If you don't mind the construction dust, come on in. The coffee's hot, the food's good, and the door is open...
Friday, September 24
Friday evening, and all is well.
Got recruited to set up for a friend's baby shower. I'm glad her mother was willing to ask for (accept?) help when it was offered. That was cool. It doesn't happen often, around here. Most people already have their go-to list of People To Ask For Help, and it's hard to get into that loop. So. Very excited about that. The boys have also been volunteered, but they won't mind. They adore her and will be tickled to be able to be involved.
Got October's schedule lined up and filled in on the calendar. Just gotta get the Scouts to put their stuff on there. (Yeah, I know. Good luck w/ that. I'll give them a week, and then perhaps I'll hide their Class A's.)
Tried all day to contact a canoe rental company, but they evidently don't answer their phone on... um, Fridays. :-| Weird.
And now, the house has been picked up, swept up, and muttered over (the closest thing to an actual blessing. Actually, I have sage. If I throw it in with the spaghetti sauce, can I call it good?) Sauce is simmering on the stove. I'll brown up the sausage to add to it, here in a bit, and Zorak's bringing home tortellini from Sam's. Woohoo! Love it when a plan comes together.
I think James is itching to have some games tonight, so it's probably time to head down to the game closet and see what sounds like fun.
Kiss those babies!
~Dy
Saturday, July 10
Good-bye June!
And, we tried out a new bug bite trick, which seems to work beautifully! Take a pen, and draw a circle around the bites. Looks absolutely ridiculous, if you've been hiding in the blackberry patch, but it does seem to offer relief. Some claim panacea. I'm good with that. It still works. I wonder if invisible ink would offer the same benefit without the urge to make constellation patterns and smiley faces?
On the blogging front, I fell asleep at 9:30 last night, and awoke, refreshed and somewhat disoriented, at 2:45. I took this opportunity of being alone and awake all at once to upload pictures in batches, and try to plan out a few posts. I feel so... caught up!
Kiss those babies!
~Dy
Monday, March 8
Generally March
We had temps in the teens not two weeks ago, but everything is budding out now. En masse. Happens every year and it still blows me away. It's like Mother Nature's hosting a foot race. (And we're going to lose. We do every year. But it's fun, now that we know what's going on.)
We still have no clear idea when the proper time is for pruning. We really hope it wasn't back when everything was still frozen, because it's hard to prune from inside your home.
When the weather changes from winter to spring temperatures, it seems to do so overnight. You sit through practice Friday evening, buffeted by cold, biting winds, surrounded by others with cold-induced runny noses, watching the kids through squinty, tear-filled eyes. Saturday, you can stand in the sunny spots with just a windbreaker, and as long as the shadows don't catch you, it's a pleasant way to spend the afternoon.
There's *always* practice in the Spring. Always.
There will be one more cold snap. It won't come until we've put away the winter coats, but it will come. Out of nowhere. And it'll be COLD.
The Auburn v. Alabama game is played in the first week of April. I learned this, not because we watch the game, but because that's the signal to get your garden in the ground.
Poison Ivy leafs out last. I suspect that's so it's more difficult to spot it from a distance and have any hope of eradicating it.
The compost pile is about to really kick into high gear. We'll be glad we kept feeding it all winter, because this is the only time we'll be able to keep up with it.
Kids have no concept of weather patterns. They spend all winter outside, in the fairly cold weather, then spend most of April complaining about how hot it is. How they forget August is beyond me, but they do. It makes me laugh (as I throw them outside).
March is a very difficult time to stick to the lesson plans. It's gorgeous. The kids aren't complaining about the "heat" yet. There are robins and cardinals busily getting down to business. The sunshine through the branches makes an inviting path in the woods. The grass is still low enough not to lose anybody, and the days are so calm you can hear the creek burble quietly through the woods. It's a good time to take advantage of all that Springtime in the South has to offer.
Kiss those babies!
~Dy
Thursday, February 25
Blame it on Lent
However, I did decide to stop vying for time *alone* in the evenings. Something had to give, but what? Reading time with the boys? No. We're not giving that up, and we can't really shorten it. (They keep adding to the stack, anyway. I'll be reading to them from my death bed if I shorten our nighttime reading.) Time spent tidying the kitchen? No, that one is a sanity-saver come sun up. Time with Zorak, alone, together, speaking in full sentences? Somehow, I don't think sacrificing that is the best thing in the world for a marriage. And I like Zorak. I want to keep him, always.
The only thing left was my late night foray to stay up and blog. It wasn't working, anyway. The Bigs' read-aloud time lasts longer than the Littles' does, so Zorak gets done first and beats me to the computer. (My grand plan to hook up the old computer in the basement fell tragically short because I can't get it to connect to the internet. I seem to have misplaced... the modem. Yeah, not sure how that happened.) Zorak and I are both night owls, so in order to get time alone and on the computer, I'd have to stay up until well past two in the morning. Even then, there was no guarantee. After falling asleep on the couch several nights in a row, waiting for the computer, I realized I was being silly. Very Silly, Indeed. *sigh* That's always embarrassing.
Lent just happened to be an excellent opportunity to quit being Silly. So far, I've been a'bed by eleven six nights out of seven. The extra rest helps. I'm more productive in the morning, able to spend time in study more often. I'm a much nicer mother before noon, too. But boy, does it make for a dull blog. And no photo editing time, either. I'm not sure why I feel pressure to include photos with blog entries, anyway. (Yet I do! Just a peek into my weirdness, I guess.)
So here's a quick recap of the last week or so:
~ We fed a stray. Turns out my Mother was right. They do stay if you do that.
~ Jase is LOUD. I mean, unbelievably LOUD. ALWAYS.
~ Baseball kicks off today. (*whimper*) It will be in the low-low 30's at practice tonight. One kid has practice, another, a meeting.
~ James is anxious (both excited-anxious and fretting-anxious) about taking golf lessons this Spring. No clue what's up with that.
~ The Pinewood Derby is this Saturday. The boys have done amazing things this year. It's not unusual to go to the basement and see a boy with a torch, melting weights, or a boy with a drill press, making holes. They may not win, but they will have learned a great deal, and had a lot of fun, and that is, for us, the point.
~ Netflix really needs to get Season 4 of Big Love on DVD. Seriously. This is important.
~ EmBaby knows where to find, and how to use, the shut-off valve on the toilet! I don't think I've ever been so proud of the sense and composure of a four-year-old in my life.
~ We've had company every Saturday for the last month. As of Monday, the boys have officially petitioned that we re-define "Company Clean". They say this pace is killing them, and that someone will figure out The Truth, eventually, so why not just use that to help weed out the weak ones. (Yes, I'm both proud and horrified at the same time. Parenthood will do that.)
And, I think that's it.
Kiss those babies!
~Dy
Friday, February 12
Today, we hide!
I'm sure there are those who would say homeschooling is to blame, but in all honesty, I've been like this my whole life, and I've got almost two decades of institutional education under my belt. I was late for most of it, too. Some of us just aren't meant to be corporate go-getters. We know who we are. It's okay. You're safe, here.
So today, we plan to hide. We'll clean the house and have it ready for the weekend activities (whimper...) We'll bake bread to keep the living room warm (love that!) We'll catch up on our reading and spend time together. We've missed that. It's amazing how relatively cranky we all get when we can't just *be* together, at least a little bit, each day.
On other Domestic Miscellany fronts, I got my oils in yesterday! Grapeseed Oil and Squalene Oil. It's for making facial oil, but I told the boys I've decided to become a mad scientist. Then they learned where the Squalene comes from, and asked if, perhaps, I wasn't referring, instead, to alchemy. Goofballs. Hopefully, I'll get a batch mixed up today. I do hope KathyJo knows I'll be calling, begging for help, and that she'll be on speaker phone because there's likely to be oil *everywhere* and I won't be able to hold the phone. It's a good thing I don't want to make soap, isn't it?
And, that's about it, on the homefront! Well, there's a titch more, but I can't blog about it, just yet. (Not pregnant. Not moving. Nothing *big*. Well, not *big-big*.)
We're off to read!
Kiss those babies!
~Dy
Sunday, February 7
Scout Sunday
As it was, we at least nearly made it to our church on time. We're meeting in the fellowship hall right now, because it's easier to heat. I have to admit I kind of like it. Even if we have to sit "in the back", we're not that far from the pulpit, so the kids can still pay attention. Plus, the bathrooms are right there, and there's no trekking across the breezeway in the cold to get to them. Of course, there's also nowhere to take Jason when he gets loud(er), except outside. That's not so much fun.
Me-Wa and Me-Tae showed up today. The kids absolutely lit up when they saw them walk in. EmBaby scurried up to sit with them, and she was as quiet and attentive as you could ever hope (in those wild, crazy daydreams mothers have, where their children are suspiciously quiet, but nothing's actually being damaged... yeah, she was *that* quiet!) Smidge was a little appalled that he didn't get to go sit with them, but I didn't want to just dump all the kids on them unexpectedly. I did warn them that next time they'll probably be buried in the deluge of migrating children as soon as they sit down. (They didn't seem phased. They are so cool.)
We had grand plans for the afternoon, too. But our Netflix had arrived. And there was caramel corn to make. And once we got the fire going, everything was so cozy. Not to mention, I think lunch was laced with a sleeping drug. (The smoked venison, sliced thin, served on fresh whole wheat bread with horseradish, cheese, onions, mustard... baby carrots, and green olives on the side... pintos with cheese... mmmm...) Everybody was somewhat lethargic after lunch. (Imagine that!) What's a family to do, right?
Tomorrow's a marathon day - dental checkups, follow-up visit with the chiropractor for John, and back to the grind for school! Guess I should catch up with Chuck or Modern Family and get to bed!
Kiss those babies!
~Dy
Tuesday, January 12
The Quiet Times
I love winter. It brings quiet times. For years, I fought the rhythm of this time, trying to maintain the hectic, hurried pace of the Holiday Season. But that is some serious crazy-making, there. The past few years, I've chloroformed my not-so-inner control-freak shortly after New Year's Eve, picked up the notepad and favorite pen, and turned toward this time of quiet.
Once I quit fighting it, I found hidden, special times I'd missed before -- times of routine, and waiting. Times of quiet work, and preparation. Times for taking stock and weeding out the clutter. Plus, all that down-time for planning feeds my inner list-making-freak.
Well, ok, "quiet" is mainly metaphorical. But still. This is good. Spring will come soon, and with it, the endless list of things that Must Be Done Right Then - the pruning and planting, grading and mulching, sewing and painting, building and fixing. We won't have time to stop and breathe much, then. But right now, I plan to take the deep breaths, read the extra chapter, bake another loaf, have another cup. And enjoy the quiet.
Kiss those babies!
~Dy
Saturday, May 23
Saturday
The boys are off on a Cub Scout hike. Three miles in the mountains. It's a gorgeous morning, and both Zorak and I are railing a bit against the fact that I'm the one who loves early mornings, getting out of the house on Saturday, hiking, (he just... doesn't) and yet he's the one co-opted to go this morning. I suggested we all go, but the idea of carrying Jase and EmBaby three miles in the mountains didn't really appeal to either of us. Then I thought perhaps I could go, and he could stay, but the boys expect Dad to go, if he can. Plus, he enjoys seeing them enjoy themselves. That's one of the things parenthood does: you do things you may not enjoy, just for the smile on the children's faces. It's a wonderful kind of selfishness that makes me love him all the more.
And so, the Smallest and I are home, wondering what to do next. I hate the thought of tilling or mowing with only the Littles. Maybe we'll just go dig. Or prune. Or gather limbs for a bonfire. Or maybe just ride around the property on the wagon? Since Zorak fixed the Little Red Wagon, we've had a lot of fun hauling children and limbs and more children and the occasional plant.
What to do with a quiet Saturday morning?
Sunday, May 3
Rained In
But the creek is right at the upper edge of the drive.
It's raining... still raining... looking to rain even harder by lunchtime.
It'd be no fun at all to get out, but not be able to get home.
And so, we're rained in for the day.
Kiss those babies!
~Dy
Wednesday, April 1
Wednesday Weediness
We put our big, strapping okra plants into the ground. Then we stood back and gave a collective, "Oh, that's pitiful!" They looked much larger in the sprouting trays. All alone in the big, big world, however, they look like weeds, just waiting to be picked.
Then we tried to use the wood chipper to mulch the leaves in the back yard. That didn't go so well. Not that the thing hasn't already worked off the $10 we spent on it, but I want to mulch leaves and cannot figure out how to make it work! Zorak wants to just burn them, but we desperately need that material IN the ground back there. Where it's not damp, it's covered in clover. And where there's no clover, it's just kind of... damp. You can see this is not going to work well for a play area, with at least one child who is violently allergic to clover. And "damp" just doesn't seem like a good backyard theme, either, come to think of it.
The boys' piano teacher called this morning to see if we could come later than our regular time today, so we were on the road when we normally are not. I'm really glad we don't have to do that every week. I suspect that "rush hour" in our little hamlet is when the inmates escape from the asylum, and make a break for the open road. (It has to be lunatics. I mean, the Very Basics were totally out the window -- Red generally means, "stop" -- The dotted white line is not for straddling, in the hope that one lane will suddenly open up for you -- OK, the speed limit can be considered a general guideline, to some extent, but if you're in the front of the line and there's no wreck or rain or flying squid, you might want to consider going a titch faster than 25mph under the speed limit -- Or put on your hazzards and pull over for a bit until the voices get you all caught up. That's what I do.) I don't know how Big City folk do it every day. Yeesh. They're tough. We, however, are weenies. Weenies who like being on the road when nobody else is. Or at least when the other people on there are those who know some of the basic rules of the road.
And, we found our First Tick of the Season. On EmBaby's head. *collective shudder* Tomorrow, we all begin taking our garlic tablets. Tonight, we began the ritual evening tick-checks. Like a bunch a' apes, I tell ya. But we'll be the tick-free apes with the cool sunflower house, and boquets of dead flowers all over the house. So, that's something, right?
Kiss those babies!
~Dy
Thursday, February 26
It's THURSDAY!
Poor LB comes to get away to the temperate winter of the South, and we get hit with not-so-Southern temps. Ah. Well, today's a new day. A bright, sunny, supposed-to-be-warm day!
And, we're off to the Wildlife Refuge!
Monday, January 5
We're Home.
But. We're exhausted. And so, to bed.
Kiss those babies!
~Dy
Saturday, January 3
Made it. Sort of.
Confession time: Zorak and I do not travel well together. Yeah, not at all. And we have the added frustration this trip of having wanted to be in Cruces *today*. But that deserves a separate blog entry. So, anyway, this has been quite a test of our ability to smile benignly and move forward. Together. In one piece. We're doing surprisingly well, but those weird guttural noises my Mom used to make when she was frustrated but afraid she'd be struck down by lightning for saying what she really thought? I think we've both found the part of the body those noises come from. But we're doing okay. I'm proud of us. And we even manage to crack jokes now and then.
Like this morning, I told Zorak he needed to make me a list. He pulled me over by the shoulders to lean on him, and said, "There, now you've got a list." Heh. Yeah. Old sailor jokes. Funnier if you aren't a landlubber, I suppose. (I'm a landlubber, he had to take it one step further for me and add, "Now you're listing." *sigh* Someday I'll catch on.)
So, I'm listing. He's working (the Suburban is up on a tree stump - I've got to take a picture and find a way to upload it - it's hilarious). The kids are finishing up breakfast and getting ready to head down to the creek. Yeah, the creek. It's going to be 70 degrees here today! Wild, huh?
AAaaaand, I think Jase just broke an ornament. So I am going to go before we end up exiled to the front porch.
Kiss those babies!
~Dy
Friday, January 2
Mornin!
When Zorak still wasn't back by about two, Aunt B had a great suggestion to call the cab company and see what the charge would be to deliver some diapers. You know, when you have a baby with an active digestive system, it is amazing what you'd be willing to pay for diapers! Sadly, the cab company only takes cash, and I only had a handful of actual change on me. But when I called the front desk to see if there was an ATM nearby, the lady offered to run to the store for me when she got off at three. Next thing I know, the front desk calls again and says the lady coming on at three will bring diapers! WOW. It turned out to be the lady who had checked us in the night before. Her little guy is in pull-ups, now, and she brought all her extra size 4's. So sweet. Jase was happy to be let back out of the tub, too.
I sent the boys down to the vending machine to get snacks. They came back and it seemed nothing much had happened. Then the front desk called, "Those were your two boys down here by the vending machine?" (Uh... yes...) "Well, I just wanted you to know that they are so honest, and so well-mannered. We really enjoyed them, and wanted you to know how polite and sweet they are." (*deep exhalation* I mean, you read about my wow-if-that'd-been-me-at-that-age bit from the last post, right? I was a titch worried, there.) I guess the machine had given them too much change, so they turned it in at the desk. And I'm sure they stayed to talk, because that's what we do. We talk to strangers. They come by it honestly.
Smidge asked if we could "not have any TV tomorrow" - I didn't think it could happen, but the kid reached saturation point! Funny. We turned off the TV, read books, worked on a sweater for EmBaby, told jokes, and then they dropped off, one-by-one. When Zorak got back with supper, only two of the five were still up.
So, on we go, to another leg of the Adventure. Time to get everyone else up and fed and loaded back up. And as the new year gets underway, I'm thankful for so many things - cell phones and hotel business centers, friendly people and helpful hearts, loving children and families, smart hubbies and friends who'll make you laugh until you've got it all back in perspective.
Kiss those babies!
~Dy
Thursday, January 1
Oh, Ack! Happy New Year!
No, this isn't where we meant to spend the New Year. We meant to spend it with family. But the Suburban got a little cranky last night - the brakes went wonky and a wheel bearing went bad. So, thank Heaven for small favors, we realized there was a problem pretty early on, and stopped before there was actual fire, or no brakes, or stripping of the transmission. That was our biggest thing, "PLEASE don't let it be the transmission. Please don't let it affect the transmission. Please just don't even mention the transmission." (The transmission in this particular model is a nightmare. The *one* different tranny Chevy makes, and it also happens to be both the worst, and the most expensive. So. Not the tranny. YAY!)
The kids didn't mind. They're a little sad about not being at Veronica's, but we have cable. Cartoon Network and Mythbusters. Plus, they had waffles for breakfast. Not a bad New Year's Eve, really, when you're somewhere between 2 and 10, right?
Zorak and I crashed well before midnight, shortly after getting the smaller three down. I think James and John stayed up to watch something or other. They turned off the TV, though, and got some rest. Good kids. Man, if I'd had that much leeway when I was 8 or 10, it wouldn't have gone so well, what with the hotel manager calling the room to inquire why, exactly, there were children playing tag and dodgeball in the hallway. *sheepish grin* And I won't even go into Zorak dangling from a sheet over a balcony, in a sombrero and a poncho at two in the morning. Yeah, they're good kids. I don't know how we ended up with these children, but when their real parents come for them, they can't have 'em. We're keeping them.
Anyway, we meant to be up and at 'em this morning, but it took several hours to track down an auto parts store that was both *open* today, AND had the necessary assembly in stock. *sigh* Zorak, the Freezing Knight, is at the parts store, replacing the part, while we are ensconsed rather cushily in a warm hotel room, awaiting pizza delivery. We're out of diapers (um, thinking we'd have stopped last night to pick up last-minute things, heh. Oops.) but in all, sitting rather prettily. Thankful. Safe. Yeah.
OK, the children are going to realize I've slipped down to the business center. Em and Jase are sleeping (how do you wear yourself out in a hotel room? I don't quite get that, but they both went down for naps early) and the boys are doing a verbal countdown on the pizza. So I had to step out and say howdy. However, break over. Time to get back!
Happy, Happy New Year!!
May 2009 be a year of Joy, a year of Love, and a year of Growth for all of you!
Kiss those babies!
~Dy
Wednesday, November 19
Monday was many things.
It was productive. Really productive!
It was interesting. Though not in a "wow, I love learning" way.
We learned a few things, too.
I don't think I can physically blow that much time every day. I don't have 30 kids I have to check for retention. I don't have kids getting up to get a pencil (they just reach across the table and grab a new one from the pencil cup.) I don't have to play to the middle, or drag it out and find busy work. Busy work is harder on the preparer, I think. Although there are probably scads of 10yo's who would disagree with me.
The kids are learning more than I give them credit for in my more worrisome moments. Even if they are a titch lazy, they are still learning and moving forward. That's encouraging to know for certain.
We do well with a schedule, because honestly, we're ALL a bit like a litter of puppies. Yours Truly, included.
Take Andie's advice whenever you can. Movies are educational! (Actually, the timing was perfect, as our documentary on Art in the Late Middle Ages arrived from Netflix on Tuesday.)
John figured it out. Clever boy. Unfortunately, I let that give a reprieve to both boys, and James... well, James needs a bit more of the structure to understand that yes, Virginia, there is more to learn. *groan*
Zorak rocks. I mean seriously, deeply, honestly rocks. He knows just when to rub my back and tell me I'm not The Crazy Lady, and just when to share a story of Life, Through the Eyes of a Ten-Year-Old Boy. Those stories make me laugh until I cry. But it's more of a happy, relieved cry than a maniacal "abandon hope, all ye who enter" cry. He makes me laugh. He reminds me that our kids are really, REALLY great kids.
He also gives me hope that one day I will not have to explain that, yes, you really should rinse soap off your face. You know... like you do off your body. (And that you can't use shampoo in your example, because that's "shampoo" and not "soap".) He remembers when those arguments made sense in his head, and he assures me that one day, the boys will outgrow it, too.
And so, it's been a good week, in many ways. Probably not the ways we anticipated. But then, it hasn't been bad in the ways we anticipated, either. Today, we hit the dentist for the kids, and then piano, and then TCTSNBN. We'll be doing some car schooling and a little waiting-room-schooling, as well. But it'll be another good day. It will.
Kiss those babies!
~Dy
Friday, October 31
Typical Virtual Friday
No, not really, but it's late, and that's the best I could offer. Although, it *is* our friday...
*aherm* Anyway...
8:00 - We stage our own little revolt this morning and refuse to get dressed. You can carry compost to the heap in your jammies, right? It's not like the neighbor's chickens care if you match. The kids grab fruit and start their lessons while I read the news and warm up with a cup of coffee.
8:20 - They're all in here, reading the news over my shoulder. From the comments they're making, I'm guessing they'd like a little breakfast. (Namely EmBaby: "That boy looks hungry, mama. Hungry like your Em-lee. I'm jus' a hungry girl." Someone tell me she will somehow master "subtle" without going into "codespeak", right?)
8:45 - I start the pancakes and ask them to get back to their lessons. James starts with reading. John starts with math.
8:50 - We're fixing pancakes while we discuss random thoughts that pop into their heads. Not a lot of reading or math getting done. Redirect the Bigs. Throw pancake scraps to Em. Flip pancakes. Redirect again.
9:15 - Pancakes are ready, John's math is done, but James' reading book is now lost. We don't know how it happens. He never once moved from the breakfast bar. The breakfast bar has a finite flat surface and no shrubbery surrounding it. Where'd the book go? *shrug* Oh well, let's eat.
11:00 - I've been done for an hour and a half. The boys are still eating. After I finished, I took advantage of having a semi-captive audience to read two chapters of Five Little Peppers, do a little geography, and cover Music History. But still... I've been dancing with Embaby to Handel's Hallelujah Chorus for forty minutes, and my knees ache.
11:30 - I finally declare that if they keep this up, I am going to put us all on a public school schedule, complete with "bus ride" at six in the morning, pee breaks only between "classes", twenty minute OUTSIDE recess (no matter how cold it is), and the one that always gets them, HALF HOUR LUNCH PERIOD.
11:32 - Their spots are cleaned, books gathered, and all the happy, well-fed children are looking at me expectantly for the next lesson. (Um, it's art. But I didn't expect my public school schedule speech to be quite *this* effective, and I must go dig up the art book.) Oh, hey, this one is on observation and detail! We're supposed to go outside and "observe the marvels of the world"! James looks outside, at the 40-degree day and says, "How 'bout we observe the marvels of the MODERN world?" Yeah. We'll stay inside. I don't know where your coats are, yet.
1:27 - Art is done. Chores are done. Math, latin, reading - all done. James has my Henle because he cannot find his LP text. The four principle parts are laid out differently, and it makes us batty. I really hope his book turns up. (Perhaps it's hiding with his reading book? I'm sensing a pattern, here. Remember to check the pantry and cupboards tonight, when he's in bed.) James makes lunch for everybody. John sets the table. Jase serenades us with jokes in his native tongue, and laughs maniacally at each and every one. I wish at least one of us could speak Infantese. Smidge and Embaby do not fight. This is a beautiful moment in my day.
1:45 - They're done eating. (I'm having that "schedule speech" printed out, dipped in gold, and hung on the wall behind the dining table!)
2:00 - Break time. Video games, stories, games, reading, playing, napping. Kind of a free-for-all, but in a good way that doesn't result in any broken bones or bleeding noses. Smidge helps me make banana bread. I send him on his way with a kiss and a snuggle after he blows flour from the bowl all over my head. Love that help, though. It changes so quickly into "can I do it all by myself".
At some point, Zorak gets home. Since it's Virtual Friday, we have a special movie to watch. Zorak suggests a finger food supper (he brought shrimp! *swoon*), and so that's what we do. Shrimp, green olives, tortilla-cheese-ham-wrap-things, pickles, okra, and banana bread. Journey to the Center of the Earth (the new one, with Brendan Fraser).
And then, bedtime. Quiet time. I'll do the dishes tomorrow, unless the Project Fairy* comes and does them for me. Not holding out much hope on that one. It's okay.
But first, I'll kiss those babies!
~Dy
* The Project Fairy, from the tv show, The PJs - who the super told his wife he thought magically came in and cleaned the apartment each night.
Tuesday, October 21
He Has Your Quirks
Thursday, October 16
Playing With Pictures
~Dy
Thursday, August 28
Never Stop Being Willing to Smile
AND, we discovered where Santa works in the off-season!
Check it out:
That *has* to be the REAL Santa, right there. He was jolly and sweet, too.
(Just like I knew he'd be! *sniff, sniff*)
Aunt Linda also had a really great time. You just have to love this shot. Zorak had taken Em on the elephant ride, and when he got off, he said, "Man, that ride is AWESOME! You guys have to check it out!" (Evidently, it goes surprisingly fast for a kiddie ride, and you can control how high your elephant goes. Always a bonus.) Aunt Linda took him up on it.
Be willing to laugh. Be willing to enjoy these things. Oh, it's so worth it! (And then, when you have days like we had today, you can draw on the laughter and the memories and push through. You know, instead of just leaving the children strategically along the market aisles until they start to think you might really leave them and decide to shape up.)
Kiss those babies!
~Dy