An Outing

Outings are such fun!

Wednesday we hit the Wheeler Wildlife Refuge. In spite of the heat, the children all had a very nice time. We bought cheap birding glasses for five bucks, and a handful of arrowheads for a quarter a piece. Not authentic, but certainly a whole lot of fun!

We picked up a tree identification pamphlet, and the boys figured out quite a few new-to-us trees. We also experienced the joy of having this little guy show off his kill by landing on several of the kids.
We got there a bit late in the day to see much bird activity, I think. There was a Small Blue Heron out on the water, and a few up in the canopy that we could hear, but couldn't find.

We hit the observation building -- which is beyond fascinating, and a place we will be frequenting this fall and winter! WOW!

We stopped for a picnic by the water.

Then we hiked the trail through the cypress grove and around through the fields. It was a good outing. The boys all wanted to spend some time sketching Hawkeye, the red-tailed hawk who lives at the Refuge, so we headed back that way. Isn't she a beauty?
EmBaby and I hung out in the shade of the trees for a bit, wandered back inside, wandered around... all the while, four little boys sat in front of this bird, drawing, drawing, drawing. They sat for a good half hour, and would have continued on for a long time still, but EmBaby was done being hot, sweaty, and *up*. It was time to go.

Promises all around that we'll go back to do more sketching before they leave. (Mental note to take more food next time. I got hungry.)

A good day. A very good day.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

This is a rush, man. Just wild.

This is why God gives me one child at a time. I don't do exponential increases well. I mean, we had a great day, but it was =fast (see the streaks? See how fast that was?) And it was loud. And it started with an earth shattering ka-boom. They all emerged in one large, hungry, talkative group this morning, wanting food and teaching and conversation. (I'll shoot you straight, camp cooks and counselors are now among my most revered heroes. Those people can face larger hoardes at six in the morning, and do it with a smile! Wow. Truly. Wow. Because it's scary when they all start moving toward you like that...)

So, we did Latin, math, and a little reading. Then, being out of fruit (all of it), milk (why don't we have a cow yet?), and creamer (seriously, how did I let *that* happen?), we called it good and headed to the store. Stores. Fruit, milk, creamer, yogurt. Man we really do need a cow. And then, oy vey, where was Charles when it was time to buy the football stuff? (Oh. Yeah. Heh. At work. That probably has a lot to do with why we could buy the football stuff.)

You know you didn't get the brightest employee in the store - the locally owned sporting goods store that caters to the local teams, and the very one everybody shops at - when the clerk asks what you need, you list four standard items... and she completely crumbles. Fell apart and looked at me like I wasn't even speaking English. Like we weren't the hundredth family to come in asking for exactly the same things: padded chin strap, good mouth guard, practice jersey, and socks? Seriously, I could see a path worn in the carpet that followed our exact journey from the mouth guards to the checkout. Evidently, it was worn there by the other employees. The ones who didn't look lost when their customers asked, "Are these the good mouth guards, or is there really a difference?" Or torqued when their customers paid with a debit card, causing the employee to get off the phone to dial the transaction in. *sigh* But we made it, and DangerGirl managed to not crack anybody in the head with the bat display. Yay us.

Then, Zorak vetoed most of the things we bought. I've been informed that James was the only kid on the field tonight in "a white jersey and black socks". This, it seems, is a huge factor. A huge factor for a group of boys running about in fishnet crop tops. Riiiight.

Well, I was told to get black socks. Coach said so. (My new excuse for anything I botch, for the record. I'll let ya know how long I can milk that one.) And they were out of black practice jerseys in James' size. The entire rest of the team, I guess, had purchased them all, with the help of the other clerks in the store. Oddly enough, he loves the practice shirt -- the one item I nearly didn't get. (You know, on that point, could NOBODY have warned me that they are holey and see-through, and... look like that? Seriously, I thought she was joking when she held that thing up. Like some kind of newbie hazing thing.)

We got the super whomperdine padded chin strap with small guard dogs, a proximity alarm system, and a GPS receiver. Zorak said it's something-something too something-or-other.

There also was some issue or concern with the mouth guard, but it eventually passed muster. For now. (Although I have been informed they have mint scented guards. You know, just FYI.) I did get snapped at during the molding process. If you haven't done it before, evidently you simply haven't got the right amount of empathetic encouragement to offer. Yes, that's right, I'm an unsympathetic meanie, and was told to GO. NOW. But it's molded, and Zorak and James have created a shared, (evidently rather painful) experience between them.

Then, James practiced. First practice in pads. One of the hottest days of the year, so far. It was pretty harsh. He told Zorak after practice, "You know, I'm just not sure I'm seeing a return on expending so much energy." (Ah, the beauty of genetics - that boy is all ours!) This is going to be a very interesting season, indeed.

Kiss those hot, sweaty babies!
~Dy

Fear

Fear is seeing a "what's for dinner" thread on your favorite forum, and realizing you have no. idea.

Thank heaven for pasta!

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

To Cousins! To Friends! To Life!

I am a horrible host. We have been having so much fun with the boys, and I haven't taken hardly any pictures. Their mother is going to want to strangle me for this. But there's so much to do, and we stay so busy that I forget we didn't hire the professional photographer to follow us around. :-D

The boys have settled into the fold so well. We're really proud of them, and are enjoying them so much. We looked forward to it, but in a different way. What we're getting out of this right now is just a whole lot more. I'm so glad they got to come be with us.

Today we went back to church. Our church. The church John asked about two weeks ago. The church Smidge asked about last week. When the cousins said they'd brought church clothes, I figured God was done whispering to me and about ready to thwack me in the head and we'd best get back to it. We never found anything closer, but that's okay. The final decision is that we'll go on Sundays, and if we do decide we need a Wednesday activity, we will look for something local to fill that niche. Weeknight activities aren't usually heavy on doctrine, and so I don't think we'd have difficulty joining in with some place for that. Fellowship doesn't know doctrine, and that's what the Wed. night activities usually are -- fellowship. Community. Good stuff. OH, MAN, it felt good to be back "home", too!

Yesterday, the guys all worked on projects. Me-Tae and Me-Wah came out for the afternoon. We enjoyed supper together, Me-Wah toasted their anniversary that day. (HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, GUYS!) It was neat to have three couples together for the celebration: Me-Tae and Me-Wah, celebrating 23 years together; Zorak and I coming up on twelve; and T. and P. soon to wed. Things like that warm the heart, and foster hope all around. Just very encouraging.

"The men" went to the river to fish and ride the boat. The girls (aka - those of us who just didn't see the allure of sitting on rocks a hot 'n sticky bank, covered in mosquitos, trying to keep the Small One from getting sucked downstream) stayed home and visited. T and Me-Tae helped me switch out EmBaby's clothes to *sniff* 2T. Smidge was tempted to stay with us, until it dawned on him...

"OH! The mens is going. The girls is staying. *pause while he digests this news* I is a man! I's going!"

And off he went, without a backward glance.

All the kids had a fantastic time. No fish were caught, but that didn't dampen the boys' spirits. There were frogs to catch. Lightning bugs to chase. They came back just as happy and exhausted as young boys should at the end of a warm summer day.

They've been busy with projects and interesting things. Reading good books. Making up stories. I look around and think, "OK, this is really good stuff." I mean, it's challenging, particularly for one with perpetual stamina/motivation issues, but not challenging-in-a-bad-way.

Tomorrow we start back to school. Fourth grade for James. Second grade for John. Maths for Smidge. I've been gathering books and lesson ideas for the cousins - Cousin M. is starting third grade, and Cousin S. is starting 6th. (Wow. Ok. Sixth grade has a lot of stuff in it!) I hope they enjoy it, and I hope they get some good stuff out of it. And I hope I don't really mess up something important and end up making things harder for them. (Ohhhh, talk about guilt! Do they make a card for that? "Sorry I confused your kid this summer.")

But, if I have any hope at all of getting up before they do, I'd better get to bed ten minutes ago! :-)

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

OCD manifests itself is intersting ways

I have become absolutely obsessed with this stoopid water issue.

20 gallons during the night. That would mean somebody got up and flushed the toilet over and over and over again, for, what, thirty minutes (if they waited for the tank to fill each time). We didn't even make coffee before we went down to check it.

0 gallons used from the time we left for church (8:30) until we returned home (3:30) Seven hours and no movement.

And then, 90 gallons registered through our meter from our return until all the littles got tucked into bed.

That's...

3 pots of coffee (1.5 gal - didn't rinse the filter or the carafe)

6 tooth brushings (no water running, just wet the brush and then rinse the sink once when you're all done - total time for all kids, under a minute, so 3 gallons there, if that much - I think the faucets have low-flow, too))

10 toilet flushes (with a flow of 1.6gpf, for a total of 16 gallons for toilet water use.)

1 quick, timed five-minute shower (1.5gpm flow x 5 = 7.5)

That is all. we. did. No laundry. No dishwasher. No car washing. No bathing the dog. I didn't even wash my face!

What is that? 1.5+3+16+7.5 = 28 gallons

So, ok, let's round up, just for fun - let's just piss away a little water, here -

2+5+20+10= 37 gallons

That still doesn't explain where the remaining 53 gallons went!

That there have now been two fairly long periods where the meter change was zero indicates very strongly that there is not a leak in the lines. (Once, the night of the 3rd-4th, and then again today, during church.)

I'm ready to get out there and dig up the entire line with my bare hands to find out what's going on. Zorak, thankfully, is more patient, more laid-back, more Jimmy Buffet like. That's a good thing.

There are other, wonderful things going on, too. So I'm going to end this entry. (There is nothing I can do at one in the morning, anyway, other than wander down to the meter every half hour and become "that crazy lady who digs in the weeds by the side of the road in the middle of the night", which won't help anybody. I know.)

Dy

Mystery Update. :-O

Well, there was zero water usage during the night. None. Numbers didn't move one iota between 2:00 and 6:55 this morning. Five hours, no activity.

That pretty much rules out a leak.

So far today, we have run one load of wash (12.5 gallons) and one load of dishes (7.5 gallons). Patrick has watered the garden (10 gallons - he filled a five-gallon bucket twice).

The meter reads 130 gallons.

There is, obviously, a problem.

Huh.

Did we mention the power pole comes onto our property and the transformer splits it in our front yard, over to our house and to the neighbors' home? Yeah, if we want to move our transformer, or make any changes that will affect our neighbors' power, we'd have to pay to have poles and a transformer set for them on their property. Grandfathered situations, family property and such, being what they are.

There were two other structures on this place at one time, both with power, water, and septic. Makes me wonder what else is tied to our utilities...

We can't find our neighbors' meter anywhere on the road.

Interesting stuff, isn't it?
~Dy

Mystery

We have a mystery on our hands. The water company had come and switched out our meter. They didn't warn us first, so that was a bit unpleasant, in itself. A more organized woman would march boldly down to the office and demand to know what's going on. I, however, scrambled to pull up our bills to make sure I'd remembered to *pay* the water bill before I called anybody at all, even Zorak. "Oh, yes," they say. "We've turned off your water. We're switching out your meter. Your old one was broken. We don't know for how long, but at least for several years." (Nice to know y'all are on top of things, and, uh, thanks for the heads-up on cutting the line.) It took the man many hours to get the new meter installed. Most of which he spent in the truck drinking tea and smoking. (When I walked down to talk to him, he said he was having trouble getting it installed. But then he left ten minutes later without ever doing anything else to the meter. Weird.)

So they installed the new meter, and neglected to record the initial number. Our first water bill was for 22,000 gallons. I've still got pericardial damage from opening that one.

Forward to the last few months, when I've begun paying closer attention to our bill. We're in a drought, and I began to wonder just what our water usage is, and whether we're doing all we can. Hmmm... 4700 gallons one month, 5800 gallons another month, 6200 gallons... odd. We're pretty stingy with our water consumption. I don't *think* we use that much. Really, I don't.

So I did some poking around. Some number crunching. Found some water use calculators and plugged in our information, using all the specs from our low-use, high-efficiency appliances... added to our habits and routines... um, says we should be going through just a hair over 2,000 gallons a month. A shorthair. ;-) Hmmm, we may have a leak.

We dug up a spongy spot along the line, where it enters the house, expecting to find a leak. No leak. (Bad gutters, and thus, the spongy spot. Yuck. But no leak.) We've poked around all up and down the line, but there are no signs of water leakage along the line. We checked the line where it crosses the creek (it goes up and over, and isn't well-insulated there, so we expected that to be our 'ah-ha! gotcha!' moment. Nope. No leak.

My next step was to turn off the water at the house and leave it off for an entire day. (This isn't something you do spontaneously in a home with people who still wear diapers... or when you have company. Just, not.) But they beat me to it! We got the bill for this last month, and it's for a whopping 11,200 gallons!

HOLY STINKING SMOKE BOMBS, BATMAN!

That's 373 gallons of water a DAY! A day! We don't have a pool. The kids only shower about twice a week (much to the chagrin of the cousins when they first arrived, but still). We don't water the yard at all (that much is obvious). We water the garden with rain water and the condensation from the HVAC. According to all the water use calculators, we're running about 70 gallons a day for our home. So, uh, where are the other 300 or so going?

We monitored our use today. According to our estimates, we should have used 100 gallons (the older cousins came back, *everybody* showered today, I did lots of laundry, and Zorak ran some intentional water use experiments). According to our meter, we used almost 600 gallons.

We'll continue to monitor it at intervals over the next few days, to define the parameters of the "leak". This is what we've found today:
* between 11:30 and 11:50, the meter did not move at all (373 gallons a day comes out to about .25 gpm, plus the dishwasher was running, and that's 7.5 gal per load, so the tens number on the meter should have moved during that time, at least a little, if there was a leak);
* during a fifteen minute interval in the afternoon, the meter registered ten gallons (Zorak measured 9 gallons in the process);
* the meter shows a use of 440 gallons between the hours of 3PM and 1:30AM. (Our estimated use, timing and monitoring everybody's movement all day, was no more than 100 gallons)

If there is a "leak", it's not a consistent leak. It's an intermittent leak. It's a leak that really picks up when people are home, doing things. It's a strange leak. What do you think? We'll be doing a bit more investigating over the weekend, and hope to be able to solve the mystery by Monday morning. We think the answer may be surprising.

The kids are dying to know "for sure"!

And while that's not been the highlight of my day, that has preoccupied my thoughts all day, so that's why I posted it and not adorable kid photos of the boys and EmBaby running about like a small, rural farmer gang. (They are SO cute!) The boys all helped build a ladder for the barn. Cousin M was especially helpful, and he did such a fine job. They all got a turn with the drill and the saw. They did a fantastic job, and are so proud. I'll get a photo of "the hanging of the ladder" this weekend. We're really proud of them.

We did hit the quarry today - it was everything they'd dreamed it'd be. Cousin S went off the rope swing. Said it was "scary as heck" at first, but then he "was addicted". Well, that's not a bad addiction, if you've gotta have one. Cousin M spent hours on the canoe and announced that he thinks he's mastered the fastest way to paddle it. EmBaby (aka Chicken Jane) took quite the dust bath. They're so much more... er, decorative, when you're sweaty to begin with. (blech) All is well, and all is quiet, and I'm going to follow suit.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Something Crafty!

I did it! And nobody died! *savor the moment with me* Ahhhhhh.

Today was the first non-chaotic, non-purpose-driven day all week. It was -- ah, nice. The boys got up, got dressed, enjoyed a light breakfast, took out the compost, read some books, played some games, researched "ticks of Northern Alabama", trekked to the creek. (For the record, I could not have done it in that order, myself. I didn't want to go out on the porch after reading up on ticks, let alone down to the creek. But eh, they're little. They do that.)

That all took place before ten this morning. The children re-emerged from the swampy backwoods of the creek to watch The Price is Right (I don't get that, but that's okay), and then played some more.

They were so helpful. So sweet. So... gosh, I felt guilty.

So I hauled them into the kitchen and they helped me make playdoh.

You pretty much need to quadruple most of the recipes out there. Or, at least we did.

Talk about a BIG HIT. It was amazing. And when it was time to clean up, they cleaned up. We ate lunch. Read a short bio of Julius Caesar. Time for EmBaby's nap -- everybody grab a book and read for an hour. *sigh* I love structure.

They made it (early, even!) to the last day of football camp. It ended with just enough time for Zorak to drop Em, Smidge and me at the house and head to the baseball game with the older kids. The small ones and I held a matchbox demolition derby in the kitchen, watched a movie, and got ready for bed. Zorak and the big ones returned around eleven -- absolutely exhausted. Zorak started to read to Smidge, but he fell asleep so Smidge joined us in the Big Kids' Room. The children stayed awake for the first part of a chapter in The Railway Children, but we'll have to finish that in the morning. Maybe over playdoh.

Heh. This is fun! I feel like the kid who just mastered riding a bike without training wheels. LOOK, Ma! I can do it! (Of course, it helps that the children are so helpful and sweet. That really does help tremendously. It also most likely covers a number of shortcomings in my skills and abilities. Yeah. I know.)

Today was just the thing, really. Precisely what the doctor ordered. Or, would have ordered if I'd called him and asked for something. :-)

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Book Reviews

I think it's Amy (The Foil Hat) who likes to go through the recipe sites online and read, not the recipes, but the recipe reviews. She notes the tendency for people to write some really interesting things that can't help but make you giggle. Read enough reviews and you're bound to read something along the lines of,

"Well, this recipe is fantastic! I used potatoes instead of eggplants, and substituted the lamb, pork, and beef chunks with firm tofu, and then I dipped it in bread crumbs and deep fried it instead of coating it in sheep's blood and broiling (couldn't get any sheep's blood). It was SO EASY to make this recipe! You've got to try it!"

(Um, which one? The one you're reviewing, or the one you made?)

I had one of those moments tonight.

In the eye-blearing joy of compiling my wish list for books for our Middle Ages study, I noticed that Rosemary Sutcliff's Eagle of the Ninth is actually part of a trilogy. Huh. I had no idea. I know, that particular book is a bit convoluted. The boys ended up rather fond of Esca and Marcus, though, and even today, when Cousin S. mentioned the eagle bearer in one of his computer games, both boys shouted, "The EAGLE!" And launched off on an excited, charade-driven exposition. It took me ten minutes to rein them in. So, it was already in the forefront of my mind when I saw the listing.

Hmmm, I wonder what people have to say about the second book? Only nine reviews. (Well, her books do tend to fill a fairly small niche in a part of a subset of a small category of a certain following...) Seven good reviews, and two negative reviews.

I had to look.

I'm so glad I did. I'm going to be giggling over this one for a long, long time. (Copied and pasted in its entirety. I did not change a thing. It's just. so. perfect. as it stands.)

Confusing! I'm Sorry but I DEFINATELY did not like this book, January 16, 1999
Reviewer: A reader

This book was extremely incomprehensable!!!It was BORING and it kept bringing new characters in without introducing them or anything.I'm not a stupid person and I'm not to young to read this "hard" book,but it simply was a bad book!!!

Have you read any good reviews lately? ;-)

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Bad News, Dental Fans

*sigh* In spite of "significant improvement" in my periodontal condition at today's six week check-up, it looks like I'm not going to avoid surgery after all. I think. Maybe. Mostly. But, depending on who you ask, it won't do any good, anyway. Yes, it was that strange.

The New Dentist was not in today. Nobody told me that. Some guy I've never seen walked in, gave me a limp handshake, sat down at the x-rays and said, "HOW old are you?" (34) "I'd expect to see this in a 60 year old, or 70, even, but this is BAD."

He then went on to give me vague, yet unsettling, advice to prepare to lose several teeth, even with the surgery, going on and on about my cavities (of which I have none - tons of fillings, but no cavities). When I asked for details about what he was saying, he fell back on the whole periodontal onslaught that would cause me to end up toothless in no time at all, and simply reiterated that I need to be prepared to lose some teeth. I could not get him to talk to me straight. (The hygienist and I had just spent half an hour going over my x-rays and the probing results, tooth-by-tooth, and according to her, I have some really great bone density and only three spots with bone loss, although those three spots are pretty severe. She was much less apocalyptic about the whole endeavor.) I tried to get specifics about what he was saying - did this affect the applicability of implants? Are we looking at full replacements? Are crowns out of the question? Is it going to be feasible to complete the dental work the other Dr. had scheduled before dealing with the periodontal issue? He wouldn't address any of that.

Finally, unable to handle this guy's belligerent and vague attitude any longer, I asked him pointedly, "You obviously see something specific that makes you say this. You're telling me to decide which teeth I want to keep, and I think it's safe to say the answer would be 'all of them'. Yet from your tone and message, I take it that's not going to happen. If there are teeth that are going to go, and you know they're going to go, could you stop with the ambiguous doublespeak and tell me, please? I'd sure hate to pick the 'wrong' teeth."

He said, "Oh, your two front teeth, for sure. Most of them, actually. You might be able to save five."

That's when the hormones kicked in and I started to cry. I didn't sob or wail, but that pretty much did me in. (And yes, I know. I asked. I should have been pushier at the onset of the conversation rather than wasting twenty minutes getting worn down before I pushed it.) It's been a long three days, and I was so looking forward to a positive report at this visit, and the image of me out-to-here pregnant with no front teeth at all... Vanity, I know. I know that. But there's the disconnect, too. After being told my bone density is good, and my oral health is excellent (in general), and there are no cavities, and there was no build-up... well, this guy was just a breath of fresh radon.

I asked the hygienist why Dr. S had said my bone loss wasn't bad enough to warrant all of this when it is now seemingly obvious (from the very same x-rays) that it was, and has been all along, and why did we just do all this, again? She said, "Oh, he was just encouraging you to get your home care up to the level it needed to be. And it is." Um, lady, my "home care" has been consistently as you see it now for the last five years. What the -----.

Ok, this is making less and less sense. I have to leave. I have to go off and digest all this. And I want MY dentist back. I want to hear from the man who made this plan with me what nuances have appeared that have led us down this course of action, and whether, in fact, things are better... or worse. Where do we stand?

As Smidge would say, "No me no."

That, on top of getting our water bill this month, and it says we used 11,200 gallons of water! No. We. Didn't. *sigh*

Is... is that locusts I hear???

I've got to get some rest. I'll be less whiny tomorrow. Honest.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Football Camp for the New Initiates

The boys are all *loving* football camp. They like all the things they're learning. They like the coaches. They like the hard work. I like that I'm not required to stay. I did the first day, just to eyeball the coaches and the set up and make sure nothing set off my spider senses. Nothing did. That means all is well, or my inner spider is dead. The high school coaches have done a truly fantastic job with the whole thing. The boys work hard, and they just soak it up. In all, I cannot complain about it as a way to spend a few days during the summer. Freed from my innate fear that someone is loading the children into trucks and hauling them to work the farms during "camp" (which I wouldn't necessarily mind, if I'd signed them up for "summer farm labor camp"), Smidge and I hit the markets for groceries and some sports-associated clothing for the boys.

*snort*
That was a riot. I have no idea if I've done well in my selections, or if I've just unknowingly attired my children like b-rate wanna be playas. (And then, as if to prove my point, even though I wrote that, I had to read it twice because the first time I thought "la playa", as in "beach". No. That would make no sense whatsoever, now, would it?) So, slick, shiny, sweat-wicking garments acquired, we headed out and ran back to camp to take a snack to John (because, naturally, I forgot that the snack served at camp would probably be cracker-based. Duh.) That was... wild.

Trying to do the "good mom" thing by not trouncing flagrantly into this male sanctified hall o' testosterone, I slipped quietly into the room, keeping to the periphery, working hard to maintain my cool demeanor while remaining inconspicuous. One of the coaches approached us. He looked friendly. He asked who I was looking for. I told him. He turned to face the room (I thought, to help me find John), and *bellowed*, "John E-----! John E-----! Come to the front door, your mother's here!" Ah, crud. Of course that's how it's done. I felt both awkward and reassurred. And, at least everybody now knows which ones are mine, as all four of the boys came galloping up to say howdy.

This time, I picked up the boys with all the right stuff - drinks in a cooler, crackers and peanut butter, and the a/c on high. They were diggin' life about fifteen minutes after camp ended today.

James had a dentist appointment with the Wonderful Dentist, so after lunch and our quiet reading time, we took off and left the rest of the herd with the Cool Older Cousins. I guess they went "swimming" in the creek, and had a fantastic time. By the time James and I got home, the aftermath had been dealt with. Since James' face was still numb, he didn't go to practice tonight. (But there'll be more, oh yes, there will be more.)

John left (with Zorak and three of the other boys) for his 8:00 game... which, it turned out, was actually at 6:00. Oops. Obviously, in spite of how well I thought this was all going, I cannot hang with multiple schedules for prolonged periods of time. If I can't get a groove on it soon, they're all going to have to pick one activity that meets in the same building on the same days, at the same time. Otherwise, somebody's going to have to learn how to drive soon. In the meantime, though, we're having a good time and enjoying life the way it's meant to be enjoyed. I think. Yeah, pretty sure, anyway. :-)

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Tuesday Morning, and All's Well

Hi guys. Y'all crack me up. No, we're not planning to call the new baby "Devons". I couldn't think of anything. It was late. Zorak wasn't much help. I asked him for 8 things, and he said he could think of a couple, but I couldn't post them. That got me giggling, and the next thing you know, I'm writing about cattle. It's a weird life here.

When we told Claudia, she said she wasn't coming over again until I wasn't contagious. (She really doesn't want another May baby, and August is a'comin.)

The Cousins have arrived. They are wonderful. They have so much energy, and there's a constant noise level right now that's probably a good 60 decibels higher than normal. I love it! Well, *right now* it's quiet because they are all still passed out after yesterday's marathon of activity. I've got to get them up here in a sec, though.

T and P are really so enjoyable to have here. She asked last night if having them wasn't making things more difficult. I contemplated velcroing her to the bench so she couldn't leave. We love having them here. Zorak and P get along so well. It's interesting to see what happens when two laid-back, easy-to-like guys get started. They make everything sound so do-able. T has found a wonderful man to spend her life with. I've got one like that, and he's a lifesaver when I start doing the hair-chewing, twitchy thing. Anyway, I think they're heading out to check on their soon-to-be home and meet the family, and then they'll be back for the weekend festivities.

Today is Day Two of football camp. I am not sitting out there on the bleachers again. Not. Gonna. Happen. They'll be fine. They have my cell number. It's no reflection on my love and adoration of all four of the big guys, but I'm not sitting out there again. Not sitting through football practice again, tonight, either. (They have no benches on the practice field! WHY didn't we buy the chairs back in the Spring???? Yes, I know, Melissa, you warned me. I ought to have listened.)

OK, off for the day!
Dy

8 Things

OK, so it's more like 7 things and another thing. Whatever works.

8. I left plans to attend Bastyr Medical School when Zorak and I decided to marry, because I knew I couldn't do motherhood and medical school without seriously botching at least one of them.

7. I have not regretted that decision once. Ever.

6. My blood family is a little strange. The traditional curse they cast on me was, "You're going to have five red-headed boys!" Um... okaaayyyy... (They say that like it's a bad thing. I guess in my family of only-one-child-and-please-let-it-be-a-girl, I guess that was the worst thing imaginable.)

5. Zorak's family is all about, well, family. They rock like that.

4. Smidge thinks the thing that would make our family a little better is a puppy.

3. The boys think another baby would do the trick.

2. I think we're going to go with Devons or Dexters when we put cattle on the place.

and the #1 fact about me that most of you don't know...

The boys got it right.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Le Porch!

This picture was taken Oct 2005 - before we could let the kids in the house. See how we had the swings against the wall for seats to keep the small ones away from the edge? (And see how it wasn't working with James, right there by the front?) Scary! The little metal corner dodads weren't attached at the bottom - they could swing freely in any direction. And yes, the kids had secured the slide to the bumper buddy on the Suburban so they had someplace to play.
We've spent the last year and a half shooing children off the porch, mostly. Then, for Mother's Day this year, Zorak framed it in for me.

And the small ones could lean-lean-lean to their wee hearts' content! (I was standing at ground level for this shot - the land slopes steeply down on the right side, so it's quite a fall from up high.)

So, that was May. Um, late July (last week), we had it scraped of brown, green, yellow, and a mystery turquoise color paint (it took a while to get it all), and ready to go!
And now, it's our new Happy Spot!

I keep thinking I need a hanging plant to put out there... to die. And then I think perhaps we'll forego the killing of the plant and just enjoy the view. The parts that are white (the eaves and the ceiling of the enclosed porch area) are still just primer white. They'll be an antique white soon, and that'll help tone it down a bit. We'll buy a ceiling fan next Thursday, and then this just may be the happiest place in the house.
(It may be already - that's Smidge, enjoying "coffee with Mom" on the porch.)

Mm, sorry about that.

I meant to blog more this week, but I'm a bit out of sorts and the words simply wouldn't come. Since I don't know how to spell various grunting noises (nor do I have any indication that any of you know how to translate them), blogging in that condition seemed a bit pointless. However, the porch is finished. I'll get pictures of that up hopefully tonight.

Zorak caulked the porch window and boys' window. Aesthetically, that's not the best feature of the house, but it's done wonders for me emotionally.

The sports thing is going to be a little nutso for a week or so, while the seasons overlap. Yesterday, James had a football meeting at 5:30 (and they are hitting the ground RUNNING!), then John had a game at 8:00. I don't know how families with overlapping sports do it, but if the seasons overlapped by more than just this coming week, I think I'd sit on a corner of the bleachers, muttering to myself and giving people the hairy eyeball if they got to close.

I think football is going to be very good for James, but truthfully, I think he's going to be hating life for most of the season. This is going to be all about his attitude, and whether he's really internalized our philosophy of being flexible in life. He's not a flexible kind of person. He's also very timid in a lot of ways. And, he has that whole I'm-not-really-listening-because-all-my-attention-is-focused-on-gnawing-on-this-hangnail (or picking something off my arm, or trying to pick things up with my toes - pretty much any distraction will do). The hair has got to go. We've been letting him grow it out, but he plays with it non-stop. To the point that I was ready to cut it myself right there at the meeting yesterday. Zorak, wise man that he is, suggested we head to the barber for this one and tell the guy he needs "a good football cut", thus removing me from the potential Mommy Dearest haircutting memory for James. (Not that I would do that to him, I wouldn't. But he's so attached to his bangs at the moment, he'll find a way to equate the two, should he ever see the movie.)

And now, to get the guest room ready today. I plan to put bug spray along the baseboard-like areas of all the rooms as I clean them. Normally, I wouldn't, but I'm tired of the Midnight Child Buffet the spiders seem to have going in the kids' rooms. Smidge and Emily wake every morning with five to ten huge bites all over them. Nothing I've tried has helped. I've pulled their beds away from the walls. I've not put anything dangling, like a bed ruffle, and all the blankets are short. I even put EmBaby in some winter pj's the other night, so she was covered from her chin to her toes -- the next morning, her head was absolutely covered in bites. Enough is enough. I don't mind if the things want to live outside, but until we can stucco this house and seal it up properly, the way houses are meant to be sealed, we're going to have a bit of a territory war.

AND so, to work.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

I kin count...

80% Did I really say 80%? Well, it looked like 80%... but the 20%-ish-looking part that wasn't done yet turned out to be 76 pickets, 31" high. All four sides of every one. Plus the little bottom sill. As slow as I am, this may be my Golden Gate Bridge project: by the time I get to the end, it'll be time to start over again redoing the beginning! :-D And, I'm not even going to try to guess a percentage again. Let's just say there's less to be done now than there was this morning. And, hopefully, it'll be picture-worthy tomorrow.

The boys' bedroom window frame is primed.

The rectangular thingy Zorak left out and asked me to prime if I got around to it, is now primed. (Don't know what it is, but it's done.)

My hands are a really cool lizardy texture right now. The boys think it's the ultimate in Mom Cool. I haven't the heart to tell them it's the ultimate in Steep Learning Curve.

The big topic of discussion today (other than "don't touch that, it's wet!") was, "How many days til the cousins get here?" I'm surprised they haven't broken it down into hours yet.

John had a game tonight. I stayed home to keep staining the porch while EmBaby screamed at me for not letting her in the stain, erm, serenaded me. Should'a gone to the game. Another game tomorrow, and I was just getting comfortable with the week's agenda when the phone rang. Football meeting tomorrow. Oh... of course... and we need to find James' birth certificate before then. I'll... get right on that. :-S

Know what? I'm taking my vitamins and going to bed early tonight. That's my gift to the rest of the world, as hopefully it'll make me more able to function tomorrow. Without doing an Ozzy Osbourne impression (early-80's OR late-90's, either one).

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Sunday Home Update

Wow. I can't give you pictures, because we were still putting on stain when it got too dark to see, but I can tell you "wow". I think I have a new Happy Spot.

Porch ceiling and trim are primed, so pretty and clean.

80% of the railings are stained, and the impact is dramatic. We're loving it.

Ben & Claudia (and small associates) came for Sunday Supper tonight. We haven't seen them in ages, and it was just wonderful to see what all they've been up to. Their oldest is playing football this year, so Claudia is experiencing that mind-numbing exhaustion of the first-time-sports-mom. When the little guy pipes up cheerfully that he can't wait to play a different sport EVERY SEASON, Claudia blanches and wobbles a little. I can appreciate that! (But he's so cute!!!)

Their wee "baby grill" (what her brothers deemed her), Lucy, is walking now - she and EmBaby disappeared to the sand pit and re-emerged ten minutes later, each missing just one shoe. It appears to have been intentional, but we don't know *why*.

Their Little David and our Little Smidge, both about the same age, spent the evening doing irritating from-left-field toddler things to each other and laughing over it. That's an age I just don't think I'll ever quite understand - but they have fun together, and that's good stuff.

And then they left. And it was so quiet. Fortunately, it was a sleepy, contented, sated quiet. We look forward to next week, when we'll have the family and the friends all together. (And with seven boys all together, that'll be almost enough to form a baseball team!)

What did you do today?

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Forever Home Weekend Update

Today was busy. We worked. A lot. Yet, it looks like we accomplished nothing. I hate it when that happens. There were quite a few stops and starts (duh, this *is* us we're talking about) - I started to chip out the glazing, but Zorak suggested we look at getting a heat gun (seeing as there are 11 windows, it'd save somewhere in the range of two months' work to get one), so I set that aside. Then I started to touch up the boys' window frame, but it's still too damp to work with and gummed up my sandpaper. I was going to caulk, but Zorak has that elsewhere in his mental timeline and he gets twitchy if I mess with his internal table of contents. I did watch flies stick to the dangling fly strip for a while. That was fun.

Zorak took out the seven bricks by the boys' window that were just sitting there balanced lightly against the studs -- cleaned them off, and set them back in place, with mortar and everything. I suspect they are the only seven bricks on the house that are plumb. It looks wonderful. He also rewired the porch lights and moved electrical boxes around so that now, instead of one light in the middle of the porch, we have a light above the door, and everything set for a ceiling fan on the other side of the porch.

I... um, I took one of the storm windows apart. I didn't mean to. Just wanted to get the sliding window parts out so I could clean the tracks and put some paraffin on them (so they'll glide easier). But the screws that hold the glass in also, evidently, held the frame together. The whole thing now looks like a giant Erector Set for big people, with screws and chunks of aluminum, and bits of rubber. Oh, I also stripped and cleaned one of the patio chairs. It looked like this before I got to it: OK, so it didn't really need actual "stripping" at this point. And the sad thing is that it almost looks worse now. Those weren't initially the patio chairs. That was from our dining set - wwaaaay back when there were only two of us. Then the table and three chairs made it into the school room, but this little guy has lived on the back porch for a year and a half. Not such a happy place for wood products, it seems. So, since we're likely never to take the time to shop for porch furniture (we could, but we'd rather play leap frog blindfolded on the Interstate, or try to remove excess veins from my leg with a pair of tweezers and a bottle of Jack Daniels - there are so many more enjoyable ways to spend the days), we figure we'll refinish this set and use it on the porch. *snort* I'll let you know how that goes...

We did get into town and finally, finally, finally picked a color for the porch. We went with one that wasn't even on our radar. I'm not telling what it was, because I need something to add to (er, to create) suspense about this project. Right now, I'm hovering at about 30% capacity, though, and this is all ya get. We got a color. I'm terrified to put it on. But tomorrow, on it goes.

Hopefully, tomorrow the storm window will go back together. (And I don't mean, I hope I'll get around to it. I mean I hope it *will* go back together *when* I attempt it tomorrow.) Zorak has big plans to touch-up sand and prime the porch ceiling, and then it's on to the porch itself! WOo--- *yawn*

'Night!

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Hey, Honey,

I don't think we'll have to water the garden today.

The kids and I will be back in their room with books, snacks, and my cell phone, if you need us.

Wish you were here!

Love,
Dy

Birthday Blessings

Yes, today was my birthday. Thank you for the sweet birthday wishes. I'm 34 all over again! (Not because I've decided to hover there, but because I've thought this whole last year that I was already 34. What they say about the memory being the second thing to go? No, it's the first. Everything else seems to function just fine, thank you.)

We had a lovely, quiet day. Saturday we have plans to enjoy live music and dancing. But today was grocery day. Needleroozer called to sing me Happy Birthday. Then she laughed at me when I said my big outing would be the market. I know it sounds silly, but I really love and appreciate grocery shopping. I love taking the children along to help, to visit, to spend that time together. I love that we have so many options available to us. I love that, although we do budget, it's not a hard-core, beans-and-tortillas budget.

I remember one particular evening with Zorak, many years ago, we talked about all the things we would buy when he'd graduated and we weren't living off the Scholarship Fairy anymore. It was all food. Steak. Thick, thick, heavily marbled steak. Artichoke hearts. Sushi. Brown rice. The good ice cream. Yesiree, we were gonna live high. on. the. hog.

Well, now we've got four children and a little place of our own. We don't splurge the way we dreamed we would, but we do eat well, and we enjoy it. Although I'm joking when I tell Zorak we're off to blow his hard-earned cash, I feel like that's exactly what I'm doing as I pile our basket with fresh fruits and brown rice, with the occasional olives or a mango, and the wheat-free grains. I couldn't get a bigger high if I was buying Dooney & Burke Bourke purses wholesale. (Well, something like that. Obviously, if I can't spell it, I don't own it, right? I still can't bring myself to use something other than Zorak's old backpack or my messenger bag. Some things just fit better than others. But you get the general idea.)

Food, along with all the thousand other connotations and cultural messages it carries, sings a song in my head that says, "You are loved, you're taken care of, you're taking good care of those you love. It's the circle of love, and of life, and of...ohhhhhh, turkey sounds good."

The boys were very sweet and affectionate with their Birthday Wishes. We all trekked out to see John's third game of the summer league. Both teams really played well. Our guys lost this game by one point, which puts them at 2-1 now. Not bad. Good game. Nice to see familiar faces. Even better to see that boy out there, looking bigger, bolder, more confident... James even asked, when John stepped up to bat, "Is that JOHN?" We got home, folded laundry, talked about the evening, the weekend, the upcoming visits. There was no time for a story, as four little heads hit the pillows with eyes closed in the time it took to say, "I love you."

This is a good time of life, I think. A good year behind me, and a good year ahead. A girl could get used to this. I've still got many things to work on, to improve, to do. Many books to read and discuss with the children (or at Zorak, through the bathroom door, if it's a really good book - although that may be one of the things he's hoping I'll work on...) What a blessing time and opportunity are, knowing the outcome is mine to decide. What a treasure my family is, and one I will work to be worthy of every day of my life. And that's the best of it there: my birthday gift is life. I get to do this all over again tomorrow. Or, to quote one of my sincere (yet less-than-subtle) relatives: Every day above ground is a good day.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy