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!