Too Hot!

Nope, I'm not talking about me in shorts, lol. Friday and Saturday were so humid I felt like I couldn't move. Of course Friday was the day I absolutely had to go to the laundromat. It was so humid there I swear there was fog in the air. L, F , Mel and I took a walk across the blacktop parking lot to cool off. When 90 degrees and blacktop is inviting perhaps it's time to install air conditioning in the laundromat. E was nearly melted when I picked her up from cross country practice. Saturday E was marching in a parade in a nearby town with the school band so we went. All the kids had fun gathering candy. It must be the hunter/gatherer coming out. Seems to me it would be easier to go buy some than stand outside in the heat rushing into traffic to pick up melted tootsie rolls and suckers. It rained Saturday night and blessedly cooled off some Sunday. For some reason though everyone was in a bad mood. E was having a hissy about some school project (which isn't due until the 7th of Sept., how can a child of mine not be a procrastinator?), S was just disrespectful, C kept fighting with L and F asked his new favorite question every 5 seconds...But why mommy? About 6:00pm mommy lost her temper. Everyone left me alone after that. If I'd known I would have had my own hissy fit earlier :-P

Car Conversation:

Why is daddy at work?
To make money for us?
But why mommy?
So we can buy food and have a house.
But why mommy?
We like to eat and have a bed right.
But why mommy?
Because we get hungry?
But why mommy?
Because we need to eat to live?
But why mommy?
I wonder why too! (Contemplating why the fates have sucked me into this conversation)
Oh, because mommy!

I should have asked why back earlier!

More Proof I'm an Oddball

Once in awhile it occurs to me that even though I feel quite normal, maybe even old fashioned I am actually "different". So far this week:

1. I couldn't join in the discussion of how expensive new school clothes are because I've sent mine to school in their perfectly good sandals and shorts from this summer.
2. I have told the kindergarten teacher "No, it is not a mistake that I didn't send in the requested 12 glue sticks. When she runs low let her tell me. She has not used 12 glue sticks in her whole life."
3. Yes, I understand the ramifications of being "incompletely vaccinated" and just give me the paper so I can sign the waiver.
4. No (again to the kindergarten teacher) I won't be running in her forgotten homework folder. If she gets in trouble this time maybe she won't forget it next time.
5. Yes, I see the baby is walking and about to fall. It won't hurt her, really.
6. I just need to know when to pick up dd from the cross country meet not directions to the other school.
7. No, we won't be attending (fill in the blank) we need family quiet time.

And finally
8. My children WILL NOT be participating in the school fundraiser. We and all the people we know already own enough useless geegaws and I refuse to have my kids shill for some company getting rich on the backs of little kids. Oops! I'm positive the last comments got me filed in the Oddball Parent file at school. Perhaps I shouldn't have unloaded at the PTO meeting, LOL!

Happy Birthday Lilybug!!

Life got in the way but I'm back to announce I am now the mother of a kindergartener who turns 6 today! Now if only her mom would get busy and bake her a cake. This is L and dh on the first day of school.


Dh took time off at the end of last week so we worked on all the home improvment projects. Yuck. I do not like that sort of thing. If I could leave and come back when it was done that would be fine with me. We replaced some blown off shingles, replaced the bathroom shower faucet (which ran all the time) and installed cut offs. I also changed bedrooms around. Now when the construction is finished I only have to move oldest dd who is sharing with the two youngest girls for now. It also seems the children have all taken maladjustment pills so lots of emotions that needed to be dealt with. And lets not forget the baby's two day case of diarrhea. We also managed to fit in a trip to a minor league baseball game the kids won ticket to and a final trip to the drive in. Dh is back to work today so hopefully things will return to normal. Well, I don't expect all the emotions to return to normal but maybe just quiet down a little. Well, off to bake that cake or we'll have another melt down.

I don't wanna say goodbye to the summer....

My kids are desperately cramming in fun before the start of school. Tonight we are "camping" in the backyard.

What could be better than running around with flashlights and sneaking candy (do they really think I don't know)? Sometimes living in a dinky "Mayberry" town is worth it. I could never let them do this in a big city.

On Saturday we went to some garage sales. DD L who will be 6 next week saw a pink/purple bike. She asked if I could get it for her birthday present. Since it was all of $5.00 I magnanimously said yes. She is so pleased. Somehow we just never got around to getting her one and everyone elses are too big. She is happy.

Today I got her a helmet so she can ride along the street with my supervision. This is the boring part where I tell the story of how my ds was hit by a car while riding his bike. He broke the windshield with his head. It cracked his bike helmet. I'm convinced if he hadn't been wearing it we would be visiting him in a neuro ward. Be a nag and make them wear the helmet. Ok, end of lecture :-)

Is It October?

I'm not sure what the deal is with the weather. It was 47 degrees last night. I'm ready to build a fire and make cocoa for heaven sake when I should be having a midnight swim and iced tea! The construction goes on and on.... I did discover the original door frame. Why oh why did people "update" in the '70's. It is all carved and has a transom. It is really cool but not in such great shape after being stuck under aluminum siding for 30 years. Maybe I can take the lintel piece and pry it off to make some sort of wall art. I'm not sure.
I got the kid's back packs ready with all the school supplies they needed. I cannot believe they go back to school on Wednesday. I suppose it will get nicely hot when they return. I so don't want them to go back. It's nice to have them all around and not have to live on the school's schedule. I strongly considered calling the school and telling them not to look for my kids before Labor Day, lol! Seriously, oldest dd E will be in the 7th grade. She has asked about home schooling but I'm afraid I'd end up letting it slide or be so afraid of letting it slide I'd become a homeschool nazi. We'll see. I've been fighting a bad case of baby fever today. Mel is just so darn cute I can't imagine not having another. Dh really is concerned about his age though..., we'll see, men can be weak ;-)

Amish TV

Just some things I've found amusing the last few days. In the midst of the mess any humor found is good.

Three yo ds insists on telling everyone about his new "shoot gun" (water pistol).

DD 5 has a b-day on the 24th. She is asking for "an old crown with real jewels. Not a cheap tacky one mom." Geez, maybe too many dollar store gifts?

Finally, because we have no TV and I won't let the kids play outside while cement mixers and backhoes are tooling around the back yard, we all sit in the kitchen watching the Amish construction guys dig, float cement, etc. DS 10 has dubbed this "Amish TV". I hear them talking in the other room "hey, when this game of Yugioh is done, wanna go watch Amish TV?"

My little construction worker is eating up all the great mud to play in...


but a hard day of construction sure makes you tired


The actual construction seems to be going pretty well. Thank God the destruction part is mostly over. We have lost our cable TV, which means all TV. So far the weather has been good and no one has complained but if it turns rainy I'm sure to hear some complaints. Actually we had no power most of yesterday and some of Wednesday. We'll soon be as Amish as our builders.

Ds 8 is going to a sleepover/birthday party tonight. It is the first one he has gone to. He is not a very social animal so hopefully he will do fine.

DD 12 is grounded so she will be home tonight. I'm not sure I remember the last time she was home or didn't have someone stay here on Friday. It's the first time she's ever been grounded. I usually take away TV or computer or something for the boys but she just seems too old for that now so no phone, IM or seeing friends for her this weekend. I'm not sure sentencing myself to her teenage attitude was all that smart on my part though :-).

L,5 yo dd, seems fine now so I guess I can put off that call to the priest.

Mel has learned to stand up all by herself in the middle of the room, no pulling up on furniture. I know walking won't be far behind now. I really am trying to snuggle and enjoy every baby minute but she just keeps growing faster and faster.

Well, I need to go see if I can concoct something for dinner. If you read enough blogs you begin to feel everyone is a better parent, a better cook, a better wife, funnier, wittier, wiser than you. I'm just stating for the record here, I'm drowning in mediocrity and I'm pretty happy about it!!

One Of Those Days

You know the saying "Somedays the sh*t falls down so hard you need a hat."? Well today I needed a sombrero! Nothing huge just tons of little things.
They tore off my former utility room today, sending clouds of really gross dust and dirt everywhere. It was very hot and humid and I couldn't put on a fan because it just pushed the dirt and dust around more. I just gave up and went outside. There was no point in trying to clean it up until they were done. I now have a lovely blue tarp where my wall used to be. Because it was so hot I decided as a treat I'd take the kids to a local swimming spot in what used to be a quarry. It has a shallow sandy spot put in for little kids and the biggers can go dive off a raft. All was well until 5yo dd L decided to have the mother of all fits. I mean a screaming, crying, running away, throwing yourself down, slapping, head spinning fit!!! (Ok, maybe her head didn't spin but it was close.) I've seen many fits but this just might take the cake. And the topper is nobody seems to know what the problem was. So I'm sure we made a lovely picture...Me trying to carry screamming dd (after I managed to get ahold of her), 12yo dd carrying baby, 10yo ds carrying 3yo, 8yo ds and 8yo babysitting child loaded with towels, noodles and a baby boat. Sigh.... I sent 5yo to her room where she passed out from exhaustion underneath her bed, wiped, wiped, and wiped the kitchen and am now enjoying a much deserved beer. Hopefully tomorrow I'll feel I'm raising loving children and not the girl from the Exorcist.

Hopelessly Behind

You know the phrase "The hurrier I go the behinder I get."? That pretty much sums up the last few days. I returned from the 10th circle of hell aka my garage attic. I beleive I have finally finished in there. I picked up my dss 10 and 8 from camp Saturday. That ate about 5 hours out of the morning. I was then faced with the dilemma of burning or actually washing all the laundry they brought back. About load 7 later I realized I had made the wrong decision. I also went to a friend's house to check out her garage sale leftovers. E got several pair of jeans in the very hard to find size 0 and a cute fall jacket. I turned down a bread machine. She kept saying "..but it makes a two pound loaf." Hmm, that might do us one meal. It's much easier to bake up 3 loaves at a time in the oven. Hmmm, where was I... today was church and then I left my messy house and had some fun gosh darn it with the kids. I took all 6 and E's friend L swimming at the community pool. I kept Mel in her little inflatable boat (her floaty boaty) and she had a great time. The littlest 3 stayed with me in the middle size pool and the older 4 took off for the water slides and diving boards. I called it quits about 4:30 though because we had to get back for a carry in/talent show at church. We ate there, helped clean up and watched E and L try to soak up as much limelight as they could. It amazes me that my boys would rather have their eyelids removed than get up in front of people and my two older girls will run over you to get to the stage. Oh, and I came off like a big poop because I wouldn't let the sweet old ladies holding Mel stuff her full of ice cream. They probably think I'm full of newfangled ideas, lol. Tomorrow E and S have basketball camp. It's not that big of a deal but I find when I know I have to stop what I'm doing in two hours to leave I don't start big projects. Of course they have it at different times so that means four trips out of the house. Oh well, it will get me back in form for the school (YUCK!) year.