Week in Review

SUNDAY: We skipped church due to runny noses and cranky children. Of course, that meant the carpet layer had to deal with runny noses and cranky children - I tried to keep them in their rooms or in the kitchen, but you know how that goes! She managed to work around them, though, and here is the end result:

The whole room looks bigger to us, even with all the furniture moved back in. It feels very homey, and very, very CLEAN. I can lay the baby on the floor without feeling like I need to disinfect him afterward.

Just as importantly, it is not PINK. We have four kids and five dogs, and we live in the country. Pink is bad. Even if any of us liked pink, which we don't, pink would be bad. Pink that was put in many, many years ago, when the house was built, is especially bad. See the sofa? It has been in that spot since we moved in. When I ripped up the old, PINK carpet there, I found stain over top of stain on the bottom part. No wonder I could never get the top clean! This, as you can see, is a nice, chocolatey brown. And covering anything in chocolate can only make it better, don't you think?

We decided to do some rearranging, and will be looking to sell the Russian tortoise in the first picture, as well as the entertainment center underneath, so we can put in some book shelves. The left side of this is a book case, as you can see, but the other half is really just wasted space. Tune in to hollomanyardsales.com if you're interested.

MONDAY: Try explaining Daylight Savings Time to a five-year-old. C. chastised me for being 'late' picking him up. I don't think I was able to convince him that I was actually a little bit earlier than usual, it just happens to be dark now at that time. At 7:30 I had him start getting ready for bed - five minutes later, I turned around and found him fast asleep on the sofa.

Five-year-olds who are in the 97th percentile for height can be very heavy. Just so you know.

TUESDAY: The bottom drawers all over the house are generally things S. is allowed to play with. This morning, however, she got into the middle drawer in the bathroom. I told her to put everything back, but she had found a stick of deodorant in it. She knows that I keep a stockpile of things like that under the sink, and she insisted on putting this one carefully with the others, scolding me the whole while, "It GOES over HERE! Silly Mommy!"

I have been told. Note to self: Teach S. where everything in the house goes.

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Cuteness: little blonde child very seriously handing Daddy screws one at a time, while he puts the carpet trim down.

WEDNESDAY: A couple weeks ago, some idiot was selling quarter-sized red-eared sliders on the side of the road (totally illegal). I called DPS, not having any contact info for the USDA on me, and the dispatcher acted like I was being ridiculous for thinking there was a problem - of course, I realize a dispatcher knows SO much more about federal law than anyone else in the world, so it was silly of me to insist they send someone out.

Since then we have had several people coming in for books about them, and they are rather dismayed when they find out all the things their little turtle needs. We have a nice setup at the library for our turtles - UVB light, heat lamp, filter, wet and dry side, sandy area to lay eggs if they so choose. Pretty, but a bit pricey - suddenly that $5 pet isn't such a good deal.

Today I dropped by the local pet store for gecko food, and mentioned the turtles. Good news! The sllers were arrested, fined and deported (take THAT, nasty dispatch lady!) Bad news! Guess where many of the turtles are ending up? She showed me a tank just swarming with little bitties that people have asked her to take off their hands. Now, what is she supposed to do with them? She can't sell them either!

Long story short, we are going to trade her the three big sliders at the library for an undetermined number of tinies. They can grow up safely here, and she can sell our three, making up for a fraction of what she is spending taking care of the refugees. We are looking forward to watching the little ones - expect my productivity to take a nose dive for a while - but first Doug and I have to make sure the tank is secure. Yes, people steal pets from libraries - it has happened in the past - nice, huh?

THURSDAY: This is my 'late' day to go in, so I try to both spend time with the little ones and get some projects done around the house. Grandma had turned over the old family photo albums to me, minus some pictures my brother wanted. The albums are about as old as I am, and we have both started falling apart, so today S. 'helped' me start putting them in newer albums. It was funny to open the first one and see myself at S.'s age, doing something she does all the time! If I was a good Mommy, I would make a whole new album of both of us, with side by side pictures. Maybe for her second birthday...

Today was also the day of the Thanksgiving lunch at C.'s school. In town, this would be attended by two or three parents from each class, but up here it is a VERY big deal. Tables are covered in tablecloths, everything is decorated, and EVERYBODY's parents come. Both of them. Plus some grandparents. C. has been asking all week if we are coming, and I have been telling him yes, of course. This morning he asked - "Will you sit with me?" I bit back a laugh just in time, and told him yes, we could probably do that, if he would save us seats, please. When he saw me, he body-slammed me in a hug. The kids were all super-wired throughout, but everyone had fun. If there was ever a day when teachers could be excused for showing movies all afternoon, this would be it! Some of the other mommies and I made tentative plans for a get-together between Christmas and New Year, at our house. The kids can run around outside while we gab and share leftovers inside. I have the feeling we will need it!

Two young (middle school) patrons at the library, 'studying'. The young man picked up our book fair flyer and was thrilled to discover the latest in the Lawn Weenies series listed. He tried to work the title into his conversation as much as possible over the next five minutes, annoying the tar out of the young lady. I finally explained to her that it's just one of those things adolescent boys do, and it's easier to just go with it. He mulled over whether he should be insulted or not for about two seconds, then was distracted by "Poop Happened."

SATURDAY: I was supposed to go to a baby shower, but this was my first day at home with the kids without something major going on, so I took advantage of it. I alternated between playing with them and cooking. I LOVE to cook, and usually have a chest freezer full of meals - perfect when I don't get home most days until 6:30PM. As of last week it was empty, though, and tghese darn kids still expect to eat each night. Today I started with the easy stuff, and have four meals of mac and cheese (finally found a recipe I like, on thepioneerwoman.com), four of mac and beef, four of a beef and bacon soup, and a few other odds and ends. Then Daddy and Sheridan made enchiladas, which we had for supper. Yum! The house sure smells good, and the kids won't starve for a few days at least. Just don't ask me what we are going to do when they all hit the teenage years...