Knock, knock...could I borrow...

Day three, maybe, of weird tummy for me, so I chose to stay closer to home and get some things done. I got the youngers' room back in order and straightened their sheets to my liking. There's nothing better than getting into a freshly made bed with unwrinkled sheets. Then I finally decided to tackle the bathroom cabinet that has been in desperate need of attention for a long time. The hub built quite a structure there, because it holds a heck of a lot more than I thought it could. Thank goodness tomorrow is trash day. Discoveries during the clean out:

1. Apparently I must have an eye condition that prevents me from being able to see that we indeed have soap in the house. I purchased some last week and apparently the hub must have purchased some at some point. I think our soap stash should last us until at least next June. At least you know we'll be clean.

2. In our house, Santa and the parents leave maybe some gum and a candy cane in your stocking...maybe a pair of socks. The rest of the stocking is comprised of hygiene items. The Easter Bunny does that also along with a chocolate bunny and some jelly beans. Apparently a tally has not been kept about how many dental items we have. We have enough little dental floss picks for everyone to floss three times a day for a year and enough dental floss string(from dental visits and other things)to reach from here to Nashville I think. I have been using floss like it is going out of style, so I was surprised to find that much. Oh well. Dental health is important.

3. I found, I'm ashamed to say, a little bit that contained nothing but implements used when nursing babies. I am not ashamed that I nursed for it was a rewarding and special time for me and my babies. BUT, the last time I needed that stuff was, uh, well 8 years ago. So maybe this clean out was a little overdue.

After the clean out, I mowed the lawn. Well, all of the lawn but about 4 swipes. I ran out of gas and the gas jug thing was empty. I was a bit put out with that and almost took a cup up to the neighbors to see if I could borrow a cup of gas. I didn't. Wasn't sure how that would be received. No one will notice but me, but it will drive me crazy.

The hub and I are watching Copa America right now. USMNT is up by one, but we can't get cocky. Still have heard nothing from the children. Ignorance is bliss.

Night all.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Productive-ish

I woke up this morning with a gurgly tummy and not feeling great, but I knew I needed to try and be productive. My parents came for a little bit this morning before they went to the hospital to see my uncle and aunt. My dad consulted with me on what shrubs to treat with loving care and what "trash" needed to be hacked away and removed. So as soon as they left, I set the iPad on Netflix, got my Bose speaker out on the patio table and blasted the Alfred Hitchcock Hour episodes while I chopped down weeds. I know, I don't know why I chose that, but I love Alfred Hitchcock and needed something to help pass the time while I worked. The unusual little girls who live down behind us had their faces plastered to the fence to try and understand why the story of two Cowboys ready for a gunfight in a restaurant was being played in our yard. This made the dog crazy and kind of creeped my out with their little faces staring up at me...obscured by the chain link fence. It was just kind of weird. After I felt I had done all I could do without consulting with the hub, I showered and went to start cutting out bear parts for a friend. After that, I worked in the "apartment"(what we call the kind of homework, play, music area for the kids)to clean it up and throw some things out while I had no objectors to my actions. I feel like I've been fairly productive today, but I sure do miss my people. We will not hear from the boy unless something is wrong. We have yet to hear from the girls. I know cell service is sketchy, but we may not. Ignorance is bliss I guess.

Going to watch a little Copa before bedtime.

Night all.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Weird

Soooo...all of my children have been delivered to their various locations for the week. The girls are at SIFAT, a program supported by our church that is really interesting. Feel free to look it up and see what they are doing. The boy has been taken into the mountains with his friend and deposited at church camp. Want to talk about a child so excited that he couldn't hardly stand to be in his own skin. He was the first in his cabin, got his choice of top bunks and even had a counselor who was a student at Oxford in England. Not too shabby. His camp, for me as I say every year, is a holy place. I will never forget being dropped off there for my first time and feeling sick and nervous as my mom walked away. At the end of the week, I cried because I had to go home. Such a wonderful experience. This will be his first time to stay a whole week. makes me a little bit queasy, but he was ready to go. I'm awfully proud of all of them to be so willing to go and serve and experience and be adventurous. The silence in this house is truly deafening and I cannot wait until they all are back home. But I pray they have wonderful experiences wile they are gone.

Night all.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Mystery bird family

I have always loved to watch birds. I guess I get it from my grandmother. She used to lean on the counter near her kitchen sink and look out the window at the birds. "Jenny Wren? Look at the cardinals out there...aren't they just glorious?". Her nickname for me was "Jenny Wren". My dad and mom have always loved watching the different birds, so it has just passed on down. For almost ten years, we had a little decorative bird house that had a little chickadee family living in it. We would sit on our patio and watch the mom and dad feed them and chat with each other and grump at us if we got too close. It was wonderful. But the house they were in was never meant to be an actual birdhouse, but more like a decoration on our shed door. So it fell apart...luckily after the babies had learned to fly and were gone. We put the house back together, but they never came back. We still see them around, just not in that house. The boy wanted a project and wanted to see birds back, so we got him a little kit at Wild Birds Unlimited and he built it and hung it in a tree. What a wonderful surprise I had last week when I found that a new family had taken up residence for us to observe. The problem is, I cannot figure out what kind of bird it is. It is too fast for me to get a good picture of it. It is little like a chickadee, but dark brown with a black tail. Anyone have any ideas? We want to read about it and know what the best things are to feed them. Whatever kind of bird it is, we are so excited. The little babies sound so cute when their parents bring them food. They are really mouthy. Love it!

Night all.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Serpent adventure

I have been the laundry troll today, washing all the remaining clothes that might be used on one of the three kids' trips this next week. I was all set: the iPad was hooked up and the Bose speaker was on and Conan clips were playing. The hub had even sent a picture of our first baby cuke growing so sweetly in the garden. All was calm and happy and bright. I knocked on the little basement window to tell the hub to look at the cuke and see if it was a picking cucumber. If it was, I want to make sure to not let it get too big.

Me: Hey!! Look and see if it is a pickling cuke.
Hub: I don't know what it is.
Me: Just look at the little plastic marker in the ground.
Hub: I don't want to.
Me: What?
Hub: I don't want to...there's a snake in there.
Me: Really?(with a tone of disbelief)
Hub: A look that we can all picture in our heads I'm sure

I went out to see what the commotion was. He was not kidding.



Yep. There it was. Bravely, he got on his heavy duty work gloves and took it for a trip to the wooded area of the vacant lot. We believe it hitched a ride in the hay bale we brought home recently. He was not welcome in our yard, but the hub had mercy and took him to a snake resort. Hopefully he will not return...or I'll wet my pants.

Night all.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Explaining technology

Today was a playground play date at church, which means that our playground was open for preschoolers and their families to come and fellowship, get to know other families with similarly aged children and wear themselves out before lunch. How could you go wrong? The boy and I got there about 20 minutes early to wipe off all the playground equipment since we had storms last night. No one wants to slide down into a puddle unless they have their swimsuit on, right? Well, long story short, no one showed up. The first one of the summer and I think there were lots of people on vacation this week, soooo there we sat. For whatever reason, he and I got into a discussion about Snoopy Sno-Cone machines and record players. I showed him the video of the sno-cone commercial and then explained "big records" vs "small records". We even discussed the little yellow piece of plastic that went in the center of a '45. It got deep, friends. That's my boy. I'm going to miss him next week while he's at camp. He's a good little companion, as are the girls...but they will all be having memorable experiences. I'm excited for them.

I mowed the lawn today and am feeling that catch up with me. Time for a bath and bed.

Night all.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Packing mule

I think. That one of the biggest ways to torture people, or at least me, is to make me pack for/unpack from a trip. My mother was a dynamo at it. She folded outfits with tissue paper to prevent wrinkling, then put those outfits into ziploc bags. Everything had a bag or a place that fit into a perfectly constructed puzzle. I worry about whether I have enough items for them to wear, but not too many. Lucky for me, the girls pack their items now. I do like to take a little look to make sure I agree with clothing choices, etc. The boy helps, but he never ends up wearing half of what I pack him. Every time I pick him up from camp, it is the hottest day of the summer and he has on sweat pants and a hoodie on. Every time. We'll see how his week trip goes this time. Let's all pray he doesn't come home with some sort of a fungus. It will be interesting.

Now to go to the basement and find duffel bags to fit everyone's items. WIth the downpour we are having, I am hoping against hope that the basement is not flooded.

Night all.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad