Family

I love my forever family!

Mud Math

Can you see it?

3 days of rain+poor park drainage+5 yr old boy=5 inch deep mud madness=one little boy-2 shoes-2 socks+sticky mud up to his ankles

Is a $10 shoe worth the effort it will take to remove the 1/4 inch- think coat of mud that currently covers both the inside and outside of both shoes?

Because I am Extrinsically Motivated When it Comes to Housework

And they say you don't ever use any of those vocabulary words from college....

Today I:
Got out of bed
Moved cat
Woke children
Dressed children
Fed children
Made lunches
Loaded backpack, signed papers
Found "M" show-and-tell
Started car
Changed diaper
Delivered children to school on time
Fed cat
Ate breakfast
Fed Becca
Changed diaper
Dressed Becca
Played with Becca
Took a shower (thanks Elmo) and got dressed
Fed Becca
Put Becca to bed
Rediscovered counter tops
Made dinner (Beef stew- think they will eat it?)
Washed/dried towels, washed sheets
Empty dishwasher
Loaded dishwasher
Washed pots, pans, baking trays
Wiped stove and counters
Clean off table
Pick up dining room floor
Clear hall table
Flush fishy (RIP)
Feed Becca
Clean fish bowl
Make lunch
Feed Becca
Clean up lunch
Comfort baby after fall
Write this post

Still to-do (hoping for advance credit):
Dry sheets
Fold clean laundry
Play with Becca
Pick up living room
Change into gym clothes
Pack snacks for kids
Pick up rolls for dinner (So the kids can make sandwiches when they won't eat what I cooked)
Carpool run- three schools, four kids, 30 minutes
Meet Mike at the gym- drop kids in nursery
Burn off the calories consumed in the form of peanut butter m&ms this morning
Collect children
Drive home without stopping at McDonalds
Serve dinner
Homework police
Read with kids
Bath for kids
Bedtime Battle
Put Becca to bed
Sit on couch
Breathe


Now you can tell me I did a good job so I will be motivated to do it all again tomorrow. Thank you.

Sick Day

I found my camera.

The fish died.

Mike cleaned the kitchen.

I have a cold and would like nothing better than to go back to bed. Well, I would like to go back to bed and not worry that the house will fall down while I am sleeping. I have company today. Unwelcome company.

Lenna is home sick with pink eye and a head cold.

Andrew is home sick with a runny nose. However, I think he could have made it today with some cold meds, if I had woke up before 8:22 this morning.

The kids are supposed to be at school at 8:00 and 8:15. So that pretty much made staying home the best option. Until now, when they are bouncing off the walls and chasing each other and keeping Becca from her nap and basically making me want to scream, if it wouldn't hurt my head so much to do so.

It is my own fault I guess. I assumed the kids would be at school and booked myself a doctor's appointment, a visiting teaching appointment, a gym date, and signed up to bring a family dinner today. I should have known better.

And lastly, would it be worse to prepare and deliver food from a contagious household or to retract/postpone the dinner offer at the last minute?

Don't Turn Around

Really, no captions necessary.

A Light Dusting

Not much will strike fear into a mother's heart faster than the words "Uh-Oh!" and "Oopsy!" when exclaimed by her five-year old son, who is perched atop a kitchen stool, trying to be helpful in a cooking adventure.
Faster than she is able to traverse three rooms and visually inspect the damage, she takes a mental inventory of all the possibilities. What kind of uh-oh? "I fell and hit my head"- nope, no screams. "I dropped something and it shattered into a million pieces" nope- not guilty enough, and I don't think own anything that could shatter anymore. "I did something to annoy/injure/disgust/frustrate my sister"- no, no retaliation noises.
Well, must be the last kind of oopsy- the "I just made a huge mess and mom won't like it, but I really don't feel too bad about it" kind of oops. As she rounds the entry to the kitchen, her guess is confirmed. A thin layer of flour, cocoa, and sugar coats three counters, the stove, the floor, and the stool. And of course the kitchen helper, but he doesn't seem to notice. He continued his mixing of the dry ingredients for cookie dough with a little too much enthusiasm, adding another layer of ingredients to the sugary snowstorm. But who is she to discourage the budding genius of the next iron chef? So she waits until he is finished whisking and hands him the dustbuster, his other favorite kitchen tool. If only she had manged to get to him before the cocoa managed to coat the bottom of every one's shoes and socks and leave slippery little trails all over the house.
This morning as we waited two extra hours for school to start due to the fear of snow or frozen roads, I am reminded of our kitchen adventures about a month ago. With all of the muddy buddies, sugar cookies, and gingerbread houses, I was sure that our kitchen would be unable to rise above the constant coating of confectioner's sugar that covered every flat surface.
We did come away with a White Christmas, albeit a slightly sticky one. Now it is a western winter- no snow but plenty of chocolate-scented dust to slide around on.
Now to finish those cookies. And I probably need to mop.

PS. You know what else scares me? I lost my camera. Haven't seen it in over a week. I hope it turns up soon!

Caution regarding tv you watched as a kid

Today Lenna and I were watching old tv while folding the laundry. We started off with some classic Little House on the Prairie. We agreed the Nellie and Mrs Olson are snobby. And Lenna is waiting for her hair to grow long enough to put in braids. And Mom, do you still have that old pattern for the nightgowns with matching nightcaps? Just a fun future project.
Then 7th Heaven came on. The very first episodes from the first season. She thinks Simon is funny. I thought it would be pretty harmless. But I forgot that the first episode is when Lucy gets her first period, and the second is when Matt brings home a pregnant teen for dinner.
Not exactly the talks I thought we would have over laundry on a Monday afternoon. However, it really wasn't so bad. Not as awkward as I thought it would be when I pictured "the talk" starring her as a young teen. We covered a lot of it already anyway when I was pregnant with Becca, others when she went with me to buy "feminine supplies" about a week ago. I guess it was just time. Hopefully it is just info she can tuck away for a few years to have at the ready when she needs it, many many many years from now. I'd much rather she get it from me than an impersonal gym teacher in a health class or too-cool kid on the playground. So that is that. One less thing to worry about on the parenting to-do list.
Now if I could just teach Andy to aim, wipe, and wash his hands, I would feel so much better about things. And I am sticking to Strawberry Shortcake for the rest of the day.

Did Not

This week I did not:
Go shopping for new boots, skirts, sweaters, shoes, or Christmas decorations.
Go to the movies.
Send the kids to a day camp.
Go to Atlanta, Savannah, Charleston, Myrtle Beach, Hilton Head Island, or Orlando.
Buy my kids new bikes because they taught themselves to ride without training wheels in about two hours Christmas Eve day.
Eat out every day.
Cook a fancy expensive dinner.
Stress out trying to make a perfect holiday celebration for my kids, who turned out not to really care anyway.
Spend money on holiday portraits, towering stacks of Christmas cards, meaningless token gifts, or buy stuff just because it was on sale.

Not that I didn't want to, or that any of that is bad. I just didn't.

Especially today, when really all I wanted to do was go stomp away my worries and stresses with a good long day of shoe shopping, bookstore browsing, and bargain hunting. A day in which the only worry would be claiming a close parking space, finding the shortest check out line, and knowing that I will always wear a size nine, no matter how many pieces of fudge I ate or gym days I skipped. Not having to think about who will put away all the Christmas stuff, or entertain the stir-crazy kids (two more days until school starts!), or prepare the Sunday lesson, or fix the plumbing leak in the shower, or trap the mouse who just moved into the kitchen wall (lazy cat, thinks he's Garfield or something), or go over the new year's budget, or put away the laundry, or scrub the shower, or clean the leftovers out of the fridge, or pay the library fines.

Today I didn't do any of those worry-free things. I stayed home. I played with the stir-crazy kids. I folded the clothes and washed the dishes and baited the traps and gave the cat his flea treatment. I prepared meals and washed faces and brushed hair and nursed a baby. I made chore lists and taught one to fold socks and one to sweep and one to not be scared of the vacuum when daddy is cleaning the rug. I watched my son smile with pride when he showed me the beds he made and was happily shooed away after answering a daughter's question about a striped sock- colors or whites? I was proud of a dinner that caused an argument over who got the last extra helping. I cuddled a feverish baby and kissed her head and rocked her to sleep. I made a budget and a plan for the future with my husband and finished feeling hopeful and secure instead of worried and uncertain. I read about an eternal plan made by a loving Father in Heaven and renewed my testimony of its importance as I pondered the best way to teach it to a group of giggly 8 year old girls. And at the end of the day I checked off the last item on the list, threw it away, and sat down over ice cream with my family after a very good day.

And I didn't even have to leave the house.

Dear Santa

We attended the county tree lighting celebration for the first time last year. It is not as big or fancy as the one held down town, but I was nervous about being downtown in the dark without Mike, so we opted for the tamer, safer option. It was just right for the kids. We saw the ballet demonstration, several school choirs, enjoyed free hot chocolate, and visited this guy. Some of us were more pleased than others.

The tree itself was rather puny as far as great evergreens go, but they tried to make up for it with all the other light displays. Every tree in the park plus the fence and gazebo by the pond were lit up with the flip of a magic switch. The kids loved it!

After the crowd died down, we visited the snow machine which, surprisingly, was blowing soap bubbles, not snow. Lenna managed to get her picture in the paper dancing in the soap snow. No, I don't have a link for you, just a cut out on my fridge that is too small to scan. You will have to take my word for it.

This one is going back on our activity list this year. I love simple, small town fun!