The Laundry Family Outdoors

We camped.

Oh man was it great. We love to camp and we go with the same crazy-fun family every year. Between the two clans there are eleven kids eleven and under. Yee Ha! It's so much fun.

We swam, we ate, we roasted hotdogs and marshmallows, and we plain old roasted (it was a 95 degrees). We laughed, we talked, we fished, and we ate WAY too many s'mores. Wait, maybe that was just me.

Check out our mammoth tent. It rules. (camera phone, sorry)

The kids love camping because it means that they get to eat really crappy food. It's like a dream come true. Nothing says balanced breakfast like a marshmallow-dog.

Now granted, that pic is from last year's camping extravaganza and we know better now. Healthy food for healthy bodies. Blah, blah, blah.

This time we had poptarts and s'mores for breakfast.

My Addiction to Chlorine.

We have already established that the heat is dear to my heart. I'm still loving this weather. Mowing the yard in the middle of the afternoon is a great way to lose ten pounds. Or to lose ten friends, the smell of a sweaty woman is a little overpowering.

I have another quirk to confess. I'm a bit compulsive about it too. And obsessive. Oh no! Don't do the math on that.....

I cannot stay away from the pool.

There. I said it out loud. Well, kind of. We have three months of summer in Iowa. Three little months. 92 days. Why would I want to waste a perfectly good sunny day in the house doing boring old housework?

Take yesterday for example. It was completely overcast. A very warm day, but the sky was nothing but grey clouds. There was not a speck of blue sky to behold. Deep inside my soul, I was a little bit happy. I would be able to accomplish SOMETHING around this house. Why would we want to go to the pool when there is no sunshine? It completely defeats the purpose. I am a sun-worshipper. I worship the sun.

The pool opens at one. Fine. Lots of clouds, I just kept hacking away at balancing the checkbook. Nothing says fun like a day spent in front of a computer screen of online banking. Good times. Then it happened. At about two thirty, out of the corner of my eye I saw a ray of sunlight stream across the room. I took a peek out the window and *gasp!* blue sky and a few white fluffy clouds. All bets were off. I started barking orders to the kids. "YOU! Get the towels!". "YOU! Put a suit on Gemma." We scrambled around like wildcats and pulled into the parking lot by 2:35.

I'm like a mad woman. I panic. I don't want to miss a bit of summer. It won't be long and my poor oldest three will be chained to their desks, grinding their #2 pencils down to a stub. It won't be long and the wind will be a howling and the leaves will be a falling. It won't be long and we will have to worry about things like boots and snowpants and mittens and hats. So for now, I'm going to let the floor mop it self. I'm going to let the furniture dust itself. I'm going to let the laundry..... wait, that's taking it a bit far.

Today my to do list is a mile long. One of the things on the list is to pack for tonight's big camping trip. I need to clean out the van and get it all loaded up. But guess what? The forecast is 91 and sunny. Come one o'clock, you know where to find me. Look for the lady in the brown suit and pink shades.

Gemma- A Meme

Awww. Isn't this precious? A meme for babies. Thanks for the tag Baby, whose Mommy is Desperate.

All about the Gemster.



3 Things That Scare Me
Being tossed up in the air.
Swings.
The look in Jack's eye

3 People That Make Me Laugh
How about five people?
Tyler
Noelle
Camryn
Caedmon
Sometimes Jack

3 Things I Love
Mommy
Sucking my thumb
Riding in the wagon

3 Things I Hate
Going to bed
Being buckled in my carseat
When Jack picks on me

3 Things I Don't Understand
Why I can't pinch everyone.
Why everyone gets all upset when I give "kisses" to other babies. Biting? What's that?
Why no one will let me eat dirt.

3 Things On My Floor
My sisters' dirty clothes
My sisters' stuffed animals
My sisters' toys

3 Things I'm Doing Right Now
Singing
Climbing on the laundry baskets
Dumping clothes out of the laundry baskets

3 Things I Want To Do Before I Die
Climb onto the counter. (I have already mastered the table. So far I can pull out the bottom drawer and stand on it and peek up onto the counter. It won't be long now.)
Pay backs for Jack.
Drink pop like everyone else. I've tasted it and boy is it good.

3 Ways To Describe My Personality
Determined
Easy going
Delightful

3 Things You Should Listen To
Me humming while I suck my thumb
My glo-worm.
Me crying to get out of my crib. I want to be free.

3 Things You Should Never Listen To
"Gemma, get down"
"No No"
Any of my siblings tattling on me

3 Absolute Favorite Foods
spaghetti
pancakes
anything sweet

3 Things I'd Like To Learn
How to climb out of my crib
How to get down from the table.
How to get on the counter

3 Beverages I Drink Regularly
breast-milk
water
milk

3 Shows I Watch
The Jack and Caedmon show.
That's about it

3 Babies I Tag

Bella from Reflections on Bella
Ailah from Are They All Yours
Claire Bear from The Mother Load

Just a few things....

Let's talk about the weather. Yes, it's been a bit hot. Am I the only one who loves the heat? This is the weather I live for people. Nothing says summer like sweat running down crevices that you didn't know you had. Or at least weren't fully aware of until you felt the trickle. The hot temps really just make us more in touch with our bodies. I wore my most favorite pirate dress to the baseball game the other night, thinking it would be a nice and cool alternative to regular-type clothes. It stuck to my body. So that's a nice look. Still, I love the dog days of summer. Bring it.

Speaking of clothes, it didn't take long for me to cave. Remember the skinny jeans that we talked about just last week? Well, I ran across a pair on the Target clearance rack for $5. I just couldn't pass them up. Really they aren't that bad. But just so you know, "skinny jeans" doesn't mean that they make you look skinny. In fact, Nate* told me that they made my butt look bigger. Do I care? No. They were five dollars. Besides, he's a nerd. What does he know anyway?

Gemma has passed another milestone, she has learned to drink from a straw. It's the simple things that make life easier. Hooray for the Gemster.

Let me just wrap up this little post with a glimpse into the insanity that is my summer. My children think this little ditty is hilarious. I love Bloo. I even think that Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends is a pretty funny show. This little cartoon even cracks me up. After hearing it over five thousand times in one day, not so much. But Cartoon Network in general.....meh. I'm so glad we don't have cable any more. Well, we have basic, but really, that's nothing.

*Don't be mad at Nate for telling me that my butt looks big in my skinny jeans. I'm not mad at him. He said it in the most nicest way possible. He likes big butts and he cannot lie.

Work for Me Wednesday-Laundry baskets

I've talked about our little laundry system before, but I'm reposting because it "works for me". Here are a couple of pics of our laundry closet.

Laundry has taken over half of the family room. I spend a whole lot of time in front of those two machines. I fold laundry directly out of the dryer and into the baskets. Each person in our family has their own basket that they are responsible for putting away. Shirts and dress pants are hung.

Someday all of my wildest laundry dreams will come true. I dream of a true laundry room. A huge area with a couple changing rooms. The clothes would not go to the closets, we would go to the clothes. Everything would stay in that room, no putting laundry away.

A girl can dream can't she? But for now a row of baskets on a futon works for me.

More tips and tricks over at Shannon's place.

I Love Him Anyway.

Saw this little quiz over at Shannon's and had to take it. Opposites DO attract.

My score:



Nate's score:

I'm Here to Help

I have been totally cracking up when I check my referring URL's. People are searching for some interesting things on Google and they are ending up here at the Laundry Pile. I'm here to help solve the deep questions of life. And boy oh boy do people have problems! Here are some of the things the were searched for:

• stomach bug incubation period
• running dryer vent under a deck
• can toddlers take nyquil
• been farmin' long?
• how old is too old to wear lipgloss?
• clothes to wear in 64 degree weather
• prenatal vitamins giving me headaches
• What is ia sugar high
• 30 something hairstyles
• boy who put worms in his pocket but they were snakes
• bloated tick crawling on floor
• my grandma made me smell her stinky feet
• is a tick under my skin
• why do some have dimples in their cheek
• mulberry jelly didn't set
• what to do about stinky garbage
• toddler with two concussions in a row
• dusting and cleaning ok while pregnant?
• baby head butting -beavis -rugby infant parent
• children under 12, should you dye hair
• arching in microwave with chocolate chips

See what I mean? And that's not even all of the laundry questions. You can't believe how many people want to know "how to fix laundry that turned pink." Another big one is "ovaltine stains in my carpet." I'm assuming I'm the google authority on that because of this post. But there are deeper laundry issues going on in the world. Here is a sampling:

• poopy panties
• how to get lipstick off of a couch
• worms in dirty laundry
• detergent measurement for monkey laundry
• does white underwear need softner?
• dirty laundry pile crayon dance
• black long bug in my laundry
• four year old laundry
• i have little worms all over my laundry and clothes
• tiny red bugs in my laundry
• i found a bug in my laundry
• Whirlpool Duet washing machine problems eating socks
• do it yourself laundry shoot

You know. I think that last one really sums it all up and is a great answer to all of life's problems. Let's all just have a laundry shoot. You bring the shotgun and I'll bring the laundry and instead of washing it, we'll just shoot it.

Next Purchase, a Flannel Shirt and Workboots?

I think I missed my calling. I should have been a lumberjack.

Monday afternoon I got the sudden urge to trim one of the trees in our front yard so I went with it. The branches had been drooping so low that the kids could grab them and swing on them like little mini Tarzans. I had to be a party pooper and ruin all their fun. I'm sure you can just see me perched on top of a ladder with a big old pole tree trimmer. Death on a stick. And I wasn't really properly trained on how to use the equipment, I just winged it. Come to find out, the thing extends and also has some "shearing features" that it would have been good to know about. But despite my lack of skills somehow I got the job done and sent Nate a picture at work.

I figured it might be better to warn him before he drove down our street and thought that a tornado touched down in our front yard.

Works For Me Wednesday- Numbers On a Stick

This is one of my favorite things in our house, besides the husband and kids of course.

I knew I wanted to have a growth chart for my kids but I also knew that the regular poster-type wouldn't last more than two minutes around here. My parents live in a really neat old house and my Mom started marking our height on one of the door frames. I didn't want to do that either because I knew we wouldn't be living here forever. Any new owners probably wouldn't appreciate our hieroglyphics as much as we would. I needed something portable. This is what I came up with:



It's just a two by four* painted white and it hangs in our kitchen. I marked all of the feet and inch measurements with a permanent marker. On each child's birthday they stand next to the stick and I mark their height with an ink pen. You can see that the children have tried to add their own "art" to the board. It takes quite a beating. Someday, if we ever move, I am going to pack that thing right up and take it with us.

*edited to correct my lack of construction material expertise. My husband informed me that it is NOT a two by four, it's a one by four. Good to know.

Seriously?

Something has been weighing heavy on my heart lately. Deep down in the depths of my being, I have dreaded that this might happen. And now it has.

Imagine my horror when I woke up and checked my email, only to see these words:

"You've heard the buzz about the hottest silhouette to hit the jeans scene. Now get in on the trend with our must-have skinny jeans."

Thank you GAP for a rude awakening. I wonder what Stacy and Clinton have to say about this. Haven't they been forbidding tapered leg pants for the past how many seasons? And now they are being called the "hottest sellout".

Despite the horror. Despite the outrage. Despite my better judgment. I know I will wear them.

Also, another disturbing fashion trend. Shirts like these:

Don't let them fool you with their cuteness. Yes, they are adorable, but I don't like what they do for women who have given birth to one or more children. They scream: "Am I a maternity shirt?" I have a few pieces like this. Some with a tieback and a couple with an empire waist and I'm telling you, I get double takes from people every time I wear them. I know exactly what they are thinking. "Is she or isn't she?" Everyone wonders if I am trying to sneak another pregnancy by them but they are too afraid to ask. Again, I continue to wear them in the name of fashion despite my better judgment. And no, I am not pregnant.

I'm giving props to this lady. I stumbled across her blog via Randi and I love what she did. Oh that I had the guts to pull off the same dress for 365 days. Way to go brown dress lady. You rule.

One and a Half Stars

If, by chance, you happen to send your eleven and nine year old into the library to pick out DVD's, you might end up with a very interesting selection.

For our viewing pleasure:

Mr. Wong, Detective
Mr. Wong in Chinatown
The Muppets Take Manhattan
and last but not least...(oh the insanity)
Ernest Goes to Camp

Heaven help us.

Jack

Today you turn three Jack. You have been talking about "It's almost gonna be my birthday?" for the last few weeks. Sometimes you call it your "Super Birthday." It's obvious that you understand that birthday's are something special because when you have been frustrated with me or angry with me, you threaten that "It's not gonna be YOUR birthday Mom." Big talk for a little guy. Caedmon is especially excited for you to turn three. He is convinced that after today you will "talk better". I think you talk just fine.

I'm trying to decide if your eyes are going to sparkle more when you open your new red tricycle or when you realize that everyone is singing happy birthday to YOU. Or maybe it will be when you take that first bite of birthday cake. I'm surprised that you didn't just ask to be served a bowl of sugar with three candles in it. Another idea would be to attempt to float your three candles in your bowl of "crunchy ceeyo" for a special birthday breakfast.

Put your thumb over your pinky and raise your hand high. You are THREE!

Happy birthday JackJack.

Whodunit

Break out the magnifying glass and the pipe Sherlock, we have a couple of mysteries to solve.

1. Who is setting our rabbit free? Banjo does not have enough dexterity in his little paws to un-twist our makeshift wire latch. He may be a white bunny, but he does not know magic. I hope he enjoyed his morning of freedom, and it appears that my flowers are safe from his jaws of death.
2. Who mistook the tub for the toilet? In the wee (no pun intended) hours of the morning, it seems that someone took a wrong turn and emptied their bladder into the bathtub. Eeew.
3. Where are all of the toothbrushes? They disappear as fast as chocolate chip cookies around here. We either have a hundred or none. There is no inbetween.

We ARE the Fourth of July Parade.

We filed down the side of the street, a red white and blue line headed up by a father pushing a toddler in the stroller, a mother with a baby strapped to her torso, and four little hooligans in between. I could almost hear the people we were passing whispering and crossing their fingers, "Please don't sit by us, please don't sit by us." We finally claimed our little plot of curb along the parade route and set up camp. All of the children around us suffered significantly reduced candy profits apon our arrival. We tried as hard as we could to keep our children minding the "parade etiquette". No cutting other children off, especially toddlers. No running out in front of the farm machinery. And most importantly, feed mom and dad a steady supply of candy.

All in all it went well. Some highlights:

• Watching barefoot Jack jump up and down and squeal at the sight of the first tractor. His eyes lit up as bright as the fireworks themselves.
• Chuckling as the children scrambled for the few pieces of candy that were NOT Tootsie Rolls.
• Tyler and Caedmon's "almost" red hair. Very patriotic. We are still quite a few shampoos away from their natural color.
• Lots of new pencils and pad of paper.
• One "float" (if you can call it that) threw out a box of Mucha Lucha fruit snacks. Bonus.

There is just nothing like a small town Iowa parade. Let me sum it up in three words:

Tractors. Horses. Old cars.

I Must Have Walked the Plank.

Did you think I was dead?

Did you think that the race killed me in some sort of a freaky three-days-later-she-keels-over type thing? Let me explain my absence.

Last week was vacation bible school and I taught bible games. In keeping with my procrastinating tendencies, I spent most evenings last week searching the internet for the next morning's games. It's not that they didn't give me a curriculum, it's just that we had such large groups of kids that those games didn't work in my little room. I was in charge of decorating my room and here I am with my scurvy first mates:



I went with the "pirate secret hideout" theme and dressed as piratey as I could from my own closet. See how I am "Arrrrrging" in the photo? I make a pretty tough pirate don't you think?

I had the pre-K, kindergarten, first and second graders come through my room and I completely fell in love with those kids.




Here I am with one of my classes. I have disguised their identities, not because of poor fashion choices, (doesn't this look like a fashion do's fashion dont's pic?) but because I don't think it would be right to post pics of other people's kids on the internet. Oh, and it was crazy hair day, which explains the blue and purple wigs. I left Caedmon un-black boxed. Notice the red hair. We opted to just dye the boys' hair for wild hair day. It is supposed to wash out in 8-10 shampoos. We'll see about that. I'm thinking it might be a good idea to dye ALL my kids' hair at the beginning of the summer or if we are going to a theme park or to the zoo. It sure does make them easy to spot in a crowd.



Here is a better pic of Chuck and Chuck with their red hair:



Great smile Caedmon.

I don't want to leave the girls out. Noelle won a prize for her fountian of hair.



Wow. Those are some super un-flattering pics. Sorry girls. You'll love this when you are 16.

Now that all of that is over, it's back to real life. Laundry, dishes and cooking real meals.

Maybe.

Arrrg.

Zzzzzzzz

"Why Heather!" You exclaim, "What are you doing awake at 12:45 a.m. when you need to be at vacation bible school at 8:30 tomorrow morning?"

You asked.

I'll tell you what I'm doing. I'm watching a wide awake one year old play with her toys like it's the middle of the afternoon, that's what I'm doing. I just spent the last hour and a half lying in my bed as she climbed all over my head. I am a human jungle gym. I was fed up with the kicking, the rolling, the laughing, the twitching, the thrashing, the jabbering and the head butting. The girl could not stop moving.

Note to self: No matter how desperate the situation, DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT let your one year old drink any of your "iced coffee beverage". At least not after noon.

Success

I don't think the success of a race should be measured by time necessarily. Maybe a more accurate gauge would be the "sweat-o-meter".

While we were training for this race, on some of the sweatier days we would laugh about my little one inch ponytail. If the temps were high on a particular morning, I would coax my short hair into a rubber band just to get it off of my neck. By the end of a the run, it would be dripping down my back. Isn't that disgusting? I could literally wring it out like a wet towel. A few weeks ago I got a haircut and trimmed up the back, it was bordering on mullet. We lost our sweat-o-meter. Although the temperature was a nice cool 50 some degrees for this morning's race, by the end of 13.1 miles my hair was dripping even with no little ponytail. Success.

It was a wonderful race. The training payed off and I felt like a hundred bucks the whole time. Well, maybe more like seventy five..... I was shooting for a two hour finish. I would have been happy with 1:59:59. My final time was 1:57:19 and I am thrilled.

Friday Flashback-Goals

Spring 2004. My very first "run". I had been working out on the elliptical machine all winter and now was joining my friend outside to run for 30 minutes.

I remember the gasping for breath, the side stitch, and the overwhelming desire to stop and walk. We did. A couple of times. This was the first time I had tried to run since my junior high track career. There was no coach blowing his whistle, no "training program". It was just me, putting one foot in front of the other. Just me, fighting the desire to hit the snooze button one more time. We ran for a couple of months before she proposed running in a race that fall. A 10K, 6.2 miles. The moment those words came out of her mouth, my mind was racing, trying to come up with an out, an excuse of why that wouldn't work for me. Didn't we have something going on that weekend? Didn't I just feel a weird pain in my knee?

We ran in the race and a strange thing happened. Something bit me. There weren't any mosquitoes on the course and I don't remember seeing any bumblebees. I was bit by the racing bug. Although my friend practically had to drag me across the finish line, in those 50 some minutes of misery, something changed in the chemistry of my brain. Afterward, all I could think about was "could I have done that faster?" That's when my passion for running began.

On Sunday, I take that passion to the next level. I have officially signed up for and will be running in my first half marathon. Thirteen point one miles. When I signed up no one was holding a gun to my head, no one was twisting my arm, I signed up of my own free will. On Sunday morning, all of the training will be tested. Can I do it? And can I meet the goal time I have set in my mind? I have trained for nine weeks with two wonderful ladies who are both running their first half marathon also, it's a new level of running for all three of us. And if I start to question myself as we pound the pavement, I'll just remember that first spring and how far I have come.

1 Corinthians 9:24 and 25

24Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 25Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.

Works For Me Wednesday Debut

I have decided to crash Shannon's Works-for-Me-Wednesday Party. Brace yourselves, this is going to be so informative you won't even know what to do with yourself. Knowledge will be spilling out of your ears.

My tip is..... My Garbage Disposal.

What works for me is shoving large amounts of food down my garbage disposal and flipping the switch. We had some trouble with the first disposal we had, it was old and cranky. It couldn't quite keep up with my "deposits". We had to call the plumber out a couple times and on the second visit, he replaced it with a brand spanking new grind-o-matic. Just a note- the disposal will always break when you have a counter full of dirty dishes and a sink full of yicky, stinky water. Very humbling.

Aaaaaanyway. We now have a high powered disposal and I sure do put it to use. There is almost nothing that I can't put down that thing. After every meal you can find me standing at the sink scraping large amounts of food into the sink. Fruit, vegetable, meat or dairy, I do not discriminate. I have even been known to put a half a cake down the drain. Which, now that I think about it, what was half a cake doing in my kitchen UNEATEN?! And why did I put it down the disposal instead of just getting a fork?

So get yourself a garbage disposal and go crazy. Just make sure to keep silverware, sponges and hands out of the sink when you flip the switch. I speak from experience. (The silverware and sponges, not the hand. I do have all ten fingers.)

Why We May Become Vegetarians

When Tyler was younger, we used to call him our little carnivore. He. Loved. Meat.

Fast forward.

Tyler is eleven. He still loves meat but after today he may not. Yesterday's Father's Day Festivities included grilled steak. Tyler took his first bite and immediately the hunk became wedged somewhere way deep down in his esophagus. It became the cork that wouldn't allow any other food to pass by. That was yesterday. We though we would wait it out, since he could breathe and everything, and see if sleeping would relax him enough release the meat.

Nope, it didn't. And that's why we aren't doctors.

This morning I called and took the poor starving kid into the clinic and our doctor referred him on to the surgeon at the hospital. Wow. Writing that out makes it sounds so serious. We spent most of the morning and into the early afternoon in the outpatient area at the hospital. Here are some words for you. Anesthesia. IV. Scope. Chicken Noodle Soup.

He did great and we now have some really interesting pics of the inside of his stomach. He thought the hospital bracelet was cool so he wore it the rest of the day, even to his baseball game. The poor kid hasn't stopped eating since we got home.

It's the new carnivorous weightloss program where you only eat steak. One bite.

Friday Flashback- Dad's Cushman

When I was little, we lived in a little house, on a quiet street, in a quiet town. My parents planted a tree in the front yard in honor of me. It's quite large now. There was a huge stone wall on the side of the house that my sister and I used to jump off. The funny thing is that when I drive by that house now, I am struck by the fact that the wall is only about a foot and a half tall.

Perspective.

There was a bush in the back yard that we discovered was sometimes covered in ladybugs. Not the nasty ladybugs, the real ones, the red ones, the nice ones. We had a swingset, the one I broke my arm on, and a row of bushes lined the back of our yard. It was wonderful. It was quiet.

But my dad had a Cushman. We called it The Cushman.

Isn't that GREAT? I'm not sure if that is the exact model, but it's similar to how I remember it. I'm sure Mom has pictures of it somewhere. Dad would pile me and my sister on that thing, one of us behind him, wrapping our arms around his waist, the other standing between his knees, holding onto the handlebars, and he gave us rides around the yard and down our street. We just loved it. The red shiny paint, the black vinyl seats, it was so cool. At some point Dad sold it. I think he wishes he hadn't. Now my kids love to go to Grandpa and Grandma's big house in the country, outside of that same little town. Only it's not so quiet now. When their grandchildren are there, the yard is full of kids zooming around on the go-cart, and the moped laughing and squealing and beeping the horn. But neither the go-cart or the moped compare to the original, The Cushman. It is the father of all scooters. Happy Father's Day to my Dad and his love of all things fun.

It's like one big commercial

I have become a woman of convenience. A lover of all things disposable. It must have been the sixth kid that sent me over the edge, but here I am. Let me share some of my favorite "making-my-life-a-whole-lot-easier" products.

I know cleaning used to be all about a bucket of water and some Lysol, but I have fallen in love with Mr. Clean. Actually, it was his magic erasers that got me. They really are magic. I'm not sure how they work and I don't think I want to know. It would take all of the magic out of the magic. Crayon on the wall, soap scum in your shower, and everything else in between can be solved with one of these babies. Love them.

Growing up, I helped mom dust with a sock pulled up to my elbow. We were reminded not to spray the dusting spray over the hardwood floor or someone would end up flat on their back. Much like a banana peel. For awhile I dusted with a bucket of water and a sponge. Really, it was THAT bad. I hated dusting. But now I love it. *using my best commercial voice* Thanks to Swiffer dusters. I even put the kids on dusting duty, it's so easy and so fun. I still only do it every month or so. *gasp* Ok, maybe even less often than that.

Kandoo wipes. These little babies crack me up. I picked them up in the store, trying to decide if they would be worth it. When I looked at the package and saw the wiping frog, they went straight into my cart. Now I trust that my little independent wipers are"clean" if you know what I mean.


My newest venture has been the disposable toilet scrubbers. Ever since I put Tyler on bathroom cleaning duty, I wanted to find a way to make it as sanitary are possible. I really didn't like the idea of him winging the wet toilet brush all over the room. *shudder* So I caved and bought these. It was a wonderful mother/son bonding experience as we figured out how to work the thing and we both smiled as the toilet water turned a lovely shade of blue. I also bought some Clorox wipes for him to use on the sink/counter area. Do you hear that? It's the sound of me, cracking the whip on these little slaves, I mean children.

So there you have it. Some of my indulgences. Who would have thought that toilet scrubbers could fall into that category? An indulgence should involve chocolate. How about I will eat some chocolate while my son scrubs the toilet. Sounds good to me!

Seven Things I Say- A Meme

Thanks to Super Mom, I am tagged. It's kind of fun to have a meme to spice up this twice a week blog. Sorry everyone, but it's summer and the old blog has taken a back seat to more important things. (the pool)

On with the meme. What does the Laundry Lady say?

1. "Chuck" I call my kids Chuck. All of them, and sometimes even my husband. I think this originated when Caedmon got his first pair of Converse knock offs.

2. "There is only one Mommy!" This one I pull out when I go into martyr mode. If all of the kids need me at once and I'm in the middle of something, I remind them that there is only one me to go around.

3. "super" The adjective of all adjectives. "Are you super hungry Jack?" Sometimes I use it incorrectly in sentence structure, just for fun. "I super want to go to the store." Another fun little word I have been using lately is "sassafrass". Mostly I've been using it to describe Noelle and her new hair cut.

4. "Oh. my. word."

5. "What, is up, mydog?" I'll send you on a wild goose chase to show you where I got this one. Good old Homestar. Click the linky then click on Puppet Stuff, and then when you get there, click on Biz Cas Fri 1. It's so stupid it's funny. Or maybe it's just me.....

6. "Jack, get out of the street." Followed by. "Do you want me to hang your bike up in the garage?"

7. "Who wants to go to the pool?" It's a good thing it's raining today or we would be outahere.

How about we see what Truth and Mopsy have to say. Tag, you're it.

Gemma

Screeching, squealing, climbing, grinning, toddling, scavenging, and eating fist fulls of dirt. This is what it is to be one. I find it quite appropriate that her first three words are "Dadda", Mamma", and "Uh Oh".

A look back at Gemma's first year of life.

Happy Birthday to our little Gemster.

Friday Flashback-Baby Jack

I love this picture. Proud uncles on the left, the two oldest sibling in the middle, whispering about something, and Daddy on the right, admiring his third son. Baby Jack is oblivious to the crowd surrounding him and sleeps away.

The Tale of A Frog in Photos

And then they buried him.

He Lives

Dogs have an average life span of 10-25 years. During the Roman Empire, Romans had an approximate life expectancy of 22 to 25 years. Today my little brother turns 25, he's got the dogs and the Romans beat.

I am happy to report that Shane survived years of stitches and sprains. He pulled a sweet bike-dive off of the chicken house roof and walked away. There was one skateboarding incident and countless snowboarding falls. Firefest did not claim his life or any of his limbs and he has never been bitten by a rabid squirrel while chasing them across his college campus. I'm sure there are many, many more feats he attempted that we will never know about, and it's pobably a good thing that we don't. Shane, have an awesome birthday. And wear a helmet.

Friday Flashback-DiaperFest

This morning as I changed a quick Gemma diaper, I got to thinking. I had just opened a new package of Luvs size 3's and I paused to take a trip down memory lane.

Back January 1997, we had just brought home our new little winter princess. Noelle had just rounded our family out to a nice even quartet. We were living in married student housing in the Great White North, and our two kidlings were sharing one of our two tiny cinderblock-walled bedrooms. We had a white, not-really-wood, type dresser thing for the kids to share. It was almost like a little mini entertainment center. The left side of the dresser opened up and had three or four shelves inside. In an attempt (a very futile attempt) to be semi-organized,( it's a life long struggle) I opened all of the packages of diapers that we had received as gifts and the ones we had bought and stacked them into straight tidy white stacks on the shelves inside the dresser. Rows of toddler diapers along side little newborn diapers. It was an overwhelming moment for me, my life's destiny staring me right in the face. I grabbed the camera.

If I had a scanner I would share.

I chuckle at myself now. I was a young (very young) mother taking a new step in parenting. Nate was gone during the day going to school and working three different jobs to support our family, and I was home with my our little ones. I was now outnumbered. The diapers were a wake up call to me. A visual of what was to come. Oh if I had only known. I haven't quit changing diapers for eleven years and three months. We have always had at least two kids in diapers, sometimes three if you count pullups.

As I wrapped up the diaper this morning and threw it into the trash, I smiled to myself. What kind of a picture would it be if I had ALL the diapers (clean of course) that we have used in the past eleven years, stacked up in a room? How long would they stretch if we lined them all up end to end? A mile? Ten miles? I think that if the nineteen year old mother that I was could have seen that picture, she would have passed out. One day at a time, one diaper at a time.

Introducing a very funny lady.

If you have a stomach of steel, go see what SuperMom has been up to. The poor dear. No wonder she's Desperate.

Again with the baseball

We have been spectating to our hearts content. The trick has been to master the watching-two diamonds-at-the-same-time and not miss any big plays on either field. Noelle looks over at us every few seconds, just to make sure our eyes are glued to her. We wouldn't want to be caught *gasp* talking! So most games so far have been spent standing between fields, looking back and forth, almost as if we are at a tennis match. Until last night.

Last night we had to divide and conquer. Nate took Caedmon and Camryn to Noelle's game. I took the two littles to Tyler's game in a nearby town. I'm sure things were lovely at the YellowJackets' field. Caed and Cam probably played beautifully and uneventfully on the playground with their friends. I however, learned a few things.

• A slushy and a big grab bag of Doritos will keep a two year old occupied for approximately 45 minutes. Good to know.
• I can down a 44 oz Cherry Pepsi in approximately 1 hour. All by myself. Maybe I should just put in an I.V., it would save the hassle of having to actually pick up the cup and put it to my mouth.
• Pack toys for the little ones, but don't underestimate the enthralling power of a good dirt pile.
• When the game goes long, (REALLY, REALLY long) just pack them up in the van and turn on a movie. Sword in the Stone is awesome, even after you've watched it 400 times.

Some tips for you, just in case.