Thursday, March 18, 2010

Four Moms 35 Kids: LIVE BLOGGING!!!

Posts are now numbered, with the latest one at the top.

Here's how my post will work.  There will be just this one post all day.  I'll keep updating it regularly, adding new updates to the top so y'all don't have to scroll down for the latest.  I'll try to have one of the Progeny post to FB or Twitter from account everytime I update, so you may want to become a fan on FB or subscribe to my twitter feed if you want notifications.-

Be sure to check out the other three moms to see how their day is going:
Connie at Smockity Frocks: she's liveblogging HERE.
Kim at Life in a Shoe is live-blogging HERE.
Kimberly at Raising Olives is live-blogging her day HERE.

Also:
Thanks to the Happy Housewife for the lovely linky loving goodness! P.S. and also thanks to Beth at Crazytown for the link!  OOh, and a big thanks to my friend Mama Squirrel, who also made me laugh.

If you're reading this and there's no update for this morning, I am probably NOT oversleeping. Oh, no.  I am sure it will be because a power outage has knocked out the connection. 
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 14. 11:00 PM
Okay, one last update.  It's a shame I did not have the blog up when we all went to bed after the movie, because the bedtime banter seemed particularly funny to me,  but I didn't.
The HM instructed the youngest two to meet him at the dining room table at 7:00 a.m. tomorrow for math.  They went to bed at 10:15
Blynken and Nod should be back over here by 9:00 in the morning.  we do not know how long they will be here, but we do not think they are staying over- we've heard of plans to go visit their maternal grandmother for the weekend, and think they won't be back until Saturday night, after our long day at the state park.
Jenny is going to go into town tomorrow to help out an older lady at her apartment all day, and Pip and Jenny are going to a movie together at our five dollar matinee in town.  Pip will be my cook tomorrow, and we will be packing picnic lunches and snacks.=)
I am wrapping up my weekly post at Frugal Hacks because I did not plan ahead and do that a few days ago.
Pip and I are the only ones still up- or so I thought- the FYB just wandered through after reading another chapter in the Tripod books.  
Pip and I heard a rather nasty sound in the bushes outside, and it took us a moment to identify it- then she jumped up and dashed downstairs.  It was a raccoon, sounding threatening and vicious, and her dog was outside.  The coon was up a tree and Donovan was inviting it to come down and play with him.  Raccoons are nasty, wicked creatures and we hates them forever, yesssss, we doess, my preciouses.  Pip called the dog in before the raccoon could answer that invitation.  I thought that a fitting end to the day.  So good night again, and thanks again for visiting us!


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 13.  7:30- 


The HM took a book with him to the whirlpool bathtub as his muscles are sore.  The FYB did the same in the upstairs bathroom.  Jenny took her book to her room.  Before she went upstairs I thanked her again for making me feel like an upperclass Victorian with my own cook with whom I could discuss dinner and then send her off to do it.  "Too bad," I said,"that you don't have a scullery maid to bully."


The Cherub looked at a book with me- actually, this is not her first book to look at for the day.  I forgot- two of my updates got lost- I had the post open and was updating it. Once the computer locked up and had to be rebooted, whereupon part of the updated post had been lost and I had to scramble to try to recall all I 'd written.  Another time I asked the boy to unplug the laptop and bring it to me, forgetting I'd removed the battery when rebooting and had forgotten to replace it.   The cherub doesn't really care about looking at books for the most part, she really just likes to flip the pages.


8:13- it's like magic- both the HM and the FYB pop out of their baths within a minute of each other, as though they planned it.  the HM, that prince of men, carries with him a stack of washcloths used on the little boys and the Cherub and left  wadded up in the far corner of the whirlpool bath- I have been meaning to grab them for a week (ew, did I really just confess that?) but that far corner is so far for me to reach...

8:20: I do a half-hearted clutter patrol of my own.  The HM and The Boy go to the Boy's room for a private father/son Bible study.  I put The Cherub to bed, and then have a bright idea.
I'd noticed earlier today that the wooden finish on our ancient dining room table is really taking a beating from the Cherub's and Nod's eating habits, and all our kiddy plastic placemates have gone AWOL.  I realize we have plenty of contact paper which I have picked up at the thrift shop for pennies.  So I make her a plastic place mat, and tomorrow I'll do one for the boys.


8:45- The Boy and the HM come down and do a small clutter patrol


9:00 Pip and The FYG went birthday shopping at Walgreen's after the library (they called while I was putting the Cherub to bed), so they get home late.  The FYG helps pick up a little (you can't really tell, but that's because it was so messy to begin with), and Pip takes a picture of the fruit pizza for us so we can all eat it.

  Then she goes to soak her foot in a bucket of hot water and epsom salts, because she has an infected blister.  Aren't you glad you know that?


9:15 The HM and I review stats for the blog, which are veddy, veddy purty.

I finish updating this post while my family waits impatiently for me so we all (except the Cherub and the little boys) go upstairs to watch a movie together.  The Netflix habit is insidious and encroaching.


After the movie we are all going to bed, but I don't think I'll be updating again unless something really funny or really dire happens. 

Good night all, and thanks so much for joining the four of us today!!!  I gotta tell you, blogging about my day while it was happening was fun, but much more exhausting than I thought it would be.


Be sure to leave one of us a comment if you think of other questions you'd like us to answer or topics you'd like us to discuss!


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12.

5:30-7:30: as I closed the laptop and went to fold laundry, as per my last update, Jenny informed us that supper was ready, so I deferred laundry another hour or so.  I declare, on her days off it's like having a live-in cook!  She had made the home-made whole wheat bread, reheated leftover rice and added one of the bags of cut up marinated chicken I like to keep in the freezer, cooked green-beans, made some special cookies for the Cherub that are AMAZING, AND she made a fruit pizza so beautiful that we all agreed none of us should take a bite until Pip gets home with the camera.


For dinner we were all so tired that we simply scraped aside schoolbooks from our places at the table and ate quietly and unsocially amongst the books.  The HM read his Bible, The FYB read from The City of Gold and Lead (book 3 of the Tripod series), and I finished my copy of The Brontes Went to Woolworths  The Cherub ate with us, Jenny stayed in the kitchen finishing up the cookies, the domestic sweetheart.  Pip and the FYG are still at the library (Pip works there four hours in the evening, and the FYG volunteers for two of those hours and studies the other two).  It is bizarre.  At one point in the day there were around a dozen people in the house, and now we are down to five.
The Boy cleared the table.
The HM made coffee for the two of us.  That man makes the best cup of coffee ever.

The HM and FYB enjoyed a game of chess.  I finally cleaned the toilet bowl in my bathroom, just because all of you are watching, and folded the three loads of laundry on the couch- did I mention we have an extra large capacity washing machine?  So when I say three loads, that's the equivilant of six in an ordinary washing machine.  Whew.   All done.  Um, except there is now a smallish pile of clothes that need hangers spread across the back of the wingback chair.


Jenny, the HM, and the FYB did the dishes in the kitchen.


The FYB came by and chatted with me a bit about his books.  He says he would give the Tripod series four stars and Redwall three, because the Redwall books begin better, with more excitement and then tell you more about what's happening.  I explained that really good literature shows more than it tells. He, being a boy, and 11 at that, prefers telling.  Preferably with lots of swashing and buckling, whackings and thwackings and not much else (he didn't enjoy The Book of Three at all, although he does love The Lord of the Rings series and read it on his own, and that makes me feel slightly less of a failure).
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11.
4:30-5:30  went outside to see the fort.  Wish I had the camera.  Will try to get a picture up later.  Must been seen, it's pretty amazing.
Walked around yard and rejoiced in sprouting day lilies, yarrow, thyme, tulip and daffodil shoots as well as  creeping charlie and other potted plants.
Discussed dinner with Jenny, and the boy reminded us there are several leftover containers of rice in the firdge so she can just reheat the rice and cook the chicken in a bag.


4:50 the HM came home and we sat on the couch and enjoyed the peace and quiet, discussed our respective days, and talked about possible plans for this weekend.  Most of the Progeny (and he) are going to a state park with cliffs to climb.  Its' far too physical for me or the Cherub, and we thought we'd have the little boys so I planned to stay home with them.  but the HM reminded me that the nature center there is amazing, with a fabulous little library, a huge glass window looking out to a minature bird sanctuary where birds come adn go all day to be fed, and I could bring a book or two of my own, a sack lunch, and sit there all day with the Cherub.

5:10 stole a few moments to check my favorite political blogs because you know I am itching with nervousness over not getting in my political news junkie fix yet today (oh, cool, new planet discovered!)
The Boy came in, and I directed him to get the rest of the peanut butter cookie dough out of the fridge and finish baking the cookies.


5:30 Off to finish folding laundry and possibly scrub the toilet in my bathroom.


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10.



 3:45-4:30- the boy came back inside because he'd remembered a school task he was supposed to do but had forgotten.  Turns out he can't do it anyway, as the printer is on the fritz again, so virtue is richly rewarded (unless.... hmmm, he wouldn't have broken the printer, would he?  Nah, he's not that devious.  Is he?  Naaaah).  
we have a nice conversation about his plans for his fort.  I am reading the other three moms' blogs and tell him that Kim's girls are allowed to take their math papers outside and burn them with the magnifying glass when done, and this tickles him so much I think he's going to rupture an artery.  He also wants to know if he can have a fire pit in his fort (no.  It's surrounded by trees).


I finish reading the other three moms' blogs and am overcome with jealousy because they all have more comments than I do ('sup with that, folks?).    

The smell of home-made bread is wafting through the house and Jenny is cleaning up the evidence of bread making while listening to a Celtic Thunder CD.  The boy follows his nose to the kitchen and chats with Jenny about his fort.


He wanders back in here and suggests we all go outside to visit his fort.  I agree if he'll go dig up my shoes....




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 9.
3:45-    I helped the equuschick get the Dread Pirate Grasshopper in her front pack.  She had the stroller but it was full of folded laundry.  she left to walk home, pushing her pile of laundry in front of her and letting donovan out accidentally.

The Cherub, by the way, has spent most of today watching who ever is in the kitchen.  this is her favorite thing to do- stand in teh doorway of the kitchen watching it.  She does this even when nobody is in the kitchen.


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8.

2:00-3:45  I sat at the table and updated the blog. The phone rang. Granny Tea wanted to know if the Boy could return the wheel barrow he'd borrowed the day before and help her with yard work. He looked pleadingly at me. I agreed, he scampered.

the phone rang. It was Pip with a question about paying one of the ladies from whom we buy our farm fresh eggs.

Jenny started bread

The Equuschick told me she was going to take the baby over to see the grandparents next door.

I took cherub to my room for quiet time, prayer, bible reading and personal reflection.
I am trying to be transparent enough without being naked, gossipy, or rude. After reflection and prayer, here is what I think I can say. while here the boys' mother dropped hints that there was a favor she'd like me to do. It is a small act of service I would ordinarily have done for almost anybody else under similar circumstances. However, I remained blithely, stupidly deaf and blind to those hints. The reasons I told myself I was not going to notice the hints is that it would be bad for her character for me to do this for her, and it would be extremely stressful on my family, because doing this favor for her would have meant at least another three hours in limbo with her here stressing out all of us (including Blynken and Nod). but I was also not at all sure I could properly discern my own motives, because I am extremely, irritated with their mother and I wasn't at all sure I wasn't being simply petulant and spiteful.

to be honest, I still do not know that. but upon quiet reflection, I am more certain than ever that my family really had reached their limits and while I may need to work harder on my motivations and charitable attitude, I still did the right thing in not hearing those hints.

at some point my dad came over and visited with the equuschick and the dread pirate grasshopper, and then they all went back to his house to visit.

The boy came home smelling of burning leaves and virtuous youth, and started reading another school book.

I made myself a snack of quesedillas. Jenny and I discussed the more stressful parts of the morning and resolved some issues (she had wondered why I was impervious to the hint, and agreed with me that it was better for everybody here that I not take up that hint).

We do not know if the boys will be spending the night tomorrow or not.

The boy and I sat down and did a language arts lesson, including some dictation and spelling. He did his dictation on the loveseat on his hands and knees, rear end waving up in the air, and he preferred the loveseat between two open windows, getting a nice cool cross breeze.

He read from the Kid's Spring Ecojournal. He was holding his nephew while reading, so he read it aloud. actually, that's not true. He sang it aloud.  He interrupted this school opera to tell me all about the dismembered male cardinal at Granny Tea, which they found somewhere while cleaning up and added to the burn pile. It had no eyes, he told me, but did have a spider web in one of them.  Oh, joy.

He and I shared a creamsicle and then I told him he could be off to the coal mines for the rest of the day.  This is his earth works, the maze of tunnels he's digging in the between our house and the road.  I have shared a picture of this before because it really has to be seen to be believed.

Pip and the FYG made a rare pitstop at home between music and library- they had picked up butter for Jenny to use to bake some of the cherub's special cookies (she has many allergies) for her upcoming birthday this weekend.  They left again.  I sat down on the couch with my feet up, holding the grandbaby and typing one-handed.

 I could go make my bed, fold the rest of the laundry, put away the scattered schoolbooks, clean my desk or my bathroom, but what I am going to go do is read the other three Mom's live blogs for today for the first time.
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7.
12:45 to 2:00: at some point today Jenny cleaned off the deck for us, which is lovely because it hadn't been done since last fall.  the middle of last fall, not the end.  Ergo, blynken looked out the sunroom window, saw the leaves falling (the deck is above the sunroom) and said, "It's fall already?" 


Jenny informs me that when the FYG is done with the kitchen she will make bread for us (pip made home-made whole wheat tortillas for us for lunch).  HOORAY


The phone rang, it's the FYG asking for me to remind her what the g in 'good soup' stands for (genus).


Nod has several serial temper tantrums, and I once more break my non-interference policy with other people's children when their parents are here, and intervene to insist that he return blynken's hat to him and do it nicely instead of throwing it on the floor. and stomping off.  He complies.  I figure that when other people's children spend more time at my house than theirs, my noninterference policy is no longer necessary, or even desirable.


Nod settles down a bit and looks through a basket of seashells and we talk about what they are and where they come from, and whether or not it is the sea you can hear when you hold the shells against your ear.

I settle the cherub down with some paper and colored pencils, as she was just narrowly stopped from grabbing the boys' mother's keys, and we all know what that means.


Blynken asks how come we don't keep the dog outside since I dislike dog hair so much.  somebody tells him that we are supposed to be kind to animals and he demands to know why, who said, and when we tell him God says so, he wants to know where (Proverbs 12:10)


While the boys' mother talks to Jenny and I, I fold some of the unfolded laundry left out on the loveseat and struggle with uncharitable thoughts.  Then I discover that somebody washed and dried a ballpoint pen and my spare spectacles and struggle further with uncharitable thoughts.

I realize that I haven't seen or heard the boy for a bit and go hunt him out.  He's upstairs playing with his bionicles.  I suggest he come down and pick up school work.  He complies, choosing to read The Trojan War by Coolidge and the Burgess Book of Nature Lore 


More seashells, more laundry folding, more chatting, more internal wrestling with uncharitable thoughts...


1:55, they leave, although I must confess I somewhat precipitate this when Nod stands in the open doorway for some ten minutes pleading to go home now, and I finally pick him and say cheerfully, "You know what, let's not let the dog out.  I 'll take you outside to your car..." and briskly haul him out to the car,  and blynken and his mother follow.


I hug the boys goodbye, tell their mother good-bye, agree to have them back tomorrow while she runs errands and goes to the doctor, and then walk in, shut the door, take a deep breath, look at the rest of my family, sit down at the laptop to post (wondering how much of this is really TMI), and the phone rings.


Granny Tea (my mother) wonders if the Boy could return the wheel barrow he borrowed yesterday and help her with yard work.  He heads next door through the woods.
Jenny starts the bread.
The equuschick rocks her baby to sleep.


I think the cherub and I will go have quiet time.




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6. 

12:45: We had lunch, Blynken asking if they could it outside for a picnic since it's so sunny out. I do not usually let the Progeny take out my regular plates, but it is really sunny outside, and we like to give the little boys experiences like this when we can. In fact, Blynken went outside barefoot for the first time ever in his life only yesterday (he's nearly 6). We'd tried to convince him to go barefoot last year, but he was totally freaked out by the idea.

We held the baby.
We reviewed taxonomy some more, and I gave the FYG the sentence King Philip came for good soup to help her memorize, and I hope that I remembered it correctly.
ah, Pip says I did.
we learned that the shift key on my laptop is sticking.
We reviewed multiplication with flash cards (usually the HM does math with the FYG and FYB before he leaves for work, but he left at 6:00 this morning)
We worked on Power in Proverbs by RIck and Marilyn Boyer (the FYG, FYB and I), which takes kids through Proverbs while teaching them to use a concordance for personal studies.
Pip printed out some coupons to take to the store (it's lovely having a driver to run errands) between music lessons and library stuff.
We argued about whose turn it was to hold the baby.
  blynken did some work in the cuisenaire alphabet book.


The boys' mother came back with Nod, who was in tears and having a fit over having been 'stuck' at the wic office.  Pip and the FYG left for music and Pip took the camera so I won't be adding any more pictures for a while.
Jenny packed up the little boys' suitcase.
the boys' mother is still here so we aren't getting much done on the schedule.  School books are all over the table, on the couch, loveseat, my teacart, and an extra chair in the dining room.
the FYB has been dispatched to clean up after lunch.

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5.
11:00- over the last hour:
All the Progeny gathered in the kitchen, the Boy to make me a second cup of coffee, some to fix lunches, some to finish the kitchen clean up.  Some to watch.  The soundtrack from Lord of the Rings was blaring in the kitchen, Trouble is a Friend had been left on upstairs, the grain mill was going in the kitchen, the dog was barking his fool head off at nothing outside the window, the Progeny were chattering a million wps, and I, in the middle, having listened to over an hour of piano practice requested that somebody turn something OFF NOW.
Blynken asked if he could draw an Asian Beetle for school (yes), because he's found a dead one.  We then have a discussion about what would happen if he ate the Asian Beetle (Tee-Tee would throw up).

The FYG tries to convince us the popcorn pan does not need to be washed.

I read Spring Morning by A. A. Milne to Blynken

The FYB asked if he could listen to Story of the World by Susan Wise Bauer every day.  Impressed by his eager beaver school attitude, I commend him, whereupon he reveals that while he does enjoy it, what he really wants is school he can listen to on CD outside while digging in his fort.

Forgot to mention that during dish washing Blynken asked me where I lived when I was his age, and then his little brother's age, and then Jenny's age, and then the FYB's age (Canada, Arkansas, California and Illinois, Arizona, respectively).  "You traveled around the world?" he asked.  "No, just North America," I told him, whereupon he broke into song, singing the seven continents Geography song.

Blynken reads a lesson from Alpha-Phonics.  We read a page in Come Look With Me: Exploring Landscape Art With Children (Come Look With Me Series).  The FYB and FYG finish their tasks and join us to look at a painting of The Oregon Trail by Bierstadt.

The boys' mother calls and says she's picking up Nod for a WIC appointment.
The phone rings again.  The Equuschick (our second married daughter) is walking over with her dog and the Grandbaby)

Memory verses
Some drill on the books of the OT
The phone rings again- the HG wants to tell me about a good deal at Walgreens on eggs and bread.
 Pip says she think she sees Zeus, the Equuschick's dog, out chasing a car, so everybody scrambles off the couch and runs outside to watch (and help)
The boys' mother comes and takes Nod to his Wic appointment after spending a few minutes talking to me about her round of doctor appointments.
We read part of The Tempest from The Lamb's Tales from Shakespeare
The Equuschick and Grandbaby arrive, dog in tow (it was Zeus), she takes Blynken out to look at the horse.
The FYG reads her botany book and explains taxonomy to me, as well as the difference between biology and botany.
The FYB took his government textbook outside to read because the weather has turned lovely.
The rest of the Progeny gather in the kitchen to finish lunch and visit, while flirting with the very popular Dread Pirate Grasshopper.

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4.
10:00 Blynken dawdled over getting dressed until I told him I'd let him help wash dishes by hand if he finished up in two minutes or less.  Funny what things work as bribes for small children, iddn't it?

The FYG got the Cherub up and dressed while I finished my coffee and  Blynken and Nod had a sword fight with their cardboard wings (pictured to the left) which the FYB made for them using empty bottles and the cardboard inserts for fabric bolts.  The 'sword' fights are really more like dogfights, I guess, because they had them with their wings while they were wearing them.  I got them to stand still long enough to grab the picture, although this is our third shot. 
Telling Blynken he could do the dishes this morning was an easy promise when I made it since then only four of us had eaten, but then Jenny got up and carried down all the dishes we left upstairs while watching our movie last night- popcorn bowls, cups, the platter for the peanut butter cookies we made at the last minute....

Doing the dishes with Blynken was fun.  When he's n a good mood, he's a very fascinating little fellow.  He had lots of questions about why this dish floated, and that one didn't, and in the end I left him with the dishpan and two or three dishes to play with in it- he was floating saucers on top of the water and slowing dropping water into them from his sponge to see how much water it would take to sink them.  I told him this was science (Blynken's mother recently took him out of public school and he is learning that learning can happen anywhere, anytime, not just in the classroom) 


The FYB reads some of his schoolbooks independently, Pip practices the piano, then Pip and the FYG practice their duet, The Cherub eats her soaked oats, and Jenny entertains Nod upstairs- I have no idea what they're doing, but Jenny is 20 so I don't have to.=)blynken, Pip is preparing lunches and snacks for her and the FYG (they leave for piano, library volunteering/employment at 12:30 and won't be back until 8:30), the FYG is finishing up in the kitchen and then we'll be working on a few school topics before she leaves.


The FYB just asked me if he can cut a couple topics off his school schedule today and look up stuff on how to make a pulley and then make one.

BTW, Thanks to the Happy Housewife for the lovely linky loving goodness! P.S. and also thanks to Beth at Crazytown for the link!  She must recognize kindred spirits over there at Crazytown.
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3.
9:00 A.M.  I scrambled into clothes while the FYG and FYB ate breakfast with the boys.  I came into the kitchen just seconds before Blynken knocked his bowl off the island.  He did a very good job cleaning it up himself, however, and we learned that we were all out of dishtowels, so I grabbed a couple out of the laundry for him to use to wipe up the mess, the FYG started a load of laundry.
The little boys are getting dressed under the FYB's supervision.  
FYG is practicing piano.
The little boys are also gleefully, and with the FYB's gleeful encouragement, waking up Pip (19) and Jenny (20).
We were all up late last night watching the BBC movie Alice and the FYG and I have had one of those meaningful life discussions that only occurs by the way, not so much with planning. A sort of movie spoiler follows:
She: The ending of Alice just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. It's so perfect and happy an ending and it nearly makes me cry. 
Me: It is pretty neat, but you know, in real life, that's not the ending.  That's the beginning.  If they're going on to get married, it's NOW that the real adventure begins!
She: You're so sentimental.
Me: Maybe, but it's true.  The real adventure is after marriage, and that's the hard work, too, because every real adventure requires a lot of hard work and time as well. 
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2.
8:35 A.M. My 11 y.o. is making my coffee because nobody should have to explain to a 3 y.o. why he has yucky stuff in his nose b.c. (before coffee).  The 14 y.o. is getting out breakfast: oats, home-made granola, or fried eggs for those who want them.
It's 32 degrees outside, and the only one of us out of our pajamas is my son (the 11 y.o.)- he's barefoot wearing a t-shirt and basketball shorts.
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1.  
8:12 A.M.  As it turns out, the lack of update was a blogger malfunction again.  Blogger is switching my scheduled, published posts to saved drafts behind my back.

Blynken and Nod ARE here today and they hit the ground running at 7:00 A.M.  I had my iPod in my ears to block out the snoring, so I didn't hear them.  The FYG and FYB got up with them briefly and directed them to play quietly because other people were still sleeping.
At 8:00 The thumping overhead broke through the dulcet tones of American Angels in my ears and I got up to field an argument over a toy turtle ("Isn't this silly, Tee-Tee?" asked Blynken), change a dirty diaper (Nod, 3, is supposed to be potty trained, but isn't really), and wipe a runny nose (Nod just sneezed on my monitor).
While changing the toxic waste, I started up the laptop and played the first chapter of Genesis here.  I was rewarded by hearing 3 y.o. Nod interrupt his ongoing argument with his brother to say "HEY!  We heard that in our Bible Class last night!"
We are all still in our pajamas, and breakfast is yet to come... Pin It

22 comments:

  1. I just realized -- you're the only momma of the 4 not pregnant!

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  2. LOL- that is true. I hadn't thought about that!.

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  3. The real adventure is after marriage,

    LOL - so true! And I confess I generally find ongoing relationships more interesting in fiction than the courtship phase.

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  4. "King Philip came for good soup"
    I take it this is kingdom, phylum, class, family, genus, and species? I think there must be a word missing--order should come between class and family. Maybe "King Philip came OVER for good soup"?

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  5. YES, THANK-YOU!!!!!! Oh, thank-you!!! I've not had time to look it up and it was really, really bugging me. It just felt off kilter somehow.

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  6. You're very welcome. :)

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  7. I used to be a huge fan of the Redwall series too, until I read a review of one where the reviewer said something like, 'They're all the same, each story goes:" and then laid out the exact story arc each and every Redwall book takes. I had never noticed this before, and since reading that review, have not been able to read another Redwall book.

    Is there any way y'all could send the FYB into his earthworks with a camcorder or webcam? A tour of his tunnels would be too cool.

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  8. Love your blog and read frequently but never comment I guess that makes me a lurker : ) What are your fav political blogs?

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  9. Oh, are they listed as news/views on the sidebar of your site?

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  10. That's not all of them. If I have to look at only a couple, I go to HotAir and Ace of Spades (ace is NOT kid-friendly and requires a strong ability to let profanity and crudeness slide past one without sticking), Betsy's Page is also a favorite.

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  11. I would love to find that review. I have tried to point this out to the FYB, but I am his mother and he thinks it's just because I don't like books with fighting. Which is silly, since when it comes to movies, the HM prefers the more sentimental, and I prefer a liberal dose of well choreographed violence.

    A camcorder tour of his fort would be fun. right now, however, most of it is roofless so they can dig better. When they are done, they'll lay a roof again with boards and dirt.

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  12. I'm looking for the review now; I read it on LibraryThing, but it doesn't look like it was attached to one of the books. Maybe I read it in a thread. I'll keep looking.

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  13. I have so enjoyed your day. It has actaully been pretty slow here today as I have only two of my four so I have been able to check in a lot. Now tomorrow you need to take a breather!

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  14. I usually lurk but I wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed reading about your day. Thank you for sharing. Your busy day made my busy day seem like a walk in the park (I only have three boys).

    My oldest son LOVED the Redwall books when he was your son's age and read them over and over again but he has mostly outgrown them now. He still likes action and "junk" books like Tin Tin and Alex Rider but is currently chuckling over Don Quixote and I had to take David Copperfield away this afternoon so he'd do his math. :) Of course, I have murder mysteries as *my* junk books so I can't scold too much. My boys would love to see photos of the tunnels if you have a chance to post them.

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  15. I think this is it: http://www.librarything.com/topic/51793#1473515. Message 154, if this link doesn't work right. It also has a few other criticisms of the series as well (everyone is born the way they are, there's no use trying to be different, that sort of thing). Although I'm not completely sure this is the exact review I remember.

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  16. I have two questions:
    1 -- What movie did you watch?
    2 -- Is Jenny available for rent?

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  17. It was a Stargate. Meh.
    2. NO!=) Some weeks she is too busy to help out around here between her airport job and helping out an older lady in town (a sweet older lady, who does not always accept boundaries, like expecting Jenny to go see her the day she gets back from vacation). this week she's between projects at the airport and has a lot of spare energy.
    I should also mention that the FYG did breakfast and Pip made lunch, including the flour tortillas, and did grocery shopping for us- all very important to keeping the wheels turning around here.

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  18. Another mostly lurker here - it was great to read about your day as it was happening.

    I must say though - while you were suffering from withdrawal from your political blogs, I was suffering from withdrawal from your political posts! Sure, I could actually go read some of those blogs myself (and do) but you pick out all of the good parts that I want to read! :)

    Did you enjoy The Brontes Go to Woolworths? My bookclub was going to read it last year, but we couldn't all find copies easily so switched to a different book. It looks like it is easier to find now.

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  19. I notice also that, as well as having fewer comments, you wrote much more than the otehr mamas.

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  20. Of all four blog posts today I think this blog is my favorite. I have five young children ages 2-9 and sometimes the day to day is hard. I must say that the older ones growing and putting their faith into practice is wonderfully encouraging. Anyway sometimes it is easy to get bogged down but your blog shows what it will be like in a few more years. It sounds wonderful and at the same time reminds me to cherish these days that go so quickly. (Even though my counter is a mess and we are behind on math :)Thank You!

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  21. Thank you for sharing your day!

    April

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Tell me what you think. I can take it.=)