An Evening Out

Last Thursday night Berean and I went out.

My nursing license is up for renewel at the end of next month and I realized a couple of weeks ago that I was short CEUs (education) for my renewel. Thankfully, my Alma Mater was having a nursing symposium on Thursday night which would generate 2 free CEUs, so Berean and I decided to go.

The first session was the keynote speaker. She was very good and it took place in a large hall. I sat down in the back row of the front section in the aisle seat. There were lots of empty seats (auditorium was only about 1/4 full) so I didn't think it would be a problem. Berean was in her car seat which was on the floor by my feet.

Right before the session started, this woman came in and asked to get past me in my row. Are you kidding me? Do you not see the sleeping baby? Do you not see the 100 empty seats within 5 rows of me? Seriously? That is right up there with the people that pick a locker RIGHT NEXT TO the person that is changing in the locker room. Have we no regard for personal space?

Anyway, sorry about the rant.

The speaker was excellent and it was very timely to hear a session on being culturally sensitive. It is easy to get so.tired. of telling patients that they can not leave to get a cigerette, they are not allowed to eat nor are they allowed to smoke in the bathrooms. Anyway, it is easy to get burned out and forget to listen to the patient.

About half way through the session Berean decided it was time to eat. I have no problem nursing in public, but it did seem a little awkward. I reminded myself though that breastfeeding is a part of MY culture, and we were learning about being sensitive, so it should be ok.

And it was.

Later someone offered to get her into a free clinic for her health care needs.

Odd.

I ran into an old friend that I had lost contact with, so that was fun.

Then we went into the last session. It was SO HOT in the room and Berean was getting hot and fussy. I threw a blanket over her head so I could nurse- which just made her turn bright red from the heat and she got more agitated.

I took her out and she was immediately happy. I took her back in (I needed the stinkin' CEU, people) and stood in the back of the room. She got the hiccups. Everyone thought she was adorable, but it still is uncomfortable to have everyone gawking at your cute little baby hiccuping.

All in all it was fun to get out and do something different, even though next time maybe I will leave the baby or pick a more baby friendly environment- like Orchestra Hall? Just kidding.

Things I Never Thought I Would Say

"why is there a lego embedded in the butter?" (no good response)



"yes, that is definitely a jaw bone with teeth attached" (Roman is pretty sure it is human)


"does Daddy push mommy up against the window when she says that she doesn't want to watch the backyardigans and would rather watch Snoopy?" (no)

"I can't believe that my husband understands the boy's bedtime (ever shifting) dynamic than I do!" (this is because he has been putting them to bed :)


"I Kinda want a skateboard..." (I will get you one for Mother's Day)

Children's Literature

The above is just a little picture of the Three22nd Gang. They are a rough and tumble group, obsessed with all things "cool" and opposed to all things "cute". Except their baby sister- she is cute and they know it. And they still love her. Deke is wearing a Brazilian soccor jersey, because sports are cool. Roman is wearing his "rock out" shirt because guitars and rock'n'roll are cool. And Lincoln is wearing Batman because Batman is very cool.

Lincoln doesn't quite understand the whole "we are cool, not cute" sologan. He still likes me to read him Dora and Diego books. The whole thing cracks me up though because if Lincoln is not at the library, Roman will still get him Dora and Diego books saying, "I am getting these for Lincoln, he likes cute things still and I think he will like these". Roman will keep going on and on about how he doesn't like them etc but can you guess who is the first one on the couch when I sit down to read one to "Lincoln"?

Reading books from the library is always interesting, because I have never read most of them before- and sometimes I get surprised.

This week we got this book about a tadpole and a caterpillar. They are in love and don't want to "ever change". Of course they do- tadpole first- and the caterpillar gets all mad about it. So she leaves and then ends up going through metamorphasis herself. Anyway, the book ends with the frog (former tadpole love interest) eating the butterfly (former caterpillar love interest) without realizing that it was in fact his former love interest. Did not see that coming.

We are also in the middle of a chapter book about a school mouse. Her brother has eaten the poison pellets. She does not see him when she enters the room, but "somewhere in the classroom someone was groaning horribly. Flora fled." Seriously, people! Can't we sanitize this a little bit more? Just a titch? For the children?!

But my personal weekly favorite is from Chet Gecko, PI. In his book "The Possum Always Rings Twice" he states, "And in this country, anyone can grow up to become president. I guess it's just one of the risks we take."

I laughed. The boys didn't.

Someday they will appreciate Chet's humor.

Controversial Monday: Couponing

I am a frugal person, but never been much for couponing.

I work, I have 4 kids etc, etc and it seemed like it took too much time, too much thought and planning and that I wouldn't save enough money to be worth it. Oh, and that coupons were all for stuff I didn't buy anyway.

So I would buy things on sale and use the in-store coupons, but that was about it.

After Berean was born I decided to spend my 6 weeks off work learning the ins and outs of couponing and see if it would work for me. I have 3 boys that are starting to eat a lot, and although couponing is not going to become a "job" for me-I already have one of those- I thought it may save me a little on my monthly grocery bills.

But now I am getting into it and I am saving a lot of money, and it doesn't really take that much time.

What I have discovered:

*Cereal is cheap. In the last 6 weeks I have purchased name brand large boxes of cereal for roughly 25 cents a box (this does usually take into account the money I save by the cereal purchase giving me free milk etc.) For example, last week Rainbow had a deal that if you bought 6 boxes of general mills cereal you would get $10 back at checkout. So the 6 boxes came to about $21 dollars. I got the $10 off which brought it to $11. I doubled coupons (cuz it was wed) to generate another $6 off. 6 boxes of cereal for $5 PLUS I got coupons for 1 doz free eggs and a free gallon of milk, which conservatively is worth $3.50 (of stuff we actually buy weekly). NICE.
I now offer fruit loops instead of cookies as a snack. (I did get healthy cereal too...).

*Where I spend a lot of money at the grocery store is when I suddenly remember I have to bring a snack for tee ball or Bible study or a BBQ and I have to run to the store and pay whatever price they are asking that day. Even though coupons may be for something I don't *need* like ice cream, chips or pop- it gives me a cheap stash of things I now have available to bring to those events without spending top dollar. (This of course means I have to keep the people in my house from eating them- but they are currently all scared of me and the big, bad coupon frenzy so it works out.)

*The walgreens/CVS kind of deal is not my thing. I don't like messing with register rewards, and some really cheap deals and some really expensive items like those stores have. I feel like I forget something or the elaborate coupon plan goes wrong somewhere everytime I try it. We don't use a lot of the products those places sell anyway- so I don't go the drugstore route very often.

*I have been going to pocketyourdollars.com and moneysavingmom.com. Those sites give you the best deals going on and are really helpful for timesaving couponing.

Anyway, what do you think? Coupons...love them or hate them? Is it a game to you or just an annoyance?

6 Weeks

Picture Overload: Massive Grizzly Fight

Oh wonder of wonders. We got to the bear display and they were not sleeping!

In fact they were in the water.

Look at the paw on that guy!

And then the wrestling match began.

And all the moms kept saying, "oh, it is ok, they are just playing"

And maybe they were. But it got pretty intense.

They must be brothers.

Speaking of brothers.
If you have brothers, were you always pummeling each other?

And was there anything your mom could have done to stop you?

Awesome.

Aunt Elise says I have beautiful brown eyes

2 Stories, One About Frugality and One About Disposing of Clutter

Story #1-



Last week Noah decided to cook. Of course since he was cooking it was going to be a new recipe from his Bon Appetit magazine. And of course the ingredients are not the normal ones I stock in my kitchen. (as an aside, why do you think I have a half used bag of organic pastry flour in my fridge?)



Anyway, we invited company to come over Thursday night and Noah and I spent Wednesday night peeling pearl onions and chopping vegetables. When all the pre-work was done, Noah wrote out instructions for me for the next day and we went to bed.



Late the next afternoon I pulled out my instructions (which, by the way, were written in a Color Wonder book that had almost been spirited away by the kids during the day).



Instruction #1: combine 2 cups chicken broth and one bottle of hard cider with the premade food in the fridge.



Ok. I see the bottle on the counter. Now remember, we don't drink. Noah had gotten 1 bottle of hard cider from somewhere to use in the recipe.



I try to twist the cap. That is how you open premium rootbeer, after all.



It was not a twist top.



I look in my utensil drawer. I remembered I had gotten rid of the bottle opener on my last "declutter" crazy fest.



Now what. I continued looking around the kitchen, trying to find something to open it with- getting rather irritated, I might add.

My can opener is electric, and doesn't have a bottle opener thingie on it.

A knife, a screwdriver? Both seemed like bad options. I could envision the glass bottle flying across the room and shattering.

A-ha! Suddenly I remembered something. 18 months ago I had inadvertently taken a hand can opener home from church (oops). I had recently come across it and stuck it in my purse to bring back. Only I had been back and forth to church a number of times and had continued to forget to take it out of my purse.

And it was still there.

Nice. Disaster averted. Bottle opened, and can opener returned to purse.

Husband walked in door 5 minutes later and upon hearing about my dilemma and rather immoral solution (the stolen can opener being the immoral part), picked up the kitchen shears on the counter and pointed out the bottle opener on them.

I suggested that the next time he cook his own food.

Story #2

I buy new swimming suits frequently, and this annoys my frugal self.

I have to do it though because I am in the pool a lot for lap swimming as well as playing with the kids, and suits just don't last that long in the big, bad vat of chlorine. It also probably doesn't help that I just buy regular suits from the store that are probably more for the occasional swimmer.

Anyway, I was at Target last week and found 2 one piece suits on clearance. They both sort of fit. (by the way, this wasn't Target totally lame clearance, this was get a suit for $8 kind of clearance). I haven't worn a one piece suit for a long time, but they are nicer to swim laps in and besides that, they were cheap.

As I said though, they sort of fit. The black one had a semi plunging neckline that I knew would be a problem (especially while I am nursing) while swimming laps.

But, ever resourceful, I knew I could just wear something underneath it.

So today I went to swim and put a (rather large) tank top made out of swim suit material underneath the black suit.

I had gone one lap when I discovered the problem. Somehow the tank (which of course was too big) was pulling air and water in under the suit. I could fill the air under my back as I swam and then it would bubble out.

Awkward.

Yeah, I must have had a continuous bubbling coming from my suit as I swam laps.

Great.

All I could do was hope that my non-streamlined front crawl was creating enough turbulence in the water to mask the bubble.

Maybe that will be my new tactic for keeping people out of my lane.

Guilt: Controversial Monday Style

We just got back from a fun trip to the Zoo. I apologized to Berean for not doing age appropriate things with her, but explained that it is just part of life as a 4th child.



She was all like, "but Mom...all my friends get to nap with their moms and chill in their cribs, and go on little walks around the neighborhood and I have to be hauled all over the city in my car seat. AND what is worse is I have to EAT whenever you want me to and in the most inappropriate locations."



And I told her that she was going to be happy when she is older and can show her friends pictures of the greatest Grizzly Bear fight ever and be all proud saying, "and I was SO there to witness it".



But then she reminded me that she spent the majority of the weekend snoozing in her car seat underneath the trees while we raked and rolled up sod in the new lot. And that somehow when hanging out with friends Sunday night she ended up with cheeto dust all over her forehead.



And then I felt a little guilty, 'cuz I am pretty sure Deacon never had cheeto dust all over his head or missed his bath 2 times in a row. (oh, I shouldn't have said that. A six week old who hasn't had a bath in 6 days? Bad mom, for sure).



So I have been thinking about guilt a lot lately. I feel guilty when I don't spend enough time with Noah. I feel guilty when I don't make supper. I feel guilty when I miss the baby's bath day. I feel guilty when I yell at the kids. I feel guilty when I don't "play" with them that often. I feel guilty when I leave their AWANA verses until Wednesday afternoon. I feel guilty when I drag the baby on age inappropriate activites. I feel guilty when I work, I feel guilty when I don't. I feel guilty when Roman doesn't have pjs to wear. I feel guilty when I fall asleep on the couch and don't spend time reducing clutter. I feel guilty when I don't have the energy to go on a run late at night or to take the kids to the Y so I can swim.



Aww, so much guilt.



And guilt is looked at so negatively.


And I realize that I have too much of it about things that are simply out of my control.



But SOME guilt can be good, I think.

Guilt can let us know there is a problem. Something we have done wrong, or something we need to improve on.



Feeling guilty about not "playing" with the kids much can force me to sit down and play a game with them (even when I don't want to at all) and I often find myself having fun and both being blessed by it and blessing them. That seems like a good thing.



Feeling guilty about not making supper means I may throw something together from the freezer or pancakes or may think about it earlier for the next day. That saves money. That seems like a good thing.

Feeling guilty about not keeping up with a friend may force me into a phone call I don't really have "time" for, but in the end I may discover that talking with her is what I really needed and was ultimately more important that what I had planned.

Do you see what I mean?

What things do you feel "guilt" over that actually pushes you to do the right thing or a new better thing?

Children of the 2000's

The above is a picture of Chief Chirpa- the (made up) Chief of the (made up) Ewoks on the (made up) moon Endor. Of course the (made up) Ewoks are part of the (real) movie Star Wars which is about a bunch of (made up) people in a (made up) galaxy at a (made up) time long, long ago and far, far away.

We are trying to make all this clear to the children.

They acknowlege that Star Wars is made up.

But they refuse to believe that Chief Chirpa is a man (or at least a male Ewok).

They all insist that the Chief of the Ewoks is a woman (or at least a female Ewok).

I told them that Chief Chirpa was male.

My sister told them Chief Chirpa was male.

Noah told them Chief Chirpa was male.

But they still call him her.

They asked me how I knew.

I told them that He was a Chief and typically Chiefs are male (ok, so I don't know much about Star Wars, so I have to go with "typicals")

They stared at me blankly.

Oh, yeah. They were all born after the year 2002.

Google and the Internet are mainstream.

They don't know what a film camera is.

and they are used to women being able to be in authoritative positions, just like men.

Chirpa sounds female to them, so (she?) (he?) is a woman (or at least a girl Ewok).

I am not going to argue about a (made up) Chief from a (made up) moon anymore.

But, I was born in 1980 during the Jimmy Carter administration

and I think

that Chief Chirpa is a man. Or maybe not a man. Maybe just a male Ewok.

7 years ago

Today, tax day, 7 years ago.

Noah and I sat on a hill in Deming Park, Terre Haute, Indiana.

We were overlooking our favorite disc golf course.

And eating Jimmy John's sandwhiches.

Pre-kid ideal picnic.

Who needs a basket and P B & Js when you can bring it all in a white bag that says,

"Subs so fast you'll freak"?

I told him I was pregnant.

We laughed.

We cried. (probably him, not me :)

7 years later.

Tax day.

Blogging in my pjs (I know, I know- but it has been a long week)

Listening to 4 kids play around the house.

Turning 30 in a couple of months is on my mind.

There have been many laughs these last 7 years.

And many tears.

And I am sure there will be more.

Happy Fatherhood Anniversary, Noah! I hope I can celebrate many more with you!

Isn't he...

Pretty much the cutest little boy ever? I know I may be *slightly* biased, but I am pretty sure it is only slightly.

I will try to get a post written about him soon...

But, well, I think I have been to bed before midnight twice since Berean was born...

And I am getting ready to break my own personal code and host a Norwex party...

and I am thinking about breaking another one of my codes and actually writing a blog post about all my amazing grocery deals this week... (and I might even buy paper towels)...

so his update will have to wait.

Just a little longer.


P.S. I will try to post some pictures that include his face. I know you are all dying to see it :)

Roman- Family Director of Play

Roman James is our 2nd born. We named him Roman after the book of Romans in the Bible. Romans is a book that talks a lot about how salvation works, and how it is through grace. James is his middle name. James is my dad's middle name and is also Noah's Grandpa's 1st name. James is also a book in the Bible that talks a lot about how important it is for Christian's to do the right thing.



Grace and works. Romans and James. Trying to fit them together, trying to figure out how to live.



And our Roman James kind of has two sides too.



Roman loves his pajamas, candy and snacks. This picture was taken on Easter. He wore his Easter clothes over his pjs, and as soon as he walked in the door after church the Easter clothes came off.



Deacon and he often butt heads during play. Deacon is the oldest so he thinks he is in charge, but Roman is the one who really likes imaginary play. Roman likes to tell everyone else what to say and who to be. He has a vivid imagination and he is also really good at building things out of duplos, blocks etc.



Roman can be very loving but also has a bad temper. He likes babies- mostly animal babies though, he tells me. When we were at the zoo in South Dakota last year he had no interest in the alligators, camels or rhinos. He liked the baby animals at the petting zoo and the fake jeep that you could sit in and pay a quarter to "ride".



He is a very independent child and has a certain twinkle in his eye. Roman is incredibly smart and clever. The other morning I came downstairs and Roman had the refrigerator door open. I asked why. "Tell me to close it, Mommy!" he replied. Suddenly I realized what was happening on day two of the "obeying mommy" jar. Yes, indeed, he was doing things he knew I would tell him to stop so that he could "obey" and get a penny.



Roman really likes costumes as well. I hold out hope that he will like to be involved in plays and musicals. He has very little interest in sports at this time, but does like to swim and ride his bike. I can see him being more of an independent sport kind of guy vs Deacon who is very into teams.



Roman is incredibly loyal to his family, especially his brothers. He cues into other people's emotions really well. He is the one in the morning that is up and trying to get his brothers (or his mom and dad!) to get up and come and play. He has less need to go places than Deacon does and really would rather just hang out with his family more than other people.



Roman is more of a hands on learner and figures things out quickly. Of all of our children he is probably the least predictable and the most difficult to discipline. He has SO many strengths (most of which are not that useful to a 4 year old) that I know will be a huge benefit to him as he gets older if he uses them wisely.

Talking to him about what is going on in his world is a real delight and we love him so much!

Deacon: Our Big Picture Child

Time for some updates! Deacon takes his responsibility of "oldest child" very seriously. He is brimming with information and ideas and really, really likes parties, extreme sports and being "cool".

Deke and I rode our bikes to the park the other day to play a little football. (He always thinks he can throw much further than he actually can, so it was more running than playing). Anyway, when we got there and got off our bikes he gently reminded me that I should probably take my helmet off and "just leave it by your bike like I do, mom". Poor kid has pretty uncool parents.

He really just wants to be an awesome skateboarder who makes movies. He keeps up a running monologue at all times. Yesterday we were biking and this is what he said about his future plans, "I'd really like to be one of those construction workers so that I could go on roofs. Either that or make movies. I think I will stick with making movies though, probably."

Deacon can be a little wild and get into trouble in exciting situations, but at home he really is the easiest of my kids to deal with. He is pretty happy and willing to help out and do things and works at getting everyone motivated. Berean reminds me of Deacon when he was a baby- a baby that was always willing to give me the benefit of the doubt and only cried in really important situations. And honestly, if Berean ends up like Deacon in personality, we will be lucky (though our ears may be stressed out.) Deacon holds Berean and talks to her in running monologue and even inserts jokes. It is pretty cute.

Deacon is not a big fan of Kindergarten, mostly because he would rather be playing. He is a "big picture" kid who loves being read to- fiction, nonfiction, history, geography and science. He learns really well by listening and will listen to whatever I choose to read for hours.

He is learning how to read and is doing a good job, but it is harder for him than just learning about the world. He is doing pretty well with his math, too, although he has more of an "estimator" personality who has little interest in finding out the "exact" answer. For example, a couple months ago I asked him what 5 + 6 was. He looked at the numbers for a couple seconds and responded, "I suppose it is around 12".

I guess by some, 11 is considered "around 12"

I laugh when he sits down to "work" on his "book". He doesn't color pictures or scenery. It is all diagrams, plans, and maps with plenty of arrows. Everything is done in black and he uses very minimum details to show the plans. To him the point is not to draw a person, but instead to draw a rudimentary stick figure with arrows to show what the person is doing, will be doing or should be doing. There needs to be a purpose.

I mentioned my plans for adding on to the house (someday when we have more money :) He took my ideas and ran with them. Literally ran all over the house and yard, asking me questions about why wouldn't I add on here instead of there, what will I do about this bush or that window, and how the fire hydrant will factor into all of it.

He spent 20 minutes last night discussing rocket boots, concrete skateboard parks and a ramp for his scooter.

After the discussion I told Noah that I feel a little bad that he has us as parents. We are both super practical, and although I am a dreamer- I am a dreamer with one foot firmly grounded in reality. But he sits there and tells us his plans, his dreams, and we both have to bite our tongues to keep from being overly negative.

So we are working on being supportive but making him think about things.

We started an obeying mommy jar. If I tell them to do something (a very direct command that needs immediate attention) and they do it right away without arguing they get a penny in their jar. After implementing this system I learned something new about Deacon that I had been wondering about: his problem is not obeying as much as it is listening. If he doesn't want to obey and he actually hears what we say he argues about it. His problem is that what I say usually goes in one ear and out the other. He goes off to get his shoes and gets distracted. He goes to get in the van and sees a bird in the tree.

Since we started the system he has been coming back to me a few seconds after I give him a command and asks for clarification or "what did you say again?"

For my part I have been trying to make eye contact when I tell him to do something and make sure he is listening and that his head isn't in the clouds.

He definitely keeps things moving around here and we love him dearly!

Start Over

I keep starting posts and not finishing them. Both in my head and on paper.

The first 3 days of this week have been the hardest since Berean was born. Not really that hard- just harder than the last few.

Berean isa mellow baby and has even slept 5 hour stretches a couple times! But this week Deacon and I have colds and well, it is just harder to deal with everything when I am not feeling perfect.

Let me break it down:

Constant fighting amongst the brothers + tick on Lincoln's head (ok, so I am a freak about ticks) + doors being left open + children thinking they can leave the house whenever they want + attempts to skateboard in the living room + laundry, oh so much laundry + clutter, oh so much clutter + cooler weather than last week + sick me = hardest week since I became a mother of 4.

But enough whining. Right now the older two are happily playing with their (890 piece) Ewok lego set (with strict orders to keep all 890 pieces on the table) and the little ones are sleeping. Which is amazing because Lincoln doesn't usually nap unless we are in the car.

So I should be eliminating clutter, but instead I am trying to finish a post.

Protecting Berean has been a concern of ours. The boys are exuberant, somewhat clumsy and don't always have the most sense. So Noah and I have been exceptionally vigilant (for our laid back selves) at keeping the baby safe.

But I have been doing a lot of thinking about that phrase, "keeping the baby safe".

I have read a lot of parenting magazines and articles, and every couple months or so I come across one cautioning a new mom to let the new dad interact with the baby "dad style". That means maybe a little rougher, maybe a little more "playing", maybe with a little less finesse. And they say that babies need that different style, and need that "dad" kind of interaction. And they say not to squelch that love expressed in a daddy kind of way.

I'm thinking there is a brother style of love too, and I have decided not to squelch it. Maybe redirect it at times, but not squelch it. Never that.

I had Berean in my lap this morning and all three boys were crowded around us. One was patting her head, all were talking to her in high little voices. Deacon said, "What little girls need a lot of is love." Roman chimed in, "They need to be surrounded with love." Then Deacon paused and looked at me and asked, "why do girls need so much love, anyway?"

They kiss her.
They talk to her.
They get in her face at an obnoxiously close distance.
They sing to her.
They move her arms and legs to get her to dance.
They give her toys.
They try to get her to take her pacifier.
They find her things to look at.
They hold her.
They all 3 love her in their own little ways.
Brother style.

So I will keep her safe.
And I will explain to them how to read her cues.

But I think this little girl is going to benefit from the brother-love, and I know that she is a blessed baby sister!

Yeah, she's really pink

Easter Sunday

We got up early to get all 6 of us to church by 8 am.

We made it at 8:04

It was a nice Easter morning for me.

You see, I used to cajole the boys to get them to wear something nice.

Maybe a sweater vest

(even though I only really care if they are sweater vests on the inside)

Maybe something Kahki

(even though that means more visable dirt)

Maybe something with (Heaven Forbid) BUTTONs on it

(even though I would have to button them all myself)

Or maybe just something clean

(and maybe underwear? Just because it is Easter?)

But this year I have her. See how kindly she spit up on the bed NEXT to her dress and not on it? Wasn't that sweet?

I dressed her in the dress I wore when I was a baby

Complete with the sweater, bonnet and boots handcrafted by Great Grandma Joyce

And she even wore white tights! And they were only a little baggy. And she only got a little poop on them and it was after church.

So we were happy.

And the boys were happy too.

Roman were dirty cords over his pajamas

Lincoln wore a button down over his lightning McQueen shirt

and Deacon wore his unzippable pants (wa-la Shorts!) with an athletic shirt.

I do have one nagging question.

How do you all get your boys to wear sweater vests?

Things I Never Thought I Would Say

"What do you think about getting Berean's ears pierced?"

"Do you think we should sign Deacon up for Skateboard Camp?"

"Come on guys, it is time for Star Wars Lego Character Roll Call"

"I am going to do multiple transactions so I can use more coupons"

"Why don't you just wear that again? It is not THAT dirty"

"Do you think I can get some GPS units to attach to the kids for the summer?"

Somewhat Boring

Sometimes I use facebook or my blog to remember things.

If I write notes to myself, they are bound to get lost in the stack of papers, lego pieces and half eaten easter candy on the counter.

But if I computer document them- they last.

So, this week I am planning to write updates on the kids. Maybe in 10 years or so I will have some documentation of when teeth were lost, who was potty trained when and who still insisted on wearing pjs constantly even at the age of 4.

But today, just for me, I am going to write a list of the things I want to get completed in the next 3 weeks before I return to work.

I won't be working a lot of hours, but it is something else to keep me busy- so I want to accomplish some bigger tasks before then.

1. Write baby thank you notes and get out birth announcements
2. Update the baby books. (this will be a huge task. I am going to need to figure out things like the date that Lincoln waved bye-bye for the first time. I will probably just make it up. How would he know?)
3. Outdoor winter wear washed and put away and wardrobes switched over to spring (do you have any idea what a monumentous task this is?)
4. Establish a clothes line
5. Make significant progress on lot cleanup
6. Clean/organize office
7. Clean/organize basement
8. Clean/organize garage.
9. Re-establish a reading plan

I will stop there. That will be enough to keep me busy for the next few weeks - especially since I will be spending a large portion of every day managing Legos.

What I have done so far on maternity leave
1. Instituted cloth diapering
2. Started a couponing system
3. Started seedlings indoors
4. Raking/yard work

I was...

Going to actually write out a post today,

but...

the boys are covered in dirt and are watching a movie

and...

the baby girl is sleeping

and...

I haven't taken a nap in a couple of weeks

and...

I am tired

so...

I am going to quit surfing, forget about dinner and go lay down.

APRIL FOOL's to ME!

I hear now that the baby is up and fussing.

Maybe I will get a nap tomorrow.