I Rock!

After dental fun yesterday, I again tried to sweep the corners of my kitchen and said "Enough!" I've had the new vinyl for a year but it never got trimmed out. Something else always came up...cars,kids, food, shelter. I couldn't stand it anymore and was tired of waiting on others (dh) sooo.... I went to Lowe's, bought cheap prepainted quarter round and did it myself. In two hours. Don't let guys tell you it's a big deal. I am now Mistress of the Mitersaw. (sounds kinky) and my kitchen and bathroom have trim. It's not gorgeous, exotic, finely carved trim, but it's trim darn it! I might also mention I still had time to make a pot roast. I rock! In other news, sensing that I had spent some money, the bearing on my washing machine went out. How do the appliances know????

Finally

Slow progress but I am glad to announce that I now have ONE child who has all her cavities filled. Why , oh why did they have to inherit my crappy teeth? I feel like I have been living at the dentist. I have been to seven dentist appointments and have three more to go. I'm thinking of just direct depositing dh's paycheck into the dentist's bank account. I'm beginning to think his new pool is being financed by us.

Hodge Podge

Just some thoughts on a steamy Sunday night. I have been reading this Reduced Shakespeare: The Attention Impaired Readers Guide Amusing, yet educational (Great taste-less filling).
I also like these sites. They appeal to my extremely trivial mind. (yes, I can remember the main export of Paraguay, but not a dentist appointment.)
For the Lone Ranger Fan
More Shakespeare Fun
Good Girls Kill For Money And I've actually had e-mail contact with one of the writers.
Finally pics. I never had a girly-girl moment in my life, but my girls seem to be that way anyway. All that was missing from the tea party were the scones and cream.


What happens when you don't securely put away the birthday decorations? She even did a hula rendition.

Cake

Really, all my kids need to be happy for a birthday is cake and some cheesy decorations.

Before the chaos. Note, the beer is not for the kids, lol.


With the cake


Eating

Eight is Great

Happy Birthday L. Today she is eight. What to say about L. She is the child I have the hardest time getting along with. Strong willed really doesn't do her justice. A tantrum can easily last eight (how ironic) hours. She has gone 30 hours without eating rather than pick up a pair of socks. Just a tad hard to deal with. I try to remind myself that when she sets a goal she succeeds. Not to paint too grim of a picture, she is also smart, funny and a leader at school. (Probably because everyone is afraid to tell her no, LOL). She is also a very good sister to Mel, letting her play tea party and reading her stories. I'm sure I will be very proud of her someday, if I don't die from exhaustion first.

She was swimming, and when she saw the camera she immediately struck a pose. It is so L.


The birthday kid always gets to pick meals. Her choices today were homemade cinnamon rolls, chocolate m&m cookies for her class at school and spaghetti and garlic bread with cake for supper. It was a very difficult decision whether we would have cake or pumpkin pie.

Back To School

First day of school here. E got on the bus at 6:45am so she was long gone by the time I thought to take pictures. C and S looked at me like I was nuts and set out across the field to walk to school. Pictures are sooo uncool.

F's first day of kindergarten


F, L and Mel. Baby sister is not happy to lose all her playmates.


The diva enjoying her pool. Perhaps she doesn't miss them as much as she thought she would.

Squeezing In Some Fun

On Sunday we took the kids to the zoo. We would have liked to do something more, but the budget and time constraints kept that from happening. We did have great weather, and we let the littles do pony rides and bought lunch there. Does it say something about our family that eating at the zoo was a big deal? Too many picnics on trips?

Monday L had two fillings done. She has two more to go. We did manage to make it through this appointment. She was the child you most want to disown at the last attempt. Gee, now I just have 3 more appointments this week and two next week. I hope the dentist's family is enjoying the lifestyle I'm providing.

C had soccer practice and E went to a high school swimming party. I am amazed at that kid's social life. She could find friends on a deserted island.

Mel has a croupy cough. How do you get that in August? My allergies are driving me crazy. S has to pick up football equipment today. And so the treadmill of activities begins. I want them to be involved, I really do, but it sure seems to involve me. I'm even the mean mom who makes people ride their bike to practice or walk home when possible, and it still seems to involve me. ~Sigh~

Wholesome Midwest Saturday

Went to a festival in my home town today. My dad and brother still live there.

*I watched my kids eat WAY too many pancakes and syrup. Nothing like a little sugar.

*Watched a parade and watched them collect WAY too much candy. Nothing like a little sugar.

*Went to my dad's. Watched them eat WAY too many oreos. Nothing like a little sugar.

*Went to my brother's, watched them get lots and lots of plastic toys from the garage sale leavings. Watched them be hyper.
Wished I had a little alcohol. Hey, doesn't that take sugar?

Pearly Whites

Behold the $5000 smile.

I hope it was worth 7 years of wearing braces and the 3 hour appointment to get them off.

Home School Fantasy

It's that time of year again. The time of year I indulge in a home school fantasy. (The only other fantasy I have is actually finishing a cup of coffee while it is hot.) I see on my visits around blogdom that some schools have actually already started. In the frickin' middle of summer! I thought the 23rd was bad enough.

For the record I hate sending my kids to school. I miss them, and so I fantasize about homeschooling. In the fantasy they read literature, easily pick up math from cooking and trips to the store and salivate at the thought of a trip to the art museum. Alas, I am sure that it would just be more fantasy novels, play station and pictures of monsters drawn in crayon. What I'm really fantasizing about is the relaxed summer atmosphere. Playing cards late into the night, swimming all day, bike rides. No lunch, no baths. (What, a cheese stick and swimming don't count?)

I hate the two weeks leading up to school. Everyone I know feels compelled to ask me if I'm ready for school to start. Don't these people like their kids? Unfortunately I know myself. My attention span is aproximately two minutes long. I would take unschooling to new levels. So, I buy gym shoes and paper and get ready for the take a bath, check homework, check what they put in their lunches slog. But I don't have to like it. And I can still fantasize about keeping them home.

In Response to the Babytalk Cover Brouhaha

I make milk, what's your superpower?

My Boys

They are strange.

My 5yo just spent 15 minutes telling me about Yin Yan Yoh, who is apparently a super bunny, who fights evil with his powers. I believe I got that right. This after he ran around the kitchen with his head in a strainer yelling "Crazy Taxi, crazy taxi" Hmmmm.

My 12yo, who is supposedly bright and mature just explained why it is not his fault the ball bounced off the glass door of the china cabinet. He was aiming for the piano after all. Gee, that makes it all better. What was I thinking?

10yo. Well, he is just generally strange.

Blah

After the excitement of visiting with long lost friends and actually going OUT, I felt blah yesterday. I picked up the dehumidifier from the repair guy. It had approximately two boxes of checkers inside it. This would explain why 1) we can never find the checkers, 2) why it was leaking all over the floor 3) what Mel finds to do in the basement. It rained so I got groceries. It wasn't like we could do anything fun. After tromping around in the rain I felt even more blah. I usually try to cook something reasonably nutritious. This is met with no response. Last night I made canned soup. People were lavish with their praise for the delicious meal. Geesh!

Margaritaville

So I've vacationed, had a high school reunion and tonight I'm going to a Jimmy Buffett concert. This hasn't left much blogging time. I'll leave you with this photo taken at the splash pad. A maintenance guy opened the control's and little Y chromosome carrying types flocked over. Doesn't their posture reflect old guys standing around a tractor. It cracks me up. I can hear them saying "Yup, that there is the whatchamajiggly. Important ya' know."

Who

1) So who was the wise acre who thought up the heat index? Really, once you're up into the '90's does it matter if it "feels" like 104? Hot is hot!

2) Are there really people, who, when it feels like 104 don't know that you should restrict activity and drink plenty of fluids?

3) Why is weather a contest? It's hotter here. It's more humid here. The concrete of the city makes it hotter. We have to make hay in this sun. It's hot people, miserably hot. No matter where you live, no matter what you do, it's hot!

Ok, that's off my chest and I've promised my family I'll quit yelling these things at the tv now!