So, so true...

Demotivators



Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Fall Fun

Smidge took that picture. The SmidgeCam has come a long way in three years. I love digital cameras - the kids can take pictures til their eyes bleed, and we don't have to pay to develop the nostril shots. But we can enjoy the gems that come with progress, and with seeing the world through their perspectives.
Just as Smidge had his pear tree, John had his apple tree. He picked the first apple of the season (not counting the ones we picked and cut open to see if they were ripe yet...)
And we began collecting apples. (And a stray pear.) Man, that tree will be a lot easier to harvest from when we're done pruning it properly! (We have to move slowly so the tree doesn't succumb to Fire Blight while we restore it.) However, the metal bucket is about half-full now with fresh apples, and they will become, hopefully, (magically...) apple pie filling this weekend!

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Hey.

Well, Ernie and KathyJo swear it's a mushroom. I'm inclined to think Josh is on to something, personally. Either way, I figure if we lock the doors and clean the air filters, we should have all our bases covered. Thanks for playing, guys!

Today we began week 10 of the school year. Ten-ish, anyway. Of the previous nine weeks, we've taken three off. That sounds so bad. I can hear NEA members puckering in their seats from here. And yet, the boys have worked up to the nine-week point in a couple of subjects, and worked beyond the nine-week point in all the rest. Heh. Yeah. I love this lifestyle.

So this morning, we sat on the balcony, re-working our plans that will take us through Christmas break. The boys opted to adjust some of their goals to reflect the progress they've made. We sorted, sifted, printed, and planned. Then they got to work. I got sucked into the Tanglewood site. *sigh* There ought to be something I could take for that. Really.

We're off to the library, where we won't find anything and I will return with a bigger Amazon list. (It is SO easy to justify book purchases when you know you'll use each book through five children. So, so easy. I'm going to owe Zorak big-time for this.) But it'll be nice to hit the library again. And, they've fired the wacky library lady and replaced her with someone from an organization we refer to as "The Northern Alabama Branch of the Illuminati" - so I want to be sure to stay on top of the library sale, as they'll be culling all the good books soon, and I don't want to miss out on those buys!

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Oh, help.

WHAT...

ARE...

THESE...

THINGS?!?!?!?

Zorak found these near the cedar tree the other day, while we were picking apples. I'd gladly post the apple picking pictures, but we really want to know what these are. I don't even know how to begin Googling this...

The closed pods are bigger than a golf ball, slightly smaller than a tennis ball. The opened (exploded? bloomed? erupted?) pods are about 4 1/2" across.

I have no idea if they smell.

And, as with the other weird-ass things we find around here, no, I did not touch it.

The Magnificent Mere! (More Photos)

OK, so here we have The Mamas, hanging out and watching over the masses. My utilitarian, yet utterly futile, attempt at keeping my hair from the Wee One's clutches is painfully evident in this shot (thanks for the heads up on that, Honey...) But look at Mere - so poised, so pretty, so in shape - and that necklace? She made it. Herself. With fire. She rocks.

AND, she made this little gem of a dress, which I've had a hard time getting off EmBaby long enough to wash. (Bless you, Mere, for making it machine washable!) Oh, yeah, and Em does have different shoes, but, well, where there are goats, there is goat poop. Sandals, not such a good idea. Once again, function wins out over form in our little clan.

But oh, that dress! I believe the fabric on the bodice, or actually, all the non-solid fabric - with all the swirly, lovely, flowery designs on it, came from our Donna (Quiet Life Donna - Donna of the psychotically photogenic children and the sweet wit). And that plum color - it's a perfect match. It swirls, it spins, it feels good to the touch. It fits perfectly. *sigh*

(And at this point, I just stand in awe, and feel kinda cool by association. Yup, I know incredibly talented people. That doesn't make me talented in any way, but it does mean I have really neat friends.) Thank you, Mere!

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Trip Pics, Part A

Of the 284 pictures we took, a surprising number were somewhat blurry and/or grainy. That bums me out, but I'm not terribly surprised. There's a lot of edible sticky stuff crammed into the nooks and crannies and moveable bits of the camera. Add in the lightning speed with which children change positions, and I'm pretty much hosed on photographing this trip. So, please forgive the grains and blurs, but here you go.

This is SJ and EmBaby. Birthday buddies with uncanny similarities in mannerisms and habits. They saw an airplane...

And then they both - without even looking at each other - stuck their arms out and shouted, "Airplane!" (Complete with sound effects.) It was pretty funny to watch.

We kinda-sorta semi-managed to get the kids all rounded up to where they'd fit in a frame. The tree helped. SJ and Em both decided to cry the minute we started to take the group photos. Em's not in this one because she'd already given up and was somewhere behind me, snuffling.

We did manage to get a few shots on the sly, though, when she wasn't looking...

And SJ was sweetly compliant for an individual shot. Oh, so much Cute! It was hard to leave.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

We're Back!

We meant to be back days ago. This is what happens when procrastinators marry.

Melissa got it right - we got to see Mere, from The Ugly Trunk. The trunk is so cute in real life, but it's abso-stinkin-lutely nothing compared to her kids! And seeing all eight of them running around, playing Legos, playing chess, playing some random ball-kicking game - oh, that was almost too much cute for me to handle. The kids could be cousins, they have so many of the same mannerisms. Mere is, of course, elegant and sweet and fun. And oh, so patient. And her husband, bless him, was such a trooper in letting the whole horde descend upon his house with all of our lateness and loudness and messiness.

We also got to have lunch with Rebel, of The Looney Bin, while we were out there. She is so sweet and so gracious, and knows all the totally rockin' joints to eat at in her neck of the woods!

Granny came and met us in Waco, so we had two wonderful days with her. Then she drove with us to see Great-Granny (or, Granny the Younger, as she's a mere 94 years young - longevity seems to run in Zorak's blood), and Aunt Veda. It was fun, fun, fun. John contemplated smuggling a goat back with him. Thankfully, he had only his backpack and there was no way he could have hidden the whole goat in there.

From there, it was off to Arkansas, where we rounded off the trip with more cousins. Would you believe we were thisclose to New Mexico and I had to go all the way back to Arkansas to get chile rellenos? Oh, they were good. I'll be stuffed for another week, at least. This was the first time we've had to really spend any time with these cousins, and it was such a treat for us. They opened their home so warmly, and the kids were completely taken up with their lifestyle, even down to getting up early to work with the animals. (We emptied the van tonight when we got home and didn't find any puppies, kittens or chickens, so I think we're good.)

The children have named every animal they've come in contact with this week. And now I think they're totally on board with some of our more Out There projects, which is good, because I'm still mildly terrified of birds, so they'll need to be pretty involved.

It was a fantastic trip, but we're glad to be home. Jase didn't sleep the last four nights of the trip - which means I didn't sleep, either. And so, I'm going to finish this cup of coffee and see about rectifying that. I'll upload pictures tomorrow, while we recuperate.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Wanna Play?

We get to go play! Can you guess who we'll be playing with? I'll give you some hints...

Adorable children.

Cool parents.

WAY more creative than I could ever hope to be.

Probably WAY more interesting than I am, too. (They're so gettin' the short end of this stick - but I'm excited!)

Hmmm... ok, I'm going to finish packing and cleaning while I think up better hints.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Thoughts on Education

(I had a couple of things written out. But Zorak just made me laugh, and I forgot most of it. You get what's left. Sorry.)

...What I find even more fascinating is how our own definitions and goals change as the children grow and change. Education, or rather, the pursuit of education, is a dynamic enterprise that extends beyond the entries on a sheet of paper. Do we want them to know basic arithmetic? Of course. Do we want them to understand basic physical properties and laws of nature? Naturally. Do we want them to take an active part in their literary heritage (...and I think I just lost Zorak...)? OK, to at least catch references and nods to great stories in their reading? Yeah, I do.

Is that the sum of our goals for the children?

Not by a long shot.

And tonight, while Zorak tried valiantly to give me the indoc primer on RF attenuation (yeah, I know...) I managed to put my finger on a goal that's been there from the very start, although not always articulated this way. (I also put my finger on an Arby's coupon. I love Arby's.)

In some ways, I hope the boys receive a Jack-of-all-Trades education. I hope they know enough about a variety of topics to feel comfortable in any venue, to understand how much there is still to learn, and to have the ability and interest to articulate a desire to listen and learn.

...and, yeah, that's good for tonight. Listen. Learn. Want to. (Sometimes we have to work on that last one. heh.)

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Can't Win Them All

Well, it looks like these babies are good for animal feed, and not much else. *sigh* Thanks to this site, we've figured out that this is C. cordiformis, which has a bitter kernel. The boys were looking forward to gathering and drying them. (I was kind of hoping to be able to bake with them.)

Maybe planting a couple of pecan trees would be a good consolation? Is it weird to console our kids with new trees? Well, they'll like it, regardless. They're cool that way.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

OK, folks, what is this?

This is a clipping of the fruit we found yesterday. For a size perspective - click on it (I hope it's clickable) and note the average 10yo standing beside the apple tree. The tops of the apple tree and the mystery tree. (Edited to add: the fruits are each about the size of a small marble. Definitely unripe, and seem to have seeds inside, not a stone. Maybe that'll help.)

The top of that tree is absolutely laden with berries/fruit...

And here's the trunk, to show you the bark of the tree...

Do we have something edible? (Please say yes.)

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

This is wild.

I dragged the family around the property today to help assess the things we have growing. They went somewhat grudgingly, but soon got into the spirit of it. Me? I'm like the guy who thought he was going to starve on the island and suddenly found an orchard. This is really exciting stuff!

We found another new, seemingly edible thing growing. No clue what it is (as usual) - look for a photo and a plea for help identifying it tomorrow! It kind of grows like cherries, but the tree shoots straight up and it's a good 50' high. It's also shading the smaller apple tree, so if it doesn't pony up with something edible, then it's going to get some serious pruning this winter.

The soil in the salad bed desperately needs more compost for next year. Even after two years of amending it, it's hard as a rock. Poor John's carrots never have grown longer than 1cm, tops. We've increased our composting contributions, now that we have the tractor mower. Hopefully, we'll have plenty of compost for next season.

We got three gypsy peppers from the armadillo-torn upper meadow beds. (The one w/ the snake.) Weird. We gave up on those beds back in July.

The apples are ripe, and they're *fantastic*. They have a complex flavor, starting out slightly tart, but turning sweet pretty quickly. They're psychotically juicy, and have a delicate crisp flesh. Ohhh, they're really good. It's exciting to be receiving from all these plants, now.

The Black Walnut trees are laden with big green balls right now. We gathered some and tossed them into the driveway to help crack the outer hulls. I'll go down in the morning to rake away the debris from around the tree so we can collect the nuts as they fall. Zorak's not sure there's enough meat in any of them to make it worth the work. I just want to try. It's part of the adventure. And, if it doesn't work, well, we've learned something along the way, right?

The persimmons are ripening unevenly, and between the height of the fruit and the birds, I don't think we'll get anything salvageable from them this year. Never did hear back from the County Extension Office, so I'll give them a call or swing by this week, sometime. I hate to give up on the persimmons, since there are three of them - if they can be saved and restored, I want to do it.

We enjoyed okra and cukes from the barn garden with supper tonight, and a late season watermelon this afternoon. That's always kinda fun. Perhaps the novelty wears off when you're an accomplished gardener. If so, we have decades of enjoyable side dishes ahead of us. ;-)

The kids finally decided pear jelly would be preferable to pearsauce for this year. If the trees stay healthy, though, we can do more next year. Tomorrow is canning day. (Someone hold me to that!)

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Cute goes a long way!

I will probably get lousy customer service when the kids are grown and I have to shop on my own. Thankfully, the entire staff of the fabric store was completely enamoured by the children. Jase was oh-so-darling with his finger hooked over his nose, leaning into people as they talked to him, his smile arching up to his eyes. It's nice that he doesn't mind having strangers in his face. EmBaby melted every ovary in the store as she cuddled with the bolt of fabric and chit-chatted with Smidge about all the pretty fabric. Smidge was Quite Helpful, incredibly polite, and surprisingly non-jittery. *yay*

Hey, did you know it's less expensive to buy an IKEA armchair than it is to buy foam to make a cushion for the futon-chair? Wow. So, I figured I'd sew horizontal channels with the muslin, stuff them with the innerds of the existing cushion, and then cover the new design with the corduroy. In theory, the channels will help prevent the stuffing from shifting and bunching. But theory and practice don't always mesh, do they? I'll keep you posted.

The boys had a good time at the Beltloop Jamboree. I offered up the camera, but Zorak declined. I think it was all he could do just to get up and going so early, and I think I really should have offered him coffee, instead. Ah, well, I didn't think of it until I was halfway through the pot and he was halfway to the Jamboree.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Of the five, why these three?

I thought I was in for an easy day. Then I had coffee. Now, I realize that if I have to go to the fabric store and take three of the five with me... these are not the three I would have picked...

One more cup, and then we'll give it a go.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Success, family, and miscellany...

They did it! The little critters pulled it off. They completed two days' worth of work before noon today. On their own initiative. With no grousing. AND they had time to crack jokes.

*sniff* I'm so proud of them.

Of course, that also leaves me wondering what in the world is going on most days...

And whether they're really being challenged at all during our normal routine...

But for now, we're not going to worry about that. I'm just going to join them in wallowing in the happiness that they did it. They pulled it off. And they did well, all around. Yay, Boys!!!

Sadly, the link cable didn't work. At all. And I was no help. At all.

SO. Zorak's going to see if he can figure out what's wrong, and if he can't, we'll send it back and let James buy a new game or something. Or we'll track down another cable. I don't know, but we'll make it right for him.

**********************************

The older boys watched the debate with us tonight. Their enthusiasm wasn't way up there, but they followed the discussion and asked a number of good questions.

It was also nice just to curl up together as a family and enjoy partaking in our heritage, passing it down to our children, and showing them that an involved, interested, well-informed constituency is absolutely vital to the survival of a free society.

**********************************

Tomorrow is the Beltloop Jamboree. Zorak's taking the two Scouts. He promised to hit the Russell-Stover Outlet, since they'll be right by it.

I'll take the three Littles with me to Hancock Fabrics for foam, muslin, and corduroy. (I'm thinking this cinnamon red looks just right!) And then, zippity-zip, in just two or three months, we should have a nice new cushion for the futon-chair! (Why is it that every project we complete only seems to further hi-light the projects we have yet to complete? I'm almost afraid to finish this, because I know once it's done, it'll make something else that needs doing painfully clear.)

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

A Sense of Humor

I love it when the kids get a sense of humor. Not that all the kids haven't been funny. They have. We've had years of humor from them. But mostly, when they're little, they're funny in the way that they're also cute when they wear their underwear on their heads, they tell jokes with no punchline, and a variety of other humorous, weird, quirky things that you enjoy because you know (hope) they won't be doing them when they're 30. Then, just as Grouch Marx's version of a knock-knock joke begins to wear on your cheeks, they get other humor.

Last night at supper, we were talking about weird dreams, lucid dreaming, and a slew of other random topics. We asked James if he remembered when he was afraid of the computer in his room. (He was three at the time, and no, he didn't remember it.) He asked us how we handled it. Zorak told him that when he and John were asleep, we went down to the thrift store and bought fifty computers, then set them up all around his bed while he slept.

He cracked up at the sheer absurdity.

Then the boys got another twenty minutes' worth of material thinking of other cool ways to "handle" the situation. They had us in stitches.

And... I really hope they were joking...

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Can I buy a weekday for a hundred, please?

I lost the standard-issue, five-day week. Kept the boys in utter chaos today by continually suggesting that tomorrow is, in fact, Saturday. Ha. Just one of the many joys of having me for your Mother, I suppose.

And it doesn't look like their week is going to be much better tomorrow. Poor kids - I actually feel for them. (Though not enough to cave.) You see, James' birthday gift arrived this afternoon. He is STOKED. His brothers are stoked. (It's a link cable for the video game thingies.)

Really, I'm okay with it. And I even allotted that they would probably blow an entire afternoon trying it out. Pretty much free range. The one-and-only stipulation I put on this whole stoopid thing was that their school work be done before they could use it.

Well, they picked it up tonight after Scouts. And tomorrow they will learn an important lesson: when it comes to scheduling, listen to your Mother.

Since I had to be at the dentist at 10:30 this morning, we left at 9:30. That gave us just enough time to eat a bowl of oats (in a glass, so you can pretty much just drink it down), dress (kind of - I didn't really enforce the "going to town" guidelines), grab our books and leave. We're slow starters.

I had them take their math, Latin, and reading. I didn't even ask James to take his math, as he needs to start a new chapter. They had two hours in the lobby to get it done - more than ample time. Everything was lined up, explained, and ready to be done. When Zorak arrived, I told him, "They have their math, Latin and reading, and they know what needs to be done." They knew we had to hit Sam's after the dentist, and then they had Scouts tonight. That was the only time available to them to get their work done today. I was pretty upfront about the importance of this.

I hadn't been in the chair 30 minutes, when I popped out between sessions to see how things were going, and the lobby was *empty*.

Husband. Children. Diaper bag. Gone. All gone.

The receptionist told me they'd "gone for donuts".

"Wow, they must have worked really hard to get done that quickly." I thought.

But, no. No, as a matter of fact, James got *nothing* done. John got "a little" done. I think Zorak got bored. He's awesome with the kids, on all levels. He's just a stellar dad, and a fantastic guy. But he doesn't really get stuck in businesses with them for prolonged periods of time, and I think that's one of those things you only get the hang of through painful repetition.

And so, off they went.

They did bring me a Krispy Kreme hat. That was nice of them.

But I'd have preferred page or two of work, at least.

However, I didn't throw a rod, because they're little - and it's somewhat unfair to expect them, at ten and eight, to say, "Can we finish our work first?" when offered a free ride to the donut shop. I do get that. (And I wore the hat to Sam's, to show my filial affection and solidarity, even.) But... the work still needs to be done.

So tomorrow morning, while the link cable is calling to them from the shelf way up high, they're going to have to finish today's work on top of Friday's work, before they can veg-out on the video games. I hope to make it as easy on them as possible, and we do have some fun lessons planned. So. It will be either the world's fastest day, or the world's longest. We'll see.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

Happy Half-A-Year to You!

The Wee One hit six months. We haven't lost him, dropped him (that was actually a concern, considering Em's need to haul him around), or scarred him (years to go on that one, though...) He gets more interaction than any child I know. Some of it unwanted, but he doesn't really seem to care. It's as though he's resigned to not being mobile. Who knows how this will go when he can do more than roll? He's a happy little guy. And, I think it's safe to say, now that we've hit the six month mark: My first child without colick! (Thank you, baby! You'll always be in the running for Mama's Favorite, just for that! *smooch*)

Thumb sucking is Serious Business? Did you know that? Just look at the concentration. He chased that thumb around for quite a while before he caught it. I'd have had more pictures, but I was laughing too hard.
Smidge digs being a big brother. Jase digs that his arms are still in his sockets. Life is good.
And Dad, who doesn't do the laundry, thought he should celebrate being Half-A-Year with... A Cookie! I was going to be upset, but when Zorak looked at Jase and said, "You like a cookie," (a'la Over the Hedge) and Jase laughed and laughed and yanked the cookie out of Zorak's hand, I had to decide between fit or photo. Photo won. He'll be fine. He really loved the cookie.And he really loves the Zorak.
And in no time at all, he's going to turn ten, and I'm probably going to cry. So, for now, I'll have a cookie, too. And smile. And kiss my babies. And pray he's not still sucking his thumb when he turns ten...

Kiss those babies!
~Dy

What in the world?

This makes me smile...

Other things, that don't necessarily make me smile (although they might, but not the same way):

Facebook. What is that? I signed up so I could see Cousin T's page. And there are a bazillion relatives already on there. So, now it looks like I have friends and such, but I can't for the life of me figure out what to do with the page. I can't make it pretty, and give it a font I like. Or make it look even remotely... familiar. *sigh* It reminds me of the pageflake nightmare, from which I've just now begun to recover. Wee-ha, technological genius at work, huh? Ah, well, I'll have James explain it to me.

James' Webelos pack (troup? herd?) is selling popcorn now. They sent us a package in the mail, and it looks like it's all done online. Still not completely clear on that. In one way, I like not having my child out there, going door-to-door, hoping not to be torn to shreds by some angry dog-farm escapees. Or approached by a pedophile. So, there's that. By the same token, I do feel like the boys ought to put a little wear and tear on their soles. You know, pony up and put some effort into it. Isn't there a compromise? A gauntlet they can run that actually requires them to run, but without the looming threat of death or dismemberment at every turn? I don't know. It can't be easy to meet all the requirements everyone has. I suppose this is a good compromise. Maybe I'll have him at least write up a blog entry on it, or something along those lines.

Fall is coming! I can't smell it, and I can't see it, but I know it's coming! The electric bill should be dropping shortly. And that means we need to get out and mark the deadwood NOW, before all the leaves fall and we can't tell any longer what needs cutting and what needs fertilizing. It would be a sad spring, indeed, to get that wrong.

Zorak baked us a pecan pie tonight. Well, I say "us", but I mean "me". (He did bake it all for me, right? Because I'm his favorite wife. I hope.)

We're reading Five Little Peppers and How They Grew. I like it. The boys like it. I hate reading it aloud. This isn't a read-aloud-to-this-many-kids book. This is a read-it-together-but-independently-then-chat-about-it book. That will make sense only to about half of you. That's okay. I love you all for different reasons. :-)

Anything making you smile this week?

Kiss those babies!~
~Dy

Oops!

Sorry to have been so quiet. We've been sorting the recycling. (It's very important, you know.)

However, we had a lovely weekend. Picked more pears. Apples still aren't ripe. Had a birthday (it'll get it's own post, though - that's a special part of it). Weather's been gorgeous. Life is good.

That's about all I've got at the moment. I find that I can't really write when I'm not a-l-o-n-e, and we're now going on nearly two weeks that I have not been a-l-o-n-e. Ever. It's shocking, really. But even now, I stayed up so late, and although they're all sleeping, and I am, technically alone, I'm also exhausted. Somehow, the internal ability to focus somewhat disrupts the benefits of not having external interruptions. Go figure.

So, night! I'll be back this week, though. Honest. :-)

Kiss those babies!
~Dy