Pfinders Keepers

So when Ryan and I bid on this little house in Pflugerville, we were told not to get our hopes up. The home was a foreclosure and quite reasonably priced, but as foreclosures go, part of the messy process of working with the bank. We were told we would likely be competing with other bidders, and even with the ball rolling there would be no guarantees. We bid anyway, knowing fully well I wouldn't be sleeping that night. We're not sure what happened in the days to follow. The house seemed like a steal, but no other bidders? We could only chock it up to complete lack of traffic; a few clumsy snapshots of the home as it was listed beautifully and tragically misrepresented its full potential. Admittedly, the place only made it to our tour due to a happy accident in the form of Ryan's optimism. It seemed to be ours from the start.
The bank took a solid three weeks (as opposed to the usual day or two) to get to the point of the final signature, but as of today, we are officially under contract! We close August 19th -Ryan and Leslie style- not a moment to spare. Did 'not getting our hopes up' involve spending the last three weeks terminating our current apartment lease, leaving us homeless if the thing didn't go through? Already deciding where each piece of furniture is going to go? Picking up paint samples and landscaping magazines? It's hard to say. At any rate, you are looking at the place that will finally be home to a growing flock of girls, their flighty but imaginative mother, and a creative mad scientist/part time student at the head. Pflugerville, who would have thought?

Snippets

The other day I was on the computer and looked over and saw Madelyn--

"I'm training to be a pirate!" she said. The funny part wasn't so much the pirate but the training to be. Madelyn has surprised us lately with the use of certain other words like factory and flamingo.


Then London in the background, "I'm training to be a princess!" No surprise. Lately she has come out with this Punky Brewster wardrobe where she is decked out from head to toe in non-matching pink items. She always has to wear her necklace, headband, bracelet and Sleeping Beauty shoes and has been known to come in our room at 6 am asking for them.


The girls are always asking if they can "go to the ball" and so one day we put on fancy church dresses and some music and had a ball. We made little paper princess tiaras I let them color and decorate with Wonder Pet stickers (they looked more like Pocahontas). Of course Prince Charming showed up for the big event.



Madelyn loves to be wrapped up like a baby and cuddled.


Londie has informed us there are now twins in her stomach...a boy and a girl.


The girls have been saying a lot of funny things lately. A couple of days ago I was helping London in the bathroom and she looks at me and says, "Mommy has a big bum" totally out of the blue! Before I had even finished laughing Maddie comes walking in the door and says, "Mommy has a big bum" like it was something they had been discussing for days! I don't think Ryan and I have ever used the terms 'big' and 'bum' together so it was a shock. The whole observation was as nonchalant as their usual, "Mommy has green eyes."

Old and New Friends

If you want to see a pregnant woman cry (not hard to do these days), ask me the story of how my violin was damaged, or should I say injured, at a church function late last year. I am almost entirely certain the whole thing was my fault, however the incident taught me one lesson I will never forget: I should protect my instrument with the same mother bear instinct I generate for my own children. Unfortunately for that violin, a fly by night out of state move for the Barlows did not leave enough time to repair and transport it, and now it sits lonely and broken in my parents' library. The fateful day upon first noticing my tragic injury, my family gently tried to console me by telling me a violin upgrade was long overdue, unfortunately this only brought more tears. You can't really replace a friend/child of this nature. We are blood relatives now. We have a history that spans over half my lifetime.
So the whole thing has sat on hold in favor of a house hunt, an ongoing attempt at potty training, and the 65-day vomiting spree (but who's counting, Singleton?) this pregnancy has brought. But when my mom came out last month, she gently suggested we at least go look. I was so excited about the prospect of picking up a violin I couldn't turn her down. Due to my usually being too little, I had never picked a new violin before, and though I had been warned, was not thoroughly prepared for what the day would bring. I was amazed at how my one concerto could change so dramatically when played down a line of different violins. Each instrument told a different story, some bright, some rich, some brave, some melancholy. After narrowing it down to five, we still sat for over two hours in a little back room of the store. It may sound silly, but the first time I played the one I chose, I literally felt it resonate in my chest. It was the first time I made the connection that this instrument is played so close to one's anatomical heart that a musician can't help but put all of theirs into it. I have love being able to play again. I loved bringing the instrument home for my girls to hear. As expected, their first request was "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer," a bedtime favorite and ritual since Christmas 2007.
My mom also brought for me the tiny 1/10 sized violin my sister and I learned to play on. It only needed a new bridge and a little tweaking and it was as good as new. It still has the tape on the fingerboard and bow, ready for my next students. I can't believe how many memories this tiny instrument holds. I can't believe how excited I am to teach my girls how to play on the very instrument I learned on. I love that they are so eager and excited to learn, and can recognize a violin anywhere they see it, even on toy blocks. In time things will settle down; it feels good to be here for what is considered the longest term location plan in six years. I love the thought of teaching at last.
As for my old violin, I will get it fixed and, as expected, keep it stowed away for church functions.


In all her glory.


Mother and daughter.


Twenty-three years old.

A Happy 4th

After spending the morning at the movies (we took the girls to see Wall-E) we headed off to James and Lonna's for some fireworks.


The girls loved the sparklers and even figured out how to do snappers.


The twins and Gwen provided the cheering section for their dads' intense frisbee game (intense until both frisbees went down the storm drain).


Here Gwen, have some Cheetos to wash down that Snickers....


Cheese and chocolate, Gwen's face says it all.


We headed off to Cedar Park for the Firework show.


An attempt at a family picture. The best of about ten!


Maddie loved the show but kept saying, "it's kinda loud."


That's what we keep our dads around for.


Heather Nicole and London Nicole, best friends for life.
Top it off with a great BBQ and some watermelon and I'd say our first Austin 4th of July was pretty good.