Boys Week

My girls are at girls camp this week and so it has been me and all of my boys. What's different? Lots fewer babysitters. No sympathetic hugs from my girls when I'm tired. No funny stories from Tia. More burping. Boys all in one room at night. Nice Connor getting up super early with Dan -- which allows his mom and dad to sleep. Some fun adventures.

Monday started with a bang with Dan whining all day long until his Mother (okay so that's me) was tired and not very cheerful. Home evening was a bit on the pathetic side. Dan went to bed really late and so did Derek and I. Sigh.

Tuesday is much better. Aunt Mandy and her two beautiful little girls agree to go with us to the zoo. Eventually -- after Annie and Dan have napped -- we arrive at the zoo to find a place to eat our picnic. I skip the obvious tables and we end up eating in the shade on benches after viewing several animals. I think it was the hottest day of the week but we hopped from shade to shade to view the animals and had a good time.

We saw the elephants -- even the pregnant one. Her baby will be about 200 pounds when she/he is born but we couldn't really see any signs of movement other than the mama elephants breathing. "Goggy!" says Dan. "Woof woof".

We saw tigers "meow" says Dan (hey it's close). We see giraffes. "Meow" says Dan. When I say no he probably tried "oo oo aa aa". He was confident that everything at the zoo either sounded like a monkey, a dog (goggy) or a cat.

We even went to the snake house and saw a sloth, an iguana and a diamond back rattle snake. Dan watched the snake calmly until it moved and then he looked rather scared. It was right at his eye level. He was pretty much done with the snake house. Tuesday was good. It made up for Monday.

Wednesday was hang laundry on the line day. The washer is hooked back up but we need another part to hook up the dryer. Our towels are now "invigorating" if anyone wants to borrow some. We also picked up the new stove which is safely in the back of the truck still. It tipped over in the truck on the way home -- against the taile gate. "Scary!" said, Connor and I. "Cool" said Jake. It went straight again when I stopped to fix it. "Yikes" said I. "Scary" said Connor. "Awesome!" said Jake.

We stopped for a snack too before getting the washer. We walked through Sears to get to the food court. "This doesn't look like a good place to get snacks" says Connor. "Growl" said I (sort of). I should have seen the humor in it and offered him a tasty tool. I told him to trust me and he wisely stopped whining about my choice of a place to get snack. He liked his ice cream cone just fine and Dan liked his hot fries though I think he might have burned his tongue.

Today they were hoping I had really fun plans for them. They're watching "Scooby" and playing with friends. It will have to do.

Wild Week in Review

These pictures are out of order but try to overlook that. Sometimes I'm technology challenged. Last Monday was a very busy day. At the end of the day the toilet was pulled off the main bathroom floor and put in the tub.
Before that, the appliances were all moved to the porch where some of them still are. We got so used to the fridge being outside that several of us went out on the porch to get something or put it away even after it was put back where it goes.
Hmm. You're not going to get a good picture of the week this way! Day 4 (Thursday) our guests arrived to find all of the family room furniture still in the living room, the appliances outside, and the main bathroom toilet still in the tub. On top of that, we took some of them to pack night where Connor was awarded his "Bear" in Cub Scouts and raced his boat in the rain gutter regata. What a way for them to start their vacation!
This picture is helpfully from day 3 (Wednesday) The carpet was put in on this day, the main bathroom was painted (except the part I couldn't reach because the toilet was in the tub and I wasn't going to try climbing on it). Food for dinner was cooked at Grandma's house as you can only eat so many sandwiches and microwaved rubber chickens -- I mean chicken nuggets.

Ah. Back to day 1 where we ripped out the carpet and the kids removed lots and lots of staples. We moved the furniture first -- except that heavy t.v.. Thanks to the neighbor for helping with that and the heavy appliances until quite late at night. Thanks to my children for being very, very helpful and not complaining on a rather exhausting day.
Day 1 still. My kids not only helped me all day but then went and cleaned Aunt June's car for her birthday. It was supposed to be a gift but Aunt June treated us to ice cream at the Red Barn so we were well paid. She gave us each a quarter too -- even me -- though I think that was really Dans because you know how big of a help he would have been.
Day 2 -- we got linoleum and Day 3 we got carpet. Kayli had swimming lessons and band and they were busy days for all of us. It looks nice even if it's hard to see in this picture. The kids enjoyed the empty room and used it for doing dances and gymnastic like tricks.
Day 2 through today -- we learned to enjoy breakfast on the pergola. It's quite pleasant to eat breakfast with the birds -- who come to the bird feeder even while we sit right there by them. Of course, sometimes the birds leave little surprises so you don't want to actually put your food on the table. It's a bit too sunny out there for dinner. We tried last night and it started well with cloud cover -- but they moved before we were done. I needed sunglasses.
Day 5 -- We take our guests on a nice "easy" hike through trickling mountain streams. We've done the hike several times ourselves but never when there was so much water! My nephew declares that he is NEVER going on that hike again. My brother just figures he won't be carrying his youngest daughter the entire time next time -- we'll have to leave the young ones at home. Really, everyone put on happy faces and trudged through the water -- sometimes up to the thighs of the Jake sized people. We all ate leftovers for lunch and the kids had pizza while us adults went out for some mexican fare.

Day 6 I went to the store since the leftovers had been eaten and it's rude to send your guests away famished. After helping move the fridge back in, my brother and his family left. We are hoping we didn't scare them off forever. Brian did get to ride the motorcycle and maybe if we promise them no furniture moving and no wet hikes they'll return someday. When they left I painted the laundry room, helped the girls shop for girls camp, and mowed the lawn -- only the front -- I'm not superwoman.

Day 7 was Sunday. I tried not to look at the tape that needed to be removed and the trim that needs to be painted and the clutter that is everywhere so that I could rest. It worked as well as ever! Today the girls are off to girls camp and the boys and I will carry on -- hopefully at a slightly less frantic pace.

Grandma and Grandpa -- Hooray!

Just a quick post to say that it is ever so nice to have my kids' grandparents C. home. Just think how nice it is to have Connor's birthday be wonderful because Grandma took him out to a movie and that Kayli's day was made a good one because Grandpa patiently listened to her for two hours when she decided on the spur of the moment that a trip to Grandma's (and Grandpa's) house was just what she needed. In a busy week when I'm sure I'm not giving my kids quite the attention they deserve it is nice to have someone (besides my good Derek) picking up the slack.

Hooray Grandparents!

The Golden Crown

It's the busyest Monday I've had in a long time and yet I am writing in my blog. I needed a break. Dan woke up at 6:30 after sleeping in my chair. He went to bed in his bed -- but around 4 a.m. when Jake was up needing something or other (I was a little sleepy at the time) -- Derek heard some snoring and found that Dan had made his way out sometime during the night and slept in my chair. What a silly boy.

At 8 a.m. I was having my golden crown fixed. Of course this isn't the kind you wear on your head -- I don't have one of those -- it's the kind that goes on a tooth. Mine fell out a week ago and has been sitting on top of my jewelry box looking a lot like a gold tooth. It took a little over an hour to get it reglued and then feeling normal again. I learned about the dentist's bear hunt and remembered that it's hard to hold your mouth open that long.

Meanwhile, Trisa took Connor and Jake to swimming lessons where Connor was put in the wrong class. He thought it was my mistake but I had the paper to prove I had put him in the right class (whew!). Fortunately he's a good swimmer and so they moved him up anyhow. Jake went to class but did confess that he didn't put his head under water. If he wanted to shock me he would have needed to confess that he HAD put his head under.

Before the boys got home I had finished being re-toothed and had signed Kayli up for band camp. I came home and paid a bill and registered the car (printing out a temporary registration so that I would not get a ticket today). I traded Trisa and she took the car to a job interview while I went and picked up Kayli from piano in the truck and took her to band camp. The truck is beastly to park and Trisa didn't want to add to the stress of her interview -- or not get the job because she parked on the owners car or something.

Anyhow, I also went to the pharmacy and two more people attended piano lessons plus we all ate lunch and the laundry has been running throughout. Aren't we impressive? Maybe not, but some days we can get a lot done if we organize things just right. I still get to tour the brand new high school, take Kayli to 4H and attend a ball game. We might consider eating dinner too. I'm hoping the cooking fairy is coming over soon or I might have to do the cooking too.