay cold free. Hopefully we will be well enough for a play with Jess and her boys tomorrow afternoon. We are all looking forward to it!

I Pooped in the Toilet!

Okay okay! LOL It wasn't me that actually got all excited about pooping in the toilet -- actually it was me getting excited, but it was Abigail who pooped in the toilet not me. We sat there for a good 10 mins before she actually did anything and the look on her face when it came out was priceless. The look on her face when I got super excited screaming Yay Abigail was even more priceless! AND the look on her face when I asked if she was happy she pooped in the toilet was even MORE priceless. She said she was happy but I really think she wasn't too sure about this pooping in the toilet ordeal. Although she did scream for 25 mins after I put her to bed that night demanding to poop on the toilet again. I did take her up and let her sit there but she did nothing and still continued to scream. Anything to stay awake! The novelty has already wore off and she has not mentioned the toilet since. Here is a picture after the big event.

Thrilled huh? LOL I love the expression!

Where to Start? Rewind to Friday

How about another visit to Lemoine's Point with Taylor and Candice last week. We were suppose to have another visit there again this week but we have all been full of cold around here! Blah! I did get some cute pictures from last week. We went with intentions to have a picnic while we were there but I had forgot that Tessa had a doctors appointment -- the doctors appointment where she was still healthy and weighed in at a whopping 15 lbs 12 oz! Whoo Hoo! LOL The next day however is when this rotten cough started for her! Yack yack. Gross! Anyhoo to the point Natalie... hmmmm, Candice and Taylor left a bit earlier than us (about an hour actually) and I had some time to kill before the doctors visit so we hit the park on the way out and made some new friends. Lilly met a sweet girl named Fiona (wow, that name is becoming popular these days) and I met her nice Grandmother and we got chatting while the girls quickly changed positions from swings to climber to slides and back again to the swings. The girls had a great time together and I quickly learned from "Gramma" that Fiona is as high maintenance as my girls are LOL Guess it comes with this time and age? Who knows? All I know is that Fiona told me she was going to East Side Mario's for lunch and she was going to have the bow tie pasta with creamy alfredo sauce! LOL She convinced her Gramma she should treat her to lunch and chose the spot too! Oh my!

Here are some pictures from our day. No pictures of stangers little kiddos of course because that would be inappropriate. I would NEVER allow strangers to take photos of my children unless it was for the local news or something! LOL I am not high maintenance -- what are you talking about?!

Sweet Taylor and her silly grin!

Tearless Tuesday

It is Tearless Tuesday yet again folks and I am here typing what I am thankful for this week. Please continue to pray for Jessica and her family as they grieve the loss of their beautiful little Tuesday who lost her short life with Cancer.

I am thankful for:

Doctors appointments that turn out to be so beneficial. Tessa and I were both checked today and neither of us needed antibiotics but we did get a detailed description about what was going on with us and this cold is going to go away on it's own in time. So is this fluid behind my eardrum! Thank goodness! AND Tessa's awful cough that is keeping us up all hours of the night!

Lilly and Abigail being ever so cooperative with Mommy while she is feeling so crummy and helping me in any way that they can.

A husband who has been so sick himself (and for longer than any of the rest of us I might add) and still drags his butt to work without complaining in the least -- AND who showered the girls tonight for me and got them ready for bed because I was feeling rotten.

A Gramma (Great Gramma to the girls) who drops EVERYTHING to drive half an hour here making pit stops on the way to bring us things we may need to feel better AND stays to keep the older girls busy while Tessa and I nap AND cooks us supper before she goes home to make her own all while feeling a bit of a cold coming on herself! I Love you Gram!

All of the inspiring Momma's out there who I follow in this bloggy world who help to keep my faith and to push harder to find that relationship I so greatly am in need of. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

I hope everyone else has much to be thankful for this week. I still have many posts I want to share. I need to get my butt in gear and get the internet working on my other computer soon so I can get doing that.

i heart faces -- Week 15 : Self Portrait

I find myself taking self portraits because I often have no one else around to take photos of me. I also want to make sure I have enough pictures with my children for them to enjoy (and it is just fun)! I often find that a self portrait seems to give you the best angel of yourself which is a huge bonus! Here are my entries this week for i heart faces. I find myself entering again even with no amateur entry -- brave I guess, because did you see those amateur photos last week? Unbelievably this amateurs (per say) were pros!

This picture was taken the day of my grad pictures. Isn't Lilly such a little doll here? I also took one with Abigail this day but it wasn't nearly as sweet.

I removed my adult entry after reading more carefully and noticing I was to be the only one in the adult entry this week. Oops! I probably have a photo for this entry but will pass on this one for this week. I disqualified myself on that one people LOL And all that comment were too nice to tell me! You are all too sweet :)

Head on over to i heart faces this week and check out the other awesome entries! You won't be disappointed!

Thinking Green -- Or Maybe Garbage

I have been trying to make a conscious effort lately to be more "green". We did most recently receive a new green bin. This bin is for dinner scraps, dirty Kleenex and hair? yes hair! Why on earth shouldn't we compost and use the green bin to be more "green"? It is actually a lot of work. I have been trying to make the extra conscious effort to recycle more also. I always thought it was so very crazy that people washed out their milk bags and recycled them -- but now that is me washing out milk bags. Bringing down the toilet paper rolls from the bathroom instead of just pitching them out in the can sitting right there beside the toilet -- that is me now bringing down the rolls for recycle. Wrapping all that disgusting hair (enough hair to fill my hand from only one shower) in a piece of toilet paper and putting it in the green bin -- that's me too! Green is good, and I will teach my kids to be "green". It is, ultimately important for their future! Note: Every Green Bin is stamped with the following message: "Warning! Suffocation hazard. Do not allow children to play inside this container." DUH!

So why is my post title "Maybe Garbage"? Because, that is exactly how everyone in this house hold feels right now! YUCK! Saying a prayer that we all wake up feeling well.

Liam : Liam is so congested that he is walking around the house breathing loudly from his mouth and grossing me out! All I can think of is that his germs are being spread everywhere from his breath and I am not willing to be in the same room with him right now!

Abigail : Abigail is sneezing like mad and I am having to chase her around with Kleenex because she has enough discharge coming from her nose to fill a whole one in a few mins! AND she woke up from her nap today covered in barf! It was mighty gross and quite smelly I might add -- although I do think the barf was only from not being able to breath from a stuffed up nose while she was sleeping, because she has not been sick since and ate a pretty good dinner.

Lilly: Lilly is complaining of a headache. If in fact she actually knows what a headache is. She is also sneezing and may not feel as much like garbage as the rest of us but give her a day or two :)

Tessa: Tessa is also sneezing and has a tiny bit of a runny nose. She is grumpy and tired all the time but this could have something to do with her 4 month needles that she received yesterday at the doctors office. Did I mention she weighs 15 lbs 12 oz?! Such a big girl! A big grumpy, sad, sleepy, sleeping girl!

Natalie : I am feeling a whole lot like garbage. My body is trying to fight this stupid cold coming over me with all it's got. My neck is aching and no amount of Advil seems to be working on it. I am so very tired and my throat is killing me. I am not congested as of yet but can feel it coming. I also have an earache! My right ear is paining pretty badly but the Tylenol or Advil seemed to help that a little bit at least.

Charlie: How could we forget about Charlie? Charlie is also VERY tired. She is tired of being kicked out of her house every week for stupid open houses that probably have no visitors since the real estate lady doesn't advertise in the paper and doesn't put up a Sat 2 - 4 open house sign on the lawn until 2:30 pm on Friday afternoon! No kidding! Charlie is getting impatient with her and she feels like garbage from having to listen to everyone bitch and complain about being sick, everyone crying and wining about being sick and yet she loves us all the same. Yes, she even loves that real estate lady as long as she gives her a good pet. It might have been me who was getting impatient with that real estate lady and not Charlie -- but I will never tell.

Hope everyone have a joyous weekend. We are being kicked out of our house tomorrow afternoon for yet another open house that better warrant some visitors. Some visitors in fact that will leave a fantastic offer so that we can pack up our things and get moving and so that I no longer have to worry about mess in my house and not only stress myself about mess but also my children and husband too! Did I say I hate having my house up for sale? I HATE HAVING MY HOUSE UP FOR SALE PEOPLE!!

Off to bed! I have some other post ideas but my other computer is not cooperating and I may not be able to post again for awhile. I am going to take a leave of absence for a few days -- from my blog at least. Keep happy -- happier than me anyhow! LOL I am dealing with my moodiness sorry for the complaints! Hopefully they helped this very long blog post from being too boring.

Yellow, Purple, Red and Blue

Ring a bell? To some it may -- others maybe not. To us it definitely does. It's the Wiggles! The Wiggles you ask? Here are the Wiggles...

Yellow -- It's Sam!

Purple -- It's Jeff!

Red -- It's Murray!

Blue -- It's Anthony (and I can assure you Mom's, you will NOT forget Anthony)! hehe ;)

Well, hello there Anthony! LOL

Hours on end of entertainment for my girls. Dancing, singing and having a blast with the Wiggles. Brown Girl in the ring... tra lalalala, Fruit Salad -- Yummy yummy, Bock bock bock bock bock cockle doodle doo (one of my favourites), Lights Camera Action -- WIGGLES! Welcome to our t.v show! You can catch the Wiggles on Tree House weekly or what we have here in the Porter household is their famous DVDs -- which instead of just plain silly and boring acting to most, it is all song and great entertainment! Even I am in love with the Wiggles! Jeff has to be the most entertaining -- falling asleep every few mins. When Jeff falls asleep we have to yell "WAKE UP JEFF!" for him to wake up! The Wiggles offer entertainment that keeps your children busy. Not just sit-your-butt-in-front-of-the-television kind of t.v. The Wiggles are all about Up-and-dancing-around-and-singing-and-shouting kind of t.v!

I almost forgot about some other important crew members... how could I forget? There is Dorothy the Dinosaur, Henry the octopus, Captain Feathersword (yes, a captain with a feather for a sword) and Wags the dog! They are mostly a huge part of the Wiggles t.v. show but not too much part of the acts, although they do take part they are not the main attraction. Here is a picture of the whole crew...

Abigail has never been interested in television. But she LOVES the Wiggles and dances and sings along. If you don't know about the Wiggles and are looking forward to keeping your child busy on a rainy day inside or just while you are doing some house work -- check them out. You can visit them at their website. Or, if we are life friends (Candice) you could just borrow one of our DVDs for your little one.

Did you know the Wiggles came to the Kingston K-Rock Centre a few months back? I was beyond disappointed to find out too late and then I missed out on the concert! What a bummer.

Well I hope this little post helped you to understand a little bit about the Wiggles and how much we love them. Go on and check out the Wiggles for yourself you just might fall in love too!

Tearless Tuesday -- Wow!

So much to be thankful for last week and the beginning of this one :) Hope everyone had a fabulous Easter weekend!

This week I am thankful for:

being part of a beautiful wedding ceremony and being able to stand up for my beautiful cousin Anna and her new husband Don. Thanks for that honor! Love you! XO

a wonderful day at the spa -- filled with manicures, pedicures, waxing and up dos!

watching little girls devour chocolate and candy -- seeing the joy in their little faces

walks with friends -- especially ones that include some great photos. check out Candice's blog to see some pics from our walk today at Lemoine's Point (Including you Mom!) Just click on Candice's name and it will take you to the direct post :)

the Easter bunny stopping also at the in-laws letting the girls not only do a hunt indoors at home but outdoors there -- they were beyond thrilled! Maybe the Easter Bunny will stop outside of our house next year instead of inside (so much more fun)!

wonderfully behaved little girls -- even after have such an exciting, mind boggling, fun filled weekend that lacked almost all sleep. Thank Heaven for wonderfully behaved little girls!

sidewalk chalk -- without it this graffiti art created by Abigail could be permanent!

Hope everyone else is feeling thankful this week. Another beautiful week ahead. Looking forward to another day at the Point with Candice and Taylor on Friday. We're having a picnic! Yay Spring!

Oh -- and I am thankful also for this beautiful weather-- YAY SPRING!

At i heart faces This Week : Spring / Easter Theme

Here is my Easter theme entry at i heart faces this week. Thankfully there is another amateur entry! It took me a long while to pick which picture I wanted to enter. It isn't the best quality at all --but, the moment captured was priceless! It was the first time Abigail had ever decorated Easter cookies and she got more icing on her face (as you can see) than she got on the cookie. I will never forget this day and event!

Head on over to i heart faces this week and check out the other photo entries. Happy Easter everyone!

It's Been a...

Wonderful, beautifully sunny, loving, caring, sharing, fun, exciting, beautiful people, happy, overstimulating, refusing to eat, smiling, crying, lovely wedding weekend!

Anna and Don are married! Enough said for now :) Details later. Still a busy weekend ahead for us. Hope everyone has a VERY Happy Easter. Much love to all of you. XO

The Easter Bunny came last night much to Abigail and Lilly's delight!

I Won!

I am never so lucky to win anything! But today I won! I follow this wonderful blog Bellaziza's Favorite Things. They always have these awesome give aways and I am often trying to enter the contests to try and get these fabulous items. Well Rachel On The Flower have these to die for pettidresses and pettiskirts that I went goo goo for when I saw the post on Bellaziza's and just had to try and win one for Lil Miss. I never thought in a million years that I would, but it was worth the try because they were so darn cute and I knew I could never afford to buy one! Well I won! Did I say I won! I am so exited. Here is what I picked:

The apple red pettidress and the cecilia-apple red hat!

You can check out Bellaziza's Favorite Things HERE! There may be more than one item you may be interested in --And if you want to check out more fabulous pettidresses at Rachel on the Flower, click HERE! By the way, I actually read this post about who won the pettidress at Bellaziza's and got really excited when I saw Natalie but the last initial posted was L! I think they got this from my e-mail address natalie_liam but now who cares really it was ME!

Tearless Tuesday

Tearless Tuesday is in honor of Tuesday Whitt who lost her short life to a battle with cancer. She has a beautiful, wonderful family who misses her dearly and could use any kind words or thoughts and our prayers. Her momma is struggling every day with her loss. Head on over to go blog yourself. You will not be disappointed. Jessica is such an amazing writer. You get to know immediately how she is feeling by the way she writes. She is honest and strong and I find her comforting me when all I want to do is show her comfort. Her circumstance and other circumstances like this make us realize just how thankful we are.

This week I am thankful for:

Realization that Liam getting removed from his Correctional program last week does not mean our future is doomed. That as long as we have faith and each other, our future is so bright even without a hefty pay cheque

Friends and family who support us though these times

A strong relationship with my husband

Three beautiful little girls who are so VERY patient with me when I am far from patient with them these past few weeks

Strength to realize my moodiness and try extremely hard to become the better person that I need to be. That I want to be

Interest in the house

Hope that the house WILL sell -- It just may take time

Beautiful friends sharing their talent with me for the sake of my beautiful girls :)

If you would like to share what you are thankful for this week or if you want to see what others are thankful for, head over to BlogBaby's and check it out.

Have a great week everyone -- and be thankful :)