Don't Make Me Go Back!!!

I have discovered the downside of a Super Walmart. If I get my groceries there around the Holiday Shopping Season, I have to stand in line with people buying Christmas Crap. Thankfully I only had Two with me. We actually had a nice time until it came time to check out. The lines were SOOO long. Then you add to that the fact that I ALWAYS pick the wrong line, and you realize you might die before you make it out of there. Ok. It wasn't long enough to kill me, but it did take 25 minutes.
The first person in our line had to go through no less than four separate cards to pay for their stuff. Here's a clue, if the first card doesn't work, put your stuff back! Also don't glare at the people in line behind you, it's not my fault you've overspent. The lady after them had to write a check. I didn't know people still did that. I quess she should be applauded for actually having the money to buy her stuff, but it doesn't make the line go any faster. Then comes the lady with two little boys and one on the way. She had a cart full of "food". There were two items in that entire cart which required any actual perparation, bacon and rice. The rice however was such a small amount that it was in a box. I didn't know rice came in a box. I thought it only came in bags of varying poundages. But that was the only real food in her whole cart. Then of course she paid for it with food stamps.
Please don't think that I begrudge anyone the ability to feed their kids. I am so lucky to never have had to put my kids to bed hungry. That must be a horrible thing. On the other hand, the whole program is so flawed. I mean really, she bought essentially nothing that she needed to actually cook. I think the program needs to run more along the lines of WIC. You get certain foods in certain amounts. If you want french fries, buy some potatoes. Meat shouldn't come ready to warm, prepared in a factory somewhere. You should have a voucher for a couple pounds of actual meat. And I had no idea you could buy collards in a can. I've actually never had a collard. I was however talking to my husband about ways to prepare them the other day. I'm looking for ideas on vegetables I can grow in the winter. Trying to cut the food bill you know.
We finally did make it up to the register and were able to purchase our items. But, don't make me go back until January! If I do have to go, I'm taking a Xanax first.

A Day at the Park

I love unseasonably warm days! They are like a wonderful surprise. Just when you think you won't be able to go outside again without getting cold fingers and noses along comes the perfect day. It just screams "Throw away those books, leave the dishes for later, go to the park and ENJOY ME!!" So, upon hearing this voice (yes, schizophrenia runs in my family) we promptly shucked all of our responsibilities and headed to the playground. One is getting so big! I sometimes can't believe she was ever as small as Four. Who is also getting way to big, way to fast for me!


The kids decided to use the picnic table as a stage. My middle children are quite the drama queens at times. Notice that Three has a stick. He almost always has something he's using as a sword these days. He totally needed to be born in the era of knights and squires. Alas, he'll have to settle for Airborne Infantry.

I'm so gosh darn glad the kids can get themselves going on the swings now. It hasn't been but a year since even the biggest two needed my help to swing. I am an awful Mom, because I really dislike pushing kids on the swings. We are there for them to burn energy, not for me to push them. One really likes to spider with the smaller set. She can't wait for Four to be up to it.

I never thought I would be able to love a little boy. I was so happy with my girls, I just couldn't imagine loving a dirty, smelly, boy. Was I ever wrong! Three is such a handful that there are days I think I would willingly trade him to a tribe of Gypsy's for my fortune, but then he does something just so "boyish" and my heart just melts. I'm so glad to be able to have my girls. They are lovely, and are turning into people I really like to be around. At one point I would have thought they would have been the perfect completion to our family all by themselves. But, now I have my boys. How sad and lonely our family would have been without their addition. They are the perfect complement to the girls. I couldn't have been more lucky. The boys round out our family in the perfect way. I must have done something very good to be charged with the care and keeping of these kids. I certainly never imagined being able to enjoy a December at the playground so much!

Math in the Driveway

I can never tell which math lesson is going to be the one to prove difficult. If I was to look through the math book and pick out the lessons that would hold us up, those would be the lessons the girls would fly through with the greatest of ease. It is always the ones I think they will fly through that prove to be the hardest ones for them. I can't figure out why, but I have a very bad track record with that. In following with this pattern, Two came to estimation and rounding to the nearest ten. The sound of our math progress coming to a screeching halt was enough to wake the dead. I'm not sure why this is a difficult concept for her to grasp, but evidently it is. I tried explaining, and watching the DVD, and using the blocks. Nothing was working. In years prior this would have been when I would have started yelling out of frustration and screaming at her. But, I have learned that all I accomplish with that is a total brain freeze on the part of the small and scared one. So, being a much better version of myself I got to wondering what I could do to really illustrate the whole nearest ten thing. Where could I find enough space? There are times when I am glad we live in a subdivision with plenty of paved driveway space. It's not often, but when I need a number line big enough for a small person to stand on I'm very glad. So the two of us went outside in the cold and used that big driveway to grasp a math concept. There was no yelling and no crying, and in the end she was able to understand what I was trying to teach her. It was a good day for our Homeschool, and it gave our driveway a chance to earn it's keep!

The Dreaded Review

Today I had to go and have a meeting with a representative from the public schools. I had to prove that my kids are receiving regular and thorough instruction in the subjects generally taught to kids in the public schools. I passed. I'm so disappointed in myself. I'm not a sheep. I HATE that I feel like I can't challenge them. I want to yell and scream " I'm NOT responsible to YOU!" I don't take their money. I shouldn't have to prove my kids are being schooled. They should have to prove to me, a tax paying citizen, that they aren't wasting MY money, and that the kids they are responsible for are receiving a regular and thorough education. I want to get in their faces and refuse to provide them with even a speck of information about my family and our schooling. But I didn't. I was pleasant and engaging. I provided plenty of work samples and art projects. I didn't want to, but I did. It's a case of just not being worth the fight. If I refuse to play by their rules, they can make my life hell. They could arrest me, investigate me, and possibly remove my kids. I just can't see what I would gain. It makes me sad that I have to behave like a sheep and play nice. I've never played well with others and have always enjoyed being a rabble rouser. I guess this means I've grown up. I can see the bigger picture and know how awful it would be without my kids. On the bright side, since I'm a grownup I can have a drink right?

Facebook

Up until recently I had never looked at Facebook. Then Chris got himself a page. I still hadn't looked at it. Then my "friend" Dy says "Hey, why don't we let our oldest kids get Facebook pages? Then they can chat." Well, I thought this might be a good idea, but I wanted to check it out for myself first. So, now I have about nine friends on Facebook and have wasted an entire day and a half of my life that I will never get back. I should know better and stay away from this stuff! But, along those lines, how in the world do people get so many friends. People must be friends with people that they don't even know, or have never even talked to except for maybe one time twenty years ago in High School. Otherwise how does Mary Anne have over 400 friends. She's a nice person. But 400 friends! I can't remember that many Latin nouns, let alone that many people.
Then there's that whole picking a picture of yourself for your profile thing. I haven't had a decent picture taken of me in the last four years. I've been pregnant, or nursing for just about that long. How am I supposed to take a good picture? There are only four children here and they just can't block enough of me in any decent picture. So, when you do pick a picture it's a little tiny thumbnail until that person accepts you as a friend. I have a really bad memory, and people change. How am I supposed to tell who people are by a tiny little thumbnail? My eyesight just isn't that good. Now I've started to sound like a bitter old woman with too many cats. Thanks Dy!

The Bestest Way to Watch Mulan

Well, of course the best way to watch Mulan is naked on a bouncing zebra!

What other way could be any better?

Why Did I Pay the Money?

We recently had one of our playdates at the Sprayground. The girls have asked to go once or twice this year. Since the schools are back in session we decided it would be fun to meet there. My first complaint is that I have to pay to go in and watch my kids frolic. OK, it's only $2 but I can put 800 gallons of water on my lawn for $2. Plus, it's not like I'm going to frolic in the overly chlorinated and recycled water in my burkah. There are laws about being that drunk in public, just ask Ron White. So anyway, you can tell from the picture how much the girls enjoyed it. They were "cold". Really. It's August. We don't live in Canada. Get in the water! But you can see Three in the background getting water dumped on him and having a grand time.




I wish I didn't have to wear a burkah. Maybe I would have gotten my money's worth and froliced with Three. He really knows how to have fun at the sprayground. I just love to watch him play!

Not The Sharpie!

You should never fall asleep on the family room floor. These girls are SOOO close to taking a Sharpie to him. They are sweet sisters, but they can only take so much of Three before they decide to retaliate. He gets in their stuff. He chases them. He hits them. Okay, he's our household menace. We should have named him Dennis. But, he's just so cute!

(Please ignore the stains on the builders grade carpet, I hate it and can't wait to rip it out! But, we still have to potty train Four so what's the point?) He was really just so very tired. He fell asleep with food in his hand. I wish I could do that. But, I'd have a brownie instead of a PB&J.

Why Today?

Three has decided he isn't going to talk. One didn't talk until she was three so it's not really a huge deal. In the spirit of being proactive, I called and made an appointment with Infants and Toddlers to get Three evaluated for speech therapy. We were supposed to go today, but I got a phone call this morning saying we would have to reschedule because the lady has to take her daughter to the doctor. Well, I have four kids. I had arranged to be there for that appointment. If you have kids , stay home. I don't like being inconvenienced because other people decide their kids really aren't worthy of being looked after by their parents.
So, in the midst of fuming about this Two pulls one of her stunts and says "why does something stink?". Now this child will be the best ever at backhanded compliments when she grows up. It will be fun to see when she doesn't live with me anymore. Right now though I would prefer a " Hey Mom, Three just pooped all over the floor!". Why does it stink could be a whole lot of things and I don't have the time or energy to ferret out the smell! Turns out there was lots of poop on the carpet (I HATE CARPET!!!) courtesy of Three.
Now that the poop is cleaned up and my day is freed up, I'm going to watch the Olympics and drink some coffee.

Long Division Makes Me Dirty

So, One has made it far enough in math to have reached long division. This might be exciting except for the fact that it has apparently made her forget all previous math skills. On the other hand, she has learned some fun new four letter words from me to make up for the loss of all those wonderful math facts! Now, one would think that division would be fairly easy if you know all of your math facts, and I suppose it would be. But, if you have forgotten all of what you have learned previously it will take somewhere in the range of three to ten hours to complete one math assignment. Which leaves me sitting right beside the forgetful nine year old for hours at a time. So, between math with One and nursing Four my shower time has vanished into thin air. I hope at some point to be able to shower at least every other day. But, until that day comes I'll make sure to be stocked up on deodorant!

He Sleeps

He's asleep. He did this all by himself. I even checked to make sure he was breathing (you just never know with Three wandering around). For those of you with kids who do this, mine as a rule don't do this. They scream and cry for hours at a time and require lots of holding and bouncing to even be quiet, much less asleep. Four is my dream come true. A sweet, cuddly, low

maintenance baby. God must love me.

It's Summer...Get Out!

I remember being younger, yes it's true I haven't always been this way, and summer was a time of magic. We were outside for as long as possible. Even if there wasn't "anything" to do we still were outside. We didn't have to be home until the street lights came on. It was a wonderful time. Fast forward a whole bunch of years and I have to forcibly remove my kids from the premises. They just don't want to go out. I'm talking specifically about One and Two. They won't go outside. They would rather hide in the crawlspace and bead. On the other hand I can't keep Three in the house, but when he's outside he wanders and so can't be out by himself. I wish the older two would go out with him, and they could all play in the wonderfulness that is summer. Sadly this hasn't happened. I just want to yell "WINTER is coming!!!" Whten it's cold they won't go out. When it's hot they won't go out. I don't get it. Kids these days ....

Me Too!!

There are times when I want to be a kid again. This is one of those times. I want to run through the sprinkler with them!

They don't care what the look like, or who might be watching them. They just run (or squat and get a face full of water) with the pure abandon of being a kid on a hot summer day.

I Can Sew!?

Here we have a sleeping bag made just for an American Girl doll. I was a bit scared of the zipper, but it all worked out in the end. I even had it done in time to give it as a gift.

The girls had a lot of fun at the party. There was a Slip-n-Slide, and amazingly no one broke any bones. After the birthday party we hung out and had a very nice time with friends we don't see enough. All in all it was a good day.

It's All About the Accessories

Three thought this was the appropriate outfit for an outing to the horse farm for lessons.

What Was I Thinking?

I like to sew. I really do. I don't like to sew on a deadline though. So, why would I think it would be a good idea to sew a birthday gift with a five week old in the house and inlaws coming? I've been sewing in between bouts of crying followed by periods of nursing. Sadly my brain doesn't work well enough to keep track of where I was when I left off. So when I get back to sewing it takes me a good five minutes to find my place and continue on. My deadline is Saturday and I have completed half of what I need to do. The first part is a bag for toting about American Girl dolls. I have to say it has turned out rather nicely. I hope it is well loved, for it has helped to drive me towards insanity. The next piece I have to make is a sleeping bag for an American Girl doll. I'm hoping it goes ok, the directions aren't very clear and I'm not a very good seamtress. If I manage to get it made I'll post a picture, if there isn't a picture we'll just never mention it :)

Pre-Fourth Fun

So what is it about a Slip-n-Slide? Personally I wouldn't want to run headlong at a wet and slippery piece of plastic and throw my body down with the intent of slidding 20 feet on my belly. But, put one out for the kids and they will play for hours. I guess they're not as worried about breaking bones as their aging brittle boned Mom is.

One Month

This pose can only be his version of a victory dance!

Number Four is one month old today. He is a very good baby so far. The rest of the kids have adjusted to him fairly well. It is a real treat to have a baby who doesn't cry all the time. I was worried about how Three would do with the new one, but I have been pleasantly surprised. He is a little rough with him, but nothing homicidal yet!