No Internet

Digging trench for chicken run.
Ben hit internet line.
Texting is the pits for blogging.
Be back when its fixed.
Smile!

Murphy Planning

I was so productive on Monday!  The kids were home from school and we got lots done.  And we didn't kill each other.  Always a bonus.  Actually, there wasn't even any fighting - I'm so glad that our kids like each other for the most part.

We got most of the garden planted, the lawns mowed (finally!  A working lawn mower!  And the angels were singing!), the porches cleaned off, and a bunch of inside work done, too.  We managed to pull off a trip to the monster club mart, and cleaned out the grill so we could barbecue.  I even packed the van full of useful-to-someone-else rubbish to take to the thrift store.

It is liberating to reclaim space.  I love taking things out of a cluttered space.  It opens up, allows me to breathe, and gives us room to do things.  Storing things is not doing things.  Having barbecues or wrestling in the middle of a clear room - those are doing things.  I want my home and my family to be about doing, not storing.

So I loaded up the double stroller that the twins don't need anymore.

And the single stroller that Angel really doesn't need anymore.

And the other double stroller.  Why did we have two?  We had twins, not quadruplets.

And the two umbrella strollers.

(Must add that I did call everyone I knew to see if they could use any of my useful-to-someone-else rubbish first!) I drove the van, full of strollers, to the thrift shop, so proud of myself for cleaning up.

The thrift store was closed for Memorial Day.

Drat.

So I drove back home, feeling somewhat deflated.  I hauled the strollers back out of the van and stashed them in the garage.  Sometimes, it seems like Murphy's Law gets in the way of my planning.  No matter.  I'll take them another day.

Last night, I started feeling a bit sick.  I knew today would be worse, so I decided to give Mom a break and plan a movie day.  I never get to watch a chick flick - and now on the new tv!  I would get it all to myself during the day when the kids were in school.

This morning, I remembered - in the nick of time! - that I had to go to David's sixth grade graduation program.  And after that, I had to go help my dad.  And I had company coming over at 2.  And taking care of little people and lunch and naps in between.  By the time the visitors were gone, the boys were coming home.  So much for a slow, restful day.

Drat.

Murphy got me again.  On Monday, I was trying to be productive and couldn't.  Today, I was trying to rest and had to be productive.  As long as I'm up and around, I might as well make that thrift store run.  So I loaded up the strollers again and drove across town.  Yes, they were open.

But as I opened the van doors and the thrift store guy looked inside, Murphy struck again.  "Um... did you know that we don't take baby strollers?  You can take them back home or we can put them in the dumpster for you."

What?  Since when?  Come to think of it, I never have seen strollers in that thrift store.  I just figured they were a much-wanted item and didn't stay there.  Oh well.  I kept my strollers and drove back home.

This relationship with Murphy has gone on long enough.  I think I need a new fling.  Gonna call my new guy, Craig.  I hear he has a list that might want my useful-to-someone-else rubbish.  <grumble>

Anyone want to come get some strollers?  It's that, or have seven more babies.  <falling over>

Best Mom Ever

That's me today.  Yup, I'm the super-mom.

I got Trent his Father's Day present a bit early.  It's a flat screen tv, and he is thrilled.  Alec got to set it up, and he was literally jumping up and down - in a reserved but very excited tech kind of way.  We thought it would be a good idea to get the tv before Father's Day so Alec could help with it.  There isn't anyone I know who has more of a head for these kinds of things than him, and he'll be leaving soon.

Ben walked in the door after school, talking with Chris.  Ben's eyes flew open when he saw the screen and he made cool, teenager-ish exclamations of delight.  "Chris!  Didn't you notice anything new here?" he demanded of his brother, who was still talking.  "Yeah, I saw it.  A new tv," was Chris's nonchalant answer, but he was grinning.  David and Eddie are "oh yeah" looking forward to having a movie night.  "How about now?"

And the triplets?  I made the box into a playhouse.  I spent about three minutes cutting out a door and three windows (one for each, of course) with a steak knife.  And now I'm the Best Mom Ever.  They've been playing all afternoon - with the remote, the tv, and the box.  You're welcome.

I guess sometimes that's all it takes.  A bunch of money and a steak knife and the Battlestar Galactica they are watching now.  I'm laughing.

Menu Making

Every year at this time, the school year winding to a close, I find myself full of all kinds of wonderful thoughts and plans for the summer.  Some years I am super-organized.  Others, not so much.  Both are ok.

The one constant for the summer is more frequent feedings.  During the school year, the kids mostly fix their own breakfasts, and they eat hot lunch at school.  That's just the way we roll here.  We eat dinner every night, plus breakfasts and lunches over the weekends.  And a snack in the afternoon.  So they don't startve, you know.

During the summer, we need four eating times.  Every day.  These kids just don't let up!  I'm glad they are growing, and I'm glad we have the means to feed them.  And I truly enjoy nourishing and contributing to their lives.  But the menu planning and the grocery shopping and the cooking and cleaning needs to be carefully planned.  Else, mayhem.  And Heaven forbid... hunger.  And we're grumpy when we're hungry.

Occasionally I get into a planning and organizing spree and honestly, I love it.  I enjoy feeling creative and life is smooth-sailing.

I think this is my favorite free printable that I will be using

But when I don't plan... like I said, mayhem.  I get the late-afternoon "what's for dinner" panic.  The boys get by with eating toast.  A lot of toast.  The refrigerator is empty.  I make lost of last-minute trips to the store when we're hungry.  Everyone is grumpy.  Dinner is late.  Cleanup doesn't happen well, or sometimes even at all.  The next morning dawns on a messy kitchen, and I don't even want to be in there.  Repeat cycle.

SO!  For this summer, I am going to try a two-week menu.  Less planning, less grocery shopping.  Have I mentioned that I hate grocery shopping?  I do.  I really do.  So less shopping makes me more happy.  How about two or three two-week lists that we can rotate through?  THAT would be happy.  And we really don't mind the repetition.

So I'm researching and organizing.  I wrote down all the dishes that we routinely have, and I'm looking for a way to put it all together.  Finding good ideas about planning and shopping here.  I can make a Google calendar and set it on "repeat" and put my recipe in the even detail box.  Clever.  Lots of weekly menus in this regular link list.

I can do this.  But later.  Right now I've got to drive the elementary school carpool.  And when we come home, they will be... hungry.

Tree Haiku

Tall, leafy treetops

Summer climbing, boy haven,

Fall into firewood.

Pity.

A Bad Day For the Chicks

Some days are just like this, aren't they?

Georgie and Freddie love to climb in the pen with the chicks.  We have them in their new (yet unfinished) coop, with a fenced-in walkway leading to the fenced-in trampoline pen.  It is all but impossible to keep the children (nearly all of them!) away from the chickens.  Angel picks them up and carries them around and holds them and cuddles them until we think they might lay scrambled eggs, but they seem to like it.  But the twins are not gentle.  They love to chase and scare and throw things.  The chicks run from them.

And if that wasn't enough, Trent climbed on the roof and started banging like crazy.  I don't think the girls understand what tar paper and shingles are, except that it's awfully noisy.

And later in the afternoon, there were amazing and terrifying sounds of chainsaws and breaking wood and crashing branches.  Two old, dying trees leaned near the coop, ready at a moment's notice to topple into the neighbor's shed.  Today was the day they gave up and were reduced to piles of leaves and firewood.

When I checked on the chicks, they were huddled together in a corner of the coop, making distressed peeping noises.  I think tomorrow should be quieter.

Sorry, chicks.  Hope you don't develop Tourette's.

Ethical Dilemmas

Now that I have typed that dilemma word, it doesn't look right.  Wright.  Rite.  Good thing we have spell check.

Anyway...

I just spent the afternoon with my dad, hemming up some of his pants.  It was fun to just sit in my mom's easy chair and chat.  Of course, it helped that I had left my (coughing) little ones at home.  More peaceful, and more healthy for my dad.

So... Dad wants me to look up his old flame.  Wha...?  They were high school sweethearts, but she didn't wait for him when he went to Germany.  Broke his heart that she got married.  As a side note, my mother, who was also in Germany at the time (living with her brother at the Air Force base) went to console my dad after the Dear John.  I can just hear us now, calling from Heaven, "Future Dad!  Ditch the deserter!  Marry this lovely gal instead!"

Now, Dad's lonely.  Can't blame him, not one bit.  But from everything I can figure out, his old girlfriend is still married.  That makes it awkward.  What to do?

And another ethical question.

When a man's employer gives the green light for salesmen to wear very conservative shorts to work, what kind of footwear is involved?  I keep seeing this in my head:

or this:

I get that athletic shorts call for tennis shoes and white socks.  And obnoxiously loud Hawaiian tourister shorts on an old man are worn with over-the-calf black socks and dress shoes.  (Horrors!)  To me, shorts are best worn barefoot, and that's the kind of gal I am.  But for a man in a work environment?

As I am researching, I came across this lovely quote:

Socks and sandals is an appropriate pairing for old German men on vacation and no one else. 

And the best thought of all:
 Be remembered for your friendly conversation, not for being the over-dressed peacock or under-dressed ruffian.

I think I shall recommend that he wear light slacks to work in the summer. With dark shoes and socks. But not shorts. Not at all.