My eyes hurt!

They're watery and twitchy. No, I'm not sick. I've just been putting together a Christmas wishlist for the boys today. They've spent the last week pouring over catalogs, although oddly enough, only at my insistance. I don't know if they're just used to never getting what they'd really like (anybody remember the breeding elves?), or what it is, but it took some serious tooth-pulling to get either of them to sit down with a marker and circle things they'd like. Normally, it's not much of a problem. They've always been so easy to shop for. But this year... this is the first year I've noticed that I'm *officially* clueless. The things I ooohhh and aahhhhh over, thinking they'd just go nuts about, they give me the same look I gave my mother the year she bought me a complete bedding ensemble that every six-year old girl dreams of... and I was 14. I try to keep in mind my own mortification at that time, and encourage them to guide me and keep me from going down that ugly, confusing road.

James did circle two items from the Mindware catalog. That gave me a place to start, at least. Then, when I logged into the Mindware website, he knew all about so many of the items and said, "OH, that looked really neat!" or "I would LOVE this one!" Well why didn't you mark it in the catalog, you goofball? Maybe he was just trying not to be greedy. *sigh*

So, I've got a wishlist started at Amazon. I noticed that I'd also started one, um, back in 2004, but I didn't start it until something like the 20th of December, and by then nobody needed ideas for the boys, so we never had a chance to play with it. (Beethoven's Wig is still on there, though - *I* really want that one! *grin*) Right now, it's just things we think the boys would like. Tomorrow, we'll get online with each one and let them each browse and pick. It's going to have to be them. There's so much junk available out there that I felt dizzy after sorting through it today. Hopefully, they'll have some ideas to start us off and we can get it figured out (and then, ordered and shipped without having to pay overnight shipping! WOOHOO!)

We're just getting too old for The Last Minute. Halloween about did me in. *wink*

And I know I've posted this place before, but if you haven't checked it out, you really need to. Even if you're done shopping. Just the catalog blurbs alone are worth perusing (although, seriously, they do get some mighty nifty stuff, particularly if you like things a bit quirky): American Science and Surplus. I have literally laughed aloud while reading through their Christmas catalog this week.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Home Remodel - Kids' Rooms

OK, I'm no longer on the lam... Yay! For anyone interested in the play-by-play slideshow, complete with excuses, I mean, comments, you can view the pictures here.

For the less motivated (or those on dialup), here's a quick shot of direct before and afters. I tried to get shots from the same angles. Interestingly, there is only one existing photo of the nursery from its days as a blacklight bong water dormitory. Huh. Imagine that. So, in brief, here's the nursery:



As you can see, we still have "storage issues" to address. That will come. (Hopefully, so will closet doors!) There aren't many photos of this transformation, because this room was the first bedroom we did - it had to be ready by the time Miss Emily made her grand debut. So, we were a bit under the gun, as the kitchen and bath also had to be done fairly soon after we moved in. So. Well, there ya go.

The next set of pictures is from the boys' room. We took a little more time with this one. (As in, we still aren't completely done. We get to the trimming of the closets and sort of wander off to work on something else. It's a theme - you'll notice it with the other two bedrooms, as well. In ten years, when I get around to posting those pictures.) Again, more detail, and more photos are in the slideshow. This is just a brief before and after, side-by-side comparison. I give you, The Boys' Room:



I included that bottom picture for two reasons: it's really cute, and it shows the toy shelves we built. This was a quick and easy project, the fruit of my warped desire to make stuff and Zorak's equally warped need to make certain it's solid. We'll be building another one to put in the nursery, which will hopefully address some of the storage issues mentioned above. It's designed to hold three of the larger Sterlite bins, or four of the smaller ones, on each shelf.

Well, time to go play!

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Oh, for Pete's sake!

I just spent three hours uploading the before and after pictures of the renovation on the kids' rooms to a Yahoo! folder. They've "upgraded" the system, which meant that a great deal of that time wasted er, spent went toward figuring out the new system. OK, fine. But the pictures are up.

When I went to change the setting on that album to public, however, I received a nifty little notice that my account has been flagged as "age-restricted" due to violations of Yahoo's police regarding inapprorpriate images.

What.

The.

HELL.

Is up with that?

If I'd know that (oh, I don't know, perhaps a little notice via email would be a good way to let someone know they've set off a flag? a little heads up that there is, obviously, a problem! because I can guarantee you I'm not uploading or sharing ANYTHING inappropriate or damaging - argh!!) and I could have saved myself the time, effort and frustration of doing this tonight, just gone to bed at ten, and dealt with this during business hours.

I do hope tomorrow goes more smoothly than this did. Ugh. And really, I think it's neat that Yahoo has taken the extra step of looking out for folks who might be violating privacy or ethics concerns. I do. I just think that, considering the potential for the occasional blip in the screening process, better communication with its users would be nice, as well.

Oh, well, it's time for bed, anyway.

Dy

The week in pictures

Here's the proud boy with his first loaf of bread.



Miss Emily loves rice sticks and stiry fry!


Balto, head of QA for flooring installation...


And here, the boys are enjoying the spacious new layout. We threw the futon down on the floor for TV watching, and can stash it in the guest room when we're done. (Yeah, only one of them is actually watching TV. Seems the pad also makes a great wrestling mat and GP play area.)

Oh, and we don't usually live with newspapers and boxes piled around the living area. The overall clutter in the background is from the Blue Willow, which I was unpacking from storage when I snapped the picture! WOOHOO!

And Balto, ever so patiently letting Miss Emily play with his tail. I've got to try to get actual video of this, it's hilarious.


And that's pretty much been our week - laughing, learning, enjoying.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Virtual Friday

I really like Zorak's work schedule. Every other Friday, he's off, so we have an extra day to work on the house, or play with the kids. We usually blow the evenings by staying up way too late to watch Scrubbs and then a movie or two, but the time spent together is really nice. Sort of makes up for those last two years of school, where we never saw one another, even on weekends.

Today was cold-cold. Not like Michigan cold, but colder-than-Yuma cold. I'd venture to say it was close to Denver-cold (Zorak says no, but he was inside... and I'm feelin' like a weenie.) And it was beautiful. The boys were content to stay inside and play, work on their lessons, eat. Smidge really wanted to go outside to play, but not alone. So he stood in the foyer with his shoes on, hoodie in hand. He just stood there, staring at us, just waiting for someone to cave. (Nobody did - did I mention that it was kinda chilly out there?)

The kids and I found a recipe for making mulled cider out of regular apple juice, so we just had to try it. Some may poo-poo the idea that the two are even remotely similar, outside the basic apple DNA, but I've gotta say a few things in favor of this little plan: economy, year-round availability, and sheer freakin' fun. C'mon, how often do you let your kids heat a dry skillet and throw whole peppercorns in there? Or stir a handful of cloves and broken cinnamon sticks into a whirlpool in a pot? If you're eight, or six, or three, (or, um thirty-three...) that's fun! The flavor turned out pretty good, so we served it up with supper, and Zorak eyed us suspiciously. The knowledge that we'd gleaned the recipe from a website called Cooking For Engineers didn't seem to help any. (Of course, the fact that we were having a mongolian-like noodle dish for supper probably didn't help any, either.)

And now, it's quiet. We read "The Strange Dog" chapter in Farmer Boy tonight, so the boys are feeling particularly appreciative of Balto Dog. I am, too, really. For all the deer he chases away, he's really a loyal and affectionate dog, and it is nice to know his early alert systems are functional. Wish we could turn it off til the end of hunting season, but eh, can't have everything.

Zorak picked up a movie this evening, and he's ready to get started on our long weekend lounging. Time for a little touchin' base, and general appreciative sharing all around. Good stuff, this marriage thing. ;-)

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

What's For Supper?

Here, we're having potato soup, fresh salad (boiled eggs, cheddar cheese, Dubliner cheese, red bell peppers, green peppers, onions, celery, all decorated with greens), and fresh breads.

For those who are WF/GF, if you haven't tried the French Bread rolls recipe in GFG Bakes Bread, OMG - they're to die for! And even better, if you just make one large lump on a baking sheet instead of little dinner rolls, it comes out flat enough to be used for foccacia, but just thick enough to be sliced horizontally and toasted for breakfast bread or used as sandwich bread. I think I'm in heaven, and I know John is!

We had a tornado watch today. James stayed in the hallway, with full canteens and his shoes on, reprimanding me on each trip I made up and down the hall for not keeping the baby by the basement door "just in case". We stayed home, cleaning, making sure we have enough clean clothes and pre-cooked food to get us through a power outage. (I live in fear of losing power with a washer full of wet clothes. Focus on the small things and the big ones will just whiz right by ya!)

All is well, and the ground is beautiful, buried among all the leaves!

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Missed it by "that much".

Drat. The new positions of the printer cabinet and the computer desk have left me without photo upload abilities. The cord is about two feet too short.

James made his first loaf of bread today. All on his own - prep, mixing, proofing, shaping and baking. I was there mainly to remind him not to measure right on the edge of the counter, to keep stirring, and not to measure right there, on the edge, of the counter.

He used the "Learning Loaf" from Marilyn M. Moore's The Wooden Spoon Bread Book, which is a wonderful one-loaf recipe that's easy for small hands to manipulate. The loaf turned out beautifully, not even "for a first loaf", but really nicely done. He was so proud. He ran about giving everyone a piece of bread, and while he'd originally thought he'd just eat the whole thing in one sitting (probably all alone, in the closet), the delight everybody else took in his creation called for cinnamon sugar toast all around! John is now anxious to make his first loaf of bread, and Smidge is really happy to have fresh bread any time he wants.

The others are still sick. Miss Emily has figured out what those white floaty things in the boxes are for, and she's not impressed. Thankfully, she hasn't begun Smidge's tactical maneuver of wiping the snot on a sleeve just seconds before the tissue comes within range. It won't take long, I'm sure. Right now, she's under the illusion that she can simply outpace us. It's cute, but kind of sad, because she's honestly baffled that we catch her every. single. time.

Going barefoot seems to be Miss Emily's answer to the traction issue. (Tried the shoes - she was having none of that, thank you for trying.) So, she stands at the diswasher and talks with me while I tidy the kitchen. I don't get much done, for all the staring down toward my knees and cooing to the baby, but it does make the chores a lot of fun.

You know, Zorak rebounds from these renovation pushes much more quickly than I do. Just thought I'd put that out there. We haven't even purchased baseboards yet, and he's already dreaming of vaulting the living room ceiling, adding the den, and turning the master bath into a closet. The most encouragement I can offer him, as I rub my toes back and forth on the floor, is a weak, "Yeah... that'll be... *gulp* great." Poor guy. He needed a wife with stamina. What he got is a wife with a sense of humor. Ah, well, whatever works, right?

I got a delightful surprise yesterday morning! Just the day prior, I was thinking that we hadn't had one of those beautiful, sparkling, fog-drenched mornings yet - the ones where the barn is just a shadowy sillhouette in a shimmering pool off in the distance. I loved those last year, and isn't it about time for more of those? Well, yesterday I walked into the living room to find everything illuminated by a diffused, glowing light. Looked out the window, and there it was - a Faerie Morning! Ohhhh, coffe just tastes better in that kind of weather.

And now, as part of my plan not to drive myself into an early grave, I'm going to head to bed before midnight! Woohoo!

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Weird.

Well, the computer has been acting up. The average page load takes anywhere from 15-30 minutes. So, no blogging, no returned emails, and no checking in on anyone. I *think* the problem is at bay for the moment, so figured I'd do something productive, like, um, well, blog. Wouldn't want to do something like pay bills until we know it's completely fixed, right? ;-)

Thought maybe I'd switch to beta, and ring in the new week with a fresh look for the blog, but Blogger won't let me switch. The help page listed several factors for not being able to switch over, the only one of which this blog might qualify for is the size. "Very large blog", which, honestly, I didn't think it was all that big. But then, I suppose if I saved all my dustballs every day for five years, that'd be a pretty big dustball. Put in perspective like that, yeah, I can see it.

Miss Emily has traction shoes now. We'll see how that works out tomorrow.

Smidge hasn't played in his room all weekend. He plays on "us new floor". He talks to the floor, too.

Zorak and I went back a few nights ago to read the posts from this time last year. We laughed, we exhaled a huge composite sigh of relief and gratitude. We got up and slid around the living room in our socks. The boys are no longer sleeping in a tent in the kitchen for warmth. The boys won't remember most of the hard stuff. Heck, they don't even remember last Thanksgiving. They thought we spent it with Melissa and her family, but that was two years ago - so, fortunately, they seem to have blocked most of last fall from their memories completely! WOOHOO!

Everybody here, from Zorak down to Miss Emily, with the exception of myself, has succombed to The Ick. They're not feeling so hot, so they've just watched movies and hung out near the Kleenex box. I spent two hours at the dentist this morning, having my jaw removed, beaten into a different shape, and then reattached with bailing wire (or so it seems, based on the residual pain), so everybody was kind enough to let me lie on the futon and whimper quietly for most of the afternoon.

I really hope the rest of this week goes well. I'm too tired to take on anything else. And on that note, it's time to check on the wee ones and head for bed, myself.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

WE LIVED!

YESSSS! The feeling we have right now is tantamount to the sensation that causes people to yank up goal posts and run laps around the field. Zorak's "Plan A" worked well. Astoundingly well. I've got to say, this is why I'm not an engineer. Had it been up to me to formulate a plan in the first half of the alphabet, I'd be either buried underneath hundreds of pounds of splintered wood and hinges, or I'd be still (two days later) taking the thing apart, one screw at a time. Thankfully, he "gets" how this stuff works, and we managed to lift, load, move, and replace a 6' x 4' cabinet grouping in one evening. No swearing. No running or screaming. And, best of all, no splinters!

We're still three rows shy of completing the kitchen, but today was productive. We got the ceiling fan in the living room switched out, the bookshelves oiled and restocked, the corner hutch oiled and loaded. We've thrown out a ton of paperwork (yay!) and can once again see the dining table. Oh, and we finally, honestly, seriously, have-the-confirmation-in-hand, ordered a cabinet. The bookshelf will soon be liberated from kitchen captivity and left free to roam the... um, other rooms... ok, the metaphor breaks down pretty darned rapidly. It's late. I'm tired. Happy, but not terribly articulate.

James really doesn't like the new furniture arrangement, and he's hoping we are simply subjecting him to one of our less-than-humorous jokes.

Miss Emily is in dire need of little shoes with traction. She keeps trying to stand, but about 3/4 of the way up, her feet splay out and down she goes. I wish she had some hair to cover the little round impact marks on her forehead. :-S

Smidge has decided he is "fast, fast, fast!" Fortunately, the hall ends at a doorway and not a wall, as he can't quite stop, stop, stop just yet.

And John, wow, what a little worker bee he's been! He regularly requests projects to do, although today's came with the request that he have "something constructive, not destructive". I guess breaking down box after box of flooring stuff loses its appeal after a while. So, he was put in charge of sorting and arranging the videos and music, and he did a great job.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Quick Checklist

Luncheon: check.
Cute kids at luncheon who did not snort food out their noses or make bodily function jokes: check.
Lovely day with friends: check.
Empty kitchen: oh, I've run out of checks!

We left here yesterday way too early to be leaving the house, and although we headed out from the arsenal almost an hour after everyone else (because, yes, we are always late - it's in our genetic code), we still arrived in time for the mass seating at the luncheon. *whew* We may not be faster than a speeding bullet, but we've learned how to dodge them quite well. Yay us! The spread was lovely, the staff at the restaurant was delightful. The kids were in good form, and we enjoyed visiting, eating, and visiting a bit more.

Me-Wa and Me-Tae invited us to stop by their place on the way home. They're always enjoyable to visit with, and it's so neat to see how their place is coming along. And the kids really love them. We're so blessed to have them living here now. Terry (Smidge's "Me-Tae") is so kind and so gracious. I'm hoping some of that gentleness she has will wear off on me. And as for the guys, well, it's seldom men really form those lifelong bonds of friendship, but Ward (Smidge's "Me-Wa") and Zorak really have. They laugh without restraint, talk politics and religion without anybody's nose getting bent. They enjoy one another on a level I rarely see men enjoying their associations. So, while Me-Wa and Me-Tae probably collapse on the couch in utter exhaustion when we pull out of the drive, we sure do enjoy the time we spend with them.

Today came way too early. Oy. But in a bit, I'll start the Unloading of the Kitchen. It'll be a good time to purge and sort, too. The new pantry order has been held off until this weekend, as Zorak remembered that Home Depot offers 10% off for Veterans. *grin* That's worth the wait. (I just hope I can remember where we hid his DD214!) 911 has been programmed into my cell phone, and James has instructions to follow in case "Plan A" falls through. Er, wait, I shouldn't use the term "falls through". Um, "doesn't go quite as planned". Yes, that's better. More comforting than the thought of our island lying on the floor of the basement with us under it.

Oh, and Susie! I can't find another way to contact you, so I hope you see this. I would love any recipes you'd be willing to share. Our only restriction is wheat free, but we work with a lot of the other allergen-free recipes, too, so that we're ready to bring food to gatherings for just about anyone. For the house, though, we can use yeast and dairy and whatever else. Thank you so much for your offer.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

More Work, and a Little Play

The living room and dining room are now completely floored. We've put little fuzzy coaster things on everything that touches the floor. The kids are lucky they were in bed before we really got on a roll.

Tomorrow, I have to dump the cabinets in the island and clean off the corner hutch so we can move them and lay the floor in the kitchen. Zorak revealed his Plan tonight. We'll call it "Plan A". It's a very thorough plan. "Plan B" involves pre-programming 911 into my cell phone and teaching the boys how to use it. I'm really hoping Plan A works.

We also have a luncheon tomorrow. I think it's Zorak's company holiday thing. Not sure. I begged for attire guidelines and they were pretty vague. This serves me right for not knowing any of the women he works with. The boys are easy - navy turtlenecks and nice jeans. Miss Emily is a little harder, but that's just because there are soooo many cute outfits! (No, I did not just say that...) And me? Well, I have nothing that says, "Oh, sure, I may have four children and not get out much, but really, I'm holding up quite well, don't you think?" My best bet would have been to get my hair done three weeks ago, but that would've required advance planning. If I had a kaftan right now, I'd be tempted to wear it. Maybe with a belt.

(KIDDING!)

Jeans and a snappy little holiday sweater ought to work. *snort* I don't own anything snappy. I don't know. We'll see what doesn't look bulgy when I try it on.

And on that note, I've got to go to bed.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Before & After Pictures: The Hallway

In going through our photos, I realized there aren't many of the hallway itself. That's probably because it was creepy. Then it spent the winter covered in plastic and we only went back there when we really, really had to pee. And honestly, who takes a camera for that? (No. I don't want to know. Suffice to say that we aren't among those who do.) However, I pieced together what I could, so here goes.

This is the hall, as seen from the living room, when we bought the place. The hallway was, as everything else in the house, carpeted.



You can see the orange carpet in one of the bedrooms, and just in front of that, what we've been calling "the icon closet" (it finally decided to become a linen closet). The door to the basement is open. I don't know why. You can't see the old coat closet (now the washer/dryer cubby), but it's just past that door. The hall looks really long, to me, in this picture. I'm not sure why.

Nothing new to report on the whole process; out came the paneling, the carpet, the subfloor, and the doors. (The basement door we just cleaned and left on because, really, that was better than leaving the basement exposed. Ew.) So, here it is, a bit barren, but no longer inciting the willies in passersby. (This was taken from the other end of the hall, looking back toward the living room.)



And here, as it has spent the majority of our time thus far, with walls, paint, subfloor. And, it has two lights, one at each end, rather than one in the middle. The exciting stuff is in all the wiring, but you can't see that. It's a little plain vanilla, but how much time does one spend in the hallway? It's clean and not health-threatening. We'll hang stuff later, when decorations rise to the surface of the priority heap, um, list.



And then, only a year later (*snort*), here we are!



Miss Emily is thrilled with the new floor!



There's a lot of trim and detail work still to be done. But it's the fine carpentry stuff (such as borders near a few edges for the paint changes, since we used bullnose beading on the corners and that doesn't give a good, clean edge for a color change, baseboards - you can see that in detail.) But don't they look happy? And mostly clean?



And, if you'll pardon the mess (it's only about 50 feet from the front door to the kitchen, as the crow flies, but with everything upended while we work on the floor, it's a good two-mile hike over everything), here's a look at the foyer, from the living area. That arch is my happy spot. When I get overwhelmed by it all and think we'll never be finished, I sit in the kitchen and look over at my arch. *happy sigh*



Tomorrow, more flooring to put down. We're a little over halfway done with all of it, so that feels good. There's just a lot of shuffling, feeding, and tending to be done amidst all of it, so it's a slow process. But thanks for being patient and encouraging. It's really coming along. We forget just how much, until we look at the "before" pictures. That drives the changes home pretty quickly. It's amazing how quickly something can become "how it's always been" - it's an encouraging sensation.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

It's Down!

The floor, that is. Well, and Blogger's photo upload utility, it seems. But initially, I meant the floor. It's okay, though. I will try again tomorrow for a better picture. The ones from tonight are not only a bit dark, but they're kind of wobbly and off kilter. I'm hoping that's me, and not the floor.

However, there is now a floor, a Real Floor, in the hallway. It's so pretty! It feels SO good. Thankfully, it's a high-traffic residential/low-traffic commercial grade surface, because otherwise we'd wear the finish off from all our touching it and shuffling our stocking feet up and down the hall.

Miss Emily seemed to understand that this is just for her. She rolled around on it, played on it, crawled to and fro (giggling the entire time) on it, and dragged toys out of the nursery to play with in the hall. (She has never brought a toy out of the nursery.)

We couldn't keep the boys off of it. We asked them to wait until it was completely installed before they played on it: you'd have thought we told them we'd be serving only gruel from now until Christmas. When exiled to their room, they sat, wedged three abreast, in the doorway, peering out into the hall with the most pathetic big-eyed expressions I've ever seen. By the time we finished, they'd just about worn themselves out fidgeting and asking if it was done yet.

In all, we're happy with the way it goes in. We like the way it looks (and feels! Oh, my!) Our goal now is to go to bed before midnight (it's 11:44 now) and try to get up early enough that perhaps we can complete the project tomorrow. Baseboards will have to wait until the next payday, so the pictures won't show the completely finished project, but it's a far sight better than it was a year ago. Or last week, even.

And now I'm going to slide down the hall and off to bed!

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Home Renovation & Educational Maintenance

The hallway is almost ready to receive flooring. I've spent the last few days putzing about in there, getting all my stuff out of the way. Zorak spent tonight trimming door moulding. How exciting! We're still lacking three doors for the various openings in the hallway, but those are easy enough to put in after the floor is laid.

Since the kids survived running the gauntlet with me yesterday, I determined today would be A Good Day, with plenty of time to play, plenty of stories to read, plenty of time to just be. It worked. They played outside quite a bit, both the older ones spent over an hour this afternoon reading. Smidge and Miss Emily got extra snuggles and wrestling time and Stories For Little Guys. I set up James with his Latin, put Miss Emily down for a nap, and spent time doing a little one-on-one Latin work with John. (James graciously allowed Smidge to drive his little cars all over his head, back, and book while he worked. That child is so wonderful to his brothers!) Then John took Smidge outside and James and I worked one-on-one with his math while I prepared lunch. Today had a great rhythm.

We made a yeast-free breakfast bread, which turned out both delicious and beautiful. Then, while we were on a roll, we attempted Ms. Hagman's yeast-free bean bread again. Twice. I don't think we can eat that much bread pudding. And I still can't figure out what I'm doing wrong that's causing every loaf to implode like this. I cut the liquid by almost a full cup in this last batch, and while it was decidedly better, it still wasn't something I'd feed anyone not obligated to eat my cooking.

The boys are really taken in by both our current read-alouds: Farmer Boy and The Battle of Troy. Of course, the stories appeal to each boy in a different way, and James always wants to hear more Farmer Boy, whereas John's dying for me to read more Troy.

We wrapped up the majority of our prolonged Greece study tonight with a vase project. I don't think they're going to use the black figure or red figure painting (namely because I found our stash of paint, and we have no red). The vases really turned out great, though. James sculpted Balto, complete with three dimensional features, "almond eyes", and a bone tag on the collar, then wrapped the sculpture around the body of his vase. Very cool design. John built miniature ships which he attached to the rim of his vase. The rim has waves on it, to emulate a sea, and there's even a gargantuan cannon ball mid-way between the ships. I don't know how well the overall design will survive, but the concept is awesome. We'll bake them tomorrow and paint them in the afternoon, when the boys are tired of playing outside and we're knee-deep in flooring and underlayment.

Any suggestions for keeping a baby occupied and out of the way while laying floors?

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Friday already?

Tomorrow can't be Friday! It's just... just, well, there was Wednesday, I think. But where'd the REST of the week go? In hindsight, we've accomplished quite a bit, but it just doesn't feel like an entire week has passed.

We are not leaving the house next week at all, if I can help it. Ugh. Oh, poop. Nevermind. I think we have a luncheon to go to next week in Lynchburg. How much Rescue Remedy does it take to build up a good, calm level in the bloodstream? Is it too late to start putting in in our breakfast drinks?

Today was The Errand-Filled Day From Hell. *insert spooky noises, screams of tortured children, er, souls, and flames - lots of flames* Whew, we're bushed! We hit Aldi's, Wal-Mart, Lowe's, and Costco. I haven't done groceries for two weeks, and after today, I may not do them again for another two weeks. Fortunately, the Costco runs are only once a month. We are thoroughly prepared for several potential situations, however: unexpected company, growth spurts, overnight famine. Then we stopped at Me-Wa's and Me-Tae's for a visit. (We were sure Smidge was going to just walk the 50 miles to their house if we didn't go visit soon.) Had a lovely visit. Life is good. And the kidlets? Sleeping like couch potatoes after a triathalon. It's beautiful.

Productivity seems to be the theme for this fall. I have no idea how that happened, but there you have it. The boys love getting checklists each morning (I use the ones from Chart Jungle), and in the process of putting something together for them, it's inevitable that I also must have some idea what's happening. Next thing you know, Zorak's coming home and we've been busy all day long. Constructively, productively busy. With free time, even, to play in the leaves and run from the dog.

Meals seem to be coming easier, also (both ideas and timing). I've really got to thank Miss Maggie for that end of it. There's only so much you can do with hamburger, but it's evidently quite a lot more than I knew before. I need to spend a little more time stewing over lunch ideas (I really hate fixing lunch), but in general, it's getting easier to meet the needs of the crew with a good attitude and good food, you know, before nine PM - a winning combination in any book!

So in the vein of productivity, Friday will bring us more sorting, more cleaning, more decluttering. More second declension nouns, more math and more reading. We'll be spending time in the woods of New York, and on the shores of Troy. We'll probably bake some bread and paint some, erm, trim (it's okay, I laugh when I say that, too). But you never know. This is a magical season. It could happen. We'll move from Venus to Mars, and make some pottery. It will be a busy, productive day. And at the end, when it's quiet once again, I'm still going to be truly puzzled how this happened. Some mysteries are sweeter left unsolved, though, I think. (It's that, or admit that I'm getting old and uncomfortable with spontaneity. So let's stick with "mysteries", okay? Thanks.)

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

The Whole Crew

I had no idea trick-or-treating began around four! When I was a wee lass, we didn't start until after supper and after it was dark. Period. Ever. Zorak pointed out the safety aspect of going while it's still light out, though, and reminded me that we also took myriad trips cross country as youngsters, splayed out in the back of a station wagon, sans any safety restraint whatsoever. Um, okay, so the times they are a'changin'. But it still feels weird to go trick-or-treating while it's still light out. However, since I'm not on the ball with this sort of stuff (except the restraints, yes, the children are all properly strapped in like little astronauts on liftoff), we didn't make it out during daylight hours today, either. But we had fun.

And, since I'm not organized, either, I can't show you the fun we had or the amazingly decorated houses we saw, because we left the camera to guard the house. (??) I had the kids spread out on the rock in the front yard when we arrived home, though, and got a few shots. You can't see the angels singing, because they were behind me, but if you've got more than two children, you can spot the cause of my joy immediately:



Yep, all looking the same direction. Just couldn't top that, so I quit right then and there.

Life is good, indeed.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

And a gooooood morning!

Well, my monthly goals are shot. Today is the last day, and if it weren't for that pesky holiday thing, I could possibly pull it off. But as it stands, I have small children who awoke this morning, asking if they could don their costumes right away. Er, no. You have two full meals to get through first. I'm pretty sure Bob the Builder isn't coated in oat crust by noon. Let's hold off a bit.

We did get many boxes of clothes sorted, washed and packed up for shipping. Now to get them out before postal rates go up again! (Which is, honestly, a whole new goal of itself.) The boys were a great help, sacrificing their room for the staging area, and playing with Miss Emily the Destructor while Smidge and I moved loads. It's so funny to see them excited about doing wash. Sort of like there's something wrong with their wiring. But you know, I'll take that. Help and happiness are just that, and not to be turned away, no matter how weird their forms.

Wish I had a clue what today's plan is, but I don't. Zorak is helping his brother with some science project, and so he's had the computer at night. The organizational portion of my brain can only be accessed when the full moon reaches it's zenith and the wolves howl on the... no, wait. Well, whatever it is, that part cannot be accessed in the light of day. So here I sit, with paint cans around me, kids eating oatmeal, cursing this early morning sunlight and wondering why we can't remember to get curtain rods while we're out. (For clarity's sake: I'm the one cursing the sunlight. The oatmeal eating children are stunningly chipper at the moment.) I know I ought to have a plan, but for the life of me, I can't get one to come together.

Well, it's probably not going to come to me, sitting here writing. Guess I'll go do the next thing and perhaps it'll all come together, no?

Have a wonderful day, and Happy Halloween!

Kiss those ghouls!
~Dy

Home Remodel, Stardate -317828.44

(Yeah, that really is the stardate - cool, huh?)

Well, we have a floor. It's currently five feet high, piled in the foyer and the guest room. But it's ours, baby! And having it here, taking up space, is much like getting a Vitamin B12 shot - we're ready to roll! The energy and motivation those boxes have spread throughout the house is nothing short of amazing. Even my beloved caffeine can no longer give me this boost.

And so, today we'll finish lessons early, head to Lowe's for more primer (because, evidently you kind of need that to paint a door -pfft- details, details), some screen and spline (because there's that whole pesky issue of storm windows and the desire to see through them, open them. whatever.) then home again to finish our work.

The flooring we purchased from iFloor.com - wonderful people to work with. We arrived right at closing time, thanks to our unfamiliarity with time zones and the fact that we'd be crossing one. But if Darlene and Jonathan from the Dalton store were quietly wishing us a slow and painful death from veering off the Interstate on the way home, they never let on. We appreciate that. They were most helpful, interactive, and thoughtful. I know that, for them, flooring is a daily thing. They probably have nightmares about wood floors battling it out with laminates. Everybody they meet is putting in a new floor, and soooo excited about it, and thinks they're the only people in the world who have ever done so. We get that. But they also treated us as if they cared that we're putting in a new floor, they were enthused by our excitement of it, and they never once felt the need to inform us that - hello! - it's an entire industry and no, we're not the only people in the world who have ever done this. That's salesmanship. Plus, they complimented the boys and thought Miss Emily was too cute. ;-)

We left with something completely different than what we'd intended to pick up. We got there, and it didn't say "buy me" the way it did on the computer. After an hour, Zorak clicked on what wasn't quite right about the kind we'd originally chosen. It looked great online, but in person, it was... mmm... well, he leaned over and whispered, "Doesn't that look just like the paneling we pulled out?" I snatched Baby Girl up off that sample and tried very hard not to let my flashbacks show. We went with something else. (Consider this a warning - shopping online can be a lot like internet dating. The hunk in the dark oak you met online could turn out to be nothing but a drunk in a dark paneling wife beater!)

We went with this. It's a little bold, but so was the Adobe Ghetto in the kitchen, and we love that. This goes with the cream, the green, and the adobe colors. I think we're going to love it. And if we don't, that's okay, too, because with four children, I doubt it'll be visible most of the time, anyway.

Sooo, between now and Wednesday, with lessons and Halloween thrown in there for good measure, I've got to get this house Floor Ready (you didn't actually think our plan worked last weekend, did you?) The goal today is to ship out boxes: boxes of clothes, boxes of borrowed things, boxes of gifts. There will not be anything left in our house that is not ours, or should not be ours. This is my dream, er, goal.

And now I've got to go actually be productive, rather than just writing about it.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Party like a pirate!

Well, you'd think I'd have taken more photos, what with all the effort that went into this little project. But once he was in the suit, he was in character. Who knew pirates moved so quickly?


We made it to the party, had a fantastic time, ate tons of food (we brought beans and cornbread, homemade chips and green chile con queso - my mouth is still on fire). Most all of the photos have other people's children in them, and I am too tired to crop or blur all the faces, so I've only got a couple of pics. The Dads were great sports, and I think this was the all-around favorite game of the night:



Smidge went as Bob the Builder, but he wouldn't wear the hardhat. He kept it in sight the entire time, but just wouldn't put it on. He did, however, have a fantastic time!



I couldn't get James to hold still for any other pictures, and I was holding Miss Emily most of the time, so didn't get any shots of her but one (and I haven't edited out the background noise in that one yet). But for now, as you can see, we made it. We had a great time. And the costume has held up to a full 24 hours of wear so far! Yay, Tony!!

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

A joke from James

Q: Who do you need to find when your serger's broken?


A: A sergeron.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

TLM - Reprise

Ahhh, the Phoenix rises from the ashes, thanks to the kindness of Tony, the owner and Super Duper Repair guy of S&R Sewing and Vacuum Center in Decatur. I'd called the Huntsville store (along with every store in a three county radius) this morning, and they'd said he was swamped, but if I dropped it off, he'd try to take a look at it. I said thanks, but explained that there was a little boy who kept poking his head in, asking if he was a pirate yet, and that I'd try another store. I understand that lack of preparation on my part does not constitute an emergency on anyone else's part. Besides, they're having a big Grand Opening sale and they really are swamped.

The phone rang about five minutes later. It was the lady from S&R. Could I get to Decatur by nine? Tony would be there, and he would see what he could do.

Glorioski! Christmas come early! I made everybody throw on clothes and shoes and off we went, in the rain, singing made-up songs about mom's incompetence and Nice Mr. Tony. He looked at it and said he'd have it fixed in an hour. AN HOUR? Oh. How. Cool. So we scouted out a little diner to have breakfast and hide from the rain while we waited. We ate til we thought we'd pop, then slogged back through the rain to pick up our little serger. All fixed and shiny and happy. And even better, a little square of Ghirardelli Dark chocolate tucked under the presser foot. (I think I'm in love!)

The sparkly woman-bling shirt is now a fairly piratey looking vest. The white shirt has been laced. The boots have their wee pirate spats (for lack of a better term). Just have to alter the britches a bit and do a little detail work. And best of all?

It's only 1:30!!

This means we are not going to have to arrive at the party with John dressed as a leaf bag! He's so excited.

Yay!!

Dy

TLM - 11:35PM

DENIED!!

Man, betrayed by the technology my grandmother adored. It's a decaying process. Her daughter could not use the things, and I, evidently emit some sort of magnetic pulse that causes metal to lock up. (And yes, it's been oiled. Honest.) So, the serger is dead. The sewing machine has no cord. Not sure which of us thought it would be wise to pack a sewing machine separately from its cord, but there ya have it.

Jess thinks I'm insane. She's nice about it, but I know she does. ;-) It's not so much the thrill of it that I love. Not a big thrill-seeker. It's the idea of doing things (making costumes, decorating BEFORE Christmas Eve, buying Easter baskets and actually having time enough left that they need to be stashed away) that I love. The thought that sustains me all year long is that "next year I'll do better". But while I'm wistfully dreaming of "next year" and how wonderful it'll be and how together I'll be, "next year" sneaks up behind me and plants its foot in my, um, plans. Every time.

That's it. I'm buying Christmas presents online on Monday.

And now, I'm going to scroll through the yellow pages and line up possibilities. Perhaps somebody will take my serger in tomorrow morning and I can still make the 5PM party? Then I'm making a fresh pot of coffee and staring into space, darnit.

Ah, well, there's always tomorrow!
Dy

TLM - 9:59PM

Now I remember why I hate my serger.

TLM - 8:38PM

Since last I posted...

I couldn't find my pins, so I stapled the soon-to-be-vest in order to size it. I'm sure it will turn out okay, but I can't say I'd recommend this as a "crafty alternative in a pinch". Just don't do it. The older kids think it's weird, and the younger ones get ideas. Bad, bad ideas.

The vest is ready for sewing.

The stapler is way up high.

Looked for the machines again. Got creeped out after ten minutes and came back upstairs.

Zorak got home. We all pounced on him with our glee and delight. He gave me one of those, "Have you been drinking?" looks. Hmpf. Back down to the basement.

WE FOUND THE MACHINES!!!

Why is my sewing machine missing the foot pedal?

Oh well. So, um, that all took place about an hour ago. Since then I've been battling the serger. I'm losing.

John's walking around in a pair of jeans and a dangly clip-on earring... I think he's a bit anxious.

Dy

TLM - 6:39PM

OK, so maybe I just haven't had enough coffee today, but just WHAT is so interesting about picking a seam? I swear, they couldn't have stuck to me any tighter if I'd been hiding chocolate in my pocket, hoping they'd leave so I could eat it. Not that, you know, I've... oh, who am I kidding. I've done that, and worse. And if I had it now, I'd be hiding, eating it.

Anyway, that's it. It's been over an hour and I've picked the seams out of two sleeves to remove them from the top. That. Is. It. Smidge is wearing one sleeve on his head. Kinda looks like a pharoah's head gear. James is picking the length of the seam on the other sleeve for me. I fantasize that the sleeves will become (magically, while I sleep) pockets for the vest.

I can't find my serger or sewing machine. Now that I think about it, I've asked Zorak several times over the past week to bring them up and always he says he will, but then forgets. I suspect he can't find them, either. They're really quite well-hidden. Did find the snap press. Perhaps Zorak can whip up a Boogie Nights outfit for himself this evening? But the kid's gonna go as a homeless petty officer in peacetime if I don't pick up the pace.

Dy

The Last Minute...

*said in my best voice over*

Welcome to The Last Minute! This is it, folks. This is when the magic happens. Right here, at The Last Minute.

This is when you realize you can staple together the front of a costume rather than add velcro. This is when a specific cowboy becomes Any Old Cowboy, and you can use the threat of candy for acceptance of the changes. This is when sweats become bats, and if you say it IS a monkey head often enough, it will magically become a monkey head.

This is when the rubber hits the couch and things go all awry out there on the road. This is... My Finest Hour.

It is 5:24PM (according to the clock on the computer. I have no idea what time it is out there in the real world, but let's just assume that a minute is sixty seconds anywhere and follow along on the whole lapsed time thing and we'll all be good to go.)

I have, sitting in bags before me: a sparkly blue and gold shirt for a well-endowed woman, a fuzzy scarf, a pair of jeans that must have been part of some grown man's Hulk costume a few years back, a belt, half a yard of black vinyl, an old lady's neckerchief, a couple of "decorator rings" (whatever those are), and a spool of thread.

Can this become a pirate?

Can this become a pirate before tomorrow?

Will he live this down?

Or will this imbue me with inspiration for blackmail in twelve short years?

Only time will tell, but anything can happen at The Last Minute... it's the most wonderful tiiiiiiiime, of the yeeeeeeear!

Dy

Potential

Some days have the potential to be inspiring days, filled with exploration and joy; days bursting with goodness and gentleness, much like a 1970's fabric softener commercial. Today may have had that potential, but we didn't pull it off. It started off on a weird note when Zorak woke me by handing me a crying, stinky baby at 7:30, with the admonition, "Here ya go. I've gotta run." What? Where's the alarm clock? Or, barring the alarm, where's the coffee?

I should have cancelled the dentist appointment, stayed home, cooked, and read. Next time my day starts like that, I think I will.

It was a rough one, just weird from start to finish. There were even a few things that were simply too odd to sort out. My personal favorite came tonight, from James. I cannot share the context, (because I was hiding and refused to go see what was going on - Zorak had the helm, and I left him to it). All I know is that the child was in tears when he uttered this phrase. I may never know the rest of the story.:

Well, would you want to lick my tongue?

Come to think of it, we may not want to know...

Miss Emily is firmly entrenched in her 9 month growth spurt. Hiking across the desert in August with nothing but a bag of pork rinds wouldn't leave a person so parched.

Costumes: mostly figured out. I think. The only one that's going to require actual effort on my part tomorrow is John's pirate costume. Gotta dig up the sewing machine (and then find a place to use it... and then figure out what I'm doing.) James plans to re-tread his Superman costume, and our Wonderful Friends have come to the rescue with an outgrown Bob the Builder costume Smidge can wear. I bought a hardhat and yellow spraypaint today to round out the look. Miss Emily is set to be a ladybug.

All's well that ends well, though. We began Farmer Boy tonight, and had lights off around eight-thirty. Everyone was out by nine. James got back up around ten and said he was hungry. I gave him a banana and some warm milk, and we read a bit of Tucket's Travels together while he snacked and we snuggled. Then he brushed his teeth and headed to bed. I don't think he was hungry, really. I think he just didn't like ending the day on a sour note and needed a little more comfort. That's good, I think. I'm glad that comfort is the norm for him.

I'm glad that's the norm for all of us. It ensures that we'll work harder together, as a team, to make tomorrow a better day.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

A meme?

I always think about doing these, but never get around to doing them. But then Becca tagged me, officially, so I thought I'd give it a try. This is a "Ten Random Facts About Me" meme. Are these supposed to be little known things? Or do we shoot for weird things? Or is it just truly random? Ok, ok, I've got the first one:

1. I draw a total blank when asked a relatively vague question.

So here goes. 10 9 Random thoughts about me...

2. Zorak kicks my butt at "Name that Band" - every time. I have some kind of musical turret's that causes me to shout "Bob Seger" at the most inappropriate moments.

3. I didn't learn to dance until I was 22.

4. I studied Italian for two years, in the hope I would one day be called to serve as a missionary in Italy. (Yeah, I know, that's an odd way to go about it. I was twelve. That's about all I can say on that one.)

5. Up until about six months after I'd met Zorak, neither marriage nor motherhood was on my radar. At all. Ever.

6. I can wrestle a stud wall into place, rebuild an engine, and sew a straight line, but I cannot, for the life of me, figure out what to fix for lunch!

7. Although I'm not a fan of some of the technology available, I must admit that I got a little thrill in my knees when I saw the new commercial for a vehicle that will parallel park for you.

8. I used to train to be a powerlifter. (Laney, shush!)

9. I've never smoked pot or taken any illegal narcotic substance.

10. Coffee. Good thing it's legal, right?

Ok, that fruffnsnuffn dagburned dryer buzzer just woke the baby. I tag anyone who hasn't done this yet, but thinks it look like fun! I'll catch y'all later.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Dentists and Cabinets and Bugs, Oh my!

Blogging and heading for bed tonight! The low is supposed to be around 28. We haven't hooked up the propane to the HVAC yet, and the behemoth stove is still in exile in the basement, so it's gonna be a cold one tonight! (We're loving the beautiful days, but this cold snap at night caught us off guard. Thank heaven for space heaters!)

The checkups for the boys went fairly well. No plaque, no tartar, happy gums, clean tongues. Everything that is supposed to be receiving excellent attention and maintenance, is receiving excellent attention and maintenance (yay!) But they STILL all have new cavities! Every. Single. Child. (argh!) WHY is this happening? The dentist is very nice about it, but somehow he comes across as if he's saying, "You really suck at this, ya know." I *know* that's not what he means, but... *sigh* He's convinced it's a diet thing, now.

So we did the routine Q&A:
Do they drink a lot of juice?
Mmm, no. In the past six months, they've had juice maybe, MAYBE twice a week. If that.
Kool-Aid?
No, we don't even buy that. Or sodas. They have soda perhaps twice a month. When we eat out, we all drink water. When they're "thirsty", I give them water. We really drink a lot of water.
Sugar before bed, or drinks at bedtime?
Nope. Nothing passes those lips but water after their teeth are brushed.
Candy?
Unh-uh. I tried the chocolate chips with lessons thing, but that was more work than it was worth and lasted a whopping two days out of the past three years. So, um, no. We never eat taffy, and they don't eat caramels or nougats... (of course, I'll have to fess up on Wednesday that *I* eat all the caramels at night, while the children are sleeping. My diet is deplorable, but theirs is great!)
Processed foods like snack cakes and cookies?
Uh, wheat allergy means any cakes and cookies we do eat are homemade and generally free of a lot of the gunk. No high-fructose corn syrup. WAY less sugar than store-bought things.

Really, we're a LOT better than my mother was with me! *grin*

They're already little flossing maniacs. The teeth are clean, just... weak? We're going to add a third brushing to our daily routine: a light brushing with baking soda after lunch. And the boys readily agreed to a total moratorium on any and all junk food from now until their next checkups (although Zorak kindly mentioned certain upcoming holidays, so that will need to be renegotiated a bit). Perhaps that will work.

In the meantime, poor Smidge has a referral to a pediatric specialist. His front teeth overlap slightly on the edges, and the dentist said there is decay at each spot where the teeth rest against each other. He'd like to put crowns on all four front teeth. (I don't know that we're going to follow that recommendation. Figure we'll talk with the specialist first and go from there.) It breaks my heart, and we feel like absolute loser parents for this, but when we stand back and look objectively... we can't really find anything obvious that's causing it. Maybe we need to take them in for a blood workup? Would a blood serum calcium deficiency cause this kind of problem? Anybody else with good diet and hygiene still run into dental problems in their little ones?

After the lengthy visit, we hit the library, where we returned our books for the THIRD TIME IN A ROW without late fines! WOOHOO, we're on a roll! Maybe someday soon John will stop referring to our visits as "renting" books from the library. ;-) All stocked up for the week with some wonderful reads!

Then, as a treat for a day well-executed, we headed to Cook's Natural Science Museum. It's a little place, but just the right size when you're eight and six and three. Very friendly staff. Incredibly diverse collection. They have an historic mousetrap collection, insects from around the world, aquatic and regional critters... the ladies there were very knowledgable and shared tons of interesting information with the boys. The boys had a delightful time exploring the many hands-on exhibits and discussing the interesting, detailed displays. I think this will be one of our regular hot spots for a while. Good way to enjoy the afternoon.

We did meet with Patient Mr. Cabinet Guy. He's so... patient. He couldn't really answer our concern about putting the Swiss Army Cabinet against a wall. Said he's done it before, and hasn't heard any complaints, but acknowledged that people don't always complain to the salesman or managers when they're unhappy. He'd put in a few calls, but didn't get any satisfactory information. So, we'll have to swing by Lowe's (because Home Depot does not have any of the tall cabinets on display other than one lone, empty pantry) to see what's up with the angles and whether it's worth trying to make it fit. In case it's a no-go, though, Patient Mr. Cabinet Guy did help us design two other very feasible options, both of which would move the microwave from atop the fridge. Zorak's eyes twinkled, and he obviously preferred both of those options to the Swiss Army Cabinet. (Something about balancing scalding leftovers above your head with small children darting between your feet as if on a dare... makes him nervous.) So, we'll see. Like I told the boys, now Mommy and Daddy have to go sit and stare at one another until one of us comes up with an answer.

And Miss Emily? She was a TROOPER today. Granted, she passed out every time we got back in the car, so she was a little dazed for the first half hour at each stop. But she was just her normal, happy, clapping, giggling little self. She's like carrying around a ball of sunshine wherever we go. Gotta love that!

Well, I can't feel my fingers now, so I'm going to go before the typos get too bad to correct.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

General Stuff

OH yeah, after the grandfather comment from earlier in the week, Zorak got carded for beer at the market yesterday! I'd forgotten about that. (Although I did laugh. Quite heartily.) So, go figure. Is he eighteen... or eighty? Dun-da-daaa! He's Chameleon Man!

Today, we worked. We primed and cleaned and moved. We chopped and sorted and stacked. We changed our minds a hundredtybillion times (maybe more) about the Swiss Army Cabinet. We hunted down Patient Mr. Cabinet Man, who has moved to another store and still can't get away from us. (OK, it was a promotion and he gets to work M-F now, rather than "retail hours". I'm pretty sure it wasn't us. Not entirely.) We'll meet with him tomorrow and order us a cabinet of some kind! Wahoo!

Today I burned, er, baked not one loaf of bread, but three, and three batches of cinnamon rolls. Sunday, it turns out, is not a good baking day for me. Most of it was edible. The upside to today's baking fiasco is that we will have bread pudding for breakfast tomorrow, because that's what we do with the failed wheat-free loaves.

The wheat-free loaf would have turned out perfectly, had any one of the six of us in this house had heard the timer beep. Of course, that would have saved the bread that was already in the oven, as well. But, ah, no. And so, two loaves burnt and one loaf overproofed to the point of reaching critical mass and imploding. Zorak has already eaten most of one of the whole wheat loaves I made. Maybe it's a sympathy play. Or one of KathyJo's euphemisms. The cinnamon rolls, actually, weren't "burnt", but they didn't get removed from the muffin tins in time and what was supposed to be the caramel glaze cooled into... a praline-style Gorilla Glue. Ick.

Tomorrow we have three, possibly four, dental appointments. At nine in the morning. I tried to schedule for a Friday so Zorak could go with us, but the office is no longer open on Fridays. Don't know what's up with that, but considering the amount of business they get from our family, I'm thinkin' they could open on Friday, see us all, close up shop as we leave, and make out like bandits. Maybe I'll talk to them about that tomorrow. ;-)

And so, to bed. Tomorrow's going to come way too early!

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Kind of different...

This has been the week for unexpected comments from strangers! None of them have been bad, per se, just... odd.

Comment #1:
While we were eating out last week, Zorak noticed that a couple of older, grandmotherly types were eyeballing the baby. Miss Emily was in good form, and so he took her over to say hello (much to the delight of said eyeballers). It seemed like such a routine exchange of pleasantries and reminiscences, until one of the ladies asked Zorak, "Are these all your grandchildren?"

*blink* *blink*

"What?"

"Your grandchildren, are they all yours?"

BWAAHAAHAAAA!!! (I can laugh. It wasn't me. This time.)

Maybe it's the beard.

Comment #2:
Then today, we were at the mall, trying to track down comforters for the boys. We paused at a stall which displayed blinking things. No, we didn't expect to find blankets there, but those lights -- they drew James like a staticky television will draw an unsuspecting little blonde girl. So, as he's staring into the light, the gentleman manning the booth and I struck up a conversation. All seems normal, when out of nowhere, he says, "Where are you from?"

(Side note: I hate this question. Around here, people mean, "Did you travel all the way from Priceville, or are you from here in town?" But this guy wasn't from here, his accent was faintly Mediterranean, with a bit of an Indian lilt to it. So I wasn't sure if he meant here-here, or around-here, here...)

In going with our Forever Home theme (This Is Home), I said we were from our little town. He cocked his head and asked, very slowly, the way some people will do when they think you're not quite proficient with the language, "But where are you from?"

Oh, well, we're from New Mexico. *smile* (OK, answered that one without looking like too much of an idiot. Meanwhile, James is still staring intently at the lights.)

But no, again with the question. This time, a bit more slowly. I just stared at him, because, frankly, I was no longer certain I understood his question properly. Finally, he says, "You're not European?"

When my laughter died down a bit, he explained that he thought for sure we were from the Netherlands, or perhaps Germany. Nothing he could pin down. We just "had that feel" about us.

Of course, he could have been from Texas, I guess. In the end, it doesn't really matter where we're from, as long as we can talk and visit and enjoy the interactions we have from day to day. And both conversations turned into delightful ones, in spite of their odd beginnings. I hope you have some delightful surprises in store for you this week!

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Industrious Days

(A grouchy post)

This weekend is The Weekend of Preparation. We're not actually preparing for anything, but it makes us more productive if we have a goal. We've gone over all the little things that need doing - some obvious, like finishing the trim painting, others not so obvious until, say, it rains... that's like a big, soggy highlighter from God, there. Or the dental work I thought I could put off a while, until tonight. Anyway, I doubt we'll end up with a floor before Christmas; there are simply too many other pressing obligations. But that's okay. I'm glad we can take care of these things, and that's forward motion. I just asked that we take this weekend to get (and, by affiliation of said request, keep) the house "floor ready". You know, like normal people live.

I'm tired of the state of disarray, to be honest. Yes, this is a construction zone, but it's also our home. I'm tired of tripping over a shop-vac in my kitchen (I do move it, but it makes it way "home" while I'm not looking). I'm tired of the baby teething on the reversible screwdriver bits (just how many of those do we have, anyway?) I'm tired of not being able to scrub what floor we do have because it takes a full day to clear the junk up off of it before we can even get to the sweeping and vacuuming. And I won't even go into the shoes... those shoes that turn up everywhere... they're like the voices in the head of an Alfred Hitchcock antagonist.

I do what I can, but it's not enough. And I refuse to be a nag about this stuff - nagging won't help anymore than setting it on fire does. (Trust me.) But, as Zorak is fond of pointing out (sometimes at the most inopportune moments), I do have "control issues". So, going against my own grain in this endeavor is making me subtly and unpredictably grouchy. Well, perhaps not so subtly.

So today we buckled down and got to work. It was productive:

* School Room - sanded, textured, caulked and vacuumed check
* Boys Room - scoured and prepped for curtains and hanging IKEA thingies check
* Nursery - ... um, didn't get around to the nursery
* Basement - I don't even ask anymore, but I heard noises that sounded too big to be mice, and there are more boxes in the foyer, so I'm guessing something was done on that front check
* Clutter -
- library books rounded up check
- paper from the Alter of Incoming Bills cleared out check
- baby clothes sorted for washing (this time it's the baby boy clothes) check
* Pantry - actually rethinking the pantry option, but we will order something this week. Oh, yes, we will. check (In the meantime, I resorted and organized the kitchen bookshelf/pantry again, so small check on that one.)
* Clean off that hillbilly front porch! check

Now that the boys' windows are clean on the inside, it's obvious that tomorrow, I need to tackle the storm windows. They need to be removed, cleaned, repaired and put back up. New screens. Clean and lubricate the tracks. General happy homeowner stuff. Should be good. Should feel productive. There's just nothing like a frenzied cleaning binge to cure what ails ya.


Which brings me to the things that make me smile:
We need to buy James new winter jammies, as he insists on growing out of last year's clothes every. single. year. :-)
The boys are very excited about the school room.
Zorak is very excited about building bookshelves for the school room.
Emily is very excited about everything. She does "yay", and "wolf puppy" and many other things that take me back to the other children's infant years.

And that makes me very thankful - for the helpful, generous-hearted 8 year old; for the loving, doting 6 year old; for the delightful, happy 3 year old; for the sweet and exuberant 9 month old. And perhaps most especially, even when I don't feel like it, thankful for the dedicated, somewhat surly but always loving... erm, older one.

Autumn Recipe Tag

Mere, who regularly makes me smile, makes me think, keeps me alternately laughing so hard I cry, and standing in awe of her creativity (and motivation - definitely the motivation part), and is generally just thoroughly enjoyable to read, posted one of her favorite fall recipes when she heard rumors of autumnal weather reaching her neck of the woods. They are now well-fed, and shedding sweaters by ten AM. (Never listen to rumors spread by weathermen!)

Hmmm, let's tag everybody and put together the most delicious Autumn Recipe Collection!

Andie has inadvertently started the ball rolling with her Royal Thanksgiving Recipe: Pumpkin Pie Fit For a Queen.

It doesn't take much - just one recipe. One thin index card. Go on, try it. Post your favorite autumn recipe here, or post it on your blog and let us know here so we can all feast in the fall!

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

(I'll figure out what to add later today. Right now I've got to go look productive.)

GAH!! I'm a heel.

Little did I know how prophetic my words were when I said the bug day would probably be better than the farm field trip. Today was the deadline to pay to reserve our spot (yes, I know, nothing like the last minute for getting things done). I'd made arrangements to just swing payment by while we were in town, since this is our "goin' to town day". Everything was going along smoothly.

Well, we got out the door with everyone and everything - loaves of bread for Mr. Ward and Miss Terry, Pioneer Club handbooks, library books, grocery list... everything except the directions, and phone number of the lady I was supposed to deliver the payment to. And I didn't know her last name. If we hadn't been TO town by the time I realized my mistake, I'd have gone back. But that's, what, $50 in gas? *sigh* I feel like a real heel, and am not sure how I'm going to explain it to the boys. Well, I'll just be honest, yes, but I'm going to feel even worse before it's all over. And the boys are going to be so disappointed.

OK, it's after eleven. We got home twenty minutes ago, and the kids are now down, except for Miss Emily. It's been a very long day, and tomorrow probably won't be terribly perky. So I'm going to get her down and see about making plans to do something solo on the farm field trip end. I know I can't make it right, but maybe I'll be able to make it at least a little better.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

The Great Acorn Hunt

This was, hands down, a great day. I don't know why we don't do things like this more often. (Well, I do - it's been too hot until just recently, and we're just now limbering up from our summer sloth.) Anyway, this was probably better than the upcoming farm pumpkin thing we're doing next week. I'm telling ya, a cheap hammer and a little direction will keep them occupied, learning, and working together for h-o-u-r-s.

The boys were first struck by the colors we found:

PURPLE!














GREEN!

FLOWERS!

(Short attention span. But, really, they were lovely flowers.)

I started us off with a known healthy nut. As a... um, control sample. Yeah.

The boys, however, went straight for the good stuff. And I use that term loosely...

(Not a clue why 2 out of 3 are not wearing shirts... come to think of it, they had shirts on when they went out. Huh. Weird.)

And their efforts were rewarded...

That photo is blurry b/c it's difficult to hold still with the stoopid dog pulling on my leg. There were many, many more like this big guy, but this one was, by far, the biggest. It was gross.

Meanwhile, Miss Emily and I hung out on our bamboo mat at the top of the hill and enjoyed the beautiful leaves. The dog, not so much. But the leaves were nice.



Kiss those babies!
~Dy

The Ew, er, Wow Factor

When you are eight or six or three, this is just a great way to spend an overcast autumn day...

It all started, as many things do when you have small children, with a discussion of maggots. What are they? Where'd they come from? How'd they get in the house? (Not my house, but that's only due to the butt-puckering fits I throw when I find smuggled "goodies" stashed in the recesses of closets.) Hmmm... a mystery!

Then someone shared a link... Acorn Larvae.

Well, you can guess what we've been doing since breakfast! The boys sought out nuts while the bread pudding baked. We ate, did math, history and Latin, and then, like three small shots, they were outta here. (I am stunned they did as much work as they did, truthfully.)

The stunning success factor rendered by dumping the nuts in water first (floaters are, or have been, inhabited) makes for a sensational day of learning. Yes, indeed.

I've got photos. I'll upload them when I'm not feeling quite so queasy... They're still at it. I can hear them, now. "This one's even BIGGER!" "Wow, there are two in this one." "Ewww, what's it doing?"

I'll haul them in for a snack here in a bit, and as always, kiss those babies (after they've washed up, right?)

Dy

Lesson Recap

We've begun week 5 of Latin for Children, which is a review week. Therefore, you get a wrap up of our lessons over the past month. We are making steady, forward motion in most areas, and for that, I'm thankful. Besides, what better time to review than during a period of absolutely no progress at all?

LfC: so far, so good. The boys have learned the first declension, two maxims, a ton of vocabulary, how to identify which nouns belong to the first declension, and several grammar chants. They "get" inflection. They're now able to spot the different cases, and decline nouns on demand. The vocabulary moves more quickly than we've been accustomed to before, but they don't seem to mind (or notice - but I'm not going to be the one to point it out). They look forward to doing Latin, which is good, considering it's a daily part of our lessons.

On the daily front, we'll segue into Math. James has moved his work from paper to the white board for now, and we've delayed the move into Delta for a bit. His housekeeping skills aren't what they need to be for him to be quick and comfortable with the multiple digit multiplication, so we decided to linger and loiter a bit until we can iron those kinks out. Graph paper helps quite a bit, but right now it's a focus thing, and the white board seems to be big enough to block out any distractions. *grin* He's got the technical aspects of it, so now we're working on, like I said, the housekeeping. We'll work on the board a bit longer, then move back to graph paper, and then into the next book. He still does his peripheral math for fun, and continues to learn, even as we hover a bit. Yet another reason we love homeschooling: what they need, how they need it.

John is in Alpha now, moving quickly through the review portion of the first few chapters. We review telling time daily with a manipulative clock (it's one we picked up at the Dollar Store, not related to the MUS materials), with his goal being his very own wristwatch for Christmas. He's pretty psyched over the "serious study" aspect of Alpha, compared with the "experiment and explore" tone of Primer. Primer was absolutely worth the initial investments for him (both in time and money), but I think he feels like he's a *real student* now, and he loves that.

History... mmm, honestly, I need to sit down, print out all the student pages, buy the audio tapes, stock up on craft crap, and throw a Story of the World, Vol. I Weekend Bash with the kids. I had hoped to be finished with that book by now and deeply enmeshed in Famous Men of Rome. We're so not there. Our tried-and-true method of reading History during lunch has fizzled with the repeated addition of children to the mix. Smidge is far too busy cracking jokes, or making bodily function noises for my voice to be heard over the ensuing din. Miss Emily is far too much fun to watch and interact with, as well. So when the boys are not laughing at Smidge's antics, they're staging their own open mike night in the hope of making Miss Emily laugh. I'm going to have to regroup and try something else. History should be something engaging, not something your mother shouts at you over her Fritos and coffee. This is where my end of the deal kicks into high gear, and I'll figure out something. Or die trying. What we do get through, they "get", and it's sticking. That's a good place to start. Now I just have to find a way to quiet the roar enough to get through more of it, more efficiently.

Science is going quite well. We're actually doing the notebook pages and narrations regularly, although we could stand to do more experiments. With a house full of boys, though, I suspect we could do experiments daily and they'd still think we should be doing more (more, MORE!!!) We spend computer time each week on astronomy sites, which has added not only a little more interest to the lessons, but the opportunity for the boys to learn some new skills on the computer, as well. In the spirit of using the resources available, I'm hoping to cap our study of astronomy with a full-scale trip to the Marshall Space Flight Center up in Huntsville. In the meantime, though, we have plans to blow up a planet between Mars and Jupiter to see if we can create an asteroid belt.

We've enjoyed studying a bit of Baroque in our music studies this month, and the boys seem to have found the joy of Domenico Scarlatti. (And here, my inner self does a little happy dance. I've always loved this stuff, and it is fun to watch their faces as they listen. Sometimes they'll make up stories to go along with the music. Other times, they'll "hush" one another and just listen...) I'd like to supplement our studies with more hands-on material. If anyone has any recommendations, I'd love to hear them.

The rest of our studies we slip in through our reading. Tons of reading, but I'll have to to a Reading Roundup in a separate post. It's time to finish the evening chores and rest up for tomorrow.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

"You Owe Me"

This news echoes across the kitchen, from my beloved's mouth, as I'm standing by the kitchen, peering at him over the mounds of dirty dishes. I shout back (because we can't get within five feet of one another due to the entire contents of the cabinet under the sink being strewn about the floor), "Shyah. For what?" He smirks. (This usually indicates that he totally has me, and he knows it.) "For not having company."

OK, you know how sometimes your liver rebels against your body and tries to escape through your mouth? Yeah, that happened. I didn't even bother to scan the terrain: archaeological dig in the kitchen, yard sale-style clothing piles in the hallway (14 loads - it adds up when you're wringing it out by hand, okay?), the mess-hall-mid-air-raid decor in the dining room, and the children strung over random pieces of furniture.

"Dear. God. No. WHO would want to come over? NOW? No. Tell me they're not coming." (I don't even know who "they" are, but I don't want "them" here right now. And yes, he totally has me on this one.)

"I explained that we'd have to switch from renovation mode to cleaning mode, and that I really don't want to. Actually, I explained that you'd feel compelled to and would make me do it."

OK. I'm good with that. I'll take the heat. So, who was it?

My friend with the uber tidy wife and no kids whose home is always immaculate. (That's not actually how he put it - he just told me their names, but that's what the translation reads in my head.)

I owe him more than he knows...

The dishwasher finally went into place, and doesn't leak. We're working it hard now. Andie, thanks for removing the curses. I cannot tell you how much I appreciated that. I kept offering to wash the dishes after each meal, and he kept saying, "No, no, it's just about in... damn... ok, I've got to run to town one more time. THEN it'll be ready. Just hang on." And so, the dishes piled up, and up, and up. But now, they are gone. And we have a new soldering iron. Yay!

And, thanks to the motivating power of gut-wrenching fear, the kitchen is now just about spotless. Feels so good. I can almost feel the new floor beneath my feet (almost, mostly what I feel is splinters, so I just stand very still and imagine). We made some serious headway, and that feels really quite good.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

10:57:46

Had to mark the time, as this was a long one. I'm now officially no longer "at work", per se, just on-call. There's still the wash to finish up, the kitchen to tidy, and some planning to do, but the children are, finally, all down.

(And then, at 11:54, I was called back on duty and didn't get to finish the post - it's now Sunday and here we are...)

Today Yesterday, we didn't do much of anything, really. It was one of those deeply normal days that might cause me some blogging angst, but in reality, soothe the soul and uplift the spirit. I actually uttered a sigh of exhaustion, er, relief at the end of it all. It was nice. We hung out, watching cartoons, eating cold cereal, playing with the dog. We made Smidge put on a shirt because just looking at him made the rest of us cold. We ran errands: Home Depot, Lowe's, Wal-Mart. We looked at flooring. We got updated quotes on the Swiss Army Cabinet. We stopped at our favorite buffet and ate until we couldn't move.

The big news: we picked up a dishwasher. In-stock. On sale. Happy day. Zorak is installing it as I type, but has not-so-subtly requested that I not take photos and blog it.

The bad news: I've got to call Sears on Monday because our washing machine seems to have work ethic issues. I'm not expecting it to do 16 pairs of jeans, or a king size comforter. I'd be happy if it would spin out one queen sheet (not the set, just one. sheet. which it won't do, as I learned during last week's bedding exchange marathon), or even two pairs of jeans. But no. Not gonna spin the water out, not for a million bucks. Well, no, I'm sure if I stuck a million bucks in there, it'd work just fine and probably catch all of it in the handy-dandy filter which I cannot access. But since it's still under warranty, I refuse to knock off a bank to get my washer to spin. So, we'll call in Mr. Repair Man and see if he can convince it to pull its fair share around here. I'm tired of hand-wringing the wash before putting it in the dryer. I'm going to ask him to neuter the buzzer while he's in there, too.

This morning, I saw that Miss Andie has pulled it off - a Thomas cake for the little guy's birthday!! It's gorgeous! WOOHOO! Way to go! Head on over, check it out, and give wee Leo some big birthday greetings.

And now, I've got a kitchen to put back together, and all that laundry and planning I was going to do last night. My mother would not believe I'm doing this and loving it.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Just in case...

Just in case I was going a little too easy on myself over this whole Halloween preparation (or lack of) thing...

And just in case I was living (rather blissfully) in denial about Thanksgiving...

Somebody just had to go and mention Christmas (only 73 days left!).

Then someone else came to the rescue with a planner. A free planner. Oh, that's a good idea! YES. I like lists. I like planning things. I like free. So I opened the site to see...

Week #1 - List Week Oct 3- 8

...that I'm already behind.

Oh, well.

For those who might enjoy some festive lists to lose for the holidays, there's Organized Christmas. (How wrong is that?)

I'll print them out. And I'll lose them. And I'll feel quite in the holiday spirit about the whole thing. We go with the flow around here. And did you know Advent calendars are a LOT of fun when you just eat the whole thing on Christmas Eve while you read the story in one shot? Yeah, it's not all bad.

The one thing we definitely would like to do this year is get Christmas cards out. Before New Year's. Preferably before Christmas, but we're starting slowly. Last year, we had such lovely cards adorning the bare studs in the living room - they made the Forever Home feel very much like Home, even when it was still, technically, an uninhabitable shack. And something that can brighten a room that much, well, it's something we'd like to share.

Besides, we're always up for an attempt to get all four children pointing the same direction at once, and smiling. Or at least not crying. One at a time, it's easy...



Even two at a time can be done...



But we've yet to accomplish anything with the whole gang...



I wonder how much work it would take to make a composite...

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Life

Because I am tired.

Because it's late.

And because this was too good not to share.






Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Wild Wednesday!

This has SO not been my week for Domestic Achievement. It has, however, been a wonderful hands-on lesson in paying attention to details.

Let's ignore the dishes (no, really, please ignore them...), and even the weird piles of paper that would indicate there are two elderly, blind, compulsive packrats residing somewhere in the front of the house. It goes far deeper than that.

I made rice pancakes today. That was my first time actually making the recipe. I've tried several times, but always forget, when I'm making rice for supper, than I plan to use the leftovers for pancakes and, well, I'm not certain the boys would go for garlic or cumin pancakes. So, I whipped up a batch today and it was a little... thin. Disturbingly thin, to be honest. I rechecked the recipe. It did say, "Whisk until you have a light and creamy batter." Hmm, ok, well, it was creamy and, yes, certainly "light". I scooped some out and slapped it onto the griddle. And it ran EVERYWHERE. Suddenly, rather than pancakes, I was whipping up fried milk and eggs with rice bits. Interesting, but not what I was hoping for. (Upon closer scrutiny of the recipe, I realized I'd left out a cup and a half of flour. Ohhhh! Okay. Makes much more sense now.)

Made Magic Milk Shakes yesterday. Aside from the fact that our blender just isn't big enough (the note in the recipe said the blender "should be about 3/4 full now", at which point, I was stuffing things in through the hole in the lid b/c there was no more room), the milkshakes didn't look a bit like anything Frosty-like. I mean, they were good, but not... right. It wasn't until later than night, while sharing the recipe with LB that I realized I'd completely spaced the powdered milk component of the recipe.

The clean, shiny change, Snickers wrappers, and compass I washed, along with the jeans...

The windows (that's all I can bring myself to say on that point)...

Where has the routine gone? The focus? The order? (Quit sniggling, there was some, at some point. I know there was.) The joy of the routine, focus and order?

OK, maybe there wasn't joy in it. But there's certainly no joy in the runny pancakes and ruined laundry, either. (The milkshakes, nobody complained about, so they don't count, not entirely.)

And then, when the pupil is ready and all that jazz... on the radio, I heard a bit about children and obedience. The phrase was "comply quickly, sweetly, completely". The station blitzed out right after that, but that's okay. I heard what I needed to. I seldom obey quickly, sweetly, completely. Good place to start.

That whole "task at hand" thing? Yeah, a little attention to detail would have left last week - blood, puke, and all - running much more smoothly.

Someone sent me an encouraging email about things I needed encouraging about.

Bloggers blogged about things that encouraged me, and strengthened my resolve to step out of the mental cellar, where, as I said to a friend earlier today, I'd fallen into the vats of whine I keep down there, to come on up and Get Doin'. Do it quickly, sweetly, completely. Stick to the task at hand. Find the joy in the mundane, the joy in the incredibly small setbacks. Wiggle those toes and watch the baby giggle. Read one more book. Sing while we wash the dishes. Suck it up while I pay the bills. Be a better steward of the money I've been entrusted with to manage our home. Fix lunch for Zorak more consistently. (Did I used to put notes in his lunches? Why did I stop? I still feel the same way, but it doesn't do him any good if I don't let him know.)

Yeah.

Details.

Things like that.

And I'm gonna kiss my babies just a little bit more, too.
~Dy

It wasn't Bob

Wow, you guys are creative! I love the suggestions and ideas. Maybe we could make a SpongeBob cake for Zorak's birthday next year. He likes Spongebob.

The uncanny resemblance to Bob the Tomato is probably residual from that being our first themed cake. We've done Bob and Larry twice. This picture isn't so great, but it's definitely the eyes. LOL. (The only good, head-on shot we have wasn't digital, and it's in a box somewhere. Pardon the flaming teeth.)



Have any of you ever read Matt Groening's books? Or have I completely underestimated the literary breadth of my audience? If so, I apologize. Truly. (If so, I am also quite thoroughly outed now, and probably shunned from making any book reviews ever.) However that may play out, though, we just can't look at the smokestack (seen here in a behind-the-scenes shot) ~



...and not see the one-eared rabbit, Bongo, from Groening's Life in Hell series of comics. (They're irreverent, somewhat baudy, and... shamelessly funny. But may not be suitable for some viewers reading over shoulders, if you know what I mean.) So, there you have it - not Bob. Definitely not Bob. And as far as Smidge knows that was all Thomas.

The things we keep to ourselves for the sake of our children, huh? ;-)

Dy